Welcome, readers, to the new Negima Loops. The universe was previously Activated by 'The Silver Fox', but SpaceBattle's anime loops forum decided to reboot them and modify a few things. Here's the end result.

No-one knows what caused the initial problem with Yggdrasil, the World Tree. All that is known is that at some point in the multiverse's "past", Yggdrasil was damaged. In order to stablize the various universes, the gods (or Admins) put them into a "safe-mode" of sorts, where time is looped during an important portion of the universes time-line.

Originally, seven universes were started looping by the Admins: Ranma 1/2, Harry Potter, Naruto, Bleach, Evangelion, Sailor Moon, and Slayers. Other universes followed afterwards.

And now, long after the event known as 'The Crash', and long after The Doctor's own Awakening, a brand new universe is entering the 'Infinite Time Loops' and everyone's favorite Magister Magi gets thrown into even more chaos than ordinary.

1.01 - Once In A Lifetime

Negi Sprinfield was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of mage.

A tragic youth had pushed the orphan to immerse himself in studies. The young boy had consecutively graduated valedictorian from Meridiana School of Magic at age nine. The basic magical program, though, wasn't enough for the ambitious boy. He worked even harder and managed to learn rares spells he'd... borrowed from the library.

After those feats, becoming Mahora Girls School's 2-A's English teacher had been the next step in his journey. The most important too.

He'd met trusting friends in that class, trusted companions… and faced countless overwhelming odds with them, for despite his commitment to keeping his students safe, more and more girls had slowly been dragged into the magical world and its perils.

A 300 years old vampire, robots, demons, puppets, shikigami, eastern and western mages, half-beasts, a renegade Shinmei specialist, ninjas, mercenaries, dragons, corrupt politicians, entire armies, even his own descendant from an alternate future. They'd encountered them all.

And through those hardships, Negi and his companions had bettered themselves. They'd learnt, grown, and fought back.

They'd fought for their own lives, fought for their freedom, fought against the system, fought for the world at large.

And they'd triumph.

But the cost had been immense. They'd sweated, shed pools of blood, gathered an enormous collection of broken bones and broken spirits, even lost a few arms and legs, ultimately flirting with death on several occasions. Some of the girls had even been psychologically tortured, while Negi had been forced to surrender his humanity. The once innocent, almost clueless boy, when he'd set foot in Mundus Magicus, had turned to Magia Erebea, a magic so dark that it had consumed his very soul, turning him into something that could no longer be called 'human'. Negi Springfield, for all intents and purposes, had died during his tenth year, before being reborn as an immortal demonic beast.

What a cost.

And yet, despite those disasters, the young mage was, for the most part, happy. He'd redeemed his arch enemy, saved an entire world, uncovered his mother's true identity, and confirmed his father's fate. Most important of all, he'd managed to save all of his students… well, almost all of his students.

Negi Springfield was crying bitter tears.

Despite everything he'd done, his hopes had been shattered and Asuna Kagurazaka was now leaving.

His very first partner had, during their adventures, revealed herself to be Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia, lost Princess of Twilight and descendant of Amateru, Mundus Magicus' creator. As Negi was himself the son of Arika Anarchia Entheofushia, Queen of Calamity, they were basically family. Their actual family ties were unclear though, as Asuna had apparently been forced into stasis for extended periods of time during her childhood, and the historical records from so far back were few and extremely imprecise.

Anyway, they'd taken to refer to each other as brother and sister, her more so than him. And it meant that he was now doubly failing her.

If his own ties to Amateru and the Ostian royal bloodline had allowed Negi to tame the Magia Erebea, Asuna's royal heritage had taken the form of two unique abilities.

Firstly, the extremely rare Magic Cancel. With it, any spell or incantation, any barrier and restraints, were utterly and easily crushed by the young girl. The only thing that seemed to affect her were direct mind magics and illusions.

Secondly, and most important of all, the Code of the Life Maker, the very power Amateru had used to create a pocket dimension, overlapping the rich and vibrant Mundus Magicus with the bared and dead landscape of Mars. Whenever she summoned the Great Grand Master Key, Asuna had the power to rival a god at her disposal.

And because of that, they were losing her.

In order to prevent the collapse of the pocket dimension, its supply of magical power running short, Negi had enacted a crazy plan… which wouldn't fall into place for a century or so. Terraforming Mars was, after all, a titanic project. In the meantime, Asuna would have to act as a core for the world, feeding it with her own power, as sole mistress of the Code of the Life Maker.

It was leaving Negi… well, broken.

He knew that he shouldn't be crying like this. Asuna was leaving, he should be maintaining a proper figure, even the masquerade of one. He had to reassure her, to show her that they would be strong and keep on living… for her.

But he just kept on crying, seeing the departing girl through a veil of tears.

She was smiling, that much he could see, even if his vision was blurred. How she could smile, he had no idea. She was about to enter a new stasis, protect Mundus Magicus for a hundred years like a silent guardian, and when that time would finally be over, the personality that was Asuna Kahurazaka would have certainly been erased, crushed by the sheer immensity of her presence as Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia, Princess of Twilight. She would, once more, be nothing but an emotionless empty husk.

Yet, she was smiling.

The young mage bit his lips, drawing blood. If keeping his emotions in was impossible, then he'd at least have the decency to look at her 'til the end.

His eyes focused on his relative, engraving her face and voice in his mind, going over every single moments he'd share with her, every obstacle they'd overcome…

She was gone, a pillar of light marking her departure from their lives. The soft sobs of Konoka, Nodoka, Ayaka, even Camo, instantly turned into pained wails. It was too much for the mage, and he closed his eyes forcefully, trying to cut himself from the noise.

…

Wait…

It... worked?

…

Yes, it had worked. He couldn't hear anything anymore.

Except for… a strangle sound.

Kataklang.

Kataklang.

He knew that sound… and were those… voices?

"What's with that kid?" asked a feminine voice.

"Is he a foreigner?" added another girl.

Those were accompanied by numerous whispers, none in a voice he recognized.

Negi opened his eyes as he took a fighting stance. If the curious noise and voices hadn't be enough to convince him that something was happening, the small tremors he could feel under his feet would have done it.

Being ready to bash someone's skull didn't help him though, as his opponents turned out to be… middle school students. A whole bunch of them.

He hadn't expected that.

The overground, he was in the overground.

What was he doing in the overground?

He'd been on a rooftop, crying his heart out, WHY THE HECK WAS HE IN THE OVERGROUND?

Was it a dream? Had he cried himself to sleep somehow?

Not, he'd never had such a vivid dream before… except for that one time, in Old Ostia. Could it be Poyo-san's artifact then? Had she trapped him in a 'perfect world' again?

"Audacia Paula."

…

Well, that one was out too. According to Zazie, her sister couldn't change her artifact's password. If it had truly been Cosmo Entelecheia, saying those words would have broken the illusion.

Well, he wasn't sleeping, nor hallucinating.

As he was slowly accepting the fact that someone had successfully kidnapped him via teleportation without him even registering the act, the tube took a sharp turn. As per his usual luck (or was it misfortune?), the mage was sent head first on a nearby girl's chest. Yep, they felt real enough… he was undoubtedly awake.

Negi was about to apologize when the tub stopped, its door opening as their current location was loudly announced.

"Mahora Girls School! Mahora Girls School!"

"Oops, we're here."

All the girls, until now entirely focused on the strange kid, began to exit the train. A few even smiled at him on their way out, or waved him goodbye.

"See you later, kid."

"Take care."

"Hurry up, we're running late."

Negi was left in the wagon, alone, his mind trying to make heads or tails of the situation. He was still in Mahora, which meant that the teleport had been a short-range one. Whoever had done that had probably just wanted to separate him from the others…

Konoka, Setsuna, Class-rep, Camo, Master… they were in trouble!

Using quick step, a high speed technique also known as instant movement, the mage escaped the train and began to run… or tried to. His momentum was stopped by a sudden feeling of uneasiness crawling up his muscles, and he was forced to a halt.

He felt… weak, somehow. Well, not weak, but weaker anyway. That quick step had definitely been harder than it should, and his legs were screaming in protest at the amount of magic he's just reinforced them with.

He was about to curse the unknown enemies that, apparently, hadn't just isolated him, when Negi caught sight of a display he once again hadn't expected.

All around him, many students were populating the streets. Either by foot, on bikes, wearing skates, or passing by on a tramway, young boys and girls were moving around the campus in an agitated and cacophonic blur. Classes were over, what were they doing here?

His silent question was, strangely enough, immediately answered to by a new voice, broadcasted around the entire campus.

"To all students: this is the guidance committee. This week is "Zero Late Attendances Week", and it's only ten minutes until the bell! Let's hurry it up!"

Negi's jaw almost dropped to the ground.

That announcement… he'd heard it before…

But… it couldn't be.

"Any students late this week will be issued with yellow cards! Please, try to arrive with plenty of time to spare!"

It was.

That exact same announcement had been made when he'd entered Mahora for the very first time, on the day he'd begun teaching English to the girls.

As he was viewing this, the young mage also acknowledged that he'd been carrying his traveling backpack this entire time, where his father's staff was secured and still wrapped up in cloth wraps.

A spark of hope ignited in Negi as his mind finally reach a rather unique conclusion, and he vanished in a burst of speed.

When his quick step ended, Negi's muscles were burning.

The scene taking place before him though, had just turned the spark into a blaze of happiness, making him overlook his pain.

Asuna was here.

She should have been in Mundus Magicus, acting as a core for the world… and yet, she was here, running alongside Konoka, repeating Takamichi's name and barking like a dog.

Yep, that was Asuna alright.

Only her would do something so idiotic.

The young mage couldn't help but smile as he watched his sister figure run like crazy toward her classroom. When he finally lost sight of her, a loud sigh escaped his lips.

So, he had traveled back in time.

The culprit's identity was suddenly perfectly clear.

"Chao." he growled.

Chao Lingshen, place 19, owner of the Chao Bao Zi food stand, assumed mad scientist, reformed opponent, and his time-traveling alleged great granddaughter.

She had somehow sneaked up on him during Asuna's departure, and used one of her Cassiopeia to send him back in time.

Why she'd done so though, was a mystery. He may be a genius himself, but Chao was on another level entirely, and he would probably never manage to get into her head. She could be trying to save Asuna from her fate… or she could be interfering with his plans for Mundus Magicus.

Well, he would just have to ask her now, wouldn't he?

Adjusting the level of magical energies he was pouring into his limbs, the mage walked toward the dean's office at a more sedate pace.

He had a class roster to retrieve. Then, he would introduce himself to the girls of Class 3… no, 2-A for the first time… again.

Negi was standing before his classroom's door, the class roster in hand.

Seeing it almost blank, bar Takamichi's hints, was simultaneously amusing and depressing the mage. It was by itself the proof of his latest failure, but also the promise of a fresh start.

He knew what was to come, what his girls would face, what they would become… and he would do anything in his power to cultivate their potential, make them even greater.

Way too often had their previous adventures almost ended in close calls, and he was determined not to let it happen ever again.

The young mage steeled his resolve and opened the classroom's door, taking a step forward… only to feel a threat coming from above and throw an instinctual punch at a falling eraser, embedding it into the ceiling.

Oh, right, the girls – Misora and the twins, he believed – had trapped the place.

Chalk dust, broken masonry and silence fell upon the room. The girls were looking at him with wide eyes, when they weren't openly gawking at the eraser. Judging from the gasp that had come from right behind him, Miss Shizuna was probably doing it too.

Negi coughed awkwardly.

"Sorry about that, bad habit."

The same thought was suddenly going through the entire class' mind: "What kind of habit is that?"

The other traps were soon manually triggered, after what the mage calmly made his way to his desk, sidestepping a water-filled bucket and barely throwing a glance at the three rubber tipped dart he'd once been shot with.

There, standing in front of the blackboard, he introduced himself.

"Hello, ladies. My name is Negi Sprinfield, and I am your new Head Teacher, as well as your English teacher. The position is, for now, temporary, and should merely last three months, but I count on you all to make them count." and then, he bowed in true Japanese fashion. "It's nice to meet you all."

For a good ten seconds, you could have heard a fly buzz… then Negi's eardrums were assaulted by a massive squee and the whole room erupted into pandemonium.

"You're the new teacher?"

"How old are you?"

"Where are you coming from?"

"Where do you live?"

Faced with the barrage of questions, Negi drew a deep breath.

"SILENCE!"

He was immediately obeyed.

"Thank you. Please, try to remember that this is a classroom, and should as such be a place of calm and learning, not a coliseum. If you have a question, raise your hand and wait to be called on."

The girls were speechless. Whatever they had expected from the young teacher, it hadn't been anything like that.

Standing by the door, his tutor was smiling softly as she watched the sea of hands suddenly in the air.

"Yes, huh… miss Asakura?" said Negi, looking at his roster and pointing at the girl, purposely avoiding to look at the ghost floating by her side. That wasn't a subject he wanted to approach at the moment.

"How old are you?"

"Nine, at the moment. My tenth birthday will be on May, the 2nd." he answered to the reporter, before turning to another raised hand, this one belonging to a light orange-haired girl. "Miss Hasegawa?"

"Are you really qualified to teach?" asked the local nerd and secretly net idol.

"Yes, rest assured that my credentials are amply sufficient for this post. I haven't settled in yet, so I don't exactly have them on me at the moment, but I will try to provide you with a copy in the upcoming days."

She nodded, accepting his answer.

"Now, miss… Fei?"

The martial artist was almost vibrating, waving her hand around to make herself visible enough.

"That move you did with the eraser… was it kung-fu, aru?" she all but shouted, clearly exited.

"As a matter of fact, yes, it was."

That answer got him quite a few raised eyebrow.

Why was a kid practicing martial arts? Why do so to such an extent that he somehow developed the habit of punching every object approaching him? And how strong was he to manage to punch an eraser through the damn ceiling? The thing hadn't fallen yet, for god's sake.

"I see here that, according to Professor Takahata, you are a practitioner yourself. Would you be willing to have a mock battle, someday?"

Master versus disciple, once more. Not that he would tell her, mind you.

The girl's eyes started to sparkle.

"I would love to, aru."

"Excellent. Then I'll get back to you as soon as my schedule allows me to do so. Now, I see that a number of you lowered their hands. I suppose that your questions were already answered?"

He received positive replies, and smile warmly. "Well, next question it is. Miss… where are – ha, there you are, Miss Saotome."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" asked the otaku, completely serious.

Great, Paru was already after him. And judging from the way most of the classroom was suddenly hanging on his lips, the others too.

Negi had to suppress a sigh. Inheriting his good looks from his parents was his curse.

"I must remind you, Miss Saotome, that I am merely nine years old. As such, getting a girlfriend is not on my to-do-list at the moment." he replied. "And please, in the future, restrain from asking such personal questions, thank you."

She had the decency to look ashamed.

"Sorry professor."

"It is quite alright. Now as there don't seem to be any more questions, let's move on to class. Open your books at page 128."

Negi was quite happy with himself.

He'd avoided to rise Asuna's suspicion with the vanishing eraser, no messy fight had broken up between her and the Class Rep, and he hadn't looked like a total jackass.

Okay, he may have been a bit rude, but at least they were all seeing him as a proper teacher, instead of a cuddling plushie.

Improvement.

"Okay ladies, class is over. Have a good day."

He could only smile as the girls of 2A began to run out of the classroom. If he hadn't known any better, he'd almost believed that some of them had used instant movement.

His smile became strained though, when his eyes fell on his supposed descendent.

"Excuse me, Miss Lingshen, can I have a word?"

Negi caught the brief glimpse of surprise in her eyes. Then he saw the calculating expression of another girl, one who'd stayed silent during the entire lesson.

"In fact –" he added, an idea forming in his mind. "– Miss Mc Dowell, Miss Karakuri, Miss Rainyd, I believe you three should also hear about this. Please, stay."

The spark of surprise in Chao's eyes returned, and Evangeline's eyebrow rose ever so slightly. As for Chachamaru and Zazie, they didn't express anything.

The mage waited for the other girls to exit the room, asking the late Yue to close the door behind her. As soon as it was done, he gathered his magical power, causing the appearance of the Magia Erebea seals on his arms, and cast a few ward schemes on the door.

Good thing he'd taken a few lessons from Setsuna.

His task done, he turned around and addressed Chao, ignoring the gobsmacked Evangeline that was mumbling and dumbly pointing at him.

"Well, my dear great granddaughter. Care to explain what possessed you to mess with time again?"

Aisaka Sayo was a confused ghost.

After the many years she's spent in this classroom, she'd begun to think that she'd seen it all, but her current situation was clearly forcing her to think otherwise.

Negi-sensei, her new teacher, had just asked four of her classmates to remain after class. Seeing as he was a foreigner, she'd expected him to ask for directions around the campus, or maybe give them studying tips as a concerned educator. But no, instead he'd began unfolding a tale of magic and time travel.

"– and the next thing I know, I'm back in the overground, on my way to Mahora." he concluded. "At first, I feared that Zazie's sister had somehow managed to get to me again, but that was disproved quickly."

"Audacia Paula." noted the Pierrot, apparently a princess from the demonic realm.

Negi nodded, before turning back to Chao.

"Then, naturally, your name came to mind."

"I can see why ne." admitted Chao Lingshen, apparently his future great granddaughter. "But as I already explained, I'm not responsible for this. Your plan for Mars sounds good enough, I wouldn't have stopped you. Plus you didn't come back whole, only your soul traveled and merged with your past-self. The Cassiopeia just isn't supposed to work that way, it needs a physical vessel ne."

"The question then, boya, is to know who would be powerful enough to enact this, and could benefit from it." said Evangeline.

Seeing her smile like that was strange, but apparently, Negi-sensei had mastered her original technique and that seemed to please her to no end.

"You're thinking Cosmo Entelecheia?"

"Highly unlikely. If they had this kind of powers, they would have used them in the last war. No, I'm thinking about that aunt of yours."

"Asuna's not my aunt." frowned the mage.

"… cousin?" asked Zazie with a tilt of her head.

"Well… no, not exactly. It's complicated."

"Whatever, you know who I mean." said the vampire.

Yep, Eva was a vampire. Sayo couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that before, after seeing the blond girl in this very same classroom for so many years.

"From what you said, this Code of the Lifemaker would be powerful enough, right?" she continued.

"Probably, yes."

"Then you have your answer. She didn't want to be sealed away, and used her powers to send you back and find an alternative."

"It… makes sense, I guess." acknowledged the young mage. "I'll get to work on Project Blue Mars as soon as possible then."

"Don't worry oji-san, I'll help you ne." cheered Chao.

"… I'll talk to my sister." said Zazie.

"You can borrow Chachamaru." added Evangeline.

"Thank you, Chao, Zazie-san, Master."

The blond grumbled a "Don't call me Master." halfheartedly. Then her voice grew more powerful. "And drop by my place tonight, we'll have a duel. I want to make sure that you're not shaming my technique." she ordered.

"Master." interrupted Chachamaru. "I believe you'll have to postpone. The class holds Negi-sensei's welcome party tonight."

"Right, forgot about that… well, tomorrow it'll be then. I want you at my door at 9 pm. And don't be late."

"Of course not, Master." replied the mage, with one of his trademark Springfield-smile.

Eva grumbled again.

Sayo couldn't help but smile at their antics.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go. Nodoka-san is about to fall down a flight of stairs. I'll see you all at my welcome party."

The young teacher gathered his textbooks, canceled his warding schemes, and just as he exited the room, added a few parting words.

"Oh, and Aisaka-san, please, don't mention this conversation to anyone."

The ghost's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the other girls turn to her with a smile on their faces.

As he was recalling the events that had led to his unfortunate position, Negi wanted nothing more than to bang his head on the closest wall. Sadly, it would surely damage it and knowing who it belonged too, it was unquestionably a bad move.

As the girls already knew that he was a martial artist, saving Nodoka with a quick step instead of a spell had been a good idea. He'd managed to convince Asuna – who'd once again witnessed the accident – that this was nothing more than that, a pure physical prowess. Of course, she'd still be doubtful, until he'd asked Setsuna to demonstrate herself at his welcome party. Takamichi's notes on the roster clearly identified the girl as being a Shinmei swordswoman, so he had an excuse for knowing about her own proficiency with instant movement.

Then had come the gifts, drinks, snacks, and even more questions from his students, those ones informal as they were off duty.

Only once the party had ended, had Negi realized that his sleeping arrangements had been left out entirely when he'd talked to the Dean earlier.

Was he still expected to share a room with Konoka and Asuna?

Konoka wasn't really a problem, that girl would welcome the Mage of the Beginning with open arms. But without his sort of cousin discovering his secret, they hadn't bonded, and her own reaction to hosting a kid would be more… explosive.

Worried, the mage had questioned Takamichi and Miss Shizuna, only to discover that they didn't know where he was supposed to sleep, nor had any place in their own flats to let him crash. Of course, the Dean didn't pick up his phone either.

Typical.

And so, here he was, standing in front of Evangeline's mansion, under the scrutiny of his nightmare of a master. She'd been watching him in silence for close to three minutes now. It was extremely uncomfortable, but at least she hadn't rejected him instantly.

"You can sleep here, –"

Thank god, he was beginning to fear that she would let him endure a night under the stars and call it training.

"– if you let me drink your blood. I'm starving."

Of course she would ask for a compensation. She was an evil mage after all, they never did anything for free.

He accepted, it wasn't like he had any other choices.

"Good. Chachamaru!"

"Yes, Master?" asked the gynoid, now dressed in a maid outfit.

"Prepare the diorama sphere, we shall use it until morning."

"Right away."

The robot retreated back into the mansion, and the vampire turned back to the mage that would apparently stay for longer than he'd asked for.

"First of all boya, I'll take my snack, and you'll get your nap. After that, I'll evaluate your abilities, and you'll get back to training until tomorrow's class. I can't have a weakling as an apprentice."

"Thank you, Master."

Then he saw her smirk devilishly, surrounded by a purple aura of doom.

"Don't thank me just yet."

Negi began to sweat proficiently.

Yep, he was screwed.

"That is quite a bold move on your part, Professor Sprinfield."

Negi didn't reply, nor even move an inch. His expression didn't flatter, showing his seriousness on the matter at hand.

Konoemon Konoe let his piercing gaze drift away from the young teacher, and settle on an old acquaintance of his.

"And you're supporting this?"

Evangeline grinned at the old mage.

"The kid's clever. He wouldn't ask something like that if he wasn't convinced of their potential."

Silence stretched as the Dean contemplated the vampire's answer.

Then he sighed.

"Fine, let me see that list."

Negi complied, smirking widely.

Konoemon suppressed an unconscious shiver. For a moment, he'd almost seen a second Dark Evangel in his office.

Kū Fei was happy.

Negi-sensei had finally offered her the match she'd expected for almost a week now, and it was amazing. He was so young, who would have though that he could be so strong?

The girl ducked another kick, only to discover that her opponent had used instant movement to appear behind her, blocking her escape route. A quick maneuver left her with two new bruises, and send her spiraling into the air. She barely had enough time to roll over as she touched the ground, avoiding a bad fall but hurting her shoulder in the process. She lost the footing she'd just regained when her teacher sweep her legs from under her, making her hit the dirt. Exhausted, she stayed down.

Their spar was over.

She'd just got her ass kicked, but boy, was it fun. She'd been laughing during the entire fight.

"You're good, sensei." she finally managed, in between two ragged breaths.

"You're not bad yourself, Miss Fei."

His composed voice was almost unnerving. Here she was, completely out of breath, while Negi-sensei didn't look spent in the slightest. That was some serious stamina he had.

A comfortable silence fell on them as Kū calmed herself, her adrenaline-fueled rush rapidly coming to an end.

Then she slowly rose on her knees, head bowed, and asked the question that, hopefully, would shape her life for the years to come.

"Can I be your apprentice?"

She'd hoped for an agreement, and expected a refusal.

She got a full blown laughter instead.

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Aru?"

"Hahaha!"

Had she said something funny?

"So… sorry for that. It's just… ah, nevermind."

At that, he lost his goofy grin and his expression turned sober.

"If I do train you, Miss Fei, you will reach new heights. But as goes the saying, the higher they are… You have to be ready to face extremely dangerous situations and opponents, potentially deadly ones, to be willing to put your life at risk. If such is the case, then please come to Miss Mc Dowell's cottage, tomorrow after class. If not… well, I suppose I could always indulge you with the occasional spar."

Kū stayed silent as her teacher calmly dusted his training garbs. She could tell that he was dead serious… but so was she.

"Where's this cottage aru?"

Kaede Nagase was proud of her heritage as a Koga ninja.

Her speed, reflexes, physical abilities, had been honed from a young age. Despite the prodigies and numerous martial arts club in Mahora, she was clearly among the top fighters.

And yet, she'd been close to being mocked by her nine years old teacher.

He hadn't taunted her, nor made any overly flashy or immature maneuver. No, he'd just been close to untouchable. The one time she'd managed to land a hit, he'd endured the pain emanating from his dislocated shoulder, used a counter that had thrown her off-balance, kicked her away, and used the momentary interruption to put his bone back into its socket.

And as incredible as it may seems, he's been giving her advices for the last ten minutes now.

"… lower your guard a little when you're using that last combo. I mean, I'm not a pro in taijutsu, but your stance looked like it could have benefited from a lower center of gravity during that maneuver. Anyway, you're clearly something more. You'll be a bright star one day, Miss Nagase. Well, a stealthy one I suppose, that's what ninjas are all about after all."

And then he smiled at her, offering her back the kunai he'd caught in midair earlier on.

"Now tell me, what would you say if I was to give you the means to reach that level sooner?" he asked. "You would get proper sparring partners, various martial artists to go up against, without even disturbing your studies or renouncing to your weekends."

That offer seemed to good to be true. Thankfully, as a ninja, Kaede was also trained to reach others' emotions and body language.

Yet, when she looked at the young boy, she could see no foul play.

The girl blinked once.

Twice.

A large smile bloomed on her face.

"When do we start, de gozaru?"

"You two are clever girls, Miss Miyazaki, Miss Ayase." stated Negi, causing them to blush. "And it won't be long before you see something that your rational minds can't explain nor accept. So I decided to spare you the headache and offer you the answers you'll soon seek."

In the blink of an eye, the young teacher allowed the delayed spell he'd cast earlier to flood his system.

The girls had to shield away when thunder roared and a gust of wind rushed over them. When they finally manage to look back, the almost innocent-looking boy had been replace by a being beyond their comprehension.

His long hair almost touching the ground, his entire body made of pure white lightning, sparks spreading all around him every few seconds, their teacher was no longer human.

"Raiten Taisô II, such is the name of this spell." he explained, smiling widely. "Miss Miyazaki, Miss Ayase, I am a mage."

Konoka Konoe had no idea why her grand-father wanted to see her, but the paper she'd received through Negi had be written with clear professionalism, and signed "Dean Konoemon Konoe".

Her grandpa never signed anything this way, unless it was extremely important.

With a slight feeling of apprehension, the young girl knocked on his door and waited.

"Enter."

She did so, and came face to face with Negi, her grandfather, and…

"Daddy?"

"Hello, Konoka." said Eishun Konoe. "Please, take a seat."

Her apprehension had now officially turned into dread. Her father wouldn't had traveled all the way from Kyoto for nothing.

"Konoka." suddenly said Negi in a warm voice. "There's nothing to fear."

"Professor Sprinfield is right." continued Konoemon. "We just want to have a word with you regarding your future."

"My future? What do you mean?"

"There is more to the Konoe name that you believe." explained her father. "And while I wanted to wait a few more years before revealing this to you, your professor believes that it needs to be done now."

"Negi-sensei?" asked Konoka, turning to her teacher with a questioning look.

The boy sighed, and began to talk.

"I recently learnt that quite a few number of persons need help with what is literally a matter of life and death. I'll myself do everything I can, but my actions alone won't be enough, which is why I've be recruiting. So far, I've secured the services of Misses Mc Dowell, Lingshen, Rainyd, Karakuri, Fei, Nagase, Miyazaki and Ayase. Should you decide to help, I'll tell you the full length of your family's legacy. If you don't, I'll just leave you alone, and let your father decide what to tell you and when."

Konoka glanced at her father. He seemed extremely nervous.

Her grandfather looked just the same, but his eyes betrayed another emotion… pride.

As for Negi, she could only see hope.

"And those persons… would my presence help them?"

"Yes, tremendously. In fact, you would be one of the most crucial players."

Her decision was rendered perfectly clear by that simple answer.

"I'm listening."

Well, this new timeline was promising to say the least.

With Chao and Chachamaru working on it, Project Blue Mars was becoming more tangible by the minute. The other girls were now taking an hour a day to train in the diorama sphere, under careful surveillance from Setsuna and Mana, the first one following her ojou-sama and the latter one financed by Chao. Zazie had even managed to sway her sister to their side, providing them with a comfortably planted spy in Cosmo Entelecheia.

There was now only one thing left to do, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

"Thanks for coming Asuna." said Negi as the redhead got in the classroom.

"Konoka said that you wanted to see me, Negi-sensei?"

"Yes, in regards to the way you're addressing me."

She began to sweat.

"Did I… say something wrong?"

"No, you're just unaware of our exact relationship."

"… our relationship?"

"Precisely, cousin."

"Cous…? WHAT?" yelled the girl, unprepared for this sort of information.

"Well, I'm not sure of our exact connection, but I know that we're related on my mother's side."

"Your mother?"

"Arika Anarchia Entheofushia."

Asuna froze for half a second.

Then she blinked and the moment was gone.

"Never heard of her. How would that work anyway? You're coming from Whales, right? And I'm Japanese, so –"

"No, you're not."

"Excuse me?"

"You're not Japanese, Asuna. In fact, your name isn't even Kagurazaka."

Asuna laughed drily, clearly ill at ease.

"Okay, this is a sick joke right? Who put you up to this? It's Ayaka, right? This thing has her dirty fingerprints all over it."

"Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia."

Any trace of a smile disappeared from the girl's feature, replaced by a blank look.

Negi could already see the memory seals created by Takamichi slowly coming apart.

"That was… is your real name. You were born and raised in Ostia, one of the great capitals of Mundus Magicus, a magical world anchored on Mars, in an alternate plane of existence."

Her eyes were widening more and more. From the look of it, she was getting glimpses of her past, flashbacks.

It looked extremely painful, and Negi had to swallow his guilt. He could only hope that, when all would be said and done, she would forgive him.

"You were known as the Princess of Twilight, one of the last representative of the royal Ostian bloodline. And because of your powers, others were using you for their own means."

Tears began to flow from her eyes, yet she remained unmoving.

"My father rescued you and took you here, in the old world. Takahata-sensei was also accompanying you at the time. He's the one who sealed your memories away, to give you a proper childhood."

She was overtly shaking now, the seal very close to its breaking point.

"And today, I'm taking it away from you. Dispel!"

In a flash, magical energies were release from Negi's risen arm and converged as one on Asuna's forehead, revealing a massive sealing array. The formula was already heavily eroded, clearly a result of Negi's revelations. His spell went through it like through rice paper, shattering it into millions of pieces.

Asuna fell to the ground, unconscious.

"I'm sorry." apologized Negi, knowing perfectly that she couldn't hear him.

The first thing Asuna Kagurazaka did when she regained consciousness, was to cry for a good ten minutes without interruption.

The second thing she did was to summon Code of the Lifemaker and attempt a cousicide… sort of.

Family or not, Negi had just erased a memory block without her consent. He hadn't even try to go easy on her, using raw psychological battering rams on her mind before topping them with a brutal dispel. She had no reason to spare him.

With a mere thought, the two of them were instantly sealed in a barrier. In the next second, she'd already materialized unbreakable cuffs on his wrists and ankles, effectively restraining his movements. Only then came the punishment… she began to punch him on the head, repeatedly calling him an idiot and asking why he'd been stupid enough to do such an imprudent thing that even his moron of a father wouldn't have tried.

She certainly hadn't anticipated his answer though.

"I'm glad."

Her fist stopped, inches away from delivering another one of her caring 'medication'.

"What?"

"That you're still you." smiled her relative. "I was fearing that the memories would…"

His eyes glazed over and he sighed loudly. He'd fear for her, Asuna Kagurazaka, to be swallowed by the Princess of Twilight, her original personality.

Her expression softened ever so slightly.

The kid's daze ended, and his smile returned.

"But you're okay, aren't you?"

"I won't be able to sleep tonight, I'm certainly not okay." she replied with a glare, pointing a finger in his face.

"Oh, right… nightmares."

She said nothing.

Judging from the way he was guiltily looking at the ground, she didn't have to.

"… I'm sorry."

It was her time to sigh.

"You're Nagi's son alright."

The kid was too damn cute to punish. Where was Eishun when she needed him?

"Anyway, care to tell me how you found out about the seal, and why you found it relevant to take it off? The only one around that should know about it is Takahata-sensei, and he wouldn't have let you do anything. Well, not without a world shattering event."

Her younger cousin – she supposed so anyway, even if he was once or twice removed – looked at her with renewed vigor.

"Long story short, Mundus Magicus is destabilizing and, when we finally heard about it, we didn't have enough time to prevent it without a major loss. So I time-traveled from three years into the future to look for a solution."

"You… time-traveled?"

He nodded.

"How?"

"Our best bet? You sent me back."

Her eyes opened wide in shock.

"Me?" she almost yelled. "No way, I don't have that kind of power."

"What? But, what about Code of the Lifemaker? That thing can do anything."

"It doesn't work that way, Negi. It gives reality-warping powers, but only over Mundus Magicus. I can't just turn back time."

She immediately saw that the mage didn't like her answer.

He was visibly blanching.

"Negi? What's wrong?"

"We need to see Chao." he replied in a haunted voice. "And we need to see her now."

"It's not Asuna!"

As her great grandfather smashed her door down, Chao Lingshen yelped and dropped her PDA. The handheld computer followed a graceful curve into the air and fell to the floor, cracking ominously.

Had her ancestor's voice not sounded so tense, she would have wept at the loss of her equipment and data.

"Excuse me?" she asked instead, wondering what had the mage in such a rush.

"It's not Asuna. Someone else sent me back."

Hearing it again managed to get the message across.

"What? But… how would you know that? I mean, it's not like Asuna could tell you… other… wise." Chao trailed off with a blink. "Please, tell me you didn't." she sighed, shooting an almost resigned look at her suddenly sheepish-looking grandparent.

Her answer came in the form of a certain redhead entering her apartment, her heavy panting making it clear that she'd run after the young mage.

"Finally… hah, caught you… haha. Now, care to tell me why… hah, you took off like that?" labored Asuna, before realizing whose room they were standing in. "Oh, hi Chao, sorry for intruding."

"Don't worry about it Asuna." replied the Chinese girl, before trowing a pointed look at Negi. "It's not your fault if someone felt like playing with memory seals ne."

A certain mage seemed to shrink under her gaze.

"How do you know about that?" asked the redhead.

The tech genius shrugged.

"Negi-oji-san comes crashing into my room, saying that you aren't responsible for his timetravel. He couldn't have guessed so out of the blue, so him breaking your seal was the only logical explanation."

"No, I mean how do you know about the seal?" explained the princess. "And why did you call him oji-san? Even with the timetravel, he's not that old."

"When I'm from, your sealed memories are history ne." said Chao. "As for the oji-san, how else would I call my great grandfather?"

Seeing the sudden empty look on Asuna's face, the genius turned to her ancestor.

"Let me guess, you haven't told her yet?"

"Huh… no."

Chao resisted the urge to sigh. She was an evil mastermind, and evil masterminds didn't fell as low as to sigh in presence of witnesses, even if the stupidity of the situation called for it.

Instead, she snapped her fingers in front of the startled redhead, breaking her trance. A raised hand cut short the words that tried to escape the princess' mouth.

"The situation's dire enough without further questions, so let's get to the point ne. I'm from the future, my own trip was controlled, Negi-oji-san's wasn't." summarized Chao. "Now focus."

She turned to her ancestor.

"We know that you're not responsible, and neither is Asuna. That only leaves the Mage of the Beginning and Nagi-oji-san."

"Dad? I don't remember anyone ever mentioning that he studied time magic."

"That's because he didn't." said Chao. "The Life-Maker is probably the only one around with enough arcane knowledge to pull something like this. But since he's possessing Nagi, we can assume that he also has access to that knowledge. Think about it Negi-oji-san, you said yourself that he fought for control when you faced him."

"You're saying that he managed to remain in control long enough to use the Life-maker's abilities by himself?" asked Negi, skeptical. "Isn't it a little too far-fetched?"

"Maybe a little." recognized Chao, shrugging. "But it makes more sense ne."

"Not really, no." sighed the mage. "We already established that the Life-Maker couldn't be responsible. He would have use this power in the first war."

The Chinese girl's face lighted up in recollection, and she bit on her nail.

"Right, totally forgot about that. Sorry ne."

"WAIT A MINUTE!" suddenly yelled Asuna, butting in on the conversation. "The Mage of the Beginning? The jerk's still alive? I thought Nagi got rid of him?"

"He did, but the Mage is immortal. Well, perpetual would be a better term. Upon defeat, he can take over his opponent's body." explained the second time traveler.

"So… Nagi is really…?"

"Possessed and sealed underneath the World Tree, yes."

When she saw the malaise that her words had caused on Asuna, Chao hurried to add "Don't worry, we'll save him."

Upon saying the determination in her classmate's eyes, the Ostian princess gradually regained her colors. She relaxed and managed a weak smile.

However, that calm was soon washed away by a sudden concern. Asuna frowned.

"Nagi and the bastard mage aside, how did you come back?" she asked Negi. "From what you're saying, you crossed the name of every person that could have had that kind of ability off your list."

The young teacher took a reflective posture.

"… maybe not everyone." he suddenly said, after a few seconds of silence.

"You have someone in mind?"

"It's a long shot but… there was this girl working for Cosmo Entelecheia. I never caught her name, but I know that she went by Master of the Gravekeeper's Palace." explained the young mage. "From what I felt, she was more that powerful enough to do this, maybe even on par with the Life-Maker."

"That's great ne." replied his grandchild. "But power is one thing, and using that power to do such a thing as time travel is another entirely. The Mage, I could I believed, as father to Amateru and progenitor of the Ostian royal bloodline. But a mere no-name mage, even one working for Cosmo Entheofushia –"

"She was an Entheofushia."

Negi's response sent the two girls into a coughing fit.

"E… excuse me?" finally managed Asuna, after nearly choking on her saliva.

"Well, I'm not sure about her name per say, but at the very least, she was of some Ostian ancestry."

"How can you tell?"

"Her features were rather close to your own, Asuna, though her hair were closer to my mother's. She also had the same heterochromia, and called me her descendant."

"Right, you can hardly make that clearer." acknowledged the princess.

"So she had the power, and the necessary blood. But what about her motive ne? Why would she sent you back?"

"To help me, why else?" asked back the time traveler, as if the question was by itself stupid.

"But… she's Cosmo Entelecheia, right?"

"She is, but she decided to side with us when I claimed to have another solution to Inverse Mars' collapse."

"Like that Fate guy ne?"

At Chao's words, Negi could prevent an amused chuckle to escape his lips.

"Nah, she was easier to convince. I had to pound it into Fate's thick skull, she just took my word for it."

"How do we contact her then, if she's on our side?" asked his sort of cousin. "We can't exactly walk up to the bad guys headquarters and request an audience."

"We won't need to ne." replied the second girl.

"Poyo-san will do it for us." added their teacher.

If Nodoka had used her artifact on Asuna at that exact moment, the diary would have been solely filled with question marks.

Seeing her confusion, the two Sprinfields exchanged an amused glance and the redhead could only sigh. They were about to dump another improbable news on her, she just knew it.

"Alrigh, shoot."

"Why can't you just go there and see for yourself?"

Up until he'd heard that, Negi Sprinfield had felt extremely frustrated.

Having Zazie contact her sister and pass a message to the Master of the Gravekeeper's Palace had been quite easy. Hearing back from said demon princess that her fellow Cosmo Entelecheia sympathizer had nothing to do with his trip to the past had been a lot harder on the mage.

Every possible culprit having now been proved innocent, the time traveler had began to despair, believing that every hope of discovering the truth of this affair was forever out of his grasp.

And then, Asuna had asked that wonderful question.

"Why can't you just go there and see for yourself?"

It was so brilliantly simple.

He had been displaced from the future by an unknown, and was clearly unable to discover that person's identity in the current time. No one appeared to have both the means – mostly pure magical power and sufficient knowledge – and the proper motive for it.

That only left the obvious answer.

"Why can't you just go there and see for yourself?"

The young teacher proceeded to hug his relative to suffocation. She was starting to foam at the mouth when he finally released her, a huge smile on his face.

"Asuna, you're a genius."

And before the princess could regain her bearings, her little cousin was running away… again.

"I need a Cassiopeia!"

After her great grandfather's last intrusion, Chao Lingshen had accurately predicted that those sudden outbursts would most likely happen again in the future. As such, she managed to control herself and not yelp like a frightened toddler when he broke her door down for the second time in four days. Evil mastermind didn't yelp.

Sadly enough, it looked like evil mastermind could still flinch and drop their new PDA.

Weeping internally at the loss of yet another device, the girl turned to her ancestor and smiled tiredly.

"Hello to you too, oji-san. How may I help you this time?"

"I need a Cassiopeia." repeated her relative.

"Huh… okay. Why?"

"I want to go three years forward and see who sent me back. I'll stay there for something like fifteen minutes, an hour at most, and come straight back when I'm done."

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"That's… actually a pretty good idea. How did you come up with it?"

"Asuna did." beamed the mage.

"You know that you'll need a lot of magical power for a leap like that, right?"

The boy held his arms up, the Magia Erebea glowing on his skin.

"Right, forget I asked ne."

Grabbing one of the non-computer-controlled version of the time-traveling device from somewhere on her person, Chao dropped it in her great grandfather's waiting hand, and offered him a brief hug.

"Be careful." she breathed.

Had the traveler been anybody else, she would have proposed to accompany him. But since it was Negi Springfield, she knew that it would have been pointless, he was just way too suborn to accept.

Besides, it wasn't like he was going to stay in the future for very long. He was going for a hit and run tactic. He'd sneak on the culprit, identify or even neutralize him after his past-self's disappearance, and come back immediately… probably.

A hopeful yet concerned Chao watched her ancestor's gaze harden as he activated the Cassiopeia.

Negi left the time-stream.

The loop crashed.

1.02

Negi Sprinfield, unknowingly Anchor of his part of the multiverse, blinked Awake to a familiar sound and equally familiar questions.

Kataklang.

Kataklang.

"What's with that kid?"

"Is he a foreigner?"

The young mage did a double-take and confirmed that, yes, he was back in the overground on what would now be his third first day of teaching.

If he hadn't been an English gentleman, he would have cursed loudly.

1.01 - Negi is now the Anchor, as Asuna and Evangeline's previous dual-Anchorship made no in-loop sense. Also, the kid's comprehension of the loops is, for now, abyssmal. We'll fix that in the next chapter... or the one after that if we decide to mess with Negi for a little longer.

1.02 - He's still so proper, so polite... don't worry, it won't last.

We at SpaceBattle truly hope that you enjoyed those loops.

Stay tuned for the next ones.