Derek's foot tapped on the dust covered floor as he stood in the cold
beer hall and repeated his demand, "Well?"  He held one of his many red hats
in his hands, as if his hands were more willing to show respect, the respect
his voice failed to carry.
    The old man looked up, seated in his old throne.  One eye was missing
from his wrinkled face and two black birds sat on his shoulders, glaring at
Derek with cold black eyes.  His beard was longer than Derek's, but not as
clean, full of bread crumbs and meat drippings.  On his head was a winged
helm and he was wrapped in a blue cloak which looked like it could do little
against the ever-present cold.  In his right hand was a golden spear,
Gungnir, and the other held a drinking horn overflowing with mead.
    His eye showed no respect for anybody or anything.
    Around the throne stood dead warriors who lived there and some Gods who
had decided to visit the hall of the slain.  They all looked like they had
been partying twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for a very, very
long time.
    The hall was dark and very cold, even with the roaring fires in the
cooking pits.  The walls and high ceiling seemed to be made out of freshly
cut wood, yet Derek knew the appearance of the hall was false.  The building
was easily a few million years old or more.
    "I don't know," said Odin, "none of the tales say anything about Chaos."
    "Come on," said Derek, shaking his fists and almost pulling his own hat
into two pieces, "do you have to follow the predictions line by line.  Not
everything happens as it is foretold."
    Odin laughed.  "You fool.  OF course it should.  I gave one of my own
eyes to drink from the Well of Wisdom.  If I DON'T know about it, why should
I worry about it?"  He turned to the raven on his right shoulder and said,
"Listen to the dwarf, Muninn.  Not everything happens as it is foretold."
The God started to laugh again and shook his spear at Derek, adding, "Be
Gone!  You know nothing of my wyrd!"
    "What?" replied Derek, "Don't your ravens tell you anything?  Look at
Japan!  See the black storm!"
    "Be gone dwarf!  I know your kind," yelled out Thor, as he held his
red-hot hammer in one hand, "Always trying to trick us.  What do we care for
what happens in JAPAN?"
    "I'm not a dwarf," pouted Derek as he turned to leave Valhalla, "and I
hope you get stepped on by an ice giant."

    It was a scream of pure rage, mixed with pain and animal passion.  It
was
the sound of a heart breaking, of a heart being turned into dust with one
blast of a star's flare.  It was the scream of a rabbit in a trap, it was
the
scream of a tiny girl watching her father disappear under the waves of a
dark
sea, it was the cry of a hungry kitten starving for the mother's milk.
    It was Ryoko's scream as she watched Tenchi die.  A powerful figure of a
woman, her light hair moving about like some living sea creature, her eyes
burning like coals, her muscles under her skin flexing like live wires.  The
scream came to a stop and she curled into herself, escaping into herself.
Even while floating above the scene, like a sleeping Goddess of battle, the
reddish energies about her fists seemed to fade, like broken treads of a
spider web swept away by an unthinking wind.
    Princess Sasami splashed through the water, moving from behind the large
rock, forgetting her own safety in her need to get to the sinking body.  The
red water was becoming black as the sky went dim, the sun seeming to
dwindle.
 Her nude body was tiny and small, a pale image of a girl as she tried to
bring Tenchi's body back to the surface.
    "Help me!"
    Princess Ayeka just stared, tears pouring down her face, as she seemed
to
simmer in a ball of warm air.  Her body was enclosed within her powerful
shields, fields of force that no longer had direction or purpose.
    "Tenchi," whispered the older princess, hands lifting up to cover her
face.

    Khasma glanced down at the tiny creature.  Naked and defenseless it was
trying to pull the broken key out of the hot liquid.  Pitiful.  Helpless.
Khasma smiled, showing all his teeth and raised a hand, pointing the palm at
Princess Sasami as she struggled to pull Tenchi towards the nearest rock.
    'She will be the first to be absorbed,' the reborn being thought.

    The Goddess, also known as Lady Tokimi, tossed in the towel.
    "It is no longer worth fighting for," she explained, as she stood within
her private chambers, her voice being carried both to D3 and her many other
minions.  She stood, in her normal form, a tall pillar of energy.  Yet even
in this form, she was a she, somehow still feminine
    D3's face appeared, floating before her, the red gem seeming to dominate
his concerned features.  Around the room were others, shadows of men, women
and things, that waited on their mistress's wishes.  The room itself was
hard
to define, as the walls seemed to come and go, as matter and energy moved
back and forth between existence and nothingness.  Even the device that
projected D3's image was a mixture of black metal bars, gleaming gems of
crystal and tiny glowing globes of life-force that seemed to hold it all
together.
    D3 closed his eyes and nodded his bodiless head, as if bowing to her.
"I
understand my Lady.  I will withdraw from the universe and close the portal
from this end.  Is there anything else?"
    "No." replied the Goddess before breaking contact with her faithful
minion.  The device crawled out of the room through one of the transforming
walls, suggesting that either the wall was an illusion or the wall was not a
wall at all.
    "Good bye my sisters," whispered the Lady Tokimi as she turned to other
business.

    "I have to fill what in triplicates?" demanded Derek as he looked down
at
the forms.
    "The request forms," said the Angel as she typed into the computer.  All
around the room were rows after rows of desks, each manned by an Angel.
    "But I need to see one of the Principalities," said Derek, as he leaned
onto the desk, causing some of the paper piles to fall over.
    The Angel glared at Derek and said, "First you would need to fill out
those forms.  Then the request will be reviewed by one of the Archangels."
She rescued her coffee cup from one of the collapsed piles and sipped from
it.  The cup had the words: God Loves You.
    "Fine," responded Derek, "I'll see an Archangel."
    "Well," stated the Angel as she adjusted her wings over the back of her
chair, "that depends on what the problem is."
    "The End of the Everything," answered the gnome.
    "Oh my," frowned the Angel, "could you focus that a little?"
    "Focus it!" shouted Derek.
    "Why, yes," continued the Angel, "focus it.  I mean, if you need the
army
to protect Earth, than you need to talk to Gabriel."
    "What?" murmured Derek, "what about Michael?"
    "No, no," chuckled the Angel, "Michael is in charge of rain and
vegetation.  He deals with nurturing mankind.  Gabriel is in charge of the
soldiers.  He's responsible for the extinction of nations, animals and
others."
    "Extinction?" gulped Derek as he glanced at the paperwork in his lap.
    "Oh yes," said the happy Angel over the sound of printers working and
keys clicking.
    "How long can this take?" asked Derek as he picked up one of the golden
pens from the Angel's desk.
    "Oh," said the Angel as she checked her computer, "first one of the
Archangels will review it and pass it up to one of the Principalities.  Of
course, if it is more of a Cosmos Level problem it will be sent to the
Dominions or maybe the Seraphim will also be called in if it is decided that
the problem is a Creation Level One Alert.  How does the next ice age sound
for you?"  She smiled happily at Derek.
    "AAAAAHHHHH!"
    The Angel shook her head and said, "Security!"

    "NO!"
    Washu leapt through the door, red energy sword in her right hand.  Two
ninja did not even have a chance to react, before being sliced in two.
    After the ninja had left her in the woods, abandoning her to her grief,
she had swiftly recovered.  She had rushed, using the power within her,
power
she had never known she had housed.  Getting to the Hot Springs Inn like a
bolt of lightning, smashing through walls and killing shadows all the way.
    Washu landed on the edge of the walkway, next to the steaming spring,
sword glowing, eyes hard.  She flexed her legs and launched herself the Kami
of Chaos.  Khasma seemed to be slightly confused, turning towards the
intrusion.

    'She is the part of the Goddess I noticed before,' realized Khasma even
as he redirected his efforts.

    There was no blast of light, no sound of thunder.  Washu's sword slammed
into Khasma's palm and was sucked in, like water sucked down a drain.  One
second it was there, the next it was gone.  The energy was torn from her
being, taken from her, like a part of the soul being removed with a rusty
spoon.
    Washu screamed out in pain and kicked out, her feet aimed towards the
creature's head.  She rebound off his face, something that should have
seemed
very painful, but he gave off no cry.  As she fell into the water below, she
seemed to be in a daze.

    "Oh COME ON!" demanded Derek, "what do you mean he retired?"
    "Just what I said," responded Dionysus as he wiped down the bar with the
towel, "Marduk retired.  Got a house in Maine.  Moved into it with a Goddess
from Asia.  Mmm, what was her name.  Hey!  Zeus, what bimbo did Marduk go to
live with?"
    Zeus glanced up from his strip poker game with the Norns and thought a
few moments.
    "Benten I think," said the Father of the Greek Gods, "Goddess of Luck,
or
Fortune, or some shit like that."
    "That was it," said Dionysus as he snapped a finger, "Benten.  Nice
body.
 Knows her music too.  Use to hang around the bar a lot after the 16th
century.  Got good tips."
    "I don't believe this," said the gnome as he leaned against the bar.
"First Odin won't believe me, the fat head.  Then I get kicked out of
Heaven's waiting room by Thrones of all things.  Now, you tell me that
Marduk, one of the oldest of the Gods, one of the Gods who split Chaos in
two, making the land and the sea and everything else is living in sin with
an
Asian Goddess in MAINE?"
    "Hey, now," said Dionysus while wagging a finger, "lets not judge him.
Sure, she's WAY younger than Marduk, but look at Zeus over there.  Lets not
even get into what he was into."
    "I heard that!" shouted Zeus as he started to reshuffle the deck.
    "Will you guys shut up!" shouted Anubis from across the dark, smoke
filled bar, "I'm trying to play darts here!"
    "Damn Gods of the Dead," whispered Dionysus under his breath, "always
need to get in the last word."  The God grinned, "Get it...Gods of the Dead
getting in the last word?"
    Derek started to pound his head against the bar.  *BAM*BAM*BAM*
    "I said keep it down!" shouted Anubis as he missed again, losing the
game
to a laughing Quetzalcoati.
    "Like, dude," said the fair skinned God of air and water, "you suck at
this, like big time."
    Zeus laughed and the God of the Dead snapped, "Shut up swan boy!  Only
you would be stupid enough to play strip poker with the Viking's version of
the three fates."
    "That's why I keep losing!" exclaimed Zeus as he stood up to slam his
fists against the table.  He happened to be totally naked to boot.  The
three
Norns giggled.
    "Nobody wanted to see that," remarked Ares from a nearby table, "so sit
the fuck down!"
    "Please," stated Osiris from his table, where he was sharing a platter
of
stuffed peppers with Vishnu, "we're trying to have a CIVILIZED meal.  Could
you guys keep the cussing to a minimum?"
    "Has been," murmured a drunken Chinese phoenix who was sitting next to
Ares.
    *BAM*BAM*BAM*
    "Man, you dwarfs get grumpy," pointed out Dionysus as he started to
clean
glasses.  "Get it, dwarfs, Grumpy?"

    "Stop her," yelled the leader of the shadows, waving his sword, "she
dares to attack the Universe!"
    The Unholy Knights of the Unknown Order started to move forward.  And
were met by a wall of darkness, which expanded, like the twirling arms of a
spider, blasting them to nothing.
    "What?" shouted the leader in fear, the first time showing an emotion
besides glee.
    The voice that came to him from above seemed to come from Khasma, yet
the
lovely face and monstrous lips moved not a twitch.
    "I no longer need your help."
    "My Lord, my Lady, oh wronged one," whined the leader, "we have
worshipped you.  Our fathers and their fathers before..."
    "I am not killing you," said the God's voice as he gestured with his
hands, "I am just taking you back.  Returning you, like all things, back
into
the fold."
    The leader screamed, as his body was surrounded by the darkness.  The
sword fell into the water, disappearing with a silent splash.

    Khasma turned his notice back to Washu and Sasami.  The redhead was the
one his minions had whispered to him about in their dark prayers.  Even
behind the black veils of his cage he had watched her.  She was a child, a
sister of the Goddess.  He did not totally understand how or why, but he was
not one to worry about reason or logic.  Once he is whole again he would
have
no need for thought.
    There was more than enough business to take up his time.  He, after all,
had to reclaim every part of his body back, absorb every atom.  Piece by
piece and he would enjoy it.
    "But first," he said out loud, turning in the air, focusing again on
Sasami.

    Derek looked about the alley way and said, "Hello?"
    "Hey!" said the dark figure that stepped into the light.  "How are you
doing?  Oh...nasty bump on the forehead."
    Derek looked over the stranger and rubbed his face, "Yes, well.  Are YOU
who I think you are?"
    "Yep," said the boy, as he took another step.
    Derek looked over the new comer.  Teenager, dark brown hair, green or
blue eyes, blue jeans and T-shirt.  The shirt was kind of funny, with Calvin
on it and the words: Every day of my life I'm forced to add another name to
the list of people WHO PISS ME OFF.
    "You're Satan?" said Derek, blinking.
    "I prefer the name Lucifer," said the boy with a smile.  "Satan was my
given name and I hated to part with it, but now it has so much garbage
linked
to it.  I thought I should start with a clean slate."
    "Right," said Derek as he pulled his pipe out of the very air and
pointed
at Lucifer with it.  "I guess I understand.  But why call me?  And why meet
in a dark and dirty alley in New Orleans?"
    Derek gestured with his hands, pointing out the piles of garbage, the
pools of brown water, the broken glass and foraging rats.
    "Well," said Lucifer, "let me answer the last question first.  I LOVE
New
Orleans.  Any excuse to come here."  The boy laughed and leaned against a
nearby brick wall after checking to make sure it was clean and somewhat dry.
"As for the rest, we have to talk fast.  I want to rule the world.  It's
mine
anyway, I am Lord of the Earth."
    "Oh really?" said Derek, with a tilt of the head.
    "HE," continued the boy, rolled his eyes upwards, "caste me down, to be
lord of the under world.  Do you know why?"
    "Pride?" commented the gnome as he straightened his hat.
    "Nope," replied Lucifer, "I was bored.  Bored out of my mind.  Do you
know how many hours I spent appearing as a Divine Beast to morons, keeping
track of the stars and writing down every detail?  We were the bestowers of
knowledge, but we were not allowed to give it away!  Do you know how dumb
that sounds?"
    The young fallen slammed one fist into the other and then stopped,
calming down.
    "Well, never mind.  Old history. Please excuse me."
    Lucifer sighed, pushed back a few strands of hair which gave him time to
put his thoughts back into order and said, "Sorry, lost it.  Where were we?
Oh yes.  Earth IS the under world of Heaven.  Right?  This IS the Under
World.  The humans have such an Earth-center point of view, even now, that
they just don't get it."
    "I don't plan to debate it."
    Lucifer shrugged and added, "The point being that this planet and the
rest of the universe is mine.  It is my job to deal with sinners and such
and
if Khasma absorbs it I won't get to rule it. Right?"
    "SO," said Derek, looking a tad smug, "you were sent down here to do
more
paperwork?"
    Lucifer grinned, "I use Microsoft.  Better than those damn awful golden
pens."
    "I thought you did stuff in blood?"
    The boy snickered.  "Only when signing a deal.  Anyway, is it a deal or
not?"
    "Let me get this straight," replied Derek.  He rubbed his sore face and
sighed, "so, you and the fallen are willing to help me and the lazy to fight
Khasma."
    "Bingo," answered Lucifer with a smirk.  "I'm not the only one.  Loki
and
a few of his furry friends, a few hundred Oni from Asia, Set and an army of
mummies.  Oh, and Hades wants to join in too.  Not that he's known as being
evil, but he really doesn't want to have all those dead people suddenly
showing up.  He is still using DOS and his database is REALLY outdated."  He
glanced down at his black sneakers and frowned.
    Derek took a few moments to light his pipe.
    "I see," said Derek looking at his pipe as the smoke floated up towards
the New Orleans' night sky.  "So, all the good guys don't believe me because
they believe themselves SO important that the universe would not DARE end
without notifying them while all the bad guys want to help save the universe
to they can take it over later."
    "You got it," said the Prince of Darkness as he retied one of his
sneakers.
    "OK," commented Derek, "but I am not signing anything you give me
without
reading the small print."

    "NO!" shouted Mihoshi and Kiyone as they both started to fire.  The red
beams slammed into Khasma, so fast and well aimed that they looked like two
solid streams of light from laser pointers.  The light was absorbed without
Khasma even seeming to notice, as if it was automatic.
    'No, No No,' is all Mihoshi could process in her mind, her finger
pulling
the trigger again and again.
    "Stop right there in the name of the law!" demanded Kiyone even while
she
continued to pour laser energy into the God of Chaos.  Bolt after bolt
disappeared into his chest, legs and face.  Nothing.  No marks, no smoke, no
reaction.

    Sasami looked up, face wet with tears, as she tried to pull Tenchi's
dead
weight onto the rock.
    "Keep away!"
    The creature, looking like a cross between a Greek Goddess and a demonic
fashion model, just looked down at her and held out his hands, palms
outward.
 The long white hair swirled about a tan oval face and burning gray eyes.
The feminine body seemed to have become even fuller, pushing against the
white toga and purple slash.
    Red light from the laser bolts flashed over the face, for a second
bleaching all the color out and making it look like a skull.
    "No!" shouted Sasami as she pressed her body down on top of Tenchi.
Inside her head she also screamed, 'TSUNAMI!'

    'Tenchi,' thought Ryoko as she floated in her own little world, high
above the mess and problems of the real one.
    'Tenchi,' she thought, 'you were my last hope.  You and I were going to
be happy, live like husband and wife.'
    Ryoko fled deeper into her mind, the darkness seeming to chase her,
always behind her.
    'Tenchi,' she cried, 'you were my only love.  You were going to save me,
from the darkness, from the loneliness.  You can't be dead.  No, no, no...'
    Ryoko fought the darkness, but she knew she couldn't win.  There was
truly no longer any hope.  She fought and clawed and screamed, but the
darkness was part of her own mind and she could never hope to outrun it.
One
could never flee one's own fears and she was no longer strong enough to
fight
them.  Not without Tenchi.
    The darkness encased her and she fell silent.

    "HEY!" said a strange new voice, "why don't you pick on somebody your
own
size?"
    Sasami peeked up from Tenchi's chest to see Kiyone and Mihoshi slap
fresh
cells into her guns.  But the voice had belonged to neither of them.  It had
sounded like a young boy.  She turned back to face towards Khasma and
gasped.
    Khasma's face was being covered by two hands.  The hands were attached
to
a young boy, with longish brown hair, light eyes and three pairs of huge
black wings that flapped behind him.  The boy had wrapped his legs about
Khasma's neck, his smiling face right about the God's head.
    "Guess who?"
    Khasma reacted swiftly, pulling at the stranger's hands, while bending
forward.  The unknown boy was sent flying over the God's head, tossed
towards
the dark waves, wings thrashing, arms waving.
    *SPLASH*

    Princess Ayeka woke up from the grief and started to move down towards
her sister and the body.
    "Tenchi," she whispered to herself.
    'You promised to protect me,' she thought, 'but I failed to protect
you.'
    Princess Ayeka searched her memories and started to feel even worse.
There were very few times that she could remember even just talking to
Tenchi.  She had spent very little in what would be called quality time with
the young man.  Much of her time had been spent fighting with Ryoko, even
sometimes shoving Tenchi out of the way so she could argue with the yellow
eyed woman.
    'Even after understanding the need to get along with her, even after
getting to know her, we still failed Tenchi.'
    The Princess moved slowly down towards her sister and thought, 'I am
sorry I failed to save you Tenchi.  I will mourn later, after my sister is
safe.'

    Princess Sasami stared at the rippling water, as Ayeka slowly moved
down,
landing next to her little sister.
    "Are you OK?" asked Princess Ayeka as she pulled her sister closer.
Sasami started to cry against her sister's battle suit, pressing her wet
face
against Ayeka's chest.
    "He's dead," babbled the tiny girl.
    Lucifer surfaced, eyes glowing, hands having become more like the talons
of a bird of prey.  It was as if he was turning into the beast that the
Church said he was.  The water about him seemed to boil and filled the air
with white steam.  The steam seemed clean and refreshing when compared to
the
rest of the cold landscape of the springs and the burning buildings
surrounding them.
    "Good," grinned the fallen Cherub, "I hate it when things are too easy."
    'Easy,' thought Lucifer as he waited a few seconds, allowing his own
body
heat to dry off his skin, 'He absorbed a lot of my own energy.  The tiny
gnome was right.  We better follow his plan.'
    Lucifer took a second to shake the water off his wings and then ordered,
"Attack my allies!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------
Tenchi Muyo! was created and is owned by AIC and Pioneer.  Derek is my own
creation.  The rest are creations of other writers who did not get
royalties,
which really sucks, but go down in history as creators or starters of
religions, which is a real bummer.  No money in it either way.