Sorry for the wait; distracting things happened. At long last, Teana returns home… and trouble isn't far behind her. Let's do this.

DISCLAIMERS:

Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, Midchilda, nearly all other characters here) – 7Arcs

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion, the "Keiichi Crew") – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō, Rin, Asa & Ama, Sia & Nerine, Primula) – Navel and Asread

Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries

StarCraft (multiple mentions of characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

Naruto (jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

Mahō Sensei Negima (spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu

PLEASE READ & REVIEW

-CHARACTER DATA-

Character Heights and (for the good guys) Elemental Affinities

Teana Uchiha-Lanstar: 5'6" (1.67m); Fire and Wind

Shion the Nameless: 5'7" (1.7m); Fire and Void

Kaede Fuyō: 5'3.7" (1.62m); Earth, Fire, and Lightning

Marie Swanson: 5'3" (1.6m); Fire

Mai Kitagawa: 5'3" (1.6m); Lightning and Water

Ahsoka Tano: 5'3.4" (1.61m) excluding montrals; Lightning

Sarah Swanson: 5'11" (1.77m); Wind

Nanoha Takamachi: 5'8" (1.73m) (4'8" when she was 9); Fire, Earth, and Light

Fate Testarossa-Harlaown: 5'10" (1.75m) (4'10" when she was 9); Lightning, Fire, and Darkness

Yūno Scrya: 5'9.5" (4'9" when he was 9); Wind

Arf (adult human form): 6' (1.8m); Earth

Vita 'Yagami': 4'5" (1.35m); Fire

Signum 'Yagami': 5'9" (1.75m); Fire

Shamal 'Yagami': 5'8" (1.73m); Wind

Zafira (adult human form): 6'4" (1.93m); Lightning

Hayate Yagami: 5'4" (1.6m) (4'9" when she was 9); Wind, Water, and Ice

Subaru Nakajima: 5'4" (1.62m); Earth

Ginga Nakajima: 5'7" (1.69m); Water

Erio Mondial: 4' 7.5" (1.41m); Lightning

Caro Lu-Rushe: 4'5" (1.34m); Fire

Vivio: 3'5" (1.04m); Wind

Lutecia: 4'6" (1.37m)

Jail Scaglietti: 6'2" (1.85m)

Cinque: 4'9" (1.44m)

Sein: 5'6" (1.67m)

Otto: 5'2" (1.57m)

Nove: 5'4" (1.62m)

Dieci: 5' (1.52m)

Wendi: 5'5" (1.65m)

Deed: 5'7" (1.7m)

Sette: 5'10" (1.78m)

Uno: 6'0.4" (1.84m)

Due: 5'6" (1.66m)

Tre: 6' 2.5" (1.89m)

Quattro: 5'4" (1.63m)

Zest-2: 6'2" (1.84m)

Rika Furude: 4'5" (1.35m); Earth, Wind

Keiichi Maebara: 5'8.5" (1.74m); Lightning

Reina "Rena" Ryūgū: 5'4" (1.62m); Wind

Mion Sonozaki: 5'6.5" (1.68m); Water

Satoko Hōjō: 4'8" (1.42m); Lightning, Wind

Satoshi Hōjō: 5'7" (1.71m); Water

Hanyū: 4'11.5" (1.51m); Earth, Wind, Fire, Dust

Akane Sonozaki: 5'6.5" (1.69m); Fire, Water

Rin Tsuchimi: 5'9.8" (1.775m); Earth

Asa Shigure: 5'4.2" (1.63m); Wind

Ama Shigure: 5'3.5" (1.613m); Wind, Fire

Lisianthus "Sia" Eustoma: 5'3" (1.6m); Fire

Nerine Forbessi: 5'0.5" (1.53m); Water

Primula: 4'11.4" (1.51m); Lightning

Erika Swanson: 4'7.5" (1.41m); Water

Timothy Randall: 4'10" (1.48m); Lightning

Veronica Swanson: 5'9" (1.75m); Fire, Earth

Kizuna Kawamura: 4'8" (1.42m); Fire, Earth, Lava

-BOOK 9 START-

It had been three months since the Incident; three months since Teana's breakdown and resulting departure from Bureau space to realms far, far outside TSAB jurisdiction. Three months since the Forwards lost their tactician, Nanoha lost her prized student, and Subaru lost the girl she loved. Nanoha simply could not forgive herself; her decision to simply trust that the Forwards would follow her teaching plan and trust that she knew what she was doing, along with her decision not to tell exactly why she went the "slow and steady" route, had backfired on her horribly. It was, in her eyes, her fault for not telling Teana everything, for not helping the girl more, for not noticing the girl's growing disillusionment and dwindling self-confidence.

And Nanoha wasn't the only one blaming Nanoha for the situation. Subaru's respect and admiration for Nanoha had flown out the window due to the incident with Teana. So the day after Teana's exodus, Nanoha had acquiesced to the Forwards being shown the data on her near-death experience years ago, and the reasons why she trained them the way she did. It hadn't worked. Subaru had angrily called her out on not coming out with it sooner; "If you hadn't been too embarrassed by your failure to explain yourself, Tia might still be here!"

Nanoha had almost resigned from her post of teaching the Forwards out of disgrace and guilt; Hayate, Fate, and Signum had only barely managed to stop her by convincing her that if she quit, the kids would likely end up tutored by someone with less teaching skill and experience than she, and would suffer in the long run for it. Thus, she still taught them to this day, but only a shred of her former enthusiasm and cheer in teaching them remained; sure, she still stuck to the curriculum she'd laid out, but it was without any of the spirit she used to put into it. Rumor had it that the three remaining Forwards had started extra training on the side, sometimes requesting other RF6 instructors for assistance and others doing it on their own.

Subaru's attitude toward her had turned coolly professional, referring to her as Takamachi-san and being coldly neutral with an occasional suppressed angry scowl when interacting with her, which hurt Nanoha's heart almost as much as Teana's outburst had. …Fate had, probably wisely, chosen not to tell Nanoha about finding torn pictures of her in the garbage outside Subaru & Teana's dorm room a few days after the Incident, or about hearing Subaru crying herself to sleep the night of the event. The blue-haired girl's heart had been broken by losing Teana, and she held Nanoha responsible for it all… as did Nanoha herself.

Around a month ago, though, Nanoha had received a new little bright spot in her life to help chase away the dark clouds: Vivio. The sweet little girl whom Erio & Caro had rescued from Scaglietti's forces had quickly bonded to Nanoha and Fate. Although reluctant at first, Nanoha had come to care for the little child in return. Just yesterday, she & Fate had gotten the girl to call them her "mamas".

Right now, Nanoha sat atop the roof of Riot Force 6's headquarters, sadly staring out at the capital city of Cranagan, her feet dangling over the edge.

"It is beautiful, isn't it, Takamachi-sama?"

Nanoha startled, nearly falling over the edge before she caught herself. She looked to her left, and saw a short figure – around 4'10" – sitting beside her, clad in an identity-concealing black cloak and hood, her hands and feet covered by black gloves and boots. The figure looks at Nanoha, a thin smile visible beneath her hood.

"The wonders that technology and magic can achieve by working together…" the mysterious girl said. "Truly awe-inspiring, isn't it?"

"Y-Yeah…" Nanoha replied. "Who are you? And what's with the –sama honorific?"

"I can't tell you who I am, but… let's just say that I hold respect for you because you saved the life of a person who is very dear to me… even if that person does not even know that I exist."

"…You're not… from this world, are you?"

The girl smiled beneath her hood. "Rather perceptive of you. That is correct; I am a traveler from another realm – a planes-walker, if you will. And I have come to do two things. The first is to inform you that Teana Lanstar is still alive and well."

Nanoha's eyes widened. "H-How do you know that?"

"Because I recently fought alongside her against a mutual foe. She's become quite the swordsman, good enough to teach others. Though I hear she is an equally-skilled sniper as well."

She pulled from her robes a mysterious-looking dark blue box.

"The other reason I came is to give you this. It contains detailed audio/video recordings of the happenings in various other realms. I assume you are aware of the Scry Recording Spell?"

"That's how I showed my students the incident where I nearly died" Nanoha replied.

"So you know, then, now this works. I should mention, though, one extra addition to this device: it's enchanted with a temporal distortion spell, so you'll be able to view the entire, several days' worth of footage while only a handful of hours pass outside the distortion field, and the field has been fine-tuned so your bodies will think that only said hours have passed; you'll not need to worry about food or sleep so long as you are all within the field. Furthermore, it has been enchanted so that viewers will be able to sense the energies wielded in the footage. Gather your students, your comrades – show them all it has to offer."

"Will this… show us what Teana's been up to?"

"…Yes. I should inform you, though: the flow of time is not synchronized between worlds. For you, it has been three months since Teana-san left Midchilda; for her, it has been nearly a year. Just thought you ought to know."

The cloaked girl stood up.

"I have to leave now" she said. "Other things require my attention. …A storm is coming, Takamachi-sama. The Bureau will not brave it alone, but must still be ready to batten down the hatches. Farewell."

With that, the girl held out her hand, and a swirling dark portal/gateway formed. She stepped through it, and it then closed, leaving Nanoha alone on the rooftop. The brunette took a minute to process everything, and then got to her feet and headed inside. She needed to make a few calls.

-SCENE BREAK-

That Evening (6:30 PM)

A fairly good-sized audience sat in the RF6 HQ's auditorium, all waiting to view the scried footage. Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Yūno, Arf, the Wolkenritter, the three Forwards, Ginga, Vivio, Inspector Acous, Shari, Mariel, Alto, Vice, and nearly every other member of RF6's staff, along with Carim & Schach and Chrono & Amy. The revelation that they'd get to see confirmed data on realms outside TSAB jurisdiction that had their own space-faring civilizations – some of them non-human – drew plenty of interest. The fact that they'd get to see what Teana had been up to drew even more.

Everyone settled in, and the show began. First was the brief history of the United Nations Space Command – the ORION Project, the Insurrection, and the morally-grey (as in, Fate was horrified) Spartan-2 project (though the eventual, overwhelming guilt that Dr. Halsey felt redeemed her in the eyes of many of the viewers, including Fate, especially since she went out of her way to treat the Spartans right); the mechanics of slipstream space travel were quite a point of interest for the tech-heads watching. Then came First Contact at Harvest, the revelations of Mendicant Bias' fragment to the three San'Shyuum, and the beginning of the Human-Covenant War. They watched as the humanity of that realm was systematically, mercilessly ground down – men, women, & children all slaughtered ruthlessly, entire planets put to the torch, the heinous Spartan-3 Program (EVERYONE was horrified at this one), the final epic (apparent) sacrifice of the hero Preston Cole, and other pivotal moments, finishing with the Battle of Sigma Octanis, where Jacob Keyes earned his Naval Badass credentials several times over. Throughout it all, they watched the story of John-117, his experiences, trials & tribulations, and other events.

The fact that the Covenant worshipped as gods a 100-millennia-gone galaxy-spanning magitech civilization was noticeably attention-grabbing for Yūno.

Then the footage shifted to the events of the Koprulu Sector. The crowd watched the rise of the Zerg, the cold ruthlessness of the Confederacy, the cynical heroism of Jim Raynor and his joining with the Sons of Korhal… and the eventual reveal of Arcturus Mengsk's true depravity with his sacrificing of Kerrigan and razing of Tarsonis; he fall of the Confederacy and the rise of the equally-corrupt Terran Dominion. They witnessed the Zerg Overmind's plan, the rebirth of Kerrigan into The Swarm, and the fall of Aiur. They observed the actions of Tassadar and Selendis to recruit the Dark Templar, defend Aiur, and try to put an end to over a millennium of Protoss infighting. They watched and felt Tassadar's final sacrifice – four different forces being simultaneously channeled to transform the Templar into a cataclysmic bolt of power that slew the Overmind.

They watched the retreat from Aiur to Shakuras, the alliance with Kerrigan, the death of Aldaris, and the purging of the Zerg from the Dark Templar's shadowed homeworld. They witnessed the arrival and advance of the UED, the death of Stukov, the betrayal of Duran, and the harnessing of the Second Overmind. Then came Kerrigan's plan – the re-conquering of the Zerg, the death of the Second Overmind, the death of Duke and Fenix, the death of Matriarch Raszagal. They watched in horror the revelations of Duran's true nature and the abominations he sought to create and unleash. It ended with Kerrigan's victory over three opposing armies at once.

Next was the war between the Sol Confederacy and the Phoenix League, including the former's true monstrousness hidden behind a veil of false benevolence that was eventually stripped away for all to see.

Then came the events of the shinobi world; the existence and mechanics of chakra proved extremely interesting, as an "equal and opposite" to magic. The events shown centered on Naruto Uzumaki – the revelation of what he contained, his graduation from the Academy and assigning to Team Kakashi; the events in the Land of Waves (Haku's story struck a chord with Fate… except that in the end, Haku's master did care for him, and ended up going out in a blaze of glory in the poor boy's memory); the Chūnin Exams, with Orochimaru's machinations, Gaara's bloodlust and instability, and the sad plights of Hinata and Rock Lee; Jiraiya's taking of the stage, Naruto's first meeting with the Kyūbi, and Sasuke's growth; Naruto beating the fatalism out of Neji, Shikamaru's tactical prowess, Gaara's monstrousness, and the Sand & Sound Invasion; the death of the Third Hokage, the revelation of Gaara's true nature and heart-wrenching past, Naruto's victory; the 'attack' of Itachi & Kisame; and Sasuke's betrayal and the epic battles that followed. The idea of a child falling so far for the sake of bloody revenge was found disturbing by nearly all.

And then came what they were waiting for: Teana's arrival in the Epsilon Eridani system. The revelation that Teana's first extradimensional activity – and without any magic, at that – would involve the horrifying Human-Covenant War sent a near-palpable wave of worry through the Forwards and Instructors, which was only marginally mitigated by the flashback that revealed her getting Spartan-esque internal enhancements that made Subaru's cyborg tech look like cartoony steam-punk in comparison. They listened to Dr. Halsey's assessment of Teana and her abilities, including her & the Spartans' criticisms of Nanoha's teachings; while Nanoha did not bother defending herself against most of it, it was pointed out by Fate and Vita that Teana had never been tested for sword skills, which was an oversight on everyone's part; everyone had simply automatically assumed that her talents lay in baseline shooting magic, a mistake that the entire Instructor group had collectively made. The fact that she also had talent with sniping, however, wasn't as much of a surprise.

They watched with mixed feelings as Cross Mirage was heavily altered by the UNSC, with mass-based firing modes (and a directed-energy firing mode), and a blade of physical-damage superheated magical energy that Teana was told was something else due to her erroneous belief that magic could not be lethal. They witnessed as she integrated with Noble Team, receiving "proper" training, coming to view her team members as family. …They witnessed the final sacrifice of Thom and how it affected Teana. They watched the Covenant's attack on Reach, and as, one by one, Teana lost her entire squad, and humanity's stronghold fell to the unstoppable alien juggernaut. Subaru's heart ached as she saw Tia cry her heart out in Capt. Keyes' arms during the retreat through slipspace, broken by the deaths of Noble.

They all watched as the Pillar of Autumn arrived at a humongous Lost Logia, the ringworld megastructure of Halo. The landing on the artificial world's "surface"; the abrasiveness rudeness of Major Silva… and how Teana literally almost murdered him out of rage at what he said ("Losing Noble seems to have had a considerably negative effect on Lanstar's temper" Signum had remarked; "Frankly I'd have smashed his chest in, too" Vita had replied); the rescue of Captain Keyes, and that the Halo was a central item of the Covenant's worship of the Forerunners; The assaults on the Cartographer and the Control Room; the encountering of Chen S'Yar and his revelations regarding the Covenant's political climate… and The Flood, a threat greater than anyone of the Bureau viewers had even imagined; the arrival of the ancient AI 343 Guilty Spark; the incensed Cortana's reveal that the Halo Array – seven installations in all – were in fact a Forerunner weapon-of-last-resort designed to starve the Flood to death by cleansing the galaxy of life (though many Lost Logia could accidentally cause damage on a multi-star-system scale, the people of RF6 were terrified that an array of them had been made to do so on purpose, and wondered just how badly the Forerunner-Flood War had gone to warrant such an extreme solution). Cortana's solution to the Halo's threat was viewed by the conservative, WMD-fearing Bureau as "a bit extreme", but the threat posed by Halo and the Flood was unanimously agreed to warrant a gigaton-scale thermonuclear detonation.

They witnessed the Chief & Teana fighting through hordes of Covenant, Flood, and Sentinels to damage the Halo's generators; the assault on the infested Covenant battlecruiser, and Captain Keyes' utterly horrifying fate; the flight to the Autumn's wreck, Guilty Spark's interference, the "lighting of the fuse", the picking up of Foehammer and a Grunt defector, and the hectic flight from the shipwreck minutes before Halo was blown apart. They observed the long, hard road back to Earth, picking up a few Spartans and losing a couple in the process, along with Halsey & Kelly's unexpected exodus.

The Covenant's accidental discovery of Earth and the battle that followed, the rise of the Arbiter, the arrival at Halo-05, the betrayal of Tartarus; the reveal of the Gravemind, whose abominable presence adversely affected nearly everyone on some level, and who revealed a connection between the Forerunners' magic system and the Midchildan system; the fracturing of the Covenant, with the Sangheili and their followers switching sides to aid humanity; Cortana being left behind, while Teana and Arbiter Vadam killed Brute Alpha-Chieftain Tartarus. The data showed the battle of Onyx, how a force of Covenant Loyalists assaulted the Forerunner-made UNSC world, the Spartan-3s prove their mettle, and Linda-058 revealed that she'd taught herself Teana's Crossfire Shoot, using it to very nice effect despite not knowing how to set it from 'stun' to 'kill' (which would've been authorized by Bureau protocol in the situation); the return of the Starshot, and the flight to Halo-05.

And then came the awakening of Teana's bloodline, and the revelation that her mother – and thus, Teana herself – was an Uchiha. The shock was palpable, and a quick search by Yūno confirmed that Sayuri 'Lanstar' had indeed seemingly shown up on Midchilda essentially out of nowhere according to records. The return to Earth followed.

The recordings showed the Master Chief's landing on Earth and his fight through the jungle; the battle at Crow's Nest; the push down Tsavo Highway; the attack on Voi; the opening of the Ark Portal, and the arrival of a Flood-infested ship, along with the fight through the city (including Vita reacting with a combination of pride and indignation at Teana's remark regarding her style of dealing with threats); the flight through the portal… and the reveal of the single largest Lost Logia ever, beyond and above the galactic plane; the attack on the Citadel, and Teana & the Arbiter executing the High Prophet of Truth, lopping the head off of the Covenant and gaining their revenge; the reveal of the replacement Halo-04; the hellish fight through Gravemind's titanic new body; the rescuing of Cortana, and the reveal of the Chief's plan; the touchdown on the new Halo, fighting through Flood, destroying the rampant Guilty Spark, setting the Halo off, and making a daring escape just in time.

After the return to that realm's Earth, the Bureau audience watched as four more dimensional runaways came into Teana's life, each with their own issues to work through, and how they were soon all put together as Gamma Team, with Teana as team leader; Nanoha was both saddened and unnerved by Teana's "live for revenge" advice/speech to Kaede. They watched as Lanstar proved her leadership abilities on Crassus and against Brute holdouts on Earth. Finally came the assigning of crewmembers to the Starshot, and the vessel's departure from that realm.

The quick stop-by in the Star Wars universe nonetheless set off a new wave of interest and discussion, as Ahsoka Tano was literally brought back from the dead by a Precursor device (that fried itself in the process) and became the sixth member of Gamma Team. Then came the trip to the Koprulu Sector – Shion becoming a Dark Templar, Raynor getting back in action, the Zerg's return after four years of dormancy, the "side-plots" regarding Dr. Hanson and Tosh, the gathering of the artifact pieces… and the eventual reveal of their true purpose, the battle of Char (that saw Teana's Sharingan advance to their three-marks state), and the purification of Kerrigan.

The footage switched back to the Konoha realm, to Naruto's return after two and a half years of training. The viewers watched as old faces re-emerged; a new threat assaulted the Sand Village; the epic clash against Sasori (that a man would do so much to himself to seek immortality and "perfection" disgusted and horrified many); Elder Chiyo's sacrifice; the introduction of Yamato and of Sai, and the hostility between the latter and the "old guard" of Team 7; the battle at the Heaven-&-Earth Bridge, including Naruto becoming a monstrous rampaging beast powerful enough to take on an S+ opponent and come out on top; the fight against Sasuke, who reaffirmed his beliefs and choice.

Then the narrative returned to Teana and her squad, as they had knowledge of chakra and jutsu literally implanted into their heads by an old delayed-release spell set up by the same precognitive Forerunner who'd left the Starshot where Teana would find it; meeting the Phoenix League; a brutal demonstration of what Teana's M99 Stanchion did to a human target; the reveal of Shion's heartbreaking past; the battle against the kishin… and, to everyone's astonishment, the awakening of Teana's Mangekyō; further shock for the viewers as Marie revealed her self-constructed Intelligent Device (well, the Starshot's VI had helped), with the team still blissfully unaware that it used lethal-set magic rather than "some kind of psionic energy, since magic can't actually seriously hurt anyone, and this thing can" (at Marie saying this and Teana agreeing, Vita started banging her head on a nearby table until Hayate pulled her away and made her stop); and then the departure for the shinobi world.

They watched and listened as Teana revealed her recently-discovered status as the daughter of the Uchiha clan head's long-MIA elder sister… and that she had confirmed that her parents and brother had been killed by high-level shinobi who'd somehow crossed over between realms, which sent the viewing Bureau members into mild shock; they witnessed as Naruto's elemental manipulation training began, as did that of Gamma Team's members, and the hidden powers of Kaede, Shion, and Mai awakened; the incident with the Type-2 Jinchūriki, and the following entrance of Hidan & Kakuzu; the death of Asuma (there wasn't a dry eye in the auditorium); Shikamaru's thorough revenge, and Naruto's devastating new technique; the incident with the 3-Tails; the reveal of 'Madara Uchiha'; Jiraiya's epic battle against Pain, that ended with the man converting every last bit of chakra from his cells and mana from his Linker Core into a huge Rasengan for one last attack; also, Jiraiya & Pain revealing (through thought-based flashbacks) that Pain was the one who jumped realms and killed Tiida.

The landscape-altering clash between Sasuke and Itachi, with both of them displaying power and skill to match or even surpass the Bureau's Four Great Aces… and Madara's following revelations that turned the viewers' ideas of Itachi upside-down and shook Sasuke to the core… enough to cause Sasuke to truly fall to darkness; the return to Konoha, and Naruto being informed of his mentor's death; the beginning of Naruto's senjutsu training… and Pain's assault on Konoha; the revelation that the Six Paths of Pain were all corpse puppets… and Tiida's body was now one of them; Teana's epic battle against Sasuke; Naruto's return and destruction of all but two of Pain's bodies; Hinata's confession and protective fury… and the unstoppable rage of the Kyūbi that resulted when Hinata was struck down; the emergence of the eight-tailed abomination that effortlessly broke free of an SS-rank attack; the Fourth Hokage's safeguard; Naruto's defeat of the last Pain.

They watched as Naruto and Teana came face-to-face with Nagato – the real Pain – and learned that he had been forced to kill Tiida by Madara; the horrifying and heart-wrenching tale of Nagato's past, how he became the man he was now; Naruto's lecture that struck enough of a chord that Nagato remembered who he once was and sacrificed himself to revive the last several hours' fatalities; Teana forgiving Nagato and learning that Madara had directly killed her parents in addition to making Pain kill her brother; Teana reluctantly leaving Madara to Naruto rather than be stuck on the planet for 10 years, and her & the Starshot group leaving that world behind. They watched as a flashback revealed that Teana and Itachi had met shortly before the latter's death, with the not-really-a-traitor leaving Teana an unidentified "gift".

The archived data switched to another Earth, bearing an entirely new system of magic – the Vetus system – that was built around elemental magic (which was much rarer in Midchildan and Belkan systems) and lethal spells; the specifics of the Pactio system were… interesting ("A Pactio with Erio…" Caro murmured; "Huh?" Erio heard his name; "N-N-Nothing, nothing!"). It showed the graduation of the young mage trainee Negi Springfield, his early trials as a magic-bearing middle-school teacher and the much more serious trials that came soon after with the emergence of Evangeline (the core RF6 group were a little surprised to learn of another "immortal loli" even older than Vita); the fights in Kyoto, including the revelation of a male antagonist named Fate who was hypothesized to be an Artificial Mage just like the Fate that the viewers knew so well, as well as a monstrous demon that was promptly defeated (off-screen, "so as not to spoil it" said the on-screen message) by Evangeline; the argument between Negi and Asuna that came to a peaceful end; the commencement of Negi's training under Evangeline and Kū Fei; Negi's heart-breaking past (Fate dearly wanted to somehow slip into the recording and give the poor boy a hug, and maybe add him to her list of orphaned, sad, dark-past-possessing children she'd taken under her wing); the attack of Count Hermann, Kotarō Inugami's joining the good guys, the reveal of Asuna's extraordinarily powerful Selective Absolute Magic Cancel (that one really through the Bureau viewers for a loop), and Negi slipping into a magic-fueled berserker state, only to regain control and vanquish the dark Count with a display of Lightning magic that matched Fate's (Testarossa) when she was his age, hinting at just how much potential this boy possessed.

Then the Starshot arrived. Everyone was shocked by Headmaster Konoemon's revealing of his knowledge of the TSAB, and even more shocked when he explained how Teana's previously-untrained chakra had been adversely affecting her ability to channel mana… and that now that she had learned how to use her chakra, streamlining its flow through her body, she could channel much larger amounts of magic with much less difficulty. He also revealed to her – with painful proof – how Midchildan magic could be, in his words, "set from 'stun' to 'kill'", shattering her long-held viewpoints and restoring her faith in magic. They watched as von-Klaus effortlessly removed Teana's Linker Core Seal, and then felt as she called forth a huge amount of magical energy with little effort; she easily had as much as Vita (AAA+) by projection and estimation.

"Her untamed chakra was holding back that much magic?" Nanoha wondered in wide-eyed amazement.

They watched and listened as the girls of Gamma Team took temporary positions as "exchange students" in Class 3-A; the reveal of Evangeline's temporally-displaced resort got several Bureau members talking, especially Yūno; the reveal of Teana's new Barrier Jacket ("She looks good in red" Hayate remarked); Evangeline's confession of, 178 years ago, having fought and single-handedly defeated the Book of Darkness sent astonishment through some of the viewers and flat-out disbelief in others, especially when she claimed to have done so with but one spell (though they did remember the "spoilered" bit earlier). They watched the snippets of the group's training, interspersed with images of Class 3-A's daily life; the emergence of the friendly ghost Sayo; the beginning of the Mahora Festival; Teana's knowledge of the Rasengan; the reveal of Chao's "temporal relocation device" and her own status as a time-jumper; the power of the World Tree (or, as the Bureau called it, a tree growing atop and merged into a Planetary Mana Nexus), and the "Kissing Terminator" incident.

The Mahora Tournament – the existence of the chakra/magic fusion kanka; Teana's fight against Mana Tatsumiya; the hint of Asuna's troubled past hidden by memory seals; the brutal fight between Evangeline and Klaus that saw the former lose herself to darkness and rage; the reveal of the existence of gravity manipulation magic, courtesy of Albireo; Teana being defeated by Kaede Nagase in Round 2; Evangeline's pain and fury being unleashed on Setsuna, finishing with a devastating speech that broke Setsuna's will, but made Nanoha feel the utmost pity for Eva as she imagined what the immortal blonde had been through to leave her with such viewpoints; the semifinal and final matches, including Albireo's extraordinary Artifact that allowed Negi a conversation with a backup copy of his father.

They watched as the Festival shenanigans continued; Yue's brief love-triangle-induced breakdown and Nodoka's promptly-proposed plan of polyamory; the forming of three new Pactios (with Haruna getting way too into it); the brief confrontation with Chao (including a peek at her true motives) that led to the girl's "going-away party"; Marie describing her family (Nanoha, Fate, Shamal, Hayate, and Subaru all agreed that, even as a foot-tall stationary hologram, Erika looked huggably adorable, and her "situation" brought to Nanoha's mind memories of being stuck in a similar state until those particular muscles & nerves had healed after the incident when she was 12); they watched and listened as Teana was made to realize her love for Subaru (the blue-haired girl in question remained as outwardly calm as she could, restricted to a teary smile, but inside she was dancing and shouting/singing "She loves me back~!"); the activation of Chao's plan… and the emergency jump back a week to mitigate it; the Starshot crew and the staff & students of Mahora preparing for battle. They watched the climactic aerial battle between Negi and Chao, everyone being utterly horrified by the illegal and extremely dangerous method Chao used to perform magic ("How is she even still alive, much less fighting?-!" Shamal had said), the Starlight-Breaker-level Fire spell Chao unleashed, and Negi's eventual triumph; Chao's revelations that she came to try to prevent a century-long war with casualties in the billions, and that Negi's actions had seemingly ensured her failure; her departure (though not before accidentally revealing that Negi was literally destined to end up with multiple wives, to his astonished mortification).

They watched the various incidents of the summer vacation – Anya's arrival; the display of Evangeline's Kosmike Katastrophé and the reveal that said spell was what had vanquished the Book of Darkness ("Y'know, I do remember a feeling of being really, really cold from one of our past iterations" Vita had remarked), the extreme display of power solidifying Evangeline's status as an SS-rank mage at the least; the possession of Asuna by the ghost of the Sith Archlord Darth Nihilus, and the humanoid abomination's exorcism back to the netherworld; the trip to Wales; the reveal of Mundus Magicus,an entire magic-rich planet hidden in a pocket dimension.

Then things got dark as the trip to Mundus Magicus began: Fate Averruncus' return, Negi's near-mortal wounding; the battle at the Gateport (including Teana displaying the powerful Katon: Karyū Endan, to Signum's (barely-visible) impression, and Negi smashing Averruncus in the skull with the spike he'd just pulled out of his own chest, which impressed and amazed everyone); the forced teleportation that split the group out all across the planet; Negi's battle with "mana overload" and Kotarō's unorthodox (yet Bureau-approved) solution; the reveal that Averruncus and his cronies had hacked the Gateport's security cameras and gotten Ala Alba framed for the attack; the predicament four of the girls had found themselves in, and Mai & then Ako's being freed (by her own tailed-beast power and by Zhal Arum & company, respectively); the introduction of the boisterous and obscenely powerful Jack Rakan; Negi's acceptance of Magia Erebea, which deeply worried Nanoha & co.; the rescuing of Nodoka and reuniting with Asuna.

Brief snippets were shown of Gamma and Ala Alba watching, essentially, everything up to the current bit of what the RF6 audience now watched; during one bit, when it had shown Precia's final thoughts as she fell into the Void, Fate had almost broken down in tears at her mother's come-too-late redemption. They watched with aching hearts the horror on Teana's face when the fate of her brother's body – made into a corpse-puppet for Pain and then ripped apart by Naruto's Rasenshuriken – was revealed.

The "rematch" against Fate Averruncus, including Teana's unveiling of her new "Forsaken Buster" (confirmed by Nanoha, Fate, Yūno, and Chrono to simply be Nanoha's Divine Buster under a different name); the flashback-film showing the Great War, with Nagi Springfield's heroism and the introduction of the woman who could only be Negi's missing mother; the reveal that Asuna had been replaced by a sleeper agent… who looked to be in "danger" of falling in love with Negi; preparing for the tournament match; Negi revealing that he, a near-11-year-old boy, had learned a SS+ level spell and could pull it off without collapsing from exhaustion immediately afterward, to the Bureau viewers' open astonishment; the arrival of the duplicate of Evangeline, and the beginning of a new wave of training.

The fight against Rakan, where Negi displayed a combination of raw magical power and advancements in magical theory that deemed him – in Chrono's words – the most prodigious mage ever seen; the beginnings of Magia Erebea's encroachment; the return of Yue; the battle against Kurt Gödel, the man's taunting revelations, and Teana's display of a Stage Zero Susanō arm, showing how her skills with the Mangekyō continued to develop; the Governor's Ball (Subaru was literally drooling at the sight of Teana in a tuxedo); the second confrontation with Gödel, with Negi losing himself to rage and briefly becoming the "Erebus Daemon"; the revelation of Mundus Magicus's position and upcoming dimensional collapse; Gödel's plan that Negi rejected, and the short battle that followed, soon after becoming a three-way battle between Ala Alba, the Megalomesembrians, and Cosmo Entelecheia; the display of Marie's Chaos Flare and Teana's Stars' Death Cannon ("What is up with her renaming Nanoha's techniques?" Vita asked exasperatedly; "I believe she still holds enough hatred of Takamachi that she is trying to deceive herself into thinking she has nothing in common with her" Signum had replied).

The reveal of the nature of Mundus Magicus' inhabitants, and Cosmo Entelecheia's heinous plan to "rectify" the situation; the unmasking of "Shiori", along with Teana's threat to said girl that left Nanoha & company rather concerned for the redhead's mental state (to the pacifistic Bureau, a former member of theirs casually and quite seriously threatening the life of an unarmed prisoner was horrible, especially holding a lethal energy blade to the terrified girl's throat); the trials to attempt to help Negi conquer his Dark Form; Fate Averruncus' ruminations and increasing psychological development (Nanoha & company immediately recognized how the boy's belief in himself being emotionless and single-minded was very much false; he was simply emotionally repressed and unable to recognize his own emotions, like the Wolkenritter had been before Hayate came into their lives. His sudden rage at Tsukuyomi's threat to 'steal his kill' proved that); Teana spelling out to an utterly flummoxed Negi the nature of his accidental harem of admirers, and how he habitually unwittingly won the affections of nearly every female he met, with Teana herself mentioning that though she was "saving herself" for Subaru (the blue-haired girl suppressed a squee), she was not averse to "having fun" with him at some point in the future; Teana becoming Marie's Magistra, while Negi gained Ako, Makie, and Yūna as Ministrae.

The arrival of the Starshot; Tsukuyomi's attack and her very brutally nihilistic motivations; the hectic flight to the Gravekeeper's Palace; the emergence of Zazie's sister and the implementation of the False Eternal Gardens; the reveal that Teana had already learned to combine her Fire affinity with her Rasengan; the epic battle against Dynamis and Fate's Ministrae (including Teana displaying just how serious she'd been with her earlier intent to kill the lot of them, to Nanoha & Subaru's shocked horror); Negi succumbing to darkness more than ever, barely avoiding total transformation into a true daemon; the mobilization to defeat Fate Averruncus, with a masterfully-orchestrated plan and the debut of Teana's massively powerful Katon: Gōenkyū; the emergence of Averruncus Four through Six, with Fate A. briefly switching sides to take Quintum down.

The climactic battles between Negi & Fate and between Teana & Dynamis (along with the failing boundary between the Gravekeeper Palace and Mahora Academy, and the start of Mundus Magicus' collapse), the latter ending with Tia's Fūton: Rasengan and the former with Fate switching sides ("So artificial mages named Fate switching to the good guys is a multiversal constant?" Hayate had wondered aloud); the reveal of Negi & Teana's ingenious and ambitious plan to save the Magical World; the sudden emergence of the Lifemaker, and the ancient being's resurrection of all deceased CE members; Teana's Stage-1 Susanō being overcome by three Khilipl Astrape at once, and Evangeline showing up in the nick of time to save the three heroes' bacon; the arrival of Ala Rubra, including the spontaneously-resurrected Jack Rakan; Evangeline's devastatingly powerful new SS-rank spell; the Lifemaker's effortless defeat of the entirety of Ala Rubra – including Evangeline – simultaneously; Asuna's awakening and vanquishing of the Lifemaker's avatar… and the reveal that Nagi was the ancient spirit's possessed vessel; Asuna restoring the planet, and Negi & company being lauded as heroes.

The return to that realm's Earth; the Lifemaker's breaking free (with Teana falling into guilt over how her plan to save Mundus Magicus without sacrificing Asuna caused the planetary background mana disturbance that weakened the Lifemaker's seal); Chao's return; Teana's fight against Quartum, including the debut of her Star-Crusher (everyone as astounded that she literally managed to pack the power of a Starlight Breaker into a single punch… and not too surprised that she broke her arm in the process); the fight against Averruncus Secundum that saw Teana debut her Susanō's 2nd Stage and Shion go 4-Tails; the sudden fight of Teana & Negi versus a mysterious harbinger of a new threat… who wielded what a very shocked Fate immediately identified as Keyblades (Fate loved that game series), soon followed by the emergence of the mysterious figure that Nanoha identified as the same who gave her these data recordings, fighting alongside Teana & Negi while wielding her own Keyblade, the trio forcing their dark foe to retreat; the discovery and freeing of Queen Arika from her crystalline prison.

The battle against Dynamis, Sextum, Primum, and Septum; the attack of the Lifemaker, and his being exorcised from Nagi… and then forming his own body from gathered mana, killing Chao, and revealing himself to be a Precursor; the entire planet's population of over 7 billion being pulled into the Eternal Garden; Shion's reuniting with the astral projection of her beloved, and mastering of the 5-Tails' power, along with Gamma 3 through 6's own encounters; the girls coming to Teana's aid; the arrival of departed spirits, including Noble Team and Teana's family, to give everyone the strength to break free in an awe-inspiring example of Forerunner magic; the final epic battle against the Lifemaker/Last Precursor, that ended with the ancient malevolent entity's utter destruction at a level baser than that of even quarks; the post-battle celebrations… including the revelations that the girls of Teana's squad had to swing by their homes and face their issues before a mysterious greater threat revealed itself.

They watched as the Starshot crew left that realm behind and traveled to Mai & Marie's home realm; Mai got her long-deserved vengeance against her old owner, and rescued her little friend Kizuna; Marie had a heartwarming reunion with her family, who welcomed her and the rest of Gamma Team with open arms, eventually deciding to accompany Gamma on their travels. The stop by Kaede's Earth, where shinzoku and mazoku walked freely amongst humans; Kaede's brief descent into darkness and the near-fatal beatdown she gave to Asa; the reveal that Asa had literally been slowly dying from mana overload, but her attempts to defend herself had expended the dangerous store of magical energy.

The stop by Shion's home Earth; the fight against the Sonozaki Traditionalists; Rika's explanation of Hinamizawa Syndrome and Tōkyō, and later of the truth about "Oyashiro-sama"; the healing of Satoshi… and the near-death of Kaede as a result of chakra exhaustion, which Teana blamed herself quite harshly for (though Shamal said that there was virtually no blame on Teana's shoulders; it was a healer's responsibility to closely monitor their own energy reserves, which Kaede had failed to do); Teppei Hōjō getting his ass kicked by Colonel Holland; the heartbreaking confession of Rika as she revealed just how long she'd been trying to save her friends; the gambit against Takano that led to the woman being broken and betrayed by Tōkyō, dying in utter despair at Rika's feet; the assault on Tōkyō Headquarters, and the "meeting" with Kadak; Shion's final fight against her fallen grandmother; the return of Teppei and then of an actual demon… along with Teana awakening her Susanō's Third Stage, revealing in the process that Itachi's "gift" was to inherit his Susanō as her own after his death, with which she sealed the demon away forever.

The footage ended with the Starshot departing the realm with even more new additions to the crew, with the viewers not being told where they were heading next. By the time it was done and the temporal distortion field lifted, it was nearly 10:00 at night.

Later on, as everyone went to bed, they couldn't help but wonder where their wayward soul would end up next…

-CHAPTER END-

Next time, the Starshot arrives in the skies above Midchilda, just in time to help push back Scaglietti's latest assault. Gamma Team meets Riot Force 6, and everyone starts preparing for whatever storm is coming.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW