RE: [IC][WIP][Arc 1] How I Managed to Quit Worrying and Love The Grief Seed
04-08-2019, 04:17 AM
04-08-2019, 04:17 AM
Okay here we go. If you see any weird typoes, it's because I just got an ergonomic keyboard and I'm getting used to it.
Let me know what you think and if there's anything I can improve.
“I hope that we find something this time,” said Ryoko as she lounged nearby on the roof. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I could stand smelling those clothes again!”
“Did you sign the list as well?” asked Aeka.
“Oh? There’s a list now?” asked Marller impishly.
“It was left on Benjamin’s door by Nanoha as we were leaving,” said Sousuke. “Her name and Fate’s were on the list as well.”
“Wait, what is the list for anyhow?” asked Peorth.
“It is a petition that Benjamin burn those clothes the moment this whole ordeal is over with,” said Aeka Primly. “I understand that needs must when the devil drives, present company excepted.”
“Thank you,” chirped Marller.
Aeka nodded before continuing, “But those garments are simply dreadful. Even Mihoshi has signed it.”
“Quiet!” said Sousuke suddenly. “The Mosquito is picking up activity.
“Where?” asked Noike
“Close to where Ben is at. Narrowing it down...” Sousuke then frowned. “Not good.”
##
Down below, Benjamin was dozing, curled up in a corner and secure in the knowledge that if there was something wrong, then the others would alert him.
That sense of security ended suddenly when he felt himself falling backwards. Several hands grabbed him and felt a violent jolt go through his body.
“GYAAH!” he cried out.
“Subject secured,” said a voice very much like Fate’s, only dead and lifeless.
“big... mistake...” wheezed Ben as his hand weakly went down to his belt and hit the panic device.
##
Right then, an alarm sounded at Sousuke’s console.
“SHIT!” cried out Ryoko. “The panic alarm!”
“Any chance he could have done it by mistake?” asked Peorth.
“No,” said Sousuke tersely. “Benjamin is much more disciplined than that.”
“Eagle Nest, Mother Hen,” came Washu’s voice over the com, “this had better not be a false alarm!”
“Mother Hen, Eagle Nest Actual,” replied Noike on her headset. “Negative! Big big negative! We have lost visual on Polecat! Do you have a track?”
“Eagle Nest Actual, Mother Hen - I have signal. Working on localizing its source. We’re waking up Team Fisherman now.”
##
The effects of the taser were wearing off, but Ben played possum for the moment while he was dragged unceremoniously by two copies of Fate... if fate had been five years old and unusually strong.
He furtively looked around through half-lidded eyes. It looked very much like the Garden of Time, with it’s strange techno-gothic architecture and and massive use of purple and violet colors.
The favored colors of Precia Testarossa.
Not good, thought Ben to himself. He then glanced up at his captors for the moment. They were definitely copies of Fate... or rather of Alicia and dressed as Fate.
Very Not Good.
It was then Benjamin decided to take matters into his own hands. These copies of Alicia were strong, but they lacked mass. Ben was able to twist himself around, flinging the two against the walls. ONe was momentarily stunned, but the other regained its wits quickly and attempted to attack Benjamin with its taser stick...
...only for the device to suddenly fizzle.
The Alicia clone looked blankly at the device and stated in a dull monotone:
“Unknown error.”
Benjamin wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, then lunged forward, delivering a sharp blow to the copy’s solar plexus.
“Unknown error,” it said again as it slumped lifelessly against the wall. But then it kept repeating itself, sounding more and more like the stuttering of an old audio card when experiencing buffer overruns.
“Un-Unkno-own Er-Error. Unnnnnn-n-n-known Error. Un-Un-Unknoooo-o-o-owwwn Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-.”
Suddenly, the copy dissolved into glowing particles that gave off heat and light as they faded into nothing.
“What?” said Ben in puzzlement. He then went to the other copy, checking to see if it was still alive.
“Unknown Error,” it said, then repeated the same process of degrading speech before it too disintegrated in Ben’s hands, giving off heat and light as it did so.
“Okaayyyyy,” said Ben. For a moment, he wondered if they had even been sentient at all.
He really hoped not.
“Eagle Nest, Polecat, coms check.”
Sousuke was very quick in getting back to him. “Polecat, Eagle Nest, coms check sat. You had us worried for a moment. What’s your status?”
“Eagle Nest, Polecat - A bit discombobulated, but I seem to be okay. They hit me with some kind of taser but it didn’t take. I strongly suspect that we may be dealing with Precia Testarossa because I was attacked by two copies of Alicia. Despite being physically strong, though, they seem to be fragile. They both disintegrated after taking only minor damage.”
“Polecat, Mother Hen. Please repeat that. You said Precia Testarossa?”
“Mother Hen, Polecat - that’s affirmative. At this point I’m 65% certain of it.”
“Leaving yourself wiggle room, huh? Polecat, Mother Hen - We’ll continue to monitor you. We’re attempting to get a fix on your location in dimensional space.”
“Mother Hen, Polecat - Do you need me to stay put?”
“Polecat, Mother Hen - Negative. Move around as much as you can. Tracking signals through dimensional space isn’t the same as triangulating a radio signal.”
“Polecat, Eagle Nest - if you must move around, then please gather intel for us. However, do not take any unnecessary risks.”
“Polecat copies. Moving out.”
##
Few things people ever expect of Ben, especially with him not seeming to have an ‘indoor voice’, is for him to be a ninja for all practical purposes. But then, it only stood to reason when he grew up having to be quiet around a man that could hear a mouse farting across the room.
When properly motivated, Ben could be as silent as a hole in the darkness, and you would never know that he was there at all.
Here, Ben had an advantage in that the floor would make no noise to betray him. And his boots were soft and worn from all the wear he’d put on them during his time in the Navy.
He slinked silently from one shadow to the next, his dark blue oil and sweat stained clothes blending in well, and always pausing to strain his ears to hear whatever he could - while nowhere nearly as sensitive as his stepfather’s, Ben’s hearing was excellent.
This was why he was able to hear a patrol of two Alicia clones coming his way, well in advance.
Ben hunkered down in the shadows, ready to strike if he had to. The footsteps grew closer until they suddenly paused.
“Group Alpha to Base. No life signs detected. Proceeding to next area.”
Benjamin stayed absolutely still until he couldn’t hear them anymore.
“Mother Hen, Polecat - Just narrowly missed a patrol of those Alicia-copies. Something strange is going on here. They reported back to their base, saying, and I quote: “No life signs detected.’ They don’t seem to be able to detect me for some reason.”
“Polecat, Mother Hen - Nanoha and Fate seem to know something, but I don’t have enough data to make any conclusions. Stay alert and carry on.”
“Polecat copies.”
##
Eventually, after evading several more patrols, Ben made it to the main chamber. It was a vast, wide-open space. Dominating the center of the far wall was Alicia inside her stasis chamber, raised up on a dias. closer and in front of the dias was what looked like a combination between a work table and a system console.
There, Precia Testarosa stood, clad in her black dress with her dark makeup. Ben wondered who the hell she was trying to impress with that ‘sexy goth’ look. He shook his head and continued to take stock of the situation. All around, Alicia-copies moved about performing tasks that sere inscrutable to Ben. Some worked at tables with either consoles or holographic displays showing some strange kind of math. Others were busy with a set of stasis chambers to the left side of the room. Inside those were people resting in state and devoid of clothing.
Benjamin carefully retreated until he was far enough away that he felt safe enough to talk.
“Polecat, All parties - I have visual confirmation. Precia Testarosa is on site and seems to be performing experiments using the homeless people from Town. Also estimate at least two-dozen Alicia-copies.”
“Eagle Nest copies, Polecat. Mother Hen has a fix on your location and we are making preparations to gate-in. Can you create a distraction?”
“Maybe,” said Ben. “How soon will you be ready?”
“60 seconds.”
“Okay, I’ll wait forty-five seconds and then do something. I hope to God that the gate works.”
“Polecat, Mother Hen - you better believe it will, buster.”
Ben grinned at that. “Polecat Copies.” He checked his watch, made his way back to the main chamber, check his watch again, and then stood up in the open.
“Precia Testarosa!” he boomed in a manner that would have made Brian Blessed proud. “Stand and deliver!”
The woman actually jumped at that and spun to face him.
“Who are you!?”
“The guy that’s gonna kick your fucking ass for scaring the hell out of the people of my city.”
Precia’s eyes narrowed. “You have no idea what sort of trouble you’re getting into.”
“Oh, I’m pretty well aware. Precia Testarossa, a scientist who was in charge of an experimental power generation system that failed due to pushy and impatient backers and killed your daughter in the process. Now you’re a wanted criminal by the TSAB and are a conditionally Double-A ranked mage.
“Did I forget anything?” he finished with a raised eyebrow.
“Seize him!” called out the woman.
Benjamin dropped low, swept the legs out from under the first one, kicked the next one solidly in the gut, sending it against a work table, and then slugged a third in the solar plexus, sending it sprawling.
Each one of them began stuttering the words ‘Unknown Error’ before fizzling into warm motes of light.
“You really ought to look into your quality control program,” said Ben. “These things break way too easily.”
“THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE!” shouted Precia. “These simulacra are at least C-Rank and you’re not even a mage!”
“DANGER” came a mechanical voice from Precia’s hip. “ANTI-MAGIC FIELD DETECTED.”
“What!?” cried out Precia in shock as she then leveled a look of dawning realization at Benjamin. “That cannot be! That’s a one-in-a-billion recessive trait!”
For Benjamin, the pieces in his head were just starting to come together, but then there was the sound of running feet coming up from behind him.
“THE ALAMO CITY WRECKING CREW HAS ARRIVED!” crowed Benjamin gleefully.
“KILL THEM ALL!” screamed Precia.
Chaos ensued.
(“Alamo City Wrecking Crew?” whispered Marller to Ben.)
(“It even rolls off the tongue better than Nerima Wrecking Crew.”)
Sousuke and Noike laid down suppressing fire and the simulacra quickly reacted by forming a phalanx formation using round shield spells as others behind them began to raise their mass produced devices and fire blasting spells in our direction. Ryoko tried to fire off an energy blast from above, but the Alicia Similucra dissuaded her with sharply accurate blast spells.
“Augh!” growled Ryoko as she got back down into cover with us. “Dammit, Ben, I thought you said they were easy!”
“I thought so, too,” replied Ben. “Lemme try something here.”
Before anyone could do anything to stop him, Ben vaulted their cover and bumrushed the phalanx. At first, they all feared the worst...
That was until Ben shoulder-charged his way through, shattering the facade of round shields, and knocking the simulacra off their feet. Before they could even rreact, Ben reversed directions and came back, knocking another hole in their formation as he did so.
“So, whatcha guys think?” asked Ben as everyone took advantage of the outright chaos he’d just sown in the enemy lines.
“That was crazy!” snapped Noike. “Don’t do something like that without talking to me first!”
“No promises,” said Ben honestly, “But I will if there’s time.” Noike grunted in annoyance as Ben took up an assault rifle.
Just then, a group of simulacra came in from the hall behind them, firing on their position. Ben cursed and started putting rounds downrange, forcing the copies into cover.
“Washu, Noike - we need backup!”
“On their way now! Check your fire!”
Just then, there were pink and yellow flashes of light. Nanoha and Fate came charging in wearing their barrier jackets and their devices in combat mode. On their heels was Arf, Tenchi, and Mihoshi.
“Arf,” called out Fate. “Bind them up!”
“Right!”
“Mihoshi!” snapped Noike.
“Yes, Captain!” replied the brown-skinned blonde.
“Get all the equipment in here tagged for transport. Especially the stasis chambers!”
“I’ll get the one with Alicia-chan!” called out Nanoha. “Axel Shooter!” she called out. sending round orbs of her pink magic flying around and knocking Alicia Simulacra out for the count. The rest, Fate Began to mow down with Bardiche.
She didn’t look terribly happy about it.
Meanwhile, Precia kept trying to cast binding spells, but to no avail.
“ERROR,” said her device, “ANTI-MAGIC FIELD IN AREA OF EFFECT.”
She then noticed Mihoshi clumsily sneaking around the stasis tubes.
“Oh no your don’t!” she snarled as she leveled her device at the GP Detective and began to fire blasting magic at her.
Mihoshi yelped and dodged haplessly, all while managing to accidentally tag each stasis tube with a teleport transponder.
“No more experiments for you, Precia!” came Nanoha’s voice behind her.
Precia snapped around just in time to see the girl tag Alicia’s stasis tube with a teleportation transponder.
And in an instant, it winked out of existence, taking Alicia with it.
“ALICIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!” screamed Precia Testarossa, which was the last meaningful words she ever said.
At the moment, the Soul Gem she wore as a pendant filled with darkness and then began to seemingly suck in the light from all around it. Precia’s form was consumed as the darkness spread like ink out from her chest, and once she was fully covered she began to grow.
Ben watched it all happen, dread starting to pool in his gut as she grew and grew.
The ink began to recede, leaving a white wedding dress. Her belly had swollen like that of a woman in her late-term pregnancy, except that the middle of her belly had become a gaping void that seemed to weep black tears. Her physical for was indistinct - they looked like limbs from wood-cut shadow puppets.
And it laughed - a horrible, keening, insane laughed tinged with heartbreak
What was worse was that all the Alicia simulacra still left had changed too - they became marionette puppets that danced all around their mother.
“Oh dear God,” said Ben in horror. “She’s turned into a Witch!”
“What!?” cried out Tenchi.
“That’s what happens to Magical Girls in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Once despair overtakes them, they turn into these abominations! EVERYONE FALL BACK!!!”
No one dared ask Ben for any further clarification - the tone in his voice spoke volumes. Once everyone had fallen back to the main hall that led into the chamber, Ben explained the important parts.
“Right now, there’s nothing we can do for her,” said Ben, watching as even right then the space began to change from the neo-gothic architecture of The Garden of Time to a warped mockery that looked like a kindergartner tried to copy it using cutouts of colored construction paper. Everyone began to look around nervously as Ben went on.
“She was damned to that curse the moment she made a pact with the Incubator. The only good thing we can do now is to put her out of her misery.” He then turned to Nanoha and Fate. “Fate? Nanoha? It’s probably for the best that you’re not here for this.”
Fate shook her head. “I need to see this through.”
Benjamin turned to look to Noike. She had a slightly sad look in her eyes, but she nodded nonetheless.
“Alright then, here’s what we’ll do. Witches are tough - the stronger the magical girl that spawned it was, the stronger the Witch. I’m just spit-ballin’ here, but I’d rate this one at about a 6.5 on a scale of one to ten.”
“What do we do then?” asked Sousuke.
“Simple. Take cover and unload on it. Most of the danger in facing a Witch is in dealing with its familiars and not letting her sneak up on you. All her attacks will be physical, but they are extremely unconventional. She can change her shape at will. Anything in here can become a weapon. Also, be mindful of your perspective - this place is turning into a Witch’s Labyrinth. It’s aptly named. Things around here will get very weird. Lots of nonstandard space-time. I don’t think I need to go into detail how dangerous that can be.”
“Out of the fat and into the frying pan!” grumbled Ryoko.
“Can’t be helped,” said Ben. “With an Incubator running around, we’ll need to be very cautious about what happens after today.”
“Benjamin,” said Nanoha, “what is an Incubator supposed to be?”
“Some weird construct built to serve a bunch of beings that are trying to build a life raft for the heat death of the universe. But they do it by letting poor, misguided girls turn into these monsters. They somehow are able to use negative energy harvested in the process of killing Witches.”
“How horrible!” hissed Peorth, and even Marller was taken aback.
Ben nodded. “Is everyone here ready?” Everyone nodded their heads. “Okay, let’s do this!”
Ben went first, leading the charge, and screaming “LEEEEEERRROOOOOOYYYY JHHHHEEEENKIIINNNNNSSS!!!” at the top of his lungs. This, naturally caused reactions from confused looks to outright guffaws.
Benjamin didn’t duck behind any cover, though. He had a theory that he wanted to test, and the best way to do it was to get up-close and personal with the Witch that Precia had become.
He pulled out the combat knife that he’d kept hidden in his clothes, holding it overhand as he kept his eyes wide open for trouble.
Familiars got in his way and he cut them down with contemptuous ease.
The Witch took note of his presence and turned to lash out at him with a whip. He dodged, ducking down, tucking his head, rolling to the side, then slapping a hand down as he sprung back up onto his feet without skipping a beat.
At that very moment as Nanoha, Fate, and Ryoko orbited the witch, looking for an opening to attack, when suddenly both BardichE and Raising Heart cried out in alarm:
“DANGER! ANTI-MAGIC FIELD DETECTED! BENJAMIN IS SOURCE!”
“What is that supposed to mean!?” said Ryoko.
Fate and Nanoha both looked to each other and then nodded.
“Benjamin is nullifying it’s power!” said Fate. “We must strike fast!”
“Raising Heart!”
“READY!”
“Starlight Breaker - SET-UP!”
“CHARGING!” said the device as it devoured every mana cartridge in it’s magazine.
Ryoko recognized the attack right away. “WHOAH WAIT! BEN’S STILL DOWN THERE!”
“It’s okay,” said Fate, stopping Ryoko. “She’s good with it. Besides... Ben is strong. He can handle it, especially since he’s generating an anti-magic field. You can help by hitting the Witch with everything you have. ARF! Bind it!”
“You got it!”
Down below, the Witch tried again to use it’s weapon against Ben, but he was too close this time. Ben raised his left arm, letting it wrap around his forearm and grabbing the thick chord in his hand. He then pulled with all of his might to keep his arm from getting ripped out of its socket when she pulled the whip back.
As luck would have it, the motion brought Benjamin right up to her face.
“SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!” he called out as he brought the combat knife down in it’s eye.
Benjamin would have let go right away, except that he saw Arf’s binding spell snap into place, immobilizing the Witch’s hands. So instead, he hung on for dear life, waiting for the big fireworks show to start.
“He’s gone insane!” cried out Noike.
“No!” said Peorth all the sudden. “There’s something... Oh dear Almighty, is it really...” she then summoned a remote console for the Yggdrasil and began typing furiously.
“What is it?” asked Sousuke.
“This... This shouldn’t be possible!” said Peorth in shock.
“What is?” demanded Tenchi.
“He’s generating an anti-magic field! And Nanoha and Fate know it!”
“What!?” cried out Marller. “But he’s baseline! Nothing special at all!”
“No, he’s the exact opposite! OH HOW STUPID OF US!!!”
“What is it?”
“HE’S A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF SIGURD SNAKE-IN-THE-EYE!”
“WHAT!?” cried out Marller in surprise. “There’s no way!”
“It’s worse! His family also has a lineage of Mexican witches - Brujas!”
“But what does that mean?” said Aeka. “I thought he was normal!”
“He was! At least until he came to the Metacontinuity! The malleable causality has had an effect on him! Here and now, he’s a perfect disciple for Odin! We might as well have just gift-wrapped that man and handed him over! LOOK!”
Peorth turned the display so everyone could see it. There, next to a picture of Benjamin in profile was a marking of several triangles interwoven together in such an intricate manner that it played tricks with a person’s eyes, drawing them in.
9crossings-knot-symmetric-triangles-pseudo-valknut.png (Size: 7.01 KB / Downloads: 251)
“Oh shit,” said Marller. “Isn’t that the Valknut?”
“Worse! It’s the Grand Valknut! He is one of Odin’s chosen ones! Hand picked by the Allfather himself for HIS Einherjar.”
“What's the difference?” asked Marller.
“The men he chooses as his personal Einherjar are only the greatest of heroes! It means that he is worthy of sitting at the grand table next to Tyr and Thor!”
“Peorth,” said Aeka, “I’m afraid I don’t understand! Are you saying he’s an equal to the Gods!?”
“No. But he’s worthy of their respect - enough that he’ll be called upon to tell his story as the others have been told in the great eddas. It’s an incredible honor, but what Ben must go through... I know he’s suffered, but was it truly that much to win Odin’s respect!?”
“You weren’t there to see what happened at the Halloween Party,” said Aeka. “To know that he suffered as Fate has, and for so much longer than she! My heart wept for that poor man.”
They all turned to look at the battle taking place. There, Ben clung to the Witch’s face, stubbornly refusing to let go as he drove the knife in again and again, even while Ryoko and Fate made strafing runs.
“If he doesn’t represent triumph in the face of death,” said Marller, “then I don’t know what does.”
Finally, back up above, Raising Heart was finally ready.
“CHARGE COMPLETE. I CAN BE SHOT.”
Nanoha nodded grimly and then, as she pulled the trigger, screamed, “STARLIGHT BREAKER! SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTT!!!”
The entire space was lit up in pink as a brilliant beam of pink light so intense that it seemed white transfixed the Witch through her chest.
And then exploded in a pastel nova.
The Witch gave one last keening wail that sounded horribly like she was crying out Alicia’s name as, at long last, all that was left of Precia Testarossa was undone.
If there is any justice in the universe, thought Benjamin to himself as he began to fall, then she is, at long last, at peace.
Something caught him by the arms, surprising him. Looking up, he saw both Fate and Nanoha - each of them holding one of his arms - smiling down at him.
He smiled back as they set him down on the floor. Down there, Benjamin saw a dark shape.
Precia’s Grief Seed - the remnants of a Soul Gem that was hollowed out with the death of the Witch that bore it.
Carefully, he picked it up and put it in his pocket.
( ^^^ Please play for music - source is legal ^^^)
“GUYS! GUYS!” squawked Washu’s voice urgently on all their communicators. “YOU ALL GOTTA GET OUT OF THERE! THE POCKET DIMENSION IS COLLAPSING!”
And just then, everything began to shift and distort as the fabric of space all around them became unstable.
“RUN!” screamed Ben.
The portal appeared on the far wall of the room, but the warping of space was distorting everything enough that it was hard to tell whether they were going the right way or not. It was like seeing everything through thick oil on the surface of water, curling in on itself, lensing in and out of bubbles, and shifting positions. Even time seemed to bend. Seconds became hours. Hours became seconds.
Peorth was there with an outstretched arm as they got close - she apparently willing the space in her vicinity to be more stable as everything around them fell apart.
Finally, though, after what seemed forever, they were all through and the gate shut behind them.
Everyone was safe and accounted for.
The Valknut is a very special symbol in Norse mythology. It represents self-sacrifice, bearing through all hardships to the end, and following an honorable warrior's code. This is not something to be taken lightly as, just as Peorth says, it marks you as a Disciple of Odin, and acts as a marker for the Valkyries to automatically bring you to Valhalla as an Einherjar.
Usually, the Valknut is a somewhat simpler shape.
valknut borromean.jpg (Size: 7.69 KB / Downloads: 242)
valknut unicursal.jpg (Size: 6.94 KB / Downloads: 242)
But the one I used combines both into what you might call a Grand Valknut. While not seen in any of the historical records, if it ever had been it could be said to represent The Perfect Legendary Warrior - the one that only shows up every other century or so. Also fitting in that it has twelve corners, and the rune of Tyr, the Norse God of War and the ideal warrior, is the 12th rune in the Odinic system of 18 Holy Runes.
Let me know what you think and if there's anything I can improve.
“I hope that we find something this time,” said Ryoko as she lounged nearby on the roof. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I could stand smelling those clothes again!”
“Did you sign the list as well?” asked Aeka.
“Oh? There’s a list now?” asked Marller impishly.
“It was left on Benjamin’s door by Nanoha as we were leaving,” said Sousuke. “Her name and Fate’s were on the list as well.”
“Wait, what is the list for anyhow?” asked Peorth.
“It is a petition that Benjamin burn those clothes the moment this whole ordeal is over with,” said Aeka Primly. “I understand that needs must when the devil drives, present company excepted.”
“Thank you,” chirped Marller.
Aeka nodded before continuing, “But those garments are simply dreadful. Even Mihoshi has signed it.”
“Quiet!” said Sousuke suddenly. “The Mosquito is picking up activity.
“Where?” asked Noike
“Close to where Ben is at. Narrowing it down...” Sousuke then frowned. “Not good.”
##
Down below, Benjamin was dozing, curled up in a corner and secure in the knowledge that if there was something wrong, then the others would alert him.
That sense of security ended suddenly when he felt himself falling backwards. Several hands grabbed him and felt a violent jolt go through his body.
“GYAAH!” he cried out.
“Subject secured,” said a voice very much like Fate’s, only dead and lifeless.
“big... mistake...” wheezed Ben as his hand weakly went down to his belt and hit the panic device.
##
Right then, an alarm sounded at Sousuke’s console.
“SHIT!” cried out Ryoko. “The panic alarm!”
“Any chance he could have done it by mistake?” asked Peorth.
“No,” said Sousuke tersely. “Benjamin is much more disciplined than that.”
“Eagle Nest, Mother Hen,” came Washu’s voice over the com, “this had better not be a false alarm!”
“Mother Hen, Eagle Nest Actual,” replied Noike on her headset. “Negative! Big big negative! We have lost visual on Polecat! Do you have a track?”
“Eagle Nest Actual, Mother Hen - I have signal. Working on localizing its source. We’re waking up Team Fisherman now.”
##
The effects of the taser were wearing off, but Ben played possum for the moment while he was dragged unceremoniously by two copies of Fate... if fate had been five years old and unusually strong.
He furtively looked around through half-lidded eyes. It looked very much like the Garden of Time, with it’s strange techno-gothic architecture and and massive use of purple and violet colors.
The favored colors of Precia Testarossa.
Not good, thought Ben to himself. He then glanced up at his captors for the moment. They were definitely copies of Fate... or rather of Alicia and dressed as Fate.
Very Not Good.
It was then Benjamin decided to take matters into his own hands. These copies of Alicia were strong, but they lacked mass. Ben was able to twist himself around, flinging the two against the walls. ONe was momentarily stunned, but the other regained its wits quickly and attempted to attack Benjamin with its taser stick...
...only for the device to suddenly fizzle.
The Alicia clone looked blankly at the device and stated in a dull monotone:
“Unknown error.”
Benjamin wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, then lunged forward, delivering a sharp blow to the copy’s solar plexus.
“Unknown error,” it said again as it slumped lifelessly against the wall. But then it kept repeating itself, sounding more and more like the stuttering of an old audio card when experiencing buffer overruns.
“Un-Unkno-own Er-Error. Unnnnnn-n-n-known Error. Un-Un-Unknoooo-o-o-owwwn Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-.”
Suddenly, the copy dissolved into glowing particles that gave off heat and light as they faded into nothing.
“What?” said Ben in puzzlement. He then went to the other copy, checking to see if it was still alive.
“Unknown Error,” it said, then repeated the same process of degrading speech before it too disintegrated in Ben’s hands, giving off heat and light as it did so.
“Okaayyyyy,” said Ben. For a moment, he wondered if they had even been sentient at all.
He really hoped not.
“Eagle Nest, Polecat, coms check.”
Sousuke was very quick in getting back to him. “Polecat, Eagle Nest, coms check sat. You had us worried for a moment. What’s your status?”
“Eagle Nest, Polecat - A bit discombobulated, but I seem to be okay. They hit me with some kind of taser but it didn’t take. I strongly suspect that we may be dealing with Precia Testarossa because I was attacked by two copies of Alicia. Despite being physically strong, though, they seem to be fragile. They both disintegrated after taking only minor damage.”
“Polecat, Mother Hen. Please repeat that. You said Precia Testarossa?”
“Mother Hen, Polecat - that’s affirmative. At this point I’m 65% certain of it.”
“Leaving yourself wiggle room, huh? Polecat, Mother Hen - We’ll continue to monitor you. We’re attempting to get a fix on your location in dimensional space.”
“Mother Hen, Polecat - Do you need me to stay put?”
“Polecat, Mother Hen - Negative. Move around as much as you can. Tracking signals through dimensional space isn’t the same as triangulating a radio signal.”
“Polecat, Eagle Nest - if you must move around, then please gather intel for us. However, do not take any unnecessary risks.”
“Polecat copies. Moving out.”
##
Few things people ever expect of Ben, especially with him not seeming to have an ‘indoor voice’, is for him to be a ninja for all practical purposes. But then, it only stood to reason when he grew up having to be quiet around a man that could hear a mouse farting across the room.
When properly motivated, Ben could be as silent as a hole in the darkness, and you would never know that he was there at all.
Here, Ben had an advantage in that the floor would make no noise to betray him. And his boots were soft and worn from all the wear he’d put on them during his time in the Navy.
He slinked silently from one shadow to the next, his dark blue oil and sweat stained clothes blending in well, and always pausing to strain his ears to hear whatever he could - while nowhere nearly as sensitive as his stepfather’s, Ben’s hearing was excellent.
This was why he was able to hear a patrol of two Alicia clones coming his way, well in advance.
Ben hunkered down in the shadows, ready to strike if he had to. The footsteps grew closer until they suddenly paused.
“Group Alpha to Base. No life signs detected. Proceeding to next area.”
Benjamin stayed absolutely still until he couldn’t hear them anymore.
“Mother Hen, Polecat - Just narrowly missed a patrol of those Alicia-copies. Something strange is going on here. They reported back to their base, saying, and I quote: “No life signs detected.’ They don’t seem to be able to detect me for some reason.”
“Polecat, Mother Hen - Nanoha and Fate seem to know something, but I don’t have enough data to make any conclusions. Stay alert and carry on.”
“Polecat copies.”
##
Eventually, after evading several more patrols, Ben made it to the main chamber. It was a vast, wide-open space. Dominating the center of the far wall was Alicia inside her stasis chamber, raised up on a dias. closer and in front of the dias was what looked like a combination between a work table and a system console.
There, Precia Testarosa stood, clad in her black dress with her dark makeup. Ben wondered who the hell she was trying to impress with that ‘sexy goth’ look. He shook his head and continued to take stock of the situation. All around, Alicia-copies moved about performing tasks that sere inscrutable to Ben. Some worked at tables with either consoles or holographic displays showing some strange kind of math. Others were busy with a set of stasis chambers to the left side of the room. Inside those were people resting in state and devoid of clothing.
Benjamin carefully retreated until he was far enough away that he felt safe enough to talk.
“Polecat, All parties - I have visual confirmation. Precia Testarosa is on site and seems to be performing experiments using the homeless people from Town. Also estimate at least two-dozen Alicia-copies.”
“Eagle Nest copies, Polecat. Mother Hen has a fix on your location and we are making preparations to gate-in. Can you create a distraction?”
“Maybe,” said Ben. “How soon will you be ready?”
“60 seconds.”
“Okay, I’ll wait forty-five seconds and then do something. I hope to God that the gate works.”
“Polecat, Mother Hen - you better believe it will, buster.”
Ben grinned at that. “Polecat Copies.” He checked his watch, made his way back to the main chamber, check his watch again, and then stood up in the open.
“Precia Testarosa!” he boomed in a manner that would have made Brian Blessed proud. “Stand and deliver!”
The woman actually jumped at that and spun to face him.
“Who are you!?”
“The guy that’s gonna kick your fucking ass for scaring the hell out of the people of my city.”
Precia’s eyes narrowed. “You have no idea what sort of trouble you’re getting into.”
“Oh, I’m pretty well aware. Precia Testarossa, a scientist who was in charge of an experimental power generation system that failed due to pushy and impatient backers and killed your daughter in the process. Now you’re a wanted criminal by the TSAB and are a conditionally Double-A ranked mage.
“Did I forget anything?” he finished with a raised eyebrow.
“Seize him!” called out the woman.
Benjamin dropped low, swept the legs out from under the first one, kicked the next one solidly in the gut, sending it against a work table, and then slugged a third in the solar plexus, sending it sprawling.
Each one of them began stuttering the words ‘Unknown Error’ before fizzling into warm motes of light.
“You really ought to look into your quality control program,” said Ben. “These things break way too easily.”
“THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE!” shouted Precia. “These simulacra are at least C-Rank and you’re not even a mage!”
“DANGER” came a mechanical voice from Precia’s hip. “ANTI-MAGIC FIELD DETECTED.”
“What!?” cried out Precia in shock as she then leveled a look of dawning realization at Benjamin. “That cannot be! That’s a one-in-a-billion recessive trait!”
For Benjamin, the pieces in his head were just starting to come together, but then there was the sound of running feet coming up from behind him.
“THE ALAMO CITY WRECKING CREW HAS ARRIVED!” crowed Benjamin gleefully.
“KILL THEM ALL!” screamed Precia.
Chaos ensued.
(“Alamo City Wrecking Crew?” whispered Marller to Ben.)
(“It even rolls off the tongue better than Nerima Wrecking Crew.”)
Sousuke and Noike laid down suppressing fire and the simulacra quickly reacted by forming a phalanx formation using round shield spells as others behind them began to raise their mass produced devices and fire blasting spells in our direction. Ryoko tried to fire off an energy blast from above, but the Alicia Similucra dissuaded her with sharply accurate blast spells.
“Augh!” growled Ryoko as she got back down into cover with us. “Dammit, Ben, I thought you said they were easy!”
“I thought so, too,” replied Ben. “Lemme try something here.”
Before anyone could do anything to stop him, Ben vaulted their cover and bumrushed the phalanx. At first, they all feared the worst...
That was until Ben shoulder-charged his way through, shattering the facade of round shields, and knocking the simulacra off their feet. Before they could even rreact, Ben reversed directions and came back, knocking another hole in their formation as he did so.
“So, whatcha guys think?” asked Ben as everyone took advantage of the outright chaos he’d just sown in the enemy lines.
“That was crazy!” snapped Noike. “Don’t do something like that without talking to me first!”
“No promises,” said Ben honestly, “But I will if there’s time.” Noike grunted in annoyance as Ben took up an assault rifle.
Just then, a group of simulacra came in from the hall behind them, firing on their position. Ben cursed and started putting rounds downrange, forcing the copies into cover.
“Washu, Noike - we need backup!”
“On their way now! Check your fire!”
Just then, there were pink and yellow flashes of light. Nanoha and Fate came charging in wearing their barrier jackets and their devices in combat mode. On their heels was Arf, Tenchi, and Mihoshi.
“Arf,” called out Fate. “Bind them up!”
“Right!”
“Mihoshi!” snapped Noike.
“Yes, Captain!” replied the brown-skinned blonde.
“Get all the equipment in here tagged for transport. Especially the stasis chambers!”
“I’ll get the one with Alicia-chan!” called out Nanoha. “Axel Shooter!” she called out. sending round orbs of her pink magic flying around and knocking Alicia Simulacra out for the count. The rest, Fate Began to mow down with Bardiche.
She didn’t look terribly happy about it.
Meanwhile, Precia kept trying to cast binding spells, but to no avail.
“ERROR,” said her device, “ANTI-MAGIC FIELD IN AREA OF EFFECT.”
She then noticed Mihoshi clumsily sneaking around the stasis tubes.
“Oh no your don’t!” she snarled as she leveled her device at the GP Detective and began to fire blasting magic at her.
Mihoshi yelped and dodged haplessly, all while managing to accidentally tag each stasis tube with a teleport transponder.
“No more experiments for you, Precia!” came Nanoha’s voice behind her.
Precia snapped around just in time to see the girl tag Alicia’s stasis tube with a teleportation transponder.
And in an instant, it winked out of existence, taking Alicia with it.
“ALICIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!” screamed Precia Testarossa, which was the last meaningful words she ever said.
At the moment, the Soul Gem she wore as a pendant filled with darkness and then began to seemingly suck in the light from all around it. Precia’s form was consumed as the darkness spread like ink out from her chest, and once she was fully covered she began to grow.
Ben watched it all happen, dread starting to pool in his gut as she grew and grew.
The ink began to recede, leaving a white wedding dress. Her belly had swollen like that of a woman in her late-term pregnancy, except that the middle of her belly had become a gaping void that seemed to weep black tears. Her physical for was indistinct - they looked like limbs from wood-cut shadow puppets.
And it laughed - a horrible, keening, insane laughed tinged with heartbreak
What was worse was that all the Alicia simulacra still left had changed too - they became marionette puppets that danced all around their mother.
“Oh dear God,” said Ben in horror. “She’s turned into a Witch!”
“What!?” cried out Tenchi.
“That’s what happens to Magical Girls in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Once despair overtakes them, they turn into these abominations! EVERYONE FALL BACK!!!”
No one dared ask Ben for any further clarification - the tone in his voice spoke volumes. Once everyone had fallen back to the main hall that led into the chamber, Ben explained the important parts.
“Right now, there’s nothing we can do for her,” said Ben, watching as even right then the space began to change from the neo-gothic architecture of The Garden of Time to a warped mockery that looked like a kindergartner tried to copy it using cutouts of colored construction paper. Everyone began to look around nervously as Ben went on.
“She was damned to that curse the moment she made a pact with the Incubator. The only good thing we can do now is to put her out of her misery.” He then turned to Nanoha and Fate. “Fate? Nanoha? It’s probably for the best that you’re not here for this.”
Fate shook her head. “I need to see this through.”
Benjamin turned to look to Noike. She had a slightly sad look in her eyes, but she nodded nonetheless.
“Alright then, here’s what we’ll do. Witches are tough - the stronger the magical girl that spawned it was, the stronger the Witch. I’m just spit-ballin’ here, but I’d rate this one at about a 6.5 on a scale of one to ten.”
“What do we do then?” asked Sousuke.
“Simple. Take cover and unload on it. Most of the danger in facing a Witch is in dealing with its familiars and not letting her sneak up on you. All her attacks will be physical, but they are extremely unconventional. She can change her shape at will. Anything in here can become a weapon. Also, be mindful of your perspective - this place is turning into a Witch’s Labyrinth. It’s aptly named. Things around here will get very weird. Lots of nonstandard space-time. I don’t think I need to go into detail how dangerous that can be.”
“Out of the fat and into the frying pan!” grumbled Ryoko.
“Can’t be helped,” said Ben. “With an Incubator running around, we’ll need to be very cautious about what happens after today.”
“Benjamin,” said Nanoha, “what is an Incubator supposed to be?”
“Some weird construct built to serve a bunch of beings that are trying to build a life raft for the heat death of the universe. But they do it by letting poor, misguided girls turn into these monsters. They somehow are able to use negative energy harvested in the process of killing Witches.”
“How horrible!” hissed Peorth, and even Marller was taken aback.
Ben nodded. “Is everyone here ready?” Everyone nodded their heads. “Okay, let’s do this!”
Ben went first, leading the charge, and screaming “LEEEEEERRROOOOOOYYYY JHHHHEEEENKIIINNNNNSSS!!!” at the top of his lungs. This, naturally caused reactions from confused looks to outright guffaws.
Benjamin didn’t duck behind any cover, though. He had a theory that he wanted to test, and the best way to do it was to get up-close and personal with the Witch that Precia had become.
He pulled out the combat knife that he’d kept hidden in his clothes, holding it overhand as he kept his eyes wide open for trouble.
Familiars got in his way and he cut them down with contemptuous ease.
The Witch took note of his presence and turned to lash out at him with a whip. He dodged, ducking down, tucking his head, rolling to the side, then slapping a hand down as he sprung back up onto his feet without skipping a beat.
At that very moment as Nanoha, Fate, and Ryoko orbited the witch, looking for an opening to attack, when suddenly both BardichE and Raising Heart cried out in alarm:
“DANGER! ANTI-MAGIC FIELD DETECTED! BENJAMIN IS SOURCE!”
“What is that supposed to mean!?” said Ryoko.
Fate and Nanoha both looked to each other and then nodded.
“Benjamin is nullifying it’s power!” said Fate. “We must strike fast!”
“Raising Heart!”
“READY!”
“Starlight Breaker - SET-UP!”
“CHARGING!” said the device as it devoured every mana cartridge in it’s magazine.
Ryoko recognized the attack right away. “WHOAH WAIT! BEN’S STILL DOWN THERE!”
“It’s okay,” said Fate, stopping Ryoko. “She’s good with it. Besides... Ben is strong. He can handle it, especially since he’s generating an anti-magic field. You can help by hitting the Witch with everything you have. ARF! Bind it!”
“You got it!”
Down below, the Witch tried again to use it’s weapon against Ben, but he was too close this time. Ben raised his left arm, letting it wrap around his forearm and grabbing the thick chord in his hand. He then pulled with all of his might to keep his arm from getting ripped out of its socket when she pulled the whip back.
As luck would have it, the motion brought Benjamin right up to her face.
“SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!” he called out as he brought the combat knife down in it’s eye.
Benjamin would have let go right away, except that he saw Arf’s binding spell snap into place, immobilizing the Witch’s hands. So instead, he hung on for dear life, waiting for the big fireworks show to start.
“He’s gone insane!” cried out Noike.
“No!” said Peorth all the sudden. “There’s something... Oh dear Almighty, is it really...” she then summoned a remote console for the Yggdrasil and began typing furiously.
“What is it?” asked Sousuke.
“This... This shouldn’t be possible!” said Peorth in shock.
“What is?” demanded Tenchi.
“He’s generating an anti-magic field! And Nanoha and Fate know it!”
“What!?” cried out Marller. “But he’s baseline! Nothing special at all!”
“No, he’s the exact opposite! OH HOW STUPID OF US!!!”
“What is it?”
“HE’S A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF SIGURD SNAKE-IN-THE-EYE!”
“WHAT!?” cried out Marller in surprise. “There’s no way!”
“It’s worse! His family also has a lineage of Mexican witches - Brujas!”
“But what does that mean?” said Aeka. “I thought he was normal!”
“He was! At least until he came to the Metacontinuity! The malleable causality has had an effect on him! Here and now, he’s a perfect disciple for Odin! We might as well have just gift-wrapped that man and handed him over! LOOK!”
Peorth turned the display so everyone could see it. There, next to a picture of Benjamin in profile was a marking of several triangles interwoven together in such an intricate manner that it played tricks with a person’s eyes, drawing them in.
9crossings-knot-symmetric-triangles-pseudo-valknut.png (Size: 7.01 KB / Downloads: 251)
“Oh shit,” said Marller. “Isn’t that the Valknut?”
“Worse! It’s the Grand Valknut! He is one of Odin’s chosen ones! Hand picked by the Allfather himself for HIS Einherjar.”
“What's the difference?” asked Marller.
“The men he chooses as his personal Einherjar are only the greatest of heroes! It means that he is worthy of sitting at the grand table next to Tyr and Thor!”
“Peorth,” said Aeka, “I’m afraid I don’t understand! Are you saying he’s an equal to the Gods!?”
“No. But he’s worthy of their respect - enough that he’ll be called upon to tell his story as the others have been told in the great eddas. It’s an incredible honor, but what Ben must go through... I know he’s suffered, but was it truly that much to win Odin’s respect!?”
“You weren’t there to see what happened at the Halloween Party,” said Aeka. “To know that he suffered as Fate has, and for so much longer than she! My heart wept for that poor man.”
They all turned to look at the battle taking place. There, Ben clung to the Witch’s face, stubbornly refusing to let go as he drove the knife in again and again, even while Ryoko and Fate made strafing runs.
“If he doesn’t represent triumph in the face of death,” said Marller, “then I don’t know what does.”
Finally, back up above, Raising Heart was finally ready.
“CHARGE COMPLETE. I CAN BE SHOT.”
Nanoha nodded grimly and then, as she pulled the trigger, screamed, “STARLIGHT BREAKER! SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTT!!!”
The entire space was lit up in pink as a brilliant beam of pink light so intense that it seemed white transfixed the Witch through her chest.
And then exploded in a pastel nova.
The Witch gave one last keening wail that sounded horribly like she was crying out Alicia’s name as, at long last, all that was left of Precia Testarossa was undone.
If there is any justice in the universe, thought Benjamin to himself as he began to fall, then she is, at long last, at peace.
Something caught him by the arms, surprising him. Looking up, he saw both Fate and Nanoha - each of them holding one of his arms - smiling down at him.
He smiled back as they set him down on the floor. Down there, Benjamin saw a dark shape.
Precia’s Grief Seed - the remnants of a Soul Gem that was hollowed out with the death of the Witch that bore it.
Carefully, he picked it up and put it in his pocket.
( ^^^ Please play for music - source is legal ^^^)
“GUYS! GUYS!” squawked Washu’s voice urgently on all their communicators. “YOU ALL GOTTA GET OUT OF THERE! THE POCKET DIMENSION IS COLLAPSING!”
And just then, everything began to shift and distort as the fabric of space all around them became unstable.
“RUN!” screamed Ben.
The portal appeared on the far wall of the room, but the warping of space was distorting everything enough that it was hard to tell whether they were going the right way or not. It was like seeing everything through thick oil on the surface of water, curling in on itself, lensing in and out of bubbles, and shifting positions. Even time seemed to bend. Seconds became hours. Hours became seconds.
Peorth was there with an outstretched arm as they got close - she apparently willing the space in her vicinity to be more stable as everything around them fell apart.
Finally, though, after what seemed forever, they were all through and the gate shut behind them.
Everyone was safe and accounted for.
The Valknut is a very special symbol in Norse mythology. It represents self-sacrifice, bearing through all hardships to the end, and following an honorable warrior's code. This is not something to be taken lightly as, just as Peorth says, it marks you as a Disciple of Odin, and acts as a marker for the Valkyries to automatically bring you to Valhalla as an Einherjar.
Usually, the Valknut is a somewhat simpler shape.
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valknut unicursal.jpg (Size: 6.94 KB / Downloads: 242)
But the one I used combines both into what you might call a Grand Valknut. While not seen in any of the historical records, if it ever had been it could be said to represent The Perfect Legendary Warrior - the one that only shows up every other century or so. Also fitting in that it has twelve corners, and the rune of Tyr, the Norse God of War and the ideal warrior, is the 12th rune in the Odinic system of 18 Holy Runes.