The Anco MSN Doujin Story! (may contain spoilers)

[Plasmacaster]

Orion punched in for the day and looked at the note that was in his time card slot. It was written from the president of the entire Malora campus. The note read as follows:


Mr. McMurry,

   Instead of your normal duties this evening, please report to the clock tower near the World Tree. Please see to it that groups of 2 or more people (especially couples) are kept away from the area. Also, if you overhear anyone using the words "I wish", it is extremely important that you stop them at all cost! I cannot stress this enough! You will also be helped by other teachers and agents of the school. They already know who you are and will fill you in on what has been happening.


"Well, that is nice," He muttered in English. "Guess I can't check why there have been some issues with one of the main drains." Orion had checked the meters that measure the amount of water that comes in and goes out of the large campus. One of the drains has been reporting strange figures for a day and now it seems to be ok. Maybe it was the fact that they were starting the school festival and it was putting a slight fluctuation on the water supply. He thought back and noted that the readings he remembered from last year did not have the same fluctuations as this years reading. Of course, this year is a little different from the last few years. The School celebration is bigger then the two years previously. His sixth sense was telling him something else was going on, and that sense is rarely wrong.

Ever since he started working for the school he found the normal clogged drains (especially in the middle school girls bath house) and the middle school boys bathrooms. (Mostly the fact that they tend to be a bit more mischievous.) But there have been a bit of odd things that have been happening here. Things that made the back of his head tingle. He normally didn't pay much attention to these things, but even his classes had a bit of oddness about it. He sensed that something else was underneath the outer coating of this school. Something magical.

Orion grabbed a few remote controlled cars and mounted small microphones and cameras to the tops of them. He then pulled out a large bag to put the cars in as well as a ingenious device that he had developed to make it easier to control the vehicles. He smiled to himself as he was packing his equipment. Five years ago, he wouldn't have been able to build things like this. The Japanese electronics and mechanical parts were far more advanced then an American equivalent, even though they were more expensive. The RC Cars will help him with his job tonight. He could even use them to make sure to break up couples like the note said.

~Written by Orion~

[Plasmacaster]

(Breathe...  alright, zero in on the target, check sight picture... good... focus... exhale, hold it... and squeeze the trigger... gently~~~...)

"CRACK!"

The sound of a single gunshot echoed across the flat space of the Mahora Campus Firing range.  Two hundred and fifty meters from the shooter, a single soda can flew into the air before landing on the ground to the right.
Ex Marrine, and former Gunnery Sergeant Lee raised his head slightly as he squinted at the dot in the distance.
"The zero's off again," he muttered, looking back down at the large heavy antique rifle he had.  He took his right hand off the trigger, licked his finger, and stuck it in the air.   No wind.

"Something you can tell just by hitting a tin can at range and seeing which way it flies, always impressive."

The owner of the voice had been there for quite some time, and Lee but she hadn't said anything to interrupt his shot, having at least that much respect for him.

"It's just a matter of knowing your weapon as if it was your own body Mana-kun," Lee replied.  "I restored this M1 Grand after finding it in an antiques shop after my last trip back to the States.  'Grandma' can hit as accurately as a sniper rifle but it seems the zero on her sight has been off lately."  While he was speaking, Lee had made a minor adjustment to the rifle.  As soon as he was done, he tucked himself back down and snapped off three more shots.  Several more soda cans were knocked backwards off target posts.

"Perfect," he nodded, lowering the rifle.

"It's probably just the weather this year," Mana replied after a moment.  "The irregular temperatures probably messed with the sights.  Your storage room has no air conditioning does it?"

"You're probably right," Lee agreed, clearing the rifle of the remaining bullets and setting them aside.  "I've been meaning to see about getting that dealt with.  But that doesn't explain why YOU'RE here right now.  You didn't come all the way out to the range here to have a conversation with me.  The range is closed to students today, and you haven't scheduled any Biathalon special practice sessions... so you have other reasons?"

Mana didn't reply, but simply produced a simple white envelope, and handed it to Lee.  He took one look at the official seal of the campus and knew it was from the Principle.   For Lee, who was the acting professional firearms safety supervisor for the Mahora campus firing range and marksmanship club,  (A pretentious title that more or less said that he had to make sure nobody playing with guns inside his jurisdiction got hurt...) it was rare to get anything from the Principle.  His role was simple.  Act as the supervisor in charge of firearms with U.S. Marine background as his qualification.  However that was only part of the deal.  Since he had some familiarization with magic, he was also part of securing the campus against anything dangerous running amok.  This included the slim chance of a certain vampire brat suddenly losing any and all common sense and rampaging around like a four-hundred year old wild child.  Thus, he always kept a sniper rifle with silver bullets within a sprint of the two most common places he could be found.  However, as a contingency of incredible lethality, he was last resort for anything of that sort.
So Lee's mind obviously boiled over with ever darker thoughts of doom as he tore open the envelope.  Usually calling him to do anything other than minor disciplinary work meant one of the following:

A: Trouble
B: MORE Trouble
C: BIG Trouble
D: A LOT of Trouble
E: All of the Above?

"Please tell me it's not werewolf's again," he begged the letter as he began to read.  "I had to use fifty cal on them."

His eyes scanned the letter.

Yes, you know where to go, it's not THAT bad... but I'm a bit short on help.  Bring something 'small'.

Lee started to sigh, but caught himself and crumpled the letter up.  Nothing was ever THAT bad, but given the number of strange, odd, and just plain unusual creatures he had been called to pick off in the last ten years alone, he wasn't about to drop his guard.  Especially after that werewolf incident four years ago.  That was only surpassed by the horror of that one time in the desert when his squad fought-

"I'll be going now," Mana interrupted his darkening thoughts.  "I'll see you here on the range later for practice."

Lee nodded to her, stuffing the crushed letter in a pocket.
"Have a good time at the festival," he responded.  Mana left and Lee turned back to his rifle, picked it up, and locked it away in the weapons storage.   But then he thought...

"Something small?"

He popped the room back open, grabbed a Desert Eagle and stuffed it into his jacket...  it was small right?

With that he locked the room back up and set off at a brisk pace towards the main campus buildings.

"I smell overtime pay..."

~Written by AdmiralTigerclaw~

[Plasmacaster]

Months had passed since Magnus arrived at Mahora college. He had made a lot of friends but none of them had anything to do with the interesting chain of events the Fortune teller had predicted. All of them were normal students, or at least they seemed to be normal....

But there was a class that started to call his attention due to some strange events that seemed to focus in their students and specially in one of his teachers...Negi Springfield... Thats were he would focus his investigation from now on.

Magnus managed to befriend two of their students thanks to the martial arts, Chao Rinshen and Ku Fei, whom he had trained with a few times. They seemed too busy to get the relation to a higher level but he was sure this small friendship might be useful some day. He also had seen some other students from Negi-Sensei's class on campus like Setsuna Sakurazaki from the Kendo Club, Sasaki Makie from the Gymnastics Club and some others that usually hang around the Gym area, but he never had the chance to meet them.

The first day of the Mahora Festival had come with interesting news involving Negi. Even though he tried to get more information during the whole day, his efforts turned out to be fruitless thanks to Mahora teachers who were out trying to keep information from spreading out. Arthur Page, his English Teacher had bumped into him quite a few times this day, and he seemed like a nice guy....

What had happened with Negi? Magnus told to himself while walking back to his room in the boy's dorm room.
Magnus friends were surprised by his cold attitude this day but he was too worried to fool around with them.
"I'm too tired to go party", He replied when they asked him to go out with them and some girls to a Karaoke.

Magnus was frustrated when he opened the door to his room and his room mate Lee Kevitts - quite a strange guy - pointed to a small envelope under the door.
He picked up the envelope and smiled. It was an invitation to tomorrow's fighting tournament....


~written by Madwolf~

[Plasmacaster]

Terri Yoshenki watched as one of the older students taking Arthur Page's class walked past him to his room. He recognized him as Magnus but hadn't spoken to anyone, at least not yet. Terri had made it a point to know who he was in class with, especially seeing as it was going to be his first day after transferring from Kyoto. He sighed and pushed his door open with his foot, his hands full with a cardboard box.

Although not used to sharing rooms, it seemed like the thing done on this campus. He had no idea how some of the older people coped with not having their space at times. He wasn't the most social of people, but even so he noticed some of the girls around. Apparently Mahora School was segregated between genders up until their higher education but that didn't mean that it was easy to meet up with them. It seemed like events such as the festival were few and far between so it was best to take the opportunities when they came.

The box was rapidly emptied as Terri sorted his belongings, he was sure that it must have been difficult to arrange his transfer in the middle of a term but there was not much choice, all things considered. He thought about it for a second, he couldn't help but feel little ashamed for his lack of control. There had been a few close calls before, there had always been those who thought he was too young to be in his class, or those he thought he cheated. No matter what it seemed he was disliked by the other kids. Most nights he would come home barely controlling his anger, his eyes darkening as the rage took hold - but he had never lost it around other people before.

But Mahora Campus took him in despite his expulsion. Apparently here there would be other people gifted like he was. Maybe he could find a place for himself.

A sound made him look at the door, he hadn't even noticed that he had been sitting in the dark. His eyes had something of a bonus in that he could see better in the dark than most people. Not much, but enough for him not to notice at times. With light coming from underneath the doorway, it revealed something rectangular. Terri turned on the light and saw an invitation written out to him for a Fighting Competition the next day.

Maybe he would go.

~Written by Plasmacaster for Costum_Birdy~

[Plasmacaster]

"Maybe you should go see the fighting tournament tomorrow Lee. I'm sure it will be something interesting to see" Magnus said, walking to the room's window and putting the invitation into his pocket.

Silence filled the room as Magnus opened the window.

"...anyway...i'll be up at the usual spot if you need me for anything, but think about tomorrow, i'm sure you wont be dissapointed" Magnus hooked one hand outside the window and swung himself up, jumping to the men's dorm roof. He was used to open places, the calm of the quiet campus let him enjoy his meditation in peace. From time to time it was also a good place to practice his magic without anyone seeing...though sometimes he had the feeling he is being observed....

Lee watched silently as Magnus vanished. "And I'm sure he thinks I'm strange...." He muttered before going back to his thoughts.

* * *

Magnus sighed. "What a beautiful night..." He looked up to the moon, it seemed so distant "Even the sky looks different on this side of the world...."
Suddenly his attention was grabbed by the horizon as bright purple, blue and green flames sparked into the night air and quickly vanished. Quietly, Magnus watched the fireworks display and let himself relax. Everything looks so cheerful thanks to the festival, lights and colors everywhere, people going from one side to the other smiling and having fun without problems in their minds....

"Heh, I can't believe i didn't realize the beauty of this festival till now, there's nothing even close to this in my country..."

"Where are you from originally?" A voice came out from behind him, spinning Magnus saw the guy he'd almost run into earlier but he... no way.. how long had he been there? "Hi, I'm Terri" he held out his hand in greeting.

Magnus swallowed what he was going to say and shook hands. "Magnus"

Terri walked over and sat next to him looking out over the night sky. Magnus wasn't certain but he thought he caught some kind of red light coming from Terri's eyes. He shook his head, obviously he was just seeing after-images from the fireworks. "So where are you from Magnus?"

"South America"

Terri whistled. "Impressive, I just came from Kyoto today."

"Odd time to switch your course"

"Yeah, well its... complicated"

"Isn't it always? Wanna talk about it?"

"What?"

"Well 'a problem halved is a problem shared' or whatever it is."

Terri sighed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Might be nice to start making friends here. You see it all happened...."


~Written by MadWolf, Edited by Plasmacaster~

[Plasmacaster]

The sun was setting on the first night of the Mahora Festival. Apparently there had been something of a problem involing Negi. Arthur didn't really have any details but the rumours were coming in quickly from the other teachers. Like the others, Arthur had been responsible for looking after a certain area to make sure there were no confessions... He had been doing his job pretty well but he knew he wasn't exactly making friends. Though there were male and female students, most of the time they were kept separated from each other. Now it seemed everyone was taking the opportunity to mingle and possibly make the 'magic' of the tree keep them together forever.

Arthur sighed, the orange rays of the sun warming his black suit. For the next few days he'd be stuck bumping into people or spilling drinks or just interrupting people mid-conversation. Its not like he was enjoying it. It was difficult enough making friends here without worrying about the students hating him as well. He was pretty sure he'd already made a few students death wish list. Sitting on one of the wooden benches in front of the tree it was nice just to be able to relax for a moment.

What had happened with Negi? He had never really met the boy outside of work but had seen him around campus. Usually being chased by someone in his class... He had only spoken to the lad once, it was nice to be able to speak in English again but it seemed he'd barely made an introduction before he was whisked away. Recently he'd seemed to be too busy to have a spare word for anyone but Takimichi and his class. But even so he didn't want anything to happen to him. From what he'd heard, Negi was going to be following in the footsteps of his father.

Nagi......

Why did his son choose to come here of all places? He had heard about Nagi, they had of course gone to the same school of magic so it was only natural. He'd been a few years ahead of him and always seemed to be popular with both the men and women. Back then....

Arthur rubbed his eyes. Tonight was going to be difficult enough without dragging up old memories.

It wasn't going to be much longer before he was back on duty. Orion and Fenix were taking over for a minute for him. Not that he knew either of them particularly well, but they seemed a friendly sort. A few others seemed like they might be a good laugh, even though it had been a while since he had come over he still hadn't really gotten to know anyone. Maybe tomorrow, he'd been invited to the fighting tournement with a few others...

Arthur sighed as Orion and Fenix walked up to where he was sitting.

"I take it my break's over then?" Arthur smiled

"Sorry Arthur, I've got my own sector to look after. Plus, Fenix heard something was happening up at the main building. Vandalism or something. Mind if I take a seat?" Arthur shook his head as Orion sat while he put a large pack of oddly-shaped items on the ground next to him.

Fenix coughed politely before speaking in his soft voice "There has been an issue regarding some of the competative stalls from different classes." for some reason whenever he spoke Arthur was reminded of silk, his words flowing smoothly and softly. "Apparently this has reached such a point that there has been a degree of sabotage. Normally this would not require my attention however I have been informed something of the nature of this 'sabotage' and could not risk it being left for long"

Arthur sat and blinked at him for a few moments before he realised he had stopped talking. Sometimes the guy could be pretty creepy but he seemed the capable sort. "I suppose is inevitable. These children have so much power at a young age, i'm surprised more don't try and abuse it."

"Age doesn't immediately guaruntee sense." Orion spoke up.

"True," Arthur laughed "after all you were traveling for all those years and you never bothered to pick up an ability to cook. You live on your own, I have no idea how you manage to live."

Orion laughed back "I have most of the local take-aways on speed dial"

Arthur was still laughing "What do you thi-" looking up, it seemed like Fenix had already left. "Strange bloke..."

"You're telling me." Orion smiled "You weren't on patrol with him. I mean he seems a decent enough guy but his manners are all over the place. He seems really polite when he talks but he'll just go off and leave you talking to a tree."

"That... didn't actually happen did it?" Arthur half-hoped he was joking

"Ah.. once or twice. Plus he took one of my remotes off me without asking."

"That's right! You're into your mechanics aren't you?"

Orion smiled again, pursing his eyebrows "You've been here almost as long as I have. You're acting like we're strangers."

"Well we've not really spoken that much. Though I must admit its nice to talk in English again."

"If things weren't such a mess right now I'd see if you wanted to go for a drink later. I know this great bar in town."

"Sounds good, maybe another time. You going to the fighting competition tomorrow?

"Haven't decided yet. I'll let you know." Orion stretched for a moment before standing, picking up his bag. "Anyway, looks like I've got some couples to break up."

"Yeah, I'm dreading when this is over. I'm sure I'm going to be getting hate mail."

"Me too. Damn, this place looks great at this time of night. I'll leave you to enjoy the view. Later."

As the night closed in, Arthur was once again left on his own. Yet somehow he seemed less empty than before.

~Written by Plasmacaster~

As Orion walked away from Arthur, he let his smile slip ever so slightly. Even after three years of working for the collage he still felt like an outsider. Arthur is an OK bloke, with his old-fashion mannerisms and odd dress, but he always seemed to keep his friendship as an acquaintance and nothing more then that. There seemed to be something holding his friendship back. It's as if Orion had yet to pass an initiation of some sort. Orion doubted it was because he was American, or that he was a glorified Janitor. There was something else keeping him out of Arthurs' clique.

Orion scratched his bald head and sighed. It was madness to try and figure it out. He just wished someone would tell him what it was that made this collage special. Just then he felt a slight breeze go by and a sharp prick at the side of his throat.

"Whatever you do, do not make a wish", Said a silky soft voice. "You have been warned about having others do that, but it also includes yourself." The point of the dart that was poking him in the throat was taken away.

"Just what is this about Fenix!" Orion said in a loud whisper. "We are supposed to be working together on this."

"Do not meddle to far in matters you know nothing about. You could end up with something broken, or even dead." The voice that sounded of silk a few moments ago changed into a harsh sound. "Learn your station, or I won't be so easy on you like earlier today. Today, you were a refreshing distraction, but now I tire of your person. If I did not have orders not to kill people who I tire of, you would have been dead." Fenixes eyes narrowed. "As for your little "remote", here." He tossed it to the ground in front of Orion." Turns out it wasn't good enough for the job I needed it for."

Orion's blood began to boil. How dare he say such things, especially about his remotes. They were far better then what normal people could buy on the market. He spent weeks assembling them. They were a labor of blood, sweat and tears. He was sure Fenix would know nothing about emotions like that.

"You know what Fenix," He said in a soft voice.

"What is that?"

"I wish you would shut the hell up."

After saying that Orion's mouth was covered and Fenix gave a murdurous look. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He tried again but with the same result.  Fenix slammed Orion down on the ground with such force Orion ended up biting his tongue and lip. He looked once again at Orion and pointed a finger at him and moved his lips, but just like before there was no sound and Orion saw Fenix grind his teeth in frustration and then he disappeared into the night.

Dabbing at his bit lip with a handkerchief he once again saw something odd. There was a glow about Fenix right after he wished he would shut up. After that, Fenix acted like he couldn't speak. A coincidence? Very unlikely. "He looked real pissed," Orion thought. "Like he would have killed me for sure."



 He got off the ground and sat down on one of the benches. He moved his duffel bag over next to him and tossed the remote that was "borrowed" back in the bag and thought for a moment.

"A Yen for your thoughts stranger," Said a feminine voice nearby.

"I Yen for any thought," Orion said back to the voice using a play on words. The voice sounded familiar to him somehow. Just then the figure wandered out into the light and his eyes bulged out of his head. For revealed to him on this warm night was a woman of striking beauty.

She was almost 185 cm tall and had on a grey strapless dress with a slit down the side of it. The dress had a band of silver that ran down the side and up into her ample bosom. Her blonde hair was cut short and straight with only a wave of hair curling around and covering one eye. Her eyes were of the iciest blue that could freeze a man's heart still. Those eyes met his as he looked at her in stunned silence.

"What is a handsome man like you doing out here all alone? Shouldn't you be with someone?" She walked towards Orion with slightly swaying hips and the closer she got, the further down Orion's chin dropped. "You took a nasty fall, you might want to have that tongue looked at." Orion suddenly noticed that his tongue was hanging out of his mouth in a grotesque manner. He rolled it back up and stuck it into his mouth and closed it tight.

"Greuzi Frau Bucher, I thought I wouldn't see you again," Orion said now getting control over his faculties once again. He had met Diana while visiting Switzerland about six years ago. He had been studying garden gnomes while visiting Zurich and he had taken a nasty fall. The Swiss government was very kind to him by treating him as one of their own countrymen and made sure he was taken care of at the best hospital. While there he had met a Nurse named Diana and and she would show up there from time to time to talk to him as he recouped in the hospital. She had been assigned as a liaison to Orion while he was in Swiss care. Once he was able to walk around with a cast on his left foot she had taken him to her place and suffice to say, he learned a few things about Swiss Women. He also learned that this Swiss woman had a fiery temper.

"Now, now, is this the way you want to speak to your geliebter? You were not like this when we were together." She took a seat next to him on the bench and adjusted her legs so that the slit on the side of her dress would reveal her shapely thigh.

"When we were "together" you wanted to coddle me like some baby," He still remembered the times that she wouldn't let him out of his chair. She would make sure he had every desire nearby. The only desire after a while was the desire for fresh air, somewhere other then in Switzerland. This is probably what pissed her off the most; that he had run off without telling her. "So you finally caught up with me, eh Diana? I thought I was hidden pretty well. How did you find me?"

"Well," She said as she moved the lock of hair away from her eye and pushed it ever so gently over her ear. "It wasn't easy. I had agents scouring the country for any word about you. You gave me a good chase, but now I have found you once again and we can enjoy the company of each others arms."  She smiled and patted Orion's hand. "Plus I got tickets to a fighting event that will be taking place here at this school. I am sure you want to go with me right? You always found Martial arts to be interesting from what I remember. We always liked to try different holds on each other from what I remember." Her eyes twinkled for a moment and turned cold once again as she frowned at him. "Unless there is someone else in your life right now? You do tend to talk on the phone a lot."

Orion groaned, "You have my phone tapped?" He shook his head, "The only people I call are mostly from takeout places for food. You know I can't cook my way out of a paper sack!"

"You seem to call one place most of the time for Beef bowl Ramen though. Is it because you find the young girls voice attractive on the other end?"

"n...nn..no, that's not true!" Orion Sputtered in reply as Diana started to laugh.

"You know we used to do that a lot as well over the phone," Diana smiled wickedly. "You always told me my voice made you hot with desire!"

Orion didn't answer, but she noticed his face had turned a deep red and she knew she scored a point. "Just for old times sake, Come with me tomorrow as we watch this fighting tournament. I hear there will be some pretty Asians fighting it out there as well. What you see in Asian woman I have no clue!" She handed him a ticket. "Now don't run off, or I will have to find you, and you don't want that to happen do you?" She then smiled, got up, and walked back into the darkness while humming a tune. Orion just shook his head. "I think I would prefer a fatal beating from Fenix then go with this witch,"  he mumbled to himself in English. "Why do I always find the psycho woman?"

~Written by Orion~

[Plasmacaster]

"Consider yourself lucky, at least with psycho women you know they're always up to something.  Which makes them predictable..."

Orion looked up at the voice.  But nobody was in sight.  He looked around, trying to find the newcomer.
"What?  Who are you?  Where are you hiding?!"

"I'm not hiding...  It's just too damn dark around here to see anyone... Use your brain, that's what it was made for and listen to where my voice is coming from..."

There was a pause.  Orion searched around where he heard the voice.

"I'm right the hell in front of you."

Orion blinked.  "I must be going crazy..."

"Or blind," Sgt Lee stated as he started walking forward again.  "Of course, wearing BDUs with forest camouflage with trees behind me won't help you either."

Indeed it was true, Sgt Lee looked completely out of place on campus, and Orion was not expecting anyone who even looked like a soldier.  But once Sgt. Lee had started moving, his eyes picked out the large frame walking squarely to him.   After the large man got close enough, Orion could pick out a bit more of the details.  The uniform had U.S. insignia on it, and looked slightly older, judging from the fade in the color.  It was hard to tell in the dark though.   However, sense of smell wasn't hindered at all... and Sgt. Lee smelled of grass and dust, like a man who just spent all day mowing lawns.  But still-

"Camouflage?" Orion asked, completing his thoughts out loud.  "Why are you wearing that around here?"

Almost instantly, Sgt. Lee's dominating frame relaxed, as if a rubber band had snapped.  He stuck one arm on his head and laughed.
"Force of habit," he smiled.  "I spend all day every day out on the Mahora campus firing range making sure none of the lesser intellectually gifted Japanese school children accidentally blow someone's brains out.  It's just more comfortable to be in something familiar to myself.  Plus it helps intimidate them a little.  Feels like I'm training them instead of supervising."

"The range supervisor?" Orion asked.  "I don't believe we've met."

"I think I've only met maybe ten faculty members on this campus in the last ten years, and either the brave or the stupid students are the only ones who come out to the range," Sgt. Lee responded.  "Although Mr. Konoe does give me shout now and then...  mostly to clean up messes people make around here.  Don't ask about those.  Ain't worth knowing."

"So why are you here now," Orion asked.  Sgt. Lee was a rock again, as if he was about to fight something.

"Not sure myself," he stated.  "The Old Maniac... er, Mr. Konoe, called me up to his office a little while ago.  I was on my way there when I caught the tail end of your little sour flirting session with Mrs. Psycho Woman.  What's this about a fighting tournament?"

Orion looked down at the ticket in his hand.

"I haven't a clue myself," he stated.  "I just found out about it."

"Well, perhaps I can 'interrogate' that Old Maniac and find out what this is about," Sgt. Lee replied.  "From my experience, events around here tend to be a little bit more chaotic than they promise at first.  If you want, you can come with me and help me grind some information out of that old Git Mr. Konoe.  Perhaps we'll get to play some GO with Evangeline...  That's ALWAYS fun, despite the fact that I've played at least 200 games with her, and I have YET to win one..."

Orion felt as if he was getting recruited into an imaginary army suddenly.  This 'Range Supervisor' was rambling on with stuff that seemed to have no relevance to anything, yet it all came together.   However Sgt. Lee suddenly stopped talking and started looking around.  He paused and then looked around at the buildings nearby, his hand falling towards his belt.  Only then did Orion notice the extremely large hand gun that had been there.  Sgt. Lee began scanning the rooftops before stopping and looking at one spot.

"I'm no stranger to sneaking about," he stated.  "But who's on the roof over there?  Looks creepy."

As if it had heard, a shadow detached itself from the others and lept over side of the building and out of sight.  Orion had one idea, it was probably Fenix making sure butcher didn't try making any wishes.

"How did you-" he began to ask.

"Like I said, I'm no stranger to sneaking about," Sgt. Lee interrupted a bit faster than was normal for him.  "A little time in real combat and you get this sort of sixth sense for trouble."  It was obvious though that he was leaving something else out.  But before Orion could prod it, Sgt. Lee continued.

"So are you coming or not?"

~Written by AdmiralTigerclaw~

"Sorry, I'm on duty. You go sort it out. I'll just stay and make sure no more couples hang around near each other. I tell you, I can understand why Konoe-san would be anxious at this time of year, those kids'll try anything but to go this far? Ah well, he's probably just being overprotective. I can imagine he'd get a bit worried on a campus this size."

"You mean you don't know..." Sgt. Lee coughed and changed what he was about to say "You mean you don't know how Konoe-san feels about this place? Its like a second home to him and all these kids are his children. You really can't blame him. Anyway I've got to go." Lee turned and seemed to vanish.

"This is definitely a weird night. Death threats, crazy women and crazy invisible gunmen..." In the light of a bright red firework Orion suddenly saw a couple getting a little too close to each other. "Dammit...." Grabbing an RC car and the remote he launched himself into his work and put to the back of his mind the strangeness of the evening.

~Written by Plasmacaster~

[Plasmacaster]

Orion went home after a grueling day of trying to break couples up. What a messed up day this has been. But many strange things have been happening as well. Meeting up with an ex-flame wasn't all fun and having to deal with Fenix; well that was almost as bad. And then the Firing range instructor on top of everything else. There are certainly some strange characters about.

He got out his keycard and shoved it into his door at the flat he was living at. The door opened and he shambled into his apartment. Kicking off his shoes and setting down his bag he said "Lights, 50% please," in English. The lights came on in the living room as he sat down heavily on his Ekornes Stressless recliner.

"Are you ok Orion?" A voice said from the Kitchen.

At first Orion was startled, but then he settled back down in his chair once again. "I am fine Connie. I forgot that I left you on this evening. Is everything OK here at the house?"

"All systems are fully operational." He noticed what appeared to be movement in the kitchen area and the light then turned off and then there was a figure that was moving towards him. She seemed to be about 160cm tall and had long flowing black hair. She was wearing a tank top with black slacks. The odd thing about her was the fact that she looked somewhat see-thru. "Would you want me to dial the number to order your food for this evening?"

"No, that won't be necessary Connie. I think it is a little late for me to eat anyway. I think I will be going to bed soon anyway." He looked at all the junk he had piled in the living room. Most of it was older computers, A robotic arm sat on top of a stack of Idol Magazines. There were rarely visitors to his flat, so he never bothered to do much cleaning except to make sure the trash was separated and taken out. Connie looked at him and smiled.

"Do you want me to prepare your bath for you? I would be happy to join you." She smiled her impish smile. She is quite cute when she does that… Almost seems human. He thought to himself. Connie is short for Central Online Neural Network
Interspatial Experiment. She is a 4th generation holographic girl. The main idea was to use Connie as a springboard to teaching shy boys and men to interact with a woman. Unfortunately the interest in the experiment never became a full marketing idea since most of the people he showed the idea to thought she was a bit creepy. So, all the research ended up being used in his apartment instead. Each of the rooms were wired with a Holographic projector as well as computer interfaces in each of the rooms. Even the bathroom was wired for holograms. Made for some interesting situations that is for sure, he thought to himself. The only downside of such a thing is that you cannot touch a hologram, and regardless what she can do, Orion still felt lonely because he knew she wasn't real.

   "No, I think I will just go and turn in." Orion got up from his chair and moved over towards Connie. "You really know how to take care of a guy," Orion went to grab her shoulder and realized that his hand went right through her.

   "It's what I was programmed to do!" She smiled with what looked like tears in her eyes. Orion looked at her again and the tears were not there. Funny, he could have swore he seen them.

   "Well, goodnight Connie. Please wake me up at the usual time," Orion started undressing and threw his clothes on the pile in the corner of his room. He then flopped on top of the bed and almost instantly went to sleep. 

[Plasmacaster]

At sunrise Magnus was already warming up for the tournament that would happen later that day but since he woke up he couldn't avoid feeling that there was something strange going on....

"Something is not right today...." Magnus thought to himself.

"You seem depressed this morning,is something bothering you?" Said a voice,taking Magnus back to reality.

"Hi Terry...not really sure,im probably nervous cause of the tournament"

"You shouldnt be,it's not like anything big can happen at a martial arts tournament" Terry replied

"I'm not really sure about that,but you are right...i shouldnt worry...anyway,lets go eat some breakfast at Tsuki-chan's stand"

"And who is Tsuki-chan?"

"Ohh you'll see,she prepares the best food around this place,wait for me in front of your room,i have to pick something first"

Afterwards Magnus went to his room and picked up a strange box,but he was surprised to see that Lee wasn't in the room anymore.

"Dammit,he already left and i forgot to give him his ticket...think i know where he to find him though...."

***

Waking up from his power nap Lee Kevitts found himself once more in the Library. Piles of books lay scattered around him. Some of them were held open by smooth rocks to keep the pages in place while others were just haphazardly piled about him. He had gotten up at 4am because something had been bugging him about the tournament that was going to take place today. So instead of bothering his roommates with his ideas he decided to head to Library Island on his own.

He had been looking for information in these books for the last few hours. The shy, quiet girl with the long bangs he normally saw in the Library wasn't here like he had hoped. She had been rather helpful in the past and he always looked forward to his awkward conversations with her. He caught himself smiling a bit and frowned once again. She reminded him of someone from his past. Not because he didn't want to remember her, it was just the way that she passed on that upset him the most. It's best to be alone anyway, he thought to himself. 

It was just him and some hot tea, some cheese, and crackers to keep his mind sharp. He had been pooling over the records about the fighting contest since he had overheard that they have had this event a number of years back. That event also was quite strange in the fact that there were abilities shown that could not really be explained by normal means. So the contest was some sort of training exercise for Mages. At least that is what he was able to piece together from these news articles and older books. From there it led him on a merry chase from book to book as he found out more and more information that when looked at separately, didn't mean anything. When they were combined together then the separate pieces fit together into an interesting story. There was something special about the World Tree it seems. One of the Mahora newspapers that he wouldn't normally look at had information about the World Tree and that at certain times it glows with a light of its own and during that time the closer to the World Tree you were, the more likely wishes would come true. Could it be that he could use this to his advantage? He nibbled on a cracker absent-mindedly and suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey! I thought we would find you here!" Magnus smiled down at his roommate then he noticed the look that Lee gave him and he slowly let go of his shoulder. "hmm.. sorry about that, I didn't really mean to touch you." Terry laughed at Magnus for his forwardness. 

"That's OK," Lee's voice sounded soft and raspy. "I am not used to having people that close to me is all. I apologize." Magnus was surprised at the amount of words that came out of his roommates' mouth. That was probably the most he has spoken to him in a week.

"Hey, tell him why we're here Magnus! It was your idea after all." Terry smiled with a twinkle in his eye.

"Amm, well, what I came down here to say is that there was an extra ticket in that envelope you pointed out to me yesterday." Lee looked at him with those piercing brown eyes as he nodded his head slowly. Terry was having trouble controlling his laughter since he had been at the receiving end of Lee's stares before. "Well, as I was saying, I got this extra ticket and I said to Terry here, 'hey, you think Lee would like to go with us?' So, ahem.. Would you like to go or not?"

Lee thought to himself  "should I go and see this event? Perhaps seeing the event will cement in my mind just how right I am about magic being a part of this school just like I thought." He looked again at his roommate and let the smallest of smiles play upon his face. 'Maybe it is time to relax for just a bit,' he thought to himself. 'Although if I get close to someone again they may get hurt. I don't want to see people getting hurt by being close to me.' Lee's face was a swirl of emotions.

"Well, do you what to go or not? The event doesn't start for a few hours, plenty of time to grab something more then what you are eating here. Come on Lee! Time to let the old hair down, eh?"

Lee once again looked at Magnus and in a soft voice he said "Why Not?"

[Plasmacaster]

Despite the early hour, the stalls and the excitement of the Mahora Festival was powerful, the floor seemed to vibrate as though the whole campus was some living creature. Arthur walked past various shops, the warm, hot smell of of food started to waft past his nose, awakening his hunger for the first time that morning. Not that he could do much about it of course. He had a place to go and less than 100 yen on him, he doubted he could get anything more than a light snack before he went to the fighting tournement.

He yawned, his hand stretching out over his mouth as he strolled calmly towards where the ring had been set up. Not far from the park it could be seen from quite a distance. He doubted there were that many people there but as he got closer he soon realised that a small crowd had already gathered. The impatient and the eager volunteers it would seem were anxious to get into the stadium. From what he could see there were those who could indeed make for an interesting tournament.

Looks like there was nothing left but to wait for the rest of the guys to arrive in the stands. From what he had been told all the seats were numbered so once Orion arrived it would be easy to find each other. With a sigh and a rumbling stomache, Arthur got into the back of the que and waited.

~Written by Plasmacaster~

[Plasmacaster]

The dreams he had were full of confusing images. Some of then were from yesterdays events.  He noticed that some of the things he saw in his dream looked magical. Like when he had seen his friend Arthur stop some of the kids in their tracks by moving one of the benches so that they would bump into it by accident, but Arthur wasn't anywhere near the bench, and normally, they are bolted down on the ground. Mulling these odd facts around in his head he noticed another odd sight. Connie was in front of him, holding her arms outstretched. Orion ran to her and grabbed hold of Connie for the first time in his own arms. She felt so good next to him as he buried his head into her cleavage. He felt so warm and content. She brushed the top of his head with her fingers and it sent cold chills down his back. It was a very good feeling to be here with her. He never wanted to let go.

"Who in the hell is in your bed." Her voice said to him softly.

"What was that Connie?" He removed his head from her cleavage and looked at her face. What he saw was the face of Diana instead. Orion screamed and woke with a start. His eyes once again bulged out of his head as he noticed the cleavage he had been nuzzling up against was Diana's.

Connie frowned at him from across the bed and wagged an accusing finger at him. "Where in the hell did this woman come from?" Connie said accusingly as Orion promptly fell out of bed.

"Wha," He began to say as he rubbed his head.

"Why was I not informed of you having female company?" She started to walk over to him.

"Huh?" He replied dumbly, still trying to make head or tails of things.

"How did she get in here without me knowing it!" She leaned right into Orion's shocked face, wagging her finger at him.

"Um. Good question," he said.

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" She raised her hands in the air and said "Ohhhh! Men!" as she stormed out of his room, not even bothering to have the computer open the door for her.

"That was totally unexpected darling," Diana said.

"Um, yeah. It was."

He then came to realize that Diana was in the room with him, she wasn't a dream, and there really wasn't a way that she could have gotten into his place without some warning sirens going off.

"Wait a moment, how DID you get in here?" He turned to face Diana as she was holding up the blanket to cover her ample cleavage.

"It is a mystery eh?" She said with a smirk, "But one I am willing to explain to you on one condition."

"What would that be?" Orion said to her while getting off the floor and sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Allow me to fix you breakfast and I will explain then," She let the blanket slide down a bit lower to expose her golden negligee. "Unless of course you want breakfast in bed?" Her lips curled into another smirk as her smoldering eyes gazed at Orion.

"N.n..No, Breakfast is fine," He said while turning quickly away from her. Orion looked over at the clock and noted it was 7 in the morning. A good time to wake up as any, he thought. Diana pouted a little as she dropped the blanket completely away from her chest and sighed.

"Ok then, I guess I will get dressed. It was nice to sleep with you once again even though you snore like the devil." She picked up her small bag that was near the bed and slowly walked into the master bathroom wiggling as much as she could to get Orion's attention. Orion's nose almost began to bleed as he watched her then she shut the door and Connie appeared in front of him and slapped him in the face.

One of the odd effects of the implant is that Orion felt the slap against his face. And sure enough it would leave a red mark just like it would if a real woman smacked him. He's had it happen numerous times before. He also could kind of touch her if he was slow enough. But it was not the same as touching the real thing.

"How did she get in here?" Connie said in a low voice. Diana was starting to sing a pleasant tune in the shower now, but he couldn't be distracted by her right now.

"She said she would explain it over breakfast. I am not sure how she got in either."

"You didn't "accidentally" invite her did you?" She frowned at Orion once again.

"N..n.. no! I didn't do anything like that! I bumped into her earlier this evening, but that was it. I hadn't seen her for a few years." Orion looked at Connie. "I want you to be on your best behavior this morning." She started to frown once again but Orion raised a finger. "I know you aren't happy, and frankly I'm not either. I wasn't expecting her to be here in my bed. We need to wait until she can explain to us how she was able to circumvent the security system here. Please be patient with her!" Connie cocked her head to once side and then a small smile crept on her face.

"Ok, I will be a nice girl" As soon as she did that Orion heard a scream from the shower. "from now on," She said.


   Soon after Connie left the bedroom strutting like a peacock Diana once again emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a gold silk Kimono and her blonde hair was swept back from her face. The Kimono itself revealed far more then it hid. Her ample Bosom still showed droplets of water from the quick shower she took. He got out of bed as she smiled at him as she walked slowly out of the bedroom into the living room area. Orion let out a sigh and jumped into the shower himself. Afterwards he started getting dressed in his work uniform when he noticed that he had received a call while he was in the shower. He asked Connie to play it back to him using the implant that was behind his ear. It was a message from Malora Campus.

   "Mr. McMurry. After your splendid job yesterday you will not need to go into work today as scheduled. Please enjoy your well-deserved day off at the festival. No need to thank me, just try to enjoy yourself and maybe take in that fighting tournament. Maybe you can meet up with Arthur when you go. He has some tickets if you need them. Have a good time!"
 
   Orion sighed once again, "That means I won't have an excuse to not go with Diana. She will surely drag me to this event with her claws. What will happen if she meets up with Arthur! Oh geese! I can only imagine what would happen. Once she lays her man-hooks on something she doesn't let go easily." Orion looked through his non work wardrobe and pulled out a shirt that looked like it had the volume knob broke off of it. He then put on a pair of jeans and his work shoes (extremely comfy shoes) And he looked around for a belt. Since this was a special occasion he thought it best to use a special belt. He dug deep into the back of his closet and couldn't find what he was looking for.

"looking for this?" Said a voice from behind him.

   He turned and looked at what connie was holding in her hand. It was a black belt with Orion stitched in gold on the back and a very large belt buckle with his name on it as well. He smiled and nodded his head and he grabbed for the belt in her hand and his hand went right through it.

   "Syke!" Connie said. You should have known that the belt wasn't the real one," She smiled at Orion who frowned at her. She then pointed at a white shoebox on the floor. "Your Belt is in there. Why you would need to dress so loudly is beyond me!"

"It's to draw attention to myself, everyone will be looking at me of course since no one in their right mind will wear what I am going to wear." He pulled the belt out of the box and slipped it on. He smiled as he heard he belt go together with a satisfying click. "Ah! Now I am ready for anything!"

"You mean, ready to scare anything away!" She giggled as she held her hand up to her mouth.

"Umph! Whatever, you don't understand me very well." Orion answered her huffingly.

"No, the problem is I know you all to well thanks to that implant in your head." She sighed. "Anyway, I think the Swiss Miss is done in the Kitchen. You might as well enjoy a good breakfast. My sensors are smelling things I had to look up on the net. Smells like real food to me!" She joked with him knowing once again she would score a point since she knew that he would call a healthy breakfast two slices of toast and Orange Juice. "Go get her Tiger!" She started to mime marching as Orion walked slowly out the bedroom.

What greeted his senses were smells he had missed for quite a long time. Scrambled eggs simmered in a pan next to some sausages and Canadian Bacon. French toast and waffles were also being made over in one corner of the kitchen he had forgotten was there. Freshly squeezed orange juice greeted his senses as well as a whiff of sausage gravy. It was a smorgasbord that dulled the senses. Diana was dressed up with an apron and smiled at Orion as he came shambling out of the bedroom. She brought out a plate to him that was full of such wonderful smells. He couldn't wait to dig in but noticed something was missing.

"Can you please get the syrup out of the fridge Diana?" She smiled at him and turned her back to him and that was when it hit him. She wasn"t wearing anything else but the apron.

"Here you go dearest, I hope you like it." She leaned over and started to pour the syrup over his waffles and French toast. He could see everything down the front of her apron. "Is there something wrong?" Diana Asked innocently as Orion tried to catch his breath.

"ahh.. No, no I am fine. What are you doing almost naked in my kitchen?"

"Well, Your "friendly" Major Domo had told me that this is the way you have her dress when you are eating breakfast." Orion swallowed his waffle hard as he slowly looked over at Connie who was waving her hands and smiling.

"Ahem! Well, I guess I will have to talk to her about this in the future," He said as his face started turning red. "Anyway, thank you very much for this fine breakfast! You didn't have to go through this much trouble. In fact I know about half the stuff here couldn't have been in the kitchen since I make notes about what is in the fridge. Is this another thing you are going to explain perhaps?" Diana nodded her head as she walked over near the back of the kitchen and opened a door. "All of your questions are about to be answered in a few minutes. I am sure you are very curious by now about how I got in here in the first place plus the fact of all this food that I somehow made." Orion was hearing the rustling of clothes as she closed the door again She had changed into another outfit this time. She was a little more conservative in her dress this time. She wore a loose fitting red blouse with a matching dress that went down to her leg half way. Completing the ensemble was a white wide brim hat and a white belt. Her hair once again hung into her eye in that interesting style that she liked to wear it in. She also had on red high heels.   

"Now for all the answers that you want to know." She came up to him real close and in a soft whisper she said, "I am a mage, Orion." She let that statement settle for a moment as Orion looked at her nonplussed. "A good share of your co-workers here are Magi and they are here protecting the Earth from other worldly things. They are similar to those MIB Agents from that movie you have in your collection. Instead of scum from space they deal with the scum of the Magical world. The trick is, this isn't fantasy, but everything you thought was impossible is possible with a little magic studied in the right school." Orion still looked like he was watching something from far away. "Even your friend Arthur is a Mage." Orion was shaking his head in disbelief as Diana held up her one hand. "The final Kicker is this Orion: You also have the gift of magic as well."

Orion looked at Diana as if he was in shock. "That is one of the nuttiest things I have heard you say Diana! Me, a Mage! Aiya! You got to be joking!"

"You of all people should be able to accept that there is magic. You've wished for something like this all your life. You know that I wouldn't lie about this, Melvin!" Diana put a heavy stress on the name she called Orion.

"You called me "Melvin,"" Both Orion and then Connie looked at her in shock.

"That IS your first name, is it not?" Her voice dripped of heavy sarcasm.

"Yes, but how could you know that? Only a few people know that name. How did you find out!"

Diana shrugged her shapely shoulders and raised her palms in the air. "I'm a Mage. We have access to all sorts of information. Now do you believe me?"

Connie looked at Orion and started to laugh a bit. "Melvin McMurry?" She started to laugh a bit more. "Now I know why you changed your name. That is a hideous name to be stuck with!"

"Sometimes, you can be to smart for your own good! Orion yelled back at her. "Computer, initiate shutdown procedure on hologram program." The hologram of Connie disappeared from the living room suddenly. "An as for you!" He pointed a finger at Diana, "Do..  don.. Don't ever say that name to me again!"

Diana Yawned and gave Orion a bored look, "Are we done throwing a tantrum? Let's get going before the fight ends. Maybe when you see that you will remove your head from your rectal cavity."

[Plasmacaster]

"So here's the three hundred million yen question..."  Sgt. Lee stated, adjusting a pair of binoculars.  "Why again, am I working with you when your powers are supressed?"

Evangeline, sitting calmly on a branch against the trunk of the tree they were in, opened an eye and looked at the Marine for about a second before responding.

"Because I'm the only one who can identify if what you saw last night was any danger before it causes trouble.  Now be quiet I have a tournament to fight in soon."

Sgt. Lee curled himself up enough to look at the vampire from where he was hanging down from the branch.

"Some help you are, I think you've been half asleep this entire shift," he responded.  "Even if you're the ultimate Evil in the universe, I'd figure you'd at least have some sense of responsibility with those four-hundred or so years you've got under your hat..."


"That burns out after the first eighty years so so," Evangeline mumbled.  "After that you sort of realize that things are going to happen around you all the time, so you might as well relax while you're waiting for them to happen."

"You're just lazy," Sgt. Lee retorted.  "I doubt anyone would realize that the imfamous Dark Evangel was nothing more than a 400 year old punk kid with an attitude problem and some fangs to back it up."

Evangeline frowned and opened one eye.

"You should respect your elders you know."

"I did," he replied.  "I respected my elder with all eighty rounds I had left.  And you still managed to turn half the squad into ice sculptures.  Wreckless spellcasting like that-"

Evangeline kicked her foot out, knocking Sgt. Lee's feet loose from the branch.

"Whoa... SHI-"

"THUD!!!!"

Sgt. Lee forced his way out of the bush he landed in a moment later and glared up into the tree.

"Maniac..."

"Oh rats..." Evangeline said, her voice totally emotionless.  "Here I was hoping that you had broken your neck there when you accidently lost your hold and fell out of the tree..."

"You wish that don't you..." Sgt. Lee asked.  There was a long silence.   Then Sgt. Lee turned back to his binoculars muttering, only get get a swift retort from Evangeline.

"Ancient brat."
"Barbaric idiot."

Lee continued to scan the rooftops for what he had seen, but the sky continued to get lighter, so it was looking less and less likely that it would show itself again.  But he did spot something else.

"Hey, well well..." he began.  "It's that psycho-woman from last night...  and that Orion kid... "

"That's nice," Evangeline responded, indicating with her tone that it was about as nice as combing one's hair with a live porcupine during the mating season.

Sgt. Lee continued to watch as the two left the residence and walked towards the festival areas...

"Maybe, but how did she get in there?  From the way he was acting last night, he didn't want anything to do with her... and I didn't see her go in at all during my shift."

Evangeline opened her eyes again, and after a moment of indecision, jumped down from her spot in the tree and Lee handed her the Binoculars.

"She's probably just another mage..." she responded tiredly, putting the binoculars up to her own eyes.  "I doubt it's any big deal she got herself in there."

Sgt. Lee frowned and crossed his arms.

"Yeah maybe, but why him?  He seemed pretty normal last night, didn't even seem to have a clue about the campus.  So why would she be chasing him around... even if she had a crush on him, I doubt she'd run around using magic to sneak in..."

"This may prove entertaining after all," Evangeline said, handing the binoculars back to Sgt. Lee.  "But it'll have to wait until this evening after the tournament."

"You always did enjoy beating up people..." Sgt. Lee stated.

"I'm Evil remember?" Evangeline retorted.

"Evil my foot, you're just a punk and you know it..."  he shot back.

"So be it..." she replied.

*STOMP!*

"ARGH!  That was my foot!"  Sgt. Lee yelped, bouncing around on one foot.  "How do you manage to make that tiny frame put that much force right through a combat boot?"

"My secret," she responded, walking out of the bushes to the path they were near.  Sgt. Lee finally recovered and caught up.

"Doing that just proves my point you know," he muttered.

"Tch...  As if I care about your point..." Evangeline replied.  "Anyway, shift's over, I have a match to attend."

"I just want to see what that Negi kid can dish out," Sgt. Lee stated.  Evangaline glanced at him for a moment, giving off a cryptic smile.

"We'll see..."

~Written by AdmiralTigerClaw~

[Plasmacaster]

Orion led Diana out of his flat and made sure the door was secure and changed the password by tapping aimlessly behind his ear. With the password changed and the muffled sounds of the door locking he looked at Diana with his narrowed eyes. "Ok, let's get this over with."

Diana was walking next to Orion as they neared were all the student stalls were located. According to the maps that were located at every corner it showed that the tournament grounds were about 2 Klicks from where they were at. Orion was already looking at ways to escape the clutches of Diana. He noticed what he thought would make him stand out in a crowd actually made him blend in. So many different colors and shapes and sizes just boggled the mind. Perhaps it would do the same to Diana. He had to find a way out from this crazy wench. Magic! Indeed! Even if Orion wished for the ability when he was young he had never found it. That is why he globe-trotted around for in the first place and that is what led him to Zurich in the first place. There were rumors of a group called the Gnomes of Zurich and he had been following a trail for about a year until it abruptly ended with his accident in Switzerland. Could Diana be a member of this group?

"Hey, Mr. McMurry-sempi!" a young woman waved at him from a beef bowl stall. "Oh, dear lord, not now!" Orion thought.

"Do you know that little girl?" Sniffed Diana.

"No, I don't know who you are talking about!"

"Sempi! Aren't you going to try my beef bowl?" She came running towards them, holding a steaming bowl in her hands.

"Ah, this must be the Beef Bowl girl you are always talking to!" Diana made the connection, just like Orion had feared she would.

Orion took the offered bowl and ate it with vigor, "Mmmm mmm! Good as always! Thanks for the Beef Bowl!" He handed the bowl back to the girl who bowed with a smile on her face.

"I hope I am not being too forward in asking this, but would you be available to go look around the festival later?" She said to Orion.

Orion was paralyzed with the thought that the girl he wanted to go steady with would have the nerve to ask him out. It just wasn't in his calculations that she would do this. It is so out of character for the average Japanese person to do so.

"Um, yeah, that would be great," he heard himself say.. The Girls eyes lit up once again and she smiled.

"Great, then I can see you around 8 this evening?"

"Um, yeah, that would be great," he said again.

"see you then!" She then turned back and clutching the beef bowl in her hand, she returned to her stand where her girlfriends were all clustered about her asking her questions.

"So, THAT is the girl you have been trying to get the nerve up to see?" Diana shook her head. I can't believe it! Where are her boobs? And she looks like she's barely out of high school. Your taste in woman must have changed since you left me." She chuckled as Orion started to look a little sick. "Hey, what's wrong? You are looking a little green there."

Beads of sweat were starting to form on the top of his head and his forehead was cool to the touch. "I feel real sick. Gotta find a toilet quick!"

"What do you mean sick? None of the food I fixed could have done that to you." Orion started holding his right hand up to his mouth and started sounding like he was about to throw up. Diana pushed him away. "Ick! Get to the bathroom quick, you know I don't like it when people throw up! Just hurry back and don't forget to brush!"

Orion ran back the way he came with a slight smile on his face. The beef bowl did upset his stomach, but that was because of how quickly he ate the food to begin with. He also knew the locations of all the toilets and if there were alternate exits from them. "This will be the easiest way to get rid of Diana," He said to himself.

After exiting the toilet he was astounded once again over the amount of things to do and see at this festival. It was easy for him to blend into the environment. So easy that he didn't notice a group of kids that bumped into him, causing him to fall over.

[Plasmacaster]

"Hey its good to see you guys" Arthur smiled as he saw the group approaching the stadium. It had been a little while since he had shown up but it didn't matter. He had been having fun just watching the people go by, though by chance he had found a few hundred yen in his back pocket and had managed to buy something to eat. It seemed like there were stalls selling pretty much everything so it wasn't exactly difficult to find somewhere making european breakfasts. Arthur had just been sitting, drinking his tea when he saw Orion and a few of the students from his class walking towards him.

"Glad you invited me Arthur. Its rare to see you out and about" Orion smiled as he shook Arthur's hand. The warm smile on his face showing the genuine pleasure of seeing him.

"Where did you come across this rabble then?" Arthur smiled as he cast a waving hand over the boys. "You guys haven't been causing Orion any trouble have you?" Arthur smiled for a moment before he realised Terri was with them. "Ah... you're new in the class right? Um... Terri something." Terri nodded once at him in confirmation. "Well, welcome to Mahora campus. its a great time to come. The festival is always something to see."

"Well are we going in or are we just going to stand and chat all day?" Orion smiled again and started to push Arthur towards the turnstyles.

"Hey, less with the pushing. We've still got a good half hour before anything starts."

"Yeah but we want to get some good seats. Wha'd'ya say kids?" Orion grinned at them, he had obviously been poking this little cut in their pride since he had met him.

Magnus was quick off the mark with a retort. "That'll be for the best, old men probably need to get themselves aisle seats because of their incontinence."

Orion's face dropped slightly into a grimace before slipping back into his smile. "Let's just get inside... and just for the record I'm not much older than you."

Stepping through the doorway into the stadium as they talked they were met with the low buzz of conversation as a vast audience waited for the beginning of the tournament.

"Looks like getting good seats might be wishful thinking..." Arthur just stood and looked at the crowds for a moment before noticing that there were a few seats still free. "Quick! Follow me!" People were moving up and down along the aisles and seats were filling fast, with a push Arthur managed to force himself through and plough towards them. Pulling the others along with him he managed to find a row of 5 seats, all untaken. "Seems like we were lucky. Come on everyone, take a seat. Nothing to do now but to wait for things to start up!"

~Written by Plasmacaster~

[Plasmacaster]

"To all the audiences,thank you for your waiting." With these words the Mahora martials art tournament finally started.

"Starting now,we will be beginning the first match of the Mahora martial arts tournament!"

"Murakami Kotarou and Sakura Mei in the first match huh...think i saw her before in the campus ,but didnt think she was into this kind of thing or i might have challenged her to a duel...." Magnus said with a strange tone.

"This guy doesnt think in anything more than girls" Lee muttered while seeing the contestans.

"Not the time to talk boys.The fight is about to start" Arthur said while watching Magnus drool as Mei got rid of her robe.

"MATCH one FIGHT!!!"

Just as the battle started , Magnus and Arthur froze as they heard the word "Adeat" from Mei's Mouth while a broom magically appeared at her hands.

"An artifact!!! I knew this would be interesting ,but i didnt expect it to happen so fast" Magnus thought while grinning.Orion seemed a lot more confused ,but not as much as the non-magic users"

Before they could organize their ideas they saw Kotarou appear right in front of Mei and sent her flying through the air and right into a pool of water.

"Contestant Kotarou wins!!!" The announcer said while Kotarou helped Mei out of the water.

"Incredible!!! To have mastered quick steps at such a young age and being able to win without even touching her!!!" Magnus yelled as he stood up and started to clap like a maniac ,without realizing the confused look of his Pals.

" And he even send her right into the water to see through her Schoolgirl clothes...just genious!!! " Magnus said while turning back to see the rest of the group.

He realized what he had done when he noticed Arthur staring at him and the rest of the audience glancing at him confusedly.

"Ohhh,dammit.Why cant i stay out of trouble?!?" Magnus thought while smiling nervously to his pals.

~Written by Madwolf~