Infinity (fanfic)

A Lyrical Nanoha fanfic-in-progress written by Andy Moczo (author of the pure crack that is Uninvited Guests) taking a shot at writing an action story. Set between the second and third seasons of the Nanoha anime, Infinity is a story that, in the author's own words, 'plays fast and loose with canon' by inserting an entire new major case into a time when canonically nothing happened, yet still makes a fair effort to remain Original Flavor.

Six months after the Book of Darkness incident, Nanoha, Fate, and of course Arf are sent to stop some pirates from stealing from an archeological site. While everything seems immediately to go well and the criminals and stolen artifacts are quickly handed off for transport, it doesn't take too horribly long for the transport ship to be hacked by a new foe who obtains the stolen orbs for their own designs.

One week later during a planned picnic with Nanoha and her friends, even Suzuka and Arisa, Fate meets a... let's call her strange girl by the name of Tsukuyomi who is looking for her brother. Besides the oddity in her mannerisms she's noticeable for wearing a formal kimono in a park and having blue hair (though Fate admits having a purple-haired friend muddies the waters a bit in what a 'normal' hair colour is). After some awkwardness and more weirdness on Tsukuyomi's part her older, but no less odd, brother, Susanoo, finds her. After asking Nanoha to translate where they're supposed to be going, they take off into the air, flying at high speed for Tokyo. The girls quickly decide that they MIGHT have to reschedule their picnic and take off after the unknowns.

What follows is a story that manages to pull off being both hilarious and yet suitably dramatic, with equal parts action and humor (ocassionaly drawn from Character Exaggeration born from memes and series in-jokes)) and makes them work. Even better, it features all the main characters from the first two seasons prominently, and gives them all chances to shine quite brilliantly; even a character or two from the third season get a cameo appearance. Can be found here.

Not to be confused with the tabletop wargame Infinity or Infinity: The Quest for Earth.

"I'm not a god. I AM WHAT A GOD PRAYS TO. I. Am. I...I...may have let the sensation go to my head for a moment there."
 * A God Am I:  gets a wee bit carried away in Chapter 26:

""I... you... I... we... you... oh, you know what? I don't even care anymore. Everyone just get ready to teleport.""
 * A.I. Is a Crapshoot:
 * Amusing Injuries: It's become a Running Gag for Tsukuyomi to 'elegantly and discreetly' injure her brother in order to cut him off when he starts doing something particularly stupid.
 * An Axe to Grind: Fate's Bardiche and Susanoo's Raijin
 * Angrish: Chrono is rendered incoherent by Lindy's constant Magnificent Bastard schemes and keeping him in the dark.

"Amaterasu:"
 * Anti-Villain: Some more than others.
 * Anything That Moves: Amaterasu has thus far displayed varying levels of attraction to Arf, Signum, Chrono, Nanoha, Yuuno, and... er... both of her own siblings.
 * Apologetic Attacker: Besides the Heroine's legendary predilection for this, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo and Ameterasu all dip into this at times. It's made clear from the get-go that they have absolutely nothing against the heroes, and in some cases outright respect and like them, but circumstances force them to fight.
 * Back-to-Back Badasses: Fate and Susanoo during a brief Enemy Mine scenario in chapter 8.
 * Badass Boast: Chapter 31, Amaterasu to

"After narrowly avoiding getting Gigant-Hammered... Amaterasu: In the name of every god there ever was, the hat will grow back! Vita: It's the principle of the thing!"
 * Badass Normal:
 * Bad Liar: Tsukuyomi. She's capable of fighting deceptively, but her Cloudcuckoolander tendencies mean the more time she has to think, the less likely she is to come up with a convincing lie.
 * Berserk Button: Amaterasu finds Vita's by immolation.

"Amy: Going to make the food processors shoot bees? Force the engines spin us in circles until we all get so dizzy we throw up? Make the food processors shoot bees that cause nausea?"
 * In Chapter 23, Amaterasu suggests to Signum that she should abandon Hayate, as her attachment and devotion to her mistress seems to be making Signum weak. A few seconds later, Amaterasu is staring up at the sky from her position on her back, coughing up soot, and says, "Wow. I did hit a nerve." Of course, that was exactly the reaction she had been hoping for.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Shamal scares the bejeesus out of Nanoha and Fate in Chapter 20 for not taking it easy after the battle.
 * And Lindy. Sweet mother of god, Lindy.
 * Susanoo seems like a goofball most of the time, but if his family is in danger or unexplainable situation....
 * Big Brother Instinct: Susanoo's is pronounced, Chrono's is more low-key.
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Blood Knight: Amaterasu. However, she seems to have different kinds of Blood Knight personalities, varying between a cold, serious murder machine and openly admitting she's finding the battle a turn-on. Which she uses seems to depend on some combination of how angry she is... and how sexually attracted she is to her opponent. Yikes.
 * As of Chapter 25, it seems her switching her Barrier Jacket into its Final Drive Mode is an indicator of when she's switched over.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy:
 * Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Amy feared this would happen:
 * Brainwashed and Crazy:
 * Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Amy feared this would happen:

"Arisa: We could sell tickets. Combat therapy. Nanoha will smack you around for five minutes, and then all your problems will just solve themselves. Fate: It's not that simple, Arisa. She also asks what you're trying to do, and then she offers to be your friend."
 * Breather Episode: Generally speaking, each major battle that takes place will be followed by a few chapters of exposition, character interaction, and occasional fluff.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Susanoo, Tsukuyomi, and Amaterasu. It's been implied that 'god' is merely a title or nickname they were awarded for several centuries of combat service, during which they were basically undefeated, and they certainly have the skill to back it up, . But... to put it bluntly, you wouldn't know it from their personalities.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Tsukuyomi is... kinda weird.
 * Completely Missing the Point: Signum, surprisingly, is the biggest offender. There are stuff likes "capable of using sword with my left hand, so it's not a problem" when Hayate worries about her confition, and thinking about her sword sheathe when Fate worries (and awed about how non-chalantly she takes her injuries) about her condition.
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: Chrono is perfectly willing to send Arf to dog obedience school.
 * Cosplay Otaku Girl: Amaterasu at times seems more interested in dressing up Nanoha than actually fighting her. For bonus points, her proposed costumes so far have all been shout outs to Cardcaptor Sakura.
 * Cybernetics Eat Your Soul:
 * Crippling Overspecialization: Yuuno's defenses prove completely inpenetrable to anything Tsukuyomi can throw at him (much like as against Vita, in the series), but his offensive abilites are too limited and weak to threaten her, either.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Discussed by Fate, Suzuka and Arisa:

"From Chapter 32: Aggressive computing, for the record, was a bit like normal computing, only it wasn't actually like computing at all and was mostly just setting the computer on fire."
 * Demoted to Extra: Discussed for comic effect when Arf and Yuuno are unexpectedly detoured from an on-going battle, but thankfully not used in the fic itself. If they appeared in the first two seasons, they appear here.
 * Depraved Bisexual: How this page has lasted this long without putting Amaterasu here...
 * Did Not Do the Research: Admitted by the author, mainly in regards to Chrono's age and the time he assumed command of the Asura.
 * In fact, at least one Author's Note has asked readers to point out to him when he makes mistakes like that so he can avoid making the same one twice.
 * Dissimile:

""Hmmmm... multiple lacerations scattered over most of my body; only a few of them were deep enough to reach bone, though. Some rather severe burns, both electrical and fire. My arm was broken in two places and nearly cut off. I was partially impaled, though that one wasn't so bad since the wound was cauterized shut. I believe I was mildly concussed when she threw me into the ground. Oh, and Laevateinn lost his sheathe.""
 * Dramatic Ellipsis: A good indicator that Chrono is about to blow a fuse.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: Signum, of all people, has been saddled with "Kitten". On the bright side, only one person calls her that; unfortunately, it's the worst possible person.
 * Emotionless Girl: Tsukuyomi. Though she's simply too reserved and weird than actually emotionless.
 * Establishing Character Moment: The peculiar manner in which Tsukuyomi and Susanoo act in their first scene immediately clues the viewer in to their individual personalities, and is enough to instantly alert the girls to the fact that they're not from around here. And Amaterasu's is... well, see the entry below for Marshmallow Hell.
 * Exact Words: Being  Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo all use this occasionally with a hefty dose of Loophole Abuse whenever they think they need to.
 * Expy: Tsukuyomi bears more then a passing resemblance to another blue haired girl. And Who The Hell Do You Think Susanoo Is Like! Also, Amaterasu exhibits some similarity to a certain other Tsukuyomi...
 * Facial Markings: The three  all have 'a strange, stylized tattoo looking like three interlocked crescents inside a triangle' on their foreheads.
 * Finagle's Law: * In full effect. Explicitly used in a chapter title: "Anything That Can Go Wrong..."
 * Four-Star Badass: Taurus Bentz.
 * Friendly Enemy: Susanoo generally seems to consider the battles with the cast more of a game than anything else, and has openly stated he already thinks of at least Fate and Nanoha as friends... while still fighting them. He even, in their first fight, declares Fate to be his apprentice and tries to teach her to be more excited about combat. As well as giving pointers in how to more effectively use her various attacks.
 * Good Thing You Can Heal: Signum. Shamal worries that she and Vita are much too used to it.
 * Grand Theft Me: ; Word of God confirming "" can be found on Animesuki's Nanoha Fanfiction Forum.
 * Guile Hero / Magnificent Bastard: Lindy, much to Chrono's chagrin.
 * Humongous Mecha / Wave Motion Gun: One designed to provide anti-starship fire, being used as an anti-personnel weapon.
 * Innocent Bystander: Every combatant involves actively avoid this.
 * Immortality Bisexuality: Ameterasu...though her siblings seem to be immune, so she might have just been that way from the start.
 * Is This What Hatred Feels Like?: Yuuno Scrya discovers true hatred for the first time in his young life when confronted with a pirate who broke into an ancient ruin and, upon discovering wondrous artifacts of a culture older than recorded history, attempted to SELL them on the black market. It's only afterwards, with introspection and an amusing bout of ranting, that this feeling fully crystallizes.
 * Lack of Empathy: As of Chapter 30, it appears  suffers from this. For instance,
 * Lady of War: Besides the examples in the canon cast, Tsukuyomi when using her device's close-range form and Amaterasu all the time.
 * Let's Get Dangerous:
 * Made of Iron: Chapter 20. Signum. Ye gods.

"Fate's jaw dropped. She... she... that should kill someone, shouldn't it? Shouldn't that kill a person? And yet, the older woman looked, right now, as if she'd taken a nasty spill off a bicycle at worst. She didn't even seem terribly uncomfortable, in sharp contrast to how Fate herself felt."

"Signum seemed a little puzzled by her expression. "Is something wrong? Is this about the sheathe? Because I'm informed Miss Atenza has the parts needed to replace it, and the order should be done within the week, so it isn't too great a concern.""


 * Making a Splash: Tsukuyomi.
 * Mama Bear: Lindy. Sweet mother of God, Lindy.


 * Marshmallow Hell: Amaterasu's Establishing Character Moment is shoving Susanoo into this and only letting him out when Tsukuyomi points out that he doesn't seem to be able to breathe.
 * Master of Illusion: Tsukuyomi.
 * Meaningful Echo: Several, to the second season of the anime.
 * Vita in Chapter 15. Which is, in fact, a meaningful echo of Fate's meaningful echo of Nanoha's line in the first season.
 * Vita flies into a berserk rage for her first on-screen fight because her opponent destroyed her hat.
 * One of the current anti-villains just can't get Nanoha's name right.
 * Yuuno ends up effortlessly defending himself against an opponent who outfought and seriously injured Nanoha, despite splitting his attention between that and trying to crack a barrier which is impeding his team's ability to retreat from the fight.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: See above. As a Running Gag, Susanoo will never get Nanoha's name right. He seems to have the general sound of it down, but tends to usually end up with something like 'Nanako', even when others directly point out to him he's got her name wrong.
 * Named Weapons: The current batch of villains continue the series trend of having named Intelligent Devices, with Raijin for Susanoo, Suijin for Tsukuyomi and Kagutsuchi for Ameterasu.
 * Nakama: Besides the canonical characters' immensely strong bonds, the original-character villains have a particularly wacky-yet-touching variety,
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Seeing that Nanoha was in danger, but not that she was successfully talking her way out of it, Yuuno and Chrono attack Tsukuyomi just when Nanoha was getting through to her. This causes Tsukuyomi to believe that Nanoha was simply lulling her into a false sense of security and thus Tsukuyomi decides to fight seriously. Nanoha was not happy.
 * And now she's  Thanks guys, really.
 * The Nondescript:
 * Noodle Incident: A few casual instances, but a particularly plot-centric one in

"Vita: Oh. Damn."
 * No Sense of Personal Space: Amaterasu.
 * The Glomp
 * Not So Harmless: Amaterasu comes across as a flirtatious goofball most of the time, but if she starts fighting seriously...
 * Not So Stoic: Tsukuyomi is very bothered with Nanoha's attempts to become friends with her, and finds herself responding despite herself. Her stoic demeanor finally cracks when Nanoha manages to accurately dissect her feelings, and she almost ready to let Nanoha to leave instead of incapacitating her... then Chrono and Yuuno had to screw it all up. She's not amused with this.
 * Oh Crap: Vita has this reaction in Chapter 21; when Signum says that Amaterasu is the most dangerous opponent, Vita says rather dismissively that if Signum hadn't been hurt when she fought Amaterasu, she would never lose one on one. Signum replies that she's not sure about that, actually.

""I'm just not a one-woman woman. I've lived for a long time, and I've developed very cavalier attitudes towards romantic encounters. So you need to know right now, there will be other women. And men. And occasionally one of each at the same time, or two of one, or several of each in varying combinations, and of course you can be one of the women involved in any of those situations, and...""
 * in chapter 25.
 * Everybody except for  in Chapter 26.
 * Only Sane Man:.
 * Panty Shot: In chapter 22 (or 23 by FF.net's numbering),
 * Person of Mass Destruction: In addition to the usual suspects, . Then.
 * Playing with Fire: Signum and Amaterasu.
 * Psycho Lesbian: Amaterasu seems to have focused her, ahem, intentions on Signum. During their battle in Chapter 22, she takes the battle seriously, almost decapitating Signum in her first attack; a few moments later, she tells Signum, "I won't rest until you acknowledge my feelings for you and agree to become my personal kitten!" Signum is not amused.
 * Really Gets Around: Amaterasu.
 * Psycho Lesbian: Amaterasu seems to have focused her, ahem, intentions on Signum. During their battle in Chapter 22, she takes the battle seriously, almost decapitating Signum in her first attack; a few moments later, she tells Signum, "I won't rest until you acknowledge my feelings for you and agree to become my personal kitten!" Signum is not amused.
 * Really Gets Around: Amaterasu.

"Susanoo: She is ten years old! Don't project your perversions onto me, you sick freak!"
 * Right Back At Ya:
 * Right Hand Versus Left Hand: The TSAB's inner workings. Rather, to borrow a description used for the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence, "here, the right hand doesn't even know the left hand exists".
 * Robo-Family: 1,800 year old artificial constructs calling each other 'brother' and 'sister' really can't be anything else.
 * Sex Is Violence: If you're someone whose caught Amaterasu's eye, and the only way she'll encounter you is on the battlefield, well, she has no problem invoking this trope as a means of flirting.
 * Shipper on Deck: As of Chapter 22, Amaterasu is a supporter of Susanoo/Fate. Susanoo isn't very happy about it, and Fate probably won't didn't appreciate it either.

""Oooooh, someone's got a cruuuuuush...""
 * Ship Tease: Conspicuously and deliberately absent . The author has gone on record stating how amusing he finds the fact that there are so many people out there who spend so much of their time obsessing over the love lives of completely fictional characters.
 * In recent chapter, Amy gives her "Go to hell" toward Amaterasu after she's flirting too much with Chrono. Amaterasu even lampshades it.

""Teleport functioning as expected, Admiral. Transmission away, and not a sign of interference from THOSE BASTARDS!" Amy suddenly shrieked. "How did they do that? How did they do that? I hate them I hate them I hate them!""
 * In recent chapter, Amaterasu is just too happy to tease Yuuno, pet him on the head and play tour-guide to fulfill his archeological enthusiasm. Nanoha isn't amused.
 * Sitcom Arch Nemesis: Some of the stuff Enlil does to Precia in Chapter 30 is just silly.
 * Shock and Awe: Fate and Susanoo.
 * Shout-Out: One of Tsukuyomi's more powerful and intelligent summons is a serptine humanoid name Kiyohime, with an attack called Vector Arrow. Granted, Kiyohime is a Public Domain Character, but the other one is unmistakeable.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": It's Asura, not Arthra. Why? Because "my anime stories have always included a mish-mash of official and fan-based translations, and I see no reason to change that pattern now."
 * Spirited Competitor: Susanoo, who loves to fight, but finds it distasteful to actually hurt anyone, and is especially apologetic for having done so to.
 * Recent chapters appear to clarify that he doesn't really mind if he puts people in the hospital so long as he does it 'fairly'. His definition of the term, that is. The trope is also deconstructed somewhat in the shame, since while he's not nearly as bad as Ammy, he's still kind of a nut bar.
 * Sphere of Destruction: Nanoha's cobbled together "Starlight Breaker Explosion"
 * Summon Magic: Tsukuyomi's final drive. Her specific summoned creature seems to be snakes.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: One of Lindy's favourite quirks. These denials practically become Blatant Lies and Refuge in Audacity in recent chapters.
 * No, Ammy, there's nothing weird. You just slipped on your foot because the floor is slippery and you accidentally hit your head, making you unconscious, that's all. And no, Shiro is just your usual daddy baker., certainly he didn't have ability nor courage to attack you.
 * Tempting Fate:  The author also loves to let characters start enjoying peace, smooth sailing or a good mood, only to be utterly screwed next sentence. Or even in the same sentence.

"Most people had never seen Nanoha Takamachi fight seriously."
 * The inversion also works, characters expecting action come in short course... while nothing happened for several days.
 * The Chew Toy: Everyone really.
 * The Dragon:
 * Dragon with an Agenda
 * Amaterasu might be a straighter, and more loyal, example.
 * Theme Naming: Besides the series' tradition of naming characters for cars, the primary enemy combatants (and all of their intelligent devices) are named for Shinto gods, and the Big Bad is named after a Mesopotamian deity.
 * The Nicknamer: Susanoo
 * The Unfettered: Nanoha described in Chapter 25.
 * The Unfettered: Nanoha described in Chapter 25.

"Not intensely, seriously. She fought with intensity all the time. Nanoha was strong and she liked to win, so fighting with effort was nothing to her. But fighting with serious intent to destroy, holding nothing back? That was basically unheard of. Really, the only thing that had ever seen it from the receiving end was the berserk defense program of the Book of Darkness, which should have said something about the situation that would actually push her to draw on that level of force."

"First, the enemy must not be even remotely approachable. They must be something that not only refuses to see reason but is not even capable of seeing reason, something monstrous and inhuman that will only destroy and destroy and destroy until it is stopped."

"Second, there must be innocent lives in danger. Her own did not count; these had to be other innocent lives. A whole world… her friends… even some silly little alien penguins that she'd spent a few minutes playing with, just for fun. She must have something to protect."

"Should these circumstances be met, it is possible to see Nanoha Takamachi fight with true seriousness. It is, despite the brilliantly magnificent light-show that tended to result, not a pretty sight. She doesn't get any more powerful, or faster, or more intelligent somehow, no."

"She just gets less friendly."


 * This Is Gonna Suck: Amaterasu, just before Nanoha unleashes a desperate, brand-new attack.
 * Troperiffic: If it's a meme or trope associated with the Nanoha series, you can bet the author will take it an run with it. Considering he has admitted in author's notes that he is aware this page exists and he occasionally edits it, that's probably to be expected.
 * Two Scenes, One Dialogue: Between Chrono's taskforce, Susa and Tsuku
 * Unstoppable Rage: Amaterasu accidentally damages Vita's hat. Also,.
 * Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Lindy seems to be Dangerously Genre Savvy enough about this.
 * Villainous Breakdown:

"Susanoo: You have the control to set up a bind that can nullify even my strength, and you can do it when you're wounded and taking hits, while casting other combat magic at the same time? I'd say you're one of those 'monsters' yourself."
 * Villainous Valor
 * Volleying Insults: Susanoo and Vita get into a good one in Chapter 24, culminating in the former dubbing the latter 'Smally McSmall'.
 * Warrior Therapist: Discussed; see Defeat Means Friendship.
 * Weak but Skilled: Chrono.


 * Wham! Episode: The very, very end of Chapter 29 turns the entire story on its head with the following words -- such a subtly-played twist that Moczo himself stated that only two people called it in advance.
 * Wham! Episode: The very, very end of Chapter 29 turns the entire story on its head with the following words -- such a subtly-played twist that Moczo himself stated that only two people called it in advance.


 * Worthy Opponent: Susanoo likes finding these and considers Signum, Fate, Nanoha, Vita and Chrono to all fit.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: The three ancient warriors all share this feature.