Mai-X-Project Act I: Zero Hour [Complete]

Introduction: Hello fellow RPers. We're about to embark on a journey about a girl who survived a massacre and is about to enter a war zone. Assisting her will be the finest heroes from across space and time. The journey also involves a psycho who is willing to do anything to destroy her enemy, even if it means playing the Higher Power.

Let's make history.

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Ten years after the Carnival, Mai Tokiha is now raising a family with Tate and Mikoto. On the night Tate asks Mai to marry him, a strange girl from Mai's past interrupts the happy occasion. The girl turns out to be Arika Yumemiya, the psychotic girl that Mai killed back in 2005. She tells Mai that she's discovered the secret to immortality. A weapon so great, it can destroy the Twelve HiME for good. When the weapon activates, it tampers with reality; connecting worlds together. Only this time, it's morphs into an elaborate labyrinth. When Mai is attacked by enemies she doesn't recognize, people and creatures will incredible power come to assist her in order to discover who's behind this crisis....
---

Fuuka Academy 2014.

Lost in the darkness was she. The maiden of fire who took down the most powerful lord of darkness ten years ago today. There is a new shadow covering the skies of Fuuka; only this time, she would have to become stronger than ever before to pierce the heavens with her divine light.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" cried out Mai with tears in her eyes. Reality had reared it's ugly head and there was no one left to help her.

"What have *I* done?! This is all a game, Mai-chan! To play the game properly, you have to be able to take a few hits!" replied the sadistic young woman.

Mai Tokiha, the HiME of Flames, hasen't felt rage so powerful since her younger brother Takumi was briefly taken from her. Her throat felt cluttered like a sack full of coal, she wanted nothing more than to inflict harm on the girl before her. "You murdered my friends....GIVE THEM BACK TO ME!!!"

Smirking and feeding off the poor girl's anger, the transfer student replied, "HEE HEE! SILLY MAI-CHAN! It's not like I can wave a magic wand and-"

"KAGUTSUCHI!"

The beast fired a giant blast of fire towards the girl, which she easily dodges.

"POOF!" Arika cried out in joy.

Laughing, the girl brushed off her shoulder and locked eyes with the violet daggers pointing in her direction. "I don't get you, Mai-chan. Dead friends? Lightning in a bottle! Pzzt! Pzzt! Pzzt!
Seriously, what are you waiting for? A sign from G-od?"

Mai lowered her head, tears began to travel down her cheeks. "We killed you..."

Arika smiled. "Judges? NOPE! I'm sorry, you were way off! You see, you cannot kill what already made plans in another timeline. You see Mai-chan, the Searrs Foundation excelled in many technologies. In this case...time travel."

"Time travel?" questioned Mai.

"Noting worked of course and there were many wonderful deaths involved. But we were able to achieve something more advanced. A device that can enter various timelines of already existing events! In one alternate timeline, you actually die in the Carnival! Such a shame that didn't happen! Oh but shame on us too, we were able to benefit from our experiments. That is until we harnessed power from the Crystal Princess to give our new toy the juice it needed! YAY!"

Mai's eyes widened in shocked, worried that Kazahana Mashiro might of been taken hostage and tortured for her divine power. "It can't be..."

"...unfortunately for us, we couldn't track down the ol' Chairwoman."

Mai signed with relief. "Thank goodness..."

"However! It was perfectly obvious where she had transferred her energy to. Or should I say...whom."

"What?!"

"Your precious Mikoto inherited all the power of the Chairwoman."

"NO! SHE COULDN'T HAVE!"

"Yes she did. She was chosen to become the next Crystal Princess, in order to prevent future Carnivals from happening. WAH-HOOO! BUT WE GOT HER, TORTURED HER AND DISPOSED OF HER WHEN SHE WAS NO LONGER USEFUL!" howled Arika, giggling away.

"You..."

Arika suddenly pulls out a detonation device, "Yes. ME! HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, ME!"

CLICK! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The entire mountain area of Fuuka suddenly went up in flames. Mai felt overwhelmed by the maniac's actions and revelation before her. "Are you saying....that you killed Mikoto twice."

Arika pondered that thought long enough to piss Mai off further. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm....I lost count."

"You monster," replied Mai. "I will never forgive you for this. But before I kill you, I have something to tell you."

"That you'll die like a good girl~?"

"No...that I'm not alone." smiled Mai, signaling the two mysterious figures. "NOW!"

---

suddenly Gakutenou comes barreling in with Midori on his back, her labrys in her hand...Arika barely gets out of the way as he charges on through

with Arika at a distance due to the flashy surprise entrance Midori hops off spinning her labrys and strikes a pose with a smile,

"Hey Mai, long time no see"

turning back to face Arika

"same to her I guess, though I was sure we put down for good"

Mai smirks at Midori, the HiME of Wind, who couldn't of made a hotter entrance if she tried. "I thought we did too, Midori-chan. You have no idea how happy I am to see you. Mikoto is..."

"How kawaii! I just looooooove family reunions!" snickers Arika. "Sugiura Midori! It would seem Squad B. failed to eliminate you. Maybe we should try bigger toys next time..." With a push of a button, a beeping sound can be heard from below...Midori."

Mai sharply turns around, "MIDORI-CHAN! GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

---

Gakutenou's tail flails out knocking Midori out of the way. as Midori flies through the air she unsummons gakutenou, as he disappears the explosion fires upwards into empty space.

Midori stumbles as she hits the ground, looking back to see Mai give a sigh of relief

"Nice call Mai, now lets pulver-...wait...Where is Mikoto?"

Mai sulks deeper into despair as Midori questions where Mikoto is. "She....she's dead. And it gets more complicated than that, Midori-chan. Arika found a way to hunt down all of us in different timelines. It's worse than ever, but we will not give up. Kagutsuchi-wait, is that..."

"Hmm? Another playtime buddy just for meeeee?! Oh you shouldn't have, Mai-chan!" sarcastically replied the twisted girl with the braids.

Galloping footsteps came running down the hill. Breath ragged and sweat pouring down her face with her blue hair plastered to her face. "Mai! Forgive me for being late. I came as fast as I could. What is going on here? Are you two okay? Where is everyone?" Natsuki ran over to Mai and Midori.

"Arika...." Nastuki said through gritting teeth and tightly, gripped hands.

Midori wipes a tear from her eye after learning of Mikoto's demise, forcing her smile back onto her face to mask her sadness.

"Glad you could make it Natsuki-chan...That's three on one Arika! and we have the key words to saving the world right here. They are love, friendship and JUSTICE!!!" Midori exclaims pointing her labrys forward

"Midori-chan.......Mikoto....is dead?" Natsuki's anger was boiling more by the minute while trying to compose herself. She wanted to rip Arika's head off this instant.

"Midori-chan is right, Akira. Do you hear that? Those are the keywords that is going to end you."

"Don't let your anger blind you Natsuki, it would only give that little psycho joy" tears are streaming down Midori's face, but she doesn't care...she has given up wiping them away, instead she is watching Arika like a hawk, waiting for her to make her move.

"It's great to see you, Natsuki. I'm afraid everyone has been wiped out. Akira-kun....Sister...Nao...Mikoto. I'm sorry, Natsuki....even Shizuru..."

Arika hangs upside, enjoying every moment of Mai's misery. "Don't stop now, Mai-chan! There were more stupid dead girls on your team, y'know!"

"No. I am not the emotional wreck I was when Reito nearly destroyed our lives! I still have my two friends here and we will never give up! KAGUTSUCHI!"

Kagutsuchi jocks for position, aiming directly at the cocky little imp.

"YOU GIRLS ARE SO. MUCH. FUN!" yells Arika at the top of her lungs. "But like they say...playtime is over."




Mai looks around as flashing beams of light strike down all of the soldiers Arika brought with her.

"ARIKA-SAMA...WHY!?" cried out a bloodied soldier.

"I've outgrown you, stupid homo-sapiens! You and the HiME were nothing but a phase like paper mache and puppets. For the final phase of my plan is ready to light up the sky!"

Mai whispers to Midori and Natsuki, "What is she planning?"

"Behold! The dawn of a new age!" And with that, Arika reveals a giant device that she is able to carry with little to no effort.. "The Dimensional System, forged by the future I came from and the ultimate weapon by the Searrs."

Mai screams in frustration, "NO! I WON'T LET YOU DESTROY US AGAIN! COME ON GIRLS! KAGUTSUCHI, LET'S RIDE!"

Mai jumps on top of Kagutsuchi and flies towards Arika with amazing speed.

---

"GAKUTENOU!" Gakutenou reappears, Midori hops on and they begin flying following Kagutsuchi, quickly overtaking it, Midori smiles "Mai...what does the wind do to a wildfire?" she says with a wink

"Gakutenou, TORNADO!" a spiral of air envelops Arika

"It makes it burn brighter...NATSUKI, MAI NOW!"

Arika is amused by the powerful gust of winds surrounding her body. "Tee hee hee hee hee! Give me more, Midori-chan! That tickles!"

Mai assists Midori by having Kagutsuchi shoot a basic fireball  along the trail of wind created by Gakutenou's Tornado. "ROASTED ANT! GO KAGUTSUCHI!"

With a powerful burst of flames, Arika's body is engulfed with temperatures reaching 5,000 degrees.

"Come on, Natsuki Go for the gold with your Silver Cartridge!" Mai cries out.

"Shoot her down Natsuki" Cheers Midori "Show her our JUSTICE"

*.......Shizur--* Natsuki couldn't think for a minute. Shizuru....she was....gone. Natsuki couldn't let it get to her, not just yet. She needs to get her revenge.....revenge on everyone. Her friends. Her face scrunched as she bit her bottom lip, causing blood to run down her chin lip. She takes in a deep breath and stands tall.  "DURAN!"

Two pistols form in Natsuki's hand and jumps on Duran's back. "DURAN, FIRE!" Ice crystals fired out of Duran's canons, sending them everywhere. The particles sparkled in the light as the wolf charged at Arika.

A brilliant flash of light blinds Mai. Suddenly, a shock wave sends everyone back. Dazed, Mai was hoping that Arika was destroyed by the combination attack. "Ugh!" cried out Mai, rubbing her eyes as the light clears up. "Did we..."

Kagutsuchi growled viciously, confirming the awful truth.

Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Arika was left with no burns or injuries of any kind; laughing with glee as Mai stares with hatred. "It's funny, Mai-chan. You and your friends couldn't kill me."

"DAMMIT!"

"And yet..."

"What?"

"...you caused serious damage to my toy."

Mai looks over to see that the Dimensional System started to short circuit. "What does this mean, Arika?"

Sighing with disappointment, Arika picks up the glitchy device and suddenly smiles like the devil himself. "It means that my plans will have to go down a different path....hee hee hee hee hee ha ha! ha! ha! ha!"

Out of nowhere, all of the CHILDs de-materialize and Mai is sent flying into a giant warp hole that sucks everything into a vacuum. "NATSUKI-CHAN! MIDORI-CHAAAAAAAN!!!"

---

Midori embeds her Element in the ground trying to hold on, trying to think of a way to save Mai and Natsuki...only for it to come free and sent her spiraling after Mai into the warp hole "MAI! NATSUKI!" with a sigh she screams out "Oh come on! Why does this have to happen to me...I'm only Seventeen!!!!"

"WH---at....is....going on? DURAN!" Natsuki was spiraling out of control and keeps moving closer and closer to the warp hole. "MAI-CHAN! MIDORI-CHAN!!!!"

As the warp hole continues to inhale the physical world, Arika is left standing. Staring at Mai as she spirals into the oblivion.

"Oh~ I'm not done with you yet, Mai-chan! We'll play hide and seek for now, but the time will soon come. In the meantime, you, your friends and anyone caught inside my beautiful world, my ultimate creation, will be playing by my rules. Fair is fair!" giggled Arika as the darkness covered the nights sky.

---

Opening Song for Mai-X-Project:


Battle theme for every random encounter.
"The Trembling City of Aris" from the Namco X Capcom soundtrack:



All official characters have their own theme songs. For O.C.s, find your own theme songs when they make their entrance. Whether it's original music of your own or an existing theme (by artist or band) that qualifies as their theme. Only post these songs when your character debuts for the first time.

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"Sis? Sis? SIS!?"

"Takumi?"

"Come on, oneechan. You can't do this again."

"I'm sorry, Takumi. Everything is lost once again. Only this time, I don't think I can save us."

"Yes you can, oneechan. Save us, just like you always do. You know, compared to when you first came to Fuuka Academy, you've become a lot stronger. Never forget that..."

"TAKUMI" Mai cried out, waking up for a long slumber. "Ugh, it was just a dream...my head. Someone turn out the...lights?"

The HiME of flames found herself in a dark alley. She immediately began to question her surroundings. "How did I end up in..." questioned Mai as she walked towards the light. "Tokyo."

Though Mai couldn't remember how she got here, she found her enchanted by the tall skyscrapers and just civilization in general. "How is this...wait...ARIKA!" Mai realized that she could still be in danger, but she didn't want to flash her HiME powers in public. The problem was...

Silence. The city filled with urban habitats and fancy billboards was empty. No people filled the streets...something was wrong. "What happened here...MIDORI!? NATSUKI!?"

"ARGH!!!"

Mai turned around and was relieved to see another human being in the city. Although...

"Hello, my name is Tokiha Mai. I am a chef from Fuuka, I just arrived in the city and-"

The person in front of her suddenly lunged at Mai, trying to bite her! "What the!?" Mai cries out, delivering a powerful kick to the chest of the civilian. As she flew above the crazy person, Mai noticed a massive group of people heading her way. There was sign of life, and yet, there wasn't at the same time. "What is this..." questioned Mai as she made her landing. "I don't know what's wrong with this town, but I don't want to hurt any of you! Please, stop!"

The large group of people suddenly halted. Thinking she got through to them, Mai stepped forward and tried communicating with the lead. "Excuse me, sir. Do these people need help?"

The person in front of her lifted his head up, flesh and blood dripping from his mouth. Mai quickly stepped back, which caused the man in front of her to screams bloody murder, charging the massive wave of people after her.

"Don't tell me...they're-"

"Zombies, young lady. QUICKLY!" Mai's arms gets pulled back as a mysterious figure lunges at the zombies with incredible speed. Mai could barely see where her assist was! All she was able to see was quick dashing with limbs and heads flying everywhere. She then noticed a beautiful sword lifted into the air, with a woman's brain hanging off the tip.

"That takes care of the first wave." said the mysterious figure, who sounded like a gruff young man. Mai ran up to the man and kept the other undead back. "Thank you so much for your help, but there might be survivors that need our help."

"You're right, ma'am. But I tell you what, survivors won't last long with these monsters flooding the streets. No different from the scum that terrorized the streets back home." replied the young man, turning around to make his presence known. The man, early 20s it seemed to Mai, had a handsome face hidden under a white mask. His long hair, seemed black, but glowed dark violet in the sun. His powerful stance and body reminded Mai a lot of Tate, only more fit. "I'm Tsunami. Hikari Tsunami. What the press would call the famous "Knight". Pleasure to meet you....Miss?"

((Hikari Tsunami's chosen theme song::



Fun fact: Always felt Bret Hart's entrance theme from the 90s was perfect for Hikari. They both have that smooth, no-nonsense, sense of honor persona. Hikari is the cooler version of Tuxedo Kamen, so he needed something guitar heavy))

"Tokiha Mai. Thank you again, Hikari-kun.  I have no idea where I'm at and these...zombies started attacking me. I CAN'T GET OVER THIS!" spazzes Mai.

"If we work together, we'll be heroes by lunch time. I saw you fly earlier...dunno how you did that...it was kinda creepy actually...but we'll use that. Attack from above, just stay away from their mouths. I'll do crowd control down here." issued the nimble young man.

"You bet!" replied Mai, activating her Element to fly into the sky.

---

The open blue sky that Lucchini had been patrolling over was peaceful and quiet, too quiet, though she didn't mind at all, this was a rare occurrence after all. Humming a tune to herself, she let her mind drift to thoughts of her beloved Maria back in Rome. Suddenly, the skies shifted into a decaying gray, forming a vortex before the lone Platoon Commander.
"Uuwaaaahh! What's up with this wind?" She exclaimed.
The violent gusts sucked her inside whole, leaving only a empty space in its wake.

-------

Falling out of the sky in a wild tumble, Lucchini found herself stranded alone amoungst tall yet decrepit high risers. Looking around in desperation, she found a sight that defied all belief. A young woman with orange hair rode astride a white beast that resembled a cross between phoenix and machine, the heat of its fires stinging her eyes. Lifting her semi automatic out of instinct, she fired.

"Oww my head" Midori stands up finding herself inside an abandoned storehouse, "Did I drink too much last night...or...MAI! NATSUKI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" suddenly she notices a crowd of what appear to be people walking through the open door of the storehouse

"Hey you didn't happen to see a..." she stops, one of these guys is missing half his jaw, one an arm, all are slowly moving...she didn't want to believe it, but it was right in front of her, Zombies, she tried to stand, but too quickly and fell backwards into a crate smashing it.

Separated from her friends, alone in a new world surrounded by Zombies "Can't a girl get a break!" as she stood her grazed arm dropped some blood upon the ground seemingly activating a magical circle of some kind, Midori looked down at her hand to see a symbol emblazon itself there...

the Zombies fell back and standing in the middle was a young blonde girl in armor "I am the servant Saber, I have heeded your summonings and come forth, I ask you: Are you my master?" Midori was for the first time at a loss for words "sure, I guess...but right now we have bigger problems" she said dumbfounded pointing to the hoard who were starting to get their bearings back "Do you wish for me to get rid of them Master?" the girl apparently named Saber asked "I'd never ask you to do it alone" Midori said with a grin summoning her element "Let's get them Saber...and never forget what we fight for...love, friendship and JUSTICE"

Saber sighed 'another odd master' she thinks to herself..

the two charge the zombies slashing through them like Excalibur through butter

as they get into the open and are under no immediate threat Midori holds out her hand and introduces herself "Saber was it, I'm Midori" only to be pulled around by the familiar sound of kagutsuchi only to see it fired upon...by a small object she could barely see in the sky

"Saber, let's go!" Midori yelled breaking into a sprint to get closer

---

saber theme:


Midori theme:

Hearing the gunfire from a distance, Hikari signals Mai to check it out.

"Loud and clear, Hikari-kun. Let's go Kagutsuchi!" cries Mai as Kagutsuchi transports her over to the downtown area.

"Girls who fly with big giant beasts." sneered Hikari as he shakes his head. "I uncovered Lunar, discovered the mystical Dragon of the first Emperor of China, stopped a G-od from being summoned and survived a quest to find the sacred chalice. I should be used to the hocus pocus in my life by now. Oh well, time to Swiffer this joint."

Hikari positions himself, looking around to see if any innocent people occupied the area. "Perfect." Squeezing the Moonlight Blade's crescent moon handle tight, he prepares to unleash his next attack. "CRESCENT SLASH!!!" With a perfect executed twisting of the hip, Hikari created a giant crescent moon made of energy, slicing 89 zombies in the area. "They're still coming, I just hope Mai saved that poor sap with the gunfire over there..."

Meanwhile, Mai spotted a young girl firing at the undead that were inching their way closer to her by force. "Oh no...how many of these things are there!? Kagutsuchi, let me off here!"

Kagutsuchi gave Mai a sound of concerned, almost as if he's requesting something. "No, Kagutsuchi, I can't have you blowing up buildings when there might be survivors. I'll be back safely, promise."

Mai jumps down towards the young girl with the semi automatic. "HEY YOU! It's hopeless to use firearms with this many monsters! I'm Tokiha Mai and I'm here to rescue you!"

As she fired away desperately, Lucchini shot a glance at her broken Striker Units, thick inky oil pooling from the engine compartment.
"Shit." She muttered.
The zombies just kept coming in waves, their numbers never diminishing no matter how many shells she pumped into one, dozens more approached. She wasn't through yet though, years of flying with her best friend Shirley had taught her to hone her concentration. Suddenly, a voice called out, a young woman's voice,
"I'm Tokiha Mai and I'm here to save you!"
Turning to look at the stranger, Lucchini recognized her as the same person who had rode that white beast. Finally, she heard the click of the gun chamber, she was out of rounds. Lucchini still wasn't worried though.
"Oh its ok! I've got it under control lady!"
Summoning her familiar, a set of black leopard's ears and a long pitch dark tail appeared from her body. Raising her arms in front of her, Lucchini gathered the energy she could feel in the air and manipulated it, slicing through all the undead before her so that none were left

Amazed was she by the young girl's abilities, Mai looked up at Kagutsuchi in confusion. Kagu tilted his head to the side as if he couldn't believe it either. He gently flew back down to defend Mai.

"Um...not bad! Still, it's not safe here, there are more coming and with the current population of Tokyo, we're gonna need serious crowd control." Realizing how rude she was acting, Mai facepalmed herself. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling on. I didn't catch your name..." continued Mai as she hopped on Kagutsuchi's back.

Midori and Saber are fighting off Zombies in the Shinjuku district, occasionally breaking as a wave is cut to pieces.

Laughing at the woman called Mai's embarrasment, Lucchini responded,
"I'm Platoon Commander Francesca Lucchini, from the Romagna Regia Aeronautica!"
Giving a polite salute, she turned back to look at her Strikers, addressing Mai once more,
"Just give me a minute, I need those."
Jogging up to the fallen machines, she scooped them up in her arms and hopped onto the beast named Kagutsuchi's back. Noticing Mai's generous cleavage, she couldn't help but be spellbound, her eyes wide as she was consumed by an old fascination with those few girls who were gifted