Vanity of Vanities, says Quoheleth,
     vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity!
What profit has man from all the labor
     which he toils at under the sun?"

Ecclesiastes 1: 2-3.


Again I considered all the oppressions
that take place under the sun:
the tears of the victims with none to comfort them!
From the hand of their oppressors come violence,
and there is none to comfort them!
And those now dead, I declared more fortunate
in death than are the living to still be alive.
And better off than both is the yet unborn,
who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4: 1-3.


Again I saw under the sun
that the race is not won by the swift,
nor the battle by the valiant,
nor a livelihood by the wise,
nor riches by the shrewd,
nor favor by the experts;
for a time of calamity comes to all alike.

Ecclesiates 9: 11


What man is he that yearneth
     For length unmeasured of days?
Folly mine eye discerneth
     Encompassing all his ways.
For years over-running the measure
     shall change thee in evil wise:
Grief draweth nigh thee; and pleasure,
     Behold it is hid from thine eyes.
This to their wage have they
     Which overlive their day...

Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles


God has given me over to the impious;
     into the clutches of the wicked he has cast me.
I was in peace, but he dislodged me;
     he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces.
He has set me up for a target;
     his arrows strike me from all directions.
He pierces my sides without mercy,
     he pours out my gall upon the ground.
He pierces me with thrust upon thrust;
     he attacks me like a warrior.
I have fastened sackcloth over my skin,
     and have laid my brow in the dust.
My face is inflamed with weeping
     and there is darkness over my eyes,
Although my hands are free from violence,
     and my prayer is sincere.

Job 18:  11-17


Who can say, "I have made my heart clean,
      I am cleansed of my sin"?

Proverbs 20: 9


***

Chapter 17:  The Dance Of Shiva

***

     Aeka floated through space in Ryu-oh.  The operation had been a
success.  GENOM's space capabilities had not proven likely to be a
threat, but now GENOM had no capabilities at all.  Aeka wondered
again how her father could have ever let this world reach such a
state of affairs.  It was a Juraian colony, after all.  Why haven't we
taken a more active role?  Well, time enough to think of that later.
She turned to Tenchi.  "Well, I'm ready, dear."

       "It's a good thing Celia had this tape of Manami performing.
She's quite shy about showing off for us.  Are you sure we can use it
here, though?"  The device that was attached to the viewscreen
looked disturbingly jury-rigged.

       "Washuu built this for me a long time ago.  I'm pretty sure I
repaired it correctly."  Aeka put the tape into the off-mauve metal
box, then sat back on the bench with her husband.  They were sitting
inside one of Ryu-oh's gardens.

        The words 'Field Test 4--Microcamera 2' appeared on the view
screen.  The first few minutes consisted of various chest height
footage of a crowd trying to get into an auditorium that was too small
for it.

        "Wow, quite a mob of people coming to see the performance.
But the camera is jiggling a lot."

        Tenchi nodded.  "This was filmed on some sort of concealed
camera pin thing that Mackie took to the concert with him."  He
looked at his watch.  "I thought Ryouko was coming."

        "The last I saw of her, she and Mihoshi were trying to teach a
group of boomers to sing 'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum' or
something.  I told her we were going to watch a tape of Manami
performing and she collapsed laughing, so I gave up."

        Finally, the camera steadied, showing an empty stage.  A few
moments later, the opening band, Sonic and the Royal Family came
on.  When Aeka recognized Manami, she nearly fainted.  When
Manami started singing, she did faint.

***

      Deep in the swirling mists of subspace, SHIVA stirred.  It was
time.  One servant had failed to gain the Crystal, but he might still
prove useful.  SHIVA stretched out a hand and gathered the drifting
remains of his servant from the void, feeding him power and
renewing him.  Slowly, the being that had come to think of himself
as Z returned to consciousness.  "Master?"

       YOU FAILED ME.

       "Yes, I did.  I let myself be distracted by that girl."

        THE DREAMWALKER.

        "I should have ignored her and gone after the crystal.  I can see
that now."  Death clears the mind wonderfully.  Thousands of years
of building madness had faded to a duller roar.  The clarity of his
purpose had returned.

        YOU WON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN.  It was not a
question.

        "What shall I do, master?"

        SHOW ME WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN OF HER.

        Z opened his mind to his master, creator, lord, and god.

        If a god could start, SHIVA would have.

       SO, SHE IS THE ONE.

        "I don't understand."

        YOU COULD NOT.  I WONDERED WHEN THEY WOULD
MEDDLE IN THIS.  NOW I KNOW.  GO, FIND THE CRYSTAL AND
BRING IT TO ME.  I MUST DEAL WITH THIS ONE MYSELF.  IT IS
NO WONDER YOU FAILED.  THOUGH HOW THEY HOPED TO
FOOL ME WITH THIS TRICK A SECOND TIME...

        "I thought she died.  I could feel her dying as I...died."

        ARE YOU STILL DEAD?

        "No."

         THERE'S YOUR ANSWER.  NOW GO.

         Z went.

***

        Linna floated in the void, naked to the world, not that there was
anything in the mist to see her.  So this is what death feels like, she
thought.  Her body still ached.  I thought at least the pain went away.
She wished for a nice soft comfy bed and got one.  I guess I'm still in
subspace, she thought.  I must not have really died.

        "It depends on your definition of death," said a voice nearby.  It
was the voice of Master Hiromi.

         Linna rolled over on the bed.  "Well, if I'm dead, I don't have a
body, so I shouldn't be feeling any pain.  Did we win?"

         Linna finally saw Master Hiromi.  Or to be more precise, the
being that sounded like Master Hiromi.  She was dressed, for one
thing, in a long blue satin Chinese style dress slit up along the
thighs.  For another thing, she looked thirty to forty years younger
than Linna remembered her Master being.  Her hair was long, not
cut short, and it was a pleasant green instead of grey.  Only her eyes
remained the same, though they now twinkled with a light Linna had
rarely seen in her Master's eyes.  "The battle has only begun, Linna.
Priss found the crystal, if that is what you mean, and none of your
companions have yet fallen."

          Linna tried to sit up.  "Ugh.  I've got to go help them."  She
flopped over and fell back down.  "Aaaaah, my ribs...."

          The woman walked over to her.  "Your ribcage has been
crushed, more bones than I know the names for are broken, and
only the gods know how much internal damage to your organs."

         "Master Hiromi, is that really you?  You look so..."

         The woman laughed.  "Young?  That is because Master Hiromi
is dead."

         Linna choked.  "No..."

         "Yes.  Losing her dream self was too much for an old woman.
Normally, it would have only turned her into a vegetable, but given
her age, she died."  She put a hand on Linna's forehead and the
worst of the agony faded.

         "I...then who are you?"

         "Tz'u Hsi was the egg.  Master Hiromi was the caterpillar.
Death was the cocoon.  I am the butterfly."

        "But if you're dead...but you say I'm not?"

         "You hover on the verge of death.  You must either step
forward and embrace your destiny, or step backwards and pray that
Chance will master Fate on your behalf."

         Linna was thoroughly confused.  "But if I'm not dead, how can
you be here?"

        "I did not say I was dead.  I said that Hiromi's body died.  It is
better that way.  She was miserable, now I am content."

          Linna had the vague feeling Master Hiromi was trying to teach
her another lesson, but the haze of pain in her head made it hard to
think.  "You said I don't have to die?"

       "You need but ask and this cup will be taken from you.  Only a
willing sacrifice truly has power."

         "What...what will happen if I do not die?"

        "I cannot see the future.  You will be free to rejoin your
friends. Perhaps there is another who can accomplish this task.  I do not
know who that person might be.  I am no god or goddess, no mistress of
fate.  I would go in your place if I could, but I cannot.  I must await my
turn to reenter the dance of life.  These are my last footsteps upon the
stage for a time."

        Linna didn't want to die, but she knew Master Hiromi had never
lied to her.  "What will happen to me if I...chose to die?"

        "You will face the greatest test of your life, with your soul on
the line.  You will experience pain you cannot possibly imagine.  You will
experience horrors that would break me in an instant.  That is why
no one can make you do this.  SHIVA will try to destroy you.  He
must be faced, or he will destroy us all.  Will you face him, Linna?"

         "He's the one behind all this?"

         "So he believes."

         "I'll go.  What do I have to do?"  She winced.  "Please tell me I
don't have to do it with my ribs broken."

         "No more than my hair is gray."  She pulled a sword out of the
air.  It was the one that Linna had seen so many times on Hiromi's
weapon rack.  "Angels of the Four Corners, I invoke thee. "  She
scratched a circle in the mist around the bed.  Silver fire sprung up
in her wake.  She paused at each of the four points of the compass.
"Raphael, who comes with the morning's glow, I invoke thee.
Michael, who leads the armies of Heaven, I invoke thee.  Gabriel,
who bears the messages of the Lord of Heaven, I invoke thee.
Uriel, who bears death with the setting sun, I invoke thee.  Come
now and open the way.  Send one to bear this one, thy servant, to
her fate."  The ring of silver fire surrounded them now, cutting off all
view of the mists of subspace.

        "Wow, I never knew you practiced magic like this,"  Linna said.

        The one who had once been Hiromi laughed.  "I saw this on an
anime once, that's all..."

         As a winged figure appeared and snatched Linna away, Linna
managed to gasp out, "You're kidding!"

       "In subspace, all you need is will...anything else is just a focus
for your mind, a crutch to help you believe.  Remember that!"

***

      Sailor Moon and Leon managed to revive everyone.  Mamoru
smiled at Sailor Moon.  "Nice to see I didn't forget EVERYTHING
this time."

       Sailor Moon laughed.  "No hanging around in a turban, either."

        Leon pretended he had any idea what they were talking about.
"So I suppose you're Tuxedo Kamen."

        Mamoru stood and transformed in an instant.  "You're right,
Leon."

        Across the room, Haruka sat quietly and stared at the wall.
Michiru touched his shoulder.  "Haruka-kun."

        Silence.

        "Haruka-kun."

        Silence.

       She leaned closer and whispered into his ear.  "Haruka-kun."

        Silence.

        This time, she tried shouting.  "HARUKA-KUN!!!!!!"

         Haruka visibly wobbled like a weeble, then spoke quietly.
"What am I, Michiru?"

        "You're the one I love."

        "Don't evade my question."

        "If you're asking why the crystal made you a boy for thirty four
years, I can't answer that.  Maybe it's because your past self in the
Silver Millennium was a boy.  I don't know.  You'd know better than I
would."

        "What's going to happen if I transform?  I don't know how to be
a girl anymore."  He shuddered faintly.

        Michiru hugged him tightly.  "You never were that good at
being feminine anyway."

        He rolled his eyes.  "You're a big help."

        "Dammit, I don't KNOW what to tell you!  You keep acting like I
could shake my magic wand and make this all go away so you
wouldn't have to deal with it!"  Michiru tried to rein in her temper and
succeeded.  "Whatever happens, I will love you.  I have loved you
as a boy and as a girl, and both loves were true, for it was the same
person that I loved.  You love me, don't you?"

        Haruka turned and hugged Michiru fiercely.  "With all my
heart."  He sighed.  "I just feel like there's something here...like I'm
supposed to learn something, but I don't know what."

       Sailor Moon came over.  "Are you okay, Haruka?  What's
wrong?"

       Haruka bowed his head.  "I'm just...I'm fine, Princess."  He
stood up.  "We've got to go save the others.  They should have
contacted us by now if they weren't being held captive."

        Michiru stood up as well.  "Assuming they remember."

        Sailor Moon smiled.  "I felt my sister touching them all.  She
has awakened each and everyone of us.  We must go to them.
GENOM has them, no doubt."  She turned to Leon.  "Leon, this is
Haruka and Michiru, also known as Sailor Uranus and Sailor
Neptune."

         "Nice to meet you."  Leon did a double-take.  "Wait.  SAILOR
Uranus?"

         Haruka winced.  "My life is kinda complicated."

        Leon looked at Haruka again.  "Hey, I've seen you in races,
haven't I?  I saw you get interviewed on ESPN a loooong time ago."

         Haruka smiled.  "I was born to run like the wind."  He turned to
Sailor Moon.  "We must go.  I don't have my car, but you two have
one, right?"

       Leon heard ADPolice vehicles arriving outside.  "Hmm.  Sounds
like my co-workers are arriving, unless sirens are now in fashion.  I
don't suppose someone besides me could stick around long enough
so I can make a report without looking insane again?  I already..."  A
thought struck him.  "So Bishop Hino IS Sailor Mars, right?"

        Sailor Moon blinked.  "How did you know that?"

        He laughed.  "I used my special Moon Detection Powers and
figured it out from the red sand on her shoes."

         "You have special Moon Detection Powers?"  Sailor Moon
asked.  "Can you use them to figure out where our friends are?"

        Leon would have facefaulted if he could have stopped laughing
so hard he couldn't stand up anyway.

***

     Wasyuu sat and typed away, pretending she wasn't watching the
subspace door out of the corner of one eye and that she wasn't
starting to worry.  A tiny bell rang.  "Ahh, this search finally
finished."

        She clicked a button and the screen divided, shoving her
current work to one side.  Two pictures came up on the screen.  Ah,
so I've finally located what I've been looking for.  The first picture
was someone she expected to see.  I thought he'd be one of them.
Then she looked at the second picture and nearly choked.

       It's not possible.  It has to be a coincidence.  Deep down,
Wasyuu knew better, but sometimes lying to yourself is the only way
to cope.

***

       Quincy strode through the halls of GENOM.  It  was time to take
desperate measures.  Z ran around a corner, wearing the curly blond
haired body again.  Quincy glanced over at him.  "I take it you
failed.

        "I made many unnecessary mistakes."

         Quincy laughed at him.  "Is there such a thing as a necessary mistake?"

        Z ignored the laughter.  "How many of the Sailors and their friends 
have we secured?"

        "All of the Inner Senshi except Sailor Moon.  Their husbands.
Pluto's husband.  However, due to ADPolice intervention, we seem
to have lost Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen, Uranus, and Neptune.
Nor have we found Pluto.  Unlike the others, she seems to have
known we were coming, as we should have expected."

         They continued walking rapidly down the hallway.  "It will have
to do.  It's enough for me to lure them here where I can hopefully
destroy them, or use their friends as hostages for force them to hand
over the crystal."

         "If my memories and research are correct, Uranus and
Neptune would probably let you slay the others and themselves
before they'd hand over the Silver Crystal,"  Quincy pointed out.

         Z laughed.  "Perhaps it is better that we did not capture Sailor
Moon then, eh?  Whoever among the dreamwalker's friends found
the crystal, she will no doubt bring it to Sailor Moon, and we both
know that while Sailor Moon has many powers, ruthlessness is not
one of them.  She will give us the crystal to save her friends.  She
would give her life if she had to."

        "What of the dreamwalker?"

        "She is dead."  He knew he shouldn't lie, but he didn't want to
admit he had failed so miserably in front of Quincy.

        Quincy raised an eyebrow.  "You slew a dreamwalker in
subspace.  I suppose you created a new race of sentients while you
were at it."

         "I felt her die."

        "Let me guess.  You threw her in the briar patch?"

        Z frowned.  "She's DEAD, X.  Dead.  She's not coming back."
Not if the master is going to deal with her.

       "Where shall I tell her to find you?"

        Z frowned.  "With the prisoners."  He strode off, then cursed
himself for actually answering that question.

***

       The door in Wasyuu's laboratory opened up. She cursed and
quickly wiped away her tears, then turned to face the returning band
of heroines.  Priss stepped through first, looking rather angry,
followed by Sylvie and Anri, with Meylia bringing up the rear.
Wasyuu stared at Priss.  "What are you doing in Juraiian battle
garb?"

        "What's it to you?  I'll wear what I fucking want to."

         Sylvie said, "Mother...we...lost Linna.  Priss is upset."

         Wasyuu sighed.  "I was afraid she wasn't ready for this.
Tsunami should have gone with you.  She's much more experienced
than that child."

          Priss glared at Wasyuu.  "Linna is not a child!  Dammit, none
of us were ready for this!  Don't give me your goddamn
condescension!"  She stormed over and glared down at Wasyuu.
"You childish bitch.  Is this all just some experiment to you?"

         Wasyuu rarely gave herself to rage.  Anger was unhealthy,
pointless and unscientific.  It was her policy to never get angry, but
for Priss, she would make an exception.  She glared back at Priss.
"If I was truly childish, I would kill you now.  You will never leave this
lab alive if I do not let you leave.  AND WHO ARE YOU TO CALL
ME CHILDISH?"  She reined in her voice.  "I am the second oldest
living being on this planet.  When I was born, your ancestors were
banging rocks together to make fire.  When I was imprisoned by
Kagato, your ancestors had just figured out that you could do
interesting things with iron."  Wasyuu began to grow, assuming her
adult form, which could look Priss in the eye.  "You weren't even a
sperm and an egg when I got out of that imprisonment.  I have
visited five galaxies.  I have seen entire star systems die.  I have
outlived my entire species.  Do you know how many people I have
had to watch die?  People I cared about?  You whine and pule
because your family died in a fucking earthquake.  A nova wiped out
my homeworld while I was trapped and could do NOTHING.  The
last of my race died friendless and alone when your island was
inhabited by rock worshipping barbarians.  Do you know how many
friends I have lost over the years?  Laboratory accidents alone have
claimed more people than you will ever meet.  I could populate this
city with my dead."

        She stepped forward, and Priss retreated.  "My husband was
TAKEN from me and there was nothing I could do.  My infant child
was pulled from my arms and taken away...then they both DIED in a
shuttle accident that would never have happened if they had stayed
with me.  I lost the love of my life because I wasn't 'high class'
enough for his family.  I didn't have a pedigree good enough for
them, as if I was some sort of rarlycor or a trained pirta.  I didn't 
trust anyone for thousands of years.  He BETRAYED ME and
locked me away for THREE THOUSAND YEARS.  I sat, trapped,
alone, with NOTHING to do, for three thousand years.  Do you think
you could have dealt with that?"

         Priss struggled to speak, but she couldn't.  She had finally
made someone angrier than she was, and she didn't know what to
do.  Five millnenia of repressed anger was targeted on her.  She
staggered back, nearly tripping over a machine.  Meylia tried to
move between the two, but Sylvie and Anri held her back.

         "I finally loved again...and I LOST OUT TO MY OWN
DAUGHTER!  Do you know how HUMILIATING that is?  How
humiliating it is to be in love with someone I am 79 times older
than?  The worst part of it is that I can't stop!  He's been married for
over twenty years and I still can't turn off the goddamn emotions
every time I SEE HIM!  You whine about losing people you loved!
At least they aren't around, taunting you unmercifully just by existing
with a love you know will never be!  I was beaten by a virtual
INFANT compared to me and by my own child!"  Wasyuu was getting
louder and louder.  Sylvie began moving towards her, worried she
was going to snap and do something permanent to Priss.

        "And the worst part of it, is that I can't do anything about it!
I could strap him in a machine and make him love me in an instant,
but that wouldn't be real.  I could destroy my own daughter to get rid of 
one of my rivals, but I couldn't do that because I love my children more
than I love myself.  I could destroy Aeka, but he wouldn't like that."
Her voice dipped.  "And that means more to me than anything else in the
world.  I can pretend to be the uncaring beast I became after I lost my
husband, but it's not fun anymore if it makes him unhappy."  She paused. 
"WHY THE HELL AM I TELLING YOU THIS, YOU LITTLE BRAT!  DAMN YOU FOR 
MAKING ME TALK ABOUT THIS!!!!!"

          Sylvie moved to Wasyuu's side.  "Mother..."  Her voice had a
warning tone to it.

          Priss cowered.  Fear had taken her.  Only her pride kept her
from turning and fleeing for her life.

        For a moment, Wasyuu glared at Sylvie, then suddenly she
deflated like a balloon, sagging back into her child-like form.  She
sighed.  "You're right, daughter.  I'm being childish, just as bad as
I'm accusing her of being."

         Sylvie hugged Wasyuu tightly.

       Washuu turned to Priss and said, "Dammit, child!  Your entire
world is going to fucking DIE if we don't all hold ourselves together!
This isn't just some excuse for you to act out your damn death wish!
Linna knew the risks she was taking!  The risks you take every day!
I'm sure SHE wouldn't be whining and picking fights with people if
YOU were dead!  I'm sorry she died and I wish it hadn't happened, but 
we HAVE to go on.  If you want to die and go join her, I'll be happy to 
oblige you, but otherwise, we need to work together so her sacrifice 
won't be in vain.  So what's it going to be?"

         Priss cursed herself for falling apart and said quietly, "We work
together.  I...I'm sorry."

        "I'm the one who should be sorry, Priss.  At my age, I ought to
have learned not to get carried away like that."  Wasyuu sighed.  "I'll
contact the others.  I suppose you're going to go find your sister
now."

        Priss nodded, unnaturally subdued.  "We're off to find her."
And Leon, she thought.  "Let's go."

        She and Meylia and Sylvie headed for the exit to realspace.
Anri hung back and went over to Wasyuu, hugging her.  "Are you
going to be okay, mom?"

        Wasyuu sagged.  "I haven't been that angry since Kagato
imprisoned me.  I thought I'd never be that angry again.  I must
have spent entire weeks in a fugue of berserk anger at times, even 
though I couldn't move.   I'd spend entire days planning a five year 
cycle of tortures to use on him when I got out.  Finally, all the rage 
burned out of me.  I didn't think I'd ever get angry again after that.  
But then, I never thought I'd love again either."

        "You want me to stay with you?"

        "Go with Priss, child.  She needs you.  Let your caution and
your love temper her rage and her impulsiveness."  She sighed.
"She is so much like your sister Ryouko."

        Anri turned to go.  "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

        "I'll be fine."  Wasyuu put on her best smile.  "May the currents
guide you and the wind be ever at your back, guiding you home to
harbor.  I sail into the setting sun, bidding you farewell, until we meet
again beyond the sea or on it."  She hugged her daughter.  "Go out
and show them how it's done."

         Anri laughed and departed.  "Bye, Mom.  Don't lock the door
before I get home."  She flew off, unaware that Wasyuu had bid her
farewell with the traditional farewell used by inhabitants of her
homeworld who expected to die before they met again.

***

       Quincy punched in the authorization codes, then turned to
Director Anna Holmes and Executive Vice President Ryu Matanabe.
They nodded grimly and punched in their authorization codes.
Quincy put the helmet over his head and merged with the Overmind
System.  X flowed out of him and into the system.   In an instant, he
became one with it.  In theory, the Overmind system would allow a
human to take control of ANY boomer in the world instantly and
control it utterly.  Bulk generic orders could be issued to hundreds of
boomers, but only a handful could actually be puppeted at a time,
for a human mind was limited.  When it came to machines, X's limits
transcended humans by an almost unimaginable factor.  With such a
tool, he felt he could move the world.  He was close to the mark.

        Thousands of boomer minds became one.  X linked the arcane
powers of the ancient node upon which he had purposefully built
GENOM Tower to the Overmind System.  It was about to do things
which its designers had never intended.  While it held out under the
strain, he would be the next best thing to a god.

      It took X instants to master the mind of every boomer in SDPC.
It took under a half an hour to determine that he had been tricked.
SDPC had nothing to do with the takeover of Genaros, or the
missing satellites, or the missing Ingrams.  Then he tried to find the
Ingrams and something blocked him, even at his augmented level of
power.  He began to batter through the barrier, which began to yield,
but very, very slowly.  Nothing could stand before his might.  He had
been tricked, and he knew who must be responsible.  He could
sense them now, scattered about the city, the world...He could feel
the House of Jurai's members, like ants biting his skin.  Power
intoxicated him.  He would crush them beneath his heels.

        Boomers swarmed like flies, and he laughed.  They will die!
ALL OF THEM!  Power corrupts.  If you're already corrupt...it lets
you make a really big mess.  X had kept his sanity in part by
restrained use of his powers, by not tapping the source of both his
power and his kind's tendencies to madness.  He was lost in power
now, like a drunkard falling off the wagon, gone on a bender of
absolute power.  All would know his might.

***

      Linna stared at the woman who was carrying her.  Her hair was
long and black, and there was a blue circle on her forehead.  She
wore red and blue baggy clothing and possessed a pair of huge
white beautiful wings.  Her age was hard to determine, but she
seemed to be around Linna's age or maybe a little older.  Her eyes
sparkled with glee, and she had a huge hammer on a stick strapped
to her back.  She spoke loudly.  "So, you're the one."

      Linna squirmed.  "Oww...owww...owwwwwww....this really hurts
being carried like this."

      "Oh yeah, broken ribs.  Sorry about that.  We're almost there."
The mists parted over a huge lake.  "Ahh, there we are."  The lake
stretched out to infinity, and the only way Linna knew it wasn't a sea
was that there was no smell of brine.  "You ready?"

       "If you make me...owwwww...swim, I'm going to hurt you."

       "I guess I'm about to suffer."  She let go of Linna, who
screamed as she plummeted into the water.  "Just be glad you're not
a bug!"  she shouted at Linna.  "I don't have to hit you with my
hammer too!"

       Linna struck the water, which embraced her with warm arms.
For a moment, her body was racked with agony, as if her flesh was
being torn from her bones.  She thanked the gods she had at least
managed to get her mouth shut before she hit the water so she
wouldn't drown.  She struggled to try to stop descending, realizing as
she did so that the aches and pains in her body had lessened.
Struggling to reach the surface, she realized she'd never make it in
time.  I'm going to freaking drown.

       Something was moving in the water.  It was the angel.  "Open
your mouth and breathe," she said.  "If you try to hold your breath,
you'll suffocate!"

       Linna couldn't reply.  She kept trying to swim to the surface,
praying she'd make it before she ran out of air.

       "Damnit, Linna, if you don't breathe, you'll die!  In subspace,
you CAN hold your breath until you die again!  Your will is stronger
than your instincts!  The water won't kill you, but YOU can!"

       Linna stared at her.  This had to be some kind of trick.  I can't
breathe water.

       "Yes you can!  You just have to believe!  Have a little faith!  I
wouldn't bring you here to die!"

       Linna closed her eyes.  She believed, opened her mouth, and
lived.  She felt the water flowing into her, bringing her new life.   The
pain ebbed from her body.  She savoured the sweet taste of the
water in her mouth.  She spoke in amazement, "What is this?"

        "The mother of all waters and their grave.  The ocean beyond
oceans.  The great sea of the water of life.  You have been
immersed and made clean."  The angel did an idle backflip in the
water.  "Oh, by the way, my name is Skuld."

        Linna laughed like a small child, zipping about.  She had
always loved to swim.  "It feels so warm.  I feel like I could stay here
forever."

        "Sadly, we cannot.  We must go now that you are healed."

        "Do we have to?  Can't I stay a little while longer?"  Linna idly
did a backstroke through the water.

        "A pleasure can be experienced, but if we cling to it, it turns to
bitterness in our mouth.  Those who cling to past pleasures become
incapable of experiencing new ones.  We must take the adventure
that Kamisama has put before us."

       "In other words, you can never go home again."

       "Not in the same way.  Even if it does not change, you will.  Let
us go."  She dived deeper into the water and Linna followed her.
After what seemed like hours of swimming, they reached the bottom
of the lake and dove into a deep tunnel further into the earth below.

     The tunnel finally opened up into a pool in a dimly lit cavern.
Huge stalagmites and stalactites poked down from the ceiling and
up from the floor, forming strange shapes that seemed to change
whenever Linna didn't look directly at them.  She clambered out of
the water, and was instantly dry.

       "Lead on, Virgil,"  she said to Skuld, who laughed.

       "Then who is Beatrice?"  Skuld said, winking.

       "A very large corporation.  I've invested quite a bit in Beatrice,"
Linna said.

       Skuld laughed louder.  "This way, sahib."  They walked through
the caverns, which were lit only by dim phosphorescent lichens and
the glow from Skuld's wings.

       The cavern narrowed into a tunnel, and the tunnel ended at a
door.  A young girl playing with a Minky Momo plushie stood in front
of the door.  "Who are you that would pass my door?"

       "My name is Linna, little girl."

       "I'm not LITTLE!"  the girl tried to bellow.  She was almost as
terrifying as an angry smurf.  "Why are you naked?"

       Linna started, suddenly realizing she was naked.  The answer
swam into her mind.  "Because I have just been born, and I was
born with no clothing."

        The child opened the door.  "Take the clothing that awaits you
and pass on with my blessing."

        Beyond the door, the tunnel continued.  Just beyond the door
was a hook in the wall, on which hung a simple white robe and a
belt.  Linna put it on and tied it at the waist with the belt.  Walking
onwards with Skuld, she asked, "How much farther must we go?"

         "Until you are ready for what is to come."

***

       Linna reached a second door, this one manned by a teenage
girl.  "Why have you no weapons and armor?" the girl asked.

       "My body is the only weapons and armor I was born with."

       The girl nodded.  "Arm yourself then with your weapons, put on
your armor, and pass on with my blessing."

       Linna opened the door and found a staff of oak and a blue
headband like she always wore.  She wrapped it round her head,
took up the staff and moved on.  "How much further, Skuld?"

       "As far as is necessary."

***

        Ryu, Macky, Manami, and Nene had almost finished dinner
when suddenly a threatening presence loomed over the table.  They
didn't notice it at first, which made it even madder.  Ryu said to
Nene, "You DO have the tickets for ADPolice Academy II, right?"

       Nene sighed.  "I DO have the tickets."  I think.

       Manami ignored the vague feeling she had of doom.  THIS date
will go well, she thought.  It's going well so far.  No reason for me to
panic.

        Mackie had that feeling of doom as well.   Looking up, he saw a
very angry Aeka looming over Manami from behind.  "Um, Manami-
chan..."

        "Yes?"

        "Does your mother normally tag along on your dates and loom
menacingly over you?"

        "WHAT?"

        Ryu looked over.  "Oh, hi, Mother.  What's up?  Did something
go wrong?"

        Aeka tried to speak, but nothing but incoherent sputtering came
out.

        Manami turned around and paled.  "Mother, what's wrong?"
Manami had a feeling she knew exactly what was wrong.

         At this point, Tenchi ran in the front door of the restaurant.
"Aeka, calm down!"  I never thought she could move this fast, he
thought.

        "Music..."  Aeka managed to grate out.  "Evil Muuuussssiii- icccc...."

       Macky blinked.  "Evil music?"

       Ryu said, "Looks like that secret's blown.  You won't mind if I
take Nene and hide on another planet, will you, Manami?"

       Manami would have said something, but her mother was
strangling her.  Tenchi ran over and tried to pull Aeka off of Manami. Ryu 
got up and tried to help his dad.  Macky and Nene stood and watched 
helplessly, making occasional useless inane comments.

       Noa saw this and got up, excusing herself from her friends.  It's my 
duty to resolve this as the manager, she thought.  She came
over.  "Excuse me, but brawling is against our rules here."

       "I'm sorry, Mrs. Shinohara,"  Tenchi said.  "My wife just found
out our daughter is in a punk band and she's not handling it well."

        Manami flailed about pointlessly as her mother babbled
incoherently at her about honor, duty, and suicide.  Ryu finally
managed to pry one of Aeka's arms from around Manami's throat so
she could breathe.

       Noa laughed a little.  "Don't make me sic Alphonse on you,
ma'am.  I'd really appreciate it if you could stop strangling your
daughter so I won't have to make a scene."

       Aeka took a deep breath and let go.  "Manami...how could
you?"

       Her voice was very quiet.  "Because I like music like that."

       Aeka began to cry herself a river.  "I've failed as a mother."
Blah blah blah.  The usual rant about ungrateful children, bringing
dishonor on the family for generations to come, a thousand years of
solitude, followed.  Most of the group turned off their ears having
heard this a thousand times before.  Tenchi started timing it with his 
stopwatch.

        Finally, Noa said, "Well, if you're all done strangling each
other..."

        Tenchi nodded.  "She should keep going another three
minutes, then she'll be okay."

        Noa turned to go.  The army of boomers chose that moment to
break through the walls.  It was a motley horde, ranging from haircut
boomers to pet boomers to a smattering of combat boomers.  The
four combat boomers began to rake the room with gunfire.  Guests
fled for their lives or died on the spot.  John McClaine kicked over
his group's table and pulled everyone down behind it.  He turned to
his wife.  "See, I told you.  NO MORE VACATIONS EVER AGAIN!
I've  had ENOUGH of this."  His wife bowed her head, defeated.

         The horde of boomers began to rampage, laying waste to the
restaurant.  The four combat boomers turned and homed in on the
table Noa had gone over to.  They zoomed across the room and
their particle cannons warmed up.  Asuma watched in horror as they
fired at his wife.  Beams of blue energy crossed the room in an
instant, homing in on the five people they were being egged on to
kill by a commanding voice that could not be denied.  Four of their
targets possessed the blood of Jurai, and one was the especial
enemy of the voice driving them onwards.  A semi-innocent
bystander stood in the blast zone as well, but she would just be
gravy.

        Asuma closed his eyes.  He couldn't bear to watch.  All fell
silent for a moment.  There was no screaming.  Somehow, he could
tell Noa was okay, though his mind couldn't believe that was
possible.  He opened his eyes, and could hardly believe what he
saw.  Noa was unhurt and now running towards Alphonse.  The man
whose wife had been strangling his daughter stood between the
boomers and his family, one arm outstretched.  Just beyond his
hand, three six foot long white wedges floated in the air, glowing
brightly.  The boomers fired a second time and the three wedges
stopped the blasts.

       An instant later, waves of light and sound erupted from the
vicinity of that table.  The man's wife and daughter turned and fired
energy blasts at two of the combat boomers, blowing them to tiny
bits.  The man's son disappeared and reappeared behind a third
boomer, slicing its head off with an energy blade.  The red haired
girl somehow called up a battlesuit from nowhere.

        Soon, the tide of battle turned.  Noa scrambled up into
Alphonse and activated him.  The various menial labor boomers
were almost as effective against Alphonse as toy soldiers against an
M-1 tank.  Three more combat boomers arrived, and lived long
enough to fire off two or three shots.  Juraiians ran wild, blowing
boomers to tiny bits.  Within about four minutes, it was all over.

        Kanuka whispered to Asuma, "Please tell me this doesn't
happen frequently in Mega-Tokyo."

        "This doesn't happen frequently in Mega-Tokyo."

         Moemi stood up.  "Good job, Mom!  You been practicing on
the neighbors again?"

         Noa laughed.  "I'm practicing for my starring role in Labor Day
Labor Massacre II."

***

       Linna reached a third door, guarded by a woman in the fullness
of maturity.  She smiled at Linna.  "Why have you no wings with
which to fly?"

       "I was not born with wings.  My dance is the only wings I
possess."

       The woman nodded.  "That is wings enough.  Pass on with my
blessing."

       Linna opened the door and as she stepped through it, wings
sprouted from her back, erupting through the robe she wore.  She
stopped in shock and instinctively flapped her wings once, sending
Skuld's hair flying.  "Can I really fly with these, Skuld?"

       "As far as is necessary."

        Linna blinked.  "Are you listening to me, Skuld?"

        Skuld laughed.  "Sorry, couldn't resist.  Yes, Linna, wings are
made for flying."

***

      Linna reached a fourth door, this one manned by an old woman
who looked hauntingly familiar, yet Linna could not recognize her.
"Why have you no wisdom?"

      "I was born with only my heart to guide me."

      "That is all the wisdom you will ever need.  Follow your heart,
Linna, and pass on to the battle that awaits you."  She opened the
door for Linna.

       Skuld said, "My journey with you is ended, Linna.  Go forth, and
meet your destiny."

       "But...I don't know what I must do."

       "Did you not hear what you just said?  Open yourself to wisdom
and it will come to your heart.  Go forward with courage and you will
know what to do."  Skuld stepped forward and hugged Linna.  "May
the Lord of Heaven bless you and hold you in the palm of his hand."

       "Thank you, Skuld."  Linna prayed it was true, turned, and
stepped through the door.

***

       Celia cursed.  The city was going to hell in a handbasket, the
Knight Sabres were scattered all over creation, and in fact, one of
them was dead, or at best, gone.  Priss was off somewhere hunting
for the Sailors.  Nene was halfway across town along with most of
Celia's relatives.  The only person actually in the building with her
was Youshou, although Ryouko and Sasami would be here soon.
Mihoshi and Kiyone were coming, but they were halfway around the
planet right now and it would take them a little while.

        Youshou looked up.  "I agree.  Being caught off guard like this
is not good.  They must have realized we were going after the
Crystal and wanted to strike first."

        "Damnit, I never should have let Macky go on that date."  She
sat down hard and pulled herself together.  "I should have
anticipated this."

        "No one expects you to be all-knowing, great-granddaughter.
We have all made mistakes.  Indeed, I have had many more years
than you to make mistakes and have made many more."  He cocked
his head slightly.  "I believe Ryouko is here."

        A few seconds later, she phased up through the floor.  "Hiya,
gramps.  Hi, Celia.  So when do we go blow up the Tower?"

        Celia smiled faintly.  "We have to wait for everyone to get
here."

        Ryouko sat down in the air.  "Right.  Maybe I should nip across
town and see how Tenchi is doing."

        "He's fine.  Sasami is going to pick them up."  Youshou said.

         Celia blinked.  "Can't they just drive?"

        "Excuse me, I have to make a phone call."  He got up and left.

       Ryouko frowned.  "He's up to something."

       "How can you tell?"

        "He's breathing."

***

      Linna stood in a vast Roman-style arena, at the bottom of a
huge pit surrounded by vast stands of stone seats reaching up to the
sky.  A blue sky vaulted over the arena, though she couldn't see the
sun anywhere.  The arena was empty, but clean, as if it had just
been prepared for a grand event.  Linna looked back and the door
through which she had entered was gone.  Now what?  No one is
here, she thought, and there's no way to get up out of the arena pit.
She turned round and round, then remembered her wings.  So how
do I take off?  I guess I'll try the Superman method.  She ran across
the arena, flapping her wings, then jumped.  She soared up into the
air.

        For a few minutes, Linna lost herself in flight.  It was a
wonderful experience of freedom, the like of which she had rarely
felt.  No wonder Celia put flight capabilities in her hardsuit, she
thought.  I wonder how long I can fly without getting tired?  That
thought made her resolve to actually fly to something while she still
could.

       While she had been lost in thought, dark clouds, all too familiar,
had rumbled into view on the southern horizon and now were
moving to cover the southern half of the stadium.  She could see the
shadow they cast creep across the arena floor, laying claim to it.
She flew up and landed upon a seating box at the far end of the
stadium.  I guess this is where the emperor would sit, she thought.

        The cloud laid claim to half the stadium, then stopped.   A
voice boomed across the stadium.

        SURRENDER AND YOUR DEATH WILL BE SWIFT.  DEFY
ME AND I WILL TORTURE YOU FOR MILLENIA BEFORE YOU
DIE.

         Linna shuddered.  The voice was not so much heard as felt.  It
was like a 200 DB whisper.  The cloud was much like the one she
had faced before, but she knew in her heart it was not the same, any
more than a pet cat is the same as a lion.  I couldn't beat
Robert...how can I beat this thing?  For a moment, the arena filled
with people and she saw Christians being torn apart by lions,
downed gladiators getting a thumbs down, a pack of wolves
savaging a bear.  The moment passed, the images faded, and she
choked down her fear.  No one is invincible.  There has to be some
way to defeat him.  "I won't surrender."

        THEN YOU WILL DIE.

         The cloud rumbled and Linna could see lightning bolts jumping
back and forth between parts of it.  "Who are you and why are you
hiding up in the clouds like a spineless coward?"  Let's see if he's
dumb enough to be taunted, she thought, praying he was.

         WHO AM I?  WHILE YOUR ANCESTORS SWUNG IN THE
TREES AND ATE NUTS AND BERRIES, I WAS.  BEFORE THE
FIRST CREATURE CRAWLED OUT OF YOUR SEAS ONTO THE
LAND, I WAS.  WHEN YOUR BALL OF ROCK, WATER, AND GAS
WAS STILL FORMING FROM THE CHAOS THAT SPAWNED IT, I
WAS.

          The cloud spat lightning and fire into the arena, and a figure
formed from the midst of the whirling pillar of destruction.  It
changed constantly as Linna gazed upon it.  It was a blazing pillar of
fire, it was a man with six arms, holding a flame, a gem, a sword, a
human heart, a pool of water, and nothing at all, it was a woman with
a belt of skulls and a skirt of human hair, her eyes bone white, her skin
a deep black like darkest night, it was a silly looking man with an ugly
brown mustache and a receding hairline, it was a tentacular monstrosity
with greenish gelatinous skin, huge batlike wings, faceted eyes, and
tentacles around a hidden mouth.

      I AM SHIVA, THE LORD OF DESTRUCTION, AND I SHALL
DANCE ON THE GRAVE OF YOUR WORLD, SPREADING MY
CLEANSING FIRE THROUGH ALL THE COSMOS, RETURNING
ALL THINGS TO THE NOTHING FROM WHENCE THEY CAME.

       Flames whirred around the figure as it laughed.  It moved
constantly, in an everchanging pattern, smoke, flame, and lightning
erupting from its limbs, for the dance of SHIVA is neverending.  And
still it changed.  It took the shape of a man with slick black hair, then
a similar man, but with pitch white mottled skin and red eyes, then a
woman with long black hair, vials of poison in her hands, then a
tanned woman with a knobby forehead, clad in strange black garb.
No shape could interpret SHIVA for long.

        It scared Linna more than anything she had ever seen.  Many
of the shapes were alien to her, but some were far too familiar,
insinuating possibilities she didn't want to think about.  She knew
what Shiva was, at least in the myths.  How do I fight a god?  Unless
Vishnu wanders by to help out with one of his avatars, I'm screwed
unless I can trick him somehow.  I wonder if he plays chess.

       Memories of a cheesy movie she had seen once on a classic
movie channel floated through her mind, and she laughed.  That's it,
I'll challenge him to Twister.  She threw back her head and her
laughter filled the arena.

       In all the history of the universe, SHIVA had seen many things.
However, no one had EVER laughed at him in all that time.

      FOOLISH MORTAL WHO LAUGHS IN THE FACE OF HER
OWN DEATH, NO ONE CAN ESCAPE MY POWER.  IN YOUR
HUSTLE AND BUSTLE, YOU ALL SEEK TO DEFY AND ESCAPE
ME, BUT IN THE END, I GATHER ALL THINGS TO MYSELF AND
GIVE THEM PEACE FROM ALL THEIR FUTILE STRIVINGS.  ALL
ROADS LEAD TO MY DANCE, MY EMBRACE, THEIR
DESTRUCTION.  I AM THE LORD OF THE DANCE OF
DESTRUCTION, AND IN THE END, ALL THINGS ARE MINE.

        Dance.  There's two things I do well, Linna thought.  I
fight...and I dance.  Maybe I can challenge him to a dance.  She felt
incredibly silly just thinking about it, but it was her best hope.  But
how to decide who wins?  Suddenly, she remembered a dream, and
she knew what she had to do.  'Remember us, Linna, dancer and
warrior.  We shall come when you call us, but choose the time
wisely,'  the middle Fate had said.  'For we are the judges of the
living and dead.  Even the gods cannot escape the power of Fate',
the oldest had said.

     "I challenge you, Shiva, before the tribunal of the Fates, who
judge the living and the dead, gods and mortals alike."

       SHIVA continued his endless movement in silence for a
moment, then spoke.

       WHO ARE YOU THAT WOULD INVOKE THE FATES
AGAINST ME, YOUR RIGHTFUL MASTER?

        "You don't own me, and you never will.  Neither in death, nor in
life have you any claim on me.  I am Linna Yamazaki, and I dance
the dance of life, which never ends despite all you do."  Linna
stretched out her arms.  "LET THE FATES DECIDE BETWEEN
US!"

        The air shimmered at the edge of the shadow cast by SHIVA's
clouds.  Three figures appeared, clad in purple, yellow, and green.
They floated in the air between Linna and SHIVA in silence for a
moment, then spoke.  The youngest of the Fates said, "We have
come to pass judgement in this contest."

        The middle Fate spoke.  "To the challenged goes the right to
decide who shall go first.  What is your choice, SHIVA?"

        SHIVA glowered for a moment, then spoke.

        I SHALL GO FIRST.  GAZE UPON MY POWER AND
DESPAIR.

       The oldest spoke.  "Let the contest begin."

      SHIVA smiled like a cat looking at a legless mouse.  It stretched
out its arms and it spun across the arena, which was was now
surrounded by a great crowd in the stands, the living and the dead.
SHIVA danced its dance of destruction and spun out the stories of its
deeds for all to see.

***

       SHIVA began his dance, the story of his great deeds...

      ALL THINGS BELONG TO ME, FOR IN THE END, THEY
RETURN TO ME.  I AM THE END OF EVERY STORY.  EVERY
'THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER' IS AN EFFORT TO DENY
THE REAL END OF THE STORY, 'AND THEN THEY DIED'.  ALL
HAPPINESS, ALL HATRED, ALL THE JOY AND ALL THE
SUFFERING ARE DESTROYED IN THE END.  NOTHING CAN
EVADE MY POWER.  NOTHING.  I HAVE BROUGHT ENTIRE
SPECIES LOW.

       Dinosaurs had no names, for they could not speak or write.
They did not need names.  Other dinosaurs were either mother,
rival, or dinner.  Yet, where is a tale whose protagonist has no
name?  Red-tail was a small meat-eating dinosaur.  Millions of years
later, the descendants of some of his meals would name his species,
but he was simply alive, one of the many children of a mother he
had not seen since he learned to hunt on his own.

       He sprinted across a forest clearing that would one day be
home to a glacier, then later to forest once more, then to a parking
lot.  None of this mattered to him, for he was stalking a small furry
thing.  Its descendants were going to inherit the Earth, but he didn't
know or care.  He wasn't capable of even understanding such a
concept.  He pounced on the creature, tore it apart and ate it.  Life
was good.  This was indeed, the essence of his life.  Wake up, walk
through the forest, stalk and eat things, sleep.  It had been like this
for millions of years, generation upon generation; the intricate dance
of life had continued, the game of hunter and prey.

        Unnoticed, a streak of light zoomed across the sky.  Red-tail
would not see the impact, he would not feel it, he would not hear it,
nor would he smell or taste it.  Despite the meteor's vast size,
despite its consequences, it was beyond his comprehension or
caring.

        Unseen, half a world away, a meteor slammed into the Earth,
unleashing a cloud of dust on an almost unimaginable scale.  The
precarious balance of weather crashed like a precision watch run
over by a car.  The death of Red-Tail and all his kind was about to
begin.  He would have more hunts...death came slowly, and he had
survived winters before, yet in the end, he and all his kin would
perish from the Earth unmourned and unremembered, until the
great-infinity-great-grandson of this last meal found his remains and
put him in a museum.

        As the meteor struck, SHIVA danced in the flames of its fall,
sang as it struck, and laughed as he saw what he had wrought.  The
dinosaurs had pleased him with their ability to kill, but they were not
enough.  He laid them low that he might raise up better servants.
And SHIVA danced...

***

      And SHIVA danced...

      WHATEVER FAILS TO PLEASE ME, I DESTROY, AND WHAT
PLEASES ME HELPS ME TO DESTROY WHAT DISPLEASES ME.
YOUR SPECIES IS THE GREATEST TOOL FOR DESTRUCTION I
HAVE FOUND...ON THIS WORLD.  OFTEN I MUST DO LITTLE
MORE THAN OBSERVE, FOR SO OFTEN YOU DO MY BIDDING
WITHOUT MY HAVING TO LIFT A FINGER.

       Nyugen paused from his work for a moment to take a breath
and rest.  To do even that much was to risk death, but he didn't care
anymore.  The fat old farmer whose field he was working paid no
attention to him, for he was busy feasting on noodles and chicken,
cooked by his fat old wife.  Once the old man finished, Nyugen and
the other 'draftees' would get their lunch...stale bread and some old,
dried up fruit...if they were 'good.'  Nyugen prayed silently to Buddha
that there would be fruit left for him.  At least I don't have to share
with my brother any more, he thought, then felt guilty at the thought.

         Nyugen's brother Pham had died three weeks earlier.  He had
always been frail.  That was why he had studied hard and become a
doctor.  The family had been so proud of Pham.  He had brought
much honor to his family.  The family was scattered now.  When the
Khmer Rouge had taken their city, Pham's role had brought the
attention of the Khmer Rouge upon Nyugen's family, for the Khmer
Rouge wished to wipe Cambodia clean of all 'western ways'.
Doctors, lawyers, shopkeepers, virtually anyone who had ever seen
a European or bought a manufactured good was shipped out to the
countryside.  They were put to work farming.

        The lucky ones died of the diseases that could no longer be
treated with the doctors all being made to grow rice.  The unlucky
ones were being slowly worked to death while the 'old ones', the
peasants of the countryside, got their revenge for years of
exploitation by the people of the cities.  Now they relaxed and let
others do their work.  Nyugen survived, for he had grown strong
from years of moving crates and petty brawls.  Pham had not been
so lucky.  Nyugen had watched him wither away, day by day.
Finally, he became too weak to go on.  He was given no food as a
result and soon died.  The old farmer had tossed Pham's body in a
pit with the others.  Nyugen would not forget.

         The old man didn't notice Nyugen resting.  He didn't notice the
rage that only hunger and iron will held back.  He could not see the
legacy he was planting in his field.  Two years later, Vietnamese
troops crossed the border.  The crop of hatred he had planted
bloomed that day.  Only three of the dozens of men and women who
had been assigned over the years to his farm were left.  They buried
an axe in the old man's head, but not before they made him watch
his wife be slain as well.

          Their names would not be remembered, for when a third of a
nation dies, there are too many bodies to count.  But those who
survived would never forget.  They would never know peace again.

         And SHIVA danced among the crop of the dead, gathering in
the harvest of hate and destruction.  He took the seeds of the
harvest and sowed them in the hearts of men.  They would blossom
one day, for revenge is a self-renewing resource.  And SHIVA
danced...

***

        And SHIVA danced...

      MEN SEEK TO DENY MY EXISTENCE.  THEY QUEST FOR
IMMORTALITY, BELIEVING SOMEHOW THEY CAN AVOID
DESTRUCTION.  THEY BELIEVE I CAN BE DENIED.  THEY ARE
WRONG.  SOME TRY TO DO IT THROUGH THEIR BLOOD...

     Gnaeus Octavius addressed the mob that filled his house.  "Let
us celebrate!  Two families are joined this day!"  The entire crowd of
friends, relatives, and clients threatened to almost burst the walls of
his villa.  His wayward daughter was finally going to be married.
There had been one disaster after another. She had run off with that
Grecian slave and come back pregnant.  They had to get rid of the
child before anyone found out.  She had caught the eye of a
Senator, then his sister had tried to have her assassinated.  Then
she had wanted to marry a GLADIATOR of all things.  While Julius
Albanus wasn't quite up to the level that Gnaeus wanted for his
daughter Octavia, he was far better than a gladiator.  His father was
one of the consuls of Cumae, after all.  It was even rumored that
Titus was thinking of raising his father, Marcus Albanus, to the
Senate.  Now that would be a marvel, Gnaeus thought, for us to
make such an alliance.

        There was a distant rumble.  Gnaeus sighed.  I hope the
repairs to the roof hold up if it is going to rain.  Ideally, it will stop
before everyone goes home.  He got down from his perch and went
to take his seat at one of the many couches so that the wedding
feast could properly begin.  Some of his slaves came in and began
to sing in Greek, while others played instruments to accompany the
song.  Gnaeus tried to follow it, but his Greek wasn't as good as
once it was.  It was a happy song, and that was enough for him.

         The guests ate well, and sang, and drank, and made love as
humans always do, unaware that the moment had come when that
all would end.  Gnaeus looked up, and saw before him, Pluto, the
great God of the Underworld, standing silently.  Gnaeus
shook in fear for a visit from the lord of the dead was never a good
omen.  "I..."  Words failed him.

         YOU ARE VERY PLEASED WITH THIS WEDDING, ARE
YOU NOT?

         Gnaeus looked around.  No one could see Pluto but him, it
seemed.  Perhaps I've drunk too much, he realized.  "Of course, I'm
pleased!  This is the culmination of years of work.  This is how I will
be remembered.  That's what I most want...to be remembered."

         YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED, THEN, BUT THE REWARD
FOR YOUR LABORS IS DEATH.

         "I shall not live to see my family continue?"

         I SHALL SPARE YOU THAT PUNISHMENT.

         Gnaeus gave a sigh of relief.

         I WILL KILL YOU ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

      Unseen, a great mountain suddenly exploded, spewing its wrath
upon the Earth, quite unprovoked.  SHIVA danced admist the
flames as ash and lava spewed forth, reducing two entire cities to
ash and ruins in instants, burying them alive.  SHIVA gave them
eternal peace in his own way, preserving their labors for posterity.
At the end of all things, SHIVA was, and SHIVA danced...

***

        The music played, and Hikaru danced with her husband.  She
had to use the Power, but not very much.  Ever since the accident
had lamed her, she couldn't stay on her legs for long without using it.
It was worth it, though.  She loved to dance.

        She and Jonny had met at a dance in New York, a year before
her accident had sent her back to college and turned her on the road
she now walked.  Jonny's father had been an excellent dancer and
research scientist.  In fact, Dr. Quest had been many things, and his
son excelled in most of them as well.

        For a few moments, she lost herself in the music and
movement, forgetting the four decades that had passed since they
met.  She was young and wild and free once more.  She looked at
him.  His eyes were closed, but he was smiling.  "Can't stand to look
at me, darling?"  she teased.

        He laughed.  "If I can't see your feet, then I can't step on them,
right?"  He opened his eyes and laughed.  "Just trying to visualize
this next move in my mind."  Suddenly, he led her into a complex
series of spins and reverses, culminating in a low dip.  "All right, it
worked!"

        She laughed.  "So you were calculating the precise torque you
needed to apply?"

        "Something like that."

        She was about to reply when a psychic flash struck her.  A
confrontation she had feared was coming was about to commence.
She could feel his power flooding across the city.  The time had
come.

        Hikaru turned to her husband.  "Darling, we're going to the
Florida Compound.  Now.  Get anything you really couldn't bear to
lose from our house here."

        Jonny blinked.  "What, is there an army headed this way?"

        She broke away from him.  "I have a suitcase packed for you.
Go grab anything you really want."

        He didn't move.  "Hikaru, what's going on?"

       "Remember that being I told you about?  The one who tried to
possess me?  Who I got the powers from?"

        Jonny nodded.  "What, he's come back from the grave?"

       "He's got a big brother and he's ANGRY.  This city is about to
become unsafe for all human life.  I think this one controls
machines...Imagine what a being like that could do in this city."

        "The boomers."  He started to move.

        "I don't suppose we've got anything lying around the Florida
compound that wrecks machinery, do we?"

        "Well, there's that electromagnetic pulse generator."

        "Right.  You get that, then call me when you're sure it'll work
and I'll come get it."

        He stopped at the door.  "You intend to stay?"

        "I intend to do to him what I did to his brother.  Obliterate
him."  Her voice was cold and angry.

        "Hikaru, how will you find him?"  Jonny stared at his wife.  I hate it 
when she gets like this.  It was rare, but sometimes, she seemed to be 
someone else than the woman he had married, someone much angrier, 
who smashed the things that made her angry.  It disturbed him.

        "I can sense him now, with the way he's spread himself out.  I
think I know exactly where he is.  I'm going to find him and rip out
his heart."  She paused.  "If he has one."

       "By yourself?"

       "We've been planning for a long time."

        He frowned.  "Hikaru, what else haven't you told me?"

        "You were being held captive!  I couldn't tell you!"

        "I'm not being held captive now!"

        She sighed.  "I'm sorry, my love.  I have to do this.  I can't
rest knowing that thing is out there and I can't let Madoka-san and her
family fight this alone."

        "He'll be there, won't he."  It wasn't a question.

       "DAMMIT, JONNY!  I thought we settled this a long time ago!
You're the ONLY man in my life!  Yes, I'll always care about
Kyosuke, maybe more than I should, but you're the man I love.  I'm
not psychotic enough to obsess over someone for my entire life!"  At
least not anymore.  She walked over to her husband.  "If I didn't love
you, I wouldn't be trying to get you to safety.  I want you to live,
darling.  Jessie and Hadji would kill me if I didn't keep you safe.  And
don't you DARE send them after me, either."

        He sighed.  "I don't want to see YOU in danger, anymore than
you want to see me there."

        She hugged her husband tightly.  "Get that EMP thing working.
Hack into GENOM's computers from Questworld.  Just make sure
your body stays in Florida where you'll be safe.  You don't have
powers like me.  I'll be fine."

       Jonny kissed her, then turned to go grab a few things.  "Okay,
dear."

        Hikaru waited until he was out of the room to remove and
destroy the tracer he had just planted on her.  He needs to work on
his sleight of hand, she thought.

***

       And SHIVA danced...

      SOME BELIEVE THEY CAN BUILD A MONUMENT, A CITY,
AN EMPIRE.  THROUGH SUCH A THING, THEY THINK THEY
CAN EVADE ME, SO THAT THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS, THEIR
MEMORY WILL LIVE ON FOREVER.  NONE HAS EVER
SUCCEEDED.

        Ramses II sat upon his great throne, and gazed upon what he
had wrought.  Yet another memorial of his great reign.  Two
servants stood on either side of him, fanning him to keep away the
life-sapping heat of the great desert that ever threatened to destroy
his realm.  Many things had he built.  His great pyramid in which he
might rest.  A great obelisk to tell the stories of his deeds.  A great
temple with many pictures of himself, begun by his great ancestor,
but completed by himself.  Yet now his greatest creation stood
before him.  A statue of himself, that all ages to come might gaze
upon him and despair of achieving his glory.  He turned to the
master sculptor.  "Truly, you have outdone yourself.  I could not
have asked a better, more glorious likeness."

         The sculptor smiled.  "Thank you, great one.  You are the only
god who has deigned to model for me, so it is not surprising that I
could create such a great work."  Indeed, it was all he could do to
avoid abasing himself mindlessly in the presence of divinity, but
Ramses had graciously given him permission not to.  "Even after
you go to join your fellows, your image will be preserved for all
time."

       The Pharoah prepared to reply, when he suddenly realized a
man stood before him unbidden.  He was about to have the fellow
executed, when he realized the man was glowing, and all else
around them had ceased to move.  The fellow was dark, more like a
shadow of a man, than a true human being.  The shadow spoke.

        I HAVE COME TO SHOW YOU THE GLORY WITH WHICH
YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED.

        The Pharoah stared at the man.  "What are you?"

        The man smiled a crooked smile.

        I AM THE ONE WHO WILL GREET YOU ON YOUR DEATH.

        The Pharoah paled slightly.  "Anubis."

        IF YOU LIKE.

        "All right.  Show me what you have come to show me."

        The shadow stretched out its arms, and in its depths, Rameses
saw what was to come.

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

        Bobby climbed up onto the huge statue's head.  It was
hundreds of feet tall, but since it had fallen down and was now lying
half-buried in the sand, it was easy to climb up on the side of the
head.  He posed for his father, striking a pose he'd seen on
Wrestlemania V.

        'Click'.  The camera captured the image forever, or so they
thought.  Tom smiled at his son. "You really showed that old king
who's boss."

       His wife, Tammy, laughed.  "So who was that, anyway?"

       "I dunno.  Tutankhamen, maybe?"

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

       Mr. Kotter sighed.  Another day trying to teach these
ungrateful brats, he thought.  Someone remind me why I took this
stupid job.  He looked around the room.  There were only two
students who didn't wish they were somewhere else.  They both sat
up front and were paying attention.  Everyone was busy harrassing
each other, waiting for the bell to ring and class to start.

       BZZZZZZT.  The buzzer went off and class began.  Mr. Kotter
looked around the room.  "Alright, we're continuing our examination
of the classical civilizations."  His trained eyes spotted one student
reading comic books in the back.  An eraser bounced off the kid's
head.  "Mr. Watson, perhaps you'd like to tell us about Rameses II."

        "He lead the Jews out of Egypt into Israel, right?"

         Mr. Kotter blinked.  The boy had some vague awareness of
something, even if he was wrong.  We learn something new every
day.  "That was Moses.  We'll get to him later.  Moses, if he ever
really lived, most likely lived during this time period.  Anyone else
want to give it a shot?"

         Half a dozen hands went up.  Mr. Kotter picked one.  "He
invented cup ramen."

         "He built all the pyramids by hand."

        "That's the Sphinx's real name, right?"

        "He's Ed Meese's father."

        "He was the Egyptian sun god."

        "He married Joan of Arc, right?"

        "No, no, he was King John's older brother.  The one who comes
back from the crusades at the end of Robin Hood, Prince of
Thieves."

        They're all hideously wrong, Mr. Kotter thought, but at least
they're talking and not just staring at me as if I was some sort of
hideous fungal monster like they usually do.  "Anyone else want to
take a shot?"  He looked at his two best students.

        They both shrugged.  "All I know is that he was a Pharaoh."
Eddie said.

        Marie said, "And he built this really ugly statue that fell down.
I saw it in National Geographic."

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

        Ramses stared in shock.  "No...it's not possible."

        STRIVE AS YOU MIGHT, ALL THAT YOU DO WILL
CRUMBLE TO DUST.  NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, IN THE END,
NO ONE WILL REMEMBER OR CARE.

        "Liar!"

        YOU HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE.  JUDGE FOR YOURSELF.

        Ramses gazed upon his accomplishments and despaired.

        And SHIVA danced away upon the sands that had been the
grave of many dreams of glory...


***



     Alphonse's was a disaster area now.  Kanuka, John, Asuma, and
Moemi came out from behind the table and gazed upon the
devastation, then in wonder at the people who, with Noa, had done
most of the work of destroying the boomer attack wave.  Asuma
said, "Uh...hi."

      Tenchi laughed faintly.  "You must be Shinohara Asuma.  Nice
to meet you."

       "You know me?"

       "Grandfather mentioned you, and I'm familiar with some of your
deeds back when you worked for the police.  You've been working
with the Kasugas, right?"

       Asuma nodded.  "I think GENOM has caught on to what we're
up to."

       "Time for a revision of plans."

***

        Pluto sat quietly and concentrated.  She couldn't shield her
tools from X forever.  Not with him drawing on the node, she knew.
Dammit, that diversion was supposed to keep him busy longer, she
thought.  It is not yet time to sacrifice them.  Worries afflicted her.
Will Wasyuu fulfill her appointed role?  Will Priss find Usagi in time?
What about the one who devoured Y?

        I cannot see her pattern, she thought.  That one is beyond me
and I do not know why.  She could screw everything up.  Pluto was
used to being able to predict everything.  There were no surprises in
Pluto's life and this was good because she hated surprises.  But
when it came to this woman, almost everything was a surprise.

        Keeping her away from Usagi all these years has been
incredibly difficult.  At least we're on the same side more or less.  I
would not want such a being for a foe.  Still, she is the wild card that
could ruin all my plans.  If only I knew what she was doing...

        She would know soon enough.

***

      And SHIVA danced...

       MEN BUILD LAWS AND MAKE TREATIES, THINKING THESE
WILL LAST FOREVER, THAT THEY CAN BUILD AN
INDESTRUCTIBLE BULWARK TO GUARANTEE THERE WILL BE
NO CHANGE.  THEY ARE FOOLS.

      Gunshots rang through the forest.  Red Eagle and his friends
charged forward and the Creek, their old enemies, fled.  Far off, they
could see their white allies winning through as well.  He paused and
fired off a shot through the woods.  A scream rewarded his effort.

        A man rode up on a white horse.  It was the war chief of the
whites, a man named Jackson.  "How are things going with your
people?"

        "Very well, Jackson.  How are your warriors doing?"

        "The Creeks are running.  They'll never bother either of our
nations again."

         Red Eagle smiled.  That was very good news.  His people had
once been enemies of the whites from across the mountains, but
now they were allies against a common foe, just as his people had
once allied with the Great King across the Water against his
rebellious braves on this side of the great sea which Red Eagle had
heard of, but never seen.  Perhaps I shall see that ocean one day.
They had made treaties of alliance and perpetual peace. "It is good
to hear that, my friend."

        Jackson smiled.  "Good news, indeed."

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

        Twenty years had passed.  Red Eagle had become a great
man among the Cherokee.  He was Andrew Red Eagle now, for
many things had changed.  The Cherokee had learned much from
their neighbors.  Through years of struggling study, Andrew had
become literate in both the white script and the new script that the
Cherokee had designed for their own tongue.  He received the
tribe's newspaper once a month, and his children attended a school
to read and write.  He had bought a few slaves to help work his
fields and was starting to become fairly wealthy.  He had even taken
a white name for the convenience of those he traded with, who usually
could never say his true name correctly.  Some of them had taken
names of his nation and married into his people.  Times were a
changing.

        The Cherokee had greeted the word that the braves of the
'United States' had elected their friend Andrew Jackson as the Great
Chief of their nation with joy.  Tensions were starting to build as
more and more whites moved into the lands around the Cherokee
nation.  The whites wanted to buy Cherokee lands.  Many tribes in
the past had agreed to such sales, not understanding what they were
really doing, but the Cherokee knew better.  They had learned the
ways of the Whites, and they knew that if they sold, they must leave,
and they would not leave.  They hoped that their friend could
restrain his braves, and that the peace between Cherokee and
Whites could endure.

        Hopes are made to be shattered.  One day, the news came that
the tribal council of Georgia had declared it possessed all of the
Cherokee lands south of the lands claimed by the 'state of
Tennessee'.  The Cherokee sent people to protest, only to discover
that President Jackson had declared in support of the state of
Georgia.  In fact, he sent people to try to buy all of the Cherokee
Lands.  They refused, but a tiny faction signed the treaty.  The
Cherokee nation formed a great petition in the way of the whites,
and Red Eagle was one of the men sent to carry it to the great city
of Washington.

         It was far greater than they had ever anticipated, vast and
beautiful, though not the sort of place in which they wished to dwell.
They took their petition to the President.  Some of his
representatives had tried to teach them to call him the Great White
Father, but they knew better.  They had known him when he was
only a minor war chief.  He was their friend.  Surely he would listen
to them.

        It was like talking to a wall.  Red Eagle wondered if General
Jackson had gone deaf, but refused to admit it.  Some people were
like that.  His own father had refused to admit his hearing and sight
were declining.  Over and over, Jackson told them it was too late,
that the treaty had been signed, that they would be happier far away
from the Whites, that this would be better for them, than staying
there.

        They begged, they pleaded, they called upon his memories of
the time he had spent with them, the war they had fought side by
side.  Finally, Red Eagle spoke.  "Does friendship matter nothing to
you?  Was every word you told us a lie?  Did you plan to steal our
home from the start?"

        For a moment, Jackson's eyes flashed with pain, but then the
determination returned.  "I will not be swayed.  What must be, must
be."

        "So be it.  The man I knew as a friend is dead."  He turned and
left.  The others could dither all they wanted, but it would be futile,
he knew.  Once Jackson made up his mind, he was like a huge rock
that could not be moved without force.  Our only hope is war, but
war will be the death of his people.  We will be destroyed like we
destroyed the Creeks.  Is this our punishment, he wondered?  What
sin have we committed against the land that we are to lose it
forever?

       He rode home to the Cherokee lands.  Quietly, he made his
preparation for departure, said his goodbyes, and wrote out a will in
the style of the whites, laughing faintly as he did so.  He then took
his pistol and he shot himself so that he might at least be buried in
the land he called his home.  Unlike the rest of his tribe, he would
not be evicted.  Perhaps he would have died anyway, along with the
third of his tribe that would perish on the Trail of Tears.

         They marched through the rain, the mud, and the snow, in
wagons and on horses.  SHIVA danced among the fallen and
laughed at the destruction of a nation, the loss of their home, and
the death of trust.


***

       Uranus grumbled.  "Can't you drive any faster, Tux boy?"

        Tuxedo Kamen sighed.  "Unlike you, I don't own a race car.
This thing wouldn't go 130* if I drove it off a cliff."

*Author's note:  Tux boy is referring to kilometers per hour, not miles
per hour.

        "Move over and let me drive.  I can make cars do anything I
want."

        Neptune sighed faintly.  Sailor Moon whispered to her, "I bet he
never lets you drive either."  They both laughed.

        Uranus shouted, "I HEARD that!"

        Tuxedo Kamen just laughed.  He didn't laugh so hard when
suddenly feet and legs appeared, splayed out on the windshield.  He
swore and hit the brakes, trying to get out of the middle of traffic.

        Priss cursed like a sailor, clinging to one of the windshield
wipers to keep from flying off the car.  Anri and Sylvie were flung off
the hood and the roof, but they could fly so they didn't care.  Meylia
could fly, but she was so surprised, she forgot, sliding off the roof
and down the windshield so that her legs ended up wrapped around
Priss' head.  "Okay, maybe trying to use the crystal to teleport to
them wasn't such a wise idea."

        Traffic snarled as startled drivers weaved about, trying to avoid
Kamen's car and the flying people.  Tuxedo Kamen managed to turn
onto a side street as Priss and Meylia unsnarled themselves.
Uranus and Neptune leapt out of the car the instant it stopped and
positioned themselves to watch the two flying people.  Sailor Moon
jumped out and said to the people on the hood, "Are you okay?"

       Priss sat up, clutching her sword in one hand.  "Thanks to this
windshield wiper.  Otherwise, I think I'd be a pancake."   She and
Meylia finally managed to disentangle themselves from each other.
She looked at Sailor Moon and tried to figure out what to say.
"I...I've got your crystal."

        Sailor Moon smiled.  "It's yours too."  She climbed up on the
hood and hugged Priss.  "Ahhh!  HOT!"

         Priss slid off the hood with her.  "Hmm.  Guess this outfit is
heat resistant."

         Uranus said, "You know these people?"

         Sailor Moon smiled.  "Uranus, Neptune, meet my sister,
Princess Courage, the First Princess of the Sword of the Moon
Kingdom."

        Priss smiled.  "Nice to meet you.  These are my friends, the
Queen of Swords, Sylvie, and Anri.  They helped me recover the
crystal."  She paused, not wanting to say it.  "We...we lost Linna."

        "That's awful!"  Sailor Moon hugged Priss again.  "I know you
were close."

        "She was one of my best friends in all the world.  Either she's
dead or Pluto's sent her on some crazy quest...I don't know..."  She
pulled herself together.  "Where's everyone else?"

       "GENOM has them."

       Priss frowned.  "Let's go get them."

       Tuxedo Kamen said, "We really don't have room in my car for
eight people."

       "Just carry me.  My friends all fly."

       "Right.  Let's go."  They went.

***

     And SHIVA danced...

      OTHERS BELIEVED THAT KNOWLEDGE WAS ETERNAL.
THEY BELIEVED THAT THROUGH KNOWING ALL THAT WAS
KNOWABLE, THEY COULD DEFY ME.  THEY DID NOT
UNDERSTAND THAT LIKE ALL THINGS, KNOWLEGE LEADS TO
DESTRUCTION.  IT IS THE GRAVE OF HOPE, OF FAITH, OF
LIFE.

      The scientists watched nervously from their bunker.  Would it
work?  Years of labor had lead up to this moment.  Their nation was
counting on them.  They had to unlock the secrets of the atom
before Hitler's scientists did.  It was a race, and one they had to win.

       A few miles away, a bomb sat, the likes of which had never
been forged by human hands.  It awaited its moment of glory.

        A radio signal went out and the moment arrived.  For the first
time in the history of humanity, the power of the Atom was
unleashed and an explosion of unrivaled power erupted on the
sands of New Mexico.  There was a bright flash, and then a cloud of
smoke rose, forming what would become the familiar sight of a
mushroom cloud.

        The scientists went wild.  It had worked!  Their labor hadn't
been in vain!  The war could be ended swiftly now with the new
bombs.  The only real limit was how fast they could get the nuclear
fuel and manufacture the parts.  Only a single man stood and stared
off across the desert, unbidden words rising into his mind, 'I am
become Death, the shatterer of worlds'.

       They would make more weapons.  Death would rain down on
two cities in Japan, and then the power of the Atom would multiply.
Dozens, hundreds, thousands of weapons would be born, waiting for
the day when they too would shine like the sun.

        SHIVA danced in nuclear fire and laughed, for he knew that
weapons were made to be used and that one day he would dance
again, across the world as it burned.  That day would come...


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

        General Haroun finished the intelligence report.  Could it be
true?  Could the shield in the sky that had thwarted him from finally
destroying those miserable Israelis be gone?  Rumors were
circulating, but this ever so expensive report confirmed them.  Could
he take the risk?  If he struck first, they could be destroyed before
they could retaliate.  If he was wrong, their armies would trounce
him again and he did not think he could bounce back from another
defeat.  His neighbors might join them as well, hoping to strip away
more of his nation.  It was a risk...was it worth taking?  Slowly the
scales began to tip in his mind as hope overcame fear, as it so often
does.


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

         The commando dropped the report on General Jonathon
Habin's desk.  "It doesn't look good, sir."

        The general frowned.  USSD was denying that the laser
satellites had been neutralized, but all his spies said otherwise.  He
knew what the report would tell him without having to read it.
General Haroun was gearing up for round 2.  Without Big Brother in
the sky, he thought he could obliterate Israel in a few minutes.  The
sad thing was that he was right.  Jerusalem might survive, but the
new missile defenses hadn't been built anywhere else yet, nor had
they really been adequately tested.  What good would Jerusalem do
in the middle of a nuclear wasteland?  Is this how it all ends, he
wondered.  He sighed and read the report, mentally preparing his
own report for the prime minister.  Only by striking first could they
save themselves.

         Across the globe, a hundred petty hatreds flared and sabres
began to rattle.  A generation that had forgotten the power they
wielded rose up and began to posture.  Inch by inch, the world slid
towards the Apocalypse.

         And SHIVA danced...


***

      Wasyuu finished her preparations and quietly exited her
sanctuary into her 'place of work'.  I have to know, she thought.  It
must be a coincidence, yet, I must know.  If somehow...he's still
alive...even if he wants to destroy me, it will be enough that I know
he lives.  Quietly, she went to work on yet another boomer.  It was
the work of a few minutes to determine what was wrong with it.  The
effort to alter the behavioral blocks had been botched badly.  That
was why it had gone berserk.  About eighty percent of the problems
seemed to come from a lack of any real understanding of how
boomers thought and sentients behave on the part of GENOM's
techs.  She wondered again how these people could even deal with
each other with such little understanding of the mind.

        The twelve BU-12B's were later than she had anticipated.  She
was looking around for another boomer to work on when they
arrived.  "Come with us immediately, or be destroyed."

         She raised her hands in the air.  "As you wish.  Where are you
taking me?"

        "To face your judgment, the punishment for the crimes you
have committed."

        "And who shall judge?"

        "The one against whom you have sinned."

        Wasyuu laughed.  "Can you be specific?  That covers a lot of
people."

        "You seem less impressive than I anticipated."

         Wasyuu cocked her head.  Was he being evasive
or...Suddenly she understood.  "The Overmind system.  In the hands
of one such as you...I congratulate you.  Truly you have shown more
cunning than most of your master's creations.  Subtlety was never
his strong point."

          "Flattery will get you nowhere.  Come."  The voice sounded
subtly pleased, though still blunt and direct.

      Wasyuu followed.  This means he is in the Tower itself, she
thought.  Perfect.  She checked her pocket.  That which she sought
was still there.  She smiled.

***

      Goto looked out the window of the hotel room.  He could see
GENOM Tower.  For forty years, it and its predecessors had
dominated his life.  Beginning with the Muugen Gakuen disaster, it
had drawn him in.  Mystery after mystery surrounded that site, lurked
below the surface of Japanese society.  Sailor suited warriors.
Monsters.  Government conspiracies.  Mysterious deaths.
Rampaging labors and boomers.  "Accidents."  All part of a pattern,
a web of conspiracy whose spiders he had sought for forty years,
first inside the system, then from outside of it when the spiders had
tried to bite and poison him.

        He had formed his own web.  Detectives, policemen,
manufacturers, occultists, psychics, even aliens now.  It was a war
for the soul of Japan.  For years, he had known where the spiders
dwelt but had been unable to strike.  He knew he wouldn't live much
longer.  The rag tag band of his allies would have to do what he
could not.  There remained but one last action he had to do.

        He hesitated, his hands inches from the switch.  What if I'm
wrong?  What if I'm attacking the wrong target?  This could all be
the delusions of an old man.  Dare I plunge this city into chaos?
Maybe I'm just being a vengeful fool.  Is it worth it?  Worst of all,
what if it doesn't work?  Maybe GENOM can put down a citywide riot
and defeat the ADPolice at the same time...or what if the ADPolice
aren't fooled?

         He stepped away from the switch.  I can't make this decision
on my own.  It shamed him to not trust himself to decide.  The
phone rang.  He picked it up.  "Hello?"

        "It's begun.  Quincy has activated the Overmind System."  It
was the old man who the psychics claimed was their ancestor,
Youshou.  "It's now or never."

       That was enough for Goto.  He turned and flipped the switch.
Across the city, TV sets flickered and began to play an
announcement by Quincy that he was taking total control of the city
and no one could stop him, blah, blah, blah.  At the same time, five
carefully prepared American made robots designed to look like
boomers were heading for ADPolice headquarters.  Their method of
construction made them unable to attack humans, but with the
amount of property damage they could cause, it was likely that
noone would notice.  With time, the ADPolice would figure out they
were tricked, but by then, ideally, it would be too late.

        Goto turned to the city and gazed out upon it.  He spoke into
the phone.  "The die is cast.  Let's pray the cure is not worse than
the disease."

         The Great Riot of 2034 was about to begin.

***

      And SHIVA danced...

      SOME BELIEVE THAT WISDOM IS THE KEY, THAT SOME
SECRET KNOWLEGE WILL UNLOCK ALL DOORS AND BRING
THEM TO ETERNAL LIFE, TO A LIFE WITHOUT SUFFERING,
WITHOUT PAIN, WITHOUT DESTRUCTION...WITHOUT ME.
THERE IS NO ESCAPE.  IN THE END, ALL THEIR WISDOM
FAILS THEM AND ALL THEY DO CRUMBLES INTO DUST.
THEIR WISDOM BECOMES POISON AND THEIR HOPE
DESPAIR.

        Once upon a time, there was a ugly man who lived in the
greatest kingdom of the world.  Yet, all was not well in the middle
kingdom.  The great lords of the kingdom quarreled and fought,
making war upon each other, while the barbarians nibbled away at
the frontiers, inch by inch.  The ugly man was troubled.  He studied
the ancient ways and grew wise, seeking to understand how the land 
might be healed of the strife that afflicted it.

        Days turned to years, and years to decades.  The man wrote
books and took students.  He wandered the land, teaching how a
dignified man should live.  The time came when he was allowed to
turn his words into practice and the Duke of Lu put him to work, first
as a magistrate of a city, then as Superintendent of Public Works,
then as Minister of Crime.  For a time, his wisdom was followed and
the land prospered, but then the Duke fell in love with a pack of
entertainers and neglected his duties.  The ugly man went to the
Duke and told him of his duties, of the way that he should follow,
that he must fulfill his duties to be a good ruler.  The Duke would not
let an ugly old man lecture him, and sent him away.

       The ugly old man was sent into exile, and wandered through the
many petty states into which the empire was crumbling.  Only his
most faithful students stayed by his side.  For thirteen years he
wandered, before finally his exile was rescinded and he could return
home.

        He spent his last few years of life alone, except for a few
students, and ignored by the rulers who he had hoped to guide.  One
day, as the sun shone down and the birds sang outside, his pupil
Tsze-kung heard him singing early in the morning.

        "The great mountain must crumble,
         The strong beam must break,
         And the wise man must wither away like a plant."

         He ran to his master, and asked, "Master, why do you sing
such a sad song?"

        The ugly old man turned to Tsze-Kung and said, "No intelligent
monarch arises;  there is not one in the empire that will make me his
teacher.  My time is come to die."  He took to his bed, and after
seven days, he died, looking back on his life and seeing that all his
studies had brought him nothing but exile and death.  Thus passed
K'ung Ch'iu, later to be known in the West as Confucius.  And
SHIVA danced among the ashes of his life...

***

     "So, what do you think of our 'trainees?'" Takeo Yamazaki asked her
predecessor, Kanuka Clancy McClaine.

     "Their psychic powers are quite... interesting," Kanuka said.

     "It does force us to change our methods, doesn't it?"

     Ohta, who was sitting nearby and cackling over the new weapons he
would be using with his labor, looked up in alarm.  He and Hiromi
exchanged a worried look.

     "Not really," Kanuka rejoined, "the basic principles remain the
same.  They still need to observe, process, and act on the data fed to
them.  That is the most important thing.  That, and memorizing as much
pertinent data beforehand."

     "Do you still insist that cluttering the mind with trivia is the
best way to approach a battlefield?"

     "One cannot always count on having a reference work handy.  My
memory can handle that without any problems."

     "Oh, then how many grandchildren do you have?"

     "Three.  And do you remember the wedding dates of your
grandchildren?"

     "They're still too young to be married.  You should know that."

     "Takeo-chan--" interrupted Hiromi.

     Takeo and Kanuka turned and looked steadily at Hiromi.  "Yes,
Hiromi-chan?" Takeo asked sweetly.

     "Um, nothing, dear," he muttered, sulking away.

     Or trying to.  Takeo reached out and grabbed the large man's
collar, pulling him back.  "Now, now, Hiromi-chan, perhaps you can help
Kanuka-san and I settle this," she said, her voice calm and steady.

     Ohta, seeing his comrade's peril, started to sneak off, when Kanuka
saw him  "Ohta!  Where are you going?  Come over here."

     "You don't have to order him, he's not under your command any
more," Takeo said.

     "I didn't retire, unlike yourself," Kanuka replied.

     "I didn't realize that the ADPolice fell under New York City
jurisdiction."

     "This is hardly an official activity."

     "Which is why rank doesn't matter."

     "Uh--" began Ohta.

     "That is a good point," murmured Hiromi.

     Both women turned to look at the men.  "What do YOU think?" they
asked.

     The order to move out saved them from having to answer, for which
they were QUITE grateful.

***

      Belldandy sat quietly and watched the news broadcast.
"Downtown Mega-Tokyo is a sea of chaos,"  the newswoman
blathered.  "We now have reports that the violence has spread to
Tokyo University.  Reports are unclear, but some are claiming the
two pillars of the front gate have been attacking the rioters."  She
laughed.  "More seriously, three dormitories are on fire, and the
Campus Police have called on the ADPolice for help.  However, the
ADPolice are too hard pressed to help.  In fact, rumors have it that
the ADPolice HQ was attacked shortly before the transmission of the
broadcast that started the riot.  City officials seem to be holding back
the ADPolice from taking action for no apparent reason.  And now
for a commercial break."

       Belldandy heard running feet heading from the telephone to
outside the temple.  "What's wrong, Keiichi-kun?"  she shouted.

       "I can't get through to Keiko!  I'm going after her!"

       "Then I'm going with you."  She got up, put down her knitting,
and ran after her husband.

       Luckily, the sidecar was still hooked up to the motorcycle.  They
roared off into the city.

***

       Pluto's barrier finally shattered.  She collapsed, bleeding
through her nose.  Pain throbbed through her frame.  Even with my
talisman, he was too much for me, she thought.  But it will be
enough.  X would find Goto's psychic strikeforce, but they were but a
diversion, though they knew it not.

        And while he indulges in petty violence, the real arrows will find
his heart, she thought.  

***

       Minako awoke in a dark cell.  The darkness was absolute,
smothering her.  The boomer assault on her home flooded back into
her mind, then came the memories.  Thirty four years of amnesia
ended with a moment's wakefulness.  We...we lost, she realized.
The grand confrontation came back to her...


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

        The sailors floated in a misty void littered with the dissolving
corpses of their foes.  It had been a trap.  We should never have
followed him here, Sailor Venus thought.  The being they had
chased from the park had seemed so powerful that he had to be the
master villian, they thought.  His master dwarfed him.

         He was holding Eternal Sailor Moon with two of his hands,
while a third held up Sailor Mars, a sword rammed through her gut.
His fourth arm was gone, severed by Sailor Uranus, who he now was
trampling underfoot.  Most of the other Sailors were scattered about
unconscious.  Tuxedo Kamen was impaled to a huge stone pillar
floating in the mist, nailed in place with his own cane.  Saturn stood
paralyzed, trying to fight off an effort by SHIVA's minion to possess
her.  Pluto had vanished, taking someone with her...Venus couldn't
think clearly enough to remember who.

        Only one chance, she thought.  I have to distract him so Sailor
Moon can breathe.  Then maybe she can stop him with the crystal.
Is this how it all ends?  No...I won't let it.  But how to get him to let
go?  I don't have enough power left for anything that will...An idea
came to mind.  She laughed.  She reached her hand to her forehead
and removed her tiara, twirling it around her finger.  "VENUS TIARA
ACTION!"  She hurled it, and it transformed into a blazing disk of
light.  It arced around and struck SHIVA'S arms.  He howled and
dropped Sailor Moon.  The glowing disc arced around and returned
to Venus' hands.  "There's more where that came from,
you...you...you tree frog!"  I'm getting more desperate than I thought
to use that goofy an insult, she thought.

        SHIVA cocked his head for a moment, then breathed fire at
her.  She dodged.  He charged at her and she fled through the mists.
Soon enough, she found herself back where she had begun.  SHIVA
was close upon her heels.  Only one thing had changed.  Sailor
Moon now held up the Silver Crystal, which shone with the light of a
million souls.  The light grew brighter and brighter, devouring all
things, and then oblivion came swiftly.

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

       She sighed.  I wonder if this is all part of some new threat or if
that guy has come back somehow?  Feeling around in the dark, she
stumbled over someone, who began to snore.  She laughed faintly.
"Steven?"

        A voice muttered.  "Wake me up after the next ice age is over."

        She laughed and shook him awake.  "Honey, we're being
imprisoned again."

        "Wake me up when we escape."

        "We can't escape while you're asleep."

        "Well, that solves that problem, then, doesn't it?"  He sat up
finally after a few jabs.  "I think I just dreamed about you being
Sailor Venus or something."

        "It wasn't a dream.  Now help me find the door."

        He stood up.  "We're on the fiftieth floor of the GENOM Tower,
so the door should be over there."  He took five steps and bumped
into the door.  "I need to learn to take smaller steps."

        "How could you see where the door was?"

        I guessed, he thought.  "I sensed the magnetic fields of the
earth and their fluctuation indicated a door in that direction."

         Minako noogied him.  "Thank you, Jettero Heller.  So how did
you really find the door?"

        "I bumped into it."  More noogies.  "You could try transforming
and blasting the door open for us."

        She transformed and blasted the door with a Crescent Beam.
The door ignored her, though the flash of light briefly illuminated the
room.  It was stark metal with a rather solid door with no handle on
this side.  The metal seemed unhurt by the beam, though at least it
hadn't reflected around inside the room and carved them to pieces.
There was a speaker grill in the middle of the ceiling.  A voice
crackled through it.  "Very amusing, Sailor Venus.  Try as you might,
you won't escape.  We hand-designed these cells to restrain each of
you if we ever caught you.  Enjoy your stay.  You won't be there
much longer."

         "Who are you?"

         "The new number two."  The voice laughed faintly and fell
silent.


***

       It was the sound of property damage which jolted Celia out of
her funk of fretting.  She heard explosions nearby.  A quick camera
check revealed that the lower levels of her building, Ladysmith 633,
were under assault by a veritable tide of boomers.  A few of them
were combat boomers, but the bulk of the horde were various labor
boomers, ranging from waitresses to assembly line tenders.

        "We're under assault."

        Youshou nodded.  Ryouko said, "Right.  Time to go kick some
butt."

        At that moment, the power went out.  A series of explosions
from the hardsuit storage room rocked the building.  The intercom
crackled to life.  "For years, I have let you live because it served my
purposes.  Yet, now I know your true heritage, and your time has
come to die, Celia of the House of Jurai.  You shall die at the hands
of your own creation."

        "What the hell?"  Ryouko said.  "Who the hell is that?"

         Youshou frowned.  "The heart of the city gives its power to one
of the destroyer's children.  We must go now...there are far too
many things he can turn against us."

        As if to illustrate Youshou's point, Linna, Priss, and Celia's
hardsuits erupted through the walls.  Laser and railgun fire raked the
room.  Celia stared in shock as her own hardsuit flew towards her,
raising its laser sword high in a gesture she recognized from films of her 
own actions in battle.  Fear took her, and she could not move.

        Ryouko grabbed her and teleported across the room, firing a
beam at Linna's hardsuit which lithely dodged the attack.  The beam
blew a hole in the wall, the next wall, and the wall after that, then
blasted a few more buildings on its way across the city.  Wiring
snaked out of the damaged wall and began to crawl across the
ground.  Light and power sockets crackled with electricity.  "We've
got to get out of here!"

        Youshou nodded.  "Take Celia and get her to the others."

        "What about you, old man?"

        "You can't take both of us."  He drew his sword, dodging railgun
fire.  "GO!  Don't come back without an army."

        She teleported away with Celia, though she didn't like doing it.

        "I remember you,"  he shouted to the air.  "I can smell your
power.  Do you remember the last time we met?"

        "I shall not be the one thrown off the train this time.  I learned
much from you, old man.  Now I shall teach you a lesson."  The voice 
reverberated from a dozen speakers and a phone.

        Youshou feinted, then ducked, letting Priss' hardsuit blow open
the chest of Linna's suit.  "I doubt it."

***

      And SHIVA danced...

     EVEN INNOCENCE LEADS INTO MY ARMS.

        Enrique ran down the street to the harbor, followed by his
parents.  "Look, mama!  See, I told you!  All the water has left the
harbor!"  Hundreds of people walked with them, attracted by the
rumor spreading through Lisbon, that the ocean had flowed out of
the harbor and stranded the ships.

         The rumor was true.  The crowd reached the harbor, which
was now a damp sandy valley full of stranded ships.  The water had
flowed out of the harbor, leaving the ships behind.  People fell  to
their knees and prayed to God.  It was a miracle, a sign, though of
what they knew not.  The word spread and hundreds more came
down to the harbor to see what God had wrought.  Hundreds more
flocked to the churches, asking the priests to explain what was going
on.  They had no idea.  Neither the Bible nor their experience gave
them any answer.

         Enrique had always wanted to be a sailor.  He was eight now,
old enough to have dreams.  He dreamed of sailing on a boat across
the seas.  Portugal was a sailing nation.  The sea was its lifeblood.
Maybe I'll cross the sea and see our colonies, he thought.  He ran
out across the harbor and over the wet sand.  His mother, Maria, ran
after him.  "Enrique, you silly boy! Come back here!"

        He laughed and so did she as she chased him.  His father,
Pablo, stayed behind on the docks, talking to some of his friends
who had come down to see the harbor.  She chased him across the
sands, finally catching him just as he reached the side of a ship that
had been anchored in the middle of what used to be a harbor and
tried to climb a rope ladder some amused sailors had lowered to
him.

        The whole town was bustling about the harbor in wonderment,
so amazed that no one thought to look out to the sea whence the
water had retreated.  It was a cloudy day and thus no one paid the
approaching rumble any mind until it was too late.  Finally, someone
looked up and saw the wall of water rising from the ocean, a wall the
size of a mountain.

        Laughter and amazement was replaced by terror, deep and
inescapable in an instant.  The populace fled, trampling each other
in their terror.  The wall of water swept onwards, faster than any
person.  By the time Maria overcame her terror, the wall had
reached the mouth of the harbor.  She turned and ran.  It was a race
she could not win.  The water erupted through the harbor like a
shotgun blast, sweeping humans like particles of dust before a
broom.  Buildings whose creators had long mouldered to dust now
joined their dead creators in the grave.

         Enrique's last sight in this world was of his mother screaming
and crying, his last thought a desperate prayer to God to save his
mother.   If he had not been down in the harbor itself, she would
have lived and him also, but he had led them both to their death.
Please, God, save my mother, he prayed.  It's not her fault. His
prayer was not answered.  Thousands died and the God they prayed
to was silent.

         Water raged through the streets of Lisbon, on a spring day in
1755, and SHIVA rode upon the tide, laughing as it smashed all the
fragile creations of man to pieces, dragging those who fancied
themselves the lords of creation to a watery grave.  And SHIVA
danced on...

***

       Six labor carriers moved through the streets of the city.  The
roads into its heart were empty.  Anyone with any sense was fleeing
the city, not entering it.  The vehicles passed unnoticed down the
highway, moving towards GENOM Tower to disgorge the nervous
warriors who would strike at the heart of the evil that now possessed
the city.  They left the highway and moved into the strangely empty
streets, heading towards the sound of distant shouts.  Moemi fretted
and hoped the carrier they had sent to pick up Alphonse would get to
them.  She had left with Kanuka, while Kanuka's husband had
stayed with Asuma and Noa to wait for the carrier.

        Suddenly, beams struck three of the carriers from nearby
buildings.  They exploded in flames, killing those who rode within
instantly.  Instants later, some of the inhabitants of the other carriers
vanished then appeared next to the previously unseen assailants.
Boomer bodies became twisted metal and plastic.  More boomers
poured out of the buildings, some combat boomers, more of them
the menial laborers of the city.  Kanuka Clancy barked out orders
and got the three Ingrams unloaded as the rest of the Kasugas tried
to cover them.

        Kyosuke cursed.  "They knew we were coming, somehow."  Three of
his nephews and nieces dead.  He could see their faces in his mind,
haunting him.  He could hear their parents now...those of them whose
parents hadn't just died also.  Normally, he would have broken down and
cried.  But he just didn't have time right now.

        Kanuka shrugged.  "If they really knew that, why send so many
cheap labor boomers?  Well, if it is a trap, we'll just have to fight our
way out.  You do know how to fight, don't you?"  Kyousuke wondered how she
could be so calm about it.

       Kyosuke nodded grimly.  "You'd all be dead now if we didn't
know how to fight."  He concentrated and five boomers flew into the
air, then slammed into the ground, falling apart at the seams.  "Is the
old man okay?"

        Ohta boomed down from his finally deployed labor,  "Who are
you calling OLD, kid?"  Kyousuke was surprised he could be so
enthusiastic after watching half their 'army' die.  Maybe they're
just more hardened to combat than I am, Kyousuke thought.

        Ohta charged into the fray, stomping petty boomers right and
left.  The two surviving apprentice labor pilots followed, plowing into
the fray.  Psychics took cover behind blazing wreckage, firing away
with guns and powers as chance allowed.  More boomers than they
had ever imagined even existed in the city poured out of more
buildings.  It was going to be at best, a very LONG fight.

***

       The streets of Mega-Tokyo ran wild.  Tinsel City was a sea of
angry bodies, smashing buildings and surging towards GENOM
Tower.  A decade of resentment, fear, and hatred had exploded.
GENOM had crossed the line of death, so to speak.  The wiser
heads of the city knew that the broadcast must have been faked.
The commoners knew more than they.  It was only the articulation of
what everyone knew--that GENOM ruled the city, that they had no
power over their lives anymore, and that if GENOM wanted to
overtly take over, the city authorities would be powerless to stop it.
GENOM was above the law.

        Simple problem, simple solution.  Now they were the law, and
they would remake all things to their will.

        Unfortunately, X had the same idea, and bigger guns.  The
boomers were outnumbered a thousand to one.  The mobs didn't
have a chance, and yet they came on.  It was madness, the self-
destruction of lemmings at work, perhaps the finest example Freud
could have wished for to prove his theory of the "death instinct".  Or
perhaps it was simply an example of what happens when people
begin to see life as no better than death.

         One by one, the buildings began to catch fire, and Mega-Tokyo
was wreathed in flames.  And SHIVA's children followed the tune he
played for them.

***

      And SHIVA danced.

      SOME FOOLS CONSOLE THEMSELVES WITH A HOPE OF
IMMORTALITY, A HOPE OF LIFE BEYOND THE GRAVE.  THEY
BELIEVE THAT BY BEING GOOD, BY FOLLOWING SOME CODE
CREATED BY ANOTHER FOOL LIKE THEMSELVES THAT THEY
CAN DEFY ME.  I WILL DEVOUR THEM AS I DEVOURED THOSE
WHO MADE THE CODES BY WHICH THEY DECIEVE
THEMSELVES.  IF THERE BE GODS, INDEED, BESIDE ME, I
SHALL DEVOUR THEM IN THE END AS WELL.

       The condemned walked through the streets of the city.  All
around them, the city was celebrating the great feast of Passover.
There was nothing for them to celebrate.  All of them had been
sentenced to death.  Their crimes were varied--theft, arson, murder,
preaching insurrection.  Despair flooded through their souls at the
thought of death, inescapable, unappeasable, unstoppable.  At best,
their souls would burn in Gehenna, the trash heap of the dead, to
suffer for eternity, their only consolation to know that one day their
tormentors would be cast cold, naked and alone into the darkness to
join them in eternal misery and boredom.

        Yet, one of them did not seem to be afraid.  He walked silently,
his face at peace, except for moments where he stumbled or
someone accidentally hit him with the crossbar they were carrying.
Pain would flash across his face for a moment, then the calm would
return.

         They walked on, through jeering crowds, carrying the very
instrument of their impending doom.  The execution ground of
Golgotha was a maze of posts and ropes.  Every condemned man
carried his own crossbar to that grounds.  He would be nailed to it,
and it raised into place and tied firmly, then his legs crossed and
nailed to the post.  There, they would hang for hours on end in the
merciless sun.

        One by one, they were put into place.  There was no recital of
their crimes, no ceremony, no protection from angry men who might
come to strike them, to taunt them, or to smite them.  One thing only
jarred this ceremony.  The silent man had attracted his own personal
crowd of taunters.  There was a board nailed to his post over his
head, with latin letters, who few present could read, and none
understood.  The other condemned men tried to guess who this man
was.

         Slowly they began to piece together who he was.  The taunters
spoke of prophecies, of claims that he would rebuild the temple in
three days.  They told him that if he was truly a prophet, he should
call upon God to save him.  "He saved others but he cannot save
himself!  So he is the king of Israel!  Let's see him come down from
that cross and we will believe in him.  He relied on God;  let God
rescue him now if he wants to.  After all, he claimed, 'I am God's
Son'."

         Hours passed.  A darkness had settled over the land as clouds
covered the sun.  Some had died, but many would live.  Worst of all,
the beginning of the Sabbath was approaching.  When that
happened, no work would be done in Jerusalem until it ended.  Any
of the men who died during that time would sit on their cross and rot
until the Sabbath was over, and most of the men would not die until
the Sabbath had already begun, for crucifixtion is often the slowest
of all forms of execution.  They were tough men, and their very
toughness would enable them to suffer longer and die more slowly.

         Even the toughest man can break under such conditions.  He
did.  He looked up to the sky and cried out in Aramaic, "Eli, Eli, lema
sabachthani <My God, my God, why have you forsaken me>?"  It
was the cry of despair.  His calm face finally broke, and all could see
the fear and hopelessness in him that they saw in each other's
faces.  It was the face of a man who finally understood what it was
like to be friendless, alone, and doomed.

        Someone in the crowd heard him and tried to bring him a drink
by raising a sponge soaked in wine to his lips on a pole.  The others
hung back and said, "Let us see whether Elijah comes to his
rescue."

         Elijah didn't come.  Joshua gave a great cry, and died,
abandoned by his friends and followers.  And SHIVA danced through
the streets of Jerusalem.  The innocent would not be spared on this
Passover.


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

      Goodwife Brown stood by her husband's grave.  For thirty years,
their lives had been one, through good times and bad.  They had
moved from Boston, where she and he had both been born, to
western Massachusetts together and forged a new life in the
wilderness.  It had not been easy.  They had lost four children out of
six.  The house had burned to the ground once after a lightning
strike.  During King Phillip's War, the nearest town had been wiped
out by Indians.  Disease, famine, flood, all the disasters the world
could throw at them had tried to grind them under, but they had
survived.  Sometimes there was love, and sometimes they fought
like mad cats and dogs.

         She needed him desperately, but he was gone.  She still had
her children, but they weren't the man who had always been there,
through good times and bad.  Shuddering in the cold afternoon air,
she stared at his grave.  He was gone forever.  She offered up a
silent prayer for his soul.  He had not been a God-fearing man,
though she had tried to make him so.  She clung to the hope that
one day she would see him again in heaven.  "Farewell, my
husband.  Until we meet again in Heaven."

         The minister, standing nearby, frowned.  "You know that's not
likely.  He was a godless man, sunk deep in stubborn
unrighteousness.  Even as we speak, he likely bakes in the fires of
hell, where he shall suffer for eternity.  He was unrepentant, even at
the end."  Minister Williams frowned more deeply.  If only I had tried
harder at the end, perhaps I could have reached him...He smothered
the thought.  Only God could bring the grace that led to salvation.
All my effort would have made no difference unless it was in
accordance with God's will.  Clearly it was not.  "You must forget
him.  You should never have married an unrighteous man, anyway.
One does not yoke an oxen and an ass together."

        To think of her husband burning in hell was more than
Goodwife Brown could bear.  She fell to her knees and cried.  Her
daughter laid a hand upon her shoulder, not knowing what to say.
Her son stood nearby with his wife, staring off into space, trying to
pretend nothing was happening.

       Minister Williams said, "Think of the reward that waits for you in
Heaven, and it will not seem so bad.  You are a good woman, to be
so faithful and loving to an undeserving wretch.  God sees all, and
rewards those who do his will."

       "An eternal reward in Heaven without him is no reward at all for
me," she said, collapsing completely.

       For once, Minister Williams didn't know what to say.  And
SHIVA danced the death of hope.

***

       Tokyo University was a disaster area, with alternating mobs of
boomers and deranged citizenry everywhere.  Only one street into
the university was clear of debris.  Strangely, nothing came too near
the huge wooden pillars that marked the main entrance to the
university.  Keiichi paused his cycle, trying to decide if this was a
good or a bad sign.  "I don't like the way this looks, but..."

         Belldandy smiled.  "Don't worry.  They won't hurt us.  They're
just trying to protect themselves."

        "WHAT is trying to protect themselves?"

        "The gate pillars.  Drive, dear."

         He drove, and she waved to the pillars as they passed
between them.

         Azaka and Kamidake would have waved back, if they had
arms.

         Belldandy began to quietly cast a spell, seeking out her
youngest daughter.  "That way, Keiichi."

         They found her in the gymnasium.  Bodies were strewn
everywhere.  A boomer was trying to shape and plane bodies with a
woodaxe.  Keiko lay buried in the pile of as yet unused bodies.  The
boomer paid no attention to them as they tried to drag her body out
of the pile.  She was battered and bruised, unconscious, but still
breathing.  Belldandy clutched her daughter to her chest.  "Keiko-
chan.  Oh, Keiko-chan."

        Keiichi said, "We'd better get out of here."

        A voice spoke from the loudspeakers.  It's voice crackled with
static.  "You're not going anywhere.  I know not what power this
woman possesses, but I cannot allow her to live in my city.  This city
belongs to SHIVA now and to me, his disciple."

        Belldandy frowned.  "So you are responsible for all of this?"

        The voice distracted them from the sound of an approaching
vehicle.  "This city was rotten to the core long before I arrived.  I
have merely made its true self manifest.  All things come to an end
in time...better to go out with a bang."

         "I will not let you do this!"  Belldandy's goddess symbol flared.
"I am Belldandy, Goddess First-class, Unlimited, and I will not let
you tear apart this city for your own amusement."

        "A goddess, eh?  How quaint.  While you've been too sunk in
domestic bliss to notice, I suppose, I've made this city mine.  It is a
world of machines...and machines are mine to command."

         Keiichi suddenly realized what was coming.  "Belldandy,
watchout!"  He shoved her aside in time, so that only he was run
over by his own motorcycle.  He fell crushed into the pile of bodies.
"Get our daughter...out of here."

         Belldandy spun and vaporized the motorcycle in an instant.
The axe weilding boomer had begun to come towards them, but she
vaporized it too.  She looked up at the speaker system.  "You will
regret this."

        "Oh, I quiver in fear."  Every electrical socket and light socket
in the gymnasium suddenly flared with energy, turning the entire
gymnasium into a huge electrical death trap.  Bodies already dead
twitched as lightning ran through them.  Belldandy, Keiichi, and
Keiko alone were spared as Belldandy shielded them with her
power.

         She gritted her teeth.  "I don't believe this...how can he be so
strong?"

         Suddenly, the barrage of electricity ceased.  The lights went
out and silence settled over the room.  A few seconds later, the
gymnasium doors opened and Skuld strolled in.  "He controls the
heart of the city, the zero point, the navel of the world.  If he actually
knew what he was doing, he could snuff us out like lights.  Luckily,
all he understands how to do with it is make himself stronger."

          Keiichi coughed out, "Thank you, Skuld...you saved us, right?"

         She smiled.  "You're welcome.  Yeah, I threw the breakers and
shut off all the power.  Come, sister.  You are needed."

         "I cannot leave Keiichi."

         "Kamisama has sent me to summon you."

         "But...Keiichi...my daughter...I can't leave them."

        "I did not say you had to leave them.  Well, not Keiichi,
anyway.  His hour upon this earth is ended."  She paused.  "At least
as a mortal."

        "You mean I'm..."

        "The hour of your death is at hand.  But as you shall learn,
death is a beginning, not an ending.  For the living to envy the dead
is not necessarily an act of despair."  She stretched out her hands to
her sister and her brother-in-law.  "Come.  The champion of our age
does battle, and we must give aid."

         Belldandy's eyes widened.  "Is it..."

         "Yes."

         "What about Keiko?"  Keiichi asked.  Keiko was still
unconscious.

         Skuld dropped her arms for a moment, then touched Keiko's
forehead.  A blue tattoo flared for a moment, and she vanished.
"She is with her sister Meiko now.  She'll be fine."  She stretched out
her hands.  "Come, Keiichi.  You have much to learn.  Come my
sister, more labors await us."

         They took Skuld's hands and vanished.

***

       No one was around to see a battlesuit rise from the wreckage of
Ladysmith 633, carrying a body to offer to its master.  It flew towards
GENOM Tower.

***

       The boomers led Wasyuu to a large office with a desk and two
chairs, one in front of it and one behind it.  They bade her sit down
and she did.  The huge high backed chair spun around, revealing
Quincy.  "Somehow I expected you to be taller."

       "Somehow I expected you to gloat in person instead of sending
a boomer.  Indeed, given how busy you are running wild through the
streets like a five year old pulling wings off of flies, I'm surprised you
penciled me into your busy schedule."

       He laughed.  "I suppose a person who knows their death
approaches has nothing to lose by smarting off to their superiors."

       "Indeed.  Feel free to abuse me during your last moments of
life."

       For a moment, Quincy was silent.  "It would be interesting to
see how much you could take before you would lose your sense of
humor, but my job is but to relay you to my master."

        Wasyuu reached into her pocket and got out a stick of gum,
pressing a concealed button as she did so.  "Gum?"

        "I don't chew gum."

        "Well, boomers usually don't, but I'm trying to be polite."  She
inserted the gum into her mouth and began chewing.  "Well, let's get
this over with.  Your master's been trying to kill me for thousands of
years now, and it's starting to bore me.  Banish me to Hades or
whatever.  Let's get it over with."  She blew a huge bubble, which
then popped on Quincy's nose, covering his face with bubblegum.
"Hmm.  New record."

         Quincy frowned and pointed to a door on the far end of the
room.  "He waits for you beyond that door."

         "Looks like a closet to me.  This isn't a trick to try and have
your way with me, is it?"

        "I'm not a pederast."  He calmly cleaned the bubble gum off his
face.  "Unlike yourself."

        She ignored him and walked towards the door.  "You might as
well have said some inane rhyme about rubber and glue if that's the
best you can do."  She opened the door and went to face her
destiny.

        Far below her, four reprogrammed comatose fusion boomers
ceased to detect her life signs and went into action.

***

      Pluto shook her head.  My vision is so fuzzy, she thought.  I
need...to go back to the Time Tunnel so I will have time to heal
before I am needed again.  She sat up.  How long have I been
passed out on the floor.  She reached for the Time Staff.  It was
gone.

      "Looking for something?"  the voice sounded faintly amused and
angry at the same time.

      "Hikaru, give me my staff."

       "No."

        Pluto managed to locate Hikaru, who was sitting up on a
branch of the tree Pluto was lying next to.  "You can't use that."

        "I already have."

        Pluto's eyes narrowed.  "That's NOT possible."

        "I don't know how well I could use your talisman, but the staff is
another matter.  I already have time travel powers.  I don't normally
use them because it's way too risky and it virtually never works the
way you WANT it to.  Unless you have something like this."  She
twirled the staff.  "Thirty minutes from now, X's boomers find you
and rip you to tiny bits.  They couldn't take the staff, but I could.  So
I jumped back thirty minutes and found you and made sure you'd
wake up."

       Pluto stood up.  Her vision was clearing now.  Much of her
strength was gone, but she could move.  She paused.  "Why are you
sitting up in the tree?"

       Hikaru laughed faintly.  "I like climbing trees and I was killing
time waiting for you to finish waking up."

       "So what are you going to do with my staff?"

        "You're coming with me.  We're going to kill X.  And anymore
of those bastards we can find."

       "And if I say no?"

        "Gaze along the timelines and see what happens."

        Pluto looked.  All roads lead to her death but one.  "You win.
You've become a hard one."

        Hikaru leaped down from the tree, landing on her good leg and
balancing with the power.  "I've had several good teachers."  She
stepped over to Pluto and handed her the staff.  "But I'd give
anything to go back to what I once was...what I'd rather be.  Well,
almost anything."

        Pluto took the staff and stared at Hikaru silently.  "How do you
know I won't take my staff and leave now?"

        "I don't.  Without your staff, you're in no shape to fight
anything or go anywhere.  I won't make you swear an oath, because I 
know you won't keep it unless it was something you planned to do
anyway."  She smiled faintly.  "I think you'll go with me because
you're afraid of what I might do if you don't watch over me."  She
turned to stare off in the far distant direction of GENOM Tower.  "Go
heal yourself.  I'll be waiting for you."

        Pluto vanished without a further word, but Hikaru knew Pluto
would return.  

***

        SHIVA began the final motions of this dance.

        PERHAPS YOU THINK YOURSELF IMMORTAL WITH THE
FOOLISHNESS OF YOUTH.  YOU CANNOT ESCAPE MY
POWER.  YOU NEVER HAVE AND YOU NEVER WILL.
ANYTHING YOU HAVE, I CAN DESTROY.

        Linna's life passed before her eyes.  She saw her parents die,
pointlessly slain by boomers.  She saw herself dumped by boyfriend
after boyfriend, or dumping them in turn.  Unable to master the more
esoteric teachings of Master Hiromi, she first howled and gnashed
her teeth fruitlessly, alone in the dark, then gave up entirely.  She
neglected her preparations for her college exams in favor of her
dancing, then she was turned down in her dance auditions.
Because she hadn't studied enough, she failed to get into the college
she wanted to attend.  She couldn't save Irene, or even really
avenge her.  Her latest boyfriend turned out to be one of SHIVA's
servants.  Now she faced a contest she feared she could not win.

       SHIVA's dance came to its appointed end.  He did not cease to
move, for the essence of SHIVA was to dance, but it ceased to be
story, and became simply himself once more.

        SHALL YOU YIELD NOW, MORTAL, OR ARE YOU STILL
TOO FOOLISH TO ACCEPT YOUR DEFEAT?  I HUNGER TO
SLAY YOU AND I GROW IMPATIENT.

        He awaited Linna's reply.

***