X woke up feeling much better and wondering if his daring rescue by his Zero had been real or but a dream conjured by the extreme stress he had been under after quite a few days of unnatural calm.

Still… he could not help but have his mind return over and over again to the discoloured Zero, the nightmare.

Noting about him was the same as the original, the colour was wrong, the hair was wrong, the voice was… well, the voice was more or less the same since it was public property, just like X's voice, but the way he spoke of shoddy workmanship.

'X, forget the way he spoke, everything about him was wrong.' And how!

It would take a complete fool to believe that the… thing was even close to his Partner's design.

Now more then a little, angry and unable not to do anything about it, X pushed the lid of his pod up and hoisted himself out and to the shower room. Needing to wash off all the dust and grim he had accumulated the day before.

"Huh… burn marks," X mumbled as he removed his ruined dhoty and wrapper, nothing how the damage could only have happened if… the fight had been…

Needless to say, X's shower ar dressing was done quickly and very efficiently, since he knew, he just knew Zero must be down in the temple room since, you know, it was nine in the morning and close to breakfast time.

But, as he got out of his room, the reality of what had happened the night prior hit him harder then one of those damn acidic snowballs.

The place was trashed, there were holes in the walls and burnt marks everywhere.

"Oh Krishna," X whispered in pure Horror. This… his new home was in shamble… and he didn't manage to protect it because…

Because he wanted to do things differently.

Hell, he'd failed at hitting Zero Nightmare because he was protecting a civilian in an enclosed space…

He stopped dead in his track as his fear for the tiny girl's life flared up…

What had happened to here? Did she survive?

The memories of streets and buildings filled with corpses and the moans of the dying assaulted X's memory… but the budding Vaishnava dispelled it with his purified intelligence.

He had done his best, and those who had died would simply change their bodies.

Death was not the end, and while it was normal for him to deal with this type of catastrophic situation…

Well… no. it was not normal to deal with death. He may feel somewhat desensitized to it, it was still traumatic."

"Baby step, X. Baby step." The blue bomber breathed out as he began to chant the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra under his breath, seeking shelter from the Lord in sound form.

"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare." He repeated over and over again as he felt tears well in his eyes, his mind, unrelenting.

His mind told him that it was all of his fault for having brought the mavericks here.

The Gita told him instead that this was but a play of Karma, and that there had been nothing he could have feasibly done.

Everything more was following the will of the lord…

No… not everything.

Humans still had free will.

But as they say, Man made planes and God, Krishna, would laugh at them.

He was the supreme administrator, and thus, if something was desired by men, then, for it to happen, then Narayana, another avatar of the Lord, had to give his sanction.

"And let me tell you," Kokila interjected. "I can hear Narayana sigh so loud at the stuff we want. Like, he's the dad that has to let his kid do something stupid because they won't leave him alone about it. Sure, he'll let the bad thing happen, but He's doing this to teach us. Where just so dumb and dull in Kali-Yuga.

Wich was why the only way to get out of this ongoing dumpster fire was to surrender to Lord Gauranga and Chant the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra.

And thus… X kept chanting, praying for the Lord's mercy on him, for he knew he was at his worst on post raids.

Especially after Zero's…

"X?!"

X opened his eyes to see…

To see a sight he'd never thought he'd get to see again.

It was Zero…

In usual time, this site would be enough to have X jump to his feet and into his partner's arms, laughing, crying and thanking God to have his brother alive and well despite the nasty crash he had miraculously survived.

The only thing preventing him to do all this and more was the fact that one, Zero's eyes were red. Two, his feet didn't touch the floor, and three…

He was radiating the Virus worst then an infected super modem.

Oh, and his hair magnetically flared behind him.

"X?" Zero approached his partner and X…

Drew out his buster on instinct.

"X, it's just me, Zero." The reploid spoke with a gentlenessness X never thought he could have. "I know what I'm generating, it's not a virus, it's just mana, and if I don't want to, then I won't infect anyone… and I don't want to infect anyone," he assured X. "My eyes are red because… well, I'm fully aware of who I am and what my maker wanted."

X charged his buster… maybe it was too hasty, but after years of fighting against Sigma and his slew of Viral mavericks, even peace-loving X could turn trigger happy.

"And I have rejected him."

"Prove it," X commanded.

Zero smiled and lowered himself to the ground, wincing a bit as his hips protested. Then he raised his hands to the sky and-

"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare!" Zero recited, again and again, his smile bright and his whole body radiating a very familiar bliss…

X started as he worked through and processed the new information about his mentor turned brother…

And threw himself in his arms. "ZERO!" X screamed in bliss as he hung on the taller Bot's neck. Who then swung him around as he laughed, his joy boundless.

That is, until he tumbled to the ground, bringing X with him.

"Oh, my God! Zero! What happened to you? How did you survive? Why are you flying an-" But before X could continue his worldly avalanche, the red ripper clamped a hand on his partner's mouth.

"Ok… Obliviously, you don't want to wait for later, don't you?"

"ᑎO." X let himself answer with he least patience possible. "Zero… I tough the last time we saw each other was going to be that! the last time!" X's voice broke at the remembrance of this horrible time. "You… you would not have ejected, I know you." He accused, to which, Zero rubbed the back of his head to chase away his shame. "Yeah, got me there, buddy…"

"So… how did you survive?" X asked. "It had something to do with Bahula devi dasi, right?"

"It has everything to do with her." Zero grinned… and X could not hold his tears anymore.

"God, Zee… I missed you." He sobbed as he buried his face in the crook of Zero's neck. "Thought you were dead for good."

Zero laughed, the sound echoing in his broad chest. "Yeah… me too, Buddy… me too."

"But… how about the viral woman who saved you, Bahula? Where is she?"

~0~

An hour before X woke up

Back in the main temple room, Uma had to pause her feat of carpentry. She could hear someone coming by the sound of a very familiar engine.

(also yes, she was fine, thank you very much. She was a Hermit, after all. And had been blessed by Shiki Eiki with the boon that her death would be at Uma's choosing.)

She raised her head from the pile of wood she was using the rebuild the walls. (being the Buddha of carpentry certainly had its perks.)

So far, she had patched and reinforced whatever had been damaged, and she was about to start the proper reconstruction with great zeal.

No, the ancient Vaishnavi didn't see the attack on the temple as a tragedy, but as more opportunity for her to serve and use her overfull treasure house for the Lord's Unlimited pleasur.

Still... the sound of the engine was... it was enough for the ten arms Buddha of carpentry to stop and listen.

"Uma! Uma!" Shou bounded out, her overall covered with dust and cobwebs, her eyes where wide as a painful type of hope took over her 'usually' sober mood. "I can hear her! I can hear her motorbike! Mother coming back Home! She's Here, She's here!~" And the next thing she knew, a very jubilant tiger Yokai was exuberantly spinning the shorter woman around as she danced and praised the Lord.

The ensuing Ruckus attracted Achyuta, Unzan and Janaki, who tried to grasp what the tiger was doing.

Of course, at this point, Uma was shamelessly dancing with Shou, since she could now clearly hear the Mantra-Powered vehicle drawing near.

"Everyone! Mother Bahula is... she in front!" Uma called out in great excitement. She missed her old friend and student so much.

She still remembered this horrible morning when Bahula wasn't in the Palaquin's temple room, chanting on her Japa beads as she waited for the curtain to open. And what to say of her signing the Glories of Guru, the Gurvashtakam?

Or the heartbreak she had when, fearing the best of the worst, Uma and Shou had broken into Bahula's living quarter, only to find it ransacked.

And what to say of the sheer, gut-wrenching horror that had befallen their community when Unzan had revealed that Kumoi and a few of the staunchest (read, fanatic Buddhist followers of Mother Hijiri Byakuren.) had once against sealed her in Makai, hoping that another thousand years of Isolation would cure her of personalism.

Needless to say, another 'Religious' war had erupted, but instead of it happening between three Faction, it was the Gensokyien Hare Krishna VS the Fanatic Buddhist faction.

It... was a rather short war since the main incident solvers were also against the fanatics.

They had looked for her all over the land of fantasies... and found nothing.

It had taken them to go into the outside world, navigate the frightfully modern, atheistic and skeptical world beyond the border, forge new documentation, and travel from Japan to Abel city to finally get a clue...

'Hey, wait a minute. If we were truly looking for Bahula, then why didn't we ask Shou-chan to... oh, wait. That's right, Narayani had to stay back to serve Nitai-Gaurachandra back home.'

And they had found a temple in great need of repair also.

Still... it made very little sense.

But whatever speculations were underway came to an end with the unmistakable sound of a magical gas engine (converted.) resounded from the outside of the temple's repaired front.

(The first thing Uma had worked in after she had managed to calm down poor Zero from his phobia-induced panic attack.)

Needless to say, all rushed to meet and greet their beloved friend.

And indeed, there she was.

Bahula's body was dusty and covered with oil and energen, she was markedly thinner, and her hair had lost its vibrance. The Sutra scroll spun around her head like a Halo, not caring about her helmet.

On her back was...

Zero gasped as he balked. "No... no... Mother that's-" But his breakdown was drowned by Shou and the rest of the Vaishnavi's (and one Vaishnava.) pushing their way out the door, falling at the Saint's Lotus feet.

And Bahula answered in Kind.

What happened next was a festival of Love no materialist could experience despite its similarities. Where all exchanged hugs or pranama, they hugged, embraced, fell and rolled on the ground as their tears made a puddle where they lay.

The only one that was no participating was Zero, for he had yet to remove his eyes from the form of Iris still draped on the back of his spiritual mother.

Hearing his distress, Uma ended the revelry by pulling a lock of Bahulas' air, asking her about the dead elephant in the room and the one who had unfortunately slain it.

"Oh, yes." Bahula blushed as she approached her confused spiritual son. "My Son, I have some wonderful news about Iris." Bahula smiled with folded palms. "But I would rather tell you once we are inside and..."

"Sorry about the state of the temple, Mother. We got attacked by those robots." Shou bowed to her mistress and servant. "X is inside but... well, he got beat up by Mangetsu Zero."

"Oh my... Nevertheless. It is a shelter... there is Prashadam here, is it?"

"My dear Bahula. Who do you think I am?"

"I think you are my teacher, Uma-sama... and I the fool."

"Oh, just come on in and tell us all about it..." Uma trailed off as she perked her ears, the two tuft of hair on the top of her head twitching as a frown tugged at her lips.

"Everyone in, Bahula was followed."

"If it's a somewhat portly Cyborg sporting a pair of glasses, his name is Douglas and he was the one maintaining Iris-chan's doll-body until this particular incident... but yes, let us be wise and seek shelter to Govinda's lotus feet.

~0~

back to the present.

~0~

"You're... not mad about Iris?" X asked stiffly, keeping a wary eye on his long-time partner.

They were sitting in X's room again, knowing that they had plenty to catch up on.

Zero rubbed the back of his head as he looked away. "I was, at first... Not gonna lie about that." He vented out. "But... then I remembered that Bahula's not acting selfishly, and there must've been a reason for her to have found my Iris in Douglas's flat. She said you were the one keeping her before."

X had this very nervous laughter... "Yeah, well... about that."

"X?" Zero asked with a surprise. "Please... don't tell me."

"So, in this temple, there's another magical girl from hell that lives with Bahula. Children adore her, but most adults think she's just an imaginary friend. Thing is, she is very real, and she can influence anyone's subconscious mind... she affected me."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that... well... to those not in the know, I acted like a divine mad man, a happy go lucky fool who quite his job as a hunter, modded his own frame and stole Iris from the Catacomb and cared for her despite Iris being labelled as dead," X explained as he tried to remember this part to the best of his ability. "Not that she is, by the way."

Zero just kept staring at X with an expression that begged him for the most solid proof he had of this claim.

X took a deep breath. "She... Her name is Kokila, I think. And she sees me as a friend, for some reason, led me down to the catacomb and to Iris... she's the one who took her out of the storage unit, and she's the one who made me realize... no, wait. I didn't realize anything, I just held Iris and trusted her when she told me she was still in her body and... well, I took care of her until I quite my job as a hunter, by then I'd given her to Douglas to check if what Kokila said was true."

"And... X, please, don't break my heart again." The usually stoic reploid begged with a wavering voice. "You know I'm still having dreams of her... of her..."

"Douglas confirmed it. Iris really is still alive, she just can booth properly because she's missing-"

"Her second part, her brother unit." Zero finished for his friend, sounding as though all hope had been lost.

Both reploid sat there, their eyes never leaving their hands as they used their intelligence to rationalize what had happened and detached themselves from the result they longed for.

And then...

"Say... What's her problem again? Why does she need Colonel to live?" Zero suddenly asked.

"because He's her second part."

"But why? None of us were made were spirit souls, we are eternal, And Iris is... well, she is a soul in a body, so I see no reason why her body won't booth."

X raised his head. "Your right, Zero. For some reason, Iris needed Colonel... I can remember the scientist speculating about how her soul had spilt in two... or is it that her two personalities, that of a hardass colonel could not cohabitate with her?"

Zero's eyes grew the size of industrial gear and approached the gaze of Sri-Jagannath's own... without the smile, of course.

"So they were two, then they tried to make her one, but because this didn't work they split them up and made it impossible for her to live without Colonel?!" Zero exclaimed. "And I thought I had a sick back story."

"What's your backstory?"

"Long story short. Doctor Wily, basically your dad's inflatable rival who always wanted to take over the world with his robot master... don't ask me why, he was crazy with envy. Created me as his last bid to show the dead doctor light how much better he was by making a robot master that could kill you."

X stared owlishly at his best friend. Opening his mouth as he circulated as much air as possible to coll down his overheating CPU, overheating because, quite frankly, he could not compute this logic.

"Also, the virus was basically a patch to keep me from killing him."

"What?"

"since, you know, he made me so evil no humans were safe, not even him, and thus he stuffed an even worst strain of the Robenza virus to make my evil value wrap around to something more neutral that I could work with, but things went to shit, he had to lock me up in a seal, then Sigma finds me but since this Robotic body is over a hundred-year-old, the roboenza died and was replaced by magic since, you know-"

"Time change."

"yeah... and no, I ain't gonna follow my old Dharma, I chose the path of Bhakti and dad can go suck on rotten eggs for all I care." And with that, Zero punctuated his declaration of independence by hitting the table with his closed fist. "Also, My magic didn't turn Sigma evil, it just lowered his inhibition."

"So Sigma's hatred of humans was always there, he just knew how to hide his psychosis better." X leaned back as he rubbed his chin. "Then Sigma's using what's left of the roboenza variant data makes the maverick virus while using you as the scapegoat."

"Yeah... yesh, now that I think about it, I don't think I'll be able to get the repairs I need." Zero's shoulder and hair drooped.

"What's broken?" X asked, already fussing over his somewhat reckless partner.

Zero gave a tired sigh. "my hip actuator and knee joints. Messed them up by trying to unlock my flight ability by repeatedly jumping from a tall cliff... it didn't work."

This caused X to burst into laughter, and while it annoyed Zero to no end, he could not help but feel joy and gratitude to God in his heart.

He had been so close to losing this, losing everything, falling to his father's cruel desire, destroying X and everything he held dear, and turning everything back to Zero.

Falling to the false promises of nihilism.

"Alright, alright... are you done yet?" Zero asked with his usual annoyed tone.

"Off... yeah, I think the-he I think I am now!" but by how his whole body was shaking, it was clear that X had not.

"So... care to tell me why I had to save your ass again?" the tall blond asked with a smirk, which caused some tears to gather in X's eyes.

Oh, Krishna, he missed this.

"Ah... I could have fought but, I was tasked to protect Shinmiomaru-chan since she's so small. And... well, everything was taken care of upstairs."

"X, Mother Uma died." Zero scolded. "How could you have let her!"

"Because I was following her order, Zero. And it was pure chaos here, and it's only due to Radha-Krishna's mercy that the whole building did not collapse on top of us. And everything went well until Zero nightmare decided he didn't care about Uma."

"Yeah, well that's because he Killed her. Bastard struck her in the back like the coward he is."

"Alright... I give you that... but I heard from Unzaan Prabhu that you screamed like a little girl when she came back to life." X innocently replied.

Zero grumbled something under his breath as X giggled at his Best friend's discomfort.

...

and then his smug grin falls.

"X..."

"Yes, Zero?"

"I didn't meet Sukuna yet..."

"I know... I think..."

"You lost her..."

...

Three seconds after that final statement, both robot Masters jumped to their feet (Zero fell on his face, of course.) and rushed out, crying out to Mother Mukhara and Mother Bahula.

And Indeed, not even Shou could smell her presence.

~0~

Gate sighed heavily... so much lost.

He had lost High-Max. His specially build reploid commander was but atomized particles in that caved tunnel (hopefully) and his masterpiece, Nignthmare Zero was broken...

but not in a way that he could see. Gate had already scanned his numerous time... but unfortunately, his natural genius had made it so he could not see anything. For you see, he had made his glorious reiteration of Zero, the God of destruction and rebirth scan proof.

And it worked, he could only be perceived when he was right in front of his eyes.

Meaning, a few scratches and a whole lot of howling. Now, why did Gate give pain receptors to his greatest creations? He did not remember, but it must have sounded good when he thought of it... oh well, not use crying over energene...

well... actually, there was something to cry about, and it was the fact that the result of his own homebrewed virus and Zero's source code, what should've been the apex Maverick was now clawing at his guts, twisting on the ground and howling in agony because something managed to make their way inside him and Gate could neither tranquillized his beast nor scan his inside to see what in the name of Bill was wrong with him!

And thus... with a somewhat heavy heart (all of those resources, wasted.) Gate threw the glitch out maniac out in the wilderness, where the durst and grit would hasten his break down until the Genius could safely come closer to work on him...

of course, by this time, Gate would be exceedingly lucky to have anything left of his triumph, but whatever would be there would be enough to start the entire project again.

'and this time, it won't fail.'

~0~

Whit Zero Nightmare...

"hey! Stop moving you big oaf!" the tiny, grating voice squeaked from inside of his System. "the more you move, the more I will hurt you!" and once again, he felt something poking at his diodes.

He let out an animalistic screech... there was something organic crawling in his innards... something he had to kill, something he was programmed to exterminate!

And thus, he ripped himself apart, over and over again in a bid to destroy this organic bug from his system and be one step closer to being freed from Gate and the thirst!

And yet, curse his creator since, guess what? He could fix himself from all injuries... and he was too tough to destroy himself fast enough to outrun his nanites.

Eventually... Nightmare reached his threshold, his monstrous amount of stamina ran out, and he was stuck laying on the dusty, filthy ground of the dump, looking at the stars as the moon slowly moved into the sky...

...

now that he'd thought about it. (Apparently, he could think of another thing the destruction of all organics and the spreading of the virus.) He'd never seen something quite like the night sky.

It was filled with stars and colours... and so many radio waves.

At this moment of calm, something Nightmare never really experienced in his life, the moment felt beyond mystical and special... Zero's evil clone realized something fundamental.

He could not see the limit of the night sky, there was absolutely no limit save his own limitations.

And this... made Nightmare realize how absolutely minuscule he was, how insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And despite how great and powerful Gate was... he doubted even he could grasp the sheer size of the night sky.

What was beyond there, how did those lights float in the air? What fueled them?

And... who made that and how big and Powerful was he?

"The one who made the universe is Krishna and I wouldn't be able to tell you since, you know, he's God and Unlimited." a teeny, tiny voice spoke from inside his frame. "I'm so tiny, so I always feel like that."

Nightmare grunted. "Who. ArE You?" He managed to ask. "Are YOU neW AbiLity in X?"

"No, I'm Sukuna Shinmiyomaru... but you may call me Sukuna. And I'm an Inchling."

"WhY in frame? Get out."

"If I get out, will you kill me and try to kill my friends again?"

Friends?

"Friends... meaning?"

"People I care about, People I don't want to get hurt or die."

"Why?"

"Because I care for them. Caring means to love and all of us souls are meant for that. Not just that, but they are serving Lord Krishna so nicely, I can't have a devotee of Krishna get hurt if I can help it."

"I didn't see Krishna, he's a bad lord."

"You didn't see him because your nothing to him." Sukuna angrily shot back, and Nightmare felt a sharp jab in one of his pain nods, causing him to yelp despite his best attempt to keep it in. "Krishna said in the Gita that he won't show himself to fools and rascals!"

"I'M Not A FooL! I'm PoWerFul!"

"If you can't see God despite being in his home, that you are a fool!" Sukuna spoke wiht absolute conviction. "And why would he even bother with a rude, devotee-hurting person like you? And why did you dot hat anyway? Uma did nothing to you!" She scolded the much bigger robot.

"That's MY ProGraMing... Master Gate gave me the task to DeStrOy The blue Robot." Nightmare explained... then paused...

"That RoBot Wasn'T BluE... He wAs WhIte." he admitted with dread.

He had made a mistake, a costly mistake. Gate would not be happy.

"Yep, He was in white, and you killed a Human."

"It's my directive TO kIll InFerioR beingS."

"But why?"

"Because It'S mY DireCtive."

"But Why?" Sukuna asked again, and Nightmare felt his thoracic grill being pushed away... and out crawled a mini organic... like, it was so small... So tiny, That he doubted any humans could have survived the world at his side.

Meaning this tiny, squishy thing must be an expert at survival. And infiltration.

A Horrible tough intruded in Nightmare's Psyches; what if she was a reploid predator. With how small and stealthy she was, Sukuna could easily sneak in any units she wants and eat them from the inside.

"ArE You Eating Me?" Oh, how he hated how his voice wavered with fear.

Sukuna came closer, and Nightmare zoomed in.

She was bu three inches tall at most, she had purple-blue hair in a pixie cut, wearing a tight, red crop top and a beige skirt. And as for footwear; she had none.

She was covered in scratches and bruises, some of them bleeding and others were burns.

And yet, her fair skin did very little to hide the muscles rippling under her skin.

She held an oily needle in her callous hand like a sword, and Nightmare realized that this had been what had caused all this damage to his internals, damage that was already getting fixed, but enough of it that it had caused him to be low on energy, something that had been, to this point, theoretically impossible.

Well... Gate was wrong.

Sukuna made a face. "No... why would I eat you, you're made out of metal, and I eat Prashadam."

Nightmare's eyes widened with fear. Whatever fuel this Prashadam was, it must be one heck of a premium grade shit, right here.

"So Why DID you Hurt mY InsiDe?"

The inchling puffed her cheeks, causing something to stir in Nightmare. "You were about to hurt X Prabhu... and you hurt Mother Uma and you told your machines to destroy the temple..." She struck him with the heel of her tiny feet. "Meany, Asura."

"I did My JOB."

"Well your job just nets you a trip to hell, I hope you are proud of yourself." Sukuna scolded as she

"What is Hell?"

Apparently, this was... the question to ask Sukuna, for she began to describe the nine strata of hell and their trip to the different cities along to way to Yamraja's palace.

It was... terrifying and graphic... and no, him being a robot didn't mean scrap for the inchling. He was a soul in a fancy doll's body, meaning that He would have to face the consequences of his acts.

And since he was a simple, child-like person who had been defeated by a cute, inch-tall girl, Zero Nightmare had no reason to not believe here.

As they talk, the moon rose higher, and the stars grew brighter.

It was then that Nightmare accepted his position as some tiny and insignificant... and spiritual, he was a tiny part of God that would never return to his whole, but instead, served him as an individual.

Just this knowledge gave him a euphoria that defeated anything he'd ever experienced.

He was an eternal spirit soul, his body was not him, meaning that upon the body's destruction, he would still exist but...

"Why Do we ForgEt OuR PreViouS LiveS?" He asked Sukuna, Who had taken shelter in Nightmare's thoracic cavity again. The night air in the desert was frigid, and for one so small, the risk of Hypothermia was all too real...

Not that Nightmare should know such a thing, but apparently, he did.

Must be because hypothermia was a legit way to kill people... not that he'd wanted miss Sukuna to die from that anyway, she deserves a better death then that.

"Well, we forgot because then we would remember all the bad things we did and we would be unable to continue living, and we would hold too many grudges. Besides, we may have forgotten, but God didn't so he'll make sure we complete what we wanted to do in the previous life. And suffer the consequences of it too... it's Karma."

"So GOD is Evil TheN." "No." oh he could just hear her eye roll. "The Supersoul in our heart is the perfect neutral. He witnesses what we do, and gives out he result like a judge gives out their verdict. He's not affected the way we are." she explained. "it's not that he doesn't care, though, he does. We've just been acting out to take his place for such a long time, he'd rather leave us in the hands of Maya while he watches and controls, He's distent until we call for Him, then he cares."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And Krishna cares. He cares so much about it, we can't even explain it."

Nightmare remained pensive.

"He cared enough for me that, despite having lost my palace, I still have a place to stay, and that despite being tiny and forgettable, I have [eople who cares for me... and he has Gurur for me who will help me reach him despite

Nightmare stared at the star-filled sky, watching the moon and other planets moved in the super colourful sea.

"WhERe is GodHead?" He asked after a long moment of contemplation.

"It's waaaay outside the material world, beyond the Causal Ocean and hr Viraga river... it's beyond the Brahma Jyoti, the impersonal light of God. There, there's another realm, a spiritual one called Vaikuntha, in Vaikunta, there's no anxiety, no fear... there's no birth, no death, no disease and no old age."

"No gRoWht."

"Well, no need! It a spiritual plane with no limitation, and since theirs no death, then theirs no need for birth... basically, it a dimension of antimatter, but it's not a void."

Nightmare nodded as he eagerly listened to miss Sukuna. Gate never bothered teaching him anything, he would only give him orders, usually to cause chaos and mayhem. But he never explained why sometimes it was light outside, and sometimes it was dark, Gate never bothered telling him what the sun was, why the ground had so many variations and the like.

But, as the night (that's what Sukuna called the dark period with the moon and the stars in the sky.) stretched in, Nightmare realized that Sukuna was not like Gate, and she had so much to say, and he was thirsty for knowledge.

~0~

Back in the temple, Uma was rubbing the bridge of her nose. "... I thought I was missing a heartbeat." she mumbled.

"You can't hear her desires?" Shou asked.

After the devastating news of Shikuna's disappearance, it had been all hand on desk, or an Ista Ghosti; a summit.

Every Vaishnavas were exceedingly precious, and to lose one like that would be even worst then losing one like this...

Oh, no one was happy about that, especially Bhagavan.

"No, Shou, not if she's on somebody else," Uma explained tiredly. "And her, being so small and quiet, and with so little desires..." She sighed in frustration as she angrily scratched the back of her head. "Argh, Krishna, what the hell are you playing at?"

"umm... not to sound like a doubting Tomas and a fault finder but..." X began as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I thought you trusted Krishna Inplicitly... like, no reason to ask him why you just trust him."

"Oh, I trust him, alright..." Uma grumbled. "But, I'm not at this level that I can Blindly trust this rascal... well, I know everything will be well in the end, even if Yamaraj comes out to play." She sighed with a smile. "Sri-Krishna is the supreme Drama Queen. Whatever he does is a dramatic play to attract us all, and as with every play, Drama has to happen." She chuckled. " Krishna said in the Gita 'I am adventure."

Bahula Chuckled gently. "Indeed. And haven't our pastime been an adventure?" The nun asked with a playful smile tugging at her lips. "Not to say not to look for Sukuna-chan. But at the same time, we have to understand that this is also Krishna's way to play with us. What's the worst that could happen?" She asked with a serene smile.

"She could die?" X deadpanned, only to have his Sempai give him a light smack at the back of his head.

"Hey, what gives?"

As for an answer, Zero, with he most nonplus mien he could give, handed X a Bhagavat-Gita. To which, X rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I know Zee, were not the body where spirit-souls. But Shinmiomaru is a Devotee, an elder devotee who had so much wisdom to give us, I don't want here to leave... not yet!"

"A very commendable sentiment." Uma nodded. "Now... is there a way for us to locate Sukuna?" She asked.

Shou raised her hand. "I do."

~0~

Yami. (Hoshiguma Yuugi.) Sat forlornly on a metal crate as she watched Shou perform a Yajna to call Nazrin, for only she could locate the Miracle hammer and Insun Boshi's needle, the real treasure of the inchilngs and the blade known as the Oni Slayer.

As for her?

Well, her power to control unexplained phenomena was complete bullshit, maybe another Hoshiguma Yuugi from the next universe would have this as her power, but not Yami.

She just slapped the name on for fun, not thinking too deeply about since, despite her strength, and authority she commended among the Oni community, there was nothing too special about it.

And it made her ascension to one of the legendary Devas that much more epic.

But right now?

Oh, right now, it grounded her gears. She could do jack shit about finding the true descendent of Insun boshi. She could only sit at the side and wait.

And wait...

and wait some more since the descendent of Krauncha, one of the very many, was known to take her own time.

"umm... so, when is she to arrive?" X asked as he fidget, he now donned his updated armour and Zero...

Well, he was suffering from Douglass's gentle loving care, since the medic had actually some very stellar bedside manner and, while he would joke around, would never dismiss anything, even so small as a slight pain, and he would make sure his patient would know what.

Nevertheless, it had been hilarious to hear Zero Prabhu explain how he'd managed to bend his legs while trying to fly by jumping off a cliff.

Douglas had been less then convinced, and told Zero that suicide was a terrible thing to perform and that if he wanted to talk, he would always be there... a talk that had made Zero balk... thank his engineer then storm away angrily... showing that yes, he could indeed fly now.

Thankfully, Bahula had explained that Zero's predicament had been entirely her fautl, since she had been the one who propose that Zero yeeted himself off a cliff to have him unlock his flight ability, thinking him to be like her.

Needless to say, the saint had been scolded by the medic and took it all in strive, her head bowed.

Then Zero had scolded Douglas, telling him that this was his own damn fautl and that his Guru was spotless, Zero should have known better then to keep jumping after the first warning message he got, not when he collapsed.

In the end, Douglas sighed and Hugged Zero for all it was worth. Telling him that he missed the knucklehead and to please don't to this slag ever again or so help him, even Sigma would regret it.

"Shou-chan, it's been four hours," Bahula spoke up, breaking X out of his reveries. "Maybe I should call someone else?"

Shou, who was now covered in soot and having ran out of Ghee, looked up to her Mentor/disciple with tears in her eyes. "But who? Mother, I know you are worshipping Radha-Krishna now, but still Bishamonten send Nazrin (Narayani), and Narayanis' my superior and I... ah, as shameful as it is, I can't contact Bishamonten by myself, only Narayani can."

"Is that so?" The ancient witch spoke with a relieved smile. "Good things I know his twin sons."

The moments those words left her lips, a... pair of Golden Chariots as big as city blocks and almost as tall, appeared on the field they were all in. They were decorated with silvered mirrors and so many types of wild, fragrant flowers, X was honestly losing his wits about them. Yak tail-fans swayed in the wind as musicien and dancing heavenly girl practiced their arts. Those heavenly being too beautiful to be described, let alone live in a gross, earth born bodies.

At their heels were two man glowing like a pair of suns. They were positively covered with gold and bejewelled ornament.

Marble and irovy stairs deployed, and the two demigods glided down, their feet never touching the ground, and their shadow none existent.

The only time they did touch the ground was when they loomed in front of mother Bahula, only to spread out heir front, offering her full Dandavats.

They spoke in ancient tongue, in Sanscrit, and Yami had no Idea what they were saying.

Bahula returned their obeisances, giving to them her utmost respect before they presumably asked her what they could do.

The saint asked them... to see Kuvera?"

the two glowing Demi-gods nodded, and the next thing they all knew, another chariot, this one even more opulent then the previous two, Floating above them all. Then out of it, a green-skinned dwarf whit three legs, three arms, three eyes and only three teeth, dressed in all the treasures and opulence of the universe emerged and floated down.

X, Zero and Yami stared at the rotund being holding a pomegranate, a club and a money bag on the cusp of bursting.

Toramaru Shou immediately rose up from her Asana and ran toward the source of her wealth gathering power before throwing herself at his feet.

The man, none other then Bishamonten in the flesh gasp in alarm as he saw his shaktiaveshavatar at his feet and was quick to pull her up... as far as he could.

Wich.. was not that far, to be honest.

"M... great master." Shou sobbed. "I'm... I'm terrible at this. I'm a horrible Avatar!"

The Demi-god cleared his throat. "None sense, to tell you the truth, I never really gave you any powers, I simply told you of your so-called powers." the little green man (on an unidentified flying object and living on another planet.) revealed shamefully. "I was not truly interested in helping you, daughter. Nor Mother Bahula... and it was my great mistake." Pearl-like tears fell from his eyes. "For only Sri-Vishnu, the master of my master could have known that under the Ego of the tiger-like flesh-eater and the Vain tantric Yogini hid a pair of jewel-like Vaishnava's." The Lord of wealth who rode on the back of Humans gave his Dandavat to the witch and her Yokai friend. "Please, please tell me, of Servant of the Master of Sri. What may this lowly Yaksha do for you?"

"We have lost one of our own, Sukuna Shinmiomaru, descendent of the great Insun Boshi." She explained in English, for the sake of the two reploids. "Since she holds her forefather's needle sword and the Miracle Mallet, we thought your servant, Nazrin, could locate her... unfortunately, despite her student's best attempt, it seems our little rat had no desire to come out of Gensokyo."

"Yes... it is quite unfortunate."

Yami twitch... oh, the Demi-god was lying.

'Interesting.' She thought with a feral smile.

Usually, being an Oni and the chief of Old hell, this would be enough to have her fly at the guys troth and puree him in a hot second.

But this was a Deva, a colleague.

Yami and her breather may be called Onis, but in truth, they were Yaksha's tyes of Demons who approached demigods on therm of powers.

But, she and the others were not that powerful when compared to Parashurama, a 'mere' man who was empowered by God to kill eleven generations of demoniac Kshatriyas, or what about Ravana, who made the entire Univers scream or Hiranyasha who managed to knock mother earth into the ocean at the bottom of the universe, and what to say of his Twin Brother, Hiranyakashipu, who made all the Demi-gods bow their heads in defeat in the face of his great might? And whom God, in his most fearsome incarnation as Sri-Narashima-deva had to personally kill to save his devotee, practically a toddler by the name of Prahlad?

Where was she again? Right, she would not call out Kuvera over his transcendental bullshitery.

Besides, it was all in good fun.

"Now, let me please assist you in finding both the culprit and the jewel-like Devotee that had to be oh-so cruelly taken away from you." The small green man bowed, his flowery words hiding the mischievous and greedy glint in his eyes.

'yep... here come the transcendental tomfoolery.' Yami Devi Dasi tought with a grin.

Since who, in their right mind, would not serve such a pure devotee as Bahula and Mukhara?

Fools and Rascals, that's who.