Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ Disgaea: Gehenna's Holy Queen ❯ Prologue: Awakening ( Prologue )

Disgaea: Gehenna's Holy Queen

Prologue: Awakening

(A/N: Disclaimer: The author would like to remind you that he bears no ownership of the franchises represented here, only a few original creations scattered within. This is done for fun and certainly NOT profit! This should also hopefully require no previous knowledge of the Disgaea franchise.

Oh, and a small warning. KonoSetsu fans might not like this story. You have been warned.)

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The Netherworld.

Those who live in either Mundus Vetus or Munda Magica have only vaguely heard or referred to the land where demons and devils roam. The land which is soaked in the most murderous of mayhem, the most malcontent of manners and the most malicious of murders is home to some of the greatest demons the universe has ever known. These demons spread horrifying disasters in their wake, bringing death and destruction with them for ride through hell's highway.

Or so they want you to believe. After three video games where all the more horrifying villains get their asses royally kicked, you'd think they'd start learning to control their rumors a bit better.

But perhaps there is merit in the grim and dark tales of the Netherworld—the most powerful of demons are known as Overlords, and they rule the separate lands which comprise this hellish world. Their tales spanned continents, realms, and even entire worlds with their feats of explosions, false and true villainy, and innumerable amounts of poodles poked.

Still, there are still those that are fascinated by this vindictive and chaotic world. If you are one of those people, read on. But don't say I didn't warn you. After all, as the old adage goes: “Be bold, be bold, but not too bold, lest the blood of your heart run cold.”

This legend begins when the youngest overlord in all of the Netherworld awakens from a three-year slumber...

-x-x-

The girl stirred, and her dreams (or were they nightmares?) vanished like the shadows chased out from the sun.

Rising from her sheets, she rubbed her bleary eyes. “Huh...?” As the world returned to her vision, she saw she was in a massive bedroom, with equally massive bed to match. The ceiling was fairly low, however, making the room far cozier for its size. There was a problem though—not a single thing was familiar.

To put it bluntly, she was confused.

“Where am I?” The girl's voice stood above a whisper.

“She's totally awake, dood!” A voice spoke, slightly muffled. “What do we do?!”

“It doesn't sound like she's got any issues, dood,” Another spoke. “Let's just go in and see what's going on.”

The large door opened, and two curious creatures, stepped in. They resembled penguins—though these particular ones had googly eyes and tiny bat wings on their back. Bearing peg legs and a small utility belt, they looked far stranger than anything the girl had ever seen—or at least, remembered. “H-hello, new master!”

“Huh?” She wasn't quite sure what was stranger—the penguins before her or their rather fearful greeting. Deciding her usual personality could at least warm them up a bit, she smiled. “Who... or what are you?”

The odd penguins traded looks. Complete... confusion? Innocence? Where the hell was the maniacal laughter? The cold indifference? This kid was like a child at an aquarium! One turned back to her, deciding to take this bait. “We're prinnies! We're like, your eternal servants now, dood!”

“...servants? Since when did I need servants? I had some back at home, but...” She looked around. “This... isn't my home.”

“It is, now.”

“I don't think so,” The girl pouted. “This has to be a crazy dream. Even at my house I don't have a room this big...”

The so-called prinnies exchanged looks. “You're waaaay different than we imagined, dood.”

“Different?” The girl pursed a finger under her mouth, as if processing a confusing thought.

“Not as nearly scary as most of the overlords, dood,” the other agreed. “How that's possible after what you pulled off...”

“I don't really do scary, but... Overlord?” The girl pointed to herself, giggling lightly. “What do you mean? And why am I one?”

“Powerful ruler of the land, dood!” One prinny spoke up. “You totally wiped out the previous overlord and 999 other residents, so it's your job now! We and a few others barely escaped with our lives, dood!”

“Eh?!” The girl staggered back from the news as if struck. She... killed that many people? In cold blood? This was some elaborate joke, right? “But I don't remember anything...” The flashes of something, some dark secret, lurked in the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite connect it to anything. “The last thing I remember was falling, and-and someone trying to catch me...”

“You might not remember, dood,” The netherworld penguin added. “That was three years ago. You've been sleeping since then.”

“What kind of place would give a ruling title to someone like me... if I even did such things?!” Yep, still thinks it's a joke.

“How the Netherworld works, dood!” The prinny explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. He leaned in, as if trying to whisper to the girl's ear. “Just between us, you did the Netherworld a massive favor, dood.”

“Really...?” The girl didn't sound convinced in the least. Hell, for all she knew, this was still an elaborate dream—maybe if she pinched herself, she'd wake up in the comfort of her own bed, where she could resume her idyllic—or at least less twisted—life.

But she pinched herself. And alas, that life did not return.

Reality was already here.

Figuring she was still unconvinced, one of the penguins dashed over to the other side of the room before using his puny body to drag out a mirror. “If ya don't believe us, dood, just check yourself out in the mirror!”

The girl slowly rose and stepped towards the mirror, not sure why her heart was filled with so much trepidation. Finally, she saw herself.

She could barely recognize herself. While she still had the same face, dark brown eyes and long hair she remembered, she was much taller now. Her body had somehow become well endowed in her sleep, but most of all were the horns growing from her head. She had to reach up and feel them to prove to her mind that they were there. And why did she have... wings?! White wings, like...

Her memory backstabbed her and made off like a dude stealing someone's bike.

Her mind was probably broken at this point because she felt that white, spade-tipped tail was just “a nice touch.” There were far too many emotions rampaging about in her mind like a mosh pit, so she simply sank to her knees. “I thought I was... human. Wasn't I always human?”

“Not anymore, dood,” A prinny said. “Kill enough demons and you become one. That's why we said you were an Overlord, dood.”

“So I really did...” The weight of everything was crashing down on her—no memories after falling from someplace, and she wakes up to realize that three years have gone by and now she's the ruler of a land she doesn't know thanks to a mass murder she doesn't remember.

Those strange penguins saw her somber state and, well, tried to cheer her up. “Don't worry, uhh... what's your name, master dood?” The servant prinny asked softly to the poor, confused girl.

“...” She stood up. “Konoka. Konoka Konoe.”

“Well, umm, Master Konoka, dood?” One of the penguins began. “Would you like us to fix you some food or something? You gotta be hungry after three years of not eating, dood.”

“Umm, sure!” The girl known as Konoka Konoe simpered, as her stomach protested in agreement. “...in the meantime, why don't you explain to me more about this... world we're all in?”

“Sure, dood!” The penguins saluted, and were about to turn tail before they suddenly stopped, as if some idea, rather than some physical force, held them back. “...um, before we go, you might wanna get changed into some, you know, actual clothes. Wearing sheets when you're not a ghost is like, 80's, dood.”

Konoka Konoe realized that they were entirely correct, and outside of said sheets, she was wearing about nothing. This was bad.

And with a tiny “Eep!” Konoka did the first and only normal thing she would do for a very long while—get dressed.

xxx

“M-master Lunzard!” Two completely different prinny servants scrambled down some sprawling metal steps, deep into the basement of this sprawling castle. Mechanical gears and machines in various stages of completion and repair dotted the basement like a modernist landscape. But these guys didn't bother—they had news to report! Big frickin' news!

“What?! What is it?!” A grouchy, somewhat gruff and yet young-sounding voice snapped back.

The penguin creatures came to a stop in front of what looked like a massive, egg-shaped golem. Its eyes lit up, as if awakening from a long slumber, and gazed down upon them. The voice continued sharply. “This better be good, I'm making a breakthrough here! I'm 99 percent finished with this thing!”

“She's alive, dood!” One of the penguins proclaimed. “The girl that wiped out Zegnant is actually alive!”

“WHAT?!” The golem's head split open. From what appeared to be the cockpit, out emerged a lanky but somewhat imposing demon, eyes shaded by steampunk-styled shades. Unlike most demons' elf-like ears, he had a more bat-like appearance. He had a handlebar mustache that quivered with shock as he continued, “I thought you told me she was dead!”

“We thought so too, dood!” The other quickly leapt to their defense. “Who the hell would actually survive their own kamikaze attack?! But apparently she's alive and kickin', dood!”

“Grrrgh!” The demon known as Lunzard leered down at them. “Do you know what this means?! She's the legitimate Overlord, so all my plans for establishing my dominance have gone kaput!” The prinnies panicked from his furor, but the demonic mechanic ignored this. “But I can look on the bright side! Now I can test my latest and greatest creation on that brat. She's only recently shed her humanity, so she should still be wet behind the ears!”

“Whoa... good thinking dood!” One of the prinnies stopped panicking and nodded.

“Hmph! I'm not a mechanical genius for nothing!” Lunzard declared as he descended back into the cockpit of his metal machine. However, upon resting in the shadowed insides, his mind churned. To think that girl not only survived her own power, but the cruelty of Abyssus Crucio... her mental state must truly be a wasteland of horrors! I won't stand for this. “GO!” He bellowed, and the monstrous machine came to life...

xxx

Having finally shown herself to the outside world, the girl wished she could at least have her old sense of fashion back. But alas, her penguin helpers only managed to secure a single, pale and flowery kimono—one that didn't even go past her knees. To make up for that, she had to compensate with knee-high stockings. Well, at least the near-platform sandals were still traditional. That, and the objectifying outfit she found herself in felt—surprisingly comfortable. Maybe a little too comfortable. Was this part of being a demon?

It might be why she felt no actual chill in the air—as she gazed upon the forlorn land that supposedly belonged to her the only thing she thought to ask was, “So this is... Gehenna?” From her vintage point on the castle rooftops, Gehenna looked like a spiraling crystal wasteland, sitting at the eye of a hurricane. This place was almost a complete opposite to Mahora's pristine lands. What would've been a lively kingdom with life back at home was but an empty shell here. “Looks so lifeless.”

“Previous Overlord was way too concerned with castle upkeep and making everyone else miserable, dood,” One of the prinnies said as he served her breakfast, trying his damndest not to slip on the rooftop. Konoka smiled a bit before digging into the simple bagels. They certainly tasted like heaven, but then again she had no reason to be picky at all.

“Yeah, dood!” The prinny added. “The guy had whole hell of a lot of torture chambers, where he often terrorized massive crowds at once!” The prinny shivered. “Listening to him trying to concoct that 'Symphony of Screams' gives me the chills just thinking about it, dood!”

Konoka shivered, hugging herself. “How did so many people put up with that kind of thing?”

“Like his evil or not, he had massive charisma, dood,” one prinny answered. “The strongest of demons would often gather at this place to learn his new spells.”

“...” Konoka stayed silent, then gazed out into the land again. “Is the rest of the Netherworld like this?” The former Konoe princess asked.

“Nope!” One of the prinnies answered. “There's all sorts of lands. Lava crags, dangerous deserts, some brutal beaches, even some calmer plains! It's like the human world in some aspects, dood! They sky gets a lot freakier at night, but other than that, not too much you haven't seen, dood.”

“I meant are most demons like that other overlord,” Konoka corrected, but alas, that train of thought was ruined—she bit into her bagel again. “Wow, this is pretty good, you know!” While happy on the outside, she cursed her hunger for getting in the way of figuring out this nightmare land.

The prinnies exchanged looks. “Totally unreal, dood.”

“Maybe she's gonna be a good one, dood!” The other smiled.

Konoka merely regarded them with curiosity. “You guys are pretty strange and silly for servants. Are all prinnies like this?”

“For the most part, dood. We were once human, often remorseless criminals, so we get sealed up in these things,” The prinny tapped his chest. “...and made to serve stronger demons until we get our chance at redemption.”

“Redemption, huh?” Konoka tapped her chin, easily slipping back into deep consternation—this seemed to be happening a lot more lately, and she wasn't even studying for any tests. “The Netherworld seems more complicated than I thought...”

“Don't worry, you'll learn everything in time, dood!” The prinny reassured her.

She continued to eat in silence. She was even kind enough to offer them some of her share, but they insisted they'd get their own food later.

Suddenly, a loud crash shot from below them, shaking their footing. “Eep!” Konoka accidentally tossed her plate in fright.

One of the prinnies narrowly dodged the fallen dish. “Watch the china, dood! Do you want us to explode?!”

“What was that?!” Konoka asked, shoving his confusing comment about exploding to the back of her mind for now.

“Beats me, dood, but that can't be good!” The other prinny shouted in alarm.

“In that case, we've got no choice but to check it out, right away!” She slid down from her perch, and like the wind, sprinted back into the castle, the prinnies scrambling to keep up.

xxx

Konoka tore through the weaving hallways, sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her.

“Umm, dood?” One of the prinnies asked. “You got wings, dood. Did you forget that you can, I dunno, FLY?!”

“Well excuuuuuse me for only knowing about my demonhood for all of two hours!” Konoka shot back, her face contorted with more worry than anger. “Besides, as unsteady as I would be in the air, I'd crash too much!”

“That's a good point, dood.”

Konoka appeared at a grand foyer, and that's when something crashed into it from the other side of the room. The girl skidded to a stop as she saw some hulking thing lumber into the room.

A massive golem, looking a bit closer to a demented knight with a fat chest, looked down at the girl. “Ah... you. The girl who changed everything. But not for long, that is!” The golem pulled an unfairly large axe from its back. “I was supposed to be the next in line, but you just had to go and survive!”

“Dood! Sir Lunzard?!” One of Konoka's prinnies pointed in fear.

“Who's he?” Konoka asked, her mouth hung open in shock.

“He was the number two to the previous overlord!” The other prinny explained. “A sheer mechanical genius, dood!”

The girl bit her thumb, her tail twitching anxiously. Something in her mind began to click, but... “Wait a second...” Konoka pointed a finger at the golem. “Are you the reason I'm here?! The reason I'm like this?”

“I had nothing to do with you, and would rather not have anything to do with you...” The demon in the golem answered back. You're... more sane than I thought. Still, that title belongs to me. I won't have someone so pitiful put Gehenna back on the map! “So. Die quietly and it won't hurt... much.”

“No thank you!” Konoka saw the massive golem lift its ax and scrambled backwards to avoid the weapon as it crashed into the ground, splitting the earth where it rested. “Eep! It's so strong...”

“No kidding, dood!” A prinny agreed.

“Let me crush you!” Lunzard bellowed. The golem began to lumber towards the girl, its every step nearly shaking the floor. Having no grasp on her powers as a demon, if she even had any, the girl was largely forced to flee.

“Sad that an Overlord is running from a small demon in a big machine,” Lunzard mocked from the safety of his cockpit. “But then again, people stronger than you have fallen to my genius!”

“I...” Konoka looked back just in time to see the massive golem start swinging the axe across. She turned tail again, but this time around her actual tail whipped around her as well. “...didn't ask for this power!” The axe crashed against her tail. That's right—to her amazement, her tail actually stopped the huge weapon. “My tail...”

“Whether or not you asked for this power, it's yours to keep,” Lunzard responded, hiding his surprise from her counter well. “Unless that is, you don't want to li—wait what?!”

Scampering from under Konoka, the two prinnies by her side made a sharp jump, brandishing two short swords. “Eat it, dood!” One shouted. They slashed their swords rapidly, and crescent-moon-shaped energy blasts crashed into the head of the golem. It swayed, electric sparks falling from the machine.

“Get it together, dood!” The other prinny shouted.

“You little—!” Lunzard snarled. The golem reared a hand back, and with massive force, slammed the ground. One prinny was caught by the mighty hand, squashed flat by its force... “How do ya like that?!”

...right before it exploded.

“Dood!” The surviving prinny began to sweat buckets much like a human would piss his or her pants.

Konoka looked on in sheer horror. “...wh... why...?!”

“I told you... sit still and maybe it won't hurt when I kill you!” Lunzard bellowed again. The golem reared back again, aiming its fist on Konoka.

The former Konoe heir found herself awash with a nigh foreign emotion—anger. It wasn't the fact that she never felt it before, but she had never felt it with such strength—or irrationality. Or at least, as far as she can remember. Why does he want her dead? Why is this man so ruthless? Why is she here? Why can't she remember?! Why why why WHY WHY—

-BAM- The hand slammed the earth. “Suspiciously easy...” Lunzard remarked wearily.

“Dood?!” That same surviving prinny looked up.

“Wha...” The golem's line of sight looked where he smashed down. There was just the faintest trail of smoke rising between the fingers, as if someone had recently jumped... He looked up.

Not even a second later, something crashed into his head. Hard.

“No way!” Lunzard panicked, as Konoka had landed perfectly on the cranium, and was now attempting to stab through it with her tail. He resolved this by using both golem hands and clapping them together, forcing the girl to retreat. “Not bad, girly. There's strength in you after all.” He aimed a fist. “But are ya fast enough to dodge THIS?!” The fist launched like a rocket. It soared towards Konoka with unbelievable speed.

That didn't even matter, since the girl simply blocked it with one hand. With the ease of someone tossing away a crumpled piece of paper, Konoka tossed away that fist. As everyone living stared in open-mouthed shock, the girl took the time to bolt straight for the machine again.

“Th-th-that's not even fair!” Lunzard objected to the shounen lunacy Konoka just displayed. Alas, before he could pull off any other move, Konoka had easily landed on the golem's face, and with both hands, ripped the thing apart, exposing the mad demon scientist. Seeing the massive pile of figurative crap he was in, Lunzard began to speak quickly. “H-hey, we can talk about this, can't we? HHGGGK!”

Konoka grabbed him by the neck and lifted him out of the machine. Lunzard found himself eye to eye with the purest of fury—her blood vessels had bulged from her face, and they were white. “That prinny died trying to knock some sense into you! So tell me one reason why I shouldn't rip you to shreds right now.” Her voice was surprisingly low and cold.

“...” Lunzard strangely lost all will to fight. “Despite my evil and genius, I'd rather die than serve another overlord like our last one.”

The seething hatred in Konoka's soul evaporated as quickly as it gathered, as did the malformed rage and blood vessels, and she dropped the scientist.

“OW!” Lunzard hit his chair pretty roughly. “Dammit!”

“What... came over me?” Konoka asked softly. “If I'm like this... if I'm anywhere near the demon the other overlord was... I can't go home like this. I can never go home.”

Lunzard dusted himself off and stood up. “In all honesty, you can't reach him, so don't even try. Zegnant was a man who enjoyed spreading pain and suffering like none other. I too had those delusions... but even I had my limits. The things he did to humans...”

“What did he do to them?” Konoka asked.

“Complete destruction of all they held dear—in the real world AND in their minds!”

Konoka's eyes widened. “He was that cruel?!”

“Yes... and you were going to be his centerpiece. For you to have survived what he did to you...”

“What did he do to me?” The girl tried to remember. Memories of her past adventures in Munda Magica, falling, a swan swathed in darkness, pain...

No, the pain was too great. Very bad territory for today! “...on second thought, I'd rather not think about that right now. I'll say he's a bastard who took my memories and turned me into a demon for now.”

“Hmph. I'll just say that you better improve your mental strength if you want your memories back,” Lunzard advised. “From our battle alone I have reason to doubt your sanity... But enough about that. As the new overlord, what will you do?”

Konoka immediately began to think. Most likely her mind was burned from a great and tragic nightmare. She had wings, horns, and a tail. Her temper was short, and she was, with certain proof, a demon... a monster.

Geez, this was way too depressing! Screw that thought! If she could not escape this reality, she would adapt and make it her own!

Taking a heavy breath, she finally said to the demon, “I accept my duty as the Overlord...”

“Bold words, girlie,” Lunzard sneered. “But can you back the—”

“... but that doesn't mean that I'm going to do things the way other Overlords do them!” The new ruler bellowed. “I'll do things my way! I'll cast aside this dark and dreary underworld... So I'm going to brighten it up!”

“What.” Lunzard said that word one too many times, but when it seems to be the most appropriate response to Konoka, he couldn't help it.

“I will make this castle... no, all of Gehenna a bright and happy place!” Konoka cheered. “After all, nobody expects evil in a beautiful land! That makes all the evil stuff that much more disturbing, yes?”

Lunzard actually had to think about this one—and he couldn't even see any flaws in her method of thinking! At least, not off hand. But he wasn't going to let her know that. “Wooo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo! You're an interesting one, Konoka Konoe!” He pulled of a dramatic point that would make a certain ace attorney proud. “I'll spare your life for now. But the moment you screw up as overlord, I WILL BE THERE... to collect the rent and kick your ass.” He hopped back into his machine. “COUNT ON IT!” And with that, Lunzard took what was still functioning of his golem and lumbered back down into the depths of the castle basement.

As soon as he was gone, Konoka's smile faded. She gave a forlorn look at the squashed prinny. “I'm sorry...”

So she jumped when the flat prinny turned out to actually still be moving, giving her a tiny thumbs up when she looked at it. “Eh?!”

“We reincarnate quick, dood!” It explained.

“Yep,” The other prinny walked in, shaking his partner back to his normal dimensions. “and we're like the ultimate expendable unit, dood.”

“Don't tell her that, dood!”

Konoka giggled, pursing her hands together as the prinnies bickered. When the noise died down, an idea kicked in. “Hey prinnies?”

“Yeah, dood?” came the response.

“Why don't you come with me, back to the rooftop? There's something I want to do...”

xxx

There was no long procession, no crazy fanfares, just Konoka walking on the rooftops with a pack of Prinnies waiting just below. “So I'll consider this my private little coronation. I'll make this place just a little bit brighter.” She let her wings out, stretching them to their full wingspan. “It won't be just my rebirth as Overlord.... Gehenna itself will be reborn, too!”

And that power, that holy magic power, she let it shine. I mean, what else could she do with it?

Apparently it was enough for the swirling clouds to part over the castle. Something like the sun shined down on the castle, bathing it with light.

“Dood! You could make lesser demons melt with that!” One prinny pointed out.

“Well, if demons can't handle a little sunlight, how are they gonna compared to the youkai back at home? I remember a vampire who laughs in the face of daylight...” Konoka admonished. Funny how she could recall the diminutive yet powerful vampire mage with clarity, and yet there was still one person she cared about. One person she could not recall.

She sadly rubbed her white wings—they seemed to be the only clue.

The prinnies all exchanged looks. “This is gonna be one looooong Overlording period, dood!” One prinny groaned.

Congratulations! You don't even know the half of it...

xxx

Elsewhere, in this expansive netherworld, there was a school.

This school could probably dwarf Mahora in both size and sheer wonder. It was a school founded eons ago, endlessly expanding its grounds as more and more young demons joined its ranks, learning the ways of petty evil, flashy villainy and general mischief. The school bathed itself in permanent moonlight—fitting, so as to keep its most ruthless students at maximum powers at all times.

This place was known as the Nether Institute, or Evil Academy.

Sitting at the center was the dean's tower, and inside those quarters, was the dean himself, his nose buried in a book. A young-looking demon swathed in a black shirt, white pants, and a red petticoat worn like a cape, he had stark white hair, glasses, and pale skin—an ultimate badass nerd, if you will. Having only recently inherited the position since last year, the young demon man was still suffering the growing pains of the school—the paper work was annoying (so he delegated it to prinnies), there were always troublemakers (so he had to go out and personally kick their asses, since some of his servants weren't around), and nothing really exciting seemed to happen lately. Even the number of delicious experiment possibilities were waning! Things were becoming... dare I say it? Boring.

But you know what they say about idle hands. And considering the entire school is a devil's workshop...

“Oi, Mao!” Alas, somebody interrupted his non-angsty brooding.

The man known as Mao already knew who that was. “What do you want, Beryl?” He looked up.

The female demon that greeted his eyes was a short, cute thing with pink hair and black horns—matching well with a gothic black school outfit. Her short and thick pink tail flicked as she regarded him with her usual naughty grin. “Some interesting rumors have been cropping up amongst some of the more traveled students.”

“So? Why do I care?” He glared back through red eyes. He folded his fingers and rested his chin. This had better be good.

“Because, rumor has it that there's a new Overlord in town,” This girl, Raspberyl (that would be her full name) answered. “You've heard of Gehenna? That place was once lorded over by a complete lunatic, and only the most unsavory of honor students dare step foot there. But I hear that this new Overlord is a badass to the extreme!” Raspberyl's eyes shined like a lovestruck fangirl.

“Badass, huh?” Mao was most definitely not interested at this point. Badasses, by Raspberyl's definition, were largely demons brave enough to embrace their hidden goody-two-shoes side. That wouldn't do anything for him, dean of the school and model man for all evil! But Raspberyl, despite her obnoxious love for the good side, was a trusted vassal, “friendship” concept be damned. If she wanted to investigate this new overlord, who was he to stop her?

“Yep!” Raspberyl crowed, continuing on. “Whoever this Overlord was somehow managed to pull off the angel look. Not even fallen angel, but pure angel! That's an even rarer spawn! And supposedly the castle is already bathed in pure white, too.”

“White?! Ewww! Talk about a lack of taste!” Mao complained. However, when he considered everything else, he continued, thinking out loud. “But if that angel thing is true... I've always wanted to experiment on somebody from Celestia. There is that Flonne girl, but that damn Laharl keeps getting in my way...” The thought of experimenting on a new Overlord filled him with glee. So much in fact, he began drooling.

Raspberyl had to point this out to him.

“Oh, er, yesssss. Anyway take your cronies and go visit this Overlord,” Mao concluded, making a shooing motion. “I think I'll go back to finding some more things to experiment on... Hurry up about it, before I change my mind and go myself!”

The more impish demon giggled. “Fine by me! Even if you said 'no' I would've gone anyway!”

“Don't tempt me, Beryl!” Mao jabbed his finger to the sky as he stomped off to his secret lab.

As he disappeared, Raspberyl just laughed. “So easy to mess with. If he weren't so thick, he'd even make a fine... significant other, I'd say, if that encyclopedia I read yesterday was right.” With that, she skipped off on her own.

xxx

“Haaaaahahahahahaha!” Boisterous laughter flooded the hall of the grand throne room. Of course, this was absolutely nothing new to any of the residents of this castle, situated deep within the Netherworld. Their reigning Overlord did this all the time. However, this time actually had something of a reason to it. “Finally! I'm back home after all that time!”

You see, this young-looking demon, a man bold enough to only wear pants, shoes, and a massive red scarf, was one of the most powerful Overlords around, and with his strange blue antenna-like hair, one of the most recognized throughout the Netherworld. As a matter of fact, he was so famous that it was all too easy for him to get swarmed at that dangerous demon academy, the Nether Institute. So after a year of that annoying school, it was nice to be home.

So agreed one of his vassals. “It is pretty nice to be back home again~,” She was a fair-looking blond lass dressed in white—if you ignored the swishing spade-like red tail, broken red headband, and tiny bat wings. Then again, she was a fallen angel. “But I rather liked that school. It was fun teaching about the wonders of love~.”

“Can it, Love Freak!” The presiding Overlord snarled. “Don't remind me...”

“Laharl!” said Love Freak protested.

“Tch, we came back way too early in my opinion,” This last vassal bore the appearance of “demon” far more than her compatriots did. Skimpy, dominatrix-like clothing, red hair done in pigtails with a spice of spiky death, and a dark red tail completed her look. “It was way too fun extorting all those lower demons out of all of their HL.”

“That wasn't nice, Etna,” the fallen angel admonished.

“You should remind me to give a damn much earlier, Flonne,” this Etna laughed. “Making more than 25,000 HL in one day gets way too... tempting after a while.”

“Screw that!” Laharl bellowed, cutting off the conversation between both girls. Both Etna and Flonne looked in his direction as he glared, his grin gone. “Even though we're back here, there was something that was bugging me before we left. Have either of you heard of those rumors?”

“What rumors?” Flonne blinked.

“Oh, those rumors about a new overlord in town? Yeah, I heard them.” Etna waved it off. No concern of hers... but then she remembered who she was talking to. “Oh, are you gonna go take on this Overlord in some 'I'm-eviler-than-you-challenge-pissing' contest?”

“What?!” Laharl shot back. “I'm not gonna let this nooblet for an overlord steal all my screen time! Especially if she's some weakling who uses the power of light!”

“Light?” The whole room stopped. Etna and Laharl turned to see Flonne, her face wide with wonder. “I thought that school already had an Overlord who could wield light?”

“True, but the rumors say it's somebody completely different,” Etna murmured. “But I bet what's-her-name won't be too happy about sharing a reputation.”

“Ooh!” Flonne clasped her hands, and her eyes lit up like a kid who just won a box of toys. “I want to see her then! Maybe she's nicer!”

“Uh huh, riiiiight.”

“Hmph! I don't care!” Laharl proclaimed. “If she even thinks about walking on my territory or my screen time, I'm kicking her ass to next Wednesday!” He pumped a fist. “Count on it!”

“Have fun with that, Prince!” Etna taunted. “I think I'd rather just get back to seeing what's new with the weaponry around here! I hear they have a sale on Dracula's Pistols! See ya~,” And with that, she sauntered off.

“In that case, I want to know more about this overlor—”Flonne began.

“No, you can't!” Laharl immediately decreed, jabbing a finger in her direction.

The fallen angel whimpered. “W-why not?!”

“There's already one Love Freak, and there's only supposed to be one Love Freak! Not zero or two or three!” Laharl ranted. “Why would I—” Then an idea struck Laharl. A wonderful, awful idea. His grin grew three sizes too big for most people to be confortable. “On second thought, I'll let you go investigate this overlord... on one condition.”

Flonne's eyes stopped watering with sadness, and shined with hope instead. She was definitely not sharp enough to see the two-bit scheme look in Laharl's face. “Yes?” Or maybe she just didn't care.

“I'll let you go as my emissary!” Laharl crowed. “If she accepts the power of love, she will love me as the main character! That way whoever this is doesn't take my screentime! Haaaaahahahahaha!” The overlord loved his own logic.

“Okay!” Flonne smiled.

“So, then go forward and—wait what.” That didn't work out like he thought it would. Well it did, but this was way too easy... “You mean you don't mind?”

“Not at all!” Flonne cheered. “As the Angel of Love, I must spread joy and happiness, even if it benefits your jerk side!”

“Well that's true—” Laharl began, but somehow he managed to catch what sounded like an insult. “Hey wait a minute!”

“Thank you, Laharl!” Pleased, Flonne merrily skipped out of the throne room, the idea of meeting a possible fellow Love Freak filling her with glee.

“Flonne! Get back here! Flonne!” The tiny tyrant raged, but alas, his words fell on deaf ears. Laharl sighed and pouted. “She'd better be good at... whatever she's doing...”

-X-X-

(So ends the opening of this piece. I have to apologise for it starting so slow, but it's gotta start somewhere! In any case, a footnote!

Celestial: Put simply: angels. Celestia refers to the world in which they reside--an opposite world to the Netherworld.

So read, review, constructive criticism, etc. This chapter may or may not go under repairs, so keep an eye out! But thanks to Eternal Longing and Dark Dragon Dave for looking this over for me!)