Vortex World,

Okinawa Prefecture, Shintoshi Hill Apartment Complex, Mantra HQ Judicial Court

Kagatsuchi 5/8 Waxing

"You stacked up on supplies?" Yosho looked over to Keiichi. "Need anything else?"

The man shook his head. "I've got just about everything I can fit in my pockets." He said. "I'd need to take one of your own backpacks if I wanted to take anything else with us."

Yosho pursed his lips, contemplating the wisdom of the action. In the hour that Thor had granted them, they'd been allowed to return to the cell and granted freedom to move about as they pleased. The trio had returned to restock and discuss their next opponent, Yaksini, and to see if anyone else in the cell block had any information on her. Kiyone had left in search of information, prodding cellmates and guards alike, and had left Yosho in charge of Keiichi with deliberate instructions to arm the young man up with as many supplies as he could hold.

"We could give you my pack for this fight. If you're keeping out of it and towards the back, we can keep any attacks away from you. We were able to overwhelm Orthrus with our numbers and should be able to do something similar with Yaksini." The prince leaned back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Do you have any information on this Yaksini character, Ol' Koneko?" He looked down at the youkai, which had taken the opportunity to curl up in his lap as the two humans went through their supplies.

The feline yawned mightily, twin tails swaying lazily about. "I cannot say I am familiar with her." He said, flicking his ears and looking up to Yosho with bright gold eyes. "I would say not to underestimate her, though. If the Mantra are as they say; a group which cherishes power and strength-than we must assess that she has both earned her place amongst their ranks and that she is more powerful than Orthrus."

"She might be a strong magic user." Keiichi said. "Urd's like that. When you first meet her she looks like a normal human, right up to the point where you give her any excuse to use her magic." He shook his head. "Seen her damn near destroy the world a couple of times her magic is so strong. While something tells me Yaksini isn't nearly as powerful as Urd, I bet her strength is similar."

"Nearly destroyed the world?" Yosho stared at Keiichi in growing horror.

"Oh, fuck." The man winced. "Ah…me and my damn mouth. Yeah…there were some…we'll call them 'happy accidents' in the past before I married Belldandy."

"I don't…remember any of this." Yosho said. "I feel like I would have."

Keiichi sighed. "Look man, things get weird when your girlfriend's a goddess and her two sisters are constantly hanging out with her, okay?" He said. "You could say that some literal 'Higher Ups' took things into their own hands to repair the damage." The man scowled. "Though why they haven't fixed this clusterfuck is beyond me."

Yosho stared at him. I want to buy this man a drink and just listen to his stories. He thought. He's either utterly mad or so terrifying sane that his mere existence is blasphemy. Another softer, equally dogmatic thought popped into his head. I wonder if this 'Belldandy' or her sisters knows Tsunami.

He dismissed the thought immediately. Sure, Belldandy and her sisters knew Tsunami, and Tsunami was incarnating in one of his little half-sisters. This Vortex World is getting to you. He thought. Just wait, you'll wake up thinking this is all a dream or a massive hallucination and wonder what the ever-loving fuck Tenchi slipped in your drink.

"Where's Makibi-san, by the way?" Keiichi asked, changing topics. "It's been a while since we saw her. Is she really okay on her own?"

Yosho shrugged. "Cadejo survived the end of the world on her own and saved me." He said. "Of all of us, she's probably the most adept at surviving on her own. That strange COMP she has seems to work for her benefit."

"What is that thing, anyways?" Keiichi asked.

Yosho shrugged. "From my understanding, a device that allows Makibi-san to both communicate and summon demons."

The racer shuddered. "That's…disturbing." He said. "I've…run into demons before-not here, but before before, and…they aren't things you want to mess with." The man pursed his lips. "I'm not talking about that dog or Big Red either. I'm talking actual demons."

Yosho thought of Ryoko, of Duke Aym, and held his silence.

"Those ones are dangerous. Like…really dangerous. They make the things here in Mantra look like rodents in comparison. They can turn people into…whatever they want-rodents, vehicles, stone, whatever. I've seen them cause havoc by turning the desires of others into nightmarish realities. Some of them—the really powerful ones—might as well be their own force of nature; just their manifestation on Earth created storms that could destroy houses." The man was pale. "The idea that a human—someone like you or me—could so easily summon something like that is…terrifying."

Yosho stared at him, then shrugged uncomfortably. "Not much can be done about that." He said. "I don't know if Makibi-san is even capable of forming a contract with something like that, and if I am frank, I am in no rush to find out." Scooping the youkai in his lap up and ignoring Ol' Koneko's yowl of protest, the man deposited the twin-tailed cat on his shoulder before climbing to his feet. "Let's see if we can't find her and check up on her. We've done just about everything within our control here."

Nodding, Keiichi rose to his feet as well, and the two peeked outside, finding Kiyone further down the hallway on their left. She sat cross-legged on the ground, her back pressed up against one of the cells behind her, staring in rapt attention into the cell before her. Yosho thought he could hear sounds—growls, low and foreboding—rising out of the cell before her, and felt the hair on the nape of his neck rise in alarm. "Cadejo!" He called in a loud whisper, and wondered why his voice had suddenly vanished.

Kiyone either didn't hear him or was deliberately ignoring him, and Yosho tensed, a small burst of alarm rising in his chest. "Makibi-san!" He tried again, and this time got a response as the woman raised a hand, gesturing him back wordlessly.

"What's she doing?" Keiichi was whispering as well, and when Yosho looked at him found his own puzzled expression reflected back at him.

The Prince glanced at him, then shook his head. He was at as much of a loss as Morisato was. The man turned back towards Makibi and took a step forward, only to stop when the woman climbed to her feet. She wore a frown on her face, eyes hard with resolve, as she moved to the front of the cell. The woman pressed herself against the bars of the cell, gripping them tightly as she stared inside, and Yosho spied five long, black needles-they had to have been at least a meter in length-slide past the bars on either side of her.

"Cadejo!" Yosho shouted, and was about to race towards the woman when an arm grabbed him. The man grunted, and stared back at Keiichi in fury. "Release me!" He demanded.

"No." Keiichi replied. "She's got this, we can't interrupt."

"Got what!?" He demanded.

"You didn't hear?" The racer asked. "Kiyone's setting up a contract with whatever is on the other side. Their finalizing the contract now."

"Morisato-san," Yosho's voice deepened in warning. "If you do not release my arm right now I will break it."

"Not if it means interrupting their contract." Keiichi countered. "You can't get involved, Masaki-san. If she's forming a contract, ten-to-one its so we can survive these upcoming rounds, and I'm not dying here before I see my wife."

"And I'm not allowing Makibi-san to sacrifice herself for a demon or a man." Yosho snarled.

Keiichi stepped closer to Yosho, his eyes hard. "She's not sacrificing herself. Contracts are mutually exclusive; if it ends with her death, it would end with that demon's death too." He pointed back down the hallway. "Look."

Grinding his teeth so hard his jaw creaked, Yosho followed the man's instructions and turned, finding the long needles were attached to a pair of thin, gaunt red hands and thin, ancient arms. The arms had embraced the woman, pressing her against the bars but otherwise leaving her unharmed.

A red energy was surrounding the woman, and Yosho thought back to what Thor had done to Keiichi, what Ryoko had done to him, and balled his fists in tension. Yet if it caused Kiyone any harm, she didn't show it, and the red glow passed from the human to the demon without issue. The glow faded, yet the arms did not withdraw.

Yosho thought he heard whispering.

Finally, the arms drew away, and Yosho watched the long, stiletto like claws sink back into the prison cell. Kiyone took a step back, stumbled, then collapsed. Keiichi release him, and Yosho wasted no further time, racing over to the woman and dropping to one knee, peering inside the cell as he helped the woman sit up and finding a pair of leering white eyes leer into his.

A shudder raced down his spine. It felt like those eyes were tearing into him, slipping past the veil of his body and straight into his soul, rooting around for whatever secrets he had, what made him tick, and how it could use it against him.

"Yosho, MJ, relax, I'm fine." Kiyone mumbled, and he broke his gaze, looking down at Kiyone with concern. The woman appeared dazed, her eyes glossy and actions lethargic. "Really, I'm okay. Just…just give me a moment. I need to catch my breath."

"What did you do!?" Yosho demanded.

Kiyone flinched. "Could you keep it down?" She asked, grimacing as she rubbed her temples. "I'm right here. Stop screaming."

"How about I keep it down once I know why you endangered yourself with whatever that demon was?" Yosho retorted. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You saw what Thor did to Morisato! You could have ended up just like him, or worse!"

"I knew what I was doing." She shoved a hand against his chest, pushing him away. "I wasn't going to let myself get so drained I couldn't fight, and I was in control the entire time."

Keiichi approached, standing behind Yosho as he glanced into the cell, the back down at Kiyone. "What was the contract?"

The ex-cop sucked in a deep breath. "Well, at least one of us recognized what I was doing." She muttered, looking past Yosho and up at Keiichi. "A technique for energy." She said. "Rangda taught me one of her abilities through a Demon Whisper in exchange for some of my Magatsuhi." She shook her head, casting a glare to Yosho, who glowered back. "Not enough to kill or even leave me utterly exhausted before the fight, but enough of what I can spare this go around. But we need—I need to have the upper hand if we're to survive this fight." She looked at the two men with hard, solemn teal eyes. "We'll die if we don't."

"What could a demon possibly give you that would leave her sucking the energy out of you like a parasite?" Yosho snapped.

Kiyone looked at the palm of her hand, then flipped it, as if examining the nails. "…We'll find out next match." She said, then climbed to her feet with a grimace. Yosho rose with her, and caught the woman as she swayed unsteadily. Kiyone brushed him off, her attention focused on the demon in the cell. "Pleasure doing business with you."

The demon inside hissed.

Kiyone nodded, as if interpreting it as words. "I will." She said simply, and looked at Yosho. One of the pupils looked more dilated than the other. "Does your cat know any electric spells?"

"Ask him." Yosho replied, and narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine." Kiyone insisted, "Well Koneko?"

Ol' Koneko's tails lashed. "No, unfortunately. Fire and wind come easily, however I was never much for those elements which make my fur stand on edge."

"Damn." Kiyone's face fell, and she looked next to Keiichi. "Do we have any electric stones then?"

Keiichi shook his head. "I don't have any." He said, "And I don't remember seeing any in your packs, either." The man admitted.

"Shit." The woman hissed, and for a moment she sounded almost like the demon on the other side of the cell. "The demon we're going up against next-Yaksini?-she's weak to electricity." The woman shook her head. "We could have made the fight as easy as the one against Orthrus." She sighed. "Guess our luck was bound to run out at some point."

"So it seems." Yosho said, eying the woman suspiciously. "Where did you learn of Yaksini's weakness?"

"Rangda." Kiyone said, nodding to the red-skinned demon. "She offered it for free. She wasn't expecting us to last past the first round. Now she wants to see if we'll prevail where other demons have fallen."

The demon in the cell laughed, and it was a hauntly, wicked sound. Yosho grimaced. Ryoko sounded kinder when she was attacking Jurai. He thought, feeling his skin crawl at the unnatural sound. He looked over to Keiichi. "Is this more of that 'System Force' you mentioned earlier?"

Keiichi shrugged. "Might be." He said. "Might be stupid luck. I couldn't tell you; anyone would tell you my luck is absolute shit—I was literally born under an unlucky star."

"And yet somehow you scored a goddess as your wife." Kiyone replied, rolling her eyes.

Keiichi winced. "It was because of that shit luck that she visited." He muttered, "Best thing that ever happened to me, and if you make another remark about my wife, I swear on her name I will fight you."

Yosho raised a dark eyebrow. "For a man who claims he can't fight, you certainly make some bold claims in her name."

Keiichi scowled. "I've almost lost her several times because of my own weakness, and this time I really have lost her if I can't get through these trials." He explained. "I'm not going to let that continue. In this world, I can't."

"You're starting to sound like those Mantra asses who imprisoned us." Kiyone observed.

Keiichi shook his head. "Doubtful." He said. "I know what is and outside my limits. I'm not hunting for power or strength…I just want to protect Belldandy like she protects me."

"Well, if that's the case, you're going to need to learn how to shoot." Kiyone slapped her cheeks lightly. "Yaksini might be good target practice for you—especially if she can only keep track of one of us at any given time." She flexed her fingers, observing her nails once more with a frown before peering once more back into prison cell. "Are my nails supposed to itch?"

The demon inside growled, then hissed something out. It almost…almost sounded like words, if Yosho listened carefully.

Kiyone shrugged. "I'll take your word for it." She replied.

Yosho squinted at the woman. "Is that demon actually speaking with you?"

"Sure is." Kiyone replied, and tapped the strange device which dangled around her neck. "COMP is translating for me. Some demon languages aren't human-friendly."

Keiichi took a step forward, staring at the device in curiosity. "That's odd." He said. "I can understand her just fine."

Both Kiyone and Yosho stared at him. "You can?" Kiyone asked.

Keiichi blinked. "Yeah…its clearly Japanese, isn't it?"

Kiyone stared, and Yosho slowly shook his head. "I hear…growls and hisses."

"I hear whatever my COMP translates in my ear." Kiyone replied. The woman narrowed her eyes. "Are you…are you really human?"

Keiichi held his hands up. "Hey, of course I am!" He exclaimed. "Just because I'm married to a goddess doesn't mean I'm any less human than you guys!"

"Where were you born?" Kiyone demanded.

"Hokkaido, Japan!" Keiichi snapped, "Where were you born?"

"Yokota Air Base, Ome, Japan." Kiyone replied without skipping a beat. She scowled. "Fine…Maybe hanging out with a bunch of divinities did something to you."

"You have no idea." Keiichi grumbled. "And I would appreciate it if the lady willingly making contracts with demons would stop acting like I'm the freak here."

"Enough." Yosho set himself between them both. "Arguing now isn't going to get us anywhere." He looked at Kiyone. "Are you well enough for the next match?"

"Pass me a medicine and I should be." Kiyone grumbled, then sighed. "Let's…hurry and get these matches over with. I feel cagey in this place."

Yosho stared at her. "We're literally in cages." He replied. "The more time we spend fighting the demons holding us captive and less time fighting each other, the sooner we'll get out of here."

"I know." Kiyone grumbled, squeezing the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Lets get going then. What's another death in the greater scheme of things?"

There was a new red stain in the cement from where Orthrus had fallen, but the rest of the remains had been effectively cleared away. Yosho glanced at it for a brief moment as his team were once more called before the Judge.

"Are you ready for your next match?" The oni asked.

Yosho nodded.

"Then go. Yaksini awaits you."

The man turned to the area Orthrus had once inhabited, finding Yaksini waiting on the other side of the room near Thor. As Yosho met her eyes, the blue-skinned demon woman smiled, revealing elongated fangs. She strode forwards, both sword born on either side of her. "Just beating Orthrus isn't going to overturn the decision." The demon said. "Your percieved strength will be your death... Ahh... I can't wait to slice you all to pieces!"

Yosho raised his sword, holding it in front of him as he examined the demon before him. Two blades will make her fast and aggressive. He thought. I might be able to counter her attacks, and if the others are with us, they can distract her and leave her open. She doesn't have any armor, so if we can get any physical hits in, there's little to protect her.

Keeping his eyes on the demon and her blades, he called out to Kiyone. "Call out your demons. Have them focus on physical attacks. Keep her off-balance and place your shots carefully."

"Got it." Kiyone said, and Yosho heard rather than saw Pascal's and Shuten's summoning.

The man took a deep calming breath.

Yaksini merely smiled. "Unwise to speak your plans aloud." She said.

"Wisdom was never my forte." Yosho replied.

The demon cackled. "Oh, your a fun one. Shame I have to kill you. Maybe I'll slay the others and keep you as a pet. I've not had a toy in a long time; the Manikins break every time I use them."

"Perhaps the problem is you treat living creatures as toys." Yosho replied.

Yaksini's eyes sparkled with laughter. "If they did not wish to be treated as such, they need only stop me." She said.

"Then I suppose that is what I must do." Yosho replied.

The blue-skinned woman laughed merrily. "Ah, I welcome the challenge! If it is indeed a challenge you can supply me. Let us dance to Kali's wrath and see what happens—who shall dance on who's corpse?"

Yosho did not reply, and with a scream Yaksini charged forward, lunging at the man with the ferocity of lioness. Yosho brought his own blade up to block it, and found twin blades sparking off his own, the woman bringing her full weight down upon him and preventing him from any counter.

"Shuten!" Kiyone called, and Yaksini danced away, dipping and dodging around the tip of the oni's glaive as he lunged at her. She laughed at every attempt, gliding up, around, and beneath the demon's weapon with such deft ease that the oni looked as if he was weighed down by chains. Pascal lunged at her with a snarl, and without paused she slipped out of the beast's range, deliberately leading the creature into Shuten instead and causing the two demons to clash against one another.

"Shit." Kiyone hissed, and slipped to stand beside Yosho. "I thought we were fighting a demon, not an eel." Her gun was out, but lowered towards the ground, the woman watching Yaksini dance in and out of range with a measured look. "If Pascal can pin her just once, I could get a good shot in, but I don't want to accidentally shoot either him or Shuten with how wildly they're moving."

Yosho pursed his lips. "Keep your guard up." He warned, "And have Morisato keep his head down. She's playing with us."

"I know." Kiyone muttered. "She's wearing out the others and preventing us from attacking her directly, and hasn't even done anything yet."

"She's planning something, I'm sure of it." Yosho replied. "Something in her movements is too deliberate to be simple play."

Kiyone grunted. "Lets change tactics and see if we can bait her into attacking instead. If we get her to show her hand, we can better counter it."

Yosho nodded wordlessly, and watched Kiyone slip out of his peripheral vision.

He saw Pascal fall back, one ear trained back towards himself and Kiyone, even as Shuten continued to lash out at her. The oni began a slow retreat, guiding her towards Pascal, who held steady, growling lowly. At the last second, the oni dashed left, leaving Yaksini in front of Pascal, who released a spew of flames atop the demon.

A look of brief surprise overtook the woman before the flames consumed her, and Shuten once more charged forth, his glaive lunging forward into the body of fire and striking nothing.

The oni swore, and from deep within the fire, Yaksini called out, "Zandyne!" The flames were pushed back onto both Pascal and Shuten, and the oni howled as an invisible force struck him, knocking him to the far side of the arena with such intensity that the cement wall he impacted cracked.

"Shuten!" Kiyone cried, "Shit, Morisato, get him some medicine!"

"Right!" Keiichi exclaimed.

Pascal snarled and lunged at Yaksini, who smiled viciously at the beast. "Yes!" She howled, "Come at me! Test your fangs against my blades, Beast!" She caught one sword in Pascal's mouth, and Yosho heard the ring of steel against bone as its edge struck the hound's fangs. It's sister blade bit into Pascal's underbelly, however, where there was no armor to protect him, and red trickled against the steel from where the scimitar bit into his stomach.

The beast retreated, leaving a trail of red liquid dripping behind him. Yaksini laughed, clashing her blades together and letting the blood on the blade fall across her body. "Yes! Thats more like it! First blood belongs to Yaksini! Kali's blessing are upon me!" Cackling, the demon raced forwards, leaping at Pascal in a manner similar to what she'd done against Yosho. Yet Pascal, to his credit, had been a Bear Hound prior to his fusion to Cerberus, and he rose to meet the demon not only with his own ferocity but with an intellect which had only grown with his new body. Rather than leaping forward, he wheeled, bringing his armored tail up to collide with the demon. Sparks flashed as the swords hit the boney plates, and a look of surprise overcame Yaksini as she landed heavily and was rammed to the ground be the massive creature.

"Hold her down!" Kiyone shouted, and a gunshot echoed across the courtyard, leaving Yosho's ears ringing as Yaksini screamed, her right shoulder exploding in a blossom of blood and gore. Another shot exploded behind him, and the man saw spark fly off the crown on Yaksini's crown as the bullet ricocheted off it.

"Kiyone, call Pascal off!" Yosho cried.

Pascal hopped off the demon without Kiyone's prompting, retreating backwards to his master as Yosho raced forward. If we can finish it now-

"Mazanma!" Yaksimi shrieked, and Yosho felt a wave of sheer, brutal power collide into him, knocking him off his feet with such force that the air was ripped from his lungs. He heard two shouts behind him-Kiyone and Keiichi respectively-and a sharp whine from Pascal.

What hit me? Yosho wondered, rolling onto his stomach and rising to his hands and knees, clutching his chest and coughing as he tried to draw breath. It felt like he'd been struck in the solar plexus. Come on, get up Masaki. He thought, before she lobs your head off. He looked up, finding Yaksimi snarling at him, blood flowing freely from her injured shoulder, which hung limp at her side. She still has one arm and her magic. Get up! With a grunt, he found the hilt of his weapon and stumbled to his feet, holding it out before him as he drew in a ragged breath. He raised his sword, narrowing his eyes as the demon rushed him. Any semblance of amusement or tactical intelligence was gone. Her eyes glowed with blood rage, and she shrieked, howling a tune of such vicious savagery that Yosho's blood went cold.

He hesitated, taking a step back, and in the process damning him.

Yaksimi seemed to home in on the action, and the snarl on her face twisted and transformed, disfiguring the demon woman from a woman lost to rage and into a ghoulish figure of nightmares.

Yosho bared his teeth in a motion of intermingled fear and anger, and adjusted his grip, waiting, his heart racing for her to brandish her blade against him. One move. He thought. I just need her to take one swing at me, and it'll be over. If I can counter her strike, I can end it in one decisive act, and we can end it all here.

"Mj, watch out, she's going-"

He didn't hear the rest of Kiyone's warning.

Yaksini jumped. Not at him, but over him, leaping with such speed and grace that for a moment he mistook it, believing the woman had taken flight. He turned, following her path, and saw the air beneath her feet warp and bend, as if a bubble of pressure was trapped beneath her. Its a trap. He realized. She's trying to—

The woman's feet hit the ground, planting herself in the middle of the entire group, and Yosho felt his ears pop with such sharp, ringing pain that for a split instance he thought he'd gone deaf.

Then the rest of the spell hit him as the pressure built beneath Yaksini's feet exploded outward in a sonic boom, and Yosho felt his feet leave the ground.

"—Sho!" He heard Kiyone scream, watched Yaksini sail away from him, and tried to get his feet beneath him to slow his fall. Yet whatever spell the demon had cast held a power much greater than anything he'd experienced before, and as soon as his feet touched the earth they skidded, and Yosho's world spun before his head hit the ground, where he bounced, felt something pop dangerously in his neck, and felt his vision grow dark as his head collided with something hard.

"…P, ak p!" A familiar voice called back to him, and he felt something bat his face repeatedly. "Wake up!" Koneko yowled, and he could smell the rank scent of a dead animal against his face.

Damn cat's been hunting squirrels again. He thought, and grimaced. Tsunami's Grace, if I find another dead rodent in my bed I swear…

"Yosho, for whatever gods you believe in, open your eyes!" The cat howled, and something in its voice sounded terrified and in pain. Please! She'll kill you! My magic will only hold her back for so long! GET UP!"

The sounds of the distressed yowls were enough to rouse Yosho back to consciousness, and he blinked, staring in confusion as Koneko looked down at him from a gray sky. The cat's brown fur was on edge, making the small animal look thrice as large as normal, and Yosho stared at it, trying to move his hand, move his jaw, and finding his body strangely unresponsive.

The man blinked, and felt his vision begin to gray again before fighting against it, watching as the upside-down youkai turned and hissed, back arched and ears pressed flat against his skull, a vocal yowl that sounded angry and distressed rising from deep within his throat.

Yosho looked past the cat and saw a blue-gray figure approaching, only for it to be enveloped in flames. Yet the creature-Yaksini, that's its name, Yosho thought-walked through the flames as if they were nonexistent.

Her eyes glowed with cruel intention.

Koneko turned back to Yosho. "Get up! She'll kill you!"

I don't think I can. Yosho thought, and tried to move his lips, finding them as dead and unresponsive as the rest of his body. A sharp dagger of icy terror struck his stomach. What's happened to me?

Koneko looked back towards Yaksini, then back to Yosho. This time the youkai didn't even bother trying to commune with him, instead just howling his distress at the man. Yosho met the feline's eyes, feeling his own desperation intermingling with the cat's. I'm trapped. He thought. I can't speak, I can't move, I can't do anything but stare.

Koneko howled, his voice breaking with his screams, and Yosho felt horror seep into his chest like a cancer. Run. He thought. What are you doing, you damn cat? Run away! She'll kill both of us at this rate! Get out of here!

Yet the cat refused to leave. "Damn it all!" The feline screamed, and suddenly where once a brown tabby had howled a man sat instead, covered from head to twin tails in fur. "You crotchety old bastard, you choose now to break your neck?" The nekomata snarled, and Yosho spied fangs within the creature's maw. "Like hell I'm letting it end like this." The creature hissed, and with profound gentleness, the creature scooped Yosho up in his arms. "We're finding some place to lay low until Yaksini is killed and then I'm dumping you into the Fountain of Life." Koneko growled, retreating to a far corner of the room before lying the man down once more.

A snarl, and four taloned paws entered his vision-Pascal. He looked up as much as his eyes allowed him to, and saw Kiyone on the beast's back, lying half collapsed on the creature. One of her legs looked twisted, mangled, the tip of her foot protruding in an strange manner and her knee bent at an unnatural angle. The woman appeared to be in severe pain, and Yosho couldn't help but wonder what she was doing in front of him. Pascal, why aren't you moving her away from Yaksini? We'll all die at this rate!

Kiyone pushed herself up on Pascal, who leaned forward, growling. She glanced back at him just for a moment, and in her expressions he read the thoughts flowing through her mind. End of the line, MJ. Her face said.

"It was fun." She said simply, then glanced at the nekomata. "If I don't survive this, make sure you watch out for your human. You should know by now we're inherently idiots." She turned back to Yaksini. "Let's go Pascal!" The beast lunged, and in that moment, Yosho beheld, just for one single moment, more than his mind should have.

He beheld a pack of hounds-not just Pascal, but a massive, sleek black hound, and an equally large, thick-furred white hound, on either side of the woman. They were gone in the next instant, there and gone so swiftly he wondered if he was seeing things, and above him Kiyone screamed, "Madness Nails!"

He saw Kiyone leap-or was thrown-from Pascal, watched her nails seem to grow-Are my nails supposed to itch?-and saw them first collide, then slice through Yaksini.

Kiyone landed heavily on her working leg, only to scream in agony as her injured leg impacted immediately afterwards. She crumbled to the ground, gripping her maimed leg, howling and writing as Pascal raced to stand over her, snarling a challenge at the blue-skinned demoness.

Yaksini collapsed.

No…no that's not it. Yosho thought. She didn't collapse, she-she's falling to pieces. Piece by piece, each slice ranging from two to four inches in thickness fell from the body which was once Yaksini, leaving large slabs of raw meat in its wake. A look of surprise was all that remained on the demon's face, until even that fell to pieces, revealing the bones, the tissue, and the organs—all cut with such clean precision it seemed the body hadn't yet realized it had been sliced—before falling to a pile of bloody bits on the ground.

For a long minute no one spoke. Not Koneko, not the oni judge, not even Thor, who had come to witness the match first hand.

Then Thor strode forth placing himself in the center of the arena, where he knelt to observe the remains of Yaksini's corpse. "Amazing." He breathed, before rising and approaching Kiyone. Pascal growled. "That a mere human could so wonderfully eviscerate their opponent. How beautifully magical."

Pascal snarled at the god, refusing to stand down as Thor took a step closer.

"Begone, beast." Hammer in hand, Thor lashed out, striking Pascal with casual indifference like a man knocking a nosy dog out of his way. Yet the monstrous hound was thrown across the arena, colliding with a cement pillar with a high whine, where he whimpered, blood leaking from his head and mouth, and laid still.

"Pascal!" Kiyone shrieked, and reached for him, ignoring the god above her entirely in favor of dragging herself towards the hound. Then she coughed—a wet, thick gurgle—before collapsing with a defeated groan.

Yosho felt his heart sink. We've…lost? He thought. No…we won, but as we are now…none of us will stand through the next round. He watched Thor stoop down, scooping Kiyone up with one arm as the woman screamed, beating one hand weakly against his armor before surrendering. Another cough, and this time he saw blood fall from her mouth. We're done for. It'll be kinder if Thor kills us now and I think he realizes it. There is no sport in this fight.

Thor looked down at Kiyone, then moved to wipe at a speck of blood that dotted his armor. He rubbed it between his fingers, then sniffed it. "Ah…a shame. I spoke too soon. You suffered Ricochet from that attack—you do not yet have the strength to properly wield it, then. That was a dangerous and foolish move, little human, but an admirable one yet."

Kiyone said nothing.

Thor turned his attention to Yosho, and made his way towards the man. Ol' Koneko hissed and stood between them both, fur on edge before the creature ignited into flames. Yosho stared, the uncomfortable heat making his eyes water, and watched the youkai become an inferno-one which matched the illusion he had first encountered on his way to Funaho upon Duke Aym's first arrival.

Thor paused to look up at the brazen fire, then thrust his hammer upwards. A bolt of lightning descended upon the youkai, and the illusion vanished, leaving the small, scorched body of a tiny feline in its wake.

No…the sight of the small, unmoving body hurt worse than Kiyone's fall, than his own broken body, which even now left Yosho trapped, unable to scream, unable to move, unable to do little outside of weep for one of his oldest and closest companions. No. You could take me. You could end my life. But you were supposed to let my cat live! He could feel his vision blur-from the heat of Koneko's former flames, from his own dry eyes, to his own imprisoned emotions-now leaking from his eyes in the only form of expression they had left.

Thor towered over him, staring down at Yosho from within the black depths of his helmet. His hammer dangled loosely in his free hand, and be brought it to rest over Yosho's head. Yosho felt his heart thumb in his neck, in his head, pounding like his own mental fists against the walls of the prison which had become his body. "A shame." The god said. "I had thought…for the briefest of moments…that we might bleed as brothers against each other." The grip on the hammer tightened, and Thor raised Mjolnir over his head. "At least know that you shall pass into Helhiem—or whatever passes for the Underworld in this land—with a warrior's death."

Yosho stared up at the man in silent defiance. I'll come back. He thought. I don't know how-I don't know if I have to succumb to a life as a demon or crawl my way back here as a zombie, but I swear on Tsunami's name, I will come back. And I will strike you down where you stand and raze all of Mantra to the ground. He swore.

The hammer came down.

"Thor!"

The god froze before he could strike the final blow, and turned to observe who had called him.

The voice was not one Yosho knew.

Soft and gentle, yet hard and unyeilding, it arose from across the arena, from the direction Yosho had last seen Keiichi Morisato.

Now, as he strained his gaze, he could just make out the newcomer. A woman, dressed in a modest house dress of soft, earthly tones. Morisato, unconscious and bleeding from a head wound, rested in her arms, As she walked further into his line of sight, Yosho spied long, chestnut brown hair, and eyes as blue as the sea. She walked with an aura of gentleness. She walked with a stride of subtlety.

She walked with a purpose like the ocean receding from the beach, only to consume the island with the terrible nature of the gods themselves.

Tsunami. It's…Tsunami. It can't be anything but her. Yosho thought, and stared at the woman in awe.

The woman's face was stern, marred only by the slight frown on her face as she approached Thor. The brunette needed to crane her head up to look at the god, and she looked small and tiny in comparison; a mouse braving a cat with the utter fearlessness of the mad.

"Verthandi!" Thor exclaimed, and the mixture of joy and discomfort in his voice was offputting. "Sweet Cousin, what are you doing down here? Have I not instructed you to remain in your chambers?"

"The elementals spoke to me of humans which had been imprisoned." Belldandy replied. "One of which matched my husband's description."

"Indeed!" Thor straightened, abandoning Yosho in favor of the woman before him. "That man you hold—he is your husband than? Truly?

"That he is." Belldandy said, and something in her tone made Yosho's blood run cold. "You never told me he was here." She said, looking down at the unconscious man with a frown. When her gaze returned to Thor, they were hard. "You never told me he was on trial."

"That is because-" Thor began, and Belldandy locked eyes with him. The god fell silent.

"Now, I have come to investigate, for the same of my husband, who is no warrior—something I have mentioned to you on several occasions—and I find this." She looked around her, and for a moment her eyes met Yosho's. He saw pain in them. Pain, betrayal, and a sadness so profound it hurt his own heart. Her gaze lingered on him, and despite himself Yosho thought he heard a voice in his mind. I will end this. You will not suffer further injustice.

Her gaze returned to Thor, and the strange presence in his mind vanished. "Enough of this farce." She said, "More than enough blood has been split in both your name and your…commander's name." She said. "Cease this cull of Humanity. It is not yours to take."

"No."

Belldandy stiffened. "I beg your pardon?"

"I apologize, Cousin, but these humans-even your husband-are intruders. Spies. They lied to my face and attempted to sneak into Mantra's Headquarters without invitation. They were arrested for their crimes and must face trial." The man paused, and his gaze flickered to Yosho. "They have survived two of the three required battles. However in their current state…they will not survive the third."

"Then I shall fight in their place." Belldandy said simply. "You are their final trail, are you not?"

"I am." Thor replied.

"Then I shall fight you." Belldandy said. "As wife to Morisato, Keiichi, I shall fight in his stead."

"I cannot allow that, Verthandi."

The woman pursed her lips. "Are the sins of my husband not shared between us both?" Belldandy countered. "Keiichi is as much my responsibility as I am his. If he is unable to fight, than it falls to me to take his place." The woman looked down at the man in her arms, then looked back at Thor with narrowed eyes. "We will do battle, and you will not touch another human."

"Are you saying you know these two as well?" Thor jostled Kiyone, who grunted in pain, and pointed his hammer at Yosho.

"I cannot say I know them." Belldandy replied. "Yet I also cannot abide by you murdering humans in front of myself or Keiichi under the excuse of a trial."

"It is not murder." Thor replied. "It is an execution."

"And I refuse to stand by and do nothing." Belldandy countered. "You may either accept my invitation now, where I may officially take my husband's place, or you may choose to ignore it, and I will combat you dishonorably, as you have dishonored my name and my trust in hiding my husband from me and causing him such grievous harm. The decision is yours, however at the end of it, I am leaving here with my husband, the mortals who fought with him, and the spirits which have allied themselves to them both." The woman pursed her lips. "This is not open for further negotiation, Cousin. Now I implore you. Choose.

A rumble rose from deep within Thor's helmet. "It hurts me to fight you, Sweet Cousin." He said. "I do not wish to harm you."

"Yet you are willing to see my husband come to harm, which hurts me regardless." Belldandy countered. "I will see justice done as your Mantra wish it, and it shall be fair."

For a long moment, silence befell the chamber. The oni which had served as judge had fled in Belldandy's presence, and the two deities stared each other down, their auras fierce and dangerous, tempered only by the simple disguise of civility.

At length, Thor bowed his head. "So be it." He announced. "Let us do combat, Verthandi, as we once did in days long past. Know that I will not be gentle with you, Cousin."

"You would dishonor me if you did." Belldandy replied. "Allow me to move the injured away from us. I will not have them further harmed." Without waiting for a reply, Belldandy turned towards Yosho, dipping to scoop up Ol' Koneko from where he'd fallen without breaking her stride. For a moment, it almost appeared as if another pair of hands-spectral and transparent-has scooped the beast up for her. "Come Cousin, lay the poor woman down beside the other. He is far enough away that I can cast a ward around them all for protection." She cast him a disapproving look. "And I would ask you not to hold her that way. She is a human, not a deer."

"Her leg is maimed." Thor replied.

"From what I have witnessed, so too are her insides after casting such a high-grade demon's spell." Belldandy replied, laying Morisato and Ol' Koneko down beside Yosho. This close, the woman's beauty was even more ethereal, and Yosho's heart skipped a beat as she drew near. She examined him, her face shining with calm gentleness, and leaned towards Yosho. "I am going to adjust you." She murmured. "Please forgive me…it may hurt, but you should be granted mobility once more." Her thumbs grazed across his temples, warm and soft, and he felt both hands cradle the back of his head. "Thank you for aiding Keiichi." She murmured, "I owe a great boon to you."

Then she snapped his neck, and Yosho's world exploded into white hot agony before fading into blissful darkness.

.

..

…

"Ah, so you're the one I've been hearing about!"

And Yosho Masaki Jurai opened his eyes to a forest comprised of colossal trees. They were massive, ranging hundreds of feet into the sky-yew and ash, birch and pine, cedar and cypress and more which Yosho could not identify. They reminded him of Jurain Trees in their towering majesty, yet even they paled in comparison to the one in the center of his vision; a magestic ash which stretched high into the heavens. Its trunk was so massive that at first he could not identify it as a tree's trunk, and its branches were just visible in the heavens. He could not see its canopy.

"Magnificent, isn't She?" A voice arose from his left, and with a start he turned to face it, finding a woman approaching him.

"You're…Bell-no, I apologize, Verthandi?" He asked, meeting the chestnut haired woman's smiling blue eyes with his own questioning burgundy ones. She sounded older, looked a bit wiser, and appeared a bit harder here-hardened by battle, hardened by combat, hardened by loss. Yet her eyes still retained that same kindness. She smiled at him, and it was a pure smile, one which crinkled the corner of her eyes as she gaze at him warmly.

Whereas before she had reminded him of Tsunami, now she reminded him of both his mothers.

The woman chuckled. "We do look similar, don't we?" She asked. "It's the hair; it always skips a generation. Ansuz is still peeved by that, poor child." She came to stand beside him, and Yosho realized she was tall-no-she was giant-as massive and imposing as Thor, adorned in armor that was lighter and more free flowing. On either side of her stood two Russian Blue cats, both as large as tiger as they leaned into the woman. "No young man, I am not Verthandi-she is my granddaughter. I am Freya, wife of Odin, goddess of many things but which include warriors and felines," Her eyes sparkled with humor, "and kin to Thor and Verthandi, the two young delinquents who are currently squabbling on the Vortex World which was once Midgard."

Yosho said nothing, and instead turned his gaze to the massive tree-a world unto itself. "Is that…Tsunami?" He asked.

"Nay, young man. What you behold is something equally marvelous; Yggdrasil, the World Tree, who cradles the Nine Worlds across its body and serves as the Divine Computer Mainframe for this universe-one of the two tenth-dimensional supercomputers which keep the universe running properly." She planted a hand on one hip. "We've been working diligently to address the issue with the Vortex World you're trapped on, but due to some old and shall we say…outdated Laws, those of us not directly in the Vortex World, such as such as myself and my son, Tyr, are having some…difficulties repairing some of the greater aftereffects of this world. We need to find more creative ways of interacting with those of us who are trapped within the Vortex World, such as Thor and Verthandi."

"And me?" He looked up at the woman. "Why am I here?"

The woman smiled at him. "A couple of reasons, actually." She said. "The first being that of my people…I get first picks of the Dead."

Comments of a Madwoman: Oh my Goddess Belldandy, you can't just go around killing the protagonists.

End your opponent in the first strike, or know that death will come swiftly for you. Such is the way, known painfully well by Veterans of the Vortex World.

Cathedral of Shadows:

Nekomata: Japanese Mythology; "Incarnation of long lived cats ranging from 10-50 years old. Said to understand and speak human language, they sometimes take human form. They are faithful to their owners and will avenge them if their owners die tragically.

Freya: Norse Mythology; "A major goddess of Norse mythology, she is the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, war, warriors, and felines. Thor gifted her two 'blue' cats which he found when they were kittens, and she now rides a chariot pulled by them. Is granted first picks of the Dead who go to Fólkvangr, afterwhich Odin takes his own pick to the halls of Valhalla.