Find all 6 chapters at http://nikholas-f-toledo-zu.webjump.com/ofg.html
Bubblegum Crisis: Story of the Knight Sabers
Once and Future Goddess
==============================
Chapter Two: A Home Away from Home
==============================
Somewhere far from the hustle and bustle of sprawling MegaTokyo, a
small city rested peacefully on and around a mountain whose majestic peak
was crowned with snow. It was a small city, not as large as any of the
others in the area, but it was large enough, housing a university and a
few industrial plants.
The city was small enough not to attract the notice of anyone
important enough to consider the small city-town worth the trouble of
taking over. Those who lived here in Nekomi were blissfully thankful of
this. The outside world was a terrible place, one filled with the evils
that Pandora had unthinkingly released.
Everyone was pleased and thanked what deities they worshipped in
this age for it. They just didn't know how close one of those deities
were.
In an old temple, a young couple resided. Children could be seen
playing around the yard, happily scampering about as they waited for the
call of their mother. No one paid the couple any heed but it was
something that relieved them both.
Belldandy happily hummed to herself as she set about her task of
peeling the potatoes. There were others in her kitchen, young ones whom
she had adopted into her family. She and her husband, Keiichi Morisato,
were unable to have any issues, for it was a necessary sacrifice if she
wanted her husband to be with her for as long as she lived.
Still, she was happy. And, with all these children to keep her
busy, she was satisfied.
Belldandy felt someone tugging at the hem of her skirt. She looked
down to see little Alanna proudly showing off her drawing.
Belldandy smiled as she knelt before the little girl and gave her a
hug. "Ara! Such an artist you are, little Alanna," she complimented the
silent girl.
Belldandy had found her outside the temple a few weeks ago,
bleeding and hurt. The little girl had yet to talk to anyone, save to
herself. And that normally consisted of one or two words.
"Mmmm! Arigato," Alanna happily crowed as she left the kitchen with
a burst of childish energy.
Belldandy watched the little girl leave as she grasped the drawing
Alanna had given her. She went over to the fridge and stuck the drawing
on it before continuing her task. She wasn't too worried about Alanna.
Her nightmares were less severe and becoming more infrequent. And, in
time, it would stop. That she was quite sure of.
She glanced once more at the picture Alanna had drawn of her before
returning to her duties. A small smile parted her lips as she went about
supervising her children in the kitchen.
One little boy stared at the crude crayola-rendered image of an
angel.
===================
Light flared suddenly in the baths.
The water opened up, spewing out a raven-haired goddess with a
slightly defeated look on her face. Skuld, Goddess of the Future, stepped
out of the baths, backpack slung behind her. In it she carried a load of
things that could not have possibly fit in such cramped accommodations,
unless she had been taking lessons from a certain crazy scientist with
red spiky hair.
She did not like the arrangement one bit and made it plain when she
had returned to the heavens. No one had a ready answer for her, save that
Kami-sama had accepted the wish. She'd asked for a reason and all she got
in return was a lecture on the vagrancy of Fate and Destiny. With that,
all she really could do about it was throw a temper tantrum outside the
office.
And she did just that, but it really never did accomplish anything.
She was still obligated to satisfy _his_ wish.
She sighed as she walked out of the baths, mumbling something about
perverts and mallets.
"Skuldo-san!" a soft, melodic voice called out behind her. "Nice to
see you've dropped by."
"Onee-san!!" Skuld cried out as she launched herself into her
sister's arms. Skuld clamped her arms around the sister she so loved. She
bit back a sob as Belldandy took a good look at her.
"Going somewhere, Skuldo-san?" she asked good-naturedly, eyeing her
backpack slung across her back.
Skuld visibly relaxed as her sister fawned over her. Belldandy had
that effect on _anyone_, even her. How Belldandy did it remained a
mystery for the young Goddess of the Future.
"From the looks of it, I don't think you came her for a break. Or
for some ice cream."
Skuld smiled at that. Belldandy certainly knew how to cheer her up.
Ice cream would do it just fine.
"Well, as long as its double dutch, I'll stay for a while!"
Belldandy frowned. "What's wrong, little sister?"
Ever since her sister got married to Keiichi, things had never been
the same anymore. They still stayed here but there were times when duty
called them away. She'd just recently completed her training as Goddess
First Class and was still waiting the results of her examination when
she'd been visibly railroaded into her current situation.
Skuld turned away, not really up to having to explain her current
problem with her sister.
"Well?" her sister pressed.
Skuld sighed. "I just came by to tell you guys that I'll be staying
in MegaTokyo for an indefinite amount of time." Skuld stared at the
floor-boards, one foot idly scrubbing at one.
Her sister, Belldandy, however, quickly guessed the reason for
this. "Someone made an unexpected wish?" she reasoned out, the hint of a
smile on her lips.
Skuld nodded sullenly. "Uh-huh. And it just _had_ to be on the one
day I was filling out for a friend. Why me?" she asked, casting her arms
in the air.
Belldandy merely flashed her little sister a smile. "Don't worry
too much, Skuldo-san. I'm sure you'll be all right." She patted her
younger sister's head as she headed for the baths.
"But I don't want the job!!"
No one heard her plea, save for Kami-sama, and He chose to ignore
it.
===================
Mackie Stingray dreaded the fact that none of the women were doing
anything to him. He was sure they'd have pulled their revenge by now. He
did not like to think what they had planned for him.
The door opened.
"Mackie?" his sister called out to him.
"Yeah, sis?" was his reply from his bed. He stared at the bare
walls beside him where once hung some risqu� photos he had made. He hated
Priss for ruining all those painstakingly captured photos of the Sabers.
"Got the time to talk to your sister?" she wanted to know. Her
voice calm and, as always, held that teeny-tiny note that told him she
was not making a request of any sort.
"Sure thing," came his answer. He really didn't have anything to
hide right now - save for what would come a bit later. He prayed Skuld
wouldn't accidentally barge in while his sister was here.
A shadow loomed over him.
He glanced at his sister and asked, "Uh... anything I could
possibly be of assistance?"
He cringed at that ice-cold stare she habitually sent his way.
You'd think being a brother was worth anything. "Errr.... Sorry."
Sylia sighed. How many times in so many days in a year did her
brother have to go around and do something to make her lose it? To
everyone, she was the Ice-Queen. Someone who'd have challenge the Yuki-
onna, the Snow Woman [wonder where this came from. ^_^] for the right to
be the woman of ice.
Of anyone who lived in this world, no one could do what her brother
could do to her at times: Infuriate her like hell.
She sat down and looked at her brother straight in the eye.
"You really shouldn't have done that to Nene and the others, you
know," she began.
Mackie grinned. "I just couldn't help myself."
Sylia blinked, at a loss for words. She wondered why young males
had to go and acquire such hentai-ish attitudes at the onset of puberty.
Her brother had been such an angel - well, almost - when he had been
younger, save when he went out on a limb to try and irritate her.
That part of him hadn't changed a bit, which certainly made living
with one hormone-crazed male an interesting life. Her brother was just so
infuriating, considering the number of times she'd tried to instill a
sense of restraint, but it would seem he'd never learn. After what had
happened a couple of days back, she was more worried about what the
others were bound to do to him - not that he didn't have it coming for
peeking in on them.
Sylia mentally shook her head. Boys will be boys, she presumed. And
the women will just have to pound some sense into them, as well.
It was a vicious cycle, indeed.
"Nene's cooked up something very bad for you today," she warned her
brother, who was still smiling - and trying to look confident. She knew
better, of course. "Why did you have to go and pull that crazy stunt of
yours? Taking photos by remote was one thing, but to actually do it on
your own?!!! What possessed you to do that?!!
"The girls had been quite lenient with you and your transgressions,
even allowed a photograph or two, but to do _that_..."
Mackie shrugged. "I got tired of making remotes that Priss
destroyed. And, besides," Mackie grinned impishly, "it was lots more fun,
and certainly more worth it."
Sylia sighed, wondering what she could do to make her brother see
the error of his ways. Then again, that would have been a waste of time,
as evidenced with her apparent lack of success.
"Why, oh, why do you do this, Mackie-kun?" Sylia asked her little
brother.
"Little else to do?" he answered impudently.
Sylia felt her hand twitch. "Mackie!"
Mackie just sniggered.
"You're not all that worried about what they're going to do to you,
aren't you?"
Mackie looked worried now. "Yes and no. Couldn't be that bad, in a
way." He looked thoughtful for a moment, recalling Nene's smirk. "Ummm...
I think."
"So why did you do it? I know you like Nene and all. She never did
mind those pictures you occasionally managed to take of her. Why not just
get it over with and date her? Nene's an adult and, if she wants to, she
would."
"Maybe. It's kinda hard, you know, sis. I like her and everything,
but asking her out isn't exactly all that easy."
"No matter." She stood up, unconsciously adjusting her dress. "Just
take care of yourself today, Mackie. And pray that whatever it is they've
got planned for you isn't as bad as I think it is."
=============
Skuld sat down and gazed longingly at the way the children milled
around her older sister. Once, she had been like those children - always
needing someone else to be there for her. But no longer.
She was now a full-time Goddess who had been assigned Earth-side.
She'd be kidding herself if she said she wasn't looking forward to it.
She was - in a way. But the wish Mackie had made sent her on edge.
Skuld had done a quick check on the guy. The records clearly
indicated that he was prone to doing hentai-ish things. That alone made
her wonder just why Kami-sama had gifted the man with a wish.
"Heard you'd gotten a job Earth-side, kiddo," a faintly slurry
voice said to her.
A rustle of silks told Skuld that her eldest sister, Urd, Goddess
of the Past, had sat down beside her on the veranda.
"You like this happening to me," Skuld shot back.
"Yup!!" agreed Urd, not bothering to hide her satisfaction. "You'll
need to broaden your horizons a bit. See the world for a bit. And,
besides, you need to get off that high horse of yours some time."
Skuld sniffed indignantly, pointedly ignoring her older sister. Urd
merely shrugged, easing herself on one of the sofas.
"You really shouldn't worry all that much. It's not like the end of
the world or something. And, besides, most of us First Class Goddesses
tend to get Earth-side assignments, anyway."
"But I thought that's the realm of the GRO?!"
"You are with the GRO, Skuld," Urd reminded her. "For the day,
anyway."
Skuld blinked before she swore to herself. Urd had one delicate
eyebrow raised at the chosen words Skuld had spat out. Looks like her
sister was growing up, after all.
*High time!* she thought to herself. *She'd been tugging at Bell's
skirt for centuries. About time she started learning to be on her own.*
"So why aren't you getting assignment like mine?" Skuld whined.
"I'm the _HEAD_ of the GRO, silly!" Urd answered. "Rank doth have
its privileges. Ohohohohohoho!!!!"
"Grrrrr...," fumed Skuld while wondering how under the heavens did
Urd manage to get _that_ position.
"Oy! Skuldo!" Keiichi greeted warmly. "Heard from Bell-chan you got
some assignment."
"Yeah" was her sullen reply.
"Congratulations, then!" he said merrily as he left for the kitchen
to be with his wife.
"Don't take it so bad, squirt," Urd tried to console her sister.
"It isn't like MegaTokyo's going to be a bore. From what I've gathered
from the Yddgrassil Net, it's the hottest hot spot in the entire plane."
Skuld shrugged. "So what?!! I'm stuck with someone who's a hentai,
for crying out loud!!!" Skuld screamed directly into her sister's ears.
"Yeow!" Urd tried to clear her eardrums of that horrendous ringing.
She should have known better than to stay too close to Skuld. All these
years of being separated form Skuld had dulled her reflexes. "Did you
_have_ to shout like that?!!" Urd demanded. "I can hear you just fine,
you know."
No answer was forthcoming. Urd just stared at her for a while until
a sudden realization dawned on her. "You're afraid you might get attached
to the guy in more ways than the one that's binding the two of you now,
huh?"
For once, Skuld did not challenge her sister's words. "Uh-huh."
Urd chuckled. "Don't worry. Keiichi and Belldandy were in _love_
with each other since they were kids! And even they didn't know about it
until they got separated." She looked meaningfully at Skuld. "Love
doesn't happen overnight, you know."
"Like you know anything about it," Skuld shot back.
Urd blinked. She stared at Skuld with one hand resting on her
chest. "Me? Not know anything about love?" Urd laughed a deep-throated
laugh that would have sufficed for a maniac. "I'm the Goddess of Love, my
dear little sister."
Skuld stared at her sister with half-lidded eyes. "Yeah, right!
Like you got oneesan and Keiichi together with your parlor tricks."
Before the situation got any worse, Belldandy came by and called
them both to lunch.
===================
Deep within the bowels of the conical fortress best known to
everyone who lived in MegaTokyo as the GENOM Tower, another plan was in
the process of being completed. One that, as always, was tested in the
streets of MegaTokyo.
"How goes the construction of the prototype, Madigan?"
She turned towards the speaker. The purple-haired executive bowed
before she delivered her report. "Chairman Quincy! We've finished
preliminary tests on the hyperboomer. The new AI system devised by Dr.
Uzura is most impressive. From all estimates, this type of hyperboomer
would be more than enough to handle five Dobermans easily." Madigan's
smile was sinister in what it implied. "And no doubt more than a match
for all the Knight Sabers."
The aged chairman of the world's most powerful corporation
considered this pronouncement. His smile was no less sinister.
"Interesting, Ms. Madigan. Convey my appreciation to the good doctor for
a job well done." He turned and left without another word.
Kate Madigan turned her attention once more to the silver-hued
monstrosity that lay on the huge table below her as it was tended by the
techies that were busily fitting the new boomer's weapons.
*Soon,* she mused. *Very soon.*
===================
The door slid open to admit a shadowed figure into the room.
The lights came on to identify the person as a young woman in her
late twenties. The woman had a wealth of vibrant raven black hair tied in
a long ponytail behind her back, framing a face that belied her true age.
A pair of wire-rimmed glasses graced her face. High cheekbones gave her a
somewhat aristocratic bearing, marred only by the tenseness of her
features.
Tossing her keys and the bag she was carrying, she slumped wearily
onto her couch. Letting out a weary sigh, she undid the clasps of her
blouse, letting the cool air soothe her.
It had been a very tiring day.
Being a model was certainly a lot worse than had seemed to her when
she had been a kid. But, then again, it wasn't something she liked doing
for too long. She was well-known for her looks and charms. Then, there
were her usual mysterious disappearances she'd been equally famous for.
Of course, these paled to what she really did.
Standing up, she moved towards the bar, pouring herself a generous
amount of wine and plopping a generous portion of ice into it. Grabbing
her drink, she went to her room to change and see to a few businesses.
Other than that, she expected her night to be as peaceful as was
humanly possible. God knows how much she needed it after that shoot.
After this one, she was going to retire for good. She'd amassed
enough cash to last her a lifetime already. And, besides that, someone
had made her an offer she could hardly refuse.
It did mean that she had to come back to MegaTokyo, though. That
meant having to confront Leon.
She sighed as she pondered on how she was going to explain
everything to her little brother.
end part 2
Coming from some small revisions... I've been writing this series
up whenever I feel good and happy. I really want this fic to be funny and
crazy but with mild overtones of seriousness....
After all... this is one of my more famous works to date. ^_^
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Nikholas F. Toledo Zu @ WWW: The Entertainment Capital of UP Village
Vector, Switch, Yebah, Rain Man, goo, Pervert, Scruples, Hollie, NomaD,
Blitz, Gee, Datzo, Jewel, elf, Radler, Pinball, Mayhem, Chaos, Father,
Attar, Llewe and Katana @ http://nikholas-f-toledo-zu.webjump.com/ NEW!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------