Chapter 13


Skuld made her way over to her sisters, her eyes fixed on the huge
mecha and wolf towering above her. Urd and Belldandy had edged away
from Loki during the confusion, and Hel seemed to be ignoring
everyone, simply standing in shadow, an enigmatic smile on the living
half of her face.

"Oneesama, Urd, are you OK??"

Urd nodded, and Belldandy tried to smile in reassurance, almost
managing it.

"For the moment. Until Fenris destroys that robot."

Skuld scowled at Urd for an instant, then sighed. For once, Urd was
probably correct, no human-constructed mecha could hope to stand up
for long against Fenris's power.

Belldandy looked up, her face filling with concern.
"They're going to fight..."

Urd chuckled ironically.
"You think they're going to dance, Belldandy? Of course they're going
to fight!"

"But... all the people! If those two fight here, how many innocent
bystanders will they kill?"

Urd frowned; as usual, she hadn't been thinking past the immediate
moment of hoping that the giant robot could at least get a few good
hits on Fenris before it was destroyed.

"Urd, Skuld, we have to try and help them!"

Urd nodded, stepping clear of her sisters as her arms slowly rose
above her head.

"I have an idea. Lets make them run, at least that way most of them
will get clear"

Her voice deepened as she spoke, as she started to chant, a soft green
radiance gathering about her hands, lighting her with an eerie glow.
Then she made a throwing gesture, releasing it, as it broke into
shards of pale green light that vanished into the air about her. The
three felt a wave of irrational fear sweep over them for a moment
before they automatically blocked the spell out, its mindless message
urging them to run, to get away, anywhere other then here.

Urd looked up at where the two giants were standing facing each other.

"I hope that will save some of them. It's all we have the time for, I
think they are about to begin..."

**********************************************************************
**

I felt Iczer-2 'speak' to me.
* This beast - if we don't stop it, was that girl right that this
world would be destroyed? *

I nodded automatically, despite the fact that she couldn't see me. I
didn't know how she was communicating, so I simply tried to talk back.
It seemed to work, anyway. * Yes. This world, and more. Why? *

I felt her sigh in my head, and her sadness wrapped around me for a
moment. * Because if we fight it here, in this city, many people will
die. But we have no choice; if we don't, they will die anyway... so...
*

I tried to project a feeling of comfort, not having any idea if I
could, or if it would work, but having to so something. It seemed to
help, I felt her sadness ease a little.

* I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you in this position *
* No, it has to be done. But after - I will make the one responsible
pay for this *

I hoped she meant Loki, not me.

We looked across at the wolf. It's tail was twitching slowly, as it
crouched, muscles bunching as it prepared to spring. With part of me I
could see the cables surrounding me, small pulses of soft blue light
travelling along them in time with my heartbeat. I could feel
Iczer-2's tenseness as Sigma moved into a combat stance.

* Here it comes *

**********************************************************************
**

With a roar, the wolf leapt straight at us. Sigma lunged out, its arms
catching him, stopping him from closing his jaws upon us and pushing
him aside, but the incredible momentum of his body shoved us back,
sending us staggering through buildings and skyscrapers as we tried to
remain upright. Fenris fell on his feet, and grinned up at us again, a
lupine grin on his face, rather giving the impression that he like to
play with his toys before eating them.

He leapt at us again, and this time Sigma's fist caught him, impacting
with a ringing crash that made the huge mech shudder, sending the
cables holding me twisting as we slammed him down again. Again, he
didn't seen too discommoded.

* He doesn't seem too vulnerable to physical force. Let's try
something else *

**********************************************************************
**

Skuld watched as the mech slammed Fenris aside, and sighed. While the
mech was a wonderful display of massive mechanism in action, no purely
physical force could hurt Fenris. She wished she could have warned
them of that, now they'd probably die trying to do the impossible;
still, at least Fenris would give them a relatively clean death
compared to Loki, so maybe it was for the best. It was a shame,
though, it was such a beautiful mecha...

She watched as Fenris got to his feet again, the mech standing, hands
clasped in front of it, almost as if concentrating. A blue glow
started to build around its hands, brightening into a glowing sapphire
sphere as the hands parted to leave the ball of energy hanging between
the, scintillating as it grew brighter and brighter.

"Oh wow, its got energy weapons too!"

Fenris crouched, eyes slitted against the glow, then again leapt for
Sigma's throat. This time, however, he didn't make contact. As he left
the ground, the sphere of radiance shattered, sending a titanic beam
of energy directly into him, a coruscating wave of destruction a 100
feet wide, that swatted him aside, leaving a glowing trail of
destruction through the city for what seemed miles before it slowly
faded out.

Skuld's eyes opened wide, her mouth half open in shock...
"Oh WOW!! Now THAT'S an energy weapon!"

**********************************************************************
**

Unfortunately, Fenris was considerably less impressed. Although part
of his hide was glowing with heat from where he'd been hit, it didn't
seem to be worrying him at all. Growling, this time he leapt straight
for us without any preparation, taking us by surprise. Even though I
knew what Fenris was supposed to be, I couldn't believe that blast had
had so little effect. That would have vaporised a battleship; it
seemed so unfair that all it had done was to annoy him!

Sigma's arm rose to bat the wolk away again, but this time too slowly.
With a howl of triumph, his huge jaws clamped down on Sigma's left
shoulder, tearing and worrying at it as the metal tore with a
horrendous thundering screech, before letting go and crouching again,
grinning at us.

I screamed as I 'felt' those jaws tear into 'my' shoulder. It only
lasted a moment, then it became more distant. I could still feel it at
second hand, howeverm through Iczer-2, but it was bearable.

With a groaning crash, Sigma slumped down onto one knee, its left arm
hanging limp, dark fluids running down the metal arm almost like
blood.

**********************************************************************
**

Skuld bit her knuckles as she looked at the fight above her. She HATED
being helpless. Turning to her sisters, she looked at them
beseechingly.

"Can't we do ANYTHING to help them?? That poor mecha can't take much
more damage from Fenris..."

Urd shook her head quietly, one arm about Belldandy, supporting and
comforting her.

"Nothing. Not while he has that damned amulet, we can't touch him, you
know that."

"Oneesama... can't you contact anyone in Heaven? Or any gods here on
Midgard? Anyone at all??"

Belldandy tried to smile at her younger sister, but the mask cracked,
showing her despair, her fear for her sisters, Keiichi, and everything
else she held dear.

"No-one. It was the first thing I tried, but Loki is generating so
much interference we can't get through. And it would take too long to
build something to cut through it. He seems to have covered everything
we could do to stop him."

Skuld groaned, her eyes drawn back again to the mech trying to stop
Fenris. There must be something she could do to help it, surely the
prohibition on attacking Loki didn't hold here. Not that she had
anything available that stood any chance of upsetting Fenris in the
slightest. 

She glared across at Loki, who was currently ignoring them as he
watched the fight, an entranced expression of joy on his face as he
watched the two giant forms struggle. Then she started to dig into her
pockets for tools and parts. Starting to assemble something with
frantic haste.

"I don't care, I'm going to do SOMETHING!!!"

**********************************************************************
**

I felt Iczer-2 groan in pain. I could feel her force it back, 
determination and price pushing it aside as she turned us slowly to
face the grinning, panting wolf. He was getting ready to come for us
again, and I knew that we couldn't recover fast enough, that this time
he would go for the throat and it would all be over.

I hung limp in the tank, seeing our death approaching, as Sigma tried
to recover itself to stand up and face Fenris again. Then I saw the
expression of gloating anticipation on his face change, to one of
puzzlement, as his head started to shift from side to side. I blinked,
and suddenly realised there was a SECOND Sigma, right next to us,
looking identical...

* what....????*
* I don't know!! It's none of my doing!! *

The giant wolf's head twisted, as he looked from side to side, clearly
unable to tell which was us. His nostrils widened as he sniffed, but
didn't look any less confused. He snarled in frustration, and finally
made up his mind. With a terrific leap, his bunched muscles send him
hurtling straight at Sigma's throat. And straight THROUGH it, as his
teeth snapped shut with a thundering crash on nothing, as he hurtled
through the other 'mech', to crash down to the ground in rage and
confusion!

**********************************************************************
**

Beneath us, Skuld bounced up and down in excitement, the circumstances
forgotten for a moment as she relished the success of her holographic
projector.

"Yay! Skuld's Super Holographic Duplicator Projector with full 
Sensaround!!"

I looked up to see the wolf snarling, twisting around from its
abortive jump through a fake image, buildings crumbling under its
feet, as it snarled at us, eyes glowing with the fires of hell. I
could still feel the burning pain in 'my' shoulder where he had bitten
Sigma, as we struggled to 'our' feet, standing crouching as Fenris
readied himself for another, and this time probably final, leap.

Faintly, I could hear screams and shouting; diverting my attention
downward for a moment I saw with horror that there had been people in
those buildings Fenris had crushed when he'd missed us. Bodies lay
scattered and bleeding, and I felt sick as I realised it was our fault
for not managing to stop him.

I looked up at Fenris, my pulse hammering in my head. Up to this
point, I hadn't really hated him; feared him, yes, but he had been a
sort of impersonal thing attacking us. But when I saw what he'd done,
carelessly and without even considering it, to the helpless
inhabitants of those houses, I felt the hatred growing inside of me,
twisting and curdling.

With a part of me I still 'felt' Iczer-2. She was concentrating on
Fenris, her emotion determination and desperation, knowing we didn't
have the power to stop this thing but determined to try anyway. My
hate and anger grew, faster, and this time I didn't do anything to try
and restrain myself, indeed I fed the flames, feeling the heat burning
inside me. I'd had enough. So far I'd been shunted around, used and
treated as a puppet by Loki, but now I wasn't going to take it any
more. This far, but no further. Loki was going to find what a stubborn
bastard he'd gotten for his plans if it killed me to show him. There
was one form of attack that might upset the damn wolf, if we could
pull it off.

I growled, and felt the burning angry rage spread out of me, a scarlet
glow filling the tank I was in with fire as Iczer-2's emotions wrapped
me in a startled amazement that changed, oddly, into those of
anticipation. I felt her mind closer and closer to mine, only a small
fraction of me that refused to give up my personality holding back,
not wanting to become lost in the gestalt.

**********************************************************************
**

Skuld looked up sadly. It looked like her device had only bought the
mecha some time. It had staggered to its feet, but didn't look in any
better shape. It's left arm wasn't working, and it raised its right in
a posture of defense as the wolf's snarling roar filled the sky,
making the ruined buildings around her tremble.

Then she blinked, and her eyes widened in amazement, as glowing
scarlet snakes of energy started to rise slowly from Sigma's body,
curling about it and lighting the landscape with a flickering scarlet
glow. The outstretched hand opened and closed, as the mecha
straightened, seeming to gain fresh energy as it stood ready to meet
the wolf, the energy curling brighter about it.

Fenris leapt, jaws gaping wider and wider, as though to swallow a
planet, not just a robot. But this time Sigma was ready. With a rapid
movement seemingly impossible for such a huge creation, the mech
grabbed Fenris's upper jaw with its right hand, twisting as the foot
slammed down on the monster's lower jaw, trapping it with mouth held
open!

Skuld gaped in amazement. Where had the mecha got all that energy
from? "But it can't...!!!!"

The wolf struggled, snarling, trying to free his jaws for long enough
to bite down upon Sigma and end the fight. The flickering scarlet
flames outlining Sigma grew brighter and brighter, casting
carmine-edged shadows across the ravaged ground as, slowly, Fenris's
jaws were opened wider and wider.

Now the wolf was no longer trying to attack. His howls of frustrated
rage turned to whimpers of fear, as he struggled to escape the grasp
which was implacably trying to tear him apart. Suddenly, with a howl
that spilt the sky, and a terrible cracking noise, the wolfs body
shivered, and then _faded_, slipping past, not through, the clutching
hand as Fenris made his escape.

Skuld gasped, realising she'd not been breathing, as she watched the
mech's fire fade abruptly, as it sagged slowly to its knees. It's
outline shimmered, outlined for a moment in blue fire, as it flickered
back into whatever space it had been drawn from, leaving two figures
huddled on the ground.

To be continued.