(A/n): Ended up asking reddit for the details on Himeko, looks like she probably will survive with a bit of time shenanigans. Also, I am a firm believer of Himeko dying. I know there are theories with her being just "missing in Imaginary Space" but she really has no good reason to survive that fight in her condition and still be able to stay alive in Imaginary Space, and even if she was alive in imaginary space then she would have died afterwards anyway.
Formatting:
"Speaking"
'Thoughts'
"Herrscher of the Void Speaking"
'Herrscher of the Void Thoughts'
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Raiden Mei looked at her former mentor to check her physical condition before handing her off to one of her floating mechanical arms behind her.
Walking up to Kiana's unconscious body, she picks her up in a bridal carry as the space fractures around her, dumping her onto a beach with quite the nice temperament, blue skies, warm sand, and the splashing of waves. Yet she didn't have time to enjoy the splendid weather as she blasted off in the last known location of the Anti-Entropy Flagship.
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The flagship's bridge would normally be bustling with life, with commands being ordered and employees hurrying from one side to another in their daily routine.
However, today's mood can only be described as Grim.
Einstein sighed mentally, Mei was still dead set on looking for Kiana, Bronya had conflicted feelings about the ordeal and her inability to convey w hat she truly wanted held up the decision quite a bit. Tesla and Theresa were on the fence but leaning onto their own respective sides without speaking up as to not impact the decision of others.
An urgent shout snapped them out of their thoughts, a worker on the bridge in charge of radar and tracking specifically turned and yelled,
"There's something approaching...It's radiating Herrscher energy!"
"What?!"
Even Einstein didn't anticipate that such an instance would show up, The Herrscher of the Void ought to be at least incapacitated, if not eliminated by Himeko, and now there was another source of energy heading towards them?
'In the best case scenario, we will be facing a debilitated and battered Herrscher, but there's always the possibility that another one showed up...'
"Your orders, sir?" the worker asked anxiously.
"Observe and track its movement for now. Are you sure that it is coming straight for us?" Einstein ordered.
Looking back at his screen, the worker felt sweat being forming on his head, he just barely survived a world ending scenario and now there was another one? He really needed a pay raise.
Yet it would seem that he wouldn't get to ask for one, as his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the ball of Herrscher energy speeding up even more.
"Sir, it sped up! It's coming right at us!" The worker was now panicking.
"Ready the cannons and prepare for combat!" Einstein ordered, they were effectively ambushed and had no choice at this point.
"How long have we got?" She asked the worker.
"Three..." the worker responded.
"Three what?" Tesla, who had barely contained her temper until now, yelled at the worker.
"Two.." was the response she received, followed by a quiet sob of defeat by the radar worker.
Turning and looking at the bunch behind her, Einstein could tell that they also didn't really have a plan at this point in time.
"All we can do now is to bide for time, but get ready to evacuate since you are imperative to our operation currently."
A the sound of weapons firing could be heard, yet none hit their target as flashes of lighting illuminated the previously calm skies.
A thump on their bridge alerted everyone inside that the Herrscher was now present, yet when everyone looked on, they found something unexpected.
A few moments of silence passed with the Herrscher, who looked strikingly like Raiden Mei, tapped on the window and made a motion for them to open the door, pointing at Kiana who was resting in her arms and Himeko who was draped over one of her massive mechanical arms behind her.
"Well this is unexpected..." Einstein was the first to react. With Raiden Mei in particular looking like she was going to have another cardiac arrest and Bronya showing a tinge of confusion on her normally indifferent face.
"So...do we let her in?" Theresa asked, unsure about the current situation.
"Do we really have a choice at this point?" Tesla retorted, "Although it seems that she isn't here to harm us anyway."
Opening the doors to the bridge, the Herrscher stepped in hurriedly and bolted in the direction of the medical bay.
"You all go, I'll stay here and...remedy the situation" Einstein said, looking at the terrified bridge workers.
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After a short conversation with the medical staff, Himeko was placed in stasis until Tesla could create another batch of anti-Honkai serum, and Kiana was resting in bed after a short medical analysis. Theresa, Tesla, Mei, and Bronya now turned their attention to the Herrscher that stood silent through their conversation.
Tesla spoke up first, asking a question that many hand on their minds
"So who are you anyway? And why do you look like Mei?"
The Herrscher let a small smile creep up her face, she was expecting questions
'How should I approach this...should I be polite? distant?'
She wasn't really sure how to approach people after such a long time with nearly no human interaction, and she certainly didn't know how to approach herself in the past.
'Maybe I should have thought about this more.'
She sighed internally, but kept the polite smile on her face and answered
"Well for your first question, I am the 3rd Herrscher, the Herrscher of Thunder"
Seeing as how her past self was about to speak up, she put her hand up in a sign that meant to wait for her to finish.
"As for you second question, well, I am Raiden Mei, but just from the future"
She wasn't exactly sure if that was the correct way to tell them, but judging from their looks, they seemed to have received the information somewhat well.
"Honestly, I am not even surprised at this point" Tesla said.
"I am going to go tell Einstein now, you guys have fun...catching up."
And with that, Tesla left the room which fell into an awkward silence, with neither side knowing how to approach the other.
'Well this is a bit awkward' was the collective thought.
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(A/N): I had this just sitting in draft for a week or so since I didn't know which direction to take my book (I had a couple of choices) but I think I have it figured out now. Either way, its not like I have a massive audience so I can always rewrite to make things better in the future.
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CHRONONAUT | Honkai Impact
FanfictionWhen time and space get really, really messed up in an already messed up world. Time had stopped for an unknown reason, luckily, two people are already on the case! What's that? They're going to mess it up more? ...
