Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt Season Two: The Legend of Judgment Episode 2: Training Continues, Stocking's Reconnaissance.
The Demon Sisters walked inside the Church as Brief quietly shut the door behind them. The lights in the Church were off and with the sun having set completely, the only light source was that of the full moon. Its silver rays helped illuminate the room, if only a little bit, through the large, elegant, stained glass windows that adorned the walls and domed ceiling. It was enough to were Brief could find the light switch and flick it on. All at once, as if by magic, all of the torches and candles lit and flooded the room with light. After taking a moment to adjust their eyes, the Demon Sisters took the time to scan the room. They had never been inside the Church before. A red carpet led the way from the door all the way across to the seemingly simple rectangular alter in the middle of the giant hexagonal room. The carpet extended from the other side all the way to a gold colored elevator. Surrounding the alter all the way to a few feet off the wall, were rows and rows of wooden pews. Two of the stained glass windows on the wall depicted angels that bore a striking resemblance to Panty and Stocking. Brief looked over at the key ring next to the door and noticed that the keys for See-Through were gone.
"Garterbelt must be out" Brief said breaking the silence. The Demon Sisters turned to look at him. "It's probably for the best anyway, who knows what he'd say if he found out I brought you two in here."
The Demon Sisters nodded. They had a feeling Garterbelt would not take to kindly to them being here. Brief looked at the elevator. He couldn't recall having been in any guest rooms before. The only rooms he had ever been in before were Panty, Stocking and Garterbelt's room, a place he'd like to forget. He shook his head and focused at the task at hand.
"Come on guys, there has to be a room somewhere for you to stay" Brief said as he started walking towards the elevator, motioning for the Demon Sisters to follow.
Scanty and Kneesocks nodded to each other before following the red head across the room. They walked past the alter and to the door of the elevator. Brief hit the button and waited a few moments before a ding was heard and the elevator door opened up. They stepped inside and Brief pushed the up button. The ride was short and before long, the door opened again and revealed a hallway that extended in either direction. It had the same aesthetic as the main church area, though the windows were much smaller. Directly in front of him was a door. Motioning them to follow, he opened the door and walked outside. A flight of steps led them up to a roof walk way. It was long and narrow, surrounded on either side by a black metal railing. On the other end was another door, behind which were the rooms of Panty and Stocking. Brief didn't want to offer them one of the Angels' rooms or Garterbelt's. Even though they weren't there, it still felt wrong. He turned around and looked at the bell tower. It wasn't the most luxurious but it was better than nothing.
"Well guys, I think we found a place for you" Brief said as he opened the door and entered the bell tower.
Followed by the Demon Sisters, Brief took a look around. It was dark up there, but he could make out most the room. It was old with only a few small windows. It had the standard wooden floor with old fashioned shelves on the wall holding old books and trinkets. Old furniture was covered in a fine layer of dust from not being touched in a long time. Boxes filled with old photo albums and other assorted things were intermingled between the furniture. There was a wooden Brief looked to his left and noticed a pair of red sleeping bags.
"Man looks like they were using this as storage" he said to no one in particular.
"Well, what did you find?" Scanty asked.
"Looks like there is a pair of sleeping bags up there for you guys if you want" Brief said.
"Yes, that should be fine, thank you. Scanty and I will take care of it from here" Kneesocks said as she and Scanty began to set themselves up for the night.
Once the door was shut, he started to walk across the long walkway, all the while looking out at the city. From his vantage point, he could see everything. The lights of the city shone brightly against the dark sky. It was rather pretty, he thought to himself. He made it to the other side of the walkway and opened the door. Stepping inside, he turned the lights on and looked around. There was a couch and a TV. He walked a little further in and passed a kitchen and walking a little further, he approached the Rooms of the Angels. He walked up to Panty's room before stopping at the ajar door.
"Panty…" he thought with a sigh.
Just the mere thought of her made his heart ache. He turned and pushed the slightly open door all the way open and walked into Panty's room. It was a mess just like it usually was. Clothes thrown about haphazardly on the floor. Old soda cans littered the floor next to a wastepaper basket. Said basket was covered by old pizza boxes and other things he'd dare not think about. The bed was unmade with the comforter and sheets tossed to the sides. He walked over to her bed and just fell back on it. When his head hit the pillows, he smelled a beautiful aroma. Even the pillows still smelled like her. God what was wrong with him? He put one of the pillows over his face, wanting to scream, but instead just let it slide off his face and onto the floor. He gripped the sheets of her bed in anger as all the memories started flooding back. He could still vividly see her getting cut into pieces by her own sister. He remembered Corset giving him the instructions to help get Panty back as the pieces of her body were laid along in a trail. These things angered him. He felt like he should have done something. Brief closed his eyes and exhaled.
Meanwhile, the Demon Sisters were getting acclimated to their room for the night. It was a little hot in here still from the sun beating down and the room having no venting to cool it off. It was also a bit stuffy up there. With only the one small window and no circulation, it was to be expected. Scanty and Kneesocks unrolled their sleeping bags and lied on top of them. If they got inside them, they would start to sweat, which was against the rules.
"However, a lot of rules have been broken recently" Scanty thought with a sigh.
"So" Kneesocks started, "Still think I'm crazy now?"
"Oh, alright! I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical at first, but the geek has certainly been able to pick up the basics fairly quickly" Scanty admitted. Her smile suddenly faded however as she began biting her thumb and looking anxious. "What's troubling you sister?" she asked.
"Oh it's…it's just that this day has been crazy. My mind is still spinning. I just need to lye down and forget everything" Scanty said as she fell back on her sleeping bag.
"Agreed, let's get some rest; we've had a long day." Kneesocks said as she lied on her side, facing her sister. "Goodnight Scanty" she said.
"Goodnight, Kneesocks" Scanty replied.
And with that, all was quiet inside the church. However, in the next town over, Oten City, things were a bit different. Under the light of the full moon, a shadow zoomed across the ground as the owner of the shadow flew in the air at super speed. That being was none other than Stocking Anarchy. Full clothed in her Angel outfit, she flew with a purpose on her face; as evident by the look on her face and in her eyes. Those eyes though looked different than normal. They had dark circles around them. Not the kind that you get when you're tired. These were pitch black, as if some sort of darkness had enveloped her. She flew with a purpose towards a city with a faint orange glow around it. Once entered within the city limits, she gazed down below at the many people down below.
"Or at least they used to be" she thought as her face contorted into an evil smile.
Not a few short hours ago, Stocking had released the nano-machine ghosts into the city. Each one of them infected an inhabitant. Now those people turned into cyborg ghosts. Completely enslaved to the will of their creator. Speaking of, Stocking was approaching home of said creator. It was a tower, identical to the one that was in the middle of Daten City. She scanned the tower before her eyes landed on an open window on the building. She descended her altitude and flew through, landing in a dark room. If it was light outside, you would be able to see the room in greater detail. A dark red carpet covered the center and a red striped design covered the walls. Towards one end was a door and the other was a desk, which had black leather office chair facing opposite of the desk and toward a wall of TV's, one of which illuminated the room slightly with a blue glow. However, this room wasn't unoccupied when Stocking arrived.
"Can't you use the door like normal people?" a voice said from the chair. The voice sounded uninterested and slightly annoyed.
"You expect me to walk all the way up here?" Stocking replied.
"Tch, you Angels are still mouthy even under my control" the voice said. Another sound accompanied it, a nail filer scraping against nails.
"Doing your nails again? For a guy, you certainly love to have your nails done, Corset" Stocking replied coolly.
Corset sigh and the chair turned around. His purple hand set the nail file down on the desk
"Look, just cut to the chase. Why are you here?" he asked.
"You know why. I finished my recon on the boy like you asked" Stocking replied.
"And?" Corset questioned.
"He's been given Judgment." Stocking started.
Corset's eyes narrowed. "Judgment? So, you mean the legend is true?" he asked in surprise before laughing out loud.
"So you mean to tell me the most powerful angelic weapon of all time was given to Brief?" he managed to say, barely even being able to breathe as the thought of Brief wielding Judgement played through his mind.
"Apparently so. And the Demon Sisters are training him as well" Stocking finished.
"Oh, that's just grand. Even when I cast them aside, they're still a pain in my ass" Corset said, still trying to calm down.
"Shall I take care of them, my lord? With Judgment in their possession it's too risky to let the geek discover its power" Stocking asked.
"HA! You say that as though it's a real possibility!" he laughed. After he calmed down, he continued again. "This is Brief we're talking about. He doesn't have the balls to even swing a twig let alone Judgment. We'll leave him alone for now"
"But..." Stocking started.
"No buts! Unless you want to find out what happens when people disobey my orders" Corset smiled as his hand rested on a red button that said "Toilet".
"N...no of course not! You do know best my lord" Stocking stuttered.
"Good, I'm glad. I'd hate for you to get on my bad side. You have so much potential" he said, taking his finger off the button.
"Thank you, sir" Stocking said with a cautious smile.
"Good, now get out of here, and go pay our friend a special visit, he should be arriving shortly" Corset said with a shooing wave.
"As you wish my lord" Stocking said with a bow, before using the door this time to leave.
Once the click of the latch and the closing of the door echoed through the hallway, she stood there.
"Corset is going to fuck up everything" Stocking thought before she huffed off to dungeon.
Meanwhile, a pair of orange colored, human looking ghosts, tossed a man into a jail cell, and locked the doors. The man looked up at the ghosts with a snarl on his face. What little light was there shone on the man's face, and revealed it to be none other than the Reverend Garterbelt himself.
"What the actual fuck?! Where the hell am I? I DEMAND TO KNOW!" he yelled at the ghosts.
The ghosts however did not respond. They continued to simply stare at him blankly. It honestly creeped him out.
"Err…" he said as he continued to be stared down by the ghost pair.
Suddenly the door at the end of the hallway slammed open, the light from the other room blinded Garterbelt from seeing who was standing there. Whoever it was though, Garterbelt felt like it was familiar. Walking forward, the figures features came into view, that two toned blue and pink hair, that angel outfit as well. It was none other than Stocking Anarchy. Though she did look a bit different, as the dark circles under her eyes would attest.
"You idiots have done enough, get out of here" Stocking ordered, pointing at the door.
The two ghosts said nothing, but did as they were told and floated out of the room. They even managed to close the door behind them. When the latch clicked shut, Stocking clapped her hands twice and the room became well illuminated. She turned her attention to the imprisoned Garterbelt with a smile.
"Magnificent, aren't they?" Stocking smiled, referencing the two ghosts that brought Garterbelt here. "And they listen to directions too."
"Stocking what the fuck is going on?! Why am I here, why are you here? Better yet, where the fuck are we?" Garterbelt yelled.
"Shut the fuck up!" Stocking yelled back, angrily.
"Shut the fuck…STOCKING WHAT THE FUCK! YOU LET ME OUT THIS INSTANT!" Garterbelt yelled furiously.
"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Stocking roared back, her voice tinged with a demonic effect.
That made Garterbelt shut up for a moment for sure. He was shaking in his boots at the realization that Stocking wouldn't help him out of here. Not only that, but she looked like she wasn't herself. Hell, he couldn't tell if she was real or not. But quickly he found the strength to speak once more.
"You…You're not Stocking…you're not!" Garterbelt said shakily.
Stocking quickly whipped out her blade and stuck it through the bars and held the tip against his neck.
"Oh, but I am the real Stocking! And one more peep out of you and I'll kill you where you stand, asshole" Stocking said, he words oozing venom.
Garterbelt immediately shut up. After waiting a moment for some sort of witty retort, Stocking pulled the blade back.
"Good boy" She smiled wickedly as Garterbelt appeared to be following orders.
"Now, to answer your questions, you're in Oten city" Stocking said.
"Oten City?" Garterbelt said back.
Stocking's eyes narrowed, "Is there a fucking echo in here? Yes, Oten City. More specifically, you are being kept in the jail beneath the Mayor's office.
"Mayor? You mean Corset! Figures that bastard would be behind this!" Garterbelt said.
"You catch on fast, afro-diculous, I'm impressed. You have a brain under that afro after all" Stocking said darkly.
"And let me guess, Corset has some sort of mind control on you, right?" Garterbelt replied.
With that comment, Stocking's eyes glowed bright red and she reached a hand between the bars, grabbed him by the neck and picked him up.
"Corset has NO control over me, I answer to no one! GOT THAT?!" Stocking yelled as she clamped her hand down even harder on Garterbelt's wind pipe.
Garterbelt could only gurgle in response. Suddenly, the door to the prison are slammed open once again as another figure entered the room. This time, it was Corset himself. Stocking immediately threw Garterbelt to the ground and addressed Corset as Garterbelt attempted to catch his breath.
"What is going on down here?" Corset asked coolly.
Stocking freaked out for a moment, hoping what she had said hadn't been heard by Corset.
"N-nothing sir!" Stocking stuttered for a moment before bowing.
Corset took a moment to look at the scene he had walked in to. He narrowed his eyes at Stocking.
"Roughing up the prisoner, are we? Remember, we need him alive" Corset said.
"Yes, of course master" Stocking said, still bowing and refusing to even look at him.
"Good, now get out of here, I want to speak with Reverend Garterbelt myself" He said, dismissing Stocking.
"Yes my lord" She said before doing what she was told and began walking towards the exit. Once her back was to Corset, she smiled wickedly.
"Guess he didn't hear me after all. Idiot" she thought as she shut the door to the prison area behind her.
The next thing Brief knew, the sun was shining through the large window. He sat up with a yawn, looked around and noticed that he was still in Panty's room.
"I must have fallen asleep here" he said to himself as he stood up. He went over to the full-length mirror in the room and took a good long look at himself. He was still in the same clothes he wore yesterday.
"Man, I really need to clean myself up" he thought before looking behind him on the night stand.
There appeared to be a note on it. He walked over to the night stand and picked up the note.
"That's weird, I don't remember this being here" he thought to himself before beginning to read it.
"Dear Brief," the note began. "You seem to be taking your time with this whole training business, so let me put some haste into you. Garterbelt is with us now, and if you don't come to us with all the Panty pieces in the next 6 months, we will execute him. -Stocking."
Brief dropped the paper. He was more scared now than ever. Not only was Garterbelt imprisoned, Stocking was an arms-length away from him as he slept. He shook his head. He needed to push this out of his mind for the moment and talk to the Demon Sisters when they got up. For now, he had other pressing matters to attend to.
He got out of the bedroom and made his way down the hall to the second-floor bathroom. After removing his tattered clothes, he stepped in the shower and turned the dial to warm.
Meanwhile, Scanty was awoke and gave a long yawn and a stretch. She turned to her left and saw her sister still asleep. She then turned to look out one of the small windows. It was letting a large amount of light in. It must have been past nine o'clock. She then turned back to Kneesocks.
"Sister, wake up" Scanty said as she shook her little sister a bit. Kneesocks stirred a little before sitting up with a yawn.
"What is it?" she asked as she put her glasses on.
"It looks like it's getting late, we should get up" she said as she gingerly stood up.
"Agreed, I really need a shower" Scanty said as she looked herself over. Her hair was all disheveled. Her skin felt skuzzy as well. Kneesocks was in a similar state.
"Agreed. I think a bath is in order" Kneesocks said as she stood up and proceeded to walk down the ladder, Scanty following close behind.
Meanwhile, Brief turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. He dried himself off and wrapped a towel around his waist. He waked out of the bathroom and walked towards his room. He quickly got dressed and walked to the bell tower. He was about to open the door to check on the Demon Sisters when the door swung open and the two of them stepped outside.
"Oh, hey guys, how you doing?" Brief asked.
"We're doing fine, but we need to get cleaned up. After that, I say we continue the training" Scanty said.
"Sound like a plan to me. The bathrooms right down the walkway, through the door and straight to the end of the hallway" Brief said as he pointed in that direction.
"Thanks" Kneesocks said as she and Scanty walked past him.
Brief followed the Demon Sisters all the way until he stopped at the doorway of the kitchen and thought about what he should do for breakfast before they started another day of training.
"Might as well cook some up for Scanty and Kneesocks too" he thought. It besides it would me rude to just make some for himself.
Meanwhile, Scanty and Kneesocks made their way to the bathroom and entered it. It wasn't too big, just the standard toilet, shower that doubled as a tub, sink and mirror. And everything from the wall to the tiles was white.
"Not very luxurious, but it will do" Kneesocks commented as Scanty already began to take off her tattered clothes. Kneesocks turned to see her sister completely naked. "She's so beautiful" Kneesocks thought with a blush.
Scanty stepped into the shower before turning back to her sister. "Oh, come now, there's plenty of room for the both of us" she said, motioning for Kneesocks to join her. Kneesocks blushed even more and nodded her head before stripping down and joining her sister.
After cleaning themselves off and having a little fun, Scanty and Kneesocks dried off, wrapped a towel around themselves and exited the bathroom. Before exiting the bathroom, Kneesocks summoned Fastener with a whistle. Immediately he appeared at their feet, busting through the door in the process.
"Fastener, could you be a dear and fetch us new uniforms from G-String and bring them here?" Scanty asked.
"Fastener" he said as he gave a salute and headed off to do his orders. The Demon Sisters continued to wait in the bathroom a few minutes before Fastener returned with two new beige uniforms.
"Thank you, Fastener," Scanty said as she and Kneesocks put on their uniforms.
Shortly there after, they heard Brief yell up at them.
"Hey girls, breakfast is ready whenever you are" he called from the kitchen. The thought of breakfast caused both of their stomachs to growl. They both blushed slightly.
"I think Breakfast sounds like a wonderful idea" Scanty said.
"Yes, as do I" Kneesocks replied.
They both headed to the kitchen to see what Brief had made them. When they entered the kitchen, they saw a menagerie of different foods. Scrambled eggs piled high, pancakes, toast and bacon surrounding it. Off to the side was a pitcher of Orange Juice.
"What's all of this?" Scanty asked.
Brief was at the kitchen sink, washing the pans when he turned around. "Oh this? It's just a little way of saying thanks for helping me get Panty back. So, don't just stand there, dig in! I'll join you in a sec" he said as he went back to washing the pans.
Once he was finished, he sat down with them and decided that now would be as good a time as any to fill them in on what happened.
"So…Stocking visited me last night…and left me a note" he said sliding the note to the Demon Sisters.
The two of them read over the note for a bit before turning back to Brief.
"That seems very underhanded of them doesn't it?" Scanty mused.
"Indeed, I feel as though it would be best to play by their rules…for now" Kneesocks replied.
"So, we really only have six months to prepare me huh?" Brief asked the Demon Sisters.
"Yes, it would appear so. We'll simply double our efforts then" Scanty replied.
"So then there's no time to waste" Brief said as he began to quickly eat the meal he had prepared for himself.
And so, the rest of breakfast was eaten in relatively quick fashion, seeing as how everyone missed dinner because of all the training. When they were done, the trio assembled in the back yard again to continue the training.
"So, Brief, are you ready for your next lesson?" Scanty asked.
"I guess so" Brief said, not sounding too confident. The whole situation was still very weird. It was a feeling that he was having a hard time shaking off.
"Good" Scanty replied. "The next lesson will be learning how to do combos. You already know basic strikes, now you need to learn how to combine them. That's how you develop a style all your own."
Brief nodded his head as he took in what Scanty had said.
"Kneesocks, if you would be so kind as to demonstrate" Scanty said.
Kneesocks nodded her head and pulled off one of her knee socks and transformed them into one of her gold and black scythes. She then demonstrated the combination of the Overhead Rib Strike and the Upper Cut.
"This is just one combo out of the many possible that you can do. I want you to try to do some for yourself" Kneesocks said.
Brief nodded his head, before beginning to do as Kneesocks asked of him. He proceeded to do his own combos, each time growing more confident. He even began to put his own spin on them, creating a fighting style all his own.
Several days past as Brief continued to hone his skills. His strikes continued to pick up speed and he was building the required muscle strength to be a competent fighter. He became much more on his toes and able to move around with much more dexterity as well. At present, he was out in the front of the church, slashing around at the air at a rapid pace, the audible whooshing of the pole cutting through the air demonstrated the speed.
"HA" he yelled as he suddenly jumped in the air and swung downward towards the ground.
Once the end of Judgment hit the ground, he did a few backflips before landing back on his feet. He twirled Judgment in his hands for a moment before transitioning into his fighting stance. He panted heavily from the effort and his body was caked in sweat from the harsh heat of the day.
The Demon Sisters watched the display and from the porch of the front door of the church, shielded from the sun. They turned to look at each other before the both nodded their heads
"Alright Brief, that's enough" Scanty said with a smile. His progress was admirable, especially in this short of time. Was Judgment behind it? Whatever the case was, Brief was looking more and more like a battle-ready warrior, though he still had a very long way to go.
At these words, Brief dropped Judgment and bent forwards, putting his hands on his knees. He was panting hard and sweat was pouring down his face. He caught his breath just as Scanty approached him. He whipped the sweat from his forehead as he turned to look at her.
"Now, are you ready for your next test?" Scanty asked with a devilish smile.
End of Episode 2