Pani Poni Dash! Fan Fiction / Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Act II: Nightmare!? ❯ Episode 8: "Midnight Strikes in the Garden of Madness!" By Serizawa ( Chapter 8 )

Nightmare?!

Episode 8: “Midnight Strikes in the Garden of Madness!” by Serizawa

“I know where Becky is... knew the whole time, actually,” Miyako had boldly stated last episode. Her shiny forehead did not shine in this fallen atmosphere at all—even considering that she just brought a major secret to light.

“What?!” Negi interjected. “Why didn't you tell us?”

“That's what WE want to know!” Himeko and Rei complained in unison, smacking Miyako around for effect.

“It's the secret of the year!” Rokugou added.

“The Kashiwagi twins were so shocked they forgot to show up,” Ichijou stated, but of course she was ignored. “No pactio card action for them, I guess.”

“You make that sound insignificant...” Kurusu pointed out.

“Cut it out!” Miyako whined, finally stopping her endless beatdown. “Well... anyway, I told Becky to hide, because of that freakish darkness that attacked her a few days before she left. Right after the attack, she suspected Cygnus, due to the perfect motivation. But as our investigation progressed, heavy evidence stacked up against that idea. At that point, I knew that darkness had more or less a very strong tie to you, Negi-sensei.”

Negi's eyes shrank. “...me? How did I cause this?”

Miyako sighed heavily, trying her best to ignore the glares from 3-A coming in her direction. “Let me establish this first: It's no fault of your own. But...” Miyako gazed at everyone again. “...we remember the fairy that attacked us last time at your school was also from that darkness. If it wasn't Cygnus, then it could only be that—the darkness that tried to hurt Becky was trying to lure you here.”

“Does that mean Negi-kun just walked straight into a trap?” Konoka asked.

“Becky figured he'd come running no matter what she did,” Miyako said. “I came up with the idea of having her hide for now—she could do some research on her own, and admittedly, it'd get you here faster without Becky getting hurt. And I had reasons of my own.”

“Oh ho?” Serizawa raised her eyebrow and leered at Miyako. “What were those reasons?”

“Know how dark boy's involved in this despite our initial and main findings being contrary to that?” By now, Miyako was fed up of her position as underarm rag and shined her forehead on her captors. As Himeko and Rokugou tried to recover their eyesight, Miyako continued. “I had a feeling he'd put his hand in this, and it's bugging me. Something about him has always been bugging me, and I intend to find out what.”

“Cygnus-kun...?” Rokugou blinked.

Miyako whirled around. “Don't you even start, girlie.”

“Eh?! But I wasn't...” The demure girl began, her face flushing red.

“Don't worry about it, she's just being grouchy again,” Rei waved off Rokugou's worry and Miyako's growing irritation.

Serizawa stealthily appeared right next to Konoka and whispered, “What's this about Cygnus?” Showing no ill intent, she completely ignored Konoka's slight surprise and Setsuna's sword poking at her neck as a result.

“Long story short...” Konoka whispered back after recovering (and cajoling Setsuna to do the same), “Rokugou-han likes Cygnus-han, we don't!”

“Ah, makes sense,” Serizawa nodded, much like ninja do. She stepped away from the other yuri pair and rose her voice for master show-thievery. “I guess I'll let you guys go and find Becky for now. Yuzuko and I will temporarily keep the others off your back.”

“I'll do my best!” Kurusu pumped her fist.

“Thank you, Serizawa-san!” Negi bowed.

“Hold it,” Serizawa caught their attention.

“Yes?”

“Watch your step. This place has been corrupted by darkness and strange creatures, lately...” The actress-slash-ninja advised gravely. “We're gone.” Taking Kurusu's hand, the two of them ran back in the direction they came.

Getting the message quickly, Negi's harem (with Miyako leading) immediately sprinted off down the hallway, hopeful they could find the other half of their teaching force—and in the process, remain oblivious of their missing numbers.

And that growing darkness, too.

xxx

“Not bad... not bad at all!” Jack Rakan stood victorious over his fallen opponent. “To think that I was the one who had to take you down...” He looked left and right, seeing Howell and Media were still trying to recover.

“Dammit...” Sonic, now in night form, was struggling to stay upright. “I didn't ask to pick a fight with a freight train... with swords—!” However, once the imagery of a fast moving train wielding swords and slashing indiscriminately while laughing maniacally crossed the hedgehog's mind, he quickly amended his statement. “Okay, maybe not a freight train...”

“Interesting imagery hedgehog,” Howell groaned from his awesome vantage point of the second dimension on the floor. “But I think Rakan's more like an infinite abyss of swords.”

“I think I prefer 'the best Swiss Army Knife',” Media chirped. “With a chainsaw attached. And some swords.”

Jack laughed heartily. “I don't really care. I just live to fight and oggle at pretty ladies. Peach Moon's got a lot, actually.”

“You should rub off that voyeurism on Connor, I think he needs it.”

Am I seriously listening to this?! Sonic complained mentally. I shouldn't have mocked Windia... or actually that might've been a good thing, too. Even I'd hate for her to face this guy! Sonic was wondering what was more surprising—Rakan's strength or these crazy student mages. He thought Negi was powerful, but these guys were on a whole new level, despite his victory against two of them. But considering how he heard about their plans to find Becky, maybe he could convince Cygnus to harass them instead...

“So blue dude, how about you tell me what brings you here?” Rakan asked, twirling a sword in his right hand. “While Peach Moon's pretty weird, blue hedgehogs don't quite fit in, you know.”

“Not here by complete free will, I'll tell ya that,” Sonic growled, keeping ready just in case something went down. His strength was coming back... “Other than that, can't say much.”

“You sure about that? We have ways of making you talk, you know,” Howell sneered like a bishounen villain. “I have connections to some chupacabra tribes nearby, they'll be glad to take one of their own!”

“I'm a hedgehog, dammit!” Sonic predictably retorted like clockwork.

“Wahahaha, don't make me la—”

Media gasped slightly, cutting down the argument. “Huh?” Media's eyes actually became visible, and she stepped back.

“What?” All Student Mage Council eyes present were on her.

Media merely aimed a finger at the ground.

Ripples formed on the floor, like water droplets hitting the surface of a lake. Something was rising from beneath. Something...

“Not looking good, is it?” Sonic grit his teeth.

xxx

Akira floated aimlessly, listening to the silence in all of its deafening glory.

But in this small sample of oceanic waters, there was no peace. Only quiet. Truly disturbing quiet. That was, until Akira heard something. The sound of something... emerging from the water.

But wasn't she alone in the pool? How could someone pop out if she never saw (or felt) anyone go in? Akira got her answer when she straightened herself and looked at the water and the pool area around it.

She found she was no longer alone.

They looked like ordinary girls. Sure, all of them had swimsuits and black hair, but yeah, otherwise they looked normal. But perhaps there was that small issue of them all sharing the same mischievous smile. Or maybe it was the barely audible but definitely inhuman shrieks some of them did. Or how about the fact that all of their eyes appeared hauntingly dead blue.

Yeah, definitely not human.

Slowly, she found them emerging into the world, with all eyes on her. All eyes on her... they eyed her as if, perhaps, she may be one of their own.

Their inhuman gazes wrapped around the lone swimmer, perhaps as inviting as it was mortifying. The swimmers drew closer...

Akira Ookouchi was very confused by this matter!

xxx

“So guys, you mean to tell me this is it?” Negi asked, coming to a stop in front of a single door.

Miyako turned around to face everybody else. “You guys know this place, right?”

“Isn't that Becky's office?” Rei raised an eyebrow. “What are we doing here?”

“Step inside and see,” Miyako mystically answered. The girls exchanged looks, and walked inside.

In the darkness, Becky's office almost appeared abandoned. It had been roughly a week since the girl had been gone, and since Becky was largely weary of janitorial work in the past for some strange reason, the office never got cleaned. Probably still unfit for a hiding place for Becky.

“Ew, this place would look much cozier for a teacher's office if it wasn't so dirty,” Makie murmured.

“Child geniuses don't clean up after themselves too well, I take it,” Setsuna pondered.

“Please cut down on the child genius insults,” Negi cut into the musings before they could go any further. Looking earnestly at their temporary guide, Negi said, “Miyako-san, I don't think Becky's here.”

“Hold it, we're not at the good part yet,” Miyako said. With a bit of embarrassment, she added, “Observe.” She walked past the large group over to a corner, where a small floodlight was mounted. She dug around a bit before turning it on. Then she walked back to the center of the room, where she opened up... a trap door.

“A trap door?” Konoka asked.

“That's been there,” Rei answered. “Watanuki crawls out of there every now and then. How would Becky manage to hide in there?”

Miyako said nothing. Instead, she tilted her head back slightly with a somewhat rueful face. The light from the floodlight bounced off of her head and onto the floor below, revealing the floor below the trapdoor was just an illusion.

“Amazing!” Nodoka marveled.

“That's the trick of the year!” Rokugou also interjected.

Rei decided to simply laugh hard. “Oh wow, that makes way too much sense!”

“Oh you shut up,” Miyako retorted. Her mind flashed back to when Becky had the idea and she shuddered. Despite her bratty nature there were a few times where her deviousness actually became a threat. Rather not let them know that... She was about to step down into the secret area when she noticed that a few girls close to the door had perked up. “What's going on?”

Setsuna opened the door and peered outside. “I don't like the feeling of this...” The girls and Negi faintly heard her voice. Outside, Setsuna could see two shapes tearing towards them with chaotic speed.

“Hi everyone!” Media happily waved at the swordswoman. “It's prudent that you flee. See you!”

There was some unintelligible screaming/yelling/crying coming from the other person running which Setsuna identified as Howell. “Umm...”

Ichijou didn't even hesitate, she jumped over Setsuna and tore after the fleeing duo.

Setsuna came back in, still completely flummoxed over the matter. While everyone else simply stared back in expectant confusion, the guardian suddenly tensed.

“Secchan?” Konoka asked.

“Ojou-sama, behind you!” Setsuna lunged, not even bothering to register that she spooked nearly everyone in the room.

“Setsuna-sa—?!” Negi started, but his eyes caught something emerge from the wall, as if the wall itself were made of water. Whatever it was attempted to snatch Konoka, but it failed miserably as Setsuna had already stole her charge to safety. “What are those things?!”

“Tch. Mermaids,” Miyako hissed.

“Mermaids?” Nodoka shivered.

The strange, almost human creatures seemed to swim in, regarding the crew with a combination of creepily inviting smiles and a tinge of curiosity at the large group. In response, the more human amongst them drew closer together, as if constricted by a giant snake.

“What we call them, anyway...” The shiny forehead girl answered. “We don't know what they want, but they come out at night, and they're way too touchy-feely for their own good...”

Case in point: one went straight for Setsuna's chest.

“No!” Konoka made a semi-feeble attempt to smack them away. “You can't touch Secchan!” Why, because she belongs to you?! “H-hush!” Setsuna decided it was wise to not say a word and simply defend her more powerless classmates from these apparently perverted nightmare mermaids.

“Surprised I haven't heard a 'is this Japan anymore?!' line from Kurumi...” Rei thought out loud amusedly. “Where is she? I'd thought she'd meet us here.” When all she got were worried glances, the Chinese girl sighed. “Hmph, we can't back out of looking for Becky now, but if she wandered into this, she could be in trouble.”

“I don't want these things to compromise Becky's lab, so do you guys mind hunting for Kurumi and distracting these guys?” Miyako asked as she jumped into the hole.

“Oh no I'm not!” Asuna also jumped in.

“I'm gonna be the first to hug Becky~!” Himeko cheered.

“What?!” Makie objected. “But why?! I don't want to experiment!”

“Me neither!” Nodoka shivered. She turned to their tiny teacher. “Negi-sensei!”

“I'll activate your pactios!” Negi answered while lifting up his magic stick, as if solving world hunger.

...Nobody who had already departed liked where this was going.

xxx

Deep within the heart of the underground of Peach Moon, Negi and his small group entered this hidden sanctuary at their own peril, past the vaulted door, where they saw impossible things that the world has never seen before...

...like the massive collection of magical apparatus and books. It seemed more fitting of a mad occult scientist than a bratty underaged genius girl, but somehow it still managed to feel just like Becky.

“How the hell did Miyamoto brat even get her hands on half this stuff?!” Asuna looked around in sheer wonder. “Ichijou's plot device?!”

“That's one of my theories,” Miyako answered, using her shiny forehead like a flashlight for some of the darker areas of the lab. I am so damn lucky Rei's not with us right now.

“It's so cool,” Himeko marveled. “Why didn't Becky tell me about this?! Now I really want to see her drink some potions and turn into a hundred huggable mini-Beckys! Maho maho mahoooo...” She spun around like the happy fool she was, and everyone else ignored her.

“Hey, big bro!” Chamo popped out of Negi's front pocket on his shirt. “Are you sure those girls upstairs are gonna be okay?”

Negi smiled nervously. “I hope so. It seems I'm abandoning them, and that won't do. We have to find Becky quickly and get back upstairs.”

They called out Becky's name as they walked in further. The lab wasn't anything big by any means, but catching Becky unaware in such a small space would probably end with a lot of strange experiments thrown in their faces... that wasn't something Negi wanted right now.

Alas, all he saw was that unforgiving darkness yet again.

“Nothing... no sign of Becky-san...” Negi murmured. “It's not looking good.”

Chamo stood erect, sniffing the air like some sort of living antenna. “Hey big bro. Somebody else familiar is around here.”

“Oh crap! I forgot the Student Mage leader might be here!” Negi's eyes grew wide.

“But I said it's impossible!” Miyako shot back. “Not even that weirdo leader should know where this is!”

“It ain't him!” Chamo silenced the argument. He sniffed a bit, and then a bit more. “I think it's Kurumi-ane-san.”

“Kurumi?!” Everyone else reeled back in shock.

“How'd she even get down here?!” Miyako was raging hard at this point. “There's no way she could even find it by accident! Unless...”

“Look...” Asuna stopped her train of thought with a finger point. Standing just opposite of the small group was a blue door, adorned with strange, dendrite-like tentacles swathed around it.. Yet another boss door. “Somebody... or something, did beat us to the punch.”

And as if it knew they were there, it rose open with an ominous rumbling.

“It seems to be challenging us,” Miyako murmured.

“I don't like challenges from inanimate objects,” Chamo muttered. “They never end well.”

“I get the feeling I won't like what's behind this door...” Negi's voice, racked with seriousness and trepidation rather than outright fear, was only slightly louder than a whisper. “But...”

“Enough of that!” Asuna lightly rapped the boy on the head, causing him to wince and hold his noggin. “We're going in and kicking someone's ass. No matter how scary that is, that's all there is to it!” And with that, she marched right in.

“Hey, wait up!” Himeko and Miyako shouted, as they walked in as well, with Negi bringing up the rear.

For a while, all Negi saw was darkness, but stepping in further cleared it away into a moonlit classroom—wait a second.

This was... wait a minute. What the hell is going on here!? Wasn't this classroom upstairs?! Negi's brain racked itself in confusion as the door slammed, locking them in.

“Hey, isn't this 1-C?!” Miyako exclaimed. “I thought we were downstairs in the lab!”

Negi thought so too, but he had much bigger concerns. You see, sitting on the desk was Kurumi Momose, her ankles wrapped in darkness, her hands tied behind her back, and her mouth gagged with that darkness as well. The girl looked alert and fearful, but was strangely silent. “Kurumi-san...?!”

“Kurumi?!” Himeko reeled back in horror.

“Oh wonderful,” Miyako stated in keyboard-melting sarcasm. “We fell into a trap.”

“Is this Swan Boy's doing?!” Asuna reeled back.

“I can assure you it is not,” A voice announced. The cast was aware of a faint shape dropping in beside Kurumi. She leered at the group with her unsettling blue eyes. “Negi-sensei, it's great I finally have a real audience with you. Now I can take everything away from you any way I wish.”

“Wait—you're in my class!” Negi's eyes widened. “Aren't you—”

“My name is Lirael,” This otherworldly girl gave a somehow warm and yet sinister smile. “I am but a puppet serving my master, who wishes to see you in ruin. I was close in finding the other child, but now that you're here, you'll do nicely.”

Negi's eyes sank.

“The hell is your problem?!” Asuna stamped her feet.

“If your master is who I think it is, what's with the obsession about Negi-sensei anyway?!” Miyako also complained. “Why do you want him in ruin?!”

“I myself care not for the boy's fate, but I will do as my master wishes,” Already beside Kurumi, Lirael leaned in closer. “Besides, why bother with him? You are all beautiful...” She flicked out her tongue and, ever so slowly, licked the side of Kurumi's face. The girl whimpered from the act of affection. “...so why don't you join me instead?”

Dude, what is wrong with this woman?! Asuna's face contorted in fear and disgust.

Himeko pointed, as if she had just seen a train wreck. “You... you're doing it wrong!”

“That's right!” Chamo added to Himeko's fright. “Do you not know what 'consensual' means?!” Priorities, mister ermine! Do you have them?! (“I don't!” Sonic complained somewhere while playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

“Why are you doing this...?” Negi's face was, for once, completely unreadable, though he was shaking. “What are you trying to prove?”

Lirael stopped touching her hostage and stood up. Her voice suddenly changed, sounding more alien and less emotional. “That I can defeat you.” She raised a hand, and several desks rose with it, spinning a bit before Negi and his group. The good guys scrambled backwards to avoid the deadly debris, but faster and more accurate desks replaced their failed brothers.

Negi was having none of this. He snarled, crouching down. “Tel ma...” He slammed his hands on the floor. “AMORISTA!” Some other desks rose and crashed into their offending brethren, bringing the Desk Wars (tm) to a stalemate.

“She's completely serious...” Chamo muttered.

“Negi... let us transform,” Asuna requested, though in most everyone's eyes that was a statement.

“We'll send this girl packing...” Himeko, her face in that rare and dangerous serious mode. “...until her master shows his face, and then we'll kick HIS ass!”

Negi rose, bringing his staff to the forefront. “Understood... Partners: Asuna Kagurazaka, Himeko Katagiri, Miyako Uehara... show me the power within you. Contract.... activate!” He pulled out the cards locked into their souls.

“Geck!?” Asuna found herself half-her size and in a boar suit. “Why now?!” She turned to Miyako, who's forehead twinkled like clean glass. “And hey wait, I thought your cosplay card was different!”

“Dunno about you,” Miyako was in a loose Japanese garb, her right hand holding a smoker's pipe. “And my powers are mostly the same, the Kashiwagi twins just swapped out my creep wardrobe. But enough about that, look.”

Himeko simply flickered out of sight, and just a second later, Lirael had to flip backwards to dodge a giant key that would've ripped a hole in her gut. In armor form, Himeko sailed down into the visible world again, charging towards the woman that threatened them. Picking up her Keyblade in one smooth motion, Himeko slashed forward, but the nimble Lirael dodged once more. Still angry, Himeko continued her fierce assault, but could not land a blow.

“Himeko-san, be careful!” Negi warned.

“Hey!” The tiny Asuna complained. “Don't take my shtick!”

“Much too aggressive,” Lirael chided, floating to safety before crouching on a desk much like a cat. “I do think you should be more careful, yes?” Almost too quickly for the eye to see, something slithered out of her back.

Moments later, the Keybearing girl felt her right foot simply jerk from under her—only her amazing reaction time kept her head from smacking the floor, and even then, she still found herself dangling upside down from... a tentacle?! “Aiyiyiyaaah!” Himeko squealed, her anger evaporating into panic instantly. It turned out that the girl had grown not just one tentacle, but FOUR of them, and one had ensnared her foot. The other three snaked about her threateningly, daring the others to make a move.

“You... aren't half bad yourself,” Lirael examined her quarry much like a hungry hyena would inspect meat, except all the drooling and depravity would be exclusive to her eyes. “Alas, you are much too dangerous...” The strange girl's extra appendages shot forward to further her attack on Himeko...

“Saggita Magica... Series Fulguralis!” Negi shoved his hand forward as 17 arrows of lightning shot forward, knocking the freaky tentacles away. The arrows struck hard enough to shock Lirael herself.

“Gah!” The girl curled in pain, stumbling backwards a bit before gaining her bearings again. “Perhaps...” She lifted a hand. All of a sudden, Negi and the three girls felt a pull, as if something was dragging them left and increasing in force.

“What the hell?!” Miyako yelled in shock as she found herself crashing into the nearby wall. Negi and Asuna also crashed, but unlike Miyako recovered faster—only to find a few desks sailing towards them as well. All three screeched before pulling their best evasive maneuvers, evading the raining desks.

Himeko landed more gracefully, standing upright on the wall. Hardly giving another thought to it, she ran along the wall as if gravity deemed it the floor and charged towards the almost spectral girl, Keyblade at the ready. The girl whirled her weapon and sliced at the enigmatic woman, the blade missing its target by mere centimeters. Lirael flipped backward as Himeko's blade once again crashed where she stood just a moment before.

“Too slow~,” Lirael taunted. She began to float in midair. She swept her hand to the left, and once again, the good guys found a strange force dragging them towards another wall—this time, the ceiling.

“Oh wonderful, she can manipulate gravity,” Miyako murmured as she recovered and floated backwards to evade the falling desks for a second time.

“That explains why she's toying with us so easily...” Negi hissed. “I have to finish this—huh?” Alas, Lirael was nowhere in sight.

Chamo suddenly perked up. “Miyako-ane-san! BEHIND YOU!”

“What...?” Miyako didn't even look behind herself at first—rather, she scrambled forward, apparently dodging a tentacle that smashed the ground right behind her. “Eep!” She whirled around seeing Lirael drop down from her vintage point just out of their eyesight.

Negi had taken the advantage of the confusion and dashed towards the girl, readying a magic spell. “Tel MA...” He swung his staff, pointing at her. “AMORISTA!” Bursts of light snaked and trailed towards the offending Lirael. The strange girl flung more desks as a counter, and the light arrows crashed against them.

Smoke obscured Negi's sight.... this was baaaaad news. Tensing his muscles, the boy waited for an attack.

The smoke parted, and Lirael lunged at him like a lunatic out of hell. The boy moved forward and aimed a fist, ready to counter...

That failed massively when Lirael suddenly changed her path, sweeping downwards and pulling a fierce and perfect uppercut to Negi's chin. The boy sailed to the ceiling, or rather the floor, with such force that gravity repaired itself afterwards. Or maybe that was just Lirael's sadistic sense of timing.

Speaking of gravity repair, the desks returned to their rightful place on the ground--a little too fast for anyone in a helpless and painful state like Negi.

“Negi!” Asuna screeched in tiny form. Using what little power she could muster, she threw her tiny body at the desks. “Wak!” Despite her puny form she easily (but painfully) deflected the obnoxious school furniture, herself landing on Negi's back.

“Negi-kun!” Himeko cried. But by now, Lirael had made her move. Sweeping forward, the lady of tentacles ensnared the girl, Himeko nearly losing her breath with a “HUURRK!” In fact, all of Negi's partners in the room, with the exception of suka Asuna were now about to star in their own tentacle ero game.

Negi struggled to recover. Leaning on his staff, he saw that, in fact, all was nearly lost. “No... Himeko-san, Kurumi-san, Miyako-san...”

“Dammit, let them go!” A tenacious Asuna immediately barked atop Negi's head.

“Again, do you not know what consensual is?!” Chamo screamed atop Asuna's head.

“Yes, I do,” Lirael surprisingly answered the perverted ermine, her voice completely serious. “But that's not necessary here. Negi will be but a footnote in history when this is all over.” The tentacles tightening over her quarry, the girl suggestively licked her lips. She leered down at Negi, her presence much like that of a giant, demonic flower. “Lament the loss of your friends and your happiness, Negi Springfield...”

“Why you...” Negi breathed, shaking with both weakness and rage. But apparently, he lacked enough hatred to move.

Lirael began to extend her powers. The world was growing just a bit heavier to Negi Springfield...

“Grgh!” A surprise grunt of pain jerked Negi back into reality, or what little of it was in front of him. He looked up to see Lirael had dropped her hostages and clutched her stomach, or rather, the earthly spear that was poking out of it, her face etched in a mix of shock and rage. The spear itself was doused in blood... white blood.

Wait a second. White blood?!

“You do not... mess with my school,” A voice, perhaps all too familiar and badass, snarled. “You do not... mess with my students! AND MOST OF ALL,” Lirael staggered out of the way, revealing the speaker to Negi's line of sight. Familiar blond hair shaded her eyes, until she lifted her head. “You. Don't. Touch. Negi!”

It was... “Becky-san!” Negi smiled, despite his weakness.

The other child genius angrily pointed in Negi's direction. “Can't you use that genius brain of yours and stop falling for obvious traps, you obnoxious bleeding heart?!”

“Becky-saaan,” Negi wept like a wimp played for laughs.

“Well, well, the source of darkness was this girl after all,” In a swirl of shadow, Albeiro Imma appeared.

“Are you going to help or not?” Becky whirled on him.

“I helped you get in,” Albiero answered. “This is your boss fight, after all. Toodles,” And much like a person shouting greetings through a revolving door, he was already gone.

“Took you long enough!” Miyako complained, dusting herself off. “Let's go!”

Kurumi's eyes shone hope and let out a “Mmphrr!” That sounded much like “Becky!” If you really tried hard to listen, that is.

Lirael, not amused by our heroes' friendly reunion scene, put on her poker face and pulled out the offending earth spear Becky made, then threw it back in her direction like a javelin. When the spear whizzed by Becky's face, startling her into looking back, Lirael stated, “I missed the first time. This will not happen again...”

“Screw you,” Becky hissed. “This is payback.”

“Let me second that!” Himeko drew her Keyblade again, twirling it around.

“No fair,” Lirael lamented as Himeko charged again. “But at least you don't learn,” she added as the Keyblade once again narrowly missed turning her into shish-kabob. Taking advantage of Himeko's recovery lag, the girl reversed her momentum and charged forward to catch the foolish girl.

A bit of a surprise when Himeko backpedaled, before flipping out of harm's way of a stray tentacle—and right past Becky.

Our female underaged genius already had a surprise. She clapped her hands together, then turned her fingers in opposite directions. “Ars magna...” Electricity sparked between her palms. She then reared her hand back as if about to throw something. “Terra quris!” She shoved her hand forward, and the same earth spear that gave Lirael a gut surprise was back for round two.

“I don't fall for the same trick twice,” Lirael evaded having a second stomach piercing by grabbing the front of the spear. It pushed her up, but failed to hit. She pushed herself up and stood atop the giant spear. “Now... grgh!?” A hand clamped itself across her neck.

“Where do you think you're going?!” Miyako crowed, with a sneer that would make one rage hard if they ever saw it one more time. Lirael noticed Miyako's hand disappeared into a small hand mirror by her side, and if she could look backwards—there was in fact, a floating mirror right behind her, where a hand had emerged and ensnared her fair neck...

“Just because I'm stupid doesn't mean I can't 'just as planned' you!” Himeko also taunted. “Catch this,” She chucked her weapon into the air, letting it spin wildly above the creepy girl.

“Ars Magna...” Becky chanted again.

Himeko gathered her strength. “Holy...”

“LIGHTNING!” Both girls bellowed, and one massive bolt of blessed thunder dropped on Lirael. Screw thinking about a world of pain, Lirael just got hit with a whole galaxy of it.

“Gotta love teamwork attacks pulled out of our asses,” Becky laughed, dusting off her hands.

Lirael slowly dropped to the ground. Still sizzling from that lightning attack, she could barely hold herself up, let alone stand. “You...” As the girls (and now Negi) gathered around her, weapons still ready, she continued. “I alone cannot suffice to bring my master's wish... in that end, I will bring your sorrows another way.”

“Shove it and tell me who your master is!” Becky barked as if she was Jack Bauer.

Lirael gave a soft, almost non-threatening grin. “I'm sure Negi might know. Keyword being 'might'. I will be there when he puts the puzzle pieces together, that much... I'm sure of.” Lirael was sinking into the earth.

“Hey, wait—” Negi yelled, but alas by that time, the girl was gone.

The mirage began to fade away, revealing not a proper classroom, but rather, Becky's true inner chamber of the massive lab. That orange orb showed up again, this time plonking Negi right on the head. Luckily for him, said plonk restored his energy as well. “Still not sure why those show up,” Negi murmured.

Awkward silence reigned. The people of Peach Moon spent long seconds exchanging looks so frequently it was like passing a box in a factory line. That, or in Kurumi's case, enjoying the complete lack of restraint and horrible creepiness.

Finally, Becky pulled that figurative pick-axe and broke the ice. “Negi...”

Negi beamed. “Becky-saan!” The boy nearly choked the girl in a loving embrace. “It's been too long!”

“H-hey! Let go!” Becky screeched petulantly, but made no actual effort to escape. “And three weeks is too long for you?! What kind of male pansy are you?!”

“And here I thought this reunion scene was gonna suck,” Rei's voice barged in—along with the rest of the pactio'd populace that had been chased off by psychotic mermaids. “Nice to see ya again, Becky.”

“Becky and Negi-kun!” Konoka smiled as she admitted herself into the group hug membership.

“Wait a minute—!” Becky tried to grasp.

“Becky!” Rokugou, Himeko, and most of the others began to swarm the feel good crowd as well.

“D-don't—!”

“Hey, can we join in, too?” Howell peered in and asked. “I always liked more women.” Ichijou promptly slapped him.

“Errgghh...” Becky shook with unholy rage. “Get. OFF OF MEEEEEEEE!”

xxx

“Geez, you clowns can barely take care of yourselves while I'm gone!" Becky haughtily complained to the small crowd gathered around her in her office. “No point in hiding now. Luckily the fruits of my labor paid off before that weirdo from the Student Mage Council came back, or those weird mermaids could find me.”

“Are you talking about me?” Howell asked cheerfully, but he was ignored like hours-old news on the internet.

“What did that leader want with you, anyway?” Chamo asked.

“Despite the epic security I made, that strange fruitcake showed up, interested in all the magic power I was messing with. He lent me a book that helped me out—and today he came back to collect. Said if I ever went hiding without controlling my magic well he'd start tryingtomakemewearswimsuits!” The female child genius quickly shifted to embarrassed rage. “IS THAT MAN A PEDOPHILE?!”

There was a lot of nervous laughter.

“That's him on a good day,” Howell said. Ichijou nodded in agreement. They were both ignored for good reason.

“So what exactly were you working on, Becky-sensei?” Makie nervously giggled.

“For those of you who didn't see me royally kick some creepy girl's butt, I have perfected a brand of Alchemy.” Becky announced with pride. “By using an ancient focusing spell I can bring to reality any attack I wish (though I'm often restricted to the local environment). It's actually not as potent as it could be when Negi's got my armor activated, but when that clown's incapable of pulling those cards out, you gotta be able to do something, right?”

“Ah!” Negi surprisingly agreed, banging a fist into his open palm. “That's a really good point.”

Chamo also agreed, running with that train of thought. “The issue with the temporary pactio system is that the magister has to activate it every time, and it's still a crap shoot!” Asuna thought back to all those times where she got the suka card, and the fact that she's the record holder for most suka transformations to date, and mentally raged with the anger of a thousand suns. Chamo ignored this and continued. “Having powers you can rely on without big bro around will be pretty handy!”

“Yeah, something like Secchan's swordsmanship, or Akira-san's mega strength.” Konoka pointed out. “So now that Becky-sensei's back, what do we do now?”

“The keys to the Star Crystal Puzzle are right in front of us, now that we actually have an active suspect,” Miyako answered, her face serious. That seriousness became infectious as everyone's faces darkened.

With the exception of Howell. But even he, for all of his foolishness, knew a solid enemy was worth noting. Albeiro will definitely need to hear this...

But Negi most of all knew. His key to solving this mystery, and why the Star Crystal thief was after him, was right within his grasp—but alas, the hardest part was yet to come. There was one person holding that key, and she wasn't about to make things easy for him.

He could only murmur one word. “Lirael...”

xxx

Those mermaids were so inviting.

Don't go, they pleaded in sad monster noises. Don't leave.

Maybe Akira didn't want to leave. But she couldn't... live down here. Probably had to do with the fact that she, despite her herculean strength, was still human. And humans' lungs and water don't get along very well.

Stay here, the mermaid monsters pleaded, grabbing hold of her arms and holding tight, more like a child holding a prized doll than a monster trying to eat its victim. Or at least, that's what it should've felt like.

Make her stay, make her stay! Those cacophony of screeches said in mermaid monster gibberish. They surrounded Akira, grabbing her arms and legs, a loving embrace of perhaps death itself.

No! Akira pleaded with her eyes and thrashing. Even though I swim here, even though I look like them... I don't belong! Akira whipped around in the water, and using her strength, sent a kick towards one of those mermaid girls and smashed her away. When the others saw what was happening, they tightened their grip. Akira only thrashed harder in response.

In the midst of her thrashing, Akira opened her mouth. At the time, she wasn't sure if it was from a poke or a reflex from being down in the water too long, but the result proved devastating to even her powerful lungs. The floodgates opened.

The thrashing stopped, leading to pained gagging from the swimmer.

Seeing this, the mermaids suddenly drew back, watching with confusion as the strange girl they thought belonged to them didn't... work right in the water. Why? Was she really just someone normal. She couldn't have been...

Her strength almost non-existent now, Akira reached up. Tried pushing up to the surface... but alas, that pool was surprisingly deeper than she remembered it. She cast everything away to return, only to find that she couldn't. Everything was fading, her conscious eroding with it.

The last thing she could comprehend was sadness. Maybe she saw all the mermaids, who realized what they had done. Or maybe it was her own. Either way, the sadness overtook her mind much like the water she so loved overtook her body.

xxx

Akira floated aimlessly, listening to the silence in all of its deafening glory.

Except that she couldn't listen any longer, because Akira Ookouchi was dead.

X-X-X

Next time: “It's Impossible to Make a Prediction of Insanity, So Give Up.” By Howell

(So a question: if a person dies, is their story over?

Reviews and constructive criticism too, folks!)