The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Not for nothing is Kaede Nagase a Baka Ranger. ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Keys.
“Oh?” the first feminine voice asked mockingly. “Are they friend of yours, Forehead? You aren’t very discriminating, are you? Very well. Berserker!” And a pair of small pale hands clapped once. “Kill all the creatures but spare the townsfolk!”
“Towns… folk…?” Natsumi couldn’t help but twitching an eyebrow while the mostly bare giant who had just jumped close, making Fuuka and Fumika to, if anything, shriek even louder, began ripping into the shadow demons with raw ferocity and mania, quickly making short work of them, slamming and stomping and bashing them into dusty shreds under his massive fists and feet. It all happened so fast Natsumi barely could see it happening, and even Kaede and Ku were having problems following the massacre all that well, much less reacting to it. Still, the martial artists kept on bravely shielding their weaker classmates with their own bodies and assorted weapons, until the last remaining demons scurried away quickly, getting lost in the neighboring streets and alleys.
And then the collossus stood before them, pouncing hard on his wide granitic chest with his slab of rock, and shook his head back while howling and doing an uncanny impression of the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. To complete the effect, a shredded banner for the upcoming Festival that had been hanging from a nearby facade fluttered down around him while he roared in triumph.
“Thank you, that will be enough for now, Berserker,” pleasantly said a small albino as she walked forward and into the spotlight supplied by a surviving street lamp, her large eyes and smug little smirk now squarely focused on the 3-A students and the still unconscious Shiori in the middle of them all. “So you are more of Brother Negi’s students, hmmm? Good, good! Now please just start—“
“Nagase-san, Ku-san, everyone!” Nodoka interrupted the momento by rushing straight to her classmates, leaping into Kaede’s now open arms as the kunoichi laughed in her standard relaxed way. “Thank g-goodness you’re all safe! Wh-What were you doing out in the open…?”
“Ah-ha ha ha, it’s so good to see you now, Miyazaki-dono, but this one believes the question should be… what were YOU doing out in the open, de gozaimasu?” Kaede asked, softly ruffling the shorter girl’s hair just as Yue also stepped into view.
“Th-Thank you for saving us,” Natsumi nervously adressed the albino girl, “b-but who is this… mister who, ah, um…?” she gulped, looking up, up, up at the monstruous man who was right now looming protectively over the tiny stranger. “And, and did you just say Negi-sensei was your…?”
“He is,” the petite foreigner said proudly. “I am Illyasviel von Einzbern, of the fabled Einzbern family, the best of all Europe! I’ll admit the Springfields are nowhere as powerful or prestigious, but, well… Mother was a woman with weaknesses and shortcomings after all, like everybody else! Now, where were you heading right in the middle of this Heartless attack? Did you get a call from my brothers, or what?”
“Brothers? Like, in more than—“ Natsumi babbled before being quickly interrupted by the much more controlled Chizuru.
“Einzbern-san,” she said. “I am Naba Chizuru, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My father has made business with your family in the past, no doubt you know of him…”
Illya waved a hand in contempt. “I have no interest on every nobody and opportunist my elders deal with. Your family name means nothing to me.” Then, before Chizuru could reply in any way or form, Illya looked back to the darkness and called out, “Well? Are you still with us, or did the Heartless kill you while we weren’t looking?”
A reluctant female voice replied, “We can’t just walk in without doing a proper entrance!”
“Until then, we must stick to the protective shadows like good vigilantes,” a quieter, almost bashful new voice that sounded dimly familiar to Chizuru added.
Illya rolled her eyes, cocked her fists on her hips, and droned aloud, “Yadda yadda, whenever there’s evil that is conveniently weak enough, they’ll punish it, protecting the innocent, blah blah. In the name of Venus, Mercury and Mars, Sailor Venus, Mercury and Mars, and some cat. Whenever there’s a problem, I’ll solve it by burning it, I am the night, I am vengeance, I am Batman.”
Sailor Venus angrily stomped her way out of the darkness to stand before Illya and shout on her cute laughing face, “It doesn’t work if somebody else does the introduction! Be respectful of the proper protocol, how would you feel if I started mocking magi customs?!”
“I’d have Berserker rip your arms and legs off, naturally,” Illya casually answered while Fuuka and Fumika cringed and backed even further away from her. Ku was looking all up and down Berserker’s towering frame in muted awe, and Sailors Mercury and Mars were slowly walking into the badly lit part of the boulevard with matching mortified expressions. “Now, I don’t think my earlier answer was ever answered, and my patience grows thin, are my brothers…?”
“We haven’t been able to contact Negi-sensei or any other siblings of yours, I’m sorry,” Chizuru said, and Natsumi envied her capacity to take the whole ‘Negi-sensei has a psycho sister with a male nudist wrestler at her beck and call’ thing at face value so easily. “We were told the Tatsumiya shrine was offering relatively safe haven compared to the dormitories, so we tried to get there on our own…”
“Is Tatsumiya-san okay, then?” Yue asked.
“Tatsumiya-dono’s always okay, only the good die young,” Kaede actually laughed that off. “We also crossed paths with Zazie-dono not long ago. She left us just as soon, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem either. She’s with her uncle after all, de gozaru.”
“… Rainyday-san has an uncle?” Yue weakly wondered. “A-Anyway, if the shrine’s safe, maybe we should head there while we figure out what to do next, don’t you think so, Mickey-sama…?”
“Mickey-sama?” Natsumi said. “Who are you talking to now, Yue—oh.”
Yet another person was walking out into sight now, and frankly by this point Natsumi thought it was becoming a ridiculous farce of sorts, with all those wacky cosplayers and stripper wrestlers coming out in quick succession with no rhyme or reason. This person of unkown gender or age all wrapped in a black hood spoke with a voice that tried to sound serious but failed at how squeaky it was, not to mention the fact said person was holding a giant key prop attached to their back. “A temple, you mean? Oh gosh. I happened to land my ship near a temple, maybe that’s the site you’re heading to right now…?”
The twins blinked, stared at each other, and then Fuuka asked something she believed completely reasonable in the face of all the recent mounting insanity.
“Your ship? Are you E.T.?”
Keys.
Growing both more agitated and bolder, Fuuka pointed an accusing finger at that person's face. "You're an alien, and you were the one who brought all these aliens to Mahora, aren't you? Well, we're on you, pal! Your scam's off! Your gig's up! Your—"
"Fuuka-chan, pleeze...!" Fumika whined, grabbing her twin by a sleeve and trying to pull her back. "Don't antagonize the alien, are you nuts?! This isn't a cosplayer with a fake tail like Lala-sempai!"
"No, actually, he's kind of an alien from some magical world," Sailor Venus said. "I think he's on our side, though. That's why he still has a head on his shoulders."
Berserker nodded and growled at that while holding a stray random Heartless in an all encompassing hand, then chomped its head off in a single bite and began chewing down. Natsumi shuddered and clung to a Chizuru who patted her head mute and sympathetically.
Fuuka glared at Sailor Venus. "Listen, your cosplay may be decent enough, but you guys aren't cheating anyone, you aren't real magical girls. I mean, look at her, she's not even wearing shoes! What kind of Mahou Shoujo goes around barefoot?!" she demanded, pointing at Sailor Mars' feet.
Shiho frowned, pointed a finger at another, lizard shaped Heartless that passed by trying to escape Berserker, and roasted it to ashes with a small blast of fire. "Fire. Soul," she deadpanned.
Fuuka went silent for a moment before saying, "Okay, so you're an alien too."
"Either way, you don't want to mess with me," Shiho flatly said. She threw her hands up and began walking away. "You know what, screw this, I'm going home! Literally! Oniichan is sure to be with Mana-oneesama, and I've wasted enough time running around in circles with you guys! This obviously surpassed us, so let's just wait for Superman-sama to arrive and settle things while we hole ourselves up! That's the best thing we can do now!"
Illya looked at her retreating back, then asked Venus, "Why are you the leader instead of her? Because it looks to me she's the most intelligent of you all. Granted, that's not a very high bar to begin with..."
"You wouldn't be half as bratty if you didn't have that guy to watch your back!" Minako told her before reaching over to grab Shiho by a pigtail and stop her advance. "Now listen, you guys, we'll escort you to that temple before continuing our quest for the source of this madness! All you need to know is we're the actual Sailor Senshi, the big guy over there is Hercules, this loli is his Magical Master, and the little guy in the hood is a King from Faraway Land, so treat him with respect so he can save our butts! Okay, that's all, so let's keep on moving before more of those freaks get here!"
Ku Fei nodded. "Okay!"
"Okay, are you sure? Just like that?" Natsumi groaned. "That only raised further questions!"
Chizuru sighed. "Natsumi-chan, can you even listen, much less understand to, answers when you're dead?"
"Um, of course not, Chizu-nee, but..."
"Then please let's just go along with the nice people who could have let us die or killed us themselves instead of stopping to ask questions while more shadow creatures arrive to slay us, shall we?" Naba patiently asked while softly pushing her ahead to continue their way.
"Um, okay, when you put it that way, whatever you want, Chizu-nee..."
Illya hummed, then took her eyes off Chizuru to casually comment to Nodoka and Yue, "You know, for a cow, she doesn't seem that bad. First woman from your class I've met who seems to stick to some basic standards of human quality."
"This cow is highly grateful, Einzbern-san," Chizuru coldly said as she kept on walking, not looking back.
Illyasviel smirked and folded her arms behind her back as she happily marched behind, Berserker stuffing a last Heartless down his mouth before following her. "Why, it's nothing! Good to see Negi could at least whip one of you uncultured islanders into proper civilized shape!"
"I no islander, I from Great Continental China," Ku Fei pointed out, sounding somewhat offended.
Fuuka glared. "Are you sure you aren't picking the wrongest possible thing to take offense from?!"
edited 24th Feb '17 5:43:49 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
Keys.
“Then tell me,” Tatsumiya Mana coldly said, sitting on the floor facing him, with her back on the opposite wall all across the shrine’s main room, and reloading her rifle. She sounded just as stoic and professional as ever, hardly like anyone fearing or expecting to die at any moment then.
For a few instants, he regarded the nearly expressionless, tall and bronzed young woman he was alone with. He’d known her for years, almost as long as he had known Shiho, and yet he felt even now he had no solid grasp on her motivations or actual thoughts whatsoever. Keeping that in mind, it was perfectly likely his attraction towards someone who was allegedly younger than him but acted way more older and more mature would be a mere physical crush instead of a real romantic connection towards someone he didn’t even know for who she was. Besides, the high school student knew he wasn’t her type. She’d made it sufficiently clear more than once.
And yet, even if she gave no outside signs of being afraid for her life, she was no idiot at all. She had to know the risks were there. And, for all the hints she’d dropped for years he wasn’t her type and maybe he should start thinking of Shiho already, she also had to know he liked her. So, keeping in mind they could die any moment now, wasn’t it better to be finally honest, to say at last the words that were so long overdue, to settle things once and for all before—
“I’m still waiting for that confession,” Mana plainly said, her reload finished, her massive gun ready by her side. “They’ll start attacking again any second now.”
The almost as tall, fair skinned boy blinked, somewhat shaken by her choice of words despite all of his attempts to ready himself. “Con… fession? Ah, ah, well, I’m not sure, you’d want to put it that way, but—“
“I see. I’m sorry, but my answer will still be no,” she said, standing up, turning around, and retaking her sniping position by the window. Tate only could hiss in frustation at the back and shapely backside of the hakama-clad miko. “Keep your bokken well at hand,” she sternly adviced, her telescopic sight scanning the night carefully.
In the distance, she could see the vague outline of the thing that had descended from the sky shortly after the creatures arrived. She supposed they were connected, but she hardly could venture out to investigate the vessel and leave Shiho’s not-boyfriend alone in the event the monsters returned.
So in the meanwhile, she waited and kept on shooting at the occassional small party of shadow monstrosities that would approach from time to time, while Tate would bash on the few who could sneak in with his wooden sword, watching her back. He’d been lucky he lived close enough and thus could make it to the temple in time; Mana had contacted a few others through the night, pondering the pluses and cons of risking doing a beeline for the shrine, but so far none of them, not even those who had agreed to do it, had arrived yet. Mana couldn’t help feeling awful over it, as she suspected she had prodded a few to take unnecessary risks, but staying at the dormitories was hardly any more safe either way. Hopefully, at least Nagase would be able to escort Naba and the others to her.
Trying to keep her mind clear of regrets and hopes alike, she shot another shadow lizard crawling through the grass, the blessed bullet dissipating it into nothingness upon impact. Mana was an excellent shooter, meaning no projectile was ever wasted, and the holy ammo was an instant kill against those beasts, but on the negative side, she would run out of them soon, and despite being a priestess, her demonic heritage meant she couldn’t bless any more bullets afterwards. If the onslaught didn’t stop soon, she’d have to resort to unleash herself, and she really didn’t want to have to do that.
In her mother’s realm, shortly before escaping into the human world, she had heard of creatures like those. They technically weren’t demons, but aberrations created from dead hearts, from souls consumed by darkness, from bodies withered away and crumpled down into bestial, inhuman forms. Her half sisters had called them, in a few of the stories they would tell her to terrify and traumatize her, they were called Heartless and that once ago, during the First Age of Humans, back when the Silver Kingdom still stood on the Moon, they had first shown up causing a war against the humans from Beryl’s rule. A small band of adventurers, rogues and idealists wielding strange weapons had sealed them into a void, but it had been prophesized they would return near the end.
“What a bother,” Mana finally muttered between clenched teeth.
“Sorry to be a load,” Tate muttered back, rotating his still aching right arm, the one holding the training sword. He’d broken it protecting Shiho from gangbangers years ago, but he still could use a kendo sword with surprising strenght and speed over short periods a time. Still, eventually he would invariably pay the price for it, and the resulting pain was always maddening. It burned to the shoulder and beyond, often radiating and pulsating onto his chest, and right now, it only added to an already existing heartache. “And I’m even sorrier… I can’t be that man.”
“Nobody can be that man, he was unique,” Mana grimly observed before taking a step back from the rifle. “That’s not what I meant. Shiho’s here. She and others are coming up the hill.”
Tate perked up and finally felt his spirits raising, because while he couldn’t love Shiho back the way she loved him, he always would see her as an annoying but dearly beloved little sister. “Really?! Wait, why are you calling that a bother then?! It’s Shiho, for Pete’s sake! You should be happier to see her! She loves you despite everything and—“
She cracked a hard, yet not completely inhuman smile as she tilted her head back towards him. “I didn’t mean it that way either. What bothers me is one of the people coming with her.”
“Oh, the ninja?” Tate asked.
“Yeah,” Mana grunted out a side of her mouth. “Besides, Shiho is… well, let’s just say she isn’t exactly dressed for the ocassion.”
Tate blinked, then frowned. “Okaaaayy… she’s hanging with at least one of your classmates, so that means she’s being brought along naked, right? Your classmates are freaks. Even your teacher, he acts all that innocent and naive, and even so, he’s always stripping girls down one way or another…”
Mana rolled her eyes. “It’s not that she’s been stripped, although, yes, she IS showing more skin off than usual. You aren’t going to recognize her at first, so don’t freak out and keep your head on your shoulders. Let me handle this,” she added, quickly moving towards the front door.
The boy with the thick brown sideburns tilted his head aside in frustration, and then followed her.
No, he definitely would never understand that woman he liked so much.
edited 25th Feb '17 10:41:51 AM by NapoleonDeCheese
Ah, the Darkenning introduction. One of these days I really have to get around to using that.
Won't be able to send you the edist for another 24 hours. Sorry.
Keys.
"The place's still standing, isn't that proof enough they haven't broken in?" Ako asked.
"All the same," Sailor Venus insisted, "I don't think we should be taking any risks! Just knocking or ringing and hoping for the best? I've seen enough traps of the forces of darkness to recognize one when I see it by now!"
"Ringing?" Shiho grumbled. "This is a traditional temple, we don't have a bell! Oneesama is antiquated as heck in anything not related to firearms or fashions! Besides, then what are you suggesting us to do?"
"Well," Sailor Venus lectured, "a typical heroic entrance in cases like this claims for kicking the door down or entering from above, preferably through a skylight. That always takes the bad guys by surprise and grants you a valuable tactic edge, although honestly, they should know better by this point..."
"So the stories are true, superheroes just don't get the concept of doors," Fuuka marveled.
"We aren't kicking or punching the door down!" Sailor Mars angrily shot the idea down just as Illya began opening her mouth again, no doubt to volunteer Berserker for the task (not that it would be an actual task for him, as he no doubt could take the door down with a fart in its general direction). "You break that door, and do you know who'll have to pay for it and put it back on? Me, that's who! You guys will just disappear back into the night like Gojira going into the sea after leveling a city!"
"That's a messed up use of comparisons if I've ever seen one," Yue observed.
"Um, there's no need to shatter any doors," the hooded stranger said, holding his giant keychain prop up, "with this, I can open any—"
Ku Fei threw her hands up, mumbled something in a quite frustrated and exasperated Chinese, and simply stomped up for the door, knocking on it twice and giving the people behind her a dirty look over her shoulder.
Minako frowned. "Okay. That's a Baka alright."
"It's not that much dumber than spending several moments arguing out loud in the open while in the middle of a massive invasion of monsters," Yue pointed out while rubbing her dry throat and hoping Mana would have something nice and fresh to drink in there. Hell, by now she'd even accept soda...
The front door of the temple slid open, making Minako, Shiho and Akira break into immediate defense poses while Illya half-heartedly held Berserker back, inwardly wondering if she shouldn't just kill everyone right away after all. Mars' posture relaxed greatly with a sigh of relief when she got a good look at the person who'd just opened the door. "Ah! Oneesama!"
Tatsumiya Mana, after acknowledging Ku Fei with a brief nod and even briefer high-fiving, stared at her apprentice and told her, "You know, Shiho, not like I want to tell you how to do your after hours job, but I don't think you should be addressing me as your Oneesama while in your secret identity and before several people who are complete strangers."
Shiho groaned and waved a hand. "Give me a break, it's been a long night, you're doing it even worse by calling me by name, and anyway this girl here isn't a stranger, we know her, she's the one who wanted to kill everyone a few nights ago."
Natsumi's right eyebrow twitched. "Is that how you decide someone is familiar enough as to let them in your house?"
"Go back with the Heartless if our ways bother you that much, Freckles-san," Shiho curtly told her before asking Mana, "Is Oniichan here with you? He is, isn't he? Because he must be, I've been— Oh!" she gasped, noticing the boy who was just coming right behind Mana, staring at her with wide, shocked eyes. Instantly, she felt just as bad as she'd felt that day when she tried to be honest with him on her secret identity, only to end up with a miserable failure of a confession attempt. She looked down and gasped, quickly breaking into a stammering mess. "I, I, I mean, um, good evening, ah, average fellow citizen, stud-student of Mahora, I was just, I was just asking over the safety of a, a well known kendo star of the local circuit, that's what us Mahou Shoujo do, there's no-nothing wrong or weird about that..."
Tate's eyes had grown starry and starstruck at the sight of that mysterious, elegant looking stranger with no shoes and donning a scarlet microskirt standing right on the temple's doorstep. His jaw grew slightly loose and he only could wave a hand and mumble weakly something that barely passed as a greeting that made Shiho's look perfectly coherent and well reasoned.
Artemis and Akira blinked, then shared a knowing nod, smile and wink with each other. On the other hand, Minako had taken a risk by wandering away, far enough as to reach a nearby tree and start bashing her forehead against it. "A proper entrance! A single proper entrance tonight, that's all I'm asking for! With a nice little In the Name of Venus speech, is that too much? Why do you hate me so much, Kami-sama, why?!"
edited 25th Feb '17 6:16:45 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
What's she complaining about? To my knowledge, Keima doesn't even know she exists yet.
Keys.
As Sailor Mars began coughing all of a sudden, Sailor Mercury calmly said, "Munakata-san is perfectly okay at the time, Sempai. Would you like to see her now?"
"You too, Mercury-san?!" Mars whined while Mana smiled and closed the doors. "Anyway, no, you can't tell him where we left Munakata-san!"
"Why not?" the boy frowned.
"Yes, why not, Sailor Mars-sama?" Chizuru asked innocently.
Mars gave the busty girl a poisonous glare before simply summing up for the boy, "She's fine, she doesn't want you to worry, she wants you to do your best to survive until the big guns arrive and take care of this situation. Tatsumiya-san is, ah, an occasional ally of ours, so we thought—"
"Mana-san," Nodoka interrupted, walking up to the miko, "we'd like to see if your special sight could help Mickey-sama here find the gate through which these demons are pouring into this world. You can do that, can't you?"
Natsumi blinked. "Wait, what special sight? And really, demons? Aren't they supposed to be aliens? What gate are you talking about, it stands to reason they'd come through spaceships or something like that..."
Mana hummed thoughtfully. "Aliens, demons, you could call them either way, and yet none would be completely accurate. Hmmm. I'm not sure, I've never had the chance to scan for anything like this before. I've heard about creatures with descriptions that match these beings' appearances, but until tonight, I'd never seen one myself."
"Wait a second," Fuuka said, "are you some sort of paranormal researcher or something?"
"You could say I'm the equivalent to an exorcist in my line of job," Mana smiled at the gasping twins. "I've dealt with many things you wouldn't believe even if you saw them, but I'm supposed to keep that a secret."
"No much of a point on secret when whole world swarming with alien demons," Ku Fei observed.
"That's right, I suppose," Mana sighed. "I'm not even sure I'll be able to charge much after this. Even assuming the school still stands, my contract—"
"About that," lllya said, "I don't think your Headmaster will be able to pay you anyway. The mastermind behind this left him frozen solid before Berserker chased her away."
Mana paused, for once showing actual signs of surprise. "Headmaster Konoe?!"
"No way!" Natsumi gasped. "Y-You hadn't said anything about that!"
"Yeah, well, kind of hard to do that while we run through the night trying to dodge Heartless creatures," Yue half-shrugged. "Illya-san said he's still likely alive, though. It's the girl from Kyoto, Mana-san. She was the one who did it."
"The albino?" Mana asked, and Nodoka and Yue nodded. "Great, just great. I suppose she's looking for Konoka again?"
"She mentioned wanting Negi-sensei and Asuna-san," Nodoka said, "but she never mentioned Konoka-san. M-Maybe she's got her already?"
"Does this have anything to do with all those criminals who attacked us in Cinema Town?" Natsumi guessed, and was answered with a few nods from Ku Fei and Kaede. "Aw, nuts! What have you guys been up this whole time?!"
The hooded figure, after standing aside watching in analytical silence, heaved a sigh. "Okay, listen, then," he said, making all looks turn towards him. "There's something in my ship that might help us. I'll try contacting my friends, they were out looking for your teacher's father, and if they've got any hints, they might be a great assistance here. I only need a few of you to go with me there, so I can radio—"
"Negi-sensei's father, you mean?" Natsumi interrupted, frankly bewildered by now. "And what's he gotta do with this anyway?!"
"Father always had a finger in every pie, literal and figuratively," Illya snickered bitterly.
Tate blinked. "You are Negi-sensei's little sister?!"
"BIG sister!" she corrected him.
Tate paused, taken aback, and then pointed up at the viciously growling Berserker. "Is he part of the family, too?"
"Let's just say he's adopted," Illya shrugged.
Tate blinked a few more time, then raised his hands and faintly said, "Fair enough."
edited 26th Feb '17 12:00:59 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
Against all expectations, Negi had died after all.
Now, the goddess Aqua sitting behind the desk of the Heavenly Relocation Office he'd been sent to went through his file. "Well... If you don't want to reincarnate as an adventurer going up against an all powerful black magic overlord, I think I can understand that, it must feel stale by now, right? Okay, how about this? It's a job where you still can do good for others, but in a smaller, more relaxed and personal scale..."
Negi perked up. "Oh, that sounds nice indeed! What do I need to do?"
—-
"Gray, why are you naked again?" Erza calmly asked him.
He looked down at himself and gasped. "Dammit, I did it again! And I don't even realize when I'm doing it! It's like I'm going freaking crazy!"
Hanging shortly behind him, his invisible guardian angel sighed and rubbed his nose. He hated it when this happened, but how could he help it? He needed to stay close to his protege at all times, but his surroundings were always so cold...!
So, for the person suggesting Hasegawa-san's Dragon Maid....may I present this little gem.
◊
"ERROR 404: Page Not Found."
Perfect.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
... Huh. A Lina Inverse Shout-Out by a fan-artist. Makes me wonder why Cool-Kyoushinja himself hasn't done it yet.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
"EEEEK!!! CATS!!" "Setsuna? Chill out."
Because a Shout-Out is a cheap way to get attention?
Awesome pic and translation. Thank you for that Magey.
Madman with a box? I'm a madman with a semi, a pretzel bender and a Heart of Gold!
himitsu keisatsu
Also because copyright holders in Japan are even worse about enforcing copyright than the ones in the USA. Seriously, Toei is still trying to take down DBZA whenever it can.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
It's stupid enough Japanese companies have tried to shut down anime and manga magazines because they published photos of their anime and manga. Not the whole manga, not the whole anime, just screencaps and panels for illustration purposes in their articles. And Japan still takes actions against them, against publications that only promote their product, because muh copyright.
You might be familiar with that, IANCE, it's what happened to Lazer Magazine in your country. Although it should have happened before your time, and anyway I don't think you buy physical magazines, right?
himitsu keisatsu
It's still making the rounds, actually. It's still present when there's a 'Feria del Libro', though it gets by because now it's no longer an 'official' magazine and it has reduced distribution.
Anyway, my point is that Japanese corporations are unbelievably awful at doing business and only get by because of the strength of their I Ps.
edited 27th Feb '17 6:54:04 AM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
Oh, that's nice. The few online scanned copies I've found are rather fun to read, moreso than most of those old Minami, Dokan and Shirase from Spain I've still got stashed around the house.
himitsu keisatsu
It's a bit hard to find. I knew a guy who knew a guy, but it's a bit annoying to try to find them on my own.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
Keys.
The hooded person had hesitated, asking again if none of the combatants was versed in that field, but eventually he had just sighed and told Chizuru to come along. Mana had insisted they had to take somebody else for assistance in fighting any Heartless showing up along the way, and Ku Fei had said she'd tag along. So they'd left the temple behind, with promises of coming back as soon as possible, and stealthily made their way through the tall grass and thick bushes of the hillside, following the stranger's lead. Chizuru was trying to keep a philosophical view on it, remembering her father's words on taking risks in the face of unsurmountable odds.
If she was needed for something, this likely at least temporary ally who was obviously an outworlder couldn't allow himself to lose her yet, so she figured out she was reasonably safe for the time being. She mostly trusted Ku Fei's willingness to help her under any circumstances, and above it all, she was curious to see what this was about, enough as to let it ultimately tip the scales in favor of her agreement with the invitation. Since she could first remember, she had felt a fascination with the universe and its secrets, with everything that stretched past Earth and across the ocean of the stars.
As long as she wouldn't have to endanger Natsumi by bringing her along, she was willing to run risks with her own safety (and even Ku's) as long as it meant a chance to finally learn about one of those secrets. So she never looked back, never slowed down, doing her best to keep up with the others. It had been an uneventful trip so far, despite the fact a few, large, bat-winged Heartless would sometimes fly by past them, high above ground level, oblivious to them and heading directly for the South. Whenever that happened, Mickey would briefly stop and stare up, his gloved hand tightly gripping his Keyblade's handle and squeezing on it impotently before urging them to keep on going with a gesture of the large blunt weapon.
Now he stopped again, signaling at them to stop as well, and pointed ahead, to a large clearing under the darknenned sky, where three figures stood around a massive batch of ground where the grass seemed to have been compacted and mashed down as if supporting a huge weight. "Do you know them?" Mickey whispered, pointing at the mismatched trio.
Chizuru squinted, and concentrated, this time remembering Father's lessons on using their bloodline's gifts. It gave her a mild sudden headache like always, but she managed focusing enough of her anti-magic senses as to make out the general outline of a translucid, blocky, sturdy airship with long wide wings, very unlike any airplane she had ever seen before. That, despite herself, actually thrilled her a lot. The three humans were a secondary concern for her in comparison, although she could recognize at least two—
"Woman is Mikado Ryoko, School's Nurse," Ku Fei said in a serious, low tone. "Man also familiar, but can't remember where—"
"Akashi-san's father," Chizuru whispered, then explained to the somewhat confused Mickey, "The father of another of our classmates, one of Ako's best friends. He's also a teacher here. The other woman, however, I have no idea who she could be, I'm afraid..."
"I see, thanks," Mickey nodded, looking at the woman who stood with the busty, curvaceous female in the long white coat and the well dressed man with glasses, all three of them visible enough thanks to the flashlights the former two were holding as they took reading of their surroundings with portable devices that scanned the whole of his ship's cloaking. So they'd found it regardless. The way the girls had phrased their answers, it was likely two of them would be helpful, and the other woman (who, ironically, was wearing a hood much like his own obscuring most of her features and all of her hair) was thus unlikely to be a major hurdle either. Even so, he readied himself for anything. "Let's go greet them, then."
Chizuru and Ku nodded, then followed him ahead once more.
For some reason, the fanfic idea of someone in the Negima cast becoming a Dungeon Lord/Dungeon Keeper/Dungeon Master/Demon Lord just won't go away. Maybe it's because of the Light Novels I've been reading lately...
RANDOM IDEA! Negi Springfield must rescue Nekane from the nefarious clutches evil Great Demonlord Evangeline ("Take your time boya..."). Problem is, he's only a level 0 character with no levels to call his own and doesn't even rate NPC status ("Eh?! I'm that weak?!"). However, a mysterious traveling mage ("Who is most definitely not your father! Nope, no sirree!") gives him a handy stick, tells him he's now a mage, and sends him to the tutorial dungeon of the Chamo, the Demon Lord Of Panties and Perversion ("I'm not sure if this counts as respect or not"). After defeating Chamo, getting his first level, and coincidentally learning basic commands that one can easily learn after bashing the buttons for a few minutes, the cowardly Chamo loses his dungeon to Negi, and barely stays alive by offering to be his live-in annoying tutorial and pause-menu fairy ("I lost respect so quickly!"). Now, Negi must defeat the Demon Lords of the 32 Evil Dungeons, plus sidebosses, and take control of their resources before he can face the Great Demon Lord Evangeline.
Let the Grinding Hell begin!
...
Huh, whatever happened to that fic where Konoka is a Disgaea Overlord and Setsuna is her dead-girl Unison upgrade??
Keys.
"Yes," said the hooded woman after finishing her long, mysterious study of the invisible object that still had registered as a large spaceship-shaped blip in the radars before crashing in the middle of the Southern woods, close to the river that ran through Mahora. As soon as it had entered Earth's gravitational pull after breaking through the dimensional barrier, it had triggered the surveillance systems Mahora's contacts with the Men In Black had set up in the event one of Princess Lala's more amorous and bothersome suitors would arrive, looking for her. "I can feel an intense magical charge in this otherworld vessel. However, what kind of magic, I cannot tell. It's... vexing, I never had encountered anything like it before."
"I see. Thank you... Mc Guinness-sensei," the handsome, bespectacled Akashi Wataru nodded absently, stepping closer to the downed craft, trying to decipher this latest conundrum. When the crisis broke out all over Mahora, spreading from several focal points that had manifested themselves at once, the faculty had been too pressed to keep the safety of the student body as their main priority, so it seemed they hadn't been able to send any staffers but him there yet. Caster, his Servant, had attempted disuading him from going, claiming she could mount an absolute defense field all around their house, but when he had insisted on fulfilling his duties, she finally had sighed in defeat and demanded going with him instead
Now it'd been his turn to try and convince her to stay, but she had been as adamant as he'd been before. A Servant *and* a wife both had the obligation of staying by their Master or husband's side no matter what, and since she fulfilled both roles, either he would allow her accompany him or she'd just knock him out and chain him to the bed for the duration of the whole invasion. And not in the good, enjoyable kind of chainment to the bed either.
Other than him, at least one staffer had been dispatched to deal with the UFO anomaly, the local expert assigned by the Galaxy Federation's contacts with Mahora. A woman who was taller and more buxom than Caster, who stood along them quietly puffing on a cigarette, and not even bothering to keep the housecoat she wore over her pink negligee closed. It was no wonder Akashi would prefer to keep advancing towards the unknown of the ship rather than looking back at Mikado Ryoko-sensei, who obviously was either too lazy and shameless to dress properly when called in the middle of the night, or too devoted to her job to even pause to cover herself when needed.
After all, while Caster didn't seem to be the jealous type and even had briefly teased him with the idea of inviting another woman to share their bed, Akashi would rather not taking any risks invoking the wrath of a woman legendary over being the quintaessential scorned female.
"That doesn't sound like any design I'm familiar with," Ryoko observed, seemingly more interested the woman Akashi had introduced as a friend from overseas, than on the ship itself. "The only ships I know that run on mechanisms you would label as 'magical' are those from Jurai, but they've never been big on cloaking themselves for incursions; they consider it beneath themselves... Mc Guiness-san, wasn't it?"
Caster nodded as Akashi repressed a large gulp knotting in his throat. He'd resorted to using Donnet Mc Guinness' name as a last second resource when they abruptly ran into Ryoko, but he knew Mikado was far too clever to be fooled by long. He didn't think she knew about the real Donnet, who hadn't been to Japan ever since Yuuka died, but she no doubt would try and research on her as soon as the crisis passed. He might have to call the real Donnet all the way to Wales and ask her for help with the cover story, but he'd worry about that later. Right now, he only wanted to learn the truth about this ship as soon as possible, then to rush over to Yuuna's side...
Wherever that was now. I swear, Negi-kun, if you let anything bad happen to my daughter, I'll kill you myself, child or not, son of the Thousand Master or not... the man inwardly swore, all the while also berating himself for spending time there right now for the likely greater good instead of just pressing on with the quest for his child.
Once again, the alien nurse moved her right arm, scanning the cloaked ship up and down with a small device sporting three large red, swirling eyes. Miraculously, the device hadn't malfunctioned and stripped everybody naked yet. "Why, it barely reads as functional! Certainly not aerodynamic enough. It's the kind of design the Federation wouldn't even employ during its childhood phase. But then again, it can be excused, since mankind is still so new to space travel…"
"Humans?" Akashi stopped as he passed his wand over the limits of the cloaking field in slow circles. "Why would you say this thing was made by humans? Just because it looks clunky to your instruments?"
Mikado shrugged with a small smirk. "Well, because of that, and because it seems to run on magic, as Mc Guinness-sensei herself is saying. Humans from Mundus Magicus, most probably, if you want to get technical, but humans all the same. Any of the major civilizations that have mastered interstellar training would not resort to—"
"I can sense three individuals approaching," Caster suddenly said.
"Say what?!" Akashi said, spinning around on nimble feet and aiming his wand in the same direction towards which Caster was looking now. " Whoever's in there, identify yourselves! Show yourselves peacefully right now! You are breaking the curfew!"
There was some rustling and a short discussion from a line of nearby bushes, and out emerged three people at once, all of them holding their hands up in silence. Akashi cursed under her breath. He'd just recognized two of them as classmates of his daughter, even though she wasn't particularly close to either. "Oh, it's you... Naba-san, Ku-san. What are you doing here, and who's that with you?!"
Mikado chuckled, her hands in the pockets of her coat. "Now this is a surprise! Usually, the only 3-A students you see coming out of bushes at night are the Narutaki twins..."
"Um, good evening, Akashi-sensei, Mikado-sensei," Chizuru sheepishly said, stepping ahead of the others, hands still raised. "This isn't what it looks like, and believe me, we have very good reasons to be out here this late."
Then she pointed back at the small figure holding what looked enough like a massive weapon as to make Akashi and Caster concerned. The latter, especially, could sense an impressive amount of power flowing from that thing.
"I believe," Chizuru explained, "that ship you are studying right now belongs to this gentleman."
edited 27th Feb '17 5:28:31 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
Wait, that's the fake name Medea's going with? Wow, so many cans of worms when Donet and her husband find out.
Keys.
Nagase Kaede forced a smirk. Even now, while surrounded by hundreds of swarming Heartless in the cold of the absolute night, with her panicking more helpless classmates flanked by herself and Ku Fei in a last attempt of protection, her posture remained steady and calm, and her eyes stayed either fully closed or as narrow they could pass for slits on her face. Natsumi never had been sure on the subject, and right now she even sort of regretted she wouldn't live to ever learn the truth on it.
"Ladies," the tall, busty shinobi said, again hefting the huge star-shaped metal sharp weapon she had pulled out of nowhere as soon as they'd been ambushed, "it's been a pleasure."
Fuuka sniffled and held the uncontrollably bawling Fumika tighter against herself. "Sorry we couldn't be of any use, Kaede-neesan," the older twin apologized honestly.
"No, this one's who should be sorry over training you wrong as a joke, Fuuka-dono," Kaede humbly said. "Please forgive this one's horrible lack of foresight."
Fuuka narrowed her eyes angrily. "You're sooooo going to hell!"
Kaede chuckled dumbly, even as Ku Fei muttered bitterly in Chinese and kept on kicking and punching more Heartless that jumped her way, all the while Nagase only to had to block them away with her throwing star, using it as an oversized shield. "Sorry, sorry! By the way, Murakami-dono, Naba-dono, Izumi-dono, before we die, there's something this one should confess to you, so this one's chest is free of a terrible secret held back for all too long. This one's actually a denizen of the shadows, a silent assassin-to-be, a—"
"For the love of God, Kaede-san," Natsumi cried, she and Chizuru hugging each other, "we know you're a ninja, okay?! We've known for a long while! Just keep on hitting those things and don't get distracted like that!!"
Kaede managed to blink without actually opening her eyes any more than before, which Natsumi had to admit was a pretty awesome trick. "Eh? But how could you know that, this one's never given any signs of—"
"You talk like a star of an old ninja movie, you swing that thing around every time a brawl breaks out in the campus, and for God's sake, Kaede-san, let's talk about that later, okay?!" Natsumi yelled, right before something hulking and dark landed too close for comfort, making the ground quake and crackle, and a shrill, demanding cutesy voice from the shadows cried something that sounded a whole lot like...
"Berserker! You know what to do!"
That's all I can do tonight.