Jiraiya huffed. "Okay, I gotta give you guys a lot of credit. You managed to push me to actually be serious, and you almost got me," he said, looking at the two who were even now panting and trying to regain their breath.
"How are you still standing?! What are you even made of?" the wolf woman shouted, as she stood straight for a moment and took a deep breath before dropping back into the same stance she'd been using since the beginning of the fight.
"Heh. I'm made of pure awesome and distilled badass, girly," Jiraiya commented. "I've got just as much stamina in bed, want me to show you?"
"Ugh, I'm glad it's not Fate fighting you," Arf replied.
"Oh, come on, I'm a Super Pervert, not a goddamn pedophile. She ain't got no tits," Jiraiya said, stomping his foot before turning around and grinning cheekily up at Chrono. "And that's just no good, am I right kid?"
"How did you—" Chrono asked, shocked that Jiraiya had noticed.
"Kid, I'm a goddamn ninja," Jiraiya said.
"I don't even know what a ninja is, but I wanna be one now," Arf said.
"Maybe I can teach you after this mess is done and over with?" Jiraiya offered.
"You'll have to do something for your community service to pay off the assault charges," Chrono noted. "Teaching Strike Arts and Ninja Arts would go a long way."
"Glad to see the law enforcement can be reasonable. Pity I can't let you just win here. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and leaving little girls to die? Well, that's just mean," Jiraiya said.
"The Book of Darkness is dangerous," Chrono said. The bindings he'd prepared were useless, so he dispelled them and instead began to prepare another volley of stinger blades. Arf ought to pick up on his intentions.
"You think I don't know that, kid? I was there when it was used," Jiraiya said. "You can bet I'm glad it's my lovely and kind goddaughter who wound up with it."
"Then why are you preventing us from stopping it!? It will destroy your village, and the rest of this world, if it's completed!"
"We're not trying to complete it," Jiraiya said. "We just want to save Naruko's life."
"W-What?" Chrono asked, stumbling back a bit. "But…"
"Let's just talk for a moment, okay?" Jiraiya said.
"That's right, young'un, listen to Jiraiya-chan, he has good advice," one of the toad-like things on his shoulders commented.
"Shucks, ma, you're gonna make me blush," Jiraiya said.
"If the fight's over, Jiraiya-chan, let's dismiss our fusion. I'm tired already," the male sounding toad noted.
***
"There..!"
Nanoha had slipped. Her guard was down for just a second.
Graf Eisen moved swiftly and impacted the base of the head of her staff, separating head from shaft and parting Nanoha from the actual computer that was the jewel seemingly decorating it. Nanoha recoiled, but didn't have time for much else as Vita swung again. Graf Eisen impacted the center of her chest and destroyed her barrier jacket.
Nanoha crashed to the ground, most likely unconscious, while Vita panted like a dog in summer, desperate to get some much needed air into her burning lungs.
With a victorious grin, Vita tried to turn around and leave, only to fall on her knee, mid-turn. It was… an odd position to take in mid-air. "What the…"
It seemed that she'd taken far more damage than she'd thought, as she could hardly remain conscious now that the adrenaline began to fade.
"What a horribly strong little girl," Vita mused. "…I got wounded pretty badly. I'm gonna get punished… Dammit."
***
Signum knew her opponent was a worthy match, and that she would grow to be a magnificent fighter, possibly beyond her own level. She had the talent, and her physical attributes were prodigious, to say the least, and that wasn't speaking of her innate power and her ability to control it.
But for the moment, at the very least, Signum was still superior in two areas, skill and experience, that made a decisive difference, allowing Signum to defeat a faster opponent.
It was her experience that allowed Signum to notice that despite its nature as a melee weapon, her enemy's device was not as sturdy as it should be for that role. And it was her skill that allowed Signum to capitalize on that fact, taking a moment of distraction on the blond's part to strike at the comparatively fragile jewely that was the main core of her enemy's device.
An attack with pin point accuracy that would've been impossible to execute well for anyone lesser than her cut through the air and hit the jewel, cracking it.
Both knew, at that very moment, that the fight was pretty much over now that Fate couldn't use her device without risking its integrity permanently.
It wasn't surprising that Signum knocked Fate out with the flat of her blade shortly afterwards. Some would've thought it was surprising for her to let her live, but…
The TSAB was already annoying enough. They didn't need to make themselves enemies of the entire machine by killing off their operatives.
***
Meanwhile, over at Konoha hospital, Sarutobi Hiruzen, also known as the Third Hokage, happened to visit his granddaughter in all but name. It was clear the Knights were restless, however, which prompted him to ask what was wrong.
"They haven't returned, and we haven't been able to return them, either," Zafira said, crossing his arms and looking almost ready to bolt.
Shamal nodded. "I've tried to extract them twice. They're probably in trouble. Zafira… you should go," she stated.
"I will assign a Genin Team to assist and protect those two," Sarutobi said. "I've been meaning to find an excuse to promote them as is. If things go too far south, I'll still be around," he added, looking pointedly at Shamal, even as he remained seated in vigil over Naruko's body. "ANBU," he called, and a dark shadow slithered into the room.
"Understood," Zafira said. "I'll be going now."
***
"Shit, and I thought getting the Space Police involved made it a huge mess already… Of course HIS kid had to be the one who would get in such a fix," Tsunade said. "But… if things are as you say, then what is your plan to prevent the problem from escalating beyond our ability to control it?"
"Yes. I'm curious, as well," Jiraiya said.
Shizune was silent, but her own curiosity was clear.
Chrono cleared his throat. "There is no way to save everyone. Not that we know of, at least. Once the Book has been tied to a host, the only way to sever the connection is Death. Even the book's destruction would not suffice. It will merely regenerate time and time again, and seek its host once more. I'm afraid that the host… is a lost cause."
"W-What!?" Jiraiya nearly had his eyes bulge out of his skull. "You DO want to kill Naruko, then!" he said, his tone angry.
"No. I don't. If I knew of a way to save her, I'd use it in a heartbeat, but no matter what we do, the host is doomed the moment the link is formed," Chrono said.
"We don't want to use this method, but it's the only one we have available to preven the destruction of this and countless other worlds," Arf added.
"Even so… We don't plan on killing her. She will be sealed, frozen eternally. If we discover a way to save her, unsealing her would be a matter of time and resources. It would be achievable. We will prevent the destruction of this world, and eventually save her, as well," Chrono said. "I won't let the Book of Darkness end any more lives… I swear it!"
Jiraiya whistled. "You got a chip on your shoulder there, kiddo," Jiraiya said. "But… I respect you. I can detect no hatred on you. It's all determination and resolve. I don't think I could be as clear headed in your case," Jiraiya admitted.
"I've had a lot of time to come to terms with it," Chrono admitted, "and great people to help me through my grief and anger. I can't hate the Book's master for something outside of their control, and the book itself is an automaton, it performs the task it was programmed for and nothing else," Chrono added.
"Wish I had a head as level as yours when I was fourteen. Maybe then I wouldn't have wound up chasing after a flatboard who didn't give me the time of the day," Jiraiya said.
"Clocks didn't even exist back then, and you only started chasing me after I developed, you jerk," Tsunade countered, a mild blush coloring her cheeks, clear anger in her face. It might've been the remaining alcohol in her system, though. "Anyway, you've only considered your methods, kid. We've got our own brand of problem solving around here."
"That is true. However, I've been studying how to resolve this as bloodlessly as possible for years, and I've found nothing. If you have insight to offer, I won't deny you, but don't think that I haven't exhausted as many avenues of research as I can," Chrono said.
"We've got sealing arts of our own, and this dumbass here's a mast—"
"CHRONO, EMERGENCY, EVACUATE RIGHT NOW!" Amy's voice blared through Chrono's mind, panic more than clear.
Chrono grabbed his head, trying to stem the pain from the headache that was induced by Amy's scream. "Uhm, Space Police-kun, are you okay?" Shizune asked. She knew Tsunade being drunk would be in no state to treat a headache, but at least she could do something to help.
"Something terrible has happened, or is about to happen, we have to leave RIGHT NOW," Chrono stated. "Arf, prepare extraction—"
A thunderclap burst both of his eardrums, a flash blinded him and an incredibly powerful shockwave threw him across the street and blasted him against concrete, all before he could finish that sentence. The barrier crashed and the world returned to normal.
Standing atop a tall rooftop, Zafira snapped the Book of Darkness shut. Sacrificing the pages he'd utilized was a shame, but he saw no way to break the barrier without internal aid.