'M-Material... D? What type of name is that? That name sounds...' Pieces started falling together in Yuuno's head. His silence was noticed by Material-D, who merely smiled in pride at how she had managed to strike a sense of awe in front of this peasant.
"Ara... it seems that you have been entranced by my majestic name? Of course, you are free to call me 'Your Majesty'."
He blinked in surprise, causing his thinking process to be halted for a moment. "Huh? No, I... er..." As he stammered, he noticed her previously proud smile slipping, a surefire sign that she was starting to get annoyed. This was getting bad.
Fortunately for him, it seemed that her focus was elsewhere. She wasn't even looking at him anymore but rather in the direction of battle. "...... just what are you doing, Material-S?!" Without wasting a moment, she got into position, turning her back to Yuuno. Her Tome opened and flipped to a certain page before glowing and resonating with Material-D, causing a Belkan Triangle to appear in front of her. The funny part was that there was a secondary crest overlapping with the triangle, bearing a strong resemblance to a rose entrapped within a circle.
Yuuno didn't really pay close detail to the circle as his concentration was elsewhere. Particularly, the most logical explanation regarding Material-D and the Fate lookalike. 'There's no mistaking it... someone else had run their own version of Project F. Obviously not perfect since there are glaring differences in their physical appearances. And their memories aren't even transferred...... perhaps renegade clones?'
"And here we... go!" The Triangle symbol began spinning rapidly as the rose crest glowed. The end result was a gigantic vacuum effect which forced Yuuno to keep his levitation stable.
'So far, I've seen replicas of Hayate and Fate. Does this mean that there's...?'
It didn't take long for him to get his answer as the vacuum spell worked its magic and sucked out another female individual, who had been caught in a bind spell, from the fight ahead that was still obscured by the thick clouds. As soon as Material-D cancelled the spell, the young woman took control of her speed and took a few moments to break free of the binds. "My thanks, Material-D."
"...... Nanoha..." She was just as beautiful as the real one although her brown hair wasn't as long. In fact, it only just stretched just past her shoulders. Her blue eyes also carried the same 'off' look as the eyes he had seen on the Hayate and Fate replicas. In her grip was her trusty device, shaped like Raising Heart but coloured differently as a red staff with a blue gem.
"How many times have I told you to call me 'Your Majesty'?!" huffed Material-D as she glared at the other woman, dressed in a black and crimson barrier jacket designed similarly to the old white and blue barrier jacket Nanoha wore in the past. "And how did you get caught so easily in a bind spell?!"
"... it was my error. An error I will not repeat against this enemy again." Material-S then noticed the third member of the party just hovering there. "Who is he?"
"Just a peasant... although he seems to know you," noted the Hayate replica upon seeing the look in Yuuno's eyes. "Are you two acquainted?"
There was a slow pause before the Nanoha replica replied. "No."
Honestly, he was prepared for her to say it since obviously, she wouldn't share any memories with the original Nanoha. But to hear her declare that she doesn't know him at all in such a cold tone, it did sting at his heart little bit.
"...... but..."
Both Material-D and Yuuno blinked in surprise at the sudden change in their companion's voice.
"...... for some reason, I have this feeling. That I can trust this man with my back... correction..." She looked directly into his green eyes. "... I can trust him with my life."
"...... that's it. Once we get out of this mess, I'm going to double check if this guy's enchanted you-" Material-D was cut off as a lightning bolt zipped past them and circled around just in time for it to change to the Fate lookalike and glomp Material-S while bawling like a baby.
"Seikou-chan!! Yami-chan!! Why did you two leave me alone like that?! It's no fun playing by myself!!"
"You stupid Material-L!" snapped Material-D. "If you're here, then they can use the time to-"
She couldn't get out anything else as a melodic female tone interrupted her. "Oh, we wouldn't dream of going through the Reaction process yet! Not until we get to know each other a little better!"
'Reaction?!' Right now, every instinct of Yuuno was on high alert as another young woman emerged from the clouds, dressed in a long black garment which covered her entire body except for her arms and most of her legs. Her long dark hair was tied in a single ponytail. A pair of long black gloves covered her hands and most of her lower arms except for her shoulders, with the left one bearing a distinct indigo blue wing tattoo. Underneath her right arm was a book, most likely her device.
The Hayate replica snarled at the other woman who just came out. "You..."
"After all... we didn't expect to find such interesting creatures when we went on our little slaughterfest earlier!" exclaimed the woman with a happy smile. "Isn't that right... partner?"
A beat...
... a click of a rifle...
... and two words.
"Divide Zero."
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Yasanagi
(Posted Sun, 13 Jun 2010 06:57)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.