Deus Patronus

by Infinity1

Updated Nov 30: An OMG fanfiction, which introduces and mainly follows the life of an original character, who isn't exactly what he thinks he is. See my profile for updates

2. Set Me Loose

E-mail: kipp_loong@yahoo.ca
Homepage: www.geocities.com/kipp_loong/

= Thought
()=Author's opinion

*Note*: This fanfic takes place about a year after Belldandy shows up,
okay FINE! It starts about a year into the manga, happy? A year as in
Keiichi's third year of school. But there are slight changes I made,
Megumi knows about the goddesses, and Sentarou will never show his face
in this fic, for purposes that will be revealed (No, I meant as in plot
stuff). Also, there are sight merging in the two worlds (the anime and
the manga), little things that might have occurred in the manga don't,
like the ninja masters and that really strange octopus/squid thing.
Senbee probably won't be in this thing either. There probably will be
more changes, but I'll jump that hurdle when I get to it.

Disclaimers: Oh! My Goddess (Ah! My Goddess, Aa! 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, Rantora Kenshin, Hiroshi Hamasaki, Makoto Kagirinai,
Hikaru Saitoku and Hikari Amatsu _are_ my own creations and are not to
be reproduced with out my permission.

Death, although a creation of humanity's fears, isn't my own
creation, but her personality and profile are, so they are not to be
used 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 (probably from watching one too many episodes of the X-
Files), therefore making it my own creation.

So without further ado, I present to you...

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

|nfinity Corps is

Proud to Present

An Oh! My Goddess! Fanficiton

Deus Patronus:

Episode 1

By:

Jeffrey Chow

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[



Dressed in a black leather jacket over his white t-shirt, a pair
of blue jeans and brown shoes, Keiichi glanced at the morning sky. It
was a bright and sunny day, the kind that made you want to go to the
beach and relax, have a swim (well actually more like watch others
swim), etc. Keiichi knew this, which made him more aggravated that
school had to start on this great day. Now, normally Keiichi didn't
mind school, in fact, he kind of liked it, but on a day like today, he
just wanted to spend time with his Bell-chan, alone, and not at school.
Bemoaning his bad luck, and prepping his bike, Keiichi didn't hear
Belldandy sneak up on him.

"Keiichi-chan," Belldandy giggled as she hugged her boyfriend from
behind, "Isn't it nice, going back to school?"

Keiichi turned, and smiled at his goddess, amazing in how she
could make any outfit look beautiful. What would normally have been
quite plain on any other girl, Belldandy made look like an outfit for a
queen... well, not quite, but it was a very close match. She wore a
long strawberry pink wrap/long skirt, which seemed to float whenever the
breeze passed her by. Her blouse was of the same colour, buttoned down
the side with an odd blue pin over her left breast. Keiichi, even after
the many times he had seen her in an outfit similar, could never hide
his smile.

"Come on then Belldandy, if we don't hurry, we'll be late for the
first day of school," he urged, putting on his helmet.

Getting on his bike, Keiichi waited for Belldandy to get into the
sidecar, before the two were off to NIT, to meet Fate and Destiny.

* * *

"Great, just great," Kipp muttered to himself as he vainly
searched the campus for the registration office. "Let's see, past the
Math
Building, through that one, and I should end up at the... parking lot,"
Kipp sweat dropped, "I'm so screwed,"

Kipp's turns caused his black leather trench coat to open up
slightly, revealing a dark blue cotton dress shirt, and a pair of black
pants. Since the air was slightly chilly, the teenaged agent quickly
pulled his coat shut, but not before he was forced to shiver every so
slightly. However, the sudden jerk on the fabric caused his backpack to
fall of its perch on his left shoulder, landing right into a puddle at
his feet. The splash drenched the lower portion of his pants, electing
a tired sigh from the frustrated Kipp. As he reached down to grab his
soaked bag, he accidentally dropped his helmet into the puddle, further
drenching himself, and his bag.

Growling in anger, Kipp snatched up his helmet, and stalked over
to his bike, dropped his bag, and glowered at his map, hoping to get
through registration fast enough so he could go home and get cleaned up.
It was at this moment that Megumi Morisato happened to spot Kipp,
sitting on a sleek, cool, and futuristic looking bike.

"Excuse me? Is that bike your brother's?" Megumi asked, walking
up to the confused Kipp.

"Don't have a brother," Kipp muttered, staring daggers at the map.

"Then is it your oneechan's?" she continued.

"Haven't seen Oneechan in a year," Kipp muttered again, his anger
clouding over the fact that he was talking to a person.

"Then who's is it?" she asked finally, reaching to touch the
vehicle.

"Mine, and don't touch my bike, R&D'll kill me if I scratch it,"
Kipp answered, the sight of Megumi's hand reaching out to touch the
Prototype snapping him out of his angry state.

Kipp took a few seconds to analyze the female before him.
Although she was shorter then him, he knew instantly that she was older,
if only by a few years. His eyes quickly assessed her, from her snug
fitting jeans, to her light blazer. From her brown leather boots, to
her orange sweater.

"Yours? But you're not even old enough to drive," Megumi
countered, touching the bike.

"Is it just me, or does everyone not believe that I'm a freaking
freshman here, that I'm not related to anyone around here, and that the
bloody bike is mine!" Kipp yelled, his frustration coming back full
force.

"If it's yours, prove it," Megumi challenged.

"Why should I?" Kipp muttered, not taking the bait.

"I'll help you find what ever you're looking for," she grinned.

"Deal," Kipp answered quickly, grabbing his helmet.

Mounting the jet black bike, Kipp placed his left thumb on to the
scanner and twisted it to the left. Instantly the bike roared to life,
the twin exhaust pipes giving of not even a bit of smoke.

"That enough?" Kipp asked, smirking at the confused girl.

"But how..." Megumi asked, examining the scanner curiously.

"Look, is that enough proof, or do I need to ride this thing all
over campus?" Kipp asked tiredly.

"What are you looking for?" Megumi asked, snapping out of her
stupor.

"The registration office," Kipp replied, dismounting and
deactivating the Prototype, "I've got to talk to Ichijin-san"

"Follow me," Megumi gestured, leading the way to the office, "By
the way, I'm Morisato Megumi."

"Long Kipp," Kipp replied, following his new guide.

After walking for a bit, Megumi began grilling Kipp on everything
from his age, to why he could drive. Kipp answered those that he
could, and replied classified for everything else, which arose Megumi's
curiosity even more.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen, I'll be seventeen by November 13,"

"Why do you have to talk to the Ichijin-sensei?"

"Otou-san wanted me to, also got a phone call yesterday saying
that
he wanted to meet me,"

"Wonder why, anyway, why do you have such a cool bike?"

"Dad let me take it,"

"Then why can you drive, you're not old enough to have a license,"

"Umm... Ahh... Classified, that should work," the last was
mumbled.

"Okay, who made the bike?"

"Classified," Kipp answered again, regretting his decision to let
Megumi lead him.

"You must be pretty smart to be in university at sixteen," Megumi
mused.

"Smart? Maybe," Kipp answered dubiously.

"Modesty?" Megumi laughed.

"Nope, I just don't think I'm very smart," Kipp replied, looking
around the campus.

"Hey, are you any good on that bike?" Megumi suddenly asked.

"Pretty good," Kipp grinned, reaching familiar territory.

"Why don't you try joining the NIT Motor Cycle Club?" Megumi
asked.

"NIT MCC? Maybe, I'll see," Kipp replied, glancing down.

"Well here you are," Megumi gestured, pointing at the building
in front of them, "Just go in and ask the secretary, she'll tell you."

"Arigatou Morisato-sempai," Kipp bowed, before running into the
building.

"Quiet kid, kind of a mystery," Megumi mused to herself, jogging
off to her first class.

* * *

Walking up to the front desk, Kipp glanced at the secretary,
before asking for directions.

"Ano? Could you tell me how to find the Dean's office?" he asked,
smiling slightly.

"What for?" the middle aged woman behind the desk asked, "Do you
have an appointment with him?"

"I think so, my name's Long Kipp, and I was told to met with him
as soon as I got on campus," Kipp replied, grinning internally.

"Oh, Long-san, right this way," she said, leading the way to the
Dean's office.

Kipp thought to himself.

Walking down a series of halls, Kipp quickly remembered why he
hated 'The Desk'. Glancing in every office showed a person sitting at a
desk, doing paperwork, long, boring, tedious paperwork. But Kipp's
psyche was saved from imagining a fate worse then hell when the
secretary stopped in front of an office labelled, 'Ichijin Daisuke,'
with a whole lot of titles after. Knocking on the door a couple
of times the secretary opened the door and let Kipp in.

The room looked like the stereotypical office, bookshelves
crammed with large hardbound books on one side, a wall dedicated to the
occupant's diplomas and awards, and a large desk facing the door, the
window right behind it. Seated behind the desk, and middle aged,
balding man sat, his dark suit crisp and clean. his dark brown eyes
were alert and seemed to be able to tear into your soul (I swear, all
teachers, of any sort seem to know how to do that, almost as they took a
course on it...).

Kipp thought to himself, before
bowing to the Dean. "Long Kipp, how may I help you Ichijin-sensei?"

"Long Kipp? Ano? I expected someone with glasses, a crew cut,
and stick thin," Daisuke mused out loud, then burst into a fit of
laughter at Kipp's undignified glare. "Gomen, it's just that I went to
school with your Otou-san when he was younger. Here, have a seat
Kipp-san,"

Kipp stared at the Dean for a long minute, then grinned and
accepted the seat. "So is that how I got in here with a week's notice?"

Ichijin laughed at that. "No, even if your Otou-san begged, I
couldn't have gotten you registered in a week," his expression sobered,
"But when the government asks, you obey. Besides, your academic records
are astonishing, to say the least," he praised, the humour returning to
his eyes.

"They're not that good, besides, Oneechan's marks are much
better," Kipp replied, fiddling with his helmet.

"Nonsense, an 85% average in grade 12, at the age of fourteen,
that's very impressive if you ask me! But enough of that, I believe
you've come here to learn something, ne?" Ichijin laughed, "I'll talk
with you later, and I might just tell you about Meiou's university
days."

Kipp grinned, shook the Ichijin's hand, and left the office, only
to
pop back in several seconds later.

"Could you tell me where the Physics Department is?" Kipp asked,
rubbing the back of his head.

Ichijin just face faulted.

* * *

Kipp slowly walked up to the classroom, which he was supposed to
be in, glanced around, then groaned.

Kipp thought to himself, glancing down at his wet pants, and
dripping bag. Taking a
deep cleansing breath, Kipp walked into the classroom.

"Ano? Who are you?" the sensei asked.

Kipp quickly glanced around the room, noting the desks, labs and
huge blackboard, all essential for a university physics class... well
maybe not the labs. Then Kipp glanced at the students in the class.
They were all sophomores. Kipp quickly glanced at his schedule, the
room number, then the sensei, back to the schedule, then to room number,
then the teacher, and then groaned.

"I feel sick," Kipp muttered as he realized that he did indeed
have the right class.

"I said, who are you?" the sensei asked again, his patience
thinning.

"Long Kipp, Sensei," Kipp answered hoarsely, cursing his
misfortune.

"Ah yes, you were talking with Ichijin-sensei, correct?" the
teacher
asked.

"Hai," Kipp replied, now cursing the gods, demons, and mystical
forces in general.

"Well why don't you take a seat over by... Morisato-san over
there," the teacher said, pointing towards none other then Megumi
Morisato, "She should be able to help you with any problems you might
have,"

Kipp's cursing became more colourful (Yeah I'm Canadian and damn
proud of it!) as he started to curse everything in general, switching
from Japanese to English to some of the mystic languages, and back.
Dragging his feet, Kipp trooped over to his desk and dropped heavily
into it.

"Psst, Long-san, over here," Megumi whispered.

"Why me, why me, why me, why me, why me," Kipp chanted to himself.

"Long-san!" Megumi whispered loudly.

"I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my life," was Kipp's new
chant.

Getting annoyed, Megumi picked up her eraser and bounced it off
Kipp's head. Hearing the chanting replaced by angry muttering seemed to
satisfy her.

"Owww, what was that for," Kipp glared at Megumi.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last five
minutes!" Megumi hissed, glaring back.

"Gomen," Kipp muttered, slumping further into his seat.

"What's wrong?" Megumi asked, seeing Kipp slouch further into his
chair.

"I swear, I probably angered a kami in my previous life," Kipp
sighed.

"What makes you say that?" she inquired, looking curiously at the
strange boy beside her.

"I'm a freshman with at least four sophomore classes," Kipp
answered, staring at his schedule.

"How?" Megumi wondered aloud, "The school rarely messes up that
bad."

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Kipp declared quietly,
pulling out a black laptop, which was oddly dry, considering it had just
come from his backpack.

Glancing around, Kipp pulled out another tech gadget, attached it
a port on his laptop and began typing furiously. Several minutes went
by with Kipp typing and Megumi trying to see what he was doing.

Several more minutes passed before Kipp suddenly grinned madly and
started to chant to himself again.

"Death, death, death, death, death, dead!" he whispered, "Now then
where are my files?"

"Your files?" Megumi asked, confused.

"School files, should be in the database," Kipp replied, matter-of
-factly.

As Megumi leaned over to look, the sensei was suddenly there,
glaring at the two.

"What are you doing?" he asked, glancing at the two.

"I was just asking Morisato-sempai here how to answer that
question, Sensei" Kipp grinned innocently, pointing at the question on
the computer's screen, which coincidentally happened to be the one the
sensei was demonstrating to the class.

"Very well, carry on," the sensei grumbled, glancing suspiciously
at the computer, before walking back to the front of the class.

"Heh heh heh, works every time," Kipp grinned, before reopening
the original window, "Now then, where are those bloody files?"

"You hacked into the school's network?! How?" Megumi exclaimed,
staring at the screen's contents.

"Child's play, especially with this baby R&D 'lent' me" Kipp
replied, patting the gizmo lovingly.

"Lent?" Megumi asked, arching her eyebrow.

"Hai. 'Lent', well more like gave without permission, but hey,
nobody'll know," Kipp grinned, then started to frown, "Since when did
they classify student files?"

"They don't."

"You're right, they don't."

"Kami-sama, you're so much like..."

"Like who?"

"Just someone I know."

"Okay, whatever, here we go..." Kipp said, reading his files
contents.

"Hey, why are you listed here as a V.I.P?" Megumi asked, pointing
to several sections of the record, each with information that normally
wouldn't have been there, "And since when did they assign status to
students?"

"Those bastards!" Kipp seethed. "I knew I shouldn't have told
them where I was going, but noooo, HQ must always be aware of a
soldier's whereabouts," Kipp muttered, searching for his entrance exam.

Megumi thought to herself.

"WHAT!" Kipp yelled in shock.

"LONG-SAN! What is so important that you must disrupt my class?"
the sensei growled, glaring at the offender.

"Umm, I just royally screwed up my answer sir," Kipp
muttered, embarrassed, "It won't happen again, both the outburst and the
mistake,"

"Yes, make sure it doesn't, or you will be gone from my class,"
the sensei threatened.

"Hai, Sensei," Kipp replied, then sighed as the sensei turned
back to the board, "Close call, owowowowowow,"

The last was because Megumi had used his ear to pull his head
in front of the computer's screen.

"A 85% overall score?!" she glared at Kipp.

"I know," Kipp replied miserably.

"What's to be sad about, you're a genius," Megumi tried to cheer
up the depressed young man.

"That's what sucks," Kipp replied, sighing dejectedly.

"What's to suck about it, you wouldn't have to worry too much
about tests and marks," Megumi remarked enviously.

"But you never get to hang with anyone your own age. Hell, the
only time I've spent more then a few hours with someone my own age was
the two years I took off of school," Kipp replied, sighing again.

"I see, you wanted to be a freshman so you could mingle with
people more your age, ne?" Megumi guessed.

"Exactly. I can count all of my friends on two hands, and still
have enough fingers to grab a pop," Kipp muttered. "When ever I went up
a grade, or went into a new school, everyone always looked at me as if I
was some sort of animal. I always had to eat lunch on my own, use the
swings by myself, study on my own. Sometimes Oneechan would play with
me, or help me study, but she couldn't always be there for me," he
elaborated.

"Well, count yourself lucky, you've just got yourself a new friend
today," Megumi said cheerfully, sticking her hand out.

Kipp glanced at the offered hand, then glared at Megumi.

"I don't want, nor need anyone's pity. I'll make my friends not
from pity, but from being me," Kipp replied angrily.

"Pity? You? Never," Megumi grinned, "You're almost like the
little brother I never had, and trust me, I know how younger siblings
are supposed to act, annoying."

Kipp stared at the young lady beside him for a long while, then
started to chuckle to himself.

"You ever talk to a Meiou Setsuna?" Kipp asked, still chuckling.

"Never heard of her," Megumi replied, confused.

"Because that's exactly how she describes me," Kipp laughed.

"Well I'd say you're a lot like Skuld. Both of you are great with
computers, and both of you hate being younger then others," Megumi
giggled.

"Skuld?" Kipp asked, eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, her older sister, Belldandy, goes here, they moved in last
year," Megumi replied, before something registered in her mind, "Meiou?
Isn't your last name Long?"

"I'm adopted," Kipp replied simply, "Don't worry about it."

Kipp smiled to himself. Turning his
attention back his new friend, Kipp began asking her about the MCC.
"I heard that there were two clubs here, which one's the original?"

"The MCC's the original, that sleaze Aoshima started another one,
just to prove that he was better, which he isn't," Megumi explained.

"Oh, right, his team always get beaten by the MCC, or at least
that's what the rumours say," Kipp exclaimed, smiling to himself.

"Yeah that's right, all he does is spend tons of money to have
big corporations build his vehicles, we on the other hand build ours
by hand, but we put our spirits into it," Megumi spoke passionately.

"Looks like we've got an engineer here," Kipp quipped, before he
was bopped on the head.

"What's wrong with that?" Megumi huffed, indignantly.

"Gomen, it's just that I've meet a few engineers in my life, and
most of them aren't... quite stable. Heck, the guys who made my bike,
they made it so it could reach about 600 km/h in less then a minute.
Its max speed is... I'm not sure really. The fastest we've ever clocked
is over 800 km/h," Kipp grinned, glancing at Megumi's startled look.

"800 km/h! That's incredible! How much money did these guys
spend on that... monster?" Megumi asked, clearly surprised.

"No clue," Kipp answered, shuddering slightly, "But no one wants
to say no to those guys, on fear of a fate worse then death."

"And these guys are the ones who put the fear of engineers into
you?" Megumi asked playfully.

"Hell yeah, they put mad scientist like Washu to shame," Kipp
remarked, recalling an anime Hikari had made him watch.

"Washu, Skuld reads those things, but I know what you mean,"
Megumi giggled, "Truthfully, they can't be that bad,"

"You're right, they're worse."

* * *

Kipp came trudging out of his second class of the day,
Engineering, grumbling about psycho mechanics trying to take apart his
bike. Pulling out his map, Kipp began the annoying process of locating
the nearest cafeteria, namely the one inside the Engineering Department
that he was currently in.

"Stupid, bloody mechanics, almost as bad as those 'scientists'
back at the base!" he grumbled to himself, before he finally reached his
destination, "At last, food,"

Quickly buying his lunch from the vending machines and the 'fresh'
meals, Kipp began hunting for a seat.

"Kipp-san!" Megumi called from her table, having noticed Kipp,
"Over here!"

Accepting the invitation, Kipp walked over to her, seeing the two
girls and one guy sitting with her. A second glance confirmed his
suspicions that one of the ladies was a foreigner.

"Konnichi-wa Megumi-sempai!" he greeted, holding his tray in one
hand, and waving with the other.

"Konnichi-wa Kipp-san!" Megumi returned, before introducing the
others. "This is Keiichi, my oniichan," she pointed to the male, who
shook Kipp's hand, "This is Hasegawa Sora, my best friend," she pointed
to the girl wearing glasses and a really short fuku.

Sora smiled and bowed to Kipp, who bowed back awkwardly, trying to
balance his lunch, while being polite. Sora giggled at this.

"And this is Belldandy, she's a foreign exchange student," Megumi
repeated the cover story.

"Belldandy? That sounds... kind of like that Norn, Verthandi, of
Norse mythology" Kipp remarked, thinking to himself, "Perhaps you're
from Norway?"

Keiichi sighed and shook his head, no. "She's from Scandinavia,"
Keiichi corrected.

"Oh really? I've never been there Belldandy-sempai, perhaps you
could tell me about it someday?" Kipp asked, sitting down on one of the
unused chairs.

"I'd be delighted to," Belldandy assured, smiling beautifully.

"Arigatou!" he smiled back then turned to Keiichi, "Morisato-
sempai, aren't you the main driver for the MCC?"

"Yes I am, are you thinking about joining?" Keiichi asked, eating
the lunch Belldandy had made him.

"I've thinking about it, but I'm not sure if I want to. I'm only
good at driving really fast, my engineering skills leave a bit to be
desired... at least that's what Tentetsu-san keeps saying," Kipp
replied, staring at his lunch, Megumi noticed his look and grinned.

"This stuff is horrible compared to your cooking Belldandy-chan!
I fear your cooking has spoiled me to no end!" she giggled.

Belldandy blushed and thanked Megumi, while the other two added
their comments on the 'holiness' of Belldandy's cooking. Kipp continued
to look at his food for a few more seconds before taking a bite. His
face suddenly went from anticipation to surprise, and then to delight.

"This stuff's better then anything I could ever cook!" he
exclaimed, pointing at his food. Megumi just face faulted.

"How bad of a cook are you?" Megumi asked, staring at Kipp in
shock.

"Lets put it this way, what I cook may look like what it's
supposed to be, but never, ever eat it in large doses... it could kill
you," he returned with all seriousness.

"Really?" Sora asked, looking at the young man.

"Nope, but sometimes it makes you want to die," Kipp replied,
causing everyone, except Belldandy, to face fault.

"I used to be like that, but Belldandy-sempai helped me do
better," Sora said quietly.

"I'd be asking to much from someone I've just meet," Kipp replied,
eating his lunch with extreme gusto.

"It wouldn't be a problem at all Long-san," Belldandy offered.

"And take more time away from Morisato-sempai? Never!" Kipp
laughed as Keiichi and Belldandy both blushed slightly, "I knew it!"

"The rumours are still going?" Megumi inquired.

"Nope, I just saw it from the way those two acted towards each
other," Kipp answered, "Comes from my training... and it's also the
reason I can do so good in school."

"So, you can read people, and tell things just from body
language?" Sora asked.

"That, and I can memorize almost anything with just a quick
glance, heck skimming for me is like studying," Kipp stated, still
savouring his lunch.

"So what was your job?" Keiichi asked, curious.

"JSDF... my dad's... errand boy" Kipp replied uneasily.

"That doesn't really explain much," Megumi muttered, looking
pointedly at Kipp.

"Well, you see, Dad's not even supposed to give me a job and all,
so I can't really tell you much," Kipp replied nervously, rubbing the
back of his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you would have told us if you
could," Belldandy reassured, picking up on Kipp's emotions.

"I agree, don't worry about it Long-san! After all, we're
friends!" Keiichi second.

"Arigatou Morisato-sempai!" Kipp cried, grinning at his new
friends.

The conversation turned to other things, mainly the upcoming year,
and how Tamiya and Ootaki would probably rope Keiichi into driving
again. The conversation eventually turned again to the
mysterious black bike sitting in the parking lot.

"I bet who ever owns that bike's probably rich and snooty,"
Keiichi remarked enviously.

Megumi and Kipp both started to giggle, before that degraded into
side bursting laughter. Keiichi and Sora looked at the two in
confusion, while Belldandy just smiled knowingly.

"Th, *gasp*, hahahahah, th-th-th-*psst*, hahahaha!" Megumi tried
to explain, unsuccessfully.

"Hahahaha, *gasp*, okay, I'm better," Kipp finally managed to get
out. "As to that bike, and why we were laughing, well you see, that
bike... its mine," Kipp grinned at Keiichi and Sora's astonished looks,
then smiled wider when Belldandy grinned with Megumi.

"That... thing, is yours!" Keiichi exclaimed, "Who made it?
What's its top speed? What parts did they use? How's the fuel
consumption?" and many other questions bombarded Kipp.

Belldandy coughed politely into her hand, which seemed to stop
Keiichi, who smiled sheepishly. "Gomen about the rich snob comment,"
Keiichi said, laughing awkwardly.

"Would this rich snot comment happen to be about a certain
Aoshima?" Kipp asked, grinning.

"Aoshima-sempai isn't that bad! He has a really nice side to him,
he just chooses not to show it that much," Sora cried, blushing
immediately after she had said it.

"I'm sure he does, but then I can't say until I meet him," Kipp
assured, then muttered under his breath, "But I'm inclined to believe
Megumi-sempai."

"Now then, back to that bike..." Keiichi began, before Kipp cut
him off.

"I'll let you and Megumi-sempai take it apart someday, but not
until you guys introduce me to the MCC president," Kipp offered.

"Deal, meet us after school by your bike," Keiichi agreed.

* * *

"My, are we new here?" a very sexy, very female voice cooed from
behind Kipp and Megumi, "A little young, but very handsome."

The two were in the Math department, since Kipp was having a hard
time dealing with the stares, and the nervousness of being in yet
another class full of sophomores. Of course, Megumi has volunteered to
walk with him since she had a math class at the same time (different
classes), when they were confronted by the mysterious voice.

"Nani?!" Kipp cried, spinning around to face a pair of emerald
green eyes.

"Urd, stop teasing him," Megumi scolded, uselessly, glaring at
Urd.

Urd, as usual, wore a very short, very tight mini, shiny, rubber,
black skirt, a very tight, very revealing, white tank top, with a very
low neckline, and a red jacket that was a lot shy of her midriff. she
also had on a pair of black heels, and the slit down the side of her
skirt made it almost indecent.


Kipp, turning to confront this new... person, managed to move just
enough to be pressing against her... ample, well endowed, etc, breast.
Now normally, Kipp would have stepped back and apologized like the
civilized gentleman his sister tried to make of him (she failed that
project, but she did get part marks, as Kipp wasn't a complete jerk),
but he wasn't in the best of conditions today, so his reaction
wasn't quite up to the norm.

"Gomen!!" he screamed as he literally leapt back a couple dozen
meters. "I didn't know you were there, I mean, I didn't know you were
so close, or so...." he babbled as he tried to save his hide from what
he envisioned as his untimely death.

Urd and Megumi just stared at the flustered young man making
frantic warding gestures with his hands (and would probably have been
calling the morgue already, if he hadn't forgot his cell phone in his
bike), before Megumi burst into gales of laughter, and Urd suddenly
started to grin her evil little grin. Walking slowly up to the
frightened freshman/sophomore, Urd bent forward, and gave the now
terrified young man a very clear view of her cleavage.

"My, whatever are you afraid of. Come, stop that, after all, I am
the 'Goddess of Love', and I'm flattered that somebody I don't even know
is that interested in me," she grinned, winking sultry at Kipp, even
going so far as to give him a centrefold pose.

Kipp's eyes widened, more so then they normally could have, as his
jaw hit the ground, which caused Megumi to laugh even harder. Kipp then
very slowly backed away from Urd, and made a mad dash the exit, but was
stopped in a rather painful way when Megumi's arm grabbed his shirt
collar.

"Let me go!!!" Kipp cried, dragging Megumi along behind him as he
tried very hard to run and breath at the same time. "Anybody that good
looking has to be evil!!"

"Stop that Kipp! I mean really, she's only teasing, you didn't
have to go overboard!" Megumi muttered in disgust, glaring at the
cowering Kipp.

"Yes, but but but but...." Kipp stammered, and then smiled
cheerfully. "My, how odd I must seem, going hysterical like that and
all!"

"Why you!" Megumi cried, smacking Kipp around, "I'm really
starting to get annoyed!"

"Children, children, stop that! There's more then enough of me to
go around!" Urd teased, striking yet another pose.

Kipp smiled and strutted over to Urd, flashing her his pimping
smile. Bowing low to her, Kipp gently took her hand and kissed the back
of it.

"Urd-sama! You're the most beautiful being I have ever laid my
lowly eyes upon! Your be..." his gushing speech was cut of by Megumi's
bag in
his face.

"Enough out of you Casanova-sama, Urd, what are you doing here?"
Megumi asked the platinum-haired goddess.

"I just got word from Skuld, she's coming home later today, the
'Boss' finished grilling her out," Urd smirked, but her eyes belayed her
worry, "I came to tell Belldandy."

"You're Belldandy-sempai's sister?" Kipp asked, looking for some
sort of resemblance.

"Half-sister," Urd replied sadly.

"Gomen ne," Kipp bowed.

"Oh, Urd, this is Kipp Long, he's new here, and he might be
joining the MCC. Kipp, this is Urd, Belldandy's sister, which you
already know," Megumi introduce the two.

"A pleasure for you to meet me," Urd joked.

"The pleasure is all mine," Kipp replied, the old training coming
back to him.

"Young, but charming," Urd winked, "Anyway, if you see Belldandy,
please tell her."

And with that, Urd turned and disappeared around the corner. Kipp
cocked his head to the side and scratched the back of his head.

"You know some very strange people," he remarked casually to
Megumi.

"Wouldn't have them any other way," she returned.

"Know what, I think I'm going to right at home here."

* * *

(Curses to Chaos the rest of those demented excuses for Fanboys!
That scene wasn't supposed to be so damn stupid. CURSES!!!)

* * *

The day was finally out as Kipp headed towards his bike. Grinning
to himself, he mentally re-ran an incident in the hallways, involving a
very big, very annoying brute, and five 'geeks'.

"Heh heh heh, I sure kicked his ass," Kipp grinned to himself,
"Nothing relieves stress like a good game of beat-up-the-bastard."

Strolling along (the plot that is... arrgh! Damn you Chaos! When
I get my hands on you, a Giga Slave will feel like a freaking tap on the
shoulder!), Kipp walked towards the parking lot, humming tunelessly to
himself.

Upon arriving at said lot, Kipp began to chuckle to himself as he
watched Megumi, Keiichi, and an entire slew of crazed engineers visually
disassembling his jet-black cycle.

"Yo, guys, you're drooling," Kipp grinned.

"Oh, Kipp-san, you ready to meet Tamiya-sempai and Ootaki-sempai,"
Megumi asked.

"Yeah, sure, just as long as these guys don't scratch anything,"
Kipp mumbled.

"Then lets go!" Belldandy sang cheerfully.

"Hai, hai," Keiichi grinned.

The quad got up and began walking towards the MCC club building,
Megumi and Keiichi talking about all the great things the MCC had done.
This of course lead to all of the troubles that the Aoshima Four-Wheel
Club had caused. Kipp, naturally, was a little ticked off at the 'bet'.

"Baka, baka. Mina baka! Who the bloody hell bets people!?" Kipp
spat. "When I get my hands on those three, there'll be hell to pay,"

"Calm down! Don't worry about it," Belldandy tried to sooth the
young man's anger.

"Yeah, Aoshima's scum, while Tamiya-sempai and Ootaki-sempai go a
little overboard when it comes to the Club's pride," Megumi stated.

"Umm, no offence or anything, but these guys didn't start the club
did they?" Kipp asked.

"Actually, they didn't. Chihiro-sempai actually started the club
off.," Keiichi looked a little sad, "But she went to the U.S to study
last year. Actually, she should be back by Christmas."

"I see," Kipp murmured to himself, "I'd love to meet... her?"

"Yeah, her," Megumi smiled.

"Her. She sounds like a very dedicated person,"

* * *

"You have got to be kidding," Kipp groaned as he caught sight of
Tamiya and Ootaki, "They're the club leaders?!"

"Yep, that's them," Keiichi grinned.

"I swear, I was probably a very bad little boy in a previous
life," Kipp moaned, covering his face with his hands.

"Why do you say that?" Belldandy asked curiously.

"Because, the club I'm about to join is lead by a guy who wears
spark plugs in his ears, and the another who's on an emotional
roller coaster half the time," Kipp replied, still in shock.

"Have you meet them?" Megumi asked, amazed at the description.

"I saw them trying to get people to join their club a couple of
days ago. It wasn't a pretty sight," Kipp shuddered at the memory.

"That was a very bad example of club campaigning," Megumi giggled.

"Did you see the whole thing?" Keiichi asked.

"Nope, I ran as soon as they got on the roof of the building,
wearing green tights," Kipp shuddered again.

Belldandy and Megumi giggled while Keiichi shook his head in
dismay.

"If Chihiro were here, those two would be in a lot of trouble,"
Keiichi groaned.

"Oh, what the hell! Let's go meet them," Kipp muttered, "After
all, it can't be worse than survival training!"

And with those brave words, Kipp went to meet his end/fate (the
first choice is probably closer to the truth). Walking across a street
proved to be rather difficult, especially when someone was driving down
said road with a complete disregard for everyone else. Kipp was not
amused.

"WATCH WERE YOU'RE GOING!" Kipp yelled at the car parked in front
of the clubhouse.

It was a sleek sports car, one of those reserved only for people
with way to much money on their hands. The driver too reflected the
car's image, sleek, sophisticated, and dashing. Of course, with both
the car and the driver, the reliability was up for grabs.

"Gomen, I guess I was in a hurry and didn't see you," Aoshima
grinned apologetically.

Kipp probably would have accepted the apology... if Aoshima hadn't
been oozing sleaze from every pore on his body. Rising from the ground,
Kipp walked over to Aoshima and grabbed the startled man's shirt.

"I should have you arrested for speeding and irresponsible
driving," Kipp growled at Aoshima.

"Now, now, it was an accident, and I am truly sorry for any
problems I caused," Aoshima was still oozing.

"Sure, and I'm not mad," Kipp growled, before Keiichi and
Belldandy ran up.

"Kipp-san, let him go, it was only an accident!" Keiichi cried,
grabbing Kipp's arm.

"Yeah sure it was, just like how it was only a friendly bet with
Belldandy-sempai," Kipp growled, letting go of Aoshima.

"That is a matter of honour, and I don't expect a person like you
to understand," Aoshima shoot back.

"Sure, and I'm willing to bet that you're only here to renew said
bet," Kipp snarled.

If looks could have killed, Aoshima would have been wiped out of
existence for nodding his head. Kipp glared at the snobbish man for a
moment longer before he stormed past him, and into the clubhouse.

Inside, Kipp came across Sora again, who seemed surprised at
Kipp's fierce look. Trembling slightly, Hasegawa greeted Kipp.

"Kipp-san, how are you?" she asked.

"Hasegawa-sempai, konnichi-wa," Kipp greeted distantly, "Where can
I sign-up?"

"Sign-up?" Sora asked confused.

"For the club," Kipp said impatiently.

"Oh! Right here!" Sora replied happily, pulling out a sheet of
paper.

Kipp merely nodded as he signed his name down on the sheet of
paper.

"Welcome aboard!" Hasegawa smiled as Kipp finished filling out the
form.

"Arigatou," Kipp replied, then headed back outside.

* * *

"Belldandy-san, what a surprise to see you here!" Aoshima
exclaimed, kissing Belldandy's hand, "But don't you worry, soon, you
shall be with a team worthier of your presence,"

Needless to say, Tamiya and Ootaki began arguing with Aoshima...
well Tamiya and Ootaki argued, and Aoshima tried, unsuccessfully, to woo
Belldandy.

"SHUT UP!" Kipp cried, emerging from the clubhouse.

"Kipp-san?" Keiichi asked, concerned by the amount of anger Kipp
was emitting.

"That bet, I'm changing it, and you'll accept it, if you're a real
man that is," Kipp remarked snidely.

The last comment obviously did it, as Aoshima, not wanting to look
wimpy in front of his heart's desire, accepted the bet. Of course, he
wouldn't have if he had seen the fire in Kipp's eyes.

"Good, then if your club loses, _I_ get to decide what you have to
do... but don't worry, it won't be too bad," Kipp grinned evilly before
turning on his heel and storming off.

* * *

"Seriously Kipp, did you have to get that mad?" Megumi asked Kipp
as they walked back towards the parking lot.

"Yes," Kipp mumbled, "Gomen, but people like him always get on my
nerves."

"He gets on mine to, but I don't go ballistic," Megumi countered.

"Yeah, but I really hate people who try to break up a great couple
like Belldandy-sempai and Keiichi-sempai," Kipp muttered.

"You really are a hopeless romantic, aren't you?" Megumi teased.

"Hush, if anyone found out my reputation would be ruined," Kipp
grinned, "Gomen ne, I'll be back to my cheerful-self, once I get home."

"We'll talk later!" Megumi called over her shoulder as she ran off
towards the clubhouse.

Mounting his bike, Kipp pulled on his helmet and drove out of the
parking lot. Cruising along on speeds that should have had him pulled
over, Kipp headed towards his apartment, which just so happened to pass
by a certain temple.

(Now please note that although the Mystic Vision isn't activated, most
magic users can still sense when there has been a huge amount of mana
used)

"Nani?" Kipp exclaimed, feeling the familiar sensation associated
with mana, "What's going on?"

Glancing to his right, Kipp was taken back by the massive amount
of mana emitting from the temple. Stopping his bike, Kipp dismounted
and stared at the rare spectacle.

"Suge! A kami still inhabits this place!" he whispered, "I've
got to meet it!"

Kipp pushed the gates open and stepped onto the main path of the
compound. Glancing around for a priest, Kipp walked towards the large
shrine.

"Ano? Where are the priests?" he wondered aloud, before he caught
sight of a massive cherry tree.

The tree's blossoms had already fallen, and the leaves were
starting to. But the tree's massive size wasn't what caught Kipp' eye,
rather it was the uneasy feeling he was getting from it. Walking into
the temple, Kipp quickly chanted the required spell.

"MYSTIC VISION," Kipp's eyes flared brilliant white, then returned
to normal.

Ducking back outside, Kipp took another look at the tree and
almost fainted. Amidst the dying leaves, the darkest aura he had ever
seen was barely visible, only the barest outline was visible. Yet,
within the outline, Kipp could feel the aura of a demon of great powers,
one greater then Merlin could ever dream of slaying.

"A First Class Demon," Kipp gasped in awe, his knees trembling in
terror.

Rushing to his bike, Kipp grabbed the seat and pulled. A series
of beeps, squeaks, and other technical noises soon followed before the
seat came off. Hidden beneath were Kipp's two pistols, a mana blade,
the shield, and a large wrapped bundle.

After equipping himself, Kipp replaced his backpack, with the
bundle, and unwrapped the it, which revealed three components. The
first was at least 80 cm long, 30 cm wide, and 30 cm tall. Shaped like
a large rectangle for the first 30 cm, the rectangle merged into a
cylinder with a radius of 15 cm. On the rectangular section, there was
a empty slot, around 15 cm by 5 cm. At the back of the rectangle, a
opening lead to a handle and a trigger. On either side of the cylinder,
three 15 cm pistons were placed 10 cm apart.

The second object, appeared to be a large diamond cut to fit
snugly into the slot. The third was a long tube, the same size as the
cylinder. At the very tip of the cylinder, a large lens rested, crystal
clear and flawless. This large cannon was slung over his shoulder.

Checking his equipment, Kipp walked back into the temple, to find
a small mecha sweeping the garden.

"Ano? What are you?" Kipp asked the strange hat wearing mecha.

The mecha only gave Kipp a cursory glance, before returning to
its task. Kipp looked at it for a moment, before walking behind the
temple and towards the house.

"Hmm, no-one's home," Kipp muttered to himself, propping the
cannon up against a wall.

Glancing around, Kipp walked up to the cherry tree, pulled out
his pistols, and fired.

When the demons failed to acknowledge him, Kipp calmly fired off
two more rounds. When this didn't work, Kipp took aim at the demon and
fired, which still did nothing.

"Bakamono! It's pointless hiding! Get down here demon so I can
smite your demonic ass back to Hell!" obviously Kipp didn't mind dying.

"Very well Mortal, I'll oblige your demands... and enjoy your
screams when I kill you!" the blond haired demoness roared.

Leaping out of the tree, the demoness landed behind Kipp and
grinned. Dressed in very revealing, very tight, shiny leathers, the
demoness had two red lines, in the vague shape of a V, on her forehead.

"Come to play?" she purred.

"Who are you?" Kipp growled, levelling his guns at her head.

"The names Mahler, but you can call me Mara," she replied,
throatily, "And who might you be?"

"Captain Kipp Long of the JSSDF:SDs. Why have you come to this
holy ground?" Kipp asked, glaring at Mara.

"Oh, just a score to settle, a job to do. Nothing for _you_ to be
worried about. Now, why don't you run away, and save your own life,"
Mara offered, pulling a black bullwhip out of nowhere.

"Afraid I can't do that," Kipp replied, circling the demoness
wearily, "There's a kami around here somewhere, and I have to protect
it,"

"You wouldn't happen to be the same boy who banished Morkpish and
his minions, would you?" Mara inquired, licking her whip's grip
seductively.

"Ninth Class, around 190 cm, red skin, red eyes, and the rest of
that crap. He was banished about a month ago, correct?" Kipp said
matter-of-factly.

"Ah, so you were the one! I'll make your death quick and
painless, think of it as a present for getting rid of an annoyance,"
Mara purred.

"Will you stop that! I know you're not a damn succubus, so stop
trying to seduce me!" Kipp yelled, "Let's just kill each other and get
this over with!"

With that said, Kipp began firing off blue bolts of mana, while
running. Of course, Mara was a First Class demoness, so the shots did
nothing more than bounce harmlessly off of her shield spell.

"*Sigh*, you mortals, always thinking you can change your
destinies. Face the music boy, you couldn't beat me on my worse day,"
Mara taunted, stretching erotically.

"DAMN YOU!" Kipp yelled, reloading his guns and firing some more.

"Already been damned..." Mara trailed off as she saw the same
robot from before roll around the corner... except it now had a large
launcher over each shoulder, "Banpei!"

Mara instantly launched a massive ball of energy at the machine,
disabling it, but not destroying it. The machine wobbled around a bit,
before another blast from Mara stopped it permanently.

"There goes one annoyance," Mara sang, brushing her golden locks
out of her eyes.

"CHIKUSO! Why won't you die!?" Kipp screamed, reloading again.

Mara, having had enough of Kipp's pistols, snapped her whip twice,
pulling a pistol away both times.

"Not that tough with out your weapons, ne?" she taunted again.

"Who needs weapons, when they have magic," Kipp growled, smiling
darkly.

Cupping his palms, Kipp began concentrating a large amount of
light mana in between his hands.

"Spirits of Light,
I summon thee to fulfill thy purpose,
Darkness and Pain,
Evil and Death,
Counter thy foe,
Powers of Light,
Surrender thy strength,
Give me the power,
To Cleanse the World!"

The throbbing white light between Kipp's hands began to pulsate
faster and faster. The light began to grow brighter and brighter, as
if it could senses it's ancient enemy.

"SUPER NOVA!"

The ball of light exploded forward in a brilliant flash of white
divine light, hurtling forward at speeds faster then sound. In the
instant it took to travel the distance between Kipp and Mara, the
demoness had already erected another shield, curious to see the results.

The Super Nova connected with the demoness' shield, exploding upon
contact in a fiery display of light and sparks. Unfortunately, the
attack did very little to Mara's shield, only shaking it slightly.

"My, aren't we special. I've have never seen a mortal do such a
powerful spell in this day and age," Mara remarked, genuine surprise on
her face.

"You like magic eh? Have some more!" Kipp cried, "ELEMENTAL
STRIKE!"

The massive ball of energy did only a bit more to the shield,
shaking for a few seconds longer.

"Usually you humans try to fight us superior beings with your
primitive technology," Mara commented lightly.

"You want technology do you? Then try this!" Kipp yelled, rushing
towards the cannon.

Grabbing the massive gun, Kipp shoved his right hand into the
opening, while his left hand supported the weight of the weapon.
Levelling the barrel at Mara, Kipp grinned ferally.

"Say hello to the Atlantian Elemental Canon!" Kipp smirked, "This
baby can destroy even the most annoying demon in a single blast."

"But has it ever been tested on a Demoness like me?" Mara asked,
advancing on Kipp.

"No, but the results will be seen real soon," Kipp growled as he
pulled the trigger.

Almost instantly, a large swirling ball of energy appeared at the
nozzle, growing larger and brighter every passing second. Yelling a
battle cry, Kipp pointed the weapon at the startled demon and released
the trigger.

As the blast exploded from the gun, all six pistons hissing
as huge gouts of steam purred out of them. The blast itself flew
through the air, dragging a sonic boom behind it. In an incredible
explosion of raw mana, the blast managed to give Mara's shield a hair
line 'crack'.

"Very impressive! It has been a while since I killed an
Atlantian, they're surprisingly resistant to pain," Mara grinned darkly.

"Sorry to deprive you of that pleasure, but I ain't no Atlantian,
only a man using Atlantis' technology... but I doubt that really
matters," Kipp muttered, reaching for his sword.

"Oh well, then I guess your death will have to be that much more
painful," Mara smirked.

Just as Kipp grabbed his sword, another blast from Mara slammed
into his chest, frying his shirt, and sending him hurtling towards the
temple walls.

* * *

Zipping down the road, Keiichi, Belldandy and Megumi drove by.
The first two were using Keiichi's bike and sidecar, while Megumi was on
her own. Yet, although apart, all of their thoughts were on the strange
boy who had just entered their life.

As they rounded the bend, the temple came into sight. But at that
same moment, a form came crashing through the wall, and landed, heavily,
on the street.

"What the!" Keiichi cried, stopping the bike.

Climbing out of her seat Belldandy rushed over to the prone figure
and gasped, "Kipp-san!"

"MARA!!" Kipp cried, ignoring Belldandy.

Jumping up, Kipp pulled out his mana blade, ignited it, and
charged back into he temple, leaving the other three in shock.

"Come back for more have we?" Mara teased, "Come and get it!"

"DIE!!" Kipp screamed, his shield snapping open.

Another black bolt of energy flew from Mara's hands, slamming into
the shield, but doing nothing other then that. Frowning, Mara fired
another blast, with the same results.

Kipp thought, raising his sword over his head, and
driving it into the crack in the shield.

The results were spectacular as large arcs of energy flew from the
crack, destroying grass and walls alike.

"Mara!" Urd cried, rushing out of the house.

"Urd, Belldandy, so nice to see you!" Mara sneered, spying the two
goddesses, "The squirt's not back yet? Too bad, she won't get to see me
in my full glory!"

Speech finished, Mara used her whip on Kipp, each strike leaving
behind deep gashes. Yet Kipp refused to let up, pushing harder,
ignoring everything, except the energy shield.

"You sure you're not an Atlantian? Oh well, you'll have to die
now," the demon shrugged, reaching through the barrier, and grabbing
Kipp around the neck, the other hand forced the sword out of his grasp.

"I've always wanted to see what happens to mortals when they're
touched by Hellfire," Mara smiled evilly, raising her free hand.

Kipp's eyes widened, and his hands fought harder to free his neck
when Mara's clenched fist burst into black flames. Belldandy and Urd
both prepared spells, but Kipp was positioned exactly between them and
Mara.

"Say hello to Death for me," Mara smiled one last time before
slamming her fist into his gut.

"ARRRRGH!" Kipp screamed, slamming into the ground, clutching his
stomach in pain.

"Hmm, I expected more," Mara muttered, disappointed.

And as if by command, the wound began to smoke as Kipp's flesh
began heating up.

"That's better!" Mara cried in delight, then disappeared in a gout
of sulphuric smoke.

"Kipp-san!" Belldandy cried, rushing towards the withering mess.

Placing her hands over his body, Belldandy began to chant, the
glow from her hands, soothing the wounds slightly.

"Urd-oneesan! Get one of your positions!" Belldandy called,
concentrating on the spell.

"I'll be right back!" Urd called, rushing towards her lab.

"Megumi-chan, Keiichi-san, prepare a futon for him!" Belldandy
turned to the two mortals, "I don't think he'll be able to move after
this!"

The two nodded and ran into the house, almost running into Urd.
Rushing up to the man, Urd unscrewed one of her many bottles and poured
the contents down his throat. Another was opened and poured over the
wound, which seemed to stop the smoking.

"Belldandy! Don't stop, Hellfire's greatest danger is when it
looks like it has disappeared," Urd warned, adding her power to
Belldandy's spell.

"Please Kipp-san! Fight it! Don't die!" Belldandy cried,
forcing the power into his dieing body.

And then, almost as an anti-climax, the smoking stopped, the
darkness disappeared, and Kipp stopped trembling. Scanning his body
for remains of the dark magicks, Belldandy sighed in relief.

"It's gone," she sighed, wiping her forehead.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Casanova," Urd smiled, glancing at
Kipp's sleeping form.

"You know him Oneesan?" Belldandy asked, glancing at Urd.

"He was with Megumi when I was looking for you," Urd replied.

"Let's get him into the house, he won't wake up for a while,"
Belldandy suggested, levitating the boy's comatose body.

"The guest room's been prepared," Megumi called, leading the way.

"Is he alright?" Keiichi asked, concern evident in his voice.

"He should be, all he needs now is sleep, so his body can restore
itself," Urd informed him.

But it was Belldandy that brought up the most important question.

"Why was he fighting with Mara? And why were they talking about
the Atlantians?" she asked, confused.

"Atlantians? As in the lost city of Atlantis?" Keiichi asked, the
myth coming to mind.

"Yes the Atlantians," Urd replied, "They were renowned for their
ability to mix magic and technology... and famed for their skills as
demon slayers."

"Demon slayers? Then maybe that's why Kipp was fighting with
Mara, that is if he is an Atlantian," Megumi spoke up.

"Impossible, Atlantis was sunk 14 000 years ago, all of its
citizens died either that day, or in the following years. The few that
did survive, eventually forgot of the city and its wonders," Belldandy
informed them.

"ONEESAMA!" Skuld cried, rushing out of the washroom, and into
Belldandy's arms.

"Skuld-chan!" Belldandy laughed, hugging her little sister.

"Welcome back squirt," Urd teased, leaning on the younger goddess'
head.

"Urd! you're so immature!" Skuld fumed.

"And you aren't?" Urd shot back.

"Ano? Are we forgetting someone?" Megumi asked, pointing to
Kipp's floating body.

"Who?" Skuld asked, trying to get a peek around Urd.

"A mortal who tried to fight Mara," Urd replied, pushing Kipp
into the guest room.

"I'll go get some bandages, that wound still looks fresh," Keiichi
suggested, glancing at the burn marks across Kipp's abdomen.

"Why don't you just heal him?" Skuld asked, still trying to see
the mysterious man.

"Because Mara used Hellfire on him, and as you _should_ know,
Hellfire, if you survive, will leave marks that will only disappear over
time... unless you can get hold of an Archangel," Urd muttered.

"But how did he survive?" Megumi asked, "If it's that deadly, why
wasn't he killed instantly?"

"I think it might have to do with the fact that Hellfire was
designed to cause immense amounts of pain before killing. He probably
survived because we were able to tend to him as soon as he was hit,"
Belldandy supplied.

"Hey! I found this inside!" Keiichi called out, rushing back to
the group, "It fell through the kitchen window."

In his hands, were the remains of Kipp's mana blade. The blade
was obviously ruined as the green gem was partially melted, and the hilt
was missing 5 cm, also melted off.

"That's _his_ sword!" Skuld cried, grabbing the weapon out of
Keiichi's hands, "But that means that..."

Shoving Urd aside, Skuld finally got a good look at the mystery
man, and to say she was surprised would be an understatement.

"LONG-SAN!" she cried, rushing to the futon's side.

"You know him!?" Urd screamed, bewildered.

"Of course I know him! He was the one who helped me banish
Morkpish," Skuld muttered, staring at Kipp's features.

"Then that's why he was fighting with Mara, and that's..." Megumi
whispered, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

* * *

"Ughh" Kipp groaned, raising an arm to his eyes, "What is that
ungodly light?"

Slowly opening his eyes, Kipp waited for them to finish adjusting,
before taking a look at his surroundings.

"So this is Hell... or Heaven, a simple room, with a really
annoying light source," he growled to himself.

Of course, Kipp's conclusion was shattered when he saw the
bandages wrapped around his midsection. Groaning to himself, Kipp
gingerly poked himself, and hissed when the pain assured him he was
alive... and in a hell of a lot of pain.

"Great, either Mara wants to torture me, or the kami here felt
like keeping me alive. Frankly, I'm not sure which is worse," Kipp
muttered to himself, recalling all of the horror stories Merlin used to
tell him.

Rising from the futon, Kipp finally noticed he had only his pair
of jeans on, nothing else, not even a pair of socks. Grumbling to
himself, and continuing the favourite past-time of anyone with a
hangover (that is cursing everything they can think of), Kipp took a few
steps towards the room's door, only to find that his legs couldn't
support him properly. Crashing to the floor in a heap didn't improve
his mood much.

"When I get my hands on Mara, I'm going to make her regret ever
having thought of having an impure thought," Kipp growled, trying to
rise, "And I'm fairly certain that made absolutely no sense whatsoever."

Having finally risen, Kipp stumbled to the walls, and tried to use
them for support. This proved to be a dumb thing to do, for the walls
were nothing more than paper with wooden frames.

*Thump*

"I hate my life," Kipp growled, picking himself off of the ground.

Contemplating both his bad luck, and how to best explore his
surroundings, Kipp's honed magical senses told him of a very startling
discovery. There was a massive amount of divine power in the building.

"MYSTIC VISION," Kipp mumbled.

Nothing happened.

"Chikuso! I'm too weak!" Kipp growled, rising to his feet again.

Slowly hobbling down the hallway, Kipp began analyzing in his
situation. a) He was probably in some demon's lair. b) His physical
condition was terrible. c) His magical abilities were severely
hampered. d) He was having the mother of all headaches. Things were
looking bad. Things were looking really bad.

"I hate my life," Kipp grumbled, reaching a bend in the hallway.

Down the bend, five voices could be heard talking. Four were
female, and one was male. But the good thing was that all of them were
familiar.

"Konnichi-wa... or is it Konban-wa?" Kipp grinned, as he rounded
the corner.

"Kipp-san! You should be in bed!" Belldandy cried, rushing to
Kipp's side.

"Shouldn't that sleep spell be working?" Keiichi asked Urd, who
just shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

"I'm finAHHHHHHHH!" Kipp screamed, his head exploding in red hot
pain.

"Kipp/Long-san!" Belldandy and Skuld cried at the same time.

"ARGH! GET AWAY FROM THEM! AIEEEEEE!" Kipp convulsed onto the
ground, his eyes clenched tightly shut.

"What's going on?!" Megumi cried, watching helplessly.

"Is this part of the Hellfire spell?" Keiichi asked, trying to
hold Kipp down.

"No, his mind seems to be in turmoil," Belldandy cried, her hands
and markings glowing, "He's remembering a traumatic event."

"ENDYMION! NOOOOO!" Kipp screamed, tears falling from his eyes.

"Endymion?" Urd whispered to herself, the name sounding vaguely
familiar.

"PRINCESS! NOOOOO!" Kipp screamed again, the tears falling faster.

"Princess? Princess who?" Megumi muttered, helping Keiichi subdue
Kipp's wild thrashing.

"Please Serenity! Don't do _it_" the last words were whispered,
the pain and urgency evident, but the pain even more so.

"Serenity..." Urd's memories began to stir.

"Please, let me do this! Don't sacrifice yourself! SERENITY!
DON'T DO IT! SERENITY! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kipp screamed one last time,
before he stopped convulsing, lapsing into unconsciousness.

"An Atlantian. He's one of the 'Chosen'!" Urd cried, the memories
rushing back.

"The Chosen?! Are you certain?" Belldandy asked, turning to Urd.

"The Chosen? Who are they?" Keiichi, Megumi, and Skuld all asked
in unison.

Urd smiled slightly before saying, "It's story time children,
gather around!"

She was quickly bombarded with various flying objects.

* * *

Long, long ago... about 14 000 years ago, humanity flourished
across the solar system. Through out the worlds, humanity and mystics
lived in peace and harmony. Although each world had its own rulers,
the kingdoms were all united under a single ruler. This was the kind,
and fair Queen Serenity, and her kingdom on the Earth's moon, Luna. The
Serenity family managed to keep the peace for over a millennium, by
creating strong bonds of friendship and family between the many heirs.

The bonds between the families were forged by having the eldest
hairs of the Kingdoms join the elite guard of system, the Senshi.
Although only the eldest became famous, many of the other heirs
learned of teamwork, compassion, and wisdom in the ranks of Senshi. The
Senshi were responsible for the protection of the Sol System and the
peace within it. Over time, it became a great joy for the many sons
and daughters to meet, their 'cousins', for many of them were childhood
friends.

Greatest of these kingdoms was the kingdom of Atlantis, here on
Earth. The wise and just family of Endymion ruled this kingdom.
The Kingdom of Atlantis was that of a patriarch, while the Moon Kingdom
was a matriarch. From the Endymion line came two sons. The eldest was
named Endymion, and he grew up to be a great fighter, and an even wiser
prince.

The second son was named Hyperion for the Gods of the Sun had
blessed him on the day of his birth. He became an even greater warrior
than his brother, and although Endymion later fell in love with the
young Princess Serenity, Hyperion remained a brother figure for the
Senshi, never falling in love.

The peace that ruled the land was broken when Beryl, a Lady of
Earth, who was madly in love with Prince Endymion, fell over to the
Darkness. Seduced by the promises it made, Beryl began to plot the
downfall of the Sol Alliance with a First Class Demoness called
Metallia. Together, the two managed to capture four of the Guardians
of Earth and corrupt them against their pledges. These four guardians
were the very same guardians who were assigned to the protection of the
two princes.

Over the course of several years, Beryl managed to open a portal
to Hell, and bring over an army of minor demons. But they were many,
many, more than the earth's army, the Virtues. Attacking from the
darkness Beryl's army managed to completely destroy Earth's major cities
in several weeks of intense battle. With Earth destroyed, all Beryl had
to do was kill Serenity, and Endymion would run into her arms, or so
Metallia said. But Beryl had gone completely mad, so Metallia's
encouragement was not needed.

A month later, the survivors of Earth, the two princes included,
managed to convince the Senshi and the rest of the worlds to fully arm
themselves, unfortunately, they were to late. In the course of a month,
Beryl had managed to completely destroy every kingdom, leaving the Moon
isolated, frightened, and hopeless. And yet, when Beryl attacked, her
forces outnumbering the Lunar Guard 10/1, the people still fought.
There, Hyperion was captured, and forced to watch each of the Senshi
brutally killed before his eyes, killed by the four guardians he had
trusted.

But the true terror was when Endymion confronted Beryl, and
revealed his feelings for Princess Serenity. In a fit of insanity,
Beryl and Metallia joined forces, obliterating all untainted life on the
Moon, all except Queen Serenity. Grief stricken, and sickened by the
darkness that had taken Beryl, Serenity revealed the true power of the
Moon Kingdom, the Silver Crystal, also known as the Ginzuishou. The
Ginzuishou was a divine gem, forged by the Archangels themselves.
Blessed with the power to amplify the powers of one using it, the
Crystal was partially sentient, being able to choose the one who wielded
it. Channelling her very soul into the crystal, Serenity managed to
force all the souls on the Moon, except her own into the future, to be
reborn.

The ones sent forward, were hence forth called the 'Chosen,' for
two reasons. The first because each Senshi was chosen by the Alpha gods
of their planets, making them powerful champions of the Light. The
second being these are the ones chosen by Destiny to defeat Beryl, and
possibly bring about an age of peace.

* * *

"Poor child, to have to relive the horrors of that day," Belldandy
sobbed, stroking Kipp's hair.

"But who is he?" Keiichi asked, "No, who _was_ he then?"

"I don't know, but probably someone closely associated with the
royal families," Urd replied, "The people loved them, but when he called
out... it was soul wrenching."

"I'm Hyperion," Kipp groaned, slowly sitting up.

"NANI!?" the rest cried, staring at the startled young man.

"At least that's what these... memories are telling me," Kipp
muttered, then he brightened, "At least I'm not crazy!"

"Har har, that isn't funny," Megumi smacked Kipp upside the head.

"Ite! I'm a broken man here!" Kipp grumbled, turning towards the
three sisters.

Taking a deep look at each... well actually a deep look at
Belldandy and Urd, Kipp bowed to all three.

"Arigatou gozaimasu... Goddesses," Kipp whispered.

"It was our duty, and our pleasure," Belldandy smiled.

"Thank you anyways. With out your aid, I'd probably be dead,"
Kipp grinned, but they could tell it didn't reach his eyes.

"Why were you fighting with Mara? And who are you really?" Megumi
asked, glaring suspiciously at Kipp.

"They know?" Kipp asked the goddesses.

"They do," was the reply.

"Interesting, three goddesses, and two university students living
in a sacred temple, plagued by a demoness... Hikari'd probably laugh her
ass of at this," Kipp muttered to himself, then returned to Megumi's
question, "I'm Captain Kipp Long of the JSSDF:SD."

"Captain!? JSSDF?!" were the most repeated words in the confusion
that followed.

"Yes, Captain," Kipp sighed, "And the SD's mission is to hunt
down all hostile beings of divine or demonic descent."

"That's why you couldn't talk about your job," Keiichi mumbled.

"Skuld-san here knows that, mainly because she saved my ass last
month," Kipp grinned at the young goddess.

"So this is the 'Hero' you were babbling about," Urd teased,
"You've been reading way too much manga."

"Shut up Urd!" Skuld growled, brandishing her hammer... which
looked very silly, considering the fact that it was tiny in her larger
hands.

"Stop that you two! We have a guest," Belldandy scolded.

The two meekly sat back down, unable to stand Belldandy's wrath.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to get home..." Kipp got up, only to
be shoved back into his seat by Megumi.

"You aren't leaving this place until you start explaining the
reason you were fighting with Mara, why you know magic, and how come
you, a sixteen year-old, is the captain in the JSSDF," Megumi ordered.

"I really don't see why, after all it is my life," Kipp was
obviously bad at following orders.

"Because if you don't... I'll tell the entire school about your
'secret' life," Megumi threatened.

"And they would believe you because?" Kipp asked glibly.

"Dammit! Kipp, we're your friends, so why won't you let us help
you?" Keiichi said, frustration getting the better of him.

"Because, you probably have enough of your own problems, you don't
need to be saddled down with mine," Kipp replied sadly.

"Problems? What problems?" Keiichi grinned, glancing at
Belldandy.

"Right, forgot about that, but still, I won't have anyone bear the
problems that are mine," Kipp muttered.

"Dammit, if you don't start talking, I'll zap you!" Urd
threatened.

"And attract a dozen demons here?" Kipp asked smugly.

"Oh they won't come," Urd replied, a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"I'm not leaving am I," Kipp asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Kami-sama, why?" Kipp pleaded to the heavens.

"Har har, spill it already," Urd said, leaning against the table.

"I hate my life," Kipp sighed before beginning his tale.

* * *

I was adopted you see. My birth family lived in a rural fishing
villages, on the east coast of... well I'm not sure really. Anyways, it
was a small little town and everyone knew everyone. I grew up as all
babies did there, crying, eating, sleeping, falling into the water, etc.
It was a normal happy life, on that I miss.

It was on my second birthday when it all came to an end. I can
recall the details down to the finest points, and I wish I couldn't.
From over the horizon, darkness came, shadowing the land, and killing
the fish. The darkness lasted for days, but when nobody died, they
became angered. They were demons, dozens of them, and each were out for
blood.

On the thirteenth day of darkness, they were the dramatic type,
they struck. rushing our town in a terrifying mass, the creatures began
to feast. They killed everyone in the most brutal fashion I have every
seen. But they weren't done, they destroyed the buildings as well,
poisoned the wells, killed the livestock, and burnt down the forests.
They ravaged, defiled, and destroyed everything.

I survived only because my parents covered me in their blood,
knocked me out, placed me in a boat, and pushed me out into the ocean.
The last thing I remember, was floating down the coast, a bright reddish
glow fading from sight.

I was later found by the police, and when they learned of my
origins, I was placed in a orphanage. As for the psychological stuff, I
became secluded, I rarely ate, I never played, and I spent most of my
time staying awake, on fear of reliving the event. In short, I was a
seriously messed up two year old. It wasn't until two years later that
I was finally able to emerge from my shell, to face the real world...
thanks to Setsuna Meiou.

Setsuna was an eleven-year-old girl who lived near the orphanage.
Her mother visited a lot before she died, so Setsuna visited frequently,
to honour her mother, and because she loved playing with the younger
children. She took a special interest in me when she learned that I had
seen my parents die. She spent hours of her time, comforting me,
feeding me, and just being there for me. She became the older sister I
never had. Not in words, in actions.

When I finally did emerge, the orphanage begged Setsuna's father
to adopt me, so that I could stay with Setsuna. They felt that I really
needed Setsuna, for both support, and because she and I really were like
family. Eventually, Meiou-san collapsed, well not eventually, more like
three sessions of Setsuna's puppy dog attack. Anyways, I was adopted
into the family of two, and I began to live a normal life again.

It was a few years later that we moved away, to Tokyo actually. I
was almost ten, Setsuna was sixteen, and very popular with the guys.
Which led to me being 'different' from everyone else. You see, I never
really got into any tight spots, mainly because all of the older guys
would look out for me, based on the fact that Setsuna loved me, and if
they helped me, Setsuna would like them. I hated it.

I rarely made any friends, mainly because parents feared me.
They'd point at me and gossip about how I was the only survivor, how I
was the only one among hundreds to live through that, that, that...
They didn't want their children around me, after all, I could be a
little unstable. Watching everyone die does that to people. Life
sucked.

And then I turned twelve. With the added abilities of a near-
adolescent boy, I became curious about what Meiou-san did, after all, we
were quite rich. Since I had very few friends... one to be exact, I
decided to follow my father to work. I woke up really early one day,
snuck into the car's trunk and waited. Why the trunk? Well our car was
one of those where the backseat had a connection into the trunk, so I
could hide from sight, yet still leave whenever I wanted. I didn't wait
long, as my father usually left early as well. The biggest mistake of
my life had just began.

I don't know how long I was jousted around, but eventually the car
stopped... and yes the engine was turned off, I wasn't that stupid. I
waited a bit, to make sure no one was watching, then I rushed out of the
trunk, and into the backseat. A glance out the window showed that we
were in a clearing, in the middle of a forest. Making sure that there
were no observers, I darted out of the car, and into the cover of the
surrounding trees. That was when I began to take in the sights.

The clearing had exactly eight large trucks. Five held men in
combat fatigues, two held what looked like supplies, and the last was a
large com-centre. To my young mind, it looked like a something out of a
war movie, which lead to the conclusion that my father was a soldier.
It was close, but I'll get to that later. My father talked to several
of the important looking people for a while, who then ordered the armed
soldiers into the woods. I was small then, but I managed to keep in a
close distance of a couple of meters... several dozen meters... okay,
several dozen meters and falling rapidly.

When I did manage to catch up, they were in a huge fight with
several dozen creatures. They were losing, and I was too startled to
fall back with them, I just stood there, staring at the things, the
things that looked so much like the ones that murdered my family.
When I was finally able to move, it was too late. One of the demons had
seen me, and decided to learn if children really did taste better then
adults, bad thing for me.

I was smashed around, beaten, cut, and all of the rest of that
junk. The thing broke my arm, dislocated the other shoulder, cracked
three ribs, and was in the process of breaking a leg when I finally
blacked out. When I came to, I was told of what had happened, and it
scared me more then anything ever had.

Apparently, just before I blacked out, my eyes started to glow.
That was all the warning the demons got as something emerged from my
body, something... Divine. They say it looked like a human made of
white and blue light, with six feathery, white wings on its back. It
looked around for a bit, then its white 'eyes' focused on the demon
holding me, and it went berserk. Every single one of the demons were
killed, hunted down by the being. When it had killed the last of the
things, it returned to my sleeping form, and some of the soldiers could
have sworn that it had smiled at me. If it really did, no one will ever
know, but it did heal all of my wounds, before it disappeared in a ray
of light.

But before the being left, it turned to me and whispered
something, something that changed everything in my life. It whispered,
"Hyperion, our promise, has been fulfilled. I await your return my
friend."

At first, they believed that I was a god, sent to Earth, but
Merlin quickly destroyed that idea. How? Simple, every being has a
certain amount of spiritual energy correct? Gods obviously have a lot
more then any mortal. But when a god is 'born' as a mortal, their
powers are removed. Yet, even when gone, there is still a strong bond,
a residue of the powers that were there. I didn't have that residue.

But I did have a lot of untapped spiritual energy, and a very high
mana potential. Which lead to me new choices in life, join the
JSSDF:SDs, which was lead by General Meiou, my father, and take revenge
on the bastards that killed my family, or go home, to the crappy life I
lead. I signed up then and there.

The next two years were the hardest in my life. You see, the
JSSDF:SDs were a relatively new division, formed when the government
officials finally got their heads out of their asses and took a look
around... that and the immortal Merlin had to brow beat them a bit.
Either way, the ranks were small, mainly because Intelligence wasn't
very good at tracking down paranormals for the SDs ranks, but then
Intel's not very good at getting much info on anything that isn't human.
This lead to me being drafted, and this also lead to me being picked to
be Merlin's new trainee.

Well actually, Merlin picked me because he wanted a specialist in
each region, so he decided to start training one in every country that
had a SD division. I was chosen because I had one of the largest
spiritual potentials he had ever seen, I could tap huge amounts of mana
at twelve, and because I had a very weak ESP, very, very weak. But I
still had tones of other abilities, added to the fact that an angel
wanted to protect me, I was the most logical choice.

For the next two years, I trained under Merlin-sensei, learning
mystic lore and all of that jargon. The rest of the time I spent as any
other new recruit to the JSDF, under intense physical and mental
training. By the end of the first year, I was in top physical
condition. My mental condition was also quite exceptional, considering
the fact that I was already in my last year of high school. Eventually,
I was assigned as squad leader of the rookie team, Espers. Why Espers?
Well, mainly because all of us had at least a basic ESP capability, and
one of our members, the communications officer, Amatsu Hikari, who is
now my best friend by the way, was... no _is_ a huge anime buff, and she
was into this manga at the time, which was about a boy with ESP.
Kimagure Orange Road, god, I prey I never have to see another freaking
episode of that stuff. I mean it was okay the first time around, but
then she just had to show the entire 26-episode thing FIVE HUNDRED
freaking times!

But that's beside the point, the Espers were still the best group
around, featuring a 90% success rate. There were a total of six of us,
four field agents, and one communications officer, and an intelligence
agent. The four field agents are; Hamasaki Hiroshi, Kagirinai Makoto,
and Kenshin Rantora, and myself. The intelligence agent is Saitoku
Hikaru, who works with the JSSDF, but is a hell of a lot more
competent. And Amatsu Hikari is our communications officer, because
she has the strongest ESP amongst the entire SDs, and she also likes her
job way too much.

Anyhoo, as the six of us went through the ranks at incredible
speed, one promotion after another, but that was because what we could
do to twice as many demons as twenty JSDF soldiers. I still remain the
leader of the Espers today, but many of us have been assigned to either
help train the new recruits the JSSDF keep finding, or continue field
work, like myself and Rantora, and Hikari likes her job way too much to
give it to anyone else... and because she just gets a thrill at
pestering me.

Along with the mystic, physical, and mental training we received,
we were also trained in the usage of many different types of weapons
and fighting styles, survival training, which included basic medicine,
strategy, ninjetsu training, mainly the stealth part, and how to pilot
various vehicles... which is why I could drive a motorcycle around, even
if I am underage. Heh, I even have a certified license to drive tanks.

We learned a lot more stuff then even I care to remember, but then
that was one of the benefits of the JSSDF, they made sure you were of
the smartest people around, and if you weren't, then they made you one.
But the thing was that I seemed to know a hell of a lot more then I was
supposed to, hell I could do grade ten physics when I was twelve! I
finished homework easily, and whenever I would freeze in a test,
something would whisper in my mind the answer. And then the dreams
started.

I had turned fifteen, when they began, dreams of faces, people,
things, places, all blurry, but hauntingly familiar. At first, they
were just blurs, but over time, they became clearer, until I had every
single one committed to memory, until I could identify them on the
streets, then the real memories began, almost in chronological order.
I relived the entire life of a prince named Hyperion, watching every
single moment of his life, understanding each and every scene perfectly,
feeling everything he felt. Over the next year and a half, I lived
Hyperion's life at night, lived it until every single person he loved, I
loved as well, he and I might as well have been one since both of our
personalities were so similar, hell both of us were traumatized when
we were young, from being attacked by demons.

But then I finally understood why I had Hyperion's memories, why
he and I were so similar, he was I. The last half-year was spent
reliving the final battle of the Moon Kingdom, the last days of the Sol
Alliance. I watched in the final battle as Hyperion was crippled, then
forced to watch each of his loved ones brutally executed, before
Hyperion's rage burst, forcing him to slaughter the four traitors. I
watched as the gentle Queen Serenity sacrificed her soul to save her
children's, and I too yelled with Hyperion for her to stop, for her to
let me... no, us, to take her place. But she only smiled sadly and
told Hyperion that he too was dear to her... and then everything blacked
out.

I've been reliving that battle for the last three months, every
night the same hell, and every night, I swear an oath to kill Beryl if I
ever find her. But the Fates weren't done with me, for just under a
month ago, the memories started to show up when I was awake, striking
and then disappearing, causing almost catatonic states.

And that brings us here, where I'm on leave, for an undetermined
length of time. It's funny really, normally, I would never tell anyone
my life, they don't need the burden. But you guys... err, you ladies,
and the lone guy, are... different... that'll have to do. You all
remind me of Hyperion's friend, and of my own.

* * *

Kipp grinned to himself, glancing at the shocked faces around
himself. Stretching his arms, Kipp got to his feet and started looked
around the room.

"Sit down now, you're not getting away that easily," Megumi half
growled, half whispered.

"After someone tells me where my stuff is, it is kind of getting
cold in here," Kipp replied, gesturing towards his bare chest.

Skuld and Megumi both blushed upon glancing at Kipp's well toned
body, while Urd only chuckled at the two, both reactions caused Kipp to
blush and search even harder for his clothing. luckily, none of them
noticed the faded scars on his body, none except Belldandy, who decided
not to comment.

"Um, your shirt was destroyed by Mara, but I think I might have a
sweater in your size. As to your jacket, I couldn't find it, but it
might be inside your bike, I haven't checked," Keiichi supplied, heading
towards his room in search of the sweater.

"What, you haven't taken it apart yet?" Kipp called after him,
which invoked a laugh from everyone.

"Long-san, most mortals that I know of can never deal with that
pain, especially at such a young age," Belldandy whispered softly.

"Well, if what Urd-san tells me is true, then technically I'm
thirty-five, since I am Hyperion," Kipp replied lightly, before his
voice sobered, "It's hard, very hard, but eventually you learn to deal
with it, to be able to stand the pain... and the loneliness."

Kipp grinned again, but the smile never reached his eyes, like so
many others before it. Deciding to change the subject, Kipp turned to
Skuld and looked at her questioningly.

"N-nani?" Skuld asked nervously under the scrutiny.

"Oh, just wondering how you've been for the past month. You know
it's not everyday you meet a goddess that's saved your life, again,"
Kipp smiled.

"Oh, umm, okay I guess," Skuld blushed, "Besides, you did most of
the work!"

"Not really, but thanks for the complement," Kipp winked before
turning to Keiichi, and the bright yellow sweater he was carrying.

"Sorry about the colour," Keiichi grinned sheepishly, handing the
sweater to the horrified Kipp.

"I swear, I have never seen anything so... so... _yellow_," Kipp
exclaimed, before shrugging and putting the sweater on, "At least it
fits."

Then turning back to the table, Kipp slowly examined each of their
faces, trying to find some sort of comfort, and almost a look of fear.
one that he had worn many times, for all of the times he had ever told
a 'friend' his life, his job, and his 'other'. Prying to any kami,
gods, and spirits that cared, Kipp looked apprehensively at those
gathered at the table, waiting for a response.

"Kipp, how do you live with it?" Megumi asked quietly, "How do you
deal with the pain, and don't give me that 35 crap."

"I told you, I just do, I fight it like how I fight everything,
never giving an inch, and never giving up," Kipp replied quietly, "That
is my creed, my life, and my law. To do any less is to be a coward, to
be a weakling, and I am not a weakling, nor will I ever be!"

The last was spoken so vehemently, that Megumi actually flinched,
turning away from the young man. Belldandy flinched too, but looked
sadly at the tormented soul before her. The others were a mixture of
pity and sadness, as well a fear from the fire in Kipp's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Kipp apologized sadly, "But some habits just
never die. But then, everyone's had to deal with some crap in life,
ne?"

Unfortunately, nobody believed him. Luckily for Kipp through,
Welsper the cat/demon entered the room. Sufficed to say, Kipp wasn't
about let the cat get away, which provided him with a nice diversion.

"DEMON!" Kipp cried, diving for the cat, only to be intercepted by
a force shield.

"Don't!" Everyone at the table cried in unison.

"Why the bloody hell not? It's a bloody demon for Kami-sama's
sake!" Kipp growled, trying to break through the shield.

Welsper was not amused, which was reflected by all of the
scratches Kipp received, something along the lines several dozen in a
second.

"Ite," Kipp sobbed dejectedly, before a gleam entered his eyes,
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty... GOTCHA!"

As Kipp was about to grab one of his many weapons hidden on his
body, Belldandy snatched the cat away and started stroking its head.
Keiichi then rounded on Kipp and growled in a low voice.

"Listen, if you kill Welsper, then Belldandy will die too,"
Keiichi growled slowly, emphasizing each word.

Kipp glanced around as every, except Belldandy and Welsper, nodded
their heads in agreement, before grinning sheepishly.

"I wasn't going to kill it, I was only going to banish it back to
Hell," Kipp explained, "After all, to kill a demon is to kill its divine
double."

Everyone's jaws dropped in surprise at Kipp's recital of the
Doublet System, which seemed to confuse Kipp even more.

"Ano... what are you staring at?" Kipp asked, becoming
uncomfortable under all their stares.

"How. Do. You. Know. About. The. DOUBLET SYSTEM?!?!" Urd exclaimed
staring at the befuddled young man.

"What do you mean how I know?" Kipp asked, not seeming to be able
to guess the nature of the question.

"How do you know about the Doublet System? Even Mystics barely
know about that!" Skuld interjected, glaring at Kipp.

"Well, Merlin could classify as a Mystic, but I really doubt that,
after all, he's only been alive for a few centuries. But then, he does
know a lot of gods, fay, elves, and dragons... not to mention a few
demons, oh! And he's on a first name bases with one of the aspects of
Death..." Kipp trailed of as Urd looked suspiciously at him.

"This Merlin, he wouldn't happen to be the same Merlin that was an
advisor to King Arthur would he?" Urd asked, her suspicions growing.

"So he claims, but then no one ever knows if he's telling a tale
or the truth," Kipp replied, shrugging his shoulder.

"ARRGH!" Urd growled, "Why does that old goat always come back to
haunt me?" Urd cried to the heavens.

"Old goat? Yeah that would describe him, but then what right does
a centuries old goddess have to call him... I'll shut up now," Kipp
finished meekly as Urd glared at him.

"I knew I shouldn't have let him have that wish!" Urd growled,
slamming her fist into the table.

"Wish? What wish?" Kipp asked, confused.

"That befuddled old wizard wished for immortality when he was
'younger'," Urd growled, "Of course, I had to agree with Belldandy that
Merlin qualified for a wish, and then he goes and starts calling me an
old hag!"

The mortals sweat dropped as Skuld shrugged apologetically, and
sighed at Urd's antics. Turning to face the three, Skuld began to
explain.

"You see, Urd's had this rivalry with Merlin since he was young,
and he's always been able to beat her," Skuld mumbled, shaking her head,
"Apparently, she hasn't gotten over the last one."

"Ummm, right, I think I'll be going now... Bye!" With that Kipp
made a mad dash for the door.

Grabbing his coat and items, Kipp barely got his shoes on before
the rest managed to get to their feet. Like a bolt of lightning, Kipp
dashed to his bike, pulled out the helmet, started it up, and was gone.

"I think we scared him," Keiichi mumbled quietly.

* * *

"Jeez, Merlin never said that divinities were _that_ eccentric...
but then again he's never told me he had a rivalry with a goddess," Kipp
mumbled to himself as he tried to sort out his own thoughts.

Kipp always found driving relaxing, almost therapeutic, but then
it rarely helped when he was fighting with problems this huge. Here he
was, finally given the chance to be a normal kid for a change, and he
just had to pick the one school in all of Japan that had three goddesses
living nearby. Life tended to do things like this to him, but then he
tended to do things like this to himself often enough that it almost
seemed... normal for him.

"Argh! I hate my life," Kipp muttered, speeding the machine up.

Of course, it always seemed that Life wasn't the only being out to
get him... or rather use him for amusement. At times it seemed that the
kami and the oni took a perverse pleasure in hunting him down and
causing complications in his life. Hell, he had meet Death enough times
in his life to know that he wasn't the most normal guy around, but then
why couldn't they pick on Rantora, he was certainly as strange, if not
stranger then himself. Ah, the eccentric nature of many spirits was
perplexing, if not annoying.

"Grrr, I hate my life," Kipp muttered, speeding the machine up.

Why couldn't they have chosen Honolulu? Or maybe even some
remote location in the middle of the Europe, but nooo, they just had
to come here. But then he could understand why Belldandy chose here,
after all, Keiichi was here. He had heard of many tales were the mortal
was just a plaything for the deity, but here, with Belldandy and
Keiichi, he could tell that the two really loved each other, and truly
belonged together. Their love was the kind that inspired poets to write
great sonnets about it, armies to take up arms and protect it. It was
the kind he had always dreamed of finding for himself, the kind found
only in fairy tales, or so he thought.

"Why? I hate my life," Kipp muttered, speeding up again.

Now if Kipp wasn't so absorbed in his thoughts and cursing, he
would have noticed that he was going at least 100km in a 60km zone.
Sufficed to say the police were not happy.

"Aww crap, just what I need," Kipp muttered, pulling up and
dismounting.

Pulling off his helmet, Kipp walked up to the police car's window
and bent to face the police officer. Dressed in the typical officer's
uniform, Kobayakawa Miyuki was quite surprised to see the youthful face
behind the helmet.

"Umm, aren't you a little young to be driving?" her partner
Tsujimoto Natsumi interjected form beside her.

Kipp groaned at the young part before puling his i.d out from his
pocket, "Captain Kipp Long, JSSDF:SD, how may I help you officers?"

"Captain? JSSDF? Let me see that!" Natsumi growled, snatching
the i.d from Kipp's hands.

"Oh boy," Kipp mumbled to himself, picturing the misunderstanding
this was going to cause.

"Well, this is obviously a fake i.d, since you are much to young
to be driving, we're going to have to take you in and call your
parents," Miyuki ordered, stepping out of the car, and hustling Kipp
into the back seat.

"Give me your keys," Natsumi ordered, putting her hand out.

"I don't have any keys on me, except the ones for my apartment,"
Kipp said, already knowing what was coming next.

"Well then how were you able to start that bike... don't tell me
you hot-wired it," Natsumi growled, mentally adding another black mark
to Kipp's file.

"This is just not my day," Kipp muttered under his breath, "Look,
the bike doesn't need a key, it works on prints, which you'll see if you
look at the bike."

With that, Kipp twisted out of Miyuki's grasp and casually walked
towards his bike, ignoring Natsumi completely. If he didn't he probably
wouldn't have had to suffer getting his face rubbed into the gravel.

"Chikuso," Kipp growled, slipping out of Natsumi's powerful grip
and making a run for his bike.

Slipping open the seat cover, Kipp removed his emergency pistol,
from his backpack, and pointed it at the two police officers. Then
spinning the weapon, Kipp tossed it to Miyuki and raised his hands in
surrender.

"You may not believe me, but if you call the JSSDF and ask for a
General Meiou, he will confirm my identity," Kipp said, before walking
past the two stunned women and taking a seat in the back of the police
cruiser.

"That was strange..." Natsumi muttered before checking on the
bike, which was indeed still active, but emitting no exhaust.

"Alright, let's go," Miyuki called, starting pulling back onto the
road and heading towards HQ.

"Let's see what this baby can do!" Natsumi grinned, and throttled
the engine.

* * *

"Where did you get that thing!" Natsumi cried, staring at Kipp's
bike.

"I told you, but then you didn't believe me," Kipp mumbled,
getting out of the police car.

"It probably belongs to his Otou-san," Miyuki supplied.

"Not bloody likely, Otou-san wouldn't ride a bike if his life
depended on it," Kipp mumbled again, staring at the handcuffs he was
wearing.

"Would you quit mumbling," an irritated Natsumi growled.

"But I'm going to be the laughing stalk of the entire JSSDF," Kipp
mumbled again, still staring at the cuffs.

"He really thinks he is JSSDF," Natsumi whispered to Natsumi.

"I know," Miyuki whispered back, "I'd believe him too if he
weren't so young."

"Why?" Natsumi hissed, glancing at Kipp, who was still mumbling,
"He looks kind of out of it to me."

"Yeah, but it would explain the bike, the gun, and the moves,"
Miyuki whispered, rubbing her arm.

"Fine, we'll call the JSSDF," Natsumi growled, throwing her hands
up in defeat.

"And then Merlin'll probably ask why I..." Kipp trailed off when
he noticed the two women staring at him, "What? Oh, the shirt, I
borrowed it form a friend. Gotta remember to return it soon."

"Okay, let's get those cuffs off, I don't think you're going to
run." Miyuki offered, reaching for her keys.

"Don't bother," Kipp replied, removing the handcuffs.

"What-but-when-how?" Natsumi asked, staring at the handcuffs.

"Like I keep saying, and like you keep ignoring, I'm with the
JSSDF," Kipp mumbled.

"Well, we're making the call now, and if they say no, I'm really
going to hurt you kid," Natsumi threatened.

"Go ahead, although I doubt you could really do more then I've
already faced," Kipp laughed bitterly, before walking into the police
station, and taking a seat by the front desk.

"Umm, right... I'll be right back," Miyuki smiled and went to call
the JSSDF, leaving Natsumi to watch Kipp.

"Tough guy are we?" Natsumi mocked.

"Dunno, depends on what you call a 'tough'guy," Kipp shrugged,
glancing around the room.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," Natsumi growled
slowly.

"In that case, the only brawl I've ever been in was when the
entire staff went out and got drunk. I was around the third last down,"
Kipp replied casually.

"*Humph*, yeah right," Natsumi retorted, when Miyuki walked back
into the room.

Walked was too elegant of a word, rather, she stumbled into the
room, a look of shock evident on her face. Slowly, Miyuki turned to
face Kipp and stared at him strangely, which caused Kipp to fell very
uncomfortable.

"Umm, could you stop that? Either lock me up, or let me go, but
stop staring at me like that!" Kipp exclaimed, trying to escape her
gaze.

"Miyuki-chan... you okay?" Natsumi asked, glancing at her partner.

"He-he-he-he was telling the truth!" Miyuki finally exclaimed,
still staring at Kipp.

"NANI?!" Natsumi exclaimed staring at the young man wearing a
ridiculously yellow sweater.

"I told you, I borrowed the bloody sweater!" Kipp exclaimed,
reaching for his helmet.

"Captain Long?" an officer asked as he walked up to Kipp.

"Yeah?" Kipp asked, turning to face the officer.

"Lieutenant Shuurin, Sir. I was asked by Captain Arashi to greet
you and to welcome you to Nekomi," Shuurin saluted.

"Stop that," Kipp said, embarrassed, "I'm off duty, besides, I
hate titles. You can tell Captain Arashi that I appreciate the welcome,
speaking of the Captain, where is he?"

"Captain Shuurin is out right now, investigating a recent murder,"
the lieutenant shrugged apologetically, "You know how it is."

"Unfortunately yes," Kipp said, making a face, "Well tell the
Captain that I said hi, and that I'll meet with him later."

Meeting finished, Kipp took his helmet and walked out of the
station, leaving two very baffled police officers behind. Natsumi and
Miyuki both gawked at the young man before turning to back to each
other.

"How the hell did a kid that young get to be a Captain?!" Natsumi
exclaimed to Miyuki, who just shrugged her shoulders in response.

* * *

*Bring* *Bring* *Bring*

"Odd, Belldandy-oneesama should have answered the pho... oh right,
she and Keiichi went out on a date," Skuld muttered to herself, making a
face.

Although the young goddess had come to accept Keiichi, she still
held a little distaste with the mortal, after all, her Oneesama deserved
better. But Skuld also knew that Belldandy deserved to be happy, and
Belldandy was never happier then when she was with Keiichi. Skuld had
matured enough to accept the fact that Belldandy wouldn't always be
there for her. And sometimes, although she'd never admit it to Urd,
Skuld envied the relationship Belldandy had with Keiichi.

*Bring* *Bring* *Bring*

Sighing softly, Skuld left her lab to answer the phone.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Skuld is that you?" a familiar voice asked from the other end.

"Peorth? Is that you?" Skuld asked, already knowing the answer.

"Oui, mon cheri. Is Belldandy there?" urgency filled Peorth's
voice.

"Why?" Skuld asked suspiciously, recalling the many times Peorth
and Belldandy had gotten into 'fights' over Keiichi.

"This isn't about Kei-chan, Skuld, this is serious!" Peorth cried
angrily.

"What's that noise? What's going on over there Peorth?" Skuld
asked urgently.

"Someone's trying to hack into the system, and on top of that,
Yggdrasil's got a really nasty bug," Peorth growled.

"Do you need us up there?" Skuld asked urgently, already
envisioning returning to Asgard.

"I wish you were, but you can't, Heimdall's got strict orders to
let nobody in," Peorth replied angrily.

"Then why did you call?" Skuld asked curiously.

"I wanted one of you to take my wishes, I can't do both jobs right
now," Peorth explained.

"Well, Belldandy isn't here, and neither is Urd..." Skuld trailed
off as the implications hit her.

"Merci! I'll send the file to you now!" Peorth cried
ecstatically.

"Wait..." Skuld cried, but Peorth had already hung up, "Great,
just great."

Walking back to her labs, Skuld watched as the printer finished
printing out the profile of the wish receiver. What was strange
through was that the file was incomplete, missing both the receiver's
profile and picture. All that was listed was an address.

"How strange," Skuld mused to herself, before shrugging her
shoulders and grabbing her hammer, "Oh well, it can't be that hard."

And with those last words, the young goddess darted into the
washroom and was gone.

* * *

Kipp turned the key and opened the door. Dropping his bag
unceremoniously into the centre of the hallway, Kipp proceeded to remove
his shoes and put away his coat. That finished, he warily trudged into
the kitchen and opened a fridge. Glancing around the dwindling supply
of instant ramen and such, Kipp pulled out a can of coffee and poured it
into a mug.

Placing the mug into the microwave and starting the machine, Kipp
wandered into the living room and began channel surfing. As usual,
nothing really good was on, except maybe a few animes he had found
interesting. But with nothing to occupy his interest, Kipp walked back
into the kitchen, took his coffee, walked back into the living room, and
sank in for a long rest. And then the strange things started to happen.

"What the hell?" Kipp exclaimed as his coffee started to bubble
and froth.

From the foam, a thin beam of light burst forth, followed by a
head and body. Unfortunately, the head's trajectory sent it straight
into Kipp's face, sending him flying into his chair.

"Ite..." Skuld groaned, rubbing her head.

"Why me?" Kipp muttered, still dazed, which probably explains what
happened next.

Groping around blindly, Kipp happened to lay his hands on Skuld,
and not in a very good way either. Skuld face then went through several
different shades of red before settling with "I'm so incredibly pissed
that I'm going to kill someone" red. Intent on dealing bodily harm on
the disgusting pervert that touched her, Skuld grabbed her hammer and
brought it down, with all her might, on Kipp's head. This all took five
seconds.

"HENTAI!!!!!!" Skuld screamed, leaping off Kipp and backing away
from him.

Kipp wasn't very lucky this time. The force from the hammer
managed to knock him right into lala land.

"Kipp-san!" Skuld exclaimed, finally realizing whom she had just
knocked into dreamland.

Rushing to the Kipp's prone form, Skuld tried to awaken him, but
to no avail. Giving up, Skuld began hunting for a phone, one that could
withstand the amount of shouting she was going to throw at Peorth.

* * *

"Aw hell, not again," Kipp muttered, waking up in his bed, but now
with bandages around his head.

Straining his ears, Kipp could make out the sound of someone
female yelling, but no one yelling back. Groaning, Kipp fell back into
his bed and tried to forget about everything, but the yelling only got
louder. Throwing his hands up in surrender, Kipp got out of bed, and
was quite pleased to find himself fully clothed. Removing the sweater,
Kipp reached into his closet and pulled out a loose fitting black shirt.

Now clothed properly, Kipp reached further into his closet and
opened a hidden panel along the bottom. This lead to a large safe.
Placing his palm on a black panel to the safe's right, unlocked said
safe. Within the large box were two 9mm pistols, three long knives, two
clips of extra ammo, and two grenades.

"Not quite as good as _my_ guns, but they'll do," he murmured
quietly, taking the three knives, two guns and the two extra clips of
ammo.

After a second thought, Kipp took the two grenades and slowly
walked to his door. Opening the door a crack, Kipp peered out, but saw
nothing, the person was probably on the phone. Opening the door slowly,
Kipp waved the yellow sweater outside, but received no response, which
was a good thing, he didn't want to ruin Keiichi's shirt.

Stepping into the hallway prove that nobody was there, or in the
guest room, but the lights in the kitchen and living room were on, which
was understandable considering he hadn't turned them on when he was
still conscious. What did prove strange was the figure with long raven
hair yelling into a phone. Said figure also had a ridiculously small
mallet strapped to her back.

"PEORTH!!!! Next time you send me a file, make sure it's
complete!" Skuld yelled into the receiver before slamming the phone back
into its cradle.

"Well, what have we here?" Kipp asked quietly, leaning against the
wall.

"Eeep!" Skuld squeaked, turning around, embarrassment written all
over her face, "Gomen ne!"

"For the smashing my face into the next universe thing? Don't
worry about it," Kipp waved the apology aside, "What I want to know is
what you were doing jumping out of my coffee, and what you're doing in
my apartment."

"Well you see, that's a funny thing you should bring up," Skuld
began. laughing nervously.

"Humour me," Kipp replied blandly.

"Kipp Long, you have been selected by both the Goddess Relief
Office, and the Earth Otasuke Centre to receive a wish. The deeds you
have done have granted you the right to have anything you desire," Skuld
recited the lines Peorth had fed her, "But I warn you, you have only
one wish. Think carefully before you ask."

"NA-NANI!? A wish? You're kidding me, right?" Kipp cried, until
he saw the look of utter seriousness on Skuld's face, "What the hell do
I have to wish for?"

"Well you can wish for everything, nothing is impossible when
you're dealing with the Ultimate Force!" Skuld declared.

"Actually a lot is impossible with the Ultimate Force," Kipp
replied glumly.

"What are you talking about? The Ultimate Force is that which
runs the universe. Its powers are infinity at worst!" Skuld retorted.

"And that is the exact reason why the Ultimate Force can't grant
everything!" Kipp shot back at a baffled Skuld, "Because it runs the
universe, it must maintain the balance between good and evil. No matter
what we wish, evil and good will always exist, and they will always hate
each other. The only way to achieve perfect harmony is through complete
and total annihilation of everything."

"Oh, that little thing," Skuld muttered, "Just a bug in the
system, but yeah you're right. We can't totally wipe out the Fallen,
because of the Balance, but we can lessen the damage they do."

"So I really don't have much to wish for. I don't have any
delusions of being a god, nor do I want those responsibilities (I'm
looking in your general direction Christopher Angel, you too Brett Handy
^_^). I seriously doubt I'd make a very good god either. I don't want
to be very powerful, I just want to be normal, to be able to forge my
own destiny on my own." Kipp explained, grinning slightly at Skuld, "So
Skuld-sama, you can take your wish and give it to someone who deserves
it more."

"Na-nani?" she stammered in a small voice, "You don't want
anything?"

"Nope, whatever I get in life will because I achieved it myself.
I'm sure that I could probably wish for world peace, or an end to the
hunger problem, but then us humans would never learn anything if the
problems just suddenly disappeared. Of course, a lot of that insight
belongs to Merlin, but I've learned to trust his judgment, considering
he's almost always right." Kipp explained.

Skuld opened her mouth to responded, before the doorbell
interrupted her. Shrugging his shoulder in confusion, Kipp went to
answer the door.

"Strange, did you order something while I was out?" Kipp asked,
looking through the peephole.

"No, why?" Skuld asked walking up behind him.

"Cause there's a delivery guy outside," Kipp replied, reaching for
his guns.

"Put those down, he probably got the wrong apartment," Skuld
snapped opening the door.

"Ano, does a Kipp Long live here?" the delivery guy asked,
"Because I have a package here for him."

"Yeah, what is it?" Kipp asked, glancing suspiciously at the man.

"Hmm, let me see," the man glanced quickly at his sheets before
grinning at Kipp, "Your death."

And then the man's skin burst apart, revealing a 12th Class demon,
who rushed into the apartment, shoving Kipp and Skuld backward. From
behind the first demon came five more of the grotesque creatures, each
just itching for a fight. Luckily, Kipp and Skuld were glad to oblige
them.

"Eat this!" Kipp shouted, slamming a round into the leader's eye.

"There's not enough space here! We've got to leave!" Skuld
called, smashing Mjollnir into another demon.

"Follow me," Kipp growled, smashing the butt of his gun into
another creature.

Firing off several more rounds, Kipp began fighting his way to the
door, but to no avail. And to add insult to injury, several pairs of
arms began to break through the ground. Breaking through the floor,
three more demons joined the fray. Snarling curses at everything in
general, Kipp and Skuld were forced into the only other hallway in the
entire apartment, the one connecting to the bedrooms.

"That's it! I'm pissed!" Kipp growled, grabbing on of his
grenades and chucking it down the hallway, "Eat fire suckers!"

As the grenade left his hands, Kipp conjured a large wall of ice
in front of him, effectively blocking off the demons' chances of
reaching them anytime soon. Unfortunately, Kipp's magical capabilities
were strained to their limit as he was forced to contend with the might
of a fire elemental grenade.

"Please hold! I'm begging you Undine! Hold!" Kipp prayed,
willing the wall of ice to stay.

But even Kipp's best efforts weren't enough as the geyser of flame
continued to burn through the ice at an alarming rate. And then the
wall suddenly hardened, expanding and fighting back the fire. Eyes wide
in amazement, Kipp turned and found Skuld, arms outstretched, adding her
will to the barrier.

"About bloody time," Kipp growled, then softened the comment with
a grin, "Buy still, arigatou."

"Humph!" Skuld sniffed indignantly, then grinned at Kipp, "Why do
I always end up saving your butt?"

Kipp shrugged in response, before willing the wall of ice away.
But their celebration was cut short as the guest room floor exploded
upwards. Soon that room was filled with demons, which promptly charged
the door Kipp had just slammed shut.

"Aw fuck!! Not again!" Kipp cried, holding the guest room door
shut.

"Oh no! They're breaking through the wall!" Skuld cried, smashing
a hand back through the wall.

Of course, bad luck always leads to bad luck, as the main bedrooms
floor exploded upward and more demons rose out of the wreckage.
Muttering curses at everything in general, Kipp slammed that door shut
and jammed the lock with one of his knives.

"What the hell is going on!" Skuld cried, slamming her mallet into
anything stupid enough to try and break through the wall.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Kipp cried back, trying to
hold both doors shut.

And through all this commotion, neither noticed that creature that
had entered through the holes in the living room. The creature stood
over 2m in height. Its skin was leathery, yet appeared almost human.
Even if a human didn't notice the claws and tail, they would have been
able tell that this creature was no human just by glancing into its
eyes. Each eye was like an orb of darkness, pure black, and pure
malevolence. Grinning in triumph, the creature rushed forth and slammed
into Kipp.

"Hello boy, remember me?" it rumbled pleasantly, hands wrapped
around Kipp's neck.

"Who the hell are you?" Kipp growled back, trying to pry the hands
off his neck.

"You don't remember... ah but then it was that angel of yours that
defeated me, wasn't it?" it smiled evilly, rows of sharp teeth
displayed.

"Angel... YOU!" realization hit Kipp like a stack of bricks.

"Good, now you'll know who killed you," it grinned, throwing Kipp
into the living room wall, before turning to its minions, "The girl's
all yours, enjoy."

Skuld was instantly swamped by the hoards rushing out of the two
rooms. Smirking, the demon walked casually up to Kipp and began to
brutally beat the boy.

"Ah, but I can't kill you yet can I? After all, you don't even
know my name," the creature remarked, picking Kipp up by the neck.

"Fuck you," Kipp mumbled, his hands grasping the knives hidden in
his pants.

"No thank you. But I will tell you my name, so that you may curse
it for the fate you will soon face. I am called, Daecar," Daecar stated
arrogantly, "Now you then, how would you like to diAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH,"

Daecar screamed as Kipp plunged both of his knives into the foul
being's eyes, blinding it temporarily. Dropping out of the creatures
arms, Kipp rushed forward to finish the job, but was smacked away by
Daecar's tail. A crack was heard as the tail connected with Kipp's
ribs, probably from the three broken ribs he now had.

Of course, the impact against the far wall didn't do Kipp much
good, but then I hear breaking limbs is never a good thing (damn! What
have I been doing all this time then?!). Another crack was heard as
Kipp's right forearm broke upon impact.

I will win

"ARGH!" Kipp screamed, clutching his broken arm.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Daecar roared in fury, ripping both knives out
of it's sockets, and hurling in Kipp's general direction.

"Thanks, I was wondering where these went," Kipp spat at the
creature, grabbing one of the knives with his good hand.

Darting forward, Kipp leapt and dove down, knife ready to plunge
into the demon's head, unfortunately, he didn't count on the really
large eye that suddenly opened on its chest.

"Peek-a-boo, I see YOU!" the last was punctured with a swift kick
to Kipp's midsection.

Today just wasn't Kipp's day. Coupled with the momentum in which
Kipp was moving, and the fact that a demon is naturally stronger then
any mortal, Kipp was sent hurtling into the balcony window, or rather
through said window.

I won't lose

Now covered in shallow gashes, Kipp slowly rose, then kneeled
over, and started to retch out blood. Grimacing at the pain, Kipp tried
to stand, but his legs failed him. Groaning in agony, the captain
grabbed a large shard of glass and tried to stand again. He was more
successful this time.

"Hehehehe, revenge is oh so sweet," Daecar cackled, his large eye
staring into Kipp's very soul, "Pity the angel isn't here to die with
you."

"Pity indeed, oh well, I'll just have to kill you myself," Kipp
retorted grimly, lunging at the creature.

Unfortunately, the demon was prepared. Moving with inhuman speed,
Daecar grabbed Kipp's hand, smashed the glass away, then wrapped the
other hand around his neck.

"I want to hear you scream," Daecar whispered, wrapping the other
hand around the back of boy's neck.

"Like I said, fuck you," Kipp spat into the huge eyeball.

"Oh well, if you won't scream, then I'll just make you scream for
me," Daecar grinned again, before slamming Kipp's face into the wall.

"Fuck *WHAM* you, *WHAM* you *WHAM* son *WHAM* of *WHAM* a *WHAM*
BITCH *WAM*," Kipp yelled defiantly, even as his nose was broken, his
right eye was blackened, and his mouth seriously messed up.

I will not give up

"Actually my mother was a bitch, but then I am her son," Daecar
spoke conversationally, continuing to slam Kipp's face into the wall.

Having put a routine into his swing, Daecar turned to see is Skuld
had been ravaged by his demons yet. What he didn't expect to find was
three demons hanging through holes in the walls, and another three dead
on the ground. The rest seemed to have backed of for a bit, glaring at
the young goddess, who swung her mallet quite efficiently at anything
that tried to come within a 2-meter radius of her.

"Oh well, she'll tire eventually," Daecar muttered, before turning
his attention back to Kipp, and receive a huge jagged spike of rock in
the eye in appreciation.

"Forget someone?" Kipp mumbled, the blood loss starting to mount.

"DIEEEEEEEEE" Daecar hollered, tossing Kipp into the kitchen.

I WILL NOT RUN AWAY

Kipp would have replied if he could still move most of his body,
which he couldn't. This was a bad thing as Daecar began lobbing Dark
Bolts in all directions, not caring if it killed his intended target, or
his own minions.

I WILL NOT SURRENDER

"Spirit Shield," Kipp mumbled, trying to protect himself from the
creature's magic.

But Kipp's magical capabilities weren't strong enough to with
stand the demon' rage. This lead to him being hit by a Dark Bolt, and
flying into the kitchen sink, snapping the faucet, and sending water
spraying all over the room.

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!" Daecar roared to the heavens, before he was
promptly silenced by one of his minions flying into him.

"SHUT UP!" Skuld yelled, stalking into the main room, and promptly
blanched at all the blood on the walls and floor.

Scanning the room, Skuld quickly found Kipp's crumpled and
unconscious form, his blood mixing with the water. Rushing over to the
unconscious form, Skuld checked his vitals, and heaved a sigh in relief
on finding a pulse. Sadly, the pulse was growing weaker by the minute.

"Hold on Kipp-san, I'll get us out of here," Skuld promised,
grabbing Kipp's hand, and leaping into the growing pool of liquid.

And just before the portal disappeared, a lone grenade flew out
into the living room, the pin gone. It rolled across the floor, and
stopped at Daecar's foot. Felling a strange object on his foot,
Daecar's newly regenerated eyes looked down, and the demon groaned.

"Ah fuck,"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

* * *

"ONEE-SAMA!!!" Skuld cried, rushing out of the washroom, Kipp
levitating in the air behind her.

"Skuld-chan! Where have you been?" Belldandy called from their
room, opening the door, and almost fainted at Kipp's battered form.

"I'll explain later, but after we take care of him!" Skuld
pleaded, "Please, it's my fault he's like that."

"Okay Skuld-chan, you go find Urd, and tell her to bring some of
her healing potions, I'll see what I can do," with that, Belldandy began
checking Kipp's condition.

2 Hours Later

"That should do it," Urd mumbled, pouring the last potion into
Kipp's mouth.

"Now then Skuld, tell us what happened," Keiichi ordered, turning
to the young goddess.

"Your sure he'll be okay?" Skuld asked Urd, looking at Kipp's
mostly restored features (mostly as in his teeth were still growing
back).

"Of course I'm sure!" Urd retorted, sniffing angrily.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Skuld began to relate what had happened
since Kipp had left then temple. She told them about Peorth's request,
about Kipp's refusal of a wish, of the demon attack, and of Daecar's
brutal attack.

"So or little soldier boy here's on a demon's hit list," Urd
muttered.

"It's not the first time. Gahh, what the hell'd you pour down my
throat?" Kipp mumbled, trying to rise from the spare futon, and failing
miserably.

"I see you're back among the world of the living," Urd replied,
grinning seductively, "Care to celebrate?"

"Oneesan! Quite teasing him!" Belldandy scolded, then turned to
Kipp, "You stay in bed this time, your injuries aren't fully healed."

"I didn't intend on getting up," Kipp mumbled, patting himself
down, "Yippee, I'm in one piece again... and my teeth are back!"

"Just be glad we're permitted to do that," Urd replied.

"All hail the mighty Norns, may they not smite us horribly," Kipp
mock bowed, then groaned as his limbs protested.

"Serves you right," Skuld sniffed, before leaving the room.

"Don't worry about her, she was just worried about you," Belldandy
reassured, glancing at Skuld's hasty departure.

"Ano... you wouldn't mind if I stay here for a few days would
you?" Kipp asked Keiichi, shuddering at the thought of his trashed
apartment.

"Well..." Keiichi began.

"I'll pay," Kipp suggested hopefully.

"Deal!" Keiichi grinned.

"Yours I believe," Skuld called from the hallway, before tossing a
cell phone into Kipp's hands, a ringing cell phone.

"Moshi moshi?" Kipp answered said phone, shrugging at the puzzled
looks he was getting.

"What the hell happened at your apartment?!" Hikari's voice rang
through the receiver.

"You found out already?" Kipp exclaimed, looking very confused.

"Well gee, how many apartment rooms blow up every night in Japan?"
Hikari retorted sarcastically.

"Touché," Kipp muttered, "Well I'm fine in case you're wondering."

"Good, then you can tell me just where you are," Hikari ordered.

"Ah, could you put Merlin on?" Kipp asked, trying to escape his
friend's interrogation.

"Fine, pick the tiger," Hikari muttered, before handing the phone
over to Merlin.

"Kipp, what happened?" Merlin asked.

"You remember the day I joined?" Kipp asked, not really expecting
an answer, "Well the demons that were banished that day want revenge."

"So Daecar's after you..." Merlin suddenly grinned, "Good."

"Good!? What the hell do you mean by that?" Kipp screamed into
the phone.

"As in good, I can finally reassemble the Espers," Merlin started
to cackle evilly.

"Okaaay, someone's had too much coffee today," Kipp muttered.

"Seriously, I think that the Espers would be perfect for this
mission" Merlin replied.

"Whoa, it's a mission now?" Kipp asked.

"Of course it is, don't be stupid. Now then, where are you?"
Merlin asked.

"Safe, and no I can't tell you because it isn't my secret to
tell," Kipp replied, cutting of any retort Merlin may have had for him.

"Fine, then the Espers will met you at your school, later this
week," ordered Merlin.

"What about my bike?" Kipp asked.

"Don't worry, I'll have Rantora and Hiroshi pick it up later
today. They'll deliver it to you when they find you, and you had better
be alive when they do," Merlin growled.

"No prob..." Kipp grinned at Urd, "Oh, and Urd says hi."

"Urd says... nani?!" Merlin exclaimed, but was cut off.

"Well then, looks like I'll be staying for a while," Kipp grinned,
before falling back on to the futon, "Have I ever told you how much I
hate my life?"

* * *

Author's Blurb: Well, I've decided to forgo the explanations this time.
Why? Because my beta readers thought it was too much of a spoiler, so
if you have any questions, email me and I'll be happy to explain. For
my Fanfiction.net readers, this may not have seemed like a long time,
but that's only because I was almost finished the second chapter when I
first posted. Like before, all C&C will be appreciated, hell I'm
begging for it. And Fanfiction.net readers, although my ego loves
getting stroked, I would prefer that your reviews tell me what I'm doing
good and what I'm doing badly. I'm not fragile, I'll take whatever
negative stuff you have to throw at me, just as long as it has some sort
of justification, in other words, no flames. But if you just want to
say you liked it, go ahead, my ego can never get enough stroking these
days!

If you want to apply for a position as a beta/proof/prereader, email
me, and give me a good reason why I should give the position to you.
Anyhoo, episode three is a lot more exciting, and it gets even more
confusing, but stay tuned! Later! And I mean a lot later!.

One last thing, if anyone out there is any good at fanart for anime, I
would love to see your interpretations of my characters, and a fourteen-
year-old Skuld.

Oh, one last thing (I know I said that earlier, but I'm the author so
live with it!), His Lordship Chaos is the author of the wonderfully
demented SI: Curse of the Fanboys! I happened to be reading the damn
thing while I was writing, which caused me to come as close to being
demented as them, hence the really weird flirting scene with Urd.

If you want to read Chaos' stuff, you can find it here at:
Carnage.fanfic.org, but I should warn you, it is very, very, very,
very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very
warped... but delightfully hilarious.