Pani Poni Dash! Fan Fiction / Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Act II: Nightmare!? ❯ Intermezzo: Vanishing ( Prologue )

I Am Negima!? AND SO CAN YOU!

Intermezzo: Vanishing

(A/N: Disclaimer: Negima!? is the love child of Ken Akamatsu and SHAFT, not me. PPD likewise is SHAFT. Other characters properties of their respective creators and companies. I bear no ownership of any other character other than Cygnus and one other coming in later. Special thanks to Theru and Serac. ENOUGH RAMBLING, LET'S GET ON WITH THIS!)

Without a doubt, Mahora Academy was the most prestigious academy in the land. Housing over nine thousand classes and many more students, this holy sanctimony of learning bears not only students of normal tutelage, but in secret, some of the finest mages and greatest legends. In fact, not too long ago there was a great mystery and a great battle that took place on that land. Two young teachers, a Mahora incumbent and a visitor from another school, and their students engaged in a battle of both force and wit against an otherworldly swan... but ironically enough, it took interference from another world to resolve that fight. Together, those teachers saved their world from dimensional invasion.

But act two of this strange, amusing, and chaotic tale does not take place there (for the most part anyway). Our journey takes us to the other side of Tokyo, a place more ordinary, and yet still extraordinary. A place where that other young teacher changed the history of her school.

That place is known as Peach Moon Academy.

What looks like an ordinary school is indeed the home for many strange phenomena, even down to the aliens which hover hundreds of miles above it. Indeed, these strange and almost nonsensical happenings give Peach Moon an almost public parallel to that of Mahora. It holds its own rules and its own culture, but even so, a connection between those two schools exists.

However, things are not peaceful there. Some dark and chaotic plot had begun to hatch within those walls. In one night, the cliché but very true cogs of fate began to turn for many people, placing them in a fated clash of light and darkness.

And thus round two of the adventures of Negi Springfield and Rebecca Miyamoto begins.

xx

What a horrible night to have a test tomorrow!

At least, that's how Asuna Kagurazaka felt. There was going to be a massive English test tomorrow, administered by one of her roommates no less. Scowling, she sent a death glare to the one and only Negi Springfield, who was happily composing papers of something or other—likely her doom. Maaaannn, and Zombie Rider X was supposed to have this epic marathon tonight... and she had to study! What a heinous crime! “Seriously, get on with it!” Geez... still no fun.

Asuna looked up from her poor studying, looking back towards her room and the open window. The first thing she noticed was the cloudy and foreboding night sky above, broken up only by the light of the full moon. Geez... truly foreboding. The last night that filled her with any sort of uneasiness was about a month and a half ago, when those strange kids from Peach Moon came in, and following them, a dark-skinned swan man. Ah, the memories of adventure.

Only after reminiscing a bit did Asuna realize that it was rather quiet... their third roommate, Konoka Konoe, wasn't here. She was likely off either training Rocky style or having some sort of elicit affair with Setsuna... Although the mere thought of that had her dodging horrible imaginary nosebleeds from imaginary audiences, so she stopped that. “Ugh... I can't do this anymore! Just let me watch Zombie Rider Deluuuuxeeee!”

“Even though I'm giving out a test tomorrow,” Negi said without looking up from his writing, “I'm not the one who's stopping you, right?”

“Urrrgghhh!” Asuna had to restrain herself from clawing her hair and ruining her twin pigtails. “But if I don't study I'm going to bomb the test!” Like it or not, ever since the tiny teachers teamed up, her study habits had improved to the point where she couldn't even rest easy if she didn't study for at least a little bit. Even so, she still preferred the awesome of non-school subjects to... well, school subjects.

“So why don't you just record it?” Negi suggested.

“I would if I had any spare video tapes!” Asuna lamented. “Miyamoto brat used all of them last month!”

“Becky...” This sobered Negi so quickly Asuna nearly regretted mentioning the name.

Asuna thought back to when the two kids were together. Being of similar age, Becky was the only person Negi could really relate to on a personal level especially since they shared similar professions. Underaged genius teachers weren't a common thing these days, after all. “You miss Miyamoto-sensei, don't you?” This sounded more like a statement than a question.

“...maybe,” Negi answered. “It's only been half a month, and I haven't heard anything from her. Chao-san hasn't reported anything to me from her friends either.”

“Maybe one of these days, I'll find those clowns and drag them back here,” Asuna said, giving the boy a wink. “After all, two underaged brats are more amusing than one.”

“Hey!”

“Negi-kun! Negi-kun!” The front door, flew open, and Konoka Konoe quickly stepped in. Her normally gentle and happy face was etched in urgency. “My grandfather wants to see you. Says it's urgent!”

“Huh?” Negi stood up. This... couldn't be good.

xx

Negi slowly opened the door. Despite his feeling of dread, there would be no reason to disrespect the elder Dean by barging in. “Come in, Negi-kun.” Dean Konoe said. Negi obeyed.

Inside his grand and yet cozy office, Dean Konoe sat, chin resting on his furled hands. It was unusual for him to be out here this late at night, but apparently if he saw fit to meet Negi out here, than something was up. “You summoned me here... what's the matter?”

“You've done well so far, Negi-kun,” the dean said. “It's been nice having you.”

“Yes...” Negi began. However, there was something implied in those words. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“It's obvious!” An annoying voice crowed. Oh GOD NO. I was hoping I wouldn't have to write you two annoying mascots in the story yet. But alas. Motsu, the talking frog... thing, landed on the dean's desk. “You failed the hidden test nobody talked about! You're fi—” -SQUISH- The Dean did the world a favor and banged Motsu on the table with one mighty fist.

“Please fail less, mya,” Shichimi appeared opposite of Motsu the Pancake, bobbing to a mysterious beat. “Anyway, Negi-kun. We've learned some dire news.”

“Dire... news?” Negi did not like that feeling of anxiety in his stomach.

Dean Konoe lifted one eye and looked somberly at Negi. “Rebecca Miyamoto has disappeared.”

Negi's eyes widened. “What... why?”

“According to her friends, there was an attempt on her life. She has likely gone into hiding out of fear for her life.”

“Who... would do such a thing?” Negi clenched his fists.

“We have no clue. But some contacts of ours have spotted some suspicious activity at her school, including the appearance of a strange individual,” the dean explained. “But Negi-kun. Miyamoto-sensei suddenly disappearing has sent the staff and students of Peach Moon into a panic. Furthermore, they cannot locate a suitable substitute.”

And then suddenly, the dean's earlier implication made a lot of sense. Negi stood up sharply. “I'll go.”

“Negi-kun, aren't you being a bit hasty?” The Dean asked.

“I know, but... if Becky is in danger, then her students are as well,” Negi answered. “I'll solve this case.”

The Dean laughed. “Just as I thought. Miyamoto-sensei grew on you the short time she was here. I can't dissuade you from going... Perhaps I'll have a word with the principal over at Peach Moon.”

“Are the bullet trains still active?”

“Yes.”

“I'm leaving on the next train then,” Negi quickly stood up and turned to leave, but...

“Negi-kun.”

“Y-yes?” Negi nearly jumped before facing the dean again.

“You know your class might not take it well if you suddenly disappear on them. How will you deal with that? And what about your partners?”

“I know someone who can sit for me and take care of my students while I'm away... as for my partners, it'll be too suspicious if I take them with me now, but in the end, I know they'll find me.” Negi smiled and turned to the two annoying mascots. “Shichimi-san. Motsu-san. When they're free from the test tomorrow, please guide them to Peach Moon.”

“We got it... in a good way,” Motsu murmured, still flat as a pancake.

“Okaaayy!” Shichimi added.

“Farewell,” Negi concluded.

“Until we meet again, Negi-kun,” The dean said heavily as the boy sprinted out of his office. He listened as the boy clambered down the stairs at the end of the hall and dashed off into the quiet night.

xx

High into the reaches of space, a vaguely Star-Trek-like ship hovered nearby the earth.

You're probably wondering why the bloody hell there's a spaceship hovering around and nobody even noticing it, but then again a lot of things revolving around Peach Moon never made sense. And how did this spaceship involve itself with Peach Moon, anyway?

The aliens piloting it observed somebody from Peach Moon, of course!

Inside the massive technological Star Trek ripoff, there were various bits of technology not seen on earth. Doohickeys and doodads that performed a number of things that humans could not yet achieve lied here. And the aliens piloting the ship, too, were technological wonders. They were short things, wearing brown armor, yellow claws, and having saucers for heads. Nevertheless, they were well equipped for gathering data on this planet.

But there was bad news... the person they were gathering data on had disappeared.

“It's bad! I can't find her signal anywhere!” One of the aliens whined.

“Can't you idiots work faster?!” The captain bellowed. Though slightly bigger and slightly browner than the rest, he didn't look all that imposing to his crew. “If we lose track of her data for too long, we could render nearly all future data useless!”

“We're trying, we're trying!” Another one shouted.

“I'm trying too!” The captain declared while tinkering with something.

“No you're not, you're pushing random buttons!”

“Oh you shut up!”

“Captain!” Another alien practically sailed into the main control room. He had to take a moment to catch his breath. When he finally did, he shouted. “It's horrible! Somebody's stealing technology right off the ship!”

“What?!” The captain stood up. “This ship is teleportation proof! Unless... dammit! I knew that spray was cheap and bad news!”

“I could've told you that.”

“Aw man, this shit is awesome!” A swirl of darkness appeared, and from it, a hand emerged, followed by a body. A dark-skinned man emerged, dressed in white, appeared from below. His swan-like visage towered over the small aliens, greeting them with a savage grin and neon-orange eyes. “Smallboss will love this.”

“EEEK!” The aliens cried, scrambling like beheaded chickens.

“I'll blast you down!” One of them suddenly built up bravery and whipped out a small gun. The swan-like man watched with mild interest as the gun charged up and fired a single, tiny blast. Unfortunately, the blast was little more effective than a single pin prick.

The dark skinned man yawned. “This is far too easy,” He twirled a bit before forming a thin sword out of darkness and slamming it down. A half-second later, the alien found his gun split cleanly in two. “You don't stand a chance. Don't bother me and you don't get hurt.”

“Hey, hey, big brother!” A voice came out of the darkness. Another person dressed in white emerged. However, while the dark-skinned man was like a swan, she was more of an ultra-thin and elegant owl. She shook her red hair to reorient herself. “Cygnus! How long are you going to keep this up?”

“Calm down, Windia,”the man we all know and love to hate or hate to love as Cygnus answered. “I came across something interesting that Smallboss might want.”

“W-w-what do you want?!” The captain asked, trying and failing miserably to keep his fear down.

“Errmmm... technology,” Cygnus answered, a grin on his face. “I go about raiding it for my boss, as a favor to her.” He glanced over at one of the screens, however, and stopped dead in his tracks.

There was a face... a face he recognized. Rebecca Miyamoto!

“I... know that brat,” the swan boy murmured, slight anger crossing his features.

“Really?” The inquisitive Windia, who was by now poking one of the aliens (“Cut it out.” the alien griped.), turned her head to the swan. “Does that mean you've been to this world before?”

“I think so. I've been able to transcend time with these universes though, so I can't be entirely certain,” Cygnus sat down. He looked at the captain. “You've been monitoring this girl?”

Somewhat surprised at the man's sudden change in demeanor, the alien captain stuttered a bit before answering. “W-why yes! We were just here collecting data before she disappeared on us and we were rudely pillaged by dimension-breaking space pirates!”

“Well excuuuuuuse me prince!” Cygnus snarled. “But I now have a vested interest in your monitoring station now. If you let us join you, not only will I not eviscerate you, but I'll also return the stuff I stole, plus perhaps help you locate that brat.”

The aliens exchanged looks before huddling together. Apparently they needed a game plan.

“What do we do? He can obviously take us all out if we tried to beat him up,” one of the aliens whispered.

“But he's actually offering some sort of help for our crisis!” Another one pointed out.

“Hmph, it's either get extra baggage which may assist us in the long run, or get torn to shreds. Sounds like a deal I can't refuse,” the captain concluded.

“I suppose.”

“Not like we have any say in the matter, but hey.”

“You quiet down!” The captain rose out of the huddle and spun towards Cygnus and Windia. “Very well. You have a deal.”

“Muu... sounds boring,” Windia muttered, puffing up her cheeks.

“More like epic opportunity!” Cygnus crowed. “Don't worry, we'll be getting in on the action soon enough.”

“I'll hold you to that,” She leered at him, though there was a smile growing on her face.

“Instead of running around like chickens, why don't we monitor Peach Moon for a while?” the captain suggested. “It might give us clues.”

One alien started, “Sir, that was my ide—” -BAM- a sudden gust of wind sent him crashing into a wall. “Ouch!”

“Thank you,” The captain hummed.

“You're welcome!” Windia smiled.

Cygnus simply sighed. “I see this could be a very long ride.” He stood up again. “...but it'll be worth it. If I'm back here... truly back here... then I can see her again.”

“Who...?” This got stares from everyone in the ship.

“...Rokugou.”

xx

Night cast its gloomy shadow over this strange land known as Peach Moon. Even the beautiful stars and fully lit moon could not dissuade the feeling of dread a girl felt as she made her way to her school. Quietly, this tall girl tiptoed onto school grounds, nervously clawing at her long, black hair.

The usual howling of wolves, predictable as it was, still spooked her as she crawled under the metal gate with surprising finesse. She stepped through the grounds, weary that anything from anywhere could attack. However, despite those growing fears, she would not be dissuaded.

She would complete this dare, idiocy be damned!

Her friends... if she could call them that, felt she was a fool... a space case, at that. She'd never know love, even as fair as she was. However, she could rectify that by putting herself in some “earthly” danger... go visit this school at night! Recent rumors claim the place being a haven to monsters at night, and perhaps the reason why that tiny teacher disappeared! As a stern believer of those monsters, she was going to bring back proof! There would be no stopping her this night!

What luck! The window was conveniently open! Marveling at the ease that she managed to make it in, she smiled softly to herself. Her life didn't have much good luck. And apparently, it was already running out.

While she got in okay, navigating this dark and now unholy place was another matter. She walked slowly, listening closely to the sound of her own footsteps. So far, there was nothing. Just empty school hallways. There was no darkness that appeared here... though in truth, that's bad news.

You see, this place had already eclipsed itself in darkness.

Suddenly, the girl spotted something... a faint and ethereal presence. Was it...? Could it be...?

She looked closer. A faint outline of a ghost. The shape was so vague though... BUT AT LAST, IT WAS PROOF! The outline of it too, it felt so familiar... All she had to do was get closer—

She did not like that squishing sensation on her left foot. Wearily, she looked down.

It wasn't a dead body or even some unidentifiable mush... it was darkness. And the darkness was already crawling up her leg, swirling around her body. She tried to scream, but darkness swirled and filled her mouth, silencing her. She tried to scramble from the poisonous dark mass, but it proved futile. She couldn't be eaten here, she couldn't die here!

She reached out a hand to that pale spirit... was it even a spirit? Too consumed by the darkness to even cry for help, it was all she could do before she drowned in that darkness.

xx

Dammit... too late!

Just a tad too slow. That poisonous darkness was faster than he imagined.

Adjusting his top hat, the Black Rose Baron stood atop the main tower, gazing down where the chaos transpired. “As I thought,” the baron whispered. “This place is the last spot, the gathering place of all that darkness. But why?” With the cape billowing out, the Black Rose Baron gazed off at the moon, apparently in one of those badass shounen poses. “But I know it's here.”

Hiding a dismayed frown, the Baron continued his soliloquy. “Miyamoto, this is no time to hide. He will come for you. I'm sure of it.” With that, the Baron took yet another dramatic sweep of the cape before leaping off into the night, disappearing in a burst of black rose petals.

xx

So now, the stage is set! This eve of chaos will give way to a new dawn of sorrows! But don't worry kids! Remember, I am Negima!?, and SO CAN YOU!