E-mail: kipp_loong@yahoo.com
Homepage: www.geocities.com/kipp_loong/
= thought
()=author's opinion
{number}= explanation at the bottom
Disclaimers: Oh! My Goddess (Oh! My Goddess, Ah! Megami-sama, and
whatever else they call it) is owned by Kosuke Fujishima and Kodansha.
English translations are owned by Dark Horse Comics. The work that I am
doing is in no way used for profit, nor am I taking credit for the
characters. This is purely for entertainment.
Kipp Long and Hikari Amatsu are my own creations and are not to be
reproduced with out my permission.
The Japanese Specialized Self Defence Force: Supernatural Division
does not actually exist and is a figment of this author's imagination,
therefore making it my own creation.
So without further ado, I present to you...
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
|nfinity Corps is
Proud to Present
An Ah! My Goddess! Fanficiton
Deus Patronus:
Prologue
By:
Jeffrey Chow
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
July 11, 12:30 a.m.
Under the glowing brilliance of the silver moon, the shimmering
beauty of the sparkling stars, a figure, covered by the shadows, ran
through the darkened bamboo grove around it. Darting swiftly and
quietly, the shadow moved with purpose... until a voice sounded in its
ear.
"Captain, 200 meters ahead of you should be a clearing with a pond
in it, that is Alpha point," the female voice instructed.
"Destination confirmed," the shadow replied with a deep masculine
voice.
"Captain?" the voice inquired.
"Yeah?" the figure asked, curiously, just as he entered the
clearing.
The moon's silver brilliance briefly illuminated the captain,
displaying pure black hair, parted on ether side, and hardened brown
eyes. His shadow reflected his slender, yet well muscled body. He was
tall, standing around 180 cm, head shoulders above many of his fellow
people.
His loose black clothing moved slightly in the soft breeze,
causing him to shift slightly. As he walked towards the pond in the
middle of the clearing, his hand reached down to shift a sword hilt
attached to his black leather belt. His hand rested briefly on the
green jewelled pommel, almost as he seemed to take comfort in knowing
that his weapon was still there, but one had to wonder what he was
going to do with a sword hilt when he already had two holstered pistols
at his sides.
As he stood over the pond, he marvelled at his own reflection, and
how different it seemed whenever he was on a mission. Many had told him
that his eyes seemed harder, almost like glittering brown rocks, but he
had never noticed that himself. His lips were different from the easy
going smile he usually wore, now, they were just lines on his face,
unmoving and emotionless. Shrugging to himself, the young man shifted
the black satchel that was slung over his shoulder, and bent down to
take a drink.
He was Captain Kipp Long of the Japanese Specialized Self Defence
Force: Supernatural Division, and he'd be damned if anybody was going to
stop him from taking a brief drink, while his intelligence officer
worked out where he was supposed to go. It should be noted that Fate
rarely ever allows anybody to have a nice quiet break in peace.
"Kipp, as your friend..." the voice began.
"And as my annoying 'imouto,' right Hikari Amatsu?" Kipp teased.
"Um, well, ah..." Hikari stuttered in anger.
"Don't deny it Hikari! I know you think of me as such!" Kipp
chuckled. "And don't be fooled, you're not going to get to beat me when
I get back!"
"Now you listen here Buster! You are a sixteen year old, very
intelligent, and a decent looking guy. Shouldn't you be going to school
like the rest of us, rather then doing this stuff all day long?" Hikari
asked, turning her anger into determination.
"I finished High School when I was fourteen{2}," was Kipp's simple
answer, his amusement dimming slightly.
"What about University?" Amatsu persisted.
"Maybe, when I can actually fit in," Kipp whispered longingly.
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked, concern showing in her voice.
"Have you ever seen a sixteen-year old in a University?" Kipp
asked, a tired sort of humour in his voice.
"Ohhh, is the great, brave Kipp Long afraid of people?" Hikari
teased, grinning slightly.
"No, not really," Kipp answered, flushing. "Besides, if I leave,
I'll deprive you of your beloved aniki!!"
"You are not older then me!" Hikari growled.
"Yes I am!! I'm exactly one month, two days, and five seconds
older then you!! Anyway, back to business, where are the targets?" Kipp
asked, taking a quick drink from the pond as Hikari checked the maps.
"Bleah, warm!"
"To your left... almost a kilometre away," Hikari answered. "And
that number isn't right, you're only a month an a day older then me,"
the girl sniffed haughtily.
"Confirmed, I'm heading out... I'm still older then you." Kipp
grinned.
"It's only a month!! Who cares?" Hikari yelled, infuriated with
her best friend.
"Yes, who does care?" Kipp asked, mentally projecting a wink to
Hikari. "Commencing radio silence, talk to you in a bit!"
"Don't you dare!!!" Hikari managed to scream, before Kipp turned
off the earpiece and dashed back into the grove, missing the figure that
jumped out of the pond moments later.
* * *
Leaping out of the pond, Skuld pulled out an odd looking scanner
from subspace, and began fiddling with it. Standing about 160 cm, the
'14' year old goddess had an average body. Her long raven hair almost
reached her ankles and had a wild, exotic look. She wore her regular
'goddess' garb, which was pink and red, and extremely cute, or would
have been if she looked 12, but she looked fourteen, and that made it
almost seductive and suggestive. Along her back, her croquet like
hammer was strapped.
After some fiddling, Skuld finally managed to locate whatever she
was looking for.
"I'll show them I'm not a kid!" she cried, before rushing off into
the grove, hammer overhead. Coincidentally enough (coincidence my ass
^_~), it was the same direction Kipp had run off in.
* * *
July 11, 12:40 a.m.
"Great, just great," Kipp muttered to himself.
Hiding behind a tree, Kipp could only glare at the source of his
trouble. Standing in a very large clearing, five demonic creatures
stood around a large fire. Four of the five were nearly identical, with
five large claws where fingers would have been on a man. Each was
humanoid, but stood over two meters tall, with bodies made of muscle.
Covered in red leathery skin, the four sat hunched around the first,
their sharp teeth and glowing red eyes both seemed to want to tear into
the fifth.
The fifth demon was different then the rest in more ways then the
obvious physical differences. While it was of the same height as the
others, it was also massively more muscled, seeming to be made
completely of solid muscle. It had five fingers, each ending in long
nail like claws. Its legs had three separate joints, and only two toes
on its foot, but it seemed to have been made for speed. At first, one
would have thought the creature had white/platinum hair, but a closer
examination would show that they were actually very thin, very fine
bones, each ending in a razor point. But the most frightening feature
about the creature were it's red serpent like eyes that seemed speak of
death to any who looked directly into them.
"Just once, that's all I ask, just once, why can't those morons at
Intel do something right?" Kipp muttered to himself.
Unslinging his satchel, Kipp quickly armed himself. Five grenades
were clipped to his belt, along with four clips of glowing blue 'energy'
packs. Unholstering the pistols revealed them to be mystical
equivalents of guns. Shaped similarly to the modern 9mm pistols, the
weapons were covered in eldritch symbols and arcane runes. These 'guns'
were quickly loaded with the two remaining clips, then reholstered.
Taking a deep breath, Kipp closed his eyes and began to chant.
"Fire, Wind, Water, Earth.
Light, Wood, Dark, Metal,
Elements of Magic,
Infuse within me
The Power to See
That Hidden for Mortal Eyes,
MYSTIC VISION"
Although the last words were whispered, they rang with power.
When Kipp opened his eyes, they glowed for the briefest of moments, the
purest of white, before returning to normal, but then the magic had
already taken affect. Shaking his head, Kipp took another look at the
demons, and groaned. Using the power of the Mystic Vision, Kipp could
see the power of each of the hell spawns, and it wasn't good.
"Great, just great. Four Twelfth Class demons, and a fucking
Ninth
Class! Just what I need," he groaned again before turning his earpiece
back on.
"You have reached the home of Kipp Long, but he's not in right
now, this is his incredibly sexy and adorable imouto Hikari speaking.
How may I help you?" Hikari's voice came, incredibly sweet and
incredibly sarcastic.
"I'm very tempted to hate you," Kipp growled before returning to
the business at hand. "I need reinforcements, now. I've got four
Twelves and one BLOODY NINTH!"
"Wait, wait, wait! Intel said there were only two Twelves and one
Tenth, and where are the hostages?"
"First of all, the guys at Intelligence are idiots and are rarely
reliable. Second, I don't see the hostages, but they could have been
hidden away," Kipp replied, doubt evident in his voice.
"You're not sure," it was a statement, not an answer.
"I pray for their safety, and I will KILL those bastards if they
hurt those hostages in even the slightest way," Kipp answered
vehemently.
"Be careful, backup'll be there soon. Until then, hang tight,"
Hikari said, concern overpowering professionalism.
"Hurry up," was Kipp's simple reply, before the earpiece was once
again deactivated.
Heaving a sigh, Kipp leaned against his tree, and turned to face
the direction he had come from. He would have relaxed, if his Mystical
Vision didn't reveal a most disconcerting sight.
"KUSO! A Second Class God!" He almost screamed, then turned back
to the demons.
Making brief calculations and measurements, Kipp compared the
demon's combined aura to that of the divinity's. After several minutes
of thinking, Kipp came to a startling conclusion.
"The divinity's power is being blocked! Chikuso, Merlin-sensei
said something about this, the Seals{3} I think he called them. Kuso!
Kuso! KUSO! It'll be killed!" Kipp gasped.
Making up his mind, Kipp pulled out two of the grenades, pulled
the pins, and threw.
* * *
Since she had only had her older body for a few months, Skuld was
unaccustomed to the balance and abilities that came with it, hence her
slow running speed. Still, she was quite content with herself as she
took a trip down memory lane.
* * Flashback * *
It's a beautiful white Christmas morning as the Norns, Keiichi and
Megumi sat around the table eating breakfast. As typical, Keiichi and
Belldandy were sitting besides each other, busy feeding each other. Urd
was also typically trying to get Keiichi and Belldandy into bed with
each other. Skuld, still in her younger form was busy arguing
with Urd, glaring at Keiichi, and being extremely giddy about Christmas
(as only a kid could be... AHHHHH!! Get that mallet away from me!).
All of this came to a halt when the phone rang, picked itself up and
projected the caller's dignified and powerful voice into the room.
"NORNS, IT IS I," Kami-sama announced himself.
Instantly all eyes turned to Urd who had become ramrod straight
at Kami-sama's entrance.
"I didn't do anything!" she protested, of course everyone was
still sceptical, but their attention returned to the phone.
"URD IS CORRECT, I DID NOT CALL BECAUSE OF HER," Kami-sama's voice
rang out.
"Then why did you call, Lord?" Belldandy worriedly asked, while
Urd heaved a great sigh of relief.
Keiichi noticed Belldandy's worry and gave her hand a reassuring
squeeze.
"NOR HAVE I CALLED BECAUSE OF YOU, CHILD," Kami-sama reassured,
seeming as if he had seen Keiichi squeeze Belldandy's hand, which he
probably had.
"Then why are you calling Father?" Belldandy asked with a small
smile, caused from the knowledge that she could remain with her beloved.
"I AM CALLING BECAUSE OF YOUNG SKULD."
Everyone gasped and turned to Skuld, who wasted no time in rushing
into Belldandy's arms. Belldandy tried to sooth her little sister, even
Urd and Keiichi tried, but the young goddess was not to be snapped out
of her fright.
"DO NOT FEAR LITTLE ONE, I HAVE COME WITH JOYOUS NEWS,"
Kami-sama's voice took on a reassuring, soothing, and happy tone (more
so then usual), as if sensing the young girl's fright, which he probably
did.
"SKULD OF THE NORNS, IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT AS A MORTAL
PLANE TRAINEE, YOU ARE TO LEARN OF MORTALS AND THEIR WAYS. YET THE ONLY
WAY FOR YOU TO DO SO IS FOR YOU TO GROW BOTH MENTALLY, PHYSICALLY AND
SOCIALLY AS THEY DO. SINCE I CAN NEITHER ALTER THE WAY YOU THINK, NOR
THE WAY YOU INTERACT WITH OTHERS, I HAVE DECIDED TO DO THAT WHICH I CAN.
I AM THEREFORE ALLOWING YOUR MORTAL MANIFESTATION TO GROW TO FOURTEEN
MORTAL YEARS OF AGE!"
Everyone once again turned to Skuld, who could only stare at the
phone in shock.
"OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, YOUR BODY SHALL GROW UNTIL IT HAS
REACHED THE APPROPRIATE AGE. AFTERWARDS, IT SHALL CONTINUE TO AGE BY
MORTAL STANDARDS FOR THE REST OF THE DURATION OF YOU TRAINING," Kami-
sama elaborated.
"But what of the mortals who know not of our powers?" Urd asked,
smoothing Skuld's hair with her hand.
"WORRY NOT FOR OVER THE TIME OF HER GROWTH, THE MEMORY OF ALL
MORTALS WHO KNOW NOT OF YOUR GODDESSHOOD SHALL BE ALTERED SLIGHTLY TO
COVER HER SUDDEN GROWTH, SO I SAY," and with that said, the phone
returned to its cradle.
"MARRY CHRISTMAS, MY CHILD,"
* * End Flashback * *
Skuld was suddenly brought out of her reverie by a blast of ice
magic in the distance. Almost instantly after, a blast of wind magic
followed.
"That wasn't Demonic energy... oh no!" she exclaimed.
Pushing all other thoughts out of her head, Skuld picked up her
pace and quickly ran through the spring air, dread filling her soul.
* * *
July 10, 1:00 am
The first grenade exploded in a shower of frozen spikes, freezing
everything they touched. All five of the demons were struck, but for
the leader and three of its minions managed to free themselves. The
fourth wasn't so luck as the second grenade exploded in a fury of razor
sharp winds. In a matter of seconds, it was reduced to a fine powder
of icy gore.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" the leader commanded in a deep
guttural voice, even as his three remaining minions moved into better
attack positions.
"Where are the hostages?" Kipp asked, still hidden from view
behind the trees.
The demon suddenly grinned a feral sort of grin as it pointed into
the middle
of the clearing, over the large fire.
"You didn't," Kipp whispered as he saw the large cauldron
previously hidden from view.
"We did, and let me tell you, they were delicious," the demon
replied, malice filling its voice. "Those stories were correct,
human children do taste better then their parents"
"Hope you enjoyed it, because it was your last meal! Prepare to
DIE!" Kipp screamed as his fury took over.
Grabbing a third grenade, Kipp pulled the pin and threw the
magical explosive. Upon impact the grenade blew apart, sending chunks
of dirt all over the clearing.
"That was pathetic," the leader spat, disgusted.
"The show's just starting," Kipp snarled back, just as the ground
started to quake.
The full might of the earth elemental grenade came into effect as
the raw magic within the dirt began to work. Massive spikes of jagged
stone burst from the ground, impaling one of the unlucky demons, and
hurting the others.
"Better, but still useless," the leader grumbled, watching as the
impaled demon tried to free itself.
"It's not over," Kipp replied, gleefully rubbing his hands
together.
Suddenly, the dozens of jagged spires began to shake and tremble,
huge cracks began forming in the stone as well. Then as if a final act
of retribution, every single one of the spikes exploded in a massive
spray of dust and deadly stone shrapnel. The demon that had previously
been impaled was torn to shreds, while the others were pelted with
thousands of stone shards.
"That deadly enough!" Kipp asked, grinning evilly.
"You're dead!" the leader roared at his hidden opponent. "I shall
enjoy feasting on your heart!"
"Go ahead and try!" Kipp cried as he rushed into the open, guns
blazing.
Blue/white bolts of magic exploded from each nozzle, three in
total, and slamming into one of the two remaining demon's head. As the
demon stumbled back, clutching its face, Kipp fired six more bolts into
the creature's chest, causing it to fall onto its back, its soul
vanquished back to the pits of Hell.
"Kill him, but bring me his heart!" the leader gestured to its
last remaining minion, hatred burning in its eyes.
The last remaining Twelfths Class demon ran straight at Kipp,
claws ready to tear into his flesh.
"Up close and personal, just the way I like it," Kipp growled,
pulling a string attached to the strip of metal.
Instantly, the strip extended on both ends by 24 cm. Once locked
into place, two more pieces of metal flew out from the bottom and the
top, on opposite sides, of the strip's length. Both were half the
length of the fully extended original and were attached to a pivot in
the centre of the original's insides. The two swung in a circular
motion, going from one side to the other, forming a large circular
shield.
"If you think a flimsy piece of metal will stop me, think again!"
the attacking demon growled in a deep, wet voice.
"Just you try!" Kipp retorted, raising his shield in defence.
The demon roared once before unleashing a fury of attacks with its
claws. Surprisingly enough, the metal shield didn't even receive a
scratch from the abuse it was receiving, although Kipp was having a
hard time fighting the demon's strength.
"Impossible! My claws can cut through reinforced steel!" the
demon cried in disbelief.
"Yeah, but can they cut through Mythril?" Kipp retorted, unloading
twelve shots into the demon's face, stilling it.
"Mythril! That's not possible! The skills and the process were
lost thousands of years ago!" the leader cried in disbelief.
"Fourteen thousand to be correct, and it was at the same time of
the fall of Atlantis!" Kipp retorted.
"We sunk Atlantis! One of our great demons did so!" the leader
returned, before understanding sunk in.
"That's right, we found Atlantis and all of its secrets," Kipp
gloated, reloading his pistols.
"Then we'll just have to sink the secrets again! Rise my demons!
Rise and kill him!" the demon roared, raising his fist into the air.
At its command, two pits opened in the ground and a dozen more
Twelfth Class demons crawled out of the holes before they closed, each
identical to the first four.
"Say hello to my army!" the leader bellowed, pointing a clawed
finger at Kipp. "Kill him my warriors!!!"
"Hi! Bye!" Kipp retorted, throwing a fourth grenade.
Landing amidst the demons, the grenade exploded in a fiery display
of pyrotechnics. From the shell, dozens of flaming tendrils whipped
out, striking wildly around, burning off limbs that touched it. And if
that wasn't enough, a ring of flaming pillars appeared and began
spiralling outward. By the time the magic died down, half of the demons
had been incinerated. The other half were quickly dispatched with three
of the four remaining pistol clips.
"One clip left, and only one demon left... plenty of bullets,"
Kipp remarked.
"Only one?" the demon remarked, amusement dancing within its fiery
eyes.. "Count again."
Suddenly, two more humanoid demons appeared behind the leader.
Both were at least 2 meter in height, with frames more muscular then the
Twelfth Class demons. Both had black leathery hides, and bat like
wings. There hands were covered in masses of spiked bones and their
ribs protruded from their chest. For feet, the two had three taloned
toes. Their heads were grotesque mockeries of humans, bloated and
twisted. Two long yellow tusks grew from their cheeks, and a pair of
crimson red eyes gleamed with blood lust. Using the aid of his Mystic
Vision, which was still active, Kipp groaned at the two newcomers.
"Just what I bloody need! Two Tenth Class demons!" Kipp muttered,
before taking aim with his pistol.
But before Kipp could fire, the two demons spread their wings and
took to the air. Swooping around, the two circled Kipp a few times
before lunging in for the kill. Having only one loaded pistol, Kipp
could only shoot at one while blocking the other. Pretty soon the ammo
from the gun was depleted. Dropping the gun, Kipp reached for the
sword hilt before he was knocked off his feet from a blast of dark
magic.
"Forget about little old me?" the leader taunted, glaring at the
human.
"Thanks for the reminder," Kipp hissed between clenched teeth.
"Finish him, but remember, his heart is mine to feast upon," the
leader called to the two flying demons.
Kipp could only raise his shield in a futile attempt of defence
before he was attacked by the flying duo. He would have been killed
too, if a certain goddess hadn't interfered.
"Skuld Bomb!" Skuld cried as she threw one of her explosives at
the flying fiends.
Although being a goddess in training, Skuld made up with her lack
of magical talent with her incredible aptitude with technology, of
course that does make a lot of sense for a goddess of the Future. This
ability was demonstrated greatly as her Skuld Bomb managed to vaporize
both of the Tenth Class demons.
"Are you okay?" she asked as she knelt by Kipp's battered body.
"Yeah sure... Goddess," Kipp replied, grinning despite the pain.
"How?" Skuld asked, bewildered.
"Are we forgetting someone, oh Divine One?" the leader asked,
filling the last words with enough venom to poison all the oceans on
Earth.
"Prepare to be banished demon!" Skuld yelled as she charged the
monster with her hammer.
"Cute words coming from such a cute goddess, but you're only a
trainee," the demon declared, proving his statement by blasting Skuld
with another one of its Dark Blasts. "Perhaps I shall "train" you
myself!" the demon said, leering openly at Skuld.
"Arigato gozaimasu," Kipp whispered before getting back on his
feet. Kipp silently promised.
Closing his eyes, Kipp concentrated for a moment before opening
them again. Small sparkles of light left them as the Mystic Vision was
finally disabled.
"Pay back time," he muttered to himself as he began concentrating.
Placing his palms opposite each other and he began to gather his
magical energies again.
"Spirits of the elements, I summon thee!
To fulfill the ancient agreement,
Help me fight the evil that holds our world!
The evil that corrupts, the evil that defiles,
The evil that destroys!"
At Kipp's command, sparks of blue, green, yellow and red began
flowing into the area between his palms forming a multicoloured ball of
energy.
"Undine! Spirit of Water, I call upon thee!
Sylph! Spirit of Wind, I call upon thee!
Salamander! Spirit of Fire, I call upon thee!
Gnome! Spirit of Earth, I call upon thee!"
Slowly, the sparks began to grow bigger and take on shapes. The
reds appeared to be flaming slender males shroud in flames wielding
swords of fire. The blues took on the appearance of elven women wearing
blue robes, an orb of blue between their hands. The yellows looked like
large muscular men wearing massive plates of armour. The greens began
to appear as agile women wearing ceremonial armour and wielding spears.
"Spirits of the Four Elements,
Lend me your strength, your courage, your wisdom, your power!
The Power to Heal!
The Power to Strengthen!
The Power to Fight!
The Power to Protect!"
Slowly the spirits began to combine into the energy between Kipp's
hands, the light almost blinding.
"Spirits of the Elements,
Release thy power, surrender thy will unto me!
Combine thy might and Cleanse the World!"
The ball of energy began to grow until it was over 90 cm in
diameter.
"ELEMENTAL STRIKE!"
Spell completed, the multicoloured ball of energy blasted from
Kipp's hands, the force of acceleration crushing the ground under its
flight path, and sending Kipp skidding back a couple of meters.
"Hey! Shit! Forget about little old me!" Kipp yelled as the
blast slammed into the leader, sending it flying back.
"How?" Skuld asked again, before another Dark Bolt slammed into
her.
"Don't interrupt! This... this... baka wants to challenge me! A
full fledge demon! Well I say, come and DIE!" the leader roared as it
rushed at Kipp.
"You first!" Kipp roared back and grabbed the sword hilt, which
instantly flared to life, forming into a glowing a one meter long white
blade of mana.
"Not even an Atlantian Mana Blade shall save you boy!" the demon
growled, wrist claws slamming into the shield and blade.
"Like I said before, come get some!" Kipp yelled, slashing with
his blade.
The two battled back and forth, neither claiming the advantage
until Skuld, tired of being ignored, slammed her hammer into the back of
the demons head.
"Don't ignore me!" Skuld cried, repeatedly hitting the demon
upside the head.
"Foolish child! Be gone!" the creature cried, slashing at Skuld
with his claws.
Kipp was there in a flash, blocking the claws and taking a swipe
at the demon.
"Fool! Trying to protect a goddess that doesn't even care about
your people anymore, what do you hope to gain?" the monster sneered,
pushing against the metal.
"It doesn't matter, I will protect her, as I swore I would," Kipp
grunted, straining against the creature's unnatural strength.
"Swore? Swore what?" the hell spawn asked, applying more weight
to the shield.
"Get out of the way!" Skuld yelled into Kipp's ear.
"Never! I swore upon my blade, my honour, my life that I would
serve the light! I swore upon the sacred blade Excalibur, upon the
Round Table, upon the Grail{4} that I would always protect the ones that
protected us! I will never, ever let you harm her!" Kipp snarled,
spirits inflamed.
"That oath, who did you hear it from?!" the demon roared.
"From my master, my teacher, my friend. The great Arch mage
Merlin{5} taught me everything I know, my skills and my spells," Kipp
smirked.
"Merlin," the demon gasped, fear beginning to show on its
grotesque features.
"That's right, Merlin, the greatest _mortal_ demon slayer, and I'm
his best disciple," Kipp grinned evilly.
"Merlin?" Skuld muttered to herself, the name sounding familiar to
her.
"It matters not foolish mortal! I am a Ninth Class demon, and no
puny Mortal shall ever be able to defeat me!" the demon bellowed, its
fear gone.
"I may not be able to ever defeat you, but I can hurt you enough
for her to kick your ass!" Kipp bellowed, taking a suicidal lunge at the
creature's body.
Having committed himself, Kipp put as much momentum and strength
into that one attack, hoping and praying for the best. The white shaft
of light slammed into the demons side, causing it to scream in pain,
and yet, it wasn't enough to disable it as it slammed its claws into
Kipp's right shoulder, tearing flesh and fracturing bone. Howling in
agony, Kipp fell back, dropping his sword, and clutching his bleeding
shoulder, as Skuld watched in horror.
"BAKAMONO! For that foolish move, you will suffer a fate even
more painful that Hell!" the demon cried, rushing towards the fallen
captain.
"Leave him alone!" Skuld screamed, ramming into the fiend from the
side.
"What do you care what happens to him? Bless it{6}! You should
be happy when he dies, then he'll join your army of dead!" the creature
sneered at his new opponent.
"I am a Goddess, and those who believe in me, those who have faith
in me, I shall protect!" Skuld yelled back, slamming her hammer into the
creatures face.
"Goddess! Ha! You're only a Mortal Realm trainee, you don't have
the power to defeat me now!" the creature crowed.
"Then we'll just have to even the odds!" Kipp cried from the
ground, "Super Nova!"
A small ball of blinding white light flew from Kipp's outstretched
hands, slamming into the creature of darkness, exploding upon contact
into a brilliant flare of white purity.
"How you like that, imbecile?" Kipp yelled, even as blood flowed
from his wound.
Skuld thought to herself in disbelief.
"I will not perish so easily!" the demon roared, rising yet again.
By now, the demon was very battered and in a lot of pain, but
being a demon, it was determined to be a stubborn bastard before it
died. Covered in bruises, burnt flesh, dozens of cuts, and several
gaping wounds, the demon stubbornly stalked towards Kipp.
"If I die Mortal, I'll take you with me!" the demon grunted
between clenched teeth.
"Not if I can help it! Skuld Bomb!" Skuld yelled, shoving the
explosive into the wound in its side, pressing it in as deeply as it
could go.
The effect was quite obvious as the demon was incinerated
instantly, turning the once fearsome creature into a pile of ash.
"Are you all right?" Skuld asked as she rushed to the fallen
soldier's side.
"I should be, arigato," Kipp murmured, gazing at the liquid brown
eyes staring down at him.
"I should have something for that wound," Skuld muttered to
herself, searching through her items in subspace, before finding a
bottle of bluish liquid, "Aha! Found it!"
"Found what?" Kipp moaned, the pain becoming unbearable as the
adrenaline flow stopped pumping into his body.
"A healing potion, here drink up," Skuld ordered, unscrewing the
bottles cap.
"You sure about that?" Kipp grunted, eying the bottle's contents
dubiously.
"Just drink it," Skuld ordered again, pouring the content's down
Kipp's throat.
"*Hack**cough**cough**hack* What is that stuff agai... hey! It
works!" Kipp exclaimed, watching as his shoulder mended itself almost
instantly.
"See, I told you so," Skuld grumbled, smiling.
"Who are you?" Kipp asked as he got to his feet.
"Skuld of the Norns," Skuld introduced herself, bowing
appropriately.
"Captain Kipp Long of the Japanese Specialized Self Defence Force:
Supernatural Division," Kipp bowed back, lower and with much more
respect.
"Captain?" Skuld inquired, curious.
"Long story, but it does have something to do with my ability to
use magic," Kipp answered, blushing slightly.
"Oh right! I have never seen a mortal use magic, how can you?
And what were those weapons you were using? You said they were from
Atlantis, but Atlantis sunk years ago, how did you find it? Can I see
your guns? The shield? How about the bomb?" Skuld asked in a rush, her
curiosity and need to understand and examine the Atlantian technology
overwhelming both her and Kipp as she pressed up close to him.
"Umm, ah, well, eh, gee," was Kipp's answer as he was overwhelmed
with questions, he was also blushing bright crimson at Skuld's
proximity.
"Huh?" Skuld wondered as Kipp suddenly zoned out, before she
noticed that her breasts were pressed against his chest, "HENTAI!"
*WHAM* Kipp became one of the unlucky mortals to come face-to-
hammer with Skuld's favourite smiting tool.
"Hmph, all you mortals are the same! Sick and perverted!" Skuld
glared.
"Gomen, gomen, gomen," Kipp apologized, rubbing his face.
Skuld just continued to glare at Kipp.
"Tell you what, you can have this," Kipp said hopefully, handing
over his last grenade.
"Really?" Skuld asked, all other thoughts gone from her mind.
"Sure, I'll just tell the guys at R&D that I had to use it," Kipp
replied, handing the explosive over.
"Arigato!" Skuld cried, grabbing the grenade.
"Be careful with that! It's one of the few Omnimentals that we
have!" Kipp cautioned.
"Omnimental?" Skuld asked, curiously examining the bomb.
"An Omnimental is a bomb, or spell, that uses all of the elements,
they're the most dangerous," Kipp explained the term.
"Oh that," Skuld nodded, still examining the grenade, "Urd never
let's me have some of the Atlantian technology that she has."
"Urd?"
"My oldest sister. She's annoying a lot of the time, and
immature, but I still love her."
"I see."
Suddenly, one of Skuld's devices began to beep, bring her out of
her examination of the lost technology. Whipping out some sort of
laptop, Skuld began examining the screen.
"What's going on?" Kipp asked, politely waiting for her to finish.
"According to my satellite, an unidentified helicopter is closing
in on this location," Skuld frowned at the unidentified part.
"Here, let me see," Kipp offered, glancing over her shoulder,
"Ahh, I'd be disappointed if you could identify it."
"What do you mean?" Skuld asked curiously, glancing at Kipp.
"You can't identify that 'Copter because it's not supposed to
exist. It belongs to the JSSDF: SD, an experimental vehicle, designed
for speed and stealth, like us," Kipp explained, his voice filled with
pride.
"Oh, then I better get going," Skuld mumbled.
"You don't want to meet them?" Kipp asked.
"I'm not supposed to reveal my goddess nature, I'm not sure how
you found out, but I don't want any one else to find out," Skuld
elaborated.
"I see, can I help you then?"
"Why are you being so helpful?" Skuld asked suspiciously.
"Because your a goddess, and because... well to be honest, I like
you," Kipp answered, blushing again.
"Na-nani!?" Skuld yelled, blushing as well.
"Not like that!" Kipp defended, making warding gestures with his
hands. "You saved my life, I have to repay you some how!"
"Oh," Skuld whispered, almost disappointed.
"Look, you wanted to get out of here, well how can I help you?"
Kipp asked, changing the subject.
"Right," Skuld replied, quickly accepting the subject change, "Can
you conjure water?"
"Water? Yeah why?" Kipp asked curiously.
"It's my travel medium," Skuld replied, glancing at her laptop,
"Hurry up! They'll be here any moment now!"
"Medium? Oh I get it!" Kipp remarked, the pieces fitting in his
mind.
Raising his left arm, since his right was still a bit sore, Kipp
pulled the string attached to the shield. Skuld examined the shield
intently as it retracted and returned to its original state. Once
finished, Kipp turned upwards and muttered a single word.
"Water," and a small ball of liquid appeared in his hands.
"Okay, hold it still, and don't move, no matter what," Skuld
instructed, moving towards the water.
Just before teleporting, Skuld turned to Kipp and gave him a quick
peck on the check{7}.
"Um, that was for protecting me," she murmured, blushing bright
crimson.
"N-no problem," Kipp replied, raising his free hand to his check.
"Sayonara," Skuld called as she disappeared into the water.
Letting the ball of water splash to the ground, Kipp rubbed his
check before noticing a black-robed figure move from the cauldron to the
surrounding grove.
"Death," he gasped, then started to head after it.
"KIPP!" Hikari's voice called out, amplified by the helicopter's
microphone.
Glancing up, Kipp realized that the helicopter was only a few
dozen meters away, decided to not to follow Death, yet.
As the helicopter landed, twenty agents of the SDs rushed out of
the vehicle and rushed into the clearing, searching for any remaining
enemies. Hikari jumped out after them.
She was 150 cm tall 16 year-old high school student who had the
ability of ESP, although she never used it on her friends. She had
light blue eyes and blonde shoulder length hair. Her body was slender
and well endowed, which made her very popular with the guys. She wore
what appeared to be a white blouse, a knee length light blue skirt, a
blue high heels.
"Aniki!!! Are you all right?" Hikari asked, looking over Kipp's
condition. Once certain that Kipp was all right, Hikari began chewing
him out, "What do you think you were doing? I told you to wait for the
others, but noooo, you had to play Mister Hero! If you aren't more
cautious, you'll get yourself killed!"
"You concerned about me?" Kipp teased, until he noticed the tears
in her eyes.
"Dammit! Of course I'm concerned, you're my best friend and I
promised your Oneechan, Setsuna, that I'd take care of you. I don't
want to see you killed because I was too slow, or because I didn't give
you the right information," Hikari cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Gomen Hikari-chan, but I have to do this. My parents were killed
by these things, you know that. I know how it feels to lose those that
you love, that's why I do this, so others don't have to understand the
hole inside me," Kipp explained, giving his partner a quick hug.
"I know, but can't you care about yourself for a change?" Hikari
pleaded.
"Maybe, I'll think about it," Kipp smirked, before turning to the
rest of the troops, "Guys, could you clean up the place for me, and
recover the remains of the hostages from the cauldron. Get them a
proper burial, I'm going to empty my stomach over there," he said,
jerking a thumb in the direction Death had gone.
Releasing Hikari, Kipp strode after Death, rubbing his shoulder
absently.
"Death, where are you? I know you came to take the children, but
can I speak with you?" Kipp called into the shadows.
"Of course, child, I am always ready to lend an ear to one of my
friends{8}," Death answered, stepping out of the shadows.
Covered in black robes and clutching a nasty looking scythe, Death
stood about 190 cm tall. Her robes hung over a decidedly female, and
slender body, and she was in no way bony. She had large hazel eyes and
a long auburn hair that reached her waist, making her look around 25.
"Well, you see, that goddess, that was here earlier, um well,
could you..." Kipp trailed of, playing with his index fingers.
"Hahahaha, I understand, child, you like her don't you?" Death
inquired, giggling.
"It's kinda of funny, I've never really had a crush on anyone
before. But now I've suddenly developed one for that young girl... I
mean goddess," Kipp laughed, blushing scarlet.
"She is of the Norns, hence she is of the Norse pantheon," Death
mused.
"What, the Norns? Merlin's meet one of them before, I think her
name was Verthandi," Kipp mumbled.
"Who hasn't Merlin-san met?" Death laughed. "And it's Belldandy,
child, Belldandy."
"True, but that's expected from a crabby old man that's been alive
for centuries," Kipp grinned.
"I cannot tell much of her, but do not fret, perhaps you shall
meet her again?" Death encouraged.
"Maybe, thanks for the pep talk Death," Kipp murmured, giving
Death a quick hug.
"If you ever need any help, just ask, and I'll see what I can do,"
Death promised.
"Arigato, I'll keep that in mind," Kipp smiled, then turned to go,
before remembering something.
"They'll go to heaven, don't worry," Death said.
"That's good to know, arigato," Kipp sighed, then ran to the
copter, "I hope I _do_ meet her again."
* * *
July 11, 12:00 p.m.
Kipp stood in front of a small house, dressed in full JSDF
ceremonial uniform, knocking on the front door. Slowly the door opened
to reveal a worried looking middle aged women. She had dark brown hair,
with a few streaks of grey showing. She was dressed in a light green
t-shirt and blue jeans.
"Ohayo, how may I help you...?" she asked, concern growing.
"Ohayo, Tenraikumo-san, I'm Captain Kipp Long of the Japanese
Specialized Self Defence Force: Supernatural Division. I have some
information concerning your son," Kipp bowed, looking uneasy.
"My son? Is he all right? Those oni didn't do anything to him
did they? Where is he?" Tenraikumo asked, staring hopefully into Kipp's
eyes.
"Sigh, Tenraikumo-san, I am sorry to inform you that your son,
Mikomi, died last night around 12:00 a.m." Kipp stated, hating himself
more with every word.
"You're lying! My son can't be dead! Tell me where my son is!"
Tenraikumo screeched hysterically, before breaking down into sobs.
Kipp could only look at the crying women, before he came to a
decision. Perhaps it was from the fact that he had never known his own
mother, perhaps it was because his heart wasn't as cold as he thought,
either way, Kipp pulled the woman into a hug, patting her on the back
and whispering reassuring words. After several minutes, the former
mother had calmed down enough to talk.
"Arigato gozaimasu Long-san... please come in for a cup of tea,"
Tenraikumo offered.
"Arigato," Kipp said, walking into the house.
Taking of his dress shoes, Kipp put on a pair of guest slippers
and followed Tenraikumo into the den. Taking a seat around the table,
Kipp glanced around the room, as he waited for Tenraikumo to get the
tea.
"The tea will be ready soon," Tenraikumo said as she entered the
room, sitting across from Kipp, "May I ask you a question?"
"If I'm permitted to answer it, I will," Kipp replied, the
uneasiness returning.
"Why? Why did you try to comfort me?" she asked.
Kipp thought to himself, before his musing
was interrupted by the mother's plead.
"Please, it'll give me a last chance to be a mother," she pleaded.
"All right," Kipp sighed before launching into his tale. "I was
born in a small fishing village of the eastern coast of Hokkaido, my
mother was a Japanese/American while my father was Chinese. They had me
and decided to make my name a Chinese/Japanese/American cross, and since
my surname was already Chinese, they took a American name, translated
it and took off the last letter, hence Kipp. Long means dragon in
Chinese. Anyway, my father was a good fisherman so we lived quite
nicely, until I turned two. On that day, demons came to our village and
killed everyone, they killed, ate, burned, ravaged and defiled
everything. I lived because my parents covered me with their bloody,
and knocked me out, hoping that the creatures wouldn't notice me, they
didn't. I was later found and adopted by a father and his daughter, the
Meiou family, but they could never replace my real family," Kipp spun
his, crying through a lot of it.
"I at least can remember my son, I can remember playing with him,
his joy whenever I complemented him, you don't even have that,"
Tenraikumo whispered, having seen the depths of Kipp's sorrow.
"All I have are a bunch of blurry memories and old photos," Kipp
retorted, fighting to regain control.
"It's all right child, hush, hush, let it all out, it's all
right," Tenraikumo soothed, her maternal instincts taking over as she
held Kipp.
It was several minutes before the pain was again covered layers of
stone. Having regained his composure, Kipp wiped away his tears and
smiled at Tenraikumo, "Arigato, I fell better now,"
"As do I," Tenraikumo smiled, teary-eyed, "One last time to be a
mother,"
"I don't think so, I'm sure you'll get another chance. How about
you go down to the orphanage and adopt a child?" Kipp asked, feeling a
twinge of hope.
Having lived in an orphanage for several years, Kipp could
understand that many of the children there longed to have someone to
call mother or father. But that hope was dashed as Tenraikumo smiled
sadly.
"Someday maybe, but not until the pain fades," she said, a hand
over her heart.
"The pain never fades, it only lessens," Kipp said, ruefully.
"Then, when it lessens enough, I'll go adopt a child," she replied
quietly, "Arigato,"
"What for?" Kipp asked, bewildered.
"For the hope. I will raise a child again someday, I will watch
as it grows to adulthood, and I will always remember my little
Mekomi-chan," she answered, giving Kipp a reassuring smile.
"No problem," Kipp smiled back, "I've got to get going, sayonara,"
* * *
July 11, 5:00 p.m.
"Finally, it's all over," Kipp muttered to himself as he walked
into a large one story warehouse.
What was strange through was that the inside of the warehouse
looked more like the inside of a medieval castle then anything else.
What was stranger yet was that Kipp didn't even seem to notice, or care,
as he walked down the halls.
"Five kids, nine distressed parents. Kami-sama, if I could trade
my life for their children's, I would have. Sigh, time for another
bloody lesson from the old man," Kipp muttered to himself as he stopped
in front of the only door in the entire building.
"You may enter," a deep voice called from behind the door.
"Konbawa Merlin-sensei," Kipp called as he entered the room.
The room itself was massive, covering at least half of the
warehouse's total space. Half of the room was dedicated to massive
bookshelves that stretched to the ceiling, each crammed to the brim with
books and scrolls. The other half of the room was covered with strange
looking chemistry experiments, mystic symbols, old weapons, new weapons,
a giant telescope, a Cray supercomputer, and a really large wooden desk.
Seated behind the desk, a middle aged man sat, his grey hair cut and
combed meticulously. His short beard was also cut and trimmed, as well
as oiled. His clear blue eyes were sharp and piercing, as they stared
out from behind his reading glasses. He wore a black business suit,
the crisp lines and lack of wrinkles gave the suit an intimidating look.
"Kipp, why are you still in uniform?" Merlin asked.
"Didn't have time to change, you called, remember?" Kipp mocked.
"Ah, yes, about your fight," Merlin began, "Death told me what
happened,"
"Geez, what do you two do? Have tea together every freaking day?"
Kipp muttered to himself.
"I'd like to say that your skills have grown greater then even I
anticipated," the famed magician complimented, "In all the years of my
immortal life, I have never had a disciple learn things so quickly, nor
surpass my expectations so many times."
"Arigato Sensei, but Skuld-sama did most of the work," Kipp
replied, not a single shred of false-modesty in the comment, just pure
truth.
"Ah, Skuld of the Norns, you know that her sister Belldandy was
the one that granted my wish to 'To Watch over Humanity Forever'?"
Merlin asked his disciple.
"So that's why her title rang a bell," Kipp murmured.
"Anyway, Death, General Meiou, and myself have been talking about
your performance lately, and well, we've decided that you need a break,"
Merlin said, his eyes betraying his uneasiness.
"Break? Why?" Kipp inquired politely.
"Well, you see, you're a great soldier, a great fighter, and all
that stuff, but we think that for you to be a great person, you have to
live a life outside of this job," the older man looked really nervous
now.
"A break? Sure, I've been meaning to go to University lately, you
know, finish my education and finding something that I like," Kipp thought to himself.
` "Really? I mean well, good, it's nice to know that you've been
thinking lately," Merlin recovered.
"Har, har, anyway, I'll tell you, when I've decided, which
university I want to go to," Kipp saluted, then left the room.
"And Destiny claims yet another one," Merlin muttered, turning to
face a figure hidden in the shadows, "I hope this works."
"It should," the figure replied, in a female voice, "It should."
* * *
July 20, 3:00 p.m.
"You wanted to see me Captain?" General Meiou asked.
Dressed in his military uniform, Kipp's adopted father sat behind
his desk at his office. His black hair was greying at the sideburns,
but gave him a dignified air. The general appeared to be in his early
fifties, his piercing brown eyes drilling into his son.
"Yes Sir," Kipp answered, saluting.
"Well, out with it boy!" the man commanded.
"About my leave..." Kipp began.
"Ah yes, you are to be relieved until you decide otherwise,
correct?" the old man grinned.
"Yes that one, Otou-san, the one you've been pestering me with
ever since you gave it," Kipp replied, annoyed, "I miss Setsuna-
Oneechan{9}, with her around, I didn't get this much crap!"
"So where have you decided on?" Meiou asked, ignoring the last
comment.
"Nekomi Institute of Technology, they have a great program for
computers and such," Kipp answered.
"Hmm, well it will be tight, but I think I can pull a few
strings," Meiou mused.
"I'll get packing... oh and can I take the Prototype?" Kipp asked
innocently.
"You want to take the Prototype!? That thing isn't even fully
tested yet!" Meiou spluttered.
"But it goes so fast! Come on, please?" Kipp begged.
"Fine, but I want it back in one piece!" Meiou caved in.
"YES!"
* * *
September 1, 3:00 p.m.
"So this is NIT," Kipp mused to himself, as he stared down at the
university.
Wearing a pair of black jeans and a black leather jacket over a
dark blue, loose fitting, cotton button up semi-dress shirt. A black
motorcycle helmet was hanging from his hands, both sporting knuckle-
gloves. His boots were similarly to his military ones, except looser,
and shorter. Around his waist was yet another black leather belt, with
a plain silver belt buckle. Beside him was a sleek jet black
motorcycle, but when anyone tried to identify it, they couldn't, mainly
because it was a prototype vehicle designed by the military for stealth
and speed, the creed the JSSDF: SDs lived by, but only when it suited
them. Shaped like a regular racer, the bike was covered with what
appeared to be regular fibreglass, which seemed to reflect the light.
The machine was missing a keyhole, but had a high tech print scanner
where one should have been. The speedometer was digital, and it rested
under a crystal clear windshield.
"Here I come!"
* * End Prologue * *
1- For those who have no clue what SD stands for... GO WATCH MORE ANIME!
If not, then I will explain. SD stands for Super Deformed, when the
characters look like miniature versions of themselves, but with huge
heads.
2- No he isn't a prodigy, you'll learn how he did such a feat in the
next episode... or two.
3- Skuld doesn't actually have a Seal, I think, anyway, the Mystic
Vision allows the user to see the exact magical potential of a being
at that very instant. Skuld, although still a trainee, does have
the full power of a Second Class God, the only problem is that she
doesn't know how to tap it yet. Hence Kipp's misunderstanding, since
he's never actually seen a Sealed god, only descriptions from his
teacher.
4- Yes, we are talking about Arthurian legends now, which you'll learn
about later, and no, Kipp isn't Arthur Pendragon reborn.
5- Still in Arthurian legends, Merlin was Arthur's adviser, who
supposedly lived for a hell of a long time, so I decided to use him.
Anyway, his role in my fanfic is teacher and maybe advisor to the
JSSDF: SDs, and maybe part time fighter.
6- Think of it this way, we damn someone when we're pissed. Well a
damned sure wouldn't damn someone they hate, because that would bring
them into their home, so they would bless them, to get them away from
it. It works, goodbye.
7- I know, I know, Skuld would never do that. But my excuse is that
Skuld now has all of the advantages and disadvantages of a 14 year-
old body, which comes with gallons of hormones and such. Besides,
here's a fairly handsome guy, who has just protected her, fought for
her, given her a present, and been all around nice, I think all those
romantic comics might have had a little affect on her, ne?
8- This will also be explained later, but right now I can give you a
little bit of background. Kipp has been in the JSSDF: SDs since he
was twelve, and through out that time, he's seen tons of death,
both mortal and immortal. Coupled with the ability to actually see
magical forces, I'm sure Kipp has had a chance to talk to Death
dozens of times.
9- That's right, Kipp's adopted Oneechan is none other then the Senshi
of Time, the lovely, cold, and logical, Sailor Pluto! Anyone smell a
crossover brewing? Actually Kipp has some connections to the Silver
Millennium, major connections, but for the first part of this series,
Kipp won't actually meet any of the Senshi. Some would say that this
series should be a crossover, but I'm just taking a few things from
the SM universe, so I don't think it is... yet.
Author's Blurb:
Nothing big right now, just the first rewrite finished. Now all I
need to do is get off my lazy ass and do the other two.
Homepage: www.geocities.com/kipp_loong/
= thought
()=author's opinion
{number}= explanation at the bottom
Disclaimers: Oh! My Goddess (Oh! My Goddess, Ah! Megami-sama, and
whatever else they call it) is owned by Kosuke Fujishima and Kodansha.
English translations are owned by Dark Horse Comics. The work that I am
doing is in no way used for profit, nor am I taking credit for the
characters. This is purely for entertainment.
Kipp Long and Hikari Amatsu are my own creations and are not to be
reproduced with out my permission.
The Japanese Specialized Self Defence Force: Supernatural Division
does not actually exist and is a figment of this author's imagination,
therefore making it my own creation.
So without further ado, I present to you...
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
|nfinity Corps is
Proud to Present
An Ah! My Goddess! Fanficiton
Deus Patronus:
Prologue
By:
Jeffrey Chow
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
July 11, 12:30 a.m.
Under the glowing brilliance of the silver moon, the shimmering
beauty of the sparkling stars, a figure, covered by the shadows, ran
through the darkened bamboo grove around it. Darting swiftly and
quietly, the shadow moved with purpose... until a voice sounded in its
ear.
"Captain, 200 meters ahead of you should be a clearing with a pond
in it, that is Alpha point," the female voice instructed.
"Destination confirmed," the shadow replied with a deep masculine
voice.
"Captain?" the voice inquired.
"Yeah?" the figure asked, curiously, just as he entered the
clearing.
The moon's silver brilliance briefly illuminated the captain,
displaying pure black hair, parted on ether side, and hardened brown
eyes. His shadow reflected his slender, yet well muscled body. He was
tall, standing around 180 cm, head shoulders above many of his fellow
people.
His loose black clothing moved slightly in the soft breeze,
causing him to shift slightly. As he walked towards the pond in the
middle of the clearing, his hand reached down to shift a sword hilt
attached to his black leather belt. His hand rested briefly on the
green jewelled pommel, almost as he seemed to take comfort in knowing
that his weapon was still there, but one had to wonder what he was
going to do with a sword hilt when he already had two holstered pistols
at his sides.
As he stood over the pond, he marvelled at his own reflection, and
how different it seemed whenever he was on a mission. Many had told him
that his eyes seemed harder, almost like glittering brown rocks, but he
had never noticed that himself. His lips were different from the easy
going smile he usually wore, now, they were just lines on his face,
unmoving and emotionless. Shrugging to himself, the young man shifted
the black satchel that was slung over his shoulder, and bent down to
take a drink.
He was Captain Kipp Long of the Japanese Specialized Self Defence
Force: Supernatural Division, and he'd be damned if anybody was going to
stop him from taking a brief drink, while his intelligence officer
worked out where he was supposed to go. It should be noted that Fate
rarely ever allows anybody to have a nice quiet break in peace.
"Kipp, as your friend..." the voice began.
"And as my annoying 'imouto,' right Hikari Amatsu?" Kipp teased.
"Um, well, ah..." Hikari stuttered in anger.
"Don't deny it Hikari! I know you think of me as such!" Kipp
chuckled. "And don't be fooled, you're not going to get to beat me when
I get back!"
"Now you listen here Buster! You are a sixteen year old, very
intelligent, and a decent looking guy. Shouldn't you be going to school
like the rest of us, rather then doing this stuff all day long?" Hikari
asked, turning her anger into determination.
"I finished High School when I was fourteen{2}," was Kipp's simple
answer, his amusement dimming slightly.
"What about University?" Amatsu persisted.
"Maybe, when I can actually fit in," Kipp whispered longingly.
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked, concern showing in her voice.
"Have you ever seen a sixteen-year old in a University?" Kipp
asked, a tired sort of humour in his voice.
"Ohhh, is the great, brave Kipp Long afraid of people?" Hikari
teased, grinning slightly.
"No, not really," Kipp answered, flushing. "Besides, if I leave,
I'll deprive you of your beloved aniki!!"
"You are not older then me!" Hikari growled.
"Yes I am!! I'm exactly one month, two days, and five seconds
older then you!! Anyway, back to business, where are the targets?" Kipp
asked, taking a quick drink from the pond as Hikari checked the maps.
"Bleah, warm!"
"To your left... almost a kilometre away," Hikari answered. "And
that number isn't right, you're only a month an a day older then me,"
the girl sniffed haughtily.
"Confirmed, I'm heading out... I'm still older then you." Kipp
grinned.
"It's only a month!! Who cares?" Hikari yelled, infuriated with
her best friend.
"Yes, who does care?" Kipp asked, mentally projecting a wink to
Hikari. "Commencing radio silence, talk to you in a bit!"
"Don't you dare!!!" Hikari managed to scream, before Kipp turned
off the earpiece and dashed back into the grove, missing the figure that
jumped out of the pond moments later.
* * *
Leaping out of the pond, Skuld pulled out an odd looking scanner
from subspace, and began fiddling with it. Standing about 160 cm, the
'14' year old goddess had an average body. Her long raven hair almost
reached her ankles and had a wild, exotic look. She wore her regular
'goddess' garb, which was pink and red, and extremely cute, or would
have been if she looked 12, but she looked fourteen, and that made it
almost seductive and suggestive. Along her back, her croquet like
hammer was strapped.
After some fiddling, Skuld finally managed to locate whatever she
was looking for.
"I'll show them I'm not a kid!" she cried, before rushing off into
the grove, hammer overhead. Coincidentally enough (coincidence my ass
^_~), it was the same direction Kipp had run off in.
* * *
July 11, 12:40 a.m.
"Great, just great," Kipp muttered to himself.
Hiding behind a tree, Kipp could only glare at the source of his
trouble. Standing in a very large clearing, five demonic creatures
stood around a large fire. Four of the five were nearly identical, with
five large claws where fingers would have been on a man. Each was
humanoid, but stood over two meters tall, with bodies made of muscle.
Covered in red leathery skin, the four sat hunched around the first,
their sharp teeth and glowing red eyes both seemed to want to tear into
the fifth.
The fifth demon was different then the rest in more ways then the
obvious physical differences. While it was of the same height as the
others, it was also massively more muscled, seeming to be made
completely of solid muscle. It had five fingers, each ending in long
nail like claws. Its legs had three separate joints, and only two toes
on its foot, but it seemed to have been made for speed. At first, one
would have thought the creature had white/platinum hair, but a closer
examination would show that they were actually very thin, very fine
bones, each ending in a razor point. But the most frightening feature
about the creature were it's red serpent like eyes that seemed speak of
death to any who looked directly into them.
"Just once, that's all I ask, just once, why can't those morons at
Intel do something right?" Kipp muttered to himself.
Unslinging his satchel, Kipp quickly armed himself. Five grenades
were clipped to his belt, along with four clips of glowing blue 'energy'
packs. Unholstering the pistols revealed them to be mystical
equivalents of guns. Shaped similarly to the modern 9mm pistols, the
weapons were covered in eldritch symbols and arcane runes. These 'guns'
were quickly loaded with the two remaining clips, then reholstered.
Taking a deep breath, Kipp closed his eyes and began to chant.
"Fire, Wind, Water, Earth.
Light, Wood, Dark, Metal,
Elements of Magic,
Infuse within me
The Power to See
That Hidden for Mortal Eyes,
MYSTIC VISION"
Although the last words were whispered, they rang with power.
When Kipp opened his eyes, they glowed for the briefest of moments, the
purest of white, before returning to normal, but then the magic had
already taken affect. Shaking his head, Kipp took another look at the
demons, and groaned. Using the power of the Mystic Vision, Kipp could
see the power of each of the hell spawns, and it wasn't good.
"Great, just great. Four Twelfth Class demons, and a fucking
Ninth
Class! Just what I need," he groaned again before turning his earpiece
back on.
"You have reached the home of Kipp Long, but he's not in right
now, this is his incredibly sexy and adorable imouto Hikari speaking.
How may I help you?" Hikari's voice came, incredibly sweet and
incredibly sarcastic.
"I'm very tempted to hate you," Kipp growled before returning to
the business at hand. "I need reinforcements, now. I've got four
Twelves and one BLOODY NINTH!"
"Wait, wait, wait! Intel said there were only two Twelves and one
Tenth, and where are the hostages?"
"First of all, the guys at Intelligence are idiots and are rarely
reliable. Second, I don't see the hostages, but they could have been
hidden away," Kipp replied, doubt evident in his voice.
"You're not sure," it was a statement, not an answer.
"I pray for their safety, and I will KILL those bastards if they
hurt those hostages in even the slightest way," Kipp answered
vehemently.
"Be careful, backup'll be there soon. Until then, hang tight,"
Hikari said, concern overpowering professionalism.
"Hurry up," was Kipp's simple reply, before the earpiece was once
again deactivated.
Heaving a sigh, Kipp leaned against his tree, and turned to face
the direction he had come from. He would have relaxed, if his Mystical
Vision didn't reveal a most disconcerting sight.
"KUSO! A Second Class God!" He almost screamed, then turned back
to the demons.
Making brief calculations and measurements, Kipp compared the
demon's combined aura to that of the divinity's. After several minutes
of thinking, Kipp came to a startling conclusion.
"The divinity's power is being blocked! Chikuso, Merlin-sensei
said something about this, the Seals{3} I think he called them. Kuso!
Kuso! KUSO! It'll be killed!" Kipp gasped.
Making up his mind, Kipp pulled out two of the grenades, pulled
the pins, and threw.
* * *
Since she had only had her older body for a few months, Skuld was
unaccustomed to the balance and abilities that came with it, hence her
slow running speed. Still, she was quite content with herself as she
took a trip down memory lane.
* * Flashback * *
It's a beautiful white Christmas morning as the Norns, Keiichi and
Megumi sat around the table eating breakfast. As typical, Keiichi and
Belldandy were sitting besides each other, busy feeding each other. Urd
was also typically trying to get Keiichi and Belldandy into bed with
each other. Skuld, still in her younger form was busy arguing
with Urd, glaring at Keiichi, and being extremely giddy about Christmas
(as only a kid could be... AHHHHH!! Get that mallet away from me!).
All of this came to a halt when the phone rang, picked itself up and
projected the caller's dignified and powerful voice into the room.
"NORNS, IT IS I," Kami-sama announced himself.
Instantly all eyes turned to Urd who had become ramrod straight
at Kami-sama's entrance.
"I didn't do anything!" she protested, of course everyone was
still sceptical, but their attention returned to the phone.
"URD IS CORRECT, I DID NOT CALL BECAUSE OF HER," Kami-sama's voice
rang out.
"Then why did you call, Lord?" Belldandy worriedly asked, while
Urd heaved a great sigh of relief.
Keiichi noticed Belldandy's worry and gave her hand a reassuring
squeeze.
"NOR HAVE I CALLED BECAUSE OF YOU, CHILD," Kami-sama reassured,
seeming as if he had seen Keiichi squeeze Belldandy's hand, which he
probably had.
"Then why are you calling Father?" Belldandy asked with a small
smile, caused from the knowledge that she could remain with her beloved.
"I AM CALLING BECAUSE OF YOUNG SKULD."
Everyone gasped and turned to Skuld, who wasted no time in rushing
into Belldandy's arms. Belldandy tried to sooth her little sister, even
Urd and Keiichi tried, but the young goddess was not to be snapped out
of her fright.
"DO NOT FEAR LITTLE ONE, I HAVE COME WITH JOYOUS NEWS,"
Kami-sama's voice took on a reassuring, soothing, and happy tone (more
so then usual), as if sensing the young girl's fright, which he probably
did.
"SKULD OF THE NORNS, IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT AS A MORTAL
PLANE TRAINEE, YOU ARE TO LEARN OF MORTALS AND THEIR WAYS. YET THE ONLY
WAY FOR YOU TO DO SO IS FOR YOU TO GROW BOTH MENTALLY, PHYSICALLY AND
SOCIALLY AS THEY DO. SINCE I CAN NEITHER ALTER THE WAY YOU THINK, NOR
THE WAY YOU INTERACT WITH OTHERS, I HAVE DECIDED TO DO THAT WHICH I CAN.
I AM THEREFORE ALLOWING YOUR MORTAL MANIFESTATION TO GROW TO FOURTEEN
MORTAL YEARS OF AGE!"
Everyone once again turned to Skuld, who could only stare at the
phone in shock.
"OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, YOUR BODY SHALL GROW UNTIL IT HAS
REACHED THE APPROPRIATE AGE. AFTERWARDS, IT SHALL CONTINUE TO AGE BY
MORTAL STANDARDS FOR THE REST OF THE DURATION OF YOU TRAINING," Kami-
sama elaborated.
"But what of the mortals who know not of our powers?" Urd asked,
smoothing Skuld's hair with her hand.
"WORRY NOT FOR OVER THE TIME OF HER GROWTH, THE MEMORY OF ALL
MORTALS WHO KNOW NOT OF YOUR GODDESSHOOD SHALL BE ALTERED SLIGHTLY TO
COVER HER SUDDEN GROWTH, SO I SAY," and with that said, the phone
returned to its cradle.
"MARRY CHRISTMAS, MY CHILD,"
* * End Flashback * *
Skuld was suddenly brought out of her reverie by a blast of ice
magic in the distance. Almost instantly after, a blast of wind magic
followed.
"That wasn't Demonic energy... oh no!" she exclaimed.
Pushing all other thoughts out of her head, Skuld picked up her
pace and quickly ran through the spring air, dread filling her soul.
* * *
July 10, 1:00 am
The first grenade exploded in a shower of frozen spikes, freezing
everything they touched. All five of the demons were struck, but for
the leader and three of its minions managed to free themselves. The
fourth wasn't so luck as the second grenade exploded in a fury of razor
sharp winds. In a matter of seconds, it was reduced to a fine powder
of icy gore.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" the leader commanded in a deep
guttural voice, even as his three remaining minions moved into better
attack positions.
"Where are the hostages?" Kipp asked, still hidden from view
behind the trees.
The demon suddenly grinned a feral sort of grin as it pointed into
the middle
of the clearing, over the large fire.
"You didn't," Kipp whispered as he saw the large cauldron
previously hidden from view.
"We did, and let me tell you, they were delicious," the demon
replied, malice filling its voice. "Those stories were correct,
human children do taste better then their parents"
"Hope you enjoyed it, because it was your last meal! Prepare to
DIE!" Kipp screamed as his fury took over.
Grabbing a third grenade, Kipp pulled the pin and threw the
magical explosive. Upon impact the grenade blew apart, sending chunks
of dirt all over the clearing.
"That was pathetic," the leader spat, disgusted.
"The show's just starting," Kipp snarled back, just as the ground
started to quake.
The full might of the earth elemental grenade came into effect as
the raw magic within the dirt began to work. Massive spikes of jagged
stone burst from the ground, impaling one of the unlucky demons, and
hurting the others.
"Better, but still useless," the leader grumbled, watching as the
impaled demon tried to free itself.
"It's not over," Kipp replied, gleefully rubbing his hands
together.
Suddenly, the dozens of jagged spires began to shake and tremble,
huge cracks began forming in the stone as well. Then as if a final act
of retribution, every single one of the spikes exploded in a massive
spray of dust and deadly stone shrapnel. The demon that had previously
been impaled was torn to shreds, while the others were pelted with
thousands of stone shards.
"That deadly enough!" Kipp asked, grinning evilly.
"You're dead!" the leader roared at his hidden opponent. "I shall
enjoy feasting on your heart!"
"Go ahead and try!" Kipp cried as he rushed into the open, guns
blazing.
Blue/white bolts of magic exploded from each nozzle, three in
total, and slamming into one of the two remaining demon's head. As the
demon stumbled back, clutching its face, Kipp fired six more bolts into
the creature's chest, causing it to fall onto its back, its soul
vanquished back to the pits of Hell.
"Kill him, but bring me his heart!" the leader gestured to its
last remaining minion, hatred burning in its eyes.
The last remaining Twelfths Class demon ran straight at Kipp,
claws ready to tear into his flesh.
"Up close and personal, just the way I like it," Kipp growled,
pulling a string attached to the strip of metal.
Instantly, the strip extended on both ends by 24 cm. Once locked
into place, two more pieces of metal flew out from the bottom and the
top, on opposite sides, of the strip's length. Both were half the
length of the fully extended original and were attached to a pivot in
the centre of the original's insides. The two swung in a circular
motion, going from one side to the other, forming a large circular
shield.
"If you think a flimsy piece of metal will stop me, think again!"
the attacking demon growled in a deep, wet voice.
"Just you try!" Kipp retorted, raising his shield in defence.
The demon roared once before unleashing a fury of attacks with its
claws. Surprisingly enough, the metal shield didn't even receive a
scratch from the abuse it was receiving, although Kipp was having a
hard time fighting the demon's strength.
"Impossible! My claws can cut through reinforced steel!" the
demon cried in disbelief.
"Yeah, but can they cut through Mythril?" Kipp retorted, unloading
twelve shots into the demon's face, stilling it.
"Mythril! That's not possible! The skills and the process were
lost thousands of years ago!" the leader cried in disbelief.
"Fourteen thousand to be correct, and it was at the same time of
the fall of Atlantis!" Kipp retorted.
"We sunk Atlantis! One of our great demons did so!" the leader
returned, before understanding sunk in.
"That's right, we found Atlantis and all of its secrets," Kipp
gloated, reloading his pistols.
"Then we'll just have to sink the secrets again! Rise my demons!
Rise and kill him!" the demon roared, raising his fist into the air.
At its command, two pits opened in the ground and a dozen more
Twelfth Class demons crawled out of the holes before they closed, each
identical to the first four.
"Say hello to my army!" the leader bellowed, pointing a clawed
finger at Kipp. "Kill him my warriors!!!"
"Hi! Bye!" Kipp retorted, throwing a fourth grenade.
Landing amidst the demons, the grenade exploded in a fiery display
of pyrotechnics. From the shell, dozens of flaming tendrils whipped
out, striking wildly around, burning off limbs that touched it. And if
that wasn't enough, a ring of flaming pillars appeared and began
spiralling outward. By the time the magic died down, half of the demons
had been incinerated. The other half were quickly dispatched with three
of the four remaining pistol clips.
"One clip left, and only one demon left... plenty of bullets,"
Kipp remarked.
"Only one?" the demon remarked, amusement dancing within its fiery
eyes.. "Count again."
Suddenly, two more humanoid demons appeared behind the leader.
Both were at least 2 meter in height, with frames more muscular then the
Twelfth Class demons. Both had black leathery hides, and bat like
wings. There hands were covered in masses of spiked bones and their
ribs protruded from their chest. For feet, the two had three taloned
toes. Their heads were grotesque mockeries of humans, bloated and
twisted. Two long yellow tusks grew from their cheeks, and a pair of
crimson red eyes gleamed with blood lust. Using the aid of his Mystic
Vision, which was still active, Kipp groaned at the two newcomers.
"Just what I bloody need! Two Tenth Class demons!" Kipp muttered,
before taking aim with his pistol.
But before Kipp could fire, the two demons spread their wings and
took to the air. Swooping around, the two circled Kipp a few times
before lunging in for the kill. Having only one loaded pistol, Kipp
could only shoot at one while blocking the other. Pretty soon the ammo
from the gun was depleted. Dropping the gun, Kipp reached for the
sword hilt before he was knocked off his feet from a blast of dark
magic.
"Forget about little old me?" the leader taunted, glaring at the
human.
"Thanks for the reminder," Kipp hissed between clenched teeth.
"Finish him, but remember, his heart is mine to feast upon," the
leader called to the two flying demons.
Kipp could only raise his shield in a futile attempt of defence
before he was attacked by the flying duo. He would have been killed
too, if a certain goddess hadn't interfered.
"Skuld Bomb!" Skuld cried as she threw one of her explosives at
the flying fiends.
Although being a goddess in training, Skuld made up with her lack
of magical talent with her incredible aptitude with technology, of
course that does make a lot of sense for a goddess of the Future. This
ability was demonstrated greatly as her Skuld Bomb managed to vaporize
both of the Tenth Class demons.
"Are you okay?" she asked as she knelt by Kipp's battered body.
"Yeah sure... Goddess," Kipp replied, grinning despite the pain.
"How?" Skuld asked, bewildered.
"Are we forgetting someone, oh Divine One?" the leader asked,
filling the last words with enough venom to poison all the oceans on
Earth.
"Prepare to be banished demon!" Skuld yelled as she charged the
monster with her hammer.
"Cute words coming from such a cute goddess, but you're only a
trainee," the demon declared, proving his statement by blasting Skuld
with another one of its Dark Blasts. "Perhaps I shall "train" you
myself!" the demon said, leering openly at Skuld.
"Arigato gozaimasu," Kipp whispered before getting back on his
feet. Kipp silently promised.
Closing his eyes, Kipp concentrated for a moment before opening
them again. Small sparkles of light left them as the Mystic Vision was
finally disabled.
"Pay back time," he muttered to himself as he began concentrating.
Placing his palms opposite each other and he began to gather his
magical energies again.
"Spirits of the elements, I summon thee!
To fulfill the ancient agreement,
Help me fight the evil that holds our world!
The evil that corrupts, the evil that defiles,
The evil that destroys!"
At Kipp's command, sparks of blue, green, yellow and red began
flowing into the area between his palms forming a multicoloured ball of
energy.
"Undine! Spirit of Water, I call upon thee!
Sylph! Spirit of Wind, I call upon thee!
Salamander! Spirit of Fire, I call upon thee!
Gnome! Spirit of Earth, I call upon thee!"
Slowly, the sparks began to grow bigger and take on shapes. The
reds appeared to be flaming slender males shroud in flames wielding
swords of fire. The blues took on the appearance of elven women wearing
blue robes, an orb of blue between their hands. The yellows looked like
large muscular men wearing massive plates of armour. The greens began
to appear as agile women wearing ceremonial armour and wielding spears.
"Spirits of the Four Elements,
Lend me your strength, your courage, your wisdom, your power!
The Power to Heal!
The Power to Strengthen!
The Power to Fight!
The Power to Protect!"
Slowly the spirits began to combine into the energy between Kipp's
hands, the light almost blinding.
"Spirits of the Elements,
Release thy power, surrender thy will unto me!
Combine thy might and Cleanse the World!"
The ball of energy began to grow until it was over 90 cm in
diameter.
"ELEMENTAL STRIKE!"
Spell completed, the multicoloured ball of energy blasted from
Kipp's hands, the force of acceleration crushing the ground under its
flight path, and sending Kipp skidding back a couple of meters.
"Hey! Shit! Forget about little old me!" Kipp yelled as the
blast slammed into the leader, sending it flying back.
"How?" Skuld asked again, before another Dark Bolt slammed into
her.
"Don't interrupt! This... this... baka wants to challenge me! A
full fledge demon! Well I say, come and DIE!" the leader roared as it
rushed at Kipp.
"You first!" Kipp roared back and grabbed the sword hilt, which
instantly flared to life, forming into a glowing a one meter long white
blade of mana.
"Not even an Atlantian Mana Blade shall save you boy!" the demon
growled, wrist claws slamming into the shield and blade.
"Like I said before, come get some!" Kipp yelled, slashing with
his blade.
The two battled back and forth, neither claiming the advantage
until Skuld, tired of being ignored, slammed her hammer into the back of
the demons head.
"Don't ignore me!" Skuld cried, repeatedly hitting the demon
upside the head.
"Foolish child! Be gone!" the creature cried, slashing at Skuld
with his claws.
Kipp was there in a flash, blocking the claws and taking a swipe
at the demon.
"Fool! Trying to protect a goddess that doesn't even care about
your people anymore, what do you hope to gain?" the monster sneered,
pushing against the metal.
"It doesn't matter, I will protect her, as I swore I would," Kipp
grunted, straining against the creature's unnatural strength.
"Swore? Swore what?" the hell spawn asked, applying more weight
to the shield.
"Get out of the way!" Skuld yelled into Kipp's ear.
"Never! I swore upon my blade, my honour, my life that I would
serve the light! I swore upon the sacred blade Excalibur, upon the
Round Table, upon the Grail{4} that I would always protect the ones that
protected us! I will never, ever let you harm her!" Kipp snarled,
spirits inflamed.
"That oath, who did you hear it from?!" the demon roared.
"From my master, my teacher, my friend. The great Arch mage
Merlin{5} taught me everything I know, my skills and my spells," Kipp
smirked.
"Merlin," the demon gasped, fear beginning to show on its
grotesque features.
"That's right, Merlin, the greatest _mortal_ demon slayer, and I'm
his best disciple," Kipp grinned evilly.
"Merlin?" Skuld muttered to herself, the name sounding familiar to
her.
"It matters not foolish mortal! I am a Ninth Class demon, and no
puny Mortal shall ever be able to defeat me!" the demon bellowed, its
fear gone.
"I may not be able to ever defeat you, but I can hurt you enough
for her to kick your ass!" Kipp bellowed, taking a suicidal lunge at the
creature's body.
Having committed himself, Kipp put as much momentum and strength
into that one attack, hoping and praying for the best. The white shaft
of light slammed into the demons side, causing it to scream in pain,
and yet, it wasn't enough to disable it as it slammed its claws into
Kipp's right shoulder, tearing flesh and fracturing bone. Howling in
agony, Kipp fell back, dropping his sword, and clutching his bleeding
shoulder, as Skuld watched in horror.
"BAKAMONO! For that foolish move, you will suffer a fate even
more painful that Hell!" the demon cried, rushing towards the fallen
captain.
"Leave him alone!" Skuld screamed, ramming into the fiend from the
side.
"What do you care what happens to him? Bless it{6}! You should
be happy when he dies, then he'll join your army of dead!" the creature
sneered at his new opponent.
"I am a Goddess, and those who believe in me, those who have faith
in me, I shall protect!" Skuld yelled back, slamming her hammer into the
creatures face.
"Goddess! Ha! You're only a Mortal Realm trainee, you don't have
the power to defeat me now!" the creature crowed.
"Then we'll just have to even the odds!" Kipp cried from the
ground, "Super Nova!"
A small ball of blinding white light flew from Kipp's outstretched
hands, slamming into the creature of darkness, exploding upon contact
into a brilliant flare of white purity.
"How you like that, imbecile?" Kipp yelled, even as blood flowed
from his wound.
Skuld thought to herself in disbelief.
"I will not perish so easily!" the demon roared, rising yet again.
By now, the demon was very battered and in a lot of pain, but
being a demon, it was determined to be a stubborn bastard before it
died. Covered in bruises, burnt flesh, dozens of cuts, and several
gaping wounds, the demon stubbornly stalked towards Kipp.
"If I die Mortal, I'll take you with me!" the demon grunted
between clenched teeth.
"Not if I can help it! Skuld Bomb!" Skuld yelled, shoving the
explosive into the wound in its side, pressing it in as deeply as it
could go.
The effect was quite obvious as the demon was incinerated
instantly, turning the once fearsome creature into a pile of ash.
"Are you all right?" Skuld asked as she rushed to the fallen
soldier's side.
"I should be, arigato," Kipp murmured, gazing at the liquid brown
eyes staring down at him.
"I should have something for that wound," Skuld muttered to
herself, searching through her items in subspace, before finding a
bottle of bluish liquid, "Aha! Found it!"
"Found what?" Kipp moaned, the pain becoming unbearable as the
adrenaline flow stopped pumping into his body.
"A healing potion, here drink up," Skuld ordered, unscrewing the
bottles cap.
"You sure about that?" Kipp grunted, eying the bottle's contents
dubiously.
"Just drink it," Skuld ordered again, pouring the content's down
Kipp's throat.
"*Hack**cough**cough**hack* What is that stuff agai... hey! It
works!" Kipp exclaimed, watching as his shoulder mended itself almost
instantly.
"See, I told you so," Skuld grumbled, smiling.
"Who are you?" Kipp asked as he got to his feet.
"Skuld of the Norns," Skuld introduced herself, bowing
appropriately.
"Captain Kipp Long of the Japanese Specialized Self Defence Force:
Supernatural Division," Kipp bowed back, lower and with much more
respect.
"Captain?" Skuld inquired, curious.
"Long story, but it does have something to do with my ability to
use magic," Kipp answered, blushing slightly.
"Oh right! I have never seen a mortal use magic, how can you?
And what were those weapons you were using? You said they were from
Atlantis, but Atlantis sunk years ago, how did you find it? Can I see
your guns? The shield? How about the bomb?" Skuld asked in a rush, her
curiosity and need to understand and examine the Atlantian technology
overwhelming both her and Kipp as she pressed up close to him.
"Umm, ah, well, eh, gee," was Kipp's answer as he was overwhelmed
with questions, he was also blushing bright crimson at Skuld's
proximity.
"Huh?" Skuld wondered as Kipp suddenly zoned out, before she
noticed that her breasts were pressed against his chest, "HENTAI!"
*WHAM* Kipp became one of the unlucky mortals to come face-to-
hammer with Skuld's favourite smiting tool.
"Hmph, all you mortals are the same! Sick and perverted!" Skuld
glared.
"Gomen, gomen, gomen," Kipp apologized, rubbing his face.
Skuld just continued to glare at Kipp.
"Tell you what, you can have this," Kipp said hopefully, handing
over his last grenade.
"Really?" Skuld asked, all other thoughts gone from her mind.
"Sure, I'll just tell the guys at R&D that I had to use it," Kipp
replied, handing the explosive over.
"Arigato!" Skuld cried, grabbing the grenade.
"Be careful with that! It's one of the few Omnimentals that we
have!" Kipp cautioned.
"Omnimental?" Skuld asked, curiously examining the bomb.
"An Omnimental is a bomb, or spell, that uses all of the elements,
they're the most dangerous," Kipp explained the term.
"Oh that," Skuld nodded, still examining the grenade, "Urd never
let's me have some of the Atlantian technology that she has."
"Urd?"
"My oldest sister. She's annoying a lot of the time, and
immature, but I still love her."
"I see."
Suddenly, one of Skuld's devices began to beep, bring her out of
her examination of the lost technology. Whipping out some sort of
laptop, Skuld began examining the screen.
"What's going on?" Kipp asked, politely waiting for her to finish.
"According to my satellite, an unidentified helicopter is closing
in on this location," Skuld frowned at the unidentified part.
"Here, let me see," Kipp offered, glancing over her shoulder,
"Ahh, I'd be disappointed if you could identify it."
"What do you mean?" Skuld asked curiously, glancing at Kipp.
"You can't identify that 'Copter because it's not supposed to
exist. It belongs to the JSSDF: SD, an experimental vehicle, designed
for speed and stealth, like us," Kipp explained, his voice filled with
pride.
"Oh, then I better get going," Skuld mumbled.
"You don't want to meet them?" Kipp asked.
"I'm not supposed to reveal my goddess nature, I'm not sure how
you found out, but I don't want any one else to find out," Skuld
elaborated.
"I see, can I help you then?"
"Why are you being so helpful?" Skuld asked suspiciously.
"Because your a goddess, and because... well to be honest, I like
you," Kipp answered, blushing again.
"Na-nani!?" Skuld yelled, blushing as well.
"Not like that!" Kipp defended, making warding gestures with his
hands. "You saved my life, I have to repay you some how!"
"Oh," Skuld whispered, almost disappointed.
"Look, you wanted to get out of here, well how can I help you?"
Kipp asked, changing the subject.
"Right," Skuld replied, quickly accepting the subject change, "Can
you conjure water?"
"Water? Yeah why?" Kipp asked curiously.
"It's my travel medium," Skuld replied, glancing at her laptop,
"Hurry up! They'll be here any moment now!"
"Medium? Oh I get it!" Kipp remarked, the pieces fitting in his
mind.
Raising his left arm, since his right was still a bit sore, Kipp
pulled the string attached to the shield. Skuld examined the shield
intently as it retracted and returned to its original state. Once
finished, Kipp turned upwards and muttered a single word.
"Water," and a small ball of liquid appeared in his hands.
"Okay, hold it still, and don't move, no matter what," Skuld
instructed, moving towards the water.
Just before teleporting, Skuld turned to Kipp and gave him a quick
peck on the check{7}.
"Um, that was for protecting me," she murmured, blushing bright
crimson.
"N-no problem," Kipp replied, raising his free hand to his check.
"Sayonara," Skuld called as she disappeared into the water.
Letting the ball of water splash to the ground, Kipp rubbed his
check before noticing a black-robed figure move from the cauldron to the
surrounding grove.
"Death," he gasped, then started to head after it.
"KIPP!" Hikari's voice called out, amplified by the helicopter's
microphone.
Glancing up, Kipp realized that the helicopter was only a few
dozen meters away, decided to not to follow Death, yet.
As the helicopter landed, twenty agents of the SDs rushed out of
the vehicle and rushed into the clearing, searching for any remaining
enemies. Hikari jumped out after them.
She was 150 cm tall 16 year-old high school student who had the
ability of ESP, although she never used it on her friends. She had
light blue eyes and blonde shoulder length hair. Her body was slender
and well endowed, which made her very popular with the guys. She wore
what appeared to be a white blouse, a knee length light blue skirt, a
blue high heels.
"Aniki!!! Are you all right?" Hikari asked, looking over Kipp's
condition. Once certain that Kipp was all right, Hikari began chewing
him out, "What do you think you were doing? I told you to wait for the
others, but noooo, you had to play Mister Hero! If you aren't more
cautious, you'll get yourself killed!"
"You concerned about me?" Kipp teased, until he noticed the tears
in her eyes.
"Dammit! Of course I'm concerned, you're my best friend and I
promised your Oneechan, Setsuna, that I'd take care of you. I don't
want to see you killed because I was too slow, or because I didn't give
you the right information," Hikari cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Gomen Hikari-chan, but I have to do this. My parents were killed
by these things, you know that. I know how it feels to lose those that
you love, that's why I do this, so others don't have to understand the
hole inside me," Kipp explained, giving his partner a quick hug.
"I know, but can't you care about yourself for a change?" Hikari
pleaded.
"Maybe, I'll think about it," Kipp smirked, before turning to the
rest of the troops, "Guys, could you clean up the place for me, and
recover the remains of the hostages from the cauldron. Get them a
proper burial, I'm going to empty my stomach over there," he said,
jerking a thumb in the direction Death had gone.
Releasing Hikari, Kipp strode after Death, rubbing his shoulder
absently.
"Death, where are you? I know you came to take the children, but
can I speak with you?" Kipp called into the shadows.
"Of course, child, I am always ready to lend an ear to one of my
friends{8}," Death answered, stepping out of the shadows.
Covered in black robes and clutching a nasty looking scythe, Death
stood about 190 cm tall. Her robes hung over a decidedly female, and
slender body, and she was in no way bony. She had large hazel eyes and
a long auburn hair that reached her waist, making her look around 25.
"Well, you see, that goddess, that was here earlier, um well,
could you..." Kipp trailed of, playing with his index fingers.
"Hahahaha, I understand, child, you like her don't you?" Death
inquired, giggling.
"It's kinda of funny, I've never really had a crush on anyone
before. But now I've suddenly developed one for that young girl... I
mean goddess," Kipp laughed, blushing scarlet.
"She is of the Norns, hence she is of the Norse pantheon," Death
mused.
"What, the Norns? Merlin's meet one of them before, I think her
name was Verthandi," Kipp mumbled.
"Who hasn't Merlin-san met?" Death laughed. "And it's Belldandy,
child, Belldandy."
"True, but that's expected from a crabby old man that's been alive
for centuries," Kipp grinned.
"I cannot tell much of her, but do not fret, perhaps you shall
meet her again?" Death encouraged.
"Maybe, thanks for the pep talk Death," Kipp murmured, giving
Death a quick hug.
"If you ever need any help, just ask, and I'll see what I can do,"
Death promised.
"Arigato, I'll keep that in mind," Kipp smiled, then turned to go,
before remembering something.
"They'll go to heaven, don't worry," Death said.
"That's good to know, arigato," Kipp sighed, then ran to the
copter, "I hope I _do_ meet her again."
* * *
July 11, 12:00 p.m.
Kipp stood in front of a small house, dressed in full JSDF
ceremonial uniform, knocking on the front door. Slowly the door opened
to reveal a worried looking middle aged women. She had dark brown hair,
with a few streaks of grey showing. She was dressed in a light green
t-shirt and blue jeans.
"Ohayo, how may I help you...?" she asked, concern growing.
"Ohayo, Tenraikumo-san, I'm Captain Kipp Long of the Japanese
Specialized Self Defence Force: Supernatural Division. I have some
information concerning your son," Kipp bowed, looking uneasy.
"My son? Is he all right? Those oni didn't do anything to him
did they? Where is he?" Tenraikumo asked, staring hopefully into Kipp's
eyes.
"Sigh, Tenraikumo-san, I am sorry to inform you that your son,
Mikomi, died last night around 12:00 a.m." Kipp stated, hating himself
more with every word.
"You're lying! My son can't be dead! Tell me where my son is!"
Tenraikumo screeched hysterically, before breaking down into sobs.
Kipp could only look at the crying women, before he came to a
decision. Perhaps it was from the fact that he had never known his own
mother, perhaps it was because his heart wasn't as cold as he thought,
either way, Kipp pulled the woman into a hug, patting her on the back
and whispering reassuring words. After several minutes, the former
mother had calmed down enough to talk.
"Arigato gozaimasu Long-san... please come in for a cup of tea,"
Tenraikumo offered.
"Arigato," Kipp said, walking into the house.
Taking of his dress shoes, Kipp put on a pair of guest slippers
and followed Tenraikumo into the den. Taking a seat around the table,
Kipp glanced around the room, as he waited for Tenraikumo to get the
tea.
"The tea will be ready soon," Tenraikumo said as she entered the
room, sitting across from Kipp, "May I ask you a question?"
"If I'm permitted to answer it, I will," Kipp replied, the
uneasiness returning.
"Why? Why did you try to comfort me?" she asked.
Kipp thought to himself, before his musing
was interrupted by the mother's plead.
"Please, it'll give me a last chance to be a mother," she pleaded.
"All right," Kipp sighed before launching into his tale. "I was
born in a small fishing village of the eastern coast of Hokkaido, my
mother was a Japanese/American while my father was Chinese. They had me
and decided to make my name a Chinese/Japanese/American cross, and since
my surname was already Chinese, they took a American name, translated
it and took off the last letter, hence Kipp. Long means dragon in
Chinese. Anyway, my father was a good fisherman so we lived quite
nicely, until I turned two. On that day, demons came to our village and
killed everyone, they killed, ate, burned, ravaged and defiled
everything. I lived because my parents covered me with their bloody,
and knocked me out, hoping that the creatures wouldn't notice me, they
didn't. I was later found and adopted by a father and his daughter, the
Meiou family, but they could never replace my real family," Kipp spun
his, crying through a lot of it.
"I at least can remember my son, I can remember playing with him,
his joy whenever I complemented him, you don't even have that,"
Tenraikumo whispered, having seen the depths of Kipp's sorrow.
"All I have are a bunch of blurry memories and old photos," Kipp
retorted, fighting to regain control.
"It's all right child, hush, hush, let it all out, it's all
right," Tenraikumo soothed, her maternal instincts taking over as she
held Kipp.
It was several minutes before the pain was again covered layers of
stone. Having regained his composure, Kipp wiped away his tears and
smiled at Tenraikumo, "Arigato, I fell better now,"
"As do I," Tenraikumo smiled, teary-eyed, "One last time to be a
mother,"
"I don't think so, I'm sure you'll get another chance. How about
you go down to the orphanage and adopt a child?" Kipp asked, feeling a
twinge of hope.
Having lived in an orphanage for several years, Kipp could
understand that many of the children there longed to have someone to
call mother or father. But that hope was dashed as Tenraikumo smiled
sadly.
"Someday maybe, but not until the pain fades," she said, a hand
over her heart.
"The pain never fades, it only lessens," Kipp said, ruefully.
"Then, when it lessens enough, I'll go adopt a child," she replied
quietly, "Arigato,"
"What for?" Kipp asked, bewildered.
"For the hope. I will raise a child again someday, I will watch
as it grows to adulthood, and I will always remember my little
Mekomi-chan," she answered, giving Kipp a reassuring smile.
"No problem," Kipp smiled back, "I've got to get going, sayonara,"
* * *
July 11, 5:00 p.m.
"Finally, it's all over," Kipp muttered to himself as he walked
into a large one story warehouse.
What was strange through was that the inside of the warehouse
looked more like the inside of a medieval castle then anything else.
What was stranger yet was that Kipp didn't even seem to notice, or care,
as he walked down the halls.
"Five kids, nine distressed parents. Kami-sama, if I could trade
my life for their children's, I would have. Sigh, time for another
bloody lesson from the old man," Kipp muttered to himself as he stopped
in front of the only door in the entire building.
"You may enter," a deep voice called from behind the door.
"Konbawa Merlin-sensei," Kipp called as he entered the room.
The room itself was massive, covering at least half of the
warehouse's total space. Half of the room was dedicated to massive
bookshelves that stretched to the ceiling, each crammed to the brim with
books and scrolls. The other half of the room was covered with strange
looking chemistry experiments, mystic symbols, old weapons, new weapons,
a giant telescope, a Cray supercomputer, and a really large wooden desk.
Seated behind the desk, a middle aged man sat, his grey hair cut and
combed meticulously. His short beard was also cut and trimmed, as well
as oiled. His clear blue eyes were sharp and piercing, as they stared
out from behind his reading glasses. He wore a black business suit,
the crisp lines and lack of wrinkles gave the suit an intimidating look.
"Kipp, why are you still in uniform?" Merlin asked.
"Didn't have time to change, you called, remember?" Kipp mocked.
"Ah, yes, about your fight," Merlin began, "Death told me what
happened,"
"Geez, what do you two do? Have tea together every freaking day?"
Kipp muttered to himself.
"I'd like to say that your skills have grown greater then even I
anticipated," the famed magician complimented, "In all the years of my
immortal life, I have never had a disciple learn things so quickly, nor
surpass my expectations so many times."
"Arigato Sensei, but Skuld-sama did most of the work," Kipp
replied, not a single shred of false-modesty in the comment, just pure
truth.
"Ah, Skuld of the Norns, you know that her sister Belldandy was
the one that granted my wish to 'To Watch over Humanity Forever'?"
Merlin asked his disciple.
"So that's why her title rang a bell," Kipp murmured.
"Anyway, Death, General Meiou, and myself have been talking about
your performance lately, and well, we've decided that you need a break,"
Merlin said, his eyes betraying his uneasiness.
"Break? Why?" Kipp inquired politely.
"Well, you see, you're a great soldier, a great fighter, and all
that stuff, but we think that for you to be a great person, you have to
live a life outside of this job," the older man looked really nervous
now.
"A break? Sure, I've been meaning to go to University lately, you
know, finish my education and finding something that I like," Kipp thought to himself.
` "Really? I mean well, good, it's nice to know that you've been
thinking lately," Merlin recovered.
"Har, har, anyway, I'll tell you, when I've decided, which
university I want to go to," Kipp saluted, then left the room.
"And Destiny claims yet another one," Merlin muttered, turning to
face a figure hidden in the shadows, "I hope this works."
"It should," the figure replied, in a female voice, "It should."
* * *
July 20, 3:00 p.m.
"You wanted to see me Captain?" General Meiou asked.
Dressed in his military uniform, Kipp's adopted father sat behind
his desk at his office. His black hair was greying at the sideburns,
but gave him a dignified air. The general appeared to be in his early
fifties, his piercing brown eyes drilling into his son.
"Yes Sir," Kipp answered, saluting.
"Well, out with it boy!" the man commanded.
"About my leave..." Kipp began.
"Ah yes, you are to be relieved until you decide otherwise,
correct?" the old man grinned.
"Yes that one, Otou-san, the one you've been pestering me with
ever since you gave it," Kipp replied, annoyed, "I miss Setsuna-
Oneechan{9}, with her around, I didn't get this much crap!"
"So where have you decided on?" Meiou asked, ignoring the last
comment.
"Nekomi Institute of Technology, they have a great program for
computers and such," Kipp answered.
"Hmm, well it will be tight, but I think I can pull a few
strings," Meiou mused.
"I'll get packing... oh and can I take the Prototype?" Kipp asked
innocently.
"You want to take the Prototype!? That thing isn't even fully
tested yet!" Meiou spluttered.
"But it goes so fast! Come on, please?" Kipp begged.
"Fine, but I want it back in one piece!" Meiou caved in.
"YES!"
* * *
September 1, 3:00 p.m.
"So this is NIT," Kipp mused to himself, as he stared down at the
university.
Wearing a pair of black jeans and a black leather jacket over a
dark blue, loose fitting, cotton button up semi-dress shirt. A black
motorcycle helmet was hanging from his hands, both sporting knuckle-
gloves. His boots were similarly to his military ones, except looser,
and shorter. Around his waist was yet another black leather belt, with
a plain silver belt buckle. Beside him was a sleek jet black
motorcycle, but when anyone tried to identify it, they couldn't, mainly
because it was a prototype vehicle designed by the military for stealth
and speed, the creed the JSSDF: SDs lived by, but only when it suited
them. Shaped like a regular racer, the bike was covered with what
appeared to be regular fibreglass, which seemed to reflect the light.
The machine was missing a keyhole, but had a high tech print scanner
where one should have been. The speedometer was digital, and it rested
under a crystal clear windshield.
"Here I come!"
* * End Prologue * *
1- For those who have no clue what SD stands for... GO WATCH MORE ANIME!
If not, then I will explain. SD stands for Super Deformed, when the
characters look like miniature versions of themselves, but with huge
heads.
2- No he isn't a prodigy, you'll learn how he did such a feat in the
next episode... or two.
3- Skuld doesn't actually have a Seal, I think, anyway, the Mystic
Vision allows the user to see the exact magical potential of a being
at that very instant. Skuld, although still a trainee, does have
the full power of a Second Class God, the only problem is that she
doesn't know how to tap it yet. Hence Kipp's misunderstanding, since
he's never actually seen a Sealed god, only descriptions from his
teacher.
4- Yes, we are talking about Arthurian legends now, which you'll learn
about later, and no, Kipp isn't Arthur Pendragon reborn.
5- Still in Arthurian legends, Merlin was Arthur's adviser, who
supposedly lived for a hell of a long time, so I decided to use him.
Anyway, his role in my fanfic is teacher and maybe advisor to the
JSSDF: SDs, and maybe part time fighter.
6- Think of it this way, we damn someone when we're pissed. Well a
damned sure wouldn't damn someone they hate, because that would bring
them into their home, so they would bless them, to get them away from
it. It works, goodbye.
7- I know, I know, Skuld would never do that. But my excuse is that
Skuld now has all of the advantages and disadvantages of a 14 year-
old body, which comes with gallons of hormones and such. Besides,
here's a fairly handsome guy, who has just protected her, fought for
her, given her a present, and been all around nice, I think all those
romantic comics might have had a little affect on her, ne?
8- This will also be explained later, but right now I can give you a
little bit of background. Kipp has been in the JSSDF: SDs since he
was twelve, and through out that time, he's seen tons of death,
both mortal and immortal. Coupled with the ability to actually see
magical forces, I'm sure Kipp has had a chance to talk to Death
dozens of times.
9- That's right, Kipp's adopted Oneechan is none other then the Senshi
of Time, the lovely, cold, and logical, Sailor Pluto! Anyone smell a
crossover brewing? Actually Kipp has some connections to the Silver
Millennium, major connections, but for the first part of this series,
Kipp won't actually meet any of the Senshi. Some would say that this
series should be a crossover, but I'm just taking a few things from
the SM universe, so I don't think it is... yet.
Author's Blurb:
Nothing big right now, just the first rewrite finished. Now all I
need to do is get off my lazy ass and do the other two.