Urd versus the Underworld

Chapter Five: The Final Showdown

Mara twirled the shiny little remote around in her hands. She laughed wickedly when she saw the shock on Skuld's face. "Do you really need this thing?" she sneered, charging up a fire blast in her finger, ready to destroy the only way out of the Underworld for Keiichi and his goddesses.

"Mara! You demon!" Urd cried, trying her hardest to crawl up out of the muck.

Diminishing her blast, Mara glanced over at her pursuer. "Jolly good, Urd. I salute you for your expertise on demon finding, for that is precisely what I am."

"SKULD BOMB AWAY!" All Skuld needed was a few moments for Mara to let down her guard, and she got them.

The mini missile exploded, with her aim true, right on top of Mara's head.

As the smoke from Skuld's attack cleared, there was no one lying in the spot where the bomb had detonated. "I think I got her!" Skuld cried with glee.

"Sorry, honey. I'm still here," Mara chuckled from behind Skuld, remote still in hand.

Skuld whipped around just as Mara unleashed her fire blast upon her.

Her body wretched in pain, wriggling on the ground while the Queen of Darkness grinned from ear to ear, looking very satisfied with herself. "You are all so weak that you make this quite simple for me!" she hissed.

"Stop it, now!" Urd stammered, finally up on her feet. "Your fight is with me."

"Very well, Urd," Mara began. "If you really wish to be the first to die, then so be it!!!"

Mara rushed at Urd, her fists clenched. "Finally, I will destroy her! I have always dreamed of this moment," she thought to herself.

Her hopes were in vain, however. At the exact moment when the two should have collided, Urd zipped upward, high above Mara. "Lightning Strike!" she screamed, releasing her energy upon her enemy.

"And to think," Urd whispered, "that we used to be good childhood friends."

"Bravo! Yay for Urd!" Belldandy and Keiichi clapped in the background. Urd bowed for them as they cheered.

Belldandy suddenly stopped the celebration when she saw the poor and innocent form of her little sister, paralyzed upon the dirt.

"Skuld! Skuld, are you alright? Open your eyes, Skuld!" she pleaded, laying her head on the girl's chest. "She's still breathing. oh thank god, she's still breathing!"

Urd wandered over to where Belldandy and Skuld laid. "It's ok. She's just unconscious. Skuld will be alright in a few minutes," she said.

Keiichi sat next to Skuld and held her hand tightly. "Do you hear that, Skuld? You're going to be just fine."

Belldandy stroked Skuld's head, and held her tightly. "Oh, my dear, sweet little sister. I'm so sorry that you have to go through with this." she murmured.

Keiichi looked up at Urd, still holding Skuld's hand. "We should probably get her home now. She needs to rest in her own bed."

"Darn!" yelled Urd, slamming her fist into the dead tree next to her.

"What is it, Urd?" Belldandy asked concernedly.

"It's Mara. She still has Skuld's teleportation remote."

"You're absolutely right, Urd. I do still have your cheesy little machine," came a voice none other than that of Mara's.

Looking even more sickly and grotesque than she normally does, Mara came swaggering slowly up the hillside, the remote still in her hand. "I think this is what you want, isn't it, Urd?" she asked, throwing it up in the air and catching it over and over again.

"You just won't die, will you, Mara?" Urd questioned.

"Sorry. Dying just doesn't work well for me." Mara's face was beaten down and bruised from the hits she had taken, her arms scarred and weather- beaten.

"Well, Urd," Mara began, "if you want this thing, you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers because I am not about to let you out of here on my own free will."

Urd laughed. "Trust me, Mara. That won't be a problem."

As Urd advanced toward the wicked one, Mara let her hands fly up into the air. "NOW!!!" she cried.

Then, in an instant, thousands of Mara's demon warriors raced up the hill to attack Urd.

"Get off of me!" Urd yelled as she fought her way through the demons, but there were just so many. Their disgusting little bodies weighed Urd down heavily, until she finally just collapsed to the ground.

Belldandy had seen enough of Mara and her cruelty. "O Spirit of Thunder! Cast off your Shackles and Fly!" she incanted. Once again, a great flash of light let loose from the sky, coming down straight upon Mara and her demons.

"Aaaahhh!" Mara screamed in agony as she was hit with Belldandy's energy. Half of the demons on the field fell dead instantly, while the rest of them ran away, back into the depths of their own land. Urd lay there on the field, still alive and conscious but unable to move from all the great cuts and slices in her body that the evil little creatures had given her.

Mara lay peacefully on the ground as Belldandy came up to her, ripping Skuld's remote from her hand. As Belldandy turned to walk away, she felt something cold and dry grasp onto her ankle.

"Watch out for Mara!" Keiichi yelled from his spot next to Skuld.

Mara began her demonic cackle once again as she pulled Belldandy to the mud next to her. As Bell was dragged to the ground, she threw the remote out in front of her as far as she could.

Mara clawed at Belldandy with every bit of strength she could muster. Ripping and tearing open flesh, the Queen of Darkness's talons were well suited for this kind of close combat.

As Belldandy fought for her life, Keiichi picked up Skuld's weary body and slung it over his back, carrying it over to where Urd lay. "Watch her," he said calmly.

Urd looked at him respectfully. "I'll do better than that," she muttered. With a vague smile upon her face, Urd let loose the last of her strength into a tremendous energy bomb, sending it across the Underworld and into Mara.

Mara stopped her attack on Belldandy as she was thrown far away from her prey.

"Belldandy!!!" Keiichi cried, running up to her.

"I'm ok," Belldandy whispered in Kei's ear.

As he had done before with Skuld, Keiichi picked up Belldandy's beaten body and walked it over to where her two sisters rested. He set her down gently next to Skuld.

"Be careful, my sweet Keiichi," said Belldandy, kissing him lovingly on the cheek.

As Kei turned, he saw Mara, getting up from where she had fallen next to a decayed old tree stump. Looking around and about himself, he saw Skuld's remote about a hundred yards away, almost hidden beneath the dead weeds surrounding it. "I'll be back," Keiichi said bravely as he dashed for the device.

Mara saw Keiichi running like mad for the teleport remote. She drew herself to her feet, and sprinted to get there first. "There is no way I will let some human ruin my plans!" she declared.

Skuld awoke from her unconscious state and saw the two racing toward the remote. "Keiichi! Hurry! Mara is up!!" she screamed.

Keiichi looked to his left and saw Mara, also giving it her all to reach the remote. "I've got to do this!" he told himself. "I'll do it for Urd and Skuld, and especially for Belldandy!"

With his confidence raised, Keiichi's speed increased enough to grab the device before Mara.

Keiichi ran like a marathon sprinter back to where his friends lay, Mara not far behind. "I'll get you yet, boy!" She threatened, unleashing energy bolt after energy bolt, none even grazing Keiichi's body.

"The middle button!" Skuld yelled as Keiichi drew nearer to herself and her sisters. "It's the middle button!"

As Keiichi dove next to Belldandy, a jovial smile upon her face, he pushed that middle button just milliseconds before Mara's final blast hit the spot where he had been.

"Nnnnnoooooooooo!" Mara screamed, kicking everything in sight in a helpless rage. Finally, her devilish plan had failed.

Within a few moments, Keiichi, Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld were all back in Skuld's bedroom, lying exhausted on the warm wooden floor.

"Oh thank goddess we're back," Skuld sighed as Banpei entered the room, his 'Welcome' Girl beside him.

"Oh, and you're back too, Banpei! I'm so happy!" she cried, throwing her arms about him in a joyful embrace. Banpei blushed as the Welcome Girl twisted her face into a jealous frown.

"Yes, thank the heavens that we're home at last," said Urd, resting her head against the wall.

"Home?" Keiichi thought to himself. "So, she's finally gotten used to living on Earth."

Belldandy got up and threw herself upon Keiichi. "I'm so proud of you Keiichi!" she said, crying into his shirt.

"Why is that, Bell?" Keiichi asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"Oh, Keiichi! You were so brave, and you saved us all," Belldandy whispered.

"Thank you, Belldandy," he answered. "It's just a miracle that we're all home safe."