(2025 Edit) Technomancer: A Magical Girl's Sidekick [Post-Apocalyptic][Mecha][Magical Girls]

It felt like we had been running forever, but in reality, it was probably only a few minutes.

Midori and I ran down an empty road, surrounded by the sounds of sirens and crackling of fire. I was carrying the unconscious Clementine, while Midori was carrying the katana.

"Five bogeys, up ahead on the right. Take a left down this alley!" Rai-chan chimed in my mind.

Midori nodded. We turned and took the left.

I heard the screeching of a car's tires as it peeled away.

We were running through the abandoned streets of a city that was burning and being torn apart. The chaos beasts and zombies were roaming the streets, devouring and destroying everything in their path.

Two Magical Girls jumped between the buildings overhead, their bodies covered in bright pink and purple lights.

Midori looked up and saw the girls as well. She shook her head and continued running.

"How did this happen?" I asked. "What happened to the negentropy barriers?"

"It's technically need-to-know in formation, but remember the night we met? When we were kidnapped and held hostage by the group from the Mana Exchange?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... the Mana Exchange wasn't the only site hit."

Midori glanced around and looked down at me.

"Several depots were robbed, including the main depositories for the Chaos Cores collected from missions near New York across the portal. It didn't seem that big where we were, but it's caused a major regional shortage for the 'batteries' so to speak that keep magitech powered and running. Including the ones for the negentropy generators."

I stopped dead in my tracks, looking at Midori.

"You've gotta be joking. There's no way..."

"Unfortunately I'm not." Midori shook her head and looked around, her brow furrowed. "What's more, the Chaos Event in Lenapehoking Territory knocked out a major keystone negentropy generator. Of course there are redundancies, but many less important nodes in the grid couldn't source the extra chaos cores needed to keep them running."

I shook my head and started walking again. We continued down the empty streets.

"So it's basically like a giant circuit breaker blowing, except with zombie or three," I murmured.

Midori chuckled darkly. "Yeah."

"Lovely."

We reached an intersection, and Midori looked down at a phone. I heard a distant rumbling of something and then saw the sky light up with a burst of red light. A large building in the distance collapsed, and a large, snake-like creature rose up from the debris.

"Holy fuck," I breathed, watching as the creature slithered out of the building. "How many more of these things do we have to worry about?!"

"Too many," Midori growled.

The sound of jet engines overhead filled the sky. I looked up and saw two bulky aircrafts flying overhead, opening up their bays to reveal two neat rows of chrome mechs on each. I counted twelve in total, and they leaped out of the cargo holds and flew downwards, jets on their backs flaring as they landed in the street, their weapons primed and aimed.

"Aeolus-class mechs," Midori said, grinning as her eyes lit up with hope.

"I'm quite familiar with them," I muttered. I had to stifle a smile.

I'd been safe from harm accessing one through a Draupnir unit, but the feeling of speeding down the broken highways of Lenapehoking Territory in the middle of a Chaos Event was unforgettable.

And then there was the one I'd hijacked to save my dad and his crew.

Midori gave me a questioning look.

I shrugged. "Let's just say I've had a few weird run-ins with them. Don't worry, I'll tell you about it later."

We kept running down the empty street, until we reached another intersection and Midori looked at her phone again.

"We need to turn right, then take the next left, then a sharp right," she said.

We turned right, and the air around us grew cold and heavy.

I looked around and saw the sky light up again with a burst of light. This time, the source was closer to the ground, and the sound of a loud explosion shook the streets.

A group of six prisoners wearing bright orange jumpsuits stumbled out of an alleyway, shouting bloody murder. They were all women.

The one closest to us was wearing a red bandana around her neck, and had bright red hair with long bangs, with a shaved undercut and side-buzz. Another one had a long, black ponytail and dark skin, with a single piercing in her eyebrow, while another one had blonde, curly hair tied up in a tight bun.

One woman, however, caught my eye.

A woman in her twenties with long bright green hair, emerald eyes, a sharp jawline and strong nose. Her expression was twisted into a scowl, and she was immediately followed by a woman with neck-length red hair and matching red eyes. The red-eyed girl looked pensive, but I saw that the two were carrying makeshift weapons, from pieces of rebar to broken glass and what looked like a metal pipe.

"A-Atsuki. Where are we going to go?"

Atsuki turned around and looked at the other woman. Her face softened, and she sighed.

"Who the fuck knows Kumi. Let's just get as far from the prison as we can," she murmured.

The other woman nodded, and the group of prisoners ran down the street horizontally across our path, turning right.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Small world..." I murmured to myself, shaking my head. Midori gave me a confused look.

"What's that?" Midori asked.

I looked back to where the group had disappeared. Little Red Riding Hood had apprehended the pair outside the Evergreen Foundation when it blew up not too long ago.

I didn't know if it was a good or bad omen.

I shrugged. "Nothing."

I adjusted Clementine's unconscious body on my shoulder and kept running, trying not to focus on the fact that a little girl was currently slumbering in my arms after having watched her family turn into monsters and die.

"Is the city going to be okay?" I asked, looking up at the sky and seeing the orange and red lights. "And how far are these shelters you're talking about?"

"Not far. Maybe twelve blocks? We'll be safe there."

"Alright."

I felt something wet against my chest, and looked down to see that Clementine was crying, but still asleep.

"Ikki, you have to keep moving."

"I know."

I looked down at the little girl, who was crying in her sleep, and then looked back at the burning city around us. The night was still young, and the air was still warm, even with the cold and heavy atmosphere.

We turned right again, and the streets were empty. No cars on the roads, no people walking the sidewalks.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Suspicious, if you ask me," Midori murmured.

I couldn't help but agree with her. The streets were completely empty. No cars on the roads, no people walking the sidewalks. The only signs of life since we'd left the hotel and mall complex had been a handful of warriors fighting off the monsters and the escaped convicts.

I felt the little girl stir, and her eyes fluttered open. I looked down at her, and she stared back up at me with a dazed, unfocused look.

"Hey Clementine," I said, hoping to comfort her a bit.

"Not... a dream?" she asked. She sounded confused, scared, and sad.

She looked up at me and Midori, and her eyes widened.

"No... no..."

She started crying and thrashing in my arms, trying to get away.

"Clem-" Midori tried to calm her down, but Clementine just cried harder.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

I didn't know what to do. The reality of what'd happened must've crashed down on her.

"Let me go!" she screamed, and then, "Mama! Papa! Grandma! Grandpa!"

"Clem-"

She kicked her legs, and one of her kicks hit my stomach, and I grunted in pain. I grit my teeth and tried to keep my grip, but Clementine kept screaming and kicking.

"DROP THE GIRL!" a loud, commanding voice bellowed, and suddenly I was blinded by a flashlight.

I squinted, and a man stepped forward. He was wearing a gray hooded cloak and pointing a black handgun at me. His hood was down, and I couldn't see his face through the blinding light.

He had a scruffy, middle-aged appearance. He looked tired, but he had a hard edge to his voice. He had a gruff British accent.

"Let her go!" he screamed.

"Wait, you don't understand!" Midori yelled, holding out her hand. "That's not-"

"Hands up!" the man yelled at her, his gun pointed at her. "Let go of the girl! Don't you dare take another step!"

Clementine continued to scream and thrash in my arms.

"Please! You don't understand! Just put the gun down and-"

I heard the sound of the gun cocking.

"Put. Her. Down!"

I slowly released my grip, squinting through the flashlight. Clementine fell to the ground with a thud, and she scrambled to get up.

She stumbled, her legs shaky, and fell again. She kept crawling and crying, and the man in the hooded cloak slowly walked towards us.

He shook his head and stood up, revealing a bald head, a strong jawline, and a pair of blue eyes that were filled with a sharp intensity.

"Bishop?" I blurted out. "Is that you?"

"...Ikazuchi?" he asked, his eyes wide. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I-"

I didn't have a chance to finish my sentence. Bishop's eyes narrowed, and the flashlight moved to Midori, who was already standing between us with her sword drawn. The two of them stared each each other down for a brief intense moment, Midori's sword aimed millimeters away from his chest as he reflexively moved his gun to his hip.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, raising his hands placatingly in the air. "Bloody hell, I'm sorry. Can't be too careful during a Chaos Event, but..."

Midori was silent as she sheathed her sword.

Bishop shook his head, lowering the flashlight and putting his gun back into his holster. "What are you two doing with this girl? Where did she come from?"

"Her family was..." Midori murmured, looking away.

"Oh." Bishop's eyes widened. "Oh..."

He looked at me and Midori, his eyes filled with sadness. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

I shook my head. "More importantly... what happened to Emily? We saw you with her earlier today, right?"

His face darkened. "I... I lost her when that damned dragon broke loose. The crowd panicked. Separated me and Emily. I've been looking for her, but..."

Bishop let out a sigh and ran his hand over his bald head.

Midori narrowed her eyes, staring at his gun holster. "Those are illegal in Shoreline City."

He glanced at her sword, smiled wryly, then shrugged.

"I've made worse choices," Bishop said. "A lot worse. And I'm not afraid to make a few more if it keeps me and mine safe."

"But that doesn't explain why you have a gun in the first place," Midori said. "And I'm not just talking about it being illegal. Where'd you get that thing?"

He chuckled, "Lass, I've lived here long enough to know that there are ways around such rules. I had to get a weapon, one way or another. I was in the SAS for years and served in the Fourth Chaos War. I know how to handle myself, but I wasn't gonna rely on luck to protect me and Emily."

He parted his cloak, revealing a sawed-off shotgun, a small backpack slung across his back, and belt lined with grenades and extra magazines. He had some kind of ceramic armguards as well along with a visible tactical vest.

"You're crazy," Midori said, shaking her head. She looked at Bishop, her eyes hard. "You're a civilian. Not a Magical Girl or a warrior. And you're running around with a small armory. In a city where guns are completely illegal."

"As I've said, lass. I've made worse choices." Bishop shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a plan for this."

He coughed.

"Like I said, I've lived here long enough to know that the government isn't gonna do shit for me and my own when things go south, so I've got to take matters into my own hands." He looked at me. "I'm glad to see you're alive and well..."

He sighed, and then looked at Midori.

"It may be a bit much to ask after pulling a gun on ya, but... I need to find my Emily. Will you two help me?"

Midori bit her lip. "I would but..."

Bishop's eyes darted to the little girl, who was still crying and shaking against an alley wall.

"I understand," Bishop said. He knelt down next to Clementine and put his hand on her shoulder.

He looked down at the little girl, who was sitting on the ground, sobbing.

"Come on, little one," he said softly, kneeling beside her. "We're going to a shelter. It's not safe out here. You can cry there if you want to, but right now we need to move."

Clementine didn't respond.

Bishop looked up at Midori and I. "Apologies again for the misjudgment earlier."

I nodded.

"I'll carry her," Bishop said.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I can tell you can fight, as can Midori. It should be me."

Bishop looked at me. "No. I'll do it. Don't want to slow you down the way you are. Besides, you look like shit. What the hell happened to you?"

I looked down at my blood-stained clothes, and at the dried blood that was still on my chest. I remembered the feeling of realizing I'd been sliced open, of the blood pouring out of me and symptoms of chaos corruption starting, and my heart pounded. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. The wounds had already half-closed, and last I checked I didn't have some kind of healing factor or accelerated regeneration. That was a question for later, but for now...

"I'll be fine. I've carried her all this way and a little more won't hurt."

Bishop looked at me, then looked at Midori.

He sighed and nodded.

"Alright then."