(Same theater...ah, you know the drill..)
Brian: Here we go again!
Carter: Roll it!
On 19 Jan 98 at 20:02, Teknos WarHammer wrote:
[Warhammer runs out of the darkness.]
WH: Oops, went the wrong way. Hehe.
Brian: Darn! I should have taken that left turn at Pittsburgh!
Carter: <Groan>
Teknos Warhammer presents
Machine's Blessing:
Part 5:
One or the Other
Megumi blinked several times. Before everything went black, she could
recall seeing Lillith and her lackeys dragging her back to Demon
Central. Much to her horror, it was all true. Not only that, she still
had that same demon ward on her back, weighing her down, and a holy ward
to suppress the other side of her power.
The room she was locked in seemed to have been made especially for her,
which only made her chances of getting out even worse. She had no clue
as to how Lillith was going to get her daughter back from Megumi, but
whatever she had in mind, it scared her to death.
Carter: Impending doom?
Natsume: Very impending doom.
From the shadows, she could hear a figure enter the room. Megumi turned
her head to see a black cloak walk towards her, its occupant trying it's
best to keep silent. It seemed to be of normal height for an average
human being. Megumi was about to ask who it was when the figure in the
cloak brought its index finger to the front of the hood. Meaning for her
to be silent.
Carter: Something about this guy scares me.
Then, the person within the cloak began to gesture slowly in a language
that Megumi understood. Sign language. She silently spoke every word the
stranger 'spoke'.
Brian: Heh.
"Worry notā Iā friendā More friendsā comeā help." That was when she
caught on and whispered, "You mean someone's coming to rescue me?"
Carter: WH, what's with the As in here?
Brian: Probally a mailer screwup.
The figure in the cloak nodded and continued, "āyouā free soon.
Patience." She was about to ask another question when the cloak melted
into the black shadows of the ground, leaving Megumi alone. Seeing this
made Megumi's head almost spin. Here she was, about to go through who
knows what, and this shadow tells her not to worry? Who could she have
turned to? Ringo wasn't capable of getting down here, and even if he
could, he wouldn't last a minute against some of the demons here.
Carter: True, but he's brought friends.
Had she known of the rescue attempt by her brother, her hopes would have
risen again.
*************************************************
At the back entrance of Demon Central, a circle began to appear from
the ground and it's holy wards and runes began to appear about it. With
a brief flash, seven people emerged from the pattern. The three Teknos
warriors, a guardian god, and three goddesses were more than determined
to get their sister-in-law out of here.
Brian: Did they forget about the partridge in the...
Carter: <mallet attack>
Brian: <pancake>
Carter: Some jokes are best left untold.
"Hey! There's no one here! It worked! The Holy Gate actually worked!"
Skuld exclaimed before being forced to silence by her older sister, Urd.
<All three wince from Skuld's volume>
"That's nice and all, now instead of letting every demon know that we
are here, could you shut up!" Urd hissed. Skuld frowned, yet remained
silent as everyone else took a hiding place by the back entrance to the
giant tower that was Demon Central.
Carter: Something tells me a CommArts student designed this place.
:-)
Brian: Why do you say...HEY!! <grumble...grumble...>
Carter: LOL
Natsume: <sweatdrop> One thing's for sure, no decorator I know
would touch this place.
Despite the demonic, fortress-like outside of the tower, it appeared to
me more organized and futuristic that one would be led to believe.
Enchanted black and red steel held the giant tower in place as countless
megawatts of power from an unknown source lit the hallways. Every
passageway led to rooms that were either used by the occupants or for
'other' uses.
Natsume: Do we really want to know what those "other uses" are?
Carter: <a little green> Not really.
Either way, the usually somewhat busy halls of Demon Central were
empty.
"This is too easy. Something's not right here." Ringo whispered to
Keiichi, who nodded in agreement.
"Here's why!" Skuld whispered as loud to the others as she could,
seeing the hacked information from her laptop. The rescuers used an
unused hallway for their little conference on Skuld's discovery. Looking
over her shoulder, Keiichi nearly paled at what he saw as Skuld
explained to the three Teknos.
"The reason why everything is so quiet, is that most of the higher
level demons are with Lillith and are about to commence a Ceremony of
Metaphysical Return. If they are able to go through with it, then Mara
will most likely return, but not only will she have Megumi's body, but
powers as a goddess as well."
Carter: That's a bad thing, right?
Natsume: No, that's a Bad Thing. There's a difference.
Though that brought confusion to the faces of Ringo, Ranma, and Tina;
the others knew too well what would happen. Mara could storm into
Yrrgdrasl and Earth unmatched and take out anyone, anytime, anywhere.
"Well, what can we do?" Ranma asked taking another look down an
adjacent hallway, making sure that nothing else was there.
"Isn't it obvious? We get up to the top levels and stop them!" Urd
replied.
Skuld only shook her head. "It's no good. The place where the ceremony
is taking place is in the highest levels of the tower. Even with fake
id's we wouldn't be able to get there without alerting the skeleton
force and the higher demons to where we are."
Brian: Heh, it's never that easy.
"Hmm, Urd, would the higher demons come out if there was a disturbance
of some sort on a few levels below?" Belldandy asked her sister,
remembering that Urd was once named the Lord of Terror, which had a
short while to rule Demon Central.
Brian: Huh?
Leaning against the wall, Urd recalled, "Hmm, it was pretty standard
protocol for lower demons to check out what the disturbances were. But
since most of them are gone and a basic security force is guarding the
place, I would imagine so."
Carter: Just what they need: Hell Rent-a-Cops.
C&N: <groan>
Catching on, Ranma continued, "So, we head up as high as we can. Then
some of us create a 'disruption'. And while we do that, the others can
go in and snatch the girl."
"But there is a problem." The teknos turned to Keiichi with confused
looks as he continued, "There's still the little matter of Lillith. If
you don't know, she's the Mother of Demons. She's several times more
powerful than all of us combined and extremely unpredictable."
From her hip, Tina pulled out her scythe and hung it over her shoulder
saying, "Well, let's hope she's on the crapper or something when we get
there."
All three: <facefault>
Blinking, Ranma raised his hand, which was able to get everyone's
attention turned to him. "Even we do happen to get her back, there's
still the fact that we got to get out!"
This time, Skuld smiled. "No need to worry about that. The gate we came
through still has enough of it's power to send us back from where ever
we may go in this placeā as long as it doesn't exceed half an hour. THEN
we got a problem."
Brian: A very big problem.
Carter: Very much so.
Natusme: Indeed
"Then, what are we doing wasting time talking, let's go!" Ringo
whispered as loud as he could, trying to keep his voice down. Keiichi
threw him another confused look as the Skuld let the way through the
empty halls. Although he didn't really have that overprotective gene
found in most brothers, he wondered what exactly went on between his
sister and this man.
Carter: Do you really want to know? :-)
What they all didn't see was a pair of eyes, watching the strangers
head towards the danger. The figure hiding chuckled as it saw them
vanish from its sight. Things were getting more and more interesting by
the minute.
Natsume: Oh, boy.
*************************************************
Megumi looked up to see several figures emerge from the doorway. Coming
for her no doubt. Picking her up as if she were a rag dummy, two of the
cloaked demons started to carry her from the room to another. Through
barely lit hallways, she could see hardly any other sign of demonic
activity, save for the ones in the chamber in front of her.
There was a large glass circle, about half a foot thick, suspended in
mid air in the center of the room. Around the central area, there were
several more rows of cloaked figured, about fifty in total. She didn't
have to guess what was going on. She could tell by the blood runes they
were writing on the glass what they were doing. They were going to
awaken Mara, while she was still inside her own body and let her have
it. Power and all.
Brian: You're right. This is a Bad Thing.
She couldn't even struggle as more of the hooded figures suspended her
upon the clear side of the circle, her arms and legs arranged like she
were being crucified. Yet, they didn't bother with pinning her arms and
legs, of which she was silently grateful. Instead, they simply brushed
on a rune using their own blood to hold her body to the glass. The
though of them doing that didn't frighten her as much as what happened
next.
She began to dread when she saw Lillith walk out and in front of her.
Megumi hoped that help would get there soon. It looked like her time was
up as Lillith began to chant. What was worse was that with every word
she spoke, Megumi could feel Mara awakening inside.
*************************************************
With the doorway opening to the hallway on one of the higher levels, it
would have appeared that no one was there. One of the 'lower' higher
demons blinked through his hood as he was making his way to the
ceremonial room.
Peeking in, he found no one there. Suddenly, a huge weight, in the
guise of a holy ward, pressed him down to the floor and into the gate to
the lower levels of the compound.
Carter: I would have used a blaster.
Natusme: And alerted everyone that you were there? Yeah right!
Seeing no one else in the hallway, Skuld led the others through to
where the rest of the demons, Megumi, and, possibly, Lillith was.
And of course, ran into the mammoth sized door that blocked passage to
the levels they wanted to go to.
Brian: Of course. :-)
Carter: Anyone have a lockpick? :-)
They all knew that had about twenty minutes before the hold the gate
had on them would vanish, and knew that this had to be as quick as
possible. Plus, they had to take into account how far Lillith had gotten
into the ceremony, adding more time to what little they did not have.
The plan was to divide up their group. Group 1, composed of Tina,
Ranma, Belldandy, and Keiichi, would get the attention of the demons,
bring them away from Megumi, allowing Group 2, made of Ringo, Urd, and
Skuld, to go in, remove whatever wards they put on her, and then get out
of there. Very much like a bat out of hell.
All three: <groan>
Hanging on the rim just about the door, Ringo gave Tina the signal as
Urd and Skuld joined him at the rim.
She narrowed her eyes and turned to the others in her group. "Ready?"
They all nodded. "In that case, let's make some noise!" Her pauldrons,
along with Ranma's opened up, aimed for the door, and both Teknos
warriors screamed,
"TEKNO BOLT!"
*************************************************
The resulting small quake, threw all the cloaked figures off balance,
save for Lillith. Who simply turned around and ordered with perfect
calm, "All of you, find out what that is. I can continue the ceremony
myself."
Like trained animals, they all left to find the disturbance and silence
it. When the last cloak left the room. Lillith turned to the helpless
Megumi and smiled, "Now, where were we?"
*************************************************
Their plan went flawlessly as the door opened to reveal the fifty or so
archdemons that decided to put themselves in front of another of Tina
and Ranma's Teknobolts. Despite how easily they could have beaten them,
had they the strength, the two teknos knew that it had to go to melee
weapons. Otherwise, they'd be out of power before they were finished
with half of the opposition.
Carter: Of course.
Keiichi and Belldandy, armed with a spear and glaive, steadied
themselves against some of the strongest demons they knew. Ranma and
Tina, on the other hand, threw themselves into the fray. More than
confident that the special wards hidden upon their persons would make
sure the demons were more solid than plasma.
Keiichi looked to his wife in confusion at the unusual want for
violence in both teknos fighters, shrugged and joined them.
Brian: Heh, you should hvae been around for the last story.
Meanwhile, upon the rim, Ringo and the oldest and youngest goddesses
found their chance, and flew in above their foes' notice.
After being on the receiving end of several attacks from more than a
dozen demons, Tina decided that it wasn't such a good idea to just jump
into a fight. Inevitably enough, the demons pinned her against the
nearest wall and continued their savage beating.
Natsume: And how did she come to that decision? :-)
The demons thought they were winning, had they seen the smirk behind
Tina's helmet, they would have thought otherwise. Grabbing the wrists of
nearest demon, she dragged it right next to her as she hissed,
Brian: Oh dear.
"Alright you little punks, it's my turn!" She started to yell as more
power encircled her armor covered body. Even then, the power increase
didn't stop. The demon pulled back from the deadly field of energy, only
after his hands and forearms were burnt off. The demons that attacked
her stood back in awe at what they beheld. When her power increase
seemed to reach it's apex, she clenched her fists, and went to a higher
level of power.
All three: <gulp>
Literally, her armor grew, along with the size of the suit itself.
Tina, with her newer armor and power, had grown a half foot and the mass
of the armor increased by a third. The demons only knew when it was too
late, that what they faced was an embodiment of death itself.
All three: <hyper gulp, mulitple sweatdrops>
<snip>
Somehow, she had been able to tap into a something much more powerful
than standard Teknos were able to use. Even though it was natural for
warriors to grow, this growth was much moreā intense. Like a leap across
a gap that separated herself from others. He wondered how he would be
able to find such a way, but the giant axe that nearly beheaded him made
his thoughts return to the present.
Brian: Ahem, does the words "Shi Shi Hokodan" ring a bell?
Carter: I thought that looked familiar.
*************************************************
Back within the room with Lillith and Megumi, the former suddenly went
silent in the middle of her chants. She turned to the door and said to
Megumi, "It appears I have more pressing matters to attend to. I shall
return shortly." With that, the demon mother stalked out of the room and
into the hallway.
Carter: If she did go to the bathroom, I'll facefault.
Megumi hated being in this position. She felt so helpless, because she
was. She wanted to scream at the notion again and again, but the wards
prevented her from doing so.
That was when she felt Mara again. Only this time it was much stronger
than before. Mara was trying to take over her body. <Well, I'm not just
handing it overā> she thought resentfully as she tried to suppress Mara
again, but with the interference from Lillith and her lackeys, she
almost had a foothold in Megumi's body.
That was when she heard the doors open again to reveal Ringo, Urd, and
Skuld. That shadow was right, help had come. Yet, they were short lived
as she felt being pressed down and another taking control. And with
that, both wards fell off.
"Hey Megumi! We've come toā"Skuld started, but suddenly stopped when
she saw Mara's face instead of Megumi's.
Carter: Sheesh, talk about plastic surgery.
The demoness sneered at Megumi's rescuers. "Nice try, but this body's
miiiiā," she trailed off as Megumi's face melded in it's place.
"Ringo, pleaseā help meā," before Ringo could even reply, Mara took
control again.
Brian: Talk about personality crisis.
Carter: Very well done.
Setting her laptop in front of the pedestal, Skuld analyzed the date
presented to her. Her eyes grew wide as she found the results as Megumi
took control again.
"Guys, this says that the process was only 50 percent completed."
"Meaning?" Ringo asked.
"Meaning that we got to reverse it completely or else we're going to
have some serious problems if we try to get her out now. Unless we get
Lillith herself to reverse it, we only have one other option left if we
want to get out with her."
Brian: On three...1...2...3....
All three: NOT BLOODY LIKELY!!!
"What's that?"
Skuld looked apprehensive at Ringo, and then muttered, "We need to
terminate the host in order to separate them properly. But it's most
likely neither one will survive."
All three: O_O!!!!
<hyper-snip>
"āthere is a wayā" Megumi said wearily, the three turned their
attention to her as she continued, in anguish, but with enough sense of
self to explain, "āRingo, your weapon. During the transition between
Mara's and my control, if you can stab your weapon at just the right
time, the patterns will collide, resulting in the complete control of
one. If not, thenā," she tried to smile as best she could, "āyou'll just
stop my suffering and Mara will be dead for good."
Carter: I'll say it again: Oh, Boy.
Ringo couldn't believe what he was hearing. He came all this way for
her, only to find that the only way to save her, would be to most likely
kill her. He shook his head,
"Noā I can't do it. Not after all this time, I lost you once, I don't
want to lose you again."
Hearing those words made Megumi's heart raise from the pits they were
in when she last saw him.
All three: Awwwwww....
At that time, Mara got control again and sneered at Ringo, "Why not
loverboy? Too scared you might get me instead of her? Stupid mortal,
youuā," once more, Megumi got control. Only this time, she was pleading
to Ringo.
All three: <Boo, hiss and throw popcorn at Mara>
"Please, if there's anything you can do for me. End my suffering. It
doesn't matter if I live or notā please," she said, tears beginning to
stream from her eyes.
All three: <sniff, sniff..>
Skuld and Urd watched in surprise as the little drama continued.
"It matters to me!" Ringo, not at all the expert in the ways of
expressing affection, stammered. "I always wondered what you were like
when you first came to me, not only that, you were something special.
And it hurt when you leftā it hurt a lot. I don't want to lose you
again."
Megumi smiled as more tears of joy raced from her eyes. She closed her
eyes and whispered, "Ringo, even if I don't make it, I will still be
with you. No matter what." She opened her eyes again and asked once
more, only with a much more confident voice, "Ringoā please, use your
weapon."
<all three are bawling at this time>
Even though every fiber of his body wanted to say no, he stood in front
of her and steadied his halberd. Before that, he reached up and took off
his helmet, revealing the face of the man Megumi loved. Even though
Ringo's eyes still glowed a full blue, and wire waved through the skin
of his face, she could tell it was him.
Carter: O_O!!
Brian: Doesn't surprise me. <Holds up copy of Hammer's Wrath>
Natsume: Oh.
"Skuld," Megumi said with an unnerving calm, "ālet Ringo know when to
strike." Hesitant, the goddess of the future nodded, readjusted her
computer, and timed the amount of seconds Ringo had.
At last, all was set. Ringo waited for Skuld's signal. Every sound
seemed to be magnified several times as Ringo pointed his weapon
straight at Megumi's heart.
"Readyā"
<All three lean forward>
At that exact moment, Mara started to change into Megumi.
"āNOW!"
<All three lean forward a little more...>
With that, Ringo stepped froward, his aim was straight and true, and he
thrust his weapon straight ahead. Yet, hope changed to horror as he
heard Skuld yell.
"WAIT!!"
<all three...fall out of their seats>
Carter: WHAT!!?!??
Natsume: A cliffhanger!?!?
Brian: Jeez, nice timing, Warhammer.
End of Chapter 5
[Warhammer returns.]
WH: Don't you just love cliff hangers? I do.
All three: <grrrrrrr....>
Next, the movie I made a reference to last chapter was Xanadu! Starring
Olivia Newton John as the Muse, Kira, coming to a one Sonny Malone to
keep his dreams alive, along the way, Gene Kelly brings a sense of
1940's style and music into the movie as well. In fact, the old man from
last chapter was basically Mr. Kelly's character. Typical 80's movie,
but a good one in my opinion.
All three: Oh.
Next, what got me going for Tina's boost was the fact that she
constantly trains and even though she has a ton of resentment built up,
she's basically gonna be one of the most powerful. Also, the whole area
where she powers up was inspired by one of the worst DBZ movies. #4 FYI.
Brian: I thought it was the Shi Shi Hokodan.
And for those of you who are nitpicky about details, I will let you
know whom the figures in the shadows wereā in the final chapter.
Before I go, I would like to give a HUGE thanks to Christopher
'God-Boy' Angel-sama, for helping me with the grammar and other little
things that would have made the fic confusing. I forgot to mention his
help in the previous chapter, and the fault is mine alone. Gomen nasai
Angel-sensei.
Finally;
What was Lillith planning? Did it succeed? Is Ringo's error going to
cost him an amount greater than he can pay? Will Mara strike back and
much more fiercer than before? Find out in the conclusion.
[Warhammer returns to the light, where he should be.]
Teknos WarHammer-
"Fighting for a noble cause does not guarantee anyone victory. No matter
what you believe or what has happened in the past, it won't give you any
real advantage. Power against power. Only the strongest will survive.
That is the only truth, when fighting the enemy. The death of your
parents or the dying words of a friend, I've come to learn that they
mean little in the end."
-Takaya Aiba/Tekkaman Blade, Episode 4 of the OAV Series Tekkaman Blade
II.
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/4853/index.html
-Knight of the True Fiancee. A.K.A. Akane Tendou
-Fanfic writer of Teknoman and other great manga and anime.
-Self appointed Guardian of Kiyone Makibi.
-And so much more!
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Brian: Any final thoughts?
Carter: None. Nice job, Warhammer.
Natsume: You might want to clear up the description of Tina's new
armor.
Brian: Other than that (and the mailer mishaps), Nice job, WH.
<The three exit>
<Yes, this one was done quick, Babylon 5's on tonight. :-) >
Brian Yaple
Knight Productions
IRC nickname: starheart
BYapes@erie.net
Yaple001@mail1.gannon.edu
BYapes@aol.com
Web Page: coming soon, I promise!
MoonieCode (0.8.1)
SM:5+[m-] F:SInSa O:d S+?o P:a22 S|+:eBrDg:hBrD:y--:r+|+
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__________________________________________________________
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Tara Hartwick (RIP)-The Spot (www.thespot.com)-June 6th, 1995
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