Shall we continue, then?

************************************************
  An Oddzilla Productions fanfic, by Andrew Huang.
  Guard the Future, chapter 4.
  Based on Fujishima Kosuke's "Aa! Megami-sama!"
************************************************

  I sat up in bed so suddenly, I almost gave myself whiplash.

  The reason for this wasn't quite coming to me, at the moment. As I
rubbed my sore neck, I tried to piece together the two badly conflicting
images and sensations that, upon colliding, just now jolted me out of
peaceful sleep.

  Okay...the first was...ah, the dream I had been having. Nice, pleasant,
me having dinner with...Megumi. Ah. At a candlelit table. Ah-ha. With
romantic music playing. Hmm, yes. And she was getting up and leaning over,
looking at me with those big, luminous eyes, a slight blush on her rosy
cheeks, her lips in a small, cute smile, but suggesting that they were
about to do something else....

  Urd, I'm going to kill y--

  Oh, the second thing, yes, something which complemented the dream like
dill pickles on ice cream because it was a voice screaming HEY SLEEPING
BEAUTY SKULD IS BEING THREATENED THE FUTURE IS ENDANGERED GET UP YOU
HORRIBLE LITTLE SOLDIER AND MOVE THAT LAZY ARSE NOW NOW NOW!

  I fell out of bed and scrambled to get dressed. Good grief, this had
been the equivalent of getting dunked into a pool of ice cold water for
waking up. I managed to throw on some clothes and get my shoes on the
correct feet, before running out the door. I cursed as I missed my mouth
with the toothpick that had been dug out of my jeans pocket and instead
jabbed myself in the chin.

  Upon bursting out, I briefly noted that it was barely growing light. I
hoped no one would notice this.... My wings, which had already popped out
when I awoke, spread wide, and I jumped over the railing in front of my
third-story apartment door. I silently glided a short distance toward the
temple, and hit the ground running to cover the rest of the distance,
while chewing nervously on the toothpick.  Whatever was going on, it
couldn't be good.

  I reached the temple and was about to knock when the door opened,
revealing a somber Belldandy. "Skuld's sleeping right now," she said,
before I could ask. "You need to prevent something from happening." She
took me by the hand and pulled me inside.

------------------------------------------------

  I pushed aside my earlier, brief irritation as I sat down across from
Urd at the table. "All right, tell me what's going on...."

  Belldandy shook her head. "The most we may really say is that something
is on the move. The Ultimate Force sees a little into the future, a little
into the past, and Yggdrasil has determined that the something is up to no
good."

  A phrase appeared in my mind: cannon fodder. "We're going into this
blind? Bleh...."

  Urd answered, hesitantly, "No, we're not...um, _you_ are."

  My toothpick went *snap*. "You're joking," I said, spitting out slivers
of wood. "Please say that you're joking." Nononono, this was too soon, it
couldn't be, not yet not yet!

  "I'm afraid not, Andrew-san. I will take you there, but I may only
interfere at the last possible moment, if it comes down to that. Kami-sama
said so, when the message about this was sent to us." Belldandy paused,
then looked me in the eye. "He always has a good reason for His decisions.
Please, understand that."

  I looked at the two of them, my gaze switching from one to the other a
few times. I groaned and leaned back. "Jumping right into it, I see.
Well...if the Lord believes I can do it, then I should trust Him."

  The goddesses both smiled at my words. I suppose I'd passed a small
test. "Are you ready?" Urd asked, rising to her feet.

  I nodded, and was going to answer, but yawned instead. "Could I have
some coffee, at least?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

  After getting caffeinated--Belldandy, bless her, had a pot brewing in
the kitchen before I'd arrived--I walked to the hallway mirror for the
first part of the trip. Once I was sent over the long distance to what
might be called a staging area, a small teleport spell would bring me to
the actual target point. I stared at my reflection and took a deep breath.

  And Belldandy took me through the mirror. As I said earlier, I couldn't
describe the feeling of it, but somehow, this time, it felt different than
the other couple of times I'd taken the mirror transport. Nerves, perhaps.

  We emerged near a highway, from a convex traffic mirror, the kind that
was used at a tricky intersection so that drivers could see traffic coming
from around the bend.

  It was rush hour, that much was clear. Cars were still streaming along
steadily here, but some distance up ahead, it was all slowing down into
gridlock as multiple lanes merged and parted yet further on. I peered
around owlishly.

  "Hey, everyone's on the right side of the road."

  "Many, if not most, problems will be outside of Japan, Andrew-san. Those
that do not target my sister personally, that is." Belldandy alighted
behind me, making no sound save for her words. She gestured, and we were
now a little further away from the slowdown, now barely visible through
the haze of smog. "Be prepared. There will be some trucks coming; one of
them seems to be where this...issue will strike."

  I nodded, and extended my wings, readying my hammer. Something niggled
at the back of my mind, but I had no time for that right now.

  "Don't worry about the people in the cars; I've cast an invisibility
spell on you. They won't notice anything. Now!"

  At her command, my legs tensed and I leapt at the cargo truck coming
along, landing in that space between the cab and trailer. My wings swung
around instinctively to keep my balance, as I looked around quickly.
Nothing here. Maybe on top of the shipping container? I carefully pulled
myself up on the back of the cab as the truck sped along.

  Then I heard it. From below.

  Smeg.

  I dropped back to where I'd landed initially, and dipped my head down to
look underneath.

  "ARGH!"

  It was ugly. And it had bad breath. I mean, really bad breath.

  I yanked myself back up, feeling my hair get parted by a vicious swipe
of yellowed claws. It looked like gremlins from before, but somewhat
nastier, stronger. At least there was only one, instead of five. That was
the good thing.

  I looked at Heaven's Knuckle, big and chunky war maul it was. This was
the bad thing. How was I going to....

  Stop thinking about it and just do it, I railed internally. Fine.

  I took Heaven's Knuckle from my belt, changed it to its larger form, and
leaned down again, the weapon held in front of myself protectively.

  It snarled at me, but didn't attack again: it was further away now,
poised over--no, under--the center of the truck cab, about to swipe at it.
Probably to cut the brake lines or something. Not good.

  I prodded at the thing with Heaven's Knuckle, distracting it from
whatever it was about to do. But it wasn't like I could beat it like this.
I gritted my teeth as it batted away my hammer, trying not to lose my grip
on the platform. Falling off at highway speeds wasn't very appealing. It
raised its arm again, and I swung at it clumsily with one hand.

  I missed its body. But this time I batted aside its claws instead and
deflected the strike. It screeched angrily at the sparks flung up from the
contact and lashed out at me again. I felt myself flinch, and that brought
up a vague feeling of annoyance. Dammit, I had a job to do, not the time
to be afraid.

  Then I let out a grunt of surprise as the truck suddenly turned a bit
sharply. It didn't...did it?

  No, it was just following a bend in the highway. Good. I grimly looked
back at the demon...which was now gone.

  "What the--where'd it go?"

  No one answered, of course, because I was the only there. I looked
around wildly, and caught a blur of black and red bouncing off the asphalt
near the rear of the trailer, and then disappearing behind.

  Had I beaten it? Best make sure....

  I hauled myself up to the top of the platform, crouched, and leapt
straight up, snapping my wings out and peering backward, searching,
searching...there it was, hopping backward through traffic past the bend.
I landed on the trailer and pushed off again, this time to glide backward
in pursuit. My heart was racing, even though nothing had really happened
yet.

  Well--that was the point. Make sure nothing happened, right?

  I flew along, tracking the demon carefully, trying not to lose it. There
was a small stretch of open road, an empty spot in the flow of traffic,
though that wouldn't last long....

  Hmm. Why not?

  Heaven's Knuckle reverted to its small form, and I reared back and
hurled it downward, adjusting for the demon's movement, and....

  Missed. Drat.

  Now I was lacking my principal weapon, and the demon had taken a moment
to look at the hammer, lying next to it, and turned to make a face at me.
Which it did very well, as it was naturally endowed to do so.

  Of course, that also left it wide open to get slammed by the next cargo
truck to come through, sending it flying like a broken puppet over to the
side of the road.

  Huh. Was that it?

  Stunned, I hung in the air, just staring at the heap of knobby, spindly
nastiness lying on the shoulder. It wasn't moving. "Belldandy?" I called
out.

  No answer. Okay. Well, time to make sure it was actually dead. If demons
could be 'killed' as such.

  I swooped down to the ground and approached it warily. Still no
movement. I stuck my foot out to nudge it--

  I hope the invisibility spell came with a sound dampener or something,
because I screamed like a little girl when it latched onto my leg and
pulled itself up to swipe at my head. I managed to block it with my arms,
my unprotected arms, my now bleeding badly arms ow ow ow that friggin
hurt!

  No hammer, and it was on me. Smeg.

  I flailed wildly, getting slashed up more by the damn thing. What was I
supposed to do--

  I felt one of my hands close on a sinewy arm, and then the other as
well. And then I remembered my ice.

  This was going to hurt, but well, it was hurting already. I held on
tight and concentrated.

  There was a crackling sound, one that continued for a while.

  "Very good, Andrew-san."

  "Wurgh."

  Belldandy studied the block of ice at the end of my arms. It contained
my hands, but more importantly, it contained the demon, now stuck with a
surprised look on its face. At least, I was guessing it was surprised; the
various expressions of horribly ugly were hard to tell apart.

  Thinking about something like that was also a little tough with the
bitter chill that made the bones of my arms ache distracting me.

  "Break your hands free, Andrew-san. Tell the ice to let you go. Then you
can finish off the demon."

  "Urnk," I agreed, and with a little work, got my hands out while leaving
the rest of it intact. The block of ice fell heavily to the ground, and
for a moment, I was worried that it might shatter open and free the demon.
Fortunately, it held. I looked at my frozen hands. "Can you...ow...thaw
them out again, Belldandy?"

  She shook her head. "I can, but try to do that yourself this time. The
next time, I might not be around to do that for you, and you might still
have to fight."

  I nodded, and exerted my will over the ice on and in my hands, still
staring at the demon. I didn't want to let it get away, not now.

  "And that was a good idea, what you did with Heaven's Knuckle. But
you'll have to work on your aim, as well as remembering to call it back to
yourself afterward."

  "Er. Right. Silly me." I sighed.

  "Don't feel so bad, Andrew-san. It's your first mission, and all things
considered, you did well."

  "Could always be better." Finally, the ice vanished, and I could feel a
warmth spread through my hands. The healing, no doubt. I felt the same
warmth in my forearms where I'd been scratched up.

  Well, I don't know why Urd was worried, but I liked this regeneration
thing.

  That done...I concentrated again, this time on Heaven's Knuckle, and it
appeared at my feet. I frowned; it was supposed to appear in my hands.
Something else to work on later. I scooped it up, changed it, and eyed the
demon in the ice thoughtfully.

  It remained frozen, but I though I saw its face take on an appearance of
fear. I smiled, and demonstrated that I was much better at the overhead
smash when the target was stationary.

  When the echoes finally died away, I sighed and leaned back against the
guardrail, as the morning traffic continued to zoom past us, unheeding. I
considered the situation.

  "You know, Belldandy, this place is familiar."

  "Familiar."

  "I couldn't tell earlier, because I haven't actually driven on this road
specifically."

  "Oh?"

  "But I've driven on that road down there, beneath that bridge, quite a
lot over the past year and a half."

  She just smiled as I looked at her.

  "We traveled pretty far, didn't we?"

  "Back to the East Coast of the US."

  "And several weeks in time backward."

  "Yes."

  I sank to the ground. "I just prevented that truck from smashing through
the rail on that bridge and falling on a bunch of people, such as myself.
Didn't I?"

  "Yes," she said again. "You prevented it from sabotaging the truck
before that curve in the road, and defeated it as it backtracked to try
again on another truck."

  "Oh. Well. Cool. Can we go back now? I need to--"

  And then I found myself draped over the guardrail, throwing up
everything in my stomach, which was pretty much the coffee I drank prior
to coming out here, before getting to the dry heaves very quickly.
Belldandy was rubbing my back and saying something soothing.

  "Damn," I muttered, not stopping myself from saying that word for the
first time in a little while.

  "As I said, it was your first mission. It's all right if you're feeling
a little shaken up."

  "It was the thing's breath, I swear," I mumbled faintly, wincing at the
wretched taste of stomach acid coating the inside of my mouth. I spat a
few times, but it didn't go away.

  "Can you stand?"

  I could, and I pushed myself upright slowly, taking several deep
breaths. "Let's go back," I said. "I need more coffee now." And a beer,
but I didn't say that out loud, because it was too early for that, and I
had to go to work soon anyway.

------------------------------------------------

  They--that is, a bunch of the people in my department--decided to go out
after work that evening, which promised a lot of alcohol. However, they
were going to go to a karaoke bar, so I decided to pass. I normally enjoy
something like that, but tonight required something a little more laid
back than that. Something quieter.

  My colleagues didn't protest much when I begged off. I'd been a bit of a
zombie the entire day at the office.

  I also wanted to see Skuld sooner rather than later, since she'd stayed
asleep the entire morning, and I'd left to catch the train to work
before she woke. Just to make sure.

  ...not that it was necessary, really, the logical part of my mind said.
This had already all been taken care of. It had been taken care of for the
past couple of weeks; I was just sent back to fulfill the letter of the
wish as well as the spirit of it, and it happened just as it was supposed
to.

  I didn't care, I just wanted to make sure Skuld was all right.

  Which brought me to the front doorstep of temple, knocking. I heard
Belldandy call out from inside, then open the door after a few moments.
She smiled. "Come in, Andrew-san. I'll fetch Skuld for you."

  I nodded wordlessly, and went over to sit down at the table in the
living room, putting my briefcase down at my side. Soon, Skuld was
bounding in, some odd contraption in her hands.

  "Hi, Andrew! You wanted to see me?"

  I smiled at my charge. "Just...well, you know what happened this
morning, right?"

  She plopped down next to me, tossing the device between her hands
lightly. "Yeah. First mission, huh? Went back to stop the accident?"

  "Yup. Hey, I got you something." I put the plastic bag I'd been carrying
with me along with my usual work things on the table.

  "Ooh! Fudge ripple!"

  "Mmm. Enjoy...just as long as you don't spoil your appetite for dinner."

  "Hey, you want to stay? I'm sure Oneesama can cook up a little extra
tonight."

  It was tempting, and I had barely tasted her cooking last night because
I'd been so tired. But I really needed to finish off that batch of
vegetables in the fridge before it all wilted, and I also didn't want to
get spoiled by Belldandy's cooking by having it too often.

  Much as I could use some relaxing company.

  "Thanks, Skuld, but I don't want to be a burden to her," I said, smiling
and reaching over to ruffle her hair. She squeaked indignantly and
smoothed everything back into place. "I've already got the rice cooking
anyway, assuming I set the timer right on the thing this morning."

  She nodded, looking a little disappointed. I'm glad she was fond of me,
rather than the opposite. Having a guardian angel thrust on you would make
some people annoyed. Then she brightened a bit. "Hey, are you free on
Saturday, then? I wanna test out this anti-gravity engine, and it's best
with other observers." She held up the gadget she'd been fidgeting with
and grinned.

  "Sure thing. What time?"

  "After lunch...how about one in the afternoon? I'm going to finish this
up tomorrow and put it in the body of the flyer. This'll be cool!"

  I laughed, nodded, and walked over to the front door, about to be let
out. Then I spun around and hugged Skuld quickly.

  "Man, I was worried about you this morning. Even after I realized what
was going on."

  She blushed slightly and hugged me back. "You're not mad, are you?"

  "Huh? Why?"

  "Well...they did kind of trick you. I mean, we can't lie, because
we're goddesses, but I know they talked about it like it was a new
problem."

  I scratched my head, and nodded slightly. "I realized that, yeah, but
for some reason, I don't really mind. I think they did it to prepare me
for when it happens...well, for real. Not that what happened wasn't real,
but--you know what I mean."

  Skuld nodded. "They were thinking that you needed some more confidence
in yourself, so they gave you a real mission, but one that they were
pretty sure you'd be able to accomplish. Oneesama was allowed to help if
everything really did go wrong and make sure that the mission was
completed, but she was sure you wouldn't need it."

  I smiled. "Ah. Well, I guess I did do it."

  She beamed at me and nodded vigorously. "Yup! I think you're ready to be
my guardian angel. Just don't slack on your training."

  "I won't." I ruffled her hair again, and stepped out of the house. She
was doing all right. Good.

  So, a short walk later, I put my key into the lock of my front door, and
discovered that it was already unlocked. I always lock the door--it's one
of those things I never forget. I frowned. And then I heard the voice from
inside.

  "Andrew-kun? Come on in! I brought something for you!"

  Urd?

------------------------------------------------

  Eventually, I found myself holding a glass of sake.

  It was my ninth glass. Or maybe tenth.

  Y'see, Urd had invited herself in to celebrate my first successful
mission with a bottle from her special stash. It was good sake. Good for
toasting today's little victory. Pretty sweet, pretty smooth.

  Which is why I was already on my ninth glass. No, tenth. It was pretty
strong, too.

  I wasn't drunk. Honest.

  Urd was on her fifteenth at least, now grinning madly at me and downing
some more, smacking her lips loudly. "Drink up! Drinkupdrinkup."

  At least she'd waited for me to make some fried rice so I wouldn't be
drinking on a completely empty stomach. She'd had some too and complained
about how plain it was. But that was coming from someone who ate
Belldandy's cooking almost every day.

  I squinted at the glass. It was cold. Cold despite having sat out for a
while and filled with sake from a bottle that wasn't being chilled right
now. Though the sake itself was still cold too. "Hey, Urd, why's it cold
still?"

  "Put a spell onnit. Perfect for drinking this stuff. Same as the
bottle."

  "Oooh. Good idea." I drank.

  This was good sake. The kind you drank cold, not hot. And you sip, not
slam. It's the cheap stuff that they heat up, you know. And usually for
cold weather. Still summer here. Mmm, summer. I liked summer. But I liked
winter too.

  Okay, maybe I was getting close to drunk. I could feel my liver starting
to complain too.

  I finished off the rest of the glass and burped, setting it down on the
table. In a flash, Urd was filling it up again, but only got partway. She
frowned. The bottle was empty.

  "Aww, out already."

  I felt a little lightheaded. But I could go on a little longer. Really.
At least, it seemed like she wanted more. Need to be a good host. "I got
some beer in the fridge. You want?"

  She laughed, and pulled out another bottle from...somewhere. "Got it
covered. Siddown, I'm servin' you tonight." She opened the second bottle
and filled my glass the rest of the way up.

  "Can't drink too much more, Urd. I, uh, I got to work tomorrow still."

  "Ahh, 'sokay, you'll be fiiine. 'n' yer looking less, less
trau-muh-tized than before." She stressed each syllable heavily. Hey, we
were speaking in English now. Musta slipped back a little while ago.

  "Wasn't traumatized. Just shook up a little." I shrugged and took a
little sip. Well. Probably time to slow down now. "Anyway. Mmm. I got
really drunk once. Had a hangover. Dun' wanna do that again."

  She reached over and punched my shoulder, hard. I bobbled my glass,
yelping as it almost spilled. "Bah! You'll be alllll right. Urd's watching
over you."

  "That's what I was worried about." Oops. I said it.

  She leaned over close on the couch, eyes flashing. I felt a little
afraid, the kind of fear you get when it's also fogged up with alcohol.
"And why are you worried, Andrewwwwwww?"

  I blinked a few times. "Cuz, uh, cuz...you're the kind of person who,
who'd try to get me to drink waaaaay too much. And it might work, too."

  She seemed to think about this a little bit. "Yeah. Okay, you're
probably right. But what's wrong with drinking a lot?"

  "Mmm, it feels good right now, but you wanna die in the morning?"

  "Oh. Right."

  Good, good, got my way outta that one.

  We subsided, and drank some more.

  "Andrew?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Whaddaya think 'bout Meg-chan?"

  Uh oh.

  "Dunno what to think," I said, feeling a little stubborn. "Just met her
for a couple minutes last night."

  "Think she's cute?"

  "Mmm. Lotsa girls are cute. You're cute. Belldandy's cute too. And
Skuld, of course. She's cute."

  She smacked me on the arm. "I'm not cute! I'm gorgeous, not cute." She
laughed. "And Keiichi's got dibs on Bell already. And she's beautiful, not
cute. And Skuld...I didn't mean that kind of cute. And she's bratty, not
cute." She blinked, paused, appeared to think over what she just said.
"How much have I drunk?"

  "A lot."

  "Yeah, that's about right. Anyway. Like I said. Think Megumi's cute?
Gimme a straight answer now."

  "Yeah. Yeah, she is." I was grudging. But hey, I had to admit it.

  "She's a nice girl too."

  "Oh?"

  "Come on, let me set you two up!"

  I frowned and drained my cup. "Why ya wanna play matchmaker so much
right now?"

  She poked me in the side, and I squirmed a little. "Cuz you haven't had
a date in forever, right?"

  "Too busy. I said so. Gotta keep priorities straight an' all."

  "Well, neither has she. And you two, you two would be cute together.
Stuff priorities. Yeah."

  I grunted as she yanked my cup away and filled it yet again. Twelve?
Something like that. She pushed it back into my hand. "Cute?"

  "Cute."

  "Oh."

  "It'd be a waste not to get you two together!"

  I burped again.

  "See? You're so cute!"

  "I dunno."

  She nudged me again. "Come onnnnn. Don't you feel lonely? Don't you
wish you had what Keiichi and Bell have?"

  I grinned and waggled a finger at her. "I had plennnnny of that feeling-
sorry-for-m'self stuff in high school. Dun' need it anymore." I
straightened up and sniffed loftily. I think it was lofty. Hard to tell
after eleven drinks. No, twelve. "I'm fine with bein' a bachelor."

  "Bahhhh. Doesn't, doesn't mean you can't take a chance when it comes
along. Come on." Poke, poke.

  "Okay, okay. Maybe. Sometime. Um. Mebbe. Hm."

  "Can start slow. I'll have Bell invite her for dinner next Wednesday
too. Make sure you two sit next to each other. But everyone will be there
also. Chat with her. You can do that, eh? Eh?" She nudged me.

  "Okay."

  "Hee hee. And don't worry 'bout Keiichi. He likes you, I'm sure he'll
approve." She smiled, pleased with herself. I was too intoxicated to be
worried now.

  But--

  "Oh, Urd?"

  "Hmmmm?"

  "Dun' mess with my dreams, 'kay?"

  "You're no fun."

  "But I'm cute?"

  "Cute. But no fun."

------------------------------------------------

  When I woke up the next morning, I didn't have a hangover, but I did
have a bad case of nausea. And something to look forward to next
Wednesday.

  Well, hey, Megumi is cute.

  But first, where's the Pepto....

---------------------------------------------------------------------

  Not much to say about this chapter. I am trying to avoid the common trap
of 'woe-is-me' SI angst, particularly of the romantic kind. As my avatar
said, I had enough of that in my real life back in high school, and got
over it pretty much in college. :) Hope you enjoyed.


Andrew Huang...Shizumaru@KawaiiMUCK
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
NAC MAC FEEGLE!

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