As per Bob's request, a little behind-the-scenes peek at what may not be immediately obvious because this is prose and I can't draw. 
Nene here is paraphrasing the opening number of Aladdin and the King of Thieves, which was among the working music for this piece
Also attending is Evangeline, who snuck in on a technicality by coming as Chachamaru's(who was invited) guest. Thankfully, they got enough warning, and there are enough non-standard diners in the circles Nene and Ifrit run in, that there were already blood wines ready. There was a bit of a tense moment between Evangeline and the current head of the Alucard family, but thankfully, the respective butlers sorted it out. One cut scene would've featured Eva, Rachel, and Alyssa Sears sitting at the "children's table", but the visual gag of the trio of absurdly powerful blonde child-like figures is somewhat harder to pull off in text. That said, between all the butlers, Chao didn't even have to bust out the busman bots.
Finally, the last line was a reference to a certain "White Devil" whose reputation precedes her....and was written before someone reminded me that there was a Fate already. Divine Sabre would follow shortly thereafter, confusing the issue even further. By the point that this went into final editing, I figured the gag was suitably obscure to not be worth changing.
Really. You have a former President of the United States on tap. Who else could do the ceremony? (No, really, who else could? I was blanking on anyone that's actually authorized to do such in either group, and Lincoln was the only one qualified I could think of)
All-in-all, there are a dozen other notes that could come out, but as I'm mostly writing this in jet-lag induced insomnia, I'll call it here for now.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Quote:"There's a party here in Par-a-gon, there's
excitement in the air....people pourin' in from near and far..." Nene
hummed to herself, getting an odd look from Sylia as she held her arms
up so Sylia could get the measuring tape around her chest. Nene just
smiled back. "Sorry, little punchy. But I promise no musical numbers."
Nene here is paraphrasing the opening number of Aladdin and the King of Thieves, which was among the working music for this piece
Quote:"-and a guest are cordially invited to celebrate the marriage ofThis is actually a reference to the fact this piece was started around mid-December of last year. Hence the following day markings are actually correct for what days certain holidays fell on.
Ifrit Barnes and Nene Romanova, Friday the twenty-fifth of December at
6PM, at the Legendary Supergroup base's chapel. A reception will follow
in the social hall of the base," Daley read, looking over the
invitation, before looking up at Leon.
Quote:"Hello! Chao Bao Zi Restaurant! The Chinese restaurant of the future!Negima fans will recognize the Chinese Restaurant OF THE FUTURE. Given that several Negima characters had recently been rolled at the time, the joke was simply too funny to pass up. How does Chao know how much food to prepare? She checks how much she made already. Don't think about it too closely.
How can I help you?" a cheery voice answered on the second ring.
Quote:Inari pouted againThis scene was entirely unnecessary to the plot given Nene'd already called Sachie to see if she could attend earlier. But it was simply too fun to write. For added entertainment value, consider whether or not Sachie is being literal when she says "outbid" or if she's answering one double entrendre with another. Sachie certainly wasn't telling me.
before a sly look slid into her features. "I don't suppose I could bribe
security?" she smiled, leaning in close and running her fingers along
Sachie's chest before they were caught in one hand -- delicately,
compared to what Inari knew Sachie capable of. Her lover's smile was
bemused.
"Outbid
that too."
"Your other woman is no fun," Inari mock-pouted,
earning a slightly wider smirk from Sachie.
Quote:"I'm not going to do it," Linna declared, arms crossed. "Sorry, Sylia,Just because you're the best choice doesn't mean that you immediately want to be in the firing arc of Priss's latest annoyed glare. That said, it's Sylia, so this falls under Contingency Alpha-69-B-2.
but you couldn't pay me enough."
"I can't! You know it won't
happen if I'm the one that goes," Nene protested.
Sylia sighed.
"I know it's hard, but there has to be someone better qualified than
me."
"Sorry, boss, but you're just the best at what you do,"
Linna said.
"....I suppose you're right. And it has to be done,"
Sylia said, before taking a deep breath and walking into the lioness'
den. "Priss...honey..." she started.
Quote:"Haaaiiii!" The-girl-who-was-not-and-yet-was-Sachie grinned. "I justHow does a 6'7" or so woman with Sachie's build impersonate someone who could be part of Minnie May's support group? Very carefully. The name "Saychan" is Nene trying to come up with something that she'll remember and is close enough to "Sacchan" for government work. Sachie's improvised alias "Sayo Munakata" is a combination of Sayo from Negima and Shiho Munakata from Mai-HiME, both of whom were so-cutesy-you-could-gag enough at times to be used as the inspiration for Sachie's disguise.
couldn't believe how long the flight took to get here, Nene-chan. I was
sooo impatient to get here because you're getting married!" she
practically squealed, sending Nene's internal processing unit into
something resembling "TILT".
"Nene-chan?" Naoko asked, blinking.
Nene 'grrk'ed and forced herself to think up a story quick.
"Ah,
yes, she's a friend of mine from back near my old duty station, Naoko.
This is..." she grasped vaguely for a name. "Saychan, a friend of mine
from my old precinct."
"Munakato Sayo, Naoko-san. Please treat me
kindly." Saychan beamed.
Quote:"Are you kidding?" Alice snorted. "You think I'm going to letThis joke is doubly funny because this scene and the scene where Derrick proposes after Sammy catches the bouquet were written months apart, and both by Spud to boot. Any foreshadowing was purely accidental.
blackmail material like this pass by?"
"Now, Alice," Neko began
sternly, but Nene interrupted.
"This is awesome!" she cried.
Neko and Alice twitched and turned to regard her in shock. "Don't you
get it?" Nene went on, looking up at them. "When the time comes, we
have the perfect honeymoon present for Derrick."
There was a
stunned silence. Then:
"Momma, you're awful," Alice said between
giggles.
Quote:After she finished greeting the chief and his daughter, a rather prettyDouble dipping on the reference pool, this is a shout back to PSI: Razor's Edge, where Leon's new supervisor in the PPD before he's assigned to PSI is none other than a certain Chief Gordon. Naturally, Nene couldn't know that she's very familiar with his daughter's other alias in their mutual field of interest...
redhead that Nene could've sworn she'd seen somewhere before, she put
the receiver up to her mouth. "What is it now, Miranda?"
Quote:"His date is Lady Nogitsune."Yes, I completely forgot Mace's blueside codename and couldn't find it. Also, to date, the image of Nene facepalming and going "of course she is," gets me every time.
Nene blinked, before putting a hand
to her face. "....of course she is. Who's the guy?"
"Mace
MacHine, says here Legendary Member, codename..."
Quote:"Oh, Eishun! You made it! And this must be your daughter and her...Nene's gaydar is rather finely tuned. The face that Setsuna probably made when Nene allllllllmost identified her as Konoka's girlfriend is left as an exercise to the reader.
friend!"
Quote:"So what are weA quick flurry of references here along with the piece showing its age. The Springfield party is, of course, Nagi, Arika, and the seldom-known-by-his-actual-name-of-Jacobus Jack Rakan. How are all three of them in attendance when Negi is as well? I've learned not to ask about things like "plausibility" around Rakan.
looking for?" Priss asked as she passed a tall blonde woman giving dire
looks at a dark skinned giant and his shorter, brown haired companion
as the former told a particularly off-color joke to the group they'd
gathered.
"For
Nene. You know her. She's so concerned that her wedding happen without
any problems that she'd miss it for handling the details," Sylia said,
glancing back at her, getting a look of dawning comprehension from
Priss. Sylia smiled at that. "So we're here to get her to the church on
time, as it were."
True
to expectations, the pair found Nene sitting on one of the balconies,
looking over the crowd. "Yes, Eva's to have access to the secondary
taps," Nene was saying over her radio. "And keep Jacob away from the bar
until the ceremony is done. The man's an entertaining drunk, but I want
the base to survive the experience. Ask the Springfields for help if
you need to. He came with them, after all." Switching to another
frequency, she brought up Neko. "Tell me they're behaving."
"They
are. Rumors aside, I could've told you there'd be no overwhelming
firepower involved. Especially with their daughter attending."
Also attending is Evangeline, who snuck in on a technicality by coming as Chachamaru's(who was invited) guest. Thankfully, they got enough warning, and there are enough non-standard diners in the circles Nene and Ifrit run in, that there were already blood wines ready. There was a bit of a tense moment between Evangeline and the current head of the Alucard family, but thankfully, the respective butlers sorted it out. One cut scene would've featured Eva, Rachel, and Alyssa Sears sitting at the "children's table", but the visual gag of the trio of absurdly powerful blonde child-like figures is somewhat harder to pull off in text. That said, between all the butlers, Chao didn't even have to bust out the busman bots.
Finally, the last line was a reference to a certain "White Devil" whose reputation precedes her....and was written before someone reminded me that there was a Fate already. Divine Sabre would follow shortly thereafter, confusing the issue even further. By the point that this went into final editing, I figured the gag was suitably obscure to not be worth changing.
Quote:The gown itself was backless, allowing her red and black wings freeIfrit's gown is visually inspired and only slightly modified from this one.
movement, and further accented by the mixed coloration of the gown
itself.
Quote:Resplendent in white as
brilliant as Ifrit's own gown, the former 16th President of the United
States stood behind the podium, his finish specially treated for this
occasion. Abraham Lincoln smiled at both of them before his stentorian
voice reached out to the far ends of the chapel.
Really. You have a former President of the United States on tap. Who else could do the ceremony? (No, really, who else could? I was blanking on anyone that's actually authorized to do such in either group, and Lincoln was the only one qualified I could think of)
Quote:"... she's holding it like a grenade."This is a callback to an earlier idea of Spud's which would've involved some poor schmuck penetrating security and trying to actually throw a grenade into the reception. Later consideration of the level of security available(between the Legendary and Nene's calling in Sachie redside) made this plan unfeasible, and it wasn't really that funny either.
Quote:"Maximillian Largo, Miss Stingray. As I said, a pleasure," he smiled,This is, in fact, the Sabre's private nemesis, but as all four of the originals are based off memory engrams pre-dating Red Eyes, none of them recognize Largo....so he's really not here to cause trouble so much as to test that theory, given the possibility that Anri is out there, and that she could have spilled the beans. Either way, it's a win-win for him, as he has no plans to disrupt the ceremony, so even if they recognized him, it's not like they'd risk upsetting it just to attack him.
before stepping back into the throng. Sylia watched after him, before
shaking her head. Strange man...
All-in-all, there are a dozen other notes that could come out, but as I'm mostly writing this in jet-lag induced insomnia, I'll call it here for now.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."