Pani Poni Dash! Fan Fiction / Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Act II: Nightmare!? ❯ Episode 9: "It's Impossible to Make a Prediction of Insanity, so Give Up." By Howell ( Chapter 9 )

Nightmare?!

Episode 9: “It's Impossible to Make a Prediction of Insanity, so Give Up.” by Howell

-X-X-X-

OMAKE!

“The hell?!” Sonic complained. “Whose bright idea was it to put the omake at the beginning of the episode?!”

The blue Night Hog was understandably pissed. Being stuck in a gruesome form at night was one thing, and getting his ass kicked by a sword-happy lunatic was another thing, but being left alone to deal with a bunch of creepy human-like mermaids AND getting stuck in the omake at the beginning of the episode!? This was outrage.

But now, the strange mermaid creatures were slowly disappearing. They stopped coming at him, sinking back into the depths of the floor. Something had apparently triggered them to give up, and if Sonic was reading it right, his unfair beatdown on them certainly wasn't it. So what was going on?

Left alone, Sonic decided to end this miserable mission, find Windia and go home—or that spaceship his wicked employer called home. “What a waste of time—huh?!” Sonic noticed the swimming pool just outside the row of windows where he was standing. His eyes caught something floating. Curious, he opened up a window and hopped outside to get a better look.

It was there he found Akira Ookouchi's body.

“What... is she—?!” Sonic scrambled over to the fallen body and scooped it out of the water. He tried feeling for a pulse, but he felt nothing. Even accounting for his larger and less sensitive hands... “She can't be!” No pulse, but her body hadn't even completely lost all of its heat yet. Wasn't there something he could do? Anything?! “Dammit...!”

“She died?” Windia appeared, her expression of sadness akin to a young child seeing a wounded animal. “But why...?”

There was a swirl of black smoke, and Cygnus appeared. “I'm risking a hell of a lot to be here, but a death here...?!” He murmured. “This inferior darkness must be trying to get serious... How did she die?”

“It looks like she drowned to death,” Sonic answered simply.

There was a pause as Cygnus blinked. Moments later, his underlings blinked too when he began to give a slight chuckle, flowing into full-blown laughter.

It was all it took for Sonic to see red. How dare he...! “What the hell is so damn funny?!” The last word was stressed as heavily as the powerful punch the night hog smashed Cygnus with, just to accentuate the point.

The swan didn't even bother to guard against that attack—he simply crashed into the ground as if the Konoe princess had given him a light-based deathblow instead of Sonic's angry punch. The cobalt nightmare looked ready to tear him in two, but Windia stood in his way, her sword drawn. Noting the hedgehog's anger and his partners' tension, he simply stood up again. “I deserved that, I suppose. Still, I can't believe I didn't see something like this coming. But then again, a death filled with irony only marks the beginning of that girl's fate. How freaking miserable!”

“The hell does that mean?!” Sonic countered, still angry, though his rage was decidedly weaker.

“Her magic strength, and to die in a place she so loved against her will, I practically hear her spirit screaming 'UNFINISHED BUSINESS',” The dark swan answered. He stopped to think about something, then returned to talking. “We're going back. Take the girl's body with you, and you'll see what I mean soon.”

Sonic blinked. He wasn't getting this. “Why? And what happens when Negi finds out?”

“He can't find out just yet,” Cygnus muttered. “If he loses concentration on that stupid case now that other darkness will press its advantage and Negi will lose. We keep her with us for now. If Negi solves this case or what I think is going to happen to this girl happens, we tell him the truth about this then.”

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Cygnus had a point. Sonic growled and acquiesced. “Fine, you win.” He gently picked up Akira's body.

“You should leave Negi a note,” Windia advised her “elder brother”. “He'll notice her absence soon enough.”

“Good idea,” Cygnus swirled some darkness about, summoning a pen and paper for that purpose. As soon as finished his note, the three retreated back into the darkness and disappeared into the infinite reaches of space.

-X-X-

“Sup everyone, I'm back,” Becky declared in a voice stuck between boredom and happiness.

“Hello, Becky,” The class greeted.

“I have been gone due to personal reasons, but I assure you I'm back this time!” She said. “I hope Negi had the brains to keep you up to date with your lessons and didn't let his heart bleed all over the place. Hmph.”

“Where is Negi-sensei anyway?” Kurumi whispered to her friends.

“No clue,” Miyako whispered back.

Becky noted the whispering but ignored it otherwise. “So can anybody recap what's been going on so far?”

“Like since you've been missing? Well, that's when Negi-kun came in!” Himeko piped up. “And then we got omega attacked by Yankee, and Negi-kun let Kurumi kick his butt, and then six of Negi's students followed us in, and then the Kashiwagi twins found out about his secret and joined him, and then Cygnus had that owl girlie attack us, and then we got in that drama war, and—mff mmmf!” Rei immediately silenced Himeko's diatribe of past events in this story.

“Goddammit, not in front of the entire class!” Rei hissed.

“Mmmf mmf mmf mmmmf!” Himeko responded, though what meant to come out was “but they're unimportant!”

“No you clowns!” Becky shot back. “Though that was useful... I'm talking about the lessons!”

“Are they even relevant anymore?” Rei raised an eyebrow.

“YES!” Becky bellowed. “What's the point of me being a teacher?!”

“So you can do the nasty with Negi Springfield,” This was said with a completely straight face without missing a beat.

“Why do I hate you right now?”

Basically, this word play went on long enough to void the rest of the class. “I'll see you guys on break or after school,” Becky calmly and somewhat callously said as she walked off towards the teacher's lounge. Maybe she'd heckle Negi to catch up on what was going on, if he wasn't obsessing over that creep.

 

But Negi Springfield was not there. Something about that fact did not sit well with her.

However, there was always her usual cohorts. “Sup Becky. Nice to see you're okay!” Saotome greeted. “The PTA was raising just as much of a stink when you were gone as when you came back.”

“Why am I not surprised,” Becky grumbled in monotone. Turning her head to the prominently-PE teacher, she asked in a more normal voice. “How was Negi, anyway? Did you see him today?”

“Negi was always such a mild-mannered, mature, and serious young man, unlike someone else I know,” Saotome cracked. Becky grit her teeth from the indirect attack. “But I didn't see him much today. I heard one of the students that came with him disappeared last night.”

Becky froze. Not only was Becky there last night, but she also met with Negi's students, rescuing them from certain freaky mermaid-induced doom. Becky more or less left with her students, so something going on Negi's end may have passed her by. But, thinking back to last night, of those who were Negi's students, there were only five of them there. Didn't he bring six?

“Do you know which one went missing?” Becky asked in a small voice.

Saotome frowned. “It was the swimmer, Akira Ookouchi. That girl set the record on the 100 meter freestyle, the 200 meter freestyle, the cross country swimming trip... it's like she's unstoppable in the water. Dammit, she broke records for swimming events I didn't even know existed!”

Becky had already tuned him out with that name. The swimmer. Now that she remembered, she never saw her face when they all met once more. This was very bad.

Snarling, Becky high-tailed it out of the office and down to the school swimming pool.

 

Becky wasn't sure what to expect when she got there. A horror-struck Negi, combing the area for clues? A confused Akira? A crime scene?! No, instead, she saw that pink-haired ditz, her face somber. Somehow, that was even more unexpected than any of her above thoughts. “Hey you. Sasaki-san, was it? What happened here? Where's Negi?!”

Makie turned to her, her haggard eyes shining with tears.

“Err...” Becky figured she got on the wrong foot.

Despite her teary complexion, though, Makie picked up something on the ground and handed it to Becky. The tiny teacher opened up the paper, revealing a note.

Sup Negi,

I've got an Akira Ookouchi up here in a comatose state, looks like some creepy whatevers got to her in the pool. Get your ass in gear and deal with that Star Crystal, because otherwise she won't be the only statistic you'll have to worry about.

~Cygnus

Becky crumpled the note and hissed in rage. She was surprised she was teaching class when the stench of evil had been under her nose for this long. She gave an awkward but reassuring pat on the back for Makie before storming back into the school building.

The forlorn girl stared a bit before she noticed a familiar cat sitting right by her.

“It's room temperature-nya,” the cat said before remembering who he was talking to.

“OH MOTHER, IT'S SO AWFUL!” Makie wailed as she crushed the cat in a fierce bear hug, the tears flowing freely. “WHAT WILL I DOOOOOOOOOOOO?!”

“Goddammit, I'm not even female!” The cat wailed in response.

 

“DAMMIT, I'm going to get my answers today or die trying!” Asuna bellowed at the top of her lungs, her hair sharing her outrage. “I'm tired of that vague student council just pointing and laughing at us! And I'm ALSO gonna kick dark boy's ass for taking Akira!”

“Umm Asuna, I think the rest of the world can hear you,” Konoka tried to calm her friend down, considering that they were walking down the hallways after school. “Please don't scream right now, I don't think I can take it.”

“Ojou-sama is correct,” Setsuna added. “Please settle down.”

“Grrrghh,” Asuna snarled but relented. “Fiiiine, I know our nerves are shot from last night and Akira disappearing on us, but still...” The three of them walked down the halls, uncertain of their next move. However, Asuna turned back to see the fourth girl with them. Nodoka was hugging herself, her face somber. “Honya-chan, are you okay?”

“Negi-sensei...” She murmured.

“Still worried the most about him...” Asuna concluded. “I wouldn't blame you, it's not like any of us could focus on classes. Makie didn't even show up. Ha, you'd think that student mage whatever would actually give a damn about our struggles or at least help us with our schoolwork, but nooo...”

“Oi, oi,” A voice cut in. “Those guys help the powerless. As far as people who can actually do something, they just kinda grab popcorn and take notes.”

Asuna found herself looking down at Becky.

Konoka gave a pleasant greeting. “Hello, Becky-chan!” Setsuna bowed as well.

“Yo, Miyamoto-brat,” Asuna was less respectful than her peers. “Where's Negi?”

“That's what I'm trying to find out,” Becky coolly responded. “And for your information, it's Miyamoto-sensei to you. Everyone else can still call me Becky.” She rubbed under her nose and looked mighty proud of herself.

Becky turned her attention to Nodoka, who flinched and shrunk into herself. The younger teacher merely scratched her head in confusion.

Asuna fumed. “Well anyway I'm going to find out about why I've got this freaky power, and that damn council probably knows the truth.”

“You sure they're gonna help?” Becky raised her eyebrow. “Chances are you've chased them to death right about now and you're still not any closer. I mean, what Magic Cancel or Magic Death is should be pretty obvious, right?”

“That's not what I care about, Miyamoto-brat. I already know what it is,” Asuna shot back. “I just want to know why do I have it!”

“That's easy!” Becky smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “You're stupid.”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?!” Asuna shot back. “Grgh—look, I'd rather not be used for some evil plot if this winds up being like, hereditary or anything. That's why I'm spazzing about it right now. And worse yet I can't even freaking think straight with Negi missing, and if even you don't know where he is, then how am I supposed to rest easy?!”

“Fine, fine!” Becky waved off her worries. “Help me look for Negi, and in turn I can help you figure out just where you got those freaky powers of yours. We'd get what we both want much faster that way.”

“Guess it can't hurt,” Asuna agreed.

“That's good,” Konoka was glad the argument was over.

“Anyway, the rest of you step back from any fights and keep your eyes open until we get Negi back,” Becky said. However, she whirled around and jabbed a finger in Konoka's direction. “That includes you, Miss Cheerier-Than-Thou!” When Konoka reeled back despite that clueless smile on her face, Becky continued. “I know about your agenda against swan boy! It ain't gonna end well if you fight him with just your girlfriend—you got lucky last time and I doubt he'll let you continue that streak. Let us geniuses handle him,” And with that, Becky left. Asuna passed Konoka (and a gibbering Setsuna pressing more heated denials about their obvious relationship) a sympathetic look before leaving after her.

Nodoka took a small bow. “I'm sorry, I need to go, too.” Her voice was slightly quieter than normal, but otherwise nothing tipped off the Konoe heir as the bookworm left in the opposite direction.

 

“Yo, Asuna-san, Becky-sensei!” Yuma Kashiwagi waved from the classroom she was in. Noticing this, Becky walked inside to talk with her, Asuna close behind.

“Hello,” The more demure Yuna added.

“Sup,” Asuna greeted back.

“Whaddya want, Kashiwagi twins?” Becky wasn't impressed by their appearance.

“It's not Kashiwagi twins, it's Yuma!” The more outgoing twin complained as usual. “But anyway, thank god you're back! You were seriously worrying us all, you know!”

“Hmph,” Becky's cheeks tinged slightly. So there was concern for her after all. How sweet. “Anyway, have you guys seen Negi?”

“Not since this morning...” Yuma answered. “And we missed all of last night's action, too! Why do you ask?”

“Because I haven't seen him since last night!” Becky bellowed, staring intensely at the duo as if her stare could evaporate their souls. They reeled back, nervous. “What was he doing when you saw him?!”

“H-h-he gave us a greeting but said he was busy with some research, he'd talk to us later...” Yuna positively cowered under Becky's gaze. “He didn't really tell us anything other than that. We didn't even know where he was going!”

“Hmph,” Suddenly, a thought crossed Becky's mind, and while she calmed down, she still had her Mean Look turned up to maximum. “I just remembered... you two pactioed with Negi sometime last week, didn't you? Whose bright idea between the two of you was that?!”

“Gek!” The twins swallowed hard and exchanged looks.

Asuna had a shockingly rare thoughtful expression on her face. “If I remember correctly, they got possessed by some monster but Negi saved their butts so they got nosy to find some way to share their gratitude.”

“Yeah... while we don't remember the incident itself,” Yuma began. “He broke us free from a horrible nightmare we were having, and as a result we got curious. Lo and behold, we find him and Konoe-san fighting off darkness.”

Becky grumped before rubbing her chin in consternation. “Geez, making this school ground her battlefield and corrupting not-so-innocent children!” She suddenly hissed. “The hell is up with Lirael?!”

“Same thing you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino,” Asuna answered, to which Becky calmly retorted, “Fifteen points.”

“Who's Lirael?” Yuna asked. “Is she...”

“Yeah, she's the girl who was responsible for trapping you in that monster and giving you guys nightmares,” Asuna answered. “She said she was taking orders from someone who was closely tied to Negi. Whoever the hell that is is the real problem.”

“Ugh, more mysteries, more questions...” Becky lamented. “But we'll figure this out. Kashiwagi twins!”

“It's Yu—”

“I'll give you this—welcome to our team,” Becky cut them off sharply, though her face was calm and her voice not rough enough to frighten the twins. “But for right now stay out of the way.”

“Don't worry, you two,” Asuna gave a more pleasant smile. “Leave this to us. You'll get your chance later.”

The twins blinked, understanding the gist of their words but not the full meaning. “Okay...”

Becky and Asuna left the classroom. “Ha, sure are different than the Narutakis,” The latter added.

 

“Maaan, at this rate we won't find anything about either Negi OR why I've got freaky powers!” Asuna groaned. Both she and Becky plopped onto a bench outside. Several people asked, and not a single person had seen him since he dashed away from the sisters. “Dammit Negi, don't push yourself too hard again...”

“Pushing himself too hard?” Becky gave a quizzical look.

“I'm sure you've seen it, Miyamoto-brat,” Asuna said. “When he wants to do something for somebody else, he pulls out all the stops, and sometimes he forgets to take care of himself. I guess he gets that from his dad.”

“Miyamoto-sensei to you,” Becky corrected. “And his pops? Thousand Master?”

“He looks up to him,” Asuna answered. “That brat's been single-mindedly chasing hints about his dad thanks to that damn Baron, and as many times as we try to help him or smack some sense into him he still keeps trying to plow his own path.”

“Hmph, fat lot of good we are,” Becky snarled in a poor attempt to look like a callous jerk. Asuna just gave her a look, and she dropped it immediately. Her voice was barely above a murmur. “It's a fine time for him to be cowering out right about now. And yes, this is after everyone's been complaining about me doing the same thing. I don't think he needs us.”

“I assure you,” A voice interrupted. “Negi needs you now, more than ever, young ones.”

Asuna didn't dig that voice at all. “Urgghh, not you again...”

“Afternoon tea with a green wind, hailing from a foggy country. Love and bravery's ambassador of friendship,” The swirl of black rose petals accentuated the mysterious person's appearance. “They call me the Black Rose Baron!”

“Whaddya want,” Becky grumbled automatically like an underpaid fast-food restaurant worker.

“Listen, Baron,” Asuna snarled, jabbing a finger at the mysterious man. “We don't have time for your crazy random BS, okay?! No riddles, no screwing up Negi's life, and no getting in our way! We're looking for him right now, so go bother someone else!”

“Hmph,” The Baron swept his cape, the curves of his lips turned slightly upwards in the barest of smiles. “So I hear you seek answers to the past. But what answers do you truly seek?”

“Huh? The hell are you talking about?” Becky raised an eyebrow.

“Have you been spying on us?!” Asuna shrieked.

“Put simply, you're not finding any answers because you're asking the wrong questions.” The wind blew, letting the Black Rose Baron's cape swirl dramatically in the wind. “It's not a question of where Negi is, the question is what is he investigating, and why.”

Asuna scowled, Becky looked thoughtful.

“The hell does that have to do with anything?” Asuna asked.

“Can you protect anyone with just your temper?” The Baron countered smoothly.

It was all it took for Asuna to see red. “You little...” Nice job falling into his expectation, heroine. “Who the hell are you?! I'll unmask you right now!” In a flash, Asuna sprinted forward, rage all consuming, as her hand darted towards the shady baron.

At the very last possible second, the baron stepped to the left, and Asuna's hand soared right over, making a perfect miss. Asuna's fist continued sailing right over, causing the girl to crash land into the ground like a massive failed NASA rocket.

Becky just blinked and tensed slightly.

“Shall we start with a lesson then?” The Black Rose Baron began as Asuna quickly recovered. “You should know something—the first rule of protecting someone is knowing exactly who you're protecting. And I know Negi well.”

“Really...” Asuna snarled. “So are you the Thousand Master then? Or somebody else?”

“I cannot answer,” the Baron responded with aplomb.

“Then I'll answer that myself!” Asuna, now wearing a dashing baseball outfit for no reason, stiffened herself with her leg out, wound up her hands, and threw an assortment of deadly obstacles, including a traffic cone and some spiked maces.

The Baron easily ducked the sailing debris—that was exactly what Asuna was counting on. The red-haired girl snaked her hand towards the man's mask and hat, which would have de-masked and exposed his hair in one fell swoop.

Except nothing went as planned. The Black Rose Baron merely dashed forward, screwing up Asuna's judgment and causing her to sail right by and crash harmlessly behind him. The Baron whirled around to keep Asuna in sight.

Becky just watched on in interest.

“Grrr...” Growing ever angrier, Asuna rose, her clothes... back to normal, for no reason whatsoever. However, even Becky noticed the growing dark energy that seemed to radiate from the girl. “Get lost.” She lunged for the baron once more.

The baron's face suddenly grew serious. He lifted his hand to his ear and pinched on what looked like an earring, making it flash.

A light shot from the ground, smashing into Asuna like an uppercut. The girl crashed into the ground, completely unconscious.

“What?!” Becky's jaw dropped in surprise. She then snarled, “I know she was stupid, but that was totally uncalled for!”

“Please relax,” The Baron said. “She's only unconscious... some sort of darkness sneaked inside her; I have rendered her unconscious as a means for her to deal with it and not bother us.”

Becky calmed down... somewhat. “Hmph. Because of that, I'm gonna continue her line of questions... with less stupid of course.” As the Black Rose Baron scooped up the fallen Asuna and began to head back to the school, Becky continued, following behind. “So what do you mean the important question is what is he investigating and why? I already know that! He should be close to finding who stole the Star Crystal if that someone has a connection to him, right?”

“That is entirely true,” The baron answered. “But where would Negi go to research for peace and quiet?”

Becky thought for a moment. “Hmmm...” An idea popped up. “Oh wait, HE BETTER NOT HAVE GONE THERE WITHOUT ME!”

 

Asuna stirred within the generic darkness. “Ah, geeeezzz...” She slowly, but surely, stood upon her own two feet.

There was nothing visible as far as the eye could see—just her and the inky blackness. This wasn't the same bulbous and malignant darkness of the Star Crystal, and neither was it the creepy, stealthy shadows that followed the Swan King. Nothing lurked, it was more or less a blank slate.

And for some reason, she felt horribly annoyed.

“Urrrrrgh, how about some light?!” Asuna bellowed. The stage hands obeyed, and one giant spotlight flicked on, bathing Asuna in all of its scathing glory! “Augh, not so bright, not so bright!” The girl flinched and stumbled back, and the light dimmed to a comfortable level. It was still a spotlight, though.

Asuna sighed. “Ugh... that baron...” She stood there for a moment, simply stewing in her own hot-blooded anger until she caught something out of the corner of her eye. She whirled around to see her shadow. Nothing special...until it began to extend like a Cygnus-induced nightmare, extending past the spotlight she had and forming its own.

It got worse when something rose out of it. Asuna found herself staring at a girl who looked exactly like she did about nine years ago. Her hair was taut in twin elongated pigtails. For something or someone resembling a young girl, she dressed regally in shades of black and beige.

A blank, almost bored gaze returned to Asuna, feeling just as disturbing, if not more so, than a malignant glare. Asuna stared briefly before snarling. “Who the hell are you?!” The bell ornaments on her hair chimed.

“You're sad,” The monotone voice responded, perhaps forlorn that it had no bells to call its own. “That would be my question to you.”

“Get lost! Out of my mind! This is my mind, isn't it?” Asuna looked around. As a small test, she thought about having better surroundings than this empty darkness, and thought of the moonlit dorms back at Mahora. Sure enough, her room in the Mahora dorms swarmed into her view. Yes, this was some part of her mind.

Alas, her Genre Savvy ended there. She forgot how to get out of this dream and deal with this girl before her.

“You usually aren't this quick to pick up on things,” The bored underaged version of herself responded. “The almighty Baka Red, the usually moronic child who doesn't care about studying, has a one track mind and doesn't have enough brain cells to think. And yet here you are, trying to find the keys to the past that are best left forgotten, and why the Black Rose Baron makes you so angry.”

“Past best left forgotten?” Asuna reeled back in confusion, but that hot-blooded rage returned quickly. “Look, I'm my own person, I'm not looking to be tied down to whatever past this came from!”

“I guess that's true. Your so-called 'fake' personality you've cultivated over the years has finally become genuine. But ignoring it completely must be a problem too. Otherwise you wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't have to come out,” The girl continued her blank and yet piercing stare at Asuna. “To put this story simply, despite your mother's efforts, you've suffered too long as a vessel of anti-magic. You wanted your own destiny, not the one paved for you by the magic world.”

“Huh?!” Asuna's anger seemed to be heightened, rather than curbed, by her confusion. “Who are you?! Who am I?!”

“What a disappointment—I haven't rubbed off on you enough here,” The girl continued in that deadpan voice. “I'm you. Or rather, the you deep inside your heart, sealed away many years ago,” She fully stepped out of Asuna's shadow now, stepping closer to her. “Right now though, you're in a sad state. The darkness has you, all because you weren't bright enough to keep on your power over magic death. Tsk, tsk...” She produced a familiar sword—the mighty sword formed by her pactio with Negi. “You aren't your original manga incarnation, so Magic Death requires some actual thought. Luckily we can fix that.”

“...urk, why are you pointing that at me?” Asuna's rage switched into fear.

“Simple. You can calm down... or you can die.” This Anti-Asuna stepped forward and slashed with a coordinated might not fit for a six-year-old's body.

Asuna's reaction could be boiled down to something akin to “ZOMGWTFASDFADSFBBQ” followed by lots of running away. Why was some freaky deep-buried alternate personality of hers trying to kill her?! What was this madness? Would she be kicked off a cliff for emphasis?! She bolted from the slow-walking anti-form, but no matter what she did, that creepy child edition of herself was already there.

Secretly swipe Negi's old collection of weapons? She was already there.

Trying to snatch one of Konoka's knives? The damn brat was already trying to stab her with it.

Fleeing the dorms on a go-kart? An endless rain of blue shells. (Damn she hated Zombie Rider Kart's item balance!)

The more she tried to escape, the closer that brat followed. She was getting exasperated, angry, some darkness was chewing at her, oh god why was that baron right...!?

Asuna felt her pocket, and finding something not usually there, she pulled it out. Chao's blank card.

What a fine time. Negi's not here to activate her pactio, no chaos emerald, oh man she needed some power to deal with this brat. Just as she managed to grasp it in her hands, the Anti-Asuna emerged from the shadows.

The normal Asuna looked at the card, seeing nothing out of the ordinary outside of the small amount of power she somehow... felt. And the tiny inscription on the back.

The small girl swung her sword...

Asuna read, “Adeat.”

The large sword crashed into a much thinner, yet equally shining blade.

“Huh.” Anti-Asuna regarded this new development with only slight surprise (for what a deadpan loli could express anyway) and awe.

“I got you now! Hrraauuggghhh!” Asuna swung her blade like a baseball bat, but once again the younger edition easily deflected the blow.

“Too slow,” Anti-Asuna admonished, rather than taunted. Asuna snarled as that pint-sized horror twirled her blade like a pro, easily forcing her backwards. She took a sudden jab forward, and Asuna flipped to the side.

Asuna crashed her blade into her opposite's once more, letting her rage fuel her power. “I'm fed up of not having the answers!” She charged forward, almost pulling a jousting move against Anti-Asuna's more careful swipe. “I'm fed up with just being jerked around by some cheap audience!” Asuna leapt into the air and sailed down, but her double easily sidestepped this trite and predictable move. “And I'm fed up of not being able to protect Negi and Becky!”

“Ah, so now you know why you're angry,” Anti-Asuna murmured. “But the problem is, you're still hopelessly angry. That means if you don't take control of that darkness, you'll have to die,” Anti-Asuna suddenly hovered up in the air. Runes appeared around her, and suddenly, what felt like a massive air wave tore through the area, and through Asuna. The more reckless girl shivered, as if her opposite had taken needles to her soul.

“And still, for you to die would be...” There was a tone of genuine sadness.

“Geh!” Asuna snarled. She had no choice but to figure out this stupid mind puzzle now. But she couldn't do it here. She turned on her heel and sprinted full speed in the opposite direction.

“You don't understand... running away is useless...” Anti-Asuna sighed.

Asuna came to a stop a fair distance from the girl. “I'm not running from you.” Now far away enough from the battle, she tried to calm her chaotic nerves. There would only be one shot, if she were reading her opposite—no, herself right. She had to focus. All of that anger, sorrow, frustration... it shouldn't be just there. It can't be just eating at her. No, those emotions had to be controlled...

And suddenly pint-sized horror was there, taking a wide sweep to Asuna's head. The sword cut through.

Asuna herself was untouched. A bulbous rage that had settled inside her fell out, assuming a wounded physical form. “There you are,” Anti-Asuna said.

That hopeless shadow of hatred and frustration leered at Asuna, leering at them with horrifying teeth with an equally horrifying dental plan. “Good god that thing was inside me?! Geez, how typically horrifying does evil get?!”

“That thing could very well be called your Heartless,” Anti-Asuna deadpanned her answered. “It doesn't like it when we're on the same wavelength, apparently... A nothing and her heart...”

“Seriously... you need to lighten up,” Asuna told her younger self. She leered at that nasty creature.

“You saying 'seriously' feels like an oxymoron.”

“No seriously?!” Asuna heaved her blade. “Uuuwwwwoooaaaahhh!” She smashed into that dark creature of hatred, negating its existence with all of her power.

She felt so much better. Now she could do the dreaded thing called thinking, and it wouldn't tire her out or piss her off! “Seriously. Brats should stay brats. That includes you,” She looked at her younger self, her normally lazy eyes alight with curiosity. “Negi and Becky don't need to drown in seriousness! That's why I'm here, you know! You can help me, right? I need to protect them both. That's why that Black Rose Baron sent me here...

“So help me out,” Asuna requested her opposite. “And I can save us both.”

 

“Argh! I should've updated the security on this place!” Becky took the stairs down to her own secret lab. With the Baron following closely behind her, Becky merely looked about her lab for anything out of order—her books, any chemicals she was toying with, and anything else personal. “But this is what I get for blowing all the funding on the materials and not getting any death lasers...”

“You're truly impressive, young one,” The Black Rose Baron remarked over her lab. No longer holding Asuna (dropped the girl off at the infirmary), the mysterious caped crusader was free to swish about the cape, flood the room with black rose petals and their pleasant smell and do other mysterious un-bad-guy things, much to Becky's annoyance. “With all of this research at your fingertips... you've been truly working hard since Negi entered your life.”

“Hmph...” Becky pouted. “...someone has to clean up after his bleeding heart. Speaking of which, how do you know him? Be honest... I know you aren't a real enemy, you've had far too much ample opportunity to smash us and not enough stupidity or nefariousness to ignore it.”

“Hmm, sharp...” The Black Rose Baron remarked. A swirl of the cape later, and the rose wielding mystery finally answered. “Very well... I was one of Negi's guardians.”

Becky raised an eyebrow. “One, you say.”

“Negi had many at his home village, but when he was at school in Meridana, those who helped him grow narrowed down to those he was truly close two.” The Baron stood tall. “I gave him that shiny bracelet he wears.”

“...really?” Becky asked.

The Black Rose Baron's face looked quite serious. “He still believes his father gave it to him, though. I suppose I can't blame him... I did make it with his father in mind.”

“Hold the phone!” Becky stumbled back. “Does that make you—?!”

“That is all I can answer for now!” The baron said. “Please be careful of the darkness, it is on the offensive now, looking for those with weak hearts. Stay on your toes, and I will return,” And with a dramatic sweep of the cape, the Black Rose Baron had once again disappeared, with the airy and faux-sinister laughing to boot.

“Ugh, not again,” Becky lamented the ever-growing mystery of the Black Rose Baron.

 

Becky walked into her quietest quarters, and surprise, surprise, there was Negi Springfield. The boy was sleeping peacefully, perhaps tired from his drive and endless research. “Negi!” Becky shrieked. But seeing the boy was still asleep and yet threatening to stir, she mellowed down. “You had us all worried...”

Negi continued his quiet snoozing, however. That was, until, Becky saw his nose flare up slightly, as if sniffing the air. “Big sis...” He whispered. Much to Becky's surprise, Negi rose, following the sniff to Becky. “...big si—” Negi finally crashed back into reality, and found himself looking at Becky. “B-b-Becky?!”

“Oi! Don't you know people worry about you?!” Becky yelled back. “That blockhead Asuna and I have been looking all over for you since this morning!” She then calmed down a bit. “...oh, and maybe the rest of your students, too.”

“I'm sorry for worrying you, Becky,” Negi murmured. “I've already involved too many people in this... Akira-san is missing because of my foolishness. I wanted to solve the case of the Star Crystal case as soon as possible.”

“Arrggh, why are you always so...” Becky groped for the words. “So...” Still groping... “Soooo...”And still groping... “ARRRGGGHHH!” Grope failed!

But because those silly underaged teachers have such wonderful chemistry together, Negi knew what she was getting at. “Becky... I'm pretty sure Asuna-san or someone else has told you that I've been inspired by my dad.” He put his hands on her shoulders, and somehow the ever-so-slightly taller girl felt small. “He was a hero to many people, and I looked up to him. Six years ago, that man saved the village I was in from terrible monster attack, and gave me this staff.” Negi reached back behind him and tapped his famous staff. “I've always wanted to follow in his footsteps... but now that I'm here, I'm meeting so many wonderful people... including you.”

Becky's face grew three shades of red that moment.

“I have worked very hard, with the single-minded goal of reaching my father's greatness, but as I see more dangers and run into more adventures, I realize it's my responsibility to protect my students and my partners,” Negi's champion speech continued. “So I know you're all worried about me... I just wanted to solve this case as soon as possible so we can rescue Akira-san, too. So even though I'm like this... can you stay by my side?”

Becky stared for a moment. His bleeding heart struck AGAIN, and it was the most potent thing on her. She bet he knew it, too!

But she couldn't help but listen: she too, was hopelessly lovestruck.

Time for the only appropriate reaction: the tsundere one. “F-fine! But I-I'm only helping you out because your heart will bleed all over the place if I don't!” So predictable, Becky.

But one thing neither of those two predicted was the quiet spying from one Nodoka Miyazaki. The girl clutched her chest, as if her physical heart as well as her figurative one were aching. Why couldn't Negi confess his history to her? Why couldn't she be there in Becky's place?

No, she was too weak to confess... that's why she was hiding back here instead. That's why she lost to Becky. “Negi-sensei...” She whispered.

“Negi-kun!” Everyone's favorite yuri duo dashed inside the room. “That's where you went!”

Becky raged. Again. “Argh! First thing I'm doing when you all leave is updating my security!”

Konoka blithely ignored her rage. “Are you okay, Negi-kun? What have you been doing down here?”

“Just finished explaining to Becky-san about how close I am to solving this mystery with the Star Crystal,” Negi answered. “Before I kinda... err... fell asleep, I have remembered what's happened with the fairies in the past, so I started looking up the spells they used,” Negi grabbed his staff and tapped the flat end down on the floor. “I recognized many of the places those fairies whisked us to—they were memories I had back when I was in Wales. Spells that induce memory illusions, even with this much power backing them, can't be induced by the target from the target's point of view. In essence, that means that the Star Crystal Thief is using memories he, or rather she, shares with me.”

The girls' eyes widened.

“Interference from Cygnus-san forced the thief to use much more crude methods, including having that Lirael girl act as a physical vessel,” Negi continued. “This leaves me with only two suspects...”

But before that could continue, a flickering light appeared, flitting into the room like a butterfly before bursting into a more solid form—a fairy-like bird. Negi and the girls regarded it with silence and wariness, some of them dropping into fighting stances.

The fairy gazed at Negi for a bit before fluttering once more... and bursting into gray color.

“W-wha?!” Becky fell back onto her butt as she saw her lab drown in the colors of a new location.

“We're being dropped into an illusion again!” Setsuna declared.

When the colors of Becky's lab were fully washed away, Negi and the girls found themselves in a gray alleyway. A grim and equally gray sky hung above them, threatening to bring deliciously annoying gray rain.

“So... is this one of your memories, Negi-kun?” Konoka asked, looking at her new surroundings.

“No... this is different,” Negi murmured his answer. “I know of this place, but I haven't been here before...”

“Negi-sensei!” Nodoka, somewhat surprised by the change in location, came in. “What is this place? Is this Wales again?”

“No...” Negi said. At the edge of his eye, he saw that strange bird-like fairy emerge from a nearby building and fly away. His staff glowing, Negi tightened his grip on it. Letting it guide him, he wound up pointing in the direction the fairy escaped. “These are the streets of London.”

So this strange and dangerous switch in memories... Negi doesn't remember this place, and yet here they are in this strange and twisted illusion of London! Which of Negi's two suspects is responsible for this madness? Who ARE Negi's two suspects? Tune in next time to hear Howell say, “I didn't even get a line in the very episode I introduced?! What a tragedy!” and hear lots of sobbing.

-x-x-

Next Time: “Welcome to my Dance of Sadness...” by Lirael!

(Oh god, it's finally back! And now since I've hit the 2/3rds done mark, I think as long as the muses stick around I can finish this relatively quickly. I can't guarantee an Act III at this point, though, so I'm going to be ignoring a thread of plot or two in the name of completeness. Drop those reviews and concrit! And be sure to check out my author's notes too!

Thanks to DarkDragonDave and Eternal Longing for their prereading efforts!)