Chapter 9

Galactic Headquarters.

"Report," came a voice from the darkness.

A light appeared above a figure in a technician's uniform.

"Technician Hotaka Ryo reporting!" the Technician replied. "Seven hours ago, we lost contact with the Prototype Theta Class Probe during the test flight through system Alpha DES-378. We have yet to regain contact."

"This is unacceptable," the voice replied. "The probe must be recovered."

"Yes, sir," Technician Hotaka answered.

"A ship must be sent to the system to ascertain the location of the probe and its reason for failure."

"It shall be done."

"She's EVIL!!!" Hyosuke shouted. "Evil, I tell you!"

He and the other teens were sitting in the classroom, eating lunch. In the past month, the weather had become cold enough to drive the students indoors. In another week, snow was expected.

"What did you expect?" Ichigo replied. "She's a demon."

"Besides," Koichi added, "it's not like Tanizaki would have gone easy on us."

"No kidding," muttered Kei. "She made the tests hard enough even she didn't know the answers."

"Yeah, but still," Hyosuke complained, "she doesn't have to reinforce that she's a demon with every single test and assignment."

"Complaining, Mr. Magumo?"

The teens whipped around to see their teacher standing at the door. Hyosuke was quickly on his feet.

"No, ma'am. Not at all."

Mana gave him a look. Then with a chuckle, she turned and left the room.

Matagu glared at Hyosuke. "I swear, if she gives us more work......."

Hyosuke backed away. "It's not my fault! I didn't know she was there!"

"Hyosuke."

"Yes, Kaede?"

"Just shut up."
Hours later.

"Report."

A holographic image of Technician Hotaka appeared, lighting up a small area of the darkness.

"We have arrived at Alpha DES-378," the technician replied. "No sign of the probe has been found as of yet."

"That is not acceptable," the voice replied.

"Understood. We....." the technician broke off as someone appeared beside him, whispering something in his ear. He then turned back to the camera. "We have discovered a debris trail. Analysis of the debris indicates the probe was struck by a meteorite traveling at high velocity. The probe was apparently disabled and sent off in a new direction."

"That is not possible," the voice replied. "The probe was designed to withstand impacts from meteorites."

The technician nodded. "The meteorite appears to have been accelerated by unknown means."

The voice was quiet for several moments.

"Where is the probe headed?" it finally asked.

The technician hesitated before speaking.

"The debris trail leads off on a heading towards Delta Des-8228, the forbidden space."

"It must be intercepted at all costs," the voice ordered.

"It shall be done." The technician vanished.

"If the probe is not stopped?" a second voice said.

"It must be," replied a third. "If it isn't.... we lose space flight."

"We must alert our Planetary Inspector. She can...."

"We will not." The first voice said firmly. "We shall stop the probe. Alerting Planetary Inspector Kasumi will be a final option."
That night.

Kei sat at the table in the living room. Before him sat his English books. True to form, Miss Kirishima HAD given extra work due to Hyosuke's comments (Kaede hadn't been very happy with her boyfriend at all). Kei brought out the sheet that listed everything that was due the next day. With a moan he dropped the sheet and lower his head, thudding it softly into the table.

"Problem?"

Kei looked up at the cheerful face of his wife.

"Hyosuke opened his mouth again. So Miss Kirishima gave us extra work."

"Need help?" Mizuho asked as she sat down beside him.

"Don't you have papers to correct?" he asked.

Mizuho shook her head. "I finished those at school."

Kei let out a sigh. "Alright. You can help. But no funny business until AFTER I'm done with this."

Mizuho gave Kei a wicked smile. "What 'funny' business are you referring to, hmm?"

"You've been chatting way too much with your mother, you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're starting to act like her."

"I am not! Quit being mean!"

"I'm just saying that..." Kei's voice broke off as the room gave a slight shudder. Mizuho felt it as well and looked around.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Kei said, "but it felt like an earth....." Kei stopped speaking as the room lurched again, this time even more violently.

"Marie!" Mizuho called out. The little computer appeared atop the television.

"Noh?"

"Marie, check with the ship's sensors for tectonic instabilities in this area."

"Noh!"

"What?"

"What is it?" Kei asked.

"Marie says that there is no activity in this area." Mizuho frowned. "He must need an adjustment."

"You think the earthquake affected hi....." Kei's voice trailed off again as the room began to violently shift in all directions. Mizuho screamed and grabbed hold of Kei. Outside, the area lit up as a series of bright white lines appeared across the city. Had a satellite been overhead, it would have seen the lines come together, forming a circular pattern with strange writing surrounding it. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the circle vanished.
Celes pushed her dresser out of the way and stepped over fallen pictures towards the living room. The living room, like the rest of the house, was in shambles. The back door was also open. Celes walked out and found Sayoko staring off over the already frozen lake, Pen Pen huddled close to her legs.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Celes asked. "Earthquake?"

"No," Sayoko said.

"Well it felt like one to me," Celes said. "If it wasn't a bloody earthquake, what was it?"

"Someone has broken the wards."

Celes blinked. "Wards? What wards?"

"The ones my Mother put in place long ago to keep Misato safe here." Sayoko turned and looked at the Vampire. "Someone or something has completely shattered them."

"Mana?"

Sayoko shook her head. "No. Mana doesn't have the power for this. No First Class Demon does." Sayoko looked back toward the lake. "Whatever it is, it's going to get bad soon."
Heavens

"It broke the ward?" Urd asked stunned. "But that ward is the most powerful....."

"I know," Belldandy replied. She was sitting in her office behind her desk. Urd and Skuld were sitting across from her. Lining the walls on one side of the office were some of the many pictures that had been taken of her family over the years. On the other side was a wall filled with books. Behind her, a floor to ceiling window showed a magnificent view of heaven.

"So what are we going to do?" Skuld asked.

"There is nothing we can do," Belldandy said. "We can't replace the ward. It would just be eliminated again."

"But we can't leave Sayoko unprotected!" Skuld protested.

"She isn't alone," Belldandy said. "She has Celes there......"

"Celes is a Vampire! She can't do much against a Demon!"

"....and Mana is now there."

Both Urd and Skuld stared at their sister in surprise.

"Mana?" Skuld asked. "When did Mana get there, and how do you know about her?"

Belldandy leaned back slightly in her chair. "Mara told me all about her. She's been there for a little over a month."

"Why is she there?"

"Hild apparently ordered it as a favor to Urd."

"Me?" Urd asked surprised.

"That's what Mara said."

"Still," Skuld said, "if whatever it is can break a ward that powerful, what can a 1st Class Demon and Goddess do against it?"

Belldandy let out a sigh. "I want my daughter protected as much as you do, Skuld, if not more so. But I can't send any Valkyries in. The council won't let me." Belldandy then gave her sisters a smile. "Besides, don't forget who Sayoko is friends with."

"You mean the Guardians?" Urd asked. "The Council would never let you deploy them! Remember what happened last time."

"Father stood up for you then," Skuld said, "but then there was a reason for it. This time......"

"I know," Belldandy said. "And I would never think of using them without the permission of the council. But......... it has been awhile since any of them have visited her."

Small smiles crept across Urd and Skuld's faces.

"You've got a sneaky streak in you, sister," Urd said. "I like that."

"Gee, Onee-sama," Skuld said. "You're starting to act like Urd, bending the rules like that."

Belldandy just smiled. "Skuld, why don't you go ahead and call Asuka."

"It will be my pleasure, Onee-sama."
Later the next day.

Sayoko walked tiredly up the path towards her front door. Behind her, Mana wobbled slightly.

"I still don't see how anyone can stand to sit in that sidecar for any length of time," Mana said. "My legs are all numb!"

Sayoko walked up the steps onto the porch. "Mom rode in that side car a lot. Maybe your legs are too long."

"They are not!" Mana shouted.

The front door suddenly opened and Celes stepped out, closing the door behind her.

"You find anything?" she asked.

"No. Nothing," Sayoko replied.

"I see." Sayoko tried to walk to the door, but Celes stepped in front of her. Sayoko looked up at the Vampire, confused. Celes gave the Goddess a look.

"We have company."

"Who?" Sayoko asked.

"Take a guess."

Sayoko frowned and closed her eyes. A second later they popped back open. She turned and looked at Mana.

"Oh, shit."

Mana looked at Sayoko curiously. "What?"

"Maybe trouble."

"What do you...." Mana began before the front door opened again, allowing a red-haired woman to exit.

"Mein Gott, Sayoko! Where have you been?" Asuka said. "We've been waiting for......" Asuka stopped as she noticed Mana. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Kirishima," she muttered.

Mana nodded at Asuka. "Ikari. What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my friend. You?"

"The same."

"I see." Asuka turned and looked at Sayoko. "Apparently, we all need to have a nice long talk, Fifth Child."

Sayoko sighed. "I should have expected as much."
The next morning.

"That was really weird," Hyosuke said. "The weather service didn't say anything about thunderstorms last night."

"But it didn't rain at all last night," Koishi said.

"Well, something was making all that thunder. Either that, or someone was shooting fireworks off at the lake."

"If it was coming from the lake," Kei said, "it could be something else too."

"Ohh?" Everyone turned and looked at him.

"What else could it be?" Koishi asked.

Before Kei could answer, the door to the classroom slammed open. Mana entered and then slammed it shut. She practically stomped to the lectern and turned to the class. The entire class let out a gasp as Mana's right eye came into view. It had a large bruise around it and was only half open.

"Sensei?" Ichigo asked, standing up. "Are you alright?"

Mana looked at the class president, then noticed she was receiving similar looks from the other five children who knew of her 'background'. Each had a similar worried look on their faces. Much of her anger dissipated.

"Oh, I'm fine," Mana said, waving her hand dismissively.

"But what happened?"

Mana let out a sigh. "I met up with some old friends. We talked about old times, then started to talk about our jobs. One of them is rather opinionated about her job skills." Mana started to grind her teeth. 't teleport from a cardboard box..." she muttered. "Grrrrrrrrr." The entire class shuddered at Mana's growl.

"You think this means we're getting more homework?" Hyosuke whispered to Matagu.

Matagu sighed before looking at his friend.

"What do you think?"

"We're screwed."

"Yep."
Sayoko sat at her dining room table, glaring at Asuka.

"You didn't have to punch her!"

Asuka moved the icepack away from her face, showing a very large bruise over her cheek.

"She questioned my skills as a Guardian!" Asuka shouted. "How could I let that slide???"

"Before you go complaining remember that you have only been a guardian for about 10 years," Sayoko said. "Mana and I have been training for our entire lives."

"But still......" Asuka started to protest.

"Asuka......"

"Fine. I'll apologize." Asuka looked at the table for a bit. "So, how have you been?"

"Better. I gained 20 pounds."

"You still look anorexic."

Sayoko gave Asuka a smirk. "You're just jealous of my figure."

Asuka glared at Sayoko. "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Out in the living room, Shinji let out a moan and buried his face in his hands. Celes let out a snicker.

"What?" Shinji asked.

"I just think it's hilarious," Celes replied. "Two deities arguing over who looks better."

"It's only funny till they start tossing lighting bolts," Shinji replied. "Then one misses...... and I get hit."

"That bad? I mean you are immortal."

"I've been hit by enough lightning from those two to light up Japan for ten years."

"Oh."
Later that day.

Mana walked silently back to her apartment, pulling her jacket tighter around her body. Normally, she would have just teleported, but today she needed time to think. Her 'mission' had been to watch over Sayoko and was to last indefinitely. She knew at some point, she would run into the Guardians and had thought herself prepared. Instead, she allowed herself to get into a fight with Sohryu....... no...... Ikari over something insignificant. It had to have been her growing frustration at not knowing what had brought the wards down over the city.

Mana suddenly froze and glanced off to the side. For a moment, her green eyes met the red eyes of another demon. Mana's blood chilled as she recognized the one being in all the universe that could truly frighten her to death. When she blinked, the demon was gone. She quickly ran to the spot where the demon had been standing. There was nothing; no sign that the demon she had just seen had ever been standing there. Not even when she reached out with all her senses could she even detect a demonic presence. All she could pick up was the nearby presence of three deities from Heaven.

Mana quickly changed direction and raced to Sayoko's house. The Goddess had to know........
Author's notes:

Yes the teacher was Miss Yukari Tanazaki, everyones favorite English teacher from Azumanga Daioh (actually, I like Miss Minamo 'Nyamo' Kurosawa

The following guessed correctly:

RalphP2

Kyo Tetsuei

SmkViper

Skunktrain

Bob the Insane

Zack Seaholm

Congrats for figuring it out. (then again maybe it was too easy)

Alright, two chapters today becuase I won't be around next weekend. I need a VACATION!!!