I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series

Hawaii

"Ahh… That's life…"

Lying on a beach lounge, the tiny canine enjoyed the view of the Pacific Ocean while munching on a biscuit. It had been a few days since he and Vidarr had escaped from Asgard after that mission and decided to remain hidden in the mortal realm until it was safe to return. While nobody had detected them, it was important to take a few precautions and make sure that in the event they were proven to be wrong, he and the rogue god would've enough of a head start before the Fighting Wings could go after them.

At least, the whole situation had turned to be much better than they've originally thought. Given that the general area was still slightly saturated by Belldandy's… accidental energy release, it made it an ideal place to hide, as any imperfection of their stealth fields could be masked by the Norn's residual energy. And for the canine, those impromptu vacations were really a nice change of pace, compared to his boring daily routine in Asgard. Dressed in a Hawaiian shirt specifically tailored for him which came with a pair of tiny sunglasses, the wolf spent most of his days relaxing near the beach where he could enjoy the occasional Mojito or a Tequila Sunrise; much to Vidarr's chagrin.

"Hey, Fenrir!"

"Leave me alone!" barked the pup, turning towards the annoying god. "For the last time, I'm not an ordinary wolf, so, I can drink alcohol!"

"That's not it. You've got a call," corrected the celestial as he set his communicator next to him.

"Aloha!" said the grinning wolf, munching on his biscuit before he lapped from the broad-bowled glass he used to accommodate for his snout.

"That's not the time for such nonsense! My counterpart informed me there's a huge emergency and he's in desperate need for help! I want you to him a hand!" said Loki from the other end of the line.

"Too bad I don't have any of them, boss. Now, If you wanted legs… I have four," laughed Fenrir. "Besides, why doesn't he use Jormungandr? That scales for brains could use some exercise."

"That's the problem! He can't!" countered Loki. "You see, your brother had been kidnapped… or snake… napped? Whatever! I need you to get there and save him!"

"What am I? A rescue dog or something?" asked Fenrir with a groan. "Find somebody else to do that boring stuff."

"I can't and it's not anywhere as boring as you may think… It's a bloody battlefield over there," said Loki, trying to tempt the wolf. "From what I've heard, Surt is having a party over at his realm."

"Are they using live ammo?"

"Yep, the real deal."

"Weapons of mass destruction?"

"I did say that, Surt's organizing the party, didn't I?"

"I'm in!" Jumping from the lounge, the canine run at full speed towards the horizon, leaving Vidarr behind.

'So simple minded...' Shaking his head the god retrieved his communicator, as he watched Fenrir return for a minute after his departure. "Problems?"

"The Gate's closed! I need you to get me in!" barked the wolf with an excited look on his face as he wagged his tail . "Come on! You're an expert of space manipulation, so, I need a direct point transfer; pronto!"

"And how exactly are you planning to return?" asked the celestial, rolling his eyes at the canine's glaring oversight. "You need to open another portal to get back once you're done."

"That's why I'm taking you with me," replied Fenrir without missing a beat.

"Are you insane?! I'm not going to Muspelheim during a crisis and nothing you say will change that!" countered Vidarr, as he crossed his arms in defiance.

Making his best impression of puppy eyes he could, Fenrir smiled at the god. "Dunno about that. I think a few celestials would like to know who was responsible for taking the Judgement Gate offline. And they really loved that toy of theirs, too."

"You!…"

"Me?…"

Shaking from rage, the god glared at his four legged adversary, before he gave up. "Fine, but I don't want to get involved. I'll take you there and then wait for a while before I leave. It's up to you to get the job done and if you're not back in time, I'm leaving you behind."

"Sure!" said the proud wolf. "This is going to be a piece of cake!"

XXX

Nekomi, Japan

As the last of the of the temple's residents had finally went to sleep, a faint light began to illuminate the dark room that, Urd used to occupy for several years. While she left most of the decorations behind, the Norn of the past took the vast majority of her alchemical ingredients and tools, making it seem much emptier than it actually was. Materializing out of the magical circle, a figure donned in the light armor of a war god took a glance around his surroundings making sure that nobody had detected his presence.

'I would've never expected that I'd have to wait those two to finish, before I could get here. Sheesh… they took their sweet time…' Checking his wristwatch, the god shook his head in disbelief. 'Two hours… Who would've thought that they'd keep going for that long? Oh well, I need to get moving, the sooner I get what I want, the better.'

Opening the sliding door with caution, the dark haired celestial checked the hallway for signs of any activity, especially given the number of guests that were currently present. 'Good, everyone's asleep, the robots are charging their batteries and that stupid cat is outside.'

Walking at a snail's pace, the god froze when he heard what was apparently a content sigh, coming from the couple's room. 'Just go to sleep, will you? It's three o'clock in the morning for Asgard's sake!'

Tiptoeing past Keiichi and Belldandy's bedroom, he finally reached his destination; the guest room. Sliding the door carefully, he made sure that, Frigg was asleep before he looked around for what he wanted and much to his horror the tiny metallic container was nowhere in sight.

'Shoot!... Where's Skidbladnir's holder? She must be hiding it somewhere, but… Why everything has to be so darn complicated?'

Eying carefully at the goddess' sleeping form, the armored celestial tried to take a better look at the nearby furniture for any sign of the pocket sized container of Asgard's mightiest battleship, but to no avail.

'Don't tell me she's got it stashed on her person? How am I supposed to get it, then?' Staring down at Frigg, the war god scratched his head in frustration. There was absolutely no way to search her without waking her up and leaving empty handed was out of question either. Finding himself in a pinch, he reached for his sword that was strapped on his back, pointing it at the sleeping goddess.

'Gram, I need some help here,' sent the god to his weapon through telepathy, in order to avoid making any noise. 'Can you see if she's got the ship's container?'

'Affirmative. Commencing scan...' came the mechanical reply. 'Analysis complete. No traces of Skidbladnir's signature present in the vicinity of this room. A possible match was confirmed in a nearby one, though.'

Producing a small hologram of the temple's layout, the sword marked the couple's bedroom as the source of the signal.

'There? Why would it be… Never mind, we're going to get it one way or another'

Backtracking to the room in question, the god was almost afraid to peek inside. While he was anxious to get his hands on the ship, the same couldn't be said about the prospect of seeing the outcome of their happy time as such activities were often euphemised by his fellow celestials.

'Well, here goes nothing... '

Taking a cautious peek inside, he was greatly relieved that both the goddess and her mortal husband were happily tucked into their futon. Crossing the distance between the door and the desk that his weapon had indicated as the hiding place of the pocket battleship.

'So far, so good. Now… huh? What's that?'

Picking what seemed to be a discarded belt harness from the tatami floor, the god blinked as he recognized it as one of Peorth's typical accessories of her… outfit. Worse, not far from it, there was a top that also matched the rose goddess' casual garments and the bottom part was not a meter away from it, too. Fearing that there was a third individual in the room aside from himself and his sword, the celestial glanced at the bed reluctantly and much to his relief he only found the couple and nobody else sharing the bed with them.

'Wait… if that's the case, then she was wearing that? There's nothing pule left in this world, I guess.' Shaking his head, as he left the belt harness down on the floor, he decided that the mission was more important than his observations about modern ethics. 'It's not like I didn't know that everyone is told the same lies while they're kids, but, to see proof with my own eyes is a very different matter.'

Opening the desk's third drawer, he reached back and after a few tense moments, he found what he had been looking for; the capsule containing Skidbladnir. 'Finally! I can now get out of here and...'

"Excuse me, but… Who might you be?"

Turning slowly around, the worried warrior noticed the curious goddess of the present, who most likely wanted some explanations for his presence in her bedroom. To make matter even worse, she was unaware of her state of undress and thanks to his code of honor the god had to point downwards with his gloved hand to warn her, which naturally caused her to produce a scream so loud that woke everyone in the vicinity of the temple grounds.

"Wah! Don't look!"

The war god didn't need to wait until the rest of the goddesses gathered to see what the commotion was all about and knowing it was futile to try to escape now that he had been exposed, he reached for his sword to create a distraction. With a fast swing towards her right arm, he sliced the power absorbing bracelet her father gave her, causing all the accumulated energy to surge outwards in what ended up as one of most violent floral explosions in history.

Flowers of all types inundated the temple grounds, destroying all obstacles in their path, before they created an avalanche once they reached the road and from there the mountain side. The cries of several startled goddesses, a human and a cursed cat were joined in a cacophony of sounds as the tumbling mass of magically conjured vegetation washed them away and send them down the Nekomi Ridge.

"Odal, status report."

Struggling to get out of the sweet scented mountain of blossoms, the war god coughed a few times, getting some of the petals he had accidentally ingested out. "I'll live, Gram. We've been through a lot worse together and…"

"Goddess on your six!"

"Yes, Go-... Wait... What?" Jumping to the side, the armored deity turned around to see the airborne form of Ansuz illuminated by the moon right behind her as she descended upon him, her oversized axe aimed right at his head.

Grabbing a smoke grenade, the god threw it towards her in order to create enough of a distraction. He had no desire to get into a fight with her, knowing that the odds were against him, especially once the others joined in, too.

"Stop that, you!... How dare you attack my daughter, you deviant!" Unaffected by the thick layer of smoke and even flapping her winglets to move it away from her face, Asgard's second in command was clearly furious and she had every intention to make that fact known. "A license suspension is the very least you're gonna get! Which unit are you from? Who asked you to come here?"

"Nobody, actually," replied the god, in an effort to buy time by talking, while his sword prepared a return gate out of the mortal realm. "I got here on my own and for the record, I must confess that I don't possess a license."

"What? You're an unregistered deity?" gasped Ansuz, as she suddenly realized the magnitude of the problem. While not exactly unheard of, rogue celestials were a serious concern as they weren't subjected to the same restrictions like everybody else, making them extremely dangerous. As a matter of fact, it was standard procedure to seal them on sight, before they had the chance to cause any serious problems by abusing their limitless access to as much power as their bodies could hold. 'This is way worse than I've originally thought, where did he… Hold on, that sword!... How did he get Gram?'

Before she could get the chance to ask any further questions, the rogue god gazed skywards and dived to the side to avoid Lind's hypersonic dynamic entrance. Smashing right where he stood a moment ago, the Valkyrie created a decent sized crater that obliterated of what was left of the house and set most of the remaining flowers ablaze. "I missed…"

"That's the understatement of the day!" shouted Ansuz, as she watched the smoldering petals rain down upon them, while their opponent was nowhere in sight. "You actually did him a favor! Now, where did he go?"

"I'm sorry! I'll search the perimeter to see if he left any traces of a portal!" Hurrying to the nearby forest that was the most likely destination for anyone who needed to get some cover, Lind left the troubled Ansuz behind.

"It's not here!"

Turning back to find her mother-in-law searching through the debris, the teal haired goddess wondered what was so important that required Frigg's attention in the middle of this mess. "Have you lost anything?"

"Yes! Skidbladnir's capsule!" replied the elder goddess without a pause, still going though the almost unrecognizable remains of what used to be their possessions.

"Was it hidden in Belldandy's room?" asked Ansuz, as she suddenly started to realize what was going on here.

"Yes… Why?"

"Because, that god must've gotten it," replied Ansuz, as she summoned her communicator. "Please gather the others, I need to call Tyr and inform him of what took place here.'

Nodding, Frigg headed back towards the mountain road, leaving her daughter-in-law alone to vent some of her frustration while nobody was around to hear her.

"Damn it! That son of a bitch!"

XXX

Main residential area, Muspelheim

"Get up, already! Can't you hear the alarms?"

Groaning in annoyance, Urd turned to face her roommate who decided to wake her up mere minutes after she had actually fallen asleep. "I can! Ever since I got here, they're declaring one emergency after the other! I want some shut-eye!"

"You can't do that in the middle of a city wide evacuation! Hey! Are you even paying attention to me?" Not getting a reply, the synthetic reasoned that extreme measures were necessary and as such, he melted into a pool of liquid metal, creeping slowly towards the half demoness.

Without warning, the liquidized form of Excalibur covered the unsuspecting Urd who nearly screamed when she felt the bizarre substance cover her naked body. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?! Get off me, pervert! Letch! Molester! Enemy of women!"

Ignoring her complaints, the sentient weapon reconfigured himself based on her exact measurements, taking the form of an armored exoskeleton, complete with a fully enclosed helmet. Then much to the half demoness' confusion, it powered its artificial muscles forcing Urd to an upright position, not unlike a puppet moving thanks to its strings.

Watching behind the faceplate's Augmented Reality User Interface, the Norn of the past was trying to make sense of all the information presented at her. As Excalibur came to a stop, the exoskeleton allowed her to take over and for the next few seconds, Urd walked towards a mirror, checking her reflection. "Hm… Not bad… I kinda look like something out of those anime series Skuld likes so much. Hey, Excalibur, what can you do?"

"Generally speaking I can use all my normal abilities and even augment them if you allow me to borrow some of your power. It's almost as if you've got another angel, although, I'm far more combat oriented and won't put any additional stress on you. On top of that, I can take a lot of damage in your place, since I'm far more resilient and give you a much greater spatial awareness of your surroundings as well as better communication options," explained the synthetic. "And given my nature I can also work as a local relay for the Yggdrasil mainframe, preventing anyone from cutting you off, especially while on the mortal realm. Of course, that's rather irrelevant right now, since you're connected to its demonic counterpart thanks to your current configuration."

"Hm… very interesting…" said Urd, as she inspected herself. "Say… Can you change those boots into high heels? And while at it, maybe readjust your exterior into something more… lithe and curvy?" asked Urd.

"My purpose in this mode is to maximize your fighting capabilities," was the dry reply. "Becoming the latest fashion statement is beyond my intended function."

"Says the person who's currently hugging every square inch of my body. Even my head is totally…" trailed Urd when she suddenly paused, her armored hand reaching to check the back of her helmet. "Wait! What happened to my hair?!"

"I've securely tucked them inside," said Excalibur in a monotonous, almost bored voice.

"If you're not telling the truth and I end up with a funny haircut, I'm gonna turn you into a rusty bucket," shot the half demoness at him.

Deciding that she was going to complain anyway, the synthetic readjusted his appearance to her exact specifications, hoping that this would appease her. Shifting into a less bulky version of the armor, along with the requested high heels and even a color that was going to please her; matte black with shiny pearl white stripes and details. "Well? Is that better?"

"Mm… Not bad! It actually looks sexy!" said Urd with a wink.

"That's… the first compliment I ever got from you," said the rather surprised synthetic, despite his even tone.

"I was talking about my reflection, actually. As for you… Hm… maybe some flames would you look… cooler?" asked the Norn of the past. "Or some chrome bits here and there?"

"Okay, now you're pushing it," replied the sentient weapon with an electronic sound that resembled a groan. "For the first time in a while, a suggestion was turned down by 100% of my runtimes. Yes…. it was that dumb."

"Hey, don't be so mean… It was just an idea."

Opening the door without knocking, Mara tried to get her friend's attention, before she noticed what the Norn of the past was wearing. "Urd! We need to get out of here! They're evacuating the whole city and… Whoa! Where did you get that armor?"

"It's me, actually," said Excalibur, adding a small description on Urd's UI.

[Target Analysis]

[Species] :: Demon.

[ID]:: Demoness first class, unlimited, Mara.

[Threat level]:: Nominal.

[Comments]:: Urd's associate and potential romantic interest. According to this unit's eye tracking analysis software, 21.57% of the time Urd likes to check the demoness' assets. By contrast, 24.59% of the time Mara focuses on the Norn's body, especially around chest region. Further observation is necessary to determine whether it is a case of mere attraction or a possible Judgement Gate hit candidate. {Update: The Gate is offline. Unit will keep updating the status for future reference. And personal amusement, of course; beats calculating more digits of pi.}

"Hey! What kind of data are you collecting?!" shouted the embarrassed half demoness as she read the message.

"Me?" asked the confused blonde. "Nothing at all!"

"No! I was talking to…" started Urd, before the other two demons entered the room and after staring at the Norn's appearance, they pointed towards the exit.

"Alright, we wasted enough time here," said Hrym, as he glanced over his shoulder, spotting some troops that came to pick them. "We're leaving, so, follow them and no objections."

Having no other option, the two demonesses, plus their superiors headed outside where several Eldjotnar squadrons were supervising the evacuation, leading the civilians to the lower sections of the city.

XXX

"Alright... You have five minutes of energy reserves and then your collar will run out of power."

Retrieving the item in question from his robes, Vidarr gave it a quick inspection before he secured it around the wolf's neck.

"I can do that in two minutes and then have enough time to laugh at them!" said Fenrir with a grin.

"Don't get overconfident. Secure the target and get back as soon as possible," said the god, narrowing his eyes at the amused canine. "Muspelheim's defenses aren't to be taken lightly and you're far from invulnerable. So, keep your attitude for…"

Ignoring his celestial associate, Fenrir activated the collar and for the first time in several millennia he felt the intoxicating effect of raw power rushing through his body. Growing several times his original size, Fenrir was no longer the little pup he used to be a moment ago. Instead, the terrible wolf of destruction was once more ready to lay waste on everything and everyone who was dumb enough to get into his path.

"I'm ba~ack!" laughed the giant, each of his paws large enough to cover an entire city block. Letting an excited howl, the dread wolf headed towards the desert in the distance, leaving Vidarr behind.

'What a showoff… I hope he doesn't waste too much time or he's toast.'

XXX

Central Command Center

"Sir! Another life form was identified by the system!" shouted the officer from the tactical map station.

'When it rains, it pours… And we're in the most arid realm there is… Oh, the irony!...' Shaking his head, Surt had a gnawing feeling that once Jormungandr showed up, its brother was likely to follow suit and pay for a visit. "On screen!"

As the main display of the situation room switched to the new threat, the city sized intruder appeared on the map while he sped towards the much bigger sea serpent. Even if there was any doubt about its identity, the description given by the demonic system left very little doubt, making most of the staff to look at each other in concern.

'Lupus Majoris: Fenrir.'

"What's the status of Naglfar?" asked Surt to his subordinates, now that he knew they had not one, but, two divine beasts to deal with. "And where's Hrym? He should've been here already!"

"The ship is ready for action, sir! All requested missiles are securely on board! Also, Hrym-sama is currently on sublevel 5."

Letting a frustrated huff, the ruler of Muspelheim realized that it was probably going to take several minutes for his sub-commander to reach the situation room if he was still stuck over there. "Send him a message to meet us on board Naglfar. There's no point to waste time and get here first, so, he should head straight to the hangars and…"

Before the dark haired demon had the chance to finish his sentence, yet another alarm went off; the fourth one in a row. "Alright… What is it now?"

"The system just picked up a celestial battleship in the general vicinity of the closest oasis, sir! Based on the IFF code, it's CMV Skidbladnir!"

'A celestial military vessel here? What are they thinking?' Pinching the bridge of his nose, Surt had trouble to contain his anger. While he enjoyed a good challenge, things were getting incredibly complicated with the presence of one of their opponent's ships in the area. If they accidentally hit it, they could start a war for no particular reason, although, given that the celestials were technically invading their realm, self defense was acceptable. Thanks to the peace treaty it was dictated to try and disable the ship, instead of going for his personal favorite method right away; blowing it sky high. Of course, that required a lot more attention and at the time being, Surt had already his hands full with three other targets he needed to deal with.

"That Tyr decided to grow a pair at the worst possible moment!" growled the ruler of Muspelheim as he checked the tactical map. The only good news were that those intruders were gathering in the same general area, which simply meant that he wouldn't have to spread his forces too much. Only Ymir and his mysterious infiltrator was unaccounted for, but, he had to wait until the situation was under control before he even attempted to do anything about them. At the present time, divine forces and celestial made monsters were a much higher priority and that's what he had to focus on.

"Hail that ship! I need to have a few words with those morons!"

XXX

Observing the incoming projectiles with an almost apathetic look, Jormungandr tried to figure out what he was doing in the middle of Muspelheim. It had been a while since he last got out of castle Utgard and right now he doubted that his maker was responsible for his predicament.

'That's absolutely unacceptable. If this goes on for a while I'll run out of energy and then…'

As the shells harmlessly exploded around him, the gargantuan snake began to plot the route for the closest Gate out of this hellhole. According to his estimates, he only had a few more minutes and then he'd revert back to his original, much small form. It was then when he noticed a rather familiar energy signature approaching him at high speed.

'Fenrir? What's my brother doing here?'

"Hey! Scale-face! Cavalry's here!" shouted the wolf as he closed in to his younger and yet much larger brother.

"I don't think that a canine can be described as a mounted unit, unless you're carrying someone on your back," was the calm response, despite all the chaos around them. "Still, I appreciate your concern for my well being."

"Oh, shut up… I hate this kind of cheesy comments and you know it!" said Fenrir with a snort. "I'm here for the fight! I couldn't let you get all the glory for yourself!"

"There's nothing to be gained by involving ourselves in this… mess," said Jormungandr with a shake of his head. "I hope that you've got a plan to get us out of here, before we both run out of energy and have to face Muspelheim's defenses in our low power forms."

"Always the calculating one…" said the wolf with a frown. "You're no fun at all. I thought we could just trash Surt's toys for a while and then leave. It's a shame to waste such a unique opportunity."

Rolling his eyes, the gargantuan serpent let a tired sigh. "The only thing we'll ever accomplish is to piss him off and… you know that it won't end well; at least, not for us."

"You're such a worrywort! Come on! We've got unlimited power for… huh? What's that sound?" Looking around in confusion, the canine soon found out that the high pitched noise was coming from his collar, as a few lights were blinking. "Uh oh…"

Watching as his brother abruptly shrunk to his more familiar puppy size, Jormungandr suddenly realized a very important parameter that he hadn't taken into account; while harmless to them, those artillery shells were actually draining their energy at a much faster rate as their bodies generated a shield to protect them from injury. "This is bad… really… really bad."

Before he could react, the gigantic serpent started to shrink too, until he was no much larger than an average python. However, size was hardly the real problem for either of them. Instead, it was the fact that they were both extremely vulnerable in that state and the explosions around them were no longer something they could easily dismiss anymore; they became legitimate threats that they had to get as far away from as possible.

"Quick! We need to get some shelter!" shouted Jormungandr, trying to compensate for the ear shattering noise that got far worse as they both shrunk.

"Where?! It's all freaking sand as far as the eye can see!" screamed the wolf as another incoming shell nearly launched them when it hit a nearby dune.

"Surt you puppy kicking brute! I'll bite your leg off! You hear me?"

XXX

"Odal, they're hailing us."

Turning back, the humanoid form of Gram studied the war god's worried expression. Stating him with his mechanical, almost featureless face, the sentient weapon waited for a response before the situation deteriorated even further. "We cannot ignore them any more. Skidbladnir is totally unmanned and at this state, we don't have the means to defend this vessel if they launch an all out attack. Time is of the essence."

"I know that! We need to keep looking for those demons before all hell breaks loose! Ymir can be a valuable ally if we convince him to join our side!" shot the got back at the android. "Let me buy some time with Surt while you keep scanning!"

"As you wish."

'Well… here goes nothing.' Pressing a button to the console next to him, Odal mentally prepared for the tirade he knew was coming. As a matter of fact, his transgressions were so serious that even the kindest of gods would've loved to give him a piece of their mind, let alone a demon; especially one like Surt.

"Finally! Took you long enough, you damned copycat!" shouted the leader of Muspelheim at the rogue god. "Tell that leader of yours that using my tactics on me is not only unoriginal, but, downright stupid! This isn't Alfheim and I've got no intention to stay with my arms crossed while you're pretending to be me! Find your own shtick you bloody fools!"

"I… I'm sorry, however..." started Odal, but never got the chance to finish as he was rudely interrupted.

"No, you're not! I'll make you sorry." Sitting back on his chair, Surt reached for his coffee mug while staring at the dark haired god. "Now, what were you trying to say? Not that it really matters, but, I'm kind of curious."

"Actually, I'm not under the Daitenkaicho's orders. You see… I stole this ship in order to pursue my own agenda," said the god in an attempt to convince him. However, instead of the expected reaction, the demon simply started to laugh, surprising even his own subordinates.

"Are you telling me that they lost a battleship?" Struggling to keep himself from falling off his chair, Surt wasn't entirely certain if that god was telling the truth or if this was merely a ploy to deny any celestial involvement. Either way, he was certain that he had never seen that god before and with a few keystrokes, a face recognition program began to search their database for any matches. However, no profile came up and given that it included records of every known god, including the deceased ones, it made the demon wonder what was going on here. 'Did he manage to delete his profile? That seems a rather hard thing to accomplish. Hm...interesting...'

"As a matter of fact, it's the very nature of this particular vessel that makes it susceptible to theft. After all, there's a good reason why no other ships have the ability to turn into a portable mode; just because it's feasible, doesn't mean it's a great idea to go for it," explained Odal as he glanced over at Gram who shook his head. 'I need to buy more time.'

"Well... that's actually true from a certain perspective," replied the dark haired demon, scratching his chin. "If that's the case, then what's your name, mister pirate?"

Blinking, Odal had no idea how to properly respond to that. Giving him his real name felt a bad idea, no matter how useless that information would be to Surt. There was no record about him and yet his training mandated that in a situation like this, the less others knew about his identity the better it was for him. "You can call me Sigurd."

"And what are you doing in my realm… Sigurd?" asked Surt, not buying his story. "Don't tell me that you thought it was a nice day to take your new ship for cruise."

"No, not really. I want to get my hands on Ymir before you do," said Odal, making everyone but Surt blink in confusion. He knew that the demons had the upper hand here and creating distractions was the best way to throw them off his track. 'Plus, I can deliberately take the ship towards the wrong direction to make him think I'm getting closer. At least, as long as Ymir and his group think that Surt's too busy with me, they might come out of their hiding place.'

Ignoring the strange looks around the situation room, Surt was starting to think that this god knew a lot more than he was letting on. Not only he was aware that the first Daimakaicho was alive, but he wanted to contact him; and right under his nose, too. "I don't know what you put in your tea little god, but, Ymir is dead."

"You and I both know that's a lie. Or at least a misguided assumption," countered Odal. "I appreciate your efforts to conceal that information from your subordinates, but, you'll have to excuse me. My mother hadn't raised a liar."

"Maybe. She did raise an idiot though. You pretty much told me that you're not associated with Asgard, which means that I can turn you into dust and nobody will even bother. Oh, and before you even say it, there's no Sigurd or whatever you like to call yourself. So, it's extremely unlikely that you're part of the Doublet System," said Surt with a big grin. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll give you a state funeral. See you there, moron!"

Watching the ruler of Muspelheim flip him the middle finger, Odal blinked twice, before he glanced over at Gram who was shaking his head.

"With all due respect, Odal, I'll have to agree with him on this. What did you hope to accomplish by revealing all that information?"

"I bought us some time. After all, he didn't learn anything truly useful anyway. It's fairly obvious that I'm not one of the registered gods, so, coming up with an excuse wouldn't really do anything either. At least, this way he can question if what I told him was true or not," explained Odal. "Now, have you found our demons?"

"Yes, I did."

XXX

"Idiot! What were you thinking?!"

Standing in front of a seething Njorun, Ymir tried to remain calm and hold his ground while she went on and on for what felt like ages to the ancient demon. He and Bergelmir had gotten into all that trouble to locate her and yet she had no intention to appreciate their efforts. Instead, she kept criticizing his every decision, despite her own mistakes that caused this situation to get out of hand.

"Will you calm down for a moment and listen to reason? In case you're noticed, the whole place is a warzone! Njorun, we need to get out of here before anyone gets hurt or worse," said Ymir at a much calmer tone than his former lover. "Surt is overreacting as always and this could get us killed if we're not careful. I had to use Jormungandr to draw their artillery fire away from you and you know… It worked! Now, stop being stubborn and come with me!"

"Never!"

Narrowing his eyes, Ymir was finally starting to lose his temper, given her rather adamant resolve. "If you die here, you'll never meet anyone!"

"And whose fault is it? If I had it my way, Hild would've never been raised as an orphan, mister flawless father!" spat the blue haired demoness at him.

"I've never claimed to be perfect! And if it makes you feel any better, I've came to regret a lot of decisions I've made in the past. Still, I am proud of my… no… our daughter's accomplishments. She did all that on her own and as cruel as that sounds, that's a lot better than staying with us. We both decided to live our lives the way we do, but, Hild would've been forced to accept that regardless of her own wishes. Is that what you really wanted for your daughter? And let's not forget that neither of us would've allowed her to date a god, let alone have a child with him. That granddaughter you're so fond of is the result of something we'd consider a big mistake and regardless of the outcome, I'm happy that she exists and so is her mother!" Gripping the wooden staff he carried with enough force to cause some creaking sounds, Ymir had for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years released the dark aura of the poisonous rivers he had spawned from.

Covering the area like an invisible mist, the energy was significant enough to trigger every sensor in the whole realm which inevitable gave away their position. Cursing under his breath for his momentary lack of restrain, the ancient demon glared at his former lover. "We've ran out of time. Just this once, listen to me and do as I say."

"And how exactly are we going to leave? A direct point transfer at this point isn't something easy, you know. It's going to take someone with exceptional control over space itself to navigate through the several dozen countermeasures that are currently in place," said Njorun, crossing her arms in defiance. "The whole realm is in lockdown and thanks to your intervention, things had gotten worse! Deploying Jormungandr in the middle of this realm was more that enough to justify the additional measures and while we could leave before, now it's all but impossible."

"I'm afraid that she's right, my lord," said Bergelmir who was checking his communicator for messages from Ratatoskr's HQ. "There's at least fifteen additional measures deployed since our arrival. At this point it's going to take so much time and effort to get out of Muspelheim, that it's better to keep a low profile and hide in the city."

"Even if we have to remain here, I don't see why we should get to the most heavily monitored area of this realm," countered Ymir. "It's far more logical to take refuge in the desert or at one of the mountain ranges that surround the capital."

"It's far too risky my lord. I can hardly believe it, but… Surt just requested the Daimakaicho's permission for deploying strategic weapons," said Bergelmir, causing both Ymir and Njorun share a look of utter disbelief. And for the first time in several millennia they managed to agree on one thing.

"What?! Has he lost his freaking mind?!"

XXX

Nekomi, Japan

"Belldandy, are you alright?"

Checking his wife for any sign of injury, Keiichi was relieved that she was totally unharmed. The first thing he saw when he woke up was her bracelet getting sliced and for a moment he was afraid that the situation was way more serious than it actually was.

"Don't worry dear, I'm fine," said Belldandy to further reassure him, offering her husband a hug. "It's rather surprising that you've managed to form a shield around us when the flowers were released, though. It's a bit early for your angel to use that kind of spells without the proper training."

Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, Keiichi had to admit that he wasn't entirely sure what took place in the past few minutes, other than his strong desire to protect her. "I… I don't really know how I did that. Terrestrial Spark said that it was pure instinct that took over."

"Still, it was a really touching gesture, Keiichi," said Belldandy with a warm smile as she leaned close to him for a kiss, before someone decided to clear their throat.

"Excuse me for interrupting you two, but, we're in the middle of a road! So, give us a hand, will you?" said Skuld, while the rest of the goddesses hurried to remove the flowers from the scene. The last thing they needed was to attract the local press' attention, given that the whole mountain road was buried under metric tons of flora. Thankfully it was so late in the night that nobody was using that particular route around the city and most of the local residents were fast asleep.

"Sorry!" said the couple as they put some distance between them, a blush appearing on their faces.

"I'm not angry with you, by the way. It's just that… someone broke through my security system!" snarled Skuld, stomping her foot on the asphalt. "And to make matters worse, I woke up with Peorth's clothes on my face… How did she lose them anyway?"

The couple's blush turned from a pale pink to a fierce crimson as the began to realize that the undergarments in question weren't Peorth's, despite the fact that they were modeled after the rose goddess' distinctive style. It was Belldandy's idea to explore some possibilities and try things that she had never experienced before and as embarrassing as it was at first, she enjoyed the outcome more than she had originally expected. Of course admitting that to others, let alone her little sister was absolutely out of question and despite her strong desire to clear this matter up, the Norn of the present remained silent; unlike Skuld who went on.

"I mean, it's not like I've never seen them, but… what kind of a slob leaves them lying around like that? Seriously… Uh… oneesama, are you okay?"

"I… I…" struggling to control her blush, Belldandy was torn between sparing herself from the embarrassment of admitting her guilt and defending Peorth's reputation. "I'm so sorry, Skuld! I never collected them from the floor!"

Blinking in confusion, Skuld tried to make sense of what she just heard and considering that her sister loved to clean the house, the little goddess reached the wrong conclusion. "Don't blame yourself for Peorth's bad habits, oneesama! You should scold her for displaying such a behaviour, not defend her! After all, she's the guest and it should be obvious that she needs to respect her hosts! That's it! I'll talk to her! That... scantily clad goddess…"

Watching her younger sibling turn around to head towards the unsuspecting goddess of the roses, Belldandy exchanged a worried look with her husband. They both knew that, Skuld's definition of 'having a few words' probably included the use of high explosives and the angrier she was, the more powerful those bombs tended to be. "Keiichi, dear... Can you please hide behind Laguz while I clear this... misunderstanding? I don't want to test whether you can deploy a shield again, unless it's absolutely necessary."

Swallowing hard, Keiichi gave her a nod and tried to stay positive, hoping that the goddess of the future would show mercy and not deny him of his future once she learned the whole truth. "I'll do that... Just... go easy on her."

"Peorth!"

Hearing the angry shout, the rose goddess paused and glanced at the young Norn who was marching towards her. "What's wrong Skuld? I'm rather busy dissolving those flowers. Wait... have I gotten any of your devices by accident? I was really careful, but..."

"You left…"

"Wait! Skuld! It's all a big misunderstanding!" said Belldandy as she rushed to put an end to this unneeded drama. After all, there were more important things to take care at the time and even then, she didn't want to be the cause of an incident. "Those were mine!"

"What? Don't lie! Those clearly looked like…" started Skuld, before she paused realizing that unlike Urd, lying was all but impossible for a first class goddess like Belldandy. Blinking hard, she reached for her pajamas where she had hidden the offending lingerie and held them up for the others to see. "Uh… are we talking about these?"

"Yes."

"And the top bit?" went the Norn of the future on. "The one that ended up on mom's face?"

"If it looked like the one Peorth is currently wearing, then... yes."

"No way!..." Watching her sister as she fiddled with her hair while staring at the flower covered road, Skuld briefly wondered if she had actually hit her head so hard that she began to imagine things. The mental image of her pure, innocent sister dressed in Peorth's skimpy outfit was so traumatizing that she simply refused to accept it. While the little goddess had reluctantly came into terms with the fact that it was natural for a couple to display signs of affection, it was a totally different matter to accept such… improper behavior from her own idol. "Why would you dress like her?!"

"Because I'm rather fashionable?" suggested Peorth with a wink that caused Skuld to grit her teeth. "By the way, I'm really pleased to see your progress, Belldandy. A few weeks ago, I would've never expected you to try something so daring. So!... Did Keiichi like that?"

"P-Peorth! Skuld is right next to us!" gasped Belldandy as she glanced at her sister.

"Yeah… The kid's listening…" spat the little goddess as she crossed her arms.

"Oh, come on Belldandy… It's not I've asked for any explicit details. It was a very simple question that could've been answered without telling too much." said Peorth with a wink. "You can share more details later once we're in a more private setting!"

"I will do no such thing!" said the horrified goddess of the present and went on, as she noticed the administrator gaze at her husband who was still hiding behind a stunned Laguz. "And don't you dare force that information out of Keiichi, either!"

"Why are you treating this like it's such a big deal? We're all grownups here…" said Peorth, before she glanced at Skuld who returned the gaze with a raised eyebrow. "Well… most of us are."

"Excuse me for not meeting your expectations…" grumbled Skuld, her hands itching to grab a bomb and blast that shameless goddess sky high.

Trying to avoid any comments that would further agitate the young celestial, Peorth turned back to Belldandy. "You know… While I appreciate that you approve of my stylistic options, I was wondering why you chose my casual outfit. That's hardly something I'd use for such an occasion. It simply covers too much."

"Covers too much?" echoed the Norn of the present, wondering if she even wanted to know what the rose goddess classified as revealing.

"Of course! For such a purpose I'd recommend a much fancier piece from my fine collection of nightwear!" Smiling, the rose goddess reached for the cleavage cutout of her top and seemed to search for something. "Where did I put…"

"Copycat… I'm the one who stores things there," said Skuld with a huff, earning a pointed look from Peorth.

"No, you're most certainly not! A lady's secret storage is something so widely used that you cannot put a claim on it as your intellectual property!" countered Peorth, as she finally found what she was looking for. "Here! That's what I'd call a suitable attire for a hot night of passion!"

Taking the offered lingerie in her trembling hands, Belldandy tried to understand how anyone could even this flimsy thing as an article of clothing. "P-Peorth… This is just a thread that someone tied in a shape that happens to the resemble a pair of panties… For all I know, it could've been accidentally entangled itself in this shape."

"No, that's a rather fashionable option that won't just make your husband happy, but, it will solve a lot of practical issues, like remembering to collect it after you're done," said Peorth.

Staring at the panty with a critical eye, Belldandy failed to see what practical purpose such a thing would serve, dismissing it as a mere accessory. "Forgive me, but, this seems rather pointless to me. It covers pretty much nothing, so, why would anyone ever use that in the first place?"

"Simple. You don't even have to remove them;" replied Peorth with a knowing look.

"Oh!" was the only thing the Norn of the present could utter as she realized how outdated her views of fashion were.

"Exactly! You see, this is the most effective way to solve or your problems with a single, elegant solution!" gloated Peorth, happy that she managed to best her once rival at least on something; no matter how insignificant it seemed.

"That's not true! There are other designs that can achieve the same goal and yet, they look like real panties," interjected Skuld, startling both goddesses with her apparent knowledge that neither had expected her to possess. "I've seen them before and they're pretty standard, except for an opening right in the.. Uh… why are you staring me like that?"

Just the mere fact that even the brazen administrator stood there with her mouth open was a testament of the shock Skuld had given to her disbelieving audience. Actually, had Belldandy been a mortal, she would've suffered a stroke right on the spot after the the realization that her little sister was already that familiar with things she never even knew that existed. Of course, her immortality hadn't prevented her from blacking out and thankfully for her the remaining flowers provided enough of a cushion to break her fall.

"Oneesama!"

XXX

Naglfar's Command Information Center, south naval complex, hangar 01, Muspelheim

"Have you completely lost your mind, Surt! Charybdis class missiles?! You want to deploy something that tears reality apart and sinks a part of a realm into the chaos that Ginnungaggap truly is?! Those are the absolute last line of defense, should everything else fails! Not a toy and certainly not necessary in a situation like this, so, stand down or I'll come over there and knock some sense to you!"

The Daimakaicho's angry tirade made everyone present in the room to feel a shiver down their spines, as the angry ruler of demonkind addressed her subordinate and former student. However, unlike the rest of them, Surt simply held his ground and stubbornly refused to show any sign of fear before Hild.

"I'm fully aware of the mechanics behind strategic weapons of mass destruction. It's their very ability to sink an entire area into the primeval exo dimensional void of Ginnungagap which surrounds all nine realms that gained them their forbidden status," replied Surt. "However, before you jump into conclusions, please tell me what really makes you think that I'd ever detonate one such weapon inside the confines of the very place that either of us would gladly give their lives to defend. Just because I want to make them think I'm crazy, it doesn't mean that I actually am. And even then there's a certain limit on how far I could go; meaning that must be one single area that I'd never destroy; the one place they'll be truly safe from me. Care to make a guess?"

"The capital city…" breathed Hild, her anger dissolving as she rested her head on her hand, considering his words. And while a part of her wanted to apologize for assuming the worst, it was against all protocol for the Daimakaicho to exhibit such a behavior in front of others. "In other words you wanted to get them back to the city?"

"Exactly. There's no point to spread my forces too thin by trying to cover such a huge area when I could just make them think that everywhere but here was safe. They're coming and when they reach my city, this game is truly over," said Surt with a smile. "And to make it seem more believable, I've ordered Hrym to get here as soon as possible, since that was to be expected if I was in a real hurry to launch such an attack. With Ratatoskr listening in, I'm fairly confident that our intruders are already informed of this... plan and have no other choice but to do exactly what I want. Plus, I needed to get your... Oh! Here they are!"

"Sir! what's going on? I was told that..." started the half demon as he and his group entered the room. They had to rush through the entire lower section of the city before they could reach the hangars, something easier said than done given that those access ways were inundated with demons thanks to the evacuation orders.

However, before he could get a reply or even realize who his superior was talking to, Hild couldn't help but squeal at the sight of her daughter's armor. "That looks so nice, Urd-chan! You haven't even spend a night there and you already look like a proper warrior! Mama's so proud!"

"Thank you mo-... my lady," replied Urd, correcting herself since she was currently in front of others.

"Sir! Forgive my interruption, but, Skidbladnir just vanished from our sensors!" shouted one of the officers, when the celestial ship disappeared from the tactical map.

'Skidbladnir?! What's going on here?' wondered Urd with a worried expression behind her visor. 'I thought that those alarms were just annoying, but… How could father approve of such a thing? And now of all times!'

Chuckling, Surt smirked as he glanced at Hild's image on the monitor. "Well, well... It seems I was wrong after all. Our pirate isn't that much of an idiot. He must've turned the ship back into its compact form and went into hiding."

"Hm… I agree. This is a far more likely possibility, unless he installed a cloaking device far more powerful than anything we've ever seen; something I really doubt," said Hild pausing for a moment. "Although… a rogue god is something I hadn't been expecting, to be honest with you. It's been a very long time since we got one of them and the timing is rather suspicious. At least, Fenrir and Jormungandr are both out of power which eliminates two serious threats for you."

"Wait! Fenrir? We've already dealt with the Ultimate Destruction program!" said the startled Urd.

"That was merely a cheap replica of the real Fenrisulfr," replied Surt with a grin. "If you and your sisters met the actual one, things would've gotten really hairy. Thankfully for you, that was merely a joke and nothing more than that. At least, whoever released those two in our realm didn't have the means to support them for long enough to launch a proper attack which makes me think that they were mere diversions."

"I want you to try to capture him. I'd love to find out what that Sigurd or whatever he calls himself is up to," said Hild. "Rogue gods have the tendency to be really unpredictable."

"Understood. I'll get a team and try to locate him starting from his last known position," said Surt, turning to his subordinates. "Hrym, I want you and Naudiz to take over and monitor the situation once you get briefed. In the meanwhile…" he started as he glanced over at Urd. "You're coming with me."

"Huh? Why?" asked the Norn of the past. "I'm not an actual warrior and besides…"

"You're here for training and practical experience is way better than listening to boring theories," countered the dark haired demon. "Now, give your girlfriend a kiss and get ready to board the dropship along with the rest of the search team."

Exchanging a look with Mara who seemed to be equally baffled, the two demonesses turned red, although Urd's blush was obscured by her faceplate.

"We're not a couple!"

"Good! That saves us a few minutes, then!" said Surt, trying to hide his amusement from watching their reaction. "Now, move it, soldier!"

"I said, I'm not a…"

"On the double!" shouted the ruler of Muspelheim, pointing at the door behind her.

"You're trying to get me for that selfie, aren't you?" groaned Urd, as she reluctantly headed for the exit. 'This is far from over pal...'

Following right behind her, Surt could only smile a bit.

'Although the roles are reversed, this does bring back memories… Well… at least she's not as much of a brat as I was back then.'

AN: I would like to thank everyone that has offered their feedback and support both here and on the Goddess Relief site.

There are a few things that I'd like to note for this chapter.

Odal is the name of a rune, not an actual character, but, there are several individuals in AMG that were named after runes, so, I think that it's fitting to have another one. On the other hand, Sigurd was a human in several legends and the one who killed Fafnir. He's also known as Siegfried in other stories as well. Here however, this name is used as an alias and aside from the fact that he posses Gram (a sword with the same name as the one, Sigurd had in the original legends) there's little other I'd like to note at this point. Of course, he has his own backstory, but that's something that will be revealed over time.

Gram as mentioned above is a sword and one of the sentient weapons from Excalibur's squadron. Unlike the latter, the former is a less advanced model and the same could be said about most other members of Asgard's AI squadron.

Ginnungagap (translates as "gaping abyss" or "yawning void") was the primordial void from Norse legends. Here, it's also a void made out of pure chaos that surrounds the nine realms and it's one of the most dangerous places to be. More specifically, because it's not really a place and whoever falls in there goes into a state between existence and oblivion; neither of them being true or false. The only entities that have no problems with it are Yggdrasil and Nidhogg.

Now on a personal note, I'd like to mention that at some point in the next several days I'll go on vacations, which naturally mean that there will a longer delay between this and the next chapter. While, I'll try to have an internet connection to keep in touch with others, it's unlikely that I'll manage to write anything for a week or so. Of course, after that I'll get back at writing to get the story going.