Ah! The following day ch27 part B

High above the skyline of Nekomi, a man was observing the world below him. Humans were fascinating creatures in many ways, running all over the place without stop that made him wonder what they getting out of this. If they spent their limited lives on such mundane tasks, then they were a lot more unfortunate and tragic beings than he had originally expected.

Still, he had no time to ponder on such insignificant matters. Flying from one building to another, the plum tree spirit and the golden nightingale that followed him, were heading towards one specific destination, a temple at the outskirts of the city. He had been there at one point in the past, during the quest to acquire his current companion, and it hadn't been a particularly good experience.

'Gr... That damned shorty!... He seems to be luring more and more goddesses with his fake charms. Rumor has it that he's got twice as many as he had back then. Unforgivable! How... how does that pervert get away with his cheap tricks?'

But the problem this time had nothing to do with that mortal and his aspirations to form a harem. No, it was actually even worse, given the solid evidence that he managed to get his hands on. Urd was apparently dating a most unsuitable individual, who was likely toying with her feelings. She had to, as demons were known for being selfish and cruel.

'How could she fall for such an unsightly blonde... Hadn't she realized that this must be a trick? That demoness only wants to exploit her, I'm sure of it!...'

Troubadour's original intention was to storm right at the fiend's lair and deal with her directly. However, she had a most formidable ally, as the very ruler of Niflheim was living with her, making such an attempt foolish. There was simply no way he could deal with both of them, which only left him with a single option; convince Urd to break up with her.

'I'm pretty sure that my darling Urd would realize her tragic mistake and dump that seductress.'

Landing in the middle of the snow covered temple grounds, the tree spirit immediately noticed a rather peculiar looking robot that headed towards his direction. Holding a small wooden staff, the roundish automaton stood in front of him, as it made a series of beeping sounds that greatly confused him.

“What are you?” Getting more incomprehensible sounds in response, Troubadour decided that there was no point to attempt talking to it. Stepping aside, he was just about to head towards the house, only to get blocked once again. “Begone. This doesn't concern you.”

However, the robot firmly stood its ground, pointing the wooden staff towards the intruder. Soon, a second, humanoid looking machine joined the first one, much to Troubadour's annoyance.

“What's wrong, Banpei? Oh! We've got a visitor!” Sigel wasn't aware of that person's identity and therefore attempted to greet him as any other visitor. “Hello, I'm Skuld-sama's assistant, Sigel. Pleased to meet you.”

The tree spirit stared at the robot and after some thought, he dismissed it as a mere toy that Urd's sister had constructed, offering no reply. Instead, he pointedly walked around them and headed for the house's front door, eager to meet the charming goddess of the past.

“Urd darling, it's me!” Getting no response from anyone, the tree spirit simply walked inside.

Meanwhile, Excalibur returned from his short trip to the nearby forest, carrying a rather unhappy cat with him.

“Unhand me, right away! I may not look like it, but, I'm a proud demon!” A couple of minutes ago, the shape-shifter showed up under his tree and informed him about the residents' desire for his return. As such, Welsper was a bit more confident now, since he knew that the sentient weapon wouldn't harm him.

Letting go of the cat, Excalibur noticed Skuld's two robots standing in front of the house and decided to see what was going on. Even more, there was an oversized bird that rested on a nearby tree. “Status report?”

Turning to him, Sigel pointed towards the Morisato residence, frowning a bit. “A strange earth spirit walked right inside. He didn't even state his name or any other information about himself.”

For the briefest of moments, the sentient weapon's face registered a rather noticeable emotion; anger. He was tasked to keep the house safe and apparently in the short amount of time that was busy retrieving the demonic cat, someone had successfully managed to infiltrate the very area he was supposed to guard. That was simply unacceptable and he had no intention to let this person continue with their suspicious actions.

“Remain here. I'll handle this individual.” Not waiting for a reply, the shape-shifter headed inside, following his sensor's readings. The intruder was located in Urd's room, although, there were signs that he must've searched the entire house, given that the rest of doors were left wide open.

“Oh what a cruel turn of events! Where might you be, Urd?” Standing in the middle of the half goddess' room, the plum tree spirit was posing melodramatically, as his search had proven to be utterly fruitless. Not only he was apparently talking to himself, but, he hadn't noticed the rapidly approaching weapon who had no intention to let him go on like that.

Grabbing him by the shoulder, Excalibur spun the tree spirit around with little care, demanding his attention. “Identify yourself.”

Startled, Troubadour took a few moments to observe the man who simply appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't the same short guy that he met the last time, but, it made little difference for him. “That should be my line! Who are you and what are you doing in my darling Urd's room? Don't tell me that you're yet another male that lives under the same roof as her!”

“Who I may be is irrelevant. This is my room and you're trespassing my roommate's personal space. Furthermore, you have no business in this property, and I demand an explanation of your actions, before you are forcefully removed from the scene.” Excalibur watched the initially puzzled intruder who visibly got rather agitated at his words.

“Roommate?!” shouted the horrified earth spirit, realizing the implications of such a word. “You're telling me that you're sleeping on the same room with... with Urd?!”

“Affirmative.”

At this point, Troubadour was seething with anger, barely capable of doing more than shaking an accusatory finger towards the insolent man that stood before him. “Why you!... I was under the impression that my darling was seduced by a demoness. But... You're added in the list, too? U-Unforgivable! I won't stand this!”

The sentient weapon observed the tree spirit as he summoned a harp and prepared to play some kind of bizarre tune. 'Caution: curse detected. Analysis: creature summoning within affected target. Threat assessment: Ineffective against unit. Potentially harmful and painful towards immortals. Positively lethal for mortals.'

“By the time that this song will end, so will your existence!” bragged the somewhat confident Troubadour, strumming the harp as he cast his trademark curse. “Bugs... bugs.. creepy bugs on the march...”

If that individual had any chance to get out of this unscathed, he had just denied himself of that. Excalibur wasn't planning to use escalated level of force against a peaceful intruder, regardless of his rude behavior. An attack of any nature changed things, however, justifying a violent countermeasure.

The plum tree spirit's confidence started to weaver by the second, wondering what was wrong. By all means, the grey eyed man should've been in extreme pain by now and creaming in pure agony. Instead, he appeared to be fine and even worse, there was something terribly off with him. Troubadour could notice the same scent of power that was present in every earth spirit, even if he couldn't sense anything before. 'Surely a human wouldn't be able to...'

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw the man's fingers stretch, growing longer, while their tips transforming into a series of vicious looking blades. “H-Hold on a minute... You're not a human...”

There was no reply from his opponent, only silence as he stared back at him with the same look of apathy. However, all that changed in milliseconds, the exact amount of time that it took the earth spirit to blink. On moment the man was there, and the next was right in front of him, his knee coming into contact with Troubadour's chest, knocking the wind out of him.

“I'm not,” was the delayed reply. “And you've just made a terrible error. You should've cooperated when you still had the chance.”

XXX

At that very moment, at the other side of the city, Keiichi stood anxiously next to Chihiro and the rest of Whirlwind's employees, waiting for the event to end. He still wasn't totally convinced that the Mishima heiress wasn't going to pull any nasty trick on them, despite her rather polite manners. Letting out a sigh, he tried to remind himself not to be so negative. It was true that they had to deal with a few unexpected circumstances recently, but, getting paranoid wasn't a good thing.

After all, it's been a long while since Sayoko tried to mess around with them. So, it was probably going to be fine.

“What's wrong, Keiichi?” asked his wife, noticing his troubled expression.

“Nothing, Belldandy. I guess it's a bit strange that, Sayoko isn't looking for trouble,” answered Keiichi.

“You shouldn't be so suspicious of others, or you'll eventually drive yourself away from everyone. Besides, she had been rather friendly on certain occasions, even in the past,” said the brunette goddess trying to remind him of those incidents. “Not only she had gotten our tickets, but, she even spent some time with us, during the first New Year's day when we first came here.”

Blinking, the young mortal tried to remember that day, a few years ago, when Sayoko, Megumi and most of the Motor Club decided to hang around the temple for most of the day. “Oh... Yes, we played that board game, too. I kinda forgot about it.”

“You did?” asked the disappointed goddess of present. “We had even kissed towards the end of that game...”

Keiichi decided to remain as silent as possible, not wanting to further upset her. It was true that at the first year of her arrival they had a few rare kisses, but, for the reminder of her stay, things had gotten very slow. Actually, there were a couple of times that he even wondered why that was the case, since he knew nothing of the libido limiter. “Hm... Maybe I did forget that for a reason...”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Belldandy was momentarily confused, before she started to realize what he probably meant. It was possible that certain memories were somewhat suppressed for the sake of keeping his advances from getting too bold. In all honesty, she wasn't fully aware of the way that the limiter worked, other than its general purpose. “I see... I'm sorry to bring it up then...”

“It's not your fault, Belldandy. Besides, I kind of enjoy thinking about those incidents now,” said Keiichi with a smile. “You know... some of my reactions back then were really funny!”

“Yes, I remember that, too.” Giggling, the goddess was relieved that her husband was so kindhearted. Most people in his position would've held a grudge against her and Asgard for putting them in that situation. Humans in particular were very touchy when it came to restrictions, unlike immortals who were a bit more used to them, due to their licensing system.

The couple turned their attention back to the event after the winning number was announced. Looking around the gathered crowd, they searched for the lucky winner. Of course, it was entirely possible that it might've been someone that wasn't present right now and in that case they would've to end the event and wait for that person to claim their reward later.

Suddenly a surprised voice could be heard from amidst the crowd. “That's my number!”

Holding the winning coupon as high as she could, the mousy woman tried to make herself noticeable.

“Hold on... that's...” started Keiichi, before his wife finished that sentence for him.

“It's Hasegawa!” smiling widely, she joined the others as they all waived towards the current head of NIT's Motor Club.

“Not bad, Sora! You did it!” added Chihiro, who was more than happy that she was the winner.

As the young woman tried to get closer to the event's organizers in order to claim the prize, another person further back in the gathered crowd was also looking very excited.

“Can we go, now?” asked Peorth.

“Don't be so hasty! It's not done yet!” said Frigg, giving the rose goddess a pointed look. She was fully aware that the other brunette was eager to go shopping, but, she had to be patient. After all, that wasn't the reason why they came here in the first place.

“Aw... Oh well... I suppose it's only fair,” admitted the goddess of the roses, as she tried to focus her attention back to the event, while Lind shook her head.

“Congratulations miss Hasegawa! You won our number one prize! A fully customized Yamaha FZR1000!”

XXX

High above the temple, Hild and her broom, Glühendes Herz, hovered leisurely while watching the events that were unfolding below. She had just arrived moments ago, after she took her time to give that earth spirit his chance to hopefully annoy her former mother-in-law to the point where she would give him a piece of her mind.

Unfortunately, that never came to be, as they had all gone and attended that raffle, leaving the temple completely empty save for Skuld's robots. Or so she thought, when a screaming plum tree spirit was hurled out of the front door with enough force that would've killed a human.

Smashing against the perimeter wall with a sickening crack, the beaten and utterly horrified being, struggled to get back on his feet, in a desperate effort to distance himself from the monster that was slowly making its way towards him. There was little left of his previous human appearance, as he was now a fully mechanical beast, tall enough that even its hunched and sickeningly thin form was scraping the ceiling of the house. His clothes were also gone, replaced by a couple of surprisingly flexible armor plates, with the rest of his exposed 'skin' being a type of highly reinforced scale-mail fabric, hiding its synthetic muscles which gave him an eerily natural way of movement.

Ducking under the entrance, in order to fit out of the door, the mechanical beast straightened up, now that he wasn't confined by the tiny interior of the house, before he turned towards his shaking opponent. With six optical sensors and four set of antennae surrounding the sharp angled and featureless metallic head, there was little to indicate its intentions. Of course given the otherwise menacing looks of this armored machine, there was no doubt that he wasn't there to make friends.

“S-Stay a-away f-from m-me freak of n-nature!” managed Troubadour, as he slipped back to the ground after an unsuccessful attempt to get up. What started out as a wonderful day was now a living nightmare. Urd was nowhere to be found, let alone talked out of her relationship, and this... thing was apparently unconcerned whether he killed him or not. He had tossed him around like a rag doll, without the slightest sign of doubt, hesitation, or even mercy. It looked as if he was merely planning to continue attacking him until he finally ceased to move.

Despite having no visible mouth, the entity decided to answer with a much deeper and electronic voice, that was probably designed as part of its psychological warfare algorithms. It wasn't just meant for communication, but also to instill fear to his opponent.

“You had demonstrated a complete lack of compassion when you were under the assumption that I was a human, planning to kill me for a petty reason. It is within my programming and authority given to me as part of Artificial Intelligence Squadron of Asgard to counter such action with an equal type of response. Your attempt to use lethal force will have its consequences. You'll be exterminated.”

Watching from above, Hild was thoroughly enjoying herself. This was one of the few elusive items that she wanted to get her hands on, and she was lucky enough not only to run into it, but, see it in action. Excalibur, the latest model of Asgard's AI Squad, a unit specifically created to deal with the most troublesome situations that the celestials had to face. Of course, those synthetics weren't meant to fight against demons, as they lacked the sheer strength to do so. Instead, they were primarily tasked to engage all sorts of beings that her people had created and used, as well as earth spirits and even mortals.

In fact, it was a bit of a secret that earth spirits might've actually been their primary targets, even though, none of the members of the Fighting Wings wanted to admit it. Those immortal beings were supposed to stay out of their conflicts supporting neither gods nor demons, maintaining a neutral stance. Still, several individuals of their species often made it clear that they had their own preferences and involved into matters that they normally shouldn't have. For that reason, sometimes either sides had to deal with those who opposed them or simply assisted their enemies, although, the circumstances were occasionally problematic.

It was one thing to attack a rampaging monster and another to do the same to a peaceful individual who simply sympathized with your opponents. While demons didn't have such reservations, gods were another matter altogether and the truth behind the AI Squad was that they could carry out orders without the burden of a conscience. So, if a mortal made himself into a problem by forming a troublesome contract with a demon, there was a possibility that her or she would've one of those shape-shifters after them.

However, the fate of the squad was sealed when the latest unit was added to their ranks. In an ever increasing demand for power and new capabilities, their creator had decided to utilize low level earth spirits to make his greatest masterpiece. Ironically his grand success was his downfall, as he had never fully disclosed the exact nature of those spirits. More importantly, the members of the Councils were under the impression that those were non-sentient spirits, but, when the truth was revealed, they were appalled by his actions. Every single one of the entities used in Excalibur's creation had been self aware, and their personalities were irrevocably lost in the process of unifying them into a single hive mind.

There wasn't even a trial for that god, when the newly appointed Daitenkaicho, Tyr, ordered the Fighting Wings to storm his laboratory and use lethal force regardless of the circumstances. A rare case by all means, given the typical attitude of the celestials, but a reminder to those who decided to cross certain lines. Interestingly, the actual schematics of Excalibur were never recovered and given that the one who had originally exposed that scandal was Loki, Hild couldn't avoid wondering if he had somehow stolen them prior to that operation.

The sword itself was eventually kept away from sight for a long time, while the rest of the squad members were rarely used in any of the Fighting Wing's activities. Last time she heard about it, Excalibur was left in the mortal realm, but, quickly disappeared after a couple of years.

'I can't believe that it's right there! I want to get it, although...' There were a couple of issues with obtaining the sword for herself, no matter how much she would've loved that. Without the schematics, it was dangerous to attempt a full system reprogramming to follow her orders. The slightest mistake could render the unit inoperable and repairing it would be hard, too. Especially if the damage was significant.

Even more importantly, she was intrigued as to why it was currently at the temple. Additionally, it was about to give that pest the treatment he deserved for toying with her girl's feelings. And the best part was that nobody was going to held her responsible for that idiot's demise.

'Good riddance, I'd say...'

Indeed, on the ground the situation was turning even worse for the tree spirit, when the mechanical giant reached forward and formed a blade from his own body. It wasn't a common one, though, as the cutting edge was replaced by a series of teeth like indents that suddenly started to move along its length with blinding speed. Even more, the noise that it produced was a haunting one for any tree spirit; it was the sound of a chainsaw.

“Stop! I'll leave! I'll leave!” pleaded Troubadour, finally on his feet and attempting to find a way out of his predicament. The thing was already walking towards his direction and he still couldn't fly, and by the looks of it, time was running out.

“Oh, stop whining and take it like a man!” grumbled Hild, unhappy to see someone whimper before their end. It took all the pleasure away from a fight when they groveled and begged for their lives. Still, she seemed curious when the shape-shifter had actually stopped dead on his tracks. She was sure that the synthetic wasn't suddenly touched by Troubadour's attempt to save himself, and Hild was proven right when the mechanical behemoth turned his head upwards, staring at her. 'Oops... I should've remained quiet. Oh, that sucks!...'

Giving the newcomer a much higher priority, Excalibur was uninterested to deal with the noisy tree spirit. This demoness was an extremely dangerous one, even in her current reduced form. He wasn't designed for direct combat against demons, especially when they utilized their true strength. According to his analysis, the possibility of survival after an encounter with her was a flat 0%. As such, an alternative approach was much needed.

Melting back into his human form, Excalibur hoped that he could successfully use diplomacy and avoid certain death during a forceful confrontation with her. Perhaps he could use the fact that he was her daughter's roommate to appease her, before the situation deteriorated to an unrecoverable state.

“Greetings.” After a brief evaluation of his approach, the shape-shifter was certain that this wasn't the most appropriate way to address the newcomer. However, it was too late to correct himself and try again, so, he waited for the Daimakaicho's response.

As her position was compromised, the demoness instructed her broom to lower their altitude, in order to have a more comfortable conversation with the divine weapon. “Hello there! Nice to meet you!”

“Likewise. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance,” said Excalibur, looking at the childish demoness that hovered at his eye level. After some thought, he extended his hand towards her in a friendly gesture.

“My my... Aren't we polite... I'm impressed! Especially after you previous display of violence,” said Hild with a warm smile, shaking his hand. “You seem like a smart individual who knows how to pick his targets. Although... your previous one is running away...”

Turning his head, he spotted the limping tree spirit, who had managed to get to the temple's staircase while he wasn't paying attention to him. As Troubadour noticed them staring at him, he hurried to escape, only to end up slipping on the ice and taking a tumble down the stairs.

“Are you gonna let him go just like that?” asked Hild, pointing towards the earth spirit's direction.

“I see no reason to pursue him. In the event he returns, I'd be more than happy to welcome him in a most suitable manner,” replied Excalibur. Realizing that his attempt at using humor had no immediately observable result, he added a mental note that he needed to exercise his abilities at utilizing jokes.

“Great...” grumbled Hild, before she shook her head, smiling at the sentient weapon once again. “So... What are you doing here? I mean, isn't this a bit of an unlikely place for someone like you?”

“I must admit that it is. However, the same can be said about all the goddesses that currently reside in this house.” Curiously, the shape-shifter watched Hild giggle, despite the fact that he was serious. 'I need to invest more time at analyzing humor.'

“Oh well... I guess that you're a more efficient guard than those two,” said Hild, pointing at Skuld's robots that observed the scene from a distance. “Keiichi-kun must be lucky to have you here.”

“That's incorrect. I'm currently living with your daughter. At least as far as the sleeping arrangements are considered.” It was becoming more and more peculiar for Excalibur, as his comments were getting a very different response from what he anticipated. Hild was laughing so hard at the moment, that she nearly fell off her broom.

“Y-You're killing me! Do you even have any idea how hilarious you sound?” asked Hild, struggling to stay on Glühendes Herz. “That's almost like you're dating Urd!”

Excalibur tilted his head in confusion, and even after a few seconds of processing, he couldn't figure how his statement had led to that conclusion. Verbal communication was a much more difficult task than originally anticipated, considering that it was a mix of emotions, jokes, lies, sarcasm, and words that had various meanings under different contexts. He personally preferred direct digital transfer, as it was significantly easier to understand. Sadly he was one of the few who could converse in such sane method, forcing him to adapt into the majority's way of communication.

“I did not intend to give that impression. To begin with, dating someone is an activity outside of my primary functions. Furthermore, in that event I should've been considerably more cordial towards your person, given her association with Urd. According to Asgard's official statistics, it is extremely important for any potential suitor to make a good impression to their romantic interest's mother, as well as other females of her family; particularly the elder ones. Failure to comply to that unwritten rule typically leads to regret, broken relationships and on certain occasions, physical injury,” explained the shape-shifter, having to crane his neck lower, as Hild was now dangling upside down the broom, while laughing hysterically.

After a few moments, she was once more in an upright position and giving the shape-shifter a pat on the head, she smiled. “Urd can keep you if she wants. You seem to be a funny individual, after all. Oh... and tell her I said hi.”

Accelerating, the broom shot up in the sky heading towards Hild's base of operation on the mortal realm. Looking at the departing leader of the demons, Excalibur was uncertain what to make of the whole situation. The intruder had escaped death, although, the sentient weapon was fairly confident that he wasn't going to come back any time soon. As for Hild... the sword was unsuccessful at making total sense of her reactions.

'According to estimates based on behavioral models, there is a 59% probability that she was positive towards this unit. However, with the potential margin of error at 45%, this is a very uncertain conclusion.'

Turning around, he noticed the damaged spot of the perimeter wall, where he had thrown Troubadour and without any other pending tasks, he decided to fix the damage before the rest of the residents complained about it once again.

'Afterward, I need to prioritize my revaluation of social interaction. The current performance was deemed abysmal by 98,1% of my runtimes...'

XXX

Castle Utgard, Jotunheim

Sitting at his desk while holding the headset of the only phone in the room, Skrymir was listening to the report of one of his agents.

“Understood... There's no need for you to stay around that area, anymore. Report back immediately and wait for your next assignment.” Ending the call, the red haired demons couldn't avoid smirking a bit, despite his otherwise stoic attitude.

Standing next to him with hands folded behind his back, Bergelmir noticed his boss' expression. “I suppose that everything went well, sir?”

“More or less. It wasn't exactly what we were expecting to happen, but, it was a very positive outcome nonetheless,” said Skrymir, turning his attention to the hooded person who waited patiently in front of his desk. “This is where you come in, Vidarr. Do you understand your task?”

The white clad god nodded slowly, staring at the data cylinder that he got moments ago. This was going to be the most dangerous operation that he had ever attempted, and for a moment he felt tempted to simply decline and forget about it. After all, as a god he was outside of their jurisdiction and therefore, they couldn't just order him to do anything. Still, he wasn't going to turn tail in fear, so, he nodded back at the head of the demonic Intelligence Sector.

“Yes, I know what to do,” said the god. “Although, it's not going to be an easy task...”

“Believe me, I'm fully aware of that fact,” said Skrymir. “That's exactly the reason why we need a god to do this. Just infiltrating the mainframe is very difficult for a demon, let alone complete the job. Once you arrive at Asgard, seek assistance from our contact there. You know who I'm talking about.”

“I do.” Tucking the cylinder in his uniform, the god let out a sigh, before he turned towards the door. “If there's nothing more, I'd like to start with my assignment.”

“No, that's all. Just make sure that you won't get caught.” The red haired demon watched the god depart, while he considered his next move. So far, the variation in this particular plan was of no consequence to them. With minor adjustments, everything would be fine and he would have to make sure that this was the case; one fiasco in his entire career was more than enough for him.

As soon as they were alone, Skrymir turned to his subordinate. “Bergelmir.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Contact Surt and offer him a detailed description of what took place in the mortal realm. It may be a bit soon, but, I want no errors this time,” said the head of the Intelligence Sector. “Also, try to make sure that he's going to show restrain... I want a clean operation, not a massacre.”

“Understood. With your permission, I'll do that, right away,” said Bergelmir.

“You're free to go,” said Skrymir. Watching his subordinate as he headed towards the gate room, the head of the Intelligence Sector was finally alone in his almost empty office.

'Soon... Very soon, we're going to show them the true meaning of being helpless.'