This is the epilogue for Dire Fates. DF Part 3 is being cleaned up.
And we're working on the outtakes/credits/final commentary, which 
will be posted to the FFML shortly. Once they are all done, we'll 
likely post them all to RAAC at once.

Possible problem areas:
Hell
Belldandy/Keiichi

Any C&C would be appreciated, nay, demanded, begged for, whatever it 
takes. ^_^

-David & Rod

------ cut here -------------

"You played it for her, now play it for me.  Play it again,
 Nigel.  Play 'Lick My Love Pump'."

	- John Constantine,
	  "John Constantine: Hellblazer"


                           -*-


                   David Tai & Rod M.
                       present...


                       Dire Fates
             A John Constantine: Hellblazer
                    Ah!  My Goddess!
                        Crossover

             Epilogue:  "A Better Tomorrow"


                           -*-


                        EPILOGUE 1

                         IN HELL


                           -*-


"So, Mara, how'd it go?"

"..."

"Mara?"

"Go ahead, Ellie.  Say it."

The succubus patted the demoness on the shoulder.  "I told you
so."

Mara sighed, melancholy tainting her features as she sat down on
the solitary island in the eternal flames of Hell that was
Ellie's hideaway.

Ellie took a seat next to her, leaned on Mara and rested her head
on her shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I know exactly
how you feel."

"Y'know, I almost got away with it," said Mara sadly.  "If only
the boss didn't find out..."

"Yeah."

"I gotta say," said Mara, "Raphael's bit in this was a real
surprise."

"Yep."

"Wonder why he hasn't been kicked out yet."

Ellie shrugged.  "Who knows?  The way those those bastards are,
they probably covered his tracks." 

"Yeah.  Bastards."

A distant echo of a roar was heard by both.

"He throwing a tantrum again?" asked Ellie.

Mara nodded.

"How bad?" asked Ellie.

"About two hundred demons are, at this moment, discovering how it
feels to be chihuahuas in Hell."

"Ouch."

"The infernal city of Dis, at the moment, consists of lots of
wreckage, two pillars, and Beezelbub's basement."

Ellie tsked.  "The boss never did take defeat very well."

"No, I guess not."

The two sat in silence for the longest time, frowning upon their
misfortunes.  Then Ellie elbowed Mara.

"Hey, you shouldn't stay here, y'know.  Go out, have some laughs,
tempt some mortals.  All this concern you're showing is un-demonlike."

Mara smirked.  "Heh, who said I was concerned for you?  I'm
hiding from the boss until he calms down."

Ellie laughed.  "Oh, of course, of course.  Seriously, get outta 
here.  Go have some fun.  Tempt a few mortals.  Start a brawl in 
a bar or something."

"What about you?" asked Mara.

"I'll be fine," said Ellie.  "I just might have a new hiding
place soon, anyway.  The atmosphere 'round here is starting to
depress me."


                           -*-


                       EPILOGUE 2

                    THE MORTAL PLANE


                           -*-


He'd just helped defeat the hoards of the Devil, and blew smoke
in the face of the Archangels all in one day.

Where, one would wonder, would John Constantine go after having a
day like that?

"To a pub!" he would say.  And that's exactly what he did. 


                           -*-


"Oi!"

The Lord of the Dance looked up from behind the bar and grinned
as a certain trenchcoat-clad rogue entered his pub.  "John! 
How've you been, my son? 

John sauntered up to the bar, happily puffing on a cigarette, and
settled in.  "Interesting times, mate.  Interesting times.  Give
us a lager, hm?" 

"Right!  One lager coming up."

While waiting for his drink, John took some time to look around
the Arcadian's bar.  A handful of nondescript people were
relaxing in cozy corners of the place.  Aside from one woman, who
was at the moment face-down with her hair hiding her features,
John had the bar to himself.  He grinned to himself as he sat down.
Really blitzed girl, she was.

Hold on a minute.

Something was nagging him.  Something about the girl...

John slowly reached toward the girl, intending to move aside the
long strands of blond hair and see just who was under there.  The
Lord of the Dance, arriving with a large and full mug, seemed a
bit worried as he put the drink down.

"Er, John, I wouldn't bother her..."

He did.

"Bloody Hell!"

Mara rose with a groggy, drunk expression on her face.  "Ah...
whadafugyawant..." 

"Well, you've some nerve, after the stunt you pulled," said John
testily.  "I ought to-"

A hand on John's arm caused him to pause in his rant.  The
Arcadian said softly, "John, if y'don't mind... I'd rather not
have any scenes in my place."

John glared at the Arcadian for a moment, then sighed and sat
back down.  Mara did likewise, but skipped the part about
glaring and just settled in for a nap, her features once again
hidden by her hair.

The Arcadian, seeing the situation diffused, leaned on the bar
across from John and grinned.  "So, had yourself a bit of an
adventure?" 

"Yeah, and she was part of the reason why," said John, pointing a
thumb at the now unconscious demoness.  He then related the
events of the days, beginning with Mara, through the bit about
the Archangels (which John seemed to enjoy telling greatly), and 
ending with the grand achievement he did with the Yggdrasil.

The Arcadian sighed.  "First you went and pissed off the big
bastard downstairs.  That was bad enough.  Now you've got people
up there furious."

"As if they were happy with me to begin with?"

"Good point."

John grinned.  "Amazing, aren't I?"

The Arcadian laughed and shook his head.  "Here's to your luck,"
he said, raising a glass of his own.

"Heh, cheers."

In mid-toast, the door opened.  A bell attached to the door
distracted the two with its chime.

The Arcadian smiled.  "Urd!  Come over here'n join us."

"Well, fancy meeting you here," said John.

Urd, with a neutral expression, took a seat next to John, not
noticing the demoness on the other side.  As she approached, Urd
frowned and looked around, as if expecting someone else.

*Odd... if I didn't know better, I'd think Mara was around here,*
she thought to herself.

"Hello, Constantine, Arcadian."

"Drink?" asked the Arcadian.

"Hrm... Martini, dry, on the rocks."

"Right."

John gave her a wary sideward glance.  "What brings you to merry
old England, hm?"

"Actually, you did."

"I'm touched," he replied, smirking.

Urd narrowed her eyes.  "Oh, shut up.  Constantine... I know
you've made friends with Skuld.  She seems to think highly of
you, y'know."

"Issatso?"

"I just came by to let you know... if you do _anything_ to hurt
her, I'll tear you apart."

"Sheesh.  A man gets crucified and killed so's you can live and
this is the thanks he gets?"  He paused for a moment.  There
seemed to be something odd about that statement... 

Urd just smirked.

The door chimed once more as it swung open and two more people
stepped in.

"See?  I told you he'd be here," said Peorth smugly.

"Hi, John!"  Skuld waved and scampered over to him.

"What is this, a bloody reunion?" asked John amusedly.  He
ruffled Skuld's hair in greeting.

"Whazanoizeere," mumbled Mara, rising up and giving everyone a
bleary, uneven, half-asleep look.

John thought about it.

This, he felt, had the potential to get ugly.

"YOU!"  Urd got up, shoving John aside, and grabbed Mara by the
shirt.  "Why I oughta..."

"Uuurd?  S'aaaat you?" asked the demoness unevenly.

Urd frowned.  "Ugh, you're drunk."  Definitely drunk.  She
couldn't get properly mad at Mara when she was drunk.  It wasn't
quite right.

"Heyaaa, Uuuurd," continued Mara, looking a little cheerful.
"Lisss... lissen, about wha'appened er'lier..."

"Yeah, what?" snapped Urd.

"Look... s'wasn't what... s'wasn't what I was plannin'to do...
y'know?"

"Sure it wasn't," replied Urd sarcastically.

"I jus... jus..." Mara frowned and hung her head low.  "I miss...
th'old days, Urd," she said sadly.  "I miss you."

Urd's features softened, although only a little.

"Dammit, Mara," grumbled Urd, her voice a little uneven.

Mara sniffled.

Urd looked baffled.

Suddenly, Mara rushed towards Urd and...

"WAAAAAH!"

... started crying her eyes out, hugging her tightly.

"Er... hey... c'mon, cut it out," said Urd, not at all sure how
to deal with the situation.  Mara sniffled for a while, holding
tightly onto Urd, the others standing around them and watching. 
This was embarrassing.

"I jus... jus'wanned t'make it bettr... make't RIGHT!  Miss you'n
Ell... why's things gotta be *hic* like'is?"

"C'mon, Mara, snap outta it," grumbled Urd.

"Don'cha miss th'good ol days?  Huh?"

"Dammit, Mara..." Urd tried to summon some of the anger she had
felt earlier, but somehow, memories of the good times they had
together in their youth distracted her. 

Finally, she took a hold of Mara's shoulders and pushed her
gently away, a sad smile on her face. "Let's just have a drink
and forget about it, okay?  Hey, can we have some glasses and a
bottle of whiskey here?"  The Lord of the Dance quickly handed Urd
the bottle and glasses.

Urd glared around briefly.  Everyone else quickly found something 
else interesting to do, although John had a smirk on his face as 
he turned to his drink. 

"C'mon, Mara..." Urd said, as she led Mara away to a table.

John grinned, then blinked as Skuld bounced up onto a stool on
his left, and Peorth took a seat to his right.

"Care for a drink, ladies?" asked the Lord of the Dance.

"Pina Colada, dearie?" asked Peorth.

"Hot Chocolate, please?" asked Skuld

"Right, once Pina Colada, one Hot Chocolate coming right up."

Meanwhile, John was busy examining Peorth and Skuld.  He looked
to one, then the other, and looked a bit puzzled.

"Something on your mind, Johnny?" asked Peorth, leaning casually
on his shoulder.  Skuld narrowed her eyes at Peorth's actions and
took hold of John's arm in retaliation.

"Yeah, luv, there is.  You two look like sisters or something,
y'know?"

Peorth blinked, surprised.  "We do?"

"We do not!" protested Skuld.

Peorth opened her mouth add some lines to the debate, but was
suddenly distracted the mark on her forehead suddenly glowed for
a moment.

"Oh, excuse me," she said, "I'm being paged.  Hey Arcadian, got
a phone?"

"By the restrooms, m'lady."

"I'll be back in a sec," said Peorth, giving John a quick peck on
the cheek before departing.

"We don't look alike at all," huffed Skuld.

"Who knows, kid, y'just might grow up to be more cute than her."

She blushed, a tiny smile on her face.  "You really think so?"

"Oh, yeah, sure."

This made Skuld smile even more, and she happily clung to his arm
while he finished off his drink.

"So what're you going to do now, John?" Skuld asked, looking up at 
him.

John shrugged.  "No idea, kid.  Y'never know what the future holds."

"Oh."  Skuld frowned.

John cast Skuld a look, then smiled.  "But I'll tell you one thing.
If the future is a sharp, smart, cute girl like yourself that won't back 
down to bastards, never quits, and has a heart'a gold, I think we're in 
for a better tomorrow."

Skuld blushed a very notable shade of red, and she tried to hide
it by looking away.  She couldn't, as much as she tried, to wipe
the huge smile from her face.

The entrance bell chimed once more as the door opened yet again.
This time, a mysterious man, wrapped in a dark cloak, his face
partially hidden by a wide brimmed fedora hat, stepped in.

Skuld waved.  John scowled.

"Hi Mr. Phantom Stranger!" said Skuld cheerily.

"Oh, _you_," said John derisively.

"Good evening, Skuld, John Constantine."  He took the seat
recently vacated by Peorth.

"I've been meaning to talk to you," said John.  "I wanna know,
why was I so important to this?  The way I see it, that bastard
dwn below wouldn't have been able to get in if it hadn't been for
me getting there."

"If you had not been involved, Constantine, many things could
have gone wrong.  The goddesses would not think to check the
Yggdrasil until Raphael had caused catastrophies of a tremendous
scale.  Or, possibly, Mara would have come up with an alternate
way to break into the Yggdrasil and wrestle control from 
Raphael.  There are these possibilities and more."

"Oh, I see.  So instead, you decided having the First of the
Fallen rampage in the very center of Heaven was a much safer
alternative."

"All ended well."

"You're not the one that'll be having bloody nightmares for 
weeks," grumbled John.

"There is a price for every victory, John Constantine."

John rolled his eyes up and went back to finishing off his drink,
then paused.  He stared at a spot on the Phantom Stranger's cloak
for a moment, turned away, then stared again.

"Hey mate, s'that an ice cream stain on you?"

The Phantom Stranger, for once, seemed surprised.  He looked down
and frowned.  "Why yes, indeed it is."

John blinked.  "Er... right."

The mark on Skuld's forehead began to flicker, causing her to 
frown.  "Oh, not now!" she cried.

"Being paged?" asked John.

"No, summoned.  I've gotta go, John."

"Be seeing you, kid.  Be good, eh?"

"Um... can I visit you again, John?" asked Skuld shyly.

"Hm?  Oh, any time, kid.  Any time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks!  Bye!"  Skuld gave John a quick hug and a peck on the 
cheek, then dove into her hot chocolate and dissappeared.

"Still think it's a weird way to travel," muttered John.  He rubbed
his cheek where Skuld kissed him, looking contemplative.

"A kiss from a goddess.  Hrm.  That's sure to be good luck,
innit?"

"In some cultures, yes," replied the Phantom stranger.

"Big help YOU are."

For a while, he stared at the empty contents of his glass, then he
stood up and stretched.  "I think I'd better be going too.  Later, 
mates," he said to the Lord of the Dance and the Phantom Stranger, then
stood up and headed outside.

Once he was outside, he heard a voice calling after him.  He
turned to look at Peorth.

Peorth laughed.  "Sneaking out without saying goodbye, John?"

John shrugged as he lit a cigarette.  "What can I say?  I was
never big on goodbyes.  Just... see ya later."

Peorth smiled.  "Good fortune, John Constantine.  With luck,
you might be seeing me again soon."

John smirked.  "If not, we'll always have Silver City."

And with a nod and a wink, John Constantine disappeared into the
London night, cigarette smoke swirling all about him.

Peorth shook her head and smiled.  Oh yes, a crazy mortal, 
indeed.


                           -*-


It had been a pleasant evening.  Keiichi smiled happily as Belldandy
cooked a fine dinner with her customary skill, and they had
spent a quiet evening alone, watching TV and merely enjoying each
other's company.

And then Keiichi went to his room to sleep, as Belldandy happily
cleaned up, tidying the temple.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and Belldandy hurried to answer it before
Keiichi woke up.

A short time later...

Belldandy quietly opened the sliding door to Keiichi's room.
Slowly she walked in, closing the door behing her.  She walked over and
kneeled at Keiichi's bedside.  For some time, she watched him sleep.

Then she gently brushed a stray strand hair back and gave him a gentle, 
lingering kiss on his forehead.

And then Belldandy stood up, and stepped through the mirror.

Behind her, Keiichi slept.

 
                           -*-


                       EPILOGUE 3

                         HEAVEN


                           -*-


High above in the heavens, Belldandy looked down upon the blue
and green sphere of Earth, looking particularly at a small chain of
islands off the coast of China with a deep sense of loss and longing.

"Why... why did I have to leave him?"

TO ALL THINGS THERE IS A REASON.

"I... I don't understand."

YOU WILL, IN TIME.

She bowed her head before God, and was silent.

Tears shone in Belldandy's eyes, as she returned to work.


                          -*-


Skuld silently worked, looking a little disturbed despite being deeply
into her task.

IS SOMETHING DISTURBING YOU?

"Well... yes," said Skuld reluctantly.  "I was thinking about Earth.  We...
well, we have the power to make Earth a paradise again, right?  We could
clean up pollution, end starvation, and make everything right.  Why don't
we?"

WOULD PUTTING A HALT TO WAR END THE HATE IN THEIR HEARTS?  WOULD 
CLEANSING THE EARTH STOP THEIR MACHINES FROM POLLUTING?  MY CHILDREN 
WOULD NEVER LEARN IF I WERE TO CLEAN UP AFTER THEIR EVERY MISTAKE.  
THEY MUST LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ERRORS, AND HOPEFULLY
LEARN.

Skuld thought about it for a bit, then nodded.  "Oh... well... okay."
Then she resumed her work on the Yggdrasil.  "Um... do we have to get
rid of the changes John made?" asked Skuld.

YES.

Skuld sighed.  John wouldn't be happy to hear about this, but she
really couldn't argue when it was HIS command.

At one line of code, she paused.  It was one of the lines John
had encouraged her to add.  It was, basically, unlimited amounts
of ice cream available to Skuld at any time and any place.

Ouch.  She really didn't want to delete that...

"Um, can we keep this line?  Pleeeeeeease?"

WELL, I DON'T KNOW....

                            -= end Dire Fates =-