Hazards of Divinity

			An Oh My God? Story

				by 

			   Brett Handy

			Part 3 - Section B


     "Now I'm suppose to 'scout' this house?", Brett asked
Ayaka as the two of them sat in her car, which was sitting
outside the huge mansion that Detective Karino had directed
them to.

     "Right!", Ayaka said, "You should be able to go in and
out easily enough, just phase through anything that gets in
your way".

     Brett nodded and floated over to the outer wall, he
carefully squeezed himself through the wall.  Floating across
the grounds proved very simple and Brett was feeling more
confident when he reached the main house.  He moved to touch
the wall and suddenly jerked back his hand in pain, "What the
hell?!?!", he said, looking closely at the wall.

     There, just below the wall's surface and glowing with a
bluish light was a ward.  Brett frowned thoughtfully, it
resembled some of the wards that Urd had taught him to make
when he was learning to be a god.  Concentrating he tried to
remember the right words to get past.  After a few moments of
reciting the spell the blue glow disappeared and Brett stepped
into the house.

     He had to hold back a cry of fright as he saw the inside
of the house.  Everywhere inside were tortured souls and a
darkness that seemed to pervade everything.  To his ghostly
eyes, the walls themselves contained trapped souls, they
filled the hallways and rooms.  Gulping slightly Brett forced
himself to continue inside, his own uniform glowed
brilliantly, pushing back the darkness.  Drawn like moths to a
flame, the souls nearest to him, moved closer, their phantom
arms reaching out, trying to grasp his uniform.

     Finally Brett could go no further, the souls completely
surrounded him, blocking his route.  "Please!", one begged,
"Release us!".  The others in the room echoed, "Yes.. please
lord.. release us!".

     Brett nodded, "I'll try", he promised, "But I need to
find the owner of this house, do any of you know where he
is?".

     The souls suddenly broke apart, "Lord", one said, "He is
downstairs, with to the other bright one, we cannot go near".

     "Bright one?", Brett asked, a cold feeling settling in
his stomach.

     The soul sighed, "The other like you... we thought she
would free us.. but she is as much a prisoner as we are".

     Brett looked grim, "Where is she?", he asked, "If you
can't go there, can you tell me?".  The soul indicated a
direction, she is down, under the house.  Brett moved swiftly
in the direction that the soul had indicated and found himself
in a room, well furnished, and a dim glow from inside.

     In the middle of the bed in the room lay a familiar
figure and Brett had to fight the urge to shout for joy.  He
moved over to stand nearer the bed and then saw a dark figure
standing at the foot of the bed.  It was his body, inhabited
by something horrible.  The darkness seemed to flow from it
and he felt the evil clutching at him.  Tendrils were flowing
around the room, most of them seemed to be flowing around Urd. 
     "Urd?", Phalarus said softly, whispering her name softly.

     Urd's eyes opened slowly, "Brett?", she asked in
disbelief.

     "Yes", Phalarus said, "It's me, I'm free, I've gotten rid
of Phalarus".

     Urd's face broke into a smile and reached up, "I'm so
happy to see you", she said drowsily. 

     Phalarus took her hands, "I love you", he said, "I want
you".

     "I want you too", Urd replied, her hands running over his
face.

     Brett felt a surge of anger and concentrated, forming a
spell.  His glowing robes suddenly released a burst of
brilliant white light, pushing back the darkness.  Phalarus
hid his face form the light and stumbled back, while Urd
suddenly shook her head, "YOU FILTHY SLIMEBALL!", she screamed
at Phalarus as she realised what he had been trying to do.

     A moment later a bolt of blue-white lightning hit
Phalarus square in the chest and he was blown across the room. 
Urd turned around to look where the lightning had come from
and gasped, "Brett?", she asked, "Is that you?".

     Brett nodded, "Bloody right it's me!", he said, anger
still in his voice.  Phalarus stood uneasily, "You", he said,
his eyes narrowing, "You can't be here! I killed you!".

     "I got better", Brett said grimly, advancing across the
room.

     Phalarus raised his hands to prepare a spell and winced
in pain, he backed out of the room quickly, as a pair of
zombies entered, "KILL HER!", Phalarus ordered the undead as
he fled.

     The two zombies began advancing, their arms grasping out
towards Urd.  Urd kicked the first zombie in the chest and it
fell back, unharmed, but overbalanced.  The other zombie
grabbed onto her arm and she screamed as it's unnaturally cold
grasp bit into her flesh.  There was a whistling sound and Urd
suddenly found that she could move her arm again, the zombie's
hand was lying on the floor.

     "Move it!", the ghost-like image of Brett said to her,
gesturing with his drawn sword, "Go for the door!".

     Urd nodded and rushed to the doorway, Brett slashed the
legs of the zombies pursuing her, leaving them crawling.  He
rushed to keep up with Urd, pointing out which way to turn,
until they reached the main hall.  "Get out of here", Brett
said to Urd urgently, "He'll be sending more zombies after
you!".

     "Where am I suppose to go?", Urd asked as the two of them
reached the front doors.

     Brett gestured to a car waiting outside the gates,
"There! go for that car!", he said, waving wildly to the
driver.

     Urd was breathing heavily when she reached the gate and
almost fell into the car.  As she sat down Ayaka hit the gas
and the two of them sped off.  Brett paused once, looking back
at the mansion and noticed a figure standing in the doorway,
Phalarus wouldn't be caught napping again.

                                  ******

     I hung onto the car with spectral hands as Ayaka sped
through traffic, "What the hell went on back there?!?!", she
demanded over her shoulder at me, "There was enough evil
energy flowing through that place to give Dracula the
creeps!".

     "Remember that evil god that I told you possessed my
body?", I asked her pointedly.

     "Oh", Ayaka said, understanding filling her eyes, "You
weren't kidding were you", she muttered under her breath.

     I hauled myself through the car and into the tiny space
in the back and smiled at Urd, "Good to see you again", I
said, smiling.

     Urd, who was just starting to recover her wits from
Ayaka's driving looked at me in disbelief, "Brett?", she asked
quietly, "Is that really you?".

     I grinned, "Come on mate!", I said shaking my head, "You
should know me by now!".

     She reached out to touch my face, but to her dismay her
hand passed through my cheek, she snatched back her hand
sharply, "What's happened to you?", she asked in shock.

     I shrugged, "Well, apparently I'm a ghost", I said,
looking over at Ayaka for confirmation.

     Ayaka nodded, "He's a ghost all right", she said firmly,
"A Triple-A spiritual entity".

     Urd looked confused and I looked at Ayaka in surprise,
"You have a rating system for spirits?".

     Ayaka nodded, "I just made up that one especially for
you", she said winking, "I don't know any other ghosts who are
quite as powerful as you are".

     Urd gave Ayaka a sharp look, "Who exactly are you?", she
asked pointedly.

     I cleared my throat, "Urd, this is Ayaka Kisaragi", I
said, introducing them, "She's a professional ghost-hunter".

     "Is she now?", Urd asked speculatively, "And how did she
become involved?".

     I grinned a little sheepishly, "Well, since I didn't know
what else to do, I figured a ghost-hunter might be able
to...".

     Urd nodded, "So what's the next move?", she asked
seriously, "Phalarus isn't gonna be an easy opponent to
defeat".

     "The next move is we get something to eat!", Ayaka said
firmly, then she looked over at me, "Although Brett here
doesn't need to eat, we girls had better get something good
into us".

                                  ******

     Brett winced at the off-key note that Urd had managed to
hit.  He'd never heard her sing before and was wishing
furiously that his hands were a little more substantial, cause
putting them over his ears wasn't helping.  Ayaka had insisted
that she and Urd have a small amount of Saki after their meal
and a little bit had turned into several bottles.

     "My turnsh!", Ayaka insisted, wobbling as she walked over
to the microphone, taking several tries to grab it.  If I'd
thought that Urd sounded bad, Ayaka was bloody horrible!  I
floated over to where Urd was drunkenly singing along to
Ayaka's song, "I think you two should probably call it a
night", I suggested carefully.

     "WHAT?!?!", Urd pouted, "But we jush gots here!".  She
quickly downed another glass of Saki, "Live a little", she
giggled.

     Ayaka giggled too, "You're a bit late to be telling him
that!", she said.  Urd and Ayaka laughed drunkenly and began
their fifth duet of 'wild thing'.  Brett tried to futilely
cover his ears and closed his eyes, "Why me?", he mumbled.

     It was nearly two hours later, when the two ladies
decided that they'd had enough Karoke for the evening and they
hailed a cab (at Brett's insistence - since he'd managed to
hide her car keys).  The cab driver, a middle-aged man with
years of cab driving experience behind him stoically put up
with the pair, ignoring the repeated requests for music and
somehow blotting out the horrible sound coming from the
backseat.  Brett travelled outside the cab, the noise of the
traffic was like a calming balm after Urd and Ayaka.

     He was almost enjoying the trip when he noticed a black
car following the taxi.  Letting go of the cab he floated free
back to the other car, snagging it with one arm he dragged
himself inside, plopping down on an empty seat.  "So what are
we suppose to do with these broads when we get 'em", one of
the car's occupants asked, slipping on a back face mask.

     "He said he wanted 'em brought back to the mansion", the
driver replied, "He didn't say in what condition", he added,
grinning.

     Brett noticed that each man had a gun and the car was
beginning to accelerate.  Grinning, he pushed his way through
the the car, until he was sitting on the roof.  Whispering a
spell he used levitation spell (in reverse) to increase the
pressure on the car's gas peddle.  The car shot ahead, the
thugs inside let out shouts of dismay as they reached their
target car and swiftly pulled away from it.

     Their headlong dash down the freeway caught the attention
of a motorcycle cop who gave chase.  After about five minutes,
there were four motorcycle cops, three police cars and a
helicopter in pursuit of the runaway vehicle.  Figuring that
was enough Brett stood on the roof and concentrated, a bolt of
energy slammed into the engine and it died at once, belching
black smoke.  The car rolled to a halt and the shaken thugs
stepped out to be greeted by a dozen police officers.

                                  ******

     Urd moaned softly, covering her head with a pillow,
blocking out the light.  After about fifteen minutes she felt
confident enough to remove the pillow and sit up.  She was in
an unfamiliar room, the blinds on the windows letting in far
too much of what looked like afternoon sunshine into the room.

     "Awake at last I see", a voice said from across the room
quietly.

     Urd looked sharply over at a chair and then relaxed as
Brett suddenly became visible sitting in it, "What time is
it?", she asked thickly.

     He shrugged, "A little after lunchtime", he replied, "I
thought you were going to sleep all day".

     "I considered it", Urd said, standing unsteadily and
walking over to the bathroom.  She splashed her face a few
times with some water, the cold finished waking her up.

     "Mamoru said that you can borrow some of Ayaka's
clothes", Brett suggested, pointing to the wardrobe.

     Urd walked across the room and examined the clothes idly,
noting that Ayaka and her seemed to share a similar taste in
clothing.  Then she noticed that Brett seemed a little
different this morning, "What's wrong?", she asked curiously,
"You look grim, even for a ghost".

     "Yeah", Brett said, "I guess I do..".  Urd was shocked
when his image fuzzed out for a moment, like a broken TV, "I
don't think I feel too well", he said cautiously.

     Five minutes later Brett found himself being examined,
"He's lost some power", Rokkon said after a moment, "His aura
is significantly weaker than it was yesterday".

     Ayaka (who'd be waken roughly by Urd and still wasn't
happy about it) shrugged, "So what?", she asked, "Everyone has
a bad day now and then".

     Rokkon shook his head, "No I'm afraid that's not it", he
said, "If he keeps fading like this he'll be gone in a few
days".

     "WHAT?!?!", Urd said, "Why is this happening to him?". 
Rokkon took Urd, Ayaka and Mamoru aside and sat down to
explain.  "Well, you see there are several reasons why ghosts
remain in the mortal world and don't go on to the afterlife",
Rokkon said carefully, "Many of them are just too evil to let
go of their lives and continue to plague humanity out of spite
and others are bound by a promise or have some unfinished
business in this world".  He looked over at Brett and nodded,
"He's one of the latter", he explained needlessly, "And since
it appears he's fulfilled his unfinished business...:.

     Urd shook her head, "He's still got unfinished
business!", she insisted, "We have to get home yet!".

     Rokkon shrugged, "Don't tell me", he said, pointed at
Brett, "Tell him, I'd guess he's given up on life".

     Everyone looked at Brett, who looked back indignantly,
"What?", he asked defensively.

     Urd walked over to where Brett sat, "Brett", she said
seriously, "Don't you want your body back?".

     Brett nodded, "Of course I do!", he said sharply, "What
makes you think I wouldn't?".

     She frowned, "Do you still want to get home?", she asked
curiously.

     "Yeah!", Brett said, "I thought we went over this back on
Lodoss?".

     Urd scratched her head in confusion, turning back to
Rokkon, "I don't think he's giving up on life", she said.

     "Giving up on life?", Brett asked, "What makes you think
I'd do a stupid thing like that?".

     Everyone looked at Rokkon who shrugged, "I was wrong!",
he admitted, "So sue me!".

                                  ******

     "I think I've just been overexerting myself", I admitted,
after everyone had finishing yelling at Rokkon.

     "What do you mean?", Mamoru asked curiously.

     "Well", I mused, "Not many ghosts can break the wards on
an evil Demon's residence, hit that Demon with a lightning
bolt, attack several zombies, force a car full of Yakuza thugs
off the road...".

     "What?", Urd asked, "I don't remember that!".

     I recounted my little adventure last night and Ayaka gave
me a frown, "Why didn't you tell us?", she demanded.

     "I had a hard enough time hiding your keys!", I
complained, "The two of you were so bombed that I'm sure you
would have tried to take 'em on yourselves!".

     Ayaka and Urd grumbled for a few minutes, before Urd
looked at me, "So what's our next move?", she asked.

     The expression on my face must have answered for me,
because she gave me a long glance.  "I didn't think any
further than finding my body", I said apologetically, the I
noticed her disapproving expression, "Give me a break, I had a
hard enough time rescuing you!".

     Urd sighed and looked over at Ayaka, "Just like a man",
she said, "Never thinking ahead!".

     Ayaka nodded, "It's a genetic weakness", she agreed
sadly, "Lucky they're useful in other ways".

     Rokkon and Mamoru looked offended and I gave Urd a
sceptical look, "So what do you think we should do now?".

     Urd and Ayaka looked at each other and nodded, "WE KICK
THAT DEMON'S ASS!", the pair of them announced.

                                  ******

     I was sitting beside Urd on the outer wall of Phalarus'
mansion, the two of us were examining the intricate mass of
wards that the evil god had constructed.  It was like looking
at a huge spider-web and was pulsing with a dark blue light.

     "Looks like sneaking in is out of the question", I
murmured.

     "If only I wasn't wearing these stupid earings!", Urd
cursed, "I could blast that bastard into the next dimension".

     "I think that was his idea", I said blandly.  We'd tried
everything we could think of to rid Urd of the power-
supressing earings, but nothing seemed to work, spells, wards
even a blowtorch had no effect.  Apparently they could only be
removed by Phalarus.

     Urd waved at me to be quite as Ayaka's car pulled up at
the entrance.  The two metal gates swung back silently and the
little red car moved slowly inside.  "Go on!", Urd insisted.

     "All right", I grumbled, "But remember, this was Ayaka's
idea".  I flew from the wall and caught onto the back of her
car.  

     Inside, Ayaka was being accompanied by Detective Karino,
"I still don't see why you need me to do this", he complained,
"I don't have a warrant or anything...".

     Ayaka nodded to me and I did what she'd told me,
concentrating on the unknowing detective.  After a few moments
I felt a strange sensation and found myself in the detective's
body.  I shook myself slightly, "Amazing", I murmured, testing
the flexibility of my hands.

     "Brett?", Ayaka asked.  At my nod she grinned broadly,
"So how does it feel?", she asked.

     "Unusual", I admitted, "It feels strange to look in a
mirror and not see my own face".

     We stopped at the front entrance of the mansion and
stepped out of the car.  We were met by a middle-aged butler,
"Can I help you?", he asked.

     Ayaka nudged me with her elbow, "AHEM!", I said, trying
to remember what to say, "I'm Detective Karino, U-Division
Police", I showed him Karino's wallet, with his ID in it.

     The butler looked at me expectantly, "And?", he asked.

     "We're here because of some suspicious reports that have
been brought to our attention", I explained, "Regarding the
owner of this house".

     "Mr Handy?", The butler asked with apparent disbelief, "I
assure you that while he is a remarkable man, I wouldn't
describe him as suspicious".

     "I'll be the judge of that", I snapped, trying to appear
threatening, "I'd like to speak to him at once!".

                                  ******

     Phalarus gave his 'butler' an annoyed glance, "Just tell
him I'm busy", he said shortly.

     "I'm sorry master", the ghoul replied, "But the detective
refuses to leave until he talks to you and the young woman
with him has a rather unusual aura... I think that you should
see them..".

     Phalarus' eyes flashed, "I don't employ you to think", he
snapped, then he considered it for a moment, "Very well, I
shall be there in a few moments".

     The butler nodded and walked out to escort the guests
into the drawing room.  Phalarus stood and walked over to the
mirror, checking his reflection, "Damn this form", he
muttered, "I wish I had my old body back".  He adjusted the
suit he was wearing and walked out to meet his guests with a
false smile.

     He paused at the entrance to the room, there was a force
here, an unpleasant force.  He stepped into the room
cautiously, a spell ready, "Allow me to introduce Detective
Karino of the U-Division Police", his butler said, "And
companion".

     Phalarus noted the strong aura around the young woman,
not only was she a powerful psychic, she was carrying items
that radiated magic!  The detective also had an aura, around
the eyes, there was something familiar about it, but Phalarus
couldn't put his finger on it.  "Welcome to my home", he said
instead, "I'm Brett Handy".

     Detective Karino nodded, "We've had some strange reports
Mr Handy", he said bluntly, "A young woman calling herself
'Urd' has reported some disturbing things about this place".

     "Never heard of her", Phalarus lied quickly, "But what
kinda of things was she talking about?".

     "Zombies, spirits and an Evil God come to earth", the
young lady said.

     Phalarus put on a confused expression, "And you want the
name of a good phycologist?", he asked.

     Detective Karino frowned, "No Mr Handy", he said, "We're
here to invesitage the reports".

     "Surely you don't think she's anything but a lunatic?",
Phalarus said, "Those kind of things don't exist!".

     The young woman suddenly reached to her ear and flicked
one of her earings at the butler.  The metal began to glow as
it flew across the room, it impacted into the ghoul with a
sickening sound and there was a smell of burnt flesh as the
unfortunate ex-butler fell over into a pile of bones".

     Detective Karino pulled out his pistol and aimed it at
Phalarus, "Don't move", he said, "You wouldn't want to hurt
that precious body would you?".

     Phalarus' eyes narrowed dangerously, "You have no idea
who you're dealing with", he said, muttering a spell word.  A
bolt of black energy arched across the room at Karino and
Ayaka, before it could hit, a shimmering wall appeared and the
energy bounced off harmlessly.

     "What?!?!?", Phalarus demanded, "How did you do
that?!??!".

     "Wouldn't you like to know?", Karino asked, "But I don't
think you'll get the chance".  He aimed carefully and pulled
the trigger.

     Phalarus clutched his stomach and fell to the ground in a
shower of blood.  Ayaka looked at Karino in horror, "What are
you doing??!?!?", she nearly screamed.

     Karino shuddered for a moment and Brett appeared beside
the confused detective, "I'm making sure he isn't gonna hurt
anyone else", he said grimly.

     "You didn't say anything about this!", Ayaka complained,
"You killed him!".

     Karino broke in, "No he didn't", he said, holding up the
gun, "Who do you think did the shooting here?".

     Ayaka looked confused, "What?", she asked dubiously,
"You?".

     Karino nodded, "Brett explained everything to me while he
was in control of my body", he said.

     "A belly wound is very painful", Brett said, looking at
the collapsed Phalarus, "He'll either have to leave the body,
or die with it".

     "But...", Ayaka began.

     "I'm sorry", Brett said grimly, "I didn't discuss it with
you and Urd, it's my decision and I decided I'd rather be dead
than have something like *that* possessing my body".

                                  ******

     Urd and Rokkon jumped at the sudden shot echoing from the
mansion.  They exchanged a quick look and sprinted up the
driveway, ignoring the wards.

     Rokkon hardly slowed down as he shoulder-charged the
front door.  The impressively carved wooden door splinted with
a crash.  Urd gasped as she saw the scene before her, Brett's
body was lying in a pool of blood, "NO!", she screamed,
rushing forward.

     Brett's ghost-form appeared in front of her, before she
could reach the body, "Don't Urd!", he insisted. 

     She stopped suddenly, "What the hell is going on?", she
demanded, looking over at Karino who had his gun drawn, a blue
vapour still escaping from it's barrel.

     "It's called a 'negotiation'", Brett said, looking down
at his body, "How do you like it so far, Phalarus?", he asked.

     Phalarus managed to look up, bloody trickling from the
corner of his mouth, "How could you do this to your own
body?", he said, rasping.

     Brett floated over, "Why should it matter to me?", he
asked, "I'm not in it anymore, and you've already proven that
I'm not strong enough to force you out".

     "What do you want?", Phalarus coughed.

     "Well now", Brett said, "You realise that there's only
one person who can save your body now don't you?".

     "So tell me what you want and then save me!", Phalarus
insisted weakly.

     Brett gave him an innocent look, "What makes you think I
could?", he asked, "I'm not the best when it comes to healing
spells".  He floated over to Urd, "She's the only one who
could help you now Phalarus", he explained, "Of course you'd
have to remove those earings you've locked onto her".

     Phalarus coughed again and then slowly nodded, "I didn't
give you enough credit", he said grudgingly, "you're more
ruthless than I thought possible".

     Brett shrugged, "Thanks", he said, "So what's it to be?".

     "Come here", he whispered, motioning weakly to Urd.

     Urd cautiously approached, bending over so that Phalarus
could reach out a bloody hand to her ear, "Unlock now", he
whispered.  The earings opened with an audible click and then
dropped to the floor.

     "Now heal me!", Phalarus gasped, his hand dropping back
to the floor.

     Urd raised her hand, but suddenly felt something stop her
arm, "I'm afraid that she's not going to heal you", Brett
said, giving Urd a serious look.

     "But..", Urd began.

     "We made a deal!", Phalarus said, clenching his fists
helplessly.

     "Did we?", Brett asked, "I don't recall doing anything
but pointing out the possibility of Urd helping you..".

     "NO!", Phalarus screamed, "HEAL ME NOW! OR YOU WILL
REGRET IT!".

     Brett floated over to him, "And how will you do anything
to us?", he taunted, "You'll be dead!".

     Phalarus began chanting, catching his breath
occasionally.  Urd stepped back and Rokkon held up his staff
defensively, "What's he doing?!", Rokkon demanded.

     Brett looked on with a curiously sad expression, "He's
separating his spirit from my body, so that when the body
dies, he won't die with it", he explained.

     "Get ready", Brett said sharply to Rokkon.

     There was a burst of energy from Phalarus' body and a
black shape suddenly appeared over the now discarded form. 
"YOU WILL PAY!", Phalarus moaned, "I will feast on your
souls!".

     Rokkon began chanting and Ayaka quickly took out her
sword.  Brett smiled slightly, "Not today mate!", he said,
diving for his now discarded body.

     Phalarus screamed in frustration as a ward snapped up
around him.  Rokkon began to sweat as he summoned as much
power as he was able to, Ayaka began adding her own chants to
the battle.

     Detective Karino carefully made his way around the evil
spirit and stopped beside Urd, who was looking anxiously at
Brett's body, "Did it work?", he asked, looking warily at the
nearly-contained spirit writhering only a few feet away.

     Brett coughed weakly, "Remind me never to shoot myself
again", he said.

     Urd's smile was brilliant as she touched Brett's brow,
"It's him!", she said.  A moment later she began chanting and
Brett started to feel her healing energy flowing through him.

     "You might want to hurry things up a little", Ayaka said
through clenched teeth, "I think we can hold this thing for
maybe another minute..".  Suddenly there was a ripping sound
and the wards began to tear apart slowly, "Errr... make that
another five seconds!", Ayaka shouted, turning and running.

     Rokkon imitated her almost immediately, he stooped down
and collected Brett under one arm and pulled Urd after him
with the other, "RUN!", he bellowed.

                                  ******

     I was jolting along under Rokkon's arm, not enjoying the
trip at all, when I noticed an insistent beeping noise coming
from the pocket of the jacket I was wearing.  Reaching into
the pocket I found our tracking device, a large red light was
flashing on it.  Trying to read while being carried by someone
who's running for their life is never an easy task, but after
several tries I worked out what the device was trying to tell
me.

     "Stop!", I called out.  Surprisingly I found that my
voice was hardly more than a whisper.  I suppose getting shot
might have accounted for my lack of vocal prowess, but
undaunted I tried again, "STOP!", I managed in a hoarse croak.

     Rokkon looked down at me, "What?!?!", he said, "We're
kind of busy here at the moment!".

     Urd noticed what I had in my hand and snatched it away
from me to have a quick look, "It's the portal!", she said,
"It's right nearby!".

     Her announcement seemed to signal a 'rest period',
because the five of us suddenly stopped.  "You mean the portal
that gets you guys home?", Karino asked.

     Ayaka looked at him curiously and he shrugged, "So I
asked Brett a few questions while he was in here!", he said
defensively.

     Urd adjusted the tracking device and nodded, "It's about
three miles from here", she said, pointing.

     "Great!", Rokkon said, leaning me up against a wall, "I'm
*NOT* carrying him that far!".  Ayaka and Karino were
examining the room that we were in and Karino smiled, "You
won't have to", he said, holding up a set of car keys.

     Less than a minute later I found myself being jostled
into a vehicle of some kind, not really having much muscle
control I found myself leaning up against Urd, "Are you ok?",
she asked, turning to look at me.

     I tried to smile a little, "For someone who should be
dead, I'm pretty good", I replied.  She managed a smile in
return and was about to turn away when she appeared to think
of something.  I was moderately startled when she bent down
and kissed me passionately, "Much better", she said, before
turning back to Ayaka and the others.

                                  ******

     "I've always wanted to drive one of these things!", Ayaka
insisted, slamming her foot down on the accelerator.  The 4-
Wheel drive took off like a scalded cat, smashing it's way out
of the garage.

     "Why don't you let me drive?!?", Detective Karino offered
as Ayaka effortlessly drove through a small house that just
happened to be in the way of their escape.

     "What?", Ayaka asked, turning to look at him.

     Urd grabbed Ayaka around the head and turned her so she
was looking where she was going, "Watch the road!", she
insisted.

     They all ducked reflexively as a large fireball passed
just beside them, impacting into a tree and vaporising it
instantly, "YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!", Phalarus bellowed.

     "Ummm... I think we're in trouble", Rokkon said quietly.

     Karino flicked a switch and the sunroof opened, he pulled
out his gun and started firing at the rapidly gaining evil
spirit.  Now while Karino has never been a marksman, he
managed to hit the pursuing ghost several times. 
Unfortunately while bullets are great against corporeal
targets, ghosts don't pay them much attention.

     "Well", he said, sitting down again, "I'm out of ideas".

     Urd clambered over the front seat, "He's after me and
Brett", she said, "He probably won't follow the rest of you".

     Ayaka looked at her sharply, "You want us to jump?", she
asked in disbelief.

     Urd winced as another fireball came close to hitting the
fleeing vehicle, "Have you got a better idea?", she asked. 
Rokkon frowned, "But if he catches you....", he began.

     "We're going for the portal", Urd said, "He won't catch
us once we reach it!".  Ayaka nodded once and began shifting
over so that Urd could take the wheel, "It's been nice knowing
you", she said, smiling.

     "Same here", Urd replied, "Now get the hell out of here". 
Urd slowed down slightly as Rokkon, followed by Ayaka jumped
from the car.  Detective Karino gave Brett a friendly wave and
nodded to Urd as he jumped, landing in a bunch of bushes.

     Brett dragged himself into a sitting position in the
backseat, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?", he
asked.

     Urd looked at him in the rearvision mirror, "No", she
said bluntly.  A few seconds later the speeding vehicle hit
the portal, a shower of light exploding into the night. 
Phalarus screamed in frustration and desperately threw himself
into the portal after the fleeing duo.


                                  ******

     Detective Karino was filling in the last of the mountain
of paperwork that greeted him on his return from the mansion,
when the door to his office slammed open.  His superiors where
understandably upset when he told them that the owner of the
house had been an evil god possessing the body of a
dimensional traveller.  There had been calls for his
resignation and even talk of an inquest into the incident. 
Luckily there were still some 'shady' areas that his bosses
weren't wanting to make public (like the rotting corpses of
the several dozen zombie-servants that Phalarus had created).

     His new 'partner' Detective Nick Skehan hurried into the
office, "You aren't going to believe this one!", he said. 
Nick had been on the force for a number of years,
unfortunately his tendency to make embarrassing mistakes had
gotten him assigned to U-Division.  Obviously his superiors in
the department had decided that Karino needed someone to
'babysit' him.

     "What now?", Karino asked with a sigh.

     Nick scratched his head, "According to this report a
giant figure was seen around the downtown markets last night",
he said, "There are also reports of huge footprints in the
grounds of that mansion.

     "Giant footprints?", Karino asked, leaning back in his
chair thoughtfully.

     Nick nodded, "They walk right up to a point in the north
of the grounds and then disappear, right next to that burnt
mark we saw the other day", he said.  Nick glanced over to his
partner, "Aliens?", he asked with a grin.

     "It's nothing", Karino said, taking the report from
Nick's hands, ripping it up, "Or at least it's nothing we have
to worry about....".

                                  ******

     
Author's Notes:

Well there ya go - it's been a while since I actually did much
writing... blame it on real life - it plays havoc with my
stories!  What did you all think of this?? let me know, ok??

Previous chapters of OMGod can be found at my web page...

   http://www.ozanime.com/darkwind

Any comments to: darkwnd@sv.net.au

------Brett