The young man walked into the room, and started a bit when he saw the woman leaning on the desk. Before he can say anything, she asks "Did the information pan out? Are they here?" He frowned at her, then nodded. "I don't know how, but the timing was perfect! We got invaluable data on her arrival, as well as their potential power usage!" he said excitedly as he waved a computer disk. "And all the data's there, right?" she asked. "One copy, like we discussed?" He nodded happily. "Good. Now Sleep," she said, pointing at him. He dropped like he had been struck. She sauntered over and put the disk into a monitor on the desk. In moments, images of Belldandy's and Urd's power usages the day before are on screen. The woman shakes her head, muttering "Sloppy." She pops the disk out and waves one hand over the computer terminal, "Forget." Like a virus, the spell spreads through the computer network erasing all data on the goddesses' activities. She casually tossed the disk into the garbage can, sending an energy bolt in after it. The computer disk burns merrily as she closes the door behind her. It reads: Genom, Paranormal Research Department. The demoness Mara smiles cheerfully as she walks down the hall, "Now things get interesting." Linna lay on the mattress rolled out on the floor while Belldandy looked down at her worriedly from Linna's bed. "Are you sure this is all right?" Belldandy asked. "It's better than the alternative," Linna said, pointing over at the vigilant Banpei robot. Belldandy looked over at her sympathetically. Linna blushed, remembering what Urd had told her before going to bed: "Belldandy likes you, and I want her happy. You don't make her happy, and it's Urd bolts for you!" she finished, lightning crackling around her fingers. `Damned if I do, damned if I don't,' Linna thought with a sigh. She looked over at the staring robot and said "I wish he wouldn't look at me all the time, it creeps me out." "Oh, that's not a problem." Belldandy said cheerfully. She gestured, and the robot simply shut down. "Does Skuld know you can do that?" Linna asked worriedly. Belldandy grinned back, "No." Linna grinned, and shook her head. Urd's threat was at the front of her mind, but she wasn't sure what to do. Linna liked Belldandy, but she didn't know what Belldandy wanted. Finally making up her mind, she slipped free of the mattress and stood by Belldandy's bed. Belldandy looked up at her inquiringly, and Linna bent down to gently kiss her on the cheek. "Good night, Bell," Linna said nervously, lay down and went to bed. "Good night, Linna," Belldandy said, and watched the young woman lay down. Linna was almost as shy as she was, Belldandy realized. It must have taken a great deal of courage to do that. She watched her sleep, and wondered... Just before dawn, the sound of Sylia's voice over the intercom woke them all. Linna rushed to the lower levels where the suits were stored, and armored up quickly, Belldandy following all the way. "You are almost like knights in armor," she noted, as they rushed in the Silky Doll truck to the boomer emergency. "Something like that," Linna agreed, helmet visor up. "Sylia calls us the Knight Sabers." Priss actually looked relieved, as Urd couldn't put the moves on her while she was in armor, while Nene was doing her best to keep Skuld from taking her suit apart. "Did we have to bring them along?" Nene complained. "They may come in handy," Sylia said diplomatically. `Besides,' Sylia thought, `short of putting up a force field around the truck, I doubt we could have kept them out.' They pulled to a stop nearby the construction site, and Mackie summarized the situation: the boomers at the site had gone mad, tearing the girders down and reshaping the structure, and to make matters worse, the lower levels had caught fire. Sylia quickly divided up the assignments, and they started to move out. "I don't know how dangerous this is going to be, Bell," Linna said. "Please, stay with the truck." "Do you really think I'll do that?" Belldandy asked quietly. Linna sighed softly, "No, I guess not." Linna looked thoughtful, and asked "Can you do anything about the fire?" Belldandy smiled happily, "I think so." She and Urd easily followed Linna and Priss up to the top of the building and the maddened boomers, while Sylia, Nene and Skuld tried to control the fire and make sure the site was evacuated. She began to speak softly, gesturing as they ran, and soon a soft rain began to fall, dampening the flames. "Sorry, Linna," Belldandy shouted to her just ahead, "it's the best I can do!" "Thanks," Linna said, as the dodged through the rabbit warren of twisted girders. Strangely, they seemed to form a pattern, curves and circles radiating outward. The group finally reached the center, where they found the boomers standing motionless, still as statues. "What in the world?" Linna asked, frowning. Priss walked over and tapped a construction boomer on the head. It swayed, and just fell over. "Totally dead," Priss said, frowning. She looked around irritably, a scowl on her face, then stopped when she saw Urd. The goddess was glowing, struggling against some invisible force. Belldandy moved to help, and Urd yelled "Stop!" Belldandy wanted to move closer, but Linna reached around her and grabbed her arms. "It's a trap, keyed to me!" Urd growled angrily. Priss walked forward, and tried to pry Urd loose, without success. "Why Priss," Urd gasped, "I didn't know you cared." A red energy bold arched out of the night, and blasted the armored figure away from Urd. "She's mine," the voice said, "you can't have her." Mara stepped out of the shadows, frowning at the Knight Sabers. "I don't know who you are, but I suppose it doesn't matter," Mara said, gesturing. The boomers glowed, and came to life! They ran at Linna and a recovering Priss, who began to cut and blast them down, as Belldandy faced Mara. "Let her go," Belldandy said softly, her entire body glowing softly. "Are you really prepared to take me on?" Mara laughed, looking Belldandy in the eye. Just then, what was left of a construction boomer sailed by her head. She turned, to see Linna, looking particularly furious, standing on the remnants of her adversaries. "She doesn't have to," Linna said darkly. Mara looked for the rest of her troops, and saw Priss disposing of the last of them. She looked at the two Knight Sabers with something like surprise. Before she could say anything, she felt a soft prick at her throat. Sylia smiled in her armor, as she held the blade to Mara's neck. "The goddesses are our friends," she said coldly, "you mess with them, you mess with us." She used the communicator to ask, "Nene, can you do something about this?" Nene dropped down, and circled around the still trapped, glowing Urd. "Hmm, interesting," she murmured, and began to work. A few minutes later, and Urd dropped to the floor. "Hah, jammed it!" Nene said proudly. Mara looked around her with something like awe. "Interesting friends you've found," Mara admitted. She grinned, "It'll make things more interesting." With a single move, she slipped free of Sylia's grip and disappeared into the night. Priss moved to stop her, but wasn't quite fast enough. "Looks like things just got a lot more interesting," she sighed. She saw Urd struggling to stand, and walked over to offer her hand, which Urd took gratefully. "This doesn't mean I like you," Priss said simply. Urd chuckled softly. "Of course not," she agreed. "It looks like my family's problems have followed us," Belldandy said sadly. Linna smiled at Belldandy, and cautiously circled her arm around her. "With our lifestyle, I doubt we'd notice," Linna joked. Belldandy sighed, and leaned into Linna's arm. Skuld glared at the two pairs, then growled to Nene, "Mushy stuff, yuck." Nene just smiled mysteriously to the younger goddess, who stuck her tongue out, "Bleeh!"
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