Disclaimer:

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Agent Aika, Najica: Blitz Tactics, Read or Die, Cowboy Bebop, Black Lagoon, Witchblade and Ah! My Goddess and all related chracters are the property of Manga Entertainment, Bandai Entertainment, et al. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission.

Warrior Woman Team

GODDESS HAND

By Darrin Colbourne

It had been ages since her cyber-brain had actually had to reboot. It was going through the detailed process at the moment, checking core memory and vital systems before restoring them one by one. Little by little, as her higher functions came back on line, she began to wake up and feel like herself again. Still, she tested herself to make sure her consiousness was intact. I'm…Motoko Kusanagi. I live in Niihama Prefecture. I work in Public Security Section Nine. I'm on… Her thoughts stopped there, because this was where reality as she knew it broke down.

I was on a flight to the American Empire… - She checked her watch - …just a few minutes ago. Then I must have gone to sleep, and now I'm here, wherever here is.

Motoko sat up from her prone position and looked around. "Here" seemed to be a large, square room with white, featureless walls and a ceiling that seemed like it was a couple of stories high. Motoko noted that and turned her gaze to the white floor. That's when she noticed the others. She counted six other people in the room with her. All of them appeared to be young women, and all of them were as unconscious as Motoko had been.

Motoko appraised her fellow prisoners - Prisoners? Is that right? Are we imprisoned in some strange jail? She shrugged. There was no way to tell without more information, so no use making assumptions. She turned her attention back to the others. Two of the women drew her gaze immediately. They were dressed in flattering suits, one bright red with white trim, one in white, black and gray. Both women were dirty blonde and the one in red, the one facing Motoko, was very pretty. She didn't know about anything else, but the one thing they obviously had in common was a penchant for short skirts. They were both showing an amazing amount of leg. Still, that didn't beat the one encased in leather from shoulder to toe, or the one in the gold halter and hotpants, or the one in the black halter and denim Daisy Dukes with the tattoos. The only person in the room dressed more conservatively than Motoko - wearing her favorite, functional bodysuit and a pair of jeans and a leather jacket - also seemed to be the most hapless. Wearing blue jeans and a bright pullover, she was currently positioned with her face planted on the floor and her butt high in the air. It might have been comical under different circumstances, but the last thing Motoko felt like doing at the moment was laughing.

Just as she wondered if she should try to wake them all up, someone began to stir. It was the one in the red suit. She groaned and forced herself into a sitting position and opened one eye, then closed it against the brightness of the room. "What is this?" She asked no one in particular. "My head! What's going on?" She steadied herself, then took a deep breath and forced both her eyes open, though she squinted as she took a look around. Eventually she spotted Motoko looking at her. "Oh…hello," she said tentatively.

Motoko smiled at her. "Hello," she said. "I'm glad we understand each other. I was just thinking being in here was bad enough, but if we all spoke different languages…" She shrugged to complete the thought.

Red Suit nodded. "I guess you're right." She opened her eyes a little wider and looked around again. "Where are we? How did we get here?"

"No idea, to both questions," Motoko said. "I suppose someone will come along and tell us what we're doing here eventually. That's the way it always works." Motoko appraised the woman further as they spoke. Definitely an executive somewhere, in a place where the President or someone liked the women executives to look glamorous. She would probably be out of her element, whatever they were facing.

"I don't know any of these people," Red Suit said, "or you. Do you know anybody here?"

"No idea again," Motoko said. "I was actually just thinking about remedying that situation when…"

"Ouch!" Someone complained, drawing Motoko and Red Suit's attention. It was Faceplant Girl. She had pushed herself into a sitting position and was rubbing her nose. Now Motoko could see that she was pretty as well, but her brown hair was styled somewhere between "tousled" and "unkempt." She looked around the room as she checked to see if her nose was broken and spotted Motoko and Red Suit. "Hey, where the hell am I," she said, "and who the hell are you two?"

Motoko sighed. "That's going to be hard to explain…"

She wouldn't get a chance to try. Soon after that, everyone else began to stir, awakening and facing the same confusion that befell the first three. Now that they were looking around, Motoko could see that they were all beautiful in some way. Most of them asked the same questions Red Suit and Faceplant girl had, but the one with the tattoos summed up the feelings in a rather more direct way:

"This had better be some kind of fucking joke, and whoever's playing it better not be in any part of the world where I can find him!"

Motoko got to her feet and got everyone's attention. "Look, before we do anything else, it's probably a good idea if we get to know each other. My name is Motoko Kusanagi. I guess you could say I'm kind of a police officer."

The others looked at her, then at each other, and the one in the red suit was next to introduce herself. She stood and said, "My name is Aika Sumeragi. Pleased to meet everyone. I work for a salvage company."

Motoko blinked. What kind of salvage company would hire someone like her? Maybe to distract the male clients? She decided then and there that she couldn't jump to any conclusions about her fellow inmates.

Faceplant Girl stood next, getting into the spirit as if she were back in High School. "I'm Masane Amaha. Pleased to meet you. I work…well, I do odd jobs for this company back home…"

Motoko watched her closely. Masane was covering her right wrist with her left hand. It was subconscious. There was something about her wrist she didn't want anybody to see, but she didn't know enough not to draw attention that way.

The other one in a suit stood next. "I'm Najica Hiiragi. Hello, everyone. I work for a cosmetics company."

Motoko blinked again. It was the truth, but a half-truth, as if the job at the cosmetics company was only the beginning of a much bigger occupation.

Leather Girl stood next. "Nancy Makuhari. Until recently I worked for the British Library."

This made everyone blink. Doing what?? Motoko wanted to ask, but she kept it to herself.

The one in the gold clothes looked reluctant, but after a few seconds she stood and said, "I'm Faye Valentine. Hi. I'm…a freelancer."

Tattoo Girl didn't even bother standing. She looked back at everyone and said, "Revy. Yo," then went back to staring at one of the walls and muttering all the things she'd do to the asshole that locked her up with the glee club.

"Okay," Motoko said. Who are all of you really? Not one person in the room had spoken the complete or unvarnished truth - except maybe for Revy, and that only because she hadn't volunteered anything but her name. Everyone else seemed to have something to hide. Well, Motoko included, but she had an excuse. Her job was a government secret. What did that say about the others? She sighed. That was too many mysteries to solve at one time, and the most important questions had to be answered first. "Well, now that that's out of the way, we should concentrate on finding out what we all want to know, namely 'Where are we?' and 'How did we get here?'"

Masane was looking up. "Why is the ceiling so high?" She asked. "It makes it look like we're at the bottom of an elevator shaft."

"Or a missile silo…" Najica thought out loud. She was looking up as well.

Motoko turned to her. "Are there many missile silos at your cosmetics company?"

Najica looked at her and smiled a smile meant to be disarming. "You'd be surprised." She looked up again. "Anyway, I only said that because of the ceiling. If you look closely you can just make out a seam going down the middle."

Motoko looked up and adjusted her eyes. Everyone else looked up and squinted. "I see it," Motoko said. "So, not a ceiling. Some kind of doors."

"Exactly," Najica said. "And this shaft is big enough to house a small tactical nuclear missile. And do you smell it? There's ozone in the air, as if some kind of electrical equipment operated in here recently."

This time Motoko had to adjust her sense of smell, but she caught it. "It's there, but it's very faint." She looked at Najica again. "How can you…?"

Najica looked back. "I have a very good nose."

There was that smile again, as if she were trying to charm Motoko's pants off to avoid being more forthcoming. Are you used to other women falling all over you wherever you're from? Motoko wondered. Najica's suit did have a kind of James Bond flair to its tailoring. Maybe that kind of thing just made you irresistible to women, no matter your own gender. Motoko shrugged mentally. Well, maybe some other day when I'm feeling adventurous, but not right now.

Masane was looking around. "Well…if this is a missile silo, what did they do with the missile? Did they launch it?"

Najica looked at her and shook her head. "I said it only looked like a missile silo. I don't think it is. If it were, you'd see some kind of framework to hold the missile in place in the middle of the silo, whether the missile was actually here or not."

"Maybe that kind of stuff retracts into the walls," Nancy said.

"I don't think so. You'd see doors in the walls like the one in the ceiling. These walls are featureless, and the floor is featureless as well. There are no doors in it either."

"Why would there be doors in the floor?" Masane asked.

"You need someplace to vent the missile exhaust so it doesn't burn up the missile on launch. If we're going to say the missile apparatus is hidden in the walls, a big shaft under the missile would be part of that." She stamped on the floor. "No big shaft."

"Oh," Masane said, "so it's not a missile silo. That's good."

"Then it's not an elevator shaft either," someone else said. Everyone turned. It was Faye. She had gone over to lean against one wall. When she saw the others looking, she pointed back up to the ceiling. "No elevator."

Aika looked up and sighed. "She's probably right," she said, "so where does that leave us?"

"Still trying to answer Masane's question," Motoko said, "and I think I have a theory, though you might not want to hear it. I think…I think this is some kind of prison."

That

made Revy stand up. She glared at Motoko. "Say what?" She said in a dangerous tone.

"Well, maybe the walls are featureless and the doors are so high up to prevent us from even thinking about climbing up and trying to break out somehow."

"Well, fuck that," Revy said, reaching for her weapons, "…because if I have to shoot handholds in the walls..." She froze as realization hit her: her shoulder holsters were gone. "Where the fuck are my guns?!"

Motoko immediately searched for her own holster and realized it was gone as well. Then she was stunned to find everyone else searching themselves. "I take it we're all missing something?" she ventured. Everyone nodded. Masane was staring at her bare right wrist in utter shock.

"Okay," Motoko said, "that means that whoever locked us up in here took the time to search and disarm us first. It looks like we are prisoners after all."

"But why?" Masane wondered. "What did we do?"

"Most likely nothing," Aika said. "People with agendas don't need a real reason to incapacitate their opponents."

"Opponents?" Najica said. "You think our jailers are worried we'll interfere with their plans somehow?"

"All seven of us?" Nancy said. "That seems unlikely. We hadn't even met each other before today."

"Maybe our jailers have extraordinary insight," Motoko said. "Maybe they foresaw a time in the future when we would meet and cause them problems. There's no way to know unless they come and tell us or we break out of here and find out for ourselves. If only we knew what was beyond these walls. Maybe what's outside could tell us more about where we are."

Everyone looked around at the walls and thought about about the problem. Everyone, that is, except Nancy, who was looking at her fellow inmates and wondering how far she could trust them. Ultimately, she decided she didn't have any choice. She sighed and said aloud, "I think I can find out."

Everyone turned to her. "How?" Motoko said.

Nancy smiled. "It's something I can do," she said. She didn't explain any further. She simply walked over to one of the walls until she was a few inches away. Then she took a deep breath and bent forward. The others gasped when her torso penetrated the wall almost to her waist, without doing damage to woman or structure. Nancy stayed buried in the wall for a few seconds, then stood straight, removing herself. Both she and the wall looked just as solid as they had been before.

Motoko was the first to recover from the sight. "That's some thing you do," she said with a smile.

Nancy smiled back and shrugged, then went to the next wall and leaned in again. She repeated the action in all four walls, then walked to the center of the room to regain her bearings and tell what she saw. "I couldn't see anything but wall anywhere around us. Either the walls are very thick, or they're surrounded by rock or concrete."

"That could mean we're underground somewhere," Motoko said, "in a bunker, maybe. In fact, Najica's missile silo theory makes more sense now. Maybe that's what this place used to be."

"And somebody went out of their way to turn it into a prison?" Masane said. "That doesn't seem necessary."

"It depends on who you want to keep locked up," Nancy said. "Anyway, I could try to walk through the walls, see how thick they are…"

Motoko shook her head. "No. You'd better not. We should…"

"Hey!" Revy called out. "Who put you in charge?"

Motoko blinked. "Nobody. I just think we should stick together. There's no telling how far down we are or how far away the next open space might be."

"That's what Ghost Girl is offering to find out for us, and I, for one, think we ought to let her do it," Revy said.

"I understand that, but I'm concerned for her safety, and ours."

"I'll be fine, really," Nancy interjected.

"But what if you're in there so long you get lost, disoriented?" Motoko said. "You could end up hurt, or out of air. That would be bad for you, but just as bad for us, because we'd be down one person. There's strength and safety in numbers, and your ability makes you the most powerful member of our little group right now."

"All the more reason to let her do what she wants," Revy growled through clenched teeth. She was glaring at Motoko.

Motoko met her gaze. "Look, we shouldn't be arguing about this. Sticking together is the best course of action for us."

Revy got dangerously close to Motoko. "Sez who? I don't know them and I don't know you! All I know is that this mess has the stink of cops all over it…and if you're some kind of 'police officer', that means we were put in here by your buddies, and that makes you the last person on Earth I want to hear advice from, so back off, shut up and let her do what she's gotta do!"

"I see," Motoko said. "And if I should decide not to do as you say?"

Revy punched her palm with her fist and grinned. "You're kidding, right? I don't need my guns to take care of a scrawny little blow-up doll like you." To illustrate the point, Revy threw a punch that was guaranteed to knock Motoko to the floor.

At least, it might have if it had connected. Unfortunately for Revy, Motoko intercepted the fist with her hand just inches before it reached her face and held it in vice-like grip. Revy cursed and glared at Motoko as she struggled to free her hand.

Motoko just smiled at her. "Now that you've had your say, allow me to make myself clear."

Suddenly Revy was flying and twisting in the air. Her flight ended abruptly and painfully when her back impacted on one of the smooth walls. She fell to the floor with a grunt and had to force herself not pass out. She got up on her hands and knees and looked toward where she had been a second ago. Motoko was standing there, glaring at her with cold, wide eyes. Something snapped inside Revy then. She got to her feet, screamed with rage and charged at Motoko.

Motoko was perfectly calm. She let Revy get just close enough, then Revy was stunned by the impact of Motoko's fists hammering her repeatedly across the face and in her gut. She staggered back a couple of paces in an attempt to recover, and as she got her second wind she saw that Motoko hadn't even broken a sweat yet. That gave Revy enough incentive for one more charge. She lunged at Motoko, screaming even louder.

Motoko sidestepped Revy and allowed her to get just far enough for Motoko to get her in a chokehold. She had her left arm under Revy's chin and her right arm around Revy's head. Motoko squeezed and pulled Revy off her feet and held the woman until she was gasping for air and kicking backward in a futile attempt to make Motoko release her. "Let…me…go…goddammit!" Revy rasped.

"Not until I'm sure we've come to an understanding," Motoko said. She didn't even sound tired.

Revy tried to claw Motoko's arms away, then tried to hurt them with her fists. Nothing worked, and Revy was starting to slip out of consciousness. What is this?? She thought. How can this tiny Jap bitch be stronger than Dutch?? However it was, Motoko was at least as strong as her boss and if Revy didn't think of something fast, she would soon be out like a light. With that thought in mind, she cleared her throat as best she could and said, "Y'know, I think I've seen the error of my ways, and…I guess…it might be a good idea if we all stuck together…"

"Really? What a great idea. Wish I'd thought of it." With that she let Revy go. Revy fell away, doubled over and fighting for breath. As the girl recovered, Motoko looked around at the others. "Now…is there anyone else I need to have a discussion with?"

She was greeted mostly with headshakes. Faye chuckled and said to her, "You had me when you threw the gutter rat into the wall."

Revy had recovered just enough to be pissed again. She stood straight and glared at Faye. "You better be as strong as the cop is, 'cause if you're not, I won't have any trouble making you wish you were never born."

"Oh my, I'm sooo scared," Faye mocked. "I've seen your type before. You're probably all talk without a gun in your hand, and even with guns I bet I could easily shut that trashy mouth of yours."

"Just let me get my guns back, sister, and you got yourself a showdown," Revy said. "I'll paint you a nice shade of red to go with those Kabuki Whore clothes you're wearing."

"Takes one to know one, street girl. Is that what you do back where you're from? Give foreign businessmen a cheap ride? 'Me Revy! Me love you long time!'"

Revy ground her teeth and edged closer to Faye, determined to make up for being humiliated by Motoko by beating the tar out of Golden Girl. This time Masane stopped her. She stepped in Revy's way and stared her down. "That's enough!" She yelled. "We shouldn't be fighting each other!" She thought about for a second. "Wait…should we be?"

"No, we shouldn't," Motoko said as she approached. "Sticking together means working together to get everyone out of here. We can settle any personal differences after that, all right?"

Faye and Revy glared at her. Neither of them said anything, but they stood down. Faye went back to leaning against her wall, while Revy just turned and stalked toward the opposite wall.

"Well, now that that's settled," Nancy said, "Motoko, I have another idea. I've been thinking. Maybe I can…"

Just then the floor heaved and threw everyone off their feet. When they recovered, they realized they were being pushed toward the ceiling. Masane grinned and turned to Faye. "See? Elevator!"

"Don't be too sure," Faye said. "If that ceiling doesn't open when we get to the top, it'll be a meat press, and we'll be the meat!"

While this exchange was going on, Aika and Najica looked at each other, blushed and clamped their thighs together. The way they had fallen, they had given each other perfect views up their short skirts.

Just then the ceiling split in half and slid open. Motoko got on her feet. "We should be ready for anything! Our captors could be waiting for us at the top!"

Everyone got to their feet and formed a perimeter around the rising floor. They were all facing out, on the theory that when they reached the top, they would be ready to face their enemies no matter which side they were on. A few seconds later they found themselves rising into a torch-lit room. The elevator stopped when they were standing at the top of a dais in the center of the room. The dais was surrounded by stairs on all four sides. Beyond the stairs, hundreds of young girls clad in light blue gowns filled the room. They were all staring up at the dais. When they saw the women standing there, all of them gasped.

Then they cheered, jumped up and down and congratulated each other.

"I have to admit," Najica said over the noise, "I didn't see this coming!"

"Neither did I!" Motoko said. She marveled at the adulation being heaped upon them. If this is a prison, it's the strangest one I've ever been in.

The cheering stopped when seven girls bearing necklaces with charms dangling from them broke away from the crowd and approached the dais and started to climb up. At the top, each girl stood before one of the women. The girls were all smiling lovingly, as if they were meeting their idols for the first time. Now that they were close, Motoko could also see that they had blue diamond markings painted on their foreheads and blue triangles on their cheeks.

The one standing in front of Motoko spoke for everyone. "Big Sister, my name is Haruka. I'm the High Priestess of the Temple. On behalf of the Goddess and my sisterhood, I welcome you to my world." She raised the necklace in her hands, waiting for the taller Motoko to bend down.

Motoko saw no harm in complying. "Thank you, Haruka," she said, bending down. Haruka beamed and slipped the charm necklace over Motoko's head. When the jewel was in place, Motoko straightened up, took the charm in her hand and examined it. It was a tiny hand made of silver, with a blue, diamond-shaped gem embedded in the palm.

As Motoko examined the charm, Haruka's fellow priestesses followed her example and put charms on each of the other women, saying "Welcome, Big Sister" as they did so.

Revy resisted at first, but a quick glare from Motoko got her to cooperate. She bent over reluctantly, muttering, "I'm not your big sister," as the priestess placed the charm around her neck.

"These are lovely," Motoko told Haruka, "Thank you. Now, did you say something about a goddess?"

"She's the one who brought you all here," Haruka said. "We're sorry we left you down there so long, but we didn't know exactly when you'd arrive, and we hadn't finished preparing for your appearance."

"It's all right, I suppose, but I would like to know how we got here, and why you brought us here."

Haruka blushed and bowed her head. "Oh, I'm afraid I can't explain all that to you myself. You'll have to wait for the Goddess."

"I see. And when will this goddess be arriving?"

"Here I am, Major Kusanagi!" Someone called out cheerily from a far corner of the room.

Haruka turned in the direction of the voice and beamed. "Ah! My Goddess!" she exclaimed, then she and the other priestesses put their hands together and bowed reverently toward her.

Motoko and the others looked that way. The priestesses had cleared a path so the woman who had spoken could approach the dais. As she got closer, Motoko could see that she was tall, slim, very pretty and wearing ornate blue and white robes. Her hair was light brown and the longest any of the women had ever seen, and she had the most serene look on her face, as if nothing could make her unhappy. She approached the dais at a calm but steady pace, keeping her eyes on Motoko all the while. When she started climbing the stairs, Motoko could see that she had the same markings on her face as the priestesses.

When she reached the top of the dais, the goddess looked at Haruka and smiled. "You may rise, Haruka," she said. She turned to Motoko. "I really don't need them to be so formal all the time, but they insist."

"But you're so wonderful!" Haruka said as she rose. "We love worshipping you!" The other priestesses echoed the sentiment as they rose.

The Goddess shrugged to Motoko. "I guess I can't get them to stop," she said.

"Right," Motoko said. "Look, I'm sure this is all very fascinating, but I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, since you seem to know who I am…"

"Oh, I know who all of you are! I studied you all very carefully before I brought you here."

"That would be my next question: Why did you bring us here, and where exactly is 'here' anyway? And by the way…who are you?"

The Goddess smiled. "So many good questions! I suppose you deserve the answers. First, you're in the world I created. Second, you're here because I need you to save it. Finally, my name is Belldandy. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Thank you for coming."