As always, reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.
Spoiler for The Third Life: The First Night in Tristian: II Experimental Heights:
II: Experimental Heights
She reverted back to her child form even before she had gone more than a dozen paces away from the door. There were still to many unknowns to take into account of, so that caution was, in her opinion, completely warranted. Though it rankled her greatly.
She took a quick look around the floor she was at. There were six doors widely spaced apart in the hall-way she was in, three doors per-side. The hall-way itself was lit by cheery, fireplace orange lamps that were spaced at even intervals. 30 Centimeters apart (1), according to Corseque. Arf found it amusing that the lamps were so precisely placed apart in such a perfectly round figure. On second thoughts, it did seem suspicious.
One end of the wide hall-way she was in led down to a open balcony, the other led to an ornately wide spiral stair-well. Pursuing the records Corseque had observed of the Academy, apparently, the Academy was made out of five outer towers connected to a central main tower. She was currently within the Central main towers, on the fifth level of the Student Quarters. , She decided not to immediately trace the route through which Corseque and her were brought up to Louise's quarters, but instead decided to proceed upwards instead.
“Speed Enhancement.” Corseque intoned. Arf could feel another brief flowing sensation through her rooms. And then, she suddenly took off, dashing towards the Stair-well and navigating her way through the twirling staircases with improbable reflexes. It was odd indeed- she never recalled moving that fast, and by rights, she should have smashed into a wall by now with the speeds she was moving at. And she could feel continuous , pulsing waves subtly flowing through her hand.
And then, she was up there, thirty floors and about 150 meters above ground, at the very top of the stair-well. It opened up to a windy, star-swept paranoma above her, twin moons shining gently and benevolently on the still night. Early morning, rather, as Corseque's chronometer corrected. Arf left the pile of clothes on the ground.
She looked horizontally around her. She was on the very top of the tower, standing right on a circular platform that was the roof of the central-tower. There were the same grated, ostentatiously carved railings in silver that just faintly revealed itself under the light of two moons. She was sure that Corseque was cataloging information on the two moons, the patterns of the starry sky above her- and the very reason why she came up here.
To see the lay of the land around her. To gain a big picture of the entire Academy, and its environs. It never hurt to be prepared, after all. Plus, she needed to find a nice spot where she could conduct of the experiments she urgently felt the need to try, regarding the strange nature of her mana source.
She walked up to the railing, and felt the gentle touch of a very light compulsion discouraging her from thinking of going over the railings.
“Anti-Suicide measures, Corseque?” She commented. “Could you analyze this piece of spell-work, please? It might come in handy.”
Leaning over it, she looked around her. The Darkish-blue sky around her twinkled with numerous constellations, a sea of jewels bathing across an unfamiliar night-sky. Looking down closer to Earth, Arf could see imposing mountains in the distance to the North of the Academy, as the land rose up not far from the Academy. Corseque offered to give her a distance estimate.
On the other side, Arf could see a glimmering lake in the distance, the reflected light of the moon creating a sense serene majesty against the night-scape around her. Very picturesque indeed. Around her, she realized the Academy indeed consisted of five towers surrounding the central one. Beyond them was a small plain, and even further, perhaps thirty kilometers further out were a scattering of forests. Just on the tip of the horizon, to the West, Arf could see a faint ghostly glow at the point where the horizon blurred into the sky. Clearly, there was a significant settlement not too far out from the Academy.
She detached Corseque from its chain, accepting its proposal for it to commerce mapping the surrounding terrain from her vantage point. As the device freely floated up a meter or so above her, she suddenly sensed that a pressure that she was previously oblivious to on her hands seemed to be lifting along with the device. The sensation in the background of her senses suddenly faded. Lifting up her hands, she could barely see the runes inscribed on the back of her left hand. It was almost as if it was a scar on the verge of recovery, so faint that it took effort to identify it within the faint light of the moons.
“Remind me to look into those runes again, Corseque.” She commented.
With that, she concentrated, taking in and feeling the ambient mana around her. This world was truly rich in magics – she was certain that Nanoha could easily have performed five back to back Starlight breaker right from the get-go were she to fight in such a mana rich environment. The ground literally frothed with mana currents, emerging from some geological source. In the worse case scenario, she could still, with the aid of Corseque draw from the ambient mana to sustain herself- that was how rich the background mana was. Though her magical capabilities would still have been significantly curtailed.
That being said, the ambient magics was sufficient for Corseque to function independently of being charged from Arf's mana supply, as its current levitation and the lack of a drain in the mana-cells attested to.
Looking down above the parapet, she briefly considered launching into a leap high enough to circumvent the unseen magical barriers surrounding the railings, and gently levitating down to the ground. Remembering the failure in shape-shifting though, caution and boldness compromised, and she decided to test whether levitation also worked with that unusual mana that Louise was supplying her with. The mana that Corseque was currently in the background, analyzing.
Besides, it was silently snarking at her to cast something. Anything. It almost sounded like the seventh generation Intelligence Device was desperately pleading for more data.
Very well. If it was data Corseque wanted, it was data it was going to get. Besides, Arf began to suspect that the strange mana source was also going to affect her spell-arsenal. Indeed, she could sense that the mana source feeding her was alien and distinctly different from even the ambient magics of the world. Just because Corseque was levitating did not meant that she would succeed either, after all. The Academic Discipline of the Infinite Library was still winning out against her instinctual tendencies to simply go for it and leap off the tower.
“Well,” she commented to the deaf wind aloud - “ Let's go for it then.”
Once more, she channeled the mana flows she felt flowing into her body, visualizing an opposition to the gravity holding her to the ground acting on her body. A sudden suge of mana flooded her senses and she felt ground and feet part momentarily and then -
Bang! A shockwave of sound trembled in the air.
A flash of silver light again consumed her vision. When she finally recovered her senses, Arf realized that she had landed on the ground, bottom first.
Grateful for the anonymity of the place, she picked herself up from the ground.
Stumbling back up using the parapet as a support, she called out to her device. “Corseque!” The device acknowledged her silent instructions.
Immediately, the visualized details of the spells overlay on her vision. It started with a spherical golden orb intertwining with the silver pulsating cords that she saw in her vision. The orb was her linker-core, the source of her magics. The silver cords were the mana supply sustaining the linker-core, and the body that housed it.
The wolf saw the familiar flows of mana forming the familiar patterns and transforming the Spell Variables that produced an anti-gravitational effect on her body take hold for a moment, forming at an unusually vigorous and energetic pace. Right from the on-set, she realized the mana-flows were unusually high, with an extremely unusual signature. The magical energy suffusing the outlines of the basic Levitation spell abruptly ramped up from red to an uncharacteristically energetic intense violet for a brief moment. And then, the Spell-structure abruptly failed, as if an AMF had suddenly cut into the spell.
The vision faded from her retinas.
“So, the spell was over-loaded with too much energy? Or does the unusual mana have something to do with it?” She asked Corseque.
She decided to attempt again. This time, she called down Corseque from its vantage point, back to the key chain. This time, her hand briefly caught her eye again, as the runes scarred on her hand grew more distinct and conspicuously scarlet. Once again, she felt the pressure return too the hands. But this time, she felt a subtle interface between her linker-core, the mana flows from Louise and Corseque itself. She could feel a subtle change within the Familiar bond. It almost felt like the tantalizing moment before some surreptitious moment, a sensation that was relatively commonplace in the time she spent within the Infinite Library.
“Hmm, it appears that the bonds change subtly whenever you return to the chain, Corseque.” Arf observed. Like a stereotypical professor might say, Curious, most Curious. She'd definitely have to look into the runes- when she had the time, that is.
She disengaged Corseque again, and this time felt the bonds once more subtly revert back. She equipped Corseque again, and this time felt the sense of near-realization returning. She repeated the process several times, and sensed the same sensations. There was definitely a pattern.
“Alright then. Corseque.”
“Levitation.” The device intoned.
This time, with the mediating influence and calculations of the devices, the torrent of mana she initially sensed was muted to a more reasonable flow. Mathematical operations that enabled the inter-play of mana, the various variables of magic and resulting energy that produced a levitation effect flowed with familiar elegance at the edge of her conscious mind. Briefly, she noted the fascinating parallels in the feel of Levitation spells and the ambient magic rising from the ground below her.
Feet once again met nothing but empty air , as she rose very gradually, gingerly, and cautiously. All seemed well until -
“Error.” Her heart skipped a beat, as the world suddenly sharpened. This time, even though the mana was insufficient to overload the structure of the spell, the variables were not behaving as they were supposed to. The spell felt like a delicate porcelain cup dropped from a considerable height that was on the verge of striking the ground, its structure on the verge of shattering.
The next word restarted her heart again. “Compensating.” She breath the crisp night air deeply in relief. The spell-structure stabilized itself again. But she could still feel the spell moving sluggishly, carefully, and delicately. Flight was out of the question in such circumstances – it was an effort to keep herself afloat and levitating. But it was getting easier, especially with Corseque converting the usual spell-variable formulas into calculations taking into account the unusual nature of the mana. She dreaded to think what would happen had she came into this new world without a device, especially one as advance as Corseque.
Hovering meters above the top of the tower, she looked down at the view below her. Five radiating spokes, each sky-bridges linked the central tower she was above to five differing towers. Maintaining her position, she quietly considered for a brief moment, before deciding for boldness.
Slowly, she floated out of the parapets, and down 150 meters towards the sky-bridge linking the main tower with the Crimson top marked tower. So, far , so good. The spell-strucutre was holding up nicely, and the fall was still well-controlled.. She turned around, facing back the main-tower and -
Standing right at the very entrance to the Sky-bridge from the main-tower as the balding be-spectacled professor she had seen earlier that day (yesterday morning, her device gently corrected her, and supplied her a name, Colbert). She had been seen! A mixture of alarm and surprised blazed through her mind with the speed of a Acandas Viper, shattering her concentration apart.
“Oh no –“ Her concentration broke for a moment, in surprise. She muttered a brief but coarse Mid-Childan curse that she would have been ashamed to use in-front of the children- and suddenly felt the lurching sensation of free-fall as Gravity quickly pulled her back to Earth in a tumbling downwards spin.
She could see the gleaming silver stones of the sky-bridge rushing out to greet her falling body, as she stifled a howl of panic, as instinct forced her to bend her knees in preparation for the worst case scenario. What was she doing? Why had she taken such a risk anyway?
Curbing the distraction of berating herself , she tried reforming the Levitation spell again. It was hard. The ground was rapidly filling her vision, and weaving the levitation spell felt like swimming in viscous mud. The flows of mana into magic felt agonizingly sluggish, but it seemed she was going to make it-
Before she could re-cast Levitation again, she felt the rush towards terminal velocity halt abruptly, and the sharp dragging sensation of decceleration, Her body slowly descended towards the ground.
There, drifting into her field of vision was Professor Colbert, posture crouched in a battle-ready stance, wand whipped out, and eyes briefly burning with a sharp focus of a veteran Battle-mage – for only a few seconds. He reverted back to a more relaxed posture, a placid, apologetic and curious stare in his eyes. But for a brief moment, Arf realized she had seen the same expressions and stance that she only saw in veteran fighters that entered combat. The wolf decided to play the fool a little, and deliberately curbed the temptation to assume a proper landing posture.
She gently fell to the ground, landing face down.
“I apologize about that, miss, but it seems that I startled you by mistake.” The wolf saw the hand of the speaker reached out above her.
Arf's mind snapped back into focus, as she accepted the professor's offer, gently pulling herself up with the assistance of Colbert.
“You are Ms Vallerie's Familiar right?” Colbert gently asked.
Arf nodded. “ My name is Arf, and you are - “ Her mind recalled from her memories of the summoning that the man was present then. And close enough to see those ears, which were sensitive enough to pick out his discreet whisper acknowledging what she suspected he saw. On impulse, she decided to extend her hand to Colbert.
“Professor Colbert, a teacher in charge of the instruction in the arts of the Element of Fire, in the Tristian Academy of Magic.” Colbert introduced himself, bowing slightly. He then met Arf's hand, and clasp it.
"I take it that it's a form of greeting where you come from?" The Professor asked.
------------------------
(1) That is, approximately one Milli Seab,the standard TSAB unit of measurement for distance. In general, the Dimensions have been using the speed of light as the benchmark for measurement. One Light Seabs is approximately 3000 m. One Mili-light Seab is 0,3M , or 30 Cm. All distances are given in SI , for clarity (and to avoid tripping over my units. My initial version gave distances in this hypothetical alternative Mid-Childan unit of measurement.
Seab is actually a shorten form of Sekunden Abstand- Second-Distance in German. The equivalent of standard units of measurements were first defined during the Belkan era. Indeed, the linguistic difference between Old-Belka and Mid-Childan is roughly the same drift between Anglo-Frisian Dialects and modern English. At least, that's my interpretation of the German used in Belkan devices and the English used in Mid-Childan devices.
One of the main things that I'm currently thinking through about this fic is how the ZnT verse magic system, especially void fit into the Nanoha-verse system. I also have a specific theory on the Nanoha-verse magic system that I intend to use in this fic, modeled after a rough understanding of Sub-atomic and atomic physics, where-in mana is a Force Carrier, and the Elements (and indeed, all spell structures and types) are determined "Variables", in the same relation as the old Classical Elements and Atomic physics.
Suffice to say, I have plans for the lectures Arf is going to sit with Louise in. Is a Snarky Arf OOC?
She's a lot older here, who knows what kind of brats Fate and Nanoha have adopted (or had, if you wanna make mystery partners for them) over the years...
Not to mention Erio and Lutecia's children...
Anyway, onto the grammar problems I saw...
Spoiler for Corrections:
And she could feel continuous , pulsing waves subtly flowing through her hand.
the comma should be against continuous
Plus, she needed to find a nice spot where she could conduct of the experiments she urgently felt the need to try, regarding the strange nature of her mana source.
conduct of the experiments is awkward
remove of from that sentence, makes it flow better.
Anti-Suicide measures, Corseque? She commented. Could you analyze this piece of spell-work? It might come in handy.
space between the quotation mark and Could
She detached Corseque from its chain, accepting its proposal for it to commerce mapping the surrounding terrain from her vantage point. As the device freely floated up a meter or so above her,.
Either comma or period, not both. I'd suggest getting rid of the period here.
Remind me to look into those runes again, Corseque. She commented.
space between Corseque. and the quotation marks should be removed.
The ground literally frothed with mana currents, emerging from some Geo-thermal source. In the worse case scenario, she could still, with the aid of Corseque draw from the ambient mana to sustain herself- that was how rich the background mana was.
needs a comma after Corseque.
(Don't worry, common mistake, I do it myself)
Hmm, it appears that the bonds change subtly whenever you return to the chain, Corseque. Arf observed. Like a stereotypical professor might say, Curious, most Curious. She'd definitely have to look into the runes- when she had the time, that is.
Hanging Quotation mark at the start.
Feet once again met nothing but empty air , as she rose very gradually, gingerly, and cautiously. All seemed well until -
hanging comma after air
So, far , so good.
Remove the first comma, get the second one next to far.
Curbing the distraction of berating herself , she tried reforming the Levitation spell again. It was hard. The ground was rapidly filling her vision, and weaving the levitation spell felt like swimming in viscous mud. The flows of mana into magic felt agonizingly sluggish, but it seemed she was going to make it-n
Couple of problems with this one.
the hanging comma for one, and you really shouldn't abuse -, instead use elipses like...
yeah, like that.
slowly p-lungedlowly
I don't understand what you're working for here.
I apologize about that, miss, but it seems that I startled you by mistake.
You are Ms Vallerie's Familiar right?
My name is Arf, and you are -
hanging quotation marks in all those lines.
Again, you use - instead of using elipses. which look like ...
It's better for trailing off sentences.
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
She's a lot older here, who knows what kind of brats Fate and Nanoha have adopted (or had, if you wanna make mystery partners for them) over the years...
Not to mention Erio and Lutecia's children...
Anyway, onto the grammar problems I saw...
Spoiler for Corrections:
And she could feel continuous , pulsing waves subtly flowing through her hand.
the comma should be against continuous
Plus, she needed to find a nice spot where she could conduct of the experiments she urgently felt the need to try, regarding the strange nature of her mana source.
conduct of the experiments is awkward
remove of from that sentence, makes it flow better.
Anti-Suicide measures, Corseque? She commented. Could you analyze this piece of spell-work? It might come in handy.
space between the quotation mark and Could
She detached Corseque from its chain, accepting its proposal for it to commerce mapping the surrounding terrain from her vantage point. As the device freely floated up a meter or so above her,.
Either comma or period, not both. I'd suggest getting rid of the period here.
Remind me to look into those runes again, Corseque. She commented.
space between Corseque. and the quotation marks should be removed.
The ground literally frothed with mana currents, emerging from some Geo-thermal source. In the worse case scenario, she could still, with the aid of Corseque draw from the ambient mana to sustain herself- that was how rich the background mana was.
needs a comma after Corseque.
(Don't worry, common mistake, I do it myself)
Hmm, it appears that the bonds change subtly whenever you return to the chain, Corseque. Arf observed. Like a stereotypical professor might say, Curious, most Curious. She'd definitely have to look into the runes- when she had the time, that is.
Hanging Quotation mark at the start.
Feet once again met nothing but empty air , as she rose very gradually, gingerly, and cautiously. All seemed well until -
hanging comma after air
So, far , so good.
Remove the first comma, get the second one next to far.
Curbing the distraction of berating herself , she tried reforming the Levitation spell again. It was hard. The ground was rapidly filling her vision, and weaving the levitation spell felt like swimming in viscous mud. The flows of mana into magic felt agonizingly sluggish, but it seemed she was going to make it-n
Couple of problems with this one.
the hanging comma for one, and you really shouldn't abuse -, instead use elipses like...
yeah, like that.
slowly p-lungedlowly
I don't understand what you're working for here.
I apologize about that, miss, but it seems that I startled you by mistake.
You are Ms Vallerie's Familiar right?
My name is Arf, and you are -
hanging quotation marks in all those lines.
Again, you use - instead of using elipses. which look like ...
It's better for trailing off sentences.
Wow.
Thank for spotting the various grammatical errors and typos in my post. There were some that got me laughing- that was how silly those errors were.
Thanks again
Well, Arf has raised children from three entire families- Chrono's children, Erio's Children, the various people Fate or Nanoha adopted over the years, Chrono's grandchildren.... and even helped in raising Yuuno's children. When it comes to teaching a mage up to Nanoha A's Fate's level of capability, Arf has few peers in TSAB space.
Needless to say though, one thing that I hope to bring through successfully is Arf's astonishment at just how late ZnT mages really develop. Given the fact that she has been surrounded all her life by magical prodigies, Louise is the oldest she will ever teach basic magics too. And since she's more accustomed delivering those lessons to toddlers, not a hormonal 16 years old with a desperate need to establish her authority and severe confidence issues, she's entering Terra incognita here....
A much older Arf cannot abide academic stupidity or basic misconceptions on magic. She's spent too much time among academics who despise such foolishness, after all.
And I use - to denote suddenness, and .... to denote a gradual trailing off.
For suddenness, you're better off using "--" instead of " - ". On top of that, there should be no spaces. So "My name is Arf, and you are - " should look instead like:
Quint growled as she punched forward, blocking another attack from the Megah as it shot dozens of glowing arrows at her. Crossing her arms, Quint jumped back and panted heavily. "If I could just get closer..." The damn thing had learned from their previous encounters, she knew it, but it seemed to know her moves before she could do them. Crouching down, she slapped an open palm on the ground, causing the street to flip up and block the arrows. Ginga was, at that moment, making sure to help evacuate people. Quint knew her daughter was strong, possibly stronger than she was, but Ginga was still Quint's daughter, and she just couldn't stand the thought of her daughter fighting and possibly dying if Quint wasn't willing to do so herself.
Quint jumped back as a blade cut through the road, revealing the Megah as it charged up its cannon to fire a blast at the woman. "Dammit..." She held up her hand, creating a barrier and gasped as it started to fizzle almost as soon as it was created. "That Anti-Magic..." She stared, wide-eyed as the blast charged up and fired only a couple of feet away from her body.
The next thing Quint knew, a hand was on her leg and pulling her out of the way of the blast. "You shouldn't get so close to that thing, mom."
"Ginga." Quint sighed in relief as Ginga let go and they both raced on their own Wing Roads away from the Megah. "What did I tell you?"
Ginga smirked at her. "There are other Bureau members around, they're handling it, I can help you, one of us can keep it distracted and the other one can charge up attacks and lay into it."
Before Quint could say anything, a blue gas covered the Megah, leaving the two of them chilled as the air temperature suddenly dropped to almost below freezing in an instant. When the gas cleared, the Megah was covered in a layer of clear ice.
"You need to take that thing out in one hit, otherwise it'll keep coming back for more." A familiar voice said that had Ginga turning around, a happy look on her face.
"Subaru!" Ginga's expression changed from elation to anger in an instant. "You!" She growled at who she saw. "Nove, what are you here for?"
"To help you!" Nove yelled back at Ginga as Quint looked at them both, sighing. "Look, that Megah's too strong for us to take on, even if we team up, that AMS keeps you two from doing much and I might be able to get through the thing with my I.S., but I can't break it by myself."
Before Ginga could reply, Quint put a hand on Ginga's shoulder and nodded to Nove. "Sure, what's the plan?" There was a loud cracking noise and Quint, Nove and Ginga all looked at the Megah as it started to break free from the ice.
"You guys know how to do a super kick?" Ginga looked at her in confusion, but Quint nodded, a grin on her face.
"I used one to win my final DSAA tournament," Quint looked at Ginga, who had recognition dawn on her.
"Yeah, but from above." Nove jerked her head behind her. "Get on my Airliner, it's not affected by the AMS like your Wing Road is, plus it's faster."
"I'm still mad at you for Subaru." Ginga muttered as she followed Nove into the air, she, Quint and Nove spun around the frozen Megah, going higher and higher into the air, before Nove suddenly stopped and raced down, her feet extended outwards towards the Megah's body.
"SUPER!" Nove began as she rocketed down towards the Megah's cannon arm.
"NAKAJIMA!" Ginga continued as she aimed her body for the other side, her fist leading the way instead of her feet, as, unlike Nove, she didn't have revovler gauntlets on her feet.
"CRASH!" Quint finished as she dove down right after her daughters, aiming right for the center of the Megah.
The ice around the Megah shattered into pieces just as Nove's kick crashed into and through its right arm, before it could react, Ginga's punch tore through its left arm like it was nothing and Quint slammed into its head, destroying that part of the body in an instant.
Nove looked at the Megah and watched as it fell over without its head or arms. "...Wow, that..." The next thing she knew, a gauntlet crashed into her face, sending her crashing to the ground. "Oww!"
"Where's Subaru?!" Ginga grabbed Nove's outfit right above her breasts to lift her up and look her right in the eyes. "What did you do to my sister?!"
"Ginga!" Quint grabbed her daughter by her shoulder. "Let her go, right now."
"No!" Ginga shook her mother off and glared at Nove, tears in her eyes. "You hurt my baby sister, you kidnapped her, who knows what else you did with her?!" She started shaking Nove, who, for some reason, wasn't putting up any resistance to what Ginga was doing to her. "Well?!"
"Enough of this." Quint grabbed Ginga's ear and twisted, causing the girl to scream and fall to her knees while letting go of Nove. She let go of Ginga's ear and looked at the two of them. "Are you done, Ginga?" The girl muttered something, but nodded, "and you, Nove, what did you do with Subaru?"
"She's fine!" Nove waved her hands in front of her. "I swear! She was fine the last time I saw her." Nove looked away, anger on her face. "Dunno why I came out here."
"...You know, don't you?" Quint said, causing Nove to nod and Ginga to blink in confusion. "Ginga, meet your younger sister, Nove. Nove, I'm glad you came here, I'm worried about Subaru too though."
Ginga stared at Nove, wide-eyed. "...Mom, does dad know about this?"
Quint chuckled and held up her hand, about to answer, when a blue-white beam tore through her body. Gasping, Quint fell to the ground, clutching at the hole in her torso. She was thankful it wasn't too big, otherwise she'd be in real danger of dying on the spot, but even so, it was a major shock.
"MOM!" Both Ginga and Nove yelled at the same time and gasped as another Megah seemingly materialized behind Quint.
"Ginga, get mom out of her! I'll deal with the Megah." Nove yelled at Ginga as she rushed up at the Megah. "You... GRAAAAH!" Several yellow balls of energy formed around Nove as she rushed in, tears forming in her eyes while she tried to keep the Megah's attention.
"Come on, mom." Ginga grabbed her mother and took a look at Nove, before nodding. "Good luck."
"Wing Road!"
Ginga was thankful to Blitz Calibur as she took off while cradling her mother against her. "Come on, mom, don't die on me."
"Not... Not trying to." Quint was clutching at her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. "I'm sorry, Ginga... I really am. I should've..." She groaned painfully as her vision started to swim. "I don't know... How I can..."
"Just keep quiet, I'll get you help!" Ginga really, really wished that she knew some spells beyond basic healing at that moment. "This is Ginga Nakajima to any rescue chopper, I need an emergency evac, stat! Lock in on Blitz Calibur and rendezvous ASAP!"
"On my way."
"Just hold on mom, you'll be okay." Ginga looked at her mother, who was quickly going pale in her arms.
(---)
Nove let out a scream as she was hit by the Megah, causing her to fall to the ground, where she bounced off of it painfully. "Nnngh," she looked at the Megah and growled while getting to her feet, tears forming in her eyes, "you... I finally get to meet my mother properly and you take her away from me?!" A gear symbol formed under her feet as she grabbed her Gun Knuckle and adjusted the controls on it. "This is one thing I never wanted to use, ever, but, I'm not going to forgive you, EVER!" Letting out a yell, she rushed for the Megah again, moving to the side as it slashed down, and using her Airliner to rush up the thing's left leg, when she got to the hip area, she rushed to the right to avoid a swatting hand. When Nove got to the Megah's chest, she jumped off and landed on the right hand that tried to swat her. "You'll PAY!" She rolled along the side of the cannon, hitting it several times with her fists before racing up to the Megah's head and stopping right in front of where its mouth was and pointing her Gun Knuckle right at it.
"Tell me, can you robots feel fear?" Nove's face was red with rage as she glared at it. "BECAUSE YOU SHOULD!!" She punched forward and yelled as she fired several energy blasts and bombs into the Megah's mouth. "Now DIE!" At that moment, several explosions happened at once, leading up from the Megah's leg, across its torso, to its arm cannon and up its arm to its head.
Nove let out a scream as the head was consumed by a large fireball that took the head and upper torso apart with ease. Groaning as she slid across the ground, she looked up at the Megah as it continued to explode and fall apart. "Don't like those bombs..." Nove shuddered, she didn't know what the hell C4 was, but the Doctor had somehow made her Gun Knuckle capable of making bombs that, while small, had the force of three pounds of C4 each.
Nove blinked as a box landed on her as she tried to stand up. "...What the..?" Her eyes widened as she recognized what it was. "I have to hurry." Turning, she called up Airliner and rushed to where Ginga had taken off as fast as she could.
Even if it wouldn't do much, she wanted to try and help the Unison Device that was trapped inside the box before the support for it ran out.
(---)
Ginga sighed as she saw the chopper open its back up. "Help her!" In the chopper, waiting for her, was Shamal. "Shamal-sensei, mom, she's..."
"Just get her on the table, do what I tell you and we might be able to save her."
Ginga nodded and put her mother on the table.
"Get that blood tube into her arm, now!" Shamal ordered as she put her hand over the wound and concentrated, calling up a fire spell, which she wasn't too good at, but it was needed at that moment. When Quint groaned out painfully, Shamal nodded, at least she was still alive. "Hold her." Shamal rolled Quint to her side Ginga grabbed the older woman as Shamal repeated the process on her back, sealing the wound painfully. "I'm sorry, Nakajima... I have to do it this way."
"Nnngh... Fine..." Quint groaned as Ginga tore the sleeve to her Barrier Jacket off, dabbed her arm and got the needle into Quint's veins to pump some blood into her.
"Never thought I'd be so happy to have enhanced vision." Ginga muttered as Shamal worked on healing Quint.
"Uh, ma'am," the pilot said as he looked into the back, "we got an incoming, looks like one of those enemies that we're supposed to..."
"Let her on." Ginga said, much to the pilot's surprise. "Just do it already!"
The pilot nodded, wondering what that was all about. A moment later, Nove stepped onto the chopper, panting softly. "Mom, is she..?"
"I'm doing what I can for her." Shamal said and looked at the box Nove had. "What's that?"
Nove opened it up and Shamal and Ginga both stared at the small, white haired, Unison Device inside. "This is," Nove took a step forward, but slipped on some spilled blood, causing her to stagger and knock the device out of the box and send it tumbling through the air and onto Quint.
Before either Shamal or Ginga could react, the device glowed and disappeared. What was shocking to Ginga and Shamal was that Quint's hair turned a bright green in the process.
Quint groaned and Shamal shook her head, getting back to work on healing Quint. The questions of what happened could wait until after they had saved Quint's life.
Nove just stared and shook her head, 'just like Agito and Due.' She hoped they were both okay.
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
Quint growled as she punched forward, blocking another attack from the Megah as it shot dozens of glowing arrows at her. Crossing her arms, Quint jumped back and panted heavily. "If I could just get closer..." The damn thing had learned from their previous encounters, she knew it, but it seemed to know her moves before she could do them. Crouching down, she slapped an open palm on the ground, causing the street to flip up and block the arrows. Ginga was, at that moment, making sure to help evacuate people. Quint knew her daughter was strong, possibly stronger than she was, but Ginga was still Quint's daughter, and she just couldn't stand the thought of her daughter fighting and possibly dying if Quint wasn't willing to do so herself.
Quint jumped back as a blade cut through the road, revealing the Megah as it charged up its cannon to fire a blast at the woman. "Dammit..." She held up her hand, creating a barrier and gasped as it started to fizzle almost as soon as it was created. "That Anti-Magic..." She stared, wide-eyed as the blast charged up and fired only a couple of feet away from her body.
The next thing Quint knew, a hand was on her leg and pulling her out of the way of the blast. "You shouldn't get so close to that thing, mom."
"Ginga." Quint sighed in relief as Ginga let go and they both raced on their own Wing Roads away from the Megah. "What did I tell you?"
Ginga smirked at her. "There are other Bureau members around, they're handling it, I can help you, one of us can keep it distracted and the other one can charge up attacks and lay into it."
Before Quint could say anything, a blue gas covered the Megah, leaving the two of them chilled as the air temperature suddenly dropped to almost below freezing in an instant. When the gas cleared, the Megah was covered in a layer of clear ice.
"You need to take that thing out in one hit, otherwise it'll keep coming back for more." A familiar voice said that had Ginga turning around, a happy look on her face.
"Subaru!" Ginga's expression changed from elation to anger in an instant. "You!" She growled at who she saw. "Nove, what are you here for?"
"To help you!" Nove yelled back at Ginga as Quint looked at them both, sighing. "Look, that Megah's too strong for us to take on, even if we team up, that AMS keeps you two from doing much and I might be able to get through the thing with my I.S., but I can't break it by myself."
Before Ginga could reply, Quint put a hand on Ginga's shoulder and nodded to Nove. "Sure, what's the plan?" There was a loud cracking noise and Quint, Nove and Ginga all looked at the Megah as it started to break free from the ice.
"You guys know how to do a super kick?" Ginga looked at her in confusion, but Quint nodded, a grin on her face.
"I used one to win my final DSAA tournament," Quint looked at Ginga, who had recognition dawn on her.
"Yeah, but from above." Nove jerked her head behind her. "Get on my Airliner, it's not affected by the AMS like your Wing Road is, plus it's faster."
"I'm still mad at you for Subaru." Ginga muttered as she followed Nove into the air, she, Quint and Nove spun around the frozen Megah, going higher and higher into the air, before Nove suddenly stopped and raced down, her feet extended outwards towards the Megah's body.
"SUPER!" Nove began as she rocketed down towards the Megah's cannon arm.
"NAKAJIMA!" Ginga continued as she aimed her body for the other side, her fist leading the way instead of her feet, as, unlike Nove, she didn't have revovler gauntlets on her feet.
"CRASH!" Quint finished as she dove down right after her daughters, aiming right for the center of the Megah.
The ice around the Megah shattered into pieces just as Nove's kick crashed into and through its right arm, before it could react, Ginga's punch tore through its left arm like it was nothing and Quint slammed into its head, destroying that part of the body in an instant.
Nove looked at the Megah and watched as it fell over without its head or arms. "...Wow, that..." The next thing she knew, a gauntlet crashed into her face, sending her crashing to the ground. "Oww!"
"Where's Subaru?!" Ginga grabbed Nove's outfit right above her breasts to lift her up and look her right in the eyes. "What did you do to my sister?!"
"Ginga!" Quint grabbed her daughter by her shoulder. "Let her go, right now."
"No!" Ginga shook her mother off and glared at Nove, tears in her eyes. "You hurt my baby sister, you kidnapped her, who knows what else you did with her?!" She started shaking Nove, who, for some reason, wasn't putting up any resistance to what Ginga was doing to her. "Well?!"
"Enough of this." Quint grabbed Ginga's ear and twisted, causing the girl to scream and fall to her knees while letting go of Nove. She let go of Ginga's ear and looked at the two of them. "Are you done, Ginga?" The girl muttered something, but nodded, "and you, Nove, what did you do with Subaru?"
"She's fine!" Nove waved her hands in front of her. "I swear! She was fine the last time I saw her." Nove looked away, anger on her face. "Dunno why I came out here."
"...You know, don't you?" Quint said, causing Nove to nod and Ginga to blink in confusion. "Ginga, meet your younger sister, Nove. Nove, I'm glad you came here, I'm worried about Subaru too though."
Ginga stared at Nove, wide-eyed. "...Mom, does dad know about this?"
Quint chuckled and held up her hand, about to answer, when a blue-white beam tore through her body. Gasping, Quint fell to the ground, clutching at the hole in her torso. She was thankful it wasn't too big, otherwise she'd be in real danger of dying on the spot, but even so, it was a major shock.
"MOM!" Both Ginga and Nove yelled at the same time and gasped as another Megah seemingly materialized behind Quint.
"Ginga, get mom out of her! I'll deal with the Megah." Nove yelled at Ginga as she rushed up at the Megah. "You... GRAAAAH!" Several yellow balls of energy formed around Nove as she rushed in, tears forming in her eyes while she tried to keep the Megah's attention.
"Come on, mom." Ginga grabbed her mother and took a look at Nove, before nodding. "Good luck."
"Wing Road!"
Ginga was thankful to Blitz Calibur as she took off while cradling her mother against her. "Come on, mom, don't die on me."
"Not... Not trying to." Quint was clutching at her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. "I'm sorry, Ginga... I really am. I should've..." She groaned painfully as her vision started to swim. "I don't know... How I can..."
"Just keep quiet, I'll get you help!" Ginga really, really wished that she knew some spells beyond basic healing at that moment. "This is Ginga Nakajima to any rescue chopper, I need an emergency evac, stat! Lock in on Blitz Calibur and rendezvous ASAP!"
"On my way."
"Just hold on mom, you'll be okay." Ginga looked at her mother, who was quickly going pale in her arms.
(---)
Nove let out a scream as she was hit by the Megah, causing her to fall to the ground, where she bounced off of it painfully. "Nnngh," she looked at the Megah and growled while getting to her feet, tears forming in her eyes, "you... I finally get to meet my mother properly and you take her away from me?!" A gear symbol formed under her feet as she grabbed her Gun Knuckle and adjusted the controls on it. "This is one thing I never wanted to use, ever, but, I'm not going to forgive you, EVER!" Letting out a yell, she rushed for the Megah again, moving to the side as it slashed down, and using her Airliner to rush up the thing's left leg, when she got to the hip area, she rushed to the right to avoid a swatting hand. When Nove got to the Megah's chest, she jumped off and landed on the right hand that tried to swat her. "You'll PAY!" She rolled along the side of the cannon, hitting it several times with her fists before racing up to the Megah's head and stopping right in front of where its mouth was and pointing her Gun Knuckle right at it.
"Tell me, can you robots feel fear?" Nove's face was red with rage as she glared at it. "BECAUSE YOU SHOULD!!" She punched forward and yelled as she fired several energy blasts and bombs into the Megah's mouth. "Now DIE!" At that moment, several explosions happened at once, leading up from the Megah's leg, across its torso, to its arm cannon and up its arm to its head.
Nove let out a scream as the head was consumed by a large fireball that took the head and upper torso apart with ease. Groaning as she slid across the ground, she looked up at the Megah as it continued to explode and fall apart. "Don't like those bombs..." Nove shuddered, she didn't know what the hell C4 was, but the Doctor had somehow made her Gun Knuckle capable of making bombs that, while small, had the force of three pounds of C4 each.
Nove blinked as a box landed on her as she tried to stand up. "...What the..?" Her eyes widened as she recognized what it was. "I have to hurry." Turning, she called up Airliner and rushed to where Ginga had taken off as fast as she could.
Even if it wouldn't do much, she wanted to try and help the Unison Device that was trapped inside the box before the support for it ran out.
(---)
Ginga sighed as she saw the chopper open its back up. "Help her!" In the chopper, waiting for her, was Shamal. "Shamal-sensei, mom, she's..."
"Just get her on the table, do what I tell you and we might be able to save her."
Ginga nodded and put her mother on the table.
"Get that blood tube into her arm, now!" Shamal ordered as she put her hand over the wound and concentrated, calling up a fire spell, which she wasn't too good at, but it was needed at that moment. When Quint groaned out painfully, Shamal nodded, at least she was still alive. "Hold her." Shamal rolled Quint to her side Ginga grabbed the older woman as Shamal repeated the process on her back, sealing the wound painfully. "I'm sorry, Nakajima... I have to do it this way."
"Nnngh... Fine..." Quint groaned as Ginga tore the sleeve to her Barrier Jacket off, dabbed her arm and got the needle into Quint's veins to pump some blood into her.
"Never thought I'd be so happy to have enhanced vision." Ginga muttered as Shamal worked on healing Quint.
"Uh, ma'am," the pilot said as he looked into the back, "we got an incoming, looks like one of those enemies that we're supposed to..."
"Let her on." Ginga said, much to the pilot's surprise. "Just do it already!"
The pilot nodded, wondering what that was all about. A moment later, Nove stepped onto the chopper, panting softly. "Mom, is she..?"
"I'm doing what I can for her." Shamal said and looked at the box Nove had. "What's that?"
Nove opened it up and Shamal and Ginga both stared at the small, white haired, Unison Device inside. "This is," Nove took a step forward, but slipped on some spilled blood, causing her to stagger and knock the device out of the box and send it tumbling through the air and onto Quint.
Before either Shamal or Ginga could react, the device glowed and disappeared. What was shocking to Ginga and Shamal was that Quint's hair turned a bright green in the process.
Quint groaned and Shamal shook her head, getting back to work on healing Quint. The questions of what happened could wait until after they had saved Quint's life.
Nove just stared and shook her head, 'just like Agito and Due.' She hoped they were both okay.
Me: Wow.... Looks like one of the Unsion Device will live...
Amelia: 2 Super Inazuma Kick from Nove and Quint and a Meteor Barret from Ginga.... anything get caught in it will definitely get crushed by the crash....
Val: And from their attack pattern, it's similar to the Mirage Stomp by Marino(from Megaman X: Command Mission). Of course, instead of 2 clones/mirages joining for a triple stomp, it's 2 daughters and their mother and one of the kids used a Meteor Barret instead.
Odin: Next battlefield!
__________________
Darwin's nominee are best for laughs.
MGLN "Befriending" shows love thru superior firepower (Zenryokou Zenkai!)
Gundams are your worst nightmare in the battlefield.
SRW beats all foes.
JAM Project pwns all!!!
And I can't still make fanfic without restarting from the start when new ideas comes in...
As always, reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.
Spoiler for The Third Life: The First Night in Tristian: II Experimental Heights:
...
One of the main things that I'm currently thinking through about this fic is how the ZnT verse magic system, especially void fit into the Nanoha-verse system. I also have a specific theory on the Nanoha-verse magic system that I intend to use in this fic, modeled after a rough understanding of Sub-atomic and atomic physics, where-in mana is a Force Carrier, and the Elements (and indeed, all spell structures and types) are determined "Variables", in the same relation as the old Classical Elements and Atomic physics.
Suffice to say, I have plans for the lectures Arf is going to sit with Louise in. Is a Snarky Arf OOC?
Arf having trouble with using Louise's magic? (As you didn't go the "Mid-style magic uses mana as power source" route) However that means Louise can use her magic to cast Mid-style spells.
I like snarky but you already had some scenes with Arf so up to certain point you already established the differences with her canon character. Maybe Arf gets snarkier when she's stressed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by novalysis
There's a huge power jump from the first ZnT battle (against Guiche) and the second (against Folquet of the Crumbling Earth). That being said, I have quite a few chapter plans bouncing around, and in some of my plotting, I've considered not just wrecking one of the early Stations of the Canon, but also hitting it with a Starlight Breaker for good measure, early on.
On the power jump...well, Arf may nor be powerful per se and has the limitation of using Loise's magic to survive but she's skilled, and
As things are now I don't see the reason of going to buy an sword, given Arf's skill for unarmed combat in canon and having her device as her weapon (though it looks like it's going to be a trump card of sorts, or at least that looks like it will be Arf's plan until it's completely demolished --the plan)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanya01
Spoiler for Blood That Flows - StrikerS 65:
Quint, Ginga and Nove
Well, that is some sort of reunion.
And when Nove snaps she repeats "ever" without much time between repetitions (though she gets a pass because she wasn't in the best of mental states, with being totally enraged and all)
I have returned! From the dark land of paperwork, deadlines and meetings with obnoxious clients! My visits may be brief! My limbs may be aching with exhaustion! Alas, my heart and quest stays true!
Grit! Humour! Hotness! Swords shall clash and shields shall shatter! Shigan shall prevail the life of a dating careerist-girl and she shall write! And thus, she brings you another part of the rolling crack-o-verse of Hayate and Vivio goodness!
This is very much inspired by Yuiseppe's all to steaming, challenged by me, jailbait art. If curious, you should ask her. I refuse to melt more brains than deathcurse's and my own.
*looks at the queen of tragedy*
Ante up my lady, ante up! Now enough of my insanity and more of the love we all share, let me tell you a story...
Set between Prerogative of the Brave and The Things We Tame. A conversation I imagined Vivio and Hayate ought to have had at some point of the relationship . And there might be some sexual frustration here, like, a starlight breaker full of it.
Burdens of Rank
By Shigan
Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Spoiler for Burdens of Rank:
The sun was too bright for its own good.
Vivio winced as the sunrays sheared at her eyes through the flimsy protection of her fingers. It was a nice, all to hot summer day at the TSAB head quarters and she had spent the better part of the day thinking about the many benefits of a bath. Had she been anywhere else on Mid, the seventeen-years-old would have shed her tight-fitting uniform jacket for the much less formal military shirt issued to all bureau personal she was wearing beneath. Unfortunately this was HQ, and as Vita so sarcastically had dubbed it, protocol hell. Vivio cast the vast, beautiful building an appreciative glance. The place with its lofty halls and ornate dark walls commanded weight in the same silent way a mountain does. It wasnt hard to see where the organizations hard money was spent.
She walked on, trying her best to not mind the sweat that was already running down her back, rounding the large building until Sacred Hearts mapping program signalled that she had arrived at her destination. It was a side door, a large one with its own driveway and front desk with one of those typical, perky desk ladies minding it. The woman lifted her head and shot Vivio a brief, disinterested glance before going back to her screen. The blast of cool air was a sweet, welcoming thing.
Vivio had barely gotten a look around the place when a thick teak door slid open to her right, revealing a very formally dressed Hayate. The newly appointed Brigadier General exited the hallway in a quick-paced stride while flipping through a portfolio, her face brightened when she caught sight of Vivio. The young Takamachi felt her heart make a little leap at the sight of the other in the marine-blue dress uniform. It was a funny way to think of the petite, bordering frail woman but Vivio thought she had never seen anyone so handsome in her life. The navy may be famous for their blacks but HQ did know how to dress their officers.
Dressed in the shorter summer skirt, slickly black low-heels and even her sleeves neatly creased in all the right places, Hayate was the iconic image of a young, aspiring commander. Her hair, grown slightly longer over the past year, was kempt almost to a fault and her face showed a minimal use of make-up applied to emphasis the natural shadows of her eyes. She gave off the sort of authority that came with competence and it suited her beautifully. Vivio fought back her urge to grin widely. Hayate, not suffering from the same restrictions of rank smiled openly as she walked closer.
Youre early, Hayate said factually. I take it the traffic lightened up?
Vivio looked over at the desk lady quickly, deciding to salute as protocol dictated.
Im afraid not. The Southside roads are as clogged as a mohawi nest.
Then you took the shuttle? That was very fast then.
No maam, I used a personal vehicle for the sake of convenience. Vivio answered, allowing her lips to curl a little. Hayate raised an eyebrow suspiciously, then her eyes widened in understanding.
I see, she said neutrally, waving a small greeting to the woman behind the front desk. The woman returned it in a small, polite bow. Will I be hearing from officer Takamachi-Harlaown later regarding this?
She is aware of the situation. Vivio replied, careful to not show teeth. She sanctioned my choice in fact.
I was referring to the other Takamachi-Harlaown, the one who owns the car and treats it like a living, breathing thing.
Currently deployed in Aldu for three weeks.
Hayate shot her a humoured and slightly relieved look. Age and experience had taught the general that there were forces in the universe one should best leave be and one of those was definitely Fates bordering neurotic obsession with her car. It was a very nice car, granted, but one could wonder what the big deal was when anyone in her household could fly at twice its speed.
Very well, lets go then.
Vivio nodded and followed Hayate to the door. A small trickle of impatience nagged her mind as they moved in perfect military synch. She couldnt wait to get into the car where she was at least allowed to give the other a hug, maybe even sneak a little kiss if she acted quickly.
They were just about to leave when the gates swung open and a fallow-haired man in a navy officers uniform stepped through. Vivio did not recognize him but a quick study of his stripes revealed him to be a Rear Admiral with perhaps a few years of seniority on Chrono. He was as tall as he was attractive with deep dimples and a strong, very heroic jaw. His eyes lit up appreciatively at the sight of Hayate, making Vivio dislike him instantly.
They all stopped to exchange salutes. The mans eyes passed briefly over Vivios unadorned service uniform, giving her face a brief, measuring look before returning his attention to the young general. Hayate looked neither pleased nor unhappy to see him, her face a neutral, pleasant mask.
Brigadier General Yagami, he greeted, removing his cap like a gentleman. His voice was smooth like sand.
Admiral Cayman, Hayate returned politely. What brings you to head quarters? I thought your ship wasnt due for another week?
We finished our patrol faster than expected, plus we were running low on some of the essentials. The supply stations along the Husker route are unreliable even at their best so I decided against chance and took us home early.
Thats a careful decision, and a wise one.
No need to brave the Gods, right? He chuckled deeply, making his heroic jaw look even more heroic. And its still Rear Admiral Im afraid, it will be awhile until I get to wear my crescents.
Hayates face changed ever so slightly into something akin to curiosity.
I heard your periphery command went well. Perhaps youre over-reading the senior admirals silence? She offered.
Maybe, Ill wait and see. The decision will come when it comes, though I wouldnt mind if they hurried. He said cordially and Vivio noticed how his eyes hardly left Hayates face.
I can see how that would be frustrating. Ill keep my fingers crossed for you. The general offered a sympathetic nod in response.
Enough about me. Tell me how you have been. Cayman asked keenly. I heard you made quite an impression with your legal propositions. The conservatives must be rocking on their feet at the tiniest squeak of your name by now.
Id hope not. The whole point was to increase the fluidity of our operations. I was hoping the proposals would make the lesser evils of planetary administration more efficient in the long run, any sort of rocking certainly wont do.
A little swaying might be what we need to get things moving though. He grinned.
I suppose. Hayate replied neutrally. We need to get going. It was nice seeing you again, admiral.
I see you still wont take me up on the first name basis thing?
Ara? I dont recall declining it either. Hayate shot Vivio an unreadable look as she returned his courtesy. Cayman smiled and shook his head.
You never change, do you? Still as wispy as the wind, and always in interesting company. He remarked ruefully, turning his attention to Vivio who suddenly wished to be somewhere else. Is that the Ground Force STG uniform? He asked the younger woman in honest curiosity. Vivio thought he looked like a boyish knight and wished his dangerously attractive face would have a chance to meet Graf Eisen. Most of all, she wished he didnt seem so upfront and polite and just good in his neatly pressed blacks. That would perhaps have made her feel less guilty about disliking him.
Yes sir. She answered, straightening up while trying her best to keep her ire out of her face. One peek at Hayate told her that she was failing spectacularly.
Ive had the privilege to command a few of yours together with the enforcers. Those were good, efficient soldiers, though very direct in their approach to conflict. He said graciously.
Were trained to be throughout even when were subtle, admiral. Vivio answered. Hayate made an amused, telepathic noise.
Thats an impressive commission. Admiral Cayman saluted. Its good to see that general Yagami is surrounded by competent people. Im sure she will need them one day, and we are all looking forward to when that day arrives. The man spoke with warm conviction as he extended his hand. Vivio shook its firm grasp, slightly stunned by the praise. Cayman smiled broadly at her and she found her involuntarily returning the favour. The admirals aura of natural calm pooled around him and she found it hard to fight its effect. He was warm but remained aloof just enough to keep things professional, good traits in any leader and even more so in a deep-space admiral. His mix of warmth and distance reminded Vivio very much of Hayate and this made her uneasy in more ways than one. The feeling only got stronger when she realized he had taken her for Hayates aide, or more likely, a bodyguard.
We should go. Hayate interrupted smoothly. I need to drop off a few things at my office.
Certainly, Cayman agreed. It is always a pleasure, general Yagami.
Hayate stopped at the door where Vivio was holding it up. She turned and gave him, though reserved, a genuine smile that reached her eyes.
Its good to see you too, Jason.
-.-.-
He likes you.
Hayate didnt deny it, merely nodding as they pulled out of the driveway. Vivios shirt clung to her loosely like a damp layer of skin. Her uniform jacket had come off as quickly as they had gotten into the car but she was suddenly feeling a chill when she looked over at the brunette and found Hayate studying her. Perhaps it was the blast of the air conditioner or her overexposing herself to the heat but her eyes made Vivio a bit uncomfortable. She gripped the steering wheel harder.
He does. Hayate admitted quietly.
"You knew?"
Hes not very subtle about it. The general smiled. I mean, even you noticed it in less than five minutes.
Whats that supposed to mean? Vivio asked dourly.
It means that the admiral wears his intentions on his sleeves, and that youre your mothers daughter.
Vivio made a face and drove quietly for a while, her cheery mood dampened slightly by Hayates earlier behaviour. She tried to put the details of their meeting with the admiral together and none of her conclusions were happy thoughts. The fact that Hayate herself openly admitted that the admiral liked her forced Vivio to recognize just how little she really did know about the others work life, and worse yet, she wasnt even taken seriously as a rival! The man had been polite and pleasant, true, but Jason Cayman had with one look discarded her as the aide and sidekick of his true conquest and this made Vivio wanting to punch him across his gallant jaw.
She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel as she shifted gear and put them in the fast lane. Hayate frowned at her choice but choose to not comment. Instead she focused intently on the passing view with an occasional curious glance at her driver.
Vivio was used to the scrutiny. It was one of the details she had come to learn after starting to date Hayate whose intellect came with its quirks. Vivio knew that while Hayate was hauled as a brilliant mind, her genius did not come as a gift from the skies. Her intellect did not blaze with solutions to every problem that struck the Ground Force, neither could she conjure up the resources her subordinates so often demanded for. Hayates true strength lied with her ability to be an observer and a listener, she had a frightening quick mind true, but these two skills were her greatest assets while taking on MidChildas colourful politics. She took in the world and its people in with a flexible objectivity, especially when she did not agree and always looked for the common solutions. Her challengers would critic her as much as they grudgingly admitted her capability, and to Vivio this spoke volumes about Hayates aptitude. She sometimes wondered what the others gift might have ventured to if Hayate had lacked her natural compassion, and decided she would rather not know.
So she drove, and let herself be studied. It was after all what Hayate did best, even if it vexed her to be treated as data. She hoped Hayate didnt think she was being childish and throwing a fit. She wasnt! But why did it always have to be the smartest looking ones who went after Hayate? Vivio had heard of Cayman from Fate and she knew the admiral was no wallflower. The man knew how to command and had earned his commission with honours.
Something warm enclosed her hand on the shifting gear. The sensation of Hayates palm split into five fingers as she stroke the back of Vivios hand, making the younger woman swallow. The touch was definitely more intimate than the one you reserved for a child and still made Vivios heart beat faster. She tucked her thoughts and irritation about admiral Cayman into a dark corner of her mind.
Maybe she was just being silly. Because really, what did all the handsome men and women in the world matter when it was Vivio who got to be the one to drive and date and kiss Hayate? But still !
Turn right here. Hayates soft voice snapped her out of her reverie. The street in front of her split into a fork, and they rolled onto a street Vivio had never taken before. She followed the request without thinking, trusting the others judgement as she enjoyed the hum of her mothers car.
The buildings thinned out in front of her as Vivio slowed down a little. Skyscrapers were exchanged for parks and apartment blocks, and then gas stations and warehouses. It was a good area, one of the early settlements older than the grandiose of metropolitan Cranagan. The houses they passed had the worn look of long and good living with small, well-tended gardens and clean streets. They passed a young man was hauling an oversized refrigerator on his bike. He was struggling up a slope and swaying back and forth dangerously but steadily refused to give up. Vivio pointed this out for Hayate and she smiled, which made her look beautiful.
Vivio was suddenly very conscious of the fact that she was driving a nice car with the woman of her childhood dreams by her side. Driving fast and living it faster eh? Not bad Takamachi.
Indeed, had she been any other teenager, she might just have been a bundle of nerves and ballooned ego. A sport car and an attractive adult woman could do that to a poor girl. Most teenagers however, were not Ground Force STG command candidates and hadnt asked for said womans hand in marriage at the age of ten. She kept thinking that as the road broke clear of the city and into the countryside, where Hayate directed her through another few turns until the road narrowed and came to an end by the sea.
Wow, Vivio stared. The beach was hardly the sort of ideal bathing spots you would find in brochures for fancy hotels. There was a thin strip of white sand close to the water but the rest consisted mostly of great slabs of grey, polished rock with stabs of dry seaweed between the cracks. Thorny looking shrubs with pink and white flowers grew on a few patches together with coarse, dark grass. The air smelt hotly of salt and the sun. To Vivio, it was perfect.
Its beautiful. She parked the car and bounced out, barely bothering with the handbrake.
Im glad you like it. Hayate followed, leaving her portfolio and uniform jacket behind. I found it by chance when I was doing basic flight training. Its way off the beaten path so no one really comes here, even during the summers.
Vivio nodded happily while she kicked off her shoes and ran straight into the water, enjoying the chill of the frothy waves.
Thank you, Hayate! She smiled and kicked up some water. Shouldnt we have swung by your office though? I thought you were busy.
The general shook her head. I did need to drop off a few things but that was it, I was planning to spend the afternoon with you. Didnt I tell you?
Actually, you did. I just kind of assumed that you would be busy anyway. Vivio said sheepishly.
Hayate made a face, looking apologetic. I suppose it cant be helped. The recent weeks have been a bit crazy. Im sorry, Viv.
Dont mention it. Besides, heh, its likely that I wouldnt have noticed anyway. I dont think Ive been kicked around so hard these two days since I ran into that plasma lancer unshielded.
I thought your program had a five days break?
Tell that to Vita.
Hayate oh-ed understandingly. The hammer knight was known for being tough on the recruits the bureau sent her and held her plight as a teacher only second to her duty as a knight. Her regimes had the highest dropout rate second only to Nanohas Advanced Aerial Combat program. It was the Belkan way, to break the weak for good while re-forging some to be stronger. A soldiery tradition Vivio had come to learn well over the past few months.
You ought to consult Zafira and Signum for some lessons too. I think it would do you some good in the long run.
Yeah, I figured. It cant hurt to know a bit of everything. Vivio agreed. She kicked at another wave, letting it roll past her calves. Hayate stood barefooted in the dry sand, just beyond the reach of the sea.
Vivio wriggled her toes in the wet sand, her heart as light as a feather. It was just like Hayate to come up with small outings like this. She really liked to be able to act her age, to actually be a girl and be with Hayate at the same time. No one would care if she didnt act like proper company for the general here. She let another wave wash her feet clean, then walked back to her girlfriend and pulled the shorter brunette into a loose hug. Her arms reached around Hayates slim waist easily now and the woman relaxed against her with a happy sigh.
Thats not the reason. Signum is the leader of the knights for a reason. Hayate went on. Vivio glanced down at her curiously. STG duties involve a lot of escort and extraction missions that can be very sensitive in their nature. Vita is by no doubt my strongest when it comes down to sheer firepower, but she lacks the finesse you will need as a command officer. I dont mind you getting belted around to build some resilience, but only as far as it doesnt get in your way of learning how to lead.
That is so sweet Hayate, I shall cut down on the time I spend getting my butt kicked, just for you!
The general pinched her arm. Then, she tilted her head back and made her point by kissing her, which made Vivios day about a hundred times better. They stayed like that for awhile until Vivio gently picked the other up and carried Hayate to a grassy spot. The woman had thrown her arm around her neck and held on. It was rather eerie she thought, how little the brunette could weigh in the light of how much she could eat. Shamals had explained to her that Hayate stayed so slight and girl-like because of her link with the Tome of the Nightsky. The logia and the additional magic made her burn a hefty amount of extra calories which had to be supplemented through proper meals, which Hayate had the habit of skipping whenever her workload got out of hand.
They sat down with Hayate now cuddled comfortably in Vivios lap while the younger girl sat cross-legged. A few moments of adjustments found them in a position comfortable for both. To a stranger, they must have made a remarkable sight. One, a general and the other a young field operative still in her training. None of them cared. Not when they finally had a moment like this at the edge of societys clutches. Not when there were so many reports to be reviewed and the gruelling final months of the STG candidate program to worry about.
A flock of geese passed above, gliding on gentle winds. Their grey wings seemed a soft rustle upon a flawless sky and reminded of the approaching fall. The summer was tall yet but the rain would come with the birds. Hayate leaned against Vivio peacefully, her head resting against a shoulder while her hand stroke her partners palm.
It was funny, how Vivio once had been desperate to talk to Hayate about anything and everything. She had wanted the womans attention so badly back then, and certainly tried to seem as interesting as possible during her many mortifying attempts at conversations. Those fears seemed a very long time ago now. Intimacy had slowly settled them into a balance where they know they didnt need to force the company with chatter.
So, do you want to talk about admiral Cayman? Hayates question came sudden, but strangely it did not break their peace. Vivio thought for a long while before answering.
Right now, I dont think so. She said, and decided to explain: I admit that I was a bit grouchy over it, but Im not exactly surprised over you having admirers. Youre pretty and successful, and its not like I can blame them for having good taste. Its more or less expected when we cant go official with us being together. I dont like it when people see me as a bodyguard or a messenger or when I have to pretend that youre not what you are to me, sure, but Im not complaining. This is the only way, and well be fine in a few years.
Im sorry I have to act like that.
Well, at least he is very polite. He seems like a nice guy, aside from the hitting-on-my-girlfriend part.
Hes a very good commander. I met him on a diplomatic mission a few years back when I was trying to widen my net of contacts in the navy. Hayate explained. He has always been very respectful in his interest.
Youd better not encourage him.
I do not! Hayate shot her a look. Are you going to pull the beware-of-guys talk on me now?
Good, then I dont have to come up with an excuse to borrow Graf Eisen. Vivio replied cheerfully. Besides, you forget that I lack the credentials to pull the guy-talk, period. You were the first and only one in my tiny line of desired suitors, remember?
Charmer. Hayate nudged her gently, and then made a concerned face. I just wish you could have what girls your age normally do, being open and happy about it. Like the way Erio and Caro did their courtship. Or Chrono and Amy.
Or mamas.
Not going there, Viv. Hayate rolled her eyes. Vivio giggled at her.
It would be nice to be able to hand you flowers in public, sure. But hey, even mamas had to restrain themselves when they were on earth, didnt they? Vivio tried, remembering that Earthian cultures could make a huge controversy out of same-sex relationships.
Thats partly the point: we are not on Earth. If our careers had been different, we could have been rolling down the streets smooching wildly and no one on Mid would have cared. Well, except perhaps for your mothers and the city police force.
Is that what you want to do? I guess we could give it a try, if we dress in civvies. Vivio laughed lightly. But seriously, Ive given this a lot of thought and I understand the importance of us staying like this for now. This isnt even about the admiral and his beaming dimples. Im a little jealous of that he can show his affections for you so openly, but that proves were very good at what we do.
Hiding. The resentment in Hayates voice was real, but did not overshadow the will behind it.
Yes. Vivio continued while brushing a hand through the others hair. Can you imagine what would happen if we made it official that you have been seeing an officer under your direct line of command? And theres the detail of me not being legal, of course.
of course, The general sighed tiredly. They had been over this many times but it felt good to remind each other. And then, therere the consequences of how it would affect you. Oh gods Vivio, if it ever got out that you were dating your superior officer while applying to the STG program
They would boot me for fraternization faster than Fate-mamas sonic form, yeah, I know. I would be lucky if they let me stay in the Ground Forces at all. Vivio hugged Hayate a little tighter while she talked. Her voice was calm like the grey waters. This brings us back to why I dont really want to talk about people like admiral Cayman. Not for a few years at least. Ill wait until Ive paid my dues in the STG, or wherever I end up on duty. I have to be able to show that I deserve my commission when people do start to talk because they will, eventually, and by then Ill have people who knows Im worth my mana. I need to protect you from this Hayate, just as well as youve been protecting me.
I just wish this could be less unfair to you. Hayates voice was very small.
Its unfair to us both. Vivio pressed a light kiss to Hayates hair. I know people your age expect erh otherthings from relationships, real grown up stuff, a-aside from kissing I m-mean. Her face reddened at the insinuation. Like any teenager, she did have her share of hormone-fuelled fantasies but Hayate had since long crossed that bridge. Vivio knew the general tried to hide her frustration but no faηade was perfect when tested by time. Youre making sacrifices too, and dont tell me that isnt true.
Youre still willing to wait, for our careers I mean?
You need to ask? Vivio sounded hurt.
Hayate stared up at the taller blonde for a few moments. A hand found its way to Vivios face and brushed a few strands of stray hair aside. Her face was a picture of appreciation and gentleness, mixed with a hefty amount of pride.
Oh Vivio.
It was more like a shove than a tackle considering their seated positions. Hayates little outburst did land them on the ground with the general lying atop the younger woman in a very conspicuous position however. Hayate was grinning happily like a fool while showering small, snowy kisses upon the taller girls neck. Vivio didnt mind. She gathered the slim, ink-smelling body to her and wondered if the sky had always been so brilliantly blue.
That however, didnt mean she couldnt have fun on the generals expense.
I do have a question about the present situation though. She said, or tried to since she was getting noticeably distracted.
Hayates face fell a little at the interruption and looked down at the blonde who was now pinned beneath her, waiting with mock patience.
Is this what they call the missionary position?
Vivio looked up at Hayate as innocently as she could while her hands moved steadily lower; they came to a stop at the bend of the womans waist. She became very aware of their proximity and how snug and nicely the brunettes body fit against her. Nearly three years of hot, bordering dangerous make-out sessions made good practice indeed. The brunette looked down at Vivio as if she was her favourite toy for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
I suppose it is, why? Hayate asked.
Just checking. I am going to add this to my list.
What list?
The-Things to Do Once I Turn Eighteen-list. Doh. Vivio said, rolling her eyes. Everyones got one.
Oh yeah? And dare I ask whats at the top of this list?
Vivio grinned like the rising sun.
You.
Hayates face reddened like no legendary general should be able to do, then she punched Vivio in the shoulder for effect while she was trying to grasp for something to say, but failing that, she settled for blushing a little deeper. Vivio however, was in full swing and showed no mercy.
Repeatedly. She drawled in dreamy giddiness.
That was the final straw for Hayate who stared down at the now smirking, giggling, infuriating Takamachi beneath her.
Oh dont look so surprised, Hayate. Ive been thinking about you since I was eight!
And already in association with the missionary position? Thats impressive. Hayate raised an eyebrow.
Well, mamas do forget to lock their door sometime. It was inevitable. Vivio said. And dont tell me you havent been thinking about it. Youre the one with the rumoured track record. Fate-mama said you went through teen dating like Erio-niisan goes through his morning toast.
One was not appointed a TSAB brigadier general lightly. It was a commission granted those who had shown outstanding field performance, fortitude and active intelligence under circumstances of extreme pressure. It was a responsibility given those few proven with both courage and wisdom under years of loyal service. It was a title granted Yagami Hayate for her precocious resourcefulness and hard work, and she would not be outdone so easily by a woman-child and her warm and very beautiful body.
Hayate decided that Fate would in some way have to pay for her big mouth, likely through something involving alcohol and an angry spouse. Vivio shot Hayate her Takamachi-patented teehee-come-hither-look.
Or she did, until Hayate suddenly pulled up her legs and straddled her effectively, which was soon followed by the general swiftly undoing three of the buttons in her dress blouse of white water-cotton. Vivio gaped, barely catching the now bordering wicked expression on Hayates normally kind face.
H-Hayate, what are you doing?! She yelped in a weak protest, her teenaged brain quickly melting from the sheer implications of what the other undressing could mean.
In response, Hayate popped the last of her two buttons and pulled the blonde to her. She did so lazily, and all while moving her hips ever so slightly.
A preview. She answered factually. Now be quiet and let me show you some of the things Ive been thinking about.
***
She should have left the last two buttons be.
In hindsight, that would perhaps have been the wisest decision. Vivio had really piqued her however, and Hayate had a hard time stepping down from a harmless challenge. It was a talent the young woman had developed frighteningly quickly once they moved past the comfy initial dating. Hayate rubbed her temples as the landscape passed her by outside the car window. They were on the way back to Cranagan and neither dared to say a word.
The ah preview had certainly made an impact on its intended audience. It was easy to forget how young Vivio in reality was when you were emotionally involved. Hayates head hurt when she considered what she had just done in terms of propriety. She wondered in all honesty how she would have reacted herself at seventeen if someone had pulled a half-strip on her lap.
Fates teenaged edginess around the ever happy and straightforward Nanoha suddenly made a lot more sense.
It had taken Vivio exactly five heartbeats to catch up to Hayates little game of display. Vivio had hugged and done daring things to the brunette before but that was always with most of the clothes on, a slip of hand beneath a blouse or a kiss along the edge of a low collar. Sure, one or two buttons might have come off at some point but this was the first time Hayate had openly thrown herself half-naked at the girl who had reacted very appropriately.
It was unclear how quickly things had happened after the first kiss. Perhaps it had been an effect of the cooling winds, or the salty smell of grass mixed with everything that was Vivio. What Hayate meant as a racy tease had rapidly become something much more urgent. The blonde may have been young but Vivio had near three years of practice and there were no fumbling of hands when she pushed for what she wanted. A second kiss was initiated the moment the first ended while curious hands closed around her back. Vivio had pulled Hayates legs around her effortlessly, pressing them heatedly together with tender force while she gathered the shorter woman to her with rightful ease.
It had been insane. Delirious. Beautiful.
Hayate trembled in her seat when she thought about the feel of Vivios lips against her upper breasts, of the same lips travelling downwards, stopping to kiss the skin at the edge of her skirt and the sensation of being hold and touched again with such unhinged, naked need.
Oh god, how she wanted her.
It was not until the girl had gotten Hayate on her back and was well into the act of sliding off her unclasped bra when the general had come to her senses and gasped for her to stop. It had been torture and she wished Vivio knew what that action had cost her.
Her cry had been half-hearted and out of breath but Vivio heard and, thank the gods, respected it. Hayate didnt know if she would have had the will to deny either of them if the blonde so chose to ignore her.
They laid there for awhile, neither wanting to pull away from the comfort of each others arms while they gasped for much needed air. What Hayate saw in Vivios eyes then made her limbs turn to jelly. The girls face had been a paroxysm of disappointment and deep arousal, but her eyes were calm. Disparate shades of forest and ruby had pinned Hayate with a bordering ancient repose. She saw no frustration or resentment for her denial but affirmation, a patience and deep appreciation of what would eventually come.
Hayate had read about the old Kings of Belka and their fabled proficiency as lovers, and how some of them kept harems counting hundreds. If the legends held any truth to Vivios genetics, Hayate was indeed in deep (though pleasant) trouble.
The car came to a halt outside the Yagami house. Vita was outdoors poking around in a flower bed with Zafira while Shamal moved around the kitchen. Neither had spoken during the whole drive. It was not an awkward silence. Hayate wasnt even sure if it counted as a silence when so much was being spoken with every glance and touch.
Were here. Vivio said quietly.
Do you want to come inside?
Cant, Nanoha-mama wanted to have a family dinner thing. I think grandma Lindy might be coming over.
Oh. Alright then. Hayate nodded while gathering her things.
Thank you for the picnic. Vivio said at last, politely.
Is that what were calling it now?
They looked at each other, and then simultaneously burst into laughter. It felt good to clear the air. Jacket and portfolio tucked under her arm, the brunette opened the door to leave.
Hayate, Ill never regret going too far with you. Vivio said suddenly. Her gaze did not waver when she looked at her general. It was the courage sprung from youth and cemented by Vivios personality. She would not back down, not from this. And I intend to sleep with you one day.
Hayate returned her look and swallowed. A shiver shot down her spine at the bare thought of the road ahead. She reached out and grasped Vivios hand.
Youd better.
***
Later that night, after an evening spent on terrific food and the warmth of family, Vivio finally emerged from a very long and cold shower. She kicked off her slippers the moment she got inside her room and threw herself onto the bed, hoping somehow that the impact of pillows might knock back some sense into her.
Hayate was lucky she thought, for not having a growing body that was fuelled by way to many hormones. Plus, the woman had experience. What happened at the beach was probably old hat for her and Vivio imagined the general must have gone off to sleep with a smile.
Vivio tried to sleep.
She tried very hard.
She tried very hard to not think of a certain brunettes body writhe so beautifully beneath her own.
Her birthday and the STG field exam just couldnt get here soon enough.
***
Hayate was in hell.
Vivio had it good she thought, for not having the experience to fill in all the blaring blanks. Hayate had skipped dinner and gone straight for the bathroom where she tapped a bath in an attempt to drown the all too stirring visuals. One hour later, pruned like a pickled plum and still vividly aroused, she decided to throw in the towel (literally) and go to bed.
She tried to put Vivio out of her mind.
She tried to not imagine the woman Vivio one day would be, when Vivio would no longer stop but push her down and do to her all the things that lovers do.
She lay in bed with Rein peacefully asleep beside her and tried so very hard.
Hayate was in hell.
-fin-
Spoiler for Author's Notes:
This was fun to write. The first half came arguably on its own. I wanted to portray one of the many complications Vivio accepted into her life in her choice to pursue a relationship with someone like Hayate. Hiding and risking her own career might not have been what she signed up for when she fell in love, but the issue is there and I thought it ought to be addressed. I am considering to write something similar from Hayate's point of view, about the difficulties and challenges she has to face as someone making a very political career. But of course, the authors of this universe are still all kinda fuzzy about the sociology and organization of the Midchildan politics-military dynamics. That story would have to be in the future, but would certainly be awesome to write.
The featured smooching session is Yui's fault. Do not look at me.
(Yui: hotness does indeed inspire hotness )
WOOHOOO~~
I kind of liked Cayman (but somewhere in my mind I kept hearing a little voice that shouted "tax haven!" every time his name popped up). I can see why Vivio got a little grumpy when Hayate decided to call him by his first name. Vivio would probably have picked up on the fact that first-name basis is kind of a bigger deal in Japanese culture than other cultures.
Belkan harems? *SNIRK* Imagine all the jokes and teasing Vivio must live through... (and yes, write that spin-off!!)
Re: getting busted - I think both would suffer some sort of backlash if their relationship did get out. People talk and politics is rife in any sort of government. I can see it going down in flames :P
And finally, yes, that was hot I loved the sway of dynamics from tease to being teased then back again. hehehehe poor Hayate... but she really did set herself up for that one ;D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moczo
Oh, hey, the FFT does still exist! That's nice.
Anyway, time for my semi-annual updating of Infinity, before I flee and hide again! There you go. It's a bit shorter than usual, but it is at least an update. More than I've felt like doing in ages.
*Flees and hides*
*cries tears of joy*
Absolutely loved the last line XD
Yuuno grunted as he blocked another energy blast. "Thoth!"
"Sorry, boss, looks like there's three of them."
Yuuno grimaced as those Megahs continued to blast him. "Wait, three, how come..?" When a shadow came overhead, he looked up and understood instantly. "Dammit!" As strong as his shields were, he could feel them weakening just from being around the Megah, he wasn't sure if he could block this one.
"Boss, it looks like we're about to get stomped."
"Thanks, Thoth." Yuuno grumbled and took a gamble, he didn't know if it would work, but he had to get out from between the Megahs. Concentrating, his whole body glowed orange as the Megah stomped down. The instant that the foot hit the barrier, Yuuno had them erupt outwards and he raced out, grimacing at how slow he was moving. "Great, that anti-magic stuff is almost crippling me here!" Sure, he was moving faster than he could run, but it was almost painfully slow compared to what he was used to.
"Even Hybrid and Holy magic's getting disrupted boss."
Yuuno grimaced at that and spun around, snapping his wrists forward and sending out a gout of fire at the robots. He grunted as he saw the flames get batted aside by a Megah with its blade. "Dammit." If it was one, he was sure he could win, three was a different story.
The next thing Yuuno knew, three green beams slammed into the bodies of the Megahs, causing them to stumble backwards from the force. Turning, Yuuno stared as Otto walked up to him.
"If you have trouble with them, my Ray Storm is unaffected by their AMS." Otto said softly and looked at him. "If you wish, I shall help you."
Yuuno looked at her, part of him wondered just what she was playing at, but another part of him was grateful for the help. "I've got a spell that might work, but that anti-magic barrier makes it hard..."
"Overload it." Otto said and got in front of Yuuno. "If you wish, I can be your shield."
Yuuno put a hand on her shoulder as the Megahs recovered. "That's nice, but I'm more of a shield myself." He smiled as she blushed softly. "Can you destroy them?" She nodded and he narrowed his eyes while grinning. "Let's go then."
"I... I can take them out in one attack, but, I have not mastered it..." Otto said as she floated upwards, "I do not..."
"Hey, then don't worry about it." Yuuno floated up as well and narrowed his eyes as the Megahs started to step away from each other. "Any suggestions, Thoth?"
"No offense, boss, but if you aren't using Holy or Astral magic, your offense is a little limited in this situation. Unless you intend to put a blanket over their heads, knock them on their backs and drop a giant rock on them or something."
"Thoth, that..." Yuuno blinked and a grin came to him. "You'll need to take at least one out, ready?" Otto nodded as Yuuno clapped his hands together. "Dark Mist!"
A dark fog quickly covered the area, rising up above the Megahs, covering the streets and buildings, blocking out all sight, except for the bubbles that surrounded the Megahs. One of the Megah walked forward, slowly, and found that the fog moved along with it, quickly filling in the spots that the Megah left in its wake.
After a few steps forward, the Megah found Otto standing on the ground, lightning crackling from her body as wind spun and spiraled around her. "I might not have complete control over this, but I should be able to take you down." Her pupils slitted and her tail stood on end as a white ball of energy formed in her hands. "I will not..." She gasped heavily. "Let you..." She growled, her eyes narrowing at the Megah. "Hurt ANYONE!"
Otto thrust her palm forward and the ball of white-hot energy hummed in the air before shrinking slightly and then erupting forward. "Nova... Storm!"
Otto had to close her eyes from the bright flash of light that happened with her attack as a stream of super hot plasma energy erupted forward, connecting with the machine and vaporizing it instantly. Groaning from the heat and pressure of her own attack, Otto fell to her knees as she felt her strength leaving her body at once. 'What... Why does this always happen?' She asked as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fell to the ground, unconscious.
High above the fog, Yuuno didn't see what was going on down below as rocks hovered around him while lightning crackled around him. "Let's go, Thoth..."
"Okay, boss, hope we don't crush the cutie down there with this."
"I know." Yuuno nodded as the rocks came together. "Now... Arc Brass!" He had no idea why this was an Earth-based spell when the thing dropped lightning from the sky. Yuuno wasn't aiming at the Megahs directly, since he knew that their blasted anti-magic barrier would stop almost anything that he tried.
However, if he chained spells together, he had a feeling that chaining the Arc Brass into his next spell, he might be able to stop them. "Veegas Gaia!" Normally, the spell needed a hand on the ground to make it work, but he hoped that it would work.
When he saw a Megah suddenly fall backwards, Yuuno grinned and balled his hand into a fist, causing the rocks that were floating around him to start packing together. "Let's do it Thoth!"
"Goodness, greatness, great rocks of fire!"
Yuuno grinned and held his hand above his head, where the rock was floating before he created a funnel pillar of fire to encase the rock.. "As Nanoha would say, Zenryoku Zenkai." Swinging his arm down, the flaming rock flew out of the sky and slammed into the Megah's body with such force that several cars were tossed up and buildings shook from the force of impact, the fog itself was dispersed due to the heat from the flames on the rock.
As for the Megah that his rock hit?
"That is one dead robot." Yuuno muttered as he saw the Megah's body and head were replaced by the smoldering rock.
"Boss! The girl!"
Yuuno looked down and stared as the last Megah was about to stomp down on Otto, who was just starting to recover from whatever she did to the first Megah. He growled as a green circle appeared under his feet. "HEY! UGLY!" The Megah turned to look at him as Yuuno pointing both hands straight down and shot down. "Try taking ME ON!"
As Yuuno shot down, he began to chant a spell that he learned once, but had never bothered to use.
"Infinite earth,
mother who nurtures all life,
let thy power gather in my hand!
VLAVE HOWL!"
As Yuuno's hands touched the ground, he watched as the street ahead of him turned into lava as he cast the strongest Earth spell possible.
"Boss, as awesome as this is, what about the girl? She's too cute to let her get die from this."
"Think I'd let her die?" Yuuno asked rhetorically as a chain snapped out from a building, wrapped around Otto and pulled her out of the way of the oncoming lava.
As for the Megah, it fell forward, sinking into the lava quickly as its body was melted down. It pointed its cannon at Yuuno and charged up a blast that quickly fizzled as its torso, arms and head sank into the lava and melted to nothing.
"...That was rather fast, even for lava."
"Mixing Holy and Spirit Magic together makes things pretty fast, boss." Yuuno sweat-dropped and wondered when he did that. "What about that girl?"
Yuuno nodded and flew after Otto, who was looking somewhat out of it from where she was pinned against the wall. "You okay?" He couldn't help but notice how ragged her gloves and body suit were.
Otto nodded and smiled at him. "I should not have used that Nova Storm," she looked down at the chains on her body and tugged at them, "can you let me down?"
"Sure." Yuuno canceled the binds and grabbed Otto as she fell forward. "Can't fly?"
"Tired." Otto put her head on his shoulder. "Gimme ten minutes, I'll be okay."
"Hey, boss, she's slipping, might want to adjust your hold on her."
Yuuno rolled his eyes and slipped an arm under Otto's legs, holding her up against his body better. "Sheesh, what the heck did you use on that robot?"
Spoiler for Comment:
I think Thoth was sick or something.
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
In the darkness of her bedroom, Kuroi Mato lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, her thoughts awhirl with emotions. To an outside observer she may have appeared to have fallen asleep with her eyes open were it not for the incessant opening and closing of the cellphone she held lightly in one hand.
After a time, that activity ceased and Mato spared a glance at the phone's screen. Thirty more minutes. She folded her arms over her chest and took a calming breath, trying to get her emotions under control. Something particularly difficult as she couldn't help thinking again of the pain on Akiko-chan’s eyes, the tears, the desperate emotions as she cried out for anybody who would listen…
A blue light illuminated the dark room and she quickly covered her left eye, cursing softly at her loss of control. Not surprisingly, her Other wasn't exactly thrilled with what Akiko-chan had gone through either. Teaching the other girl's monsters why people were scared to death of the burning blue flame was a plan they both eagerly anticipated executing.
She looked towards her door with a raised eyebrow. "You can come in," she called out.
“Sis?” her door was pushed open and a young boy meekly looked in.
“What’s wrong, Hiro?” Mato asked, sitting up. The younger boy moved to sit next to his sister and looked down at his hands. “You watched,” came the not quite question. The blue eyed boy nodded and Mato smiled, pulling him into a tight hug. “Hey, don’t worry, she’s okay now.”
Hiro nodded mutely, clinging to his sister for a moment before pulling back. A knowing grin was plastered on his face as he looked up. “Mato's lucky mom was looking at the television. You had your scary eyes on.” Mato could only cringe, thanking her lucky star mom hadn't noticed anything. They were having way too many close calls as it was. “Will you help her too?” The question earned him a toothy grin.
“Yep, we’re going to do everything we can.”
The upper half of a girl with an eye-patch over her right eye suddenly appeared above them, hanging in mid air. Neither sibling noted the girl's intrusion with any more alarm than one might note the color of their own shirt. “First we need to figure out how we're gonna do that, though,” the spectral girl said, tilting her head a little to the side.
“We will, we will,” Mato said, waving a hand dismissively. “Any luck on the ID hunt?”
“Just on Akiko’s case, and that’s because she pretty much handed it to me on a silver platter,” replied the other girl with a shrug. “Haven’t found much on White-chan and Black-chan yet.”
“Keep looking,” Mato said and Hiro gasped.
“You're trying to find their secret identities?! Naoko-chan, they're supposed to be on your side!”
“Boss's orders!” the half-girl chirped, shunting all the blame onto Mato.
Before the oldest girl could reply, Hiro frowned and looked at the other two girls with an unusual seriousness. “Are you going to tell mom about, you know?”
Mato and Naoko exchanged a look and mumbled something that could be a “Telling mom, sure,” and a “Yeah, I'll tell Mama Kuroi later.”
An awkward silence descended on the room.
“Well, I'm going to the hill,” Mato said as she suddenly stood up.
“Isn't it a bit too early?”
“I just want a moment on my own to think,” Mato replied with a shrug and her siblings nodded. “Coming?”
The eye-patched girl mock shivered. “Too chilly for me, Mato. Don't stay up too late, Hiro-kun!” Naoko chirped with a cheeky grin.
The boy pouted, glaring at Naoko. “You're just a few years older than I am.”
“Still older!” she cackled, waving them goodbye as she pulled back as if ducking into a hole and disappeared into thin air.
“Sis?”
“Hm?” Mato looked up from putting on a black hoodie.
“Are Mato, Naoko, Yomi and everybody going to be okay?”
Mato simply gave him a boyish grin. “We always are, bro. Go get some sleep now, 'kay?”
She opened the window above her bed and climbed out. She hung from one hand on the ledge above the window, ready to close it behind her when Hiro hurried forward, trying to be as silent about it as possible.
“Sis!” he whispered.
Mato tilted her head a little to the side in question.
“Think... Do you think I can help this time?”
Mato couldn't help chuckling at the question, and in the back of her mind she could feel a touch of interest. “Keep your eyes open. If a magical girl happens to be in your school, tell her she isn't alone and can ask her senpai for help,” she said, waving goodbye to Hiro, sliding the window closed and climbing the wall with an ease that couldn't be natural. She took a moment to check her surroundings and then hopped over the rooftops on the other side of the street, making her way towards a hill surrounded by a park of cherry trees.
BATTLE FANTASIA
“Nanoha! Signum!” Vita waved away the dust that filled the air as she clambered through the rubble left by Graf Eisen smashing through what she guessed was the seventh stone wall she'd wrecked today. After beating the monster bunny - a depressingly easy task given it had apparently been dead before she had blown it apart with her final attack - she had left the fake Hayate's room and gone searching for her companions. It hadn't taken long before she had given up wandering aimlessly and had gone right for option two - break stuff until she found something that looked important. “Where the hell are you two!?”
It was only her deeply ingrained combat instincts that made her snap a shield in place as a sphere of pink light came bursting out of the dust in front of her and almost took her head off. Instead it exploded harmlessly a few inches from her face - as a bonus the exploding magic blew away a good amount of dust, allowing Vita a glimpse at whoever had shot her... though given the magic's color she had an idea in mind already.
“Nanoha!” She yelled, launching herself forward at the barely visible white blob she could see through the fading dust cloud. If Nanoha was shooting at her then either she didn't realize it was Vita she shot at, was under some kind of illusion making her think Vita was someone else, or was being actively controlled in some way. Neither of the last two options was something she expected as both required magical finesse on a level she'd never seen herself but given how easily the owners of this factory had reached into her own mind earlier she wasn't going to rule them out.
Naturally the white figure slid to one side as the knight came at her. Even without Graf Eisen leading the way Vita knew that Nanoha wasn't stupid enough to stay in her flight path. Knowing this the knight was already turning to face the white-clad girl before she had even come to a stop... though when she actually got a good look at Nanoha she almost didn't stop as for a moment simple surprise overrode her control.
What she had thought was her friend was... like her friend.... and that was about the best way she could come up with to describe the... thing in front of her.
“You're... who the hell are you?” Vita hissed, pulling her weapon around into a ready position.
The white-clad figure laughed. “Isn't it obvious?” She asked, “I'm Nanoha!”
Vita could see that one could claim the figure to be Nanoha, but it was more like... like a caricature of Nanoha rather than the real thing. Certain parts were odd, distorted or exaggerated - as if whoever had created the girl had not been aiming to reproduce the things that Vita believed made Nanoha who she was. Perhaps another way of describing it would have been that this was a Nanoha from the wrong side of a fun-house mirror - she was slightly too tall, her eyes not quite level, her outfit more... girly... than the real Nanoha's was. Everything about her screamed 'Nanoha' and yet everything about her also screamed 'Not Nanoha'.
All in all it was pretty disturbing in ways Vita couldn't really put her finger on... But she could be sure of one thing at least. “Like hell you are.” She hissed, “If you're the real Nanoha then I'm the Saint King!”
“You see what I mean, me?” The imitation asked as she looked down somewhere below Vita. “She's just downright unfriendly.” The caricature shrugged and bought what Vita assumed was meant to be Raising Heart to bear on the knight. The device, like it's user, was just plain wrong - looking a lot less dangerous and a lot girlier than Vita remembered it being... though that didn't really change the fact that it was both in shooting mode and aimed at her.
Cutting her flight magic off cold the knight dropped like a rock as a wave of pink doom blasted the spot she had been in to vapor. As she fell she twisted in mid air and let loose with a brace of iron balls, accelerated to insane speeds by swinging her hammer into them with the kind of inhuman skill only a knight of her caliber could manage. Moments later she reactivated her flight magic and touched down on the ground safely before immediately throwing a quick shield up over her head. Above her the false Nanoha weaved around the shots and then darted away with a surprised squawk as the seemingly avoided shots instead hit the roof behind her and sent debris raining down from above.
Chunks of brick and shredded piping bounced harmlessly off of Vita's shield while she scanned the air for where the fake Nanoha had escaped to. Unfortunately along with the debris that had been part of her plan the destruction caused by her spell had caused yet another cloud of dust into which the fake had apparently retreated. Worse was that the same trick probably wouldn't work again unless the Nanoha copy was particularly stupid... and she suspected that was rather unlikely.
Backing up slowly, intending to find a wall to keep at her back, Vita continued to scan the area around her. She didn't think Nanoha would try a sneak attack - the girl was far too direct for something like that... but this fake wasn't really Nanoha and Vita was careful not to make assumptions on how she would act. As she backed away she moved her feet carefully, lifting one up and lightly checking behind her by feel before she put it down again - a method of stepping which ensured that she wouldn't slip or lose her footing as she moved.
Suddenly, and much to her surprise, one of her feet came into contact with neither thin air nor solid brick - instead she felt something that gave way with a whimper. Spinning around she swung her device... then stopped dead mid-swing when she realized who, exactly, she had bumped into.
It was hard, in many ways, to put into words the thoughts that passed through Vita's head while she stared horrified at the familiar girl in front of her... but in the end they summed themselves up in three little words.
'She's so tiny.'
It was an odd realization for the knight as she normally saw Nanoha as an equal in power, skill and stature to herself, an ancient Belkan knight with centuries upon centuries of training and experience behind her. For the first time she was struck by the simple fact that the combat mage she called both devil, rival and friend was... was just a little girl who up until a year ago hadn't even heard of magic much less magical combat. The brown-haired girl was curled up on the floor, her hands firmly pressed against her ears and her eyes screwed shut. Her barrier jacket had dissolved and left the young mage entirely unarmored in the light blouse and skirt she had apparently been wearing before she had come to see Hayate earlier.
A quick glance around revealed Raising Heart, in storage mode, resting nearby on the stone slab flooring where Nanoha had apparently dropped it. As Vita reached down to pick the jewel up she froze for a moment before suddenly hurling herself off to one side as a barrage of pink bullets blasted through the air above the downed Nanoha.
“Now now,” the fake Nanoha called out from her firing position in the air some distance away. “The other me here is learning an important lesson, we really can't have you interrupting it.”
Vita's eyes narrowed as she glared at the flying parody of the girl on the floor. “What the hell have you done to her?” She hissed, clutching the haft of Graf Eisen so tightly that her knuckles turned white underneath her gloves.
The distorted Nanoha shrugged. “Told her the truth.” she stated, “Stripped away all those pesky little lies she's told herself over the years.” The girl frowned for a moment before smiling widely. “In fact, why don't we begin another lesson! Tell me Vita - what's it like being a slave?”
“The hell?” The knight frowned, caught off-guard by the question. That surprise quickly changed to anger however. “Who the hell are you to call me a slave!? Hayate would never treat us li-” she cut off quickly as she was forced to whip up a quick shield thanks to the false Nanoha taking a shot at her face.
“Who said anything about being a slave of Hayate?” the fake asked while the smoke from the attack cleared. “She is, after all, as much of a slave as you - moreso in fact, as you at least haven't fallen entirely into our 'friendship' as she has.” Vita couldn't help but notice how the real Nanoha reacted to the word 'friendship', seeming to clutch her ears tighter and shaking her head in denial. The false Nanoha simply laughed at the apparent distress of the real one. “She just bent over backwards when we asked for her help, didn't she? So happy to throw you against an unknown enemy simply because we asked! Isn't friendship wonderful?”
“Hayate didn't do it because Nanoha asked.” The knight hissed back, “she sent us out because it was right.”
The fake stared at the red-clad girl for a few long moments before she started snickering to herself. “We always thought you were the stupid one,” she managed to get out after a while, “but we never thought you were this stupid! Our friendship with Hayate is based on the same things every other friendship of ours is! Fear and force!” Adopting a condescending look towards the young knight the false Nanoha explained, “Hayate we own through fear! She knows that if we were to go off and tell a few people about what really happened with the Book of Darkness then the Bureau will be forced to change their minds on how they dealt with you!”
Vita winced noticeably as she considered the truth of that statement. It was true that she and the other Wolkenritter were in a dubious position regarding their involvement during that incident. Officially they were following 'accidental' orders from Hayate regarding their collecting of linker cores... truthfully they had been acting entirely on their own initiative. Worse, they had actually gone against Hayate's instructions if one considered her desire that they not need to hurt people anymore as an implied order - and the Bureau likely would.
If they were proven to be capable of outright ignoring orders then almost all their legal defenses, mostly based on the fact that Hayate could control them, would fall apart.
At that point a Bureau sanctioned destruction order would be the best result they could hope for.
Such a thing would absolutely devastate Hayate if it happened.
“You wouldn't!” The knight hissed, “Nanoha wouldn't!”
“Yes I would.” At the sound of the voice, quiet as it was, Vita's eyes widened and she half twisted around to stare are where the real Nanoha had pulled herself upright and was now hugging her legs. “Because I'm... I'm a horrible person.” she murmured, her words muffled by the way her head was pressed against her knees.
“But... you're Nanoha.” It was not, really, the most intelligent thing the knight could have said - but right at that moment her mind was simply seizing up as it tried to mesh the idea of the girl in front of her with her definition of a horrible person. This was the girl who had spent every fight with the Wolkenritter trying to convince everyone to sit down and talk their problems over. The girl who seriously handicapped her combat ability simply because she didn't want to kill anyone. The girl who never held a grudge over anything, not even the time Shamal had literally ripped out her soul - and then went on to forgive them all for when they did the same to her best friend as well. And all that was just the start of the compassion she had showed for Vita, the other Wolkenritter and their master Hayate.
As a knight - no, as a person - she simply couldn't accept the idea that Nanoha was a horrible person... not even if Nanoha herself had claimed it to be so.
“A knight,” she murmured, “Is supposed to hate the sin and not the sinner.” The phrase was one of the few memories of her distant past that the childlike knight possessed. “I never understood what that was supposed to mean - until I met you.” It had taken a long time before Vita had been able to understand that never, during everything that happened between them, had Nanoha ever actually hated any of the Wolkenritter. Instead she had merely hated the actions they had been forced to take and the methods they had chosen to use.
It had been a bitter pill for the knight to take because, in many ways, it meant admitting that Nanoha was a better knight than she was. The girl was loyal to a fault, protected the weak even to the point of handicapping her own magic in order to protect her enemies and she was definitely a more forgiving person than Vita could ever hope to be.
Now though... looking at the broken girl in front of her, Vita knew that Nanoha was no knight.
Admittedly she was both heavily armed and armored, and her skill was one that would likely secure her a place in history when she grew older... but deep inside her there simply wasn't the iron core of a knight. Rather there was the much more fragile core of a little girl who believed wholeheartedly in love and hope and simply couldn't conceive of a world in which those things didn't exist... Nanoha was a knight with the heart of a princess.
“It's a pity,” Vita stated as she drew herself up to her full height and turned to face the fake Nanoha, the one responsible for her Nanoha's current state. “That I won't be able to follow your example.”
There was a princess behind her, a little girl she had never imagined even existed before now. A Nanoha who had been shattered and had her broken self laid out for all to see. Looking at her hurt in a way Vita couldn't exactly describe, as never again would she be able to see Nanoha as the almost invincible opponent she had come to know. Where everyone else saw an ace of the skies, a genius combat mage or a true white devil... Vita knew that all she would ever be able to see from now on would be the fragile princess that hid behind all that strength, courage and skill.
“Because I'm not as kind as you are,” the knight continued as she drew her device back with one hand and conjured a set of iron balls in the other. “Because I can't forgive people like you can.” Before her was a monster. Behind her was a princess. For the first time since stepping into this god forsaken factory Vita knew exactly what she was doing. “Because unlike you I am a horrible person - I am going to destroy this bitch!” Graf Eisen swung around, whipping through the air as the iron knight threw the contents of her other hand into the air. A split second later the balls met the oncoming hammer's head with an almost deafening crash of metal on metal.
“Schwalbe Fliegen!” The Iron Count cried as it immediately performed the precise calculations needed to impart a set amount of magical energy into the balls, turning them from simple spheres of iron into deadly projectiles which curved mid-flight towards where the false Nanoha floated. Though it was a device, and one without any real intelligence at that, it was almost as if the count had picked up on Vita's resolve as the projectiles moved faster and with more conviction than Vita could ever remember them ever doing before.
The false Nanoha, who had apparently been about to rebuke Vita when the knight had let fly her attack, was forced to fling herself to one side. Even with this quick reaction she was still grazed by a few of the balls - the trailing edge of her barrier jacket ripped almost to shreds by the sheer force of the projectile's passing alone. She hissed nastily, as if the damage to her outfit was a physical pain to her, before swinging her version of Raising Heart to bear on the red-clad girl. As Vita shot forwards to put some distance between herself and Nanoha the fake let loose with a stream of pink bullets, most of which missed Vita while those which were on target ended up being swatted out of the air by quick swings of Graf Eisen.
In an almost immediate reaction the fake shot downwards as Vita changed direction towards her, going airborne and making a wide horizontal swing in an attempt to either cave in her chest or shatter an arm. The end result was that Vita overshot her target while the mockery just about slid through the air underneath her in the opposite direction. Once she had passed underneath the knight the fake kicked her legs up and stalled her forward momentum as best she could - causing her to pivot around her feet and hang, momentarily, upside-down and facing Vita's now exposed back.
Her copy of Raising Heart locked in on the knight.
“Divine-” Vita panicked when she head the fake Nanoha begin calling out her attack. If it was anything like the original's then she knew she was pretty slim on options to deal with it. Her shields would just crumble and any barrier she tried may as well have been made of tissue paper when pit against the raw power of that attack.
On the other hand, it wasn't a Starlight Breaker - which meant she at least had a chance of not being blasted into unconsciousness... Or ash, she wasn't sure if this false Nanoha held to the original's policy of not killing and frankly Vita had no intention of finding out. Naturally that meant trying not to get hit by this attempt to take her down... if blocking was out then evasion was her only option but at the speed she was going there was no way in hell she could pull off a sharp enough mid-air turn. And it needed to be sharp because anything less wouldn't get her out of the Divine Buster's radius fast enough. Fate could have done it without trouble, Signum too maybe, but they were both faster and more agile than Vita was by far - unless she got creative.
“- Buster!” The knight lifted her hammer up and dragged it lightly against the ceiling until it caught on an overhead pipe. That, combined with her forward momentum, turned her straight dash into a very sudden and very sharp turn straight upwards. Bracing herself against what was going to be a painful impact Vita simply slammed into the ceiling and hissed a few choice curses. From there she directed her flight magic into simply keeping herself pressed against the cold brick just as the air below her was forcefully replaced with a beam of pink death. The knight grimaced throughout the next few moments as she muttered a quick prayer on the subject of Nanoha not knowing how to re-aim her divine buster mid-fire.
Thankfully for her it seemed that Nanoha, or at least this copy of her, couldn't do so.
While hanging inches away from that much energy was nerve-wracking as all hell Vita remained where she was until the pink beam finally flickered out. Only then did she let loose the breath she had been holding, along with a muttered thanks to the Saint King for responding to her prayer and saving her armor-clad rear. That done she cut her flight magic back and dropped down while spinning to face the duplicate - at which point she gave a cocky little wave... before conjuring a whole barrage of iron balls to throw by hand at the girl.
Such a move was hardly effective as a real attack, not without the balls being charged and launched by Eisen, but they were enough to keep her opponent occupied and unable to shoot back. Keeping her opponent from shooting had, after all, just shot up high in Vita's list of priorities now that the fake Nanoha had just shown off one of the real Nanoha's bigger attacks. This was a fact that made the knight panic somewhat as it implied the duplicate possessed all of the real Nanoha's attacks. If this was true then she was almost certain that sooner or later the fake Nanoha would make use of a Starlight Breaker... and that was something Vita really didn't want to be facing in a room that was smaller than the expected blast radius of a small Starlight Breaker.
In order to prevent that happening the knight really only had two options - simply defeat the false Nanoha before she could use her top spell or keep her from using enough attacks big enough to provide the energy for its later use. Unfortunately the former option was rather shaky as a plan since Vita simply had no idea how much energy there was already in the air, which meant she had no idea how long it would be before the fake Nanoha could even use the attack.
Not for the first time did Vita make a mental note to learn how to detect ambient magical energy. Though she knew how useful the ability could be from facing Nanoha before she had never bothered to learn, thinking it best suited to support type mages like Shamal rather than a close combat type like herself. Right now, however, the ability to tell when the false Nanoha had enough power in the air to try a Starlight Breaker would have been really, really nice.
This left Vita with the single option of keeping the fake Nanoha pinned down, which had it's own drawbacks as none of her attacks were really intended for that sort of use - they all prioritized breaking through heavy armor more than anything else. Currently her hand-thrown iron balls were doing the job but keeping up such a high rate of conjuration and throwing was rapidly draining the knight's magical stamina. Worse was the fact that the fake Nanoha wasn't even wasting her own stamina on barriers! She was dodging... everything... Vita... threw...
The knight's eyes widened as she finally grasped the one little detail that had been nagging at her from the back of her mind for a while now. This Nanoha had been dodging everything, even attacks which she should have easily been able to block. Not once had Vita seen her use a barrier or shield of any kind... which was unusual since if the fake was copying the real Nanoha's fighting style then she should have been using shields as if they were going out of fashion. Fate was the mage big on dodging, Nanoha had always been more about defending herself than evading attacks - so the fake's reliance on dodging seemed odd... Unless, for some reason, she couldn't block her attacks.
It was a good theory based on what she'd seen, but Vita was experienced enough to know that acting on an assumption usually ended badly - she would have to test the thought out first before trying to take advantage of it.
Throwing one last group of projectiles as a final distraction Vita launched herself forward and made an almost painfully lazy overarm swing at her opponent as she drew close. As she had expected the false Nanoha slid to one side to avoid the blow, which whipped down a few inches to her right. It was a blow which Vita knew the real Nanoha would have simply shielded herself against - though it was also an easy one to avoid, so she couldn't exactly consider it evidence for her theory yet. What it did do, however, was set her target up for a second strike which would prove or disprove her theory depending on how the fake Nanoha responded.
As her weapon came down past the level of her target's feet Vita leaned to one side and angled Graf Eisen so that she could use the weapon's momentum and redirect it all, spinning herself around and into a great horizontal smash. The trick wasn't hard exactly but the force of changing the weapon's direction at speed like that threatened to pull her arms from her sockets. More importantly it threatened to blow the false Nanoha's spine out through her stomach if she didn't use some kind of shield - the position she was in combined with the speed of the second attack made it almost impossible for her to simply duck away from.
Except she did.
Or rather she didn't, as instead of merely moving back and out of it's path the fake girl had thrown herself up and over the moving hammer as if she were a high jumper vaulting a bar. Of all the moves Vita had expected her to make that, most definitely, was not one of them. Which was why the iron knight was caught entirely flat-footed when the false Nanoha pointed one arm at her mid-vault, while Vita was off balance and entirely unable to dodge or counter, and simply shot her in the face.
Out of all the people present Vita was the one most surprised to find herself not dead. She knew how strong Nanoha was and she knew that a point blank shot like that from Nanoha should have ripped through her knight armor as if it was paper. While the real Nanoha would have held herself to stunning attacks she had expected the fake to be using lethal attacks... the fact that she wasn't dead meant that either the fake was also holding back or it was far weaker than the real Nanoha.
As before she was unwilling to make a guess either way but at least this time she had a clear course of action. All she had to do was not get hit again and then it really wouldn't matter what kind of attack power the false Nanoha possessed.
Quickly the knight pulled away from her opponent before she could take another close-range shot. If nothing else Vita had at least confirmed her idea that the fake apparently couldn't defend herself. There was after all no way anyone would have resorted to such an absurd evasion if they could have blocked that attack of hers. Hopefully this meant that all she needed to beat the fake would be to land just one good hit... a task made significantly more difficult by the fact that this Nanoha was almost as fast as Signum or Fate and seemingly much more acrobatic than either.
She was pretty sure she knew why too. Throughout and even before the fight she had been noticing various things about the duplicate which were only now starting to add up in her mind. The fact that this fake was more feminine than the real Nanoha, the way she fought, her speed and her agility... Vita was pretty sure that this fake wasn't a copy of Nanoha herself but a copy of what Nanoha thought she was.
All these factors which were exaggerated were those that the real girl must have believed to be her notable features. Of course the young girl thought she looked more 'girly' since even someone as modest as Nanoha had some vanity over her appearance. The combat style was likely what Nanoha thought hers was like too, as Vita doubted that the real Nanoha was experienced enough to really look at her style with a truly objective mindset yet. It also explained why Vita still had an intact head. If this clone was copying how Nanoha believed she fought then it seemed more than likely that it had unintentionally copied her constant holding back too.
So the false Nanoha was faster and more agile but seemed weaker and was potentially unable to take a direct hit.
She could work with that.
Taking a deep breath the red-clad girl calmed herself and surveyed the battlefield. Part of her watched the Nanoha in front while another, almost separate, part scanned for the real Nanoha. It was a trick most experienced warriors learned so as to focus on their enemy and their surroundings at the same time. Right now she was simply making sure the real Nanoha wouldn't be caught in what she was about to do as without her barrier jacket it could be injuring, if not lethal, were she to be hit by accident.
She was forced to dodge a few shots from her opponent as she continued to survey the area and moved around to a better location for her plan. Once she was satisfied that the real Nanoha was out of the way she shot down towards the ground. As she descended she let loose with a spread of iron balls in a circle around where she would land, all launched with the full power of normal-form Graf Eisen. She didn't want to blast clear through to the floors below, merely make as much mess and flying debris as she could.
The false Nanoha glanced around the room, her vision cut off by the clouds of dust Vita's move had kicked into the air. Suddenly her eyes locked onto a patch of the dust cloud and she flung herself to one side as Vita came shooting out of it. Had she remained where she was then Vita's device, hanging been swung overhand, would have crushed her skull like some over-ripe fruit. The fake attempted to throw a few shots at Vita's back but by the time she had turned to face her the knight was already safely hidden out of sight in the dust again.
A few moments later Vita shot out of the cloud once more, this time from a different direction, and again the fake Nanoha was simply able to slide to one side and avoid her strike. Again Vita simply vanished into the dust before she was able to shoot the knight in response... and once more the attack was repeated. This third time Nanoha began turning even she dodged. Thanks to that she was able to hit the girl, though her shots just splashed harmlessly against Vita's knight armor.
Growling to herself she spun slowly in place, her head whipping to and fro as she tried to predict where Vita would come at her from next.
Suddenly, reacting to a faint movement in the cloud, she threw herself to one side and spun to shoot Vita as she narrowly avoided Graf Eisen once more. Her hand whipped up and ... and...
Vita wasn't there.
All she could see was the knight's device, spinning through the air as it vanished into the cloud of dust. Eyes widening, she turned, much too slowly back towards the direction that the hammer had come from.
That was when the young knight smashed into her, fist first, in a manner not unlike an angry red comet.
The doppelganger reeled back from the blow, it's face distorted like soft clay around a vast and disturbing dent imprinted where Vita's fist had struck. “You!” It warbled, it's mouth and jaw not able to pronounce words properly thanks to the distortion. “You struck m-”
Whatever it was going to say was cut off as the iron knight punched it again, though with significantly less force and this time in the stomach. Unarmed combat wasn't something Vita was confident in but it had been impossible for her to have lived alongside Zafira without learning a few tricks to make use of. Which was why, as she retracted her fist her hand moved up to grab hold of the fake's barrier jacket.
“You call yourself Nanoha,” the knight snarled as her other hand moved to join the first in holding onto the fake's clothes. “Don't make me laugh.” She drew back her head. “Nanoha is a kind person! Don't you dare-” The knight's head whipped forward then, her forehead smashing into the fake's face. “- tell me any different!”
The fake staggered back in the air, blinded and disorientated by the injury, as Vita let go of her clothes for a moment.
“Racketenform”
Cursing the doppelganger swung to face the voice, knowing from Nanoha's memories that it was the voice of her opponent's device. Too late did she realize the trick as a pair of arms came from behind where they looped around her own and up to grasp each other just behind her neck.
She struggled to free herself as, from in front, she heard an approaching roar and saw a dull orange glow lighting up the dust cloud.
Moments later Graf Eisen burst out from the cloud alone and spinning end over end so fast that it's steel frame seemed to blur into what looked like a giant flying buzz saw. And thanks to Vita's restraining hold, the doppelganger had no chance to avoid it.
Not that she didn't try - she all but flung herself from one side to the other in an attempt to shake off the knight's hold but Vita held firm right up until the moment Eisen impacted. At that point she dropped her hold and her flight magic as even if Graf Eisen was her device she sure as hell wasn't going to stay in it's path when it was going at that speed.
It was a good thing too as the doppelganger was quite literally ripped in two by the spinning weapon. Had Eisen possessed an edge then the fake would have been bisected, but since it was a blunt weapon the result was significantly... messier. The mess didn't last long however as within moments the remains of Vita's opponent began to dissolve and evaporate into a rapidly dispersing cloud of black smoke.
After all that the act of retrieving her device and floating back down to the real Nanoha was almost anticlimactic.
"Nanoha..." the knight murmured when she found the brown-haired girl huddled in one corner of the room. Looking at her she knew that she couldn't make the girl carry on any further, not in that condition at least.
Sighing to herself she crouched down and slipped one arm under one of Nanoha's own in order to lift her into a standing position.
Destroying the factory and completing the quest Hayate had bestowed was important but if Vita was going to be absolutely honest with herself then Nanoha was even more important.
She smiled slightly. "Let's find Signum," she whispered, "and then get the hell out of here. We can just level the place from outside before we go."
BATTLE FANTASIA
Had to trim the last scene off the end to meet the character limits. Complete fic found here as usual. Latest discussion thread found here, also as usual. For any interested in contributing to the project, backlog breakers are not required for participation and discussion.
__________________
Kill the Darkfic.
Burn the Angst.
Purge the Bad End.
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shigan
What makes you sure this is not my intention? I did drop the High Marshal plotbunny in TTWT for a reason.
You know I have ideas for it already. And now I'm getting more ideas, and they'll probably all lead to Bad Ends!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shigan
Ah, dc, I trust you will be the one to update the Chronology as usual?
Already added .
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moczo
Oh, hey, the FFT does still exist! That's nice.
Anyway, time for my semi-annual updating of Infinity, before I flee and hide again! There you go. It's a bit shorter than usual, but it is at least an update. More than I've felt like doing in ages.
*Flees and hides*
With less than 100 words, you have now won me over to being a Miyuki x Ammy shipper!
Quote:
Originally Posted by yuiseppe
I can see why Vivio got a little grumpy when Hayate decided to call him by his first name. Vivio would probably have picked up on the fact that first-name basis is kind of a bigger deal in Japanese culture than other cultures.
.......I totally missed that . You're right! Vivio would definitely realize that Hayate had just admitted to caring more for Cayman than normal between two officers .
So Altered Course doesn't seem terribly popular at the moment. :k I won't stop writing on it, but I think I should at least attempt to complete something else that I've been putting off for a while first. Something I think everyone else has been waiting on.
So with any luck, the next installment I post will be chapter 1 of The State of Affairs.
It's something I've seen come up before... If it's not particularly outstanding or horrid, but just meh, it doesn't draw much attention.
Yeah I can see why it'd be meh at the moment. The real fun stuff hasn't started. But my post was just to say I was aiming to get State updated, since at the moment that's my most popular fic.
With less than 100 words, you have now won me over to being a Miyuki x Ammy shipper!
Ammy is not a one-woman woman, remember.
"Sometimes there will be other women. Or men. Or both at the same time."
As for Altered Course, I can't tell Scryed apart from Technoxlynze, except that I've never watched either and I'm pretty sure I never will. Kind of like how I'm not going to watch Elfen Lied or Madoka.
Yuuno grunted as he blocked another energy blast. "Thoth!"
"Sorry, boss, looks like there's three of them."
Yuuno grimaced as those Megahs continued to blast him. "Wait, three, how come..?" When a shadow came overhead, he looked up and understood instantly. "Dammit!" As strong as his shields were, he could feel them weakening just from being around the Megah, he wasn't sure if he could block this one.
"Boss, it looks like we're about to get stomped."
"Thanks, Thoth." Yuuno grumbled and took a gamble, he didn't know if it would work, but he had to get out from between the Megahs. Concentrating, his whole body glowed orange as the Megah stomped down. The instant that the foot hit the barrier, Yuuno had them erupt outwards and he raced out, grimacing at how slow he was moving. "Great, that anti-magic stuff is almost crippling me here!" Sure, he was moving faster than he could run, but it was almost painfully slow compared to what he was used to.
"Even Hybrid and Holy magic's getting disrupted boss."
Yuuno grimaced at that and spun around, snapping his wrists forward and sending out a gout of fire at the robots. He grunted as he saw the flames get batted aside by a Megah with its blade. "Dammit." If it was one, he was sure he could win, three was a different story.
The next thing Yuuno knew, three green beams slammed into the bodies of the Megahs, causing them to stumble backwards from the force. Turning, Yuuno stared as Otto walked up to him.
"If you have trouble with them, my Ray Storm is unaffected by their AMS." Otto said softly and looked at him. "If you wish, I shall help you."
Yuuno looked at her, part of him wondered just what she was playing at, but another part of him was grateful for the help. "I've got a spell that might work, but that anti-magic barrier makes it hard..."
"Overload it." Otto said and got in front of Yuuno. "If you wish, I can be your shield."
Yuuno put a hand on her shoulder as the Megahs recovered. "That's nice, but I'm more of a shield myself." He smiled as she blushed softly. "Can you destroy them?" She nodded and he narrowed his eyes while grinning. "Let's go then."
"I... I can take them out in one attack, but, I have not mastered it..." Otto said as she floated upwards, "I do not..."
"Hey, then don't worry about it." Yuuno floated up as well and narrowed his eyes as the Megahs started to step away from each other. "Any suggestions, Thoth?"
"No offense, boss, but if you aren't using Holy or Astral magic, your offense is a little limited in this situation. Unless you intend to put a blanket over their heads, knock them on their backs and drop a giant rock on them or something."
"Thoth, that..." Yuuno blinked and a grin came to him. "You'll need to take at least one out, ready?" Otto nodded as Yuuno clapped his hands together. "Dark Mist!"
A dark fog quickly covered the area, rising up above the Megahs, covering the streets and buildings, blocking out all sight, except for the bubbles that surrounded the Megahs. One of the Megah walked forward, slowly, and found that the fog moved along with it, quickly filling in the spots that the Megah left in its wake.
After a few steps forward, the Megah found Otto standing on the ground, lightning crackling from her body as wind spun and spiraled around her. "I might not have complete control over this, but I should be able to take you down." Her pupils slitted and her tail stood on end as a white ball of energy formed in her hands. "I will not..." She gasped heavily. "Let you..." She growled, her eyes narrowing at the Megah. "Hurt ANYONE!"
Otto thrust her palm forward and the ball of white-hot energy hummed in the air before shrinking slightly and then erupting forward. "Nova... Storm!"
Otto had to close her eyes from the bright flash of light that happened with her attack as a stream of super hot plasma energy erupted forward, connecting with the machine and vaporizing it instantly. Groaning from the heat and pressure of her own attack, Otto fell to her knees as she felt her strength leaving her body at once. 'What... Why does this always happen?' She asked as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fell to the ground, unconscious.
High above the fog, Yuuno didn't see what was going on down below as rocks hovered around him while lightning crackled around him. "Let's go, Thoth..."
"Okay, boss, hope we don't crush the cutie down there with this."
"I know." Yuuno nodded as the rocks came together. "Now... Arc Brass!" He had no idea why this was an Earth-based spell when the thing dropped lightning from the sky. Yuuno wasn't aiming at the Megahs directly, since he knew that their blasted anti-magic barrier would stop almost anything that he tried.
However, if he chained spells together, he had a feeling that chaining the Arc Brass into his next spell, he might be able to stop them. "Veegas Gaia!" Normally, the spell needed a hand on the ground to make it work, but he hoped that it would work.
When he saw a Megah suddenly fall backwards, Yuuno grinned and balled his hand into a fist, causing the rocks that were floating around him to start packing together. "Let's do it Thoth!"
"Goodness, greatness, great rocks of fire!"
Yuuno grinned and held his hand above his head, where the rock was floating before he created a funnel pillar of fire to encase the rock.. "As Nanoha would say, Zenryoku Zenkai." Swinging his arm down, the flaming rock flew out of the sky and slammed into the Megah's body with such force that several cars were tossed up and buildings shook from the force of impact, the fog itself was dispersed due to the heat from the flames on the rock.
As for the Megah that his rock hit?
"That is one dead robot." Yuuno muttered as he saw the Megah's body and head were replaced by the smoldering rock.
"Boss! The girl!"
Yuuno looked down and stared as the last Megah was about to stomp down on Otto, who was just starting to recover from whatever she did to the first Megah. He growled as a green circle appeared under his feet. "HEY! UGLY!" The Megah turned to look at him as Yuuno pointing both hands straight down and shot down. "Try taking ME ON!"
As Yuuno shot down, he began to chant a spell that he learned once, but had never bothered to use.
"Infinite earth,
mother who nurtures all life,
let thy power gather in my hand!
VLAVE HOWL!"
As Yuuno's hands touched the ground, he watched as the street ahead of him turned into lava as he cast the strongest Earth spell possible.
"Boss, as awesome as this is, what about the girl? She's too cute to let her get die from this."
"Think I'd let her die?" Yuuno asked rhetorically as a chain snapped out from a building, wrapped around Otto and pulled her out of the way of the oncoming lava.
As for the Megah, it fell forward, sinking into the lava quickly as its body was melted down. It pointed its cannon at Yuuno and charged up a blast that quickly fizzled as its torso, arms and head sank into the lava and melted to nothing.
"...That was rather fast, even for lava."
"Mixing Holy and Spirit Magic together makes things pretty fast, boss." Yuuno sweat-dropped and wondered when he did that. "What about that girl?"
Yuuno nodded and flew after Otto, who was looking somewhat out of it from where she was pinned against the wall. "You okay?" He couldn't help but notice how ragged her gloves and body suit were.
Otto nodded and smiled at him. "I should not have used that Nova Storm," she looked down at the chains on her body and tugged at them, "can you let me down?"
"Sure." Yuuno canceled the binds and grabbed Otto as she fell forward. "Can't fly?"
"Tired." Otto put her head on his shoulder. "Gimme ten minutes, I'll be okay."
"Hey, boss, she's slipping, might want to adjust your hold on her."
Yuuno rolled his eyes and slipped an arm under Otto's legs, holding her up against his body better. "Sheesh, what the heck did you use on that robot?"
Spoiler for Comment:
I think Thoth was sick or something.
Me: Is it me or Yuuno just bagged another girl into his so-called Harem?
Val: I think we need to reprogram Thoth... Before he turn the poor guy into a certified pervert...
Odin: Onwards to the next battlefield!
Me: And I was hoping for Miyuki to save Yuuno's ass back there... XD
__________________
Darwin's nominee are best for laughs.
MGLN "Befriending" shows love thru superior firepower (Zenryokou Zenkai!)
Gundams are your worst nightmare in the battlefield.
SRW beats all foes.
JAM Project pwns all!!!
And I can't still make fanfic without restarting from the start when new ideas comes in...
I kind of liked Cayman (but somewhere in my mind I kept hearing a little voice that shouted "tax haven!" every time his name popped up). I can see why Vivio got a little grumpy when Hayate decided to call him by his first name. Vivio would probably have picked up on the fact that first-name basis is kind of a bigger deal in Japanese culture than other cultures.
Quote:
Originally Posted by deathcurse
.......I totally missed that . You're right! Vivio would definitely realize that Hayate had just admitted to caring more for Cayman than normal between two officers .
Ahhahahaa, I didn't consider the Cayman isles connection xD. Jason Cayman is named after the Porsche Cayman, which is a sexy sexy car.
And yes, kudos to Yui for picking that up . Hayate do like the admiral, both as an individual and professionally as a fellow command officer, and perhaps even as a personal friend. He is a friend enough and like him enough for her to take up the first-name basis thing, and I don't think Hayate needs to justify this to Vivio in any way. She has her own life and net of contacts outside the family sphere, I say we let her have it.
And yep, Hayate set herself up for that one. Who said that only teenagers could be sexually frustrated? The poor woman.
__________________
Never stop being a kid. Never stop feeling and seeing and being excited with great things like air and engines and sounds of sunlight within you. Wear your little mask if you must to protect you from the world but if you let that kid disappear you are grown up and you are dead.
Richard Bach
On the power jump...well, Arf may nor be powerful per se and has the limitation of using Loise's magic to survive but she's skilled, and
As things are now I don't see the reason of going to buy an sword, given Arf's skill for unarmed combat in canon and having her device as her weapon (though it looks like it's going to be a trump card of sorts, or at least that looks like it will be Arf's plan until it's completely demolished --the plan)
Well, there's no actual reason for Arf to get Derflinger. Arf is taking a form of a small girl, and not a full grown women after all here.
However, there will certainly be a good reason for Louise and Arf to go to town..... so, we'll see.
Spoiler for Future Plans:
Anyway, Derflinger will be an interesting artifact- everything about it will scream Lost Logia to Arf.
On Arf using Louise's magic: it's not so much limitation, but adaptation here. Which will take time.
And though the device is functioning well in it's active state.... hmm Arf hasn't invoked it's other forms yet, hasn't she?
Arf's power corresponds to Louise's power. Since Louise is frighteningly strong in this fic, even by Mid-Childan standards, Arf is by no means that "weak" potential wise. She will be skilled in some ways (tactical experience and such), but might be hindered in a-lot of other ways (skill in maintaining and casting spells).
Practically speaking, her initial skill set would be quite limited. She can't fly effectively for one, and there's no way she'll be daring to try teleportation anytime soon. But eventually?
Yuuno grunted as he blocked another energy blast. "Thoth!"
"Sorry, boss, looks like there's three of them."
Yuuno grimaced as those Megahs continued to blast him. "Wait, three, how come..?" When a shadow came overhead, he looked up and understood instantly. "Dammit!" As strong as his shields were, he could feel them weakening just from being around the Megah, he wasn't sure if he could block this one.
"Boss, it looks like we're about to get stomped."
"Thanks, Thoth." Yuuno grumbled and took a gamble, he didn't know if it would work, but he had to get out from between the Megahs. Concentrating, his whole body glowed orange as the Megah stomped down. The instant that the foot hit the barrier, Yuuno had them erupt outwards and he raced out, grimacing at how slow he was moving. "Great, that anti-magic stuff is almost crippling me here!" Sure, he was moving faster than he could run, but it was almost painfully slow compared to what he was used to.
"Even Hybrid and Holy magic's getting disrupted boss."
Yuuno grimaced at that and spun around, snapping his wrists forward and sending out a gout of fire at the robots. He grunted as he saw the flames get batted aside by a Megah with its blade. "Dammit." If it was one, he was sure he could win, three was a different story.
The next thing Yuuno knew, three green beams slammed into the bodies of the Megahs, causing them to stumble backwards from the force. Turning, Yuuno stared as Otto walked up to him.
"If you have trouble with them, my Ray Storm is unaffected by their AMS." Otto said softly and looked at him. "If you wish, I shall help you."
Yuuno looked at her, part of him wondered just what she was playing at, but another part of him was grateful for the help. "I've got a spell that might work, but that anti-magic barrier makes it hard..."
"Overload it." Otto said and got in front of Yuuno. "If you wish, I can be your shield."
Yuuno put a hand on her shoulder as the Megahs recovered. "That's nice, but I'm more of a shield myself." He smiled as she blushed softly. "Can you destroy them?" She nodded and he narrowed his eyes while grinning. "Let's go then."
"I... I can take them out in one attack, but, I have not mastered it..." Otto said as she floated upwards, "I do not..."
"Hey, then don't worry about it." Yuuno floated up as well and narrowed his eyes as the Megahs started to step away from each other. "Any suggestions, Thoth?"
"No offense, boss, but if you aren't using Holy or Astral magic, your offense is a little limited in this situation. Unless you intend to put a blanket over their heads, knock them on their backs and drop a giant rock on them or something."
"Thoth, that..." Yuuno blinked and a grin came to him. "You'll need to take at least one out, ready?" Otto nodded as Yuuno clapped his hands together. "Dark Mist!"
A dark fog quickly covered the area, rising up above the Megahs, covering the streets and buildings, blocking out all sight, except for the bubbles that surrounded the Megahs. One of the Megah walked forward, slowly, and found that the fog moved along with it, quickly filling in the spots that the Megah left in its wake.
After a few steps forward, the Megah found Otto standing on the ground, lightning crackling from her body as wind spun and spiraled around her. "I might not have complete control over this, but I should be able to take you down." Her pupils slitted and her tail stood on end as a white ball of energy formed in her hands. "I will not..." She gasped heavily. "Let you..." She growled, her eyes narrowing at the Megah. "Hurt ANYONE!"
Otto thrust her palm forward and the ball of white-hot energy hummed in the air before shrinking slightly and then erupting forward. "Nova... Storm!"
Otto had to close her eyes from the bright flash of light that happened with her attack as a stream of super hot plasma energy erupted forward, connecting with the machine and vaporizing it instantly. Groaning from the heat and pressure of her own attack, Otto fell to her knees as she felt her strength leaving her body at once. 'What... Why does this always happen?' She asked as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fell to the ground, unconscious.
High above the fog, Yuuno didn't see what was going on down below as rocks hovered around him while lightning crackled around him. "Let's go, Thoth..."
"Okay, boss, hope we don't crush the cutie down there with this."
"I know." Yuuno nodded as the rocks came together. "Now... Arc Brass!" He had no idea why this was an Earth-based spell when the thing dropped lightning from the sky. Yuuno wasn't aiming at the Megahs directly, since he knew that their blasted anti-magic barrier would stop almost anything that he tried.
However, if he chained spells together, he had a feeling that chaining the Arc Brass into his next spell, he might be able to stop them. "Veegas Gaia!" Normally, the spell needed a hand on the ground to make it work, but he hoped that it would work.
When he saw a Megah suddenly fall backwards, Yuuno grinned and balled his hand into a fist, causing the rocks that were floating around him to start packing together. "Let's do it Thoth!"
"Goodness, greatness, great rocks of fire!"
Yuuno grinned and held his hand above his head, where the rock was floating before he created a funnel pillar of fire to encase the rock.. "As Nanoha would say, Zenryoku Zenkai." Swinging his arm down, the flaming rock flew out of the sky and slammed into the Megah's body with such force that several cars were tossed up and buildings shook from the force of impact, the fog itself was dispersed due to the heat from the flames on the rock.
As for the Megah that his rock hit?
"That is one dead robot." Yuuno muttered as he saw the Megah's body and head were replaced by the smoldering rock.
"Boss! The girl!"
Yuuno looked down and stared as the last Megah was about to stomp down on Otto, who was just starting to recover from whatever she did to the first Megah. He growled as a green circle appeared under his feet. "HEY! UGLY!" The Megah turned to look at him as Yuuno pointing both hands straight down and shot down. "Try taking ME ON!"
As Yuuno shot down, he began to chant a spell that he learned once, but had never bothered to use.
"Infinite earth,
mother who nurtures all life,
let thy power gather in my hand!
VLAVE HOWL!"
As Yuuno's hands touched the ground, he watched as the street ahead of him turned into lava as he cast the strongest Earth spell possible.
"Boss, as awesome as this is, what about the girl? She's too cute to let her get die from this."
"Think I'd let her die?" Yuuno asked rhetorically as a chain snapped out from a building, wrapped around Otto and pulled her out of the way of the oncoming lava.
As for the Megah, it fell forward, sinking into the lava quickly as its body was melted down. It pointed its cannon at Yuuno and charged up a blast that quickly fizzled as its torso, arms and head sank into the lava and melted to nothing.
"...That was rather fast, even for lava."
"Mixing Holy and Spirit Magic together makes things pretty fast, boss." Yuuno sweat-dropped and wondered when he did that. "What about that girl?"
Yuuno nodded and flew after Otto, who was looking somewhat out of it from where she was pinned against the wall. "You okay?" He couldn't help but notice how ragged her gloves and body suit were.
Otto nodded and smiled at him. "I should not have used that Nova Storm," she looked down at the chains on her body and tugged at them, "can you let me down?"
"Sure." Yuuno canceled the binds and grabbed Otto as she fell forward. "Can't fly?"
"Tired." Otto put her head on his shoulder. "Gimme ten minutes, I'll be okay."
"Hey, boss, she's slipping, might want to adjust your hold on her."
Yuuno rolled his eyes and slipped an arm under Otto's legs, holding her up against his body better. "Sheesh, what the heck did you use on that robot?"
Spoiler for Comment:
I think Thoth was sick or something.
At least this is evidence Yuuno is being influenced too much by Nanoha
I want to believe even Thoth can understand the tactical disadvantages of being distracted in that fight.
...I was hoping for Yuuno and Otto to interact further, but you already know that. :P
Looks wonderful, and it's certainly different seeing Yuuno use those types of spells and attacks. An very nice difference, IMHO.
Anyway, time for my semi-annual updating of Infinity, before I flee and hide again! There you go. It's a bit shorter than usual, but it is at least an update. More than I've felt like doing in ages. :heh:
*Flees and hides*
I've generally been a bit too busy lately to be active here, but for Infinity, I'll make an exception.
To be honest, there's not much else to note other than Amaterasu having jumped several levels in awesomeness by (at least temporarily) ditching the psycho attitude and deciding to do the right thing for once. And doing it with style, no less.
(On a related note, I'd belatedly like to mention that her boast at the end of the previous chapter was easily one of the most badass lines I've ever read. Great "F*** yeah!" moment, that one was.)
Also, gotta agree with yuiseppe, the last line was absolutely priceless.
One last thing, and I'm a bit hesitant to ask this, because I might be grasping at straws here... did I really happen to catch a BattleTech reference in there, or am I just seeing things that aren't there out of fanboyism?
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A programmer is an organism that converts coffee into software.
2012-01-21, 07:33
Author
I loved the sway of dynamics from tease to being teased then back again. hehehehe poor Hayate... but she really did set herself up for that one ;D
. You're right! Vivio would definitely realize that Hayate had just admitted to caring more for Cayman than normal between two officers 
.
. Hayate do like the admiral, both as an individual and professionally as a fellow command officer, and perhaps even as a personal friend. He is a friend enough and like him enough for her to take up the first-name basis thing, and I don't think Hayate needs to justify this to Vivio in any way. She has her own life and net of contacts outside the family sphere, I say we let her have it.
