Alrighty, then.

For those reading for the first time, earlier chapters can still be found at:
http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/NETTG.html

...or by request.

Any and all comments, criticism, or methods to improve what has been written
here are greatly appreciated. I am under little illusion that this will be 
the final form
of the chapter. I actually have great hopes that something someone has to say
out there will improve it a great deal. After all, I'm only human. Besides, 
if I got
everything perfect, what could people possibly say to me? ^_-

Special thanks to:

Jason Hanks, who has stayed with me the whole time on this.
Jason Liao, who is getting back into the groove.
And many thanks to those who commented on the last section released.

And everyone else for keeping me working on it, even after so long.

So, here we go.

<Continued from NETTG!! Ch10 P2 (7/??)>

---

    Ukkyo slaved over a hot stove, creating a masterpiece with a
lot of mixed-up dough, meats, vegetables, and the newest addition to
the menu: Cheese(tm).

    [BEHOLD, THE POWER OF CHEESE!!!] read one big banner strung
up above the cash register. [Eat Okonomiyaki, NOW.]

    The work was tough, the cook had to admit to herself, but she
loved it! There was some sort of inner fire that just couldn't get
enough of cutting things up, barbequing them, frying them up on a
hot skillet and selling them for ninety-nine cents each.

    "What a life," Ukkyo said to herself, enjoying every minute.
It helped that she now had a boyfriend. She really liked 'Tim,
even if he did turn into six-and-a-half-foot-tall armored youma-
killing menace. The Atomic Starlight Knight was a ruthless warrior,
and when he changed back, he could be a little unfocused and
clueless, but he could also be the sweetest, most self-sacrificing
person she'd ever met. "But we've all got a few quirks," she added
to herself. "Yes, we could make this work."

    Ukkyo had basically quit the Dark Kingdom. Bad pay, no dental
plan, no stock options, just 'You do what we say or we'll lock yer
sorry carcass in a crystal prison.'

    With 'Tim, however, when she asked, for example, for a raise,
he'd just pause, think about it for a second, then shrug and say,
"Okay," and go off on another one of his own pursuits. Plus, even
though he technically owned the business, she did just about
everything. When she saw that there wasn't a sign out in front, she
asked if she could have one put up, and she did. She even got to
choose the name, albeit with a slight addition.

    Her boss/boyfriend got back just a few minutes ago, looking
a bit down, saying that someone else beat the monsters before he
could get to them. Ukkyo suggested another one of those holographic
opponents, but he didn't seem too thrilled with the idea. So, he
just sat moping around outside at a table, trying to hide the fact
that he was seriously ticked off.

    Meanwhile, Ukkyo continued working, feeling sorry for anyone
that decided to get on her boyfriend's bad side within the next
couple minutes. She held a small hope that it wouldn't damage
business when it happened.


    "DARN the luck," 'Tim idly hit his hand against the table,
bouncing the salt and pepper shakers into the air, "Darn!"

    Oh, yes, he'd left the battlefield gracefully enough, but
was regretting having let Sailor Neptune just get away and taunting
him like that. So what if he had trouble finding the danger before
she did? It was still his turn to nuke something, and he really,
really wanted to test his powers. A hologram just would not do! He
needed some LIVE action, like one of those youma, or even better, a
general.

    Maybe a Norse god. Yeah! He was feeling pumped and ready
for something tough. He hadn't gone up against a Norse deity since,
well, since just after the Third Mazokou War. Thor was his name,
wasn't it? Yeah, he remembered: Atomic Starlight Knight kept on
mocking that puffed-up hammer-guy, tossing around lightning, calling
him a pansy and stuff like that. Hoo-baby, was Thor ever ticked off.

    That was fun, actually. Sitting around and doing nothing while
everyone else got to blast all the nice, fruity-chewable monsters was
not fun.

    'Tim was getting bored, and that was making him angry. To make
matters worse, in this form, he didn't have his thousands of support-
voices to distract him or try to calm him down. All he had was some
seething cauldron of disappointment building up and just daring
_anyone_ to come up to him and make his day.

    The powered-up pink-haired guy reached down into his gi-jacket
and switched his firearm's clip to something with a little more
'kick.' Powered-up as he was, it was always recommendable to have
alternate methods of attack.

    This morning, he had also reviewed a few Hidden Weapons
techniques that all the masters said were forbidden. That'd make a
nice chapter for a martial arts book, actually, if he were to ever
write one.

    As 'Tim considered all this, through the wide windows, he saw
a young girl pass in front of the restaurant, who looked like she was
searching for someone. Blonde hair, tied up in a pair of ankle-length
ponytails with a bun/ball-thing at the beginning of each. She was
approximately fourteen years old, in a casual dress--not in a school
uniform. She looked familiar. Yes, from the Moon Kingdom. She was
that annoying--

    'Tim blinked and looked at her again. No, she was Terra's
transformed mode, Sailor Moon in a different outfit--

    No! That was that Juraian princess with a make-up job and her
hair dyed.

    Nooo, that wasn't it. She was one of Terra's friends. He even
knew her full name. First name Serena, last name...

    Last name...

    Last name...

    Last name...

    Actually, he didn't know her last name. Didn't she have one? Had
Terra ever asked? To his knowledge, he'd never met this girl
personally, so the only explanation as to why she looked familiar
had to be because Terra knew her. There was something about her that
made him feel strange--

    *Zrr-bling!* The yellow crescent moon on his forehead flickered
for a second.

    'Tim frowned and watched the girl walk by, his chest muscles
tightening up and heart-rate increasing. "What the--?" His breathing
deepened and quickened. He clenched his teeth and struggled against
what was affecting him. Whatever it was, he didn't like it one bit.

...

    A pair of highly intelligent American infantrymen parked their
loaded semi in front of 'Tim's Ucchan. They stepped out, taking
care to lock the doors, and decided to go in for lunch.

    The lower-ranking officer still had some misgivings, though.

    "Hey, Sarge! We supposed to leave all this unstable ordinance
alone in front of this here eatin' joint?"
    "That's right, that's what we're gonna do, Lester."
    "Aren't we due back at the base in a couple minutes?"
    "Nah, don't you go worryin' 'bout that, son. Let's go get some
eats."

    The two walked on in, and didn't take notice the approach of a
certain stunningly beautiful brunette.

...

    Belldandy brushed a speck of fluff off the skirt of her white-
collared blue dress. Well, this was it. She looked up at the
restaurant's big sign, then took a deep breath, opened the door,
and walked inside.

    It was just like the practice runs. There were a few people
sitting down and eating, the cook was in the back room enjoying
her work, and 'Tim was no where in sight. Cautiously, she placed
a small television set on a table by the entranceway.

    The First Class Goddess pursed her lips and scanned around.
There was nobody in a green traveler's outfit and a green
bandanna sitting, walking, or standing around. Surely he wouldn't
have stepped out. He was supposed to be here--oh, there he is!

    Belldandy began to move toward the man. He was sitting at
one of the tables and dressed a little different than she expected,
but he was the one they were looking for. He must be getting ready
for a costume party or something. He was dressed a lot like Goku
from the Dragonball series, not that she watched it, but she knew
what it was.

    'Tim was breathing a little irregularly and clutching at
his heart, with an intense look in his eyes. A thin line of sweat
trailed down one side of his forehead. Maybe he'd just gotten back
from jogging or a fast run. Then again, maybe he had been lifting
weights. His arms had a bit more muscle on them than in the
simulation.

    No time to waste, though. Belldandy walked up to him, showed
off a bright smile, and said, "Hi!"

    The pink-haired man turned his head, slowly and ominously,
toward her and with wide, almost glowing eyes intoned, "Spiders,
snakes, and a lizard's tail." He shook his head in a futile
effort to clear it. "Er, HI," he spoke through a forced, clenched-
tooth smile. His left eye twitched and a big vein on his neck was
throbbing.

    Belldandy frowned. This was not exactly what she had been
conditioned to hear from him, but, according to plan, she pulled
out a dollar bill, stuck it in his face, and pleasantly asked,
"Can I have change for a twenty?"

    "Can she have change for a twenty?" echoed 'Tim in disbelief.
"I don't know, CAN you?"

    The goddess had run into one of these sorts of responses on
the second time through. The right way to handle it was to not get
into a long discussion about it and say... "Oh, may I _please_ have
change for a twenty?"

    "That's better," 'Tim seemed to calm down a little. He didn't
even look away from her when he called, "Hey, Ukkchan! Someone here
wants-"

    "No-no," Belldandy quickly stopped him. That was just like
on the seventh attempt. She placed the money in 'Tim's hand. "I
would like you to do it for me, please."

    "I'm going through a crisis and she wants _me_ to give her
change for a twenty," muttered the man and stood, staggering over
to the cash register. "And who knows what she wants. Four fives,
two tens, ten twos, or what. So she's getting her change, and I'm
going to see the doctor." He grumbled on. "Haven't killed anything
for a week." Mumble, grumble, mumble, grumble.

    Okay, this was it. "Spirit of Rest," the goddess began,
"help this man be--" she broke off, ending the incantation. The
magic faded away.

    There was something very strange written on the back of
'Tim's outfit. It was in Kanji, and could mean a couple of different
things, but at first glance, it just seemed very comical to
Belldandy. She laughed quietly and politely when she read aloud,
"Pansy."

    'Tim stiffened.

    The environment suddenly grew darker.

    The air became heavy.

    Right on cue, John Williams' Duel of the Fates started playing
on someone's radio.

    'Tim stood up straight and turned around to glare at the
goddess, his hands held slightly away from his sides. "_What_ did you
just call me?"

    Belldandy frowned, realizing her error. "I-I," she took a step
back. Well, it was now or never. "Spirit of Rest, help this man be
still for a moment."

    *Bling* A green spherical barrier flashed around the man
for one-half-second, and he was most definitely not frozen in place.
'Tim made a pair of long, menacing strides toward her, bloodshot
eyes demanding her absolute attention. "What are you trying, you
rude little _thing_?"

    The Goddess of the Present was worried. There were only a very
few people on the face of the planet that were strong enough to block
that sort of magic, and 'Tim Knight was not supposed to be one of
them! Even if he was the focus of a large bug-rush, it should not
have made him _that_ powerful.

    Belldandy started thinking logically. All right, so the planned
magic would not work on him. She didn't think he was a bad person,
so if she were to talk to him, he might calm down enough so that
they could work together to resolve the problem. "Ah, maybe we can-"

    That thought cut off when Urd teleported in via the TV set.
"My turn!" she called with a practiced flair and raised her hands.

    "No, Urd!" Belldandy called, waving a warning, "Wait!"

    Urd's voice echoed, "SHIFT AND CHANGE! HE TO-"

    'Tim thrust a hand out toward the new arrival. His hair stood
on end and there was an eerie whooshing sound.

    *KEEERASH!* Urd flew back, imbedded by an unseen force three
inches deep into the wall, leaving a long spiderweb of cracks
throughout. "Ullmhhhh," she drawled in wide-eyed, bruised shock.

    "No! Urd!" Belldandy cried. She held her hands together,
generating a small whit sphere of light between them. She held it out
in front of her in preparation to use it. "I'm sorry--You don't
understand!"

    "Oh yeah, I get it," 'Tim said, a crackling yellow energy ball
of his own coming into view between his hands. "It's simple: You've
come for me." The light between them continued to intensify. "WELL,
COME AND GET ME!!!"

    After a moment, the act of intensification halted. The two
merely stood in front of each other, the situation growing tense.

    "Go ahead; make my day," 'Tim confirmed in a threatening voice.

    "I don't want to have to hurt you," Belldandy insisted. While
she did not have as much battle experience as, say, Thor, she could
tell that this was a critical moment. She would have to choose her
words very carefully to be able to talk him out of it. He had
attacked Urd, so she had to be ready for anything.

    At just the wrong moment, a sparkling portal appeared in a tub
of dishwater. Skuld arose out of it.

    The youngest goddess flailed at a nonexistent person that she
had expected to be there. She quickly took notice of the standoff
taking place in the middle of the room. "AAAH!" She instinctively
grasped at the red and yellow mallet tied to her back.

    "Skuld! Stop!" Belldandy half-shouted, but it was too late.

    *Twang!* Without discharging his energy-ball, 'Tim's hand shot
out, caught the mallet by the handle, and wrenched it from Skuld's
grasp.

    Skuld gasped.

    *Crack!* The pink-haired guy effortlessly snapped the handle in
two between his thumb and forefingers.

    The Goddess of the Future stood with her mouth hanging wide
open in shock when her bisected tool was handed back to her. 'Tim
looked down at her, smiled, gently patted her on the head a couple
times, then clenched his hand into a fist.

    *SMACK!* A mean right hook to the bridge of her nose sent Skuld
tumbling backward to crash upside-down against a support beam. She
slid down and flip-flopped into the floor, stunned. "Uhhhhh..."

    "Skuuuld!" called Belldandy, suddenly letting loose the
prepared strike at her target.

    'Tim also let-fly with his blast. "MELEE CALEEKY MAKA!!"

    *CRASH!* The two spheres met midair, struggling against each
other. Yellow devoured white, and sped toward Belldandy.

    *KR-RRRRR!* The goddess crossed her arms in front of her, the
ki-blast dissipating a few inches away.

    'Tim's image flickered and vanished.

    "BOOT TO THE HEAD!"

    *KEERACK!* Belldandy discovered in the next instant that
nothing cleared up jetlag faster than a flying kick to the back of
her skull. She fell forward, swooning to the floor.

    "NOW WHO'S A PANSY, HUH?!?!"

    Urd had been given a moment to recover and pull herself out
of the wall. "HEY now, that's no way to treat--"

    *BLAAAAM!* The eldest sister didn't get a chance to finish, due
partly to the firestorm that suddenly engulfed her.

    Skuld got up on her hands and knees, then pulled out a small
metal sphere with a button on it. "You better stop beating up on my
sisters, mister!" she threatened in a wavering, frightened voice.

    *Shwing* 'Tim grinned evilly at her, his crescent moon-mark
gleaming. "Try it, shrimpy." He kicked lightly at Belldandy's still
form.

    Skuld started panting, eyes still wide in shock. She pushed
the button on her device and threw it as hard as she could at 'Tim.
"Take that!"

    'Tim caught the ball and it began to glow red. He pulled on a
rope hanging nearby.

    A trapdoor suddenly shot open beneath the girl. "What?! WAAAH!"
With a whooshing sound, Skuld fell down, and landed with a fortune-
cookie crunch. There was a silent pause. "AAAH!" she cried after a
moment. "BUGS!"

    Without missing a beat, 'Tim tossed Skuld's device down the
trapdoor, which slid shut.

    *Blam!* Small puffs of smoke outlined where the trapdoor had
been.

    "Ouchie," echoed Skuld softly.

    "Why are you doing this?" Belldandy asked softly from below.

    'Tim, still with a frenzied look in his eyes, reached down and
picked Belldandy up by the collar of her dress. Her eyes opened and
his gaze locked with hers. He bared his teeth.

    *Crash!* The crazed pink-haired man yanked her upwards,
smashing his forehead down against that of the goddess. "Can't-"

    *Thrack!* He did it again. "-you-"

    *SMASH!* Again, harder. "-READ-"

    *WHACK!* "SIGNS?!" 'Tim thrusted Belldandy's bruised face in
front of a small, obscure poster on the wall that read, Insults Will
Not be Taken Lightly!

    *Bzzzreow!* A medium-sized beam of light singed the man's
shoulder, burning a black spot into his gi-jacket, but causing no
other damage.

    'Tim turned his head to see a somewhat singed Urd recovered
from the last attack, her hands raised and her lips in motion for a
spell. "Back for more huh?" he looked pleased, pulling out what
looked like a .45 Magnum handgun and aiming at her, one eye
twitching.

    *Click*Chk-Chk!* He turned off the safety, and it cocked
automatically. A little light on the side turned red and the gun
began to humm.

    Belldandy saw the irrational hate and cold-blooded malice in
'Tim's eyes, and was shocked and confused by his sudden assault. He
was not responding _anything_ like what his profile said he would.
This man was acting more like some sort of horrible monster that
had to be stopped!

     "NOW DIE LIKE THE INSECTS YOU ARE!!!" 'Tim's voice became
much deeper, darker, and more malevolent. He pulled the trigger
twice.

    *BLAM-BLAM!*

    "NO!" Without thinking, Belldandy raised her hands and fired
a quick, deadly burst of magical power.

    *Breow!* At that moment, the crescent moon mark on the muscular
man's forehead flickered out.

    Time seemed to slow down from that second on.

    'Tim fell back and skidded away on the floor from the force of
Belldandy's blast. He clutched at the smoking five-inch-diameter hole
that went clear through the middle of his chest and out the back. He
frowned, and looked down at it, puzzled that he would have been taken
down so easily. "Whoa..." 

    His gun spun backwards in the air, landed behind a counter,
and exploded. Splinters and sawdust sprayed into the air, along with
a flurry of papers full of financial information.

    The bullets missed Urd by a fraction of an inch, shattering
the glass behind her, and puncturing both gas tanks of a parked semi
truck.

    *BLAAAAAAAAM!!!* The semi went up in a cloud of overdramatic
Hollywood slow-motion special-effects flame!
    *KER-BLAM!* The section of the trailer behind went up in smoke!
    *BLAAAAM!* Another section followed!
    *BLAAAAAM!* And another!
    *ROAAAAAAAR!!!!* A rush of fiery napalm poured out the back!
    *KER-POW!* A gas tank on top of a nearby building blew up.
    *KABLAM!* And another one!
    *BL-ba-ba-ba-BLAAAAM!* Several Gremlin cars followed suit.
    *KEEEEEERBLAAAAAAMMMOOOOO!* A nearby gas truck exploded as well.
    *WRA-KRASH-BLAAAHHM!* A poorly-maintained sewer connection
blew, decades of pressurized methane igniting in a fraction of a
second.

    A pillar of fire half a mile high rose into the air.

    The entire front wall of the restaurant was knocked down in
the process, along with a major portion of the inside furnishings.
The competition in front and on the sides was just plain blown away.
Chunks of brick, glass, fiberglass, twisted metal, asphalt, stool,
cement, and arcade game circuitboards skittered to the ground,
creating a brilliant display as they fell.

    "No! Not Gauntlet Legends! My character's in there!!!"
    "DANCE-DANCE REVOLUTION, DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"

    Innocent bystanders watching from a distance screamed and ran
from the spinning shrapnel storm.

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
    "We're going THAT way! The bandit-killer HAS to be down there!"
    "RANMA SAOTOME, I KNOW THIS HAS TO BE ALL YOUR FAULT!!!"
    "Think _that_ was caused by a Clow Card, Sakura?!"
    "AAAAAAH!!!"
    "Oh dear, not again..."

    *BLAAAM!* The "BEHOLD THE POWER OF CHEESE!!!" banner floated
down in triumph, then exploded.

    *Crash*Shatter!* A truckload of fetid dingoes' kidneys crashed
into the semi's burning wreckage, breaking its back doors open and
spilling its contents down a smoldering manhole. Little mutated
bunnies from the Sewer Beyond snapped up the wretched Australian dog
remains.

    *KAPOW!* As the final insult, a last explosion caused a load
of broken mannequin body parts from inside the semi to scatter all
over the city block and inside the restaurant. All in all, the scene
had a rather nice post-war bouquet to it when the damage was done.

    "Do it now, Urd!" Belldandy called, covering her face with her
arm to block the dust and trying to ignore all the death and carnage
around her.

    Urd nodded and took an exasperated breath. "SHIFT AND CHANGE!"

    "Computer," coughed 'Tim, raising himself up on his hands,
"activate the Really Nasty Program(tm)!" He doubled over.

    [Working,] a melodious voice replied.

    *Vzrrr!*VzRRR!*VZRRRRRR!* A sparkling blue light washed over
the two remaining goddesses. It began with a slight sparkling
shimmer, then intensified more and more as each second passed. The
women grew transparent.

    "HE TO SHE, so let. . . it. . . b. . ."

    Urd's last word faded away as she vanished, along with her
sister. Belldandy reappeared after a second, fighting back against
the transporter beam.

    *Whoosh*Kssh!* There was a grey flash and a small, razor-sharp
bladed spatula flew on scene and nicked a stone suspended in a
bracelet on the goddess' wrist. The stone cracked and shattered,
its unfathomable quantities of stored energy pouring out harmlessly
into the matter-stream of the transport beam.

    Belldandy looked down at her moon rock bracelet, opened her
mouth as if to gasp, and faded away again.

    As if in a dream, 'Tim saw his girlfriend, Ukkyo, running
toward him in slow-motion, her feet crunching across the debris
field. "Computer," he whispered in a surprised, echoing voice,
his senses fading, "Emergency Medical Beamout, please."

    [Confirmed.]

    "Ukkyo. . . I. . ." He slumped back down and disappeared.

    A big rock fell on the radio, finally ending the battle music.

    Those eating at the tables finally took a moment to applaud
and talk amongst themselves about what had happened. The straight-cut
blond guy in camouflage was impressed, as were the woman in the
Chinese dress and the green monster. A few oddly-shaped individuals
in segmented black and silver armor with black and blue spandex
didn't seem that affected, though.

    "Oh, come on! That fighting _barely_ went along with the music!
What kind of martial arts was that?!"
    "Hmph. He only had a power-level of twenty-thousand!"
    "But the three women had well over-"
    "Look, let's, like, not talk about that until we're finished
eating, okay?"
    "Oh, alright, Jace."
    "Hey, what's this plastic hand doing in my dingo kidney stew?"
    "Uhh... the dog-paddle?"

    *Da-duhm*Thwish!*

    Sitting on the far-side of the room, a certain pair of
soldiers looked up from their platters of greasy food, startled
by the explosion.

    "Hey, lookie-there, Sarge!"
    "Uh oh, that wasn't what I think it was, was it?"
    "Sure was!"
    "Hoo-boy, the Lieutenant's not gonna like this..."
    "Oh well. Hey, missie! Can we get some more beer-can chicken
over here?!"

    The cook ignored them all and rushed into the back room, kicked
the secret door open, and boarded the turbolift downward. She knew
where 'Tim had gone, and had to do all she could to make sure he
would be okay. She didn't start up a serious relationship just to
lose him right now!

    They hadn't even gotten to the good part yet...

---

To be continued...

Okay, did I get everything right?

I can be so clueless when it comes to this sort of thing, sometimes. ^_^;;;

-------------------------------
Benjamin A. Oliver
boredcollective@aol.com

    "We are the Bored. Lower your shields and surrender your fics.
     We will add your standup and slapstick comedy to our own.
     Your humor will adapt to entertain us.
     Resistance is and always has been: Futile."
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