Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ The Senior Year ❯ Tales of Avalon: Mienai and Damasu ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Lecashuto. Three years ago...

The moans of wounded and dying Mikado Marines echo through
the hundred-storey tower serving as the dictator's sanctum
sanctorum. The group of six now cutting through the thousands of
troops like a sharp scythe ignore them as they push up the stairs,
sweeping out each level with the precision of the Terminator.

On level forty-four, several warriors of the Hunter Corps
remain tense by the office of their commanding officer. "Can't
you sense any of them?!" Bujosur wonders.

"No, I can't!" Junba hisses...

...as the door to the emergency stares explodes!! The
hunters scream as bolts of energy lash out, nailing them in the
arms and legs, taking down the small force in seconds. Their
attacker is a tall, broad-shouldered man with muddy brown hair
pierced by a stubby horn atop his head, clad in buckskins mixed
with a complex force-shield belt. He laughs at the hunters'
feeble unsuccessful attempts to protect their commander. "Stay
down!!" he barks, drilling Junba in the knees, Bujosur in the hips
and the others in various other joints.

Another hail of gunfire races at the alien from the office.
He ducks back instinctively, then leans in when the fire slackens
enough to drill Furusur in both shoulders. Ignoring the colonel's
pained moans, the warrior then walks in, turning on the building-
wide monitor system, then taps his collar-mike. "It's on."

"Come upstairs," a woman responds.

"Okay," he nods, then smiles at Furusur. "Enjoy the show."

Furusur groans as the warrior heads back to the emergency
stairs, then races up to the hundredth floor. The mass of stairs
don't effect him as he emerges to see the five others waiting by
the entrance to the Mikado's office. "They all down?!" he stares
at his leader, a woman with braided black hair.

"All of them. Lucky thing we came on Unification Day," the
woman then nods to the office. "But he isn't exactly there."

"Shadow?"

"Of course."

"Too bad. Shadows are still linked to their originator.
He'll remember the pain."

"True. Vid-cam ready?"

"Hai," a younger girl hefts a camera.

"Go!!!"

The doors are smashed as the sextet race in, guns blazing.
The Mikado...or rather, one of his doubles...is stitched by a
storm of hot hornets, collapsing against the shatterproof picture
windows as the fire ceases! "Okay!!" the woman smiles, then moves
to place herself beside the shadow. "Roll it!"

"You're on," the girl smiles.

"Hello," the woman grins. "I am Eun-hyok of the Keukpok
Clan. Take a look," she points at the shadow. "This isn't your
'kind, benevolent father' by the way. It's just another of the
cowardly little shadows he uses to avoid justice. I think he's
suffering a heart attack right now observing Unification Day in
Lecashuto Square. Too bad."

With that, Eun-hyok reaches down to touch the shadow...and it
burns up in a flash of energy. "Remember this, Vosians," she
turns back to the camera. "There were 2000 troops, Marines and
hunters protecting this place. All of them are badly wounded.
Some might die for their devotion to the coward who hides in this
office. That's just too bad. We are but six that came here today
and we defeated two whole regiments' worth of your best troops.
This place isn't impregnable. We can hide from your pathetic
little tracking powers...and with the technology other races have
given us, we can overcome your best defenses. What happens once
will happen again...and the next time, your 'kind, benevolent
father' may be here to answer for all his crimes. Remember that."

The girl stops rolling. "It's out and recorded."

"Good," the woman nods. "Let's go."

They disappear in a flash of teleportation energy...

* * *

Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year: "Tales of Avalon: Mienai and Damasu"
by Fred Herriot
**** **** ****
Edited by E.B. Kushnir
**** **** ****
A story based on the series in turn based on "Urusei Yatsura,"
created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

WRITER'S NOTES:

1) This story is set in the period after "Time Curse," parallel
to the side story on Kamen and Hensou. The teaser occurs about
three years ago.

2) The Tokkaebi (pronounced Toe-KAY-bee) are based on the
sprites of Korean myths. More playful than evil, they are similar
to Onis save for having one horn on the top of their head. The
alien Tokkaebis introduced here lived on a world in the same solar
system as Vos Colony Forty. By the time of the Vosian Civil War,
they were at the same level of technology as Uru. Since these are
Korean spirits, I'll use Korean personal names.

**** **** ****

Today...

Mienai gasps. "Eun-hyok!!"

The Tritonian bioroid shakes her head as sleep falls away
from her, then feels a nudge beside her. "What is it, Mienai-
chan...?" Damasu stares questioningly at her.

"I'm sorry," Mienai leans back to embrace her life-mate.
"Just a nightmare."

"What nightmare?"

"About the raid on Lecashuto the Tokkaebis we went after
performed some years ago," Mienai yawns. "Strange. It actually
felt as if I was there leading the raid."

"Eun-hyok was the woman you killed."

Mienai sighs. "Don't remind me..."

* * *

"They won't want to see you, Nassur."

"I have to see them, Benten," the Vosian sighs as the private
jet wings its way toward Sado. "Lecasur's Soul, after finding out
about who and what they are, I wish..."

"Hey, it was news to me when Lum told me about them," Benten
sighs. "Shit, I had another sister I never knew about all this
time, one who even knew all my thoughts and actions!"

"You understand why I did it..."

"Yes, I understand...and I'm grateful for you for thinking of
our safety," Benten gazes at her husband. "But hell, someone
sooner or later would've found out about Kamen and the others, so
what use would've they been then?"

"True," Nassur muses.

* * *

"The Jump Health Spa?" Dareko wonders.

"Hai!" Mienai nods as everyone relaxes for a large breakfast.
"They're looking for new instructors for aerobics classes. I've
always been interested in that."

"I go there to keep this body in good shape," Dareko flexes
her biceps, smiling. "It's a beautiful place. You'll love it."

"Well, our interview is this afternoon at three," Damasu
grins. "If they want us to do morning classes, we'll have to stop
helping out on the farm."

"That should be no problem," Atako sips her coffee. "I mean,
I don't understand why Grandma insisted on having us come here.
There's enough workers here already to keep the farm going."

"Maybe she wanted to give the Project K bioroids a place to
live so they could get away from working with Nassur," Shinoko
hums. "She didn't find out about us until later."

"True," Atako smiles, then for dessert, leans over to nibble
her life-mate's ear.

"Atako!!" Shinoko squeaks. "Down, girl! Down!!"

The others laugh as the two kiss. "I think Darling likes the
idea of being pregnant!" Hensou smirks.

"Must be increasing her sex drive," Shutako muses.

More laughter results as the echo of a helicopter blade is
heard. "Oh, that must be Nassur and Benten," Hensou rises.
"Well, we better get ready to receive them."

As the bioroids rise, Atako gets a churlish grin on her face.
"What?" Aisuko stares at her.

"I have an idea," she hums...

* * *

"Shit, nice place!" Benten whistles, entering the reception
lounge, turning on her feet to stare at the beautiful Heian
tapestries hanging from all the walls. "Damn, I'll say this about
Ataru's grandma: she knows how to live it up!!"

"Indeed," Nassur muses, looking around as his eyes glow. "I
can't sense anyone..."

Suddenly, all the lights go out as all the blinds slam down,
plunging the room into total darkness. "What the...?!!" Benten
cries out as she and Nassur tense.

Fingers tap their shoulders. "Peek-a-boo! I see you!!"

Both scream as the lights come back on, revealing Atako. The
sudden shock of the bioroid's appearance sends Nassur and Benten
stumbling. "Who are you?!!" the latter gasps.

Nassur recovers. "You must be Atako."

"In person," Atako smiles. "A little payback for scaring my
brother some months back at the Tarouzakura."

The Vosian pauses, then chuckles as Atako helps them to their
feet. "Shit, are you always this caustic?!" Benten wonders.

"I was created that way!" Atako sighs. "Now, if you'll
excuse me, I have some grape vines to take care of. Ja nai."

She heads off. "Atako...?" Nassur stares at Benten.

"A farmer?" the latter returns her husband's stare.

Hands fall over her eyes. "Guess who?!"

The Fukunokami spins around to see...herself! "Holy shit!!"

"Hi, sis!" Kamen embraces her. "Ah, you did it! Congrats!!
You pregnant yet?!"

"No, not yet!" Benten grunts under the Avalonian's powerful
squeeze, then chuckles. "Um...where are the others?"

"C'mon," Kamen waves them to a lounge.

Sometime later, Nassur sits facing Ria and the four Project K
bioroids. Benten, Shutako and the guards relax nearby. "I cannot
begin to apologize for not knowing the truth about you," the
Vosian sighs. "The way Oogi painted you at the time you were
created, you were just complex androids, incapable of living your
own life."

"Well, now you understand the truth about us," Hensou smiles.
"We know you very well, Nassur. Even when you did see us in the
way that moron Oogi painted us, you treated us with respect and
kindness, something we'll never forget. And if you feel the need
to require our assistance again, we'll happily give it. You did
train us all, much more thoroughly than you trained Lum-chan."

"True," Nassur nods. "Well, I suppose Dake-chan is right. I
really don't see the need to make use of living targets to protect
your sisters. The Mikado is the only one who would be tempted to
target all of your sisters to get me and he's months away from
finally being overthrown. Gegranko isn't the type, Elle's already
been defeated by you without my help so she won't try it again and
everyone else are too small to worry about."

"Nassur, speaking of the Mikado, what of the tape?" Mienai
muses. "The one you asked us to obtain from Eun-hyok?"

Nassur blinks surprisedly. "I made a copy of it. One of the
copies is in the storage vault on Home Base, the other was turned
over to the *an'san-Mikado* for transfer to the rebel forces."

"Then why hasn't any news of that raid been released?"

"What raid?!" Benten wonders.

"Three years ago, six Tokkaebi warriors broke into the
Mikado's headquarters in Lecashuto," Mienai smiles. "They wounded
over two thousand troops, never suffered even a scratch in return
and if the Mikado actually had been there instead of one of his
shadows, the Civil War would've ended that day."

"Holy shit, is this true?!"

"It is," Nassur sighs. "Shortly after, an intermediary I
later learned was working for the Mikado asked me to track down
six Tokkaebi 'terrorists' who killed a school full of innocent
kids on Unification Day, six terrorists...who could block their
brainwaves from Vosian tracking powers."

"Just like us," Kamen muses. "Sis, these were genetically
enhanced warriors; their bodies were spliced in with Avalonian DNA
the Niphentaxians provided them. Once they were trained and
prepared properly, they could mow through almost anything."

"So you had to be used to get them, right?" Benten hums.

"Right," Kamen nods. "Their leader was Keukpok Eun-hyok, one
of the most deadly warriors the Tokkaebis ever had even before she
was remade into an Avalonian. Her people look on her in the same
way the Palestinians look at Yasser Arafat even though her
previous raids against Vosians responsible for the destruction of
Tokkaebos were denounced by both sides of the Civil War as
terrorism."

"Excuse us," Aisuko puts up her hand. "I hate to interrupt
this, but none of us even know what a Tokkaebi is or how this
associates with Nassur's people."

Nassur sighs. "Tokkaebos is...WAS...in the same solar system
as Vos Colony Forty. My people's first president, Lecasur,
discovered them 2000 years ago. This being before the Prime
Directive, we engaged in contact and trade. The Tokkaebis are a
very nice race, fun-loving...like Benten's people. As time went
on and as we developed the philosophy of the Prime Directive, we
chose to leave the Tokkaebis alone. They eventually expanded to
settle some colonies; they're even closer neighbours to us than
Yehisril."

"So how did their planet get destroyed?" Shutako asks.

"When the Civil War began, Colony Forty became a battleground
since it was seen as an escape valve for dissidents to flee to
Tokkaebos; it's the next planet over. The Tokkaebis declared
their neutrality, but they, like most other races, eventually
leaned towards the rebel side. Finally, the rebels invaded Colony
Forty to take it over. During the last stages of that fight ten
years ago, a planet-cracker bomb was unleashed...but it was
dropped on Tokkaebos. By accident or by purpose, no one knows to
this day."

"The seismic disruptions unleashed by a planet-cracker bomb
eventually destroyed Tokkaebos' very eco-system," Ria continues.
"Millions died in a very short time. The remainder were then
forced to flee to their colonies. Ever since, Tokkaebi 'righteous
armies' have been exacting 'justice' from Nassur's people."

"The reason the tape's never been released is because the
rebel forces are afraid that fringe radical elements might learn
that the Tokkaebis were given Avalonian technology," Nassur adds.
"When the news of your people got out, the whole galaxy was
shocked. In many ways, Avalon is even stronger than Zephyrus.
And if you're the least bit xenophobic, that leads to trouble."

"Tell us about it," Hensou sighs. "We just bumped into a
hybrid working for Schwartz who was trying to steal the factory."

Nassur looks stunned. "Did he...?"

"Hey, you trained us better than that, you know!" Kamen
snaps.

"Mommy?!" a voice calls out.

Nassur and Benten watch as Sadako enters the room, carrying
several dolls in her arms. "Who's this?" Benten points.

"This is our soon-to-be pride and joy, Sadako Shigaten, nee
Tsuruga," Kamen smiles. "Sadako-chan, these are your Uncle Nassur
and your Auntie Benten!"

"Hi!!" Sadako beams.

"Hey, there...what's this?!" Benten blinks on seeing one
particular doll in Sadako's arms. "That's me!"

"Uh-huh!" Sadako places the other dolls down, then shows
Benten her diminutive replica. "Mommy gave it to me! She's just
as pretty as you are!"

Benten flushes, then notices another doll. "Let me guess;
you got the Lum doll from Hensou, right?"

"Hai," Sadako reaches down, then hugs the Oni doll beside the
Benten doll. "They're my favourites!!"

Hensou leans over to Nassur. "That's this week."

The Vosian snickers...

* * *

"Is this the way to do this?"

Atako looks over, then nods. "Yeah. Cut it as close to the
root stem as possible, Nassur. Don't spoil the grapes."

"Right," the Vosian nods as he snips off the bunch, then
places it with the others in a large wicker basket. "I've been
trained to do many things, but farming wasn't one of them."

"Hey, neither were we," Atako smiles. "Still, it's nice to
be able to do things like this. I like it here. It's an
adventure."

"Even more so than living in Tomobiki?"

"Even more so," Atako nods. "Nassur, a lot of the reason
Ataru-chan moved out of Tomobiki was that he was sick and tired of
putting up with everyone wondering what was going on with him and
Lum-chan AND voicing an objection whenever even the slightest
thing went wrong AND blaming him for everything that makes Lum-
chan upset even if it wasn't his fault. That's why my brother
likes you and is trying to learn how to respect you. You've never
done that with him. In fact," she smiles, "...you might say that
his respecting you is what led you to recognize Benten."

Nassur blinks. "How?"

"Remember when you got sliced by the soulsword?"

"Don't remind me," the Vosian shudders.

"Well, my brother gave Benten an energy staff that allowed
her to give a little of her life-force to reunite your soul with
your body. And, as soon as you finally resolved your pain for
your first wife..."

"Recognition did the rest," Nassur smiles. "But why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did Ataru do that for me? After all, it was because of
Hazel that he was tortured and that thing got out..."

"No, my brother blames Shinobu for that, not you," Atako
sighs, glancing at Shinoko, attacking a very stubborn tomato plant
at the other side of the greenhouse. "That's why all his feelings
for her soured. Shinobu dragged him out to the pool that day and
sure enough, he gets swiped with the others."

"But he could've refused."

"True, he could have," Atako nods. "You see, Ataru-chan is
spending a lot of time now trying to figure out what went on in
the years before the Spirit War. Who's to blame? Part of him
actually just wants to forget and press on with his life. But for
that to happen, he has to be in a place where reminders of his
past don't knock him for a loop. Oshika provides that for him as
Sado does for me."

Mienai approaches, a geranium plant in hand. "Until Ataru-
kun does resolve that within himself, he'll never want to go
back," she adds, having overheard the last of the conversation.

"So what do you people do outside of this farm?" Nassur
continues to clip grapes.

"Atako-chan and Shinoko-chan model; it's where they met their
daughter Junko," Mienai smiles. "Kamen-chan and Hensou-chan work
at a daycare centre; that's where they met Sadako-chan. Damasu-
chan and I're going this afternoon to apply for a job at a local
health spa where Dareko-chan goes to train. Ria-chan and Shutako-
chan work on the factory with their assistants. Aisuko-chan is
trying to get into a local tennis club, Shikko-chan just joined a
local woman's baseball team and Urayako-chan has been bitten by
the shopping bug," she titters.

"Normal lives..."

* * *

"So you like them?" Lum wonders from Tomobiki.

"They're pretty nice," Nassur chuckles, hesitant since he's
never had to use an audio-only phone. "And very content with
their lives. After the way you described all their templates, I
never would believe they'd enjoy things like farming, modelling or
working at a health spa."

"Well, they're trying to find their niche, just like Darling
and I will have to do after we graduate," Lum warns.

"How does Ataru look at his sister?"

"They're getting used to each other, so it's a bit slow for
them," Lum admits. "Same with me. Ria-chan spends most of her
time debugging the factory. And I think Hensou-chan and the other
Project K bioroids just want to establish their own identities
first before solidifying ties with us. I'm glad she and Kamen-
chan are adopting Sadako-chan; makes me more anxious to marry
Darling so Reiko-chan can call me Mom."

"Just don't rush things, Lum," Nassur warns. "Ataru still
needs time to recover from the Spirit War; events like that leave
very deep scars in one's psyche."

"That's true," Lum nods. "Well, I do know that Shinobu and
Shinoko spend a lot of time talking over the phone. No surprise
at all, Lan and Damasu are pretty close, too; I think Lan's trying
to get an extra videophone so Mienai and Oyuki-chan can stay in
touch. And, big surprise of all, Shutako gets along great with
Ryooko."

"Oh, that's Mendou's sister, the Lan-wanna be who likes to
drop grenades on people," Nassur laughs.

"That's her," Lum snickers. "Darling's trying to get his
friend Reigi Yumoa to marry Ryooko; he'll do that when the time
comes for him to put the screws to everyone in Tomobiki. That'll
be around the New Year; supposedly, Grandma wants to be in on it."

"I'm looking forward to meeting that lady," Nassur muses,
looking around his and Benten's guest bedroom. "I will say this
about Ataru's grandmother; after visiting the Mendou mansion,
Nagaiwakai does know how to show off her wealth without
overloading all your senses like Mendou does."

"That's true. Now if she could only trust me more."

"Give her time, Lum-chan. Remember, she's 80 years old. For
a person of this planet, she's be pretty set in her ways."

"Grandma is many things, Nassur-chan. Old isn't one of them.
When you meet her, you'll see."

Nassur hums as the conversation ends, then relaxes. A knock
is then heard. "Come in?" he looks over.

"Hi!" Damasu peeks into the room. "We got the job!!"

"That's wonderful!" Nassur smiles. "Where's Mienai?"

"She's in the bathroom," Damasu skips in, then sits down.
"So, how long will you and Benten-chan want to stay with us?"

"Well, I'm still weak over what happened when we got time-
warped into the past," Nassur grunts, then gazes at her.
"Probably a couple of weeks. How are you doing? Lum-chan tells
me you and Lan get along famously."

"Just like Hei-chan does, too," Damasu smiles at him, then
frowns. "Lan-chan needs it. I know you two hate each other, but
after what Mom put Lan-chan through..."

"You don't need to tell me that," Nassur stares at her.
"Remember, I caught your mother once beating Lan."

"She hasn't forgotten that. Nassur, there's one thing about
Lan-chan's powers you don't understand. There come times when
those powers go out of control, when she HAS to absorb the youth
of someone. You were just unlucky to be close by when she was
forced to attack you. Deep down, she never wanted to hurt you."

Nassur considers that, then smiles. "Let Lan resolve her own
problems. I'll still be around. In a way, Lan's like Ataru."

"True, they are alike," Damasu muses. "Strange. I never
thought Darling would be the vindictive type."

"No. Deep down, he's scared of that beast inside him and
what it could do if it ever got lose again. He's protecting
everyone in Tomobiki by staying in Oshika."

"Never thought of it that way," Damasu hums. "Now, I wonder
how long it takes everyone in Tomobiki to figure it out...eh?"

She pauses, tensing as a strange feeling flows through her
mind. Nassur tenses. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's here..." Damasu looks around. "An Avalonian...but
not one I recognize..."

Nassur reaches over to draw his gun as Damasu turns to the
door...as it opens to reveal someone in shadow. "*Why...?*"

Damasu gulps as Nassur rises, gun sweeping to the target.
"*Why do you deny us, Nassur...?*" the stranger gasps.

"Who are you?" Nassur wonders.

"*One you thought a murderer of children...*"

"Eun-hyok!" Damasu gapes.

"*You should know us better than that, Nassur. You should
know we would never hurt children. Why do you deny us our
righteous vengeance for what we've lost...?*"

Tensing, Damasu lunges at the shadow, grabbing her and
yanking her into the light to reveal...

"Mienai?!!"

The Tritonian bioroid dizzily stares at her life-mate, then
reaches up to caress Damasu's cheek. "She loves you, Damasu..."
Mienai smiles. "As much as I love her now. I don't hate her..."

Damasu's face pales as realization dawns. "No, oh no...your
soul's in Mienai..."

"Yes," Mienai smiles, her eyes fluttering. "Give us our
justice...give us our justice..."

She collapses in Damasu's arm. "Get Ria!!" the Seishin
bioroid barks at Nassur, tenderly holding her life-mate...

* * *

...as elsewhere, atop a skyscraper in Niigata, a woman looks
up at the bright Moon overhead...and the bright star of the Avalon
factory satellite in high orbit over Sado Island. "Sister...oh,
sister, you're still with us..." she whispers, holding her hands
in prayer. "Soon, you'll be free...and then you'll have your
revenge on the slut who betrayed and killed you...soon..."

* * *

"It's true," Ria shakes her head. "When she died, Eun-hyok's
*mei'na* wound its way into Mienai's subconscious. I'm surprised
this didn't happen sooner."

Everyone stands around the unconscious Tritonian bioroid, now
on a diagnostic table aboard the factory ship. "Why didn't this
happen sooner, Elder Mother?" Jenny wonders.

"Probably because the job of hunting down those Tokkaebis was
the last one we did before the thing on Phentax Twelve," Kamen
muses. "We were rarely out of cryostasis in the three years
between then and now."

"Can you help her?" Benten wonders.

"Quite easily," Ria smiles, then gently touches Mienai's
forehead. "Eun-hyok?! Do you hear me?"

Mienai's eyes open. "Yes, I hear you, Ria."

"Since your old body was lost, we have to create a new one.
Do you agree to this?"

"I do," Mienai/Eun-hyok nods, then looks at Damasu. "Don't
be afraid, Damasu-chan. I won't steal your beloved away."

"You better not," Damasu warns, smiling dangerously.

Ria sighs, then turns to Timotei. "Prep a tank. Find our
datafiles on Tokkaebi DNA structures. I'll have to do a little
mind-meld to get a clearer picture of what Eun-hyok was like
before I begin the sequencing."

"At once, Elder Mother," Timotei nods, then heads off.

As the others file off to return to their own business,
Nassur stands beside Mienai. The possessed bioroid looks up. "We
would never kill children, Nassur. Whoever told you that was
lying."

"Yeah, I know that now," he sighs. "Shortly after you were
eliminated, a hunter from the other side, Varena, sent me tapes of
a squad of Furusur's people killing those children with captured
weapons from Tokkaebos. It was pretty well structured."

"Dakejinzou's First Rule of Deception..."

"'Always assume that someone's lying to you,'" Nassur smirks,
then stares at her. "Personally, you deserve all the justice you
get. What happened to Tokkaebos was as bad as what the Mikado did
the Wasurites."

"We suffered worse," Mienai/Eun-hyok sighs. "The Wasurites
were victims of an amnesia bomb. They can rediscover what they
lost over time. We can never have our home world again..."

* * *

"How is she?!" Damasu asks.

Ria sighs as she steps out of the preparation room, then
looks back as Mienai emerges. "I'm alright," she smiles.

The two embrace. "And may I present our newest sister," Ria
dramatically waves.

Everyone watches as Eun-hyok emerges. Ria's height, she is a
slender woman, almost wafer-thin in the eyes of some. Her eyes,
dark green like freshly-cut grass, sparkle with knowledge and
passion. Her hair is long and braided in a loop around her head
like Ria's, the small horn that is her race's most distinctive
feature peeking from her scalp. She is clad in a plain Avalonian
jumpsuit. "Hello, everyone," she smiles, bowing.

Everyone exchanges delighted smiles...

* * *

"So what's this place like?"

Damasu, Mienai and Dareko lead their guests toward a glass-
enclosed five-storey building located near Niigata's central
shopping district. The marquee over the front doors flashes the
English word JUMP, a side sign listing what was available here.
"It's an exercise club that caters to everyone's needs," Dareko
smiles at the Fukunokami. "C'mon in."

Jaws drop as the two aliens take in the surroundings as
Dareko gives them the grand tour. The Jump Health Spa, Restaurant
and Aerobics Studio was a multi-floor facility. An onsen spring,
jacuzzi and swimming pool was on the first floor. The second had
a restaurant built around the aerobics studio. The third floor
held offices, change rooms and weight room. The primary purpose
of this place was to help people get into shape. At the same
time, to rake in extra revenue, a restaurant was installed around
the studio to allow spectators, usually male students from the
local high schools, the chance to watch scantily-clad women strut
their stuff.

"Your sexual mores are quite strange, Dareko," Nassur
chuckles as everyone relaxes in the restaurant later.

"Hey, this is typical in Japan," Dareko sips her shake.
"With Mienai-chan and Damasu-chan about to join in the fun, you
can lay bets that they'll get quite a fan following once they're
noticed."

"That's not so strange," a voice laughs.

A very muscular man approaches the group. His chestnut hair
is in a buzz-cut hair, his eyes are hazel, his well-sculptured
physique barely covered by a muscle shirt with the Jump Spa logo
on front. "Hey, Namisuke-kun!" Dareko smiles as he sits. "How
are things?!"

"Not good, I'm afraid, Dareko-chan," he shakes his head.
"Got into one big fight with my girl. Damn, what's wrong with
me?"

Dareko sighs, then introduces her weight-lifting partner,
Namisuke Tasuku. "He's trying to be Mr. Bodybuilder Japan for the
finals in January. People say he's got a good chance," the
muscular bioroid play-punches her friend.

"I never thought staying physically fit was a sport here,"
Nassur hums.

"You don't have bodybuilders on your planet?" Namisuke asks.

"My people have always been genetically slender; you rarely
if ever see anyone out of shape," Nassur shrugs.

"Well, on Earth, the promotion of physical fitness is a
multi-billion dollar industry in America, Europe and here in
Japan," Namisuke nibbles on a granola bar. "Spas like this are
springing up everywhere. Me, I've always wanted to keep in shape.
I like it. I can't stand a day where I'm not cracking the weights
or going on a twenty kilometre run around town."

"Whoa, you really like to keep in shape," Benten whistles.

"You can say that," Namisuke laughs. "Besides, the boys in
Japan don't have the corner on ogling well-honed bodies. You
should see it when some of my friends come here. We attract girls
like honey does bees. Whoo!!" he whistles, then nods at Nassur.
"By the looks of it, you stay in pretty good shape, too."

"I have to. It's either that or die," Nassur smiles.

"You want to crack the weights?"

"No, I'm recovering from some internal injuries after a bad
accident a week ago," Nassur winces.

"Smart thing," Namisuke nods. "I remember pulling a tendon
in my arm and then trying to bench two-fifty. Ouch!!"

"Well, c'mon, let's get to the weight room before Noriyoshi-
kun steals all the one hundred K weights," Dareko rises.

"Yeah, he's doing three-twenty right now," Namisuke nods as
they head off. "Sheesh! A month ago, he was only doing one-
eighty. What's with that guy?!"

"He's got a 'system!'" Dareko snorts as they head off.

Nassur blinks. "In a month's time, it's possible for a
person on Earth to go from lifting 180 kilograms to 320
kilograms?" he leans up to Damasu and Mienai.

The Avalonians exchange looks. "We're not sure," Mienai
shakes her head. "I don't believe it's possible...unless Tasuku-
san is like Shinobu-san."

"That don't sound right," Benten muses.

"Yeah," Nassur nods. "Not right at all..."

* * *

"Good morning, class!" the chief aerobics instructor at the
Jump Spa, Ayami Yamada, smiles as the mixed-age class forms up.
"Today, we have two new instructors joining us. They're part of
the small group of newcomers now living on Sado Island who've come
to offer their services to the Spa and to you. Therefore, may I
present Mienai and Damasu Aruka."

Eyes turn as Mienai and Damasu step out of the change room,
both now dressed in matching exercise leotards, tank tops and wool
leggings, sweatbands around their heads. Due to the heavy
workouts they'll undergo, Mienai elected to keep her hair, which
normally would be frozen, loose, tied at the crown of her head
with a pink ribbon. Damasu also tied her hair, reflecting her
lover's style.

"Good morning, everyone," Damasu smiles. "I'm sure you're a
little curious about us. Mienai-chan and I are Avalonians, of a
race now living on a planet 150 light-years from Earth. We're
bioroids; that is to say, we're people that were constructed from
a single cell to full adulthood in a laboratory. We're not robots
in any sense of the term. We are independent sentient beings."

"How come you have pointed ears and Mienai-sensei doesn't?" a
woman asks, holding up her hand.

"Because we were constructed as replicas of others," Damasu
smiles. "How many here know about what goes on in Tomobiki?"

Hands go up. "Okay," Damasu nods. "I'm a replica of Lan,
Lum's friend from Uru. Yes, the crazy one," she nods as someone
puts up her hand. "Mienai-chan's a replica of Princess Oyuki of
Neptune. We were originally built as warriors...and be warned, we
are very well trained. So all you potential hentai types in the
audience better go look elsewhere if you want to cop a quick
feel!" she points at the crowd of leering boys.

Disappointed looks answer from many. "Now, Mienai-chan and I
also have very special powers indigenous to Avalonians," Damasu
adds. "We're telepathic and empathic. We can sense when you are
in pain and if we touch you and concentrate, we can sense your
thoughts. We won't do that without your permission. It's
considered very wrong among my people. But if we do sense
something wrong, we will want to help you. Is that okay?"

Nods. "Alright," Damasu moves over to the ghetto-blaster in
the corner of the exercise room, then puts on some jazzercize
music. "Let's get warmed up!"

"Sorry I'm late!" a voice calls out.

"Hurry, Hitomi-chan," Ayami smiles. "We're about to start."

"Right!"

Eyes turn to see a young girl Sadako's age race in, now in a
child's leotard covered with a skirt, jacket and shoes. Mienai's
eyes follow her, her empathic senses kicking into gear. Hitomi
had a bruise or two on the back of her neck, barely hidden by her
hair. Damasu is also quick to notice, as is Nassur and Benten
from the sidelines, as does Ayami. "Not again," she mutters.

"What is it?" Damasu stares at her.

"Hitomi."

Damasu nods, remembering their interview with Ayami
yesterday. It was hard for the staff not to notice the bruises
Hitomi wore the many times she came to the studio. Speaking to
other instructors during their initial tour, the Avalonians
learned this was a periodic event. Most of the time, Hitomi was a
cheerful, playful first grader, always doing her best to keep up
with the adults. Yet, every once in a while, she would come in
caked with severe bruises. Gentle inquiries as to how she
obtained them never produced answers. Speculation was rampant as
to what her problem was.

In a minute, Hitomi returns, taking her place. "Alright,
everyone, let's start warming up!" Damasu commences the class...

* * *

"Did you see that poor girl?" Damasu hisses to Benten later
as the class breaks up. "She's as bad as Junko-chan when Darling
and Shinoko-chan first met her."

"You think she's being abused?" the Fukunokami wonders.

"I don't know," Damasu shakes her head.

Nassur watches as Hitomi buys a shake, then goes to a private
booth. He rises to go over to her, then feels a hand fall on his
shoulder. "Don't, man," Namisuke warns. "It ain't gonna help."

"You know about this?" Nassur thumbs the young girl.

"Shoot, man, who doesn't?!" Namisuke sighs. "Look, were you
ever a father?"

"Once."

"Then you know kids sometimes don't like it when people try
to get them to tell something they're not sure about," Namisuke
sighs. "I've talked to Hitomi-chan a lot. She's a good kid and
all that. Lives alone with her mother since her parents broke
up."

"You think her mother beats her?"

"Possibly," Namisuke nods. "But it don't make sense.
Hitomi-chan's mom is a nice lady. Really out of shape since she's
got a nasty bout of asthma, so Hitomi-chan has to pick up a lot of
the slack. I guess she feels pretty helpless."

The Vosian blinks as he sits back on the table. "Wait, you
said Hitomi's mother has asthma. Does she take medication?"

"Loads of it," Namisuke whistles. "Man, every time she gets
a serious attack, the nearest pharmacy just starts counting the
money. It's unreal at times."

"What are you thinking?" Damasu wonders.

Nassur gets Damasu to bring Ayami over, then questions the
senior instructor on Terran medical drugs. "I do know a few
things about certain drugs," she nods. "One problem coming into
light is performance-enhancing steroids."

"Yeah, they provoke 'roid rages,'" Nassur nods. "It's been
common knowledge on my planet for a millennia."

"We'll, we're just getting there," Ayami smiles. "Now, there
are two problems with steroids. One is the roid rage problem.
Another is that you get addicted to using this stuff. I'm trying
to get this lug to stop using them," she points to Namisuke.

"Hey, they help!" he protests.

"And makes you a drug addict at the same time!" Ayami snaps.
"Gods, Noriyoshi-kun is worse!! There's no way a person can go
from pumping 180 to 320 in a month! Impossible!!"

"Why isn't that stopped?" Benten wonders.

"Benten, when it comes to weightlifting, it's borderline,"
Ayami sighs. "With performance sports like track and field, it's
a different matter. People wonder how the East Germans cleaned
house back in Moscow? Steroids; I'll lay good odds that half the
East German team was doped up. It's gonna be murder in Los
Angeles next year...depending on if the Soviet bloc comes out!"

"Okay, that explains Noriyoshi," Nassur cuts in. "What about
respiratory ailments? On some planets, asthma were cured using
steroids to boost the lungs' strength. Does that happen here?"

"I think so," Ayami hums. "One drug I know that's popular
for asthma and bronchitis is prednisone. That's a cortisone
steroid."

Nassur hums, then looks at Hitomi. "That explains her."

* * *

Later that day, Hitomi walks into her small apartment. "I'm
home, Mom!" she calls.

"Hitomi!!!" a shrill voice barks.

Hitomi shudders as her mother storms up. "Wh-what is it?"
she stammers, backing away from the glowering woman before her.

"Why didn't you come home earlier?!" Mrs. Kitei snaps. "You
were supposed to be helping with dinner tonight, remember?!"

"I had a long day at school and I got detention because I was
late after leaving aerobics class!"

"You lazy girl!!" her mother cuffs her across the cheek.
"When I want something done, I want it done now!!"

Hitomi jolts, then stares at her. "You hate me...!"

The words lance through her mother's heart as she feels her
daughter's accusing gaze. "Hitomi...!"

"You hate me!!" Hitomi cries, tears spilling down her face.
"You hit me, you say I'm lazy, you always say it's my fault!
Fine, fix your own dinner!! I hate you!!!"

She runs out the door before her mother could recover, then
she races after her. "Hitomi-chan, wait, come back!!"

Hitomi reaches the emergency stairs, then races down to the
next floor as an elevator arrives. She ducks in, then presses for
the ground floor just as her mother huffs her way to the landing.
The doors slam shut just in time as the young girl places herself
into a corner, sobs shaking her slender form. Minutes later, she
gets off at the ground floor, then runs as fast as she can go from
her apartment into the darkening night...

* * *

"You failed us, Mi-ji!" a voice growls over the encrypted
radio. "Your orders were to slay the renegade Nassur and his
bioroid helpers in retaliation for Eun-hyok's death!! Why haven't
you carried out your mission?!"

"Because I sense that my sister's alive!" Mi-ji bites her
lips as she stares at her friend from the Lecashuto mission, now
transmitting from their base on the Tokkaebi colony of Kyolsan.
"If she is, I owe it to her and the cause that I bring her back
alive and well! Please, An-ram, give me time!!"

An-ram sighs. "I love Eun-hyok too, Mi-ji. But the
Righteous Council is demanding that those who interfered with our
exposing the Mikado's vulnerability be killed! That is your
mission!"

"I haven't forgotten the mission!" she hisses. "The one who
seduced and killed my sister is here!! Believe me, I have more
than enough reasons to kill the little bitch!"

"Then do so," An-ram sighs. "I'll buy you time, but if you
don't succeed, others may be sent to do the job for you! And if
that happens, we could provoke an intergalactic incident; you know
what's going on in concerns with that world!"

"I do," Mi-ji nods. "I'll call back as soon as I can. Thank
you, An-ram. I appreciate this."

The link is severed, then Mi-ji relaxes, staring at the small
shelter she had constructed in the shadows near several apartment
buildings, the site chosen since the Jump Spa and the Children's
Aid Centre were within easy walking distance. Since she arrived
to observe the Avalonians sometime before Yacho's farcical attempt
at stealing the factory ship, she quickly deduced who were
Nassur's small squad of hunters and who were innocent bystanders.
It was even worse because Kamen and Hensou were the mothers to a
local girl; Mi-ji knew how the Mikado had warped things to make it
look as if the Tokkaebis had killed a school of children.

Still, her sister's fate cried for vengeance. Mi-ji reaches
into her shirt to pull out a photo of her family, farmers on
Tokkaebos. Ten years ago, her parents were killed when the
planet-cracker fell on the capital city, orphaning the teenage
Eun-hyok and Mi-ji, then barely into puberty. What was once the
easy life of middle-class farmers became a living horror of
watching their planet disintegrate around them, fleeing to refugee
camps, then offering their services to the Righteous Armies
forming to avenge Tokkaebos' loss. The genetic alterations that
turned the sisters into demons that could come out of nowhere to
strike a Vosian hunter down. Training by Kyousur, the last Silent
One grandmaster of Pashansho who offered his knowledge to defeat
the Dali'lama-trained warriors of the Hunter Corps. The mission
to Lecashuto, a success turned farce when the tape that would have
humiliated the Mikado was stolen, her sister slain in body but her
spirit trapped in the subconscious of her killer, Mienai.

Her revelry is broken by sobs. Mi-ji looks outside to see a
crouched form hunkering nearby, weeping into her hands. Rising,
the Tokkaebi walks over. "Hi, there," she kneels. "Are you
lost?"

Hitomi looks up. "You're an alien!"

"Hai," Mi-ji nods. "I'm a Tokkaebi."

She points to her horn. Hitomi blinks, then rises, hands
landing on the horn. "Tag!"

"Aaah!" Mi-ji yelps; a Tokkaebi's horn is as sensitive as an
Oni's. "Why did you do that for?!"

"I tagged your horns! Now you have to do everything I say!"

Mi-ji blinks, then smiles. "Okay...eh?!"

Shouting is heard. The two turn to see two women marching
away from someone. "And as far as I'm concerned, you bastards, if
you think we're gonna put up to dorks like you, forget it!" one
snarls as they storm off.

"Wait, Mariko!" a boy yells.

"Uh-oh!" Hitomi sighs. "Looks like Akeda-sempai and Tasuku-
sempai just lost their girlfriends."

"You know them?" Mi-ji wonders.

"Hai. They train at the same spa I do."

The Tokkaebi blinks as the word "spa" dances through her
mind. "That wouldn't be the Jump Spa, would it?" she wonders.

"Hai!" Hitomi smiles. "They've got two neat instructors
there, too! C'mon! Akeda-sempai! Tasuku-sempai!!"

"Hitomi-chan!" Namisuke gasps as the girl emerges from the
alley, followed by Mi-ji. "What are you doing here?! Shouldn't
you be at home with your mom?!"

Hearing that, Hitomi's face crashes as a pained wail escapes
her. "Oh, nice going, Thunderfoot!" Noriyoshi snarls. "You know
what her mom does to her all the time!"

"What?" Mi-ji wonders.

"She beats her...hey, you're an alien!!" Noriyoshi gapes on
seeing the Tokkaebi's horn and pointed ears.

"Five points for intelligence," Mi-ji hums, crossing her
arms. "What do you mean she's beaten? Why would her mom do
that?"

"It's a long story," Namisuke sighs, then kneels beside the
sobbing Hitomi. "Hey, Hitomi-chan, you want to come to my place
and stay there for a bit?"

"Okay," Hitomi sniffs...

* * *

"Nice apartment," Mi-ji hums as she sits in the living room
of the studio flat Noriyoshi and Namisuke share. Like the living
quarters of all conscientious weight lifters, it is decorated with
posters of famous bodybuilders, has a Nautilus machine, a bench
press stand with loads of weights varying from 10 to 100
kilograms, plus a cycling machine. Hitomi is now nibbling on a
sandwich made by Noriyoshi as Namisuke prepares coffee.

"So where are you from?" Noriyoshi wonders. "You look Oni."

"I'm Tokkaebi, not Oni," Mi-ji sighs. "I was sent here to
find some people who killed my sister."

"Who?" Namisuke wonders.

"Two of your friends from your spa, Mienai and Damasu."

Hitomi's eyes widen. "No!! No!!" she races over to hug Mi-
ji's foot. "No, don't hurt Mienai-sensei and Damasu-sensei!!
They're good people! Please, please...!"

Mi-ji blinks, then kneels before her. "Hitomi, if I don't do
something, they'll send someone else to deal with them...!"

"No, no, no...!" Hitomi wails.

The Tokkaebi feels her heart sink as the girl slides into her
embrace. The two weight lifters exchange looks, then Namisuke
takes a card from his wallet and heads to the phone.

A transporter beam is heard. Everyone turns as several
people appear: Nassur, Mienai, Damasu and one other. "You!!!"
Mi-ji reaches into her jacket to draw her pistol.

"Put the gun down, sister."

Mi-ji stops as the last turns to gaze at her. "Eun-hyok...!"

Her sister is barely able to catch Mi-ji as she passes out.

* * *

"When I was killed, my mind was absorbed by Mienai-chan in
something Avalonians call *tre'cha,*" Eun-hyok sighs as she
explains what happened to Mi-ji after she recovered. "Because
Mienai was in cryostasis along the way, it took me a while to
bring myself together and exercise enough control to try to find
some way out of that situation. When that time came, Elder Mother
Ria gave me this body," she points to herself.

"Looks good," Noriyoshi hums.

The older Tokkaebi blushes. "So you're not only alive,
you're also bonded to her," Mi-ji glares at Mienai. "What now?"

Eun-hyok takes a deep breath. "Nassur, I want my tape back."

"What will you do?" he stares at her.

"Do what we always planned," Eun-hyok looks at him. "Show
the Mikado for the coward he is. Even now with your friends in
the rebel forces about to seize Lecashuto, he still has this aura
of invincibility, respectability. That was the whole purpose of
our mission; to humiliate him and make him look foolish."

"If you do that, you expose the fact that you're now tied to
the Avalonians," Nassur warns. "Some people might not like that.
Too many still don't know the full story of Mienai's people."

"To blazes with that!!" Eun-hyok snarls. "What do you think
will happen?! Will your people stop your civil war, spare the
Mikado, just to try to destroy mine?! We're not the
Niphentaxians, Nassur; we have a very legitimate grudge against
your race for what they did! We deserve justice and we'll get it
any way we can!!"

Nassur sighs. "And then what happens? Do you have to put up
with hunters from a dozen races trying to steal the Avalonians'
genetic secrets? Do we have hunters like you working for the
likes of Emperor Schwartz, or Elle, or even the Mikado?"

"That's a chance we're willing to take."

"Not with these people," Nassur nods to Mienai. "They just
came away from fifty years of enslavement to the Niphentaxians.
Where they live now won't protect them forever. Sooner or later,
the Dominion will lose what strength it has left and people won't
be afraid of a war over New Avalon. I don't disagree one bit
about your people seeking justice for the loss of Tokkaebos, but
don't drag the Avalonians into it..."

"We've already decided to get involved."

Eyes snap around to see Ria standing there. "Elder Mother,
what are you doing here?" Eun-hyok blinks.

Ria smiles. "I just called Otako. Eun-hyok, please contact
your friends back home. We wish to meet representatives from
Tokkaebos as soon as is possible."

"I...of course," Eun-hyok nods.

"What are you doing?" Nassur wonders.

Ria winks at him, smiling celestially. "We can't hide from
the galaxy forever, Nassur-chan!"

* * *

"That was weird last night," Noriyoshi yawns as he and
Namisuke enjoy coffee the next morning at the spa. "Genetic
enhancements, losing your whole planet to a bomb, trying to kill
the creeps who did it?! Shit!"

"Makes me think of what could've happened if the Koreans got
pissed at us for what we did before the war," Namisuke hums, then
stares at his flat-mate. "Speaking of which, when are you going
to finally get off those steroids?! You know that shit's
addictive!"

"Hey, you use them!" Noriyoshi warns.

"Yeah, but I'm trying to get off them!" Namisuke counters,
then sighs. "Don't you get it, man? That stuff makes us lose
control of ourselves! That's why we lost Mariko and Yumi! Hell,
that's why Hitomi-chan gets beat up all the time by her mom; the
stuff she takes for asthma is just as bad!!"

Silence falls as Noriyoshi considers the point. "Man, we
need this stuff if we're gonna make it into the competition..."

"Noriyoshi, you know they're starting to crack against that
stuff!" Namisuke warns. "Sooner or later, we could be
disqualified for doing it; they're already going after some weight
lifters in the States."

"I can't do it, man...!"

"You can!" Namisuke urges him. "Hell, I'm finding it tough
to lose that urge. It's like quitting smoking; you always gotta
go through withdrawal before you can be clean!"

The front doors open to reveal Mi-ji, Eun-hyok and Hitomi,
all of whom stayed in Sado as the Tokkaebis contacted their
superiors to initiate negotiations with the Avalonians.
"'Morning, Akeda-sempai, Tasuku-sempai!" Hitomi bounds up to the
table.

"Hey, you're all cleared up!" Namisuke muses.

"Yep!!" Hitomi nods. "Mienai-sensei's friend Ria got rid of
all the bruises."

"What about your mom?" Noriyoshi hums.

Hitomi looks uncomfortable. "I don't know..."

"There are cures on my planet for her mother's affliction
that don't require steroids," Eun-hyok smiles. "It's not right
that a child should suffer because of a parent's drug addiction."

"Try convincing Mrs. Kitei of that," Namisuke hums.

And speak of the devil, the doors open to reveal Hitomi's
mother, pale, worry etched in her eyes. "Hitomi-chan!!" she gasps
on seeing her, then walks over. "There you are!"

Hitomi stares warily at her. "Hello, Mom."

Mrs. Kitei notices the guarded look. "Hitomi-chan, please,
I'm sorry for being so angry at you yesterday..."

"What about all the other times?!" Hitomi snaps. "What about
all the times you hit me because you can't do things anymore?!
What about all the times you yell at me because I make a mistake
or I'm late for something and you don't listen to what I say?!
Why should I believe you?! Why should I?!"

The older woman is startled at the attack. Hitomi looks
away. Namisuke exchanges looks with Eun-hyok, then stares at
Hitomi's mother. "Mrs. Kitei, it may not be my business, but I
think I can tell you why you always get angry and lose control."

"What do you mean?" she wonders.

"Well, it's like this..."

* * *

Two days later...

"Good morning, everyone!" Damasu smiles as she and Mienai
enter the Jump Spa, then notices two people waiting for them.
"What are you two still doing here? Aren't you going back home?!"

"We have no home to go back to, Damasu," Eun-hyok chuckles.

Both she and Mi-ji are in local clothing. "We've been too
busy here to check in with Ria to find out how the meeting with
your people went," Mienai hums.

"Well, there are a lot of Tokkaebis like Mi-ji and myself who
underwent those genetic modifications," Eun-hyok explains as the
four head to a booth. "All of them are being invited to live on
New Avalon so they could get better training and control over
their powers. The Elder Mother also promised that she would see
what she could do concerning Tokkaebos' restoration; supposedly,
there're people she can contact that could do that."

"What about the video we all fought over?" Damasu hums.

"Nassur had his friend Dakejinzou bring it to us and we sent
it straight away to INN," Mi-ji hums. "We told them that it was
all the Niphentaxians' fault since they were the ones who provided
us with the genetic blueprints that we used."

They laugh, remembering the adage "whenever something goes
wrong, blame it on Oogi!" "So what about you?" Mienai wonders.

"I had a healer to look at Hitomi-chan's mother, Namisuke and
Noriyoshi," Eun-hyok sighs. "Getting their bodies cleaned out of
the drugs they've used is easy. When it comes to the
psychological addiction, that's a different matter. It'll take a
while..."

The door opens to reveal Hitomi. "'Morning!!" she calls out.

"Hey, Hitomi-chan, how are you?!" Damasu smiles.

"Okay," Hitomi sits beside Mi-ji. "Mom cooked breakfast for
me. Ever since Hyo-kyoung-sensei came to help her, she's been
doing a lot more around the apartment. She even thinks she could
come down and start exercising with me."

"That's wonderful!" Mienai smiles, then turns to the two
Tokkaebis. "What about you? You haven't answered my question..."

The door opens again for Namisuke and Noriyoshi, both with
small bouquets in hand. Damasu and Mienai watch bemusedly as they
go to their knees before Mi-ji and Eun-hyok, presenting them the
flowers. "Is this answer enough, Mienai-chan?" the latter smiles
as she escorts Noriyoshi to the weight room.

Namisuke and Mi-ji follow. "Well, I'm glad that's settled!"
Damasu breathes out. "After all, I didn't want Eun-hyok or her
sister to come after us all the time..."

"They can't," Mienai smiles. "After all, Eun-hyok and I are
bonded, Damasu-chan..."

The Tritonian bioroid finds herself at the receiving end of a
VERY steely look from her life-mate. "Are you thinking of
possibly chasing another woman, Mienai?" Damasu hums.

Mienai gulps, then smiles. "Ever make love in a jacuzzi?"

"Let's go!"

The two head off. "Grown-ups are so weird!" Hitomi sips her
shake. "All they do is kiss and touch each other in their private
places! Yuck!! I'm sure glad I'm a kid!"

* * *

Epilogue...

Staring at the lava scorched surface of Tokkaebos, Commodore
Darenba, commander of the V.D.F.S. "Lecasur's Soul," could only
shake her head in disgust. The revelations about the Tokkaebi
raid on the Mikado's headquarters three years ago was echoing
through the galactic news networks. The high command in the
Defence Force and the Rebel Alliance Army were now being bombarded
with demands from fringe sectors to launch retaliatory strikes on
Phentax Two for providing the Tokkaebis with Avalonian technology,
technology that could hurt Vos should something happen in the
future. The Tokkaebis still had ten colony planets, all of whom
were in close range of Vos. Paranoia! That's all it was:
pathetic outbursts of paranoid xenophobia that wouldn't solve a
damn thing!!

"Commodore!" Hitoko looks up from his sensor board.

"What is it?" Darenba looks over.

"The Voyager."

That simple phrase brings a sudden hush over the bridge as
the tan wedge-shape of this galactic legend slides into orbit over
the wrecked world. Two small devices are launched from a portside
missile bank, flying down to strike the planet at separate places.
The bridge crew watch as an explosive wave of energy bursts forth,
racing across Tokkaebos' surface as a sea of fire melts the
features. Inside this storm, genetic codes are reworked as the
planet's crust is stabilized, returned to its original form. In
minutes, the energy wave fades as seas begin to reform, soil is
restored, mountains surge forth from the hardening crust. "My
God!" Darenba gasps. "What is that?"

"Some sort of instant terraforming device..." Hitoko gapes.

As time passes, the crust of Tokkaebos is restored as the
intense heat of the genesis torpedoes dissipates, allowing life in
its basic form to remould itself. As they observe, the Vosians
aboard the "Lecasur's Soul" realize that the horrid injustice done
to their closest neighbours ten years ago could at long last be
redressed. It would require the transplanting of trees and
animals from various colonies, but in time, this world would again
support a civilization. So much was be lost, but so much more,
for both Tokkaebi and Vosian, could be gained...

*** The End ***