An Oh My God? / You're Under Arrest Crossover Story

                                    By

                                Brett Handy

                                  PART 2

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

     I awoke suddenly and looked around the room.  It was
dark, obviously I'd slept for some time.  I stuffed a couple
of pillows under the sheets, hoping and praying that whoever
was gonna kill me would fall for that ancient trick.  Grabbing
my clothing I quickly hid in a closet and waited.

     I didn't have to wait too long, from the door there were
three short snapping noises and the poor defenceless pillows
I'd left in my place exploded in a shower of feathers. 
Feeling more than a little angry I cast a forcebolt spell
directly at the now-closing door.  Perhaps I put a little too
much into it however because rather than just knock the door
back so I could see the person, the entire doorframe
disappeared in a dull explosion.  The door impacted into the
individual with the gun and smashed them against the wall
opposite, leaving quite a big impression.

     I stepped out from my hiding place and roughly pulled the
door back off my would-be assassin.  It was one of the
detectives who'd been assigned to guard me (and whom I'd seen
taking money from gangsters in my dream).  "Hold it!", the
other detective shouted levelling his revolver at me.

     I whispered a quick spell and then took a step towards
him.  He pulled the trigger.  Unfortunately for him I'd taken
the liberty of placing a tiny little forcefield half way along
his gun's barrel.  He swore angrily as the now useless gun
dropped from his burnt hand.  "That wasn't very bright", I
observed, "Trying to kill me in my sleep is pretty low!".

     The detective reached for his radio, I cast another spell
and the radio exploded in a shower of sparks, "You've had
it!", he shouted.

     "What are you doing?", I asked, frowning, "The radio
won't help you now..".

     The detective smirked, "You attacked us without warning",
he said, "Tried to kill us and escaped".  He gestured to the
door, "If you don't get moving you'll be under arrest".

     I shook my head at him, "Why are you so stupid?", I
asked, "Didn't you see what I just did?".

     He frowned and I snapped my fingers, picking not my
uniform, but my armour and sword.  I leaned down close to the
injured man, "I could quite easily organise it so you
disappear and no one ever finds the body..".

     "Now", I said, idly playing with the hilt of my sword,
"Who's this Boss who warned you not to underestimate me, which
you obviously did..".

     He looked at me in disbelief and set his jaw firmly,
refusing to speak, "So you're putting on a brave act?", I
asked curiously, "Perhaps you'll think twice once I introduce
you to a friend of mine..".  I whispered a spell and the
detective found himself caught up in a forcefield, speaking
another spell I teleported to a deserted rooftop.  The huge
clock we were standing under began to chime six o'clock and I
dropped my attacker on the roof unceremoniously.

     "Wait here", I ordered, placing a spell on his legs. 
Casting another spell I reappeared in an unfamiliar room.  It
looked like a middle-class living room, with unremarkable
furnishings.  I walked outside onto a balcony that overlooked
water, the house was in what looked like some kind of jungle. 
The smell of the air was lovely, sweet and without pollution. 
I began searching around for the house's owner.

                                  ******

     Nilthar, former 1st Class Demon was relaxing on some
rocks when a familiar voice called out to him, "This is a nice
place you've got here mate", Brett observed.

     "Thanks", Nilthar said, giving him a side-long glance, he
gestured to a rock sitting nearby, "Pull up some stone", he
offered.

     Brett sat down and noticed the view, moonlight spilling
across the quiet waves, the stars were bright and the wind was
comfortably warm, "Very, very nice", he said with feeling.

     Nilthar laughed for a few moments, "It's you who
introduced me to this", he observed, "Do you know how unusual
it is for a Demon like me to sit and admire nature?".

     "Perhaps", Brett observed, "Where exactly are we?".

     "This is Brazil", Nilthar explained, "This house belonged
to a mortal associate of mine who ended up no longer needing
it, I kept it up, it's always good to have a place on Midgard
where you can rest".

     "I'm here to ask a favour", Brett said quietly, "I need
you to intimidate someone for me".

     "Intimidate someone?", Nilthar asked.

     "A detective that tried to kill me", Brett explained.

     Nilthar frowned, "Detectives don't usually kill people",
he observed, "Any idea why he wanted you dead? you haven't
been taking after me at all?".

     Brett grimaced, "No of course not!", he said, "And I
don't know why he wanted me dead, I want to find out.. that's
why I need you..".

     "You cant just 'intimidate' him yourself?", Nilthar
asked, gesturing at the scene in front of them, "It's not
often that things are so perfect here..".

     "I need a professional", Brett admitted, "I don't want to
hurt him and I'm not sure of the best way to get the
information".  Nilthar nodded, "Ok", he said, "Let me get
dressed in something appropriate".

     A few minutes later they teleported back to the rooftop
and Nilthar looked around curiously, "Where's this
detective?", he asked curiously.  There was a muffled thump
from the fire escape and Brett grimaced, "I forgot to secure
his arms", he admitted.

     Nilthar walked down to the detective, who was trying to
crawl away and picked him up with one hand, "I told you,
always break their legs *and* their arms, otherwise they can
get away!", he chided Brett.  The detective had gone pale when
Nilthar made his proclamation and he went even paler as he
looked at Nilthar.

     "Please!", he insisted, "I was doing my job!".

     Nilthar frowned at the detective, "Do I know you?", he
asked, "you seem awfully familiar for some reason..".

     The detective began to shiver and Nilthar nodded, "About
two years back", he mused, "You were a traffic cop.. and we
made a deal, good to see you got your end of the bargain..".

     The detective had gone even paler, "Wh.. what do you
want?", he asked in a sick voice.

     "Oh I haven't come to collect", Nilthar assured him, "I'm
not in collections any more, I would just like for you to
answer my friend's questions..".  At that point the detective
began speaking, quite quickly.  It turned out that he and his
partner had been approached by some Yakusa thugs with an offer
of money for information about a year ago.  After that they'd
been forced into committing more and more crimes with a threat
that they'd be 'ratted' out and go to jail.  Of course they'd
been well paid and it had culminated with them being ordered
to kill a witness that was under protection.

     "So when we got the call we decided to off you in your
sleep", he explained to Brett, "We figured it'd be easier all
around..".

     Brett grimaced, "Thanks for the information", Brett said
shortly, "Who ordered you to kill me?".

     Nilthar smiled, "I believe I know the fellow", he said,
"Grish'narkle is his name, a petty 2nd Class Demon who's been
involved for centuries with Japan's underworld..".  The
detective winced at the mention of the name and he looked at
Brett and Nilthar pleadingly, "Please.. they'll kill me if
they find out I told you...".

     "So how do we find him?", I asked Nilthar, "I doubt it's
going to be easy..".

     Nilthar smiled, "I have a plan!", he announced, "It's
going to take a lot of work, but it will work!".

                                  ******

     Over the next hour I did several things I'm not exactly
proud of.  Stealing bodies from the morgue wasn't something
I'd made a pastime of, but Nilthar assured me that it was
better for an unidentified body to help us than 'just lie
there and rot' (his words not mine!).  Anyway, Nilthar then
proceeded through various spells to make the body appear to be
mine.  It was uncanny, looking at a dead body that looked
exactly like you.

     The next part was even more difficult, if we were going
to be convincing, we had to convince everyone that I was dead. 
This part wasn't something I was happy about, but Nilthar
assured me that it was necessary.  Believe me, trying to
convince everyone that a *God* was dead wasn't easy, there
were a whole bunch of things that had to be done.  First we
had to break into Yggradsil and list me as 'deceased' on my
records, then we had to do something called 'aura dampening' -
I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but it was suppose to
mask me from being detected.  Since we had only a few hours to
get ready, we couldn't be sure that we'd masked my aura
completely.

     When everything was finally ready Nilthar wiped the
memory of the detective and we repaired the door at the
apartment.  We placed the body in the bed and to my horror,
Nilthar shot a few bullets into it, "It's not like he's going
to feel it", was his only comment to my look of distaste.

     When everything was ready, Nilthar awoke the sleeping
detectives and we quickly disappeared from the room.  As soon
as we reached Nilthar's home he invoked the spells that would
wipe out my location and mask me.  "Now we can investigate
without having to worry about being followed or interfered
with", Nilthar said with satisfaction.  I couldn't bring
myself to feeling much more than guilty for what I was about
to put my other friends through.  In particular one face kept
coming to mind and I couldn't bare to think about her crying.

                                  ******

     Nilthar had chosen an interesting ensemble for me to
wear, a long coat he called a 'Duster'.  The duster made me
look rather big, since it had several inserts in it of some
kind of hard material.  All in all the effect was to make me
look like a big goon.

     "It's a good look for you", Nilthar congratulated me,
"Makes you look very menacing".  To complete the disguise he'd
altered my face so that I looked like a demon, a real ugly one
at that.  He handed me a set of sunglasses, "Now remember, if
you take off your glasses, people will see the red-hue in your
eyes, so keep them on", he advised me.  He also handed me a
gun, "Put that in your shoulder holster", he advised me, "It
will complete the disguise.

     I looked at the gun he'd handed me, it was big and looked
very impressive, "You realise I know little about guns?", I
asked, "I hope you don't expect me to use it?".

     Nilthar shook his head, "You might have to show it to a
few people, but if you are in a situation where you have to
use it, forget it and cast a few spells", he explained.

     I tucked the gun away and couldn't help feeling
uncomfortable, "Listen mate, are you sure no one will
recognise me?", I asked, looking dubiously at the mirror.

     Nilthar grimaced, "If you keep your mouth shut they
won't", he advised me, "That accent of yours is distinctive".

     I nodded and he placed a hand on my shoulder, "Time to
go", he announced.  A moment later we reappeared in a seedier
part of down-town Tokyo, "Let's go", Nilthar ordered harshly. 
I followed a few paces behind him.

     As we walked down the street I noticed that people seemed
to be stepping out of Nilthar's way, many of them giving me
apprehensive glances.  We were walking down a crowded street,
but around us was a three or four foot space that no one
seemed willing to enter.  It was like we were walking down the
road with an invisible forcefield around us.  "Hey you!", a
voice shouted from behind me.

     I glanced over my shoulder, "Boss", I muttered to Nilthar
(as he'd instructed me).

     Nilthar turned around as well, keeping me between him and
what looked like a half-dozen members of a gang.  "This is our
turf!", the lead gang member said, drawing a butterfly knife.

     "How tiresome", Nilthar sighed, turning away, "Nai, deal
with them".

     "Right boss", I observed, pulling back my coat slightly,
revealing the huge gun, "You want 'em dead?".

     The gang froze, "Oh I don't care", Nilthar sighed, "Just
make them disappear".  I took a step towards them, reaching
inside my coat.  Funnily enough the gang just seemed to melt
into the crowd.  I turned and resumed following my 'boss'.  It
occurred to me that I'd forgotten to ask were we were going.

     A few minutes later we arrived at the door of an club
that's sign boasted 'exotic' dancers inside.  Nilthar walked
inside and I followed a little more slowly, a bit dubious
about his choice of venue.  Taking a careful look around I
managed to ignore the more.. prominent features and focus on
following Nilthar through the packed room.

     People seemed to melt out of our path, Nilthar walked
over to a table at the back of the room in one corner, he
glared at the occupants for a few moments and they decided to
offer us their table.  I sat down and a waitress hurried over
to us, "What drinks would you like?", she asked, obviously a
little nervous.

     Nilthar smiled slightly, "I'll have a vodka on the
rocks", he ordered.  She turned to me and I shook my head,
"Nothing", I said shortly.

     She turned to leave and Nilthar grabbed her arm, "Also
tell your boss that I would like to talk to him", he said
quietly.  The girl (obviously shaken by Nilthar's tone)
staggered away from the table and rushed to get his drink.   I
looked around the room and noticed a trio of women wearing
very skimpy clothes coming in our direction.  One of them ran
an finger over my shoulders, "Hello there", she said sweetly,
"Are you boys lonely?".

     I turned to her and lowered my sunglasses, so only she
could see my eyes, "Leave", I snarled at her.  She practically
jumped back, grabbing her two friend's arms.  I pushed my
sunglasses back on and noticed Nilthar's expression, "What?",
I asked.

     "You could have asked me", he protested, "I might be
lonely".

     I sighed, "Do you have any idea what Urd would do to
me?", I asked him bluntly.

     Nilthar managed a smile, "She might thank me for having
you properly educated", he observed.  A few moments later the
young waitress returned, placing a drink in front of Nilthar,
"The manager will be here in a few moments", she said, bowing.

     I looked around carefully, noticing that there were
several men wearing suits around the room, all of them seemed
to be keeping an eye on us.  "Do you see them?", I asked
Nilthar quietly.

     "Fifteen guys, suits, carrying guns", he summed up,
taking a sip of his drink.

     "How can you tell they've got guns?", I asked curiously.

     "Take a look at the back of their jackets", he advised,
"See the bulge?".  After a moment I noticed it, "So what do we
do?", I asked.

     "You don't do anything", Nilthar said, "I'll deal with
this".

     A few moments later a man in a business suit walked up to
our table, "I'm the manager here", he said, "What can I do for
you?".

     Nilthar smiled, "We're here to see if you've got
'protection'", he announced.

     The manager frowned, "Of course we do", he said,
"Everyone in this neighbourhood pays for 'protection'".

     "I see", Nilthar said, "And may I ask to whom you pay?".

     "I don't think that's your concern", a man said, walking
up behind the manager, "We'll take care of this sir", he said. 
The manager slipped away and we found ourselves facing four
largish thugs, "This place is under our family's control", one
of the men announced, revealing his arm, which had a tattoo
running up it, "Which family are you from?".

     Nilthar smiled, "That's my business", he said, "Can I
assume that you work for Grish?".

     The man frowned, "How do you know the Boss's name?", he
demanded, taking a step forward.

     Nilthar removed his sunglasses and indicated that I
should do the same, "We're both from the first family", he
said grimly, "Here to see Grish'narkle, take us to him".

     The man paled slightly and stepped back, "Who..", he
began.

     "I am Nilthar", Nilthar announced, "And your Boss is
answerable to my Boss, so don't screw me around!".  The man
nodded hastily, "We'll organise a car for you immediately", he
stammered.  Within five minutes we were headed towards
Grish'narkle's place of business, in a limo no less!

                                  ******

     "And our meeting with Grish'narkle was very productive",
Nilthar concluded the explanation.

     Urd and Syliana had taken a seat while we explained our
recent travels, "You took him to a strip joint?", Urd asked
Nilthar dangerously.

     Nilthar winced, "It was the only place I could think of
at the time", he protested.

     Syliana had remained silent throughout our explanation
and her gaze hadn't left Nilthar, Urd kept a hand on Syliana's
arm cautiously, "So you're now working for the Yakusa?", Urd
asked sarcastically, "Brilliant plan, fake your own death and
then run off to join the mob!".

     I shook my head, "In my dream Miyuki and Natsumi were
killed", I explained, "I'm trying to stop that happening.

     Syliana glared at Nilthar, "So why are you helping?", she
asked bluntly.

     Nilthar shrugged, "I've got nothing better to do at the
moment", he said.  I glanced over at him, Nilthar seemed to be
trying to get Syliana mad at him, throughout our explanation
he'd shot her looks that seemed to be designed to taunt her.

     Syliana stood and walked outside, her hands clenched at
her sides, I glanced at Urd and she nodded, running after the
furious Goddess of Mystery.  "What are you doing?", I asked
him quietly.

     Nilthar gave me a look that I found confusing, "She hates
me", he observed, "I'm just giving her no reason to stop..".

     "Why?", I asked, confused, "Why do you want to be
hated?".

     Nilthar sighed, "Brett", he said seriously, "You are my
friend, the only person I dare call friend, that's because
we've shared souls.. you understand me a little.. but other
people will just go on hating me..".

     I shrugged off the duster and gun holster, "I still don't
understand", I admitted, "But it almost sounded like you're
happy it's that way!".

     Nilthar gave me a small smile, "Of course I'm not happy",
he said, "But I do deserve it after all I've done..".  Try as
I might I couldn't get him to clarify that statement, Nilthar
seemed like he had some real problems to sort out,
unfortunately it didn't look like he wanted my help.

                                  ******

     Urd caught up to Syliana as she reached the beach,
"Syliana!", she called, "What are you doing?".

     Syliana turned an angry glance on Urd, "I cant believe
you and Brett were defending that monster!", she snapped.

     Urd rocked back slightly at her statement, "He's not a
monster any more!", she insisted, "I know how you feel..".

     "Do you?", she spat back, "How could you know what it's
like to lose your brother, the God that practically raised
you!".

     Urd nodded, "All right", she said, "I don't know exactly
how you feel, but Nilthar's done some pretty rotten things to
me in the past.. and I forgave him!".

     Syliana gave her a disbelieving look, "And Brett!", she
said, "he defended the creature that tried to kill him
numerous times! that killed his predecessor! I cant believe
him!".

     Urd shook her head, "You're judging without cause", she
said carefully, "Nilthar has changed since his first encounter
with Brett".  Urd tried to explain what had happened to
Nilthar, but Syliana shook her head, "I don't want to hear
it!", she hissed, "I don't care what excuses you use! he's
still a monster!".

     She looked back at the house, tears in her eyes, "I..
cant believe Brett would.. ", she turned from Urd and ran into
the shadows of a stand of trees, disappearing as she
teleported away.

     Urd felt a hand on her shoulder, "It's best if she has
some time to think about it", Brett said calmly.

     "You're probably right", Urd sighed, leaning back against
Brett, savouring the feeling of having him near.  To her
surprise and delight Brett kissed her lightly on the cheek,
"I'm sorry", he whispered.

     Urd turned around and noticed that his eyes seemed
shadowed, "I didn't really plan all of this, I didn't mean to
scare you", he continued, holding her close.

     Urd hugged him back, laying her head on his shoulder, "I
forgive you this time", she said, she kissing him back, "But
the next time you'd better be dead or I'll make you wish you
were!".

     Brett laughed with her and they both sat down on the
sand, Urd leaning up against Brett, "This is wonderful", Urd
sighed, wrapping Brett's arms around her like a coat.

     "Hmm", Brett agreed, leaning his chin on top of her head,
"This probably isn't the best time", he began, "But while we
were setting all this up.. I kept feeling horribly guilty...".
Urd noticed that he tightened his hold on her, clutching her
to him as if he was afraid to let go, "About lying to all my
friends.. but more specifically I kept seeing your face.. ".

     Urd smiled in the moonlight, but didn't say anything. 
Brett cleared his throat, "I guess what I mean to say..", he
began.

     "That now that you've blown it with Syliana you're
picking me?", Urd asked sarcastically.  Urd suddenly felt
Brett's arms tighten even more around her, "NO!", he hissed in
her ear, "That's NOT it! I came to this conclusion before any
of that!".

     Urd was having trouble breathing and she gasped, "If you
don't lighten up a little bit I won't have to fake *my*
death", Urd gasped.

     "I'm sorry", Brett apologised again, still holding her,
but more gently.

     Urd suddenly turned around in Brett's embrace, so she was
kneeling in front of him, she leaned forward and kissed him
briefly on the lips, "I don't care", she said, smiling at him
intently, she hugged him tightly, "I don't care why you picked
me to love, just so long as you do!".

     Brett smiled and kissed her again, hugging her close, "I
do!", he insisted, "More than anything or anyone else in the
world".  Urd felt a warm glow inside her, this was exactly
what she was hoping for, she had *her* Brett back after nearly
six months, things were back to the way they should be.  Now
there was only one last thing, she reached behind Brett's head
and pulled his down to kiss her.  She put all her passion and
love behind the kiss, it left them both gasping for air.

     "Wow", Brett sighed, "What a kiss!".  Urd smiled impishly
at him pushing him back on the sand, "You haven't seen
anything yet", she murmured.  At that point Nilthar (who'd
come out of his beach house and walked up silently behind
them) cleared his throat, "We've actually got an appointment
with those mob boys in an hour", he said.  Then he turned his
back and walked away, "Enjoy yourselves!", he said, waving.

     Urd smiled and pulled Brett back to a sitting position,
"Maybe later", she whispered to him, "When we can be alone". 
Brett blushed slightly and Urd laughed, "Why so shy?", she
asked, "It's nothing we haven't done before..".

     Brett blushed even more and stood up suddenly, "We'd
better let Keiichi and your sisters know I'm all right", he
said, looking a little guilty, "I don't want them to worry..".

     Urd nodded quickly, "Right", she said as they walked back
to the house, "I'll pop back there and let them know..".

     Nilthar was sitting on the patio as they got there and he
shook his head, "You two realise that if you tell them now and
they give us away, everything we've done will be for
naught..", he pointed out.

     "But if I tell them to act like he's still..", Urd began.

     "That won't work", he said firmly, "There must be that
feeling of defeat around the temple! there's no way to fake
it, there'll be people watching the place.. the must see a
family in mourning.. not a family hiding a secret, and acting
like it was in mourning!".

     Urd turned to look at Brett, "What about your family back
in Australia?", she asked.

     "I've already fixed that", Nilthar said, "Any phone-call
to Brett's home in Australia is being routed through here and
monitored -  that way I can pretend to be Brett's father if
the police call..".

     Urd frowned, "Doesn't that cost a lot of money?", she
asked.  Nilthar gave her a sneaky look, "There are ways around
that", he said with a grin.  "Besides", Nilthar said with a
wave at the house, "This place was set up to do it, the
previous owner was into international money laundering and a
whole bunch of underhanded things, you should see the hardware
inside..".

     "And of course it's the perfect place for you to live",
Urd observed, "Being so sneaky and underhanded yourself".

     Nilthar bowed slightly from the waist, "Guilty as
charged", he laughed.

                                  ******

     "So how do I look?", I asked Urd, turning around for her
inspection.

     "Very menacing", she said, straightening my tie, "Isn't
the gun a bit much?".

     I shrugged, sliding it into the holster and button the
guard over it, "I thought so, but Nilthar assures me it's an
authentic 'mob' gun".

     Urd nodded, "It's a .44 Magnum Automatic", Urd said, "Do
you even know how to use it?".

     I shook my head, "How do you know about guns?", I asked
in amazement.

     Urd gave me a wry grin, "You wouldn't believe how many
different types of weapons I've come across", she said with a
smile, "Chia-Yao and Skuld both like designing newer and
better ones.. since I was the oldest I got to show 'em how
they worked..".

     I took out the huge gun and handed it to her, with a
competent look she cocked it and looked down the barrel, "The
sight is a bit off", she said critically, "But other than that
it's ready to go.

     Carefully holding the hammer, she release it, put the
safety on and handed it to me, "Think you could do that?", she
asked.

     I nodded and repeated what she'd done, "Good", she said,
"Now it's simple to use, point it at what you want to fall
down".  I grimaced, carefully putting the big gun away, "I've
never much liked guns", I observed.

     "Why?", Urd asked in surprise
     
     "Cause it's difficult to just wound a person with one,
unless you're really good", I observed, "I'd rather use my
epee in a fight.. rather than blow holes in things...".  Urd
placed a hand on my arm, "Don't let that stop you protecting
yourself", she said firmly, "I want you to come back!".

     I laughed and kissed her quickly, "Of course I'll come
back", I said, "After all these are just thugs..".

     "And one Demon!", Urd reminded me.

     I nodded, "Ok, I'll be careful", I promised.  Urd nodded
and she shuddered, "Do me a favour", she said.

     I frowned, "What?", I asked.

     Urd grimaced, "Next time wait till you change back to
normal before you kiss me", she advised, "Kissing a Demon
isn't exactly my idea of fun.  A few minutes later Nilthar
joined me and the two of us teleported away to our meeting. 
Urd was going to heaven to get us some 'backup' in case things
turned nasty.

     We appeared at Grish'narkle's place, startling a few of
his human bodyguards.  Nilthar nodded to him and I assumed my
position standing beside my 'Boss'.  Half an hour later we
were at a deserted airstrip which I recognised, "This is the
place!", I said in a low voice to Nilthar.

     He nodded curtly and the two of us took up a position
near the warehouse.  Nilthar nudged me in the side, "I'll make
a duplicate of you", he said, "The illusion will last for
about twenty minutes, you've got that long to track down your
two police friends and get them out of the way".

     I took a step into the warehouse and noticed that as soon
as I moved a duplicate of myself was suddenly standing by
Nilthar.  I moved through and found a backdoor, making my way
unseen to the place where I'd seen my friends get shot in that
dream.  I took up position in a darkened corner, cloaking
myself in a spell (or at least making myself a little more
hard to spot).

     "Ouch!", a familiar voice whispered, "How come you pushed
me!?!".

     I carefully looked over to the window just behind a row
of crates, a pair of legs disappeared from the window and
there was a thump on the floor, "Cause a guard was coming!",
Natsumi responded.

     I waited silently as the to police women moved through
the building, "There they are!", a voice shouted.  I glanced
over the crates and saw Natsumi and Miyuki standing in front
of a bunch of thugs holding uzi machineguns.

     The two police officers dropped their guns and raised
their hands.  I noticed one of the thugs smiled and raise his
gun.  At that point I acted.

                                  ******

     Natsumi closed her eyes, waiting for the hail of bullets
she knew was coming, "Bye Miyuki", she whispered.

     "Hold it!", a harsh voice called from the darkness.  The
Thugs suddenly looked up as a large figure walked out into the
light, he was wearing a long duster and dark sunglasses.  He
was also carrying a huge .44 magnum pistol, "What do you think
you're doing?", he snapped at the lead thug.

     To Natsumi's amazement the thugs all lowered their guns,
"Sir", one said, "We got some information from an informant
that two women were asking a lot of questions.. and that they
would be here...".

     The man in the duster gestured to Natsumi, "Pick up your
gun!", he ordered, "That was pathetic Natsumi, Miyuki! you'll
both receive punishment when we return home!".

     Natsumi and Miyuki blinked, but did as they were told,
"Sir?", the lead Thug asked in confusion, "Do you know these
women?".

     "Of course I do!", the man insisted, "They work for the
*first* family!".

     The thugs suddenly bowed low and backed out of the
building, "We're very sorry!", they all chanted in unison.

     Natsumi and Miyuki noticed that the tall man was forcing
back a grin, "You two should be more careful", he observed, "A
couple of pretty police ladies like you might just have been
killed..".

     Miyuki brought her gun around to aim at the man, "Who are
you?", she demanded, "and how do you know our names?".

     The man ignored her and replaced his gun in a shoulder
holster, "I'm a friend", he said, "And I know your names from
a mutual acquaintance, his name is Brett".

     Natsumi looked at him sharply, "what do you mean: 'is'",
she asked curiously.

     The man shook his head, "No time to explain", he said,
"Detectives Sakuza and Yukimi will be here shortly and I'm
sure they will dispute my story".

     "Sakuza?", Miyuki asked.

     "Yukimi?", Natsumi asked.

     The man sighed, "They're dirty", he said firmly, "They
are the ones that tried to kill m.. I mean kill Brett in his
sleep, they've been pushing the investigation in the wrong
direction.. you name it.. they've done it".

     Natsumi and Miyuki exchanged a long glance, "So what do
we do?", Natsumi asked.

     The man smiled, "First thing, did either of you bring a
camera?", he asked.

     Miyuki nodded, reaching into her pocket and revealing a
small camera, "Right", he said, "I want the two of you to wait
here and take cover, hopefully now that we've got everyone
together, things will start happening quickly...".

                                  ******

     I returned to Nilthar's side just as the spell wore off,
he breathed a sigh of relief, "Did you work things out?", he
asked.

     I nodded, "They're waiting for our signal", I explained.

     A moment later a car pulled up and the two detectives got
out, walking right up to Grish'narkle, "When do we get out
money?", one asked.

     "Thanks so much detectives", the disguised Demon said,
"But you should be a little more accurate with your
information...".

     Sakuza frowned, "What are you talking about?", he
demanded.

     "Those broads", another thug spoke up, "They weren't a
threat, they work for the family!".

     Yukimi frowned, "Natsumi and Miyuki are cops!", he
insisted, "They're not in the family!".

     The group of Yakusa thugs suddenly turned to us, "Nai!",
Grish'narkle roared, "What's going on here!??!".

     I smiled slightly and threw off the long coat and gun. 
Snapping my fingers I clothed myself in my armour and my epee
appeared in my hand, "Grish'narkle!", I said, "Since you're
the one that tried to kill me, I think you and I need to have
a little talk!".  Nilthar dropped the spell that was keeping
me disguised and Grish'narkle blanched, "That's Destiny you
fools! kill him!".

     A half-dozen automatic weapons leapt to life, the sound
was deafening, but not one of the bullets managed to reach me,
in fact the forcefield I hastily erected held up quite well. 
As each of the mobsters began to change clips I cast another
spell.  A rolling ball of fire suddenly appeared, making a
course directly for the group of thugs.  They scattered and
the fireball exploded harmlessly.  Nilthar looked at me
critically, "You missed", he observed.

     I shrugged, "Never mind, how about you do something to
help?", I asked.

     Nilthar nodded, summoning his own armour and sword.  He
suddenly began running towards one group of thugs. 
Grish'narkle didn't seem to want to face the music, because he
began running.  I took off after him, which I now look on as a
mistake.

                                  ******

     Natsumi's eyes widened as she realised who the man in
armour was, "It's Brett!", she said with satisfaction.

     Miyuki nodded, "It's him all right.. how is he doing
that?", she asked.

     Natsumi quickly filled her partner in on the situation,
"He's a God?", Miyuki asked, looking at Natsumi sceptically.

     "Trust me!", she insisted.  As a rolling ball of fire
suddenly shot from Brett's outstretched hands, Miyuki blinked,
"All right", she said.  The thugs had scattered, but Miyuki
had enough film of the two detectives accepting a bribe from
the Yakusa that they could be arrested at anytime. 
Unfortunately Grish, the boss began running towards the
building they were hiding in.

     "Ummm.. Hide!", Miyuki snapped.  The two police officers
quickly hid amongst the many crates littering the floor.

                                  ******

     Skuld was angry.  In fact she was more than just angry,
she was furious.  No, furious didn't cover it either, she was
ready to start breaking things.  "This is ridiculous!", she
snapped at the computer screen.

     After Urd had disappeared she'd sat with Belldandy and
Keiichi for a long while.  When Tlesta had died none of them
had been directly involved, except for knowing the God in
question.  Skuld had been more concerned with Chia-Yao and his
reaction to his brother's death, the young God of Truth had
surprisingly been rather cold about the whole thing, swearing
revenge for his brother's death.  Skuld, in concern had tried
to get in contact with Chia-Yao this time.

     "What do you mean Brett's gone?", he asked blankly over
the phone, "Gone where?".  Skuld had paused for a moment,
Chia-Yao should have known if his brother had died.  It was
then she began to believe that Urd might have been right.

     So she had started checking into the records store in
Yggradsil.  After looking a little closer she realised that
things had been tampered with.  She checked the last
modification date and the last user who'd modified it.  Brett
had modified it last and the last change he'd made was to put
'deceased' in the status field.  She stood up with a sharp
movement, her chair falling down behind her and stalked into
the dining room.

     "Urd was right!", she said firmly to her sister and
Keiichi.

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

     "Brett is alive!", she said angrily, "He was the last one
to make a modification to his file!".

     Keiichi and Belldandy exchanged a confused look, "Why
would he do that?", Keiichi wondered out loud.

     Skuld shook her head, "No matter what the reason is, he's
in trouble, that's the important thing!", she insisted.

     Keiichi frowned as he looked out the window, "Did the
police say they were leaving anyone to watch us?", he asked
curiously.

     Skuld shook her head, "Those policewomen didn't say
anything about it..", she observed.

     Belldandy looked out the window at the black car sitting
outside in the street, positioned so that it had a clear view
of the temple grounds, "That doesn't look like a police car",
she observed.

     Suddenly the car took off with a screech of tyres.  Skuld
frowned, "Where they listening to us?", she mused.

                                  ******

     "Hurry up and dial the boss!", growled the driver,
spinning the wheel and turning another corner.

     The thug in the passenger's seat was trying without much
success to punch a number into his mobile phone.  "Take it
easy!", he said, "Slow down a bit!".

     "Don't tell me to slow down!", the driver replied
angrily, "You heard what the boss said, these people are
dangerous".  The black car pulled out onto the highway and the
driver floored it, breathing a sigh of relief.

     "Damn!", the passenger said, slamming the mobile phone
against the dashboard, "It's not working!".  He noticed that
his partner didn't reply and that his attention seemed to be
focused in the rear-view mirror.  The thug suddenly turned
around, looking out the back of the car.

     What he saw would have been fine, if he had been at the
circus.  Behind them and closing fast was a motorcycle,
driving it was a young man and sitting behind him was a woman
wearing very unusual clothes, she had a strange aura around
her and he swore he could hear the tinkling of her earings
over the noise of the car engines.  In the side car of the
cycle was another young lady, she was standing up, apparently
having no trouble, even though they were travelling well over
150kph.  She was carrying a *huge* hammer of some kind and had 
and extremely pissed-off expression on her face.

     The driver suddenly swerved taking them down an off-ramp
and into the narrow city streets.  He expertly took one corner
after another, sliding occasionally, but only as much as he
needed to.  "Good driving!", congratulated his partner. 
Unfortunately when they look in the rear-view mirror, the
motorcycle had actually caught up even more with them.   They
both watched as it executed an impossibly tight turn around a
corner.

     Unfortunately, while it's good to look in your rear-view
mirror on occasions, it's not good to drive really quickly
down narrow streets while looking behind you.  The black car
was suddenly airborne and flying towards a shop window.  The
two Yakusa thugs grabbed onto each other in fear, as they
waited for the end to come.  Amazingly they waited and nothing
happened.  Finally one of them opened his eyes, they were
parked, quite neatly in front of a coffee shop.

     "Hey", he muttered, nudging his partner, "We're not
dead".

     "But you might wish you were", a voice observed dryly.

     The two thugs suddenly noticed a young lady, wearing some
kind of armour and carrying a *huge* hammer, standing on the
hood of their car.  Immediately both of them went for their
guns.  And both their guns suddenly flew out of the car and
into the waiting hands of the motorcycle's driver, who smiled
under his helmet.

     Rather upset at the loss of their weapons the to thugs
got out of their car and moved towards the young man.  He
suddenly pointed the guns at them and shook his head.  The two
thugs paused in mid-step.  "We have some questions for you",
the young lady with the hammer observed.

     "We ain't telling you anything!", the driver declared.

     The young woman smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that",
she laughed.  The two thugs then watched as she crumpled their
car into a cube, using only her hammer.

                                  ******

     Chia-Yao had just hung up the phone after talking to a
very confused Skuld.  She kept saying stuff about Brett being
'gone' whatever that meant.  He paced up and down the hall for
a few minutes, trying to decide what to do.  There was a
banging on his front door and he quickly opened the castle
doors.

     A moment later Syliana stalked in, "Brother!", she said
angrily, "Why are you here and not hunting down that scum that
killed our brother!?!?!".

     Chia-Yao blinked, "What are you talking about?", he
asked, confused, "Nilthar isn't..".

     Syliana grabbed him by the front of his shirt, "He
*killed* Tlesta!", she hissed angrily, "Why haven't you killed
him yet!??!".

     "Settle down Sis!", he said carefully holding her hands
so he wasn't being choked, "I can't kill Nilthar.. ".

     "WHY NOT?!?!", Syliana demanded, tears in her eyes, "He
took away our brother!".

     Chia-Yao nodded sadly, "That's true", he admitted, "But
he also gave us back our brother and saved me as well". 
Syliana shook her head, not wanting to believe her brother's
statements, "I can't believe *you* would do this!", she
screamed, "Why?".

     "Syliana", he said firmly, gathering her up in a hug,
"The anger and hate isn't worth it, let it go..".  She shook
off his embrace and gave him a glare, "I can't believe a Demon
could be reformed!", she said firmly.

     "Just sit and I'll explain a little two you", he said,
gesturing to a chair.  Syliana swallowed her angry retort and
sat down.  Chia-Yao then explained to her in detail everything
that had transpired to alter Nilthar's personality.  How he'd
absorbed Brett's soul and ended up keeping a small piece of
it.  How that small part of Brett's soul had made Nilthar
question his life and existence.  He also explained Nilthar's
role in defeating Tupnixua and how the Demon had expressed his
regret at everything he'd done.

     Syliana sat silently throughout the explanation and she
shook her head at the end, "I can't accept it", she said, "He
is a Demon, that's all that needs to be said, he's evil
through and through..".

     Chia-Yao shook his head, "No", he said, "He's not, he's
got a small part of Brett inside him, in fact I think that
little part has grown..".  There was silence for a long moment
and Syliana sighed, "Well", she said, "Whatever I've done
today.. I've ruined one thing..".

     "Listen Sis", Chia-Yao said firmly, "You haven't 'ruined'
anything, Brett will understand..".

     "It's not that", Syliana said, "I just found out
something horrible about myself.. I ended up hating without
really knowing the truth..".  She shook her head, "Brett
deserves to be with Urd, she understands him better than I
do..", she admitted.

     Chia-yao placed a hand on her shoulder and she smiled
weakly, "I guess I couldn't admit that before", she sighed,
"Ironic isn't it.. I couldn't see the truth, until I was
blinded by hatred..".

     There was a knocking at the door and Chia-Yao frowned,
"Two visitors in one day", he observed, "I must be getting
popular..".

     A moment later Urd hurried inside, she noticed Syliana
sitting down and stopped.  "Come in", Syliana said with a
sigh, "My smooth talking brother here has convinced me that
you were right..".

     Urd nodded and looked at Chia-Yao, "Brett and Nilthar
need help", she said quickly, "They're taking on a group of
Yakusa thugs and at least one Demon.. named Grish'narkle".

     Chia-Yao frowned, "I've heard of him", he admitted, "But
we've never been able to locate him before..".

                                  ******

     I quickly parried a blow with my sword and then ducked as
it was followed up with a slash at my head.  I stumbled
backward slightly as the Demon began lashing out. 
Grish'narkle had taken on a monstrous form, that had lots of
sharp teeth and claws.

     This wasn't exactly the kind of combat I was used to, and
I couldn't get clear enough to cast any spells.  To sum it up,
I was in deep trouble.  The small building we were fighting in
was the same one I'd left Natsumi and Miyuki in (which was
another reason I wasn't blasting away with spells), for the
most part the boxes in the area were all smashed beyond
recognition.  I just hoped they'd gotten away.  Nilthar had
turned up yet and I was starting to wonder where he'd gotten
to.

     Then I stumbled.  It was only a small stumble, but it put
me off balance for what came next.  And what came next was a
stunning blow to my stomach, which left me gasping for air. 
The armour had protected me from a lot of the impact, but it
was still enough to hurt a lot.  Then I found myself
backhanded across the room.  I didn't have a chance to even
put up a shield against it.  Everything went black for a
moment and then I felt myself suddenly weightless.  That ended
half a second later when I impacted into the boxes.  Another
moment of blackness followed and even more pain when it
passed.

     I was lying in the remains of a large crate, unable to
pick myself up.  Grish'narkle laughed evilly and started
forward.  To my surprise he suddenly jerked backwards and a
the sharp snap of a gunshot rang out, "Halt, or I'll shoot!",
a voice rang out.

     "Natsumi!", Miyuki's voice called, "You're suppose to
warn them first.. then shoot!".

     "Whatever", Natsumi replied shortly, "Just so that ugly
thing realises that I'm gonna blow it away if it doesn't stop
where it is!".

     "Just shoot the bloody thing!", I managed to call out,
"You can't arrest it!".  Natsumi and Miyuki must have realised
that what I was staying was true and the Demon started towards
me again.

     The two police officers managed to hit it nearly a dozen
times between the two of them, but all they managed to do was
slow it down.  Luckily for me, them slowing it down allowed me
to get my breath back and I looked around quickly to see where
my friends were hiding.  I noticed the muzzle flash from a
gun, up near the top of the roof.  I whispered a spell and
concentrated.  The levitation spell took effect and I shot up
towards the roof, much quicker than I'd intended.

     I managed to stop beside a startled Miyuki and she looked
at me in confusion as I reached out to her, "Come on!", I
said, "This flight is about to depart!".

     She nodded and grabbed on around my shoulders.  I pulled
myself over to where Miyuki was still shooting at the Demon. 
Grish'narkle obviously didn't want me to get away, because he
rushed over to the wall and began to climb.  "All aboard!", I
called to Natsumi.

     Grish'narkle was a surprisingly good climbing and he had
almost reached us when Natsumi finally jumped into my arms. 
This threw me backwards a good meter or two (which was lucky
since that made Grish'narkle a little further away.  I grabbed
the ceiling and began pulling my way along to the skylight. 
Natsumi, who had her arms around my neck kept yelling
encouragement to me (which was fine, except she was only two
inches from my face at the time!).  Miyuki just held onto my
back with all her might. 

     In other circumstances it might have even been enjoyable,
squeezed between two attractive young ladies, but not when
you're levitating six meters in the air, with a Demon trying
to kill you.  I managed to reach the skylight the moment
before Grish'narkle and I put the levitation spell into high-
gear.  Unfortunately I misjudged the amount of energy and shot
up into the sky like a rocket.

                                  ******

     Nilthar ducked under the swing of an ancient sword and
rolled backwards.  These human Thugs were suppose to have been
the easy fight, but apparently Grish'narkle had given them
some interesting equipment.  The swords and knives they were
using had a strong feeling of evil magic and their reaction
times were better than the best human warrior Nilthar had
faced.

     Rolling to his feet, Nilthar raised a hand at the thug
with the sword and cast a spell.  A sticky substance shot out
from his hand, effectively wrapping the man up in a cocoon. 
There was a burst of machinegun fire and Nilthar only just
managed to put up a shield in time.  The half-dozen thugs and
two corrupt police officers were taking turns shooting at him,
so he had to keep his shield up, allowing the few men with
enchanted weapons close enough to hit him.

     A knife whistled past his head and he ducked, it had gone
right through his shield.  Then two of them where upon him,
one with a pair of knives, the other with a long chain with a
blade on the end of it.  He furiously blocked with his sword,
backing up step by step.  "Why the hell did Brett insist I
capture them?!", he demanded angrily, "I could have killed
them all in about two seconds!".

     Then he felt a sting on one arm and absently noticed that
the one with the chain had scored a hit.  He backflipped and
drove his sword through the chain-wielder's throat, "Ooops",
he said, looking at the fatally wounded man, "I guess my blade
slipped.. I'm sure Brett will forgive me..".  The knife
wielder stepped back as he saw the fate of his companion,
giving Nilthar a few moments of breathing space.

     Then Nilthar noticed the sound of a fast-approaching
motorcycle.  The thugs noticed it too because three of them
turned in the direction of the noise.  Nilthar grinned as he
saw the trio coming rapidly to his 'rescue'.  Skuld had her
hammer out and Belldandy was standing on her seat, chanting
some kind of spell.  The three thugs opened up on them with
their guns, the muzzle flashes were almost blinding.  A hail
of lead stormed down the runway, only to be deflected a split-
second later by Belldandy's shield.  The three thugs ran out
of ammunition quickly and before they could change clips, the
Motorcycle had passed close by them.

     Nilthar smiled as each of the thugs fell to the ground,
unconscious.  The motorcycle slid to a stop, Skuld and
Belldandy jumped to the ground, Skuld twirling her hammer
around, "That was fun", she observed.

     The remaining thugs took one look at her, than glanced
back a Nilthar (who just happened to have blood dripping from
his block sword) and ran screaming, throwing down their
weapons.  Nilthar took that opportunity to cocoon them all as
they ran and he walked over to the two Goddesses, "Nice
entrance", he observed.

     Keiichi, who had taken off his helmet looked up suddenly,
"What's that?", he asked, looking at an object that was flying
rather quickly into the night sky.

     Belldandy, Skuld and Nilthar all strained their eyes to
see, "I don't know", Nilthar admitted, "Some kind of UFO?". 
There was suddenly a series of thunderclaps and flashes of
light around the airport.  Chia-Yao, Urd and Syliana appeared,
escorted by a dozen Security Daemons.

     Nilthar gave Chia-Yao a wry smile, "Late as usual", he
observed.  The security Daemons quickly split up into groups
and began checking the general area.

     "Where's Brett?", Urd asked, looking around curiously.

                                  ******

     I've never been particularly good with heights.  Even
when I am standing on something solid.  Now try to imagine
floating several thousand feet above the ground with nothing
around you and the only thing holding you up is a spell you're
not exactly good at.  Scary doesn't even come close.

     "Brett?", Natsumi asked, "Are you ok?".

     I opened my eyes and found her nose-to-nose with me, "No
I'm not", I replied.

     "What's wrong?", Miyuki asked quickly.

     "Would either of you have a parachute?", I asked with a
weak smile, "Because I have no idea how to get us down..".

     Natsumi's eye's narrowed and she frowned at me, "You got
us up here", she insisted, "You get us down!".

     I shuddered slightly, "That's just the problem", I
observed, "I can get us down.. but then there's the problem of
the sudden stop at the end...".

     Miyuki shifted her grip and I hissed in pain, we also
suddenly dropped a hundred meters.  She quickly changed her
hold, wrapping her legs around my waist to take up the weight,
"I think you might have some broken ribs", she observed.

     I grimaced and looked over my shoulder at her, "Thanks
for the advice", I managed to get out through clenched teeth.

     Natsumi frowned at me and then wrapped her own legs
around me, locking her's over Miyuki.  She ripped part of her
shirt off and began dabbing at the side of my head, "Looks
like a nasty cut", she observed.

     "Hold onto me", Natsumi ordered.  I held her steady as
she wrapped her makeshift bandage around my head, "There", she
observed, "Now at least we don't have to worry about you
passing out from loss of blood".  We where all quiet for a
while until Miyuki suddenly tapped me on the shoulder,
"Brett", she said, "Is that what I think it is?".

     I struggled to look over my shoulder and nodded, "It is",
I said blankly, concentrating.  The three of us suddenly shot
even higher into the air as a large passenger plane missed us
by a few meters.  We were close enough for me to actually see
the expressions of the pilots and several of the passengers. 
When I next looked down I noticed that we were at least double
our previous height, I started getting a little light-headed.

     Then I saw an angel, or at least, a Goddess.  "Going
somewhere?", Urd asked me curiously.  From where she was
floating beside me.

     I shook my head, "No where fast", I admitted, "Do you
think you could help me get down.. I can't seem to remember
how to land".

     Chia-Yao floated past, "This is an easy spell", he
observed, "What's the problem?".

     Skuld then went by, "He's never been good with the
landings", she observed.  It took a few minutes, but Urd,
Skuld and Chia-Yao managed to help me lower myself and my two
passengers to the ground.  When we got there I did the
sensible thing and collapsed.  I must have only been out for a
few seconds, because the next thing I knew I was lying on the
runway, Belldandy standing over me, the glow of a healing
spell nearly blinding me.

     Miyuki and Natsumi were looking curiously at the cocooned
Yakusa thugs, "We need to get some of this stuff", Natsumi
observed, testing the sticky black substance with a stick, the
unfortunate Thug whimpered as she poked at him.

     I was leaning heavily on Urd and Chia-Yao when a Security
Daemon ran up to us, "Sir!", he said, saluting Chia-Yao, "We
can find no trace of the Demon, he's vanished..".

     Nilthar snorted, "He won't be doing much for a while", he
observed, looking around the dozen or so cocoons lying on the
ground, "No gang means he's got to start from scratch..".

     There was the faint sound of police sirens in the
distance and the Security Daemons quickly vacated the area. 
"How the hell do we explain this?", Miyuki asked, looking
around in confusion.

     Chia-yao grinned at them, "Obviously you captured them",
he said.  He nodded to the three Goddesses, "With the help of
some concerned citizens", he said.

     I frowned, "Hang on a minute!", I said, "The police think
I'm dead!".

     Miyuki smiled, "Well, I'm sure we can work something
out", she said.  Indeed everything did.  Miyuki and Natsumi
got promoted, Keiichi, Belldandy and Skuld got a commendation
for 'community service', I was made alive again (that is
according to the Japanese Police) and Miyuki even tore up my
traffic ticket.  All in all there was only one lose end, a
Demon named Grish'narkle, but I'm sure something will be done
about him eventually.

                                  ******

     "Oh great", I muttered, looking in the rear-view mirror,
a police car was right behind me, it's lights flashing. I
pulled over and stopped.  A police motorcycle also pulled,
over stopping in front of me.  A police officer walked up
beside the car and tapped on the door. "Licence please", said
a familiar voice.

     I looked up sharply, "Miyuki?", I asked, frowning, "I
thought you got promoted?".

     "We did", Natsumi agreed, looking in the other window.

     I stepped out of the car and Natsumi whistled, "Looking
sharp", she observed, noticing the suit I was wearing.

     I grinned a little self-consciously, "It was Urd's idea",
I explained, "I was just on my way back from place I rented it
from to pick her up....".

     Miyuki winked at, "We know", Natsumi commented.

     "You do?", I asked warily.

     Both women nodded and I felt a sinking feeling in the pit
of my stomach.  I frowned, "So why exactly did you pull me
over?", I asked.

     Natsumi grinned, "You're going to be late", she observed,
"You were driving too slow..".

     "Don't tell me..", I sighed.

     Fifteen minutes later I pulled up at the temple, complete
with a police escort.  Apparently Urd had worked this out
earlier, to make sure I wasn't late for whatever it was that
she'd planned.  She was waiting just outside the gates,
looking absolutely stunning in a long blue evening dress.  I
opened the car door for her, thankful that I'd cleaned the car
earlier that afternoon.

     "So where are we going?", I asked her curiously.

     "Just follow Ken-Chan", Urd suggested.

     I frowned, "Ken-Chan?", I asked in confusion.

     Urd pointed to the Motorcycle cop in front of us who
waved.  I recognised him from the incident when Miyuki got
shot.  We all started off and I found myself so busy
concentrating on following Ken that it took me a few minutes
to notice that Urd was staring at me, "What?", I asked
curiously.

     Urd smiled slightly and shook her head, "Oh nothing", she
said mischievously.  Of course by now I've come to recognise
that as a sure sign that trouble was ahead.  We pulled up
outside of a rather impressive looking hotel/restaurant, the
door was opened for me and I handed the car keys to a valet. 
Miyuki and Natsumi drove up beside me, "Have fun!", Natsumi
called, then the two of them drove off in pursuit of Ken, and
I thought I detected laughter coming from the quickly
disappearing police car.

     I offered my arm to Urd, who took it firmly and the two
of us walked inside.  Urd directed me to the elevators and we
rode up to the top level, where we stepped out into a
restaurant that overlooked most of Tokyo.  Urd looked at me
warily and I smiled, "It's ok", I said, "I don't have a
problem when I'm inside".  She smiled and we walked up to the
restaurant manager, who seemed to recognise Urd.

     "Please, come this way!", he said grandly, showing us to
a table that was obviously the finest in the place.

     "Are you sure we can afford this?", I whispered to her,
taking a look at the menu.  A waiter arrived a moment later
with two drinks, "Compliments of the gentleman near the
window", he explained, "he also insists that he pick up the
cheque..".

     I looked over to where the waiter had indicated and saw a
familiar figure, in a long duster, dark sunglasses and this
time Nilthar had a good-looking young lady hanging off his
arm.  He smiled and nodded in our direction.  Urd shook her
head at Nilthar's choice of company, "That Demon!", she
sighed.  Dinner was excellent and the two of us had a nice
long chat as we ate.  Finally the meal was finished and Urd
reached over and took my hand.

     "I had an ulterior motive for bringing you here", she
admitted.

     I frowned slightly, "What would that be?", I asked
curiously.

     "You remember Lodoss?", Urd asked quietly.

     I nodded, "Do you remember what you asked me?", she
continued.

     I smiled, "I do remember", I said.

     "Do you remember what I said?", she asked.

     "That we should wait until we got back", I replied
promptly.

     Urd looked away for a long moment, "That didn't happen",
she said, "It obviously wasn't meant to be that way for us..".

     I shook my head, "Urd.. I'm sorry..", I began.

     She cut me off with a squeeze on my hand, "Don't
apologise", she said quietly, "I know why you did what you
did.. I just don't agree with the reasons..".  She seemed
slightly nervous as she looked past me and out at the lovely
city backdrop, "I think we need to have a long look at our
relationship.. ".

     "I really don't understand", I admitted, "I thought we'd
gotten through most of the problems..".

     Urd shook her head, "I don't think so", she admitted.

     I looked at her in shock, "Urd, what exactly are you
trying to say?", I asked firmly.

     She smiled, "I'm withdrawing my promise to marry you",
she said firmly.

     I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach.
"Why?", I demanded, "Why do that?".

     Urd touched my face with the back of her hand, "Because
we're not the same people any more and not in the same
circumstances", she explained, "At the time you were
influenced by Phalarus and I was overwhelmed at being so far
from home.. ".

     "You mean to say that you don't want to get married?", I
asked her in disbelief.

     "No!", Urd said quickly, grabbing my hand, "I still want
to and I want to marry you.. but not now.. probably not for a
while..".

     I shook my head in confusion, "I don't understand", I
said firmly, "If you still want to get married..".

     Urd smiled, "I just want to get everything stated
clearly", Urd said, "I know that you hate it when people are
vague or don't tell you what they mean".

     "This wasn't the kind of thing I had in mind!", I
grumbled.

     Urd took my hand and pulled me to my feet, "Come on", she
said, "Let's talk privately".  I followed along behind her,
still in somewhat of a daze.  We went downstairs one floor and
Urd led me into a room.  She opened the blinds on the window
and I took a moment to enjoy the view, before turning my gaze
back to Urd, who was sitting on a couch.  "Sit", she ordered,
indicating that I should sit down beside her.

     She put an arm around me as I sat down, "This is what I
want", she said softly.

     I gave her a hug and she sighed, "I'm sorry if I scared
you", she whispered, "I just wanted to get it all out in the
open, we're not normal people you and I.. we arn't constrained
by mortal rules..".  I looked down at her and she smiled,
"Brett we have all of eternity to get married", she explained,
"I don't want to have you thinking we have to get married
right now..".

     "That wasn't the impression I got when you and Syliana
were chasing me", I observed, remembering that Urd had brought
up my offer of marriage many times, usually to make a point to
Syliana.  Urd shook her head, "That was between me and her",
she replied, "Now that we're together I can be honest with you
and myself..".

     I gave her a sceptical look and she smiled, "What's that
look mean?", she asked.

     "You my love", I said, leaning down and kissing her,
"Have you been hiding such a serious nature from me?".

     Urd smiled and laughed, "I've always had a serious
nature", she said firmly, "Everything I say and do is for a
reason..".  We stopped talking for a few moments, just
enjoying each other's company and the magnificent view that
the room afforded us.

     Urd suddenly yawned, "Tired?", I asked.

     She nodded and stood up, "I think it's time for bed", she
observed.  I stood up as well and turned towards the door.

     "Brett?", Urd asked, a hint of laughter in her voice.  I
turned around to see her stepping out of her evening dress,
"This is our room for the night", she said, wrapping her arms
around me.

                                  ******

Author's Notes:

     Well now.. I think Urd has made her point nicely so that
wraps it up for this one.  It's taken me a little while to get
through this story, about six months since I started with the
idea of a OMGod/YUA story.. I've actually finished writing one
story that's set after this one (the OMGod/KOR story) and I'm
gonna be releasing them together.. 

     I'm also in the middle (or rather 3/4 of the way through)
of writing the OMGod/SM crossover - it's set about a year
after this one - with the KOR story somewhere in the middle.     
It amazes me to think that the KOR story originally was going
to be the first continuing story after Too Good To be True..
but it took me two years too long to finish it!

     Anyway.. thanks as always goes to Jim Nutley.. who, since
he was the first I showed this to, you can blame for
encouraging me to write more.  Jim has asked me to write bits
and pieces for his new story (no I can't tell you anything
about it.. he'd shoot me) - that continues on from 'A Plague
of Skulds' and features Brett as a recurring character.  Of
course his and my timelines diverged quite a bit so 'his'
Brett is a little different from my 'Brett'.. if that makes
any sense? no? well never mind then.

     Thanks also to everyone who's written to me telling me
they want more - you know who you are.. constantly wanting
updates! - also I'd like to say to those people who have been
very patiently waiting for me to finish some of my older
stories that I shall get onto them once I finish my current
OMGod stories.. amazingly.. for the first time since 1995,
(with the completion of this one) I'm only writing one Oh My
God? story... enough to give me some spare time huh? nope
unfortunately not.. 

     If you've managed to sit through these author's notes, my
congratulations to you! I shall now shut up!

-----Brett (29/04/98)

Previous Stories...

Oh My God.. Too Good To Be True.. Hazards of Divinity.. are all available at my website..

http://www.ozanime.com/ - in the FanFics section...