Luckily for ALL of us, they won't be appearing in this story either. The characters who DO are from the casts of Superman and Tenchi Muyo!, and they're owned by DC Comics and AIC/Pioneer LCD. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made off this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download it if you like, but please don't archive it without my permission. Don't be shy.

Continuity Note for the Prosecution: What could be better than ACTION COMICS #773 and Tenchi Muyo! Episode #13? ACTION #775 and Episode #15, I'd imagine, but they didn't exist when I plotted this story. So I put it somewhere in between, and that's enough to get you started.

Original Tenchi Muyo! concept by Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

In dreams, things were more clear to her.

She was Sasami, a little girl from the planet Jurai who'd stowed away with some friends when they went to save another friend. They were all a little mad about it, but it was something she HAD to do. She was just a little kid, but she had to do SOMETHING to help. And deep down, she thought they could understand that.

She was also Tsunami, the first generation of living spaceship trees that comprised the nearly unstoppable fleet of the Jurai Empire. Or at least she would be one day. When she was younger, an accident put her life in danger, and Tsunami used her great power to assimilate with Sasami, restoring her. The consequence of this was that they were permanently bonded with one another, and this bond would grow stronger until one day Tsunami and Sasami would be the same being.

This was confusing, but Sasami wasn't aware of most of this at the time. She was still too young to understand, but when she was asleep, this knowledge would sort of gel together for her sometimes--at least until she woke up. And while it was kind of scary for her, for once she wasn't TOO worried about it.

Mihoshi was a Galaxy Police Detective, and she had spent her life roaming the cosmos and chasing down crooks with her advanced training and equipment.

Ryoko was a being created by the most brilliant scientific genius of all time, and had laid waste to entire planets in her long lifespan.

Superman was an orphan who lived on the planet Earth and fed on yellow sunlight that gave him incredible power--enough to match even some of Jurai's more powerful warships.

Ryo-Oh-Ki was a living starship herself, but spent most of her time assuming the form of a cute little animal.

So really, Sasami wasn't bothered so much with the idea of being united with Tsunami. Everyone she knew had astonishing powers and abilities, and they were comfortable with it. The trick would be just to make sure she could keep that power under control, the way the others did. If anything, Sasami was beginning to wish she could grow up a little faster so she could keep up with her friends.

Or at least stop the bad man from killing them.

He waved his hand and the four of them fell to the ground, doubled over in pain. "Well, that was easy enough," he said haughtily.

"Legion! Stop!" Sasami shouted, running towards him and yanking on the sleeve of his tunic to stop him from doing any more harm to them.

"Or what?" he asked coldly. "You'll sprinkle soy sauce on me?" He didn't even try to stop her from tugging on his arm. He simply turned to look up at the expanse above them. "They couldn't stop me. Who's left? Your sister? Your brother? The rest of your family? Tenchi..."

"Leave them alone!"

Legion chuckled bitterly. "How many of them can I finish off before the clock runs down, I wonder. I suppose once your parents are done in there'll be time to swing back and take down that insipid scientist and her henchman. It's not like I have to concern myself with you or anything..."

"NO!" Sasami shouted. "I'll--I'll--!"

"Call me in seven hundred years when you're actually a threat, stripling," Legion sneered. "That's how long it would take for you to grow up, isn't it? THEN you'll be something to warrant my attention. Of course, I plan on being very well trenched in by the time that happens. Until we meet again, then..." And he shook his sleeve free of her grasp and walked away slowly.

And Sasami awoke from her dream with a shout.

"You OK, kid?"

Sasami's eyes fluttered open and she sat up from the floor with a start. "I..." she looked around and found herself in the prison cell with Ryoko leaning over her, arms pinned behind her back with a geneti-lock harness. Sasami sighed and closed her eyes. "I must have fallen asleep," she said wearily.

"Yeah, and that's the only thing I've got going for me, y'know?" Ryoko smiled. "Assuming we get out of this mess, I'm STILL gonna get it when your sister finds out you snuck out to find me. At least I can tell her you went to bed on time while you were gone."

"Ryoko..." Sasami giggled.

"Man, I was having a BLAST here in prison until you came tagging along," she went on. "Ya little pest. Always spoiling my fun..."

"So is it time to see the judges yet?" Sasami asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Not quite," Superman answered. "They should send a guard to get us, but my X-ray vision shows that the sun just rose about an hour ago. I'd say it's probably about seven o'clock in the morning on this planet right now."

"Does that just come naturally to you to do stuff like that," Ryoko asked, "or is it a deliberate effort to impress people?"

"That was what your mother wanted to know when she went to Metropolis," Superman replied. He held up his left arm and rotated his hand back and forth. "The truth is that it comes from years of working on a tight schedule in a costume that doesn't include a wristwatch." He turned to Mihoshi, who was staring at the cell's force field gate with nervous eyes. "So, you think you're ready for this?" Superman asked.

"Well, um..." Mihoshi started to tug on the collar of her uniform. "No..."

"What's the matter, Mihoshi?" Sasami asked.

"Nothing!" she said quickly. "Nothing at all. We can do this. I can do this. I'm a Galaxy Police Officer, and I'm prepared for anything... I guess..."

"Oh, for the love of--" Ryoko groaned.

Superman stared at Mihoshi carefully for a few seconds. "Your pulse rate just shot up, Detective. I need cool heads for this if we're going to make it work."

"I know! I know, it's just that... I'm not good at this sort of thing. And if I screw it up, then our whole plan goes out the window and, and--"

"Hey, I'M the one they wanna put to death, here!" Ryoko snapped. "What are you scared of, you big baby?"

"Ryoko!" Superman shouted.

"No, she's right," Mihoshi whimpered. "This is never gonna work!"

"Don't be silly, Detective," Superman insisted. "I need your help on this. Otherwise, I'll have to rely on Ryoko's talent for public speaking, and all the words she knows are only four letters long..."

She laughed a little at that and Ryoko stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"Seriously, everyone gets scared now and then," he added. "The thing is not to let your fears get in the way of doing what's right. Whenever I start getting nervous, I just try to remember that people are depending on me to get the job done."

"Well, what would YOU be afraid of?" Mihoshi sobbed.

"Lots of things," Superman replied. "Don't think that just because I have super powers that I'm never worried about anything. Most of my friends and family are ordinary people, so I sometimes worry about them. And I still get jittery sometimes whenever I go out into space."

"Outer space? Whaddya got to worry about out here? It's not like you've got anywhere to fall," Ryoko challenged.

"Hmmph. Well, the first time I went into space, I got lost, and my air canister was damaged in a fight," Superman explained. I almost panicked when I started to need a breath. Made it back OK, of course, but it still gets to me now and then. Besides, my powers come from yellow stars, like Earth's. A lot of times I wind up in places where one isn't nearby, and before too long I'm just a guy in a fancy suit."

"It's underwear, Cowboy," Ryoko quipped. "Try looking in a mirror sometime..."

"And even when I am at my peak, I still have to be careful not to abuse my powers. What if I lost control and turned against the human race? It's happened before, and the thought of it horrifies me. And then there's those times in the middle of the night..."

"What do you mean?" Sasami asked.

"Well, every once in a while, I'll wake up and just feel... I don't know... isolated. Even before I learned that I wasn't a native Earthling, I always got that feeling from time to time. That no matter how I looked or felt, or blended in with society, that I never TRULY belonged, that I'd always be an outsider looking in. But I'm sure the rest of you can relate since you've been living on the Earth, right?"

"Um, no, not really." Mihoshi answered between whimpers.

"No..." Sasami added.

"Pfft! Yeah, right," Ryoko said gruffly.

Superman looked over to see Ryo-Oh-Ki make a sort of shrugging motion, and he looked down at his boots silently for a second. "Right. Anyway, I think you see my point," he finally said.

"So, do you think this'll work, Mihoshi?" Sasami asked.

"I--I guess so," Mihoshi said. "I mean, as long as we all stick together on this, we've got nothing to worry about, right?"

"Right," Superman nodded. "We stay on the same page, and this is as good as done." He extended his hand to the middle of the group and gave the thumbs up sign to demonstrate his confidence.

"Yeah!" Sasami cheered.

"Sure, why not?" Ryoko harumphed. "So anyway, Sasami, what were you dreaming about before? You seemed kinda spooked when you woke up."

The child rolled her eyes thoughtfully and then shrugged her shoulders. "I can't remember," she said. "It was a bad dream, and I think we were all in trouble, but I guess it's nothing. We're gonna be OK..."

"Ryoko Hakubi of indeterminate origin!"

"Earth, if it floats your boat," she shot back. "It's multiple choice, really. I'm flexible that way. And when did I get a last name--?"

"You have been found guilty," Tribunal Pollux continued, raising his voice to drown out her remarks, "of nine hundred thirty-five counts of piracy in the first degree, two hundred sixty-eight thousand three hundred twenty-seven counts of homicide, and six hundred seven counts of planetary scale ravaging."

"However, this decision has been called into question by Kal-El of Krypton, who wishes to present new testimony pertinent to this case. It is the decision of this court to postpone your sentencing until this new evidence can be duly considered," Tribunal Ternion explained.

Ryoko knew all this of course. After all, Superman had spent the night in her cell going over his plan to defend her before the Galactic Tribunal. She let out an audible yawn. Sleep wasn't something she necessarily needed to function, but she'd gotten used to getting it on a regular basis since she'd been living on the Earth. If Superman had any regrets about sitting up all night and chewing the fat, he didn't let on. He walked up from behind her and stood between her and the Tribunal's bench. Now that she considered it, the bench looked different from the last time she had been to this place. Like it had been switched out for a brand new one--

"Kal-El of Krypton," Tribunal Sirius announced. "You had been found in contempt of court for destruction of Tribunal property, and were sentenced to one night in confinement. I trust you have learned the error of such brash thinking?"

Well, that explained the bench, Ryoko mused. The Cowboy was a stiff all right, but he still knew how to cut loose when he had to.

"I have, your honor," he said.

"And I trust you are prepared to present your case before us?" Sirius asked.

"We are."

The three bloated aliens on the bench looked at him in surprise. "'We'?" Pollux asked.

Superman turned to hold out a hand to Mihoshi behind him. "You see, honored judges, while I'm familiar with the details of this case, I have brought with me a witness--someone who can give a firsthand account of the information you don't already know. And unlike whatever evidence you've gathered already, Detective Kuramitsu's story hasn't been collecting dust for seven hundred years."

If she weren't being confined to the harness that held her arms behind her back, Ryoko would have strangled him right then and there. "Mihoshiiiii?" she hissed at him in a nearly silent gasp. "You're putting my life in HER hands?"

"Admittedly, we have no protocol for this sort of situation, Kal-El," Pollux finally said after a few minutes of deliberation with his colleagues. You may proceed."

"Thank you," Superman nodded. "For openers, I want to explain that things have changed on Earth since you had me arrested for my ancestors' part in causing Krypton's destruction. An organization known as the Galaxy Police has declared the Earth a noninterference preserve, and to maintain this policy of noninterference, they've assigned one of their officers, Detective Kuramitsu here, to patrol the sector.

"Furthermore, like yourselves, the Galaxy Police had a warrant for Ryoko's arrest, but they too had been unable to find her until very recently. The difference is that when she finally did turn up, she was located on Earth, and by an officer of the Galaxy Police. This was long before you contracted your bounty hunters to bring her before this court."

"We fail to see the problem, Kal-El," Ternion said. "Our only concern here is justice. We place no importance on the time frame of the crime, or the relative location of the suspect. Nor do any of the worlds who comprise the coalition we represent."

"Yes, but that's my point!" Superman argued. "YOU don't operate under a defined sphere of influence, but there are other agencies who DO. The Galaxy Police is one of them, and their jurisdiction presently includes the Earth. Once Ryoko was located there, by one of their officers, then the matter became Galaxy Police business, to be handled as they saw fit. In carrying out your interpretation of the law, you've violated theirs."

"How is this a problem?" Pollux asked. "We have learned of other law-enforcement agencies throughout the galaxy. I admit I have never heard of the Galaxy Police before today, but how are they any different? We uphold law and order, and so must they. We would see Ryoko properly punished for her crimes, and so would they. What difference is it who carries out the punishment?"

"For that matter," Sirius added, "if this Galaxy Police had already discovered Ryoko's whereabouts, then why was she still living freely on Earth by the time we were informed? This organization must be better understood if we are to fathom its interest in this matter."

"Precisely why I have brought Detective Kuramitsu before you today," Superman concluded. "She can answer any question you may have on their policy, as well as explain the special circumstances behind Ryoko's resurfacing on the Earth." And with that, Superman turned around and led Ryoko back to a row of seats at the other end of the hall. Sasami and Ryo-Oh-Ki were already there waiting for them.

"Do you think they'll let Ryoko go?" Sasami asked hopefully.

"It's too soon to tell," Superman answered, taking Ryo-Oh-Ki in his arms and scratching behind her ears. "It's up to her now."

"You have GOT to be kidding!" Ryoko whispered. "I had to TELL Mihoshi who I was before she'd have ever figured it out. And you think she can con the judges into letting me go? She threatened Kagato with a HANDGUN for Pete's sake..."

"She also proved to be instrumental in Kagato's defeat, from what I've been told," Superman replied. "If not for her, your mother would still be frozen in a block of ice and you'd be a lovely chunk of granite decorating Kagato's front yard somewhere. Let's try giving her a little credit, shall we?"

Mihoshi stood there in the center of the room for about thirty seconds, raised her hand to her lip cautiously and finally let out an official statement. "Well... ummmm... well..."

"Say something!" Ryoko gasped. "Tell them your name, serial number, just come ON..."

"Um, well... how are you all doing?" Mihoshi finally said cheerfully.

The Tribunal members began scribbling something down on their notes.

"I am SO dead," Ryoko mumbled in horror.

"Are you, OK, Superman?" Sasami asked. "You look kind of pale all of a sudden."

"Great... SCOTT," he groaned. "Does ANYONE in outer space know how a courtroom works?"

"Perhaps it would be best if we went to the heart of the matter," Ternion suggested after a pause. "You discovered Ryoko living on the Earth. You were aware of her criminal record."

Mihoshi nodded twice.

"And it was a positive identification."

"Uh-huh."

"And what course of action did you take?"

Mihoshi stammered for a moment and then took a few deep breaths. "Well, I'm not quite sure I remember exactly... you see, I fainted first and my memory is kind of fuzzy about what happened--"

"Answer the question, please." Pollux chided.

"Well... I guess... I didn't... DO... much of ANYthing, really," she said. "You know?"

"And yet when this court presumes to take the matter into its own hands, you object?" Sirius demanded. "Is this a common practice among the Galaxy Police? To defend the lawbreaker from any form of retribution?"

"No! Of course not," Mihoshi explained. "It's just that the statute of limitations had gone into effect, and there was no cause for arrest. And she hasn't done anything illegal since we met, so there's nothing to be done."

"And what is this 'statute of limitations'? Ternion asked.

"It--it's a rule," Mihoshi said. "It defines a set amount of time after a crime has been committed for legal action to be taken. In Ryoko's case, that time period was set at seven hundred years--several lifetimes for many species--and once that time expired, no one could touch her."

"What sort of rule is that?" Sirius asked in astonishment. "The guilty are always guilty. Nothing changes that. Why deny justice simply on account of poor timing?"

"Well, come on!" Mihoshi objected. "I mean, this is SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS we're talking about, right? I mean, the vast majority of Ryoko's victims are either dead or have gotten on with their lives a long time ago. I mean, Sasami over here... she's part of the royal family of the last planet Ryoko invaded, and now they live together in the same house! You talk like it happened last week or something."

"So if a criminal happens to have an abnormally long lifespan and manages to flee the authorities long enough, you allow her to go free?" Pollux asked.

"It's not like that," Mihoshi replied. Her voice began to gather greater force each time she spoke. "You have to consider the other side of the process. After a certain point, it becomes impossible to gather effective evidence or testimony on a case. Ryoko may have survived this long, but the evidence chain didn't. On some worlds, she's a mythical figure. Others claimed her destructive acts were divine retribution from a higher power. Some cultures were embroiled in wars when she attacked, and they consider her to be an agent working for their enemies. And still other planets are actually GRATEFUL for what she'd done, because it forced their people to rebuild and unite together for a common cause. After a few centuries, Ryoko stopped being a suspect and started being thought of as an agent of social change, or a force of nature, or an act of God. For better or worse, that's not something the Galaxy Police are able to act on.

"Come to think of it," she added, "Ryoko's presence on Earth seven hundred years ago was accounted for with a legend about a terrible demon who was sealed in a cave. But we can't prove she actually DID anything bad on Earth. For all we know all the details of the legend were adapted from stories of what she did on Jurai. I wouldn't be surprised if half the counts you have against Ryoko are based on legends and tall tales adapted from stories of worlds she really DID attack."

"Perhaps," Sirius admitted. "Gathering evidence for this case has indeed been a painstaking affair. But we have more than enough hard data to satisfy this court. And the woman in question is most certainly NOT a demon, or an unthinking natural disaster. She is a sentient being who has acted time and again in defiance of the law. And no one, from the most charming to the most powerful is above the law, Detective."

She sighed nervously and cleared her throat to speak again. "Including you..."

"She's doing it."

Superman clenched his fists with excitement as he listened to Mihoshi resume her discourse with the Tribunal. Slowly, but surely, she was getting through to them. The Tribunals were a tough sell, and he knew that from experience. They still considered him a convicted felon thanks to his ancestors' role in destroying his homeworld, but at least he'd convinced them that a death sentence wasn't the answer in his case. With Ryoko, it would be trickier, but to hear Mihoshi speak on about the conviction of the Galaxy Police he felt like they were finally onto something.

"Yeah, you must have really gotten through to her with that whole 'we all get scared' act," Ryoko mused. "I'm impressed, Cowboy. You really have a knack for bringing out the best in people, huh?"

"Act?" he asked.

Mihoshi went on about the origins of Ryoko, how she was created using DNA from a non-sentient lifeform, and how that made her susceptible to being manipulated by Kagato into committing the crimes she was being charged with. The Tribunal admitted they'd heard of Kagato and desired to see him brought to justice as well, and Mihoshi explained how she and Ryoko had worked together alongside members of the Jurai Royal Family to bring him down. This seemed to impress them greatly.

"I had nothing to do with all of you battling Kagato," Superman noted quietly. "Don't give me too much praise for Mihoshi now. I think she's had this in her all along. She just doesn't get a chance to use it often. Beneath that scatterbrained exterior is a dedicated policewoman. Just as devoted to her line of work as you were to being an authentic pirate."

"Point," Ryoko agreed.

To be honest, the tale of their battle with Kagato had impressed him greatly as well. He could have been any one of them, given a different set of circumstances. It seemed like only yesterday when his Pa drove him home from a football game he'd won single-handedly, and took him out into a fallow field. There, he uncovered a hole in the ground where he'd buried a spaceship--the spaceship they'd found him in when he landed on Earth.

And he spent some time knowing what he wasn't, but not knowing what he WAS. Until the day he somehow triggered a device on the ship that downloaded information about Krypton into his mind, he had no idea where he came from. And really, up to that point, he could have learned he was anything.

Surprise, you're the crown prince of a distant interstellar empire!

Surprise, you're the grandchild of the head of a galactic law-enforcement agency!

Surprise, you're the product of mingled DNA that was placed in a container and abandoned to the cold expanse of the universe!

Well, that analogy was what actually happened to him. The only difference between himself and Ryoko was that a Kansas farmer found him and raised him to know right from wrong, while she spent her formative years being mind-controlled by a power hungry maniac. No doubt this was why Ryoko was always so untalkative about her biological mother. After all, if he met Jor-El tomorrow, it would surely be an awkward conversation to say the least.

And so, it was heartening to see that Ryoko had taken these bad breaks and still managed to carve out a niche for herself. It made him feel less like his own life was the result of a few successful computer course adjustments between Krypton and Earth. Like if he had landed on Apokalips or Rann or Oa or LexCorp property then he might never have become Clark Kent or Superman, but some of the man he was might have still shone through nonetheless.

And that was why he had to help Ryoko now. No matter what she'd once been, he knew she was worth saving now, and regardless of the Tribunal's verdict, he'd find a way to bring her home. After all, it was the right thing to do.

She had no other explanation. All the food Mihoshi packed away, all the naps she took during the day, all of that was some sort of regimen that gave her ultra-hyper litigation power that she only called upon in emergencies. Of course, if this went south at any point, Ryoko still fully expiated Mihoshi to break into tears for at least twenty minutes, but for the moment she was doing pretty good.

Which was a little suspicious at the same time. She seemed to know a LOT more about her than Ryoko had ever suspected. Like she'd told Superman, when they first met, Ryoko had to practically spell it out to Mihoshi that she was a space pirate. In big capital letters.

And now, Mihoshi was telling them all about all the planets she'd invaded, and how most of them had nothing more than circumstantial evidence to prove Ryoko was responsible, and how the most severe criminal acts she committed corresponded with a separate description of Ryoko, a description that closely matched her appearance when Kagato took control of her back on Earth: Blank stare, dilated pupils, movements more indicative of a wild animal than a person. This led to the obvious conclusion that any injured party who reported this description had been attacked by Ryoko against her will. The remainder of the reports involving a free Ryoko all amounted to little more than petty thefts and misdemeanors, all of which were beneath the Tribunal's notice.

"How did she figure all that out?" Ryoko whispered aloud.

"Mihoshi had to make a report to the Galaxy Police, remember?" Sasami explained. "My mom said it took them four days just to summarize it."

"And it would follow that the GP had an extensive file of statistics and information on you from the beginning," Superman added. "All she had to do was go over the facts and draw a satisfactory conclusion. 'Detective' isn't just a rank."

OK, change the question then. WHY had she figured all this out? It didn't make sense. Statute of limitations, right? Mihoshi didn't have to go to all that trouble just to make sure that Ryoko was a Nice Person. Her very legal system had declared it so.

Or was that not enough? Yeah, that might have squared Ryoko away with the law, but what about Mihoshi personally? The Galaxy Police could read the report and decide Ryoko was cool, but Mihoshi had to live with her. They'd fought alongside one another. They were... friends.

It was harder to admit than it should have been, Ryoko noticed. It had been a long time since Cygnus XII, but she still equated 'friend' with 'corpse'. That Mihoshi would accept her as a drinking buddy or a fellow gossip was fine. But the idea of her digging into GP records just to learn more about her... she wasn't sure what to think.

And maybe Superman was right all along. Underneath the blonde hair and bubbly personality was a good cop. Checking into Ryoko's background came naturally for Mihoshi. Not just to make sure Tenchi and the others were safe living with her, but because she wanted to be a better friend in her own weird way. And sitting there watching her argue before the Tribunal, she had to admit it was paying off.

"And let me just say," Mihoshi continued, "That I've PERSONALLY witnessed a battery of tests performed to verify Ryoko's mental stability and I can assure you that she's no more dangerous today than any one of the rest of us!"

"What sort of tests?" Tribunal Pollux asked.

"And who conducted them?" Tribunal Sirius added.

"Well... um, that is to say... the finest scientific mind on the Planet Earth!" she answered. "Yeah, she's tops in all fields of study, and I can confidently state that she knows Ryoko better than she knows herself!"

Ryoko watched Superman let out a sigh of relief and she almost felt like doing the same. The plan from the start was 'Ixnay on Ashuuway', since there was a reasonable chance the Tribunal would try to have HER arrested for creating Ryoko to begin with. Of course, the others just decided on that because they didn't want to complicate the matter. Ryoko agreed to it because the only thing worse than being locked up on death row would have been sharing death row with Washuu, and hearing her blather on about how sodium cyanide was such an inefficient poison.

Hell, being reminded of Washuu was grating enough. As much as she'd resented Superman at first, and as much as she disapproved of Mihoshi and Sasami coming along with him, she couldn't deny that it was nice to have someone around to keep her company. She'd spent hours alone in that cell. Just like she'd spent a lot more time than she'd have liked strapped down in Washuu's lab. With people around, it was a lot easier not to draw the comparison.

"No wonder she knows so much," Ryoko muttered. "She called technical support."

"She wanted to know you better," Superman chided. "It's not like she could just ask you, you know. I had to bend steel in my bare hands before you'd give me any answers, remember?"

That might have explained Mihoshi, Ryoko considered, but that was hardly sufficient for Washuu. Mihoshi was just too dumb to think of a better way. Washuu was too full of herself to admit that her way might not be the most effective. Strange that Superman seemed to be so ignorant of that. Then again, that might have been what made him such a hopeless optimist. He'd met Washuu, and he'd battled her to a standstill learning what a twerp she was, but he didn't have to have her for a 'parent' at the end of the day.

So why dampen his mood by telling him some lame story about how Washuu roped her up in her lab and left her alone in the dark for ten minutes so she could videotape the reaction? Or how Mihoshi knew about it, but she was just too naive or too curious or too stupid to do anything about it? It wasn't THAT big a deal, and quite frankly she'd told him more than enough about herself as it was. No point in spoiling that ever-so-magic glint of wonder in his eye--

"I know what you're thinking," he said softly.

"Y-you do?" she asked. Swell. He was a telepath. Perfect.

"Mm-hmm. I've been out on enough faraway adventures like this to know that look on your face," he said. "You miss him. Tenchi, I mean. Well, don't worry. We'll be back on Earth before he even wonders where you went."

"Uh, yeah... yeah," she whispered back. She felt a flash of heat on her face, and turned away from him, hoping he couldn't recognize any MORE faces she might make just then.

Tenchi... she'd almost forgotten about him. Blast it all, this was maddening! Before all of this began, Tenchi had gotten hurt thanks to her unwitting antics, and every second she spent here... She had to know if he was OK. The others told her he was fine, but she had to see him for herself. She had to be sure.

She had to make sure that little shrew Ayeka didn't get her meathooks into him while she was gone. Ayeka! She'd forgotten about her, too. Hard to believe that just last night Ryoko was ready and willing to crawl under the largest rock she could find and never be seen again. She HAD to get back. And if this talk-fest didn't get the job done, she'd figure her own way out. Superman had turned out to be a decent guy, bringing her friends to her, and giving her a pep-talk to raise her spirits, but he'd already done more than enough for her. When the time came, she'd take care of this... on her own.

Ryoko flexed her hands within the geneti-lock. Almost forgotten about Tenchi. This place was driving her insane...

Her name was Mihoshi, and more than anything she wanted a donut.

That, and to see her friend Ryoko safely returned to a Galaxy Police jurisdiction. But the rumble in her stomach kept her mind focused on that donut. Maybe chocolate, or honey glazed, or that kind with the jelly on the inside... She wondered how they made those, anyway--

"Thirsty?"

The paper cup of water held in front of her broke her train of thought, and she looked up to see Superman's smiling face at the other end of the arm.

"Thanks," she said, taking the cup and downing its contents in one swig. "So now what?" she asked, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her uniform.

"Now we wait," Superman replied. "Believe me, this is unprecedented on the Tribunal World. They've never deliberated on a verdict AFTER they make the arrest. I want you to know that whatever happens, you did good in there, Detective."

"I don't know," Mihoshi shrugged. "I just answered their questions, y'know? Told them about Ryoko, recited stuff from the academy."

"You made them THINK, Mihoshi," Superman said, tapping a finger to the side of his head. "You got them to at least question their methods and their values and their definition of justice. Those are things people decide on early in life, and they don't change their minds easily. If all you've done today is to get them to consider it, then you've accomplished more here than anyone who's ever stood before the Tribunal."

"Maybe so," she said. "But are we doing the right thing here? I mean, WE know we're right, and if the Tribunal still had to think about it, then there's a chance they'll still want to go through with executing Ryoko. Maybe we should have contacted the Galaxy Police... gotten help on this--"

"If it comes down to it," Superman assured her, "we'll work something out. I've dealt with the Tribunal before, and sometimes it just boils down to force against force. I can handle that if necessary."

Mihoshi shook her head. "I don't mean THAT. Geez, the last thing I want to do is start a wa--"

"Kal-El? Detective?" A guard had walked up to them and was trying to get their attention.

"It's time?" Superman asked.

"The Tribunal is ready," the guard nodded.

She watched Superman stand up from the bench and walk over to fetch Sasami and Ryo-Oh-Ki, who were playing on the other side of the hallway. The three of them returned to meet her and they all followed the guard back into the Tribunal chamber. Mihoshi sighed nervously.

She REALLY hoped he knew what he was doing. When they left Earth, he made it sound so simple, so obvious. They'd just tell the Tribunal what for, and good would prevail. And being a fan of his work, she agreed to fall in with his reasoning.

And quite honestly, it was nice to let someone else take charge of the situation. Superman would have made a good cop. Not because he was invincible and had telescopic vision, but because he was so idealistic. He believed in what he was doing. He was decisive, and a natural leader.

The problem was he let his powers go to his head. He was a lot like Ayeka and Ryoko that way. Just barging headlong into a situation, convinced that his head would be hard enough to smash through anything that got in the way. Well, it didn't always work for those two and the jury was still out on his approach--literally.

And she'd followed him this far, hoping that everything would work out. Well, what if it didn't? What would she do then? She REALLY hoped he knew what he was doing.

"Ryoko Hakubi of indeterminate origin!"

Once again Ryoko stood up before the Tribunal and raised her head defiantly at them. "Speakin'," she shot back at them.

"We have weighed the new testimony presented today, and have agreed to reconsider the previous sentence levied against you," Tribunal Pollux announced.

"Detective Kuramitsu has made a valid argument against your execution," Tribunal Ternion continued. "Given the age of the evidence gathered against you, as well as the relative time frame of the criminal acts in question, in addition to the questionable state of your mental faculties during that time frame, we cannot in good conscience sentence you to death."

Mihoshi sighed with relief. If Ryoko gave any reaction, she couldn't tell.

"However, given the sheer number of crimes involved with this case, and the lack of evidence concerning the prisoner's connection with the space pirate Kagato, we feel that it would be too great a risk to release Ryoko to outside custody at this time--"

"No!" Sasami shouted.

"What are you saying?!" Superman demanded.

"We are saying that until we can be satisfied that Ryoko does not still pose a threat to sentient beings, we must confine her here to the Tribunal world. A conditional probation, if you will, while we perform our own battery of tests to verify what Detective Kuramitsu has shown us," Tribunal Sirius explained.

"You're making a mistake!" Mihoshi objected. "Ryoko's not responsible, Kagato is!"

"And we accept this," Pollux answered. "But by the same token, you have shown us that Ryoko's very nature leaves her prone to mental tampering! We cannot in good conscience release such a dangerous being without some sort of assurance. We have made our decision."

Mihoshi squinted her eyes tightly and choked back a whimper. It wouldn't be perfect, but at least this bought them some time. She could go back to the Galaxy Police, maybe get Washuu to demonstrate for the judges how to--

"Yeah?" Ryoko called out with a laugh. "Well that's just dandy, tubby, because so have I!"

And suddenly, she clenched her teeth and snapped the geneti-lock on her arms in a single, brutal motion. With a shake of her head, the shattered harness fell free from her neck and arms, and she leaped into the air.

"Stop where you are!" a guard shouted, leveling a laser rifle at her. Ryoko simply laughed and fired a beam of energy at him, slagging his gun in seconds.

"Don't allow her to escape!" Ternion bellowed. But it was too late. Ryoko floated to the ceiling and phased through it, disappearing without a trace.

"Summon the guards!" Pollux demanded. "Seal off all the spacedocks!"

"No, I won't let it end like this!" Superman shouted defiantly. He leaped into the air, aiming himself at the part of the ceiling Ryoko has passed through, and he smashed his way through it like a guided missile. Around her, alarms went off and troops began scrambling to their posts. The Tribunals judges were escorted from the bench and they barked out orders to any and all personnel in earshot.

And just like that, Mihoshi realized, the entire situation had fallen apart. Ryoko had become a fugitive, and Superman had chosen to take matters into his own hands. She didn't even know what he was going to do because he hadn't even bothered to discuss this possibility with her. And Sasami ran to her side, holding Ryo-Oh-Ki in one hand and grabbing her pant leg tightly in the other. "Mihoshi!" she called out, trying to be heard over the noise. "What are we going to do now?"

She did her best to answer in spite of the lump forming in her throat. "I--I don't know," was all she could say.

NEXT: Not a dream! Not an Imaginary Story! You WILL believe a demon can DIE!