A Goddess comes to Call
is an Ah! My Goddess / Bubblegum Crisis What If? crossover fic written by shanejayell.
The story starts when Keiichi, instead of wishing for Belldandy to stay with him forever, wishes for the girl who would be perfect for him - Belldandy, despite thinking that the situation wasn't supposed to go this way, grants the wish, and Keiichi ends up with Chihiro Fujimi. Fifty years later, Linna returns home after a hard day, and not wanting to make dinner, decides to order takeout, but accidentally dials the Goddess Hotline and summons Belldandy. Initially unable to decide what to wish for, Linna proceeds to jokingly wish that she had a goddess like Belldandy around all the time when she sees how well Belldandy cleans her apartment...which is interpreted as an actual wish by the system, meaning that Belldandy now has to stay with Linna. Then Belldandy's sisters are thrown into the mix, and life gets very interesting for the Knight Sabers. But Genom are planning something big - and Mara is mixed up in it...
This fanfic provides the following examples:
- Above the Influence: Mara refuses to take advantage of a drunken Sylia.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Quincy is determined to have his wish for immortality and ultimate power granted. Mara obliges, and he learns the hard way that human bodies can't contain ultimate power for long.
- Benevolent Boss: Jacobson is willing to let Megumi and Caitlin Fairchild clock out early so that they can spend some time together. Later, he takes full responsibility for the goddess incident in order to avoid his employees facing repercussions.
- Crossover: With Ah! My Goddess and Bubblegum Crisis, but there's also some The Vision of Escaflowne, Gen¹³, and the author's own story Arisugawa's Locket, where Juri Arisugawa (of Revolutionary Girl Utena fame) opens a nightclub for anime lesbians.
- Demonic Possession: Mara briefly possesses Nene in order to get into the Silky Doll and hack into Genom's systems, removing all information about herself and the goddesses, infecting the system with a virus, and gathering enough information on the project for the Knight Sabers to do something about it.
- Humanity Ensues: As punishment for breaking the cardinal rule of Hell, Mara is turned into a human woman for the span of a human lifetime. Since this means she gets to be with Sylia, it also qualifies as an Unishment.
- Interspecies Romance: Two human/goddess parings, and one human/demon.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Mara initially intends to sabotage Urd's date with Priss, but upon seeing how happy she is, decides against it. Also, Sylia has feelings for Priss, but helps set her up with Urd.
- May–December Romance: Caitlin Fairchild (early twenties) and Megumi (mid-fifties).
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jacobson is guilt-stricken when he sees Quincy torturing Peorth. This leads him and his team to aid the Knight Sabers and goddesses in their rescue attempt.
- Pair the Spares: After their I Want My Beloved to Be Happy moments, Sylia and Mara end up together.
- Point of Divergence: The entire story is a result of Keiichi making a different wish.
- Selfless Wish:
- Sylia attempts to make a deal with Mara. While the wish itself is never revealed, Mara is unable to grant it, as Sylia wrote it in such a way Hell would receive nothing for such a wish other than her soul.
- Later, after Peorth is freed, she reveals that Jacobson was the pure heart whose call she answered, and he doesn't think twice before wishing that she be healed.
- Shout-Out:
- The third chapter references X1999, Ranma ½, Boogiepop Phantom, Phantom Quest Corp., and Sailor Moon.
- Utena and Anthy make a very quick cameo (albeit not by name) in Chapter 10, while Fox Mulder is briefly alluded to in Chapter 11.
- Asuka, Rei, Haruka, Michiru, Ami, the other Rei, Minako, Ryoko, Sasami, Keiko and Hyatt are among the patrons of Arisugawa's Locket, with Washu and Yume being name-dropped.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: Sylia asks Mara this when she wakes up the night after her drinking binge. Mara teasingly tells her that they both had sex at first, then admits that what really happened was Sylia fell over drunk and had to be carried to bed by Mara.
- What If?: The whole concept can be boiled down to "What if Keiichi DIDN'T wish for Belldandy to stay with him?".
- The Woman Behind the Man: Mara has served as this to many dictators and despots throughout history.
