The levitating stage rose slowly, the crowd nearly holding
it's breath as it gradually came up into their view. The concert in
Crystal Tokyo's central park was an tradition, each year a massive
celebration of the city and the peace that now protected the entire
world. But today was going to be special, and everyone knew it.
They saw her hair first, the red-brown strands blowing in the
slight breeze. Her face came into view, intense eyes gazing out at the
crowd. Finally she stood revealed, center stage, wearing the sort of
leathers that she might have worn on a night a thousand years ago.
"Priss... Priss... Priss... Priss... Priss..." the crowd
chanted.
Priss Asagiri gazed down at the crowd as the chanting rose in
volume, the expression on her face unreadable. A rough gesture to her
back-up band and she cried, "One! Two! Three!"
The crowd roared!
"What's up Romeo-sama..." Priss sang.
"I'm surprised that Priss doesn't perform publicly more
often," Linna said softly, standing concealed at the side of the
stage. "Just listen to that crowd," she smiled. The former office lady
looked good in her one piece green body-suit, her dark brown hair
blowing around her face.
"Yes, just listen to them," Sylia sighed, pushing her long
silver hair back. "They started cheering her before she even sang a
note," she said softly, reaching over to tug at her shoulder of her
white body-suit.
"And that's bad?" Linna asked her leadingly.
Sylia smiled wryly, "She could be up there, out of tune and
three sheets to the wind and they'd be cheering her just as hard."
"Ouch," Linna made a face. "I think that would really piss
Priss off," she admitted, looking out at the performer thoughtfully.
She knew Priss pretty well, and understood how deeply she felt about
her music. She put her heart and soul into it, and to see it under
valued...
"It did," an voice came from behind them. Urd stepped from the
shadows, the dusky skinned goddess in a slinky red dress looking out
at her lover performing the second song she had chosen for her set,
'Hurricane Tonight.' She grinned, "But Priss figured out how to get
back at 'em."
Mara, a goddess second class, strode over to Sylia and took
her into her arms. The leather clad lady dipped the startled woman and
then kissed her very thoroughly. Standing Sylia back up Mara grinned
at her rakishly, "I missed you."
Sylia laughed, "Missed you, too, m'love."
Belldandy smiled happily, walking over to Linna. They both
paused, a step apart, to gaze into each other's eyes for a moment.
Then with a joyful sigh Belldandy slid into Linna's arms. "It's only
been a week," Linna murmured, "why did it feel like months?"
"It's good to be home," Belldandy sighed happily, her long
dress blowing around her legs.
Skuld, a gangly, black haired teen in a greasy jumpsuit, shook
her head and made faces in the background at the overall mushiness.
Mara looked out at Priss, then over to Urd, "What do you mean,
get back at 'em?"
Urd grinned, "You know about the twentieth century music
revival, right?" A few nods, "Priss has put together a band, and been
selling out concerts on that circuit."
"Good for her," Linna grinned. "But why isn't she being
recognized?" she asked.
"She's hiding in plain sight," Sylia said, "wearing a blonde
wig and even trashier clothes than she used to." An impish grin, "You
won't believe the name of her band."
"Victory," Priss sang out to the crowd, and they echoed it
back at her as she continued on with her third number.
"What's she done now?" Skuld asked curiously.
"They're called," Urd paused dramatically, "Priss and the
Replicants."
Linna snapped her fingers, "That old movie Priss used to like,
Blade... something or other, right? It's from there."
"Blade Runner," Sylia nodded, "and yes."
'It was kind of funny,' Linna mused as she thought back to how
the three of them had just lucked into a form of immortality.
The wedding in Arisugawa's Locket had originally been planned
for just one couple, Linna and Belldandy. But Urd had popped the
question to Priss soon after, and Mara began to pointedly suggest that
Sylia should make an honest woman out of her, so.
Rei Hino officiated over the ceremony, the Locket packed full
with women who had become their friends over the months they had been
going there. Juri even relaxed the rules a bit so that Nigel, Mackie
and Henderson could all attend, too.
It took a few years for any of them to notice that anything
was wrong. It wasn't until near the end of the Corporate Wars that a
friend of theirs, Rei herself in fact, asked why the three of them had
seemingly not aged at all. Sylia and Skuld were the ones who went to
work to figure it out, putting them through a series of tests both
very scientific and purely mystical.
They eventually discovered that the System Force, the power
that the goddesses and demon all called upon, had been affected by the
exchange of wedding vows between the goddesses and the mortal women.
To it, the couples were literally one entity, and therefore began to
share the immortality that the higher beings possessed.
Even Mara and Sylia were affected, once Mara chose to renounce
her demon status and become one of the goddesses herself.
Priss finished the number, and then her back up players put
their instruments down and all left the stage. "What's going on?"
Linna asked the others curiously. Priss gave them a grin, and made a
come-here gesture.
Urd walked out without a second thought, joining her lover on
the stage. The crowd roared it's approval once again, and Urd hammed
it up, waving to the audience.
Mara raised her eyebrow at Sylia, "What do you think?"
"Why not," Sylia smiled, and the two walked out to stand by
Priss as well.
"Shall we?" Linna smiled at Belldandy, offering her arm.
"Let's," Belldandy smiled back, and they walked out as well.
The crowd's roar dropped off for a moment in surprise, and
then it picked up again. Two words, that they all chanted over and
over again, "Knight Sabers. Knight Sabers. Knight Sabers. Knight
Sabers ."
There was a shimmer of light, and a three dimensional hologram
appeared. "You called?" Nene asked with a grin, and the cheers rose in
volume even more. The hacker genius of the Knight Sabers years ago had
downloaded her very essence into the world's computer 'nets, becoming
a cybernetic goddess herself.
"You all remember the song 'Touchdown to Tomorrow' I think,"
Priss grinned.
"You can't be serious," Sylia said, but she was smiling
slightly.
Linna shook her head and leaned into a microphone so that
everyone could hear her, "I'll take the drums, there's less chance of
embarrassing myself over there." There was soft laughter from the
crowd at that.
Belldandy kissed her on the cheek as she went by, "You'll do
fine."
"Do you want to play?" Linna asked softly.
Belldandy picked up a mic., "I think I'll sing back-up, if
that's all right."
Nene gestured, and a holographic simulation of the lead guitar
appeared in her hands. "All patched in and ready to play," she
grinned.
"I've always preferred electronics," Sylia smiled as she
stepped behind one of the two keyboard stations.
Mara joined her there behind the other one, swiftly
transforming her clothes into scanty, skintight leathers. "This is
going to be good," she grinned.
Urd picked up the bass guitar and stepped up beside Priss,
"Ready to back you up, m'love."
Skuld gave them all a thumbs up from the side of the stage,
going over the sound board to make sure everything was working well.
Priss raised the microphone to her lips with a grin, Linna
laid down a beat, Mara and Sylia followed her on the keyboards, and
Urd and Nene used their guitars to define the tune. Belldandy raised
her voice like an angel's, then Priss came in whiskey raw, full of
passion.
They proceeded to rock the house....
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