Fan Fiction / Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Episode 2: The Present Past ❯ Chapter 6

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

the next morning, josh opened his eyes slowly and heard a small voice say "hey bro, you're awake" he turned his head slowly to the side and saw skuld "hey skuld, why're you even talking to me? i don't deserve to be amongst people. i'm gonna take a bath and i'm gonna leave for a while, i might not return; i honestly don't know anymore" Skuld grabbed a stool and sat down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and saying "Josh, don't worry about them. even though they may be upset with you right now, i'm sure that deep down, they still love you, so don't ever think they hate you, don't you ever" he smiled faintly and said "hey skuld, do you feel like going for a walk with me, i need to clear my head and talk to someone and besides, we can go to an ice cream shop while we're out if you want?" she smiled brightly at this and said "Sure!!, just let me grab something" as she bounded away. he yelled down the hallway "meet me outside" as he sat up and walked outside. he sat down on the steps and searched around his pockets and pulled out the packet of cigarettes and his lighter, lighting the cancer stick as he put it to his lips, before taking it out and blowing a cloud of smoke into the air before he stood up and made his clothes change to a set of clothes like Spike Spiegel from "cowboy Bebop" he dropped the smoke to the ground and crushed it under the heel of his boot "why do you do that?" he turned and said "well skuld, it helps to relax my nerves, especially frazzled as they are now" she nodded and said "ah, i see, alright. let's go" josh grinned and said "yeah, let's get away from here for a while" as he walked slowly and sombrely down the steps while skuld, being her usual self, skipped softly down.

they walked along a path through the middle of the park, Skuld smiling brightly and Josh with a cigarette dangling from his lips as Josh saw a bench, so he took the cig from his mouth and said "i'm gonna sit down on the bench over there if you want to go and muck around for a while" Skuld turned to him and said "i'll join you, besides, i want to find out what happened yesterday", so they sat down on the bench. Josh laid back on the seat, blowing a cloud of smoke out as he did "so skuld, just to make sure, we're right aren't we?" she nodded and said "sure, i can tell you're a good guy. i can tell that you're not a pervert like keiichi" josh laughed at that, he couldn't help himself, before he joked "so skuld, still haven't gotten over that yet huh? i still bet you can't wait to do that sort of thing to your beau, is it still Sentaro?" her face reddened before he laughed madly, right before he doubled over in pain from laughing too much. at the sight of this, Skuld stopped blushing and smiled softly, before she said "let's go and get some ice cream, come on" as she got off the seat. josh stood up and walked alongside her, as they left the park and walked along the street. "hey josh, i made something that i really wanted to show you, hang on" she said, reaching into her shirt for something. she pulled it out as quick as she could, but as she did, it slipped out of her fingers and rolled out onto the road, so she turned and ran after it. at that moment, Josh felt a twinge of panic, so he turned and saw a speeding car head for skuld, so not thinking, he ran out and yelled "SKULD!!" as he pushed her out of the way, narrowly dodging the car.

Cue Ballad Of Serenity
originally sung by Sunny Rhodes, now sung by Urd, norn of the Past....
Part Six

she opened her eyes and called out "Josh?", so she turned and saw him, he was lying on his side and his clothes were soaked with blood and his eyes were wide open, staring straight at her "JOSH!!!, SOMEBODY CALL THE AMBULANCE!!!" someone grabbed a mobile phone and called the paramedics while Skuld held josh, thoughtcasting <sisters, peorth, josh's hurt> a minute passed before the reply came <Skuld, where are you?> <we're heading to the hospital shortly> <how did it happen?> <i went to grab something and it slipped out of my fingers and rolled onto the road, i went to get it but he pushed me out of the way, i came to and i found him unconcious and bleeding next to me. you guys have to meet us at the hospital> Urd thoughtcast this time <you better not be joking, brat!> she threatened <watch it grandma, now's not the time. the ambulance is here now, so i'll meet you guys at the hospital> <alright, we'll be there shortly> belldandy thoughtcast back before Skuld moved out of the way as the paramedics tended to Josh "miss, are you any relation to this young man?" she smiled and said "i'm his sister in law" the medic smiled back, saying "alright, you can ride in the ambulance with him" so they wheeled him into the van and they drove towards the hospital.

when they arrived, skuld opened the doors and jumped out, as the two medics wheeled Josh out and into the hospital, but Skuld stayed behind in the emergency room. ten minutes passed before she heard the door open, so she turned and saw Keiichi, Belldandy, Sakura, Urd and Peorth rush into the emergency room "skuld, are you alright?" belldandy said as she went over to Skuld and consoled her. Skuld looked up to her with tears forming in the corners of her eyes, saying "he saved me. he got hurt saving me, i did nothing to help. belldandy i'm sorry" "Brat, how could you, how could you let that happen to him?" Belldandy turned and glared at their eldest sister, making her nervous before she said coldy "back off Urd, she was too frightened to do anything anyway. also, it was your fault, if you hadn't chased josh down the hallway and out into the yard, we wouldnt've had to bring him back inside and he wouldnt've had to go with skuld, so don't go blaming your younger sister without looking at what you've done first Urd, don't you dare" everyone, even Keiichi, turned and gasped at this before they heard the doors open, so they turned to see the doctor. Urd and Peorth went over to him and he asked "are you all family?" Peorth and Urd hesitated for a second, before they said "yes, we're his family, all of us" the doctor pulled down his face mask and said "he's very badly hurt, we repaired 16 broken ribs, he also had both legs broken, a punctured lung, and one of his arms were broken. oddly enough, his right arm is made of some metal substance we havent heard of" "what do you mean doc?" keiichi asked curiously, overhearing the doc "it means his arm is fake, it's not his. we still haven't been able to work out why it wasn't damaged in the crash" "doc, can we see him?" "we gave him a heavy dose of painkillers, so he may not be concious to hear you" "thank you doctor" said belldandy, as they passed him and into Josh's recovery room.

as they entered the room, what they saw horrified them; Josh was lying in the bed with a feeding tube in his mouth, a bandage around his head and various wounds and bruises all over his face and arm. the goddesses struggled to hold back tears, especially Peorth and Urd as they approached the bed. Peorth and urd sat next to the bed, beside each other as the others sat either at the end of the bed or on the other side of him. Urd grabbed his hand and squeezed softly, whispering "Josh? it's Urd, we're all here, together now because we love you" "all of us" finished a voice, making the group turn to see Hild, she was dressed in a blood red coloured yukata, her platinum coloured hair was tied in a braid and she wore the face of calm. Hild walked slowly to her daughter and Peorth, whispering "i came as soon as i heard, come here you two" as she opened her arms. they looked to her for a minute, before they flew into her embrace, crying into her chest "there, there you two. don't worry, everything's going to be alright" she kissed them both on each of their heads and said "wether he returns to this world will be up to him. you two have got to make him see that you love him, so he'll return. Urd, Peorth, if you don't love him, walk away right now" a minute of silence passed through the room, making it seem like someone had died before urd smiled and said "Hild, i've got it. i need you to go back to niflheim and convince mara to come here. meanwhile, Peorth will go up to Yggdrasil and try to get father and rind and i will try and bring kurumi here" "why my daughter? what've you got planned?" asked hild as she cocked her head slightly to the side trying to work it out. Urd smiled a sly grin and said "not telling, it's gonna be just what we need" Hild giggled and said "why my daughter, you're just like your mother. i'm so proud of you, alright i'll be back shortly" before she dissapeared into flames. Urd turned to Peorth and said "alright, let's get a move on then" Peorth nodded and dissapeared into a flurry of roses, while Urd leapt into the television, leaving skuld, keiichi and belldandy who was holding sakura.

Urd landed in a heap in an open grassy field on the moon of atenos, sixth moon in the fils star cluster. she got to her feet, wiping the grass off her dress and saying "i've really got to work on my emergency landings, this is starting to get really annoying" as she wiped the grass off her arms she heard a noise, so she turned and saw a group of young women whom Urd automatically knew were steel angels so she said "hey, i need to speak with kurumi, your leader" the leader of the group nodded and said "this way, follow me" before the group turned and began walking away. urd ran after them and walked behind them as they led her towards a massive concrete wall, presumably surrounding a vast area and had two massive iron gates with two guard towers. one of the steel angels turned their head to the tower and nodded to the guard, who nodded in return and went into their post, before the gate opened up to reveal the city. they began walking again into the city and as they walked past the various steel angels, urd managed to catch a glimpse of the houses; they looked like the basic housing back on earth, nothing to special, just enough for the steel angels to live in. the group stopped outside a slightly modern looking building and the lead steel angel said "she has been awaiting your arrival for some time. please, go right ahead miss urd, our leader awaits" she nodded and opened the door, to reveal a desk and a steel angel clerk, who remarked cheerfully "oh, miss urd go right ahead, miss kurumi's been expecting you" Urd nodded and said "where do i go?" "just through the door" Urd nodded again and said "thank you" as she approached the door. she opened the big solid oak doors and stepped into a big library room, containing a fireplace which had a fire going and a young woman was sitting on a chair in front if it "kurumi?" she asked as she stepped into the library; the woman stood and said "oh urd, i've been waiting for you. i knew you would be coming because i felt josh's energy wane, so i knew something bad had happened and that you would be coming to see me soon" urd nodded and kurumi said "alright, let's go. i wish to see him anyway" urd grabbed her hand and leapt into a televison that sat near the desk.

back at the hospital, the room's television lit up, alerting the others as Urd teleported through the television screen with Kurumi trailing behind her. as the two women climbed to their feet, Peorth appeared with an elderly looking man with long flowing white hair and a metal cane and a young woman with light blue hair and what appeared to be a valkyrie uniform

"good, You're all here now" Urd said, looking around the room "the reason why i've gathered you all here is simple really. we're going to revive josh using our magic" everyone in the room gasped at this, except hild, who just smiled and said "i see urd-chan, you mean for us all to revive him because one person alone would be suicide, but with all of us here, it would be less dangerous and more exhausting" Kami-sama just looked to his ex-wife and then to Urd, before he said "ALRIGHT MY CHILDREN, LET'S GET TO IT THEN. FOR THIS TO WORK, EVERYONE MUST BE POSITIONED IN A CIRCLE AROUND THE BED" so everyone moved into place, with Peorth and Urd on either side of the bed. when everyone was in place, hild quickly cast a silence spell so that no-one outside the room could hear what was going on inside.

when they were in place, every deity and demon placed their hands together infront of their chests and began chanting. Peorth opened her eyes slightly to see the Yggdrasil program "wow, the program looks different from when we had to summon hild to restore myself that time with velsper" it was true, normally the program looked sort of light cheery blue, but now it was a slightly blood-red colour as it swirled around the room and around the god, goddesses, mortal and demonesses.

ten minutes later, they noticed something was wrong, so they stopped chanting to see that joshua was still unconcious and was still bruised and scarred "Urd, what's wrong, why didn't it have any affect?" urd was just looking down to the floor, thinking the same thing when a regal english-sounding voice intterupted, saying "because this time, you're not the ones who can revive him" everyone turned to see a man standing in the doorway. he looked about his early thirties, with light orange curly hair and a ridiculously multicoloured suit and pants "what do you mean "we're not the ones"? who are you?" the man approached the bed and said "i'm the doctor. i need you to get him out of here and carry him to my TARDIS. quickly, we don't have a lot of time" he held josh's limp arm and said "you've got ten minutes at best" "what do you mean?" asked Peorth, getting agitated at this strange man who entered the room a minute ago uninvited. The Doctor turned and said "what i mean miss is that in nine minutes and thiry nine seconds, joshua wil die if you do not get him into my TARDIS now!!!" "alright" she said, before she turned to urd and said "help me urd" urd didn't look up, so peorth called "URD" she snapped to attention and ran over to the bed and helped her get his limp body out of the bed. the life support machine went haywire, so the door opened and in came a nurse "what're you doi.. unnhh" they didn't finish their sentence as hild had rendered them unconcious "alright doctor, where's this tardis you say you have" "on the roof. follow me" he said, leaning against the doorway to check the hallway "alright, let's go" he said as he walked calmly into the corridor and waived them, so they followed "hurry now, up the stairs. we don't have much time" Peorth nodded as he opened the door to the staircase. they went as fast as they could as they carried him up the stairs. as they reached the roof, Peorth looked around and said "where is this tardis of yours?" the doctor calmly walked around the corner to a big blue police public call box and said triumphantly "here it is, now lets get your friend inside" as he turned and unlocked the doors. Peorth and urd dragged him in through the doors and just collapsed under the weight while the doctor went over to what appeared to be the controls and pressed a few buttons and turned a few dials, making a column in the middle start moving up and down, as well as making a wheezing sound. the doctor released a breath he realised that he'd been holding in, so he turned and said "alright, now to check on joshua" "how'd you know his name was joshua, we've never met before" "like i was saying before, i am the doctor. i am a time lord from the planet gallifrey" "you mean like the show "doctor who"?" "precisely my dear" he knelt down next to josh and held his wrist while he checked his watch. he shook his head and said sadly "i'm sorry, we didn't get here in time" he stood up and headed back to the controls, but not before Urd grabbed his collar and spun him around to face her, and she was furious. her angel, world of elegance was present, furious as well "what do you mean, he's dead?" the doctor nodded mutely and said "yes, i'm afraid he is" but not before a bright light engulfed the room, making the two goddesses and the time lord turn to see joshua's body hover "i see, i guess i was wrong after all. clever boy" "what do you mean?" the doctor stroked his chin and smiled, before he said "with all the injuries he sustained, his brain was the only functioning organ at the time, not to mention his vital organs. he could sense the love that you two have for him. so using whatever strength he can muster, he's trying to trigger a regeneration. i need you two ladies to start a healing spell to help him to complete his regeneration because he's barely making by as it is. with the two of you nearby, helping him, his regeneration will go a little easier" Urd nodded and walked over to peorth, picking her up and telling her the plan. she nodded and said "alright, let's get to it" a minute later, they were standing either side of him with their angels, Gorgeous Rose and World Of Elegance present as they began chanting a healing spell, surrounding and enveloping josh in a bright light, which changed into a sphere, before that changed into a human silhouette which laid down onto the floor of the control room.

the light lowered its brightness as it took on more human features, until it completely dissipated, leaving a different person behind. they looked a little older, had short brown curly hair and had slight bags under their eyes, showing age. their eyes shot open before they shot up and said "hello, who might you people be?" urd and Peorth both smiled before urd spoke up, saying "i'm Urd and this is Peorth. you're married to the both of us" he looked thoughtful for a moment before he said "oh, i see. i'm joshua payne, it's a pleasure to meet you two lovely ladies" "Joshua" interrupted the doctor, clearing his throat "oh, and who might you be?" "i am the doctor. joshua payne, there are more pressing matters at hand, so sit down for a few minutes until you regain your memories and i will explain why you're here" josh nodded and said "alright, i'll just sit over here" he said, noting his feet were a bit wonky (off-balance) as he stumbled over to a white chair infront of one of the walls. Peorth and urd were passed out on the floor due to using up all of their magic and the day's events. the doctor noticed this, so he grabbed a blanket out of a hidden cuboard and laid it over the two sleeping goddesses "doctor, i'm starting to remember things now. i remember being married to them and that i am joshua payne, formerly of australia" "that's good, anything else?" the doctor said as he knelt down in front of josh, looking him over, before he muttered "you remind me of my third regeneration. if you want to, go and have a look in the wardrobe for anything you might like" josh nodded and began walking towards a door, but not before the doctor interjected, saying "it's the second door on your left, third corridor on your right and take a left at the bins, go straight past the double doors and turn right, you should come to it then" josh nodded and walked through the doorway.

he came out half an hour later dressed in a brown duster, light brown suit and a long scarf wrapped around his neck "now you really do look like the fourth me" muttered the doctor as he monitored the console "so where are we heading to, doc?" he turned and gave of an air of seriousness when he said "Joshua, i need your help" "really? why me, i thought you could take on anything?" josh asked curiously as he looked around the room "my nemesis, the master, is at it again. he stole two hundred kilotons of sannes gas, which is one thousand times more explosive than any of your earth weapons, even your atom bomb. he's managed to trick a group of people into helping him build a missile in which to enslave the universe. when i was there on varatos 5 we fought and he mortally wounded me, making me regenerate into this current version of myself. i need your help to defeat him. you can fight him while i disarm his weapon" "i see. alright, let's go" the doctor smiled and said "alright, that's what i like to hear" before he turned a few more dials and pressed a few more buttons "also, i saw that your left arm is fake, automail?" josh nodded and lifted said arm up, rubbing it softly "i could've easily regrown it, it was just that at that time, i decided to keep it as a sign of what i am, how i failed them a while ago" "what do you mean?" "a month ago, some of my ex-gang mates were upset at my leave, so they summoned legion, who in turn cost me my arm and wiped out the population of earth. it was through the automail and through my training with hild that i was able to defeat Legion. as i said before, i keep this arm like this as a testement to how i failed to protect them."

it was then that the time rotor stopped moving, so the doctor announced "we're here, varanos 5 home to evil geniuses, bombs and a delightful selection of food" "alright, let's do this" said josh cheerfully before he went over to urd and peorth and said softly "i want you two to stay here. do not let anyone in whatsoever unless it's us two, alright? but make sure it's us, because it could be two people that look and dress like us" Peorth nodded and said "be careful you two" josh nodded and said "alright, we will. i love the both of you" he said as he exited through the Tardis doors out onto an open field where the doctor was waiting "come on then, we haven't got all day" josh nodded and said "alright. by the way doctor, i want to play a trick involving the master" the doctor turned and looked at him curiously "oh really?" josh nodded and said "yeah, i want him to think that i am your fourth version and that i've been pulled out of the spacial timezone by the gallifreian high council" the doctor nodded and said "i see. the only problem is, that you don't have a telepathic link to the master. you see...oh, here they come now" they both turned to see townsfolk running up to them weilding various sorts of guns. josh turned and saw one of the townsfolk sneak up behind the doctor "DOCTuunnhh" shouted josh before he was knocked unconcious and the doctor as well.

Josh opened his eyes and saw that they were lying in the middle of what looked like a hall, so he turned and saw the doctor as he awoke as well "doctor, doctor are you alright?" he opened his eyes slowly and said "hello joshua, are we in heaven?" josh smiled for a second before he said "nope, we're in what appears to be a hall of some sort" "ah, we would be inside the master's tardis if i recall" "why my dear doctor, you manage to suprise me every time we meet with the level of your stupidity" said a voice as the door opened to reveal an older looking man. he was dressed in a black coloured set of clothes and had jet black hair and a black beard "that 'im?" the doctor nodded and said "yes, that's the master" "you must be joshua payne, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, as my rival has told you, i am the master, and you are my slave" josh frowned and said "the hell i am mate, you can stick it up yer arse if you think i will" "you will obey me or you both will die" he said, motioning towards the doorway which opened as two men pushed it open. josh saw that the two men were carrying someone around "PEORTH!!!" he turned to the master and said "you arsehole, leave her out of this" the master smiled a cruel grin and said "she will stay out of this as long as you do what i say" "and what is that?" the master walked down the steps towards them, saying "you have the energy needed to power my tardis to infinite time. you will give it to me or she will die" he put his hand up and the men cocked their weapons at the group. it was at that moment that Peorth woke up "josh, what're we doing here, what's going on doctor?" the doctor turned to her and said morosely "the master has demanded that joshua give up his entire enery within his body so that the master will have all the power he needs to fuel his tardis for an eternity" Peorth's eyes widened in horror and she got up to run to josh, who shouted to her "GET DOWN PEORTH, GET DOWN!!" all of a sudden a loud BANG sound filled the room. time seemed to slow down as josh looked on in horror as Peorth fell to the floor "PEORTH!!!" josh shouted as he got up and ran over to her, just in time to catch her. she laid sprawled in his arms, her hair laid everywhere as she looked up to him with her hazel eyes "josh" she said softly, reaching up to his face with a soft gloved hand, stroking his cheek, saying softly as tears began to fall from his eyes "joshua, i enjoyed the time we spent together, even if it was brief" "no, you're not gonna die, not yet" said josh as he took his jacket off and pressed it against her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding "i'm dying josh. don't worry, i will always love you, as well as urd. josh" "yes" he said, holding her close "take good care of urd. i love you" she said before she closed her eyes. josh laid her gently on the ground, not saying a thing.

"joshua?" asked the doctor, but joshua was beyond contact as the walls of the corridor began to ripple and crack, as well as the ground. the whole room began to shake as the doctor turned to see two massive ash-black wings appear from joshua's back "YOU MURDERERS!!!!!" shouted josh. everyone in the room was terrified of what was happening as various bits of the walls fell away and floated in front of joshua, before they flew away into the men and narrowly missing the master, who was at that moment beginning to shake with fear. the master ran down a corridor so josh began to follow him, but not before the doctor put a hand on his arm, so josh turned to see him shake his head and yell "WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW. BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID, THE MASTERS TARDIS IS BREAKING APART" josh nodded and his wings dissapeared, so they ran back out to the main hall. he knelt down and grabbed Peorth's lifeless body, carrying it as they ran through the main doors "QUICKLY, TO THE TARDIS!" shouted the doctor. josh looked up and saw why, the whole planet was beginning to fall apart. geiysers of fire began to erupt from the sirface of the planet, buildings began to crumble and explode as well.

they arrived at the front of the tardis and the doors opened, so josh and the doctor ran in. the doctor ran up to the controls and began pressing a few buttons as the time rotor began to move "alright, we're away" called the doctor, who was hovering around the controls. the door next to them opened and out stepped urd, who when she saw them immediately ran towards them going "oh no, Peorth!!" josh stood, looked up to the ceiling and closed his eyes tightly, as if to erase the pain, only to find tears slowly stream down his face. "bring her back josh" "i can't" "what do you mean you can't, you brought belldandy back but you can't bring peorth back. bring her back now!!" she said as she started hitting his chest "LISTEN TO ME URD, I CAN'T!!! IF I BRING HER BACK, I WILL DIE IN HER PLACE. IS THE COST REALLY WORTH IT?" she collapsed against his chest, and began crying as well, so he put his arms around her and said softly "i'm sorry urd, there's nothing i can or could do to save her. she's gone. i'm sorry" "you two might want to take a look at this" interrupted the doctor, who was looking towards the veiwing screen. they looked over and watched as the planet exploded "well, lets hope that once and for all the master is dead" "if i ever see that son of a bitch again i'll kill him" josh said bluntly "well then, i guess i'l be getting the two of you home then, what with the funeral planning and all" the doctor said morosely as he pressed a few more buttons.

end of part Six
Cue Firefly Closing Theme...