Sorry for the small update, but this is just so you know this story isn’t dead to me. It’s just taking time to get the plot moving is all.

Negima Remix!

Chapter 46: The Final Tests; the Masked Creator’s Wickedness pt.2

The others looked up, hoping to see what had transpired. They noticed that the metallic bird had hovered there for only a moment, until it sped off into the air, disappearing from sight. However, they saw Seiji’s figure, falling down towards them at a pretty alarming speed. Laz went bug-eyed with fright as he paled and shouted, his voice filled with fear and worry for his elder brother, “BROTHER!” he then ran towards the spot to where Seiji was about to plant a huge crater into the ground with his arms wide out as he shouted, “Don‘t worry, I‘ll catch you, brother!”

Nodoka, also witnessing Seiji’s plummet towards the ground below, ran also towards the drop point. A look of fright and worry was in her eyes as she ran and shouted, looking at the falling figure that was Seiji Elric, “SEIJI!”

The two stopped to where he was about to fall, as Laz held his arms out, ready to catch his brother. Laz shouted, “Don‘t worry, Brother, I‘ve got you!”

SHTNK!

Laz stood there, paling at what had just happened. At the last second, Seiji had activated his Buso Renkin, Sunlight Fist, and used the Sword mode as a pogo stick that halted his fall. the blade however, was close enough to Laz to slice his nose in half down the vertical center. Nodoka had stopped in time as she stopped next to Laz and at the scene. Seiji’s Sunlight Fist was gripping the hilt of the energy-created blade as he balanced his right foot on the blade, with no signs of singeing at all.

Seiji deactivated the blade as he landed gracefully on the ground as he sighed, “That was a close one,” but then he looked to Nodoka as he asked, “You guys alright?”

Seeing him safe, Nodoka smiled in relief as she nodded and let her small smile pop up, “Yes. We‘re all safe, Seiji,” then she let her shy smile come out as she mentioned, “And… I‘m just glad… well, I‘m just glad that you’re…”

Suddenly, Asuka ran up, and glomped on Seiji, interrupting Nodoka as she rubbed her cheek to Seiji’s cheek. She squealed as she blushed crazy at Seiji, “Mr. Metal, you‘re alright! And the way you just landed… that was so awesome!”

Seiji grumbled, “Laz, help me,” but then he stopped as he looked at his brother, who was still paled and was shaking. Seiji raised an eyebrow as he asked, “Are you okay, Laz?”

Laz, who was still a little freaked out by what had transpired, he shakingly turned towards his brother. While shaking like a leaf, and rattling like a tin can, Laz looked to his brother wide scared eyes as he whimpered, “Uh huh.”

After the other Alchemists had followed up, and after prying Asuka off, Seiji had told them everything. He had told them flat out about the description of the Papillion Mask Creator. However, the description wasn’t much to go with unless they had seen him with their own eyes. Tokiko was the one to point out, “Sorry, but that doesn‘t sound like much of a description.”

Russell nodded on that as he stated, “Though I think the mask might make him a dead giveaway.”

Nodoka thought about it for a moment, but then lit up as she stated, “I know! I could ask Haruna to give us a composite sketch of him.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Reina stated, but then she frowned for a moment as she brought in, “But then she might ask what it‘s for.”

Nodoka brought her head down in defeat as she sweat dropped to that, “You‘re right. And Haruna‘s pretty nosy when it comes to that.”

However, the doom and gloom went away as Kazuki stepped up, “Not to worry, everyone,” and then he struck a dramatic pose, with drawing utensils in his hands and his arms crossed, “When it comes right down to it, I‘M A MASTER OF COMPOSITE SKETCHES!”

The gang just looked at Kazuki for a moment, thinking and looking like he had lost his mind. It was then after the little display, Tokiko, who looked at Kazuki like she had become exhausted, mumbled out, “You just spout out anything that you think up. Don‘t you, Kazuki?”

“Alright, I‘ll show you, guys,” Kazuki shot out, defending his composite sketch art. After a few minutes working on one sketch, he had finished and gave them a thumb’s up, “Here ya go,” and handed to Seiji a composite sketch of the Papillion Mask Creator.

Kazuki struck another pose as he shouted in triumph, “My heart and Soul‘s Work!”

The picture was just perfect… too perfect. For the Papillion Mask Creator’s features were a bit more chiseled than the lanky thin features that Seiji had seen. Everyone either sweat dropped in confusion, grimaced at the bizarreness of the drawing, or just seemed kind of disgusted on how the creator looked.

However, that train of thought was gone, just as soon as they heard Negi shout out from where he and the girls were eating, “Asuna, please! You don‘t have to clean me! I don’t need a shower!”

“Forget it, Negi,” Asuna stated as the sounds of dragging a body was heard, “After working out all week long, and avoiding the school baths, you gonna be scrubbed raw!”

The kids heard that as Laz chuckled, “We‘d better go help Negi on this.”

Seiji nodded, “Knowing Asuna, she‘ll make good on her threat.”

Tokiko stopped for a moment as she looked to the two brothers and blushed as she asked, “W-Wait a minute! She bathes him? But they‘re…!”

“Teens?”, Seiji asked, and he nodded and half-smirked, “Yeah, I know. It‘s sort of a running gag between those two,” and then leaned towards her as he whispered, “Personally… I think she likes scrubbing his back. Even though she won‘t admit it.”

Before Tokiko could openly reject or object to such a thing, Kazuki stepped up. He then smirked, “Tokiko… if you want, you can bathe me.”

SMACK!

Everyone paled and sweat dropped as they looked at Kazuki’s unconscious form. There was a huge bump on his head, considering he was hit pretty hard. Standing close to his unconscious body, was Tokiko, blushing and holding a bloody fist up as she warned Kazuki, “Try something like that, and I‘ll splatter your guts!” and then just walked away.

The others soon followed behind her, making sure to keep their distance from her. Seiji and Laz were the last ones behind, with Nodoka following behind them. However, Seiji stopped for a moment as he heard a throbbing sound, almost like a distant heartbeat. Somewhere in the grass, the Homunculus Embryo that was swatted away by Tokiko, lay hidden in the grass, stirring and beating like a heartbeat. Slowly and quietly stirring, it’s eyes shot open as suddenly, in a blur, it shot straight towards the group.

However, almost as if time was slowing down all around him, Seiji spotted the embryo at high speed. Seiji’s eyes went wide with shock, ‘the Embryo! I thought it was… !’ but then he spotted to where it was headed at high speed… right at Nodoka. Without even hesitating, Seiji ran right towards her before the embryo reached her, but he knew he wouldn’t make it in time, ‘Dammit! I’m not fast enough! But if I don’t… then Nodoka will be… !’ his thoughts even paled more as he remembered what had happened to Nitta. ‘NO! That’s not gonna happen!’ Seiji told himself. And then at the last moment, he skidded to a halt, performed a spinning back kick with his right foot, just as the embryo nearly reached Nodoka…

Almost hearing the distinctive sound of a whoosh, Nodoka stopped in her tracks, as did Kazuki, Laz, and Tokiko. Nodoka looked to Seiji as he was frozen in place with his kick. Nodoka, looking a little confused and worried, asked, “Seiji? What‘s going.. ?”

“Brother?” Laz asked, also sensing a little nervous tension from his older brother, “What are you doing?”

Seiji winced a little as he dropped his leg and stood right again. His face seemed a little pale for a moment; his brow a little damp with sweat. However, he shook it off, and gave them his best smile as he smirked, “Sorry. Guess I was just feeling a little stiff, so I thought I‘d stretch my leg a bit.”

“Is that true?” Kazuki asked, buying into the lie. He then smirked as he turned around and went on his way, “Okay, that‘s no problem. I was a little worried is all.”

Tokiko stood there for a moment, looking at Seiji uncertain for a moment. She then turned around after a moment of silence, and then followed after the others, thinking silently, ‘He’s a terrible liar.’

Laz stood for a moment, but then turned around as he nodded, “Okay, just don‘t overdue it, brother.”

Nodoka stood there for a moment, not sure whether not to believe in Seiji’s words. It wasn’t as though she didn’t trust him, he just had a habit of keeping things to himself. However, Seiji noticed this as she wasn’t moving anywhere, but he half-smirked, “Don‘t worry, Nodoka. Nothing‘s wrong. Just go on with the others; I‘ll catch up.”

After a moment of worry, Nodoka gave him her best, yet worried smile she had, she nodded, “Okay, Seiji. I believe you,” and then left with the others, but not before she said, “But, Seiji… you can tell me anything, okay? Just don‘t scare me, please.” and left Seiji there for a moment.

Seiji dropped the smile as everyone’s back was turned as he sighed heavily. He then slowly walked towards the others, slightly limping; the limping coming from his right leg. If anyone had noticed at all, there was a small tear in his right pant leg. And deep in the pant leg, attached to his flesh… a small metallic piece was embedded into where his ankle was, throbbing and pumping like a heart.

Hidden in the forest of Mahora, who had seen what Seiji had done, a voice over a cell phone picked up, “Interesting. Keep an eye on him, Kawaziou.”

“Ayeee! Understood, master,” an annoying voice popped up, but then asked, “But what about the State Alchemist exam? Most of the Alchemists will be huddled in, considering it‘ll be the final test.”

The voice on the phone went silent for a moment, until it spoke up again, “Don‘t worry about it… Sawatori will take care of it tomorrow.”

Later that Night

World Tree Plaza

The night was cool and crispy, and the night sky was slightly cloudy as the moon was blocked and the starts glistened with no problems. The plaza was completely deserted as no one walked or the sound of footsteps were audible. The curfew had taken in effect, in fear that the disappearances would continue on, even though no one had disappeared at all these past few weeks, except for Nitta-sensei mysteriously being absent. It would be a perfect night for a little street fighting.

Evangeline stood at the plaza’s main stairway, the arena to where the Disciple fight would begin. With her was Chachamaru, Barry, and 48, as they stood by for the fight. One other that was with them was Chachazero, completely powerless as she couldn’t move without Eva’s magic, but one thing that still worked with her was her mouth.

This was pretty much evident, as she was complaining constantly, “Master, couldn’t you have put me in a spot where I could see the battle?”

Evangeline just huffed as she groaned in annoyance, “Fine,” she looked to Barry and ordered, “Barry, make yourself useful and pick her up,” not hesitating, Barry the Chopper walked over and scooped up Chachazero, placing her on his head like a father would with his child. Evangeline just groaned as she rubbed her temple, “Honestly, Chachazero… you‘re completely useless. All you do is shoot your mouth off.”

“And who‘s fault is that, now I‘m just a chatterbox?” Chachazero shot out.

Evangeline growled at that comment, but then turned her attention to Chachamaru as she seemed distracted… almost… troubled. Evangeline had asked Hakase on doing a diagnostic on her, to see what the problem was. When she did the diagnostic, everything seemed normal… however, she had the idea that Chachamaru might have been evolving with emotions, effectively saying the human emotion grid and upgrades would be taking effect soon. Hoping to break the ice, Evangeline interrupted the gynoid’s train of processed thought, “What‘s gotten into you, Chachamaru? You‘ve been brooding in thought almost all night. Don‘t forget, I need you focused on this fight.”

Chachamaru snapped out of it, as she turned towards her master. But even though she understood the details of the job, Chachamaru was still uncertain about this as she spoke her mind out, “My apologizes, Master. But… are you certain that… one punch is sufficient enough to qualify Negi to be your apprentice?”

Evangeline sharply turned to her as she answered, “A single punch is a generous offer, Chachamaru. Any more and it‘ll be an insult to my character as well as the boy‘s,” and then she fell silent for a moment as she looked away, but then looked back to Chachamaru as she asked, “Incidentally, that’s not the only thing that’s got you bugged, is it?”

“Well, it’s just that… ” Chachamaru stated as she stuttered a bit, and fidgeted her hands as she looked away for a moment, but then turned back to her master, looking distraught as she asked, “Why did you have Lazarus attend this test? Only Negi should be taking…”

“Because he annoys me,” Evangeline shot out, “He’s just too naïve, despite the fact that his older brother has to constantly knock some sense into that hollow head of his.”

“We‘re here, Evangeline!”

The five individuals turned and looked down at the plaza, and saw the two challengers for the test. Negi and Laz stood side by side, both dressed casually but functional for battle. Negi walked up as he stopped at the steps and announced, “Negi Springfield and Lazarus Elric, reporting to take the Disciple Test.”

“We‘re ready, Evangeline,” Laz stated as he walked up and stopped five feet away from Negi, “And we will pass.”

Evangeline smirked as she mocked, “Are you sure you‘re ready, Lazarus? I head you had a nasty case of heartburn last night.”

“I‘m just fine, Evangeline,” Laz stated, “You just worry about the fight at hand.”

Taken back by that little display of courage, Eva shrunk back a bit, but then asked, “That‘s fine and all…” but then pointed hysterically behind them as she shouted, “…BUT DID YOU HAVE TO BRING THE ENTIRE PEANUT GALLERY?”

Negi and Laz, both looked behind, and saw Asuna, with Chamo on her shoulder, accompanied by Konoka, Setsuna, Fei Ku, and the Sports Girls group. And with them, cheering Laz on was Russell and Fletcher Tringham, considering Seiji couldn’t be there for him that night, on account he had to give Mustang the sketch of the Papillon creator. It was a pretty good shame though, Seiji would have been pretty good support for him at this point.

However, Yuna shouted, “Go get‘em, Negi!”

“Good luck, Negi-sensei,” Ako meekly replied.

“Kick her butt, Lazarus!” Russell shouted like a screaming football fan, earning a couple of surprised and confused looks on the faces of everyone else. After reeling from such an embarrassing moment in his life, Russell just hung his head as he muttered, “Nevermind.”

Next Chapter: The Final Tests; the Masked Creator’s Wickedness pt.3

Name: Asuka Habuki

State Alchemist Handle: The Inferno Alchemist

Height: 4’3”

Weight: 120 lbs.

Personality: Asuka is what you would call the crazy fan girl of the group, as she is constantly crushing on Seiji and trying to kiss him every second. She is a student of Mahora Academy, and is sometimes seen with Makie and the Sports Girls crowd. As a child, she learned Fire Alchemy from a mysterious master, and much of her past was destroyed during a war in the city of Liore, where a man had taken the title of Father Cornello.

Somehow she had moved to Japan and attended Mahora Academy.

Alchemic Powers/Skills: Like her title, she is able to start and control fires, like Mustang. But unlike him, she is able to merge with it, due to the transmutation circles tattoed on her back and on her tongue, earning her a second title, the Dragon Girl.

Kakugane (Alchemic Arms): Cerberus’ Fangs

The Buso Renkin is colored Silver with Hot Rod Red

It is mainly a bow and arrow Buso Renkin, along with a robotic hound that changes its size to suit Asuka’s needs.

This Buso Renkin is designed as a close and long range weapon, able to fire off plasma arrows with exact percision. The Dog, Cerberus, engulfs himself in a flame aura, capable of seering the toughest metals, as it burns over 3,000 degrees. The bow is also capable of changing shape from a bow into a plasma arc, a short range weapon similar to a sword.

Idea for this Character: I wanted to try and create a girl that was somewhat attracted to Seiji, and was somewhat a little bit of a crazy fanatic like Ayaka is with Negi. Her physical design if of Asuka Langely, but her mental creation was of a combination of Ryoko and Kyoki, both crazy for the boys they love. The reason she’s a fire Alchemist is because she adds a bit of destructive quality that Mustang couldn’t learn when he trained as a Fire Alchemist. Plus, she needed to be a ‘hot’ girl.