Making Contact

"When that day came...it would change the way I looked at life...and how I would do things." Gerald said.

I woke up that morning, it was a regular Saturday morning...and that meant chores. All the kids in the orphanage had at least one. But mine was one of the hardest.

"Ughhhh...not again..." I groaned as I climbed out of bed.

I was in charge of cleaning the lobby...from top to bottom.

I put on a green t-shirt and black sweatpants. I was 12 years old, had brown skin with the best set of green eyes in the world (or at least I thought so). My brown hair was the bushiest and curliest out of the all the kids that lived in the orphanage with me. Some were actually jealous.

"Welp...time to get all of the cleaning supplies out of the closet." I muttered to myself as I climbed down the stairs.

The old lady who ran the orphanage, simply named 'Her', stood at the base of the stairs, waiting for me.

"It's about time that you've woken your lazy self up." she sneered. "You've got a lot of work to do, young man."

"Yes ma'am." I sluggishly replied, walking to the closet that held all of the cleaning supplies. With a bucket full of water and a mop in my hand, I got to work.

About half an hour later, the rest of the kids my age came down for lunch. There was a wet floor sign put up, so they knew to be careful.

I glanced over to see if I could find that cat-girl again, but she wasn't with the group of kids.

I sighed, disappointed, and looked back to my work. If I had looked back once more, I would have seen her softly making her way down the stairs and almost tiptoe into the mess hall.

She took a brown bag from the bin and started to slowly eat. She never really liked PB&J, but it was all that they ate there.

She sighed. It was all so boring here, and since she was a new kid, she didn't know anyone...and she didn't want to know anyone. Yet, it looked as if she had a huge "Notice Me!" sign above her head. People stared at her as if she was an alien.

It looked like she wasn't listening, but her black cat ears would say otherwise. She was intently listening for any conversations concerning her. And when she did hear them, she never liked the words they used.

"Freak..."

"Abomination..."

"Alien..."

"Stray..."

It only made her feel worse.

But today was going to be different. Today she would be bullied...very badly.

"Hey! Hey Cat-Girl!"

She stopped breathing. Someone was calling her out. What should she do?

"I know you can hear me. With those ears, I bet you could hear the entire mess hall."

The cat-girl reluctantly turned around to see the bully. Thirteen year old Lewis Ferdinand. He was taller than me, had blond hair and hazel eyes. He was surprisingly thin and lean. He could knock out anyone if he wanted to. He could even break out of this orphanage by himself if he wanted to. But he felt at home harassing anyone who stood out and grabbed at his attention.

"H-H-H-Hello..."

"Aw...she's scared." he said to the group of kids trailing behind him. "You don't have to be scared, little lady...I don't bite."

The Cat-Girl looked him up and down.

"Mind if I take that?" Lewis grabbed the necklace that the Cat-Girl was wearing, and she grabbed for it.

"G-G-G-Give it back!"

"No..." Lewis simply replied, laughing. "I know you're new here...so let's introduce you to some rules that I've made around here."

He motioned for his two lackeys to grab her by her hands, restraining her for what was to come.

"Rule #1...Never ignore me." he said.

He raised his hand up and slapped the girl, who looked back at him, shocked.

"Rule #2...Never steal my attention." he slapped her again.

"Rule #3...When I take something...it's mine." Slap.

The girl started to cry from the searing pain across her cheek.

All of the other kids sat and stared, none of them daring to make a move against Lewis.

Lewis nodded his head to the large sink.

The boys started to drag her to this tub-like sink. She struggled to break free.

"Stop trying to break free...you'll only make things worse for yourself."

"Why? Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything to you!"

Lewis turned around and slapped her again. She was nearing unconsciousness.

"Rule #4...Never question me."

The cat-girl remained silent.

"Good." Lewis said, filling up the tub with water. "I know cats hate water...but can you swim? I mean...you're still human."

As the tub filled, the cat-girl's eyes became filled with fear. But she didn't move, fearing that she would get hit again.

She never liked water...not because she was half-cat...but it was a childhood accident that gave her a phobia of water...

Lewis turned the water off, and nodded to his boys to drop her in. She screamed.

I started scrubbing the double doors when I heard it.

"What's going on?" I said.

I dropped everything I was doing and rushed to the mess hall. What I saw angered me beyond belief.

The two boys, dubbed the Arin and Aaron twins were holding the cat-girl over the tub full of water, ready to drop her at a moment's notice. Lewis stood watching them, but turned around when I came into the room.

"LEWIS, PUT HER DOWN!"

Lewis scoffed at my order. "What are you going to do? Take her away yourself?"

"I intend to."

"May I remind you," Lewis said, stepping closer to me, "that I'm the one that has beat you into the ground more times than you could possibly count?"

"That may be true...but today'll be different!" I said.

"How do you know?"

"...I don't...I just feel it!"

"Well, the only thing you'll feel for the next couple of minutes will be pain!" Lewis yelled. "No one interrupts me while I'm doing something important!"

I growled as my eyes flashed red again. "NONE OF YOUR STUPID RULES WILL EXIST AFTER I'M FINISHED WITH YOU!"

Lewis pulled back his fist to give me one in the face, but I caught it in my hand, and refused to let go.

Lewis struggled to break free. "H-How are you doing that?!"

Even I was surprised. "I-I don't know!"

Lewis pulled back his other fist and punched me in the side of my face. Lewis shook his hand, as if he punched a dumpster.

"What...happened to you?"

"Don't know...don't care." I replied. "Final warning...put her down...or I'm going to put you down."

Lewis kept his fists up, hesitant. He took a few steps back and started to rush towards me. I pulled back my fist, not noticing that it was flaming. Lewis stared at it and tried to stop, but momentum got the better of him and I let my hand to connect to his face.

A crack was heard, and Lewis was sent flying into the wall, where he fell back down, unconscious.

I looked at Lewis and spat in his direction. "You don't run this place anymore."

I glared at the Arin and Aaron twins. "Put...her...down..." I said.

The twins dropped the cat-girl and ran out of the mess hall.

The cat-girl stared at me. She didn't know whether to thank me or run away. I walked toward her and she started to scoot backwards until she was trapped in a corner. I kneeled down to her face level. She was trembling. Her breathing was ragged.

"Don't worry...I'm not going to hurt you..." I said in an effort to calm her down.

She still wasn't so sure about me.

I sighed. "I'm not like him...I swear! I don't know where...this...came from...but I won't let anyone hurt you anymore."

She stopped trembling. It was a start.

"My name is Jason...but people call me Gerald for no reason." I chuckled. "What's your name?"

She hesitated before answering in a tiny voice. "C-C-Cecilia...R...Damiens..."

"Cecilia R. Damiens?" I repeated. She nodded her head.

"That's...the most beautiful name I've ever heard!" I said.

Her eyes widened as a slight blush came on her cheeks.

"Y-You really think so?" she asked.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

She stared at me as a small tear went down her cheek.

"D-D-Don't cry! Lewis won't bother you anymore...alright?"

She nodded slowly.

"Come on...let's go attend to those bruises." I said, helping her up.

For the first time in a long time...she smiled...at me. The smile was so...so...

"Words couldn't describe it?" a voice said from the other side of the room.

The cat-girl sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Oh! Cecilia, you're finally awake!" Gerald exclaimed.

Gerald lifts her up in a bear hug, and she couldn't resist from laughing.

Cecilia looks at a sullen Ingrid. "What happened?"

Gerald put her down. "It's kind of a long story...I tried to make her feel better about missing Luke, and I accidentally hurt her feelings. So I started to tell her the story so I can get her to have more faith in Luke, as you did in me when I said that we would meet again...and then you happened to wake up."

"Oh...well..." Cecilia looked back at Ingrid again.

"Hey Cecilia," Ingrid said, softly waving to her feline friend. "Oh! did you know that Gerald's other name is Jason?"

"Yeah," she replied, then she looks back at Gerald. "You never told me how you got that name."

"Well, I guess another story is in order." he sighed.

Suddenly, a rush of feet coming up the basement stairs startles the three of them.

"This isn't good, guys...this isn't good..."

Ingrid stands up from the chair and goes to her uncle, who's freaking out.

"Uncle Maxims...what's wrong?" she asks, hoping that the answer won't be the one that she's thinking of.

"Luke has...disappeared."

Ingrid's pupils shrunk.

Gerald and Cecilia came over. "Like...gone-gone?" Gerald asked.

"I don't know...but I can't find his soul anywhere in the world that he's in."

"No...no...he can't be gone..." Ingrid whispers.

"This is a big problem...I've made a decision. The rest of you are going to go there and figure out what happened to Luke...hopefully we can save him."

Ingrid gasped. "He's still alive!"

Everyone looks at her. "You got a signal?"

"Yes...it's faint...but it's all I need in terms of motivation." Ingrid said. She turns to her uncle. "Maxims...this a dire situation we're in...and I'm going to give it my all."

Her uncle nods.

She turns to her friends.

"This has become a rescue mission, people...we find Luke, destroy any evil that lurks in the world...and get out of there. This has gone on for too long."

Gerald raised his hand.

Ingrid laughs. "Gerald...it's okay, we're not in school."

"I know...but you seem so serious right now...I couldn't just interrupt you." he chuckled. "Ingrid...I know that you're going through a lot right now...but I just want you to know that Luke's cheering you on!"

"So are we!" Cecilia chimed in.

Ingrid smiled and pulled her friends in for a group hug.

"I don't know what I'd do without you guys." Ingrid said, fighting back tears.

Maxims walked back to the basement. "When the three of you are ready...come down so I can send you to the Church The people over there should be able to aid in your rescue."

The three of them nodded.

"Wait!" Gerald said, his arms spread out. "Cecilia and I have to go change back at home!"

Ingrid and Maxims looked at them. "You'll have to change, too, Gumdrop." Maxims nudged her. "You're still in your jammies."

Ingrid looked down at her cat themed pajamas. "Oh! I-I'll go change as well!"

As she was running up the stairs, this sentence replayed in her mind:

"I'm coming, Luke...it's my turn to save you now!"

Every time it replayed, it just gave her more and more reasons to bring me back home.

"So you're telling me that Stocking and Luke...uh...joined together...and Stocking is holding him hostage in her body?" a skeptical Scanty asked, taking in everything that was explained to her.

The Demon Sisters woke up after the supernatural occurrence of the fusion between a Universal and an Angel. After Panty, Brief, and Garterbelt found them huddled in a corner together, they thought that it would be best for them to explain the situation to them, rather than waiting for Ingrid to come, knowing that she won't be anymore.

"Yes, that's about it." Panty confirmed.

She then sighed and pulled a chair closer to the sisters.

"See, I know that we're supposed to be mortal enemies and all - and that I'd never work with you guys even if you were the last anti-heroes in the world-"

"Panty!" Brief whispered.

"*sigh*...but we need your help...I know that Stocking and I can be a bit...irrational...at times-"

"You love using that word, don't you?" Garterbelt asked.

"Can it, afro priest!"

The priest put his hands up as if he was surrendering.

Panty glared at him. "Interruptions aside...I'm just really, really, really-"

"Desperate?" both Demon Sisters said.

"I swear, if one more person interrupts me again, mama's gonna do somethin' drastic!"

Panty looks behind her, then back to the Demons.

Seeing that everyone wanted their necks to be in check before the end of the day, she then hesitantly stuck her hand out to Scanty. "So...how about it?"

Scanty looked at Panty's hand then back at her face. She then turned to her sister.

"What do you think, Sister Dear?" she asked, "Should we trust them?"

"I don't care what happens!" Kneesocks exclaims. "I just want this nightmare to end! A rouge, corrupt angel is on the loose, and we don't have any clue of where the Blob might be...and you know what'll happen if Corset gets to Oten City with it! Sister...I know you hate this sorry excuse for an angel...but we've got no other choice. Corset wants us dead. He would have told us something, anything by now if he was planning another 'Hell on Earth'! Face it...we don't have anywhere to go...and as the human saying goes-"

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Panty interrupted, sticking her hand out even further.

Scanty looked at her sniffling younger sister. She hated to see her like this. Her mind was wired to think that if something happened to her, then it was her fault.

Scanty hugged her sister. "Please don't cry, Kneesocks...I-I'll make this right, d-don't you worry!"

She turns to Panty, who's still waiting for a handshake. Scanty pushes her hand down. Panty looks hurt.

"Ever wonder what would happened if a Demon hugged an Angel?" Scanty said.

"Nnnooo..." Panty said.

In one swift motion, Scanty hugs Panty, and tears start to fall.

"We'll join you...as my Dearest Sister said before...Corset wants us dead...and we can't have that now...can we?" she whispers into Panty's ear. Panty tries so hard not to moan.

Scanty breaks the hug and locks eyes with Panty. "Let this be the day that destroys the line between Angels and Demons!"

Panty was taken aback for a moment, then she hugged Scanty back. "Thank you, Scanty. Thank you so much."

"Homies help homies," Scanty taps Panty's nose. "always."

Panty again, looked shocked. "Where go you get all of these sayings from?"

"We have lives, you know." Scanty said, crossing her arms. "We're not that hellbent on destroying you."

"I don't know if I should feel happy...or insulted."

"It doesn't matter what you feel now!" Garterbelt interrupted. "We need to get crackin'!"

"He's right, Sister." Kneesocks agrees. "We don't have all the sweet time in the world. We need to start taking action...and we need to start now."

Scanty nodded. "You're right in every way, Dear...but, we've just recovered from the injuries that we have sustained in the bunker, and we can't go leaping into battles that we know we can't win."

Kneesocks hung her head down.

"But we can take this time now to strategize." Scanty quickly added. "I know that the Blob will be our top priority...but what will we do about the goth?"

Panty chimed in. "Stocking - surprisingly - is the least of our worries, for now...all we have to do is to find the Blob, destroy it, and...somehow...convince Stocking to give up control."

Brief started to contribute, as well. "I don't think that we'll be even seeing Stocking for a while...she is on a honeymoon."

"So she says." Panty retorted. "But we're going to need more people to help out..."

"Where are we going to find more Angels?" Brief asked.

"Or Demons?" the Demons Sisters asked in unison.

"I don't know...but we can't do this alone...that I know for sure..."

"I think the best plan of action is to rest up for a couple of days, then start training." Brief suggested. "There's no way that we're going on an adventure of this scale to lose it all. Becoming stronger is our best chance of getting anywhere."

"The orange-haired lad does have a point." Scanty said.

"I just hope that a couple of days would be enough for us to actually strengthen up." Kneesocks said, doubt thick in her voice.

"Come on, Sister Dear, we're not going to let Corset or Stocking get the better of us. Right now...it's just us...versus the world! And there is no way in hell that the world is going to beat two High Class Demon Commanders!"

Kneesocks smiled. "You always know you to cheer me up."

"I've been with you since Day One, Sister Dearest." Scanty said, hugging Kneesocks. "There's nothing I wouldn't know about you."

On the base of the cliff that led to the church, a white sphere appeared in the sky, falling down until it just barely touched the ground. It then disappeared, revealing three travelers that had come from Universes away to perform a successful rescue mission.

"We're here, guys!" Ingrid Shinua excitedly exclaimed.

"This place doesn't look that bad at all..." Gerald "Jason" Heckerson said, taking a look around.

"I think that's where we're supposed to go." Cecilia R. Damiens, said as she pointed to the church. "Maxims did say something about going to a church...

"Then there isn't a moment to lose!" Ingrid said, already running to the church. "Let's do this!"

"Right behind ya, Princess." Gerald said, following behind her.

"Princess?" Cecilia asked. "Where did that come from?'

"I do a new thing every time we go to a different Universe...this one is just crying for me to nickname everything!"

Cecilia sighed. "Well, what's my nickname?"

"Hm...oh ho ho, I've got a good one!...Solaris."

"What's that?"

"The name of the mysterious South Star...it fits you perfectly."

"How?"

"You're bright...beautiful...unique...and you're truly something you have to see with your own eyes to believe...in the good way!"

Cecilia blushed and smiled. "Solaris..." she said. "Though it's the first time I'm hearing it...why does it sound as if I've heard of it before?"

"Randomized Nostalgia...I suffered from that for, like, a year."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Remembering events on worlds that I never thought existed...remembering to buy something at the grocery store the first time it's been said to me...Heck, I don't even need a shopping list anymore."

"Hey, are you two just gonna keep talking? We have a very important mission!" Ingrid called, slowing down to a walk when she realized that Gerald and Cecilia weren't following her.

"Sorry about that!" Cecilia called as she and Gerald ran after her.

"Solaris...hm...it does have a nice ring to it." she thought.

"Oh, this is horrible...utterly just downright grim!"

An angel, wearing a white tuxedo with a red inner shirt said as he re-watched Stocking's transformation on a small orb that he kept on him.

Another angel, clad in golden armor, walked up to him.

"Angel Gabriel of the High Court...Judgement would like to have a word with you."

Gabriel was skeptical. "M-M-Me? Are you sure that there hasn't been a mistake?"

"Yes, you. You're on the High Court for a reason, you know."

The armored angel walked back to his post, which was a couple feet away from a set of large golden doors.

Gabriel walked to those doors and knocked, but not a single sound was made. With a rumble, the doors opened to reveal a pair of female legs wrapped in white, lacy stockings. The rest of her was covered by the clouds.

"Oh, fair and beautiful Judgement," Gabriel said, going down on one knee, "how may I answer your call?"

"Gabriel...I know that I barely notice you during Court sessions...but I have a small mission that only you can complete."

Gabriel's heart lurched at the sound of that.

"Y-Yes, my lady...what do you ask of me?"

"In all of Heaven...there is only one person that can settle the darkness that has corrupted my poor daughter's soul..."

"You don't mean..."

"Oh I mean, Gabriel..." Judgment said, crossing her humongous legs.

"...Bring me The Phantom of Daten City...Patrick Fagry."