Disclaimer: Ah! My Goddess and all its associated characters are owned by their creator, Kosuki Fujishima ( © 1988 – 2007 ) Any other characters specifically created for this fictional work are fictitious. Any similarity to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
My personal gratitude goes to Mr. Kosuki Fujishima for creating the wonderful Manga, characters, settings, and plots that this fiction is based on.
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Rind leaned back in her high back chair, staring at the results of Skuld's First Class Licensing Exam and exhaled as she slapped the small stack of papers on her desk. There, marked at the top corner of the page was the result: 89.7. She failed by only a fraction of a percentage point.
"She failed." Rind said staring directly at Mist.
"By not even half a percentage point! Come on, Rind. You can round her grade up! You've done it before." Mist countered.
"I'm beginning to regret that decision. No. The deal was that she passes both tests with flying colors. You know that, and she didn't perform." Rind replied dryly.
"Rind. You have to allow her to pass. Her very life is at stake here, and you know it!" Mist pleaded on Skuld's behalf.
"There's nothing more I can do. The Almighty One was clear on this point. I'm sorry." Rind paused and stood up in front of her desk. "Now I'm going to have to detain her until her trial…sometime tomorrow." Rind concluded while exhaling.
"Rind….. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to tell her. She is my responsibility." Mist offered quickly.
"Very well. Report back here with Skuld in custody, immediately." Rind commanded.
"Yes ma'am." Mist answered back.
Mist quickly turned on her heels and almost raced out of Rind's office. Once she was out of site, she began a full sprint towards the boring building where she and Skuld had trained earlier.
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Back on Earth, Belldandy, Megumi, and Keiichi were up to their necks in white fluffy bunny bugs. With each kill, four more came out of nowhere.
"Oh, this is stupid." Urd chastised to nobody, and while in mid-loop of her television teleportation, she cast a powerful lightning spell, causing the television to explode. Seven bugs died as a result of the lightning bolt striking the living room. Urd didn't waste any time and begun shooting balls of lightning from her outstretched palms, taking out several bugs with each shot.
"Do you have any ideas, Bell?" Urd shouted as she continued to incinerate bug after bug.
"No, and I'm getting exhausted. I'm not sure how much longer I can stay with this." Belldandy shouted back.
"Then I suggest we evacuate to someplace a little more safe." Megumi chimed in loudly.
Just as the four bug fighters were heading towards the front door, the telephone rang.
"That could be news about Skuld!" Belldandy said with utter excitement. Dropping her guard, she picked up the phone receiver.
"Hello!?" She yelled into the earpiece, while Megumi and Keiichi covered her. Bugs squeaking and shrieking dying last breaths in the background almost overwhelmed the conversation.
"What?! … How?! Okay!" Belldandy shouted into the phone and quickly hung it up. A moment later a golden aura surrounded the two goddesses and mortal brother and sister.
"Um…what just happened?" Keiichi asked the obvious question. The three girls and single man now stood in a grassy meadow, rain was pouring down all around. Urd quickly spotted a familiar building and grabbed Belldandy, who grabbed Keiichi, who finally grabbed Megumi. The chain sprinted towards an apartment building. Urd waved her hand in front of the door, which opened, and all four of the soaking wet people crammed into a small room. Various potions and scrolls littered the walls and tabletop surfaces.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say this looks like your room, Urd." Megumi quickly pointed out.
"You're right, Megumi. Welcome to my apartment space in the Heavens." Urd shifted her gaze over to Belldandy. "Bell…. What's going on?"
"We have been recalled to heaven by the Almighty One himself." Belldandy started to explain, when she was cut off by Keiichi.
"Huh? But why are Sis and I here?"
"We are to be character witnesses to testify at Skuld's trial tomorrow morning." Belldandy reluctantly finished.
Both mortals exclaimed in unison, "What?!" While Urd just stood there quietly.
"This must be a big deal, if I'm even granted back into Heaven." Urd said.
"Perhaps. Did you notice it was raining?" Belldandy asked.
"Yes. Maybe I can fix that since Skuld obviously has her hands full." Urd answered.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Urd!" Belldandy clapped at the idea and offered her usual gentle smile.
"Bell?" Megumi said the goddesses name with a hint of curiosity.
"Yes?" she responded.
"Do you think we could get a tour or something while we're here? I mean, since we have to wait until tomorrow to do this trail thingy…." Megumi trailed off, giving the Goddess First Class the sad puppy eye routine.
"I don't' see why not. Urd can fix the system, and I can show you my apartment. I'll make some tea too." Belldandy planned out loud.
"Okay, then let's go." Urd commanded as she opened her door to the pouring rain. The four of them made a sprint towards the Yggdrasil command building.
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Mist arrived at the training building in a record two minutes. She was soaked to the bone as she shut the door; the wind blew the pouring rain inside, getting a few of Skuld's garments wet.
"Wow, the rain is really coming down, huh?" Kevin commented as he approached the door, to help push it shut.
"Yeah. We need to get over to Yggdrasil so that Skuld can fix the system. The sooner the better." Mist said as she walked straight towards Skuld. Dirk was sitting on the bed next to her. They were in the middle of another memory sharing session when Mist came barging in.
"I passed?" Skuld asked with uncertainty.
"Yes. But first thing is first. Fix the system, and then after you're done with that, you can sign off on your license and duty upgrades – since you'll be at the master controls anyway." Mist advised.
"That's awesome!" Dirk exclaimed, giving Skuld a tight hug. "I knew you could do it." He reassured her. A simple smile formed on her face, and everybody in the room could see her relax as if a great burden was lifted off of her shoulders.
"Well? Are we ready to get wet again?" Kevin half joked.
"Yeah!" Skuld said with a renewed enthusiasm. She got up off the bed, and grabbed Dirk's wrist. "Ready?" She asked Dirk, looking straight into his blue eyes.
"Let's go!" Dirk said, as Kevin swung open the door, the wind and rain almost blew him backwards a few steps.
"I've got a better idea, Kevin. Shut that door." Mist said.
Kevin did as Mist suggested. Mist grabbed Skuld's hand and placed it in Dirk's hand, then she walked over to Kevin, and pulled him over to where Skuld and Dirk were standing. Finally joining her free hand with Dirk's free hand she whispered a chant under her breath and the four of them vanished from the Training Room. Moments later, Skuld saw the familiar administration terminal of Yggdrasil in front of her.
"Okay Skuld, do your magic." Mist winked towards the youngest goddess of the Norns.
She took a seat in front of the master terminal and logged into the system. After scanning the screen for a few moments she turned back to Mist and almost apologized.
"Mist….. I can't. It's too complicated. The system is really screwed up – it'll take a week to correct all these errors."
Mist gave a sigh of frustration. "I feared that might be the case." Mist paused and pulled a CD looking disk out of her pocket. "Here. Run the instructions on this disk and hopefully it will cut some major time off your debugging."
Skuld looked over the disk, seeing her face in a rainbowish reflection.
"It's okay, Skuld. Rind gave it to me just in case you were sent to trial immediately." Mist clarified plainly.
Skuld pushed a button on the side of the terminal, and a drawer opened up. She gently placed the disk in the drive drawer and pushed the button again. Cracking her fingers in front of her, she typed in her access code. The drive began whirling and a long series of instructions scrolled vertically off the screen.
"It's working!" Skuld cheered, throwing her arms above her head. Meanwhile, Mist took a seat next to her at the next terminal over.
"Skuld? Could you activate this terminal? It will make the process run a bit faster if two terminals are running, yes?" Mist asked.
"Oh, okay." Skuld said as she quickly opened up a new window on her terminal screen, remotely accessing the other terminal. "There." She said with a sense of accomplishment.
While Skuld was looking at the codes flowing on the screen, Mist typed in her commands to elevate Skuld's license class and duty assignment.
"Skuld, type your access code here, to acknowledge your new assignment and class." Mist said, standing up from her terminal.
Skuld changed places with Mist and typed in her personal access code into the system. A few moments later, the system accepted Skuld's new assignment.
"Okay. It's all done! Welcome aboard!" Mist cheered.
Dirk and Kevin both clapped for Skuld, and Skuld smiled.
"Isn't there some vow or oath or something I need to pledge to….and when do I get my power limiter?" the new first class goddess asked.
"There's no vow yet, you'll make that oath at the official ceremony in a couple of days in front of your peers and family. You'll also get your limiter at that time as well. Don't sweat it." Mist said calmly.
"Now, these instructions will probably be running for a while, why don't you say we go for some lunch?" Mist advised.
Skuld happily agreed as her stomach gave a rumble. She had nearly exhausted herself earlier on the testing field with Rind. "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!"
"Skuld…. Do you think you can do the honors?" Mist pointed over to an ornate fountain bubbling nearby.
"Sure!" Skuld said with enthusiasm. She took both Dirk and Mist's hand, as Kevin took Mist's other hand, and they all followed the young Norn into the fountain, vanishing from sight.
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"What just happened?" Megumi naively asked.
"The rain stopped." Urd answered plainly.
"I know that." Megumi snapped back angrily.
"Let's find out…" Urd replied coolly.
The two goddesses and mortals reached the Yggdrasil Command building. Urd took the lead, and was somewhat surprised when she wasn't questioned or stopped. When she reached the master terminal another set of questions popped into her ancient mind.
"What the hell?" She blurted out, seeing that Skuld was currently logged into the system, her last action not more than a minute ago. Then she noted her new ranking: Goddess First Class, Special Combat Division, Unlimited License.
"What's wrong, Urd?" Belldandy asked her elder sister.
"Check this out." Urd said as she stepped away from the terminal, careful not to touch anything. Belldandy took the seat and reviewed the screen seeing the codes executing. She also took notice of the CD-ROM diskette still inside a data drive.
"I feel something isn't right." Belldandy finally said.
Moments later, Rind came running into the Control Room.
"Where is she!?" Rind asked in a tone of authority.
"Where's who?" Urd asked, drowning in sarcasm.
"Your little sister, Urd. Where is she?!" Rind demanded.
"She's not here." Megumi chimed in joining in Urd's sarcasm.
Angered, Rind reached over and punched a button, sounding an alarm.
"Come on. Let's go find Skuld." Urd suggested.
Belldandy reached out and touched the screen, it replayed the last few seconds before Skuld and Mist left. Quickly Urd grabbed her sister and the two mortals and threw them in the fountain where Skuld had just moments ago gone through. The four of them quickly vanished from the control room.
"What the hell is going on!?" Rind demanded over the blaring alarm to the empty room.
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Skuld appeared first, quickly followed by Mist and then Dirk and Kevin.
"Where are we?" Dirk boldly asked as a door squeaked open. Skuld quickly shoved her boyfriend and his comrade into a stall as a middle-aged woman entered the restroom. Quickly she entered the next stall over. Mist played it cool and walked up to the sink, beginning to wash her hands. After the woman left Mist peered out the door, making sure the coast was clear.
"Skuld…." Mist started and then Skuld pushed past, Dirk in hand. Kevin quickly followed, leaving Mist to take the rear.
"Skuld…." Mist tried again. Skuld stopped and turned her head to glance at her. "You really should be more careful about your entry points." Mist reminded her.
"Oh wow." Kevin exclaimed in disappointment. "Look at that line."
They all looked over to the ordering line and Skuld let a depressing sigh out. "Well that sucks."
"Hey, I've got an idea. Follow me." Mist suggested. She turned, grabbing a hand, and the four of them vanished out of sight.
It was just then than Urd had materialized through the same sink that Skuld was just in, scaring some poor old lady out of her mind.
"Excuse me!" Belldandy hollered back as she followed her older sister, who just about broke down the door to the ladies room.
"Where is she?" Keiichi asked, looking around.
"She's not here…..anymore." Urd said annoyed.
"Well, she couldn't have gone too far. Seeing that line, she probably decided to try another less busy restaurant." Megumi pointed out.
"Yeah, she's probably right, Urd. Let's check out the neighbors." Keiichi said optimistically.
"Right." Urd said, determined to find her sister. She wouldn't admit it, but she too, felt something was very wrong.
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Mist, Dirk, Skuld, and Kevin appeared in the middle of a small apartment. There were two bedrooms off to one side, a television, a small kitchen, and a wall full of books. The place was immaculately clean.
"Wow. I'm assuming this is your … pad?" Kevin said, tying to use gangster-speak, badly at that.
"Yes, it's one of my homes away from home." Mist commented. "Skuld, if you'd like to clean up before we eat, there's a bedroom over there you can use. Everything should be ready by the time you come out." She paused and turned to the two men in the room. "I could really use your help in the kitchen."
"No problem." Dirk said, Kevin just smiled and followed.
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"Commander?" A black haired goddess addressed Rind, who was anxiously pacing back and forth in the Yggdrasil Command chamber.
"Yes?" She quickly answered, eagerly awaiting some good news. "Peorth?"
"This is bad. The entire system is locked out." Peorth commented.
"What about the backup systems?" Rind's expression of worry intensified.
"No good. We're completely locked out of the system. Skuld crafted these commands so …. Cleverly that Yggdrasil didn't detect the 'hacking attempt'." Peorth said.
"That little bitch." Rind hissed.
"It gets worse. According to the command protocol logs, Urd gave Skuld pretty much free reign over the commands she could execute."
"URD!!" Rind shouted angrily at the top of her lungs. Just then a quiet beep was prompted from the master terminal. The system logged Skuld out and the cursor sat there waiting for another instruction.
"Huh?" Peorth questioned, quickly, she began typing, attempting to log in and regain access.
"Well?" Rind asked impatiently.
"It's not working." Peorth said. She stood there for a moment and then declared, "I'm going after her."
"No you're not! You have a job to do here!" Rind chastised Peorth.
"What good can I do here? I need Skuld to get access back."
"Very well, I'm going too then." Rind also determined. Her battle axe materialized in her hands and then she tapped a back of her neck. "Captain. Set priority Alpha-One. Capture Skuld using whatever resources you need. Out."
Rind turned towards Peorth and said sternly "Let's go."
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Kevin was busy chopping some onion while Dirk was busy melting some butter in a frying pan. From Mist's pocket came a silent beep. A sly smile crept on her face. "It's time." She whispered.
"Huh?" Kevin asked.
Without a warning, Mist slyly walked between Kevin and Dirk, outstretching her arms, she said something ancient under her breath, causing both men to freeze solid. Without a moment to lose, she walked over to the bedroom where Skuld was and opened the door wide.
"EEEEKKKKK!" Skuld shrieked with a girlish surprised scream. She stood there half dressed, standing only in her undergarments and a black skirt, holding a red shirt in her hands.
"What's wrong? It's only me, Skuld." Mist said plainly, walking beside a dresser, she whisked up a perfume bottle without Skuld noticing.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess I'm just a bit nervous. I didn't really expect to pass this morning. Everything has been moving so fast." Skuld confessed.
"You have no idea." Mist said plainly as she now stood right in front of the Norn. Taking the bottle from her side she depressed the top, spraying a fine, sweet mist right into Skuld's face. A moment later, the goddess passed out on to the floor.
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"Oh this is so useless!" Urd spat out. "She's not here!"
"We'll find her." Keiichi reassured Urd, placing his hand on her tense shoulder.
"Bell?" Urd gave a worried look to her younger sister.
Just then Peorth and Rind materialized not far away. A young girl screamed at the sight of the battle axe Rind wielded, who in return gave small growl. A moment later, both goddesses split up, Rind took off towards the left, while Peorth went right.
"Let's follow them. Megumi, you're with me." Urd said, grabbing the Morrisato sister by her arm and quickly began in hot pursuit of Rind. Belldandy likewise took a hold of Keiichi's arm and followed Peorth.
"What are they doing here?" Keiichi asked.
"I really not sure…. But whatever the reason is, I'm sure it's a good one." Belldandy reasoned.
Rind went into each building one by one, giving the lobby of each a quick look over, obviously not finding the one goddess she wanted. Urd quickly caught up with the Valkyrie commander.
"Rind!" Urd called. Rind glanced in back of her to see the silver haired goddess of Love alongside Keiichi's sister.
"What do you want?!" Rind snapped at Urd.
"I want to... talk." Urd said simply.
Rind turned quickly and stared Urd right in her eyes, quietly she sneered. "I know you have something to do with this."
"I really have no idea what you're talking about." Urd dismissed.
"Where is Skuld!" Rind demanded.
"I don't know. I followed her here, but she seems to have given me the slip." Urd said with just a hint of sarcasm.
"Drop the act." Rind threatened. "Your little sister just kidnapped one of my finest instructors. I want her back, and I want Skuld to pay the price for her transgressions."
Urd looked over Rind for a few moments while considering what she just heard.
"That's silly. How could a student kidnap a teacher? Skuld's not that powerful." Urd replied while giving a light laugh.
"Oh?" Rind said, taking a step closer to Urd, now standing chest to chest. "Your little brat has locked up Yggdrasil, and based on what I'm told, you gave her the access to do it, Miss Administrator. When I get through with your kid sister, I'm going to have you tried for conspiracy!"
"I don't think so." Urd said, raising her arms up, she shoved Rind back, causing the Valkyrie commander to crash through a large glass window. She jumped out and flew at full force towards Urd, the two goddesses grappled in the street, before Rind tossed the Goddess of the Past up into the air. Rind pursued. Urd slowed her gain in altitude and met Rind head on, a thunder clap echoed from their impact in the sky. People down below started gathering to see the unusual spectacle, of the two flying girls bent on killing one another.
Megumi pushed through the quickly formed crowd and ran after her brother and Belldandy, calling her name as loud as she could. "Belldandy!!
Both Keiichi and Bell turned to see Megumi panting as she stopped just a few feet in back of them, her voice now horse. She didn't have to say anything. Rind was slammed into a skyscraper a couple blocks away, causing glass to rain down onto the streets below.
"Rind?" Belldandy whispered. The Valkyrie commander launched like a bullet from the hole her body formed in the brick and concrete, slamming into Urd, taking both goddesses into another building across the street.
"Urd!" She cried and flew into the air to stop the violent fight. "Would you two stop it!" she yelled, forming a protection sphere around her. Dark clouds quickly formed, blocking out the sun, a cold wind gushed from the North as Urd summoned her lightning.
"Bring it on... turd!" Rind yelled.
"What did you call me?!" Urd spat back as a lightning bolt erupted from her outstretched arms, whizzing just past Belldandy, and finally just past Rind as she dodged the bolt.
"You think you can do battle with me... and win?!" Rind laughed as she called her Axe and charged right for Urd.
"Belldandy... look out!!" Keiichi yelled from the ground.
"Oh spirit of the Earth I call upon thee..." Belldandy began to chant a spell both Rind and Urd charged towards one another.
The three collided and a brilliant white flash overtook the sky as if a nuclear bomb went off. Power was lost as several television screens, traffic signals blacked out and cars rolled to a stop. After the light faded, the goddesses were nowhere to be seen.
"Belldandy?!" Keiichi cried up into the sky.
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Skuld opened her eyes staring up into an incandescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She sat up, and looked around. She was surrounded by concrete blocks. The room was probably no bigger than a king sized bed, with a small covered drain. Nothing else was in the room. She swung her legs off the bed and touched the cold floor with her bare feet, walking up to the glass door she yelled, seeing another girl with black hair sitting at a table with her back towards Skuld.
She didn't respond. Skuld then banged on the glass, obviously it was some kind of bullet proof glass, it didn't budge and sounded like a bass drum. The girl heard the banging and stood up, when she turned, Skuld nearly fainted.
The girl wore a simple red dress with short sleeves and a pleated red skirt, hanging just above her knees. Her silky, straight, black hair just reached the bottom of her skirt as well. She had brown eyes and three blue inverted teardrops on her face. -- Identical to Skuld.
A tall man turned the corner and came into view of Skuld now. He had long reddish-brown hair, almost neon green eyes. He sported a black suit and tie, and had a sturdy build.
"Loki." Skuld said.
"Howya doin' kiddo!" Loki said clearly confident as he strolled up next to the Skuld look alike. I see you've already met your twin sister. Nice, isn't she. He grabbed her left butt cheek. To which Skuldako punched him in the face.
"I guess I deserved that." Loki said chuckling and then walked up in front of Skuld's glass doorway.
"Let me out of here!" Skuld commanded.
"Um. No." Loki answered plainly. "Not unless..." he trailed off. Skuld had a light of optimism shine in her eyes. "You mother my children!" Loki burst out into a full fit of laughter.
Skuld stared at him while flipping him off with her middle finger. "You're sick."
"I am not. Have you taken a good look at yourself in a mirror... oh wait! Of course not!" Loki fell into another fit of laughter. "Here, feast your eyes upon..." he trailed off and with the snap of a finger; a full body mirror appeared before her.
Reflecting back at her was not the Skuld of 14, but instead, a grown woman of about 20. She smiled with satisfaction as she reviewed her new adult body, complete with a nice sized C cup.
"I'm not all sure what Mist has done to you, but you're lookin hot, hot." Loki said gleaming a perverted smile.
"What I've done is very simple." Mist turned the corner and stood next to Loki. Skuld's smile turned quickly into a frown, her face expressed pure rage at her once before teacher.
"What did -- why -- " Caught up with so much rage, she couldn't articulate the many questions she had.
"Simple, child." Mist smiled. "I greatly reduced your link to Yggdrasil, giving you just enough to stay... attractive." Mist glanced over at Loki and back to Skuld. "I want your access codes to Yggdrasil, and I'm sure with a little motivation, you'll gladly give them to me." Mist smiled.
"Whatever... you bitch." Skuld gritted her teeth and tried to bombard the glass wall with water ball after water ball.
"It's useless, you're only draining yourself further Skuld." Mist spoke loudly against the water splashing against the window. She looked at Skuldako and motioned for her to come.
Skuld stopped her attack, panting from near exhaustion. She glared at the younger twin version of herself.
"You should feel grateful, Skuld. In exchange for your codes, Skuldako will stand your trial and get whatever punishment you'll end up getting too." Mist said coolly.
"What!?" Skuld yelled in pure anger. "I -- I thought..."
"Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you that did I? You failed. But you were sooooo close to passing. Oh well, better luck next time. We've gotta go now and meet up with your sisters. Bye now." She waved her fingers in front of the glass as she left from view. Skuldako followed closely, meanwhile, Loki remained.
"So, how about a kiss?" He said smiling.
"Go to hell." Skuld fumed.