     "So!", a voice called out, "You're finally here!".

     I opened my eyes to see a young-looking girl standing
over myself and Urd, "Washu?", I asked, remembering her from
my dreams.

     "That's right!", she said, "You're now in the hands of
the most brilliant genius in the universe, perhaps even the
multiverse!".

     "That's reassuring", I mutter as I sat up, a headache
making itself known, "What happened to us?", I asked.

     "Well", Washu said, "I pulled you out of that dimensional
maelstrom, just before it would have destroyed you".

     "Thanks", I said dryly.

     "No problem", Washu replied, oblivious to my sarcasm. 
She walked across to a bank of computers and began tapping on
a screen that appeared, "Your friend is fine", she said,
indicating Urd, "No abnormal energy readings, her pulse and
blood pressure is fine and her brainwaves are normal...".

     "And?", I asked, noticing how she'd broken off.

     Washu gave me a serious look, "You however have given me
some strange readings", she explained, "There's an energy
about you that I cannot identify and for me that's unusual".

     "No doubt", I said blankly.  

     Washu gave me an appraising look, "You seem healthy
enough", she said, "and if being argumentative is a sign of
brain activity...".

     "Thanks so much", I replied sarcastically.

     "You're quite welcome", she said sweetly.
     
     I smiled at her attitude and she gave me a big grin in
reply.  Carefully moving over to Urd, I stroked her cheek
gently, "Urd", I called, "Wake up now".

     After a few minutes of coaxing, she opened her eyes,
"Brett", she said stretching and yawning, "Where are we?".

     "We're at Washu's lab", I replied, "We made it".

     Urd looked around, grinning, "I told you we'd make it!",
she said.

     I helped her up as Washu came bounding down to us, "While
you're here", she said, "Feel free to look around".  Then she
gave us a more serious look, "But try not to touch anything",
she added, walking out of the room.

     I nodded and the two of us looked around curiously,
everything looked rather technical and we were careful not to
touch anything.  "WASHU!", a high-pitched voice called from
the doorway, "It's dinner time!".

     Urd and I winced at the volume and pitch of that voice
and looked over at the blond-haired young lady that it had
come from, "OH!", she said, seeing us, "You have guests?? I'm
sorry to interrupt..".  At that point she accidentally backed
into a control panel, flicking several switches and knocking a
beaker off the bench, the contents smashed onto the floor and
billowing green fumes began to fill the lab.

     "Oh no!", Washu moaned, "what did you do?"

     We both pointed at the blond girl and Washu sighed,
"Mihoshi!", she called, "How many times to I have to tell you
not to play around in my lab?!?!?".

                            An Oh My God FanFic

                          The Hazards of Divinity

                                  PART 5

                                    by

                                Brett Handy



     Mihoshi looked over at us with tears in her eyes, "I'm
sorry", she mumbled.

     Urd and I exchanged a long glance and Washu sighed, "Well
we'll have to wait outside until that gas clears", she said,
"I'll introduce you to the others".  We followed the little
scientist through the door and suddenly found ourselves
exiting from a doorway under a set of stairs in a regular
looking house.

     "I'd better tell Sasami that we're having guests for
dinner", Washu said.  She turned to Mihoshi, "Introduce them
to everyone", she ordered.

     Urd and I were a bit dubious, but followed Mihoshi into
the dining room.  "Who're they?", a girl with greenish-blue
hair asked. 

     Mihoshi bowed, "Umm.. Ryoko, these are... Err...", she
paused and looked at us, "Hey, what are your names anyway?".

     I smiled, "My name's Brett", I said, bowing slightly.

     Urd imitated my bow, "And I'm Urd", she said.

     "Pleased to meet you", Mihoshi said, bowing in reply,
"I'm Mihoshi and that's Ryoko", she said, indicating the girl
leaning against the table.

     "Yo!", Ryoko said, she looked at Urd curiously, "So are
you just passing through or what?".  

     Urd and I sat down, "You could say that", Urd replied.

     Ryoko was about to say something, when a young man walked
into the room, "Tenchi!", she said, grabbing onto his arm as
he walked past, "Sit down here next to me!".

     The young man fought it for a moment and then gave up,
"All right", he said, sitting down next to the girl.  Then he
noticed us, "Who are you?", he asked me curiously.

     "He's Brett and she's Urd", Mihoshi piped up, "They're
friends of Washu".

     He smiled pleasantly, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Tenchi
Masaki", he said, nodding, "So how do you know Washu?".

     I grinned, "Well actually she's... err...", I began,
breaking off.

     "Helping us get home", Urd continued, "You see we're
dimensional travellers and we got lost".

     "Oh", Tenchi said, blinking a few times.

     I gave Urd a curious look and she shrugged, "Ohhh",
Mihoshi said, "I bet dimensional travelling is fun! meeting
all kinds of new and interesting people!".

     Before we could answer a little creature hopped into the
room.  It was the strange little rabbit-like one that I'd seen
in my dream visit, it hopped over and looked at me carefully,
"That's Ryo-Ohki", Mihoshi introduced her.

     "We've met", I said, smiling.  The little cabbit
cautiously extended one paw and poked me in the leg (obviously
suspicious that I was a phantom like during my last visit),
noticing that I was real she jumped up on my shoulder, purring
loudly.

     "Well", Ryoko said, eyeing the little creature, "I've
never seen her so affectionate to someone she just met".

     Urd reached over and petted Ryo-Ohki, who enjoyed it
immensely.  I was beginning to get embarrassed by the amount
of attention that she was giving us when a young girl walked
into the room, "Dinner's ready!", she said, placing a large
tray on the table.  Ryo-Ohki immediately jumped down from my
shoulder and ran over to the girl, jumping onto her shoulder.

     The girl bowed, "I'm Sasami", she said, introducing
herself.  Washu walked into the room a moment later, followed
by two older men, "This is Tenchi's Grandfather, Yosho and his
father Nobiuki", she said, introducing them.

     The old man smiled, "Travellers are always welcome guests
in out home", he said in a quiet but firm voice.

     Nobiuki nodded, "You are most welcome here, stay as long
as you like", he agreed, his eye's never leaving Urd.  

     As we all sat down for dinner another young lady walked
into the room, she was wearing a long, formal-looking dress
and had a serene expression, until she noticed Ryoko and
Tenchi sitting together.  Her walk changed from a regal step
to a forced march, she stomped over and sat down on the other
side of Tenchi.  In her haste however, she 'accidently'
stepped on Ryoko's long hair.  There was an overtone of
hostility in the room, however everyone else seemed to ignore
it.

     "Dinner was great", I said out loud after we'd finished
eating, "I haven't had a home-cooked meal in ages".  

     Urd gave me a critical look, "Well you certinally ate
enough of it", she chided me, "I thought you were going to eat
your plate".  I grinned back at her.  

     Everyone else seemed to be discussing something to do
with an upcoming fair, "This year I'm going to set up a
stall", Sasami announced, "It looked like you all had fun
doing it last time!".

     Yosho nodded, "I always look forward to this time of
year", he said, "The fair always provides a welcome
distraction".

     Mihoshi looked a little downcast, "This year Kiyone says
that we can't afford to set up a stall", she mumbled, "It cost
us too much trying to make money last year".

     Sasami smiled, "You can help me with mine if you like",
she offered.  Then she turned to look at me, "Are you coming
to the fair?", she asked, "It'll be a lot of fun".

     I exchanged a glance with Urd who shrugged, "Sure", I
replied, "If we're still here".  Washu nodded, "You will be,
it'll take me at least a week to rebuild my dimensional
ossicilation device".

{AUTHOR'S NOTE: I *think* that's it's name.. I'll look it up
eventually }

     Tenchi frowned, "Why are you rebuilding that thing for?",
he asked, "Didn't it cause enought trouble last time?".

     "Ahhh!", Washu said, holding up a finger for silence,
"But this time I've designed it to track other dimensions, if
we can lock on to the specific dimensional location that Brett
and Urd describe... I'll be able to send them home in a
snap!".

     I frowned, "But Washu", I protested, "The different
dimensions are actually very similar, how can you tell them
apart?".

     Washu looked surprised, "You know about dimensional
theory?", she asked.

     I shook my head, "Err.. no, I'm speaking from personal
experience", I replied.

     Washu launched into a totally technical explanation that
I followed for the first two words and then got lost. 
Glancing around I noticed everyone's eyes had glazed over and
they were totally confused as well.  "All right", I said, when
Washu paused for breath, "So how many tries do you think it'll
take for you to find our universe?".

     "Oh..", Washu said, thinking, "Not more than a dozen or
so".  

     Urd sighed, "Looks like we're going to be here for a
while", she mused, looking around, "Have you guys got anything
to drink around here?".

                                  ******

     Tenchi was sitting outside under a tree, back inside his
house there was a rather 'lively' little get-together going
on.  After Urd had asked for a drink, his father had gotten
out the 'family special' sake.  Somehow they were still at it,
nearly an hour later.  Ryoko and Ayeka were arguing loudly,
with Urd throwing in comments now and then, Mihoshi was trying
without much success to get them to calm down.  Sasami had
retreated to the kitchen to clean up as soon as the sake had
come out.

     "This is nice", Tenchi yawned, relaxing for the first
time all evening.  He heard a footstep behind him and sighed,
somehow every time he found a quite time alone, one of the
girls managed to locate him, "Who's there?", he called, not
wanting to be surprised.

     "Sorry mate", Brett's voice came back to him, "I didn't
mean to disturb you".

     Tenchi shrugged, "It's ok", he said, sighing in relief,
"Pull up some ground".

     Brett sat down and sighed, "It's a nice place you have
here", he observed.

     "It's been in our family for years", he explained, "Dad
built our house here not long after I was born".

     "This is the first peaceful moment I've had in weeks", he
laughed, "I haven't just sat back and looked at the stars in
ages".

     Tenchi gave him a curious look, "You've had a busy time
then?", he asked.

     Brett smiled, "Evil demons, beautiful princesses,
horrible monsters, magical knights, you name it, I think I've
seen it", he said quietly.

     Tenchi grinned back at him, "At least you don't have to
live with them", he replied.

     Brett gave him a puzzled frown and opened his mouth to
ask a question, when backdoor of the house burst open and a
fearsome sight emerged.  Urd stumbled out drunkenly, one arm
wrapped around Ryoko and one arm around Ayeka, "Come on
girls", she slurred, "Let's have some fun!".   As one the two
girls spotted Tenchi and Urd saw Brett.  Three sets of female
eyes narrowed.

     Brett and Tenchi exchanged a quick glance and then they
were off like a shot, "This way!", Tenchi puffed as they wound
their way through the trees, "I know a place we can hide out
until they sober up".

     "Does this happen often?", Brett asked, glancing behind
him and noticing that Ryoko seemed to be gaining rather
quickly.

     "Yes", Tenchi sighed, "I'm afraid it does".  The two
continued to flee, dodging back into the forest.  Brett was
the first to fall, a blue-haired bird of prey landed on his
back, dragging him to the ground.

     "What do you think your...", Brett managed to get out
before Ryoko kissed him drunkenly.

     After a moment, Ryoko realised that it wasn't Tenchi that
she'd caught, "You're rather forward!", she chided him, as
broke away from her lip-lock.

     "HEY! *you* were the one that kissed *me*!", he
protested.  Ryoko shrugged and resumed her pursuit of Tenchi. 
Brett had just stood up and dusted himself off when he saw a
flash of blonde hair and suddenly he found himself pinned to
the ground by Urd.

     "Hello there", she purred, "Haven't we met before?". 
Brett was more reluctant to break off this kiss this time, but
he managed to unpin himself after a moment.

     "Having fun?", he asked Urd, smiling in spite of himself.

     Urd nodded, kissing him again, "The most fun in ages",
she announced.

     There was a muffled scream from deeper into the forest
and I concluded that Tenchi had been caught.  By this time,
the exercise of running through the forest had sped up the
effect of the sake and Urd was having trouble standing.  I
picked her up gently and she giggled as I walked back with her
to the house.  As I got to the treeline, I found a sleeping
Ayeka, she was curled up in a ball under a bush.

     "Thank god we got a head start", Tenchi observed, he was
carrying an equally insensible Ryoko.  The two of us exchanged
a glance and then laughed, it felt good.

                                  ******

     I awoke slowly the next morning, the sun was high in the
sky by the time I'd crawled out from under the covers.  Tenchi
had already left for the morning and I yawned mightily as I
stepped into the kitchen.

     "Good morning!", a happy voice greeted me.

     I glanced down to see Sasami holding out a plateful of
food for me, "Here's your breakfast", she said, "There's
something to drink on the table".

     "Thanks a lot", I said smiling.

     Sasami blushed slightly and grinned sheepishly, "No one
else around here seems to be able to cook", she seemed almost
apologetic.

     I grinned at her, "Call me when it comes time to fix
dinner", I suggested, "I can help you with a few things".

     Sasami looked surprised, but nodded, "All right", she
said happily, going back to her work.  I ate breakfast at a
leisurely pace, enjoying myself by just relaxing.  After I'd
finished I sat on the couch, watching the TV with Mihoshi (she
had a tendency to watch some rather strange programs, but
anything was nice for a change).  Mihoshi seemed like a rather
open and honest young lady (incredibly simple, but honest
about it), "Where is your friend?", she asked.

     I smiled, "She's probably still sleeping off last night",
I explained, "Urd tends to overdo it a bit when she gets
going".

     Mihoshi was about to respond when the doors slid open
with a bang, "MIHOSHI!", a voice yelled loudly, "WHAT ARE YOU
DOING?".  A brunette with a orange headband stomped up to the
couch, her face a mask of anger.

     "I'm watching TV", Mihoshi replied blandly, "Why Kiyone??
what's wrong?".

     "WE'RE LATE FOR OUR PATROL!", Kiyone shouted, holding up
her watch.  The watch was blinking insistently.  Mihoshi
looked at her own and realised that it was blinking too, "Oh..
Sorry!", she apologised.

     Kiyone sighed and shook her head, "How did I ever get a
partner like you?", she wondered.

     "Excuse me", I asked.

     "WHAT?!?!", Kiyone snapped, looking at me.

     I smiled in what I hoped was a reassuring way, "Does your
watch normally do that?", I asked, pointed at her watch.  It
was glowing red and a holographic image had appeared, it
looked like a compass of some kind.

     Kiyone looked at her watch and frowned, "It doesn't
usually do that unless there's the energy signature of a
dangerous criminal around", she observed.

     She examined it closer, "It's close", she said, moving
her arm back and forth.  Then she looked along the line that
it was pointing, "YOU!", she said, pulling out something that
resembled a gun, "Surrender now!".

     Mihoshi stepped in front of Kiyone, "This is Brett", she
said, "he's a friend of Washu's".

     Kiyone stepped around her partner so she could get a
better shot at me and I gave Kiyone a confused look, "Why am I
surrendering?", I asked, raising my hands.

     She examined the readout, "Because according to this,
you're energy signature matches the Class-B criminal
Nilthar!", she announced.

     "Nilthar?", I asked, a cold feeling in my stomach.

     "Nilthar?", Mihoshi asked, "Who's he?".

     Kiyone continued to read from her watch, "Nilthar is a
class-B criminal, according to this data he was responsible
for several massacres on Rigel 10... destroyed nearly a dozen
space ships sent after him... and err... ", she tapped the
watch with her gun, "that can't be right", she mumbled.

     "What?", Mihoshi asked.

     She scratched her head, "Nilthar is currently in the
maximum security wing of the Newhert prison colony", she
finished.

     "So does that mean I'm not him?", I asked, lowering my
hands.

     "No it doesn't", Kiyone said raising her gun again, "I
don't know who you are but..".

     At that point Urd and Ryoko walked into the room, "What's
up?", Ryoko asked, noticing Kiyone pointing her gun at me.

     "Apparently she thinks I'm some kind of criminal", I
said.

     Urd laughed out loud, "You?", she asked sweetly.

     Ryoko walked up and slapped me on the shoulder, hard,
"Welcome to the club!", she said in a friendly tone.

     "Thanks so much", I said sarcastically.

     "So what do we do now?", Mihoshi asked.

     "We'll have to take him into headquarters", Kiyone said.

     "Now hang on a minute", I said, "Who are you exactly?".

     "We're with the Galaxy Police", Kiyone said, showing me
her badge.

     "Right", I said, "So you're extra-terrestrials then?".

     "Well yes....", Kiyone admitted.

     "But it doesn't sound nice calling us that", Mihoshi
finished.

     Urd grinned, "You mean you didn't know?", she asked
smiling broadly.

     I sighed, "So who in this house is actually from earth?",
I asked.

     "Nobiuki is an earthling", Ryoko said, "And Tenchi grew
up here too".

     "And that's it?", I asked.  Seeing everyone's expressions
I sat down heavily on the couch, "So much for the nice quiet
vacation", I sighed.

                                  ******

     Now I'd always wanted to travel in space.  However under
the circumstances I was rather dubious about going along with
these two 'Galaxy Police Officers'.  "I'm afraid we don't have
a choice", Kiyone said seriously, "We have to take you in!".

     "Now hang on a minute!", I protested, "I only just
arrived on this dimension yesterday! how could I be *your*
Nilthar?".

     "What do you mean 'my' Nilthar?", Kiyone asked, frowning.

     "Well", I said carefully, "I know a Nilthar in my
dimension".

     Mihoshi looked up, interested, "Do you know a Mihoshi
too?", she asked excitedly.

     "Sorry, no", I replied.

     "Thank god", Kiyone muttered under her breath.

     "Look Officer Kiyone", I said evenly, "I'm not even
staying in this universe, so I don't see why you need to take
me anywhere!".

     "You don't have a choice in the matter!", Kiyone
insisted, drawing her gun.

     "Way to go Kiyone!", Ryoko cheered, from where she was
floating near the ceiling, "You get that dangerous criminal!".

     Kiyone gave her a steely look and motioned to me with the
gun, "You're coming with me!", she repeated.

     Finally, Urd came to my defense, "Look Kiyone", she said
carefully, "I think you've got the wrong guy here".

     Tenchi also nodded, "He didn't strike me as the 'wanted
criminal' type either", he confirmed.

     "I like him too!", Mihoshi insisted.

     "ENOUGH!", Kiyone shouted.  She sighed, putting away her
gun, "Fine, I won't arrest him!", she said.

     "Great", I said dryly, "Thanks so much".

     "BUT!", Kiyone continued, "You have to come with us and
confirm that you are who you say you are".

     "How?", I asked dubiously.

     Kiyone thought for a moment, "We'll go to Newhert
Prison", she concluded, "If Nilthar is there, then you're free
to go, if not...".

     "Right", I said as she broke off, "Then let's get this
over with!".  In a surprisingly short space of time I found
myself aboard a spacecraft called 'Yagami'.  It was a
surprisingly simple desgin, and after a few moments of
watching Kiyone pilot it I decided that it was no more
difficult than a few flight-simulator games I'd tried. 
Glancing over at Mihoshi I realised the reason for the simple
design.  She was snoozing against one control pannel.  I
decided to stretch my legs and walked down into the cargo
hold.

     "KIYA!", a voice shouted.  I ducked as an energy bolt
passed dangerously close to my head, obliterating a target
above the door.

     Ryoko, dressed in a skin-tight suit was limbering up on
the other side of the bay, "Yo!", she said in greeting.

     I pointed at the hole above my head, "What's that all
about?", I asked, sweeping some ash from my shoulder.

     "Oh", Ryoko said offhandedly, "Just practicing".

     "So why did you decide to come along?", I asked, as she
began flying around the room at great speed.

     "Tenchi's here", Ryoko replied simply.

     "Right", I said, shaking my head, "Is that the only
reason? why are you practicing so hard?".

     She let out another blast that vapourised another target
and I winced at the hole it made in the bulkhead, "Nilthar!",
she said blunty.

     "What about him?", I asked seriously.

     "He's dangerous", she replied, landing on the floor
again.  This time she formed some energy into a sword and
attacked a dummy, hacking it into bits.

     I studied her form with the sword for a while, "You're
overextending on the lunge", I said critically.

     Ryoko gave me a dirty look, "How would you know?", she
asked.

     "Hey!", I said defensively, "I've used a sword on
occasion".  I walked over to her and examinied the dummy,
"That sword cuts through just about anything right?", I asked.

     Ryoko nodded, "Well then, you don't need to put that much
weight behind it", I explained, "Just so long as you hit the
target, the sword would do the rest, right?".

     "I never thought of it that way", she admitted, looking
at her sword dubiously.

     I smiled, "My old fencing coach used to drill into us
that in competition, all we had to do was touch our opponent",
I explained, "Sometimes it comes in use outside of competition
too".

     I watched her work out for a few more minutes, "I wish I
had my sword", I sighed.

     "So make yourself one", she said, shrugging.

     "Yeah right!", I said sarcastically, "I'll just go and
find a forge..".

     Ryoko tapped the side of my head with her finger, "Not
that way stupid!", she said, "Use that power you've got!".

     "What power?", I replied, confused, "I lost all my powers
when we arrived here".

     "Then how come Kiyone picked up traces of Nilthar's power
in you?", she asked.

     "Well, that was an accident", I said, explaining how I'd
gotten part of his soul mixed with mine.

     Ryoko listened quietly for a while and nodded, "So you've
got a *little* bit of power then", she concluded, "What's the
problem?".

     "So how do I use it?", I asked dubiously.

                                  ******

     Urd was suspicious.  Now normally that wouldn't be much
of a problem, because if she was interested in spying on
someone, she simply did her 'split in three trick'.  However
in this universe she had no power whatsoever, so she had to
resort to other means.  Brett had been dissapearing every
evening since they started their trip, at night he'd return,
sweaty and tired to his quarters.

     She cornered Brett in the galley late one evening to
'interrogate' him.  "Spill it!", she insisted, having backed
him up against a table.

     "Spill what?", Brett asked innocently.

     Urd leaned up against him and placed a finger on his
nose, "Tell me why you seem to be spending so much time with
Ryoko, all alone in that empty storeage bay", she said
sweetly.

     "Oh.. that", Brett said nervously.

     Urd smiled, "Yes.. that", she insisted.

     "Well..", Brett began.

     The door suddenly burst open and Ryoko strode in, "Where
have you been!!?!?", she demanded, "You're late!".

     Brett smiled weakly, "Uhh.. maybe this isn't the best
time...", he began.

     Ryoko walked over and grabbed his hand, ignoring a
stunned Urd, "Come on, I don't have all night!", dragging him
towards the door, "Tenchi said he'd join in with us tonight
and I don't want to miss my chance to be with him!".

     Urd was in a daze as Ryoko pulled Brett from the room,
"Join in with them?", she mumbled in amazement.  Urd ground
her teeth together and followed them, dertermined to work out
what they were doing.

     Just as she reached the doors she heard Ryoko's voice
form inside, "HEY! Watch it!", she shouted, "Those things are
sharp!".

     Urd burst into the room to see Ryoko hovering above
Tenchi and Brett, all three of them were carrying some kind of
energy sword.  "Flying's not fair Ryoko!", Tenchi insisted,
"You said you could beat the two of us in a fair fight!".

     Ryoko poked her tongue out at Tenchi, "So what!", she
said, "I didn't know the two of you would gang up on me!".

     Urd was standing with her mouth hanging open, "Would one
of you please explain what the three of you are doing?", she
asked.

     Tenchi smiled, "Practicing!", he said, waving around his
blue-white sword.

     Ryoko nodded, landing beside Tenchi and gripping his arm,
"Tenchi here has been showing us some of his moves", she said
suggestively.

     Tenchi blushed and Ryoko smiled broadly.

     "Where'd you get that?", Urd asked, pointing at the sword
Brett was using, it was made from energy and looked
suspiciously like the sabre he was so fond of using.

     "Well", he said, hefting the sword, it hummed as it
passed through the air, "I kinda made it with the power that I
got from Nilthar".

     "You made it?", Urd asked in suprise.

     "With a lot of my help!", Ryoko insisted.

     "LORD TENCHI!", Ayeka called, walking into the room,
"What are you doing down here?".  Sasami and Mihoshi also
walked into the room, looking around at the training area,
"Wow!", Mihoshi said, eyeing the holes in the metal, "That's
gonna be expensive to fix".

     The door opened again and Kiyone stumbled through the
door, bleary eyed, "What are you all doing here?", she yawned,
"It's past midnight".

     "Kiyone!", Mihoshi said, grabbing onto her arm, "Now that
we're all here, let's have a late-night snack!".

     Kiyone looked at her partner, "If you're here...", she
began.

     The everyone else caught on quickly, "WHO'S FLYING THE
SHIP!", they all screamed.

     "MEOW! MEOW!", a voice called over the intercom.

     Everyone looked at Mihoshi, "I needed a break", she
insisted, "Ryo-Ohki didn't seem to mind".

                                  ******

     Newhert Prison was more like a prison planet than a
simple prison.  The prison itself covered as much area as a
few good sized cities and other than the dome-covered
structures of the prison itself, the rest of the planet was
scarred and blasted.  It's atmosphere was barely able to
support life, the reasoning being that even if a fugitive
escaped the prison (which was hightly unlikely) they wouldn't
be able to escape the planet.

     Rumor had it that the space around the planet was filled
with gravity mines, cloaked from detection.  Also many inmates
had heard that the elite Galaxy Police SWAT team trained in
this system, hunting down escaped prisoners.  Of course most
of the rumors were just that, stories to keep the prison
population in line.

     "What a hole!", Ryoko observed.

     Kiyone gritted her teeth, "It's not suppose to look
nice", she replied, "It's for criminals".

     Ayeka gave Ryoko a sly smile, "Perhaps you'll find it
suits your nature?", she suggested blandly.

     Ryoko appeared to ignore her, but leaned forward to
Kiyone, "Tell me, do they have any *Royal* prisoners here?",
she asked pointedly.

     Kiyone ignored the girls walked over to the prison warden
waiting at the edge of the landing pad, "Detective 1st Class
Kiyone, to interview Class B Criminal Nilthar", she said
formally.

     The head warden nodded, "I am Brax", he introduced
himself, "I will take you to Nilthar".  A bunch of robot
guards formed up around us and we walked into the reinforced
null-gee steel doors.  Almost immedately I was struck by the
beauty of the place.

     "*This* is a prison?", I asked, looking at the sculptured
gardens, fountains and buildings.

     Brax nodded, "This was designed to make the inmates feel
like they were being treated fairly", he gestured to further
into the city, there were some smaller domes now visible,
"Those domes are for species that have different life-support
requirements".

     We were picked up by a small bus and travelled to the
main adminstration building.  The trip was no different to
traveling through a large sized city, there was a small amount
of traffic on the roads, but everything seemed quite normal. 
"Amazing", Kiyone commented, "These people came in here as
hardened criminals, look at them now".

     Brax smiled slightly.  "We're here now", he said,
pointing out the huge building that served as the
adminstration area.  It was a magnificent structure, reaching
right to the top of the dome and overlooking the whole of the
city.

     We were escourted inside and ended up in a waiting room. 
"This is the strangest prison I've ever been in", Ryoko
commented, looking at the clean, neat waiting room.

     "And of course you've been in a lot of them", Akeya said
quietly.

     Before Ryoko could respond, the door opened and Brax
escourted a familar figure walked through, I came to my feet
out of sheer instinct.  "Citizen Nilthar at your service",
Nilthar said, introducing himself.  He was dressed in up-
market clothing and looked more like a business man than a
hardened criminal.

     Kiyone frowned, "I thought you were a Class-B criminal?",
she said, "Shouldn't you be in some kind of restraints?".

     "Mr Nilthar is quite capable of controling himself", Brax
assured us.

     Nilthar took a seat, "So what can I do for you?", he
asked evenly.

     Kiyone took out her scanning device, "I just need to
verify your identity", she explained.

     "Why's that?", Nilthar asked, shying away from the
scanner.

     "Because that guy over there", Kiyone said, nodding in my
direction, "Seems to have an identical energy signature to
you".

     "That's not possible", Nilthar said, looking at me
accusingly.

     "Hey mate", I replied, "I don't like it either".

     Kiyone ran the scanner over Nilthar's arm, before he
could pull away and it began blinking.  "Hmmm", she mused,
"Looks like the energy signature that Brett has is different",
she concluded.

     I sighed in relief, "Does this mean that I'm off the
hook?", I asked her.

     Kiyone nodded, then she looked at the readings, "These
readings are confusing however", she explained, "I'd estimate
that Nilthar's power level was beyond that of a Class-B
criminal.. closer to Class-A..".

     Nitlhar smiled, "Is that so?", he mused, "Well, I'm
afraid that you're quite correct".

     Kiyone frowned, "What do you mean?", she asked.

     "You Galaxy Police have continually underrated my
abilities", he said, leaning back in the chair, "And I'm
afraid it's come back to haunt you".

     The door to the room opened suddenly and a troop of robot
guards ran in, aiming their weapons at us.  "I do regret the
rough treatment", Nilthar apologised, "But I'm afraid you
can't leave here with that information".

     "Move!", one of the robots said, indicating the door. 
Kiyone looked at Brax in amazement, "What's going on here?",
she demanded.

     Brax shrugged, "He pays better than the Galaxy Prison
Service", he explained.

     "What are you going to do with us!?!", Tenchi demanded,
as a guard pushed him towards the door.

     "You five just joined our happy prison population",
Nilthar explained, "Unfortunately the two officers that
escourted you here are going to have an unfortunate accident,
their space ship crashed at take off, such a tradgety".

     We were hearded outside, "What about Sasami?", Ayeka
whispered.

     "Ryo-Ohki will take care of her", Ryoko said in a low
voice, "I just told her to get out of the ship and hide".

     "So what do we do?", Urd shot back, "We can't exactly
hide in here!".

     Tenchi eased his sword out of his pocket, and nudged
Ryoko, indicating the guards at the rear.  "NOW!", Ryoko
shouted, setting off a blast of energy.

     I concentrated and formed my sword (as Ryoko had shown
me) and slashed at the guard nearest me.  Ryoko was blasting
away left and right and Ayeka was deflecting incoming energy
blasts with her shielding ability.  Urd, Kiyone and Mihoshi
were doing their best to keep out of the way of the massive
amounts of firepower being exchanged in the small corridor. 
Tenchi weaved in and out between a row of the robots, leaving
a trail of robot heads behind him.

     In less than a minute is was over, we'd knocked out
around twenty robots and managed to come through unscathed. 
Kiyone nodded in satisfaction, "This way!", she shouted,
running down the corridor.  She led us to a weapons room, and
tapped in a code.  The door refused to budge.

     Ryoko stepped forward and cut a neat hole in the solid-
steel door, "Thanks", Kyone said dryly as alarms began to
sound throughout the building.

     "It's open isn't it?", Ryoko replied, stepping through.

     Inside the room was a huge collection of weapons, "Always
be prepared", Kiyone said, hefting a rocket launcher.  Thus
equiped we continued to the stairs.  Running down stairs has
never been one of my favourite passtimes, however running down
stairs while dodging security lasers was even less fun. 
Everyone was throughly singed by the time we'd made it to the
bottom.

                                  ******

     "MEOW!", Ryo-Ohki insisted, hopping up and down in
frustration.

     "Oh all right!", Sasami said, "But Ayeka told us to wait
in the ship".  The two of them had been busy in the kitchen
(Sasami making dinner and Ryo-Ohki eating all the carrot she
could find) when Ryo-Ohki had suddenly decided she needed to
go outside.

     Sasami walked out of the ship and followed Ryo-Ohki onto
the surface of the planet, "BRR!", Sasami said, "It's cold out
here!".  Ryo-Ohki hopped away from the ship and dissapeared
behind a mound of rubble at the edge of the landing field.

     "HEY!", Sasami chided her, "Come back!". Sasami walked
around to the other side of the rubble, just as the large
doors to the dome opened and a bunch of scruffy-looking men
with a variety of weapons rushed out.

     "Who are they?", Sasami wondered, keeping hidden.

     The men marched up to the ship and began searching it,
"Come on!", one shouted, "We've got to get this thing wired to
blow in the next ten minutes!".

     Ryo-Ohki bumped her head against Sasami's leg, "meow!",
she said quietly.

     Sasami picked her up and cuddled her tightly, "Thank
you", she said gratefully.  The two of them huddled down to
wait for their friends.

                                  ******

     Brett and Urd rushed down a side-street, only a few paces
ahead of an angry mob.  "How come we're running?", Urd puffed,
"We're the ones with the guns!".

     I glanced back at the mob, armed with clubs/staffs and
other blunt instruments, "You've got enough ammo for all of
them?", I asked her.

     She looked down at the half-empty rifle she was holding,
"No", she admitted.  Then she grinned, "But they don't know
that".

     Urd suddenly turned and let off a series of shots at the
feet of the lead chasers.  Her rifles ripped up the ground,
causing many of our pursuers to trip and fall.  "HOLD IT!",
Urd shouted.

     The crowd stopped short, milling around.  "THE NEXT
PERSON THAT FOLLOWS US IS GOING TO HAVE A HOLE IN THEIR
SKULL!", Urd growled, shooting out a lamppost to punctuate her
sentance.

     She turned and began walking slowly away from the crowd. 
She caught up to me and the two of us began walking slowly
together down the street.  I glanced over my shoulder, the
crowd was slowly edging forward.  As we went around the next
corner I suddenly found myself alone.

     "RUN!", Urd called back to me from where she was
sprinting down the street.

                                  ******

     Kiyone and Mihoshi were hiding in the backseat of a
patrol vehicle.  "Phew!", Mihoshi said, wiping her brow, "It's
lucky we found an empty car..".  She broke off as the two
front doors opened and a pair of armed human guards sat down
and started the vehcile.

     "Where can they be hiding Joe?", one asked evenly.

     "Who knows?", the older one replied, the he laughed "Let
me tell you one thing though Harry, "Nilthar was pissed when
he found out they'd escaped".

     The car began weaving in and out of traffic, "So who's
this kid the team found?", Harry asked quietly.

     "I dunno", Joe replied, "She was outside the dome when
they were mining those Galaxy-piggy's ship".

     Kiyone eased her pistol out of it's holster, "Oink
oink!", she whispered, placing the business-end of the gun in
Harry's ear.

     "Errr.. Joe?", Harry asked, "I think we have a little
problem!".

                                  ******

     Ryoko and Ayeka were not having a good time.  They'd
managed to lose Tenchi in the confusion and had no idea
exactly what direction they were going.

     "This is all your fault!", Ayeka insisted.

     "Sure Princess!", Ryoko replied sarcastically, "You had
nothing to do with it".

     "Oh my poor Lord Tenchi", Ayeka moaned, "He's probably
fighting for his life at the moment, I wish I could be at his
side".

     "Oh come on Ayeka!", Ryoko said caustically, "You'd just
get in his way!".

     "What's that suppose to mean!??!", Ayeka shouted, her
eyes flashing.

     "It means you have no concept of how to handle yourself
in a real fight", Ryoko went on.

     "Oh really?!?!?", Ayeka replied, a shimmering energy
field surrounding her.

     Unfortunately, a search party found them at that point.
The unfortunate search party was never heard from again.
     
                                   *****

     Ryo-Ohki found herself pinned down by an energy net.  She
and Sasami had been hiding when one of the men putting bombs
on the ship had spotted them with a scanner.  She'd tried to
keep Sasami safe, but the men had thrown a net over her.  The
net had been designed to rob an offending prisoner of his
strength, and she was starting to feel rather weak.

     "MEOW!", She shouted definately as the men took Sasami
away.

     Sasami looked back at her tearfully, "Ryo-Ohki!!", she
called, struggling with the men.

     An irrational anger built up inside Ryo-Ohki, the net
flared with the amount of energy it was containing, several of
the men stepped back warily as the little creature began
overloading their containment net.  By the time Ryo-Ohki had
burned through the net, the men had fled inside with the ones
taking Sasami and she beat futily at the door.

     Sitting down to think she noticed the alarms were going
off all over the city, search lights were criss-crossing the
landscape and the occasional explosion could be heard from
inside the city.  Ryo-Ohki hopped in the direction of the
loudest noises.  She was hopping along when she felt a familar
presence.  Moving close to the wall, she listened.

     "GET DOWN!", Urd shouted, letting fly with a spray of
energy.

     "WHERE THE HELL IS THE EXIT!?!?!", Brett shouted in
reply.

     Ryo-Ohki could tell they were only a few meters from the
inside of the dome so she concentrated and pushed on the wall. 
Now usually her abilities to phaze through objects were rather
limited, but she was still angry about those men taking Sasami
and she put a bit more energy into it than normal.

     The outer wall of the dome in a five meter diameter
suddenly phazed out of existance.  Brett and Urd gave each
other a startled look, before rushing outside.  Gunfire right
on their heels.  On the way through Brett scooped up Ryo-Ohki
and the three ran directly away from the prison, taking cover
behind twisted bits of metal.

     "MEOW!", Ryo-Ohki moaned from Brett's arms, looking back
forlornly at the prison.

                                  ******


     Tenchi leaned against a wall, his face covered by a
tattered cloak that he'd managed to 'borrow' from one of the
prisoners.  He shuffled along through the now-darkening city
streets, being largely ignored by the other prisoners. 

     He shifted nervously as a truck full of angry prisoners
drove past, brandishing all sorts of makeshift weapons.  He
jumped as a hand came down on his shoulder, "Who are you?", a
harsh voice asked.

     "Nobody", Tenchi replied, pulling away.

     "Sure you're not", the young man said, looking at him
closely, "Maybe you can tell me why you're wearing such fine
clothes under those beggar's rags?".

     Tenchi started reaching under his cloak for his sword,
when he felt the barrel of a gun in the small of his back,
"Don't", a voice said calmly, "You'll regret it!".

     "What are you going to do?", Tenchi asked in a low voice.

     "You're coming with us", the voice over his shoulder
said, "No arguments, no trouble, or you've had it!".

     Tenchi allowed himself to be led around the corner into
an alley, about half way along a door slammed open, "IN!", the
man with the gun ordered.

     Stepping into the light Tenchi blinked a few times at the
bright light, "TENCHI!" a voice called.

     He found himself nose-to-breast with a familiar figure,
"Ryoko!", Ayeka called angrily, "Let him go!".

     When he could breath again he found himself sitting in a
room with not only Ryoko and Ayeka, but Sasami, Mihoshi and
Kiyone were also there.  "Where are Brett and Urd?", he asked,
looking around.

     "They left the city about an hour ago", the man who had
stuck the gun in Tenchi's back replied.  He took off the robe-
like clothing he was wearing, to reveal a set of Galaxy-Police
issue body armour.

     "Who are you guys?", Tenchi asked, as the younger man
also revealed his position as an GP officer.

     "Galaxy Police Special Operations", the younger man said,
"I'm Harry and that's Joe and that's all you need to know".

     Tenchi looked over at Kiyone who nodded, "I was as
surprised as you are", she said, "But they *are* with the
Galaxy Police".

     Harry nodded, "We've been in the prison population for
nearly six months now", he explained, "Nilthar's finally
revealed his control, so we're going to shut him down".

     "How?", Tenchi asked dryly, "He seems to be pretty much
in control at the moment!".

     Joe nodded, "That's right", he replied, "But not for
long, the fifth combat fleet is about ready to blast this
place from the map!".

     "But.. you'll be killing hundreds of thousands of
people!", Tenchi protested.

     "Well..", Joe hedged, "If they surrender quietly.. they
won't get hurt".

     "To do that.. you'll have to take Nilthar out of the
picture", Ryoko pipped up, "Any ideas how to do that?".

     Joe smiled, "Well, now that you mention it...", he began.

                                  ******

     "Damn! where are they?!?", Urd shouted across to Brett.

     "I don't have a clue!", Brett replied, "I would have
thought they'd be out of there by now!".  Brett banished his
sword and reached to pull a tired looking creature from his
backpack, "Ryo-Ohki!", he said stroking her face, "We need you
to find Tenchi and the others!".

     Ryo-Ohki opened one eye, "Meow!", she said angrily,
closing her eye again.

     Brett shook her gently, "I know you're tired", he said
apologetically, "But I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important,
they might be in trouble".

     Ryo-Ohki let out a sigh and her features took on a look
of extreme concentration.  She raised one paw, "MEOW!", she
insisted, point towards the maximum security prison that we'd
just managed to escape from.

     "Oh great!", Urd said, leaning against her rifle wearily,
"We just managed to escape alive, now we have to go back in?".

     Brett petted Ryo-Ohki's head reasuringly and she let out
a little purr before falling back asleep.  He placed her
gently in his backpack, zipping it up securely. "I guess so",
he said softly.

     Urd smiled slightly, "Well, there's never a dull moment",
she said, standing quickly.

     Brett noticed how tired she seemed to be and he passed
her the bag with Ryo-Ohki in it, "How about you wait here?",
he suggested evenly, "I think I'll have a better chance...".

     Urd snorted, "Even if Ryoko did teach you a little bit
about how to use that power", she said, "You wouldn't last
five seconds without me there to watch your back".

     "You're sure?", he asked, looking her over.  She was
covered in ash and had several scorch marks covering the light
armour she was wearing, her face was marred by soot and a thin
like of blood. 

     "I'm sure!", she insisted, noticing his examiniation of
her she posed carefully, "Don't I look all right?".

     Brett laughed and hugged her gratefully, "What would I
ever do without you?", he whispered softly.

     "Don't worry about something that'll never happen", Urd
replied, kissing him quickly.  The two of them turned and
looked at the maximum security prison they'd just escaped
from, it's search lights scanning the surrounding countryside. 
They both began to jog back the way they'd come.

                                  ******

     I nodded to Urd and the two of us sprinted across the
space to the wall, we'd managed to reach the walls without
being spotted.  Pulling Ryo-Ohki out of my backpack I petted
her gently, "Come on Girl", I whispered, "We have to get
through the wall".

     "MEOOOOOOW!", Ryo-Ohki moaned, closing her eyes.

     "Please Ryo-Ohki!", I insisted, "Tenchi and the others
are in there, we have to get them out!".

     Ryo-Ohki sighed and concentrated, Urd and I felt a
tingling and we passed through the wall with a minimum of
fuss.  As luck would have it, we appeared in an empty room. 
Urd walked quickly over to the door and locked it.  The room
we were in appeared to be some kind of storeroom, it was
filled to the brim with bags and boxes.

     I sat down on one of the more comfortable looking boxes,
placing a now totally exhausted Ryo-Ohki on a large bag.  "Now
what?", Urd asked wearily, sitting down beside me.

     "No idea", I replied, smiling, "We're in, now all we have
to do is find 5 people in a city that's larger than Tokyo".

     Urd looked over at Ryo-Ohki, "At least we have a Ryoko-
detector with us", she observed.

     Picking up Ryo-Ohki I scratched her ears, "I think
however she needs a little rest", I observed, when she barely
managed a purr.

     "I wonder whats in all these boxes", Urd said, walking
over to one.

     "Maybe we should..", I broke off as she shattered a box
with the butt of her rifle, "...Be careful with them", I
concluded.

     However luck was still with us and the case broke apart
to reveal an assortment of earth vegetables.  Urd looked
confused and she reached down to pick up the invoice, "Sundry
Vegetables, packed on Earth", she blanched at the value
written on the bottom of the note, "Looks like vegetables are
expensive around here".

     At the word 'Vegetables' Ryo-Ohki's ears had picked, she
jumped into the pile and began searching around.

     After a few minutes she crawlled out of the pile and
began crying softly.  I frowned, "Didn't find what you're
looking for?", I asked.

     She looked at me mournfully and nodded.  "I don't suppose
it's carrots you're after?", I asked, smiling.

     Ryo-Ohki hopped over to me and looked up hopefully, "If I
give you some carrots do you think you could help us find
Ryoko and the others?", I asked seriously.

     She nodded and hopped up and down impatiently.  I stood
and pointed to the sign on the box I was sitting on, 'CARROTS'
written in huge letters on the side, "There ya go!", I said,
standing back.

     What followed was an orgy of carrot eating, as Ryo-Ohki
devoured the box in under fifteen seconds.  Urd and I ducked
for cover as the uneaten ends of the carrots flew through the
air.  After the feeding frenzy had passed we looked over the
bag of cabbages that we'd hidden behind to see a throughly
stuffed and satisfied Ryo-Ohki sitting in the middle of the
room.

     Urd shook a few carrot-tops out of her hair, "Well that
was an experience I never want to repeat", she said, smiling
slightly.

     I walked over and looked down at Ryo-Ohki, who was now
resembling something that looked more like a basketball with
arms and legs.  "Happy?", I asked.

     She made a sound that was somewhere between a purr and a
burp, which I took to mean, "Yes, I'm very happy".

     Picking her up with an effort I placed her in my
backpack, "Well, tell me when I'm going the wrong way then", I
told her seriously, "Cause we're going to find Ryoko and the
others".

     Urd and I waited until a pair of suitable looking
prisoners walked passed the door, she stepped out and smiled,
gesturing with the rifle for them to move inside.  Stripping
off their clothing we gagged them and then packed them into a
crate.  We quickly changed into their clothing, surprisingly
most of the clothes fitted comfortably, "I'll have to talk to
this guy's tailor", I commented, 

     Urd however was another matter, the woman who's clothing
she'd pick wasn't quite as... let's just say that the clothes
didn't fit quite right.  She picked up the rifle and I shook
my head, "That's not concealable", I observed, "Stick to that
pistol you picked up".

     "All right", Urd sighed, throwing the rifle away.  We
walked out of the room and continued down the corridor.  "Meow
Meow", Ryo-Ohki insisted.  I turned right at the next corridor
and we continued along, meeting only a few people along the
way.  We reached one of the main streets, people were milling
around for some reason, "Hey!", I called over to one of them,
"What's going on?".

     An older man shrugged, "Appears they went and caught
those nosey pigs", he said, pointing at the huge monitor on
the wall, "They're gonna execute 'em in the main square in a
few minutes.

     Urd and I exchanged a shocked glance and then we looked
at the monitor in horror as Tenchi and the others were marched
out in front of a firing squad! "Which way's the main
square?", I called over to the old man.

     "That way!", he said, pointing, "But it's three
kilometers from here, you'll never get there before they
execute them".

     "Now what do we do?", Urd sighed, "Even if we had our
powers..".

     I gave her a smile, "Arn't you glad we stopped in for gas
then?", I asked, taking off my backpack.

                                  ******

     Tenchi was feeling rather nervous as he was led out to be
executed.  He'd been assured by Joe and Harry that things
would go smoothly, the Galaxy Police were ready to spring
theit trap when Nilthar appeared.  He gulped as he saw the
number of people who'd turned out to see him shot full of
holes.

     He was roughly tied to a post beside Ryoko who attempted
to give him an encouraging smile, he appreciated the effort
but all it did was make him feel worse.  He'd been standing
for a minute or so when Nilthar finally appeared.  He walked
forward and half the crowd cheered, while the other half booed
and jeered him.

     "Fellow Inmates!", he said grandly, "I present you with
the nine people who tried to destroy everything we have
here!".

     Tenchi frowned, looking around, there were only seven of
them tied to the posts.  "Oh!", Nilthar said, noticing his
captives confused expressions, "How rude of me not to
introduce you all sooner, I believe you know these gentlemen".

     Two more posts rose out of the ground, one holding Harry
and the other holding joe, "Oh I'm afraid that there won't be
any rescue for you all", he said, in mock-sympathy.

     Nilthar raised his arm and the firing squad took up
positions.  Ryoko tried futily to break the bonds holding her,
while Ayeka attempted to use her abilities to form a shield.

     "READY!", Nilthar shouted.  The guns rose and the men
took the safeties off the weapons, making a ominous clicking
sound.

     "AIM!", Nilthar continued.  A series of laser dots began
to criss-cross Tenchi and his friends, each person getting at
least two targetting dots on them.  A hush fellow over the
crowd as they waited for the final command.

     There was an ominous rumbling, followed by,
"MEEEOOOOWWWWW!!!!", as Ryo-Ohki in spaceship form suddenly
let loose with blasts of energy into the platform.  The crowd
departed quickly, no one wanting to take on an angry
spaceship.

     Nilthar dissapeared in the explosions and the members of
the firing squad quickly departed the area as the ship landed. 
Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief as Brett and Urd materalised
from the ship and began cutting everyone's bonds, "What took
you so long?", Ryoko asked, "We almost got turned into swiss
cheese".

     "Sorry", Brett replied sarcastically, "The traffic was
kinda heavy".

     "And we had to stop in for some carrots..", Urd
continued, grinning.

     Brett undid Tenchi's rope and looked around, "So what
happened to Nilthar?", he asked.

     A bolt of energy knocked Brett and Tenchi from their
feet, "Nothing", Nilthar said as he hovered several meters in
the air, "I'm quite all right thank you".

     Ryoko smiled and rose into the air herself, "I've been
waiting for this", she said, forming her energy sword.

     "Ahh Ryoko", Nilthar said, smiling, "You have no idea
what you're in for!".  The two began to circle each other,
exchanging feints and blasts of energy.  Higher and higher
they rose, until they blasted two holes out of the dome far
above.

     Brett and Tenchi picked themsleves up from the ground,
both of them rubing their chests where Nilthar's bolt of
energy had hit them, "What do we do now?", Brett asked.

     Tenchi smiled slightly, "If there's one thing I know
about Ryoko", he said confidently, "She knows how to handle
herself in a fight".  The two young men quickly boarded Ryo-
Ohki and the little spaceship took off like a shot for the top
of the dome, crashing it's way through into the sky above.

     Ryoko and Nilthar fought each other for a long time, Ryo-
Ohki hovering nearby.  "You fight well", Nilthar observed.

     "I do, don't I?", Ryoko smiled.

     "But that ends now!", Nilthar said.  Instead of attacking
he floated there, concentrating.  Ryoko threw several bolts of
energy at him, but he dodged each one without even opening his
eyes.

     Ryoko barley managed to dodge as a hail of asteroid
fragments suddenly began to rain down on her.  She blasted
several of the larger ones out of her way, dodging skillfully.

     "You'll have to do better than that!", Ryoko taunted him.

     Back inside Ryo-Ohki Brett was watching the fight in
confusion, "Why arn't we doing something?", he asked everyone.

     Everyone exchanged a long look, "Well?", Brett asked,
"Why don't we just blast him with Ryo-Ohki's main guns?". 

     "That'd be easier", Urd commented.

     "Well...", Tenchi said slowly, "That wouldn't be
fair...".

     "Stuff 'em", Brett replied, "I'm pretty sure that Nilthar
would shoot any of us wihtout thinking twice about it". Ryo-
Ohki was obviously in agreement too, because she began to move
forward quickly.

     Nilthar suddenly noticed a shadow between him and the
sun, turning he caught the full-force of Ryo-Ohki's main guns
in the chest.  Ryoko dodged to the side as he was flung back
towards the planet.  His trajectory took him in a balistic
orbit and he came to rest, fittingly enough, in a pool of
scummy water a few miles from the prison city.  A large crowd
of prisoners (carrying blunt objects) descended on his prone
figure, Nilthar was never heard from again.

                                  ******

     "Come on mate!", I complained, "How come I have to
clean!?!?!".

     Ryoko gave me a look of menace, "You used Ryo-Ohki
without my permission, overfed her carrots and interfeared in
my fight!", she replied angrily, "The least you can do is
clean her up".

     "MEOW!", Ryo-Ohki agreed, looking up from the water I was
washing her in.

     I sighed and rinsed the bubbles off little creature,
"There yo go", I said, placing her on the deck beside me, "All
clean".

     "You're not finished yet", Ryoko said, handing me a
towel.  I gritted my teeth and dried Ryo-Ohki off, after I'd
done that Ryoko handed me a comb and made me comb out Ryo-
Ohki's fur.  We'd gotten back from our little jaunt to Newhert
after the Galaxy Police had restored order in the prison
colony, Mihoshi and Kiyone recieved commendations and as
civilians the rest of us had gotten civic citiations (except
for Ryoko who'd been absent at the ceremony and GP
headquaters).  When we'd returned, Washu had informed us that
her invention to return us home was almost ready.

     I'd finished combing Ryo-Ohki's fur, not really minding
my 'punishment', but complaining all the time (just so that
Ryoko didn't find something worse for me to do) and was just
relaxing under a tree when a shadow passed over me.  "What's
up?", I asked, not opening my eyes, almost dozing.

     "Brett?", Urd asked, sitting down beside me.

     "Yeah?", I asked, yawning.

     "It's time", she said quietly.

     I opened my eyes and gave her a curious look, "Washu is
ready with her device, all we have to do is input the
parameters of our universe and it will locate it and send us
back there", she explained.

     I stood and took Urd's hand, "So we're finally going
home?', I said, smiling.

     Urd nodded and the two of us went inside to say our
goodbyes.  It was a long, drawn-out goodbye, but Tenchi and
the others realised that we really wanted to reach our real
home.  Washu handed me back Skuld's little tracking device, it
had a number of wires hanging out of it and some other strange
things sticking out of it, "What did you do to it?", I asked.

     "Oh not much.. I added a dimenisonal beacon so that if
you get lost again you can find your way home, and I'll be
able to locate you and pull you back, if something goes
wrong", she expalined.

     "Good luck", Tenchi said in farewell, shaking my hand
warmly, "If you ever get back this way, look us up".

     I nodded, "Good luck to you too mate", I replied, looking
over at Ryoko and Ayeka who were saying goodbye to Urd,
"You're gonna need it!".  He nodded and grinned at me as I
took Urd's hand and stepped up on the platform.  Urd placed
her arms around me as the doors closed, it was a very tight
fit, "Ummm", Urd said, resting her head against my chest,
"This is nice".

     "Good luck!", Sasami called, waving.  "MEOW!", Ryo-Ohki
echoed her.  Washu punched a few keys and a white light filled
my vision.

                                  ******

     As the bright flash from Washu's device faded, I blinked
owishly and looked around dubiously.  Urd and I were standing
in front of the temple.  I smiled and gave Urd a small hug,
she rose her head from my chest and gave a cheer, "I'M BACK!",
she enthaused, casting a clothes change spell and return
herself to her regular outfit.

     "I can use magic again!", she said in triumph.

     I grinned, "Well", I said delicatley, "Perhaps you
shouldn't show quite so much magic out here on the street?".

     Urd gave me a haughty look, "Very well", she allowed,
"We'll wait and celebrate with everyone else".  The two of us
walked into the temple, just as the sun rose over the roof.

     Skuld was playing around with one of her robots as we
walked up, "What took the two of you so long?", she asked,
giving us a frown, "You've been gone all night".

     Urd and I exhanged a glance, Washu had warned us that
this might be the case, but it was still a shock to find that
only a few hours had passed while we were lost.  I gave Skuld
a big smile, "Thanks for that birthday present", I said,
holding up the now heavily modified gift.

     Skuld looked at it closely, "What did you do to it?", she
asked worriedly, "That's not *your* work is it?".

     I grinned, "Actually a friend of mine inisited that she
modify it to emit a dimensional becon", I explained, "So that
she could find us if something went wrong..".

     Urd slapped a hand on my mouth, "Stop confusing her", she
whispered.  She snatched the gift out of my hand and stuffed
it into one of my pockets, "Let's have some breakfast", she
insisted, dragging me away from a now very confused Skuld.

     As we reached the temple I gave Urd and curious look,
"What was that all about?", I asked.

     Urd gave me a serious look, "If you explain too much to
her, she'll figure out how to jump dimensions", she warned,
"and I don't want her getting lost too".

     I nodded throughtfully, "But how are we going to explain
things..", I began.

     "We're not", Urd said sharply, "What happened isn't
anyone's business but our own".  I frowned thoughtfully as we
walked through the temple, we reached the kitchen and found
Belldandy, who smiled at us warmly, "Care for some
breakfast?", she asked, holding up a pair of plates.

     As we ate I thought, "Urd, how are we going to explain
about us?".

     Urd looked uncomfortable, "That's none of their
business", she repeated.

     I gave her a concerned look, "I think they're going to
have some questions", I said quietly.

     "Who's going to have questions?", Keiichi asked, walking
into the room.

     "Err... that we didn't find the energy source we were
sent to investigate", she covered quickly.

     Keiichi sat down at the table beside me and gave me a
curious look, "Brett", he said seriously, looking me up and
down, "Have you been working out or something?".

     I shook my head and he poked my shoulder, "Then I'd like
to know your secret, somehow you've put on *several* pounds of
muscle", and then he looked at my stomach, "and lost a bit
there too".  I then realised what he meant, in the last few
months (from my perspective) I'd been living from universe to
universe, some of them were easy enough to negotiate, but most
were pretty hazardous and I'd gotten a bit fitter.

     "Enough with the disguse", Urd said, waving a hand at me,
I suddenly noticed that I looked different, in fact I looked
exactly like I had when we'd walked out of the temple.

     Keiichi smiled, "Ahh", he said, laughing "I didn't think
that one night could help that much".  I forced a little laugh
and looked at Urd carefully.  Eventually Keiichi left, walking
outside to work on a car that he'd been building and I gave
Urd a stony look, "What was that all about?", I asked
pointedly.

     "Look", Urd said, "I just need a little time to deal with
this... it's not what you think...".

     I gave her a skeptical look and nodded, "Fine", I
replied, walking from the room, as confused as ever.

                                  ******

     Urd bit her lip as Brett walked from the room, she could
see how hurt he was and she fought back the urge to reach out
to him.  She sat for a few minutes just staring at the door,
until it was opened by Belldandy.

     "Are you all right?", Belldandy asked in concern, noting
Urd's mournful expression.

     Urd shook her head, "No I'm not", she replied buntly,
standing and shoving past her sister, out into the courtyard.

     Belldandy looked after her sister thoughtfully, Urd was
acting strange, even for her.  She followed her outside and
saw her sit down on the back steps of the temple, just gazing
out over the city.  "What's wrong sister?", Belldandy asked,
walking up behind her.

     "Belldandy, I don't...", Urd began.

     "Don't lie to me", Belldandy said bluntly, "I've never
seen you this depressed and what did you say to Brett?".

     Urd shook her head, "I'm in trouble", she said gravely.

     Belldandy sat down beside her, "Please tell me what's
wrong", she asked gently.

     Urd sighed, "I'm in love", she whispered.

     "What?", Belldandy asked, "Did you just figure that out
now?".  At Urd's confused expression Belldandy laughed, "I've
know you've been in love with Brett since last christmas".

     Urd looked shamefully at the ground, and Belldandy
laughed, "He loves you too", she said frimly.

     "I know", Urd said softly, "But that's just the problem".

     Belldandy looked confused and Urd sighed, "For you it's
easy, you have someone who loves you and you love them back",
she expalined, "But for me it's a little different, remember
what happened when the Lord of Chaos came to visit?".

     "That shouldn't matter", Belldandy said frimly.

     "It *does* matter", Urd said firmly, "Brett doesn't know
what he's getting into, not really, I've never told him who my
mother was..".

     Belldandy stood, "Urd", she said seriously, "You love
Brett and he loves you, explain it to him and see what he
says".

     "But what if..", Urd began.

     "As it stands now", Belldandy said, "The two of you are
miserable, could it get much worse?".  With that she walked
back inside and left Urd to her thoughts

                                  ******

     I awoke at the feeling of someone else joining me in my
bed.  Urd's arms went around me and the scent of her perfume
filled my mind with pleasent memories.  She kissed me and I
placed my arms around her.  Then I remembered where I was and
I grabbed her hands quickly.

     "What?", she protested in a low voice, "Don't you want
me?".

     I say up in the bed and flicked on the lamp.  Urd was
dressed in a sheer nightie which only accented her beauty.  I
shook my head, "Urd, we can't do this", I said carefully.

     Urd looked confused, "How is what we've been doing for
the last few months now wrong?", she asked, stroking my face
with one hand.

     I grabbed her hand, "Stop it", I said sternly, "I don't
want to have a relationship with you if we have to sneak
around like this".

     She slumped back in defeat, her head bowed and she began
to sob.  My stern demenaor dissapered instantly and I hugged
her tightly, "Please don't cry", I said, "Can't you understand
that I love you and don't want to have to hide it? Especially
not in front of our friends".

     Urd hugged me back, still sobbing, "I love you too", she
said, "But there are things I haven't told you...".

     I moved back so that I could see her face, still holding
her hands, "Then tell me", I said gently.  Urd slowly
explained to me her heritage, that of a demon mother and a god
father.  I sat quietly while she talked, she seemed to be
getting more and more anxious as she went on.  Apparantly, not
long before I came to the temple, there was an incident, Mara
had summoned the Lord of Chaos and in doing so had activated
Urd's hidden abilities.  She'd done a lot of damage, before
recovering with the help of Keiichi and her sisters.  This
seemed familar to me for some reason, but I couldn't place
where I'd heard about it before.

     After her explanation I nodded thoughtfully and she
looked at me nervously, "Please don't hate me because I'm part
demon", she almost begged.

     I raised one eyebrow thoughtfully, "I already knew most
of what you just told me", I said, smiling slightly, "You just
filled in a few of the details for me".  She looked at me and
I grinned, "I always knew that I was playing with fire, just
not literally".

     Urd punched me in the shoulder, her eyes narrowing, "This
isn't a joking matter!", she snapped.  Then she realised what
I'd say and looked at me hopefully, "You're not angry?", she
asked.

     "Of course not", I replied, "I love you Urd, who your
parents were doesn't matter to me, you're the most important
thing".  Urd hugged me tightly and the two of us fell alseep a
few minutes later.

                                  ******

     Keiichi walked by Brett's door and noticed the heavy
snoring coming from the other side.  He shook his head and
knocked loudly on the doorframe, "Time for breakfast!", he
called, sliding the door back.

     The call died in his throat as he saw Brett and Urd lying
in bed together, Urd was wearing one of her 'nothing nighties'
and Keiichi froze in disbelief.  Brett's eyes opened and he
gave Keiichi a sheepish grin, "G'day!", he whispered, trying
not to wake the still-sleeping Urd.

     Keiichi's mouth dropped open and he was about to say
something when Belldandy walked up behind him and placed a
hand on his shoulder, "Breakfast is ready Keiichi", she said. 
The she looked through the door and smiled, "You'd better wake
her up soon", Belldandy suggested to Brett quietly, "otherwise
it will get cold".

     She frimly closed the door and led the still-shocked
Keiichi into the kitchen.  "But..", Keiichi began, "Urd and
Brett?".

     "They're not children", Belldandy said, "I'm sure they'll
be along soon".  Keiichi looked like he wanted to say more,
but Belldandy shook her head, "It's their business Keiichi",
she explained, "Besides, I think they make a good couple".

                                  ******

     Urd awoke slowly, feeling someone kiss her on the cheek
and hearing a murmured, "Wake up".

     She opened her eyes to see Brett's own brown eyes looking
at her lovingly, "Are you feeling hungry?", he asked, "Because
breakfast is ready".

     Urd reached up and brought his head down for a lingering
kiss, "How about something else first?", she asked rubbing
against Brett suggestivelg.

     Brett laughed, "Since Keiichi and Belldandy were just
here", he replied,"it might be better to have a little talk
with them first?".

     "They were *here*?", Urd asked, looking around nervously.

     "Keiichi looked like he was in deep shock", Brett
commented, "But that could have been from what you're
wearing".

     Urd quickly got up, "What are we going to tell them?",
she asked nervously.

     Brett stood up, "How about the truth?", he asked, "That I
asked you to marry me?".

     Urd smiled, "Let's leave it until after breakfast", she
said, "We should tell Skuld too".

     The two of us walked out into the dining room and sat
down, ignoring Keiichi's curious looks.  Belldandy brought in
the food, helped by Skuld.  And we had a lovely breakfast,
Brett and Urd exchanging their usual jokes/barbs with each
other.  Keiichi seemed rather nervous and on the verge of
asking something for the whole meal.

     Finally after the dishes had been cleared away, Brett
stood, "Urd and I have something to tell you all", he began. 
Suddenly the phone rang, interrupting him.  Urd scooped it up,
"Hello?", she snapped.

     Then she stood a little straighter, "Oh, yes sir!", she
exclaimed, "Right away!".  She put the phone back down and
sighed, "This is going to have to wait until we get back", she
explained.

     "Back from where?", Brett asked.

     "We have to see someone in Heaven", Urd said, grabbing
Brett's hand, "Let's go!".  The two dissapeared, leaving
behind two confused goddesses and a *very* confused mortal. 
Brett's face was a mix of dread as they dissapeared.

                                  ******

     Urd and I materalised in a huge room, filled with people. 
I looked around curiously, they were all lined up.  At the end
of the line was a large set of doors and a man with a large
folder marked 'appointments: 20th century'. 

     "Where are we?", I asked Urd curiously.

     Urd smiled and led me forward, past the people standing
in line and right up to the man with the book, cutting in
front of the next person, "Goddess of the Past and God of
Destiny to see the almighty", she said quickly.

     The man nodded and looked through his book, "The God of
Destiny may go through, but I'm afraid that you'll have to
wait here milady", he said apologetically.

     Urd frowned and I took the opportinuty to speak up, "You
mean I've got an appointment with *Him*?", I asked.  A flash
of memory came to me, an image of the future and of a choice I
was suppose to make.

     "That's right", Urd said, forcing a smile, "Don't worry
about it though, he's quite nice really".  The attendant
gestured for Urd to sit on a long bench with some other people
and she gave me a shove towards the opening doors, "Don't keep
him waiting", she admonished me.

     I nodded and walked into the white light raidiating from
the room, there was a warmish breeze blowing from the inside
and I shaded my eyes.  The doors closed with a boom behind me
and a voice echoed through the room, "Welcome Brett", it said.

                                  ******

     Urd watched as Brett stumbled through the doors, she'd
been nervous about meeting *Him* the first time.  Amazingly
enough, the doors opened almost as soon as they'd shut and
Brett stumbled out, a dazed look in his eyes.

     She noticed that his clothing had changed from his
uniform, back into his casual clothes and he was clutching a
parchment.  She walked over, "Brett?", she called as he
started to walk past her.

     He looked at her, confused, "Who are you?", he demanded,
then he looked around, "Where am I?".  Urd looked at him in
disbelief and grabbed the parchment and began to read quickly.

To Whom It May Concern

     The office of the God of Destiny is suspended
indefinately, the mortal named Brett is no longer required to
hold that position and his powers have been removed.  A side-
effect of this is that his memories have also been removed to
the point where he had contact with any office of heaven.

     Since this effectively negates his previous wish, I am
granting him another wish, to be chosen by him at a future
time.  It has been dertermined that Goddess Second Class Urd
will be required to grant that wish.

----- By Order of God

     Urd looked again at Brett's confused expression and she
paled, "Oh no", she whispered, the parchment falling from her
hands.

                                  ******
     