Mature Content Warning: Mostly for a bit of foul language here and there, and masculine nudity.

Author's Note:

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Chapter 23: Why not an A?

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The sound of an angry electric guitar pierced the air. A dark flare of power erupted outward, unleashed from the cupped of a man desperate to strike his fast moving opponent. The attack was a small thing, not the wrecking back of darkness and gravity that it could have been. The object of this grapefruit sized assault was Ashe Naile, a dark elf wizard and all-around hottie, who was determined to see just how strong Scott had become after she had witnessed him lifting boulders.

His speed and strength were surprising for a low-end human sorcerer and it disturbed the girl greatly that she might soon have to resort to actually counter attacking with her own magic. Over a century of combat experience clearly marked her as the superior warrior in terms of actual skill, but his physical capacity was simply beyond the human norm.

Most of the girls in his entourage could easily outperform him but from, what Ashe understood they had been designed and created to be living weapons. Such extreme power dynamics were to be expected.

'Time to see if he can take it as well as dish it out....’ thought the lightning empress as she prepped herself for her most basic of spells. Once the miniscule power she needed to unleash her onslaught was achieved she called out strongly.

Hellstorm of violence,

Give revenge to the forgotten

And annihilate my enemies!

Ghosts of War!

Scott had already begun moving away her as fast as he could, but it didn't matter. The magic missiles from this spell always hit their target. The only hope of defense was a strong shield spell or something similar to absorb the force.

The black armored man had neither and was lifted off the ground with brutal force as twenty electrical bullets slammed into him with a riot of thunder and fury.

"Master!" screamed Yoko as she started to run out to her fallen sensei, master, and current love interest. Only Aaron's hand stopped her. She looked up at him in confusion, but then turned back to watch the fight when the older man pointed toward the downed soldier.

He had hit the ground hard and did not get up for a good ten seconds, but he was getting up. His armor had tiny bore holes in it where the small bullets of light and electricity had pierced it. Despite the smoke wafting out and around them he seemed relatively unharmed.

"How..?" began Ashe with her eyes widening in shock. He had not used even a basic shield spell. The man should be hurt bad or at least incapacitated. The spell was deadly to anyone without magical protection usually. She had not used anywhere near her full power with it, but this fight should have been over.

Scott gasped for air as the world swam in his vision. Tears burned hot in his eyes but he was standing. That had sucked royally. However, as far as he knew anyway, his armor had somehow absorbed the impact well enough to allow him to survive.

He knew he was clearly outclassed, but he could not allow himself to simply give in. He was the weak link in the chain of command. He was the supposed master of the only group on earth with any real chance of fighting the Dark Empire. No doubt there were others stronger than them that could be trained, but that was beside the point. Currently they were the primary hope of the world, even if the world did not know that.

As the weak link he would have to become stronger and more capable or they would all die.

The problem was that he simply could not fight her. She blocked or dodged his every strike and her magic was so much stronger that even her weakest spell had nearly knocked him out in one shot.

If only he could access more of the supposed power that he had, things would be different. The two spells he could use were great, but he needed to understand himself better.

Scott growled as a trickle of blood slipped down his lips, he had bitten his tongue a little during the attack. He spun to face Ashe with his sword raised out to the side. She would probably drop him with her next attack, but he had to keep fighting. His friends deserved his best even if it was not good enough, even if his body felt like it was going to fall apart at any minute.

His resolve set to battle, the man cried out "Prepare for War!" The electric guitar solo was soft, subdued; he had not used the full spell. However, he blinked as something unusual happened. Normally when he used that spell by way of simply vocalizing its name he would get a flaming blade effect and nothing more.

This time, however, he could feel and see the tell-tale signs of the world beginning to slow around him. It was not to the extent that the world slowed down when the full spell was used, but there was a noticeable effect. It was strange, but he was not one to complain about beneficial things. Immediately, he lunged forward at Ashe in an attempt to penetrate her guard.

The elven sorceress gasped in surprise at the fierceness of the attack. She was barely able to counter it in time. However, she did move into a better position despite his upgraded status. She shifted to the side then unleashed a hard overhand assault that carved a thick gouge in his cerametal armor.

Scott whipped his sword back around with incredible force and speed. She managed to dodge, but despite missing his opponent's torso by a hair's breadth the force of the wind alone scored a slight cut along the tough material of her top.

The man's vision swirled again and began to fog over as he could feel the exertion taking its toll. The damage done to him by those magic missiles was greater than he had thought and the enhanced status that he existed within at the moment accelerated everything, even accrued damage to his body.

Either way, Ashe was forced to actually focus her attention on defending herself now. Scott had nowhere near the attack speed of Ninja Mistress Shara, but he was definitely more capable than she had thought he would be in this state.

He was still her inferior combat-wise, but now it was solely reflex and experience that was saving her from a rather painful end. His enhanced speed and power, combined with the flames of his blade, made up for a great deal of the gap in their battle skills.

Worse yet, he was not giving her time to cast a spell. The man was constantly in her face even though he did appear to be weakening.

Finally, one of his attacks went completely wide and she used her momentum to slam the pommel of her sword against the side of his helmet, rattling the man's brain even more. He fell roughly to the ground and struggled to get up. A dainty boot slamming down onto his chest with the force of a horse kicking a barn door proved this to be a foolish endeavor. He would not be allowed to continue fighting.

"It's over...” said Ashe with a tired, but smug, look. It was inevitable that she would win but it had taken a lot more out of her to do it than she would have thought possible. If his swordsmanship had not been so strictly utilitarian and basic, she might have been far harder pressed. Sadly for the prone man, he really was only a talented beginner.

'Without training in a true weapon or martial art the simplicity of his attacks would get him killed one day' thought the elf girl as she labored to catch her breath.

"No...” croaked out Scott as he tried to get up. It could not be over, he had to keep fighting.

Her foot pressed down ever so slightly increasing the pressure. She might not have his level of raw physical strength, but she had over a century of knowledge in combat and the magical arts. She constantly used her chi and elemental magic as a fuel to enhance her body's performance.

Arshes would never admit just how much of her reserve strength it took to hold him down so nonchalantly. "You lost... it's over.”

"Can't... give up... too weak... gotta... strong...err...” gasped the man in a soft whisper before succumbing to exhaustion and his internal injuries. With his enhanced healing he would probably be good to go this time tomorrow, but for now he was done fighting. This soldier had to quit the field in defeat.

Ashe Naile had the superb hearing of her race and easily understood what he meant. It confused her, but she understood. 'He really thinks he's weak?'

As the world fell dark to his eyes, a new one awakened to his inner vision. In the waking realm his friends and loved ones were moving his unconscious form into the house to get him cleaned up and allow him to rest. No healing magic would be used to speed his healing process. He seemed to become stronger at an accelerated pace if his body was forced to heal on its own and the injuries, though formidable, were not outside his ability to heal rapidly.

In this new world he found himself in, Scott wandered along a dusty barren wasteland, his only company was the suspiciously blue moon in the sky that looked like something you would see in a NASA photo.

He did not speak, there seemed to be no reason for words. All the man did was walk through cold, dead, landscape. He felt as though he were searching for something. What that something was he could not understand. Yet, he did search.

Time passed and he could see the ruins of houses the same color as the sand. They had been so covered over by the dust of time that only walking up to one would reveal it to be anything but a natural construct.

There was no air, yet somehow that did not matter. There was no light as he crossed into the dark side of the Lunar wasteland, and yet he saw as clearly as if it were noon.

He continued on in this vein wandering the fallen relics of the past civilization always drawn to a feeling in front of him. There was a pull, something important beyond the need for words that he must find.

Finally, after time uncountable, he felt the pull shift in direction. He turned. Around the bend of a rocky canyon he spied the utterly ransacked remnants of a crystalline castle. It was nearly transparent in its natural state but now it was pock marked and scarred by time, space debris, and the remnants of war.

Into the relic of bygone eras he strode as silent as a whisper. Dark hallways, like the cemetery catacombs of a forgotten fortress, did not echo with his footsteps. It was as though he was not really there.

As he walked along, the images of the ravaged structure occasionally flashed into recognition. Despite the darkness he saw clearly and felt as though he knew some of what he saw.

Still, he did not speak. There was ruined art on the walls; simple, beautiful, elegant, but lacking completion. Most of them were shattered or slashed apart.

Some part of him wondered why he saw no bodies. He felt as though there had been a tremendously destructive battle here, but there were no dead.

As he wandered the hallways he continued following the ever insistent tug and eventually found his way to a room with a set of twin double doors made of what appeared to be silver. Engraved on the front of each door was a crescent moon made of burnished gold set within a crystal backdrop. It shined brightly due to an inner radiance.

Scott lifted his hand and pressed lightly on this door. A squeal, a sound similar to a badly maintained hydraulic lift that had not been used in years, erupted from the doors and then they were open.

A sweet scent floated out as the man walked into the room and immediately noticed a strange white glow from two objects on a desk nearby. One was a locket that seemed all too familiar, and the other was a book.

Scott blinked as his fingers traced the locket and a thought filtered through his mind. 'This thing looks just like the one Cerene wears.' Though, hers looked like a cheap plastic knock-off compared to this thing.

He lifted it up and opened it to see what was inside. To his surprise a perky song that you might expect from a 1980’s glam metal cover band began to play. After a while, he realized that it was very similar to the Sailor Moon theme song. However, instead of the whimsical tones of that show, this locket played the same song with the kickass sound of an electric guitar.

He listened to it for a short time as tears began to escape from his eyes. The man had no idea why this was affecting him so much. The song was much cooler in this version, but why did he have this heart wrenching sensation inside himself as he listened to it.

The tears would not stop raining down across his cheeks. He tried to hold them back with his hands, but it was no good. Something was happening to him and he could not understand what that thing was.

Slowly, as time passed, the glow died around the locket and became a much softer type of illumination. He instinctively placed the locket around his neck. He wanted to return it, but he could not make himself part with the thing. It felt wrong not to keep it.

He turned to the book and traced the little symbols on the front. 'High Selenite....’ spoke a whispered thought inside his mind. It looked like some bizarre cross between Japanese and English to his strangely clear sighted eyes.

He thumbed the book open, but found he could not choose a specific page as the book quickly began flipping them of its own accord. The glow around it died back, while the text on several passages began to shine brightly.

He came again tonight, I can't believe it! He says he loves me, but I don't know. He's a prince and I’m a princess... so it could totally work!

Ooh, but he's just soo... Oh sweet grandmother Selene! He's soooo... dreamy! Those muscles... that HAIR... Oh, those eyes when he looks at me... and when he calls my name... I feel like I’m melting inside!

Scott blushed a little at that, though he knew not why. Still, he was curious so he read another glowing passage on the next page.

says he's gonna visit at the next ball, there's been some unrest on earth and he had to put his tour on hold to settle the insurrection... I miss him so much... my handsome prince!

'Put his tour on hold?' thought the man as the pages flipped another yet another passage began to glow.

My Aldemione's been hurt! He took a black mana infused arrow through the shoulder. That insurrection is getting bad, he says. My mother won't listen to me when I plead with her to send aid to Earth for his people. She thinks they are uncultured barbarians... oh please be ok my prince!

Scott frowned in confusion as he felt a piece of himself flip flop within him. That passage stirred something strange inside, but he read on.

His father and mother have been killed! He's all alone now... That shamaness Pheare is running around proclaiming herself the Queen of Earth! My Aldemione is all alone down there... fighting all alone...

He noted that this page seemed stiffer as though the material it was constructed of had gotten wet somehow and tightened. Had she been crying?

I haven't heard from my prince in two weeks... all I have left is my locket and the poster on the wall... oh my Aldemione, please be alright...

Scott blinked as silent tears once again tracked down his cheeks unbidden. He did not know why this bugged him so much, but he was about to find out.

The man felt, as much as saw, the glowing light shining behind him now that a new bit of trivia had been uncovered. He turned toward it and blinked stupidly for a second as several things became appallingly clear.

There was a man on that poster who looked strangely similar to him. If you changed the hair into a raven black heavy metal mop-style hair from the 1980's, covered him in leather pseudo-armor, and gave him a badass guitar shaped like an axe he would be the virtual twin of the man on the poster.

The resemblance was uncanny, but there were minor differences beyond the cosmetic. The man seemed like he would be a little taller, and was definitely less bulky than Scott.

He took in the sight of what he would look like if he ever decided to become a supremely kickass rock star for a good long while. It was both interesting and disturbing at the same time. Eventually, noticed what was written at the bottom.

There was a signature that looked a great deal like his chicken scratch hand writing...it seemed to waiver between English and High Selenite for some reason.

To the freakiest little sex puppet I know... Love ya Moon Bunny! ... N

"What the hell?" said Scott aloud finally, breaking the millennia old silence in this place. His voice echoed accusingly off the walls of the invaded chamber. This was all too freaking weird.

"N...” he whispered softly as his fingers traced the writing. “Short for Aldemione, maybe? Why not use an A though..." he asked gently aloud. That really did not make sense.

Scott felt like he had found some fundamental piece of a large and forgotten puzzle, yet he knew not where to even begin placing the pieces together. All he could think at that moment was... 'Why not an A?'

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"He's awake!" exclaimed Yoko from the room. The girls, upon hearing that, raced inside to see if it was true. He had been unconscious for two days and they had feared the worst.

Even Reina came in to see what was going on. Her life had not been easy these last two days. She could feel herself slipping away a little more by the minute. Already she was forgetting simple things and she would act strangely in the presence of others. Just this morning she had hissed and slapped at Nina. The blond Demi-Human's hand was sitting too close to her plate.

Scott blinked in exhaustion then looked at the girls. A smile crossed his features, their concern was touching. 'These crazy chicks always worry about me so much....’

He looked at them each in turn and smiled in a way that made them feel especially loved, he even included Reina in that despite her misgivings. She returned his smile with one of her own, but he could sense strangeness behind her eyes.

There was a gleam, a darker edge than normal. It was both intense and exciting at the same time.

"I'm so glad you're ok master!" exclaimed Yoko excitedly as she leaned forward and hugged him tightly. She blinked in confusion and pulled her head up as she felt a strange metallic lump against his supposedly naked chest.

"What's this?" she asked curiously as she pulled on a silver chain she saw around his neck and revealed a star shaped locket.

The man's eyes widened comically as the same locket he had listened too in his dream state appeared in front of his real life vision.

Cerene gasped loudly and pulled her own out to show it off. "It's just like mine! Where did you get it? I looked everywhere to find one like that and could only find this cheap thing."

"Huh, I thought it had been in your family longer than anyone could remember?" he asked her curiously.

Cerene blinked, "No... No... The stone inside has... but the locket is something that I bought at a flea market stall... it reminded me of this locket that I had seen in a dream when I was a kid.."

Scott was about to question her some more when Aaron came rushing into the room. "We seem to have found ourselves a spot of trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" asked Makina as she slapped her right fist into her left palm. She hoped it would be a fight. The girl needed to blow off some steam after being so worried for the last two days.

Aaron shook his head, "There's a group of people outside the shrine demanding to have their family members returned to them. Something about a bus?"

"There is no bus!" snapped Reina in annoyance.

The rest of the group blinked then stared over at her. The Catgirl rrowled once then put her hand over her mouth. She took a deep, embarrassed, breath and her tail lashed in agitation before she clarified the situation. "They've been coming around for like two weeks claiming people are getting on the temple bus and never coming home. We don't have a bus!"

"Yet, people are missing?" asked Aaron curiously.

Reina frowned and then shrugged, "I guess so. The city hasn't sent any police up here, and we did send in reports along with everyone else. We're outside of everyone's jurisdiction so they aren't sure who to send to check into it."

"How can you be outside their jurisdiction?" asked Scott carefully. He knew some of the legalities, but wasn't this shrine in the actual city limits? They could send someone!

"No, not really. I mean, we are associated with Oldtowne, but we aren't part of any town officially. The central government has to send someone, and I don't even know how to contact them." admitted Reina.

"Well, gang. It looks like we have a mystery on our hands...” replied with man with a half snort, before giggling like a moron. He was suddenly feeling a little light-headed.

"Uh... why is that funny master?" asked Cerene, her eyes still occasionally glancing down at the locket around his neck.

"Ri ron't row raggy. Ehehehehhe"

The group stared at him like he had lost his mind.

Scott muttered sadly. “No one gets me.”

Sometimes it sucked that no one here really understood him, even those closest to him. Apparently, they did not know of the legendary exploits of Scooby Doo.

"Uh, yes. Anyway... We should look into this since no one else from the league seems concerned." stated Aaron before taking another glance at Scott.

Scott nodded and started to roll out of bed, his locket swinging free in a manner similar to another hanging object belonging to him... He sighed softly then looked up, "How come I always wake up naked?"

Several flushes and one naughty smirk came into his field of vision. He just shook his head. What did he do to deserve this kind of stuff in his life? He'd really like to know... maybe he should do it more often.

Cerene spoke up then as something occurred to her, "Hey, wait what do you mean there's no shrine bus?"

Reina growled throatily at her and shook her head, "Geeze spaghetti brain... didn't I just get done explaining this!"

"Don't call me spaghetti brain! You... You... Horny Cat! There is too, a bus. I saw it yesterday!" snapped the angel in a most non-angelic fashion.

Reina stared at her stupidly for a moment then said, "What kind of medication are you on, anyway?"

"I saw it!" she exclaimed as her wings flapped into existence and outward in agitation.

"I believe you." said Scott softly.

Reina frowned at him as though it were some kind of betrayal. Scott shook his head at her, though, and said "Maybe the bus' driver just doesn't want you to see it. If they're kidnapping people nearby then they probably don't want anyone knowing for certain."

The Catgirl was going to say something angry in reply but the cold hard truth of that settled into her somewhat fuzzy brain. It did make a lot of sense.

"So... where did you see this bus?" asked Scott casually as he went about putting on his under armor padding. It was similar to the kind of material that he would have worn back on his own world when getting ready to wear his IBA. It was moisture wicking, soft, and it did not scratch. It was a must with armor or you ended up chaffing with far more armor marks that you normally would. Of course, his padding back home was just a shirt.

"I was doing those aerial reconnaissance exercises you instructed me to do, and saw one about... I dunno... a quarter mile up the road? It was sitting off to the side, even had a sign out front with the shrine's name on it and a departure schedule." she informed them.

"You must have gotten pretty close to see all that...” said Yoko curiously. Who knows maybe the bus people were onto them already.

"Not really... I mean I was just flying around above the shrine... I have really good eyesight now...” she said with a blush.

"I'll say! If you can see that much from a quarter mile away!" exclaimed Makina in surprise.

"Um...” began Cerene shyly, she did not want to admit that she could actually see farther than that. Her senses were not that far off from being as good as any bird of prey from the pre-war days.

"So, whadda we do?" asked Apollo after hopping up onto a nearby cabinet.

"We catch a ride." said Scott casually.

The others turned toward him curiously. When he spoke like that he usually had a plan. Hopefully, this one had more to it than catching a ride.

"This is what we'll do...” he began, they all listened curiously.

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