Mara looked down several levels, and snarled angrily. She, Urd , Skuld and Belldandy all looked pained, almost as if they could feel the pain of the goddess just below them. "Let's go," Mara said grimly, only to be stopped by Sylia. "Look all around the room," Sylia pointed out quietly. Linna followed her gaze and began to swear softly. Some kind of military grade Boomers, lots of them, were lining the walls of the chamber all ready to be deployed. "At least twelve or so," she murmured softly. "At least," Nene echoed faintly. Urd looked at Mara, Linna, Priss and Sylia, "We can take them, I think." Priss grinned, "The big one's mine." "Which big one?" Urd grinned back at her. Sylia rolled her eyes at that. "Nene, Skuld, I want you two to go get Peorth out of that torture chamber Quincy has her in," she ordered. A pause, "Belldandy, can you keep Quincy and any of his people busy?" Belldandy nodded, her expression as grave as Linna had ever seen on her, "Of course." Linna looked ready to argue, but Belldandy smiled at her gently, "We each have our parts to play, m'love." Linna smiled, "Just be careful." Sylia met each of their eyes a moment, "I don't have to tell you how important this is." A smile, "Let's go down there and make Quincy regret ever calling down a goddess." With that, she leapt over the railing and dived to the floor below. "Let's go!" Linna echoed, and in moments all of them were falling together. Quincy nearly had a heart attack as they dropped into the middle of the lab. "The Knight Sabers?!" he rasped out. The combat Boomers began to move, each one nearly three times the height of one of the Knight Sabers, heavily armored and carrying large weapons. Thankfully, they were also about as slow as they were big, a bit clumsy, too. Urd rose into the air, glowing brightly as power built up all around her, centering around her hands. "Urd bolts, strike," she cried, casting a ball of lightning at the lumbering Boomer. The bolt slowed in the air, almost as if it hit something, then the Boomer was engulfed in an explosion. A crater was all that was left. "They're shielded," Mara frowned even as she ran at another Boomer. She leapt up onto it's shoulders before crying out, "Demon's Curse!" It stood there stock still for a moment, then it simply crumbled to dust. Quincy glared as Belldandy walked towards him, "Stay back." "This can end now," Belldandy said, holding his attention as Skuld and Nene made their way to the containment chamber, "just let Peorth go." "Not until she grants my wish," Quincy growled. He looked around wildly, "Jacobson! Where are you?" "Let her go, sir," Jacobson said calmly. He had ditched his suit jacket and his hair was in disarray as he added, "It's time to cut your losses." Priss clambered up to reach the Boomer's head, "Say goodnight!" Her railgun discharged, and the head simply exploded. Linna leapt, her cables snaking out to slice an arm free. She grabbed the cannon it had carried, pointed it, and then pulled the oversized trigger. The recoil nearly blew her off her feet, but the Boomer dropped like a stone. "I have got to get me one of these," Linna joked. "Not terribly elegant," Sylia noted. She leapt up and over the Boomer, her blades flashing as she cut the primary feeds, and the Boomer froze, paralyzed. Nene scanned the chamber, even as Skuld nearly climbed inside the casing. "The EM fields are all over the place," she noted. "Tell me something I don't know," Skuld complained as she worked furiously. Then a soft, "Oh, dear." "What?" Nene asked, then she spotted it on her sensors, "Oh, hell." The floor shook, and three women in armored K-suits came in, bearing weapons like the Boomers carried. "Looks like our playmates have reinforcements," Urd growled from the middle of three Boomers. One suited figure raised it's weapon... ...and mowed down a Boomer. "Hitomi, you take that side," Megumi growled, "Fairchild and I will take the other side." Quincy glared at Jacobson, who was smiling slightly. "Your betrayal wasn't unexpected," he finally sighed, "but I had hopes." "Give it up, sir," Jacobson said calmly. Sylia left the Boomer mopping up to the others and dropped in to ask, "Nene, Skuld, how are things going?" "Not good," Nene sighed. "That bastard rigged this thing with a bomb," Skuld said, only her backside visible as she studied the device. "Very good," Quincy smiled. "I can detonate the device from here, and it will go off if you attempt to free her," he continued, "so I would recommend stopping any such attempts." "Let her go," Belldandy said softly. Quincy shook his head, "Not until my wish is granted." "What do you want?" Mara surprised them all by asking. Quincy looked at her thoughtfully, "Ultimate power, and to live forever." Mara met his eyes, her own glowing softly. "I'll grant your wish," she finally said. "Let her go," she said softly. "No," Sylia whispered, her eyes wide. "How do I know I can trust you?" Quincy frowned. "Will you swear by your name?" he asked as Jacobson had told him to. Mara nodded, "I, Mara, swear to fulfill your wish, in exchange for your freeing the goddess Peorth. I so swear by my name." "It's good to do business with a reasonable person," Quincy smiled, hitting another switch on his chair. There was a loud click, and the side of the chamber opened, spilling Peorth out. Jacobson stepped forward to catch her, just barely in time. "Don't do this," Sylia grabbed Mara's arm. The demoness surprised her by smiling gently, "It's going to be all right." Mara slipped free, standing in front of Quincy. She knelt down, placing her hands on his shoulders as she smiled, "Your wish is granted." Quincy began to glow, a smile appearing on his face. Shining brightly, he stood out of his wheelchair, the light obscuring his face. "This is wonderful," he sighed, then in a darker tone of voice, "and now for you..." then he stopped. "Before he attacks, we go for him," Linna said, stepping in front of Belldandy protectively. "Right," Priss agreed grimly. Strangely, both Belldandy and Urd looked sorrowful, as if something terrible had happened. "That won't be necessary," Belldandy sighed. The light from Quincy grew brighter and brighter, and he began to sound alarmed, "Wait! What's happening?" He began to expand, the light shifting and pulsing beneath his skin, his eyes bulging, "No, this isn't what I...." Then he exploded in a burst of light and fire. Belldandy, Urd, Mara and Nene blocked as much as they could, but the blast still knocked them around some. "Thanks for modifying my suit," Nene managed to say to Skuld. Mara was laying above Sylia, shielding her with her own body. "You knew that would happen," Sylia realized. Mara nodded grimly, "No human can contain ultimate power for long. And he is immortal, immortal vapor, anyway." "Almost a fitting punishment," Sylia admitted. Jacobson carefully shifted, keeping Peorth shielded by his own body. Her voice was faint, so low he could barely hear it, "The wish was yours." "What?" Jacobson looked at her in surprise. "Yours was the pure heart who's call I answered," Peorth smiled weakly, "make your wish." Jacobson didn't even have to think about it as he said, "I wish that the goddess Peorth be completely healed." Peorth smiled at him gratefully, then her body was suffused with light. She nodded to him regally, once, then she was gone. Megumi and the others watched in awe, before stepping up to help him to his feet. "Is Quincy really dead?" Fairchild asked. "I'm not sure I really want to think about it," Jacobson admitted. "Looks like all's well that ends well," Priss smiled as she and Urd steadied each other. "Not quite," Urd looked worriedly over at Mara. The demoness smiled at Sylia sadly, "I have to go." "When?" Sylia looked at her in surprise, "Where?" "Home," Mara answered shortly, "and now." Belldandy was looking very worried, "You granted a wish for someone without getting anything in exchange." "The cardinal rule," Mara nodded grimly, "and I just broke it. My bosses are not going to be happy with me." "Stay here," Linna spoke up, then she looked around and corrected herself, "I mean, back at the 'Doll. We'll protect you." Mara gave her a smile, "I appreciate the thought, but you have no idea what you'd be taking on." She turned to Sylia, "It's been fun. If I don't come back, don't forget me." She took a few steps, stopped, and quietly said, "I love you." With that, she simply disappeared. "Mara!" Sylia cried out tearfully.
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