Moving down the large office space, I weaved in and out of the many cubical working areas. A few people were caught goofing off but quickly returned to their job after a glare from me. Times like this made me realize just how much easier it was to get around without the large mass of hair following me everywhere. Although I didn't like to admit it, when I rounded corners fast sometimes a stray hair would get caught on something and be plucked from my head. I missed my hair but after the few months that it has been gone I've come to accept it. At least now I can blame Nanoha's hair for clogging the drain in the shower. The thought made me giggle to myself and I shook my head with an amused look. Finally I made my way to the elevator and took a floor down before walking through a more hectic area than I had in the floor above. Even though I didn't oversee this area at all, my rank still made people focus heavily on their job when I walked past. Since this floor was almost a mirror of mine, I quickly made my way to the main office separated off form the others by glass. The in-panel blinds were closed, forcing me to knock on the door and wait a moment before being beckoned to enter. Syllabus, a man with long brown hair swept into a ponytail, greeted me with a kind smile as I handed him the application papers for the upcoming mage tests. The forwards, as well as Nanoha and myself, were now officially registered to increase their rank in three weeks.
6th Division: Redemption II
By: Satashi
Tia concentrated hard, looking up at Nanoha with a determined expression. Her teacher was upside down several feet above her with a hand reaching down in an attempt to grab the training girl. “Come on,” Nanoha encouraged her. “Focus Tia, you can do it!” The gun user was hovering many feet off the ground, swaying lightly in an attempt to go farther up into the air. “You're so close!” Their finger tips touched each other's, making Tia's face break into an accomplished expression. Immediately after, however, she swayed hard to the side and fell hard to the ground below her. “Are you okay?” Nanoha landed and helped her stand. “You lost your concentration and made your magic unbalanced.”
“I know,” Tia rubbed her temples. “Is it always this nerve wracking? When does it get so easy you can do it without even thinking?” She found two small pills being offered to her and blinked when a bottle of water also came into view. “Thank you,” She took the pills and swallowed them down with the liquid. “Sorry about this.”
“Don't be,” The ponytailed woman laughed. “I shouldn't even be teaching you this until you're double-A, so it's my fault you've been having these constant headaches. It does get to the point where you can fly without even thinking about it but it takes time and mentality. That's why Triple-A and even S-classes have a lot of mages that can't fly. It takes a special someone to be in the air force. Like I told you before, when I learned it was because I didn't even have a choice. I either learned to fly right then and there or I would probably die. Even still, my flying was wobbly and whenever I took off I normally flew to the side a moment before correcting myself. It wasn't until I took the three month primer course before I could take off or land properly. You may not be cutting flips yet, but you've already mastered form.”
“Will I be able to use this for my mage ranking test or would it be better not to mention it yet?” She drank heavily from the water bottle and exhaled once done. “Ah, I feel refreshed already.”
Nanoha smiled at her and opened her mouth to reply but a monitor appeared in front of her. “Nanoha-chan!” Hayate's voice sounded scared. “I saw you flying!”
“I was teaching Tia,” She defended herself. “And I'm on the training field, I have permission to fly here!”
“Well... Well, for the next little bit I'm going to have to revoke that! For now on you can only fly in-doors.”
Nanoha's eyes went wide. “What!? Come on Hayate-chan, that's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong, I've even stopped flying from my room to the training field like you asked! Flying inside a building is pointless, there's no air or clouds or anything!...Wait a second, you can't fly inside buildings anyway, there's no where to go!”
“I'm sorry, but as your superior, I don't want you flying! People could see you!”
“People see me all the time, why would it matter now?”
Hayate paused. “Th-that's not important! Anyway, no more flying, I mean it.”
Nanoha stayed silent a moment before looking away angrily. “Fine. I understand, ma'am.” The brown haired girl looked hurt at the tone, sadly turning her eyes before closing the communication. “Tia, I'm canceling our extra training for this afternoon, I think I might hurt you if I don't take a breather before practice.”
“But... isn't she your childhood friend? Can't you talk to her about this?”
The teacher sighed out. “Tia, friendship is very important, but it has no place in military ranks. Hayate-chan goes out of her way for me all the time, just as I go out of my way for her. However, when all is said and done, she is my superior and I must do as she says. If I don't the higher ups will notice, and say that her leadership isn't up to snuff and that I was a bad influence on my students. At the end of the day we're friends, so I can be miffed at her if I want to; better than causing a scene.” Nanoha looked down at her watch. “Fate should be eating lunch about right now, I wonder if she's at the apartment... Anyway, have you thought about your future?” With a slight push she made Tia start walking with her towards the rest of the base from their little island. “About what style of combat you want to master?”
“I have,” She nodded. “But I'm not sure just yet. Each one has their advantages and disadvantages...” Looking up, she grinned at Nanoha. “I can see why Subaru idolizes you so much.”
“Oh I don't know, she's been spending a lot more time with Vita-chan ever since I started giving you privet lessons. Speaking of Subaru, I noticed you two have been looking at each other a lot the past two days?” Nanoha smirked at Tia and nudged her. “I think my students are finally getting a little 'training' going on in their bedroom, huh?”
“N-Nanoha-san!” Tia's face grew warmer at the words. “Th-that's private! How did you know!?”
“Well, besides you just telling me,” She gave her student a moment to kick herself. “I can just tell. I acted the same way after Fate and I had our first time. Ahhh, what a night.” She looked up at the sky as she remembered it. “Candles, soft music, rose petals on the bed...”
“R-really!?”
“Yup. Was the picture perfect night... at least until morning.”
“What happened then?”
“We didn't blow out the candles and we had melted wax everywhere, as well as rose petals all in the covers and floor. Whatever we didn't find dried up and crumbled so we had to change the sheets on the bed every day almost because of it. Not to mention the sheets were stained red from our sweat and petals being rubbed against them. But oh man was it worth it. She does this thing with her tongue that just-”
“Enough!” Tia almost screamed, making Nanoha cover her mouth when she realized what exactly she had just said. “Whoa, you really don't know when to stop do you?”
“Sorry.” Nanoha bowed lightly, embarrassed. The two split up at the elevator then, leaving Nanoha alone to walk into her apartment. She found Fate on the couch with her arms crossed, glaring at the T.V screen. From the frown on her face and body position, Nanoha could tell that her fiancée was in a bad mood. To counter this, she straightened up her own boots for once and walked upstairs to their bedroom, grabbing some lotion. Once back downstairs she sat next to Fate and reached over, unbuttoning her shirt.
“Nanoha, I'm really not in the mood for-” A finger touched her lips, making her stop protesting.
Once she had taken off the top half of her lover's clothes, she smiled fondly at her. “On your stomach.” Fate did as she was told and laid down on the couch. Moments later her hair was moved to the side and warm wet hands were placed on her back, massaging. “What happened Honey? Not hungry today?” Her fingers worked the warming lotion into the blonde's skin.
“Hayate,” The tone was obviously a little harsh at the word. “Forbade me to drive my car into the city for some reason. Instead I was grounded to base indefinitely to oversee the new police force coming to train here. My whole schedule is messed up, and instead of patrolling and some office work, I have to play 'boss' to a bunch of D and C ranked mages.”
“Eh? But that was supposed to be my job, I'm the instructor.” Nanoha paused her rubbing momentarily but picked back up again when Fate frowned at what was going on.
“I know, it doesn't make any sense. I don't know the first thing about training people. She said I just had to show up to ensure they were learning the basics of being good police men and how to fight in crowded areas and the like. I wouldn't mind so much if they were going into the military but these are only the police transfers. I know we're here for public safety and all but I fail to see the point of me being there. And why did she ground me to the base? I didn't even do anything...”
“She grounded me as well,” Nanoha spoke during a silent spot. “Quite literally; I'm forbidden to fly anywhere, even on the training field. I have no idea how I'm going to teach Tia anymore, maybe I should just focus on her weapon training and let Vita handle Subaru and the other three lightning members...”
“This is so weird...” Fate looked over her shoulder at her. “Did we do something to merit this? Maybe she's just nervous after we almost died on our last mission? It would make sense, trying to protect us.” Her face fell against her pillow and she talked into it. “But grounding us like this... How am I supposed to buy groceries if I can't leave the base? Our on board grocery store sucks and our butcher and fish mongers are in town... Augh, Let's talk to her later.”
“Okay, let's drop it until then.” Her hands continued to rub the smooth skin, calming them both down. After attacking the red eyed girl's neck with the warm lotion and rubbing she started to hum slightly. “Fate?” She asked softly with a smile. Her lover had her eyes closed, breathing steadily. Every now and then a soft hum would come from her, Fate's own version of snoring. Having to repress a giggle, Nanoha slowly moved on top of her. With a small beckoning on her shoulder she managed to make Fate scoot to the edge of the couch and get on her side. With just enough room to squeeze down between them, Nanoha got behind her and pulled the blanket down to cover their bodies. “A little nap never hurt anyone,” She thought aloud, rubbing Fate's stomach until her hands was grasped lazily and held onto.
“They're in their room,” He spoke after a quick scan. “I'll go check on them.”
“I'm coming,” Hayate hopped out of her chair. “Vita, I'm going to get them now, keep up the good work okay?” She got a small hum and the monitor cut off. “Don't think they're hurt or anything do you?” They tried to walk down the halls as fast as they could without making people wonder what their hurry was. “You would have sensed any magic being used right?”
“Should have yes. It's not like them to just not show up without contacting someone. Come to think of it, it's uncommon for them to miss work period. Have they ever missed a day?”
“Only when I give them time off, and even then they still work. Since I let them take Firesday off they never miss any other day.” The two made their way across the cold field, the setting sun glowing in the background. “Speaking of days, notice how short they are? Really annoying, I need to budget some more lights around here.” The small talk eased both their nerves a moment as they rode the elevator up to the sixth floor. Once there they both hurried over to the door and opened it using Hayate's rank. “Nanoha-chan? Fate-chan?” She called out instantly, looking around. A groan greeted her and the pair went to the couch, seeing Nanoha slowly sitting up and looking at them sleepily. “Nanoha-chan, were you asleep?” The girl blinked lightly, muttering something about the time. “It's almost four-thirty! You were supposed to be at the training field half an hour ago! You have any idea how worried we were? We thought something happened to you two!”
“Huh?” Fate finally woke up at Hayate's outburst and sat up slowly, letting the covers fall. “What's going on?”
“Oh please tell me you two weren't sleeping after sex?” Hayate face-palmed.
Fate looked down and realized she was topless. To remedy this she simply held the covers to her chin. “Wha? No, She rubbed my back and I fell asleep.” turning to sit properly she rubbed her eyes. “I'm sorry, we didn't set an alarm, we'll be right there.” She was about to bring up what had put them in the situation in the first place but she noticed Yuuno with her as well. “We need to talk later okay Hayate?”
“Sure.” She just seemed relieved more than upset right now. “Wake up and get to the training field please, Vita is handling it all right now.” Nanoha stood up and Fate reached down to pick up her bra to put on. “Come on Yuuno-kun, let's go back.” She looked up at him and noticed that his eyes were in the girl's general direction. Looking back, she saw Fate sluggishly trying to clasp her bra to cover herself. A new feeling ran through the girl's body, making her grab Yuuno's arm and literally pull him out of the room. “Come on I said!”
“Hayate, hey, ow, that hurts. What's up with you?” He pulled his arm back and rubbed the spot that was grabbed. “I wanted to say something to them.” despite his complaint he still walked beside her back to the elevator.
“More like stare at Fate-chan,” She huffed at him, crossing her arms and looking away. “You looked at her breasts.”
“Well she was kind of topless in case you didn't notice.” He sounded rather offended. “Not that it matters, I've walked in on them countless times in the past. I've seen Nanoha naked ever since I was nine, and Fate too most of the time, they're like my sisters! I wouldn't think twice about it now even if they were fully naked in the shower making like bunnies! Come to think of it, I have been in that situation...”
“So you can see their breasts because you're their childhood friend?”
“She didn't exactly seem to mind did she? Proof right there.”
“Well I'm your childhood friend and you never look at my breasts!” She protested loudly, glaring at him. The elevator went silent as the two looked at each other. Hayate's face slowly colored when she realized what she had just obviously complained about. When the doors opened she quickly left, walking as fast as she could to get away from him. 'Oh my god, what is wrong with me!?' She had to stop at the door to allow several new policemen entrance to the mess hall. 'Why on earth would I want him to look at me!? He's my best friend!' The delay gave the male enough time to catch up and simply stand beside her.
The cold air greeted them harshly when they stepped outside, the wind flaring out Yuuno's long ponytail. Hayate shivered, holding her arms in an attempt to stay warm. “Here,” He placed his jacket over the girl's shoulders. “You should wear stockings or something, you'll catch a cold if you don't keep warm.”
Hayate reluctantly accepted the warm blazer and held it tight in front of her, pleased that it went to her knees to cover much more than her miniskirt did. “Stockings huh...?” She looked over and up at him just as a red screen flared to life flashing Alert at them. The two started at the screen for a full three seconds before turning to run the rest of the way to the building. “What's the situation?” Once close enough, both of them leaped into the air and flew up the few stories into the large landing area that was connected to the mission room.
“Several unidentified mages,” Shari told them immediately. “Causing havoc downtown, not far from the bridge leading to the base.
“What are their goals?” Yuuno stood next to Hayate's chair and observed the monitors giving them feed. “Logia? Relic? Money?”
“They seem to just be destroying things, sir.” another operative revealed. “The local police have been pushed back and the area is being evacuated as we speak. The only demand so far was for 'a good challenge' as they put it.”
Hayate bit her thumbnail, eyes glancing over towards Yuuno. 'These don't seem like your average misfits...' Her words flew into his heart telepathically.
'The U.F.Q is probably behind this in an attempt to lure us out into the open or to weaken out base defenses enough to launch a real attack. Regardless we can't rush into this carelessly.' His eyes looked over to the forwards as they ran into the room as well as Nanoha and Fate. “Nanoha, how are the forwards in terms of solo operating?”
“Just fine, they have been separated several times before?”
Hayate caught on to what was being said. “I want them to handle this by themselves.”
Fate stepped forward. “Wait, we can't just send them alone! They're still privates!”
“I'll go with them,” Signum stated, catching Hayate's eyes. Vita, come with me.”
With a nod, Hayate gave the command. “Forwards, scramble to the helicopter. Vice will fly you there. Signum, Vita, stay on board in case any more enemy signal come up. Tia, you will lead this mission.”
“Ma'am!” They all saluted except for the gunslinger, who was looking over in terror at Nanoha.
“Move out!” Hayate shouted, making them all run out of the room. “Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, please stay here. If anything happens we'll be ready for it.” The two girls gave her a nasty look before turning and walking over to the monitors to start observing everyone as they reached the heli-pad. 'They're pissed,' Hayate spoke mentally to Yuuno, looking down. 'But I'd rather them be mad at me for a little while if it means they will stay safe... I can't handle something like last time again...' She felt a hand on her shoulder and reached back to place hers on top of it in an attempt to gain some confidence.
Running forward, She called forth her gun and weaved through the crowded streets. Everyone had split apart smoothly to cover the grounds as fast as possible, leaving Tia to meet up with the police foce. 'Stars Three, engaged!' Subaru's voice floated through the open communication device in her ear. 'Lightning Three, engaged!' Elio updated his status followed shortly by Lutecia. A large shadow flew over her while running, Caro's dragon circling the sky as she gave her support. The police line was close now, only hindered by the stupid by-standards who were trying to see what was happening despite gunfire and explosions. When close enough she plowed through them mercilessly, even shoving to the side while making her path. Once finally at the line she ducked under the tape and ran to one of the officers who noticed her. “Private Tiana Lanster from 6th mobile division!” She didn't have time to check his rank so saluted him anyway. “We're here to help, my squad ahas already engaged two other areas. I need to speak to the commander in charge, sir!”
“Thank goodness,” A new voice made her turn and salute a policeman with several medals and badges on his shirt. “Hayate-san never leaves us hanging. The situation, soldier, is just as you can guess. We have cornered two men in the building behind us. Unfortunately they have several hostages.”
“Their demands?”
“Nothing yet, they have already killed one of my men sent in to negotiate. It seems as if they are waiting for something.”
“I see...” Tia took a deep breath. “I'm going in then.” with a flip of her wrist she disabled Cross Mirage's first form and started walking to the building. She felt the odd itch on her skin, knowing that a laser sight had been placed on her but she kept walking anyway. When she was at the door of the huge building she opened it slowly, being greeted with cool air. Several people were on the ground, whimpering and crying while looking at her with pleading eyes. Two men were in the middle, each holding a mage staff. From the way they gripped it and stance they took when faced with her they were relatively inexperienced. “I'm un-armed,” she informed them, lifting her hands. “I'm here to talk. Take it easy we can work something out.”
The two people looked at each other and laughed, deciding that this new girl would provide them with some amusement. “Okay,” One of them began with a smirk. “Start talking.”
The explosion came out of no where, ripping the two apart and being saved only by the sudden shield flashing to life around them. Landing, Elio slid along the ground smoothly in his new armor. White metal covered his barrier jacket, flashed in places with his signature red. Dragon horns blessed his joints, complete with one on the helmet that guarded his face. Moving his spear, he flared it to life as the new enemy jumped down from wherever he had been hiding. “They sent kids to deal with us?” He asked, voice dripping with disappointment. “My my, and after we even manipulated this petty gang of reject mages to cause enough destruction to get them here... Seems like we wasted our time.”
“Put down your weapons and come quietly,” Lutecia spoke to him, voice quiet and calm.
“Put down our weapons?” The man stood, clad in a blueish black barrier jacket that seemed to be more like battle armor than cloth. “My little lady, you don't know who you are dealing with do you?” Looking to the side, he noticed Elio shift into a battle stance. “Are you going to attack us, boy?” He seemed more amused than threatened. “Come then, have at us.” Turning back around, he looked up into the sky at the dragon.
Elio snarled. “Sonic move!” Even the air slowed around him as he sped up. Moving so fast he couldn't even breathe from the burst enhanced by Caro's abilities. The pavement under his boots broke from the force of the speed and power ripping through his veins. 'I'll end it on one slash,' His mind thought as the distance closed in between them. He could see the man blink his eyes, seemingly moving in slow motion from the ungodly movements he was moving at. Once close enough he reared back his spear and started to slash, moving too quickly to even load a cartridge.
The next moment Lutecia saw Elio fly away from the enemy they were fighting and crash into the corner of a building, breaking a large chunk out of it. His body landed roughly and slid almost two feet before stopping. Very slowly blood started to leak around him from the gash in his chest visible through the block of armor now missing. Shocked, she looked at the man who was simply holding up one arm, apparently having backhanded her partner without even looking. “So slow,” He mused casually. “We have been observing your moves for a few days now so they will not work on us. Caro screamed from the air and the next moment he was walking through an inferno of dragon flame. Raising a hand, he blasted Elio's body, breaking more of the armor off of him.
“Stop it!” Lutecia finally snapped. With gasp of air she formed her magical circle underneath her. “What I desire, a-” She stopped speaking, suddenly finding herself picked up by the neck. He had moved so fast not even the flames had time to realize they could now burn the area he had been standing.
“Unhand her!” Caro yelled again, eyes narrowing as Lutecia was thrown away like a doll.
“Guess it wouldn't do to let you die without knowing who killed you,” He spoke to them. “We are the Azure Flame,” raising a hand, Several blue balls of fire started circling him. “You may also know us as “Tri-Edge”, the head assassin of the U.F.Q.” Carelessly walking towards the summoner as she pushed herself up, he formed the ball of heat into his hand. “Time to burn.” Before he could move it, the fire in his hand froze so fast it still had form before shattering into pieces. “Oh?” Looking to the pink haired girl, he saw the dragon rider standing there shivering.
Caro's body shook, eyes glaring hatefully at the man who had just hurt her friends. The summoning circle was already formed, arctic temperatures raging around her as ice blue scales formed into the shape of a dragon's leg. “Shiva,” She finally spoke, eyes darkening due to the spiteful Dragon's influence on her. “I want him alive,” She warned. “But I don't care how much you have to hurt him to do it.”
“Yes, Princess Caro Lu Rushie,” Shiva's voice floated through her mind as she let out a thundering roar.
Nanoha gasped out. “Did he say assassin!? U.F.Q!? What the heck is going on here!?” She turned to her friends. “You... You know something about this!?
“Pull them back!” Yuuno yelled at Hayate. “They're no match for him, they could die!”
“Signum, Vita!” Hayate contacted the others on site. “Get to the lightning members right now, they're in danger!”
Nanoha shook her head. “I can't do this, I'm going!”
“You can't!” Yuuno yelled at her a little too late. The girl had already flown out the window and was heading towards the city. “Son of a...” Slowly he turned to the others. “Make sure she doesn't engage the Azure Flame!”
“What's going on here!?” Fate demanded, finally having enough. “You have ten seconds to explain this before I leave as well!”
'Subaru, I'm in a tight spot. These guys are pushing me too far, get to the building by the main police force pronto!' Tia glared at the people in front of her, fingers itching to call forth her guns and just start blasting. So far they had played games with her, obviously trying to get a rise out of the girl. Finally it was to the point where they were annoyed, their fun starting to die down. “So,” Tia spoke to them, voice calm. “Let's start talking about resolving this. If you'll put down your weapons we can peacefully end this and-”
“Get arrested and be put in jail,” One of them snarled, pointing his staff towards a group of people huddled together. “Okay, I think we stalled long enough. Tri-Edge has surely gotten what he was after. Time for our part of the deal to come in. You there,” He nodded towards Tia as he started charging a blast on his staff. “We want a million in un marked bills, small. Also want clear air space and a helicopter. All of our friends must be let go as well.”
“Pretty stout demands,” She replied softly. “I'll have to speak with the people outside. I'll need you to release some hostages as a sign of good will.”
“Good will?” The man laughed. “How about do as I say or they die? Here's a preview.” he released the charge towards the screaming group and smiled at the explosion and smoke it caused. Seconds ticked by as it cleared, terrified yells ringing out from everyone else in the large room. “What!?” His eyes narrowed at the orangish magical circle protecting them. “That circle... You're no cop!”
Tia formed both her guns and trained them on the people. “I'm military, section six. Drop your weapons, I have authority to harm you.”
“Waste them!” The other man started shooting blast after blast at the people around them, each being nullified by Tia's well controlled counter measures. After a few moments her superior speed became apparent and she could afford to make one of her bullets fly towards them, shooting one of them directly through his weak barrier and making him slide across the floor onto his back. “Markus!” Taking no chances, the man grabbed a child no older than four and placed the tip of his staff to her head. “Don't think you can stop a blast this close can ya!?”
Tia stopped firing and kept her guns on him. “Put the child down. You don't have to do this.”
“You're a freaking mage!” He shouted back at her. “He didn't say anything about us dealing with you!”
“Who is 'he'?” she pondered, still calm.
“Oh you'll find out,” he laughed. “He'll come for us, we made a deal. You stay right there, hands up or I'll kill her, don't think I won't!”
Tia slowly held up her hands. “Okay, calm down. We can talk through this. Just sit her down and I'll place my weapons on the ground. You can walk out of here.”
“Put your guns down first!” He nodded towards the ground. “Down!” The girl slowly bent over, keeping her eyes on him, and placed both guns onto the floor. “Now turn around!” When she didn't do it he pushed the staff closer on the crying girl, moving her head. “I said turn around!”
Doing as she was told, she looked up at the mirror at the top corner of the room to keep an eye on him. “Okay, now let the girl go. I will stay like this, you can run. No one has to be hurt.”
“I'll take her with me!” Quickly turning, he ran into a back room and burst through a door, running up the stairs with the child under one arm.
“Dammit!” Tia quickly turned, snatching up her weapons and chasing after him. The stairs were climbed quickly, avoiding shots fired down at her from the frantic thug. She heard the rooftop door clang open and redoubled her speed, dancing up the stairs almost faster than her feet could touch the steps. Once she reached the top the man turned and pointed his staff at her, walking backwards. “There's no where to go!” She told him, pointing her pistols. “Release her and come quietly and you'll be given the right to a fair trial!
“Go to hell!” He started charging a shot and aiming at her, not noticing a blue stream of magic fly up behind him. Subaru's wing road lashed around behind the man, followed closely by the girl on skates. It didn't take but a few seconds to take in the situation and glide over to him, clocking the man upside the head with a powered punch from her revolver knuckle.
“Subaru! Just in time!” Tia ran over to them as the man simply fell over from the hit. The small girl held captive scrambled away and cried loudly towards her. “Good job!” Kneeling down, she opened her arms to accept the crying girl. Before she could get close enough, however, the man they thought to be unconscious released his charged blast on the floor. The ceiling of the building ripped apart, flaring out and making the little one literally sail through the air and over the side of the building. The pigtailed girl didn't stop to think about her actions before doing them. With a forceful jump she leapt over the the side and fell off as well, reaching out for the child. 'Fly!' Her mind demanded as they plummeted to their death. 'FLY!' As the ground came closer she grit her teeth hard, forcing her power to guide her. The last few seconds blurred together in her mind. Somehow she manged to catch up to the girl, grabbing her hard against her chest. The next thing she knew she was flying sideways a few feet off the ground. Upon realizing this she righted herself and hovered several moments before slowly descending.
“Tia!” Subaru skated down her road as the police force stormed the building and escorted the hostages out. “You flew! You really flew!” Once she was close enough she cracked her partner upside the head. “You scared three years off my life!”
“There she is!” Someone yelled out in the crowd, running over to them.
“Daddy!” The girl cried hard, letting go of Tia and clinging to the new man.
“My little girl...” He looked up at the two after making sure his daughter was all right. “You saved her life...Thank you! Really.” He held his child close. “Thank you so much... I'll never forget this, ever.”
Subaru nudged the suddenly blushing girl. “Hey, you're a hero.”
Tia's eyes went wide. “No time for that!” Her hand went to her ear to press the button. “Lightning, respond! Give me an update! ... Lightning! LIGHTNING!” She looked at Subaru scared. “They're not answering.”
“There is a mage down there,” Vita stated flatly, looking at the ground. “Signum and I got there and they were already like this. He didn't seem to want to kill them and just let us take them. Signum is already in the helicopter, let's go.”
“No,” Nanoha turned to the ground. “I'm going to talk with him.”
“Nanoha!” Vita yelled at her. “Whoever he is, he can beat the three of them at the same time. Two summoners! Don't mess with that unless you have to! Let's get out of here and regroup!”
“And let him get away!?” She glared hard, tears in her eyes. “I'm going to find out what caused this senseless battle!” With no more words she flew to the ground, landing softly and looking around. The area was almost completely destroyed, frozen solid in blocks of ice in some places and on fire in others. Kneeling, she picked up a chunk of purple and green armor. 'What's this...? Doesn't look like what Elio wears...'
“Nanoha Takamachi.” The voice made Nanoha stand. “You came after all. We guess our gesture of good will didn't go unnoticed after all.”
“Tri-Edge.” Nanoha glared at him. “You hurt them?”
“You may call us Kite. We always give our real name to people of value.” Walking into the light, he revealed himself fully. Black boots with sparkling blue trim lead up to blue metal-ish type of armor covering his legs. It went to his chest and spread out the rest of his body, giving most of his barrier jacket a shine. Despite observing him, it was almost as if the blue and black armor seemed to shift around him. In all he looked like a new-age type of warrior knight, upgraded from the middle ages on earth. “You turned down the offer we so generously gave you, so now we were hired to make sure you couldn't be used against us.”
“I have no idea what you're talking about,” She growled at him. “But I am very displeased that you would hurt my students like that.”
“We went easy on them.” Kite shrugged it off.
“Who is this 'we' you are talking about? I don't see nor feel anyone else around.”
“We are we.” He pointed to himself. “Once we take care of you, Fate will be next.”
Nanoha's eyes narrowed, waking something deep inside of her. “I won't let you.” Pointing Raising Heart at him, she fired rapidly. Kite brought out one hand, slashing something that looked like a dagger several times. Each stroke met one of Nanoha's magic bullets and forced them to ricochet away from him into buildings nearby. After almost ten seconds of this Nanoha finally got impatient and stopped. The last of the attacks were deflected and he simply looked at her as if to ask if that was all she had.
“With that kind of power, how do you expect to stay alive?” Kite took a step forward. “I will make this as painless as I can. If you want to pray, do so now.”
Nanoha yelled out loudly, reaching behind her back and forming the blood red copy of Signum's sword. Dashing forward she started slashing as fast as she could, once more being deflected by the single dagger. Time and time again the clicking sound of metal on metal rang around them. Her yell got louder, re-doubling her efforts only to be denied again and again. Kite met her eye and slashed his other dagger out, shooting her several feet back and onto her back. “Ugh...” Slowly sitting up, she glared at the man walking to her casually. Even though she wasn't touched from the strike her barrier jacket was still ripped clean to reveal her stomach.
“This needless death could have been avoided if you just would serve out master. Then Fate, Yuuno, and Hayate wouldn't have to die as well. We promise you they won't feel the pain. Is there a chance you will reconsider so we won't have to kill them?”
“Don't play games with me!” She shouted at him. “You don't sound regretful at all, how can I believe that!? You're enjoying this you sick bastard!”
“I don't want anyone to be hurt!” Deep inside of Nanoha, a new voice surfaced. “Use me!”
Nanoha growled low in her throat, forming black mist over her barrier jacket and staining it. “Come on... Come on!” Looking up, she glared at Kite with glowing yellow eyes. “I'm... right... here!” The familiar echoing surrounded her as the transformation to her third phase shift was completed. “Skeeeeiiith!”
“Oh?” Kite looked impressed. “So you too possess an avatar. This makes things interesting.” readying his dagger, he beckoned her with his free hand.
Skeith flew forward so fast the air around them moved from the force of it. Her right hand slashed out with her claws, getting deflected by the man's dagger. Trying again, she moved her other hand forward. Kite's hand blurred with speed, countering both hands with his one. Sparks started flying around them as they clashed; Skeith slashing both hands as fast as she could and Kite deflecting them on his own. Yelling in frustration, the female leapt back, calling forth Raising Heart. Despite her years of experience she still couldn't see the move that came next. Kite was immediately in front of her, hand gripping her face. The next moment she found herself skidding across the ground in pain. “Ahn...” She slowly pushed herself up, yellow claws scratching the ground while despretily trying to remember how to stand.. “What... are you?”
“We are we,” He replied as he did before. “Die.”
“No!” Bringing up her hand, three orange triangular strips flared to life. Spreading out, several green and red octagons appeared between them as her final attack was charged. “Data Drain!”
He move hit Kite solid in the chest, knocking him back a few feet. At first he yelled out but it soon turned to laughter. “Stop it! It tickles!” Slashing his hand, he destroyed the energy stream going into him and smiled sickeningly at the shocked female. “My silly girl,” he taunted. “This is how it's done.” Bringing up his right hand, orange strips began to glow around his arm, spinning out and jumping into eight lines. Each one moved away from his arm and formed a type of shield in front of him. Between them flared green, completely filling with the same colored octagons. “Data,” He met Skeith's scared eyes. “Drain.”
Pain.
It was everything, everywhere. She knew she was screaming but it hurt too much to hear, hurt too much to see. It was as if her body was being torn apart from the inside out, everything being sucked from her bones. A raging inferno filled her chest, consuming her air and cutting off what was left of her pain filled scream. For the first time in her life she wished to just die, to be away from the agony. She felt part of herself be torn from her, insides crack from the force and skin tear as a result. Just as soon as it began, it stopped. Slowly she fell to her knees and looked lifelessly at Kite as she fell forward, laying in a pool of her own blood. “One down,” She heard before the blissful blackness took over her. “Three to go.”
Yuuno: Her own move was used against her, but his was different... Perfected.
Fate: Assassin sent to kill us!? Why didn't you say anything!?
Shamal: The lightning members will be fine, they weren't hurt anywhere vital. It was almost as if he purposely tried to avoid killing them.
Subaru: And Nanoha?
Shamal: Her Jewel seed seemed to shift in her body; it caused a lot of damage.
Tia: Next time on Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Redemption, “The Truth Behind Truth.”
Nanoha: Fate...Take this thing away from my eyes, I can't see anything.
Fate: Nanoha... Nothing is covering your eyes.
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