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

“I am aware this is not the Natsuki I know,” Shizuru replied to Mikoto. “But she is still Natsuki, and I will fight for her.”

Elsa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This is worse than Court. She nodded to Marshmallow, who let Midori be.

Summanus snorted. "I'd like to see you try, two-legs."

"You have yet to see me try a lot of things, giant cow." Midori muttered

Summanus just yawned in response; exposing a row of serrated teeth twice Midori’s height in length.

Natsuki's expression changed from a very positive and happy to one of pure sadness, heartache and a little anger. She was so sure this was her Shizuru but at the same time she knew something was off. She wanted it to be her so much. Natsuki hung her head low, scrunching her eyes shut. She tightened the grip on her hands, becoming white knuckled with her teeth clenching.

"Why?" Natsuki breathed silently. It was hard for her to speak but she tried to stay strong. "You knew about this from the start? I was so sure that my Shizuru came back to me and..." Natsuki paused and opened her eyes. "Shizuru, you knew it too...you were just pretending." Natsuki's mouth, body and hands started shaking. She didn't have the time to grieve over everything. It was just one problem after the next. She wasn't the one for tears but she started to let them go. All of her sadness pouring out at once. "I hate this!"

Johanna walked over to and stood behind her. She didn't say a word but it was her way of showing she cared for her.

"Right...those will just make the skinning a little more difficult." Midori grinned, her stomach churning and eyes alive with thought of a roast

Oscar stepped forward.

"Enough. We're supposed to be a unit against those monsters. Bickering like this won't get us anywhere like Mikoto says."

Midori's was taken aback by Oscar's words, lowering her head slightly to look at the ground.
"Alright, you have a point."

midori's crazy398 wrote:Midori's was taken aback by Oscar's words, lowering her head slightly to look at the ground.
"Alright, you have a point."

Oscar smiled at the obviously frustrated woman. "Have you ever heard of Jeanne D'Arc? You remind me a lot of her. Don't lose heart, I'm sure this Shizuru will assist you. Natsuki seems to trust her."

Shizuru turned to Natsuki, concern brimming in her eyes. “I suspected,” she agreed with Natsuki, “but I would not pretend.” She gripped Natsuki’s shoulder with one hand and tilted her head up to meet her eyes with the other.

“It does not matter to me what world Natsuki is from,” she told the HiME, “so long as she is still Natsuki, I will love her all the same.”

Summanus snorted at Midori. “Your blade won’t harm me.” Turning his massive head he nodded at Oscar. “Blondie’s right, though. We’ve all a much more worrisome foe to fight than each other.”

Shizuru nodded at Oscar’s words. “Hai. If Summanus-kun is correct, I will work with you.”

Midori's ears pricked up at the mention of such a fancy name.
"No, I haven't. Was she a great warrior of some sort? I realize our greater goal now, so I'll leave separate conflicts aside for now."

midori's crazy398 wrote:
"Two years ago? What in the world? That must have at least taken place over a thousand or more years ago. PK was the deadly beginning to our Cantus. Those who used it when mankind gained such power murdered millions at a time out of rage, pleasure or because they simply couldn't control it well. It tore nations apart and leveled continents. It was only until my ancestors inserted the Death Feedback, among  other...things...into the human DNA that a sort of end to the violence began." Saki said somberly

Shirley blinked "None of that sounds familiar...my current theory is we are from alternate timelines, though that sounds depressing, I'm Sorry Saki...on a lighter note have you ever been on a motorcycle, this world has got to have some...I'd love to take you for a ride, see if I can beat my landspeed records"

---

Alexis sat over by Johanna, trying to stay out of the superpower brawl on the verge of breaking out mere meters away "Hey, I'm Alexis"

"No, though I read that they were used for transportation and that's about it, since the document I saw it on was a Class Three, if I had been caught reading it who knows what might have happened. If we can find one, I'd love to." Saki finally flashed a smile

midori's crazy398 wrote:Midori's ears pricked up at the mention of such a fancy name.
"No, I haven't. Was she a great warrior of some sort? I realize our greater goal now, so I'll leave separate conflicts aside for now."

"I read about her in books. The greatest warrior in the history of France." replied Oscar, looking into the heavens as if her idol could hear her. She turned her attention back to the stern woman.

"I'm lost in this new world just like you. I wonder about the others and where they came from. That reminds me, do you have a Queen back in your country?"

Mikoto felt Natsuki's pain within an instant but she remained stern and calm.

"How do you think I feel? I had no right to dash your hopes but it was for the best. More bloodshed would've started once again had I not stepped in and confessed."

Mikoto noticed the blunette weeping and placed a gentle hand on her head.
"Natsuki, would you like to hear about the future? Your future?"

When she got a positive response, Mikoto smiled and nodded. She addressed those who were interested in her explanation.

"For those who are interested, please take a seat. This might take a while."

Once Rezetta and everyone (or anyone) sat comfortably around Mikoto, she placed her staff upwards. She sat in an indian-style fashion and took a deep breath.

"Well," Mikoto began explaning, "After we stopped my big brother and ended the festival, everyone went back to their normal lives. You and Shizuru started dating.
Eventually, the both of you got married and had two healthy children. Two daughters named Shizuki and Ruka. And those two children grew into successful adults and had many children of their own. Four of each, I think."

But anyway," Mikoto's joyful look turned into a serious expression, "you had faced happy times and sad times. And eventually, you, Natsuki, would pass away of old age. But your life begins anew.Sometime in the future, on a distant colony world, the rulers of the various nations are accompanied by super-powered female bodyguards. They are called "Otome".
In this distant future, you've been reincarnated as Natsuki Kruger. In your new life, you live in the world of Earl and you are a headmistress at Garderobe Academy, an elite private school in the city-state of Windbloom.
Shizuru Viola, the "Bewitching Smile Amethyst", works alongside your reincarnation as an assistant and protector."

midori's crazy398 wrote:"No, though I read that they were used for transportation and that's about it, since the document I saw it on was a Class Three, if I had been caught reading it who knows what might have happened. If we can find one, I'd love to." Saki finally flashed a smile

Shirley smiled as she grabbed a spanner from a bag putting her other hand on Saki's shoulder "It's a date then, though not truly as my girlfriend would never forgive me" hearing Mikoto about to tell a tale she lent an hear

---

Alexis perked her ears to hear Mikoto's tale

“Hai,” Shizuru agreed with Mikoto. “Natsuki was my lover as well.”

"Well, not in my lands exactly since I rule over my own village, but there are many other rulers of the surrounding nations, including Queen Mashiro. I try not to get very involved with them." Midori replied.
-----
"Girlfriend?! But, you must be an adult by now from your appearance, forgive me, but in my society people usually only take others of the same sex to avoid the risk of a possible monster being born, then take those of the opposite gender as adults..." Saki looked puzzled as her voice rose somewhat

midori's crazy398 wrote:"Girlfriend?! But, you must be an adult by now from your appearance, forgive me, but in my society people usually only take others of the same sex to avoid the risk of a possible monster being born, then take those of the opposite gender as adults..." Saki looked puzzled as her voice rose somewhat

"It's okay, Saki, we come from different worlds, different worlds different customs" Shirley said with a smile "I got a photo we took together somewhere..." Shirley scavenged through her bag "...ah, here we are!"



"This is me and Trudy, you got someone you like Saki-chan?"

"Eh...well, I...once, a long, long time ago I had two people in my heart, one I mistreated with my stupidity despite her unwavering love and another whom was always out of reach in the way that I wanted him to be...but no, I hardly have a love like that in my life anymore Shirley. Many I loved died already." Saki turned away to hide her pain, which was becoming obvious on her face.

midori's crazy398 wrote:"Eh...well, I...once, a long, long time ago I had two people in my heart, one I mistreated with my stupidity despite her unwavering love and another whom was always out of reach in the way that I wanted him to be...but no, I hardly have a love like that in my life anymore Shirley. Many I loved died already." Saki turned away to hide her pain, which was becoming obvious on her face.

Shirley grabbed her into a hug "I'm sorry Saki, I had no idea" pulling back Shirley smiled "If you want I could give you a ride with my strikers, you want to see what happens when you break the sound barrier? Help you take your mind off it"

"Sure, that sounds lovely too." Saki said, wrapping her arms around Shirley in return. "But, look, Natsuki is about to say something."

Natsuki sat up and sniffed away her stray tears. Hearing all of this from Mikoto really helped her out a lot and it made her strong enough to talk about something important. Before she started on that subject, she turned to Shizuru and Mikoto. "Mikoto, thank you for telling me. I know it was hard for you to keep it from me. I guess I was just hopeful and I thought everything was going to be okay once I saw Shizuru." She whipped her hair around before continuing. "As for you, Shizuru. I believe you. We were together for so long and had a wonderful life together. Somehow, we are still the same if we were reincarnated. I may not know the new Natsuki but you defiantly resemble the woman who I fell in love with." Natsuki smiled.

Natsuki turned to everyone. "Alright, now that everyone is in a perfect circle, there is something I must tell you." Natsuki paused and rubbed her reddened eyes. "It's about this place we are in and how we got here."

Natsuki waited and straightened and looked over at Shizuru and leaned against her. "I know the reason why all of you are here today. This is a long story so I'm going to try to make it short. All of us came from different worlds as you know. Most of you don't know anyone here or those so called people were that were trying to harm us. The one person responsible for all of this mess is Arika. She murdered my friends and scattered them across different worlds as well. She has created an army of villains from different worlds much like ourselves and is trying to destroy us. I really can't say as to why this is happening but she has an enormous amount of power. lady fumi likely to be in fact. I'm worried, there is no easy way to stop her and with all of these new enemies in out way...there is no telling what will happen. What all of us need right now is to join together and fight Arika and her army. We need to stick together and find others to defeat her once and for all."

Natsuki closed her eyes and thought for a minute. She was trying to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything important. "Now all of you know why you're all here." Natsuki nodded and leaned closer to Shizuru. "Please feel free to ask me many questions, I hope I can answer some of them for you."

Elsa sighed in relief as she exited her office. Almost everything was in place for her and Anna’s trip to Corona to visit their cousin and, hopefully, work out a mutually beneficial treaty or two. Arendelle certainly needed all the support she could get, what with Weselton and the Southern Isles working together.

Elsa had no doubt they’d be making their move within the next year.

She walked in the direction of the kitchens, thinking to find Anna there, but was sidetracked when she heard giggling from the Courtyard. Changing her route, she went to find the source.

Unsurprisingly, that source was Anna. Elsa leaned against the wall and smiled as she watched her baby sister dance around with Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven on the ice rink she’d created earlier in the day. Kristoff was, by far, the clumsiest.

She supposed she could see how her sister could find him endearing…if she tilted her head and squinted. Still, he was a good and loyal friend; and that was not to be discounted.

Anna twirled on the ice coming to a rest facing her sister and squealed in happiness upon seeing her. She rushed over to where Elsa was watching her, stopping in front of her and picking her up in a twirling hug and causing Elsa to chuckle softly.

“Is everything ready?” The redhead inquired as she bounced on her skates once she’d put her sister down. “Oh, I can’t wait to see Rapunzel and Eugene again! It’s been two years you know. Two. Whole. Years. Why haven’t we done this sooner? I wonder what desserts they’ll hav—”

Elsa placed a finger on her sister’s lips with a small smile, cutting her off mid-ramble.

“Everything’s in place,” she answered calmly as she brought her hand back down to clasp them in front of her. “We’ll set sail for Corona in two days time. Kai will handle affairs here while we’re gone, and Gerta will keep the castle staff in line.” She smiled again at her sister. “And you know why, Anna. We’ve been over this dozens of times.”

“I know, I know,” Anna groaned. “We need to build relationships with other countries first to show that we’re not going to fall back into habitual isolation.” She gave her sister a look. “But they’re our cousins, Elsa!”

“I know,” Elsa replied, collected as ever. “By reaching out to other countries first, we’re showing them we’re willing to take a risk and not—”

“Just going to play it safe.” Anna finished for her, earning an amused look from Elsa. “It’s still not fair, though.”

Behind them, Kristoff said something about putting Sven up for the night, and Olaf tagged along; continuing his conversation with the emotive reindeer and oblivious human. Anna grinned and waved at them as they left before looping her arm with Elsa’s as they prepared to head back into the castle, perfectly content to talk for the both of them as they headed to dinner.

Elsa paused suddenly in the corridor as she sensed something was amiss, causing Anna’s arm to slip out of hers.

“Elsa?” Anna inquired.

“I…thought I felt something.” She shook her head, turning back to her sister. “It’s been a long da—” Her eyes widened in shock as she noticed the swirling black vortex just behind her sister. “ANNA!”

Anna, for her part, was captivated by the silvery-gold swirling…thing behind Elsa. It didn’t look dangerous. If fact, it was actually quite pretty. She made to reach out and touch it, only to find that she, well, couldn’t.

She blinked in surprise as she tried and failed to move her arm…both of them. She didn’t seem to be able to walk either, actually. Glancing back up at her sister she saw an expression she’d hoped to never see again. Fear.

“Anna…” Elsa whispered softly. “Anna get away from there!”

“I, I can’t move! Elsa! What’s going on!” Anna struggled against the grasping tendrils of the vortex she’d only just now noticed.

Elsa stood frozen for a second, before rushing forward, only to watch as Anna was sucked into the swirling black mass, almost as if it were taunting her.

“ANNA!” She collapsed to her knees, eyes wide in shock and fear. Anna, her baby sister, was gone. “No…” she whimpered softly.

The light from the slivery-gold vortex caught her eye and she turned to face it. It sat there, almost patiently, as if waiting for her to make a decision. This was not the same thing that had taken her Anna but…what choice did she really have.

She rose with a shaky breath and walked towards the strange, clearly magical, mass.  Reaching out tentatively, she noted that it seemed to radiate cold and warmth at once, and had none of the ominous foreboding that the black one had fairly radiated.

Elsa set her jaw in determination, narrowing her eyes at what she guessed was a portal before her as she straightened her shoulders; once again the Snow Queen of Arendelle.

She would find Anna, and she would bring her home. Then they would take their trip to Corona as planned.

She took a step forward, reaching her hand into the portal and holding it there for a brief moment before stepping all the way through. Crystal blue eyes turned into icy chips as the temperature surrounding her dropped.

If any harm came to her sister, there would be no mercy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shizuru landed gracefully in front of the small crowd that had gathered in front of Garderobe. The Slave had been relatively easy for her to dispatch and the kidnapped students appeared to have been just as easily retrieved. She shared a look with the Gakuenchou; the entire thing had seemed entirely too easy. Almost as if it had been a—

“Shizuru!” Natsuki called to her lover in warning.

…distraction. She jumped up into the air and gracefully dodged the attack. Pivoting mid-air she turned to face her attacker; surprised to see a Valkyrie Robe.

A few more Valkyries jumped into the sky behind the first, launching attacks at faculty and students alike. Everyone who could activated their Robes in response: the fight began in earnest.

Whoever these women were, they were very well trained. That said, they were still no match for the staff of Garderobe; slowly but surely they began dropping, until only one was left. The helmet of her robe hissed open and teal hair flowed into view.

Needless to say, the Otome were shocked.

“I thought we got rid of her ages ago.” Nao commented dryly.

“It would seem not.” Shizuru responded, her tone saying more than her words ever could. She surged forward to meet Tomoe’s attack head-on, matching her blow-for-blow as their Elements collided.

“You won’t be able to protect her this time.” Tomoe declared to Shizuru as their Elements collided yet again.

Shizuru’s eyes widened briefly before narrowing dangerously. She said nothing as she pushed Tomoe back with a powerful thrust before extending the blade of her Element; catching Tomoe off-guard and piercing clean through her. She turned around as the woman dissolved into green sparkles.

The staff of Garderobe were fighting again as a fresh wave of Valkyries had ambushed them from behind.

Shizuru’s eyes sought out her lover, noting in alarm that she appeared on the verge of being overwhelmed. She swung her Element forward, slicing through the Valkyries threatening her Natsuki before darting forward and taking the remainder out of the fight.

She landed in front of Garderobe’s headmistress and checked her lover over. There was a gaping wound stretching across the majority of the woman’s torso, and it looked deep. Shizuru caught her lover as she collapsed from fatigue and pain, her Robe de-materializing as her nano-machines focused on trying to heal her.

Shizuru was up in the air instantly, cradling her Natsuki close as she zoomed inside Garderobe and made her way to the medical bay. A random burst of turbulence caused her to lose her grip on the Gakuenchou.

Seconds later she was sucked into a swirling black vortex. Her last sight was of her lover hitting the ground; unmoving.

She pivoted mid-air in an attempt to fly back through the portal, but it had already closed. She was stuck flying high above a strange world.

Johanna hung her head to the side and started pacing back and forth. The way that she was walking made it seem like she was drunk and not coordinated with each step. She was all over the place and getting agitated by the memories her home, the arena and the place that she was in now.

“Well, you want to know how I got here and where I’m from right.” Johanna paused as she walked faster, the sounds of the leather material brushing against each other. She picked up her ax and started twirling it around with one hand. It was almost like she was doing wrist exercises with the heavy weapon because she wasn’t lifting her arm at all.

“This is by far the most ridiculous set up for an arena. President Snow has gone too far this time, hiring more disgusting people to do his dirty work. He is a coward and hides behind a television screen to give orders. If he wants to get rid of these kids so badly he would do it in person. I would love to wipe off that stupid smug of his.” Johanna paused as she laughed softly.

“My home belongs in in the 7th district of the new government, the new age of America. I grew up in the district that is known for its lumber. The area itself was okay, it was certainly better than most, the conditions where a bit nicer and so were the people.  Anyway, to cut this part short, my entire home was destroyed by this powerful monster. I lost everything. Johanna paused for a few seconds. "No one can hurt me. I'm not like the rest of you. There's no one left I love."

Johanna stopped pacing and turned her attention Natsuki and smirked. Each year, there is a calling for tributes of each district, there is currently 12. Everyone gathers for this day, a lady named Effie Trickett and she calls out to Tributes, one female and one male. You have the option to volunteer for the one person she calls. It’s all or nothing now. This is called the Hunger Games. You get dressed up for these damn ceremonies to persuade people into sponsoring them in the games. By sponsoring, that means to give medical items, food and water to the people that are in the games.  The games itself is a death war. Every kid from each district is forced to kill each other. We fight until there is one female and one male left standing.”

Johanna threw her ax up on her shoulder before continuing. “I was in two of these so called arenas. I won the first one. I won the 71st Hunger Games and yes, I'm angry. You know I'm getting totally screwed over here. The deal was if I win the Hunger Games, I get to live the rest of my life in peace... but now, they wanted to kill me again. Well you know what? F*CK THAT! AND F*CK EVERYONE WHO HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT! Then, I was reaped for the third Quarter Quell. I was one of the youngest tributes in the Quarter Quell."

Johanna took a deep breath. "Then, I met someone., Katniss. She just recently won the 74th annual Hunger Games. She was different than the rest. She stood up for herself and did something different. She didn’t let Snow win. That was when Snow made the announcement for the Quarter  Quell. All of the victors had to come back and fight, sort of like an All Star match. I met Katniss in an elevator” She smirked and remembered the image. “I stripped in front of her, really wanting to get her attention. That wasn’t the case. The two idiot bimbos next to her had the satisfaction look. Although her crossed-eyed look said she wanted some. I said to her, great let’s do it again sometime. It was marvelous. Then I got to meet her even more during out time in the arena. I got to know her better and I consider her and Finnick to be the closet that I have to friends. I love Katniss. So, near the end of the battle, I helped her escape. She probably hates me because I didn’t have a chance to explain why I did it. I cut her arm to get the tracker out  to make it seem like I was hurting her. Then, that was the last time I saw her. I was taken away and all I remember was waking up in the forest. That was when I met Oscar. I didn’t know what she, not a he anymore was. She resembled some of the people at the Capitol.”

Johanna down her ax stood tall. “That’s basically it. Once I get back there, I don’t know what I will find. The districts might be gone, Katniss might be gone or married to that pansy ass bread boy. I would love to have one nice day out with her. But, it looks like I never will.” Johanna threw her arms up in the air and spun around.

Shirley had been flying at mach 2, she had finally done it, two times the speed of sound, activating her com she calls in the accomplishment "Trudy I did it, Mach 2!"
"Shi-BZZZZZZ-y Ge-BZZZZ-of there! Some-BZZ-ing We-BZZZZZZ-oin on!"
The static was unnatural, for any standards
"I'll come back right now"
turning around and flying back suddenly a dark vortex became to form,
"what is that?"
"SHIRLEY!" the comm came to life "I'M-BZZZZZ-ing to get you"
“Trudy don't risk it! Kris needs you to pick her up today doesn’t she"
"SHIR-"
with that nothing but the static buzz broke through as the whole enveloped her, she flew as fast as she could, but it was like flying in a tornado...pulling her in, the next thing she knew it was blue skies and no vortex, but the air felt different
“Trudy, I’m okay! Trudy?”
no response, not even static. Turning she flew towards land, it looked a bit like the coast of Libereon…but not “huh…this is strange”

---

Alexis was sitting with King Muffious of the Kingdom of Drury Lane and Master Valkov, of the Blitzkrieg School “I have been chasing Yang for so long now,” she said with a sigh, “I should just give up,”
Tala looked at her “you still have feelings for her don’t you?”
Alexis smashed her cup in her hands “No, I don’t…I can’t have feelings for her…I can’t, she is an arms dealer who single handedly has driven worlds to extinction, How could I love her…SIMPLE! I CAN’T” placing 20 Space Canadian Dollars on the table she walked out.
The Nexusverse, a meeting point for several dozen Universai or was it Universes? Never mind that!
Alexis went up to the Tower of Unity, a giant tower of peace in the center of the city and went to the top looking out at the city “My life used to be so peaceful”

Remembering meeting Yang on Planet Alleris, Yang and her had met and quickly fell in love, however one day Alexis woke up in the cargohold of Yang’s ship, breaking out she went to the bridge and saw the planet being devored in a pink cloud like substance, the blue hills of Alleris slowly covered by a giant pink cloud…

((For Description, look in the box))

Spoiler:

Yang claimed it was for galactic peace, and that Alleris had been preparing to attack neighboring planets and conquering them, and those surrounding planets had paid for the destruction of Alleris, Alexis tried to hang on...though the longer she stayed with Yang the more she remembered seeing the planet die, knowing what that stuff could do made it worse, so one day when they made port Alexis ran, ever since she has been after Yang’s organization as well as Yang’s ½ sister’s organizations that dealt things like drugs, slaves and other amenities. (though not directly related)

G-od Alexis had been stupid, “Well Galaxy Queens!” she yelled out “Strike me down for my foolishness! Two years and no dent in the master plan! Come on! DO IT!” she said tears filling her eyes, no matter what was said and done...there was still a part of her that loved Yang
Suddenly the sky opened up in a vortex dragging her through “I TAKE IT BACK! I’M SORRY!”
As she flew backwards she knocked herself unconscious when being pulled past the tower's summit only to wake up inside a pawnshop on what appeared to be earth