Now then... where was I?

Just a quick recap so everyone's still on the same page...

-dramatis personae-
RYOKO--Reformed space pirate unjustly arrested by the Galactic Tribunal!
SUPERMAN--Champion of the oppressed, the physical marvel who had sworn to see Ryoko released!
MIHOSHI--Galaxy Police Officer recruited by Superman to aid him in his quest!
RYO-OH-KI--Ryoko's living starship, which our intrepid heroes borrowed to get to Tribunal World!

-in absentia-
TENCHI--Normally the main character, but he took a nasty bump on the head and he's stuck at home till he's feeling better!
WASHUU--Ryoko's mom, currently cleaning out Tenchi's restroom and unaware of the current crisis!
AYEKA--Never really liked Ryoko anyway, when you get down to it...
SASAMI--Too little to help! D'oh!

MIKE SMITH--Went to Toronto and Chicago to buy comics, but all you get is this lousy installment of: THE INHUMAN CONDITION


The United States Treasury Department Presents--The Disclaimer: "Superman" is based on the original character appearing in SUPERMAN magazine (among others). "Mihoshi" appears regularly in the "Tenchi Muyo!" Original Animated Video. DC Comics publishes the rag, and AIC/Pioneer LDC, Inc. owns the show. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don't archive it without my permission. As always, don't be shy.

Luster-Wax! Official badge polish of the Galaxy Police, and proud sponsors of the Continuity Note: You know that time Tenchi killed a bear with his bare hands? Yeah, well I made that up just now, so anyone who said yes is a dirty liar! And I made up a lot of other stuff for this story, and smooshed stuff in somewhere after OAV #13 "Here Comes Jurai" and somewhere between ACTION COMICS #773 and SUPERMAN v.2 #165. Anyone who gets on my case for fiddling with continuity better watch out, because that bear is still alive, and Tenchi never killed him in THIS universe...

Boring Announcement: Hotmail and I are pretty much through, so if anyone sent me anything in the last two months, chances are I didn't get to see it. Please redirect your e-mail to mike_p_smith@prodigy.net. Thanks.


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


The Inhuman Condition: 8
MIHOSHI in ACTION COMICS

by Mike Smith


Her name was Mihoshi Kuramitsu, and everything was going to work out just fine. HE was here, right? What could go wrong now?

The bridge around her wailed in protest as the orb she held in her hands began to swivel and steer in resistance to her own attempts to move it. She looked up at the viewscreen ahead of her and caught a glimpse of the edge of a large, especially pointy-looking asteroid as it jerked out of the shot. It was a close enough call that she shook her head and promised herself for the third time today that she'd stay focused on their mission instead of woolgathering like an awestruck teenager...

But it was HIM. Mihoshi stole a glance at him just one more time to see him standing there watching the stars go by on another viewscreen, his arms crossed, his majestic scarlet cape draped over his broad shoulders as his back was turned to her. Ryo-Oh-Ki had just made a radical course change to miss that last rock, and he hadn't budged an inch.

And then Ryo-Oh-Ki did it again, in the opposite direction this time, and with another mewl of panic to go with it. "Ooooh... sorry, Ryo-Oh-Ki," Mihoshi whispered as she reaffirmed her grasp on the steering orb. It didn't make much sense to her. Ryo-Oh-Ki was alive, even sentient to some extent, and while she seemed capable of flying herself, she seemed to work better with a pilot at the helm. And with Ryoko captured and Washuu left behind, that left her to try to make sense of the alien vessel's baffling controls.

Still, it was the least she could do to help. After all, when they found out the Galactic Tribunal had sent those bounty hunters to take Ryoko away, he immediately volunteered to bring her back, asking only for her assistance and a ship to get him where he needed to go. Ryo-Oh-Ki could take them just about anywhere they'd need to go, and as for herself... well, she wasn't quite clear about that part just yet. He said he needed her, and that was good enough.

"She seems pretty sure that we're getting there, I guess," Mihoshi said tentatively. She fondled the orb housed at the center of the bridge, trying her best to keep the flight as smooth as possible. "I mean, she can follow Ryoko anywhere she is, right?"

"Don't ask me," Superman replied. He finally turned from his grim stance on the other side of the bridge and made his way to Mihoshi's position, the octahedral crystals that floated around the room drifting aside to let him through. "I just know what it is we're headed for. I never paid much attention to the Tribunal Planet's exact location. Maybe I should have called in some more help on this..."

"You mean like the Justice League of America?" Mihoshi asked. "Right... I suppose you miss Wonder Woman and the others when you go out on long trips like these, huh?"

"Um, OK..." Superman said slowly. "What do you mean by--? Never mind. The important thing is that we get to the Tribunal as soon as possible. They could be sentencing Ryoko as we speak." He paused and lowered his eyes thoughtfully. "I want to make sure I understand all this, between what Tenchi told me back in Japan and what you've been explaining to me here."

"Sure! Go ahead," Mihoshi invited.

"So five thousand years ago, Washuu created Ryoko, then her student Kagato trapped her in her own ship and used Ryoko to start a crime spree," Superman began. "This came to an end when she was sent to Sasami's homeworld, Jurai, and was eventually repelled by Sasami's half-brother when he fought her all the way to Earth and trapped her in a cave for seven hundred years. And he's... half human, right?"

"Right."

"He settles down, has a grandson, Tenchi, and he deliberately manipulates him into releasing Ryoko from the cave. And that's about where the rest of you entered the picture..."

Mihoshi nodded in approval. "Mmm-hmmm. Sasami's sister Ayeka was supposed to marry Yosho before he left for Earth. So when Ryoko turned up, they went to Earth to see if he was still alive there as well. Then they got stranded."

"Then you crash land your own ship on Earth while searching for Kagato in this sector of space," Superman continued. "And THEN Kagato revealed himself, reasserting his mental control over Ryoko. You all stormed his ship, freed Professor Washuu, and the battle wound up destroying two spaceships in the process."

"Yeah!" Mihoshi cheered. "And my superiors were SO pleased with my success that they approved my request to be assigned to this sector of space!"

"And speaking on behalf of the Earth, we appreciate their consideration," Superman smiled, putting a hand to his chin. "But it confirms what I said before. If Tenchi had come along, the Tribunal would very likely charge him as an accessory to her crimes, even if all he did was accidentally release her from the cave. What concerns me more is her connection to Washuu."

"Because she's her mother?" Mihoshi asked.

"Yes, because under Tribunal law children can be held responsible for the crimes of their forebearers. Given my own experience with Washuu, there's no telling what sort of things have wound up on her record in the last twenty thousand years," Superman explained. "Or worse, they could decide to have Washuu brought in for the 'crime' of creating Ryoko in the first place, and if she resists arrest, that conflict could embroil the entire Earth."

"What exactly...?" Mihoshi started to ask. "Well, what I mean is... what crime was it that they plan to prosecute Ryoko FOR? I mean, there's plenty to choose from and it might help to know what they had in mind."

"You misunderstand the Tribunal, Detective," he explained. "They don't deal in petty offenses or even due process as we know it. If they've decided to bring Ryoko in, they'll charge her with anything they can. Not one specific incident. All of them."

"All..." Mihoshi felt a pronounced lump forming in her throat.

"That's the irony of it, of course," Superman added. "There's no telling how long they've known about her situation, and all this time they'd been gathering evidence against her when they could have been taking steps to prevent her from hurting anyone else."

He said it with such ease, as if he was reading a warranty slip for a clock/radio instead of plotting an expedition into foreign space to convince an alien law-enforcement agency to excuse fifty centuries' worth of criminal activities on account of a technicality. If he caught the worried look in her eye, his next words must have been chosen to offer her some kind of consolation: "The one thing we have going for us is that it's all or nothing--if we can free Ryoko from them now, then we'll never have to worry about them again."

Strangely, this did little to calm her.

"It's frustrating," he muttered. "This is all because of Kagato, and if we could bring him before the Tribunal they could extract a confession from him and this would all be over and done with... but he's dead, and that's the end isn't it?"

"Oh... he told you about that?" Mihoshi asked.

"Not in so many words. The look on his face when Tenchi told me the story... I've seen that look before, the look of someone with the power of life and death and they were forced to use it. I didn't want to press him for details, but I wish he could have found another way--"

"Now hold on a minute," Mihoshi countered. "This was Kagato we're talking about. I don't know what Tenchi told you but Kagato killed HIM at one point. Or at least it sure looked that way to me. If Ryoko hadn't kept on fighting after that, I don't think we would have survived long enough for Tenchi to come back and put and end to it. And even THAT was touch and go. He turned Ryoko into STONE, and that probably would have been permanent if I hadn't found Washuu to change her back. I'm not saying killing him was the best outcome, but he would have blown up the whole EARTH if we hadn't done something--"

And right around then Ryo-Oh-Ki banked to the right, narrowly avoiding a near collision with another assortment of asteroids. At once Mihoshi took back the controls and started murmuring prayers under her breath as she tried to level the ship out. Exactly what was she thinking all of a sudden? Arguing with SUPERMAN of all people? He was always right... and yet... Maybe it was the tension that came from working with him so closely, or maybe it was her concern for her friends, but she owed them her life after that showdown with Kagato, and to hear him offer commentary on the subject...

"You're right of course," Superman conceded. "I wasn't there when it happened. There's details I don't know about... never even knew about it when he revealed himself to you folks in the first place. I just wish it hadn't turned out that way... No. No, there's no sense dwelling on it. We'll clean up the mess he made and leave it at that."

And with that, silence reigned once more. Mihoshi looked at him in astonishment, amazed that he would defer to her line of reasoning, and then she quickly returned her attention to the controls before she could ask herself why.

"Since we've got some time," Superman said after a few minutes, "I was wondering just how you seem to know so much about me. You've only lived on Earth for a short time, but I almost get the feeling that we've met before."

She smiled broadly. She didn't honestly expect him to remember, but now that he was starting to put it together she could barely contain her excitement. "Oh, well... I didn't want to bring it up because I didn't think you remembered, but we HAVE met before! In my grandfather--I mean, the Grand Marshall's office at Galaxy Police Headquarters... But it was a long time ago--"

"Really?" He squinted in concentration and then snapped his fingers. "Yes... of course! I remember now, after I filled out a report for the Galaxy Police on the capture of Diabloid the Empathitron. It was a case I was helping the Justice League with, or as we were known in some parts of the universe..."


"Superfriends!" Marshall Kuramitsu announced. "It looks like you've done it again. On behalf of everyone in the Galaxy Police, I thank you for your assistance."

"We're the ones who should be grateful, Grand Marshall," Aquaman chuckled, crossing his arms over his bright orange tunic. "After all, without your help we never would have been able to find Zan and Jayna and free them from the effects of Diabloid's Hate-Ray!"

"Hey, !*@$ off, you putrid fish$?!#," Zan snarled from behind a Galaxy Police portable force-field restraint.

"Yeah, that's real f*!&ing spacy, you pointy-eared twit!" Jayna shot back from behind her own force field. "As if you weren't anything more than a trumped up excuse for a water elemental, @?#%!"

"Why don't you 'shape of' into a two-$%?!ed Exarian Llama and go ?@$% yourself for a while, sis?" Zan barked.

"Holy sibling rivalry!" Robin shouted, "It's a good thing the officers who found the Wonder Twins put them in separate confinements or they'd have killed each other by now!"

"Not to worry, Robin," Green Lantern said confidently, pointing his emerald ring at the two of them. "Now that we've had a chance to examine Diabloid's internal workings, I believe my power ring can reverse the effect!" Verdant energy flowed from the ring and took the form of a film projector on a folding stand. Green Lantern flipped a switch on it and more green energy emanated out of the lens, bathing the two junior-grade heroes with its light.

The change was instantaneous. "Uhhhh... Jumpin' Jupiter!" Zan moaned. "What happened...?"

"Golly, Wonder Brother," Jayna said, shaking her head. "The last thing I remember was we were trying to teach that kid not to hitchhike, and now we're here!"

"Looks like they're back to normal," Aquaman smiled.

"And just in time, too!" Superman announced. "Now that I've finished writing this report for the Grand Marshall's records at super-speed, we can all head back for home!" His right hand was a blur over the tablet he was working on, and then it blinked back into sight as he placed the pen in an empty coffee mug on the Marshall's desk. "I trust everything is in order, sir?"

The Marshall ran a hand through his receding blonde hair as he skimmed the report. "Ah... yes, very detailed, Superman. Then I suppose with the emergency resolved and your friends restored to their former selves, it's time for us to say goodbye--"

"Hey, speaking of emergencies," Zan asked, "where's Gleek?"

"Oh, your simian ally?" the Marshall mused. "Well, I believe he wandered into the cafeteria when I sent my granddaughter to get me some more--"

His speculation was confirmed when a young girl came flying through the office door with a pot of coffee in one hand and a blue monkey in a gold costume in the other. "Grandfather! I was getting you the coffee you wanted? And I found this little guy trying to eat the wax fruit on display at the dessert counter? And I thought 'Wow! I bet he's with the aliens who were helping you out!' so I brought him with meeeee-EEEE!"

Her breathless story was cut off when she tripped over Gleek's long prehensile tail and fell forward, releasing the coffee pot and allowing hot black liquid to spill all over his desk, soaking Superman's written report indelibly.

"Gddle-lup! Gdd-gdddle-gip!" Gleek chattered in confusion.

"Oh..." she whimpered as Robin helped her back on her feet. "Ohhhh, I made a MESS!"

"My granddaughter Mihoshi, Superfriends," the Grand Marshall sighed. "She's going to become a great police officer one day, provided she survives her internship at Headquarters..."

"I might as well get started on a second copy," Superman shrugged. "Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes, now that I know what to write."

"I'm sure she'll make a great addition to the force, Marshall," Aquaman chuckled. "Once we get Gleek away from her, that is!"

"Yes, I suppose even SUPERfriends are barely enough to keep him out of trouble sometimes," Green Lantern agreed.

And the occupants of the room all shared a hearty laugh at that.


Superman cocked an eyebrow once Mihoshi had finished her story. "That's odd... I don't recall a monkey being there..."

Mihoshi began to bite her lower lip with an embarrassed quiver to her jaw until at the last second he cracked a grin and clasped his hand on her shoulder. "Kidding, kidding," he assured her. "It's kind of an inside joke with us whenever we used to work with the Wonder Twins. I hear they're doing quite well these days, actually. Anyway I THOUGHT the name Kuramitsu sounded familiar," Superman said. "Well, it's nice to see that you've come so far along since the last time we met, Detective. I'm sure your grandfather would be proud!"

"Wow, really?" Mihoshi asked incredulously. "Well, thanks! That's so nice of you to say..."

"But you seemed so surprised to see me when I dropped in to visit Tenchi's home the day before. And again at the hot spring. Surely as a Galaxy Police officer on Earth you would've expected to cross paths with someone like me sooner or later."

"Well, I had no idea you lived on Earth!" Mihoshi said. She reached into her hair and pulled out a comic book from within. "I mean, I follow the printed stories pretty closely, but I always assumed they were just written with an Earth-style setting so the readers could relate."

She held up a worn out copy of "This is a Job for Superman?! v.3 #6" and he took it from her to examine it more closely. "Ah...of course," he said. "I licensed my appearance to various publishing companies across the world under the condition that they donate their profits to charity. Hmmph. Never thought much about what they did after that." He flipped through the issue to find black and white artwork depicting himself working as a short order cook in a diner, complete with an apron bearing the words "Chef o' de Future".

He laughed lightly. "So why would I have two girlfriends, and why would one of them be so paranoid as to send the other back in the distant past in order to win my affections?" he asked. The rest of the manga depicted 'Superman' in a desperate attempt to locate the missing girl in his own time machine, only to return to the present a few minutes later than he left, allowing a steak to burn on the diner grill while he was absent from his post. He was subsequently fired.

"See, the idea is that you want to understand normal people better, so you try to do all these different professions to fit in with society!" Mihoshi explained cheerfully. "So let me ask you," she said quietly. "Confidentially... which one of the girls did you wind up with?"

"Ah... it doesn't work that way," Superman said. "You see, I don't tell these writers about my personal life. They probably just watch the news and adapt it as they see fit. As long as my cape is the right length and it encourages literacy, I'm happy to let them take all the creative liberties they want. For instance, I've never met these women before in my life. Although the redhead reminds me of a certain spoiled warlord I happen to know..." He stopped and sniffled a few times. "Do you smell that?"

Mihoshi sniffed at the air. "No, what is it--? Oh, wait now I can smell it! I wonder where it's coming from--"

Superman stalked around the bridge and finally pulled on a section of the wall. It came loose and behind it sat a little blue-haired girl busily working at a hibachi. "Sasami!" he said in surprise. "What on Earth are you doing back there?"

"Oh, hi..." Sasami said as she blushed. "Well, I wanted to come along, so while I was getting the carrots together for Ryo-Oh-Ki, I asked her to let me sneak on board while you weren't looking. I think this room back here is some kind of personal quarters, but I've never had much of a chance to explore this place." She looked back at her hibachi and scooped up a cooked fish onto a plate. "Hungry?"

"Starving!" Mihoshi called from her orbwork. "Wow, that smells really good, Sasami!"

"That's beside the point!" Superman scolded. "Sasami, your sister told you not to come along on this trip! And I agreed to respect her wishes. You've put me in a very awkward position by doing this. I bet she's worried sick about you."

"Well, actually, I told her I was going to visit Tenchi's relatives for a while," Sasami confessed. "So she doesn't know I'm here right now... she doesn't HAVE to know, does she?"

Superman crossed his arms firmly. "In the first place, your sister is a very intelligent young lady. I'm sure she'll find out soon enough on her own. And in the second place, Detective Kuramitsu and I have a responsibility to do the right thing whenever we can. Now does it seem like the right thing to disobey your sister and then ask someone else to lie about it?"

"Wellllll, no..." Sasami admitted.

"Mmm-hmmm, that's more like it," Superman said. "And more befitting of a Princess of Jurai."

"But I still want to help!" Sasami replied. "Ryoko's our friend, and she might need me. I know she's all strong and tough, but I bet deep inside she's really scared right now."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "As it happens," Superman offered, "the circumstances are dire enough that I really don't want to lose any time doubling back and dropping you off. So I'll let you stay, so long as you listen to me and do whatever Detective Kuramitsu or I tell you, and we'll deal with your sister when the time comes. But if this were ANY other situation..." he trailed off and smiled to her. "Well, put simply, welcome aboard, Your Highness."

She giggled and emerged from the room with a plate of cooked fish.

"Well, now that the stowaway matter's been settled," Superman announced, "I suppose lunch is in order..."


It was surely frustrating for a man of his status to be doing this sort of thing, but Legion didn't care. He sat in his darkened guest quarters with standing orders not to be disturbed, and only the captain was ever allowed in to make reports to him. A petty, arbitrary arrangement, really, but it was his to make. Given the way the ship's captain nervously greeted him with every visit, it was clear that he preferred sacrificing a little dignity to incurring Legion's wrath.

"You found them," Legion said.

"Y-yes, sir," the captain replied anxiously. "The energy signature is definitely Ryo-Oh-Ki."

"And is he aboard?"

"Sensors showed no human lifesigns," the captain replied. "But the Kryptonian is there. And a Juraian."

"Interesting..." Legion mused. "I'd have thought he of all people would take an interest in this. He's always rushed to her rescue in the past."

"Irrelevant!" General Zod roared. "The murderer is the one we want! And he comes to us, just as we planned! The rest of them can be dealt with at our leisure once the Kryptonian is ours."

"Yes! I grow weary of lurking about in this rustbucket," Quex-Ul snarled. "Hiding beneath cloaking fields to conceal our presence from their scanners. Enough cowardice! Let's attack them now and get on with it!"

"You're an idiot, Quex-Ul," Zaora scolded. "Legion has told us about Ryo-Oh-Ki. That creature has laid waste to the seat of the Jurai empire, the most powerful interstellar political unit in this part of the galaxy! What makes you think that we would last even a few seconds in a direct assault?"

"Indeed," Zod added. "No, we must continue to play upon our enemy's hypocritical morality until the time is right. He is isolated from his allies already, and once his guard is lowered, then we will have him!"

"Hardly irrelevant," Legion finally said quietly. "Our plans have been built upon endless hours of hidden observation, Zod. Carefully we constructed our scheme based on those observations and the projected reactions of the players involved. If the man of Earth is not present as I had anticipated, then there may well be a flaw in our assessment. Like this ship, our goals hinge on our shroud of darkness, watching our enemies without being seen. I cannot risk the possibility that that protective cover has been pierced somehow..."

"Sir?" the captain asked in confusion. "I didn't hear what you were saying..."

"Never mind!" Legion snapped. "Return to your post, and continue following them at a safe distance. Keep me appraised, captain."

He nodded quickly and wasted no time leaving the dimly lit room. Zod snorted at Legion in contempt. "You're no better than these pathetic subordinates you profess to command, Legion."

"Is that a fact?"

"It is. Risk is an integral part of making war, boy. And that's what this is: a war, no matter how clandestine and vague you wish to make it. I tolerate your cloak and dagger strategies to a point, but I warn you..."

"Of what, General?" he challenged. "You're in no position to threaten me."

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing," Zod laughed cruelly. "But I warn you that if you allow minor discrepancies to paralyze you into inaction, then the enemy has already won. We will consider this new development, and adapt our plans as necessary. ONLY if necessary."

"I suppose you're right," Legion conceded. "In truth, we've no need for the boy at this stage. Really, we're better off without him..."


In all honesty, she was happy to have Sasami aboard. Not that she was ungrateful for his help, but Superman was a lot more intense than he was in the comics she'd read about him. Mihoshi wasn't terribly surprised to discover this--just another example of how strange and unusual Planet Earth was--but it did make her more than a little nervous. Bad enough they were charging into the unknown in search of her friend, but to have him looming over her like a walking symbol of everything that was expected of her as a Galaxy Police officer--well, it was the academy all over again. It wasn't so much that HE questioned her ability, but his easy confidence reflected her own self-doubt magnified a thousand-fold. Not for the first time, she wondered what would her fellow officers do in a situation like this. How would her old partner Kiyone handle things? Or her grandfather? Or the section commander? Or that guy with the face like a lion, what was his name again?

For that matter, what would Ryoko do if their positions were reversed? She always seemed to know the answer to stuff like this? Or what would Tenchi do? What would--

"What are you DOING?" she shouted as Ryo-Oh-Ki suddenly banked to one side, spilling her from where she stood to a corner of the bridge on the port side. Before she could get up and repeat the question, Sasami came sliding at her as well, and she reached out and caught the child before she hit the wall. Mihoshi looked up at the monitors and saw dozens of spaceships firing on them. It didn't take long to realize what was going on.

"Oh no!" Sasami cried out over Ryo-Oh-Ki's angry wails. "They must know that this is Ryoko's spaceship, so they think we're an enemy!"

Sasami had beat her to it, but Mihoshi shook her head in sorrow. "Oh, this is MY fault, Superman!" she moaned. "I should have realized they'd see Ryo-Oh-Ki as an attempt to break Ryoko out of prison!"

She saw him floating in the center of the room, holding steady as Ryo-Oh-Ki jerked about left and right in her evasive maneuvers. "Nonsense, Detective! We didn't have any choice, remember? Besides, we ARE here to free Ryoko, and I for one was never shy about letting the Tribunal know that!" He looked around at the floating crystal structures that danced around the bridge and reached out for the closest one. "Ryo-Oh-Ki!" he called. "I need to get outside for a moment! I may be able to talk us out of this!"

At once a loud meow of compliance echoed through the deck and Superman floated to the nearest bulkhead and passed through it as Ryo-Oh-Ki willed that surface intangible. As his right boot slipped out of sight, Mihoshi leaped to her feet and ran to the central control orb. "What's he doing out there? Ryo-Oh-Ki, can you show us?"

Another meow, and the view on the monitor switched to a shot of Superman flying out to confront the alien fleet. Without hesitation, he threw himself directly into the path of the energy bursts, and they dissipated as soon as they made contact. One by one, the rumble of laser blasts striking Ryo-Oh-Ki's hull started to lessen, now that he was out there to divert their fire, and even the shots that still made it through were beginning to slow down until they finally they stopped altogether.

"What did he do, Mihoshi?" Sasami asked in confusion.

"I--I don't know," she answered. "Unless he used some super power that we can't see--"

"Attention unidentified vessel!"

The two of them looked back at the monitor to see an armored man's face appear. "You are to be escorted to the planet's surface where you will be granted immediate audience with the Galactic Tribunal. Follow us."

Before Mihoshi could ask what had happened, Superman came floating back into the ship. "Do as he says," he said quickly. "I had hoped that if I revealed myself to them that it would pique their curiosity, but that was almost too easy..."

"Does this mean they'll let Ryoko go?" Sasami asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, at the very least, we'll get a chance to ask, which means everything's going to plan so far."


She looked out at the surface of the alien world through Ryo-Oh-Ki's monitor and whistled in awe. There wasn't a square centimeter she could see that wasn't utilized for some office or stronghold. If there had been some natural feature on the planet it must have been coated over twice a long time ago. Mihoshi had seen bureaucratic hubworlds like this in the past. Gosol-Tor, the Zenek, Ichwin-Ro-Sinnos... but they all served as centers of government. This was an entire planet rebuilt into a massive prison complex.

"It's funny," Superman mused as he approached from behind her to take a look for himself. "I never got a chance to admire the view here before. It's a remarkable facility, really."

"The sky is so empty," Mihoshi observed. "I mean, even Earth has aircraft to fly over from time to time. Except for that docking station we passed, I think we're the only group of ships up here."

"The Tribunal are fiercely confident in their technology," Superman explained. "I suppose they'd have to be, considering the kinds of aliens they'd have to restrain here for sentencing."

"Like Ryoko?" Sasami asked.

"Right," Superman answered. "Right now I'd imagine they've got her in a geneti-lock, a harness that neutralizes a life-forms natural super-powers. And then she'd be placed in a cell sealed off with a powerful force field. That's why they don't have any aircraft up here, Detective. They concentrate all their manpower and resources to making the prisons as secure as possible. They prevent an escape before it can happen, instead of trying to catch the fugitive after he gets off-planet."

She nodded and watched the view terminate with the edge of a docking bay as Ryo-Oh-Ki settled into position. "So if we can't convince them to let her go, you mean there's nothing more we could do?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Superman said, walking to the wall of the bridge to disembark. "I won't give up so easily, but it'll be a lot simpler if it doesn't come to that. Coming?"

Mihoshi pressed her hand against her sidearm to confirm it was still in place, and then scurried after him. Sasami fell in behind, and the three of them exited Ryo-Oh-Ki and emerged on the docking bay surface. Sasami held out her hands and Ryo-Oh-Ki suddenly shrank back down to her animal form, landing in the girl's hands comfortably.

The whole thing was a mess, she realized. She was hundreds of light-years beyond Galaxy Police jurisdiction, and all by herself on this matter, unless she counted the civilian volunteers she'd been saddled up with. Not that she didn't trust Superman, but he seemed to be holding back something about this place, and he seemed to be perfectly fine with just barging into the front gate and demanding whatever he wanted--or promising to take it by force if necessary. And she wanted to help Ryoko as much as anyone else, but surely there had to be a better way to do it than this. The first thing she'd learned as a probation officer was to keep her head down when shots were fired. You had to back off when things got too hot. You had to find the safest option. Superman--well watching him march down the corridor to the main hall of the Tribunal, he looked as if he'd never ducked anything in his whole life. She'd admired that about him as a child, and even when he was just a character in a comic. But in the flesh--up close and personal--he just looked like another stubborn cop who refused to yield before the enemy. And she'd been to enough funerals to know how that story usually turned out.

The main hall was a wide room with a massive judge's bench at one end. There sat three creatures in white robes. They were fat, with blue skin and dark, sunken eyes. The one in the center raised one of his four arms and waved his hand to dismiss the armed escort that accompanied them.

"There should be no call for hostility," he said with an old and distinguished voice. "We are well acquainted with the man before us. We bid you welcome, Kal-El of Krypton, you who are known as Superman."

"I see you've taken over as senior Tribunal, Pollux," Superman noted.

"Indeed," Pollux replied from atop the bench. "Would that it had not been under such tragic circumstances... but nevertheless. You already know Tribunal Ternion to my right. And to my left, Tribunal Sirius, recently selected to complete the three-person office of Galactic Tribunal."

Sirius nodded reverently. "This is indeed an auspicious occasion, Kal-El. It is a rare privilege to meet a man such as you who is so revered among our people."

"I must say, this is quite a warm reception, Your Honor," Superman glowered. "Why from the look of it, you'd never guess that the last time I was on this world I was brought here in chains and sentenced to death for a crime I didn't commit!"

Mihoshi's ears perked at this. THIS was how he knew so much about the Tribunal? He'd stood trial before them himself? On what grounds, and why hadn't he mentioned it up to now?

"Indeed, Kal-El of Krypton!" Pollux assented. "However, much has changed since the day you were brought before us. Surely, you recall your escape from this world and your inevitable recapture at the hands of the Cyborg? Or when you saved our planet from the same being after he betrayed our trust and nearly destroyed us all? Or when my predecessor, Tribunal Prime, proved unstable and had to be removed from office, allowing us to reduce your sentence to a lifetime of hard labor, fighting a ceaseless battle for truth and justice in order to redeem the sins of your ancestors?"

"How could I forget?" Superman muttered.

Ancestors? Hard labor? "What is he talking about--?" Mihoshi tried to ask, until she was shushed by a brisk wave of Superman's hand.

"And we have watched you live out that sentence!" Ternion added. "More, we have watched you exceed our wildest expectations! In such a short time since that day, you have battled on against the sorcerer Tolos, repelled the dark hosts of Asmodel, liberated the worlds of Rann and X'vyv'x from the grip of tyranny, resisted the dread machinations of Dominus, and even overcame the power of the Ultimate Weapon of the Old Gods--Mageddon himself! To say nothing of your more local accomplishments on your adopted world of Earth."

"Or the three times I've fought the Cyborg since you assured me that you had imprisoned him once and for all in the heart of a black hole!" Superman challenged. "He's terrorized at least TWO universes since you administered your brand of justice, and I'm here now to make sure that you don't commit another act of impropriety here and now!"

"You represent a great symbol of the power of rehabilitation in our eyes, Kal-El," Pollux said sternly. "We have observed your mighty deeds with utmost respect, and have since tempered our judgments with the realization that those deeds would have never been accomplished had we successfully carried out your execution. However," he frowned, "this court will not be impugned lightly. Not even by you."

"If you know me as well as you claim, Tribunal," Superman replied, "then you should know that I'm not one to make wild accusations. I take my fight for truth and justice seriously, and I don't back down just because the battle leads me to someone with great power or influence. You recently took custody of a woman named Ryoko. I want her released."

Mihoshi rubbed the bridge of her nose in her fingers and sighed.

"Preposterous!" Ternion shouted. "Ryoko is a class A-1 criminal, accused of crimes dating as far back as five thousand years ago! On what grounds should she be allowed to go free once more?"

"There are extenuating circumstances," Superman said patiently. "Details which I suspect the Tribunal ignored, which I believe should be brought to your attention. I come here to present to you Galaxy Police Detective First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu, the presiding interstellar law-enforcement officer of our Solar System, and she has--"

"Silence!" Pollux declared. "Indeed, Kal-El of Krypton, we must admit that you are not a man to take such a rash course of action. And despite your... unconventional attitudes about justice, we cannot deny your commitment to fairness and honor. Although we have already made our decision regarding the Ryoko case, I move that the Tribunal hear your arguments tomorrow morning. Second?"

"I second," Ternion nodded, holding his thumb up to sign concurrence.

"And in deference to the elder members of this Tribunal, I will make the vote unanimous," Sirius added, holding his thumb up as well. "Prepare your statements carefully, Man of Krypton. The Tribunal is not so easily swayed."

"Wait!" Superman demanded. "I want to see the prisoner so I can confer with her. I need to get the complete story in order to present the most truthful account possible. Can that be arranged?"

"Impossible!" Pollux answered harshly. "To allow a convicted prisoner to be visited by any unauthorized personnel would be a grave violation of our security protocol!Further, the potential risk of escape--"

"That's madness!" Superman yelled. "By allowing us to testify, you've already allowed for the possibility that she may not be guilty. How can you continue to treat her as a criminal when you aren't even convinced she is one?"

"Do not presume overmuch, Kryptonian," Ternion warned. "Although it is out of our abiding respect for you that we allow this unprecedented exception, we will not permit you to defy this court. Now stand down before we find you in contempt."

He stood there for a few seconds with his brow furrowed. Finally he walked slowly up to the Tribunal's bench until he was standing just inches from its face. Then he drew back a closed fist and brought it back onto the surface of the bench, shattering it under the force of the blow.

Mihoshi felt as if she would have a heart attack right there and then. Mercifully (or not, she wasn't quite sure at the moment) she survived to see the results of his actions.

The three Tribunal members sat astonished in their seats--still levitating in place where the top of the bench had been. Superman looked up at them and smiled grimly. "Now," he said, "I'm in contempt. I'm no Ryoko, but I think I'm dangerous enough to warrant being placed in the same prison cell as such a notorious felon, don't you?"

"Once more, your interpretation of law and order mystifies us, Kal-El," Pollux gasped. "For the sake of curiosity, we will play out your game... for now. The offender and his party is sentenced to one night in confinement. Cell 1992-R."

"Seconded," Sirius said, pointing his thumb down in agreement.

"I vote against," Ternion said slowly... "For the record."

"So noted," Pollux nodded. "Take them away."

The guards reappeared almost immediately, and slapped some strange shackles on all of them, even adding a smaller pair for Ryo-Oh-Ki's front paws, and a big man with a wicked looking spear nudged them into a corridor leading somewhere dark. Mihoshi picked up her stride to catch up to Superman, and leaned towards him. "PLEASE... tell me this is part of the plan?" she begged.

"Well," he said with a grin, "it wasn't quite how I'd pictured it, but we'll see Ryoko ahead of schedule, right?"

For a few seconds, Mihoshi tried to hold back the urge to break down into tears. About halfway through the corridor, she gave up.


NEXT: Down With the Devil

Continue To Chapter Nine