The Red Hand

Chapter 219 – Kitty Upgrades and Debut.

Once Mika was finished experimenting with her new powers, she reverted back to normal, much to the sadness of Yuzu and Suzu who were hoping for more time with their cute girlfriend. Mika was initially worried that she'd have no clothing on when she reverted, but that fear was unfounded as apparently her body would magically revert to normal when she transformed back.

"Well, at least she's not stuck like that." Kana shook her head.

{Though Mika might actually be ok with that outcome...} (Kana)

"I told you already that Imp and I made it, and we ensured that it was safe before giving it over. I'd never give Mika something dangerous, and if I had any reservations I wouldn't risk it." Akagi sighed. "But all the same, just be careful with that thing, Mika. And whatever you do, don't let anyone else get hold of it. It might be tied to your magic, but I'd rather people not start reverse engineering ways to make Magical Girls." She figured the world's governments might want something like this.

"The mass militarization and deployment of Magical Girls reminds me of a light novel I read once." Mika thought for a moment. "But don't worry, I'll keep it safe."

{She's gonna lose it in the laundry, isn't she...} (Naomi)

"Are you girls still heading into Kyoto to hang out after this?" Akagi asked. They'd mentioned wanting to get Mika's Magical Girl thing done before they went to karaoke.

"Yup." Naomi nodded. "Now that Mika got her toy, we can head off for some real fun!" She was looking forward to hanging out with her friends now that school was over for the summer.

"It's not a toy! It's a transformation device!" Mika puffed her cheeks as she pouted at Naomi's words.

{You're just envious that you don't have one!} (Mika)

"As I said, a toy." Naomi grinned.

"Do you want to come with, Onee-chan?" Kana asked. "You're more than welcome to." She'd never actually taken Akagi to karaoke and wanted to see her sing.

"Thanks, but I'll pass." Akagi shook her head. "I've got some stuff I need to do, but you girls go have fun." She also figured that the Demon Lord walking about in downtown Kyoto might cause some issues, not to mention that she would get a bit too into karaoke, since she liked to sing.

“Come with us and sing in cat mode!” Mika wanted to see the Catkagi sing. “It would be so cute, and we can make an adorable little music video!” She was hoping something like that would get her millions of views.

{Cute kitty sings death metal! I must see it!} (Mika)

“While I would ordinarily love to kick your assess at karaoke, I genuinely have things to do.” Akagi shrugged. “So I can't. But you lot should go have some fun. If I'm free next time, then I'll go. How about that?”

“Sounds good. But we need to go do some things together this summer! We didn't really do much together last year, and I've got some ideas for fun.” Kana wanted to spend some quality time with her, and hoped that things would stay calm and allow for it.

Once the girls were ready to go, Akagi had them transported down to Kyoto by one of the ninjas, which left her and Chloe alone, and the Demon figured it was time to get some work done lest she be branded lazy and useless again.

"Come on, Chloe." Akagi motioned for the cat to follow her. "You can keep me company while I do some work." She said as she walked toward the house nonchalantly.

"Please don't make me do paperwork..." Chloe's ears drooped. She wasn't a fan of desk work, and was terrible at anything that required writing.

{Paperwork bad... Fighting good...} (Chloe)

"How about this? If you pet me while I work and feed me snacks, then you can get out of pencil pushing." Akagi laughed. She knew how much Chloe hated doing anything other than field work, so figured this was a good way to secure some attention.

"Sounds good, nya!" Chloe followed along behind her master as the two of them went into Akagi's office. Akagi sat on Chloe's lap as she went over a mountain of paperwork, and the two discussed a number of different issues that came across her desk. Contrary to what the Demon said, Chloe wasn't just here for fun and games, and she actually wanted the catkin's input on a few issues.

"Next up is..." Akagi looked over another document. "Something submitted by you, actually." She read through it quickly before discussing it with Chloe. "I see. You want permission and material to construct a proper clan base. I guess that's not exactly surprising." They'd basically been operating out of ad hoc facilities at the estate, and lacked anything like a formal base. Now that Akagi had her own nation, she figured it best to start thinking in the long term and give them somewhere to really put down roots.

"Yeppers!" Chloe nodded. "We've been making do with the limited arrangements here, but now that we've been properly established I think it's time to give the clan a proper home, nya. We need a place to train newcomers, after all." There weren't any on the way yet, but Akagi figured it was just a matter of time.

"Reading through this, you still want it to be close to the estate, and you wish to construct a facility similar to what you guys had on Mount Anadara." Akagi commented as she read it over again. "Man, that takes me back..."

{It's been a long time since we destroyed that place, so it makes sense she'd want to rebuild it. I recall her mentioning something about reconstructing the clan's base at some point, and I guess now's the time.} (Akagi)

"I want to make sure we're always close by for you, myaster." Chloe pet her on the head and played with her ears. "We are your faithful servants, now and forever, nya."

"You are my family, Chloe, all of you." Akagi corrected her.

"Of course." Chloe giggled as she flipped one of Akagi's ears inside out and poked the interior.

"I still can't believe how long it's been." Akagi sighed as she sat the small document on the desk. "It's been nearly four years since we met, and so many things have happened during that time."

{I got new friends. Found a family, and really changed my outlook on things. But most of all, I'm happy, and that's the most important thing about all of this.} (Akagi)

"Back then, I was an arrogant kid who never imagined anyone could beat me." Chloe laughed as she remembered the beat down Akagi gave her, and the massive blow to her ego that came with it. "When I was sent after you, I never imagined that when I returned to the village next it would be to take it over!" Chloe's clan didn't really appreciate her switching sides, and it was a bloody and fierce battle to get them to submit. Once she'd defeated the clan's elders, there was a short and violent civil war that devastated their ranks. The members of the clan that still existed were those who sided with Chloe after she proclaimed her ascension to Grand Master as per their traditions, and they were grateful to have been spared a more gruesome fate, since their people had angered someone so powerful and lost.

"I still don't get how you all don't hate me for that whole series of events." Akagi's face went dark. "I killed so many of your fellow ninjas, and basically uprooted your entire society..." She didn't regret her actions, but that didn't mean she failed to understand what she did.

"It is simply how we are, nya." Chloe pet her even more to reassure her that she and the other ninja were not angry. "We attacked someone, and not only did we fail, but that person defeated and subjugated our clan. Ordinarily, we should have been exterminated, but you decided to give us a second chance and even welcomed us into your family. For what reason could we have to be upset, nya?"

{That you used me as a proxy to cement your control over our people is irrelevant, since everyone understands that I only succeeded because of you. I know things were hard at the time, and having to kill people I'd known since childhood was... was hard, but our people came out stronger because of it, and now we have a worthy myaster to serve.} (Chloe)

"Yeah, and what did I get out of it? A dopey cat that follows me around no matter where I go." Akagi laughed as the poked Chloe on the nose.

"You say that, but I've never once seen you tell this dopey cat to go away, nya." Chloe giggled as she squeezed Akagi a bit.

"That's because if I sent you off into the world, who knows what kind of crazy you'll do." Akagi replied. "It's the same reason why I need to keep an eye on Mika, lest she start doing god knows what out there." She chuckled.

"Mika seemed so happy earlier." Chloe said. "I don't think I've ever seen that big of a smile on her face, nya." She could tell the blue-haired girl was thrilled with her new powers, and was happy to see her happy.

{It really must have been a dream come true, and I know myaster worked hard to make it happen. She tries to pretend that she doesn't care as much as she does, but I know that's all a lie. Our myaster is a kind and caring person, at least those to who she wants to be.} (Chloe)

"I'm just glad that she's happy with it." Akagi smiled. "Giving her that little something makes me happy as well."

{I want to repay her for being such a good friend, and for putting up with all my bullshit. Out of all the people I've met, Mika has to be up there as one of the cookyist, and also one of my favorite. That girl is capable of taking everything in stride, and she just appreciates me for who I am, crazy and all.} (Akagi)

"I suppose I'll have to train even more. Lest she and Kana overtake me in skill and power." Chloe smiled. She was curious as to the girls level of strength, but so far refrained from sparring with either since she was afraid to hurt them.

"Well, yeah. I can't have my best agent being beaten by some superpowered teens now, can I?" Akagi agreed. "On that front, I've actually got something for you." She reached into her inventory and pulled out two items before placing them on her desk.

"Ohh!" Chloe eyed them with great interest, and could feel the magic emanating from the two of them.

"The first one here is an upgraded version of your wires." Akagi held up something that looked like a large spool of blueish silver threat. "I worked with Imperial and Imp to make something even stronger and more flexible than your current kit, so try these out and tell me what you think." They were made from some very powerful and flexible metal that was created using magic.

"I've been wanting something with a bit more kick to them, nya." Chloe picked up and looked at the spool, her eyes showing a serious glint as she inspected her new weapon. "I've been concerned that my current weapons wouldn't be much of a match for players, so this will be good to make sure I don't get caught off guard, nya." She smiled as she imagined kicking some butt with them.

"And the second thing..." Akagi cackled as she picked up the second item. "Is a secret project that I've been working on ever since I got hold of Imperial's item production." She showed Chloe two red and black gloves. "Put these on, please." She handed them to the cat.

Chloe put the two gloves over her hands, and was instantly amazed. They were form-fitting and were perfectly sized for the catkin, but more than that... "Wow!" Chloe exclaimed in shock. "When I put them on, I felt a rush of energy flow into my body!" Her entire body felt a surge of power the moment they were equipped and she felt as if she could tussle with a front line fighter.

"Bingo!" Akagi continued cackling as she explained. "I worked with Imperial to enchant those gloves with a modified version of Greater Ability Boost!" She'd been messing with game abilities and the ability to alter or transfer them, with some success.

"Really?!?" Chloe was in awe at the power within these gloves. "I thought you could only activate that ability temporarily?!?" She'd managed to learn a few non rogue class abilities, but Ability Boost proved to be impossible, and the test items she'd used only powered her up for a few minutes.

"It was, until now. You see, what you've got there is weaker than the actual ability, but it's constantly on while you have those gloves equipped." Akagi smirked. "And... that's not all."

"I can tell." Chloe's lips curved into a wicked smiled as she noticed the other aspect of these gloves. "Myaster is truly terrifying, nya."

"I sure am." Akagi smiled. "If Eris thought getting access to Ability Boost via her gauntlets was nice, then she'd be floored by what we put into those."

"Hey, myaster." Chloe's eyes glinted as she looked down at the Demon in her lap. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Shall we perform a test of the new gear?" Akagi turned to look the cat in the face, her eyes showing a blazing fire.

"Muhhahah." Chloe began to cackle evilly, followed by Akagi and soon the entire room was filled with evil laughing from the two troublemakers.

{What are those two idiots doing? I'm only gone for a few hours, and I come back to find that Mika is a Magical Girl, and Akagi is most likely making an evil scheme with Chloe... } Yumi watched the two girls from the doorway as they cackled like maniacal idiots. She'd seen this before, and it almost always meant trouble.

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<Halifax POV>

"This place is incredible!" Halifax marveled at the tall buildings and alien environment of Kyoto that surrounded her. "I've never seen a place like this. I guess this really is an entirely different world, huh." She was currently walking down one of the main roads in Kyoto in an attempt to get her bearings, and was trying to figure out where she was and what she should do next. All she was told by Rebeckah was that the location she was being sent too was a place with high magical power, but nothing more than that.

{Good thing my translation magic worked. At least this way, I can communicate with the natives.} (Halifax)

"First and foremost, I need to figure out where their adventurers or whatever they call them in this world meet." Halifax looked around but had no idea what might indicate such an organization, as the signs indicated various restaurants and shops, but nothing that sounded like a place for warriors to meet. "A city this grand must be the seat of government, so I need to figure out where the Royal family lives. I'll probably need to explain things to them, and hopefully, they can tell me some information about the Spirits." She was a bit overwhelmed, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

{I detect a few magical signatures nearby. I should make my way to them as soon as possible. This world seems devoid of magic, so I'd imagine those people must be important in some way since only they are giving off a magical signature.} Just as Halifax was contemplating her next move...

*SCREECH* *HONK* *BANG* *CRASH*

A truck swerved into the wrong lane, causing a collision with a small car.

"What the heck was that?!?" Halifax looked at the scene of the accident and saw that the people within the car were injured but alive, while the man driving the truck was in severe distress.

{Should I help? No, if I do that I might draw attention, and I don't know how people of this world might react to me.} Halifax didn't like the idea of standing by and watching such a scene, but before she could make a decision, someone else jumped in to save the day.

"Magical Girl Star Guardian is here to help!" A young girl with light blue hair wearing a similarly colored dress flew onto the scene, and swiftly moved to rescue those who were injured.

{That girl is using magic!} Halifax watched as the girl swiftly removed the injured people from their respective vehicles and cast healing magic on them. {She must be someone important! With the quality of those clothes, that high magical power, and that skill, she must be the daughter of a Noble and a powerful adventurer! I need to speak with her! She might just be the kind of person who can help me save this world!}