Title: Warrior Goddess Belldandy
Author: Gunner (admin@elizar.com)
Basis: Ah! My Goddess, Warrior Nun Areala
Protagonist(s): Keiichi, Megumi, Shiho, Yuki, Peorth, Urd
Antagonist(s): Osawa, Kakuta, Morou, Yoshino, Nakano, Marller, Welsper
Synopsis: A much darker alternate reality to the AMG universe.
Setup: World War III occurred twenty years ago, and the planet is littered with apocalyptic cities and marauding gangs. Rather than being a college student studying technology and skilled with vehicles, Keiichi Morisato is a master craftsman gunsmith skilled in gunplay. Perhaps even more altering: Heaven and Hell are actively at war, long abandoning the "Doublet System" that prevented open conflict. And like all wars between deities: it's not a conquest of territories, but of souls...


+++++++++++++


Chapter Notes: This chapter took longer to assemble that I possibly imagined. There were actually three rewrites, each totally different from the other. In the end, I chose the one that made it easiest to close several subplots, introduced quite a few AMG characters, and offered the greatest amount of violence (yeah, yeah). By the way: If you're an AMG fan, and can identify the incarnations of the alternate reality support cast in this chapter (Yuki, Osawa, Kakuta, Morou, Yoshino, and Nakano), you're a much better person than I am.

First a few words of warning:

There's a sniper rifle in this chapter. This was planned for quite some time; read the chapter before this, and you'll see the foreshadowing. I wanted to point this out, as some people might find it offensive due to the recent Washington, D.C. killings. I tried to edit that segment out, but it ruined story flow, so I put it back in. Sorry.

If you're religiously sensitive, you might want to pass. Nothing extremely offensive; just an item nitpicky people might not like. Shiho, remember?

Two or three uses of some harsh language. Of course in this day and age, it's not like you never heard of these words on the school grounds and in the movies...

Graphic detail. People die violently in this one. It's not called a dark alternate reality for nothing.


+++++++++++++


Megumi frowned, squirming her shoulders several times in futile effort to adjust the dead weight of her plate lined jacket. She never understood how Kei-chan could move around so easily in his far more heavier and restrictive trench coat. But then, she always thought his obsession of fighting with guns alone made factors such as agile maneuverability and unhindered movement unnecessary. Sighing in impatience, Megumi glanced at her watch for the sixth time in two minutes, tapping her toes against the rusted steel grate she stood upon.

Three days ago, Chihiro-san informed Kei-chan of an assassination plot the Aoshima Family initiated to permanently resolved what they called, the Morisato Problem. Supposedly, five of the best mercenaries in a two hundred mile radius had somehow been contracted to work together and kill Keiichi and Megumi during their routine salvaging excursion; or shopping, as Megumi jokingly called it. Unfortunately for the bounty hunters, the intended targets held numerous connections and a wide resource of owed favors who relayed knowledge of the morbid venture; most important among these, Chihiro-san herself.

Aoshima Toshiyuki. If he couldn't secure their gun making services exclusively, his sick mind felt no one else should. One day, Megumi reflected, she and Kei-chan would personally settle the matter once and for all.

"You're making a lot of noise for someone whose supposed to be quiet..."

A smile rapidly formed across Megumi's face as thoughts of teasing Kei-chan washed away the overwhelming boredom of waiting. He unwillingly left her to stand guard of an out of the way street as he scouted the ruins of their location for possible vantage points. Kei-chan never liked ambushes that produced unforeseen surprises.

"So did you find that 'special something' for Belldandy while wandering around? Candy? Flowers? Jewelry?" A mischievous grin suddenly highlighted Megumi's features, "Lingerie?"

Keiichi suddenly turned red at his younger sister's last remark, his thoughts suddenly implanted with the thought of his girlfriend in a revealing outfit. His clumsy attempt to hide the expression was followed by Megumi's giggling. The suppressed laughter echoed throughout the shopping center ruins, causing Keiichi to rush over and place his hands over her mouth.

"Are you trying to get us killed?"

Megumi shook her head in mock dismay, removing her brother's hands to answer his question. The gleam in her eyes did little to ease Keiichi's nerves.

"Kei-chan. Kei-chan. The ambush isn't going to happen for another four hours or so."

Keiichi only scowled.

"You're missing the point..."

"Don't try to change the subject lover boy." Megumi decided to press her curiosity a bit further, giving into her sisterly instinct. "Did you find anything? I know your hiding something: it doesn't take you that long to survey a place like this."

As a look of total guilt flooded Keiichi's face, his sister smirked in knowing success. She hit and found something.

+++++++++++++

Being clandestine was never one of Shiho's strength.

Hiding behind a rotting wooden crate twice her size, the lone demon hunter maneuvered around the massive object as two Nakomi gang members walked passed. As she held her breath in nervous anticipation, the attentive pair momentarily halted their patrol only a handful of feet away from her, then continued out of the area without signs of obvious suspicion. For several long seconds, Shiho remained motionless, praying silent thanks to God for His intervention.

Taking one final survey of the spacious distance she had to travel without notice, the nun crept through the darkness as best she could, taking incredible care to avoid slipping on the thick film of dry oil and human blood that permeated the concrete floor. The fading infernal sickness that lingered in the stale atmosphere of the warehouse told Shiho her prey had long since abandoned this location, but she urgently hoped the demon haphazardly left a clue to its next location. It had taken six months to get this close, and the thought of failing so far into the undertaking was a bitter prospect.

Shiho moved from shadow to shadow, double and triple checking her surroundings for traps or hidden sentries in the process. It was an extremely time consuming procedure, but easily justifiable considering her circumstances: alone and trespassing in potentially hostile territory. Little surprise then, when Shiho finally reached her intended destination - an aluminum cargo door adjunction to the next storage room - that her heart raced into an insane frenzy as the entrance suddenly opened when she stood helpless in full exposure.

She was caught.

"Sister Shiho, that's a rather imprudent method of breaking and entry, don't you think?"

It took the passing of three stunned eye blinks for Shiho to calm her nerves and associate the face to its voice: a revelation that brought the warmth of renewed comradeship and comforting knowledge that she wasn't truly alone in an uncaring environment.

"Sister Yuki? What are you doing here?" The questions we're asked in near inaudible whisper.

The newly arrived nun smiled, noting her friend's obvious mix confusion and elation.

"The same thing as you Sister Shiho. Hunting another demon in the name of the Lord."

+++++++++++++

Belldandy spent most of the morning cleaning the rooms of Keiichi~san and Megumi-san without fanfare. Though the two siblings maintained spotless sleeping quarters, there were always little things only a goddess could notice. Once completed with that task, taking a short noon break for chocolate, tea, and a quick nap, Belldandy proceeded to clear the storage bins located near the temple front entrance.

Delicately opening the center cabinet doors, she was mildly perplexed by a small silk satchel resting on the highest shelf. It was dyed in dark purple, beautifully embroidered in platinum threads with alphabetic patterns the goddess failed to immediately recognize. Beneath the pouch was a sheet of paper folded twice over.

For an entire minute, Belldandy fought the growing curiosity inside her, deeming it impolite to disturb anything that belonged to Keiichi~san or his sister without their permission. It was a losing battle.

Belldandy reached out and lifted the ordinate pouch, noting that its contents were more heavily weighted than she anticipated. Gracefully untying the single red cord, and feeling a surge of embarrassing nosiness, the goddess momentarily held her breath as she slipped the object from its covering into her hands.

It was a magnificently engraved silver magazine case, fully loaded with what appeared to be equally ordinate bullets made of pure gold.

Turning the casing one side to the next, Belldandy was marveled at the painstaking attention given to its hand-etched inscription, a poetic flowing story she never read before, written in a language long considered dead. Interpreting the tale as best she could, the goddess dropped the magazine unto the temple's wooden floor as she deciphered a horrifyingly familiar passage:

God is in His heaven and all is right with the world.

Those were Shiho's words.

Without hesitation, Belldandy grasped the unread folded note into her hands, painfully aware of the message it contained, but emotionally driven to it regardless:

Morisato Keiichi,

I pray to the Lord you find this before Belldandy.

You may not believe what I am about to write, but you must. It's important that you must!

Belldandy is not human. She is a false idol: a pagan deity of a pagan faith from pagan times. More importantly, she is the reason for your nightmares.

It's called the Sorrowing: the desecration of a human soul more than once. Though I cannot claim who was the second to taint what is yours and the Lord's alone, I know without fail that she was the first. The dreams must have been trying to tell you this.

One of them must die Morisato-sama. Belldandy, or the nameless other who also defiled your soul...

For seven days and seven nights you will weep tears of blood. Then for seven days and seven nights, the dreams will stop. The life of one or the other must end before the dreams start again. Your sanity and salvation depends upon it.

I know Morisato-sama... Like you, I was lost, but then was found...

Unto thee I give retribution of our Lord and Savior. May the Blessed Virgin Mary save you as she did me.

Please heed my words. There is so much more I wish I could say, but cannot... I pray our paths will cross again.

For the Kingdom of Heaven, Forever and Ever, Amen.

- Sakakibara Shiho

+++++++++++++

Situation briefing complete, Peorth exited the massive audience chamber of Heaven's Supreme Council with a tremendous sense of dread hovering over her shoulders. In several hours, she would descend to the human world and arrange an encounter with the utterly insane Welsper. How events would play themselves out after than was anyone's guess.

"Peorth! It's been too long!"

The sound of a familiar voice not heard in years broke Peorth out of misery, and in spite of herself, the goddess smiled in mild amusement.

"Urd! When did they finally let you back in Heaven? After that incident at Jotunheim, I thought you'd be barred entry until the end of Ragnarok."

Floating through the massive windowed arboretum passageway, Urd rushed forward and hugged Peorth in a friendly embrace. Since the beginning of the war, few goddesses felt comfortable in the presence of the half-demon Goddess of the Past; fewer would dare associate with her outside of professionalism, to say nothing of maintaining true friendship.

"Its good to see you again, Peorth. Skuld told me you'd be up here. Can you believe that kid actually cried when she saw me? Never in a ten thousand years would I expect that. Maybe for Belldandy, but me?"

The Goddess of Forever smiled knowingly. Skuld kept track of her eldest sister's activities from the moment Urd was assigned her long-term assignment. On weeks the young goddess couldn't find information of Urd's situation, she could be found sulking aimlessly in the Command Center or asking her second sister for uplifting advise. Deep down inside, Peorth knew Urd was perhaps more aware of the Skuld's emotions than anyone else; she only hid them far better.

As a gleam of sincere curiosity flashed within her eyes, Urd released Peorth and touched her feet to the ground.

"Speaking of Belldandy: where is she? I want to try and find her next."

Peorth scratched her head, attempting to recall the specifics of her one time rival's latest assignment. It had been quite awhile since she last saw her as well.

"Hmmm... What was the name of that client? Morita? Moriku? Mori..."

Urd's face exploded into an expression of absolute dismay; her formerly cheerful eyes now reflecting naked fear.

"Morisato!? Morisato Keiichi!? Was his name Morisato Keiichi!?"

Taken aback by Urd's sudden change of mood, Peorth only nodded in confused confirmation.

"I'm confident that was his name. Morisato Keiichi. Earth realm. Japanese nation-state."

Without warning, Urd raced in the direction she arrived, the rushing goddess's hair whipping across Peorth's face painfully. The Goddess of Forever stood alone again; ever more apprehensive of what destiny would bring tomorrow.

+++++++++++++

"So what do you know of the Morisato siblings?"

Osawa sighed with unhidden scorn of his current company. Had he known Hellspawn Yoshino and Red-Haired Nakano would be such a pair of moronic individuals, the Aoshima Family might have found itself with one less bounty hunter. How Kakuta and Morou were able to handle the situation without obvious signs of distress was beyond him.

"I find it hard to believe anyone would accept a headhunting job without prior knowledge of the targets you're expected to kill. Only fools or idiots jump into a pool without knowing if it's filled with water first."

Ego evidently injured, Yoshino halted his lumbering gait and turned to face the irritated Osawa who walked behind him. Utter contempt was clearly written across the face of the muscle bound behemoth; fists clenching open and shut at his side.

"Listen hear old man, you may be hot shit with that shotgun slung on your back, but it won't do you any good after I shove it up you're ass with your arm still attached."

Slowly reaching across his back, Osawa relished the idea of killing Yoshino. The act would not only terminate a great source of his current stress, it also equated into a larger portion of the prize money to be won.

"Care to take a shot, you steroid pumped freak?"

Before the two could move against one another, Morou stood between them, smiling with a ridiculous grin that betrayed the whimsical humor passing thorough his mind. Tightly griped in his left hand was an unsafe Uzi, which he shook in a threatening manner, not only against those who stood around, but to himself as well.

"If the fight is gonna start here and now? Why don't we all get involved, eh?"

As if to answer the newly presented challenge, the dominatrix laugh of Nakano filled the air as she grabbed one of Yoshino's arms in a seductive manner. The woman quickly nuzzled up against the giant's chest, pressing her fingers against the tears and slashes in his earth worn coat.

"Ignore him stud muffin. Old men like these need to overcompensate for their lacking physical prowess; both on the field of battle, and in the bedchamber. Real men like you don't need water to jump in a pool; you're that tough."

Seemingly convinced by his companion's words, Yoshino sneered and turned around, continuing forward at a slower pace than before, keeping within hearing distance of those behind. Osawa only frowned, discussed that Morou robbed him of a grand opportunity. Perhaps when everything was over, he would deal with him too.

+++++++++++++

Steadying his aim with the sniper rifle Megumi handcrafted, Keiichi took aim at the Uzi carrying gunman's head, deeming the automatic weapon would be the most dangerous out of the three noticeably armed mercenaries. They were idiots to so brazenly enter a building crowded environment, regardless if they expected to be the ambushers, rather than ambushed. It would be a lesson they'd learn hard. Keiichi tightened his finger along the trigger mechanism as Megumi announced her last wind speed measurement. Before the muffled crack of the weapon echoed throughout the ruined city block, the target of its armor piercing fury exploded in a colorful display of red and gray.

As the four surviving targets instinctively scattered in different directions, Keiichi grinned grimly. His sister built one hell of gun.

+++++++++++++

It took Yoshino half an hour to locate Nakano after their unorganized dispersal from the sniper fire, though in actually, it was she who found him creeping from building to building. The Morisato were honorless bastards for using such a cowardly attack. How were martial fighters like themselves supposed to face against an opponent who concealed themselves behind weapons that killed from hundreds of feet?

As the couple wandered the alleyways, searching for Osawa and Kakuta, Nakano suddenly halted in her steps, turning to face the roads they had just traveled.

"Yoshino. Footsteps behind us; sounds like two people."

"Osawa! Kakuta! Over here!" The juggernaut of a man smiled. It seemed Fate was shifting back in their favor.

After a momentary pause, the footsteps changed direction towards Yoshino and Nakano, and much to the mercenaries' surprise, the figures that emerged from the shadows were not of their fellow bounty hunters, but of the bounties themselves.

A cursorily glance told Yoshino less than he wanted to know of the pair:

The sister wore a denim lightweight jacket, suspiciously was stiff in several critical locations: an obvious sign of light armor. Loosely thrown over her shoulders was a bandolier filled with throwing knives; three of which were already clutched in her right hand. The girl showed no signs of carrying a gun, but her jacket seemed bulky enough to conceal one.

Her brother was completely concealed under a weighted dull yellow trench coat, its colors evidently faded from over washing and constant use. In both hands he held two overkill firearms in lazy fashion, though the momentary twitch of his wrists each time Yoshino or Nakano made the slightest motion belied he was extraordinarily reflexive.

Nakano laughed haughtily as she took a single step forward, gingerly swinging the leather whip she produced from a mesh hip pack.

"Shall we do it the old fashion way Yoshino? I get the boy, you get the girl?"

The memories of past victory passed through Yoshino's mind, as premonitions of future ones replaced them. He loved how Nakano operated.

"Of course, darling. Let's teach these weaklings a thing or two about honor and respect."

The Morisato brother spoke up first, "So then its decided then? Your woman against me, and my sister against you; one on one?"

Nakano nodded in an overly sexual manner.

The boy simply grinned in returned...

+++++++++++++

In the corner of her eye, Megumi caught Kei-chan's ridiculous smirk before he shot the SM Queen dead in her face; the thundering voice of Takano only slightly overtaking the sickening spattering sound of the woman's skull tearing open from behind. The velocity of the round jerked back what was left of her cranium, which was soon followed by the snapping of her limp spinal column, before the body slammed unceremoniously to the ground.

Her apparent lover stood motionless in appalled shock.

Megumi paused before rushing her opponent, giving her brother a look of absolute disappointment.

"Damn Kei-chan. The least you could have done was let her get within five feet of you."

Kei-chan shrugged apathetically, "I'm a gunslinger, remember? I use guns, not my hands."

Dashing forward in rapid sprint, Megumi observed the muscleman's roar of hatred and glare of vengeance focused directly at her. Shifting one knife into her previously empty left hand, she positioned the blades to point away from each thumb, situating her wrists directly before her face in a crisscross pattern. When the Goliath attempted to use his superior strength to stop Megumi's advance in a devastating bear hug, she spread her arms out to stab his crushing forearms, then used her own body weight and gravity to pull his arms down, keeping a blade emerged in each.

Absorbing the impact of her landing across the length of her knees and shins, and ignoring the gushing blood from the lethal lacerations, Megumi propelled herself to handstand across the juggernaut's shoulders, stabbing her third and final knife into his larynx. The pain howls of his voice gurgled into a choking drown as she completed the maneuver and spun herself around his neck while keep grip of the weapon. The momentum of Megumi's spin not only sliced half his neck in a semicircle: it clean separated his head in a loudly audible 'thock.' Loosing her balance from the body's sudden lifeless collapse, Megumi abruptly released her claim of the severed anatomy as she ungracefully landed on her feet.

A long silence followed the muffled thump of the SM King hitting the ground.

"Damn Megumi. I sure as hell hope that wasn't a mercy kill, cause if it was..."

More than slightly disappointed in her less than perfect execution, Megumi grimly glared back at her brother, who immediately stopped mid-sentence of his unhelpful remark.

"Don't say it, Kei-chan. Don't say it..."

+++++++++++++

"Quite the pair you have down there, Marller. Especially your Megumi... Very bloody... Skeletons in her closet most definitely... If they were demons, I could really grow to like them. Well... As much as I could like a fellow demon..."

Marller grimace at Welsper's off-hand remarked, considering the exact innuendo of what he implied. Was earning the favor of Hild worth the risks of making an alliance with such a loose cannon? Marller prayed fervently she wasn't making a grievous mistake. Senbei's out of character silence, perched upon Maller's shoulder in rigid semi attention, showed he was most likely thinking the same.

"Present company not accepted, Welsper?"

For a moment, Marller believed Welsper actually considered her reply, but his insane giggling revealed it was more likely a ruse; or perhaps a window into his lunatic psyche.

Agony maliciously trembled and moaned in disapproval of Welsper's response.

"No Marller, present company is most defiantly not accepted." The childlike demon smiled violently. "After all, when all is said and done, I'm going to kill you too."

+++++++++++++

The howling autumn winds did little to ease Kakuta's tension, his senses already heightened by the shifting shadows cast by a setting sun. Little more than an hour ago, his traveling party of experienced bounty hunters was scattered by the action of a mysterious sniper; one who targeted a single member of that group. It was an expertly executed surprise attack: Morou was killed with but one clean shot to the head.

Hell's Messengers. Death's Children. Keiichi and Megumi. The Morisato.

Realization that his prey turned predator forced a crude smile to Kakuta's lips. It had been years - perhaps as long as an entire decade - since the skilled-mercenary genuinely felt fright from another individual. There was no question that the siblings truly earned their legendary nicknames; the tales were authentic.

Tonight, Kakuta would finally encounter someone worthy to be called an equal. All he needed to do was find them...

+++++++++++++

"Why are you smiling Megumi? Do you have an idea?"

Abruptly broken from deep thought, Megumi looked up to see her older brother gazing back at her, a look of concern written across his face. The pair decided to rest and reassess their situation before continuing the deadly game of 'cat and mouse' they were conducting. For the longest time, neither of them spoke a single word after finding an adequate hiding spot in the recess of a half crumbling alleyway; both were unable to think of a better solution than wandering aimlessly throughout the city ruins, haphazardly encountering their would be assassins.

"I was just wondering what Belldandy will have for breakfast tomorrow. At the rate things are going now, we're going to miss it."

Keiichi shook his head in bewilderment, shrugging as he starred towards the reddening sky.

"Sometimes I don't understand you… Here we are, in a life or death situation, and you're thinking of food. I wish I had your confidence."

Megumi giggled. She didn't think Keiichi would fall for her hastily crafted lie: a clear reflection of his growing weariness. Pangs of guilt filled her heart for not revealing the truth to him, though she knew he'd never understand what she was thinking.

Kei-chan would find an answer the their current dilemma.

In spite of how dire their circumstances were, Megumi was never afraid so long big brother was there. Though she would tease and taunt him as any younger sister would, Megumi held nothing but the utmost respect for him. It was Keiichi who took care of her when their parents died. It was Keiichi who remained optimistic they could endure in those long dark years. It was Keiichi who ensured their survival.

Megumi smiled again as she noticed her brother staring at the ground, tapping his fingers across the back of his neck. It would be Keiichi who found a means to success in this dark hour...

+++++++++++++

"Watching these two is boring, don't you think?"

Standing atop the ruins of a twisted radio tower, hidden in the darkness of its rusting steel rails, Marller silently eased away the panic flooding her mind. Welsper's erratic personality had long driven her to fear his warped perception and mood swings. At one moment, the Demon would be kind and understanding, the next bloodthirsty and animalistic. For the moment, he was taking an indifferent yet civilized mood. It was really a question of how long that would last.

Marller remained silent to her insane companion's question, noticing the gradual frothing at his mouth. A new personality was starting to emerge; one that Marller doubted would be enjoyable. She tightened her clutch of Agony, the whispering moan of the double-headed battle-axe reassuring the Demon. Senbei seemingly took notice of Marller's subtle defensive stance; gently floating away from his roost on her shoulders, though preserving rigid control of his flight in the whipping evening winds.

Neither of them afforded belief Welsper would not turn against them, even if their current goals were mutually beneficial. Those who did never survived to make the mistake again.

Suddenly, Welsper uttered a morbid giggle, the lathering spit collected around his mouth splashing on the cement ground. The sound had little comfort to Marller, and she began to search an explanation for why her lunatic ally would do such a thing.

Then the Demon sensed it: a tingling awareness that reached into the depths of her mind. It was the presence of incredible power, though not their own. A confusing notion that had only one true meaning - lesser servants of a greater being: mortals who somehow borrowed powers of an immortal; yet themselves not understanding how truly beneficial or dangerous such a thing could be.

Welsper trembled with lunatic delight.

"Marller... I sense them... they're here... Our would be murders are here..."

+++++++++++++

Shiho was beginning to wish she hadn't told Yuki about her encounter with Keiichi Morisato. As serious as the younger Demon Hunter tried to make her recount of the situation, her childhood friend refused to take it completely seriously. It didn't help that she hinted of a slight infatuation with the man.

"Envy is a serious sin Sister Shiho," Yuki's voice had a playful ring to it, "to think that someone from our Covent would so easily be tempted."

Shiho face became bright red at the accusation, a combination of embarrassment and irritation. The sight of it did not escape Yuki; a grin the storybook Cheshire Cat would envy crossing her features.

"You've got the wrong idea, Sister Yuki. You're twisting my words... Belldandy is using Keiichi for something, but I can't quite figure it out. Why would an Yggdrasil remain with a human? They're only after the souls of the pure hearted, not relationships."

Yuki smile slowly faded, though her eyes still betrayed merriment.

"Be that as it may, Yggdrasil are not malevolent in every sense of the word. Twisters of the truth and manipulative; but certainly not destructive and murderous."

The senior nun stopped walking, taking a moment to stretch out, waiting for Shiho to take hint that she wanted to rest awhile.

"While I have no doubt that everything should be done to save Keiichi's soul, this Belldandy's interest in him is most likely more benign than you're making it out to be. Perhaps she did touch his soul; but the reasons might have been for his own benefit."

Shiho started at Yuki in naked disbelief.

"Yuki! What you're saying is Heresy!" The woman's voice became less than a whisper, "You of all people... how could you think like that?"

Yuki's playful eyes never faded, and for several fleeting seconds, Shiho began to wonder if her friend was merely toying again.

The senior Demon Hunter smirked.

"You really do like him, don't you Shiho?"

+++++++++++++

The voices of two women in conversation caught Kakuta's attention as he curved the rubble of what appeared to be the remains of a fire station. Taking utmost caution in maintaining his concealed location, the veteran gunslinger peered around a partially standing brick wall, easing his trusted .357 Desert Eagle from the security of its holster. He always kept the weapon unsafe; many lessons from experience taught him that the benefits greatly outweighed the risks.

"You really do like him, don't you Shiho?"

The woman asking the question was of deceptively uninteresting notice. Though from his vantage point, Kakuta could see very little in way of fine details, it was fairly obvious the young lady was average in all terms of the word. Female (though that in itself was quite remarkable), twenties to thirties, in the middle five feet range, long black hair. Nonetheless, she radiated an alluring air of mystery without even trying.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

The opposite individual, the one apparently named Shiho, was quite pleasing to the eyes. Standing somewhat shorter than her friend, she had cropped wavy hair and an innocent face. 'Awesomely cute' was perhaps the best phrase to describer her.

"Everything."

"Like?"

Sliding his firearm back into its holster, and softly moving away from the bend of the wall, Kakuta breathed a sigh of relief. Though it was fairly unusual to see other people braving the dangers of city ruins at the onset of darkness, the pair evidently appeared to be of little eminent threat and absorbed in their own troubles. Though Kakuta was far from an honorable man, striking against those whom he had no business with wasn't his style.

Not unless there was substantial profit involved, and fortunately for the unknowing pair, they seemed far from that prerequisite.

Attempting to avoid an undesired encounter, the mercenary turned backed the path he arrived, suddenly catching glimpse of a small figure standing in the shadows from the corner of his eyes. In the passing of a single heartbeat, Kakuta freed his handgun from its rest, leveling the deadly weapon with expert precision at the newly found danger.

Was he so distracted by the two women, that he didn't hear the stranger sneak behind him? The silhouette stood rigid still.

"Attractive, aren't they? Wrong faith for this country though." The shadow giggled in childish glee, "Not that I'm really bitching about it. Marller tells me they're quite dangerous regardless. That might not mean much though; the whore probably is getting too soft, needing that damn genie and whatnot."

In spite of himself, Kakuta found the enigmatic individual before him unnerving; it took every ounce of willpower to surpass an urge to gun down the stranger. The voice was that of an adolescent boy, yet it obviously spoke in a contemptuous, reviled tone. The gunslinger squeezed the trigger of his firearm ever so slightly, pulling back its firing hammer until the strain of the weapon's mechanism was scarcely heard. It would take less than a twitch to fire.

Kakuta felt no sense of reassurance: his instincts screamed nothing less than the murder of this child.

"Step out where I can see you."

The shadow figure tilted its head in what appeared to be slight amusement.

"Is that your wish? I can only grant you one." The reply came with incredible sarcasm, "But it will cost you something most valuable."

The mercenary measured the words carefully, catching the veiled threat they implied. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back: once Kakuta caught a glimpse of the maniac's face, he would immediately splatter it across the alleyway. To be damned if the two girls behind him and the Morisato siblings heard it.

"Yeah," Kakuta leveled his mark dead center with the silhouette's head, "that's my single wish."

The figure stepped forward, and from a small distance behind - in the general location of the two young girls he left behind - Kakuta heard what he could only describe as a lamenting chorus of voices...

+++++++++++++

The echo of gunfire broke Keiichi from his deep thoughts; the blood-curling scream of anguish that followed it terrified him. Literally jumping from his crouched position from the ground, nearly crashing his head against the low ceiling of the concrete crevice that he and his sister hid within, the young man reached for Keima and Takano in a reflexive response, drawing the heavy handguns to his side with deadly proficiency.

"Megumi!? Are you okay? Megumi!"

Much to Keiichi's own surprise, he cried out his sister's name without any thought or concern that his present location would be discovered; it was wholly an instinctive action to reassure him that she was still with him, that the far-away cry wasn't hers. Quickly scanning his surroundings with adrenaline-boosted senses, his heart sank into absolute dread as he noticed she was nowhere to be seen.

Had she snuck off during his drawn thinking? She often did when she became bored. Keiichi's mind raced with dreadful imaginations.

"Megumi! Where are you!? MEGUMI!"

Keiichi moved way from his secure position, rushing towards the only entrance and exit of the secluded alley as quickly as his legs would carry him. Pangs of shame engulfed him: It was his fault. He should have paid closer attention to her. What was he thinking of bringing her along?

"Kei-chan! I'm over here!"

In his rapid pace, Keiichi had nearly reached the end of the passage within scant seconds, and his abrupt stop in mid sprint lead him to skid across the rocky gravel of the ground.

Megumi's voice came from behind and above; half filled with anxiety. Spinning around to confirm his hearing with sight, looking towards the source of his sister's voice, Keiichi observed that she was standing several feet above him upon the roof of one building that formed the alleyway that he stood within, holding a set of knives in one hand and her firearm in another. As he quickly wondered how she climbed atop the structure, she kicked over something that deployed a collapsible fire escape ladder with surprising silence, its dull red color camouflaging uncannily with the brick wall it slid down. Keiichi cursed himself for not noticing the steps when choosing the alley under a half hour ago.

As Megumi tucked her weapons away and steadily climbed down, a dozen harsh reprimands crossed Keiichi's mind, but in truth he would never utter a single one of them to her. His sister was safe and uninjured: it was all that mattered.

+++++++++++++

Shiho sensed the rapidly advancing infernal presence of a nightmarish being before Yuki, the other Demon Hunter still in mid conversation as the distant inhuman moans of a thousand voices gradually grew closer. It was a dreadful sound that unnerved the experienced nun; regardless of the numerous times she heard it: Agony.

Then there was a guttural scream of drowning torture.

In unintentional unison with Yuki, the nun looked towards the rooftops to see a voluptuous figure gently glide to the ground, a monstrous bladed weapon cradled along her left shoulder with unquestionable assurance. Though Shiho was significantly concerned of the pain filled death throw from a half concealed pathway only meters away, neither she nor Yuki could afford turning their attention away from the dire threat that now appeared before them.

One of the Demons they sought now stood before them, and confrontation was opening in her favor.

+++++++++++++

No words were spoken. None were needed.

Marller lunged forward with blinding speed towards Shiho, the bemoaning voice of Agony echoing throughout the vacant street, one handedly cleaving through empty air as the intended target inelegantly dove to the side in the split instant between life and death. Recovering far quicker than any human could, the Demon twisted the double-edged battle-axe to its side, chunks of street asphalt shoveled into the air as the flat of its blade was shifted horizontal to the ground, completing the sudden motion with a crescent shaped arc towards the opposite nun, only to find that she had already scurried out of range.

Marller silently cursed as she held her position, Agony's voices shrieking in a crescendo of furious denial. The pair was not as inexperienced as she had hoped, anticipating her moves with admirable dexterity.

Shifting her gaze towards the youngest of the pair, the Demon noted the nun was reciting phrases in Aramaic, wisps of pallid glowing mists swelling around her recovering form. It was a spell Marller had encountered once before, though not in battles prior with followers of the Roman Catholic Church. It hardly mattered: she would soon surprise the foolish girl; it effects were all but useless against one with First Class License.

Downgrading the threat Shiho posed, though fully aware that overconfidence of the situation could be a fatal mistake, Marller drifted towards the second self-supposed Demon Hunter with sadistic intent. She decided Yuki would be the first die.

Agony cooed in hopeful exhilaration...

+++++++++++++

Drenched in warm blood, its unique scent bringing joyous ambiance, Welsper emerged from the alleyway in time to see Marller move against the elder nun with a slight caution in her defensive stance. It was a pitiable sight. Why didn't Marller simply slaughter the two with her attack magic?

Where was Senbei?

Did Marller or Senbei LIKE the COLOR purple?

Yes, PURPLE was NICE color. MARLLER and Senbei NEVER seemed TO wear anything WITH purple. Maybe HE would GET them something IN purple.
Or MAYBE... Or maybe HE'D just KILL THEM... KILLING WAS ALWAYS FUN. HE LIKED KILLING. HE COULD KILL MARLLER right now: SHE'D never expect IT now.

WASN'T he supp osed TO b e HE LPING marller WITH the two nuns? H ELPING marller wouldn't fur ther hi s PLANS . if the two fool ish nuns managed to banish or seal marl ler, it ma tter ed li t tle in the end.

no! he needed her al ive for now... but #hy?

peorth. Help wi th peo#th . she 'd be ar#@ving any time now... marller should hurry u%...

peorth was a #retty %oddess. S$e alw@ys wo^e su&h in(eres)ing cl_th+ng. @# p$%ple t#$ug^.

*&d.^& He #$%ed $%#%le. #$ was a pretty col*r.

#%#@ ^^&^% #%$^%& $#@^()@$^!

And Welpser giggled in childish delight...


+++++++++++++


[ TO BE CONTINUED... ]

CD Music Listened To While Writing Chapter: Sakura Taisen 4 OST