Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Trial By Tenderness ❯ Part 15 - Nebulae ( Chapter 15 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Part 15: Nebulae



Cevn had one more official duty to perform at N.I.T. before his brief vacation time prior to his Bei Da trip. Although most graduations were in late March, there were always a few students who graduated in June. So he attended the graduation ceremony for N.I.T. The graduating class was small, and the commencement was held in one of the older halls. Hara Hall paid homage to a Meiji-era physical scientist and was one of the more well-kept buildings in the 'old campus' part of the Institute.
Dr. Kintaro delivered a stirring graduation address, and the guest speaker was one of Japan's leading physicists. Despite the fact that his speech was ornate with mathematical and scientific terminology, Cevn was able to follow the technical aspects to a degree. It was obvious that many of the faculty and students were aware of his work, because they attended him with an almost reverential fawning.
Finally it was over.
Cevn went back to his office and gathered a few things, then caught a bus home. He was looking forward to a break in his work schedule; a draught of the honey of relaxation before he left for China. Although it would only be eight days, it would serve as a cultural window, framing a roadtrip to one or two historical sites in Japan. He was anxious to spend some leisure time with his housemates as well, since he had been so busy in the past month.
A delightful memory vied him; last night's vigorous argument between Urd and Belldandy. Dismissing Belldandy's decision not to heal Keiichi's broken kneecap, *Urd* had taken it upon herself, in a rare moment of sympathy, to impose her convictions upon Belldandy. She argued that it was more toil to neglect Keiichi's injuries than it was to heal them. Belldandy was initially flabbergasted, reminding Urd that it had been her initial suggestion which influenced her "hands off" policy regarding her boyfriend's racing-related injuries.
"Strange...that the Goddesses would be caught up in a Star Trekker 'prime directive' debate! At least there's been no craziness or disasters," he said optimistically.
But he sincerely regretted having to tell the others about his summer 'vacation'.

* * * * * * * *

Belldandy was meditatively sewing potholders when Urd erupted out of the hallway. She dashed into the living room with Skuld just a pace behind her.
"Bell, you've *got* to see this!" Urd insisted as she flipped on the living room TV. Belldandy fugitively rolled her eyes when she realized that the source of the interruption...was a talk show that Urd liked to check into once in a while. The show sensationalized juicy gossip.
"Good, it's still on!" Skuld said. Belldandy looked at Urd and Skuld and felt a hint of anxiety.
"When these two are as worked up as this, there must be something important going on!" she whispered to herself in a resigned voice. She set down her sewing pattern while her sisters perched in front of the TV like gradeschoolers during Saturday morning anime.

* * * *

"What do you think about the mystery music pod, Nishigawa?" a youngish reporter in a drab suit asked.
"Well, a newsman of one of NHK's affiliates found it. Then he turned it over to his boss, who manages a classical music station in Osaka. The manager played it over the air and hundreds of listeners called in," a middle-aged newsman said.
"How did NHK get it?" the anchor asked.
"Well, we got wind of it the next day and sent down a network representative to pick up the tape. Once we obtained the pod, we decided to broadcast some of the music files on it as part of our evening programming. As you know, we broadcast it last night on national.
"I heard it as well. I could only say that it is phenomenal. I've never heard anything like it. It was breathtaking. I felt as if someone had taken a beautiful shower of cherry blossoms and converted it to sound."
"That sounds pretty cliched, Ryonosuke, but that's how I felt too. Anyway, the station and the local telephone network weren't prepared for the viewer reaction that followed. In a meeting this morning, I was told that the network received 1.5 *million* calls in the hour after the broadcast!"
"One and a half million calls?" the young anchor enthused.
"Yes. Our website registered 13 million hits that evening as well; the most it has ever had!"
"That's incredible! What do you attribute this phenomenal response to?"
"I haven't the slightest idea. Anyway, I brought the pod for you to play. Strangely enough, the music can't be copied from this pod to any other media, such as a CDR or DAT disk. NHK is hoping that the composer of the music will come forward. Since the pod was found by a NHK employee, it will convert to NHK property in 90 days.
"But frankly, we hope nobody claims it. The potential profit we can receive from publishing it is doubtless to be quite lucrative. However, our legal department has advised us to make a 'good faith' effort to locate the owner or the composer, since the pod did have a portion of a character etched on it. Possibly some information about the contents or maybe a name or a title," the older of the two anchormen explained officiously.
"Okay. Now for you folks, here is a portion of the mystery pod's music...."

* * * *

Urd pointed the remote at the TV and froze the image. In the background of the anchor desk, there was a music pod with a "K" and a kanji character that looked like it had two trees above a larger tree. The rest of the etched character had been scarfed off with scratches.
Then the music played.
Belldandy closed her eyes as she was transported back to Yggdrasil in her mind. Cool mercurial flows of clouds swirled around her as she flew with Holy Bell through a light pink mist-lake with a rainbow forest all around her...she felt totally and sublimely serene.
"That...that's the God's Music," Skuld said with a calm smile.
Keiichi walked in the living room, sat down and toweled his hair dry. The music reveled the incredible victory in the Solar Car competition. He closed his eyes and saw snakelike roadway wrapping around the cliffs edging alongside the ocean with wind whipping his hair and tingling his face with a floral aroma.
He opened his eyes and noticed the image of the music pod on the TV. It had his surname, but part of it was scratched off. He remembered Cevn giving it to him right before he left to go to the final Solar Car race. It was undoubtedly the same pod.
"That's my pod!!!"
"What?" All three Goddesses turned to him in surprise. Urd got a severe look on her face.
"What do you mean, *your* pod?" she inquired with a piercing glare.
"Cevn couldn't come to the race, remember? Right before I left he gave me this music pod, remember? Then I lost it in the excitement. Anyway...I *told* you guys all about that already, months ago!" he said defensively.
"*That's* the pod you told us about? The one you think that caused your solar racer go faster?" Skuld exclaimed. It all was forming together in her mind now, like sliphorn pieces of a puzzle.
"I know what happened! I know, I know, I know! Keiichi lost the tape in the excitement of the finish of the race. Someone found it, and now the humans are starting to experience the God's Music for the first time!" Skuld observed matter-of-factly.
"Yes, but it isn't *meant* for them!" Urd said, furrowed with distress as she envisioned the consequences. Belldandy knitted her eyebrows in deep thought.
"It's true that the God's Music is intended only for the Gods. It cannot even be relayed via sound waves...it is shared via soundthoughts in Yggdrasilian perception sets. Thus, it can't be 'heard' in the mortal sense. But some quirk of fate had graced a mortal with the ability to compose the God's Music. And yet, somehow an Earthrealm technology renders it soundfully. Could this mean that Mankind is ready for the God's Music? And yet..." Belldandy conjectured. Skuld looked up nervously at her older sister's mention of sound reproduction technology.
"They *aren't* supposed to have it!" Urd exclaimed. "You guys may think that I'm capricious, but this time I *know* that I'm right! That music is the *God's Music*...it is not something that can be marketed! Now that it is in the hands of those avaricious, bumbling...network tycoons, who knows what they'll do with it?" she fretted.
"But we know *who made it*!" Keiichi argued. The he realized the ill-conditioned potentials...
"But, if word gets out that Cevn is the composer, we can forego having any privacy for the rest of our lives. I know what celebrity is all about after winning that Solar Car race. You all saw how it was driving me nuts! And last week when I was injured...the doctor who treated me at the hospital even asked for my autograph!" he explained.
"Yeah! I mean, why shouldn't I be a celebrity, ya know? That station got 1.5 million calls! And they played it only once! Obviously, the mortals like it," said an excited Urd. "Hmmm. Maybe I should tell them that *I* created it..."
"Don't you even think about it, Urd! Besides, you can't be a celebrity! It's against the GRO Code of Conduct!" an indignant Belldandy interrupted her. Keiichi's eyes went wide at Urd's pronouncement...and Bell-chan's passionate rebuttal.
"That's not simply fan appreciation, that's hysteria, Urd! And...think about Skuld! This would totally ruin her Earthrealm Trainee gig!" he clarified.
"We have to wait until Cevn gets here, and then tell him about this. It's ultimately his decision. He's the one who made the tape," Skuld noted, regarding the matter logically.
"You're beginning to sound too much like Belldandy, Skuld!" Urd remarked with feigned disgust. Actually, she was wiretight with pride in her little sister. Skuld had handled her license suspension in stride, much to everyone's surprise. Now, she was sounding the hearth of sensibility.
Turning to Keiichi, Urd grabbed a pillow and started mock-beating him playfully.
"How...could you lose that music pod, idiot!? *You're* the cause of all of this!" Keiichi raised his arms above his head to ward off the soft pillow blows. She pinned Keiichi down, and then she felt Skuld tackle her. Then Belldandy joined the fray and all of them were playfully wrestling around on the living room floor. Belldandy screamed with giggles as she sat on Keiichi, who then started tickling her in the ribs ceaselessly.
"Hey, what's gotten into you guys? You trying to gang up on Keiichi or something? He still has a *broken knee*, you goofballs! Or did you forget?" a male voice interrupted the fracas.
The four looked up to see Cevn standing in the doorway, his serious mien completely out of stroke with the situation.
"Hahahahahaha!" all four exploded with laughter, completely swallowed up by the risible incongruity of his interruption.
"What are you guys laughing at..." he exclaimed in confusion.
"You!!!" Urd yelled as she grabbed the nearest pillow and flung it at him. Keiichi followed suit and shouted, "There's the culprit!"
This served as a signal for the others, who bombarded Cevn with pillows, zabuton and tatami cushions.
"Hey! What is this about?" Urd floated up and tackled Cevn, much to the surprise of the other three.
"Get 'im!" she shouted as they all pounded him with whatever soft pillows or futon seats they could find.
Cevn felt an overwhelming panic as Urd tackled him. He was disoriented; amidst his confusion, images of sexual abuse and confinement steamrolled over his composure. He tried to fight these off and scrambled as Urd held him.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" he screamed hysterically, repeating his shouts until everyone pulled away from him. Belldandy felt Cevn's anxiety shoot through the roof and knew that something had snapped in the young man.
Urd stood up and brushed off her blouse.
"Sorry about that, Cevn. We were just trying to goof around. I guess I got kinda worked up. You'll know why in..."
"What is going on here? And why is Keiichi walking around like his knee isn't bothering him?" Cevn said as he sat up on the floor.
"*I* healed Keiichi this afternoon. I couldn't stand watching him struggle around the house with those...things he's using to move about. Besides, Urd had some good points last night...it just took me awhile to appreciate them," Belldandy answered. Urd nodded her head vigorously to affirm her role in Belldandy's decision.
"Well, why'd you guys wait until *after* he finished his finals, for crissakes? Do you have any idea how hard it must have been for Keiichi to study for his terms while confined to crutches?" Cevn offered irritably.
Everybody ignored his argument...Keiichi's return to health was now a moot point.
"That music pod thingy you gave Keiichi is now in the hands of the NHK. They plan to keep it and market it if they don't find out who is the owner in 90 days. And it's *already* been 60 days since the race!" Urd pronounced. She had that high pitched staccato voice that Japanese women attain to when they're ready to go 9.0 on the Richter scale.
"Urd!" Belldandy cautioned her older sister. She was worried that Urd was taking this much too seriously. But then, Urd was the most passionate of the three, not to mention she appreciated music the most.
"Cevn, since you are the composer, you should come forth and claim it," Skuld insisted. Keiichi elbowed Skuld in the ribs and shot her a narrow-eyed glance.
"If he does, he'll become a public figure, Skuld! Think about *that* for a minute!" He spoke even louder.
"Urd said that the TV talk show guy mentioned that NHK received 1.5 *million* calls in the hour after they played the tape. If you tell them that you made that music, Cevn, you'll never have any time for yourself. People are fanatic about that music."
Cevn looked at the four.
"I...I have to meditate on this one, guys." He walked out of the living room, leaving the Keiichi and the three Goddesses looking at each other with puzzled expressions.
"And Urd...turn that crappy talk show off!" Keiichi commanded in an irritated voice as the newscasters were gossiping about the latest were risqué J-pop music vids.

* * * * * * * *

I went back to my room. It felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. I couldn't even begin to comprehend the fact that the tape had elicited that kind of response.
I felt like a fly in a sandstorm.
"This is insane. What do I do?" My mind raced. Usually, I could flow into a meditative state within ten seconds of initiating zazen or whatever method I choose to use. But this time I couldn't stop thinking. The fact that the NHK had my little side-project music pod really worried me.
"Heresies in the mouths of saints can be accounted orthodoxy by the ignorant," I recalled from Rumi's "Masnavi".
"This...is...too...big!" I gasped aloud. My mind reeled, bulwarked by supposition. With a determined effort, I counted breaths for what seemed to be an eternity...and felt myself drawn into the void of meditation.
Rapt quietude.
Ex nihilo...a soulseed from which a series of thoughts wove themselves within my awareness. My emotional state danced from stillness to elation as a pathway revealed itself...
I knew in my heart that this would be the right thing to do. I felt that strange anomaly, the 'metallect', involved in all this. My thinking was augmented and my mind rehearsed solutions. A whole axis of solutions, actually.
I leafed through the Enigma Book, reading random snippets of the God's Language and Demon's Language portions, more so just to bolster my confidence. What I was guided towards...would involve a lot of work on my part. In fact, I would definitely need to ask Skuld and Urd for a heavy commitment of their time and energy.
I emerged from my room and joined the others for dinner.

* * * * * * * *

"You what?" Skuld said.
She couldn't believe her ears. It *was* possible, but it was a daunting request that Cevn had just made of her.
"Skuld...I really need your help on this. Please. You too Urd. The fact that you're a Sysop who worked on the Yggdrasil Mainframe lends itself well to what I'm planning to do."
Both Urd and Skuld looked at each other, as if to say, "you're asking me to have to work with *her*?".
"Are you sure that you've thought this through, Cevn?" Keiichi said with concern. He remembered back several months ago when he was the focus of a media blitzkrieg after winning the Solar Car competition.
"It is *no* fun being in the middle of the media fishbowl, let me assure you!" Keiichi reminded him.
"Keiichi dear, I think that what Cevn is planning to do is the best possible way to deal with this situation," Belldandy said calmly. Keiichi looked at his divine girlfriend. She had that innocent/naive smile on her face, with her hands crossed in front of her heart. This signaled him that she had already made her decision, and that he'd better go along or he would get a lecture from her.
"It's just like Bell-chan to keep a cool head while something really crazy is going on!" he said to himself.
Cevn had outlined his plan at the dinner table after they finished supper. Using an alias, he was going to contact NHK and identify himself as the composer. Then he was going to send 2 CDs with another 120 minutes of music each to verify that he had composed it. At this point, NHK was to cease and desist from any broadcasting of the music until further notice.
Then he asked Skuld and Urd to develop an unbreachable online system where all CD sales could be accounted. An anonymous Swiss bank account would be set up to tally all sales proceeds, which would then be directly donated to UNICEF, Greenpeace and other charities to alleviate poverty. He asked Skuld to design a ultra-mod stage show which could robotically give twelve public performances without human stage presence, using holographs and such to create a concert atmosphere. Concerts would be offered festival-style for free at venues like Nagano, Oahu, one on each coast of the US; and performances in Sydney, Beijing, Calcutta, Cairo, Paris, Belfast, Moscow, Berlin and concluding with an outdoor concert in Tokyo harbor. Cevn explained that this would verify the 'humanity' of the music. More importantly, public performance would serve to prevent the 'mythologizing' of the music by bridging the profane and the Divine.
Skuld was deeply concerned about the roadshow aspect.
"How could you do it? Wouldn't someone recognize you?" she asked.
"Not likely, if I wear a traditional Kabuki costume and Belldandy uses some kind of spell to make me look like a hologram or something. I'd really be here, playing the music in my hobby room. We can figure that out later."
"Besides the fact that you're an idiot for even thinking this up...Kabuki costumes?...God, you're so weird sometimes! How are we supposed to design a computer network to keep track of sales and distribute proceeds to all these different charities?" Urd asked. "After all, we only have human technology at our disposal. And besides, why shouldn't *we* get some money from sales? That money that came in his Enigma Book isn't going to last *forever*!"
"Remember one blinded guy whose eyesight you restored with *mere* human technology? Urd, I can see the soraban rattling off in your head, adding up piles of 10K yen notes. I'm sorry, but I will *not* allow any of the profits from this venture to go to me, you, or anyone else! This ability I seem to have...is nothing more than a gift. From where it comes from or why it is in me, I don't know. But somehow, I sense that it would be selfish, if not disastrous, to profit off of the God's Music!" Urd looked at Cevn, her face quivering with anger. "I don't *believe* you! I *refuse* to help someone who acts so damned sanctimonious and principled! You can find someone else to do it! Me, I *want* to be selfish! You know...live without regrets! What's wrong with that? Why can't you think of yourself once in a while? Why can't you think about *us*?" she argued.
"Urd...didn't you say that the God's Music shouldn't be marketed a little while back?" Keiichi countered. Urd ignored him completely.
"You could make a fortune off of this! But...no! Once more, you've proven yourself to have a totally narrow view of things! No wonder you don't have a girlfriend! You're still a loser in my book! No sane woman would want to be with you! How would you support her? You'd be giving her clothes away to the first person that asked for them...all for the sake of saying you're some kind of humanitarian! No! I won't have any of it! You're not getting any help from me!" Urd shouted, volatile as a cornered wolverine.
Cevn stood up, barely controlling his anger.
"Thanks a lot, Urd! Well so much for this idea...Urd's 'pas de resistance' just screwed the whole thing up! I might as well let NHK have it! They can sell it for whatever they want to and keep the money, so that a few stockholders can get even richer off of it. After all, it's only some trashy God's Music!"
"WHAT!!" Urd said as she raised her hand to slap Cevn. "Only some *trashy* music? How dare you..."
"*SHUT UP* you two!" Keiichi yelled, just as the crack of Urd's slapped punctuated the tense air at the dinner table. A moment of silence ensued. Belldandy and Skuld looked freaked out in response to Urd's lashout.
"God, if I didn't know better, you both act like husband and wife, you argue so much!" he added, clearly pissed off at the debacle unfolding in his home.
Urd got red faced and pointed at Cevn.
"Me and him? That retarded, idiotic, self-righteous, head-in-his-ass loser? No way!" Cevn heard this and stormed out of the room, walking down the hallway to his room. Belldandy looked at Keiichi and a silent thought passed between them. Wordlessly, he stood up and left to check on Cevn.

* * * * * * * *

"Urd! That was just a little extreme! Actually, that was *extremely* extreme! You actually slapped him!" Belldandy said in a barely-controlled voice, hoping to calm her older sister down.
"You don't think *he's* being a little extreme? He's asking me to *give* my valuable time and expertise *for free* so that he could go on some ego-inflating charity trip to help the poor and the sick! Why can't he just see that there's nothing anyone can do about their lot? He's so...messed up in the head. I despise him! I utterly despise him!"
"That's exactly why I *admire* him, Urd!" Belldandy said in a challenging tone. "He knows very well that he can't change things, but somehow in the process of surrendering to this truth, he finds the strength to *try*. Haven't you ever been in that situation?"
"That's stupid!" Urd shouted angrily.
"Yes, Big Sister has been in that situation. And we all know what she did...she just gave up!" shouted Skuld, who was almost ready to burst with anger at her pig-headed big sister. She pounded the table with her dainty gloved fists.
"Why...can't...you...see...the obvious!"
Urd flushed with anger, as Skuld had needled in to the heart of the matter.
More Goddess of the Past pain.
"Oooooo...just leave me *alone*!" she shouted, then flung herself down the hallway.

* * * * * * * *

Keiichi knocked on Cevn's door.
Despite the fact that there was no acknowledgment, he slid the door open. The lights were turned down low and he saw Cevn sitting cross-legged on his futon. He could hear sobbing.
"Why can't she try and see past her own nose! There's so much in the world that is screwed up. Somebody has to do something. Why is it always me! I'm getting so freakin' tired! What did I do wrong to deserve this? I get this gift of being able to make God's Music...and all I want to do is try and create some change. Some beauty. But all this craziness results! I could expect as much from humans...but can't *they* do something about it? Can't they make it better? They're *Goddesses*, dammit! Don't they see how this world is going down the shithole?"
"The only place where you were wrong...was in giving up too soon, Cevn!" Keiichi came in and sat down next to his friend.
"Of course Urd doesn't understand! Where she comes from, there is no drug abuse, starvation or violence. Well, I take that back...I imagine there is some violence when Urd is around..." Keiichi said, firmly into peacemaker-via-humor mode. Both men chuckled at this.
"Keiichi, when did *you* become so strong? I've seen you embrace a lot of self-confidence in the past several months I've been here," Cevn said, remembering his promise to Megumi about Keiichi.
Keiichi was stunned by Cevn's observation. He thought about it for a minute. "*It's true!*" he realized with a start.
"Well, I guess being around you has been an influence. Between Bell-chan, Skuld, Urd, Megumi and you, I have a lot of good sources to learn from."
"Keiichi, why can't I be in love?" Cevn asked. Keiichi thought this was an awkward question posed at an awkward time. Then it occurred to him that he had made a comment earlier about Cevn and Urd.
"Could it be..." he wondered privately.
"Look, I know that I can't have what you and Belldandy have, but maybe you could teach me how to let my guard down just a little around women," Cevn asked in a subdued voice.
"Well, I've seen you making progress too! Remember who was freaking out the first day he arrived in Japan? Look at you now! My little sister actually fashions you to be a close friend! And you seem to handle that pretty well!" he observed. Cevn looked at Keiichi and smiled.
"You're right! This plan I have...is going to happen whether Urd wants to help or not!" Cevn said with a resurgence of confidence.
They could hear yelling in the dining room as the three sisters were in a heated sibling rivalry free-for-all.
"Well, maybe not tonight, Cevn!" Keiichi said with a laugh as he pointed his thumb at the source of the shouting coming through the wall.

* * * * * * * *

Breakfast the next day was cast in grays of somber. Belldandy looked exhausted, as the arguing in the "Women's Dorm", as Keiichi sometimes called their room, had continued late into the night. Skuld was red-eyed from shouting and Urd was hoarse.
Keiichi tried to cheer everyone up, but his efforts fell short.
When Cevn walked out into the dining room, Urd unexpectedly exploded with hostility.
"You should have never come to Japan with us! I thoroughly regret the day that the Almighty sent me to grant you your dumb wish. If *my* wish had been granted, it would have been to have never set eyes on you! After I go as far as to restore your eyesight, try to be your friend, and treat you with some sense of accommodation, you try to take advantage of me...
"Urd!" Belldandy shouted.
"You are the most pitiful, lamest mortal I have ever met! You don't deserve to lick the ground we walk on here! I just wish you'd go away. No woman could ever bring herself to love you...because you are so unloving! You deserve every horrible thing that has happened to you...every failure...every bit of misery!" she yelled, her anger already piercing the roof.
"Urd! Stop it!" Skuld yelled, startled into tears.
"You're only good for ruining people's lives! Don't ruin ours too! Begone! GET OUT OF MY LIFE! LEAVE MY SISTERS ALONE! NOBODY WANTS YOU AROUND HERE! DON'T YOU GET IT? GET THE HELL OUT!!! GO ON, GET LOST, YOU LOSER! JUST....GO!!!!"
Cevn turned around and walked out the front door without a word. Belldandy looked at Urd in disbelief and anger. Skuld glared at Urd with malice and Keiichi was momentarily wide-eyed and tonguebound.
"I...can't believe you said that, Urd!" was all that Belldandy could say before she stood up and walked down the hallway in tears. Keiichi went after her, casting a backwards glance at Urd which seemed to say "now look what you've done!"
Urd looked at her youngest sister for a reaction.
"I have *nothing* to say to you, icchi-baka!" Skuld shouted icily, then stood up and walked away.
Urd sat there at the table by herself. Skuld had just called her a "first class fool"...and she let her get away with it! Urd knew that she was upset at Cevn, but was surprised at the vehemence of what she just said.
"There's something wrong with me. I didn't like his suggestion, but I shouldn't be *this* angry with him." Then a bolt of red rage filled her mind and heart and she envisioned Cevn suffering in the deepest hell of her imagination.

* * * * * * * *

"Keiichi, there's...snff...something wrong with Urd!" Belldandy concluded. She had been crying because she realized that even Urd at her most bitchy mood would never say things like what she said to Cevn. The force of Urd's hatred was overwhelming...and repellent.
"I know, but I don't know what's causing it. She is almost as mad as Mara gets when..." Keiichi answered haltingly.
The two exchanged a glance.
"Keiichi, do you think that Mara has found some way to manipulate Urd? Like she did with the 'Demon Sake' when Cevn first moved here?"
"That's gotta be it!" he said excitedly.
"But...that creates a problem for us. Now that I'm the only one with powers, I have to decide between searching for Mara or protecting our house. Urd and Skuld can't be of any help. Urd barely has any powers as an Earth Spirit Grade, and Skuld has no powers. What do I do, dear?" Belldandy said, looking at him searchingly.
Keiichi was bothered by the options, or lack thereof. Either choice left them vulnerable in some way. But it was a fact that Urd had already showed signs indicating possible interference by Mara. In his mind, this was the lead that they had to pursue. It was a simple case of the possible against the evident. But where to look? The house was somewhat protected by Banpei. Yet, Mara could be anywhere. So, it made sense to look in the house first, then in the vicinity of their temple compound.
Sense...is non-sense when dealing with a Demon. This was the first thing Bell-chan had taught him, after Mara's first intrusion into their lives. Unexpect, rather than expect.
"Bell-chan, since Mara *may* be behind Urd's strange behavior, we need to check up on that. Which means that you need to go out and try and see what is causing Urd to act so aggressively."
Belldandy looked at her boyfriend with a resigned expression. "That's what I thought you would say, darling!" Keiichi pricked his ears up when he heard Belldandy address him with the Western word "darling" for the first time. He smiled sheepishly; Belldandy happily hugged him when she saw that he was warmfuzzied by her remark.
"I'm going to look outside for any sign of Mara," She put two fingers from each hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. There was a low-level indication of Mara's presence, inside the temple. Belldandy disregarded the red aura, as it seemed to resonate from Urd.
"She's not here, there's only an echo of her former presence. Since she was just here, she must be nearby! I'll only be gone for a little while," she announced.
"You take care of things here, Keiichi-darling!" she cautioned, kissing him on the lips. Keiichi drew her into his arms and hugged her dearly.
Then she reluctantly unhugged him and shifted into her stealth form before flying off.

* * * * * * * *

Everyone was gone, or locked in her room, as in the case with Skuld and Urd. Cevn had left the compound for parts unknown. Keiichi noted the menacing look that Skuld shot Urd right before he left the dining room to check on Bell-chan. There was no way either of them would come out of their hobby rooms at the same time.
Keiichi felt stressed out. He walked over to the arcade game and laid his racing jacket alongside it, then climbed carefully into the cockpit of the game.
"After all, my left knee is still pretty weakened after Bell healed it...which means that I better use my right foot only for the gas and brake pedals." He definitely had a case of the 'racing jones'. Keiichi smiled...he had been through a trying past two days. Stress relief was just a moment away! He started up the game and selected the Johannesburg Rally. He started out at the back of the pack and passed several cars right away.
"Why does this game *always* start me out at the back of the pack?" he wondered, his sensibilities provoked. Keiichi felt a surge of adrenaline as he passed car after car and drove out into the countryside. They reached the turnaround point and Keiichi found himself heading back into the urban area with only one car ahead of him. The car ahead seemed to anticipate his every attempt to pass.
"Dammit, I'm going to win this game just *once*!" he shouted as he saw the finish line draw near. Suddenly he saw an chance opening on the left. Yelling "chance!", he darted out and back in, then exalted in the rush of being in first place. No one in front of him!
"I'm going to beat it this time!!!" he shouted with joy. A moment later he flashed through the finish line. He could hear a rousing cheer roaring all around him as he finished.
"I WON! I finally freakin' won!" he shouted exuberantly, pumping his fists in the air. He felt disoriented with victory-bliss, as the game's sound seemed to come from all corners.
"This surround sound must be a special feature the game has when someone wins," he thought. "This is totally awesome! It's almost *real*!" He stepped out of his car to see a huge throng of spectators.
A few seconds later, he noticed something was wrong.
"How could the crowd be all around me? Did I just step out of my car?" He looked around and saw several other cars, tall city buildings, a crowd lining the streets and a tower right next to the finish line. In *all* directions! Then he looked at the black and white banner suspended over the finish line and his blood ran frigid.

"Demon Rally"

The second place car pulled up next to him. A figure dressed in red coveralls with a red-flamed white helmet pulled itself out of the cockpit of the other racer. Keiichi looked down at himself...and saw that he was dressed in his Nekomi Tech. racing coveralls.
"Oh...Shit!!!" he said in a voice filled with distress and apprehension.
The other racer unstrapped her racing helmet...Keiichi gasped as he saw impossibly curly wisps of straw-blonde platinum hair with red highlights pile out of the helmet and fall generously down her back. She turned, smiling at him with twinned fangs and red eyes.
"Congratulations on winning the *Demon Rally*, Keiichi!" Mara announced with an evil glint in her eye.

* * * * * * * *

Urd peeked out of her Urd's Castle room to see if Skuld was in the hallway.
"Ah, good...the little nuisance is nowhere to be seen!" she said in a low voice. Relieved, she walked out into the dining room. She decided to seek refuge in a bottle of sake.
"Cripes, I've had a hard day today!" she said as she uncorked the bottle and took a hefty swig. She looked over at the arcade game and was struck by the notion that at least she could get away with some drunk driving while playing the game.
"This way, I wouldn't even get arrested...and besides, I could escape this crazy nut heap!"
She saw Keiichi's jacket lying next to the game.
"Why is *that* here? It's a hot summer day...he must have gone somewhere on foot," she thought worriedly. "Oh well..."
She climbed in the game and pressed the start button. In a rich display of computer graphics, the title "Demon Rally" came up. Urd reacted to the new display with surprise. Then Mara's face burst through the title graphics, frightening her to a flinch.
"Urd!!! Of all the people that could have played this game, it's you! I must really thank you for your cooperation," the Demoness shouted gleefully.
"Mara, what the hell are you doing in this game? If you've hurt anyone..." Urd said with anger. She stopped herself as she realized that Mara *was in the arcade game*. Her face was a picture of astonishment.
Mara saw Urd's face turn white with shock and burst out laughing.
"This is totally fresh!" Mara thought. It was a delicious irony that Urd came to play the game right after she stole Keiichi away...especially since it was Urd whose feelings she manipulated in her plot to get Belldandy out of the house.
"Haw nyha hhha heee ha aha ha!" she laughed in her most obnoxious laugh. Urd gritted her teeth and threatened to blow up the arcade game with Mara in it.
"Urd, don't give me that! You and I *both* know that you're on an Earth Spirit Grade restriction. You're weaker than weak...almost as weak as a mortal, hee hee. You may have fooled me once with your show of bravado when you rescued Skuld and the worthless Demon-mortal, but now you're powerless...and I *know* it."
Mara watched in the monitor as Urd blanched even more. She could see fear and anxiety in Urd's green eyes and decided to go for the throat.
"Urd, you made such a good puppet. When Cevn asked you to help him, *I* created your anger towards him. When you saw him this morning, *I* made you speak to him with utter acerbicity. You did well; you were so mean...that he walked out. Ha haha...being a weak-willed mortal; he fell right for it. He must think that you really don't like him...in fact, he probably thinks you *hate* him with a passion, now. Curious, isn't it? Didn't you find it strange that Cevn didn't even question whether you were really angry with at him, he just accepted your fit of rage as *genuine*!"
Urd heard these cutting remarks and a tear came to her eyes. "Cevn didn't even question...when I cursed him out this morning!" she thought sadly. "No wonder he's afraid of me."
Mara read Urd's weakening expression and continued.
"Yes, Urd. Your tongue is always ready to kindle rashness from which there is no extrication! Because you always treat people poorly, they just *expect* you to be cruel and unkind!" Mara watched with a predator's smile as Urd shook her head "no" vigorously.
"Heh heh ha! You can deny it all you want, but it's *true*! By the way, I have someone here who you should meet," On the screen, Mara roughly grabbed a camera from a nearby newsman and walked towards a car.
Urd watched in disbelief as the video game screen closed up on a racer that said Nekomi Tech. on the side. Then her view panned up and she saw *Keiichi* struggling frantically, scared out of his wits. He was inside the car, somehow chained to the seat by rusty shackles.
"Oh..My..Lord! Keiichi's *inside* the game!" she realized, her nerves clinched with fugue. Mara saw Urd's face register a wide-eyed swabble when she saw Keiichi.
"He can't hear or see you, but oh yes, he does know that he's inside my video game."
"Mara, when Belldandy finds out, she'll..."
"She'll what? Urd, *I* have Keiichi here with me! Your sister tries anything...and I'll blow up this arcade game...and her dear Keiichi with it!" Mara said with morbid seriousness. A spherical black bomb, mockingly crafted after something from an American cartoon, materialized in her hand. It had "Mara's Bomb" whitepainted on it.
"This is so rich! I use you to chase Cevn out of the house with an outlandish personality attack. This arouses suspicion in Belldandy, who thinks that I'm responsible for it. Belldandy leaves to find me, when actually I've been *inside* the house...in this game all along! Keiichi decides to play the game while she's away, so it's easy for me to use a matter transport to suck him here inside of the game. You and Skuld have no powers to speak of, so you can't stop me or even detect me!" she recapped.
Urd was gripped by how powerless she was over Mara's treachery. She vacillated between fear...and anger towards her own impotency.
"What are you going to do with Keiichi?" she asked.
"Hmmm, I think *that* will wait until Megumi shows up. I owe that girl some *major pain* for screwing up the last time I possessed her!" Mara said with a malicious grin.
"Now get lost, Urd. Shooo!" Mara said as she waived her hand and the video screen went dead.
Urd staggered out of the arcade machine and collapsed on her hands and knees on the floor, still numb with shock. She saw the sake bottle and heaved it out the front door.

* * * * * * * *

Belldandy sensed that something was amiss the moment she returned and saw the bottle in the lawn. Solidifying, she dashed into the living room. Urd was seated next to the arcade game with an expression of shock and defeat written all over her face, clutching Keiichi's racing jacket to her breast.
Panic welled up in Belldandy's heart.
"Where's Keiichi!?" she said worriedly. Urd pointed at the game and Belldandy felt a sense of relief. But why were Urd's cheeks wet with tears? She looked inside the game and didn't see him. She kneeled next to Urd and shouted, "WHERE IS HE, URD?!"
Urd looked at Belldandy with tears rimming her eyelashes.
"He's...*inside* of the game. Mara...captured him!" she stammered, looking at Belldandy with a shamefaced expression.
"WHAT!!!"
Urd related to Belldandy everything that Mara told her. About how Mara had used Urd to create enough discord in the house to draw Belldandy into a suspicious frame of mind. How Keiichi had been an easy target to draw inside the game while Belldandy went looking for Mara. Urd believed it was all her own fault.
Belldandy collapsed next to Urd. She felt overwhelmed with guilt.
"O..oh my! I should have *never* left the house...I should have never left him alone!" she said tearfully. Urd reached over and held her sister as Belldandy cried into her shoulder.
"It's the result of my haste, Urd!" she said as she pounded her fists against the arcade game.
"You better not break this game if you ever want to see your dear little Keiichi alive again!" the game said in a mechanical simulation of Mara's voice.
"Mara! You give Keiichi back *right now* or I'll..." Belldandy said in an ominous tone of voice that even made Urd flinch.
"Or you'll do what? Hahahah..you can't do a thing, little Miss Perfect! In order to get to me, you'll have to come inside this video racing game. If you do, I'll destroy it and Keiichi. I've *sealed* him in here. The only way you will ever see him alive again is to do exactly what I say. If you do, then you have my word as a Demoness that I'll let him out of this game. But it's not likely he'll be in one piece!"
"What do we have to do, Mara?" Belldandy sighed with defeat.
"It's actually what Megumi has to do. All that little mortal bitch has to do is..."

* * * * * * * *

I was wandering endlessly around downtown Makuhari. Each one of Urd's words scathed painfully and deeply into my heart. I just had to get away from her. From them.
Maybe she was right. Maybe I had brought more trouble than good. Maybe I should just pack up and go. I was going to China on July 8th...perhaps I should get an earlier flight.
I walked around looking for a ticket agent or a travel shop. I didn't find anything, so I just wandered aimlessly. My feelings ditched themselves in reaction to what had just happened. I felt like all of the justifications for my avoidance of women had manifested in the remarks Urd had said this morning. I was just starting to finally feel comfortable around her and the other women, which made the experience even more painful. More betrayal.
"Cevn!"
I looked in the direction of the shout and saw Megumi and Sora waving to me through a window. They were at the Hasegawa Ramen Shop eating lunch. I just kept walking, hoping they would lose interest. But I heard footsteps, and watched Megumi and Sora race up behind me and step alongside me.
"What is the matter with you? I say 'hi' and you just ignore me?" Megumi asked, seemingly insulted. Then she saw the despair on my face; I was almost ready to cry.
"Hey, what happened, Cevn!" she asked, her face filled with concern. I turned to look at her...my expression seemed to scare her for a moment. Then, I guess she drew upon the bosom of feminine intuition...and made one of those crazy decisions only women can make.
She smiled charmingly at me.
"That's it! I'm buying you some lunch and you're *not* going to refuse!" By this time, Sora was walking on the other side of me. Each girl grabbed an arm and swung me in a 180-degree circle towards the the Hasegawa restaurant.
Inside, I sat across from two very concerned-looking college students.
"You're friend doesn't look too good! I think he needs some of our special gyoza!" Mrs. Hasegawa observed. A couple of minutes later, she came back with a plateful of gyoza. A dozen gyoza arranged in a smiley face grinned back at me. I couldn't help but feel cheered at this.
"Gets them every time," Sora and her mother both said. I looked at the two generations of petite Hasegawa women with gratitude.
Ordering fried soba noodles and chicken, I explained the scenario from this morning. I couldn't disclose the whole thing about the God's Music and how Urd so vociferously disagreed with my plans on how to deal with the situation. But I drew the point across that Urd had verbally tore me apart. Megumi looked astonished...then her face took on an angry mien.
"That's a little too over the edge, even for Urd!" Sora said.
"When we're done here, I'm going right home and give her an earful! You're *not* any of those things she said, Cevn-sensei!" an angry Megumi said with determination.
After finishing, we left to go home. Megumi dropped Sora off at her house and we drove silently to the temple compound. I was fearful that Megumi would just set Urd off even more and I voiced my concerns about this point. Megumi was locked into a resentment autopilot; she ignored my caveats. I could understand her loyalty; after all, the intervention I orchestrated with Sayoko had gone beautifully, which gave Megumi some freedom to hang out with Genji. The Noh theatre thing...well let's just say it provided some romantic inspiration to her and Genji.
We arrived at the house and Megumi literally leapt out of the car and stalked to the porch. Once inside, I saw Urd and Belldandy looking very downcast.
"This is curious," I thought.
Urd looked at me with sorrowful eyes, then hid her face behind her hands.

* * * * * * * *

"Urd, I'm really pissed at how you've been treating Cevn..." Megumi started.
"Megumi, it wasn't Urd who was doing it...she was under some kind of mind control by Mara!" Belldandy interrupted. Megumi felt an icy feeling run down her backbone. In a flash, she recalled vividly the time Mara had possessed her and tried to use her to separate Keiichi and Belldandy. Her anger defused, she apologized to Urd.
Urd looked at Cevn, remorse filling her aquiline eyes.
"Cevn, I'm so sorry. I would have never said those things if it weren't for Mara..." She looked down at the floor again.
Cevn examined her face closely. Urd seemed to be completely sincere. But he was still too grimed from the flames of her remarks to offer anything more than a brief thanks.
But then he fought with his instincts. He realized that she was more upset them he was, so he kneeled down beside Urd and offered her a hug. Urd looked at him in absolute astonishment, then buried her face in his shoulder saying, "I'm sorry I lost Keiichi!" over and over again. Belldandy watched her sister, then turned her attention to Megumi, fixing her with beseeching eyes.
"Megumi...we need your help! Mara has abducted Keiichi...and he's *inside* of the racing arcade game. She refuses to release him unless you do whatever she says!"
"ME?" Megumi's questioned, her eyes growing wide at this. Mara was way out of her league. Her anxiety leapt and she fought an impulse to run out the front door.
"Megumi...I want you to sit down inside of the arcade game." She shook her head to clear her senses...it was *Mara's* voice coming from the video game.
"You better do what she says if you want to see your brother again," Urd said in an effort to focus Megumi, noticing that the mortal girl was scared out of her wits.
"Get *in* the game, Megumi! NOW!!!" the voice commanded. Megumi reluctantly climbed into the mock racing cockpit. A moment later, an arcade startup graphic announced "Demon Rally" in brilliant lettering, then faded as Mara's face appeared on the screen.
"Ahhhh, Megumi! So at last you're here! Welcome to the Demon Rally! Today's course is the Indianapolis 5000! You will be racing car #13. By the way, the driver of car #13 is Keiichi Morisato," she announced arrogantly. Megumi gulped a gasping breath as she saw her brother inside of the racing car. He was strapped in the driver's seat like a test dummy, his panicked eyes darting back and forth anxiously.
"Don't fret...he's only a passenger. Only luggage. You're the driver in this race!" She switched to a casual detached voice and continued.
"By the way Megumi, you *do* know that video games always have lots of crashes? Like when the car hits the retaining wall and bounces around and stuff? Well anyway, in *this* game...if you crash your car, the result will be like a real-life crash. In other words, if you crash...you're brother will feel the results, hee hee!"
Megumi almost fainted from shock when she heard this.
"Why...me, Mara?" she asked meekly. Mara's resentful expression filled the screen.
"Because you ruined my attempt to split up Keiichi and that do-gooder girlfriend of his, Belldandy...who happens to be my chief rival and bane! Because you made a fool of me when I turned you into a car. Because I want to see you vexed for the rest of your miserable life, knowing that *you* killed your own brother! Bwa haha ha hawh!"
"Mara, you promised that you would give Megumi a chance to save Keiichi," Belldandy interjected. "You know the Rules, Mara!"
Megumi saw Mara's face break into a scowl at that remark.
"Yeah...yeah! The blessed Rules! Errrggh! Okay...all Megumi has to do is finish the race without crashing Keiichi's car. If she can do this, then I'll set him free."
"What race? What do I have to do?" Megumi said anxiously.
"You just have to finish the Indianapolis 5000!" Mara said matter-of-factly.
Megumi steeled herself.
"I can do this! I'm not a race driver like Keiichi, but if..." she said aloud until Cevn interrupted her, worry written on his face.
"Megumi, if I heard her right...Mara said *5000*, not 500. A 500-mile race takes about 3-4 hours. She wants you to drive ten times that distance. That's anywhere from 30-40 hours!"
He addressed the arcade machine.
"Mara, since Megumi has to remain in this arcade game thing for two days, can you give her an hour to get ready? Also...what about bathroom breaks? And she'll need to eat and brush her teeth and..."
"Hmmm, okay! She'll be awarded pitstops y'know. They're programmed into the game, despite my best efforts to remove them! Plus, I'll charitably give her half an hour, out of respect to the Demonic part of you, little mortal."
"He's *not* a Demon!" Urd shouted. "*I'm* part Demon..."
"Okay...an hour since you're part Demon too, Urd. By the way, thanks for making this whole scenario possible, Norn of the loveless Past!" Urd winced at Mara's words, then stormed off sobbing hysterically.
"What did she mean! What did she say that upset Urd so much?" Cevn asked. Belldandy felt fallow for her older sister, who had just endured the deepest cut anyone could verbally score on her. Ignoring Cevn's question, she pulled Megumi aside.
"We've got to get you ready!" Skuld yelled. She had listened to the whole exchange in disbelief. Standing in the hallway, she was stopped short in her tracks when she heard Keiichi had been pulled into the arcade game by Mara. At first she was worried that *she* would be pulled in too, like the time Demon Urd imprisoned her in the mystic mirror. Her superstitious side bested her at first. Then all of her anger towards Urd was redirected to Mara. She had overheard that Megumi had to play/drive the arcade game for two days without sleep. Knowing what she knew about mortals, Skuld quickly calculated that this would stretch Megumi beyond her physical and mental capacities of endurance. Yet, Skuld knew that if she was in Megumi's place and Urd or Belldandy were in Keiichi's place, she would be able to stretch herself beyond her own limitations.

* * * * * * * *

Urd's vision was blurry with tears. Her heart pounded against her chest, and she felt like she wanted to rip it out. She wished she didn't have a heart. Mara's comment had been deliberately callous.
"I'm going to get you for that, Mara!" she thought. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She looked around her laboratory, fetching all sorts of elixirs, and started busily mixing chemicals and potions with a practiced hand.

* * * * * * * *

Belldandy was fixing several packs of bento dinners while Megumi ate a large meal. Cevn had grabbed several water bottles around the house and filled them with water and put them in the refrigerator.
"Here's what we'll do, Megumi. I'll bring you my best cooking every eight hours...and I'll feed you myself. All you have to do is keep your attention on your driving. Cevn will give you water. To signal that you want water, just tap on the steering wheel twice with your hand," Belldandy said.
"I'll go make up some iced coffee and some soda, so you have other things to drink. Tap three times if you want any of those. I'm going to stay up all night with you, Belldandy and Skuld. Together, we'll keep you awake!" Cevn added.
Skuld clamped two small devices on Megumi's arms, then two more around her calves.
"These are GABAtronic Musclestators. They'll keep your muscles relaxed, so that you won't get any cramps or stiffening in your arms or legs."
Urd ran back into the room, out of breath. She saw Skuld and warily backed away. Skuld stood up and rushed into her sister's arms.
"Big Sister, I'm so sorry! I didn't suspect that it was Mara who was making you act so mean! I love you!" Urd smiled at her younger sister and patted her on the head, then hugged her tightly.
"I love you too, Skuld!"
Urd smiled deviously for effect.
"I made a special pill for you, Megumi. Take one of these and you won't fall asleep for at least two days. It will take away any drowsiness for lack of sleep. Also, it will keep you alert...as a matter of fact, it will heighten your alertness by 400 percent!" Everybody looked at Urd in sincere amazement and gratitude. Urd beamed under the attention like a diamond under a bright light.
"Thank you, thank you!" she said in a mock-emcee voice.
"Urd, you better not let anyone outside of this house get a hold of that stuff, or else the crack epidemic of the 80s is going to look very minor league in comparison. What you've created is every speed freak's dream drug!" Cevn said warningly.
"You *always* have to spoil the fun!" Urd shot back to him. She saw Cevn's face fall from excitement to sadness.
"Oops!" she thought to herself.
"Hey, that *is* a good point, Cevn. Someone's got to think about those things...you know me, all impulsive and such!" Skuld and Belldandy both turned to Urd with their mouths open in shock...they had never heard Urd make this kind of admission before!
"Cevn sure has some kind of effect on Urd sometimes, doesn't he?" Belldandy whispered to Skuld behind a hand. Skuld nodded her head and sniggled. Megumi smiled at Urd.
"She *likes* him," Megumi realized in a sudden flash of feminine insight, then started laughing.
"What are you guys laughing at?" Urd asked, suddenly self-conscious.
"Look who's spoiling the fun now, being all serious and stuff! TouchT!" Cevn shot back. Skuld, Belldandy and Megumi burst out into howling laughter at this, while Urd had a quizzical expression on their face.
Cevn looked nervous at the intensity of their reaction to his taunting of Urd.
"Urd, that's fabulous!" Belldandy finally managed in between laughs.
Urd looked at all of them, then shot her arm in the air.
"The Goddess Urd saves the day again!" Everybody applauded her, which made Urd feel reprieved from the guilt she had felt earlier in the day.
Megumi held out her hand. "Down the hatch!" she said as she swallowed a gulp of water to wash down Urd's pill. A moment later, her senses seemed to *clarify*. She could hear birdsong outside, the breathing of everyone in the room, the spiders in the corner of the living room, the rustling of summer leaves. Her attention seemed ultra-focused and her body felt tingly with energy.
"Waaahhhhh!" she gasped. Urd nodded her head in approval. Skuld activated the bangle-like clamps on her arms and legs and Megumi felt a soothing feeling underlying her body's charged state. Her panicked thoughts became calmer, more relaxed as her body felt the effect of Skuld's mechas. She sighed with joyful relaxation as she climbed into the arcade game.

* * * * * * * *

Megumi steeled herself for the upcoming race.
"This is going to be a breeze!" she said happily.
"No, it's not! You're just feeling the initial rush of whatever it is that Urd gave you," Cevn countered.
Urd and Belldandy stood on either side of Megumi. Belldandy was incredibly nervous...the life of her true love was in Megumi's hands. Urd felt her sister's anxiety, coupled with Megumi's fear. She looked at the clock on the living room wall.
"You have five minutes left. Can we do anything?"
Skuld showed up with a spray bottle.
"Skuld's super-clean glass and metal cleaner!" she announced as she wiped down the video screen. She looked at the display and saw Mara pacing to and fro, dressed in one of those sickening BDSM-type sleaze-outfits she liked to wear.
"Good thing it's Megumi driving...a *man* would get distracted in an instant!" Skuld remarked in a voice soured with sarcasm. With her glass cleaner, she effectively prevented anything from obscuring the display.
"She's so thoughtful," Belldandy observed. Once more, she looked on approvingly as Skuld did a kindness on her own initiative.
"Kinda makes you sick, don't it?" Urd said as she nudged Belldandy with her shoulder, reading her sister's mind about Skuld. "Actually, she really is turning out great. I'm totally proud of her. Even if she is a brat!"
"Urd!" Belldandy admonished. Urd had never seen Bell so distraught before. The stakes in this race were very high. Urd noted that nothing less than Belldandy's love was on the line. If they lost Keiichi...she would be heartbroken.
"And Mara will be on Death Row," Urd swore on her heart.
Belldandy was almost paralyzed. She had never come this close to losing Keiichi. She was totally helpless. Well, maybe not *totally* powerless. She had managed to tweak the circumstances with a low-level spell...that should help Megumi immensely.
Megumi looked at her.
"I know, I know. I'll bring him back safe and sound for you. After all, we've got the same blood coursing through our veins...I must have inherited some of his driving skills!"
Belldandy looked at Megumi with her soft azure eyes. This mortal girl was all that stood between Keiichi and death. She leaned down into the arcade game cockpit and looked at Megumi.
"No matter what, Megumi-chan, I will always love you. Please, please be careful!" she said, then kissed Megumi on the forehead.
Megumi had never seen a pleading look as heart-rending as the one she saw in Bell's eyes. It unnerved her to see this powerful being, this *Goddess*, pleading with her. She cursed Mara once again, just as the starting sequence for the game began.
With a synthesized gunfire, the race began.
Megumi immediately became irritated with the arcade game soundtrack playing in the background.
"Can't you turn that crappy music off!" she shouted.
"No way...it's part of the game, y'know." Mara snapped back.
"Great...40 hours of this tacky adolescent testosterone rave music playing in my head!" She felt disoriented enough already.
Megumi looked carefully at her indicators...she was only driving 120 kph. The steering column was on the wrong side. It was just like an American car...steering on the left side instead of the driver's side where it belonged. The accelerator pedal wasn't light to the touch like in her own car. The brakes were super-touchy. Her disorientation was beginning to grate on her nerves. Everything was screwed up about this!
Racecars had already lapped her and were whizzing by. She looked out the rear view mirror and saw a pace car with red flames tailgating her.
"No loafing! You're really going to have to drive faster, or I'll rear-end you!" Mara threatened. She drove up and banged Megumi's car lightly in the bumper to accentuate her threat.
"Get going!" Mara yelled.
Megumi cautiously pushed the accelerator pedal down. 160...170...180...190kph. It was *way too fast*! She had never driven this fast in real life. The blurring of her surroundings, the streaming of the road pointing at her, the sheer *speed* of it...all were contributing to a rising panic. She bit her tongue hard to settle herself down; tasting blood in her mouth, she felt like her car was going to careen out of control any moment.
"I can't do this!" she screamed, blinking back tears of frustration. Visions of her brother getting killed filled her mind.
"Ha hahhaaa ha! Faster, Megumi! You have to be doing *270* to even stand a chance of finishing within the time limit!"
"Time limit? You never said anything about a damned time limit Mara!"
"What do you take me for, Megumi? If there was no time limit, then all you would have to do is pull your car over and sit out the race until someone does the 2000 laps. Noooo way shojo! *You* have to finish the race, and in good time. Otherwise it's curtains for your pesky brother and heartbreak for Belldandy! Happy motoring!" Mara said.
Belldandy heard this and started shaking with fear. It was almost heartrending when she heard Megumi's cry of frustration. But this was too much. She felt Megumi's genuine fear and knew that there was no way Megumi could pull this off.
Megumi responded to Mara's challenge by throwing down the gauntlet. She stepped on the accelerator...200...210...220...230. At 240 kph, she felt like the car was taking on a life of its own. Again, fear welled up...turning into panic.
"This is...*insane*!" she thought. She felt a newfound respect for her brother, who routinely drove at high speeds for their beloved N.I.T. Motor Club. The way Keiichi raced, it seemed so automatic. Especially since he hadn't lost an official race in almost four years at N.I.T. He rode this fast...on motorcycles. Megumi could ride fast too, at least as fast as her 80cc KSR could go. In fact she was the Queen of Racing after inadvertently defeating the self-styled "Racing Queen" last year.
But Keiichi...the whole Motor Club took his skills for granted. Including his younger sister.
"How can he do this?" she wondered. Megumi could really sense the hairtight realities of *real* high speed racing. She rounded a turn and gripped the steering wheel tightly, almost clipping the wall.
"This...is too fast! I can't...oh God...I can't..." she wailed in dismay.
"<Megumi. Listen to me. It's okay...you'll get used to it after a few more laps. Then you can drive even faster. I'll be there with you every step of the way!>"
"KEIICHI?" Megumi gave a start as she heard Keiichi's calming voice in her head.
"Is...is that really you, Keiichi?"
"<Yep. But don't mention my name out loud any more! This is Belldandy's little 'tweak'! Bell-chan set up a little surprise for Mara. It's not much, but it'll give us an edge. Mara doesn't know that we can talk like this; that's why I said not to talk out loud to me.>"
Megumi already felt some of her nervousness dissipating, even as sweat started to form beads on her forehead. She felt a cool towel brush her forehand and caught a worried Belldandy standing next to her.
"<When you get to the turns, sis, slow down just a tad and try and hang onto the outside lanes. Then right before the straightaway, accelerate. Most of the collisions will occur on the inside lane during the turns. Keep clear of those. I think that the other drivers will respond like real racecar drivers...so avoid tight situations. We have plenty of time!>" the calming voice explained. Megumi visibly relaxed and smiled.
"Thanks, Belldandy," Megumi said out loud.
"Thanks for what? What are you thanking her for, Megumi?" an irritated Mara said in a suspicious voice over the arcade game speakers.
Belldandy sighed a little sigh of relief. She smiled at Urd. "It looks like my little spell seems to be working," she whispered into Skuld's ear. Skuld nodded with glee, then went over and told Urd. Urd finally told Cevn. The whispered knowledge made all three feel much more relaxed. Belldandy had an innocent grin on her face, the first time she had smiled since the race started.
Megumi drove on autopilot. After what seemed like an eternity, she looked at the race monitor...only 23 laps! But Keiichi was right, she *was* getting used to the higher speed.

* * * * * * * *

About 2 hours into the race, Megumi saw an indicator light go off on her driver's console. A bright yellow light blinked "Low on Fuel" over and over.
"Now what?" Megumi thought. She had just mentally filtered out the repetitious arcade game soundtrack...and now this.
After two more laps, a red light came on. Megumi glanced at this new irritation, which read "Pit Stop". As she flew by the straightaway, a group of coveralled men waved at her racer.
"Hmmmm, I wonder...."
The next lap, she slowed down and headed for the inside lane after the turn. She braked her car and drove into the pit stop.
She heard a knocking on the screen, which jerked her back into the reality that this was a video game. The view turned left to her driver's side window. On the screen, the window seemed to roll down on its own.
"Whaddya waitin' for! Yuh're almost outta gas, girl! Don't yuh know that we're all here for yuh, Megumi! Yuh're doin' fine, yuh have five minutes before we're done to do whatevah yuh want! By the way...go pee if ya havta in da portasan! Dis' is your bathroom break too, y'know," Tamiya bellowed.
"What!" Megumi shouted, Keiichi's voice echoing hers in her mind. After a flush of embarrassment settled in at Tamiya's remarks about the "bathroom break", she looked behind Tamiya to see Ootaki. Ootaki was dressed like a gas station attendant, wearing a racing cap. Megumi heard riotous laughter in her mind as Ootaki smiled and tipped his cap to her while he was pumping gas into her racecar.
"<He would never wear something like *that* in real life! Does this game has a great sense of humor? Or is it Bell-chan? Only Kikaida knows!>" Keiichi's thoughts flashed in her mind.
Recognition dawned on Megumi as she saw Sora and the rest. Her heart gave pause when she noticed Genji. He waved and blew her a kiss, and she blushed.
"<Belldandy must have made sure that the whole team is here for us. That's not really them, but it sure adds some realism to this.>" Keiichi explained.
"<I hope it's not really them, or we're going to have some major explaining to do!>" Megumi replied, causing Keiichi's voice to ring laughter in her mind.
Belldandy overheard Megumi talking to herself about the other one of her little 'surprises'.
"Whew! Glad that one worked!" She had tried to cast the real personalities of the N.I.T. Motor Club members onto their video game ciphers. When she saw Megumi blush, she knew that her surmise about Megumi and Genji was right on target. She told Urd about this little soap opera angle...Urd pointed at Megumi and whispered.
"Ooooo...her and Genji?"
Megumi heard an agitated Mara yell at her over the arcade game music. Mara sounded pissed.
"What's the meaning of this? Why are you stopped? Why aren't you on the racetrack? Get back out there right this instant! This is a racetrack, not the shopping mall parking lot!"
Megumi grinned.
"It's what's called a pit stop, Mara. Guess you didn't do your homework, Demon girl! This is a race, ya know--the cars need to refill on fuel and get checked on a variety of things--just like in a real life race!" she said with a spiceful of attitude.
Skuld shook her on the shoulder, then handed her a creme soda, her favorite. Belldandy quickly produced a plateful of mochi and hotategai sushi, another one of her favorites. Megumi ate munched the scallop sushi leisurely.
"WHAT! You mean that every couple of hours, you get to stop and take a five-minute break! That's not fair!"
"Heh heh hee. It's all 'part of the game', you know!" Megumi said, imitating Mara's earlier taunt.
"<Good one, Megumi!>" she heard Keiichi say in her mind before his voice dissolved into raucous laughter. She heard Bell, Urd, Skuld and Cevn laughing as well.
Megumi giggled loudly as she heard Mara's voice screaming in Demonic frustration while she pulled her car back on the racetrack.