The Battle Never Ends

by Arthain

The Tyrant had surpassed death once before. This time wouldn't have been any different save for the determination of one young man and his desire to protect all that he cared for. But what should have been the end instead became a new beginning. A beginning somewhere else. A beginning where Night Raid was still needed.

34. Chaotic Insanity

Author's Note: Long chapter because I added a bit more to make the flow work better and so the arc doesn't drag on too long. Also, forgive any errors that appear. Some of this was written just today and I didn't have time to do my usual 2-3 passes.

Chapter 32: Chaotic Insanity

Bennia only threw a cursory glance about the room she was in as she, along with Themis and Athena, were escorted to their seats. It was, like all things in Asgard, large, beautiful, and ostentatious. The ceiling soared high, supported by sweeping buttresses and delicately carved colonnades, with a beautiful painting of nature covering its breadth. There were multiple levels of balconies overlooking the central floor where a long table and cushion chairs awaited them. Large, arched windows spanning the multiple levels looked out upon a beautiful and majestic city that was part fantasy, part sci-fi, and all mystical.

"Well, this is certainly the most impromptu and unorthodox meeting I've been a part of in quite some time," Odin said, his incredibly long beard wriggling from side to side with each word he spoke as if it had a life of its own.

Bennia did her best to keep her frustrations under wraps as she seated herself at the table, just to Themis' left. Athena took a seat to the Titan's right. This was an important meeting, and the fastest way to finding her Tatsumi. At least she kept telling herself that. A part of her, a very large part of her if she was being honest, wanted to be out there unearthing every stone in the Nine Realms looking for Tatsumi.

She made short work of several parts of Asgard already. Then the Norse Gods showed up and stopped her. Now they were here.

Across from her, Athena and Themis sat the three most prominent Norse Gods.

Odin sat in the center, directly across from Themis, dressed in his long white robe and blue shawl. A gem studded, gold and black hat capped his head, doing little to contain a large mane of grey hair. He had an enchanted monocle in place of his left eye, which he had traded for his walking staff, a weapon with enough magical power stored within to sink a small continent. Said staff was propped up against the table.

To his right was his daughter and across from Bennia was, Thoria, or Thor as she was known outside of Asgard. Brilliant golden hair cascaded across her shoulders and down her back, framing a beautiful face and blue eyes that could skewer a mortal at a thousand paces. The Goddess was supremely muscled, more so than even Athena, and showed it all off. Her modesty was protected by little more than a metal bikini, and a chainmail loincloth. Her signature weapon, Mjolnir, rested against her chair.

On Thor's left was his wife, Freya or Frigg, depending on which mythos you believed. Blond hair and blue eyes just like Thor, and also like Thor, she wore as little as possible. A thin, transparent chemise just barely managed to cling to her shoulders and did very little to conceal her modest bosom. The nipples were still quite visible through the sheer fabric. They were large by Asgardian standards, but she might as well be flat compared to Bennia or Themis.

There were a number of others in the room, both invited and not, standing around observing when they weren't being a nuisance.

"It wouldn't have been impromptu if you had just answered my call," Athena snapped irritably as she did her best to fix her hair. Her irritation had absolutely nothing to do with Odin and more to do with the fact that Bennia had sprayed her a good dozen more times after that initial burst.

The Goddess was going to have to go through a special purification ritual back in Greece if she ever wanted to get rid of the smell.

Just thinking of all the trouble Athena would have to go through brought a triumphant smirk to Bennia's lips, and a glare from the Goddess. She knew what Bennia was smirking about.

"I would have responded if we had received your summons," Odin assured her. He turned to regard Themis, his eyes dipping to her ample chest. "Especially if I knew we were going to have such a significant guest."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Themis asked softly.

Odin paled every so slightly and quickly snapped his eyes back to her face. "O-Of course not. I believe that you did send the messages, I was simply stating we did not receive them."

"And that's part of the problem of why we're here," Themis stated calmly.

Odin stroked his long beard as he nodded. "Yes, so I've been told." He paused, looking hesitant before asking his next question. "Did you have to tear the gate to the Bifrost open like that? The world wobbles when a Titan moves, you know."

"It is not my fault God fashioned Earth from a ball of fat taken from Ymir's ass. If he had chosen something sturdier, such as muscle or even bone, it would not quiver so," Themis said without any hint of remorse. "Society will survive, there are too many of them as it is."

"You didn't need to call me out personally," Odin muttered under his breath. He sighed and shook his head. "They're going to blame me for all the damages, injuries and deaths."

Car accidents, cap-sized ships, trips down stairs, off roofs or construction sites, heavy machinery, botched surgeries and so much more. When entire countries started hurling chunks at the same time bad things happened.

There was a lot of damage all across northern Europe. Themis wasn't one to apologize for her actions though and no one in the right mind would ever demand her to.

"You should have answered the call," Themis parroted Athena's earlier words.

A faint rumble was heard off in the distance followed by a loud crash as a large portion of a fairly tall Asgard structure fell to the ground. The room shook violently for a moment.

((I'm not paying for that)) Bennia said quickly.

"You deserved it," Athena fired back.

Northern Europe hadn't been the only place to suffer due to their arrival, although Themis had little to do with the damage done to Asgard.

Between Bennia tearing buildings up looking for Tatsumi and Athena trying to get her revenge, there was a significant amount of damage to the city.

"I'll pay for that trouble! All you need to be is my double!" Heimdall espoused enthusiastically next to Bennia. "My eyes do not lie! Do not be shy! You make me high with those delicious thighs!"

Bennia's fist flashed out of sheer reflex, hitting Heimdall in the face and sending the all-seeing God skipping and bouncing across the floor before he cratered into the far wall. ((That doesn't count. Heimdall will pay for that.)) There was snickering and laughter throughout the room. Half the Gods and Goddess that watched from above weren't here for the meeting, but to watch her suffer, and Heimdall's subsequent beating.

Even Thor and Freya snickered as Odin just blew out a long sigh. He gave Bennia a long look. "You can always just marry him."

((No.))

Heimdall was on his feet and at her side moments later, "Please reconsider! I am a home run hitter!" The beautiful blond god laid a hand against his chest and held out a box with two rings with the other. "I want you for life! Please be my wife!"

((No.)) Bennia said before hammering Heimdall in the face again. Once more the god bounced across the floor before cratering into the far wall beside the previous one.

More laughter and another sigh from Odin.

"If Heimdall doesn't behave, I will make him behave," Themis said, her words carrying a sharp chill that sent shivers running down their spines. "We're here on important business. Namely, Loki, and the issues he's causing right now."

"Loki?" Odin sounded genuinely surprised. His eyes flickered briefly to Athena. "I thought for certain this was… no, that doesn't matter." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What did Loki supposedly do that was so terrible it lured Themis from her paintings?"

There was a warning there, hidden within his words. Caution, really. Loki was often accused of many things. He was guilty more often than not, but there had been enough nots in recent years that proof was needed.

Themis' word was generally proof enough. She couldn't lie and that was well known across all the pantheons. And so Odin gave Themis his undivided attention. A frown came to his lips as Themis explained the situation, a frown that deepened as Themis went from point to point starting with Syura's arrival with Loki's staff and flowing into Athena's entrapment, the faint vestiges of Asgardian time magic clinging to Athena, and all turning of the people against the Greek for their supposed actions against Tatsumi.

By the time Themis was finished even Heimdall, who was usually too preoccupied with wooing Bennia to notice anything else, had a worried look on his face.

"You worry me, Themis," Odin said, finally, after pondering Themis' words for a time. "This mischief sounds very much like something Loki would do, but at the same time it doesn't."

"I know what I saw," Athena insisted. "That was his staff!"

"I'm not saying you're wrong," Odin told her. "I'm simply stating that Loki is one to stir up trouble, but he was both too reckless and not ruthless enough, in his actions this time. I am aware of some of his plans and they have nothing to do with the Greek pantheon," Odin gave the three of them each a look. "Dragging you in would only make things more difficult for him. He's not so foolish as to start a war on two fronts. Then there was this issue with Tatsumi and Athena… why would Loki lend a reincarnated devil he has no love for, and no reason to trust, his most prized possession, for little more reason than to isolate Tatsumi somewhere? That's not like him. He would have made Tatsumi's suffering public."

Both too reckless and not ruthless enough. Bennia could see where Odin was coming from. ((It doesn't change the fact that he did, and my Tatsumi is missing as a result!))

"Of course," Odin agreed. He gestured and a nearby figure stepped forward, a Valkyrie judging by her long silver hair, black spandex, and fantastical gold and white armor. "Rossweisse, be a dear and try to contact Loki for us."

"Of course, Lord Odin," Rossweisse said. She raised her hand and a small, magical circle sprang into life, glowing with a soft green light. It slowly expanded, increasing in size as it took on the shape of a holographic screen. "Connecting now and—GIYAH!" Rossweisse screamed as she was launched back across the room as if she'd just been electrocuted.

The holographic screen remained, hovering in place as black energies began to curl up around its edges. The entire room held their collective breaths as a picture formed upon the screen. Bennia felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach when a little girl dress all in dark, gothic Lolita clothes appeared. There was no emotion on her face, no anger or irritation, no joy or pleasure either. Just a look of resignation like she knew this was going to happen and simply wanted to get it over with.

[Go away, I'm playing with Tatsumi,] Ophis said as it made gentle shooing gestures at them, [shoo, shoo.]

The screen shattered, leaving behind nothing but a hushed silence.

"Oh dear," Themis murmured softly, sending an almost sympathetic look Bennia's way. "That certainly complicates things."

Odin just let out another sigh. "Loki… what have you dragged us all into this time?"

Bennia didn't even hear them. Her heart sunk into the pit of her stomach, a churning pit of acid that ate away at her thoughts. She stared up at where the screen had once been. Where Ophis had once been. There was only a single despairing thought running through her mind.

She'd been too late. She hadn't lasted six seconds against Ophis. She hadn't even lasted three.

She hadn't been there for him at all.

x~X~x

The three of them set out across Hel at first light. Ymir provided a full meal without being asked. Whether that was because he felt anything over what he put Mine through or he simply did it because he felt like it, was impossible to tell. It was impossible to tell why Ymir did anything that he did. He certainly didn't seem sorry for what he put Mine through the day prior.

Her breakdown after they'd stopped for the night was yet another element of the trip they both swore never to speak of.

Despite the meal Ymir provided, Mine still insisted on eating a hunk of the meat Tatsumi had obtained for her in Niflheim. There was less than half the original number by now. When Ymir pressed, asking why she still ate that almost raw meat she gave two simple answers.

"Because it tastes good and I don't want it to go to waste," she'd said, and left it at that as she continued to much away on it in preference over the pancakes and bacon Ymir had provided.

Ymir didn't ask again.

It took them several days to cross the vast, open area. The long plains were hard, wizened dirt so parched for water it cracked and crumbled beneath their feet. Sometimes the ground was so desiccated it threatened to fall away beneath them, forcing them to navigate over long, narrow cervices. Mine actually turned out to have the easiest time navigating. The zone she had created around her penetrated into the ground now and she could tell where sections of the earth would fall away under heavy load.

The long, parched plains weren't all they had to deal with. At times it shifted, changing into rolling hills of loose grey rock barely held together. Ages of weathering from the wind had blown away all the dirt and soil and eroded the hills until they were little more than a large mound of barely connected hunks of rock.

They weren't always alone. They often passed groups of spirits. Most of them hobble this way and that, backs bent with age they could no longer feel. Others coughed and moaned, sick with some mysterious ailment. All were transparent, and all seem to be able to perceive something he and Mine could not. They'd come and go at random, as if disappearing inside or emerging from something hidden. They often talked and laughed, resting upon furnishings they couldn't see.

It was all very surreal. They didn't seem to notice the three of them as they continued on towards the ever rising fortress in the distance. That fortress, it seemed, turned out to be a bit more than Tatsumi had first assumed. As they drew nearer to it, the walls seemed to stretch further and further out, until it disappeared into the horizon on either side. In front of them was an enormous gate that only grew larger as they approached, making them seem as ants before an elephant. What concerned Tatsumi the most is that on the third day he'd tried to angle away from the gate, towards the wall itself, only to crest a hill and find the gate in front of them once more.

They were being draw to it, willing or not.

Time flowed differently here as well. Tatsumi could feel it upon his skin. Some days moved quickly, others more slowly. The 'sun' was never bright for the same amount of time each day.

It was about 'noon' on the fifth day, and Tatsumi only considered it noon due to the brightness of the 'sun' that beat down on them from above, that they finally arrived at base of the enormous gates.

"Well, we're here, I guess," Tatsumi said as his eyes slowly rising up, and up, and up. He had to crane his neck to see up to the top. A massive iron wrought gate that seemed to pierce the very sky itself. How it could possibly be moved by anyone, Tatsumi didn't know. It was tall enough and wide enough that a flight of dragons could soar through it with room to spare!

"About time," Mine said, hands on hips as she glared at the enormous gate. "I finished the last of that meat this morning."

"There's always Ymir," Tatsumi pointed out. The girlish looking boy had been kind enough to provide them meals every day.

She gave him a long, leveled look. "I don't trust him, Tatsumi. I know that meat will keep me alive. I don't know what his food will do to me."

So there was a reason like that. Tatsumi had felt that her earlier explanation was too simple, even for her, but he hadn't realized she'd thought that far. He could probably survive most of what Ymir could do to the meal while still having it taste proper because of his natural resistances and ability to evolve.

Mine couldn't.

He turned his attention from his friend and regarded the large gate once more. "I wish they weren't so large," Tatsumi mourned as he swept his gaze across the enormous monstrosity.

"No! Don't you even try!" Mine snapped at him. "I know what you're thinking because I'm thinking it too!"

"But… but… then I'd be able to state that I've literally kicked down the Gates of Hel! No one has said that before!"

"With good reason!" Mine snapped. "Because they can't be kicked down! It's not so much a gate as it is a representation of the barrier between life and death! You'd have to shatter the cycle first if you wanted to kick down the gates." She turned to the large gates and scowled at them. "Not that it isn't tempting! Why is anything allowed to be so obnoxiously large?"

Tatsumi gave her a sly, sidelong glance. "Think we could do it together?"

She froze and for a split second Tatsumi thought he had her, but then she roughly shook her head and scowled at him. "Don't you try to tempt me!"

"Worth a shot," Tatsumi said. He turned to Ymir "So how do we… get… through…" Ymir wasn't there anymore. "Well that's not foreboding…"

"What is… hey, where did Ymir go?" Mine asked, noticing the same thing Tatsumi had.

Before either of them could pondering the meaning behind his sudden disappearance an ear-piercing squeal stabbed their ears. At the base of the enormous gates a small door he hadn't noticed earlier shrieked loudly in protest as it slowly swung open. Although calling it small was relatively speaking as it was still large enough for Tatsumi to walk through in his Tyrant form.

Out from behind that door strode a gloomy looking woman with strangely discolored skin. Half of her was pale, flesh like in color while the other half was a dark blue. Messy, scraggly looking hair that looked as if it had never been washed framed a face that had never been graced by a smile. Beady eyes stared out from within a sunken, gaunt face, and her limbs were thin, almost skeletal. Tatsumi wouldn't have thought she was a female at all if it weren't for the large breasts that were quite disproportioned compared to the rest of her body.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Her voice came out high and nasally, the type of voice not even a mother could love.

"We sort of got lost around the Sea of Japan and next thing you know we're here," Tatsumi said glibly as he very much tried not to focus on how unbelievably ugly she was. It was all the more shocking after having been subjected to beautiful women after beautiful women his entire life. Tatsumi wouldn't be surprised if all the ugliness of the world had decided to collect within this one woman. "I'm going to assume we're not dead considering we still get hunger pains, bleed red blood, and don't seem to fit in particularly well with the locals."

Mine curtsied of all things to his women, "it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hel," she said, causing Tatsumi to do a double-take. This was Hel? Weren't Goddesses supposed to be mind-numbingly beautiful women? The pinnacle of physical perfection that all women strove to achieve? "We don't want to bother you. We simply wish to return home after being forcefully dropped here by a stupid reincarnated devil I'm going to rend limb from limb!" Mine growled, those last words coming out harsh and violent. She regained her composure before continuing. "We heard there was some way to reach Asgard from here."

"My, that does sound like a problem," Hel said. She started to cackle. "Not my problem!" Her eyes narrowed as she eyed Tatsumi up and down in a very uncomfortable manner. "I can't just let anyone use my stairway. What sort of ruler would I be if I did that?"

"A benevolent one?" Tatsumi offered lightly.

"I'll leave the benevolence to those foolish Angels," Hel said, dismissing his words with a wave of her hand. "I require payment." She let out a little pleasant noise as her eyes raked his body once more, making him squirm uncomfortably. He was still fully dressed right? Because it didn't feel like it under her gaze.

"Tatsumi… is she doing what I think she's doing?"

"Eying me up and down like a thick piece of juicy steak she wants to ravage over and over?" Tatsumi asked lightly. Mine nodded. "Pretty much."

"A juicy steak needs to be properly appreciated," Hel turned to regard Mine. "That blind wench over there wouldn't know how to treat a steak as rare as you if she was hit over the head with it."

Mine gaped at Hel in shock. If she still had eyes Tatsumi knew they'd be bulging out of her eyes right then. She was completely at odds with herself right then. Refute Hel, and admit that Ymir was right in calling her, his lover, the entire time or accept her words and deny her femininity.

The former eventually won out. "What did you just say?!" Mine roared, all hint of civility from before gone.

"You heard me, ironing-board," Hel retorted. Veins bulged all over Mine's face and neck as she tried to fire lasers out of her empty sockets at the Goddess in a vain attempt to burn her alive. "Short, blind, no chest to speak of, no hips, no ass, what redeeming features do you have? You're nothing." Hel turned to him, leaving a raging, fuming Mine behind. "I may not look like much, but I assure you I am more than capable of properly appreciating a man like you."

"Ah…" Tatsumi didn't want to touch this, or her, with a ten-foot pole. How was he going to get out of this situation—?

"I've pulled better looking women out of a dumpster than you." Words that Tatsumi didn't speak came from his general area. "I'd have to be as blind as Mine to tolerate you and deaf to boot. Your voice sounds like nails scrapping across a chalkboard, and even that's an insult to the chalkboards!"

Those words brought even Mine up short as she stared at him in surprise.

"That wasn't me…" Tatsumi said lamely. It really hadn't, but it'd been his voice, from his general area. Even the inflections had been right. It was just like when Ymir… oh that little shit. Not again! "I am going to strangle him, Universe or not."

Hel wasn't smiling anymore. Her face was an emotionless mask as she stared at him. Her eyes as dead as her realm. "Then you can rot here for the rest of days," she said as she marched back through those doors and slammed them shut behind her.

Tatsumi whirled around to face Mine. "That really wasn't—"

"I know, your lips weren't moving and the air next to your left ear was vibrating. Someone was mimicking your voice, I could feel it." Tatsumi blinked in surprise and slowly closed his mouth. Mine was really starting to get a hang of her zone.

"How large is your zone now?" Her little balls of energy were so small and numerous now they were imperceptible to the naked eye.

"A hundred yards or so," Mine said shrugging. Her face twisted once more back into a mask of anger and rage. "Tatsumi, you know how I said earlier about not kicking down the Gates of Hel?"

"Yes?"

She raised her hands above her head and an enormous amount of divine energy, glowing a soft pink color, started to gather above her head. "I change my mind."

"What about the whole representation of life and death?" Tatsumi asked. Despite his words he could help but grin in anticipation as he pulled Incursio out of its sheath. This was more like it!

"It can go to Hel!"

"Technically, it's already in Hel."

"IT CAN GO TO ALL THE HELLS!" Mine roared as her pink spear doubled in size, and then double again, and again, until it dwarfed even the spear that had obliterated Nidhoggr.

"Incursio!" Tatsumi shouted. His body quickly shifted and morphed, assuming the same, powerful form he'd possessed when he'd knocked Shikoutazer, a Teigu the size of a mountain, on its ass. Neuntote appeared from the sky, evolved in a quadruple bladed harpoon with a wicked point. "Mind if I land a helping hand?"

The wild grin on Mine's face as all he needed.

Over the ages countless people have stated they'd gladly storm the Gates of Hell for their loved ones. A select few heroic figures, even managed to scale the walls, sneak past the gates or convince Charon to give them a ride. Famous people like the Goddess Ishtar, the Gods, Dionysus, Izanagi and Hermoor, the Greek heroes Odysseus, Orpheus, Heracles, Theseus, and so many more.

But no one could actually state they had successfully kicked down the Gates of Hel.

On August 27th, 20XX, that all changed.

It all began with an earthquake. Soft, gentle at first, barely noticeable, but with each beat of the heart, it grew, stronger and more intense, building into a crescendo that shook the very foundation of Hel. All of Hel wobbled like a Titan was on the move. The earth split across the length of the great wall. Massive hunks of earth and rock ripped away and sent hurtling away, that which wasn't incinerated by the following inferno. The air screamed in pain, howling across the entire breadth of Hel, whipping the gates with winds the likes of which had never been seen in Heaven or on Earth. The spirits nearby, and whatever it was they were enjoying, were blown away, disappearing into the horizon creating a beautiful pattern of a million shooting stars

Then a deep, booming clang sound began to reverberate across the land. Like an enormous hammer beating against an anvil. The enormous gates that had weather countless ages and countless assaults both mystical and mundane, began to glow as an intense heat greater than anything it had ever experienced before started to eat its way through.

It happened in an instant. Amidst that howling inferno that shook Hel to its core, a wicked, quadruple-bladed harpoon piercing the veil between life and death with a thunderous boom so loud it was heard across the nine worlds. A shockwave of energy rippled across the cosmos, causing all that lived and all that had died to pause and take note that something strange, something monumental, had just occurred. In Hel, the gate that had stood tall and untouched since the dawn of life itself, detonated. A storm of super heated steel screamed as they tore their way into the compound beyond.

Tatsumi floated there, just inside the gates with Neuntote held aloft in his hands. A huge smile on his face as he basked in the glory of his achievement.

Hel, the Lord of the Dead, the master of this realm, could only stare on in abject shock as the very symbol of the boundary between life and death was violently, and very thoroughly, obliterated before her eyes.

"How do like that, bitch?" Mine screamed as she shot in behind Tatsumi and came to a stop at his side. "I've got nothing on you, was it? Try to nothing that!" She crowed loudly, pointing back at the shattered gate. "Now if you'll excuse me," she grabbed Tatsumi's arm and pulled him tight against her side. "I have a juicy steak to enjoy while you stand there admiring my 'nothing'!"

And with that the two of them left for the main keep in search of the way out of Hel, leaving a stunned and shocked Goddess behind.

~o~

"What on Mount Olympus are they doing?" Athena wondered, leaning against the wall as she peered out their apartment window.

Odin had been nice enough to provide accommodations while they figured out what to do about Ophis and Loki. While the presence of Ophis was certainly unexplainable and worrisome on many levels, it was also definitive confirmation that Loki was involved with Tatsumi in some way. Odin and the others had become very cooperative after that. Needless to say it wouldn't reflect very well on any pantheon if it became known that they had a hand in Tatsumi's death.

He was a symbol of freedom now. The freedom for humanity to choose its own future. Killing him would be akin to a declaration that you did not want Humanity to have that freedom. It wasn't a label Odin or Greek wanted associated with them.

"I believe it has something to do with that trans-dimensional shockwave that just rippled across the entire breadth of the cosmos," Themis said calmly as she rocked back in forth in her rocking chair. She had a pair of reading glasses, that she didn't need, on and was reading a book Odin had given her without seeming a care in the world. "Someone, somewhere, just did something very reckless."

((Maybe it's Tatsumi going crazy?)) Bennia asked hopefully from where she laid stretched out across her bed.

She didn't really have much hope that it was Tastumi but she was willing to grasp at anything right then. They had no idea what to do. It was obvious that Loki had done something to Tatsumi and that Ophis was involved, but they still had no idea where he was, and the only person that might know was being protected by Ophis.

"I'm going to ask," Athena said as she marched across the room to the door. Opening it she peered out into the hallway beyond, searching for anyone. "Hey! You!" Athena called out to someone outside.

"Yes?" A female voice floated in.

"What's everyone so excited about?"

"You didn't feel that?!" the exclaimed cry came from outside.

"Of course I felt it, but that doesn't mean I can identify from where it came from," Athena snapped. The normally calm Goddess had been on a very short fuse lately for some reason.

"Someone just kicked down the Gates of Hel!" The panicked voice cried out. "It's the start of Ragnarok! It has to be! Ah! I never finished watching my high school drama! I'm very sorry Miss Athena, I have to go!" And then the voice was gone, rushing away down the hallway.

Bennia sat up as Athena stepped back inside the room, a perplexed look on her face. "Someone kicked down the Gates of Hel? Is that even possible?"

((Think they'll let us go check it out?)) Bennia asked eagerly. Never mind the implications of kicking down the barrier between life and death, there were very few people that would actually do so, and even fewer that could! Bennia knew one that was both and he was currently missing. ((I know my Tatsumi! That's exactly the sort of thing he'd do!))

"You don't honestly think he'd kick down the Gates of Hel," Athena asked her. "That's just…"

((Something he would do,)) Bennia assured her. ((I remember him musing a few years ago just after we started Night Raid about kicking down the gates of hell and chasing down all the Devils. Things are different now but…))

It was still something on Tatsumi's to-do list. Perhaps now that item had been ticked off.

"Then we don't have to do anything," Themis said. "If that really was Tatsumi."

Bennia jumped to her feet. ((I'm going to go look—))

"No," Themis told her, bringing her to a sudden stop. Bennia couldn't move even if she wanted to. One of Themis' streams of power had wrapped itself around her. "Ophis said play, not kill. I don't think it has his death in mind. If that was Tatsumi, and we wait here, he will come to us. I won't do anything that might cause Ophis to move even more erratically. That dragon has always been an enigma."

Bennia felt her heart clench painfully as Themis shut down her desire. ((But—))

"No buts, Nemesis," Themis stated calmly. She hadn't looked up from that book once.

((It's Bennia)) Bennia corrected her.

"You can go to him the moment you have confirmation it's him, Nemesis," Themis continued without seeming to have heard her. "I have a hunch that Ophis' game will be over when the Asgard God's find him." The blind Titan paused before giving her a quick sidelong glance. "Save your strength for when he is found."

With a heavy heart Bennia dropped back atop her bed. Tatsumi was so close and yet... she couldn't defy Themis. No one defied her.

Still…

She had said Bennia couldn't leave until she had confirmation that it was Tatsumi. Themis couldn't fault her for conducting a little investigation of her own.

Bennia got up and floated over to the window. The beautiful city of Asgard stretched out before her but Bennia couldn't care less about it. Her gaze was on something in the distance. The mountains upon which the hall of Valhalla rested and the closest gateway to Hel.

If that had been Tatsumi then he was so close she could almost see him…

"Nemesis…" Themis said in warning.

((I know, I know!)) Bennia snapped, turning around to throw an angry glare at Themis. ((And it's Bennia!)) The anger was expected, but it was also entirely feigned, or almost at least.

Bennia had one arm outside the window, dangling down the side of the smooth wall. Having her Divinity fully restored also brought back a few old tricks of hers. Such as the one where she could make a miniaturized version of herself, almost like a Devil's familiar, and send it out on errands she didn't have time to perform or was unable to for some reason.

Such as rushing towards the Hall of Valhalla and the Stairway to Hel in her place.

~o~

"So what now?" Mine asked Tatsumi as the two of them raced through the Halls of Hel. "Do you know where the gateway, portal, stairway, or whatever it was Ymir mentioned is?"

"Not a clue," Tatsumi said as they reached an intersection between the Hall of Agony and the Hall of Sorrow. There were little bronze plaques on the corner of each wall labeling what the hallway was. "Hoping a sign will pop up stating 'Stairway to Asgard' or something."

"Oh, great, that can't go wrong," Mine said. Tatsumi took the right passageway, turning off the Hall of Agony onto the Hall of Sorrow. "We have right up until Hel pulls her jaw back up to get out of this place and we have no idea where we're even going!"

"Would you rather still be standing outside those gates?"

"I never said I had a better idea."

Tatsumi just smiled. Mine was just being her usual self, giving voice to irritation and annoyances about her in an effort to hide the fear just beneath. This was Hel's home. She knew where everything was, and where they were headed. Fighting a Goddess was not what either of them wanted to do, especially after they literally busted down her front door and spat in her face.

"If only this place wasn't so blasted large," Tatsumi said muttered as they came upon a T-Intersection. The Hall of Sorrow split onto two different Halls, the Hall of Black Death and the Hall of Cancer. Suitably ominous names and quite frankly, Tatsumi didn't want anything to do with either. "Let's just go straight."

"Straight! There's nothing there!"

"I know," Tatsumi said as he started running for the wall. Just a few feet shy of the wall he turned sideways, did a quick little hop, before planting his feet firmly into the stone floor. His life force roared through his body, infusing his muscles, pushing them beyond the limit. Touki, his aura and lifeforce, enveloped his body.

The wall stood no chance.

With a loud boom a large section of the stone wall blew inwards in a shower of dust and stone fragments. Beyond it was, strangely, a kitchen of all things filled with the latest technologies and advancements in culinary progress. There were large ovens for rotisserie chicken, high-tech smoking stations, vats of oil for deep-frying. Gas, electrical and heat based elements and more cookware than Tatsumi had ever seen before.

The most confusing thing of all however wasn't the kitchen or its advanced technology.

It was the short, female-looking child dressed in a white dress with long blond hair standing mixing batter in a mixing bowl, heedless to the dust and stone fragments that were landing on, in, and all around him.

"Ymir… what are you doing?" Tatsumi asked incredulously.

The first giant looked up and tilted his head to the side. "Cooking?"

He could see that. They could all see that. That was the problem. "Why are you cooking?"

"Food was dismissed by your lover," Ymir said by way of explanation. "Need to improve."

"I'm not his—ARGH!" Mine shouted in irritation.

Ymir tilted his head to the other side and blinked. "What you said to Hel—"

"Fine! You know what! We are lovers!" Wait what? Tatsumi was suddenly jerked to the side as Mine grabbed his arm and pulled it between her breasts. "If I'm going to be called Tatsumi's lover then I'm going to bloody well get the perks too!"

"I think you broke her, Ymir," Tatsumi said, swallowing hard as he tried very much not to pay any attention to the softness of her chest. Wait, that wasn't the issue right now. Tatsumi quickly shook his head. "No, forget that. We need to get out of here before Hel recovers." This might actually be a good thing now that they found Ymir. "Where's the way out of this place?"

"Almost done," Ymir said, turning his attention back to his cooking which was thoroughly ruined by a thick layer of dust and rock he was mixing into the batter.

Tatsumi pried his arm from Mine's grasp, causing her to grumble a little, before jumping through the wall. "We don't have time for this," Tatsumi said as he grabbed Ymir and pulled him away from the counter. "I have a kitchen at home that you can use. Just get us out of Hel before Hel comes for us."

"Already there," Ymir said as he turned around and started walking under his own power. He still had the mixing bowl in his arms for some strange reason. "Fight to get past."

Damn, they'd wasted too much time. No use crying about it though. Staying still wasn't going to get them home. He'd have to just wing it.

"I'll think of something," Tatsumi said. "Just get us there, quickly."

Ymir nodded and led the two of them from the kitchen. The hallway beyond was nearly identical to the one they'd just left behind, save for the small plaque labeling it as the 'Hall of Gluttony.' The three of them rushed through the enormous Palace of Hel, going from one hallway to another. Gluttony became Pizza, which then turned into Cheese afterwards it became the Salt, Sugar, then Caffeine. Then changed so many hallways Tatsumi lost count at some point.

They went through so many twists and turns that Tatsumi feared Ymir was trolling them again until they turned off the Hall of Fuzzy Teddy Bears and into the Hall of Life and Death.

This place was far different from all the others. Gargantuan didn't even come close to describing it. The hallway was split down the center by an enormous row of columns, each with a diameter wider than Nidhoggr was long. Their tops were lost to darkness, the ceiling so far above no light from it reached the floor below. Each side of the of the hallway had an enormous rug running its length, one a vibrant green to symbolize life, the other a pale grey, to symbolize death.

They had come out on the side with the vibrant green carpet, which Tatsumi could only assume was a good thing. It was empty for one, whereas the other side of the hall was filled with the spirits of the dead slowly making their way along its length. Their destination was so far away it too was lost to the horizon.

Their origin was not. The Hall of Fuzzy Teddy Bears had come out not a hundred meters from an enormous staircase that spiraled upwards. It was from that Staircase that the dead marched into Hel.

There was probably something very symbolic about all this, but right then Tatsumi had more important things to worry about then Norse Symbolism. Such as the fact that Hel was standing at the base of the stairs. The look on her face so murderous that words couldn't give it due justice. It was a look that could literally kill.

Tatsumi felt his heart stop beating for a moment before he managed to get it started again.

"Plan?" Ymir asked quietly.

"I'm going to wing it," Tatsumi said, "stay close to my side."

"Alright."

Tatsumi spun on his heel and charged straight at Hel. Ymir easily kept pace with Tatsumi, remaining at his side within arm's reach. The Goddess's eyes lit up with a raging fury as she noticed their approach.

"So you've come you worthless mortal!" Hel screamed at them, spittle flying from her mouth with each word she spoke. "I won't let you return to the land of the living! This place will be your grave!" Her finger shifted to Mine. "And you, you're going to wish you were never born!"

"I already do so if you don't mind I'm going to grind my boot into your face instead!" Mine fired back in retort.

"Eat Ymir!" Tatsumi shouted as he suddenly reached out to the side and plucked Ymir off the ground. With a single, smooth motion he hurled the first giant at Hel like a missile.

Hel's eyes flickered momentarily to Ymir and was about to dismiss him entirely until she realized it truly was Ymir. Her jaw dropped open and her eyes went wide with shock. All the power she'd been building just sort of froze in its place. "Ymir!?"

"Hi," Ymir said.

"YMIR?!"

Boom!

Ymir slammed into Hel with perfect accuracy. The bowl of baking batter that Ymir had been whipping the entire time they'd been running through the halls slammed into her face, caking it completely in the mushy, thick stuff. The Goddess was completely bowled over by the sudden and ludicrous attack. Ymir went tumbling over her onto the first step as Hel smacked her head off the stone floor.

"Chance!" Mine shouted as she leapt over Tatsumi's shoulder and landed on Hel's face, grinding the heel of her boot into her face before leaping off her onto the first step beside Ymir.

"Satisfied now?" Tatsumi asked as he raced past the fallen Goddess.

"Let me do that again!"

"We need to be gone before she wakes up!" Tatsumi said as he grabbed Mine's elbow and pulled her away from the Fallen Goddess.

Tatsumi didn't care how much Mine wanted to grind her boots into Hel's face, they were not fighting a Goddess at the very center of her power in a realm she had full control over! It was suicide! Grudgingly Mine let him pull her away and soon all three of them were racing up the enormous spiral staircase, following the green carpet all the way up.

They passed countless spirits on their way up, thousands, tens of thousands even. Tatsumi didn't know how many exactly but there were a great many. They didn't notice Tatsumi and the others as they rushed past them. It was the living that cared about the dead. With only a few exceptions, those that had passed on and had been collected no longer cared much for the living.

A loud roar suddenly shook the stairway and from far below they heard the pounding of feet upon the stone as if some enormous, four-legged beast was racing towards them. A screech of rage followed on its footsteps.

"What the hell was that?" Mine shouted as they pushed on even harder than before.

"Garmr," Ymir said calmly. "Hel's guardian. Found as puppy. Fenrir's playmate. Equal, sort of."

Wasn't Fenrir a large, god killing wolf? That didn't bode well for them if it caught up to them on this staircase. Tatsumi urged himself to run faster, pushing both Ymir and Mine to the limits of what they were capable of.

"Anything you can tell us about that monster?" Tatsumi gasped out between breaths as they raced ever upwards.

"Norse version of Cerberus," Ymir said. "Not weak like Cerberus."

Of course not, because nothing could ever go their way. Tatsumi threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Why can't we get some backup for a change!"

He knew it was irrational thinking like that while in the middle of enemy territory, but it just always felt like Tatsumi was one the one receiving the short-end of the stick. The only time things had ever gone right was with Gregorious Abaddon, and that had only come after a whole hell of a lot of wrong!

"Pop!" A cutesy little voice suddenly emoted a sound effect. For a moment Tatsumi thought he'd gone insane because there floating before his eyes was a chibified version of Bennia. Complete with the head as large as the body, wide luminous eyes, adorable stubby little limbs, and a body that just did not match anything. "Swoosh! Swoosh!" Chibi Bennia emoted as it flew about Tatsumi's head.

"I think I'm going insane," Tatsumi said as the chibi Bennia landed on his head and settled in his hair. It grabbed his hair and started whipping it like a rider would the reins of a horse. "Completely insane."

"Tatsumi," Mine gasped out, "what the hell –gasp—do you have –gasp—in your hair –gasp—and can I swat it?"

"We're both going insane."

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Mine shouted at him.

"Adorable," Ymir said as he peered calmly up at the Chibi Bennia. He nodded sagely. "Next time."

"That's going to be terrifying," Tatsumi murmured. He didn't even want to imagine a giant chibified version of Ymir running around. "No, wait, what the hell is going on!"

"Hel," Ymir corrected him.

"Smash! Boom! Swoosh!" Chibi Bennia emoted loudly.

"Right…" Silly him. He was trying to have a conversation with a hallucination. "I'm just going to stop trying to make sense of anything and just go with the flow."

Because right then nothing made sense. Tatsumi and Mine were currently rushing up the Stairway of Hel with the personification of the physical Universe at their side while being chased by Hel, the beast of Hel, probably the entire horde of Hel, after just kicking down the Gates of Hel. What was a chibified version of Bennia compared to all that?

~o~

"I am not paying for that," Athena said as she stared at the large hole in the wall of their apartment, right where the window had once been. Already there were a couple Valkyrie's arriving to stare at the hole in confusion.

In the distance Athena could see Nemesis' fading form as she blasted across the sky.

"Nemesis has certainly become energetic recently, hasn't she?" Themis said as she flipped the page in her book.

Athena just deadpanned. "I liked her better when she wasn't head over heels in love with a mortal."

~o~

The pounding on the stone grew louder with every passing second. No matter how fast they raced up the huge staircase, their impending death drew ever closer.

"How close are we to the surface?" Tatsumi asked Ymir as they raced upwards. The bloody staircase felt like it went on forever. They'd already done at least a hundred complete spirals.

"Close," Ymir said.

"You said that last time," Mine threw out there. "What'll happen first? Us getting out or the old crone reaching us?"

"Old crone," Ymir said, shrugging. He paused and tilted his head, he even blinked, twice. "Human standard time. Two minutes until they catch up. Five until surface."

"A clear answer from Ymir," Mine said, sounding utterly bewildered, "we really are going insane, Tatsumi."

"Already accepted that earlier," Tatsumi said. "Which is why my idea might actually work!" They needed to do something to slow them down and Tatsumi had an idea so utterly insane that it would probably work because nothing at the moment was following common sense. "Ymir, can you make stuff on the move?" Tatsumi asked the small giant.

"Don't have any more baking powder," Ymir told him.

Tatsumi blinked. What? Where in Hel was his thought process? "No, not that. We need to slow Garmr and Hel down. Can you make a giant doggy biscuit?"

"A what!?" Mine shouted in surprise then she sighed and palmed her face. "You know what, that's so crazy it might just work and I have to be insane because part of me is expecting it to work."

"Can do," Ymir said, nodding his head. "What flavor?"

He could pick a flavor too? Now this was getting exciting! "How about we add lots of barbeque and hot sauce to it. Wrap it in bacon just for good measure."

"Anything else—"

"Just throw the damn thing I can feel them approaching now!" Mine panicked. That put them a hundred yards out, just out of sight around the corner.

"Throw it!" Tatsumi said.

From seemingly nowhere a massive doggy bone longer than Tatsumi was tall appeared in Ymir's hands. It was dripping in delicious smelling barbeque and hot sauce and was wrapped tightly with several layers of thick, juicy bacon.

"Throwing!" Ymir said as he tossed it before him. The massive bone clattered off the stone steps and tumbled out of sight as they continued to spiral ever upwards.

There was nothing at first, then suddenly a thunderous crash and a scream pierced the air followed by a wet splat.

"What are you doing?!" Hel's screechy, nasally voice echoed up the staircase. "Stop! Put that down! I order you! No! Don't lick me! Stop! WHAT IS THIS SORCERY!? Why is there so much bacon?! How does anyone know his weakness?!"

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Mine said, utterly flabbergasted.

"Chomp! Chomp! Wheee!" Chibi Bennia cried out happily on his head.

Tatsumi just started to laugh. He couldn't help it. Everything was just so crazy right now he couldn't stop. Didn't want to stop. He continued to laugh the rest of the way up the stairs, his laughter drowning out the screeches and threats of death echoing up from below.

As utterly ridiculous as it had been. Ymir's distraction bought them the time they needed. The staircase came to an end and before them was a short tunnel that led out into daylight. It streamed in through an enormous archway made of white bone and brown tree roots.

Renewed hope and strength filled Tatsumi upon seeing the exit. It filled the others as well. Tatsumi surged forward, faster than before, racing for the light. Mine, feeling the difference in the tunnel blasted past Tatsumi, flying past him as she blurred through the tunnel.

"Fast," Ymir said, staring after Mine.

Tatsumi wasn't going to lose. He grabbed Ymir, tucked him under an arm, and hurtled down the tunnel, quickly catching up to Mine. That in turn caused her to fly faster, which pushed Tatsumi faster. The sound barrier shattered as breached the archway and soared out into the bright world of Asgard beyond.

The world beyond the archway was breathtakingly beautiful. Tall, snow-capped mountain stretched out in all directions as far as the eye could see, but these weren't the desolate, cold things that had dominated Niflheim. The peaks were high, but the sides gentle, rolling down into large valleys and canyons of vibrant green life of all kinds. Life was everywhere. Birds flew high in the sky, animals scurried beneath the boughs of trees, insects buzzed from flower to flower and the air was filled with the wonderful scent of nature.

This was the first sign of real life Tatsumi had seen since Syura slammed their plane into the side of a frozen mountain and it was absolutely wonderful.

So wonderful in fact that Tatsumi failed to realize his charge had taken him right off the side of the mountain until those leafy green trees started rushing towards him dangerously fast.

"Shit!" Tatsumi shouted as he quickly unfurled his wings from his back and caught the gentle uplifting air currents and took to the air. He floated up to where Mine was giggling. "Not funny."

"I thought it was."

"You could have warned me."

"We were moving too fast," Mine said. She suddenly became downcast. "Hundred yards isn't enough. I need more."

When you could move at super-sonic speeds, a hundred yards was little more than the blink of an eye.

"Don't worry about it," Tatsumi said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "We'll work on it when we get back home. For now, let's get away from here before any more crazy—"

"How dare you kidnap that child!" a loud voice roared above them. Tatsumi's head snapped up just in time to see a massive, beautiful, and utterly deadly, spear poised above his head. "In the name of the Valkyrie I shall stop you!"

Too late. Crazy had already found them in the form of a beautiful, silver haired Valkyrie wearing a sea blue breastplate and pauldrons over a white skirt with gold patterns along the hem. There was a look of righteous superiority as she pointed down at him with an elegant looking sword. There was no doubt that the powerful, magical looking spear belonged to her.

"Divine Assault: NIBELUNG VALESTI!"

Tatsumi saw movement out of the corner of his eye and latched onto another crazy idea.

"Mine, redirect it to the left!"

"Redirect what?!" A moment later she knew as the massive spear lanced towards them. "Oh!" The zone around Mine quickly flashed into visible sight around them. It solidified and dispersed in just such a way as to create a slide like funnel that caught the massive lance and redirected it to her left.

Right into Hel's face as she came charging out of the tunnel atop Garmr.

The spear struck with a thunderous roar and a brilliance that outshone all the stars in the night sky combined. Tatsumi shied away from that light, covering his eyes as he tried to blink the spots that bloomed out of them. The wonderful scent of nature was momentarily overpowered by the sickening stench of burnt fur.

It'd do little more than slow them down, but that wasn't the point. There was something oddly satisfying about constantly humiliating Hel.

"What did I hit?" Mine demanded as she whipped her head back and forth. "I hit something!"

"Hel, right in the face," Tatsumi said, grinning.

"Ker-splat!" Chibi Bennia cried cheerfully.

Mine perked up at that thought. "Oh!"

"Yes," Tatsumi said, which meant he needed to get rid of Ymir so that he didn't slow Tatsumi down. "She's here on Garmr."

"I'll deal with the bitch, you put the dog down," Mine said as she crouched low in mid-air. Her face took on a determined look as she faced the Stairway to Hel.

"Fine," Tatsumi said. He looked up and found the Valkyrie just staring at the cloud of smoke and fire dumbfounded. She'd be perfect. "Hey! Catch!" Tatsumi shouted up at the Valkyrie and before waiting for her to respond whipped Ymir up at her.

"Missile!" Ymir shouted as he zipped towards her.

"Zip!"

The Valkyrie let out a yelp of surprise as she quickly reached out to catch the airborne child. There was a dull gong as Ymir bounced off her chestplate but she quickly caught him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She gave him a quick once over to make sure he was alright before she threw another glare at Tatsumi. "How dare you throw a child around like that you monster!"

Tatsumi rolled his eyes. He just couldn't win. "You wanted me to unhand him so I did, now hush. Unless you want to explain to Hel why you hit her in the face with your whatever it was."

"So you're aiding these interlopers, Lenneth?" Hel hissed as she floated out of the cloud of smoke. Her scraggly hair was burned short, her face covered in char marks and her once pristine clothes utterly ruined. "You can die along with them!"

Lenneth gasped in shock. "Lady Hel! You're wrong—"

"Good job, Lenneth!" Tatsumi quickly cut her off. He gave her a thumbs up and smiled. He could see Hel's face darkening with each word. Perfect. Now her fate was tied to theirs. "Just sit back and look after Ymir for us, we'll handle the rest!"

"Do-do DO!" Chibi Bennia said, making dark, ominous sound effects.

"You're completely evil," Mine murmured under her breath. Despite her words though there was a wicked grin on her face.

"Wait, I didn't—YMIR?!" Her shock echoed off the mountains as she stared at the child in her hands with abject shock.

Ymir tilted his head to the side and blinked up at her, completely unperturbed by the chaos happening around him. "Hi. Going outside for a bit. Dresses to try."

Lenneth looked like she was about to faint on the spot.

"Lenneth! I hope you're prepared for death after I deal with these two!" Hel's scream echoed all about them. "And I'm going to start with that little nothing bitch that kicked down my gates!"

"Hey, I helped!" Tatsumi protested. He was not going to have his achievement taken away! They'd both kicked down the Gates of Hel!

"Exclamation!" Chibi Bennia shouted indignantly.

Hel snapped her fingers and pointed at Tatsumi. "Garmr, kill!"

The smoke billowed violently as an enormous form lunged forth out from between the enormous archway of bone and roots. Blasting out from the smoke was an enormous white wolf easily twice as large as Tatsumi in his draconic form, it's mouth, filled with razor sharp teeth, was gaped wide as it Tatsumi threw Mine out of the way and ripped Incursio from it's sheath.

"Incursio!"

"Wyah, Wyah, Wyah! Level-Up!"

Skin ruptured. Muscles grew and strengthened. Bones shifted. It all happened in an instant as Tatsumi grew to enormous proportions, matching the look and size when he had fought Esdeath in those last few moments in the old world. This time though, Tatsumi wasn't weak, he wasn't slow, and he wasn't being rapidly consumed by the Tyrant.

Garmr looked more than a little surprised to find a bite size morsel suddenly grow into something that, while not as large, was at least as tall as it. Tatsumi slammed a clawed fist into the side of its head before it could recover from its shock, sending it spinning down towards the forested valley below. Trees were crushed beneath its enormous size as it crashed into the ground, sending birds flapping and animals scattering in all directions.

"Pow!"

"I'm going to go put this dog down, be back soon," Tatsumi said as he kicked off the air and dove for Garmr.

"Don't make it too quick!" Mine shouted back. "I want time to grind my boot into her face again!"

"Zoom!"

"I know, I know, you don't need to make a sound effect for everything I do," Tatsumi told the hallucination still riding atop his head. The Chibi Bennia stiffened for a moment before its face crumpled in despair. Massive, hiccupping sobs erupted from her mouth as an unbelievable amount of tears gushed from her eyes creating miniature waterfalls dripping down either side of Tatsumi's head. Tatsumi just sighed. "That's not going to be distracting or anything."

He did his best to ignore the crying hallucination as he rushed at Garmr. The enormous wolf was on its feet now, shaking off the impact. Garmr looked up as Tatsumi crashed down upon it.

The earth shook beneath the impact. Nearby trees were flattened to the ground. The ground ruptured beneath his fist, causing massive slabs of earth and rock to rise and shift.

He'd completely missed.

The air shattered as two enormous forms went super sonic at the same time. Garmr on the offensive, and Tatsumi reacting by instinct. He rolled to the right just as Garmr snapped at him. Rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth clamped down on the spot where Tatsumi's head had just been.

The oversized dog was fast. Too fast! Tatsumi could shatter the sound barrier dozens of times over yet this hound was magnitudes faster than him! The hound may even be faster than Hikaru!

Even before it'd realized it had missed Tatsumi was lashing out with Neuntote, the wicked harpoon like weapon screaming through the air faster than sound.

It did little more than tear through the after image left behind by dog's ludicrous speed.

Hot pain ripped down his back as razor sharp claws tore through his scales like a hot knife through butter. He hammered the end of the spear haft with his free hand, letting it whip around behind him. It hit nothing. Garmr was gone long before Neuntote came close. It was exactly as Tatsumi predicted, which was why when Garmr reappeared to strike again Tatsumi's fist was already there, ready and waiting. Garmr's snout creaked and shifted awkwardly as he backhanded the dog across the face. Garmr's speed. Tatsumi's power. A loud crack echoed through the ancient forest as the enormous dog bounced across the landscape, tearing up trees in his wake.

A weakness lay within that speed. Garmr couldn't react as quickly as it could move. Fighting against Hikaru had taught Tatsumi how to deal with beings faster than him. You couldn't react, you had to anticipate, predict, and move with them, before them even.

Tatsumi took he brief reprieve to focus on healing his back, forcing his regeneration into overtime to close it quickly. He needed to come up with a plan to beat this thing.

Ymir had said Garmr was Fenrir's equal. Tatsumi could see it. He didn't know how Garmr ranked compared to the other super natural creatures out there, but he knew Fenrir ranked twelfth. If Garmr was even remotely close…

There was no more time to think.

Garmr blurred forward, moving so fast he disappeared even from Tatsumi's own superior vision. Neuntote whirled to the left, a wall of steel to reduce the angles Garmr could strike from. A roar of fire from Tatsumi's throat blocked the front, which only left the right and the rear. He dropped to his haunches and made to react to Garmr's reappearance and—

A mass of teeth came at him from the left, snapping onto his arm. The powerful maw crunched through his scales, crushing the muscle and bone beneath. Even the layer of touki rushing through him had done little to protect him from this monster.

Tatsumi tried to hit it, both with flame and power. Yet again the overgrown mutt was gone, taking with it a sizeable chunk of Tatsumi's arm.

mine mine mine.

No, this was different from Hikaru. It didn't react based on what it perceived either. It hadn't cared that the left was the most dangerous and risky direction to attack from. It had acted on pure instinct. Predicting the movements of a creature that didn't act based on anything Tatsumi could use as reference was futile.

This battle might be more than he could handle—

No!

A guttural growl escape from his throat. The Tyrant, taken down by this worthless mutt? It was utterly disgusting! A disgrace. It could not stand. If he could just follow its movements! See where it would attack from! It didn't matter how, just somehow!

"RARGH!" Tatsumi roared in rage as he channeled all that he was into this fight with the Hound of Hel.

He needed something! Anything! He was the Tyrant! The ultimate evolutionary being! He stood at the top of the food chain! All others stood beneath! Their fate was his to determine!

Their fate… their future…

A deep, chilling cold consumed him. Washing over him like a tidal wave. It rippled outwards, consuming everything. Garmr, once too fast for Tatsumi to perceive became perceivable. The dog slowed ever more until it came to a complete stop. Above and all around everything came to a halt.

Even the wind ceased.

Mahapadma. Balor View. Hikaru's Lightning Form.

He was not a stranger to those that could manipulate, stop, or surpass the constraints of time. This body, this mind, had been subjected to it many times. The mind knew how to work in that moment between seconds, if only for a brief moment.

That wasn't enough. Seeing the now wasn't enough.

His eyes analyzed all that Garmr was. From the tips of the fur that covered its body, to the subtle nuisances in the way each muscle moved and worked. Where the eyes shifted, how ligaments contracted and expanded. His eyes burned as if on fire. His mind screamed at him. Things shifted inside, rearranged, adjusted.

Tatsumi evolved.

There was no longer just one Garmr, but a thousand, a long trail of lopping figures that tore its way across the ground. Teeth aimed for his throat.

Time reasserted a little bit of control and Garmr started moving again, slowly to Tatsumi's heightened state of perception, following the predicted path perfectly. Tatsumi reacted as quickly as he could, reaching for the precise place Garmr's neck would be when it went for the kill.

Tatsumi's heightened state of perception slipped away but it had been enough.

Garmr let out a high pitch yelp as Tatsumi's clawed fingers dug onto Garmr's throat a split instant before those teeth would have torn Tatsumi's throat out.

minE MINE MINE MINE.

"If I can't see the you of now! Then I'll just destroy the you of tomorrow!" Tatsumi roared as he slammed the enormous dog into the ancient forest floor, torn up by their battle.

He tried to slam Neuntote through it's stomach but Garmr ripped himself from Tatsumi's grasp. The Hound of Hel eyed Tatsumi warily from a distance, blood dripped from its throat, soaking into the torn-up forest floor.

The battle wasn't over. Every time Tatsumi moved, the line of Garmrs shifted as well, instinctively altering the direction in which it would attack. It was only at the moment of commitment that he would be able to react.

Garmr lunged forward again, faster than before. Tatsumi was ready this time as well, a fist hammering into Garmr, throwing the enormous hound to the side before its razor sharp teeth and claws could reach him. Again and again the Hound lunged at him. It was all Tatsumi could do to stay alive.

This hound was just insane. God killing indeed. Tatsumi doubted even Gabriel could handle this thing.

It lunged once more, but differently. Instead of straight at him it stopped half way, closer. Tatsumi could see every movement it would take. The moment it landed Tatsumi shifted to stop the attack. The line of Garmrs shifted in response.

There was no time to react. The distance before had barely been enough to knock the hound away. There wasn't enough time with him this close! Even if Tatsumi could see where Garmr would strike, he wasn't going to be fast enough to stop him—

The strike never landed. Tatsumi watched with a mixture of bewilderment and confusion as the line of Garmrs suddenly altered directions, twisting in place and barrel rolling to the right.

The reason appeared a moment later as Bennia appeared out of thin air, diminutive against Garmr's massive form. The size difference didn't stop her from sending Garmr tumbling to the side with a loud yelp of pain.

((MINEMINE!)) The words were hissed through clenched teeth as Bennia arrived.

"Bennia?" Tatsumi asked cautiously. She had the same, familiar yellow eyes, the long purple hair, and the mask that hung at her side was the same as always. She was even the dress similarly. It looked like Bennia… if Bennia had a suddenly aged ten years in the past few weeks. Her chest now rivaled Gabriel's, threatening to spill out of a dress that looked five sizes too small.

His eyes lifted to the Chibi version of Bennia sitting on his head. It had stopped crying and was cheering happily. Then 'Bennia' turned and Tatsumi saw the unconditional love within those eyes. That was all the confirmation he needed.

Tatsumi quickly braced himself as Bennia flew right into, knocking his Tyrant form back a few feet before he finally managed to stop their momentum. She embraced him as tightly as she could without being able to get her arms all the way around him. It was almost too tight. Her strength was bone crushing.

((Mine!))

The Chibified version of Bennia leapt off his head and wailed all the way into Bennia's bosom. "Gabu! Gabu!"

((There, there, Tatsumi was just being a meanie.)) Bennia said as she patted the sobbing chibi form comfortingly.

"I have no idea what's going on anymore," Tatsumi said as he stared at the very adult version of the spunky, fun loving, nymphomaniac that was his and the adorable chibified hallucination of her. "Absolutely no idea."

((I'm so glad I found you! I thought Ophis… I…)) Bennia said, all smiles now as she looked him up and down.

There was an angry growl to his right. "Can we talk about this after we've put this mutt down?"

He needed time to sort all this insanity out, and fighting Garmr was not the time.

Her eyes became as cold as death itself and an almost frighteningly alien look twisted her face. ((Just sit back and relax Tatsumi. I will break this thing.))

"He's as strong as Fenrir," Tatsumi warned her as he turned to face Garmr with her. She'd need his help. "Together we can."

((And all that strength won't amount to anything at all,)) Bennia growled ominously.

What was she talking about? He knew Bennia was strong, but strong enough to take on Garmr alone? That didn't make any sense. Tatsumi with all his power and capabilities had been put on the ropes. He'd been told that Bennia had been taken by Themis for some reason.

Had she really been powered up that much?

He would soon find out.

Garmr changed targets, his eyes now glaring balefully on Bennia, identifying her as a legitimate threat to be taken out first. It lunged at her, faster than ever before. Tatsumi could see the line of Garmr's rush towards her, threatening to devour her in a single bite.

That bite never came. An instant before the Hound of Hels struck Bennia was consumed by a shroud of absolute darkness which not even Tatsumi's enhanced, evolved sight could pierce. A clarion gong rang out across Asgard, shaking the world to its very core. The world was plunged into darkness absolute.

And in the next instant light returned.

Bennia stood there, floating before him utterly untouched. The same couldn't be said for Garmr. The head was simply gone, vaporized into infinite number of tiny little droplets of matter. The body itself was split straight down the center, each half thrown clear from them, blood gushed from the horrific wound, drowning the ground around it in an ocean of blood.

"What just happened?"

((I am retribution.))

That wasn't very helpful.

((It's done, Tatsumi,)) Bennia said, turning to give him a wide smile. ((You don't need to do anything. I'll handle things from here on out.))

"Right…" Tatsumi trailed off, still not understanding what it was he had just witnessed. Whatever it was, there was no coming back from that. Tatsumi readjusted his form, shrinking it down to human size and shape. "We need to help Mine," he said before throwing himself into the air to look for her.

Lenneth was floating nearby, staring at everything in total shock and confusion as she held Ymir at arms length. She didn't want to drop the little boy, but at the same time it was Ymir. Tatsumi wasn't entirely certain how the Asgards felt about Ymir, but it was enough to cause Lenneth to treat him like she was holding a poisonous snake.

A sharp cry of frustration snapped Tatsumi's head to the side. Mine hovered in midair, her pink dress billowing about her legs as she dodged this way and that, avoiding Hel's magical strikes at the last second. Her six black wings extended to their fullest behind her as she utilized all her ability to evade the Goddess' strikes.

Mine was fighting a losing battle. Hel was sporting a few new burns, including a second boot print on her face, but that had cost Mine. Hel hovered far out of range of Mine's ability to perceive her and launched attacks from different directions. Tatsumi could see magical circles pop up all around Mine. She was able to dodge them, but even time she retaliated she hit nothing but air. Her pink spear of light just continued on through the already fading magical circle to detonate on a far mountain or the forested valley below.

There was no way she was going to beat Hel the way she was.

"Mine!" Tatsumi shouted as he started for Hel. If he could chase her down into Mine's zone then—

"Stay back!" Mine roared at him, stopping him in mid-flight. "I have this!"

((I can deal with her just as easily as I did her pet mutt.)) Bennia supplied helpfully as she floated up next to him. The chibi version of her was sleeping softly in her bosom, only her head peaked out from inside Bennia's dress. ((In fact I think I will insist.))

"You will NOT interfere!" Mine roared. "I'm going to ram my heel so far up her ass she'll be spitting leather!"

((Ooo, I actually want to see that!)) Bennia said, looking far too cheerful than someone really should after hearing that.

"That's where you're wrong, child!" Hel threw her voice at Mine from a different direction. "You will do nothing! You have nothing!" A blast of lightning erupted from a magical circle behind Mine. It lanced towards her and then slowed as it reached her zone. Mine darted out of the way allowing it to shoot harmlessly into the sky. "You are nothing!" Another magic circle from another direction. Heat blasted Tatsumi in the face as a raging inferno roared at Mine. Again it suddenly slowed as it entered her zone, giving Mine enough time to shift out of the way. It roared past her, slamming into a distant mountain peak with explosive force. The area rumbled as an avalanche of water, snow, and rock cascaded down the mountain. "Why don't you just admit it and die! You're just a burden now!" A hundred spears, each crackling with lightning, rained down on her from all directions. They slowed like the earlier two attacks allowing Mine to weave between them, almost like she was dancing. "You're useless without your eyes. That dragon keeps you around out of a sense of responsibility! You don't honestly think he'd keep you around once you return, do you?"

Hel knew absolutely nothing about Tatsumi if she honestly thought he would abandon Mine for such an absurd reason. Blind? Since when was that a weakness? The Mine Tatsumi was watching before him was effortlessly avoiding all of Hel's attacks. And there was more to a person than how useful they were in combat.

Still, Tatsumi was worried about Mine. Hel was unknowingly playing against her greatest fear.

"Mine, don't listen to—"

"SHUT UP!" Mine roared, her voice booming across the mountain range. "Useless? Nothing? Weak?!" Mine's body started to tremble violently as arcs of pink energy sparked across her body. "I'll show you useless!" The air about her trembled and vibrated, after images making it look as if Mine was in a half dozen places at the same time. "I'll show you nothing!" Tatsumi could feel the energy surging about her now. It whipped the air like it had a life of its own. Even Hel backed away a bit, nervous by the sudden display of energy radiating from Mine's body.

Her next words boomed across all of Asgard.

"I'll show you weak!"

A massive detonation of pink energy rippled out from Mine, an ever-increasing sphere of pink energy that just kept expanding and expanding. It rolled over Hel, Tatsumi, Lenneth and Ymir, and kept on going, rolling over the distance mountains and valleys.

Beyond the wave in the epicenter of the explosion was Mine. Her pigtails had come undone and her long pink hair streamed behind her, held aloft on currents of divine energy. Her entire body was aglow with it. A brilliant pink-white light.

The most noticeable change however were her wings. Ten jet black wings were flared out behind her, each one so dark they seemed to suck the very light of the world.

What concerned Tatsumi the most wasn't Mine however, but what hovered high above them in the sky above. There was a large violently spinning orb of blue and white fire. It felt like he could reach out and touch it, it was so close, but he could tell it was still as far from the surface of Asgard as the Moon was from the surface of Earth.

Unlike the moon, however, it was not just a simple chunk of rock, nor was it stationary. In fact… why was Tatsumi starting to tilt upwards towards the… oh hell no!

Mine had summoned a star.

"Feel the wrath of the Fallen! Morning Star!" Mine roared in a voice like thunder. Then she launched an enormous violently spinning blue and white star at Hel.

"Um, shit," Tatsumi said as he watched Mine literally throw a star at Hel. He knew he had been driven insane, but even in the deepest depths of his insanity he had never considered this. He even recognized it. He knew what a violently spinning blue/white star is, or was rather. "Is that a pulsar? Please tell me that's not a pulsar she's throwing at Hel!"

"Pulsar," Ymir confirmed with a nod. "From galactic quadrant X75-493-A47."

The sweat drop that tried to roll down the back of Tatsumi's head was instead sucked upwards into the sky.

"We… are so dead."

"You are," Ymir agreed. He peered up at Lenneth. "And you." He peered over at Hel. "And her." He tilted his head to the side and blinked. "Interesting."

Interesting was not the word he would have come up with.

Tatsumi felt the moment the star touched the atmosphere. The entire world felt it. The world screamed as the very sky burned. Unbearable heat pounded the land. Plants spontaneously burst into flames, animals died, the snow-capped peaks melted in an instant.

They were all about to—

The star suddenly stopped and all the heat disappeared.

Tatsumi could only gap as an utterly titanic woman held it up. Her form was so massive it towered far above the mountains. Brilliant silver hair streamed out behind an adorable looking face. Like Mine, she wore cloth around her eyes, only these were emblazoned with the scales of Justice. She wore little more than a simple Greek toga dress. At the same time a wave of divine energy rolled out from the palms of those hands, encasing the star in a prison of power, instantly blocking out the heat and returning gravity back to normal.

Tatsumi could only stare. "Uh… what?"

Bennia followed his gaze. ((Oh, that's Themis! Ya, she can do stuff like that. She's the most powerful woman in existence.))

"Ophis?"

"Ophis has no gender," Ymir said. "Nemesis is correct." His head tilted to side. "Correction, most powerful woman associated with Earth's sphere of influence."

Tatsumi gave Ymir a strange look that he slowly shifted to the woman at his side. Bennia twitched and looked away, whistling innocently.

"Nemesis?" Tatsumi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

((Ah-ha… ha.. ha? Can I explain that another time? I don't think now is the right time considering...)) Bennia trailed off as Tatsumi suddenly noticed dozens of enormously powerful energies rapidly arriving.

Almost like they were dropping out of warp, a number of divine entities started to show up. Tatsumi recognized a few of them and some he thought he probably should but things weren't quite right. There was Heimdall, who was glaring daggers at Tatsumi for some reason, and Freya. Tyr and Baldr. Another that looked sort of like Thor and wielded his hammer but was female and far too scantily clad. The most preeminent of them all was Odin.

A portal opened up near Tatsumi and Athena stepped through.

"This battle is over," Odin said as he stepped between Hel and Mine. "No more. Enough damage has been done to Asgard. I won't allow any more."

"You should destroy them both!" Hel shouted, pointing at both Tatsumi and Mine. "They destroyed the Gates of Hel and killed my poor little Garmr!"

"You had it coming!" Mine raged. "If you'd just let us leave instead of insulting us!"

"You insulted me first!"

"No," Ymir said suddenly, cutting through the conversation like a hot knife through butter. All eyes turned to him and more than a few went wide with shock. Even Themis, who by this time had sent the star spinning back to where it had been plucked from, became interested and stepped over a few mountains to get closer. "Mimicked Tatsumi's voice." He tilted his head to the side. "Wanted to see Gates kicked down."

"Totally don't regret that though," Tatsumi said. There was no point in trying to deny it. It wasn't like he was ashamed of it or anything. It was a bragging point.

((You should have invited me along!)) Bennia complained. ((You know how much I wanted to kick it down as well!))

"Next time," Tatsumi whispered to her.

"T-That was you?" Hel gasped.

"Tatsumi innocent," Ymir said firmly.

"This battle is over," Odin repeated more firmly and Hel had no choice to back down. His eyes shifted down to the bloody remains of Hel's pet. "As for Garmr, I'm not without compassion. He was a nice puppy." The leader of the Asgardian Gods pointed at the bloody remains. "Bang!" A ball of green energy zipped from his finger and smacked into the ground between the split halves. The bloody mist and chunks of Garmr were sucked up inside very quickly the ball grew in size until it was the size of a normal wolf. With a loud pop the green ball ruptured and out from within a baby Garmr popped out.

Hel gasped and shot towards the baby Garmr. She landed beside it and scooped the rather large puppy up in her arms. "Garmr! Mommy is here for you!"

"Ymir, what brings you up here?" Themis rumbled in a voice like thunder.

"Going outside," Ymir said, eliciting gasps from all the assembled Gods and Goddesses. "Lots of new dresses. Will share with Gasper. Trade. Will be interesting." He turned to regard Tatsumi. "Tatsumi offered place. Accepted."

Everyone turned to stare at him then. More than a few had burning glares of accusation. Tatsumi really wanted to hide somewhere. Being on the receiving end of so many angry glares from Gods and Goddesses was not particularly pleasant.

Tatsumi wasn't the only one to notice the glares. Bennia hovered protectively in front of him with her arms out to either side like a shield. ((Any time you want to rumble I'll be happy to bring Retribution upon you!))

One god wasn't glaring at Tatsumi. Odin. He just started to laugh. "Well, this should make for something exciting to watch!" his eyes rose to Lenneth. "Ymir will need a handler though."

Ymir nodded and then looked up at Lenneth as well. The Valkyrie started to sweat bullets. "This one."

"Done!" Odin said, sealing the Valkyrie's fate. Tatsumi could see the blood drain from her face. "Until such time as Ymir is finished having fun in the mortal world, Lenneth, you will see that he is properly taken care of." Why did she look like Odin had just handed her a death sentence? "And while we're at it…" his eyes flickered between him, Bennia and Mine. "The Greek technically have a member amongst Night Raid, do they not?"

((You referring to me?)) Bennia asked, pointing at herself.

Odin didn't reply. He simply nodded his head, satisfied with something. "Yes, this works out well. Humanity, Angels, Fallen, Devils and the Greek. If we're going to join an alliance with all them it is only fitting we contribute as well." Odin grinned up at Lenneth. "If you'll have her, Lenneth would be a fitting addition to Night Raid. You certainly won't find her lacking compare to your other members of Night Raid." His eyes lingered on her chest. "In any way. She hides some very nice… weapons beneath that breastplate of hers."

"I'll… need to think about it," Tatsumi said cautiously.

"Please do, Lenneth will have plenty of time to convince you while looking after Ymir, right?" Odin asked, smiling at the Valkyrie. The woman just started sobbing. Odin took that as an acceptance and turned back to Tatsumi. "It seems you and your Fallen Angel, Mine, have been through quite a lot on account of one of our own."

"That's the understatement of the year," Mine muttered as she slowly floated over to Tatsumi's side.

"So I would like to offer what hospitality we can provide," Odin said, gesturing back the way they came. "You both must be exhausted from what you've been through. Why not rest and relax a bit before you head home."

Tatsumi was certain there was some sort of ulterior motive for offering all this. He could be genuine, but Tatsumi doubted it. Odin was probably currying favor, or perhaps trying to look good in front of Themis. Honestly, Tatsumi really couldn't care at this point. The prospect of a warm meal, a real bed, and a proper bath was simply too much.

"Lead the way," Tatsumi said, very much glad to be finally putting all this behind him.

Their adventure here in the Nine Worlds was finally coming to an end and it couldn't happen soon enough.

---

Note on Heimdall: I felt it'd be amusing. He's a thigh master, loves thighs, and has his sights set on Bennia's.

Note on Garmr: Norse Mythology is unclear as to whether or not Garmr and Fenrir are the same wolf. There are hints that they are, but it's never explicitly stated. Considering how Highschool DxD allows for stuff like Hades and Pluto to exist (when they're technically just different names for the same God) I'm going to assume it's fine to do the same. Garmr and Fenrir are probably two names used for the same wolf in Norse mythology, but here I split them out.

Also, Bennia isn't 'stronger' than Garmr, it's just that her epithet makes her absolute against those that possess a strong hubris, and she is able to instinctively sense those that have such hubris. The more arrogant an individual is, the more of an advantage Bennia has over them. Against people like Esdeath, Ophis or Great Red who never let their arrogance dictate their actions or thoughts (or simply aren't capable of being arrogant), Bennia's epithet wouldn't do anything at all, reducing her to nothing more than a Grim Reaper on par with Pluto.

But against Hel and her Hound? They'd have a better chance of beating Themis than Bennia. She has the ultimate anti-personal ability, but it has a strict activation requirement.

Author's Note: Anyways, leave a review and let me know what you think! It was late coming because I made a lot of last minute changes.