trans_9 | Daunting Measures [open]

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Daunting Measures [open]

It had been a whole four weeks since he had last used it. Magica Erebea he meant.

Chamo sat to the side, smoking a cigarette. "Hey Aniki, you sure you should be testing it out here? What if you damage the pod?"

"Not many places I can," said Negi as he conjured up the familiar sight of Mahora Academy, currently studentless. "If I want to make sure I'm at the top of my game, I need to focus. Vivio's training now and I'm sure her friend is with her too."

"So you want to keep pace with them," said a familiar voice as Fate materialized behind him, circling like a shark. "Mmm, Negi-kun."

"Fate," replied Negi, determined that the recreation wouldn't do anything that would upset him. "Why'd you come out now?"

"Why else?" inquired Fate with a lazy shrug, his pale eyes never moving away from Negi's own steady gaze. "You know that power is poison, it's doping at it's best. And yet..." And he picked up one of Negi's hands and rubbed it against his cheek. "You hit me."

Negi flushed at the intimate gesture. No, keep focused. This wasn't the time to let a recreation of the boy he wanted to convince he was right to fluster him. "That's in the past Fate. I've gotten stronger, more experienced. Right now, I could be fighting for your own survival as you sleep in the pod."

"And what then, if I'm truly released?" asked Fate, never letting go of Negi's hand. "Will you stop fighting? Will you talk to me, tell me that you're sorry, that you have a plan to save the magic world before it is plunged into chaos?"

"I don't know what I'll say," said Negi, clasping his hand with his. To anyone else, it'd look like a moment of shounen-ai as the world dissolved into sparkles. Literally. Chamo stifled a snicker. "I don't know what I'll do, or I'll say, but I promise you I'll defeat the wild plan of yours to destroy all that one loves."

"Interesting," said Fate as he drew closer until he was violating Negi's personal space. "And what will you do, say, when I wake for real?"

Negi smiled. "I want to be your friend."

"Well then, friend of Fate..." And Fate smirked as he leaned in and kissed Negi on the lips. Chamo burst into gales of laughter and Negi stiffened before the man drew back. "Catch me. With that darkness of yours."

Negi made a mouthing motion, and realized he had let his imagination run wild as his mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, no words coming out of his mouth save for a strangled squeak. In his surprise, he hadn't realized he left the door open completely for everyone to see that BL moment.

Goddamnit those dresses were getting to him! AAAAUGH!

Negi resolved to find some bleach for his brain. Clearly he had been around too much girl stuff to even THINK about things like this.

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"I can cut your lips off if you want."

Look down, Negi. No, further. There's a Bride of Chucky reject with a big hat, a big knife, and a surprisingly manic stare for being made of porcelain staring up at you.

"Actually, they're a little too far to reach. I'd better start at the knees."

"GAH!" exclaimed Negi, jumping back reflexively at Evangeline's killer doll being on board the ship and MOBILE to boot. That alone scared the crap out of him.

"Hey CCO, what's up my homegirl?" proclaimed Chamo, waving a little forepaw. "You saw that little Boy-Love huh? Didn't think Aniki had it in him."

"I don't I swear, it was just my imagination running wild!" exclaimed Negi, waving his hands in protest.

The doll laughed at the reaction and waved it's knife back at Chamo. "The Master will be crushed. Well, actually, he'll be crushed." It laughed again.

"Running wild is fine. If that's how you feel when you aren't repressing you should go for it."

The doll cocked its head as though considering for a second, then added an utterly predictable:

"Or just kill him."

"Crushed in a good way. Knowing Evangeline, she'll probably stake her claim once she finds out that Aniki's got a touch of the ho yay in him." replied Chamo with a whiskery grin.

"You know, this might be a cry for help Aniki. Considering you're a touch gay."

"I AM NOT!"

Chamo looked at Chachazero and asked "You think he's repressing it now?"

There was a pause.

A long pause.

And finally, Devlin said, "...You know, I just found out my dad was lame. Please don't be lame too, Negi."

Nanashi was on her way to go train against some angels in a locked room- that wasn't the sort of fighting that she wanted anyone else to walk in on- when she noticed an open door. Curiosity forced her to take a peek.

Of course, it was just in time to see the entire act. She slipped inside, watching with a mildly amused smile.

"Really, little one, does your mother know of your interest in other boys? You should not grow up too fast."

"I'm not I swear," stressed Negi as the Fate-creation hid a smirk behind a hand. "I don't know where that came from at all. I knew he always gunned for me but I didn't think my subconscious would interpretate it like THAT. I'm too young for that sort of stuff!"

Says the boy who kisses girls on a regular basis.

"Mou, I didn't really mean to do that! The simulation just got out of control!" protested Negi, wibbling the heck out of his expression.

Nanashi smiled and laughed, "I understand. You have not yet come to terms with your interests yourself."

She walked over to Negi and draped her arm around his shoulder. "Many young boys get confused." At least there is an obvious teasing tone to her voice.

Negi groaned, palming his face. He wasn't confused, he just wanted to make Fate listen to reason. There was no real attraction there!

Was there?

He decided to terminate that train of thought. Thinking like that would get him in trouble.

Nanashi laughed again and began circling Fate like a hungry lion, "So, who is your little... 'play-mate' anyway?"

"Into little chunks is the good way." Chachazero grinned. Well, she was always grinning, somehow there was just some extra feeling behind it now. "If the Master wanted to make that kind of claim she would have done it in front of his little cheer squad."

A pause while Chamo and Negi had their back-and-forth.

"Definitely."

Devlin shook his head. "Denying it doesn't make you look any cooler, you know."

Negi sputtered a little and Chamo fell over laughing. "Gah," exclaimed Negi, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This is getting insane."

"Would it help that for a good long while I wanted to throttle him?" replied Negi with a groan.

"Fate Averrnicus," replied the construct. "I'm associated with Negi-kun here."

"Not by choice," snapped Negi at the construct who smirked. "We've tried to kill each other at every turn."

Devlin shrugged. "So what were you doing here? Other than...well, that."

"Well I was planning on trying out my new and improved Magica Erebea," said Negi, Fate giving him a look which he ignored. "It's my power ability."

"Cool," Devlin answered. "How's it going? Or is it not?"

"Well gonna try a basic one first," said Negi as he held up a hand and magic ignited within it with a mutter of "Rastel Maskil Magister!"

Thunder and lightning crackled as he clenched his fist, and in a burst of light, his body energized in a powerful flux of magical energy. Opening his eyes, he marveled at the sensation. "So much power... and the pain is finally gone too."

The display of magic was definitely something to watch, and Devlin grinned as he watched his friend completely surrounded by power. But what Negi had said caught his attention, and he gave him a look of confusion.

"Wait, using your powers hurts?"

"Just this one," said Negi as he inspected his new set of claws. "You see, it's a demonic art, fueled on bad emotions. So before, there was corruption eating at my soul. And it hurt."

"Wow," Devlin replied. "I never thought people could have powers that could hurt them like that."

He transformed an arm into crystal and fired off some shards at the ground. Shifting between forms, even partially, came as easy to him as breathing.

"I've had my powers for as long as I can remember. It's part of me. I can't imagine it ever hurting like that."

"Yeah, magic's kinda weird like that. Normally it's easy to use, but this is a corrosive ability, eats at my soul and trades it for power. I can supplement myself with all sorts of powers but it definitely gives me the edge."

Negi grinned a little. "At least it's fixed now."

"Well, that's good," Devlin answered, shifting his arm back to normal. "But isn't it dangerous to use up your soul like that?"

"Oh don't worry, this is a fixed version. Master, I mean Evangeline, she fixed it for me in a ritual, so that it won't be corrosive to my soul anymore." replied Negi. "It's still kinda crazy though."

"That's a relief." The last thing Devlin wanted was to find out his new friend was going to end up as a rampaging monster without a heart or something like that. He'd already had enough of that.

He had come CLOSE to that at least, but thankfully he had friends to pull him out of it. Negi nodded and asked, "So your alien powers, anything new you've discovered about them recently?"

"Not yet," Devlin sighed. "Ben says that I should be able to do all sorts of cool things, but I haven't figured it out yet, and he hasn't gotten around to teaching me. Plus there's the fact that he's kinda...lame." Nothing like taking a pedestal and smashing it into a thousand little pieces.

"Ah. Nothing like parents showing up and showing you just how different they can be," said Negi, a hint of a grin on his face. "Mother's here and she's still very much different from what I expected."

"Really?" Devlin asked. "How different?"

"She's very regal, but more aloof than I believed her to be," said Negi, sitting down and letting the magical buff dissipate. "She's very compassionate, but still not quite as awkward as I believed her to be."

"So...bad?" Devlin guessed. From the sound of it, Negi and Arika really didn't know how to be a family. But it was hard to tell if it was particularly bad or if it was just weird.

"Bad if it breaks my usual expectations and good in a way that I have a MOTHER now." replied Negi with a smile. "It's very reassuring that she's actively part of my life again."

"Yeah, that's definitely a good thing," Devlin agreed. After all, he'd known how painful it was to put up with that desperate longing for family. "You'll figure things out, right?"

"Definitely." said Negi. "Hey, you want to start those Kung Fu lessons? I can pass on what I've learned for the time being. It would be a good way to practice."

"Definitely!" Devlin answered, practically jumping with excitement.

Nanashi put her hand on the boy's head with a smile, "Why would you want to kill such a cute child? He's not quite as cute as you, but he seems to have a charm to him."

Negi grinned. "Alright! Let's start right away!" And he was ready to teach Devlin as he changed the location to the World Tree Plaza, the grassy hill overhead. "Alright, first things first is to throw a punch properly."

"Well I did shove a 20 inch stone spear through his upper right shoulder," offered Fate blandly.

"There's THAT," grumbled Negi with a put out expression.

She began to circle him again. She was smiling, but there was a darkness to that smile, "Well, then I would hope that you never pop from the pods. I do not take kindly to people attempting to harm my children." It was a little slip up, but one she decided to let go.

"I would not tolerate him attempting to kill you."

"Ancient vampires don't worry me," replied Fate evenly, his level stare unflinching.

"He's apparently more powerful than I am right now," replied Negi as a point. "I wouldn't know if you could beat him in a fight."

Her children? Oh right, she hasn't met his mom yet has she?

Nanashi laughed sharply, bearing her fangs, "They should, child."

She turned back to Negi, "I have faith in my skills, though, I am always willing to learn more. That magic you used. I am interested in being your student."

"Like this?" Devlin asked, demonstrating a punch. His balance was a little off, unknowingly leaving him open to an attack.

"Punch is okay since you're not squeezing your thumb under your fingers, but you need to change your stance," said Negi, nudging at Devlin's feet. "Wider, so that you won't fall over. Also, you're overextending which'll just make you fall over when you try that against a live opponent. Try this."

And he took a stance and demonstrated a straight punch.

If there was one thing Devlin was good at, it was learning by example. He corrected his stance as Negi showed him and tried a more balanced punch.

"Good," said Negi as he demonstrated another punch. "The way I learned was following my teacher, Ku Fei and then sparring with her. I learned with about three days or so, every counter attack being drilled into me before I started to fight for real. Kung Fu is all about counters and luring the opponent into making openings."

"Counters, huh?" Devlin asked. "So it's just thinking faster than the other guy?"

"Yeah. Counter attacks are built into Kung Fu which was a martial art designed to protect the people," said Negi. "it's a fast paced thinking type of martial art."

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Daunting Measures [open]

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