TENCHI WAKUSEI, BOOK ONE: "NO DREAMS FOR TENCHI"

By Joe Meadows (gpabn@yahoo.com) 

NOTA BENE: This novel (comprising 24 chapters, a Prologue, and an 
Epilogue) is a sequel to the "Tenchi Muyo Television Series" 
("Tenchi Universe"), with some "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki!" original 
OAV series characters and elements included where--in the author's 
opinion--they don't conflict with "Tenchi Universe."  For example, 
in order to flesh out a family background for Ayeka and Sasami, 
rather than create new characters, I used the existing parental 
figures of King Asuza and Queen Misaki from the OAVs.  In order to 
bring the Galaxy Police more into the story, I re-instated the Grand 
Marshall as Mihoshi's grandfather and used an existing character from 
the Tenchi Muyo mangas, Chief Tor Bodai.  And so on. 

AIC and Pioneer LDC, whose kind indulgence I am counting on, own the 
copyrights on the original Tenchi Muyo characters.  The character of 
Chief Tor Bodai was created by Hitoshi Okuda for the Tenchi Muyo manga 
series and is also copyrighted by AIC and Pioneer LDC.  All truly new 
characters are my creation.   Those characters and the actual story 
are copyright 2002 by yours truly.  The lyrics for both versions of 
the theme song for "Speed Racer," the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album, 
the Beach Boys' "Surfing USA," the theme to "The Brady Bunch," and 
"Amore" are copyrighted by their various owners.  The events that 
comprise the "Tenchi Universe" series are discussed in this novel; 
consequently, spoilers lurk within.  Be warned.  Please check out the
"Chapter Notes" at the end of some of the chapters.  Feedback is very 
welcome!  I can be reached at gpabn@yahoo.com and thanks for taking 
the time to read this novel.  

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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
No Need For A Miracle
_____________________


"Stand by for action, partner!" Kiyone said.

Her voice was charged with excitement and anticipation.  She studied 
her viewscreen intently while managing to punch up the coordinates she 
wanted Yogami to follow in attacking the mind monster of Professor 
Klove.  "There goes Ryoko, flying over to that damned blob.  We'll let 
her get the first shots in and then we'll hit it with everything we've 
got!"  The Galaxy Police officer's face was hard and purposeful.

When she heard no response from her partner, Kiyone looked up from 
her viewscreen, irritated.  She glanced over at Mihoshi.  The latter 
was staring at her with a worried expression.

"What's wrong, Mihoshi?" she asked impatiently.

"Kiyone," Mihoshi asked timidly.  "Are you sure this will work?  
Yogami wasn't meant to do things like this."

Despite her impatience to begin the battle (and to show the others, 
especially Ryoko, what the Yogami could do even against monsters from 
another dimension), Kiyone relented a little.  Mihoshi, after all, 
was right.  Attacking terrestrial targets was the job for specially 
designed Galaxy Police tactical vessels, whose wings, fins, and 
overall design were maximized for use in an actual atmosphere with 
its attendant problems with air friction and gravity.  At best, the 
Yogami could cruise and maneuver adequately in a planetary atmosphere.  
So Mihoshi's obvious reservations about using their ship to attack 
Klove's creature were well founded.  Kiyone couldn't fault her for 
that.

Yet, as far as Kiyone was concerned, if the Yogami could fly in 
Earth's atmosphere, she could fight in Earth's atmosphere.  They 
would be pushing the Yogami's performance envelope, yes, but the 
ship could take it, Kiyone was certain.  Besides...they couldn't just 
sit back and watch that monster destroy their friends.  And even 
beyond that was the specter of a new intra-galactic war, a possible 
conflagration too terrible to contemplate.  Klove had to be defeated.  
The only way to do that was to distract the entity and allow Tenchi to 
get close enough to slay it with Sword Tenchi.  Despite Ryoko's boasts, 
Kiyone was certain the space pirate even in overdrive couldn't provide 
sufficient distraction.  They had to use the Yogami, too.  There was 
no other choice.

"Of course it will work!" Kiyone told Mihoshi confidently.  "You've 
seen the automatic course I've plotted for the attack dives."  In 
this mission, Kiyone would act as Starcraft Commander (pilot) and 
Mihoshi would serve as Weapons System Officer.  Those were the duties 
each was best at.  "Yogami will dive at that thing at the twelfth 
declension and pull up at ten parsecs, which is where you must fire 
all of our quasar beam cannons."  Yogami's four cannon pods were 
fully deployed, each one with its individual barrels extended, ready 
for use.  It would add to their air drag but that couldn't be helped.  
Hopefully, she had compensated enough for that in her programming of 
the ship's attack scenario.       

"When we pull up from that dive, we're going to be almost squashed," 
Mihoshi said.  She was referring to the gravitational force (g-force) 
that such an abrupt change in direction would generate on them.  She 
was right, of course.

"Sure, but our seats are programmed to counteract g-forces, Mihoshi," 
Kiyone reminded her.  Each of the pilot seat's bolsters and armrests 
would automatically wrap around their arms and legs when excessive 
g-force was detected, squeezing their extremities to ensure sufficient 
blood remained in their heads to prevent them from blacking out.  
"We'll be able to handle that all right."

"Uh-huh...but we're going to get awfully close to it," Mihoshi pointed 
out.

"Yeah, but we have to.  As it is, you'll have only an instant to fire 
and hit the target."  Now Kiyone smiled at her partner.  "But I know 
you can do it, Mihoshi."

Mihoshi looked at Kiyone a moment.  Then she slowly smiled back.  
"Yes, I can, Kiyone.  And I will.  After all, we have to...don't we?"

"Yes, partner.  We have to."

"Right."  Mihoshi turned her attention now to her Weapons System 
console, punching touchpads, inputting coordinates for the cannons' 
fire-control program.  Her face was expressionless, neutral--no, more 
than that--her expression was determined.

Kiyone's own expression warmed as she contemplated Mihoshi.  Her 
partner had conquered her timidity.  She was a Galaxy Police officer 
now, in every sense of the name.  She would do her duty, just as 
Kiyone would do hers.

Now the teal-haired Galaxy Police officer returned to her navigation 
module.  She began to input commands to Yogami's flight control 
system.  She paused, just for a moment, to touch the plain gold ID 
bracelet around her left wrist.  Then she increased the ship's 
throttle.  

In the blue sky of early afternoon, the red starship picked up speed, 
hastening toward the battle with Professor Klove's mind monster.



"Go get 'im, Blue Eyes," Tris muttered, his eyes glued on the sleek 
red shape of the Yogami as it followed Ryoko's zooming figure toward 
the house-sized, flesh-colored, one-eyed creature.  He had his fists 
clenched.  

He stood with Tenchi and Washuu.  Lord Yosho sat next to them on the 
grass, his face drawn and pale with pain, but his expression serene, 
his eyes sharp and glittering.  Ryo-Ohki nestled against his uninjured 
side.  Lord Yosho gently petted the scorched cabbit.  

Immediately behind them was Princess Ayeka, lying unconscious in the 
grass, with her two wooden Guardians blinking worriedly a few feet 
from her.  Sasami knelt by her sister, staring tragically at how pale 
and wan Ayeka appeared.  The little girl softly stroked her sister's 
forehead.  It was still warm, and Ayeka still breathed.  But her body 
heat was slowly fading.

Sasami shivered with fear and sorrow.  In a short time, Ayeka's 
forehead would be cold to the touch.  She would be dead...and so 
would they all.  Sasami shook her pigtailed head firmly to dispel 
the fatalistic thoughts.  Ryoko and Kiyone and Mihoshi and Tenchi 
were still in the battle, she told herself.  They would win!  They 
just had to!

"They're going to have to hit that thing hard and fast," Tenchi said.  
He held Sword Tenchi with its blazing blade aloft, ready to sprint 
to the entity when an opportune moment arose.  It was at his 
suggestion (order, actually; with his grandfather injured, Tenchi was 
definitely in command) that everyone had moved as close to Ayeka as 
possible.  He didn't like to...it did seem somewhat cowardly.  But 
with the battle going against them, closeness to the Princess was an 
edge (for the moment) and they all needed to grab and hang on to any 
edge they could get.

"They will, Tenchi," Sasami spoke up.  "They'll tie that awful monster 
up in knots."

Both Tris and Lord Yosho murmured agreement.

Washuu didn't say anything.  The redheaded scientific genius was 
tapping furiously at the keyboard of her translucent console, 
intensely concentrating on what she was doing.  She seemed oblivious 
to what was going on around her.

And there was a lot going on around her now.  

Ryoko swooped in first.  She worked her hands, quickly.  Two red 
glowing fireballs appeared in her gasp, suspended between her hands.  
With a curse that Tenchi and the others could hear, Ryoko rolled 
those fiery orbs right at the mind monster's gelatinous midsection.  
Both fireballs exploded blazingly against the rubbery, blubbery mass, 
covering much of the entity with blinding, seething proton fire.  The 
blob shuddered, the eyeball rolled upward, and a long, low sound 
resembling a groan rent the air.  When the entity reached for Ryoko 
with its flaying tendrils, the space pirate simply teleported away.  
The blob was suddenly attacking empty air.

"Damn!  That sure hit that thing night in the breadbasket," Tris 
said, enthralled.  "Ryoko's fireballs sure seem to be having a bigger 
effect now."

"Yeah," Tenchi agreed.  "Maybe it's a cumulative effect or something."  
He glanced at Washuu to see her reaction, but the super scientist was 
still bent over her console, tapping away like a woman possessed.  
Tenchi shrugged.  He turned back to the battle just as he heard Tris 
exclaim, "There goes Yogami!"

The huge red starship seemed to pause in the air a split-second or so.  
It hovered with its small stabilizer rockets.  Then it dived steeply, 
its bright crimson fuselage gleaming in the brilliant sunlight.  The 
Yogami split the air with a scream as it accelerated its power dive.  
It hurtled straight for the tendril-waving, pulsating mind monster.  
The Yogami became a red streak.

"It's going to hit—-" Tris gasped.

Then, at the last possible moment, the Yogami pulled up from the 
steep dive, climbing, gaining attitude at a terrific clip.  Just at 
the moment its trajectory put it closest to the entity, all four of 
the Yogami's quasar beam cannons erupted, blindingly.  Over a dozen 
beams of burning-bright incandescence jolted from the individual 
barrels of the cannons--and smacked into the squirming fleshy blob 
with a crackle of cosmic lightning.  The blob shook violently and the 
sound from it resembled an obscene, grating gasp.  It seemed to 
actually shrivel as the Yogami passed over it.  Its tendrils snapped 
at the Galaxy Police cruiser, but missed by meters. 

"Wow!" Tris marveled.  "Those beams hit that thing like pile-drivers!  
Looks like they crushed it a little, even!"

"Sure does!" Tenchi agreed.  "Maybe quasar beams are one thing that 
the blob is vulnerable to!  It's really reeling!"

>From where he sat, Lord Yosho studied the mind monster's massively 
adverse reaction to the attack by the Yogami.  Professor Klove's 
mental creation from the Dream Dimension did seem to have collapsed 
into itself, somewhat.  He frowned, started to say something, and 
then thought better of it.  

Washuu was also silent.  All her attention was devoted to the rapid 
calculations she was making via her console.

"That's what I call flying!" Tris crowed.  "Sierra Hotel!(1)  I wish 
Dad were here to see this!"

Kneeling next to her older sister, Sasami smiled hopefully.  Kiyone 
and Mihoshi were so wonderful!  They would come through for sure!



In Yogami's cockpit, both Mihoshi and Kiyone would have agreed with 
that assessment.  Their faces were flushed from the g-force generated 
by the power drive and power climb and their pilot seats' bolsters 
and arms rests had just released their limbs from the necessary 
squeezing.  It hadn't been pleasant, not a bit.  But they were both 
grateful to have survived--and Kiyone was also ecstatic at the 
results of their attack.

"Do you see that thing just curdle up when Yogami's cannons hit it?" 
Kiyone asked, elated by their instant success against the seemingly 
invincible mind monster.

"Uh-huh.  I was surprised," Mihoshi said.

"Surprised?  You know Yogami packs a hell of a lot of firepower!  That 
Ryoko won't admit it, but we've got the best weapons in the galaxy—-
quasar beam cannons!"

"Well, maybe they are stronger than force beams, Kiyone...but that 
much stronger?"

"Sure!" Kiyone said confidently.  "And not just stronger—-different, 
too.  Obviously, that blob thing isn't invulnerable to all weapons 
from this dimension.  Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki softened it up and we're 
going to smash it to smithereens!"  Kiyone was pumped, pumped up high.  
After contemplating a fight that would largely be more distraction 
than destruction, the prospect of actually damaging the entity was 
heady, indeed.  She and Mihoshi might even destroy it all by 
themselves!  Think of the credit they'd receive—-the kudos!  She had 
been silly to consider this a possible suicide mission—-this was a 
victory mission, and that victory would be sweet!

"Okay, Mihoshi," Kiyone said, her tapping fingers re-inputting the 
navagational coordinates into the Yogami's data banks.  "We're going 
in again.  Ready?"

"Ready!"  Mihoshi had finally caught her partner's enthusiasm.  She 
adroitly re-keyed the firing sequence into her Weapons System console.  
"Let's go!"



As he watched Ryoko and the Yogami return to their attack positions, 
Tenchi heard Washuu address him.  He turned to her.

"Washuu, did you see--" he began.

"No, Tenchi, no time—-if they're distracting that blob, that's all 
that matters," Washuu told him firmly, finally looking up from the 
screen of her console.  "You're the one who has to kill it—-"

"But it looks like Ryoko and the girls in Yogami are killing it."  
Tris shoved his oar in.

"Let me finish, Tris!  Tenchi, I've finally done it—-I can help now!"

"Really?  How?" Tenchi asked.

"I've gathered all the power from my lab's main solarite generators.  
That power is now locked into a transmitter that I can manipulate from 
here.  It's almost impossible to do, since solarite power outside of 
the specially designed containment unit is terribly unstable, but of 
course I—-"

"Yes, yes," Tenchi said impatiently as he watched both Ryoko and the 
Yogami circle overhead for another attack run at the blob.  "What does 
it all mean, Washuu?"

"It means I can create a power-plasma bubble and place it around you.  
It'll give you protection from both that blob's tentacles and its 
globules."

Now all of them, including Sasami, stared at the petite scientist.  
Aside from Lord Yosho's usual calm expression, their faces mirrored 
awe and admiration at this seemingly eleventh-hour scientific 
salvation from Washuu Hakubi, certified genius. 

"That is tremendous, Professor Washuu," Lord Yosho said.  "That may 
very well tip the scales in our favor."

"Washuu!"  Sasami clasped her hands as a surge of hope filled her.

"That's it!  That blob's a goner," Tris enthused.

"Way to go, Washuu!" Tenchi added warmly.  

Washuu smiled modestly.  Then she held up a hand.  "Well, I have to 
tell you this, too...the plasma bubble probably won't survive more than 
a few dozen hits.  It's going to drain almost all my power reserves to 
keep it powerful enough to resist those flying globules even for a 
short span of time.  This is the Jurai power we're dealing with.  And 
you can't use Sword Tenchi when you're encased in the plasma bubble—-
no way it'll survive those globs and being punctured by that sword's 
Jurai power.  So it's a defensive mechanism--to be used if you need 
its protection."

She saw that the eager expressions had evaporated.  It aggravated 
her, especially after all that hard and brilliant work.  "Well, it's 
protection for Tenchi!  Best I can do!" she snapped.

"Of course it is a wonderful invention, Professor Washuu," Lord Yosho 
said paciically.  "It could prove to be a lifesaver, and that is 
tremendous in itself."

"Thanks, Grandpa."  Washuu grinned with some of her old perkiness.  

"Anything else we should know about this bubble thing you devised?" 
Tenchi asked her knowingly.  He saw that Ryoko and Yogami were poised 
for another attack.  Ryoko paused to wave at them.  He waved back.  
Ryoko blew a kiss at him.

"Well..." Washuu hesitated.  "The fact is that this plasma bubble is 
an envelope of highly radiant energy, Tenchi.  It's not exactly what 
I would call user friendly.  All that power will probable feel a 
little unpleasant when you're enveloped in it."

"How unpleasant?" Tenchi demanded.

"Well...sort of like thousands of electrified ants crawling all over 
your skin." 

"Washuu!" Tenchi shouted, appalled.

"But it's just a side effect.  It shouldn't do any permanent damage."

"Shouldn't?  Shouldn't?"  Tenchi took a step toward Washuu.  "If you 
think you're going to use that bubble on me—-"

Just then, Tris exclaimed, "There goes Ryoko!"

They all turned to watch.  Ryoko streaked blurringly toward the blob, 
which was still considerably crumpled-looking.  Now it was waving its 
tendrils feebly.  She held out both arms.  Radiant red force beams 
jumped from her outstretched hands and slammed into the squirming mass 
of the entity.  The latter let out another bellow.  They all heard 
Ryoko laugh with glee.  More and more force beams blasted from her 
hands, hammering the pulsating, blubbery form of the mind monster.  
When she was within range of its tendrils, she again teleported out of 
harm's way.  The mind monster missed her again.

"That's one sick-looking blob!" Tris noted with delight.

"I'll say!" Tenchi agreed with equal delight, forgetting about Washuu 
and her plasma bubble for the moment.

"It really looks hurt!" Sasami agreed hopefully.  "And here come 
Kiyone and Mihoshi again in Yogami!"

The Yogami had regained her pre-attack position, hovering with the aid 
of her stabilizer jets.  Now the sleekly pointed nose of the Galaxy 
Police cruiser pointed downward and its rear afterburners roared.  
Again, the precipitously steep dive, down, down, to the frantically 
undulating flesh-colored blob behemoth.  Again, seemingly at the last 
possible moment, the starship broke the dive, climbing rapidly, while 
unleashing a torrent of quasar beams from its extended cannons.  The 
beams hammered the entity, crackling and flashing, white-hot, against 
that obscene blubbery mass.  The entity again tried to ensnare the 
ship with its tendrils and failed miserably.  It had also visibly 
shrunk into itself again, making noises that were faintly reminiscent 
of groans.  The Yogami, triumphant again, streaked away from the mind 
monster.

"Yahoo!  That thing's getting its ass whupped," Tris said.  "Look at 
it.  It was ugly before, but now it's ugly and sorry-looking."

"Yeah, it's hurt and hurt badly," Tenchi agreed.  "It's about time!  
Ryoko was right.  We have the firepower to defeat it."

"Looks that way, all right," Washuu said.  "Don't know why quasar 
beams should prove to be so much more effective against it than 
Ryoko's fireballs and her and Ryo-Ohki's force beams, though."

"That is a good point, Professor Washuu," Lord Yosho noted quietly.

"Maybe it's just something that works better," Sasami guessed.  "We 
don't know much about it, do we?"

"No, we don't," Washuu admitted ruefully.  "I sure don't know enough 
about it.  I'm trying to gather as much data about it as I can, but 
there are other priorities, you know...like trying to keep us alive."  
She placed heavy significance on that last sentence.

Tenchi looked at Washuu.  He knew what she was hinting at.  "We 
understand, Washuu.  If you can come up with something to help us, 
that's what you need to do.  But that plasma bubble!  I'll pass."

"But, Tenchi—-"

"I said, I'll pass!"  Tenchi was getting testy.  Being cooped up on 
that spot, worrying about how injured his elderly grandfather really 
was, dreading the possible arrival of his father into harm's way at 
any moment, and anticipating the dangerous task before him--all these 
combined to strain his normally easy-going nature.  But Tenchi had a 
firm grip on himself and he quickly recovered.  "Sorry, Washuu.  It's 
a tremendous thing you've accomplished, I know.  If I don't succeed, 
well...okay.  We'll need your invention then.  But I'm going to 
succeed—-and I don't want anything slowing me up.  Right?"

Washuu nodded.  "Right, Tenchi.  Like I said, it's just defensive."

"Sounds pretty offensive to me—-ants in the pants!"  Tris grinned.

The others chuckled at the weak joke...even Washuu.

"It's time to finish this," Tenchi said, watching Ryoko and then the 
Yogami circle back to their attack positions once more.  "When they 
attack that thing again—-I'm going in, too."  He hefted Sword Tenchi.  
Its burning, blazing blade seemed as indomitable as the young man who 
wielded it.

"Very good, grandson," Lord Yosho approved.  "Do not make my mistake.  
Join into battle with the entity just as the others are doing 
likewise.  That way, it will have three enemies to defend against at 
the same time."

"You didn't make a mistake, Grandfather," Tenchi protested.  "It was 
just bad luck."

"We make our own luck, Tenchi," Lord Yosho said quietly.  "I have told 
you that many times.  I have trained you as well as I can.  You are 
ready for the battle, grandson.  You must rely on that and forget 
about my failure.  That is all the luck you need."

"Yes, Grandfather," Tenchi said just as quietly.

No one else spoke.  Most of them were visibly tense and anxious.  
As soon as Ryoko and Yogami attacked the mind monster, Tenchi was 
going to risk all for one quick lunge of his incredible power sword 
into that huge roiling mass of evil and corruption and hatred.       

Yet there seemed no reason for anxiety.  As Ryoko dived in toward the 
entity, the latter seemed to actually cringe at her approach.  It 
shrunk into itself even more, its huge yellow eye rolling with 
agitation, its tendrils snapping at the diving form of the space 
pirate seemingly with more timidity than threat.

It was a truly theatrical show.  So theatrical that Tris muttered, 
almost unconsciously, "Kabuki."  He was referring to the ancient 
Japanese theater, where the actors wore masks and everything was 
pantomimed ritualistically.  Tris had only sat through an actual 
performance once...it really wasn't his cup of tea, although he 
respected the tradition behind it.  Tris had no idea why he said what 
he did and quickly disregarded it.

Everyone else seemed to either ignored Tris's comment or just assign 
it as another silly outburst from him.  Except Lord Yosho.  He 
frowned.  The word was more than just an inconsequential utterance, 
he felt certain.  He tried to discern its hidden meaning,

"Okay.  Right after Ryoko zaps that thing and Yogami joins in, I'm 
off," Tenchi said.

"Perfect," Washuu said, looking up.  "That's exactly the right moment.  
You'll whip that blob, Tenchi!"  She looked back down at her console.  
There might have been a hint of moisture in her eyes.  

"Good lucky, buddy," Tris said, keeping his voice light.  "When you 
get back, we'll go get the stuff for the pizza, right?"

Tenchi grinned at Tris.  He appreciated his friend's upbeat approach 
to what might be their last moments together.  "Right!  You still 
have that shopping list, Sasami?"

"Shopping list?  Oh...yes, Tenchi," Sasami replied softly.  "You come 
back to us...okay?"

"That's a promise, Sasami."  Tenchi glanced at his grandfather, who 
seemed lost in thought.  He shrugged.  Grandfather didn't need to 
tell him anything now.  Everything had already been said.

Now they all watched Ryoko once again zoom from above the treetops 
toward the mind monster.  She laughingly unleashed two fireballs that 
covered most of the entity with blazing flame.  Then she pummeled its 
gelatinous bulk with a brace of force beams.  The entity's flaying 
tendrils missed her as usual.  She laughed once more.  They could 
hear her shout:

"That's the best you can do, Ugly?  Think I'll let Kiyone and Mihoshi 
finish you off.  I've wasted enough time on you, already!"  She 
quickly zoomed above the entity to get a ringside seat for the 
Yogami's attack.  

Tenchi grinned.  That Ryoko!  Yes, she deserved a kiss or two...or 
even three...right after this battle was over.  Now he braced himself.

The Yogami, with a scream of power and speed, dived toward the entity.

Tenchi began to run.  Quickly, his sprint became a distance-eating 
dash.  He was in superb physical condition.  He had trained to razor 
sharpness.  His mind was fully on his task.  Sword Tenchi blazed like 
a beacon in his grasp.  He ran and ran, heart pounding, blood singing, 
toward the mind monster.  In seconds, he was halfway there.

>From where he sat watching his grandson's run at the enemy, Lord Yosho 
straightened suddenly with realization.  Kabuki!  Masks!  False faces!  
Deception!  He yelled, "Tenchi!  Come back!"  But his grandson 
couldn't hear him.  The Yogami's roaring dive toward the entity 
drowned out his voice.  The starship reached the limit of its dive, 
firing its cannons as it did.  White-hot quasar beams pounded the 
entity.  The red Galaxy Police cruiser pulled up from the screaming 
dive, climbing rapidly.  Tenchi was close to the entry now.  Just a 
few seconds more, and—-

And then everything went to hell.

With a thunderous roar that sent out vibrations that everyone could 
feel, the entity suddenly, monstrously, expanded back to its normal—-
abnormal—-size.  Still climbing for altitude, the Yogami nearly hit 
it.  Ryoko suddenly found herself eyeballs-to-eyeball with the mind 
monster of Professor Klove.  It wasn't a fond look they exchanged.  
Ryoko tried to teleport, but one of the blob's tendrils wrapped 
around her.  She screamed as her writhing body was again encased in 
flashing incandescence.  The pain was searing, excruciating--another 
tendril wrapped around her--then a third.  Ryoko screamed again.

"God—-Ryoko—-" Washuu gasped.  "She's got to get away from that 
damned thing—-got to break free—-"

"If only she can..." Lord Yosho murmured.  "If only..."  To Tris, 
watching the scene with alarm, it sounded more like a prayer than a 
speculation.

"Break free, Ryoko!" Sasami pleaded, standing up from where she had 
been kneeling beside Ayeka.  "Please!"

But the space pirate only struggled in the searing grip of those 
galvanizing tendrils, seemingly in vain.  Then, a moment later, 
another catastrophe occurred.  

A tendril snapped.  A glowing green globule hurtled into the air from 
it.  The glowing glob smacked squishily into Yogami's aft, right into 
her rear exhaust.  The Yogami, no more than fifty feet in the air now, 
shuddered.  When the glowing green slime evaporated from her rear 
exhausts seconds later, only a weak glow was emitted by the thrusters.  
Yogami lost speed rapidly and had to employ her side stabilizer 
rockets to right herself.

"What?" Tris shouted, floored by the sight.  "How—-what about their 
shields--?"

"Damn, that Klove is a cagey bastard!" Washuu groaned.  "He hit Yogami 
in the one spot her shields can't cover—-her rear thrusters.  Her 
exhaust plume has to have a way of escaping the shields or the ship 
would be surrounded by its own exhaust.  So there's the tiniest 
aperture in the shields' coverage—-and Klove found it!"

"Of course he did," Tris muttered helplessly.

"Can--can they stay airborne?" Sasami asked anxiously.

"Just barely.  That glob attack knocked out most of their thrust—-it 
all but quenched their reactor core," Washuu said, staring at the 
viewscreen of her console.  "That's the source of nearly all of 
Yogami's power.  They've got to get away from that blob—-now!"  

And disaster still wasn't through with them yet.

With two foes no longer a threat, the mind monster rolled its glaring 
eyeball toward the rapidly approaching figure of Tenchi Masaki.  It 
began to snap over a dozen tendrils at once, sending a flood of the 
deadly green globules at Tenchi, who was only fifteen feet away.

With a curse and a inward groan at the catastrophe, his heart sinking 
as he saw the Yogami crippled and Ryoko squirming in the entity's 
grasp, Tenchi had to start swinging Sword Tenchi in a wide arc to 
deflect the barrage of globules—-just as his grandfather had done.

He had failed...just like Grandfather. 

Back at the spot they shared with the unconscious and slowly sinking 
Ayeka and her two Guardians, Lord Yosho, Washuu, Tris, and Sasami 
simply watched, horrified, impotent, confounded by the stunning and 
calamitous turn of events.  Their new optimism, their surging hope, 
all was quashed.  They numbly listened to Ryoko scream and scream in 
the mind monster's searing grip.

It took a lot, one hell of a lot, to make Ryoko scream like that—-she 
had to be dying, horribly, in the killing grasp of those tendrils--
just as Professor Klove had promised she would.  The Yogami could 
barely make any headway with most of her rear thruster engines gone, 
thanks to the invading plasma globule.  And Tenchi was obliged to 
swing Sword Tenchi quickly, almost blurringly so, in order to deflect 
the rain of green globules splashing and flaring all around him.  His 
face was a rictus of concentration that also mirrored his inner 
torment at hearing Ryoko in so much horrible pain and being unable to 
help her.

Huddled against the folds of Lord Yosho's kimono, Ryo-Ohki cried and 
cried at her mistress's screams.

Lord Yosho's eyes closed tightly at the sight of the disaster.  Then 
he opened his eyes.  "Professor Washuu," he said quietly.  "Please 
employ your plasma bubble to assist my grandson.  He can advance no 
further.  He must retreat now." 

"Yes, Lord Yosho," Washuu said miserably.  Lord Yosho had just 
announced their failure, a failure that would likely soon lead to 
their demise.

Washuu marveled that she had lived so very long and had done so many 
things, just to die on this hick planet.  Then suddenly she thought 
of Nobuyuki.  The great scientist was glad that Nobie was away from 
danger...yet she also wished he were there for her to hold a final 
time.  Ryoko's anguished screams shook Washuu badly.  She suddenly 
realized how much she truly liked-—and yes, loved—-the sassy space 
pirate.  Please don't let her suffer long, Washuu prayed, but to what 
she prayed to, she really didn't know.  Then she steeled herself and 
began working at her console.  She could at least help Tenchi return 
to them.    

Again, Klove had outfoxed them, Washuu knew.  The force beams and 
fireballs and quasar beams had hurt the entity, but not seriously.  
It had only been shamming, cagily.  Klove had manipulated them like 
game pieces, luring both Ryoko and Kiyone and Mihoshi in the Yogami 
closer and closer to him so he could inflict the maximum damage on 
them.  He had also lured Tenchi to him, spoiling the only chance the 
young Juraian Prince had to attack with Sword Tenchi with any real 
hope of success.  Now Washuu was about to use up nearly all of her 
power reserves to help Tenchi retreat from the mind monster, the 
incredible cerebral creation from the Dream Dimension.  Then she was 
finished too, just like the rest of them.  Clinically, she couldn't 
help wondering how Klove would kill her.  She felt certain it would be 
interesting, if unpleasant.  She depressed a final touchpad.

Suddenly, a wavering glow settled around Tenchi.  The green globules 
slammed into it and slid off it, wetly—-it was rather as if the young 
man were encased in a transparent plastic blister, one that the 
horribly corrosive globules could not penetrate.  Her invention was a 
success!  A costly success, though.  Tremendous power had to be 
expended every second to keep such a stupendously strong force field 
in operation.  Washuu watched dully as the power meters on her 
console's screen registered full power...nine-tenths power...

"Tenchi!" she shouted.  "Sheath your sword!  And run back here as 
fast as you can!  I can't keep the power in the bubble up much 
longer!"

"Yes, grandson, hurry!" Lord Yosho called.  Anxiety was etched on his 
normally placid face.  "Hurry!"

"Meow-er!" Ryo-Ohki also urged.

Tris and Sasami were silent, both praying with everything they were 
worth—-not only for Tenchi but also for Ryoko, whose screams had 
tapered off now, frighteningly--and for Kiyone and Mihoshi aboard the 
badly damaged Yogami as well.    

"Ow!  Yeow!  Damn it!  Washuu!"

Tenchi was trying to hurry.  But the hundreds of tiny eruptions of 
pain on his exposed skin had him hopping and rubbing himself, 
frenziedly.  Washuu had been correct about the effect of the plasma 
bubble on him—-he felt as if he were being eaten alive by ants--fire 
ants.  Their electric bites itched and stung, abominably.

But somehow, he managed to hop-run back the group, still jerking and 
jolting in pain, rubbing himself in a dozen placed with his free 
hand, the hand not holding Sword Tenchi.  He had obeyed Washuu and 
sheathed Sword Tenchi, fortunately--his pain-induced gyrations might 
have caused him to inadvertently puncture the protective bubble.

Washuu saw with alarm that her lab's power banks were down to one-
half of capacity.  The equivalent of an entire civilized planet's 
power output had been expended in a moment!  Damn that Jurai power, 
the power that made those globs so potent!  It made even her mighty 
power banks seem puny.

"Run like hell, Tenchi!  I'll be out of juice in a few minutes!"

Cursing and yelping and rubbing himself, Tenchi somehow managed to 
run, hoppingly, a bit faster.  The rapid-firing glowing green 
globules kept plastering the transparent energy bubble that encased 
him and kept sliding off.  Finally, Tenchi made it to safety--he was 
within a few yards of the small group that watched his painful 
gyrations anxiously.  The barrage of globules ceased abruptly, as 
the entity evidently noted that it was in danger of hitting the 
Princess if it continued.

Azaka II and Kamidake II almost lifted from the grass.  But the 
threat to Ayeka didn't materialize and they remained in place, 
talking fretfully to each other and imploring the Princess to awaken.  

Of course, she didn't.  Her shallow breathing and her now-waxy skin 
indicated she would never wake up again.  Sasami now sat beside her 
big sister's prone form on the grass and grieved silently, both for 
Ayeka and for Ryoko, who was now hanging, limp and silent, in the 
mind monster's tendrils.  The little girl had run out of tears, it 
seemed.  But not out of grief.     

Just a few seconds after the barrage of green globules stopped, the 
shimmering essence faded away from Tenchi.  The plasma bubble had 
burst, more or less.  He groaned with utter, thankful, shuddering 
relief, ran a few more yards, and all but collapsed at Tris's feet.  
Tris grabbed him, steadied him.  

As he did, Washuu saw on the viewscreen of her portable console that 
her main power banks were now empty.  If she were back in her sub-
dimensional lab, she could fire up the immense dynamos and recharge 
her power stores.  Of course, it would take a little while to do so.  
Funny...that was one function that she hadn't created a remote access 
for so she could activate it from the console.  Of course, she hadn't 
seen the need for it.  Oh, well--another mistake on her part.  Now her 
console was running on its own battery stores.  Those would last a 
little while...probably longer, she reflected fatalistically, than she 
would herself.

Lord Yosho rose painfully and hobbled over to his grandson.  He 
gently took Tenchi from Tris and embraced his grandson, briefly.  

"Grandfather," Tenchi panted.  He was soaked with sweat, and tiny 
fiery red pinpoints dotted his face, hands, and forearms from being 
encased in the plasma bubble.  "You shouldn't be walking."

"Yes, I should, grandson," Lord Yosho said to him.  "I must be on my 
feet.  No matter what happens, no foe must ever find a Juraian Prince 
on his knees."  He embraced his grandson again and released him.  "You 
did your best, grandson.  We must now be prepared for what fate has in 
store for us."

"Yes, Grandfather," Tenchi said.  His voice was hoarse but firm.  He 
was another Juraian Prince who would meet his enemy on his feet.

He looked past his grandfather at the now inert and silent form of 
Ryoko, still being held by the entity's tentacle-like tendrils.  God, 
I'm sorry, Ryoko, he thought.  Sorry was a horribly inadequate word, 
but it was the only word he had.  Ryoko was gone and Ayeka was all 
but gone.  The two women who had meant so much to him...gone.  Tenchi 
felt completely empty inside.  The only thing to fill that void was 
duty--duty to his friends who remained alive.  He must continue 
fighting to defend them, even unto death.

"Sorry about putting you through all that, Tenchi," Washuu apologized.  
"I didn't have time to develop a buffer—-"

"Don't apologize, Washuu," Tenchi said.  "You saved my life.  That 
thing meant to kill me.  It would have, too, if it weren't for your 
invention.  You're the greatest genius in the galaxy—-you truly are."

"Some genius!" Washuu said forlornly.  "Out of power!  I can't do a 
damned thing now...except monitor what's going to happen next." 

"Professor Washuu," Lord Yosho said, "please contact Yogami and 
instruct our Detectives to depart immediately.  That obscenity will be 
robbed of a few victims at least.  And we can still defeat Professor 
Klove's overall scheme."

"Right!" Tenchi exclaimed.  "They can tell the GP and the Galactic 
Union what really happened here.  That should stop any suspicion that 
Ayeka was responsible."  He paused a moment to contemplate the 
Princess's still, quiet form lying on the lawn.  Was she still 
breathing?  Yes...the smallest movement of her bosom could be 
detected.  Thank God!  "We can prevent a galactic civil war, at 
least."

"Yes, Tenchi...and for that greater good, our lives are a small 
payment," Lord Yosho agreed.

How true, Tenchi thought morosely.  And poor Ryoko had paid with her 
life first.  Tenchi was wracked with sorrow.  He hadn't been allowed 
to even say goodbye to that wild, wonderful free spirit, that truly 
lovely and extraordinary woman.  He hadn't even had a chance to tell 
Ryoko that he—-   

Suddenly there was a piercing scream—-no, not a scream, a high-
pitched shout-—a shout of triumph.  And it came from the entity—-but 
not from the entity—-from something else--someone else--

"Ryoko!" Tenchi shouted, flabbergasted, ecstatic, and overwhelmed 
with joy.

Mustering all her powers, her indomitable courage, and her protean 
love for Tenchi, Ryoko now broke free of the tendrils that held her.  
The space pirate darted into the air above the mind monster.  No, she 
wasn't dead--it seemed she could do a little shamming, too.  She 
streaked away from the entity, avoiding the tendrils that snapped and 
grasped at her.  She teleported just before a shower of globules 
saturated the spot she had occupied a second ago.

Far from the entity now, Ryoko reappeared.  Her sheath dress was in 
tatters and her exposed skin gleamed with red stripes of fiery 
inflammation.  Ryoko looked as if she had just survived a jaunt 
through a meat grinder.  But she was alive and airborne.  She grinned 
shakily, and blew another kiss at her Tenchi.

"Meow-er!" Ryo-Ohki scampered from Lord Yosho's feet.  "Meow!  Meow!"  
The cabbit literally hopped with euphoria.

"That blob tried to get fresh with me, sweetums!" Ryoko called.  "But 
I told it I only have eyes for you!"  

"Ryoko!  Thank God!" Tenchi shouted, joyfully.  He felt tears moisten 
his eyes.  He blinked them away.

"Damn, Ryoko!" Washuu exclaimed, her voice catching a bit.  "You're 
just flat out amazing!"

"You sure are, Ryoko!" Tris agreed.  "You're the best!  The best!" 

Lord Yosho nodded, his face beaming.  He agreed with Tristram's 
assessment absolutely. 

Staring up at the resurrected space pirate, little Sasami discovered 
she did have a few tears left, after all.  She shed those happy tears 
now, overjoyed that Ryoko hadn't been killed.  

Hearing Tenchi, Tris's, and Washuu's return shouts, Ryoko grinned at 
them and gave them the thumbs-up sign.  She pointed to the blob and 
made a nasty face.  Then she made motions with her hands.  Clearly, 
she was going to rest up a moment and then attack Klove's mind 
monster again.  The space pirate was determined to keep on fighting.

"Ryoko is an indomitable warrior," Lord Yosho observed meditatively.  
"Such a warrior can never be defeated, not truly."

"That Ryoko's a scrapper all right."  Washuu nodded in relieved 
agreement.  "Now, if she'll just get aboard Ryo-Ohki and get the hell 
out of here...that'll be four survivors."

"Right!"  Tenchi bent down to pick up Ryo-Ohki.  But the cabbit just 
scuttled away from him.  Then Ryo-Ohki stopped and regarded Tenchi 
with love and understanding...and also with an unshakeable resolution.  
Tenchi tried a few more times, but Ryo-Ohki kept scampering out of his 
reach.  "What wrong with her?" he demanded, frustrated, grabbing at 
the cabbit again.

"Oh, Tenchi," Sasami said sadly.  "Ryo-Ohki won't leave us—-because 
she knows that Ryoko won't.  Don't you realize that?"

Tenchi stopped.  He nodded his head slowly.  "Yeah...I guess I do, 
Sasami."

"I should have realized that, too," Lord Yosho said, somehow still 
standing upright without assistance despite the massive burn wound on 
his side.  "Ryo-Ohki's devotion is absolute.  She will share our 
fate...as will Ryoko."

"Well, that makes it cozy," Washuu said ironically.  "No one gets 
out of here alive!  You know, that damned Klove probably is counting 
on that—-Ryoko's love for Tenchi to keep her here fighting him to the 
death, rather than her scooting off.  He's had psychiatric training, 
so he understands emotions, although it's certain he doesn't value 
them."

"But there's still Kiyone and Mihoshi!" Tris pointed out.  His fear 
had subsided greatly now; he was resigned to what seemed to be the 
inevitable.  His only concern was that Kiyone and Mihoshi survive.  
It was about the only thing preventing him from just curling up into 
a ball and waiting for Klove's mind monster to flambé him.  "Weren't 
you going to call them and tell them to scram out of here?"

Lord Yosho and Tenchi nodded in agreement.  "If you would please put 
through that call now, Miss Washuu," Lord Yosho requested. 

"Right, Grandpa."  Washuu began to punch touchpads on her console 
keyboard.  "Maybe they'll see sense and scoot.  Maybe not, though.  
They won't want to leave us like this, that's for sure."  She stared 
at her viewscreen.  "Let's check their status first...Yogami's down 
to about a fourth of her thrust now, thanks to that attack.  It 
should be enough for them to escape Earth's gravity, though, and—-"

Before she could finish the sentence, Washuu's speculation was 
rendered moot.

As the Yogami continued to limp away from the entity, attempting to 
gain more altitude, the mind monster gave what looked like a 
contemptuous flick of one of its tendrils.  Instantly, a pulsating 
green globule blasted from the tip of the tendril.  A heartbeat 
later, that globule found the tiny exhaust aperture in the ship's 
shields.  It hit the Yogami's rear thruster exhausts again with 
deadly accuracy.

The red starship shuddered again—-and her glowing rear thrusters were 
suddenly dark.  The Yogami had now lost even that one-fourth of her 
normal thrust.

"Damn it—-no!" Tris cried, fear welling in him again.

Washuu looked up from her console.  Her expression was grimly tragic.  
"That last glob completely quenched Yogami's reactor core.  They need 
to re-ignite it--and they don't have time.  And they can't use their 
escape pods--not enough time for that, either."

"No Washuu!" Sasami pleaded.  "Do something!"

"Washuu," Tenchi demanded anxiously.  "Can't you—-?"

"I'm out of power, Tenchi," the petite scientist told him softly, 
remorsefully.  "And now so are Kiyone and Mihoshi.  I can't help 
them.  No one can.  They're fifty feet in the air now—-and they're 
going to fall to Earth—-and nothing can stop them."

As if to underline her assessment, with a final sputter of thrusters 
that refused to function, the Yogami dropped like a stone.  The red 
starship hurtled to the ground.  She was a sturdy vessel, constructed 
of the strongest alloys in the galaxy.  When she hit the ground she 
likely wouldn't be too badly damaged, wouldn't crack open...but her 
two occupants wouldn't be so fortunate.



Inside the Yogami, those two occupants were facing certain death in 
surprisingly different ways.

Kiyone sat in her pilot seat, looking helplessly, hopelessly, at the 
heads-up displays that told her the ship's engines had flamed out, 
that reactor re-ignition would take ten more minutes, that they were 
dead ducks—-her hands gripped the armrests so tightly her knuckles were 
white.  She felt the sudden lurch and then the plummet.  She stayed 
put--by the time she made it to the escape pods, it would be too late.  
Now she looked at Mihoshi.  She wanted to say something, something 
affectionate maybe, before they died together.  But—-she saw that her 
partner was frantically pushing touchpads on her console, her pretty 
tanned face rigid with concentration.

"Mihoshi, what are you doing?  This is it, damn it, don't you realize 
we're going to die and--" 

"No we're not, Kiyone!"  Mihoshi punched a touchpad.

Kiyone felt a tremendous lurch--felt herself compressed deep into her 
seat--and also felt her stomach turn somersaults.  But—-the ship had 
stopped falling!

"Mihoshi—-what—-how—-?" she sputtered, astonished.

"I took manual control of the power grid—-I diverted all the back-up 
battery power for the life-support system—-we don't need it now 
because we're so close to the ground.  I diverted the battery power to 
the stabilizers," Mihoshi explained breathlessly.

"Good God!"  Kiyone was stunned.  Taking control of the Yogami's power 
grid—-those hundreds of miles of circuitry—-and overriding the 
mandated flow of battery power to the life support system—-that was 
an impossibly complex task.  Kiyone's head swam just at the thought of 
attempting it from her console.  But it wasn't impossible—-their 
engines had flamed out, yet they had stopped falling.  The side 
stabilizer rockets had to be working, somehow.  Mihoshi had done it!  
That dizzy, wonderful ding-dong had done it!  The teal-haired Galaxy 
Police officer felt a new sensation—-awe.  Awe for her bubble-headed 
screw-up of a partner.

"Mihoshi—-you wonderful—-!" Kiyone started to praise her fulsomely—-
and then the ship dropped again!

"What the hell-—Mihoshi--!"

"We—-We don't have enough battery power to keep the stabilizers on 
long," Mihoshi explained apologetically as they hurtled down.  "I 
can only turn them on for a few times, for a few seconds—-so we'll 
have to drop and stop."

"Stop!  Stop now!" Kiyone demanded.  The sensation of falling so 
rapidly made her dizzy, not to mention sick to her stomach.

"Okay!"  Mihoshi punched the touchpad again.  The ship stopped 
plummeting.  Kiyone and Mihoshi were pushed deep into their seats 
again from the g-force.  Kiyone felt as if her stomach was laying on 
the bridge's floor somewhere. 

"Only a second, Kiyone—-then we'll have to drop again—-we're almost 
out of battery power—-"

Kiyone began to reply—-and then, sure enough, they dropped again.

It was a hell of a ride—-the question was whether they'd survive it.   
Mihoshi had to time it perfectly and use the stabilizers wisely.  
They likely had only power enough for one more stop.  If so--and they 
stopped again too soon—-they'd have a fatal fall remaining to Earth.  
If she waited too late—-they might hit the ground before the 
stabilizers could buoy up the ship.  For the first time in a long 
time, Kiyone prayed.



Tris had been praying, too, for Kiyone and Mihoshi, as he watched 
their ship drop like a stone.  Then he stopped praying and just 
stared—-as did the others—-as the crippled starship suddenly stopped 
in mid-air with all the grace of a drunken goose.  But it did stop.

"Oh, thank—-" he began.  Then he saw the Yogami fall again.

"Damn!" he shouted.  "What the holy hell--!"

"What's happening?" Sasami cried.

"Washuu—-?"  Tenchi knew whom to ask.

Washuu was frantically tapping away at her console's keyboard.  She 
whistled appreciatively when she read the viewscreen.

"That's what I call inspired!  They diverted Yogami's battery power 
from the life support systems to the ship's stabilizer rockets.  
That's why they're stopping."

"Well—-okay," Tris said, confused.  "Then why are they still 
falling?"

"Because they only have a limited amount of power in the batteries—-
only enough to fire those stabilizers for an instant and only for a 
few times.  But it may be enough to save them.  That's one hell of an 
example of seat-of-your-pants programming, I must say.  That Kiyone!"

Although her comments were heard, they weren't entirely absorbed by 
the others.  The Yogami was falling again, after a second momentary 
pause.  Gasps and cries of dismay rose from the group as they watched 
the Yogami plummet to Earth again. 

Suddenly Ryoko loomed overhead.  "What the hell are they doing?" she 
demanded.  "Are they nuts?"

"Damn it!  Why don't they fire those goddamn stabilizers?" Tris 
swore.  He seemed angry, actually angry, at Mihoshi and Kiyone for 
not saving themselves.  Tenchi would have found the situation kind of 
comical another time, another place.  He gripped his buddy's shoulder, 
trying to calm him down a bit.

"Hold on, cutie," Washuu told him.  "They have only enough battery 
power for one more stabilizer firing.  They have to time it just 
right-—"

Then, less than fifteen feet above the ground, the Yogami halted once 
more, as her stabilizer rockets spurted again.  The ship again hung 
in the air momentarily—-then it dropped to Earth.

"Kiyone!" Tris yelled helplessly.

The Yogami slammed into the ground, massively.  The force of the red 
starship's immense bulk pounded the sod and threw up billowing dust 
clouds.  The ship dug deep into the turf.  The ground shook with the 
impact.

The dust clouds slowly dissipated.  

The Yogami lay on the ground, apparently undamaged.  But she was 
alloy and polymer, not flesh and bone.  And that had been a long, 
hard drop.

"Are they alive?"  Tris all but jumped with agitation, his face a 
contorted mask of anxiety.  "Are they—-?"

Washuu held up her hand as she scanned her console screen.  Then she 
grinned with fathomless relief.  "You can put it back in neutral, 
cutie.  They're alive!  I'm reading their body heat signatures 
clearly inside their ship.  They're not only alive, they're moving 
around in there."

"Oh, thank God!"  Tris felt suddenly weak...weak as a newborn kitten 
with relief.  Tenchi patted his shoulder, with a grin wide enough to 
split his face.  Behind him, Sasami's eyes teared with joy.  Washuu 
looked a bit misty eyed as well.  Lord Yosho smiled broadly.

"Damn, that's great!" Ryoko said, hovering above them all.  "That's 
one hell of a rotten landing, though.  Bet they got headaches that 
won't quit!"

The Yogami had settled some thirty feet from the group, quite near 
the lake.  The soft spring sunlight made the spacecraft's red hull 
glisten.  Staring at it, Tris spotted the exit hatch on the Yogami's 
starboard side that faced them.  "They'll be coming out of that," he 
pointed.  "That hatch there.  I'll just go meet them—-"

Tenchi grabbed him, tightly.  "No, you don't!"

"Huh?  Let go!"

"No!"  Tenchi's voice brooked no argument.  "Listen, bonehead.  You 
leave this area and that monster will roast you with those glob 
things.  You saw how accurate it is—-it threw them straight at me and 
Grandfather.  You stay here!"

"But—-"  Tris struggled in Tenchi's grasp.  He was finding out how 
strong Tenchi was-—especially when he sought to save a friend from 
his own stupidity.

"Tris, they don't need you with them," Washuu told him, her voice as 
firm as Tenchi's.  "What if you pull one of your usual boners and 
fall?  They'll have to stop and try to help you.  Then all three of 
you will be toast.  Just let them get out of their ship and make 
their way here to us the best they can.  That's the only way, cutie."

Tris, despite his extreme, heart-pounding anxiety for Kiyone and 
Mihoshi, knew they were talking sense to him.  He had to admit that 
tripping at critical times was an old story with him.  "Okay, you're 
right," he said dispiritedly.  Tenchi released him.

"Yeah, you stay there, goofball!" Ryoko called down to him.  "I'll 
just fly over to Yogami and—-"

"Look out!"

Lord Yosho, who had kept his eye on Professor Klove's creation, 
suddenly called out, urgently.

Ryoko turned her head in the direction of the mind monster.  "Yikes!"  
She zoomed toward the heavens and teleported from view.  Immediately, 
the sky overhead seemed filled with scores of the glowing green 
globules.  But they weren't aimed at Ryoko, not this time.  They were 
meant for the Yogami—-and its occupants.

Like computer-guided artillery shells, the green globules soared into 
the air, then arced downward in a perfect trajectory toward the crashed 
Galaxy Police ship.  Those globules slammed into the ship's hull.  
They burst gelatinously on that hull, spreading their corrosive liquid 
fire.  Tenchi and the others held their breaths, fearing the worst.  
Yet the fiery slime did not penetrate the hull.

"Yogami's too strong for that stuff!" Tris crowed.  "That blob's 
wasting its time!"

"Yeah, thank goodness!" Tenchi agreed, relieved.  "Good to know 
something can stand up to those damned globs."  

"Well, Yogami is constructed of the strongest alloys known.  
Ryo-Ohki's more organic in her makeup—-more vulnerable to a corrosive 
plasma," Washuu pondered.  "That could explain it."

"Who cares—-as long as they're safe in there," Tris said.

"Maybe...maybe Kiyone and Mihoshi can get Yogami going again!" Sasami 
said hopefully.  "They can still get away!"

"Could be," Washuu nodded.  "It'll take a little while to fire up the 
reactor and then get the thrusters warm..."  Washuu was an expert on 
the Yogami, having repaired her more than once.  She kept punching 
touchpads, analyzing Yogami's operational condition and also keeping 
tabs on the movements of Kiyone and Mihoshi within.  "Those two are 
getting around just fine in there," she added.  "They were badly 
shaken no doubt, but I'll bet they weren't really injured.  Their 
pilot seats are designed to absorb impact."

"Thanks, Washuu," Tris said gratefully.  He knew that the redheaded 
scientist had tossed out those last few sentences especially for his 
benefit.  Then he frowned as he saw more of the glowing green globules 
smack wetly against Yogami's hull, again seemingly without effect.  
"That's weird," he noted.  "I thought that blob thing was 
intelligent."

"It is intelligent," Washuu said.  "Remember, that thing is really 
Klove's mind—-his brain waves, materialized into form and substance."

"Well, he must have had a brain dump," Tris countered.  "That thing 
keeps raining those globs on Yogami even when they aren't doing diddly 
squat to it.  That's pretty dumb."

"Yeah, it sure seems like that blob's wasting its energy," Tenchi 
agreed.  "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

"I sincerely hope that it is indeed wasting its efforts," Lord Yosho 
murmured.  But he looked worried.

The barrage of green globules was steady now, becoming a constant 
splatter of the horribly corrosive but seemingly ineffectual plasma 
weapon on the red Galaxy Police cruiser's fuselage.

"It does seem odd," Sasami noted.  "It doesn't stop.  I wonder why?"

Staring at her console's screen that displayed the Yogami's vital 
statistics, Washuu's face suddenly grew troubled.  "Uh-oh.  Klove 
does have a reason for pelting Yogami with those globs--damn it!"

"What reason, Washuu?" Tenchi queried.     

"Those plasma globules radiate a lot of heat as well as corrosive 
power," Washuu explained, her voice distressed.  "All those globs 
hitting Yogami's hull have raised its temperature—-about fifty 
degrees higher!"  She glanced up from her console.  "Look—-you can 
see it."

They all now regarded the Yogami.  Indeed, the ship was emitting a 
haze that distorted the air around it—-indicative of a very high 
temperature.

"Fifty degrees higher?  They'll roast in there!" Tris exclaimed.

"And the temperature just rose another five degrees," Washuu 
reported.  "I get it now.  Klove could just melt Yogami's hull with 
those globs at full intensity.  But he's using a lower intensity—-
just because he wants to parboil those two, the sick bastard!  He's 
enjoying himself, and he's conserving his own energy, too."

Still more green plasma globules splattered on the Yogami's hull, 
courtesy of the mind monster.  Tris imagined he could feel the heat 
now radiating from the Yogami.  He felt sick.

"Again, Professor Klove had out-maneuvered us," Lord Yosho said 
quietly but sorrowfully.  "Our two Detectives must leave Yogami or 
perish from the heat within--yet by escaping the heat, they will 
expose themselves to Klove's weapons."

"Exactly, Grandpa," Washuu said glumly.  "Talk about being between 
the devil and the deep blue sea!"

"Hell!" Tris said.

"That's exactly what it must feel like inside Yogami," Washuu agreed, 
shaking her head.  "Temperature's up another ten degrees."

"They've got to get out of there!" Tenchi said, appalled.

"Oh, no!  No!" Sasami cried, as a terrible thought came to her.  
"Maybe they can't get out—-maybe the exit doors are stuck from all the 
heat!"

"God, no!"  Tris groaned.

"Ryoko!  Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled anxiously, noting that she was no 
longer with the group.  If anyone could help—-

Moments later, the platinum-haired space pirate appeared a few feet 
above him.  Tenchi had interrupted her rest, high up in a tree where 
the mind monster couldn't see her.  "Yes, sweetums—-what is it?"

"We think Yogami's hatches may be stuck," Tenchi told her tersely.  
"Kiyone and Mihoshi have to get out of there!  Yogami's becoming an 
oven because of those damned glob things.  Can you—-"

"—-get a hatch open?" Ryoko finished for him.  "Well, I guess so, 
Tenchi.  Once all those globs stop flying around the ship."

But the globule barrage showed no sign of abating.  Still, Ryoko 
readied herself to streak to Yogami once it did.  She hoped she 
wouldn't be too late.

Suddenly the side hatch of the red starship slid open.  An instant 
later, the figures of Kiyone and Mihoshi, looking somewhat mussed in 
their work shirts and short-shorts, scrambled out.

"See?  That hatch works just fine, sweetums," Ryoko told Tenchi.

"Run!  Run Kiyone!  Mihoshi!  Run over here!" Tris shouted.

Both Kiyone and Mihoshi started running all right-—they ran like 
cheetahs, somehow avoiding the corrosive slime from the plasma 
globules splattering against their ship.  They sprinted like Olympic 
hopefuls.  Their bare legs flashed, their bare feet pounded the turf, 
their arms pumped frenziedly.  But they ran around Yogami, not 
toward the group, but away from it—-and toward the lake.

"Hey, stop—-no, no, don't stop!  I mean—-come over here!" Tris 
shouted again, totally confused at what he was seeing.

Meanwhile, noting that its prey had left the red-hot death trap it 
had devised, the mind monster now directed its globules at the two 
fleeing Galaxy Police officers.  But Kiyone and Mihoshi both ran a 
serpentine pattern and the entity's aim was not equal to the 
challenge—-it was just too far away from them for total accuracy.

"Could that landing have knocked them silly or something?" Ryoko 
asked, still hovering above Tenchi, as she watched Kiyone and Mihoshi 
sprint toward the glistening lake.

"I don't know," Tenchi replied, nonplussed.  "Why would they run away 
from the only safe spot around here?"

"It doesn't make sense," Sasami said fretfully.  "Oh, I wish they were 
with us now!"

"Perhaps there is method in their apprent madness," Lord Yosho 
suggested mildly.  He stepped forward, wincing at the pain in his 
side, so that he could observe the antics of the two Galaxy Police 
Officers more clearly.

"That's right, Grandpa!" Washuu said, grinning.  "Now I know what 
those two are up to."

"Huh?" Tris asked.  "What?"

"Just watch," Washuu told him. 

Kiyone and Mihoshi reached the bank of the lake now.  Without a 
moment's hesitation, both of them dove into the blue water and 
disappeared.

"What the hell?" Tris shouted.  What had been confusing before was 
now even more so.

"What a crazy time for a swim!" Ryoko commented.  "They must be 
bonkers."

"No, they're smart—-damned smart," Washuu insisted.  Lord Washuu 
nodded, his injured body relaxing with his relief.

Several glowing green globules smacked into the water right where 
Kiyone and Mihoshi had dived in.  The globules raised some steam but 
otherwise did no damage.  Then the heads of Kiyone and Mihoshi popped 
up from the surface of the lake a distance away.  More green globules 
came at them.  Their head disappeared under the water.  The globules 
slammed into the water where their heads had been, again sending up 
plumes of steam.  Then Kiyone's and Mihoshi's heads popped up again, 
many yards away.

"You see, that mind monster of Klove's can't see into the lake...any 
more than we can," Washuu explained.

"I get it!"  Tris was giddy with relief and admiration for the two 
smart and plucky Galaxy Police officers.  "When that blob sends some 
of those plasma things their way, those two just dive under the water 
and come up someplace else.  That lake's too big for even that damned 
blob to cover it all."

"That's right, cutie."  Washuu nodded.  "Of course, now they're stuck 
there in that lake.  They don't dare move from it or those flying 
globs will get them.  But they're safe for now.  That's one heck of a 
brainy girlfriend you've got there—-and her partner's no slouch 
either."

"You said a mouthful, Washuu!" Tris agreed.

"Then they meant to do that?" Ryoko said.  "They figured all that out 
before they left their ship?  Well, damn...how about that?"  

"That's so smart!  Hurray for them!"  Sasami clapped her hands.  
Beside her, Azaka II and Kamidake II blinked happily as they talked 
to each other, commending the two Galaxy Police officers for their 
ingenuity.

"Yes, Sasami.  Hurry for them!" Tenchi agreed.

"Our two Detectives are resourceful, indeed," Lord Yosho murmured 
gratefully.  "That is good.  Resourcefulness is what we all need 
now."

"What do you mean by that, Grandfather?" Tenchi asked, sensing the 
elder Juraian Prince's comment was meant to be more significant than 
it sounded. 

"Our Detectives have finally out-witted Professor Klove, if only in a 
minor way," Lord Yosho pointed out.  He was right.  The mind monster 
had ceased flinging its corrosive green globules at the lake.  It 
seemed to realize that, for the moment, attacking the two women was 
fruitless.  "That's what we must do also if we are to survive and 
stop Professor Klove's scheme to destroy the Galactic Union."

"Survive?" Washuu queried.  "I hate to be a wet blanket, Grandpa, but 
we're just about out of options.  Sure, Ryoko can still fight—-"

"You bet I can still fight!" Ryoko snarled above them.  "That creep 
gave me a mussing up, that's all.  It's personal now.  I'm going to 
kick its flabby butt!  Watch me!"

"And I can still fight, Washuu," Tenchi said.  He hefted Sword 
Tenchi.  "As Grandfather said, this sword has the supreme Jurai 
power.  I'm sure I can kill that damned thing.  I just have to get 
close enough to do it."

"How, Tenchi?" Washuu asked him.  "Ryoko alone can't distract it 
enough for you to get close—-"

"Who says I can't?" Ryoko demanded.

"I say you can't!" Washuu snapped, raising her head to glare at the 
hovering space pirate.  Her expression softened as she surveyed the 
platinum-haired woman.  God, Ryoko was a mess!  "Listen Ryoko, stop 
kidding yourself.  You go over there in your weakened condition and 
that thing will really kill you this time.  Meanwhile, Tenchi makes 
a suicide run and he dies.  Then what?"

"Well, Washuu, I'll just have to--" Tenchi began.

"Listen here, Washuu!" Ryoko interrupted Tenchi angrily.  "You're 
forgetting about the Princess's Guardians, aren't you?  They won't 
just stand by and watch us all get fried.  They'll finally get their 
wooden asses in gear and—-" 

"They're programmed just to guard Ayeka."  Washuu sounded weary.  The 
roller coaster of triumph, tragedy, hope—-and then black despair—-had 
wrung her out, as it had done the others.  "That blob won't touch 
Ayeka.  It won't get near her.  It doesn't need to in order to kill 
her--we talked about that already, Ryoko.  God damn it!  I'm tired of 
repeating myself.  I'm tired of—-"

"Are you tired of living, you worthless hag?  Don't worry—-your death 
is nigh!"

The flat metallic voice startled all of them.  They looked in the 
direction it had come from—--where the mind monster squatted in the 
distance.  

"Ah, that dulcet tone...those sweet sentiments," Tris muttered 
caustically.  "Sounds like Klove has found his tongue again."

"Crap!" Ryoko groused.  "It's bad enough having to look at that ugly 
turd.  Do we have to listen to it, too?"

"You won't have to listen long, space pirate!" the voice rasped.  Now 
they could see a kind of slit--a wet, obscene, slobbering slit--
appear in the blubbery mass of Professor Klove's mind monster, just 
below the huge red-veined eye.  

"I tire of your stupid antics.  I thought you would provide more 
sport, but no, you make obvious moves that a babe in arms could 
counter!" the entity's voice told them.    

"We are still very much alive, Professor Klove," Lord Yosho 
responded calmly.  "We have not surrendered and we will not."

"Bravado from an old man who could not even approach me unscathed!"  
The mind monster's voice was contemptuous.  "You have survived this 
long only because I chose to toy with you for my amusement.  I have 
waited long for this day.  But your stupidity bores me now.  It is 
time to kill you all and set the spark that will engulf the galaxy in 
strife and war."

"You speak of stupidity, Professor Klove," Lord Yosho countered.  
"Yet, how wise was it to throw everything you achieved away to 
conduct experiments on helpless children?  How wise was it to 
relegate yourself to a nonexistence and to turn from science and 
discovery to slaughter and destruction?  Any normal person has led a 
richer and more fulfilling life than you, Professor Klove.  They have 
known joy, happiness, love, and contentment.  What have you known, 
Professor Klove?  Hatred and horror and coldness.  No, you accuse the 
wrong persons of stupidity, I believe."

Tenchi and the others stood quietly when Lord Yosho finished.  The 
Juraian Prince's quiet but powerful words infused them with warmth 
and a kind of understanding.  For just a second—-but for that 
second—-all of them, even Tris Coffin, could look at the horrible, 
ugly, and obscene entity that was truly the mirror of Professor 
Klove's own mind and soul with pity.  Yes, they might die...but they 
would die having known some of the pleasures and treasures that a life 
filled with friends and loved ones provided.  That was the primal 
difference, the joy of a life truly lived, that separated them from 
the kind of cold, calculating, manipulating sociopath that Professor 
Klove represented.

Evidently Lord Yosho's words also had some affect on the entity 
itself.  It seemed to inwardly roil with rage and wrath, its slimy, 
pulpy, flesh-colored mass squirming with agitation.  

"Enough!" the voice bellowed.  "Now die!"

Then there was a sort of low, thundering rumble.  The entity seemed 
to quiver, violently.  Then—-it moved.  Slowly, inchingly—-but it 
moved.

It moved toward them.

"That tears it!"  Washuu said flatly.  "I was kind of hoping...well, 
it was just a hope.  It can move.  It'll come up close and use its 
tentacle things to grab each of us.  That explains why some of the 
other victims were found dismembered.  Taking us out that way, the 
Princess's Guardians won't be triggered to attack.  Hell...even if 
they do attack, Klove can destroy them too, no doubt.  It'll still 
look like the Princess was responsible for all the carnage.  If we 
run, we'll have the honor of being toasted by one of those plasma 
globs.  First it'll deal with us, then it'll move to the edge of the 
lake and attend to Kiyone and Mihoshi.  That's the way it scopes out, 
anyway.  If anyone has a plan, I'm listening."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Washuu!" Ryoko grated.  "I'm not going down 
without a fight and neither is my sweetums--are you, Tenchi?"  Ryoko 
swooped down to the group and landed alongside him.  Before Tenchi 
could speak or even move, she embraced him and planted a lingering 
kiss on his lips.

"There...that's for luck, lover, and maybe goodbye if the optimist 
over there is right," Ryoko said softly, parting from her true love.  
"I'll get in position now, Tenchi.  You wave at me and I'll start 
hitting old Ugly with everything I've got.  You pick your time and 
come in for the finish.  All right?"

Tenchi, a little shaken by the sudden embrace and kiss, slowly smiled 
at Ryoko.  "All right," he said.  "We'll go down fighting anyway, 
Ryoko."

"Yes, we will, lover."  Ryoko's golden eyes glowed at Tenchi, her 
wonderful, manly Tenchi.  And he was a man, now...what a man!  She 
stopped down to pet Ryo-Ohki a moment, making the cabbit purr with 
happiness.

"You stay put, Ryo-Ohki," Ryoko ordered.  "You're in no shape to 
fight.  If things go the wrong way, you scoot off.  That's a command.  
Understand?"

"Meow-er."  The cabbit sounded resigned.

Then Ryoko straightened.  Without another word, she soared above 
them.  In a few moments, the bloodied, battered, but unbeaten space 
pirate was in position, hovering high above the mind monster.  The 
latter had already moved an appreciable distance toward the group.  
It moved slowly but steadily.  It would soon be upon them.

"Well, it's a plan," Washuu said.  "I guess it's all we have."  She 
closed her console, for what she was certain would be the final time.  
The only good thing about all this was that Nobie still hadn't 
returned.  She hoped he wouldn't be too devastated at what he would 
find when he did.

Lord Yosho nodded.  "Yes.  Yet, I feel...there is something else.  
Something that we should recall..."  He shook his head.  "I am 
mistaken, I suppose.  It may be simply that I want a solution to 
appear.  I know we are all praying for a miracle.  Well, why not?  
Miracles do happen."

"I...I hope they do, Lord Yosho," Sasami said in a small, sad voice.  
She was again kneeling beside Ayeka's body where it lay on the grass.  
The little Princess was resolved to be with her big sister at the 
end.  She looked at Ayeka's still, silent form.  Sasami couldn't tell 
if Ayeka was alive or dead.  Well...perhaps it really didn't matter 
now.  At least Ayeka wouldn't suffer.  There was comfort in that.  

Tris glanced behind him.  He saw Mihoshi and Kiyone standing in the 
lake, near the bank.  Where they stood, the water only came up to 
their thighs.  They both held their blaster pistols.  Kiyone waved at 
him.  He forced a grin and waved back at her.  He was half tempted to 
leave the group and try to join Kiyone and Mihoshi in the lake.  But 
he wouldn't.  He wasn't going to make it that easy for Professor 
Klove.

"Cripes," Washuu muttered as the mind monster lumbered slowly, coming 
closer and closer to them.  "Wish that blob would get on with it.  It 
moves slower than a old man with bunions."

"Patience, Professor Washuu," Lord Yosho said calmly.  "It will be 
upon us soon enough."

Tenchi knew how Washuu felt.  He tightened his grip on Sword Tenchi.  
All he had to do was raise it and the fiery blade would appear.  Then 
he'd nod at Ryoko and the final battle would begin.  It was a battle 
he and Ryoko were sure to lose.  He was loath to take that step, even 
though a suicidal attack on his enemy was part and parcel of his 
cultural upbringing.  Like Grandfather, he just couldn't accept that 
it had to end like this.  There must be a way to defeat Klove.  But 
how?

"Man," Tris muttered.  "Getting offed by something that's just a 
damned dream!  If we had to have a dream come to life, there's about 
a dozen of my own dreams I'd much rather nominate.  Of course, you'd 
have to leave the room, Sasami."  Tris grinned weakly at the little 
Princess where she knelt beside Ayeka.

Sasami looked up at Tris.  "Oh, Tris," she said.  She smiled a 
little.

Tenchi had to grin.  His buddy...naturally, he'd be cracking jokes 
even at the end.

"Yeah, I'd rather have even Pretty Sammy again than that ugly old 
blob," Tris kidded with Sasami.  "Really!"

Sasami actually laughed.  "Yes, I wish this were a dream and I could 
become Pretty Sammy, and—-what's wrong with you, Tris?"

The American had evidently lost his mind.  He was jumping, actually 
jumping, up and down, his face dominated by a grin so wide that it 
surely would cleave his cheeks.  "Pretty Sammy!" he shouted.  "Pretty 
Sammy!"

Sasami shook her head.  She looked confused and concerned for Tris.

"Tris?" Tenchi said, certain that his friend had finally gone around 
the bend.  All of this was too much for Tris, of course.  It was 
almost too much for even—-

Then, suddenly, a crazy, idiotic, impossible notion blazed in Tenchi's 
mind.  It was stupid!  It was nuts!  But--it might work!  He began to 
jump, up and down, with Tris.  "Yeah!" he yelled.  "Yeah!"

"What the hell has that goofball done to my sweetums?" Ryoko shouted.

The space pirate had been hovering in the air, waiting for Tenchi to 
signal her.  Instead, he was jumping up and down with that Tris, both 
of them looking like fruitcakes.  It was as if Tris had gone nuts and 
then Tenchi had, too.  Maybe Tris had crazy kooties!  And he gave them 
to Tenchi!

Lord Yosho seemed startled—-then he smiled.  "Could it be?  Such a 
fantastic notion...yet all of this is fantastic."

Washuu had caught on, too.  "It's absolutely crazy!" she shouted at 
the jumping, gleeful Tenchi and Tris.  "It's bloody insane!  Stop 
jumping, you two!  It won't work."

"How do you know?" Tenchi asked her, grinning and still jumping.

"Yeah!  You can't even make a decent force field," Tris added, 
keeping right up with Tenchi.  Ryo-Ohki began to hop happily with 
the two young men.

"Why, you—-" Washuu sputtered.

Now Tenchi and Tris stopped jumping.  They laughed uproariously.

Washuu grinned at the two loonies.  Then she laughed, too...she 
couldn't help herself.

"You're right," she said.  "We might as well give it a try.  Why not?  
What do you say, Grandpa?"

"Yes, we should."  Lord Yosho smiled.  "I had thought there must be a 
solution.  Of course, I expected something a bit less...fanciful."

"What's fanciful about it, sir?" Tris asked, finally quelling his 
laughter.  "You just use a dream to fight a dream--that's all.  It's 
as logical as property taxes."

"It's a goofball idea and you know it," Tenchi said, grinning.  He 
patted Tris's back.  "A goofball idea from my goofball buddy.  But, 
yeah...it just might work."

"What might work?" Sasami asked, perplexed.  "I don't understand what 
you're all talking about."

Washuu smiled at the little Princess.  "I'll explain it to you, 
Sasami.  After all, you're a big part of this nutty notion!"

"I am?" Sasami asked.  "That's great!  I'm ready to help!  But what's 
it all about?"

Ryoko appeared above them.  "What's going on?  Have you all cracked 
up?  We gotta get ready to fight that blob!"

"I'm about to explain, Ryoko," Washuu told her.

"Okay, but don't take too long," Ryoko advised.  "Old Ugly ain't fast, 
but he's coming all the same."

"Right."  Washuu turned to Sasami.  "You know you have the Jurai power 
in you, Sasami.  It's not something you get, it's something you were 
born with—-it's your blood heritage.  Right?"

"Sure," Sasami said.  "I know that."

"Of course you do.  And you know the reason you can't use your power 
right now, don't you?"

"Uh-huh.  I have to be formally crowned.  At my coronation, I'll be 
taught the techniques and the mental and spiritual katas I must 
follow in order to...but what does all of this have to do with right 
now, Washuu?"

"Damned good question, Junior Princess," Ryoko said, annoyed with 
Washuu for wasting everyone's time.

Washuu ignored Ryoko.  "But when you dream, Sasami, you do become 
someone who knows how to channel her inner power into a weapon.  
Right?"

"You mean Pretty Sammy?  But that's just make-believe.  She's a 
character I made up and I sometimes dream about becoming...like one 
of the pretty magical soldiers I watch on TV."  Sasami was still 
confused.  None of this seemed pertinent--not with Professor Klove's 
mind monster coming for them.  "When we got mixed up in that 
Dimensional Tuner of yours I imagined I became her for a little 
while--kind of like I did with your Dream Machine."

"Yes, and if you could become her, you would be able to use that 
persona to harness your Jurai power.  At least, that's the theory," 
Washuu said dryly, glancing back at Tris and Tenchi.

"Hey, did that goofball come up with this?  That's classic!"  Ryoko 
laughed.

"Be quiet, Ryoko," Tenchi requested.

Ryoko stopped laughing.  "Yes, sweetums."

"Look Sasami, that blob is supposedly from some sort of Dream 
Dimension," Tris said.  "If it is, and it's come into our dimension, 
then it had to leave the door open or something—-"

"You mean leave the portal open, cutie," Washuu corrected him.  
"That's right, in a way."

"So, if Sasami could go into a dream state, she's be in the Dream 
Dimension, and as Pretty Sammy, she could go through that same 
portal," Tenchi finished for his buddy.

"And fight that Klove on an equal footing—-with her Jurai power," 
Tris amplified.

"Golly..."  Sasami was stunned.  "I...I will fight him, of course.  
But is it possible?"

"We cannot know, Sasami," Lord Yosho told her.  "But it may work.  It 
is really a questionable proposition, as Professor Washuu has pointed 
out.  But if it should work..."

"I'll do it!" Sasami said firmly.  "I'll try anything."

"Good girl!"  Washuu smiled.

"Boy, Junior Princess, I don't know..." Ryoko began, her voice 
doubtful.

"Ryoko," Tenchi said.

Ryoko subsided.

"But--how can I possibly fall asleep now?" Sasami asked, taking the 
practical tack.  "With that monster coming toward us and all that's 
going on?"

Now Tris stepped forward.  "Kitten, you'll have to trust me and 
concentrate real hard.  But if you're willing to try..."

Sasami smiled.  She understood now.  "Of course, Tris.  I trust you.  
I'll cooperate completely."

Ryoko now realized what was being proposed.  Yipes!  Letting that 
goofball hypnotize the Junior Princess?  Fighting Klove's blob 
monster head-on sounded safer than that!  She started to say 
something, but noticed that Tenchi was giving her that very special 
look once again.  She kept silent.

Tris walked up to Sasami and kneeled in front of her.  He dug into 
his pocket.  He wished he had that alien ring to use, but there was 
no time for Ryoko to go get it from her stash.  At least he had a 
shiny new 500-yen cupro-nickel coin.  He pulled the "Nihon Koku" out.

"Now, kitten...just look at the coin and concentrate.  That's right.  
Just concentrate on its shiny surface...concentrate..."



Standing thigh-deep in the lake, Kiyone and Mihoshi watched the mind 
monster suddenly become mobile and lumber toward Tenchi, Lord Yosho, 
and the others.  The two women had resolved not to use their blasters 
until they could get a close shot at the entity.  Well, now it seemed 
they would get that chance...for what it was worth.

"Well, that does it, partner," Kiyone said dolefully.  "Now that the 
monster can move, I don't think there's much hope.  I'm sure Tenchi 
and Ryoko will give it one last try...but it'll likely fail.  Might 
as well face facts."

"Uh-huh," Mihoshi said absently.  The water felt kind of cool and 
nice, but she hated having her clothes soaked.  She knew her maroon 
hair ribbon had unraveled and her blonde hair was plastered all over 
her face and back.  Gosh, she must look a sight!  And the mud around 
her toes felt kind of icky.  She recalled Ryoko's comment that the 
fish doodled in the water.  She wondered if she had drunk any of it 
while she was swimming underwater.  Yuck!  She was a poor swimmer and 
really had to thrash to get anywhere.  She noticed that Kiyone was 
looking at her narrowly.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Kiyone demanded.

"Um...no," Mihoshi admitted.

"I said it's probably curtains for us!  Pay attention!"

"Yes, Kiyone."  Mihoshi's lower lip trembled.

Kiyone relented.  The last thing she needed was a crying jag from 
Mihoshi.  If that happened, Kiyone thought she might start crying, 
too.  It was just so damned hopeless!  And there was no way she could 
get to Tris—-not even for a last kiss or a final chance to tell him 
she loved him.  They would die apart and he would never know...oh, 
damn it to hell!

"Listen, when that thing gets to us, we're going to empty our 
blasters into it.  Probably won't do much but at least it'll hurt it 
a little.  Then I'm going to stand right here. Mihoshi.  I'm not 
going to swim from it anymore.  To hell with that!  You do as you 
wish."

"I'll stand right here with you, Kiyone," Mihoshi said softly.  "Like 
I told you once...we're partners forever."   

Kiyone looked at Mihoshi.  Of course the ding-dong would stay with 
her.  Mihoshi was her best and truest friend.  She had finally come 
to realize that--right at the very last minute.  Just like she had 
realized her true feelings for Tris and the way she should have lived 
her life...all too late...damn, she was going to cry!

"Okay, Mihoshi," she said huskily, averting her face.  

Mihoshi regarded Kiyone tenderly.  She wanted to hug her, but she 
knew Kiyone would think it was wrong at such a time.  She wished she 
could hug Trissy one more time...her stuffed puppy dog who had needed 
a friend...and Tris, too.  That last thought made Mihoshi think of 
something else.

"Kiyone, what were you going to say to Tris?  You know...just before 
we attacked that blob thingy?"

Kiyone now turned to face her.  Her cheeks had reddened.  "None of 
your business, Mihoshi!"

"Were you going to tell him you love him?"  Mihoshi's voice was soft.  
She didn't see any reason for Kiyone to hold back.  Not now.

"I..."  Kiyone shrugged.  Ayeka knew and even Ryoko knew.  What 
difference did it make now, anyway?  "Yeah, yeah, I was."

"What took you so long?  You've been in love with him for a long time, 
Kiyone."

"Huh?"  Kiyone glared at her partner.  "What makes you think that?"

"Because you have," Mihoshi said simply.  "I fell in love with him 
when he took me to that lovely restaurant and bought me Trissy.  But 
you're the one he liked best.  You acted like you didn't care but 
then you two had that funny race and...well, everyone could see you 
were in love with him."

"Everyone?"  Kiyone was appalled.

"Sure.  Tenchi's Dad even asked me when you two were going to get 
married!  He's so funny sometimes..."

"God...!"  Kiyone, her face flaming, closed her eyes.  Disaster!  
Ruination!  Everyone knew, all the time—-even before she did!  
Embarrassment and chagrin seethed though her.  Now she wanted to die.  
Oh, come on, you monster—-kill me!  See if I care!

"But I guess you wanted Tris to tell you he loved you first," Mihoshi 
was saying.  "That makes sense.  I'd want him to, if it were me.  Of 
course, it may be a long time before he does.  Boys are funny like 
that."

But kill Mihoshi first, monster, Kiyone now thought, eyes closed, as 
she absolutely burned with embarrassment.  Please!

"Hey!  Look!  Tris is jumping around!"  Mihoshi sounded startled.

"Huh?"  Kiyone opened her eyes.

"See?  He's jumping.  Oh, no, maybe one of those glob things hit 
him—-"  Now Mihoshi sounded anxious.

"Don't be stupid!  If he was hit by one of those things, he'd 
wouldn't be jumping around—-he'd be dead!"  Kiyone eyed the boy she 
loved.  "Just what the hell is that idiot doing?  Hasn't he 
embarrassed me enough?  I'll kill him myself if that monster 
doesn't!"

"Gosh!  Now Tenchi is jumping, too!  What's going on, Kiyone?"

"I don't know--but that clown is behind it, mark my words," Kiyone 
fumed.  "Can't even die with dignity, that big stiff, and now he's 
set off Tenchi, too!"  Kiyone made up her mind.  "Come on!"

"What?" 

"I said, come on!  We're going to settle that idiot's hash!"  Kiyone 
began to slosh through the water, toward the bank.

"But...that awful blob thingy...those globs..."

"It can go to hell and those globs, too!" Kiyone swore.  "I'm going 
to go see what the hell is going on over there and then I'm going to 
give that goofball such a kick!  That monster will probably thank me!  
Now come on!"

Kiyone, a veritable lake goddess in her fury, just about parted the 
water with a look that clearly intimated that no lousy H20 better 
mess with her.  She finished wading through the water and climbed 
onto the bank.  She headed over to where Tris and the others seemed 
to be having some sort of discussion while that blob monster moved 
toward them.  With a worried look, Mihoshi followed her partner.



Tris, with Tenchi's help, slowly lowered Sasami to the soft grass.  
The little girl's eyes were closed and she breathed slowly, softly, 
immersed in deep hypnotic sleep.  They laid her beside her still and 
silent older sister.  Tris prayed inwardly that it wasn't a 
foreshadowing.  At any rate, placing Sasami so close to Ayeka would 
insure that the mind monster wouldn't attack the sleeping child for 
fear of hitting Ayeka...at least, not until it came a lot closer.

Ryo-Ohki walked up and sniffed at the sleeping Sasami.  The cabbit 
could not understand why two of the tall beings were sleeping when so 
much was happening.  Azaka II and Kamidake II shared the cabbit's 
puzzlement.

"Wow, Tris!" Ryoko said admiringly, still hovering in the air.  "That 
was smoking!  You put her under in nothing flat!"

Tris nodded.  Sasami had been very cooperative.  Now was the moment 
of truth...more likely the moment of failure.

"Sasami," he said quietly to the sleeping little girl, "you can hear 
me, can't you?"

"Yes, Tris," Sasami said, eyes closed, her childish voice drowsy.

"You know the terrible crisis we're facing.  Our powers can't save us.  
We're facing death from that monster.  Only Pretty Sammy can save us."  
Lord—-he sounded like the narrator of a particularly cheesy anime.  
"Do you understand?"

"I...understand."

"We need you to transform into Pretty Sammy.  Then you must find the 
opening in the darkness that monster is using to attack us.  You must 
go through that opening and fight him.  It's asking a lot, but we 
know Pretty Sammy can do it.  She can, can't she?"

"Yes..." Sasami's sleepy voice agreed.  "Pretty Sammy can do 
anything."

"That's right.  Now, transform into Pretty Sammy and find your way to 
us."

Sasami was silent.  Tris looked at her a moment, then he rose.  Tenchi 
did likewise.

"You did your best, Tris," Tenchi told him.  "You did good, buddy.  
We'll just have to see...if it works."

"Yes," Lord Yosho said.  He was still standing, although his wounded 
side must have been giving his torrents of excruciating pain.  "You 
did very well, Tristram.  Now it is up to Sasami."

"Well, yeah, Grandpa," Washuu said.  "And it's also up to whether I'm 
right about the Dream Dimension, and whether anyone in a dream state 
can enter it and—-"

"Okay, Washuu, we get the message," Tenchi said.  "We'll just hope 
for the best."  He walked up to his grandfather and accepted Sword 
Tenchi back from him.  "But we'll also prepare for the worst."

"Yeah!  You're the biggest wet blanket I ever saw, Washuu.  You've 
got the Princess beat, you know that?" Ryoko charged.

"Don't mess with me, Ryoko," Washuu told her, nettled.  "I'm in no 
mood."

"Yeah?  Well, I know what you're in the mood for."  Ryoko grinned 
slyly.  "You want Tenchi's Dad to hold your hand and maybe give you a 
big smooch!"

Washuu growled.  She took a step toward Ryoko.  Ryoko just floated 
higher and laughed.

"Look!  Isn't that Mihoshi and Kiyone coming toward us?" Tenchi 
intervened.  He had just glanced in the direction of the lake.

"It sure is!  What are they doing?  They were safe in that lake!"  
Tris was both amazed and perturbed as he observed Kiyone and Mihoshi 
out of the water and walking toward them.  They were still a little 
distance off.

"Safe for a while, anyway," Washuu agreed, appearing just as puzzled 
as Tris.  "Well, not any more.  Wonder what's up?"

"That damned blob's going to attack them!" Tris said angrily.

"Yeah, they're big targets out there," Ryoko observed.  "Big wet 
targets."

"I think not," Lord Yosho said.  "Since they are coming up to us, I 
believe that Professor Klove's creation will be content to have us 
all together for the final act."

He appeared to be correct.  Klove's mind monster keep edging closer 
and closer to them but it didn't bother to hurtle the glowing green 
globules at the fast-approaching Kiyone and Mihoshi.

"Jeeze, look at Mihoshi!  Lost her hair ribbon.  That pile of hair's 
about covering her face.  Now that's a new look for her.  I like it!"  
Ryoko laughed.

"Yeah, that dip in the lake sure didn't pretty those two up any," 
Washuu agreed, chuckling.  Typically, the two women had forgotten 
about their spat.

"They sure don't look happy—-especially Kiyone," Tenchi commented.  
"She looks royally ticked off.  Wonder why?"

"If Kiyone's in a tear, it has to be because of a certain goofball," 
Ryoko said with a knowing grin.

"What did I do?" Tris demanded.

"You got about half a day to spare?" Ryoko asked him.  "If so, I'll 
tell you!"

"Aww!"

"There's that brilliant conversation again," Ryoko noted.

Tris was tempted to hand Ryoko a hot one, but he instead studied 
Kiyone's angry face.  She was glaring right at him.  Yeah, he had to 
be the cause, all right.  But what did he do?

"Well, at least we'll all be together," Washuu said.  "It'd be kind 
of bad if we weren't, I guess."  She thought of Nobie.  "'Course, I'm 
glad your father's not here, Tenchi...you know what I mean."

Tenchi was thinking of his father as well.  "I don't know if Dad can 
handle...well...what he might find."  He looked down.  "He's not that 
strong, you know.  Poor Dad."

Tenchi looked as if he were near tears.  His grandfather gently 
touched one of his shoulders.  

Ryoko bit her lip.  She hated to see her Tenchi so sad.  She was 
tempted to settle to the ground and comfort him.  Then she looked at 
Ayeka, laying so very quiet, not moving the tiniest bit.  Washuu had 
confirmed that the Princess was still alive, just barely.  Well, 
Ryoko had said fair fight and she meant it.  She had stolen a kiss 
from Tenchi but that would be it.  As long as the Princess lived and 
was unconscious, Ryoko wouldn't take advantage of the situation 
again.

"You're beginning to sound like Washuu, sweetums," Ryoko told Tenchi.  
"Your Dad's going to come home and we'll all be here to greet him, 
and—-"

She stopped as a blinding light—-a blinding pink light--filled her 
eyes.  She closed her eyes and averted her head.  The pinkish 
incandescence was coming from the vicinity of the mind monster.  Damn 
it!  What new weapon did that pile of crud have now?  Some days a 
girl couldn't catch a break at all—-

Suddenly Klove's metallic boomed out.  "Who are you?  Answer me!" 

Then, incredibly, impossibly—-a little girl's voice answered:

"I am Pretty Sammy!  You are attacking the people I love, you 
monster!  In the name of love I shall chastise you!  So there!"

"What the flaming hell?"  Ryoko opened her eyes.  "Cripes!"  She 
closed her eyes again.  It couldn't be—-couldn't be!  She slowly 
opened her eyes again...

A glowing figure—-glowing with a pink radiance—-stood before the 
tendril-waving, massive one-eyed blob.  The figure was in the shape 
of a little girl.  The figure held a baton-like thing that looked 
like some sort of scepter.  At the top of it was a lustrous jewel in 
the shape of a heart.  The small figure spoke again.

"You are ugly.  You are mean.  You would hurt Tenchi and everyone.  I 
will stop you!"

The voice, somewhat distorted, was undeniably Sasami's.  In fact, 
anyone looking at Sasami at that moment would have seen her lips 
forming those words in her hypnotized slumber.

"Hot damn!" Tris shouted.

"All right!" Tenchi yelled. 

"Now I have seen everything," Washuu said.  "And you can quote me!"

Ryoko groaned.  It was Pretty Sammy!  And the little pest was going 
to show her up and save the day!  Up until now, Ryoko had figured 
that Tris had just been blowing smoke and her sweetums had been taken 
in by it.  But it had worked!  Ryoko swore inwardly.  She'd almost 
prefer death to being rescued by Pretty Sammy.  Almost, that is.

That sentiment was not shared by the others.  Tenchi and Tris 
whooped.  Lord Yosho simply smiled.  Ryo-Ohki pranced at the elder 
Jurian Prince's feet, meow-ing with happiness. 

Washuu shook her head.  Like Ryoko, she had also doubted the plan 
would work.  It wasn't exactly the scientific solution she would have 
preferred, but it was a solution—-maybe!

"Listen, Tris, Tenchi," she said to them.  "She might be able to 
actually hurt that thing if she really can call upon her Jurai power.  
But she's going to have to fight against her older sister's power, 
you know.  We'll still need more firepower."

"And you got it!"  Ryoko grinned.  This was more like it!  Now she 
could get more licks in and not be a damned spectator.

"Right, Ryoko!" Tenchi said.  "You attack that monster, too.  Just 
keep it busy.  I'll still come in with Sword Tenchi."

"You got it, lover!"  Ryoko was excited and ready for battle again.

Lord Yosho nodded.  "Yes, that is the way now.  It is so very 
appropriate—-Professor Klove created that portal from the dream world 
into our world in order to destroy.  Now, it may well destroy him."

"With our help, Grandfather," Tenchi added.

"Yes, grandson.  With our help."



Meanwhile, Mihoshi and Kiyone had paused, some yards away from the 
group.

"Catch me, Mihoshi," Kiyone groaned.  "I'm going to faint!"

"Huh?  But why?" Mihoshi asked.  "Don't you see--it's Pretty Sammy!  
She's going to save us!"

"That's why!" Kiyone groaned again.



The mind monster also seemed nonplussed by the sudden turn of events.  
Professor Klove clearly had not expected some other dream-made-flesh 
to use his Dream Dimension portal.

"Leave now, brat!" the mind monster snarled at the small glowing 
figure.  "Or I will destroy you, too!"

"No I won't!" Pretty Sammy said.  "You shan't get past me!"

"You are nothing but a child's dream!  Nothing!"

"I am Pretty Sammy!  You will soon be nothing!"

"What?  Then die, you miserable brat!"

The mind monster began to whip its tendrils toward the small luminous 
figure.  Glowing green globules spat out from the tips of the 
whipping tendrils.  Those globules slammed burningly, flaringly, into 
the ground.  But Pretty Sammy was not there.

"Here I am!"  Pretty Sammy had moved with fantastic speed.  She now 
stood beside the mind monster.  She raised her scepter.  The heart 
gem blazed.

"Frizzom frizzom froom!  Sweet love power!  Attack!"

Blinding bolts in the shape of hearts blasted out from the gem and 
pounded into the blubbery mass of the entity.  The mind monster 
bellowed with pain and this time it wasn't shamming.  Clearly, the 
heart power beams were wounding it.  It tried to hurl more green 
globules at Pretty Sammy, but she zipped away again—-only to reappear 
once more, this time a distance away from the mind monster.  She 
employed the heart beams again.  The entity shuddered with agony.

"That's the way!  Give it hell!" Ryoko yelled.  She had to admit—-she 
liked Pretty Sammy's style.  Now it was her turn.  Ryoko swooped 
toward the now cringing and flustered mind monster.

"Sweet mother of the galaxy!"  Now Washuu was whooping.  "Pretty 
Sammy—-I mean, Sasami—-is channeling her Jurai power!  She hurt that 
ragged assed son of a bitch!  Holy hell!  We might just win this 
battle!"

"We will," Tenchi said confidently.  "Nothing this impossible could 
have happened without reason, Washuu."

Lord Yosho nodded, smiling.  His grandson's wisdom was profound.  
Tenchi had grown, finally, into his rightful place—-both as a Juraian 
Prince and as the defender of the Earth and the galaxy.

Ryoko reached the mind monster as it cringed at another shower of 
burning beams from Pretty Sammy's heart jewel-topped scepter.  The 
entity again flailed its tendrils at the glowing figure of the little 
girl-cum-magic warrior and again, Pretty Sammy scooted away before 
deadly contact could be made.  Now Ryoko rolled two fireballs at the 
entity.  The mind monster shuddered at the additional fiery pain.

"I know you missed my love taps, Ugly!" Ryoko laughed, her fighting 
blood up again.  "Well, I'm back!  Now, eat this!"

She raised her hands.  Searingly bright force beams jolted from her 
hands and punched the entity with protean power.  The sound coming 
from the blubbery mass sounded almost like a scream.  It whipped its 
tendrils at Ryoko but she had already teleported away.  Then she 
appeared in the opposite direction.  She laughed tauntingly. 

"Why don't you tell us again how you're going to kill us--you 
miserable walking booger!"



A distance away, Mihoshi grimaced.  "Yuck!"  But then she thought 
about it.  "I guess it does look like a booger—-a big one.  Huh, 
Kiyone?"

Kiyone did not reply.  She was still staring open-mouthed at the 
glowing figure of Pretty Sammy.

"Kiyone?"

Kiyone slowly shook her head.  "That goofball!  He hypnotized Sasami 
so she would become Pretty Sammy.  And there she is...and she's 
really hurting that monster."  Her voice was charged with wonder—-and 
warmth.  "That darling--that hopeless, darling idiot!"

"So that's what he did!"  Mihoshi smiled fondly.  "How about that?"

Suddenly Kiyone was all business.  "Let's go over there."  She pointed 
to a spot some yards away from the group that would give them a clear 
view of the battle.  "And then we'll use our blasters on that blob.  
We'll get in this fight too, by damn!"

"Right!"

The two Galaxy Police officers scurried to their attack positions.



"Between the two of them, Ryoko and Pretty Sammy are giving that blob 
merry hell," Washuu reported with satisfaction.  She happily popped 
open her translucent console.  She tapped a few touchpads and peered 
at the screen.  "Oh, yeah!  I see his power signature's dropped ten 
percent already!  Pretty Sammy's power beams are weakening him.  Way 
to go, Sasami!"

"Yeah, just a few more attacks and I'll go in." Tenchi said.  He was 
girding himself with the mental force of Bushido, becoming battle-
ready.  He could feel the aura of his Juraian heritage suffuse him.  
He knew this was truly the time for him.  Whatever happened, he would 
go in and would not come back out...unless the enemy was destroyed.

"That's the spirit, buddy," Tris told him.  The American was still a 
bit surprised—-and shocked—-that their ploy had worked.  He had 
already pinched himself twice after seeing Pretty Sammy materialize 
before his eyes.  He should have known, though.  Sasami Jurai was 
more than a great cook and a little sweetheart.  She was a warrior 
and a true Princess of Jurai.

"Remember, Tenchi," Washuu advised, tapping at her console, "we don't 
know yet how Sword Tenchi will affect that blob.  It's still from 
another dimension and with all that concentrated Jurai power—-well, 
you need to get away from it after you make your thrust.  You might 
end up in a world of hurt otherwise."

"I get you, Washuu."  Tenchi nodded.

Suddenly he and the others turned as two bright beams shot out beside 
them.  They now saw Kiyone and Mihoshi standing a distance away.  The 
two Galaxy Police officers were aiming their hand blasters at the 
entity and firing at it.  Hitting it, too.

"All right!" Tris approved heartily.  "Kiyone and Mihoshi are joining 
the rumble.  More bad news for Professor Klove!"

"That's great!"  Tenchi grinned.  "Good for them!"

"Yeah, well, those hand blasters will only sting that blob a little.  
But every little bit helps," Washuu observed.

"It certainly does," Lord Yosho agreed.

"Meow-er!"  Ryo-Ohki added her approval.

The mind monster was indeed having a bad time of it.  Pretty Sammy—-
that is, the dream projection of little Sasami's mind—-kept ravaging 
the pulpy entity with those scalding heart beams.  Meanwhile, Ryoko 
swooped and dived, discharging fireballs and force beans, adding to 
the mind monster's misery.  Every time it tried to grasp those two 
tormentors with its tendrils or hit them with a plasma globule, both 
just eluded it.  Now it was being stung by Kiyone and Mihoshi's hand 
blasters, too.  It flung a glowing green globule at the two Galaxy 
Police Officers, but in the heat of battle its aim was not perfect.  
Kiyone and Mihoshi just dodged the globule and kept on firing.

"Okay, pal," Tris said.  "That blob seems pretty distracted now."  
Tris didn't want Tenchi to risk his life again, but he knew it was 
necessary.  Now seemed the best moment. 

"Right you are, buddy," Tenchi said.  

"Wait for the moment all of them attack Professor Klove's creation at 
the same time," Lord Yosho advised, "and then strike, grandson."

"Yes, Grandfather."

>From where she stood working on her console, Washuu nodded.  It 
sounded good, sounded possible.  Then she heard a soft rustling noise 
behind her.  She glanced back.  "Holy cats!" she exclaimed.

Now the others looked back also.  The sight they beheld transfixed 
them.  

Princess Ayeka had her eyes open.  She was slowly, painfully, rising, 
somehow managing to sit up.

"How in the world--!" Tris marveled.

"Of course!  That blob's losing power!  It's slackening its hold on 
Ayeka!" Washuu said.  "She's breaking free!"

"We prayed for a miracle," Lord Yosho said quietly.  "And we have 
received it."

"Ayeka!"  Tenchi went to her.  Ayeka looked up at him.  She smiled at 
Tenchi with great weariness and a greater love.

"Princess!  You're awake!" Azaka II proclaimed.

"We hope you enjoyed your slumber, Princess," Kamidake II added 
politely.

Tenchi wanted to hug Ayeka, to hold her close—-he was soaring with 
relief and exultation at her revival.  But there was no time for 
that.  There was something he had to get her to do, to say—-before 
she possibly succumbed to Professor Klove's ultra-hypnosis again.

"Ayeka--listen to me!" Tenchi said anxiously.  "Professor Klove is 
attacking us with a monster.  We're barely holding our own.  We need 
help!"  He prayed Ayeka would understand him—-could understand him—-

Ayeka blinked.  Her eyes were still a bit glazed and she was 
tremendously weary and ready to drop back into black oblivion in a 
heartbeat.  But her iron spirit forced her to fight the mind control, 
to concentrate on what Lord Tenchi was telling her.  She looked past 
him and saw the horrible creature, now being attacked by Ryoko and 
some strange being.  She recognized the creature with a shudder.  She 
nodded, weakly.  Then she spoke:

"Azaka!  Kamidake!"  Ayeka raised a trembling hand toward the living 
embodiment of the nightmare creature that had plagued her dreams for 
so long.  "Attack!"

"Oh, yes, Princess!" Azaka II said happily.

"Thank you, Princess!" Kamidake II added.

Immediately, the two large wooden cylinders fired their rockets.  
They rose into the air.  A second later, they jetted toward the 
mind monster.

Ryoko watched the two Guardians zoom in to join the fight.  "Hey, 
this party's getting pretty crowded!"  But she smiled.  She knew that 
the more attackers distracting the mind monster, the safer it would 
be for her Tenchi.

The two Guardians blinked their acknowledgement of Ryoko, paused to 
blink uncomprehendingly at the glowing figure of Pretty Sammy, and 
then turned to the task at hand—-Professor Klove's mind monster.  
They hovered before the house-sized, battered-looking fleshy blob 
with its flailing tendrils and its great yellow eye.  That eye took 
them in.  It saw the two Guardians' front cabinets slide open.  Now 
it was staring at two sets of four force beam cannons apiece.  An 
instant later, those eight cannons blazed.  The blob recoiled, 
groaningly, as the eight force beams rocked it, massively.

"Bet that hurt!" Ryoko said, laughing.

The entity grabbed for the two wooden cylinders with its tendrils.  
But Azaka II and Kamidake II jetted away rapidly.  At that moment, 
Ryoko unleashed another pair of glowing red fireballs at the entity, 
instantly plastering it with scorching proton flame.  The entity 
shuddered.

"See?  My friends will punish you, too, you bad monster!" Pretty Sammy 
told the entity.  "Love power—-punish that monster again!"

The shimmering diminutive figure raised her scepter.  Once more, 
heart-shaped rays spiraled from the radiant heart jewel.  Those rays 
pummeled the pulpy mass of the blob, resoundingly.

The entity shivered and shook like gelatin in a mixer.  Its yellow 
eye rolled.  It was in terrific pain.  To add to its torment, Kiyone 
and Mihoshi kept needling it with their blasters, firing beam after 
beam into the squirming bulk.  Azaka II and Kamidake II swooped down 
again, cabinets open, force beam cannons flashing.  More force beams 
plowed into the entity with brutal force.  Ryoko tossed in two more 
fireballs, laughing as the blob shuddered again at the pain of the 
blazing flame searing its slimy skin. 

Meanwhile, Ayeka was still sitting up, shaking her head, trying to 
clear it.  She couldn't quite succeed; Professor Klove still 
enthralled her somewhat, still had a tap into her, but she was 
regaining control of her mind and her soul, slowly but very surely.  
Tenchi stared at her, gratified beyond measure.  Again she smiled at 
him lovingly.  It filled him with a steely determination.  He raised 
Sword Tenchi.  The burning-bright power blade again flared into 
existence.  Then, without preamble, he began his final run at the entity.

"Good luck, buddy!" Tris called.

"Yes, good luck, Tenchi!" Washuu added.  She closed her console and 
walked over to the Princess.  She helped Ayeka rise to her feet.  
"Keep fighting him, Ayeka," she advised.  "I know it's damned hard—-
but fight him—-expel him!"

Lord Yosho watched his grandson sprint toward the mind monster.  "You 
are ready, Tenchi.  This is your moment.  Take it.  And Godspeed."

Tenchi had picked the perfect moment for his run.  The mind monster, 
in addition to truly being hurt, badly hurt, for the first time since 
it had materialized from Professor Klove's subconscious, was also 
finding its hands—-its tendrils—-filled with trying to deal with so 
many enemies.

Pretty Sammy was the worse.  Each and every attack with her heart 
beams not only wounded the entity but also sapped its power and, 
consequently, its tap into Princess Ayeka.  But Ryoko's fireballs and 
force beams also were quite painful, especially now that the entity 
was so weakened.  The constant force beams from Azaka II and Kamidake 
II also pounded it heavily, adding to its agony.  Even the sniping 
rays from the blasters of the two Galaxy Police officers felt quite 
painful now.  The entity didn't know which enemy to attack first, so 
it just flailed at all of them, discharging the glowing green 
globules, but so distractedly that its enemies easily dodged them.  
Its tendrils grabbed nothing but empty air.  The mind monster wasn't 
impotent by any means, but it was confused and rattled.  And it had a 
serious design flaw.

Professor Klove had fashioned his nightmare creature with the object 
of making it as horrible and frightening as possible in order to 
initially get the greatest feedback from his test subjects.  He 
succeeded in that respect.  But with only one eye, as massive as it 
was, the mind monster could only keep so many targets in focus.  
Thus, battling almost fruitlessly with Ryoko, Pretty Sammy, Azaka II 
and Kamidake II, and Kiyone and Mihoshi, the mind monster simply 
wasn't aware of the tiny figure of the slim young man racing toward 
it, carrying a terrible swift power sword.  Not until that figure was 
upon it.

"Its eye, Tenchi!" Lord Yosho called.  "That's your target!"

Tenchi heard his grandfather.  He was at the base of the massive 
fleshy blob, so close he could see the glistening mucous covering it, 
the roiling pulsations beneath its rubbery skin--and he could smell 
its foul, fetid odor.  The odor of death.  The odor of the grave.  
Tenchi steeled himself and made a tremendous leap—-

"Wow!" Tris exclaimed.  He couldn't believe Tenchi could jump so 
high—-he was Olympic gold medal material, for sure.  It must have had 
something to do with carrying Sword Tenchi, he guessed.

"Strike, Tenchi!" Lord Yosho called.  "Strike!"

High in the air and hurtling down fast, Tenchi saw the huge yellow 
eye with its curiously vapid black pupil and the web of red veins 
loom before him.  He thrust Sword Tenchi forcefully into that pulpy 
yellow orb—-plunging into it, lunging into it, with all his skill and 
might.

A second later, the air was rent with a high keening sound, a 
veritable scream of agony from the entity.  An eye-searing flash of 
fiery incandescence blasted Tenchi.  Sword Tenchi was doing its duty.  
Shutting his eyes, he thrust Sword Tenchi in deeper, deeper, impaling 
the evil mass with the full power of the house of Jurai.

Gripping the sword tightly by the hilt, hanging from it in mid-air 
now, Tenchi could actually feel the fiery shaft of pure cleansing 
energy scour the internal organs of the mind monster, burning, 
destroying, dissolving, obliterating the diseased, seeping, roiling 
guts of it—-it screamed again, terribly-- 

"AAAHHHHHRRRRRHHHRRRRRRRRR--!"

--Tenchi felt himself blown back from the shuddering fleshy mass by 
the force of that scream, but he held onto Sword Tenchi with an 
unbreakable grip.  He collapsed on the grass before the massive 
creature.  Sword Tenchi's blazing blade disappeared.  It had done its 
work.

He quickly tumbled backward, rolling and rolling, putting distance 
between him and his wounded enemy—-he remembered Washuu's admonition.  
He could hear scream after paralyzing scream wrenched from the 
entity, but he felt no pity for the monster, only relief that he had 
struck the killing blow.

For there could be no mistake.  From its screams, the mind monster of 
Professor Klove was mortally wounded.  But it was wrong to think of 
it that way.  It was a malignant cancer, a boil of hate and spite 
that Sword Tenchi had lanced with the full, protean, pure-white power 
of the Juraian dynasty.

Somehow, amidst all his tumbling, Tenchi heard Pretty Sammy's 
childish voice, flush with victory:  "That's what you get for being 
so mean, you awful monster!  Love triumphs!"

Once he adjudged he was far enough away, Tenchi rose, shakily, to his 
feet.  He looked at the entity.

Its eye was destroyed, utterly.  The ocular orb was now only a 
bubbling, spurting yellow splash on the entity's squirming flesh-
colored form.  The blob's pseudo mouth was opening and closing as it 
keened and keened with dreadful anguish.  It shook its tendrils, but 
no plasma globules issued from them.  Professor Klove's mind monster 
was no longer able to attack or even defend.  All it could do was 
suffer and die.

Tenchi experienced no triumphat the sight--just gratitude that a 
great evil had been vanquished.  Now he experienced a bit of anxiety 
as he watched the mind monster shudder mightily and begin to collapse 
within itself, for real this time.  The shimmering halo all around it 
was now crackling with blue sparks.  It looked pretty unstable...and 
pretty dangerous.  He turned to run from it--

Then he felt a pair of soft but strong hands grasp his shoulders.  
Now he was rising in the air.  He groaned, knowing the source of his 
sudden ascent.

"Ryoko!"

"That's me, sweetums."  Ryoko's voice was gleeful.  "You were 
wonderful, Tenchi!  You stuck that sword right in Old Ugly's eyeball.  
He's finished, and good riddance!  Listen to him scream—-isn't it 
lovely?  I knew you could do it, Tenchi.  We did it—-you and me.  
That's the life for us, lover.  You and me, fighting creeps and 
monsters."

"Uh-huh," Tenchi said dryly, as Ryoko carried him to just below the 
treetops.  "Just you and me...not to mention Azaka II and Kamidake 
II, and Sasami, and Grandfather, and Washuu, and Ayeka, and Tris, and 
Kiyone and—-"

"Oh, they helped a little.  But it was you and me, sweetums, really.  
That's the way it was meant to be.  Don't you realize that?"

"What I realize is," Tenchi told her, "that monster looks like its 
going to come unglued.  We better get away from it—-"

"Of course, sweetums.  That's why I picked you up."

"Okay, then you can take me to Grandfather and the others.  We need 
to talk about what's happening to that monster.  We still might not 
be out of danger."

"But, sweetums..."  Ryoko was disappointed.  Now that the Princess 
was on her feet again, Ryoko saw this as a golden opportunity to get 
a little wooing time with her Tenchi up in one of the trees.  Of 
course, she was kind of a mess, but Tenchi wouldn't mind—-

"Ryoko!"

The space pirate sighed.  "Yes, sweetums."

Now, obediently, she carried him, still grasping him by the shoulders, 
over to the small knot of people still standing in the spot they had 
occupied for so long.  Tenchi saw, with immense relief, that Ayeka was 
standing upright without assistance.  She was staring down at the 
sleeping form of her little sister with a puzzled look on her face.  
Tenchi glanced back.  Azaka II and Kamidake II, sensing their enemy 
was vanquished, had flown back to their usual posts just outside the 
front gate.  The shimmering figure of Pretty Sammy had disappeared.  
Tenchi turned his head and looked down at the group of people below 
him again--his family.  Yes, his family...all of them.

Ryo-Ohki, her fur still blackened, was nonetheless hopping with joy.  
Tenchi noted that Kiyone and Mihoshi had put away their blaster hand 
weapons and joined the group.  They stood very close to Tris.  In 
fact, Kiyone was slowly stroking his back with her fingernails.  Her 
eyes sparkled at she looked at him.  Tris was rubbing his side, but 
not looking all that upset.  Tenchi had to grin—-no doubt, Tris had 
received a jab and then a kiss from Kiyone.  His grin faded as he 
glanced at Grandfather and Washuu.  They both looked worried.

"Thank goodness you brought him, Ryoko!" Washuu said when he and 
Ryoko were within earshot.  "We gotta get out of here!"

"Huh?" Tenchi asked.  "Why?"

"Because that blob's dying and it doesn't have access to Ayeka's 
Jurai power anymore," Washuu explained, her voice strained.  "It can't 
maintain the buffer it's using to isolate this dimension from its own 
dimension.  When it fully collapses and dies, the two dimensions are 
going to touch for a nanosecond."

"And that's bad," Tenchi guessed.

"That's bad.  It means a hell of an explosion when those dissimilar 
elements meet.  We gotta get as far away as we can!  Now!"

"Got you, Washuu!"  Ryoko now zoomed away, carrying Tenchi, toward 
the lake.

"Ryoko!  Wait!" Tenchi cried.

But Ryoko didn't wait.  She flew herself and Tenchi past the lake and 
into the wooded area beyond. 

"That is so typical of that woman!" Ayeka said, enraged.  "Using this 
perilous situation to have Lord Tenchi all to herself!"  No one could 
doubt that the Princess was back to normal, despite the great 
weariness that still showed on her face.

"Whatever."  Washuu shrugged.  "Like I said, we gotta beat feet.  If 
we all hurry, we can put Yogami between us and that blob.  It'll give 
us some protection, anyway.  Grandpa, lean on me, will you?"

"With great pleasure, Professor Washuu," Lord Yosho replied amiably.  
The two of them, rather a comical sight with the taller Shinto Priest 
leaning on the diminutive super scientist, began to trot toward the 
downed Yogami and away from the collapsing mass of the entity.  "Come 
on, you guys!" Washuu turned her head and called to the others.  "Get 
organized and get going!"  

Now Kiyone took charge of the situation.  "Mihoshi, you help Ayeka.  
Tris, you carry Sasami."

"Right!"  Mihoshi moved to stand alongside the Princess.

"Well, let me awaken Sasami first," Tris said.

"Forget it!  Carry her, I said!"

"But Kiyone—-"

"Tris Coffin, you're going to do what I say from now on!  You got it?"

Tris nodded.  "Yes, Officer."

"Get cracking, you!"

Tris walked over and kneeled beside Sasami.  He gently picked up the 
sleeping little girl who had saved the day for them all.

"Let's go!"  Kiyone led the way at a sprint.

Mihoshi, letting Ayeka lean against her, was right behind her partner 
as she dragged the Princess along.  Just a few steps behind was Tris, 
carrying Sasami.  Ryo-Ohki scampered beside them.  Washuu and Lord 
Yosho were just ahead of them.

"Wish I knew how long we have," Kiyone panted.  "Because then I could 
have—-"

Suddenly a blinding flash blazed from behind them.  The air around 
them was seared with white-hot gusts.  The ground shook as if in the 
throes of a great earthquake.  A kind of force-wind, incredibly 
strong, slammed into them and sent them sprawling.

The ground rumbled, mightily.  Leaves and limbs, torn from trees that 
were bent almost to the ground, filled the air.  The concussion of the 
two dimensions meeting and imploding was terrific.  It flattened 
everything, trees, bushes, and people.  The very air seemed to punch 
the landscape like a giant fist.

Then the leaves and branches and plants torn out by their roots that 
filled the air like confetti settled as the explosion dissipated.  The 
debris covered the ravaged ground.

The rumbling ceased.  Stillness reigned over the land.  The sun poked 
though the clouds, its rays caressing the lake and causing it to 
glisten brightly.  Birds not blown away by the inter-dimensional blast 
began to twitter in those trees still left standing.

And nothing moved.  Nothing at all.



________________________________________

CHAPTER NOTES


(1)  Actually, "Sierra Hotel" is the G-rated version of the traditional 
fighter pilot's shout of approval.  I'll leave the R-rated version to the 
reader's discernment.