That was a weird dream, wasn't it?

Sighing, Kevin leaned back in the tub, turning his head up to face the ceiling. Eyes still closed, he imagined he could almost see the voice in his head. I get the feeling that it was that girl's nightmare, not mine.

Heh, you're getting better at this stuff.

Well, you remember it happened before, right? The bathwater was starting to cool, if only by a few degrees. He'd have to get out of the tub sooner or later, or his hosts might get worried and come looking for him. That's how I knew I had to come looking. But I thought he was in trouble, I really did.

You wanted to play hero.

I wanted to help, if only a little bit. He felt the cool, slick surface of the tub's rim press against his bare forearms. It reminded him that he'd left his focusing device back home, on his dresser. In his vocation, a magic-user couldn't cast magic without something to focus on.

In Kevin's case, he'd chosen a metal bracelet.

There was no particular reason why, really, save for the fact that Kevin had preferred using electric-based spells, and though rabbit's fur and an amber rod would have worked better, a bracelet was more easily accessible. Before his life had turned around, he'd used a reproduction of a twelfth century Templar's sword, with fancy gold leaf embossing. He'd blown a few month's allowance on it too, such a waste.

He was also lousy with it, to the point he'd spent weeks enchanting it so it would confer on him the ability to actually use it with some semblance of skill.

You also never hit me once with it.

Shut up, don't remind me. Kevin had actually been dumb enough to try attacking him with it, that was humiliating to remember. A good fifteen seconds blown, whiffing away as hard as he could with the sword, and Mato didn't even notice he was being attacked. Grimacing, Kevin put his bottom lip between his teeth and chewed lightly on it. I was scum back then, wasn't I?

Na~ah, just a bit of a punk.

But I tried to kill you. That was the worst part; Realising how close one had come to the point of no return. I wasn't any different from Slade. One step shy, that's all.

Well, yeah.

And you saved me, twice.

Well, yeah.

Sighing, Kevin sunk into the bathwater a little deeper, feeling water slosh up his neck and against his chin. He'd claimed an abandoned warehouse, some little independent movie company went bankrupt and just left it. Kevin had claimed it as his own, and all the medieval props, costumes, and dummies were just fuel for his arrogant, juvenile ego. A pathetic little pretend adult, pretending to be a pathetic little king, of a pathetic little kingdom.

You're welcome for that, by the way.

Chuckling humorlessly, Kevin flexed his legs a few times, making the water slosh around. I almost want to say 'I can't believe my own sister tried to kill me', but I'm just surprised that she stopped when you told her to, before she could finish the job.

Yeah... You two take this whole 'hero' thing way too seriously.

No kidding. If I was some cosmic joke of a black knight, she was the ironic white knight... And still a total joke. Sighing, Kevin eased his way up into a sitting position, getting ready to make an attempt at getting out of a wet and slippery tub on his own, without the use of his arms.

You never did explain how you do your magic thing without your toys anymore.

Focus devices. Kevin slowly propped his elbows on the rim of the tub, getting up onto his knees. And I do it the same way you could cast the occasional spell.

Hey now, I use myself as a medium bec-

Yeah, and so do I. Ever so carefully, Kevin clambered out of the tub, swinging one leg over, easing his chest down onto the tub rim, swinging his other leg over, then pushing himself back up onto his knees with his elbows again. I use you as my medium.

That's kind of cheating, you know.

I know, aren't you proud of me? Grinning, Kevin got to his feet and sighed. "Now, how do I dry myself off?"

The bathroom door rattled open. "Shampoo help!" The perky Amazon bounced into the room, wearing nothing but a smile and a towel. "Shampoo bring stupid hero-boy towel and l-"

"AUGH! GEDDOUT!" Turning away, Kevin covered himself as best he could, mortified beyond words.

Blinking in surprise, Shampoo tilted her head to the side. "... Shy?"

"OUT!"

"It's so nice here..." Sighing, Kanna stared up at the sky, at the billions of pinpoints of light far up above her. She'd collapsed a few minutes prior, and once she'd caught her breath, she'd realised that it wasn't such a bad place to be.

Nerima. The Tendo house.

It felt like a home.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here in the open like that." A mane of magnificent white hair, and a dusky face adorned with blue triangles filled Kanna's vision.

"..." Staring up at the woman, Kanna slid a forearm over her brow. She's beautiful, right? Will I become beautiful someday too?

Blinking, Urd waved a hand in Kanna's face. "Hello~? Anyone home?"

There's... No answer? Kanna blinked, startled. "Um, I was... Training. Then I got tired."

"Ah." Smiling, Urd drew back, sitting down in mid-air, as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do. "As expected from one of Mato's stu-"

"I'm not his student, I'm Ranma's." Frowning, Kanna turned over onto her hands and knees, staring up at the Goddess. "I already told you that."

"Yeah yeah, you told me a thousand times." Urd waved a hand, unconcerned. "But he still took you under his wing, so I'm still right, right?"

"He... Gave me a soul."

"Oh?" Clasping her hands around one knee, Urd hugged it to her chest. "That's interesting. Where did he get it?"

"It was his, I think..." Kanna put a hand to her chest, closing her eyes. "A part of it, at least."

Urd's eyes widened, and her hair seemed to frazzle up.

"But, I don't hear it speaking to me anymore."

"Oh? Let me see." Rotating ninety degrees, Urd reached down to cup Kanna's cheeks, pressing her forehead against the smaller girl's brow. She hummed quietly for a moment, translucent notes of blue and white drifting into the air around the pair.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Not quite singing." The notes swirled about them now, dancing of their own accord. "Another idea I picked up from him. You don't put out all the cheese to catch a rat, if a single slice will do." The Goddess closed her eyes. Hello? Are you in there somewhere Mato?

Kanna watched, confused. She could hear the woman's voice, but not with her ears, and it wasn't the same way she heard the voice in her head normally. It was different, somehow.

Hey Urd. Great view from in here.

View? What are you- oh. Flushing a little, the Goddess turned the girl's face upwards, so she wasn't staring point-blank into her cleavage. This girl you picked up is a bit of a perv.

Yeah, I kinda noticed that too. Dunno where she gets it from.

Not you, certainly. Smirking, Urd closed her eyes, working her way inward. "Oh wow."

"I know, right?"

Greek columns, arches, and massive bookshelves of white and gold marble were everywhere, extending out into the distance. Grey marble blocks, shot with curls and swoops of black tracery lay underfoot. Far, far above, massive hunks of unformed grey stone drifted aimlessly, as if in imitation of clouds.

"This is what your soul looks like on the inside? I'm impressed." Urd brushed a hand through her mane of snowy hair. "Still a whole lot of empty space in here though."

"Ha ha, always a pleasure Urd. Pain in the ass." Muttering, Mato sat atop a column, legs crossed, arms folded over his chest. "It just looks this way because I apparently arranged it to be so when I stuck it into this girl. It'll be useful in the future, I'm sure. You wanna tell me why you came in here to pester me, exactly?"

"Because the girl you're hotelling inside is worried that you've gone quiet." It was a little disturbing to see just how vast a space his soul occupied, even as a fragment of a soul. Also that he shaped his own soul when he transplanted it. She wouldn't admit that aloud, though. Whatever the actual Mato was, he wasn't operating on the same level that mortals did. Apparently, neither were bits of his soul, either.

"Well I can't always be pestering the kid." Sighing, Mato tilted his head to the side, closing his eyes to think. "Gotta let her live her own life a little, otherwise what's the point of me doing all this?"

"What indeed." Urd leaned over, inspecting a row of books on the shelf next to her. "Kama Sutra Revised: Volume seventeen of... A hundred and thirty six?" Urd's hair frazzled up again.

"Do you mind? I don't go picking through your memories, now do I?"

"Yeah, but... When did you have the time to think about all this stuff?"

"You'd be surprised what you can do in your free time when you don't have to regulate any brain processing power to a body."

"The proper application of muscular tension can increase sensations in various areas, depending on the location of the stimulus, level of tension, and position and posture of the body." Kanna held a volume open, standing next to Urd. "For example, if one were to spread-"

"Gah! Gimmie that!" Urd yanked away the book, slamming it shut, holding it over her head. "Little girls don't need to know..." The Goddess trailed off, an odd expression on her face.

Kanna stared wordlessly up at the Goddess.

After a few seconds of thinking, Urd lowered the book and opened it up.

Kanna continued to stare.

Urd's hair frazzled up again.

Kanna slowly inched around to peek at what was on the page.

Urd slammed the book shut again.

"Are you two boobs done screwing around yet?" Growling, Mato resisted the urge to swoop down and thump the pair. "I swear, I can't believe I died for this sort of crap." The urge to go about bopping the pair was incredibly strong. "What did you come out to the yard for anyway?"

"Oh, one of those girls in the house died." Urd put the book back on the shelf with the others, nudging Kanna away from them. "The tall one, I didn't quite catch her name."

"Aw, Kasumi kicked it?" Now there was a depressing revelation. "That's not good."

Urd nodded, not feeling the need to comment any further.

Kanna, on the other hand, stared at the two. "Kasumi's... Dead?"

Urd merely nodded.

"And neither of you are sad?"

Shrugging, Urd patted the girl on the head. "Mortals die all the time, and I didn't actually know her personally." Humans live about as long as anything else on the planet, just short little candles compared to God, or Goddesses, or other immortals like- Urd glanced up at Mato. "You knew her?"

"Uh, not this one, but the one from our dimension, yeah." Sighing, Mato cupped his cheek with one hand, resting his elbow in the palm of his other hand. "Nice girl, no matter what world you're from. Kinda like your sister Belldandy."

This was the first time Kanna had felt anything resembling sorrow. She'd barely felt joy for the first time a few days ago. It was also the first time she'd ever lost anything close to a friend, with the exception of Ukyo. She was still sure that Mato, the one with the body, would bring her back from where ever they'd been taken. "But... Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Oh, they're probably still grieving right now." Sighing, Urd crossed her arms over her middle, leaning back against one of the towering bookshelves. "Mortals aren't all that different from us, but they all handle grief in different ways... I doubt they'll want to tell a little kid like you about this until they're able to handle it themselves."

"Ye-ah, I forgot about that." Mato tapped his fingers against his cheek. "Physically, Kanna looks ten, but she's- what, not even a year old?"

"Nearly." Kanna didn't know what to do. Inside, her guts felt like they were knotting and twisting themselves up so tightly, she feared they'd burst. "Wh-what really happens to humans when they die?"

Urd glanced at the girl. "They go to the afterlife, the side they'd earned their place in. If you're good, you go to Heaven, and if this girl is anything like my sister, there's going to be a small parade waiting to greet her." The Goddess of the Past smiled wryly.

"And if you're bad, like me." Mato smiled wickedly from up on his perch, green eyes twinkling. "You get to go to Hell, where all the fun stuff is."

"Liar." Urd rolled her eyes.

"What? Heaven is peaceful and boring as all get out." Mato stretched his legs out with a grunt. "Fighting, bloodshed, terrible people and horrors of every kind you can imagine. I never get bored down there."

"Then why do you keep coming back?" Smiling slyly, Urd examined the nails of her right hand, knowing the answer would be something smarmy, instead of the truth.

"Hey, you act like it's always my idea to come back."

"Isn't it?" Kanna's shoulders shook, the girl was fighting to keep her composure. "You came back for Ukyo, didn't you?" Someone she knew had died, and that mattered now. It never had before, nothing had mattered before, and now something had changed. It was scary.

Frowning, Mato stared at the girl for a few moments, before standing up on the column. "I don't wanna talk about it." Hopping down, he lightly landed near the girls, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Instead, let's just do something. The people here are gonna be out of commission for a few days at least, so we're gonna step up the plans a bit. Urd, you need to find a shortcut into Heaven. Kanna, you're gonna go inform Kevin that he's out of time."

Urd nodded, flickering out of sight as she returned to the real world. Soul-fragment or not, Mato was still Mato after all, and moving forward was just what he did. Except when he was moving sideways.

Kanna, however, was confused, even more-so now than she had been before. "Out of time for what?"

"Meh, he'll know what it means." Looking around for a moment, Mato let out a sigh. "I guess I'm gonna stay in here, y'know, since I can't get out, and do some thinking, or something."

Kanna hesitated, caught between conflicting desires. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do more: Break down and cry, or scream and hit things. "Are... More people going to die?"

"Meh, I dunno." He shrugged. "Probably. Better off taking the fight somewhere else, then we'll only have to worry about our own butts."

"A-and Kasumi?"

"What about her?"

"Can you bring her back? Like how you come back?"

Blinking once, mildly surprised, Mato leaned over to look the little albino girl in the eye. "What makes you think she wants to come back? She's in Heaven. Paradise. The eternal reward for being a good and decent person." He stared levelly at her, backs of his hands resting on his hips. "Open bar, free buffet, the works. It's like having Christmas morning, then your birthday in the afternoon, before having Thanksgiving dinner, and moving on to New Year's Eve. Every. Single. Day."

That caught Kanna off guard. Mostly because she had no idea what those things were, yet somehow did, because of the soul-binding. She knew a lot of things that she actually didn't know. It was confusing, to say the least. "B- but I... I want her to come back... She was nice to me."

"Well, sorry, but you're gonna have to do what every single other mortal does when somebody they know and care about dies."

Kanna's little hands balled up into fists, pressing into her thighs. "What?"

"Live with it."

(Live with it? What kind of stupid comment is that?)

(Just what I said boy.) Cologne frowned into the bubbling depths of the potion she was brewing in a tiny little, cast-iron cauldron. She briefly wondered why such methods were called for, then shrugged it off as being merely tradition.

(But she walked in on me in the bath!) Kevin clutched a towel to himself with his arms, partly amazed that he'd managed to get that far in covering himself, considering the state his hands were still in. (You're just expecting me to let that slide?)

(What do you want?) Cologne kept her eyes on the slowly burbling fluid as she very slowly poured seven and a half pinches of powdered limestone to the mix, changing the color from jet black to a translucent vibrant violet. (You want to give her a spanking?)

Kevin recoiled. (What, are you nuts?) He shook his head, as if the old woman was out of her mind. (Look at my hands. You do it.) Oh yes, Kevin was good and mad about the whole situation.

He also had a habit of holding grudges against women. The last few to cross him had left a few emotional scars, after all. Then again, two of the last had tried to fight him to the death, one of which was his Goddess-corrupted sister.

He had a complicated childhood.

(Very funny boy. Now come over here and check my mix.) Frowning at the contents, Cologne picked up a ladle, made of hickory, bound with willow bark around the handle, with one hand, a small tin cup with the other.

(Stop!)

Ladle a half-inch from the now florescent pink mixture, the Amazon Elder glanced over at the boy. (Is there a problem?)

(Well, if you want to lose a few fingers, no.) Shuffling over quickly, Kevin held his towel on with one arm, swallowing his humiliation, and nudged the ladle away with the elbow of his other arm. (You need to ice that thing first, otherwise pow.)

Cologne tilted her head to the side.

(You mixed in limestone ground by hand, right?)

Shaking her head, the old woman frowned. (Who has the time for that boy? You want your hands working sometime this year, don't you?)

(Well, yeah. But machined limestone powder changes the thermal shock variants in potions. In a rich mix like this, it'd go off like napalm on frozen gasoline.) Frowning, Kevin looked around the deserted kitchen. (Actually, this whole room would probably go up in flames.)

Staring at him for a moment, Cologne carefully set down the cup and ladle again. (I see. I'll just get some ice from the freezer then.) Hopping down off of the stool she'd been standing on, the old woman sighed. (I don't suppose I need natural ice, cut from a polar area with a herring-bone knife, do I?)

(What? No, don't be weird. Who would use herring-bone in a knife?)

Shaking her head, Cologne went about getting out a bag of ice from the small deep-freeze. (It was a joke boy.)

(Oh.) Tilting his head to the side, Kevin blinked in confusion. (Hey, do you hear a clanking sound?)

(I do, in fact.) Holding a bag of ice nearly as large as she was, Cologne stopped in the middle of the kitchen, looking around. (It sounds like it's coming over here. What could-) She frowned, cut-off in mid-sentence by the odd contraption that rattled its way into the room.

It was an odd-looking thing, nearly a foot taller than the Elder, colored red and off-peach, with what looked like a sombrero-sized mushroom-cap for a hat. In an amusing sort of way, it looked almost like it was sort-of human.

It looked as if a ten year old had designed it, then gave it white, butler-style gloves to wear.

(Oh, it's a robot.) Kevin blinked a few more times, confused even more. I thought this was nineteen ninety-five? Where'd this robot thing come fr- oh CRAP. (Get away from it!)

If Cologne had learned one thing over the past few weeks, it was that when a strange boy told you to get away from something unnatural, you got away. Flinging the bag of ice at the odd contraption, she dove across the room, scooped Kevin up, and leaped into the dining area, just as the entire kitchen went up in flames. Landing roughly in a heap with the boy, she sighed. (And I had just bought a new set of pots, too.)

Groaning, Kevin sat up, clutching his hands to his chest. Landing so roughly had hurt. (Ow... I'm so sorry for your loss. Allow me to show my sympathy by passing out from the pain now.)

(We don't have time for that boy, I'm very much doubting that that was the end of our troubles.)

(Please, no Terminator references, I don't think I can handle any-) Kevin froze, in mid-cringe, when he heard a clank come from the direction of the burning kitchen. (Aw no.) And knowing better than that, relying on instincts honed by years wasted watching movies, he hurriedly scrambled to his feet, taking care not to jostle his hands. They felt like they were on fire anyway. Another tap, and he'd probably pass out. (Outside, quick.) He'd lost his towel at some point, and didn't really care.

The pair rushed outside, the wizened old Amazon grabbing a table cloth in passing, whisking it around the boy's waist after they'd crashed through the doors, skidding to a stop.

They stared, dumbfounded.

(Snow?)

(Isn't it supposed to be late spring here?)

Cologne nodded, staring at the huge white puffs as they drifted slowly to the ground. (I would have claimed that a moment ago, yes. I fear we are in trouble again, boy.)

(When aren't we in trouble.) Shivering, Kevin was keenly aware that, save for a linen sheet, he was completely nude. (I hope this is a heavy table cloth.)

(I hope you aren't too attached to your toes, because much more of this cold, and they won't be any longer.)

(What're you ta- oh ha ha.) Kevin would have rolled his eyes, if a series of squat, shadowy shapes hadn't caught his attention. (Oh good, we're outnumbered and royally screwed.)

(I'm starting to regret our association, boy.) Cologne frowned, as the shapes resolved themselves into figures much like the machine that had intruded on the kitchen not more than a minute ago. (Odd.) The Elder cocked her head to the side, tucking her hands into her sleeves. (Does that look like english written on them to you too?)

(Oh yeah.) Nodding, Kevin shivered at the bone-numbing cold he felt. (It's my first language.)

(Care to read it out-loud? My english is spotty, at best.)

(Sure, it says 'Banpei-kun RX-78-1'. But what that me- oooohhh, COME ON!)

Blinking, the Elder glanced upward at the boy. (I take it you have a problem?)

(Yeah, I do.) Gritting his teeth, Kevin glared at the writing stencilled on some of the other machines.

Banpei-kun RX-78-2. It was painted in bright red, blue, and white.

RX-78-3. Light blue and grey.

RX-78NT-1. Blue and white.

RX-78-4. White, grey and blue.

RX-78-5. White, grey and red.

(Well what is it?)

(They're all UC first and second series-based Project V models.) Kevin shivered again, and not just from the cold this time. Six on two, and they're all styled after the UC series Gundams. I'm dealing with an anime fan here, and I only know of one kind of person who'd deal in machines like this. (We are so totally screwed, it's not even funny.)

Cologne stared blankly at Kevin for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh, a large puff of steam rising from her mouth. It was cold out. (I have no idea what you're talking about, but I understand that being outnumbered does indeed look bad for us.) Shaking her head, she stepped forward to address the new threats. (Well, I'll just have to deal with them on my own then. Try not to get caught in the fight, will you? With your hands like that, you won't be able to do much good.)

(Yeah, no, it's not that.) Trying to contain himself, Kevin took several deep breaths, feeling the frigid air prickle his lungs like tiny thorns. I can't do anything to help fight with my arms like this, so, I need to take this confrontation on a different level.

If you can't win a fight on your opponent's terms, make them fight you on your own terms instead.

Nodding to himself, Kevin stepped ahead of Cologne. The voice in his head was as reliable as ever. (Lemmie try first.) Taking a last deep breath, and regretting it, he steeled himself. "Well, ok... What do you want?"

The odd machines just stood there, staring blankly at him.

Yeah, I really don't think anyone expected me to do any talking here. Sighing, Kevin shook his head, tapping his bare foot impatiently against the snow-covered ground. "I don't have all day here, what with the frostbite and all, so come on. Tell me what you want!"

As if confused, the machines glanced at one another.

Yeah, from what I recall, mass-production bots tend to run on the same OS from a linked feed. They don't actually have an individual consciousness, so it's the operator that's confused. He continued to wait, and wasn't sure what he was hoping for. He knew nobody would be bursting onto the scene to save them, and he didn't have any sleeves, let alone any tricks to hide up them. This was a desperate, stalling attempt, at best.

After a few seconds, one machine stepped forward, its chest popping open to reveal a monitor and speaker grille. "-Ould be working... Maybe if I..." The voice was deep, bassy, and obviously artificially distorted. "Oh! Got it working. Ahem... I-"

(Figures. Sloppy.) Shaking his head, in spite of the clenching feeling in the pit of his stomach, Kevin put on a bold, unconcerned front. "You forgot to turn the monitor on."

"Wh- oh!" The monitor blipped on, revealing a figure in silhouette. "Thanks, I thought that I- ahem." The figure put a hand to its mouth, making a throat-clearing noise. "Surrender, mortal. You face the great Sc-"

"Isn't the point in hiding yourself and disguising your voice to NOT give your identity away?" Kevin rolled his eyes, feeling a little less terrified. A little. Still kinda amateurish, but not nearly as crazy. I think I can deal with this.

"O-oh, yeah... Right. I knew that." The figure leaned back, fidgeting somewhat. "Now then mortal, for your crimes against- er... For your crimes, you must pay."

"Almost let it slip again, didn't you?" A wry look flashed over Kevin's face. He had no clue where he was going with this, he needed to come up with some sort of plan. His mind raced, running through his mental catalogue of spells he could perform without channelling mana into his hands.

It was a short list.

Crap, I'm SO screwed here, it's not even funny. Trying not to panic, he looked around. Nobody but himself and Cologne was around. Despite the fact that it was snowing in the middle of spring, not a single person had stepped outside. Ok, it doesn't make sense. Closing his eyes, Kevin carefully pushed his senses outside of his head. Easy, easy. Take it slow and careful. Let the mana trickle in, and shape it around the familiar pathways. Casting a detection spell would have been easier, but he needed his hands to do that, since it lay outside of his usual domain of magic. There. There's some sort of boundary field set up. It's making anyone who tries to approach the area get lost and travel away from here. He opened his eyes again. No help is gonna come before this is settled, one way or another.

"Sh-shut up!" The shadowy figure leaned forward, slamming its hands onto whatever the camera was resting on, making the image jump. "I don't care what you think, I'm going to stop you no matter what it takes!" The figure scooped up something. "Banpei-kun squad, attack!"

The machines all hunched over at once, and there was the deafening flurry of whrrs and clacking, as weapon ports opened, and missile pod covers snapped back.

(Ah crap.) Kevin winced, knowing it wasn't going to be pretty, whatever happened next.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" A spray of stone shards peppered two of the machines. Armor scraped, dented, distorted, then finally gave way as the pair was torn apart by the violent shower of shrapnel.

Kevin boggled, staring at the havoc wreaked in nearly an instant. "Wh- holy crap!" He turned, looking at the source of the attack. "That was amazing, how'd you do that?"

Standing up straight again, Cologne brushed off her robes. "I happen to have a few tricks of my own, boy." A sly smile curved the old woman's mouth. "Why don't you let me show you a thing or two?" Rolling up her sleeves, she slowly advanced on the remaining four machines. She planned on avenging her lost pot set.

The machines sized up the situation, then shifted their formation to address the single threat they detected. One third their number had been decimated; Tactics dictated that they obliterate the target before it could unload a second volley.

In an instant, the small target had closed the gap between itself and one unit, smashing its lower extremity into the unit's primary optical detection array, caving it inward until the casing and rotational mount snapped, separating the sensor's housing from the chassis. The lower extremity rotated back and forward again, directly impacting the chassis, crumpling the primary armor plate inward, folding the housing until the broken linkage of the rotational mount contacted with the bottom of the chassis.

In other words, Cologne knocked the machine's head off, then kicked it in half.

In less than ten seconds, Cologne had taken out half of the machines, without even breaking a sweat. Kevin grinned. "Ooooh, this is gonna be great."

And then I ended the chapter, 'cuz I'm a jerk.

Mwahahaha!

Ahhhh... Yeah, yeah I am.

Despite the seasonal difficulties, I bring to you all and extra-long chapter. Apparently, I fold like Superman on laundry day when one of my readers takes me to task.

Not a whole lot I've got to say about this chapter by now. Some more insight on Kanna, and a bit more background detail on Kevin, and how he's changed since he stopped being a dip-switch.

Oh, and an explanation for the whole Kasumi thing. I honestly thought it would have been obvious why none of the characters outside the core Nerima group really cared all that much. I mean, the Amazons aren't exactly close with the Tendo family, Urd and Kevin are pretty much strangers, and Kanna's just a kid.

Really. The Tendo family has things to do other than inform complete strangers of this kinda thing.

Ah well.

For those of you who haven't noticed, or just didn't think much of it, the focus of the story has changed since Ukyo was pulled out of the picture. She was pretty much the one bridging Nerima to all these weirdo strangers, and without her, everything just doesn't seem to mesh well, does it?

Review reply time.

Pryde Kitty – Wow. You'd think I was charging you for this stuff... Wait, can I start charging for th- no, wait. Fanfiction, dammit. Anyway, you got your one wish; More stuff about Kevin, a new chapter, and next chapter the fight will conclude, and Mato comes back into the picture again. I think you kinda wasted that wish though... I woulda wished for chocolate.

What? Can't go wrong with chocolate, can ya?

swk3000 – Yes, Kasumi is dead. And no, I just didn't show the people who would care about that sort of thing. I really don't think we want four pages of me describing a family's emotional state and suffering, now do we? Needless to say, they're all very broken up about it, but I just don't wanna write something like that, ok? As for killing Kasumi being an ass-pull, well... I planned this a year ago, and I still think it's more gut-wrenching to drop an emotional bomb on the reader, rather than ease into it.

Hey, you can't say it didn't work.

As for the disconnection, that's also true. None of the now-primary cast have much, if any proper connection to Nerima and the crew living there. Kanna is the only one, and she's still coming to terms with what it is to be a proper living person now.

Now that that's done...

I feel the urge to ramble a little.

Heh.

I have been thinking a bit about doing a semi-sequel to this story, though centered around Kanna, rather than Ukyo again. I'd like to hear your opinions on that.

Keeping in mind, that I'm gonna finish this story before I start up a new one, so no asking me for what I'm already gonna give ya, ok?

Anyway, that's all for now. I've got a house to prepare for relatives staying for Christmas, and I haven't even STARTED shopping for presents yet, eep. What can I say, it's been a hectic month.

Ah well, Merry Christmas, dear readers, and a Happy New Year too.

Next chapter; Cologne isn't finished yet! Kanna rushes to deliver the message, and Mato...

Wh- no no, I must be imagining things... There's no way he'd be taking a break for tea time, right?

Until next time...