Disclaimer: This is it, the last chapter of this story. I want to thank everyone who's read this far. I guess I'll now take a moment to let you all know that I can't and don't claim ownership of the characters of Tenchi Muyo and to let everyone know that I'm not making any money off this fic. As if you all didn't know that already. Well now that that's out of the way, lets get started. No Need For Royalty PartV Nagi woke up wondering what the hell she was doing on the floor. Where the hell her clothes were was the next thought that popped into her head. She sat up and her muscles screamed at her for the sudden movement. Gradually the cramping faded and left behind the memories of the night before. Now Nagi remembered why she was sleeping naked on the floor. She glanced at the bed and saw Ydal was still asleep, half hanging over the side. Nagi stood up and stretched the stiffness out of her body. She was also feeling the effects of last night in her head. She felt, strange. There was no other way to describe it. It wasn't an unpleasant strangeness, just the feeling of something out of the ordinary. Then again, she had just been through some powerful telepathic experiences. She figured her brain was a bit overworked liked her body. Unfortunately, Nagi didn't know how to 'stretch' the kinks out of her brain. She looked back at Ydal and then gave the bed a good kick. The motion was enough to push him over the edge and he woke up on impact. " Oww! What the hell?" he mumbled. He started to stand up, then stopped midway as the muscles in his lower back made themselves known. " Ahh, oh geez! What the hell did I do last night?" A harsh chuckle brought his head around to Nagi. Ydal's eyes must have tripled in size at what he saw. Nagi was supporting herself upside down with one hand while doing the splits, and without bothering to have gotten dressed yet either. " As I recall," the bounty hunter spoke as she brought both legs togther and pointed them straight up. " You spent the better part of the night trying to outlast me." " Trying?" Ydal questioned. " If memory serves me correctly, I did outlast you." Nagi let her legs fall and she landed in a back arch. " Maybe, but you had to cheat to do so." " Cheat?!" " If things had stayed purely physical you wouldn't have had a chance, but you cheated. You used your powers to even things out." " Are you complaining?" Ydal asked with a smug grin. " Not at all," Nagi answered as she pushed off her hands and stood up. " Well, maybe about one thing. It feels like there's something crawling around in my head and I think it's your doing." " Oh that's just your brain chemistry trying to get back up to speed. Physic encounters tend to over use certain elements in the brain until you get used to it." " Oh? You make it sound as if I'll be needing to get used to it." " Now your just teasing me." " No, when I was stretching I was teasing you. Now I'm playing with you." " Well now there's an idea I like." Ydal carefully stood up, giving his back a chance to stretch out. However before either of them could engage in the opening actions of what they both were obviously planning, one of Ken- ohki's crystals intervened. " Ken-ohki this better be important!" Nagi warned. " Choa!" the ship shot back. The crystal turned clear and an image formed on it. It showed a view outside the ship and Nagi swore. Off in distance, but defiantly heading for them, she could see Sui-noki, followed closely by the two other ships left in Hushira's group. " I don't believe it, how the hell did he find us!?" " Nagi? What's wrong, who is it?" Ydal asked. " Shut up and get dressed. I'll explain if we have time," Nagi called out as she reached under the bed. She pulled out a trunk and quickly opened it. Inside were several compressed outfits sealed inside clear plastic bags. Nagi grabbed one of her traditional battle suits and hit the button on the bag. The plastic instantly faded and the fabric expanded to it's normal size. She dressed quickly and headed for the door. " Hey! Wait up," Ydal called out. He had just gotten his pants on and was looking around to see where his shirt had landed. " Hurry up!" Nagi yelled back as she left the room. She quickly made her way across the bridge, only to find Mihoshi sitting in her chair looking out the view screen. " Get out of my chair!" Nagi yelled. Mihoshi jumped up in shock and Nagi quickly took her spot. " Ken-ohki, status." At her command several screens appeared, each one filled with various data. " Umm, Nagi, what's..." Mihoshi started. " If you want to be useful go get Ryoko out here," Nagi interrupted. " Hey now, there's no need to be rude." Nagi took a second to give the blond detective a menacing stare. " But that's okay. I think I'll go get Ryoko now." As Mihoshi hurried off, Ydal finally arrived. " So what's the big rush?" he asked. " That," Nagi said, pointing at one screen which showed the approaching ships. " Okay, but who is it?" " Their the reason I'm in this mess," Nagi explained. " Look, I really don't have time to tell you the whole, wait a minute." Nagi quickly turned around and grabbed Ydal in her now normal fashion, by the hair, and pulled his head against hers. " Here." Nagi tried to relax as Ydal scanned her mind, but it was hard to leave herself so open. Fortunately it only took him a couple seconds to get the information she wanted him to have. " Wow," Ydal said when he finished. " That's definitely not good." " What's not good?" Nagi looked over her shoulder as Ryoko entered the room. " They found us," Nagi told her. " Ah shit, how long?" Ryoko asked as she walked over to look at the screens. " We've got about half an hour before they catch up with us." " How far are we from Jurai?" " Twenty hours." " Great, now what?" Nagi suddenly stood up. " Sit down," she told Ryoko. " Record a message and send it to Jurai. Tell them what's going on and that they need to head to the...," Nagi took a glance at the star chart. " Otanal system." " I'll do it, but do you actually think we'll be able to hold out for twenty hours?" " It's not like we have much of a choice." " Do you honestly think Ayeka will give a damn?" Ydal asked. " No, but she'll help," Ryoko answered. " She cares about Tenchi as much as I do, though don't you dare tell her that I admitted it. She'll do it for him." " Good enough," Nagi interjected. She turned to Ydal. " Keep an eye on her," she whispered. Mihoshi was replacing Kiyone's bandages when Nagi stormed into the holding chamber. She walked over to where the teal haired officer was laying and looked down at her. " Can you stand?" she demanded. " If I had a reason to," Kiyone answered softly. " You'll have one very soon." Nagi dropped a pair of compressed outfits on the floor. " Here, you'll be needing these. Their made of interwoven arminum, with energy absorption and dissipation capability." Nagi took one final look at Kiyone before she left. " Be ready." Mihoshi picked up one of the packages to look at it. " Wow, I didn't think she cared what happened to us." " She doesn't, don't you get it Mihoshi?" " Huh? Get what?" " We're about to go into battle, and Nagi doesn't think we can win. She didn't give us those because she's worried about us. She gave them to us to keep us alive longer so we can do more harm in the coming fight." " But Kiyone! Your in no condition to fight." " Maybe not," the officer pushed herself into a sitting position. " But I don't have a choice." She grabbed hold of Mihoshi and used her to stand up. " None of us do. Now help me get changed." Tenchi was still watching the stars drift across the sky when Azaka and Kamidake, the wooden pair, found him. " Lord Tenchi, lady Ayeka has asked that you come see her at once!" Azaka stated. " She has received a message from Ryoko!" Kamidake added. " She has, quick where is she!?" Tenchi demanded " Which 'she' are you referring to?" Azaka asked. " Ryoko!" " We're sorry, but we haven't seen the message so we don't know," Kamidake replied. " Fine then, where is Ayeka now?" " She is waiting for you in the main conference hall," Azaka answered. " We can be there in a few minutes if we hurry," Kamidake said. The guardians started to lead the way, but Tenchi didn't follow them. " Lord Tenchi, are you coming?" Azaka questioned. " Not that way, too long," Tenchi told him. " But Lord Tenchi, this is the quickest path to the conference hall," Kamidake informed him. " No it isn't, I know of a much faster way." " What way is that?" both guardians asked. Tenchi didn't answer. Instead he turned around, and jumped over the balcony. Azaka and Kamidake stared at the space where Tenchi had been a moment before. Kamidake turned to his fellow guardian. " Well that certainly is a faster way." " Indeed, the conference hall is directly below us." " Azaka?" " Yes Kamidake." " Can Lord Tenchi fly?" " You know, I'm not sure. I don't think so though." " But it's almost half a mile down from up here." " So it is." They looked back at the balcony where Tenchi had jumped. " What for us Lord Tenchi!" they cried out as they flew over the side. The Otanal system is a bleak place. There's nothing there but a single dwarf star and a couple trillion asteroids. The rock fragments are strewn around the system in an irregular disk shaped orbit that is oval shaped near the sun, and which gets thinner at the edges. At the moment, Ken-ohki was grappled to the side of a fair sized asteroid, about half a mile across, near the center of the disk. Nagi waited, her eyes glued to her screens. Her hands rested on the controls, ready to take off in an instant. " If there's one thing I hate, it's having to use passive sensors," Ryoko muttered. To avoid detection, Ken-ohki's powerful sensors had been turned off. No energy or electromagnetic waves were being radiated from the ship. Instead they were relying on detecting the sensor waves from the searching ships to avoid them. " The only thing I hate more," Nagi said. " is having to agree with you." So far they haven't seen a single blip on the screen. The tension on the bridge was suffocating. Ryoko cast a glance behind her. Mihoshi was shifting her weight from foot to foot as she chewed on her nails. Next to her Kiyone sat on the floor. Her head was wrapped tightly in bandages, but she seemed alert enough. She was rapidly tapping her foot as she waited. The only person who seemed relaxed was Ydal, who was leaning against the near wall. His arms were crossed and his head hung down, his eyes shut. The only sign of his anxiety was the bunching of muscles at his jaw. As she watched, Ydal's eyes suddenly flew open. " Their here," he whispered. " What did you say?" Nagi asked. At that moment, the sensor screen bleeped. Ryoko snapped her head back around. A single dot appeared on the edge of the sensor screen and slowly moved in their direction. " Here we go," Kiyone muttered. Half a mile can go by very quickly in a free fall. However, Tenchi didn't have the patience to wait for gravity to accelerate his fall. As he plunged downward he pushed out against the outer walls of the palace with his energy. At the same time he formed a cone shaped shield in front of him, eliminating air resistance. He aimed for the balcony adjacent to the conference hall, molding the energy field below him to slip sideways. Five- hundred feet from impact, he put on the brakes. Hie energy field expanded rapidly, flattening out as the once slick surface turned rough and pitted. His bursts of energy now pushed down. G forces squeezed Tenchi as his rapid descent transformed into a gentle drift. Fifty feet up he reached out with his power, a tentacle of energy wrapping around one of the many statues that hung from the palace. Another tentacle struck out in the other direction, finding a second statue. Tenchi pulled the energy tight, slowing his fall even further. The bands stretched under the pressure like bungee cords. Tenchi came to a stop three feet off the balcony floor. Azaka and Kamidake caught up with him just after he landed. Ayeka was a bit shocked when the doors leading to the outer balcony suddenly flew open and Tenchi entered, followed by Azaka and Kamidake. She was also confused as to how and why they arrived through that entrance, but she decided not to ask. " Over here Tenchi," she beckoned. " I have transferred Ryoko's message down here and it's ready for viewing." " Great, thank you Ayeka." " Your welcome Tenchi. If you wish, I'll leave you be if you want to watch it alone." " You don't have to do that," Tenchi said. " Very well then, are you ready?" Tenchi nodded and Ayeka activated the message. In front of them a life sized hologram of Ryoko simmered into view. Ayeka saw Tenchi go rigid and heard a slight gasp. Ayeka realized she had just made a very bad error in judgment. Most holo-communicators displayed the received image at a reduced sized, but the ones in the conference hall were full sized and the image much more life like. It felt as if Ryoko was right there in the room with them. Ayeka felt an old but familiar tightening in her throat that she only experienced around Ryoko. And if the image was real enough to do that to her, what must it be doing to Tenchi? It was too late to stop it now though. Ryoko had, unfortunately, looked directly into the image recorder, so for Tenchi it was like she was looking right at him. " Tenchi," she began. " I hope this message finds you soon. I don't have much time so I'll be brief. A lot of strange things have happened since I was taken from you. I managed to escape from Hushira, only to end up stuck with Nagi. Also somehow we managed to pick up Mihoshi and Kiyone, along with some guy that Nagi ran into. Right now we're being followed by Hushira and his cronies. Oh good news though, there's only three of them now, the fourth guy got vaped when they attacked Nagi. Now the bad news, their gaining on us, and Ken-ohki is too low on power for us to fight them. We're going to drop out of hyper space in the Otanal system and hide. I don't know how long we can hold out though. Please hurry Tenchi, I've been away from you too long now. I need you." The image faded and Ayeka found herself holding her breath. She was behind Tenchi, so she couldn't see his face, but his body had remained still as stone throughout the recording. " Tenchi?" He turned to face her and Ayeka felt herself chilled to her core. For just an instant, Tenchi's face bore a mask of hate and anger that she'd never seen before. Somehow she found the will to keep talking. " We should hurry. The Otanal system is a bit of a ways from Jurai. Even with our fastest ship, it will take at least twelve hours to get there." " Twelve hours?" Tenchi smirked. " It won't even take us twelve minutes. Did you forget about Washu?" " Your right, now that we know where Ryoko is, Washu can take us right to her." " Come on, it time to end this." " Incoming!" Ryoko yelled as an asteroid that would have shamed Mount Everest came careening toward them. Nagi actually turned toward the massive rock, passing just under it as energy blasts detonated on it's surface. The three other ships came screaming around the floating mountain, right into Ken- ohki's line of fire. Nagi had swung up behind the asteroid and come to a stop, setting an unavoidable trap for her pursuers. Explosions rocked the green ship which belonged to the giant on Hushira's team. The ship went spinning off and Nagi flew between the other two ships, blasting them each as she headed deeper into the field. Tenchi tried not let his impatience show as he waited. Twice he'd caught himself drumming his fingers on the conference table. Ayeka had sent Azaka and Kamidake to round up everyone. So far Sasami, Ryo-ohki, the living Azaka, Ryoa, and Katsuhito had arrived. The only people not present was Azaka, Kamidake, Kamidake and Washu. " Where is she?" Tenchi asked, hoping he didn't sound as annoyed as he felt. "Patience Tenchi," his grandfather told him. " She will be here soon." Tenchi didn't trust himself to answer. Fortunately Washu arrived shortly after, followed by Azaka and both Kamidakes. The Jurian knight was busy conversing with the two guardians. " I'm afraid I don't understand your concern," Azaka told him. " It's embarrassing," Kamidake told him. " How so?" his robotic counterpart asked. " Look you two," Washu answered. " Just drop it. You didn't see anything, got it?" " But I'm pretty sure we did see you and Kamidake..." Azaka started. " Hey!" Washu interrupted. " You...saw...nothing," Washu said menacingly. " Azaka," Kamidake said. " Isn't about time for the scheduled inspection of our sensory systems?" " Why, I do believe you are right. I think we both might have slightly malfunctioning visual receptors. " " Well now, it seems we have everyone present," Katsuhito announced. " So Tenchi, what's the big news?" " We know where Ryoko is," Tenchi said as he replayed the message for everyone. When it ended he said, " I'll be leaving immediately. Ryo-ohki, I trust you'll be willing to fly me there, right?" " Meow!" the cabbit agreed enthusiastically. " Great, now Washu..." " Say no more," Washu interrupted. " One instant trip to the Otanal system coming up." " Thank you Washu, as for everyone else. If you wish to join us, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If not, I understand." " I'm defiantly going," Ryoa announced. " I shall accompany you as well," Katsuhito said. " You can count on us," both guardians and knights said together. " I'll come," Sasami spoke up. " Oh no you won't," Ayeka countered. " But Ayeka..." " Absolutely not. They aren't going on a pleasure cruise Sasami. This trip will be dangerous and is no place for a princess." " So I take it you'll be staying as well then?" Tenchi asked. " Yes, I'm sorry but I can't help you anymore Tenchi." She smiled. " Besides, I'm not much of a warrior, there is little I could do even if I did come." Tenchi returned the smile. " Don't worry about it, you've already done more than I could have hoped. Thank you Ayeka." Ken-ohki screamed forward, narrowly making it through the closing gap seconds before the two massive asteroids collided. Behind him the three pursuing ships had to bank heavily to climb under or over the obstacle. Ken- ohki managed to put enough distance between them to find time to go into hiding again. Nagi quickly anchored the ship to another rock and shut down the engines. Inside, everyone waited impatiently. " Thirty minutes," Nagi mused. " Your message should just now be reaching Juri, Ryoko." " Great," Ryoko replied sarcastically. " Half an hour down, twenty more to go." " Oh, do you think we'll make it?" Mihoshi asked. " Does the word ' screwed,' mean anything to you?" Ydal asked. Mihoshi started to whimper. " What do you think?" Ryoko asked Nagi, ignoring Mihoshi. " I think maybe if I turned you over, they might be surprised enough for me to get away," Nagi replied dryly. Ryoko's retort was interrupted as the trio of ships swung into view. Nagi restarted the engines and took off. Ken- ohki took a hit and lurched painfully to one side. Nagi managed to dodge the next few shots and steered her ship toward the densest part of the field. Ryo-ohki hung in orbit above Jurai as everyone waited for Washu to finish programing the control for her G.E.T. T.H.E.R.E. device. Tenchi watched as she entered the numbers. " How long does this take?" he asked. " Not too long," Washu answered without looking up. " I would have been done sooner, but Ryo-ohki's mass and size requires a few extra lines of data for the transport to work with. There, finished!" she cried out. " Is everybody ready?" " Lets go," Ryoa spoke. " Alright, and we're out of here," Washu said as she pressed the button. There was a brief flash of light, and Washu announced, " We made it!" " That's it?" Tenchi asked. " That was rather anti-climatic", Ryoa put in. " 'Efficient' is how I prefer to describe it," Washu responded " Ryo-ohki," Ryoa ordered. " Scan the area and locate Ryoko." " Meow!" A screen appeared and showed an image of the star system. The view zoomed in several times until they could see several faint bursts of light. " There they are! Lets get going Ryo-ohki!" The ship charged into the asteroid field. Ryoa took the controls and began weaving in between the massive rocks. It took several minutes to travel through the densely packed space, and each second seemed to drag for hours. Several times the flashes stopped and everyone caught themselves holding their breath, minus the two guardians and Ryo-ohki who didn't need to breathe. Finally though, they managed to catch up with the chase. The pursuing ships had no warning. Ryo- ohki pounced from behind the roiling mass of rocks. " I got you!" Ryoa cried as she fired on Sui-noki. The ship wobbled under the attack, but quickly stabilized. Instead of retaliating however, it kept going, completely ignoring Ryo-ohki. The other two ships broke off though, heading for them. Ryoa jerked the cabbit to the left as they opened fire. " Lets see what you got!" Ryoa dove between them and jerked to a near halt, blasting to either side. She then accelerated straight up relative to her position just before the two ships could attack. They started after her, but Ryoa suddenly brought Ryo-ohki to another stop, causing the other ships to fly past them. Then she took off in pursuit. Nagi winced as Ken-ohki scraped against the rock, shearing off a wing tip. " Sorry," she mumbled. Her ship shuddered as another blast of energy exploded against the rear shields. Ken-ohki wailed in protest. " Damn him to hell!" Nagi was getting extremely pissed off. Nothing she did was working, she just couldn't lose Hushira. To make things worse, the close confines of the asteroid field made it impossible to dodge effectively. Nagi was busy cursing herself, Ryoko, Hushira, and just the universe in general. At least for the moment though, all she did have to worry about was Sui-noki as the other two cabbits were off chasing Ryo-ohki. Ken-ohki shuddered again and something burst. Nagi could feel it in the controls, they were sluggish. " Ah shit!" Now she had real problems. Ken-ohki's maneuverability had dropped significantly. Nagi ground her teeth together. She couldn't stay in the asteroid field with her ship in this condition. Reluctantly she steered Ken-ohki around and flew toward the edge of the field. Tenchi was having a hard time maintaining his balance. Ryoa was flying Ryo-ohki like a woman possessed, flipping and diving and dodging this way and that. So far only a handful of shot had managed to find Ryo-ohki due her piloting. Her return fire however, was devastating her two opponents. All the while she kept up a dialog of varius insults, abuses, and taunts. " Can't you do any better than that? My blind, alcoholic grandmother can shoot better than you two! Why don't you just let your ship fly itself, it would be an improvement. Chew on this! Come on I'm over here! I can't believe I got shot down by you losers, I must have been drunk! I'm going to snap off your balls and shove them down your cabbit's throat!" Tenchi did his best to stay standing during the whole thing. Presently they were the ones being pursued, but Tenchi had the feeling that Ryoa was letting them stay behind her so she could control where they went. " How much more can they take?" Tenchi wondered out loud as Ryo-ohki's shot slammed into the following ships. " Shouldn't be too much more," Ryoa answered. " I'm going to deep fry those ass...holy shit!" Ryoa suddenly had to pull up as, rounding an asteroid, she found herself on a collision course with Ken-ohki. Unfortunately, Nagi made the same move. "Ah this sucks," Ryoa mumbled. She tried to slip to the right, but there just wasn't time. The two cabbits hit, snapping wings and spinning off in opposite directions. Ken-ohki smashed into a nearby asteroid, burying itself halfway into the rock. Ryo-ohki went into a tumble that took all of Ryoa's attention and skill to stop before they suffered a similar fate. Even as she managed to regain control, Ryo-ohki was pummeled by shots from all three enemy ships. The energy feed back looped through the controls and Ryoa was knocked down from the force. Tenchi started to help her up, but she pushed him back. " I'm fine," she insisted. " Oh shit." Tenchi looked up to see that they were flanked on either side. Sui-noki meanwhile, was heading for Ken-ohki. Ryoa lurched for the controls and hauled back, but nothing happened. " Damn it, they have us in a energy screen. We're trapped. " Meow!" " What do mean it's worse than that?" " Ryoa!" Tenchi yelled. She turned around and gasped. The bridge was shrinking. " Not good, they're forcing Ryo-ohki to revert to her cabbit form." " What's going to happen to us when that happens?" " Well, anything inside the ship will be shrunk down and stored inside her cellular structure, us included." " What!?" " We got to get out of here." " Washu", Tenchi turned toward the scientist. " Can you do anything?" " Believe me, I'm trying," she answered. Washu had out the control for the G.E.T. T.H.E.R.E. device. " But I can't get a lock on Ryo-ohki. The energy screen around her is distorting my sensors." " Great, we're screwed," Ryoa commented. " Actually, we're in no real danger, it's Ryo-ohki who's in trouble," Washu corrected. " Come again?" " I can't get a clear lock on Ryo-ohki, I never said anything about us." Washu kept working, not taking even a second to look up from the controls. The bridge was less than ten feet across now. " Hold on Ryo-ohki, just a little longer," Washu pleaded. Her fingers danced across the controls too quickly for anyone to keep up, not that they would have understood all that she was doing if they could. Everyone was crowed around her, partly out of interest, but mainly because they were rapidly running out of room. " Washu, we're running out of time here," Tenchi said. Washu risked a moment to look up. There was almost no room left. Two more feet and Ryo-ohki would have to compress them or they would be crushed. " I'm sorry Ryo-ohki, I tried," Washu muttered. She turned to Tenchi. " There's nothing I can do for her, we're going to have to get out of here now." " But where?" " There," Washu pointed to where Ken-ohki sat, buried in rock. Sui-noki was hovering just above the downed cabbit. " I'd bet anything that Hushira's already gone onboard Ken-ohki to get Ryoko. If we can get him, we can turn this whole fight around." " Ryo-ohki, stay strong okay, we'll be back for you," Tenchi promised. " Hold on," Washu warned. The trip was much more intense this time, due to the fact that everyone was being transported directly by Washu's invention, rather than riding aboard a ship being transported by it. The light was blinding and they could all feel the device pulling them through space. Tenchi was the first to recover, at least the first among the living. Azaka and Kamidake had suffered no side effects from the journey, and had even erected a shield to protect the others while they tried to regain their senses. What he saw made his heart sink. Ken-ohki's bridge was trashed. Shattered crystals lined the floor and scorch marks decorated the walls. Behind him, he heard someone moan in pain. " Kiyone!" Tenchi was beside her in an instant. She was hurt badly. Both her legs were broken and her ribs were certainly fractured as well. Tenchi was surprised to see she was awake. " T-Te-nchi." Her voice was weak. Something about it scared Tenchi. Kiyone had always been so strong and commanding with her speech. She knew how to use her voice to get things done. Hearing her like this was almost unbearable. " I-I...knew...y-y-you would... " Kiyone please stop, save your strength," Tenchi pleaded. " Washu!" he called over his shoulder. He turned around and saw she was already busy tending to Mihoshi, who was in the same shape as Kiyone. Instead the Jurain Knights came over to help him. " Let us handle this Lord Tenchi," Azaka told him. " Can you help her?" " We may not be doctors," Kamidake said, " But we've dealt with plenty of injuries in battle, many our own." " Go, find Ryoko," Azaka spoke. " You won't find her here," a voice called out. Tenchi found the owner of the voice leaning against the wall, barely managing to support himself. " Who are you?" Tenchi asked. " Friend of Nagi's. My name is Ydal," he answered. He started to fall but Tenchi moved to catch him before he hit the floor. He kept talking, his voice getting weaker and weaker. " He already took her. We tried to stop him, but he was too strong, just too strong." Ydal passed out. " Dammit, we were too late!" Tenchi growled. He laid Ydal down and went looking for one last person, Nagi. He found her inside what had probably been her sleeping quarters. She was laying on her side, her cloak draped over her. If it wasn't for the slow rise and fall of her rib cage, Tenchi would have mistaken her for dead. As he came closer though, he thought that death might have been better for her. Nagi's back was twisted in a way that shouldn't have been possible. She was perfectly still except for her breathing, her eyes staring off in the distance. " Nagi?" Tenchi knelt down beside her. She didn't respond. Tenchi thought back to the day she had kidnaped him as bait for Ryoko. Nagi had been so fearsome, so overwhelming. Now she was broken, discarded like an old toy that was no longer fun to play with. While he'd never been found of her, Tenchi had always had respect for her abilities. To think that Hushira had done this and just left her to die, not even giving her a decent death in battle, but letting her die slowly from her injuries. He wasn't a man, he was a demon. " Nagi," Tenchi tried again. This time she slowly turned her head to look at him. Her body might have been broken, but her spirit wasn't. He could see the cold fire that still burned in her eyes. " Well, look who showed up," she spoke in a whispering voice that was more of a hiss than speech. " Too bad, you didn't get here sooner. I've heard you've gotten quite strong since the last time I saw you. Might have made a difference. Then again, might not. I guess it doesn't matter now. You know, I've never been afraid of death, but now that it's coming, I find myself regretting a lot of things. It's strange, the things I wish I'd done, are those things I'd never given any thought to in my life." " Stop it," Tenchi ordered. " Your not dead yet, and I'm not going to just let you die." " Tenchi, I'm worse then dead. Look at me, look what he did to me. He crippled me. I would rather die than live the rest of my life like this. Hell, I couldn't even do that. I've got too many enemies, I wouldn't last a week in this condition. Do me a favor and kill me now." " No, you can't just give up. It might not be so bad. Washu... " Forget it," Nagi interrupted. " You keep that woman away from me. Just kill me and get it over with." Her voice regained some of it's old fury. " Come on you coward, do it. Remember back all those years ago, when I took you as my prisoner. I remember the look on your face, the determination. I know how badly I hurt your pride, how I mocked you. I used you as a tool toward the destruction of your future wife. Come on! Take your revenge!" Tenchi sighed and shook his head. He got up and started to leave. " Where are you going? Get back here! Kill me dammit! You can't leave me like this! You asshole!" Washu spared a second from checking over Ydal to give Tenchi a sympathetic look when he returned to the bridge. Nagi's voice could still be heard in the background. " How are they Washu?" Tenchi inquired about Kiyone and Mihoshi. " They'll live, and should make full recoveries, eventually. What's with Nagi?" Washu asked, tilting her in the direction of Nagi's yells. " Broken back, most likely with a severed spine." " So that's what she's screaming about. I'll see what I can do." Washu stood up. " She's not going to like that, she doesn't trust you." " Tough, it's not like she can do anything about it." She left and Tenchi walked over to where Kiyone and Mihoshi were laying side by side. " Are you two feeling any better?" he asked. " Yes, much," Mihoshi answered. Though her voice was weak, she still managed to put some her normal cheerfulness into her words. " I'm so glad Washu and you came Tenchi. I just...I just wish I could have done more." Her voice started to quiver slightly. " I'm sorry..." " Sorry? For what?" " That...that...that I couldn't stop him. That I wasn't able to help Ryoko. I...I just..." " Hey now Mihoshi, it's not your fault, you can't blame yourself for this. If anything, I should be apologizing to you." " How come?" " Because, if I hadn't let him take Ryoko away in the first place, none of this would have happened and you and Kiyone wouldn't be hurt right now." " But it's not your fault, you did everything you...oh, I see your point." " Good, cause the last thing I need right now is for you to be kicking yourself." " So what do we do now?" Kiyone asked. " I have no idea." " It's all over now, we failed," Tenchi spoke. They were back at the Palace of Jurai. Hushira had left with Ryoko and Ryo-ohki, obviously thinking they were trapped in Ken-ohki's wreaked hull. " Don't say that," Washu said. " There's still hope." " I doubt it," Tenchi countered. " They could be anywhere by now, and we have no idea where to start looking." " That's not true," Ryoa interrupted. " I know where their going." " What!?" Tenchi was nearly yelling. " Where!? And how..." " Just calm down and I'll tell you. Their going to need to get Ryoko back to my galaxy, so they are going to have to pass through the wormhole. And I know where it is." " Then what are we sitting around here for! We're wasting time!" " We're not wasting anything. It will take Hushira at least five hours to reach the wormhole. Actually, him capturing Ryoko and Ryo-ohki might have been for the best." " Excuse me!?" " Well, the wormhole is no longer under Xon control. He's going to have to get past the best of Rygoth's military to bring them back to my galaxy. He hasn't won yet." Ryoa developed a rather wicked smile. " I say it's about time we played this game on our terms, not Hushira's." Four and half hours later, in a small, obscure planetary system out in the middle of nowhere, there was a brief flicker of light. It lasted for just a second and vanished. The flicker had been the result of space being warped, bent, and stretched in a way that nature had never intended, and was the result of the universe's greatest scientist. The system actually happened to be the third stop on their trip. The first had been Washu's lab, where Kiyone, Mihoshi, Nagi, and Ydal had been left under the care of the most advanced medical automatons in existence. Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Ydal were expected to make full recoveries. Nagi was another story. Washu had predicted a seventy percent chance that she would be able to walk again, but only a forty percent chance that she'd ever fully recover. After that they made a quick stop back on Earth. There where two reasons for this trip. One was to let Nobiyuki know what was going on and where everyone had been, seeing as he had been at work when Tenchi and Katsuhito had left. Unfortunately they didn't find any trace of him. Tenchi figured he was probably pulling another late shift and decided to look for him when they got back. The other reason was to recover Ryoa's ship, Ren-ohki. The craft had managed to reproduce in the time she'd been gone and it's spawn was doing very well. " Oh course it's cold Ren-ohki, it's space," Ryoa replied to her ship's whining. " I know it's a bit strange, but you'll get use to it, again." While fully capable of transforming, Ren-ohki was still a bit young, and although she possessed all of her parent's memories, this was her first trip into space. And she didn't like it. " Oh come on," Ryoa protested. " Look, it will just be for a little while, stop being such a baby." " So where's this wormhole we're looking for?" Tenchi asked as he stepped up beside Ryoa. " It's actually in orbit around that star," Ryoa answered. " It shouldn't take us but a few minutes to get there, though I expected we'll be stopped by sentries before we..." Even as she said it, Ren-ohki warned them of two ships heading in on an intercept course. " Patch me through to them," Ryoa ordered. A screen appeared, but before the image could even come into focus the man at the other end was already giving orders. " By order of the King of Rygoth, I order you to power down your engine's and surrender." The screen finally blinked into focus showing a rather angry looking individual. That lasted for only about two seconds however, as the sentry suddenly realized to whom he was speaking. " Oh is that so?" Ryoa asked. " P-princess! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean, that is...," the sentry stammered. " Save it," Ryoa interrupted. " Where's my father?" " The King is presently in the base we've established on the second world in this system. He actually has given us orders to bring you to him as soon as possible." " Works for me, I needed to talk to him anyway." Ryoa was about to cut the connection when the sentry spoke up. " Uh excuse me, your ladyship, but uh there is just one, small thing." " Oh." " Well, the King has also given us orders to keep out any...outsiders." Ryoa cast a glance over her shoulder at Tenchi and the others. " Their not 'outsiders'. They're my friends and some of them have just as much at stake in this as I do." She grabbed Tenchi by the arm and pulled him next to her. " This, happens to be my sister's husband. And seeing that he is such, he is also prince of Rygoth, so don't try telling me he can't come." The sentry took a moment to wipe a line of sweat off his brow. " Please, your majesty, perhaps if you could get your father's, I mean the king's permission first, then..." " Ah screw this," Ryoa cut in, switching off the screen. She then grabbed Ren-ohki's control sphere's and shoved them full forward. She blew past the two sentry ships, barely avoiding colliding with them. " Should have just done that in the first place." Two sentries and a warning shot later, fired by Ryoa, the princess managed to get everyone inside the base. After landing they were escorted into a room to await the King's arrival. The room was sparsely furnished, with a pair of couches and three chairs. This didn't turn out to be a problem though, seeing as Azaka and Kamidake couldn't sit down, while Tenchi and Ryoa were too anxious to. " It's just like him to keep me waiting like this," Ryoa muttered. " Oh come on," Washu spoke up. " It's only been three minutes and fifteen seconds since we got here." She had claimed one whole couch to herself and was laying with her hands behind her head. Ryoa growled in response and turned her gaze back to the door. When the door finally did open a messenger took a quick step in and announced that the king had arrived. " About damn time," Ryoa commented. The messenger stepped aside to allow the king to enter. This was more than just a courtesy, it was a necessity, for the king of Rygoth happened to be a big man. A very, very big man. He had to duck to pass through the doorway, which happened to be about eight feet tall. Upon standing up his head stopped just shy of ceiling, twelve feet above the floor. Tenchi nearly fell over backward as he looked up at him. The king wasn't just tall, he was also thickly built. His shoulders and chest were over six feet across and his arms were bigger than most people's waist. The sheer massiveness of him was awe inspiring. Adding to the effect was the bright green hair on his head that swept back like a lion's mane and flowed down over his shoulders. It came down across his face in a thick beard and mustache. Finally, adding the illusion of even more size to the man was a heavy yellow cape that hung from a gold laced shirt. This was sleeveless and open up the middle, showing that he wasn't just big, but built as well. The shirt was tucked into a pair of pants that could only be described as puffy, adding even more girth to the man's already impossibly thick legs. The pants ended in a pair of tall, steel laden boots. For a moment there was utter silence as the King cast his gaze around the room, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Finally his eyes settled on Ryoa. " I told you to let the military find Ryoko," he spoke in a voice so deep Tenchi could feel it vibrate in his chest. " Instead, you take off, alone. You leave without telling me where your going and are gone for several days without sending one word back. Then you return and bring with you several strangers into what is suppose to be a secrete base." " What's your point?" Ryoa asked nonchalantly. " The point is that I worry about you." He let out a heavy sigh. " Your just like your mother, you know that?" His stern gaze slackened and a small smile began to form. " Well, are you going to come give your old man a hug or do I have to come over to you?" With a slight blush of embarrassment Ryoa floated over to her father and wrapped her arms around his neck. Meanwhile, everyone else let out a sigh of relief. " Come on dad, let me introduce you to everyone," Ryoa said. She floated back to the ground. " Everyone, I'd like you to meet my dad, King Thantaous." She stepped beside Tenchi. " Dad, this is Tenchi." " Ah ha, so you're the one who married my daughter," Thantaous boomed. " It's great to finally meet you. I've heard many great things about you." He offered Tenchi his hand. " Oh, thanks, it's nice to meet you to," Tenchi replied as his hand was engulfed by the handshake. " What exactly do you mean by ' many great things'?" Thantaous laughed. " Well, lets just say that I've met someone who happens to know you quiet well." The giant stepped aside to reveal a person hidden behind his bulk. " Dad!?" Tenchi exclaimed. " How you doing there son?" Nobiyuki replied. " Bu-but how?" " Well, I came home to find the house being throughly looked over by an interesting group of individuals. To make a long story short, they ended up bringing me here for questioning and I've spent the last couple of days being interrogated. Now before you go getting fired up Tenchi, they didn't hurt me any, so there's no need to get upset." " He really has been a great sport about all this," Thantaous put in. " Oh course once I found out that he was the father of my daughter's husband I ordered to have him released and since then we've spent a great deal of time talking." " About me and Ryoko, right?" Tenchi asked. " That's right," Thantaous replied. " After all, I haven't seen my little Ryoko in ages. From what Nobiyuki here has been telling me, she sounds like quiet a hellcat, just like her sister. And of course I was interested to hear about you, seeing as you are my son-in-law." " You know," Katsuhito spoke up. " It's interesting that through you and Ryoko, Tenchi, two vast, powerful empires have come together, and neither one knew of it until now." " Yes," Thantaous mused. " When this is all over I'll definitely need to pay a visit to Jurai. But that's to be worried about later. Now where are my manners. Ryoa, if you would please finish the introductions." " Oh course. This here is Tenchi's grandfather, Katsuhito." " A pleasure," Katsuhito said with a bow. " Likewise," Thantaous replied. " Now over here we have Azaka and Kamidake," Ryoa said, pointing toward the two knights. " And these two here, are also Azaka and Kamidake. There's a bit of a story behind these four..." " Yes, yes, Nobiyuki mentioned them once," Thantaous interrupted. The two knights knelt before him. " It is truly an honor to meet you," Azaka started. " Although I have only spent a little time around her, I must say that Ryoko has left quite the impression on me. If not for her bravery and skill, none of us would be here today." " Ryoa as well, is of great character," Kamidake picked up. " She is also a formidable opponent, as one can tell by looking upon my face." " Oh really?" Thantaous turned to Ryoa. " Are you responsible for the scar on this man's face?" " It was a misunderstanding. Besides, if he wanted to he could have it removed. He seems to think of it as some sort of memento of our fight." At that, Thantaous burst out laughing. " Well if that's the case then he's definitely my kind of guy. A pleasure to meet both of you. And you two as well," he said to the waiting guardians." " And finally," Ryoa started. " The greatest scientific genius in the galaxy, Washu." " That's 'in the universe' dear, but I'll let it slide this time," Washu corrected. Despite the enormous differences in their sizes she stepped up to Thantaous and offered him her hand. " Allow me to express my pleasure at meeting the father of one of the most interesting individuals I've ever encountered. Your Ryoko has had quite an impact on my life, despite the fact that she often purposely avoids me." " And it a pleasure to meet the ' greatest scientist in the universe'," Thantaous replied, taking her hand. " I must say, that is a very big title for such a little lady to claim." " Oh really?" Washu's eyebrows shot up. " That wouldn't be doubt I heard in your voice, would it?" At those words everyone else in the room tensed. " You know, I think we should..." Tenchi started, trying to change the subject. " Oh no you don't," Washu interrupted. She turned her attention back to Thantaous, who's hand she had yet to release. " Well? You didn't answer. Do you doubt that I am the greatest scientist in the universe?" " Well, lets just say that I happen to know some very intelligent people who I've often felt were worthy of such a title." " Ah, I see." Washu then pulled Thantaous's arm clean off. Literally clean off, as both the severed appendage and it's former point of contact were covered by skin and showed no sign of injury. Thantaous felt no pain, but was understandably shocked. Washu held up the massive arm as if it was light as paper. " I must say, you've got a heck of a build on this thing. You must work out a lot." She then tossed the arm on the floor and brought up her holo-top. A few keystrokes later and the arm split into two dozen tiny, blue, squawking water sprites. They ran all about the room bumping into each other and everything else in their haste. Finally Washu snapped her fingers and they all ran over to Thantaous. They quickly climbed up his body to his shoulder and morphed onto him until his arm was back as it started. He held the appendage in question in front of his shocked face and wiggled his fingers. He then felt the arm with his opposing hand. " How the, what the, but how did?" he stammered. " There was nothing to it really," Washu announced. " It was a simple matter of DNA rearranging. Now if you want to see something complex, I'll show you my temporal decomposer. That thing's a work of art." " Um no, that's fine," Thantaous replied hastily. " It would seem I was mistaken to doubt you." " Aw, thanks big guy." " Washu, are you done?" Tenchi asked. " Quite," Washu replied. " Good, then perhaps we can get down to the important issues here, like saving Ryoko." " Indeed," Thantaous agreed. " I have most of the fleet out searching this galaxy for her, but so far they have been unable to find where ever it is that she has been taken." " I hate to tell this dad, but your wasting your time," Ryoa remarked. " Both Ryoko and Ryo-ohki have been captured." " Dammit all. Well, I suppose there is one advantage to this situation. They will have to be brought here. Still, it will be risky. I wish we had taken the time to move it." " It?" Washu questioned. " The reason for Ryoko's capture. The reason my little girl is so important to the Xon. It is here at this base." " What!?" Ryoa exclaimed. " What the hell's it doing here!?" " What are you two talking about?" Washu interrupted. " Come with me," Thantaous replied. " Your not actually going to show them, are you?" Ryoa asked. " Yes, I am. I know it goes against centuries of tradition, but dammit, they have a right to know. At least I think they have a right to know. So I say, screw tradition." " For you all to truly understand what I am about to show you, you must first hear about the origin of my people." Seated in a circle of chairs that made up the interior of the transit pod, Thantaous recounted the history of his people. " We are not a 'natural' species. We were created by another race of beings. A civilization so advanced even our best scientist's can only speculate on the workings of the pieces of leftover technology we have recovered. The cabbit ships are an example. To be honest, we have no idea how they work. We know how to grow them, to train them, and how to use them, but no more. Our powers are another example. While we are quite capable of using them, we don't understand how they work. Part of the reason Washu's little stunt with my arm startled me so much was because none of our scientist's have been able to figure out anything in regards to our genetic make up. While most races with similar technology to our own has extensive medical knowledge, we have none. We have no clue as to the workings of our bodies. Now, while there are many things of our creators that we have and use on a daily basis, there are other things that should never have been left with us. One of those creations is here, at this base. It is a ship, a very special ship. It was used only once, and even once was too much. For it is a weapon, nothing more. A weapon of incredible destructive potential. The one time it was used was in an attempt to end a civil war that had begun on one of the worlds in the empire. The war was threatening to spread from the planet, and the standard military was unable to contain it. So we used the ship, and it worked, but not the way they had hoped. They had planned to use it to destroy several bases of resistance. They brought the ship into orbit, selected their first target, and fired. That marked the end of the planet. It was completely destroyed by the blast. Sixteen billion people died that day, and the main weapon had only been set at ten percent of it's maximum. It may sound as if they had been foolish to use the ship without testing it's abilities first, but the scientists that went over the ship before it's use found no indication that it was capable of such power. Even to this day no one has any idea were that power came from. It was decided that the ship was to be hidden. Many had wanted it destroyed, but there were some who thought it would be a grave error to throw away such a weapon, that some day it might actually be needed." " Excuse me one moment," Tenchi interrupted. " This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Ryoko and Ryo-ohki?" " I was just getting to that. The way the ship is piloted is unique. To control it, a cabbit ship must be inserted into a special connection on the top of the ship. And only a ship of the proper shape will fit correctly into the connection." " Ryo-ohki," Tenchi spoke. " Yes, only Ryo-ohki's design will fit into the connection. For that reason, Ryo-ohki was never allowed to have offspring except to replace itself, although for added protection a spare egg of Ryo-ohki was kept with the ship in case something should happen to her. However, just having Ryo-ohki is not enough to pilot the ship. Once Ryo-ohki is connected, the pilot becomes mentally linked to the ship." " And only a select few can do so properly, Ryoko being one of those individuals," Washu guessed " Yes." " And let me guess, you don't know why they are able to." " No, we can't find any reason why some can and most can't. We can however, learn who is capable of piloting the ship with a special device that was found with the ship. It is a small, handheld scanner. It is remarkably easy to use, just point it at a person. If nothing happens, then they are incompatible with the ship. If the tiny light near the front lights up, then they can pilot the ship. Now then, regarding Ryoko. All members of the royal family are checked soon after birth for compatibility. That's when all the trouble started. She was born during the beginning of the Xon rebellion. At that time the rebels were doing poorly, and it seemed that they would be quickly defeated. As it turned out though, it was a front. The rebellion was extremely well organized, and they had spies and saboteurs throughout the military and political infrastructures. When they had our forces spread out across the empire, they struck. They nearly managed to win the whole war in three hours. We barely hung on. Almost all lines of communication were lost, thirty two worlds fell under their control, and most of the royal family was captured. Only myself and my immediate family escaped. They gained access to our most secure information, and that is how they found out about the ship." " Just one thing," Tenchi asked. " If Ryoko is going to become the ship's pilot, how are they going to get her to do what they want. I mean, if Ryoko doesn't want to do something, you can not get her to do it. I know, oh God do I know." Thantaous let out a deep grumble. " Unfortunately, getting her to cooperate will be the simplest part of their mission. As you recall, I told you our race was created by another. They must have been concerned about what we could do if we got out of hand, because they installed a means by which they could take control of our bodies. We have recovered many of the devices that they created for this purpose. They are a mesh of wires formed so that it fits around the back of the skull. Once in place and activated, the individual becomes a slave to the will of whoever holds the control key." " Are you telling me that they are going to turn my wife into a control board!? That she's going to end up being stripped of her will!?" " I'm afraid so. If we can't stop Hushira from reaching the ship, then we will never stop him, and we will never be able to help Ryoko." The transit pod slid to a halt and the hatch opened. Before anyone could step out Thantaous stood up in front of the doorway. " Now you must understand that what you are about to see has never been seen before by anyone outside the royal family or the military. You are not to discuss anything you see here with anyone." With that said he moved aside. Tenchi was the first to pass by. The transit pod had brought them to a massive underground vault. The room was mostly domed shaped. The bare walls displayed the carved rock into which the chamber had been built. And sitting in the center of the room, surrounded on all sides by metal frames and machinery, was the ship. It was solid black and totally void of any surface designs. It's shape was similar to that of Ryo-ohki, but it was much larger. Tenchi guessed it to be at least a mile wide. The wings stuck out at less of an angle then did Ryo-ohki's, and the center column was studded with shorter wings. Behind him, Tenchi heard a low whistle of amazement. " Damn, now that thing is something else," Washu muttered. She already had her holo-top out. Various screens flashed by and it seemed that her eyes grew wider with each one. " Nano-pulse quantum converters, temporal fusion engines, space altering particle cannons, what the hell is that thing?" Through the back of the screen Tenchi could see a schematic view of the ship appear. The image zoomed in on an elongated crystalline structure inside the ship. " I can't get any readings on that thing." " And your not likely to either," Thantaous told her. " That is the heart of the ship. It's been the focus of our studies for the past three thousand years and we still don't know anything about it." " We'll see about that," Washu shot back. " But I can tell you why your ancestors under-calculated the ship's power." " You can't be serious," Thantaous replied. His face turned pale. " Our greatest scientists have been studying this ship without success. There is no way you could accomplish in thirty seconds what they couldn't in three millennia." " Actually I just did. Don't feel bad though, they just didn't have the right tools for the job. Anyway, the problem is in the design of the main weapon. It's a sub-atomic disassembler. The beam it produces breaks apart matter at the sub-atomic level, and once started the process is self feeding. The only difference the power level makes is how fast the reaction takes place." " So once started, the process can't be stopped?" Thantaous asked. " Well it can, just not practically. Certainly not on the scale this thing was designed to operate at. If the energy readings I'm getting are accurate, then at full power that ship could rip apart a planet in less then thirty seconds. I hate to admit it, but I'm actually impressed, somewhat." " Somewhat?" Ryoa asked in disbelief. " Well, it's certainly a powerful weapon, but it's nothing compared to my dimensional cannon. Now that's a weapon!" " You mean it 'was' a weapon," Tenchi said. " You dismantled that thing. Didn't you?" Washu purposely avoided Tenchi's gaze. " Washu, you promised to get rid of it. You agreed that it was far too dangerous. Now you did destroy it, right?" " Well...not really." Tenchi let out a painful groan. " Washu!" " What!? It was one of my greatest accomplishments. You can't possibly imagine how hard it was to produce a machine capable of generating, holding, and focusing that much energy." " But what the hell do you need it for? Why the hell would anyone need a weapon that could blow up an entire galaxy!?" " An entire WHAT!?" Ryoa shouted. " That's impossible," Thantaous remarked. " Actually the principle behind it is very simple. The blast from the cannon disrupts all forces that keep matter together. Gravitational, electromagnetic, and the strong and weak nuclear forces all cease to work and the galaxy just falls apart. The problem is in generating enough energy to effect an entire galaxy." Washu seemed like she would continue on, but Thantaous held up a hand to stop her. " Please, that's more then enough. Just the idea of such a device frightens me. I can't believe such a thing is possible, and I don't want to be convinced otherwise." Meanwhile, Tenchi just stood and stared at the ship before him. His life had been changed forever because of it. It was due to the ship that Ryoko had been brought to his galaxy. If not for it, he would never have met her, or any of the other women that he had come to care for. He might never have learned of his Jurian heritage either. His life would be completely different today if not for this ship. " Amazing how much impact some things have in our lives, even if we never knew of them." Tenchi glanced over at his grandfather. He somehow seemed to know everything that went on in his head. " That's for sure," he replied. " Who would have imagined that I'd find my true love because of a weapon of mass destruction built millions of years ago in another galaxy." " Well, at least it can be said that something good came from this thing's existence." Tenchi smiled at his grandfather's words. He turned to Thantaous, who was in the middle of an argument with Washu over the moral issues of weapons. " Um, excuse me you two," he interrupted. " I hate to cut in on your conversation, but don't you think we should be coming up with a plan to get Ryoko back." Ryoko was pissed. She felt like her head might just explode from fury boiling inside her. It was bad enough that she had been caught, again, by Hushira. It also sucked that once again she was trapped on his ship and strapped in a chair. To make things even worse he had placed something metal on the back of her head that was far to tight and was digging into her skin. But of all the things in life at that moment that annoyed her, the worst was the fact that Hushira was sitting in his chair on the bridge with her, asleep. He had fallen asleep in his chair and was now snoring. And that, more than anything, was driving her crazy. The sound felt like it was boring into her skull. " Wake up dammit!" she screamed for what seemed to be the thousandth time. No effect. Hushira kept right on sleeping and snoring. Ryoko jerked at the forcefields that held her arms, trying desperately to get free so she could escape that awful noise. She threw her weight to the right and pulled hard with her left arm, but only succeeded in sending the chair into a slow spin. " Why me?" she moaned. The next few hours were the most torturous that Ryoko could remember. Despite several attempts, all of Ryoko's shouting gained her nothing beyond a sore throat. She finally gave up and resorted to muttering every filthy comment she could think of. Suddenly there was a tiny, hardly noticeable chime, and Hushira woke up in mid-snore. " He did that just to spite me, I swear it," Ryoko muttered to herself. "It's almost time," Hushira announced. " Time?" Ryoko asked. " Time for you to be put to use. Time for you to discover your purpose." " And...that would be, what?" " To be my tool. I was suppose to take you back and turn you over, but I've decided I'd rather keep you. And with you, I'll gain unstoppable power." " What in the hell are you babbling about?" Hushira laughed and spun his chair around to face her. " You want to know what this is all about?" " You already told me all you knew the last time we talked. Your just following orders and have no idea why I'm so important to your cause, or ex- cause it seems." " Actually, I lied." He spun his chair back around. " I wasn't suppose to know, but I have my ways. I found out what was planned for you. Ryoko, you are the most important part of the control system for the ultimate weapon." He went to describe the ship and it's power. Ryoko listen carefully to his account of the ships history and the history of her people. When he went on to describe the device that was strapped to the back of her head, Ryoko felt a cold shiver run down her spine. " Does it frighten you?" he asked. " Of course not," Ryoko tried to sound convincing, but her voice faltered. " I am curious, what will happen to you once I activate it. In fact, we have a few minutes to spare." He reached into a pocket on his suit, and pulled out a small ring. He held it up so that she could see it clearly. It was silverish and contained no visible decoration. Hushira made a show of slowly slipping it on his ring finger. " You know, just as I was not suppose to have knowledge of the ship, I was not suppose to have this either. I'm afraid security within the Xon alliance isn't what it should be." As he finally slid the ring fully on a faint glow circled about the center of it, expanding slightly outward. When it faded, Ryoko could see the ring was now circled by another, slightly thinner and wider then the original. Hushira took the ring between the thumb and forefinger of his other hand, and twisted it slightly. The second ring slid around the first as if on ball bearings. At the same time Ryoko felt something push into her mind. It was like a black cloud that covered up her brain, and anything under it was unreachable. It only lasted a second, but it left a feeling of utter revulsion swimming through her body. " Interesting," Hushira remarked. He gestured at her and forcefields on the chair vanished as it tilted forward. Ryoko landed on her feet and just barely kept her balance. Hushira gave the ring another turn and she collapsed as the feeling pushed deeper into her mind. She wanted to fight it but had no idea how. There was nothing she could do to stop it from invading. She could however, stop it at the source. It took a supreme effort to move her body, but she managed to fight her way to her feet. Swaying, she held out her hands at Hushira and tried to summon an energy blast. Faint sparks formed around her fingers and very slowly began to condense into a ball. " Oh please," Hushira mocked. With that he flicked the ring, sending it spinning round like a top, and sending Ryoko into utter darkness. " We have incoming, three ships." " Group two and three, move to engage." " We need targeting data." " Watch your fire!" " I'm hit!" " Ship eight is down!" " Break left!" " They've broken through! Repeat..." " We need pick up!" Listening to the flood of voices that filled the command room was enough to fray anyone's nerves, but for Tenchi, knowing that his wife was out there were all the shouting was coming from, it was much worse. She was trapped on one of those ships and there was nothing he could do to help her. He had to wait and hope for the best. The three Xon ships had blown past the first line of defense with almost no damage. Since they had no idea which ship Ryoko was on, they had to try and disable all three ships if they were to save her. This gave the Xon ships a huge advantage. " Coming up on second line." " Their splitting up." " We can't get any readings!" " Move in closer." " We taking too many hits!" " Dammit, which ship is it!" " Second ship is not the target!" " Copy that, take it out!" With a sudden explosion, the Xon's numbers dropped from three to two. The remaining ships pulled back together as they dove through the wave of ships that blocked them from their destination. " It's the first ship. Repeat, first ship is the target!" " Copy that. Group five, take care of the other one." Another flash marked the end of another Xon ship, leaving only one left to take on the entire defensive fleet. "Sui-noki," Tenchi remarked. "I knew it. Hushira would never allow anyone else to hold Ryoko." The ship desperately tried to weave between the fleet, blasts emanating outward in ever direction. A fleet ship pulled alongside and latched onto Sui-noki. The ship tried to blast it off, but another ship took it's place. Three more took hold as well, despite the flurry of shots that tried to knock them back. They returned fire and Sui-noki's shielding collapsed. A few more shots and the cabbit's weapons were vaporized, leaving it helpless. From the command room there came a thunderous yell. " Got him!" Thantaous looked over his should at Tenchi. " I told you didn't I?" Tenchi sighed and shook his head. " What's wrong Tenchi?" Washu asked. " You should be happy. Hushira's caught, Ryoko's safe. You should be ecstatic." " I don't know Washu, this was too easy. It feels wrong." " Oh come on!" Thantaous bellowed. " Too easy? Maybe for you, you just had to stand there and watch. I think you might just be disappointed that you didn't get to save her yourself." Before Tenchi could respond, one of the command crew called out, " Sir, I'm detecting metamorphic activity within the target." As they watched, Sui-noki suddenly exploded outward. The remains of the ship slammed into the fleet and knocked them back. Several ships crashed into each other as they tried to avoid the debris. At the heart of it, sat Ryo-ohki. " I don't believe it!" Thantaous yelled. " He killed his own ship!" Taking advantage of the resulting chaos, Hushira drove Ryo-ohki onward. " I told you," Tenchi remarked. " Breach in the docking bay!" " Atmospheric pressure compromised!" " He's blowing through the bay wall!" " Get the fleet back in here!" " Report from below, the ship's systems are powering up!" " It's moving, the ship is moving! It's breaking free fr..." Alarms were blaring all over the place, dozens of voices shouting, monitors flashing. " What the hell is going on!? What's our status!?" Thantaous slammed a massive fist down on the arm of his chair. " The docking bay has collapsed!" " Sections eight through thirty-two are gone!" " We've lost track of Ryo-ohki!" " Everyone be quiet!" Thantaous's shout drowned out all other voices, bringing sole attention to himself. " Now what's the status of the target?" " Sir, Ryo-ohki is linking with the ship." All heads turned toward the left of the command room. The owner of the voice was watching a small monitor, his eyes locked on the screen. " I can see the connections locking in place." Tenchi shoved his way through the crowd to look over the man's shoulder. He could just make out Ryo-ohki next to the massive ship it was docking with. Heavy clamps locked around Ryo-ohki's wings and pulled her down. The cabbit almost completely vanished into the ship, leaving only her crystal dome exposed. " Your orders sir?" the man asked, looking past Tenchi to Thantaous. The king raked his fingers through his hair as he tried to collect his thoughts. " Any suggestions?" he asked, looking around the room. " Sir! The ship's blasting through the ground. It's boring a hole to the surface." " We need to get out of here," Washu commented. Thantaous turned to look at the scientist. " Once he gets free from the planet, Hushira will probably destroy it." Thantaous sighed heavily. " Dammit. Alright, order the evacuation." Ryoa took her father hand. " Come on dad, we can take my ship." He nodded and started after her. He took a last glance back at the screen and saw Tenchi still standing before it. " Tenchi, you coming with us?" Tenchi reached out and laid his hand on the screen. " Just hold on Ryoko," he whispered. " I'll find a way to save you." " Tenchi?" " I'm coming." A tremor shook the command room as he ran out after Thantaous. It started as a rumble. Just a slight shaking of the ground. That didn't last long though. The rumble rapidly built into an earth shaking roar. With a sudden bulging heave the ground tore apart as tons of rock and soil erupted skyward. The air bucked and swirled as temperatures around the hole soared. From this gaping wound in the planet the ship drove out. Dozens of smaller ships flitted around it like a swarm of gnats. In a searing flash of light it reached out and swatted one. The unlucky cabbit never had a chance. The beam obliterated it so fast it might as well have never existed . The deadly ray swept the sky in a long arc. Ships exploded in a fatal fireworks display as it cleaved the air like a massive sword. The ships scattered in a desperate attempt to flee. When all ships had been destroyed or managed to escape to safety the deadly light vanished. The ship rotated slowly above the hole it had blasted forth from. Around it the air shimmered while flaming debris pummeled the ground. With a crack like thunder, the center column of the ship opened. It split into four separate sections that slowly pulled away from each other. A blazing white light poured from inside. The ground started to splinter as the glow brightened, bathing the land with a glare it had never experienced. Boulders crumbled to dust and were swept away by a sudden outflowing wind. Then for one brief instant, everything stopped. The dust stared to slowly settle and tumbling rocks clattered to a stop. The serene moment didn't last though. With a banshee scream the ship fired. The blast annihilated the surrounding landscape. A nearby mountain range simply disintegrated and was carried away. From space one could see a fountain of dust erupt into orbit, a mushroom shaped cloud thousand of miles high. Even more frightening was the electric like streaks of energy that flowed outward from the base of the cloud. They spread across the face of the planet like a flood. As they grew wider and deeper, arcs of power exploded upward, carrying tons of shattered rock with them. Opposite the blast site, the earth bulged and blew out as the shockwave pushed it's way into space. Thousands of mountain sized rocks hurled into the vacuum, crumbling apart as the same energy that consumed the planet wore them to dust. It's core gone the planet collapsed on itself. Untold billions of tons of rock crashed together. As gravity turned the pressure into heat, temperatures surged and rock vaporized. Massive explosions detonated across the planet. A mere five minutes after it started, it was over. In place of the planet there was now a cloud, not of dust, but of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Nothing bigger than a hydrogen atom remained intact. Except for one object. The cause of the destruction hovered within the cloud, slowly stirring the mix as it spun. "Oh shit." Tenchi could only nod in agreement with Ryoa's comment as he watched the slowly expanding cloud that had been a planet just moments before. " Impressive," Washu said. Amazingly, her voice was absent of any trace of emotion other then mild curiosity. " I severely underestimated the energy potential of that ship." " Oh shit," Ryoa repeated. The dust cloud was starting to thin out, allowing them to make out the shadowed outline of the ship. Those with better than average eyesight could also make out several smaller dots around it. The military ships were careful to stay out of range of the planet killer's weapons as they gathered what intelligence they could. " So, what now?" Tenchi figured it was a question that had to be asked, and since no one else seemed to be about to, he asked it. " Oh shit." " We're going to have to retreat for now," Thantaous answered, ignoring his daughter's repetitious muttering. " There's nothing we can do to stop it with the force we have at the moment." " And just how many ships do you think it will take to stop it?" Thantaous breathed a very heavy sigh as his shoulders and head drooped. When he spoke, his words seemed far to soft to be coming from such a huge individual. " More than we have. More than we have ever had." " Oh shit." She couldn't see. Couldn't hear, couldn't feel. But she knew. She knew where they were. All around, like little bugs. Little, tiny, annoying bugs. She wanted to, the feeling welled up inside her like fire. But she couldn't. Not yet, He hadn't told her to, yet. She knew He would. Just as He had told her to before. Permission would come. Soon they would all be dead. Then, maybe they could find more planets to kill. It had felt so good. She had felt every wondrous moment as the planet had crumbled. But it wasn't enough. She needed more. More planets, more destruction. She could feel the need, the desire for destruction. It was an intense hunger building inside her. When would He let her feed? Why was He waiting? The tiny ships around her would be mere morsels toward filling that hunger, but they would do for the moment. Just as soon as He let her. She hissed in pleasure. Yes, she could. She could sense Him. It would be easy. He was close enough. A brief surge of power, and He would be gone. A beautiful corpse, burnt and twisted. It would be lovely. "No!" The scream echoed in her mind. She couldn't. She wanted to, she needed to. But she couldn't. Her will wasn't strong enough. She was still His tool. There was nothing she could do. " I can't do it" " No! I can't let you!" She screamed. Pain, death, screaming, torment, death, pain. " Stop it! Leave me alone!" " I...I...I...c-c-can-can't l-l-let y-you. J-j-just...l-l-leave me...ALONE!" She sobbed in relief as the pain ended. They had let her go, for now. However, the hunger was still there. The pain hadn't lessened it any. She still needed it. Why must she suffer? There it is. Permission is given. A task has been laid out. Destroy. " It's moving!" Ryoa's shout brought everyone's attention back toward the planet's remains. The massive battleship lunged out of the dust cloud it had created. Two of the circling ships suddenly found themselves right in it's path. They tried to flee, but blades of death swung out and crushed them before they could even turn around. The other ship's scattered, but the planet killer was remarkably fast. It gave chase, overtaking and destroying it's helpless prey. In seconds it had swept the fleet away, save for one final ship. " Oh shit." Ryoa wasted no time in taking the controls and flying off in the opposite direction. " It's gaining, fast!" Azaka called out. Behind them the already giant ship was growing larger as it closed the distance. " So, this is how it ends," Kamidake remarked. He was suddenly jabbed in the ribs by Washu. " Show a little faith, would ya?" She had out her transport controller. " Everyone brace yourself, cause there's not enough time for me to properly program this thing." " Are you sure that's safe?" Tenchi asked. Washu shrugged. " Safer then being here though." " Oh shit." "They got away?" She couldn't believe it. The prey had vanished. Here and then gone. " I don't know." She felt a lash of pain. "Does it matter? It was just one ship." She didn't know how to answer. What kind of stupid question was that anyway. She chose to ignore it. But what now? There were no more ships. But there were planets. Lots of planets. But which one? What would He choose. To move. He said to leave. But there were still things to destroy. Why leave? She couldn't ask though, only obey. "Shut up!" Where were they going? " Washu, as useful an invention as your transporter is, I have to say that considering how I feel now, I think it might have been better to take our chances with the ship. " Laying flat on his back, Tenchi waited for the feeling to come back to his body. From somewhere outside his limited field of view, a highly sarcastic voice answered. " Boy, you really know how to make a girl feel appreciated, you know that Tenchi?" He managed to slowly turn his head toward her voice. Unfortunately, gravity decided to help out and he managed to bang his temple on the floor. Pain and frustration flowed out of him in a garbled growl. " Ow!" he groaned between clenched teeth. A shadow floated over him and he raised one eye to see Azaka's cylindrical form hovering by his head. " Are you alright lord Tenchi?" " I'm fine!" That latter half of his statement was more highly stressed as he forced himself to sit up. Or tried to anyway. He failed part way collapsed back onto the floor. " Why can't I feel my legs?" " The transfer probably overloaded parts of your nervous system," Washu explained as she used Kamidake to pull herself to her feet. She leaned heavily against the wooden automaton while she caught her breath. " Just be glad it wasn't the nerves running to your heart or lungs." While everyone else made similar attempts to stand, Washu called up her holo-top. By the time Tenchi managed to stagger over to her, she was throughly focused on the information scrolling across the screen. Placing a hand against Kamidake for support, he glanced over her shoulder. The screen showed an image of the system they had just left, along with the cause of their sudden departure. The ship hung silently against the background of stars. " How are you getting this image Washu?" " This?" she asked lightly. " This is nothing more than light amplification coupled with circuitous illumination gathering and temporal correction." Tenchi shook his head in confusion. " What?" Washu sighed heavily. " I've got a device back at my lab similar in concept, concept mind you, to a telescope. It contains a convess lens that allow for infinite magnification of light." " Whoa, infinite? How's that possible?" " Tenchi, can you visualize fourth dimensional objects?" " Uh, no." " Then I'm not going to waste time explaining it, because you'll never get it." " Oh. Well what about..." " The circuitous illumination gathering. It's a method of viewing light from different angles. It allows me to view things that are hidden behind other objects. I suppose you could think of it as if the light was being bent out and around the object in the way. However, that is a vastly simplified description. It's like saying 'babies come from love'. It hardly explains anything. " Okay, and..." " Temporal correction. It adjusts for the time it takes light to travel from the source to the collector. When joined with a convess lens and circuitous illumination gatherer, I can view anyplace in the universe in real time just so long as I have the coordinates for it." " But..." " Don't even bother. Forgive me ,but you have no hope in understanding the nonecclesiastical loopback theory behind temporal correction. Though it is nice to see you develop an interest in science." Any reply Tenchi might have had was cut off as the ship suddenly vanished. " What happened?" " It jumped. Hushira's moving." " Can you tell where he's going?" " Give me a minute, you think it's easy to pinpoint the ending destination of a ship forty-eight light years away using only force gathered light?" Washu's fingers flew across the keyboard as rapidly as the words flew from her mouth. Despite her claim, it didn't take her more than a few seconds to reach an answer. " Oh no." " What?" " Well, it's impossible to say for sure where he's going, since a ship can change direction in mid-jump, also there are several different places that a ship can drop out of a jump along any given path..." " Washu!" " Sorry." She took a deep breath before answering. " Given the direction he took, I'd say he's heading for the Earth." " Earth, but why would..." Tenchi suddenly stopped in mid-speech. He remembered what Hushira had said when he had taken Ryoko. " He still thinks I'm on the Earth. He's heading back there with the intent of rubbing his victory in my face." A terrible thought suddenly formed in Tenchi's mind. " You don't think he would..." " Blow up the Earth?" Washu finished. " I would be surprised if he didn't." Tenchi felt like he was going to be sick. " We have to stop him, but how?" He cast a glance at the scientist. " Washu, if you have any ideas..." " Of course I do, but your not going to like it." She paused for a moment. " We could use the dimensional cannon." " But what about Ryoko?" Ryoa cut in. " You can't just blow her to hell with the ship." " So you would let six billion people die, just for the chance at saving one." Washu's cold logic sent a chill down Tenchi's spine. She was right. He knew she was, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't live with himself if Ryoko was killed without him at least trying to save her. " Alright Washu, do what you have to do to stop that thing." Ryoa looked at him in total shock. She started to protest, but he cut her off. " While your doing that, I'm going to go try and save Ryoko." " And just how do you plan to do that?" Washu questioned. " Any ship you try to fly next to that thing will be destroyed before your even close enough to scan the interior and locate Ryoko." " I know, but I have to try. Even if it is suicide." Suddenly Washu began shaking. She put her hand over her face, but she just couldn't keep it in. Chuckles, and then full out laughter forced it's way out of her. Ryoa glared at her. " You know, I don't find anything about this funny," she growled. " Of course you don't," Washu replied between giggles. " But then again, you don't know Tenchi like I do." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She looked at Tenchi with a big smile on her face. " You never change. No wonder Ryoko loves you so much. Always ready to put yourself in harms way for your friends and family. It really is sweet Tenchi, but it would be far more practical if you would give a little thought before you acted. It would be honorable, but pointless to get blown up by trying to force your way onto that ship by conventional means." " Well then what would you suggest I do?" Tenchi tried to keep his voice under control, but days of pent up stress were getting the better of him. " I can't just sit back and let Hushira blow up the Earth, but I also can't let Ryoko die. Nothing but death will stop me from trying." He opened his mouth to continue, but suddenly shut it as something clicked in his mind. " By conventional means..." He gave the still smiling woman a knowing look. " Washu, do you by chance, have some...unconventional means that I might use to get on board that ship." Washu's smile widened. " I just might..." " Now you all understand, I've never tested this thing. So there's no telling how it will hold up." Washu closed and sealed the engineering panel on the small ship. " Everything looks alright at least. Now does everyone know what their job is?" " All I have to do is fly the damn thing," Ryoa responded. She started to scratch at the electrode attached to her temple, but Washu slapped her hand away. " Stop that. You want those connections secure. Otherwise the mind data flow could be obstructed, and that would severely limit your control." " Your absolutely sure that I can control this ship mentally with these things?" Ryoa gave a small tug on the wires leading from her temple to the ship's computer. Once again, Washu gave her hand a quick smack. " Hey." " Would you leave it alone?" Ryoa waited until Washu turned her attention elsewhere before making faces at the scientist. " Now Tenchi, you sure you understand how to use the scanner?" " I think so. It doesn't seem that complicated." " Good. Once you locate Ryoko just feed the coordinates to the computer and it will transport her onboard.". " Right. Just find her and let the computer take it from there. Got it." " That's right. Now Azaka..." " I'll be ready. I will make certain that no energy blasts get past the shield." " Good, but remember, the shield will only be able to take a few direct shots before it gives out. If possible, try to use the shield to deflect, rather than absorb." " Hey, don't worry about it," Ryoa called from the front. " They'll be lucky if they can even target this baby with me piloting it." " Lets hope so," Washu replied under her breath. She moved on to the final station inside the cramped cockpit of the ship. " You ready?" " I believe so," Kamidake answered a little uncertainly. " You'll do fine. All you need to do is make sure there's enough energy flowing to each system." " I understand. I just hope I will be fast enough in my decisions." " You will be. Above all else though, keep power to the engines. If you need to, drain energy from life support. Your trip will be short enough that you can do without it." Kamidake nodded. Washu took a quick look around. Satisfied that no one was watching, she suddenly jumped into the surprised knight's lap and kissed him. " You better come back, or so help me, I'll invent a machine that lets me bring people's spirits back to this world and I'll drag you back here with it." Kamidake gave her a small smile. " Well in that case, I will do all I can and more if needed to make it back alive." " You better." Washu kissed him again and then jumped back to the floor. She cleared her throat to get the others attention. " I want to wish you all the best of luck. Be careful." " We will be," Tenchi replied. After Washu left and sealed the hatch to the tiny ship, Tenchi turned in his seat to address his companions. " Before we go, I want to thank you all. It really means a lot to me that your willing to risk your life for Ryoko." " No need to thank me," Ryoa replied. " After all, what kind of sister would I be if I abandoned her?" " Lord Tenchi, it is our duty to help you," Azaka told him. " Besides, it's better than sitting around the palace all day," Kamidake remarked dryly. When Tenchi and Azaka both regarded the knight with a curious look he just shrugged. " You have to admit Azaka, it does get pretty boring on Jurai." The elderly knight chuckled before responding. " That it does. We do just seem to stand around all the time waiting for something to happen." " Correct me if I'm wrong, but not counting our skirmish with Ryoa, we haven't actually had to fight anyone since we helped Tenchi oust the false emperor, have we?" " Your quite right. It seems our reputation is enough to keep the palace safe." " Well don't worry, there'll be plenty of action were we're going," Ryoa cut in. " Call me crazy," Tenchi spoke up. " But you three seem to be anxious to be going into battle." " Don't worry Tenchi," Ryoa told him. " Your not crazy, just us three." " I'll agree with that," Washu's voice suddenly blared over the radio. " Now get ready, my sensors have detected Hushira's approach. You four launch in three minutes." Take off was amazingly...uneventful. No explosion, no roaring engine, no multiple g's crushing the occupants back into their seats. From zero to twice light speed in eight seconds and nobody felt even a tremor. Tenchi shook his head in amazement. Washu may be eccentric and a bit hyperactive at times, but she clearly deserved the title of being the universe's greatest scientist. He started up the ship's scanners and easily located the incoming planet destroyer. The ship filled his display screen. It remained at a constant size as they flew toward it, the only difference being in the amount of detail the sensors could detect. It didn't take long before he was able to start making scans of the ship's interior. The most notable part happened to be the engine, which was working overtime to speed the death machine to it's target. To give them as much time as possible to save Ryoko, Washu had set up a field around the Earth that turned the local area of hyperspace into a rolling sea of deadly energy. Therefore all trips to the Earth had to be made in normal space, and at sub-light speeds. At least for people with normal drive systems. Washu's hotrod of a spaceship however, was far from normal. The main issue against faster than light travel was the rapidly growing mass of an accelerating object which meant said object would require greater and greater thrust which added up to a massive fuel problem. However, install a few inertia canceling devices, strap on five oversized engines, and throw in a hyper-condensed 'O' class star in a neutral gravity field for fuel, and suddenly the speed of light was just a convenient way to measure one's rate of travel, as opposed to being the absolute limit. The addition of a small temporal regulator to prevent any time fluxes helped as well. So when the tiny vessel came rocketing toward the larger ship a five times the universe's legal speed limit, it wasn't too surprising that it's first shots missed...by about twenty thousand miles. The next blast came a little closer, only six thousand off. The following missed by thirty thousand as Ryoa made a sudden ninety degree coarse correction. Another right angle turn and she buzzed the lumbering vessel so fast it didn't have time to take a shot. Unfortunately it was also too fast for Tenchi to take any readings. " Ryoa, your going to have to slow it down. I can't scan that thing if I have only a billionth of a second to work." So Ryoa cut down on the speed, all of it. She brought the tiny ship to a dead stop right above Ryo-ohki's protruding dome. Tenchi barely had time for a startled gasp before Ryoa jerked the ship up a few hundred feet to avoid being fried. A quick skip back and down and they were suddenly beneath the giant vessel. Tenchi shook of his shock and concentrated on his job, finding his wife. Meanwhile, Ryoa was having fun dancing around her most likely frustrated opponent. It was a testament to the age old saying, ' Having the most powerful weapon doesn't mean anything if you can't hit your target with it.' So while the energy beams that lanced toward them were strong enough to carve mile long trenches into solid stone, they were completely useless against the nimble speck that darted around and between them. Tenchi did his best to scan the ship, but it wasn't easy with Ryoa constantly shifting direction. Still, it beat the alternative, being blown to atoms. However it also made for a long and tedious work effort, and time was something that they were in short supply on. A quick application of the senors revealed they were only ten minutes from the Earth. " This isn't going to work," Tenchi grumbled. " What was that?" Ryoa asked. " I said this isn't going to work. I can't get any detailed scans. Hell, even if I found Ryoko, I'd never have time to enter her location into the computer." " So what do you suggest?" Ryoa sent the ship into a spin that took it up above the other vessel. Tenchi waited until the maneuver was over before answering. " I'm going over there." " You can't. How will you get back?" Tenchi shook his head as he answered. " If I can free Ryo-ohki as well she'll be able to fly us out of there. I never did care for the idea of abandoning her. I know Washu said she could transfer Ryo-ohki's mind into the spare egg that was stored at the base, but the idea still feels like we're just giving up on her." " Fine, but I'm coming with you." Before Tenchi could object she cut him off. " Don't argue with me. I promise you won't win." Tenchi held his hands up in defeat. " Alright then, we'll all go." Materializing on Ryo-ohki's bridge, Tenchi was a bit surprised to find it empty. Or at least, empty of people. Ryo-ohki's control crystals floated around the room, but there was no sign of Ryoko or Hushira. " This is weird," Ryoa commented. She walked up to the control spheres and gently laid a hand on one. " I can't feel anything from her. It's like...I don't even know what. There's just nothing there." She gave the floating globe a slight push and it moved without any resistance. "Ryo-ohki. Can you hear me?" When silence answered her, Ryoa let the sphere go. It casually drifted back into place. " Well their not here, that's for sure. What now?" She turned around to find Azaka and Kamidake watching her, but looking beyond them she saw Tenchi staring toward her, but not really at her. His eyes were unfocused and he had a far off look in his face. The two knights turned at Ryoa's curious staring. " Lord Tenchi?" Kamidake spoke softly, unsure. Tenchi didn't respond, didn't give any indication that he'd even heard anything. Ryoa floated over to him and waved a hand in front of his face with similar results. Starting to feel a little worried she shook him by the shoulders. " Hello? Is anyone awake in there?" Tenchi slowly blinked. " She's in pain," he whispered. It was so soft that Ryoa wasn't sure that she heard it. However when the glazed over look vanished and was replaced by a glare that would melt steel, Ryoa knew she hadn't imagined it. She felt a wave of power drift over her, causing her hair to stand up even straighter than normal. " Tenchi?" " Their below us. I can feel it." Ryoa was about to question him about that, but the look in his eye made her think differently. " Alright then, take my hand. I'll teleport us down there." Tenchi grasped her left hand while she held out her right to Azaka and Kamidake. " Here we go." To make sure they had some time to react, Ryoa teleported them a few hundred feet to her left. That way she hoped not to reappear in the middle of an ambush. As soon as they touched down she spun around, seeking out threats. Her search ended rather abruptly however. Protruding from the ceiling, Ryo- ohki's central spike hung like a massive stalactite. Rising up from the floor was another equally dagger like spike that was centered directly beneath the cabbit. In between the two, surrounded by a faintly glowing orb of energy, was Ryoko. She floated silently, her eyes closed, her hair drifting as if under water. Ryoa felt a tightening in her throat along with a fluttering sensation in her stomach. It had been so long since she'd last seen her sister. She'd grown up thinking her sister had been killed, only to learn later that she still lived. And know finally, after so much time and effort, she finally got to see her again. And now, she also had the chance to get revenge on those that had taken her sister away from her. At the base of the structure, Hushira and his two remaining men turned to face the intruders. " Looks like they weren't on their ships when they got blown up," Tenchi observed. " Fine by me," Ryoa snarled. " It would have been a quicker death then they deserved." Her sword blazed into existence with a hissing snap. She pointed it straight at Hushira. " Come on little man. You've been lucky up till now. But not any more. Now you got to take me on face to face." Hushira stared at her in mild amazement for a moment, then he began to laugh. " Very well then child. If I really must," he replied between chuckles. He formed his own sword and then motioned to his men. " Take care of the others." As they flew off to carry out his orders, Ryoa launched herself at Hushira. With a furious yell she swung as hard as she could, intent on taking his smiling head clean off his neck. At the last second though, Hushira flicked his blade up. He caught her sword and knocked it's arc over his head. He then struck out with the same hand in a lightning quick jab that slammed Ryoa's teeth together. She saw a white flash and tasted blood. Landing hard on the floor she rolled backward, coming to her feet with her blade held ready. Hushira still stood in the same spot, his sword hanging casually in his grip. " You know, from the way you talked, I thought you might actually have been a challenge." He smiled at the deep frown his words left on Ryoa's face. " I'll show you!" She hefted her weapon and charged. While Ryoa and Hushira continued their battle, Azaka and Kamidake were just starting their own. After telling Tenchi to go help his wife, the two knights had intercepted the oncoming warriors. Azaka took on the tall man with the black hair and beard, while Kamidake got the giant. " Just my luck," the younger knight thought as he narrowly dodged the massive boot that had been aimed at his head. " Azaka always takes the easy ones." He knocked aside the huge man's sword and whipped his staff around, catching him in the temple with the opposite end. Instead of falling however, the giant only staggered slightly. He turned his head back toward Kamidake and the knight could see the anger growing in his eyes. " Things were so much easier back in the old days. Just guard the emperor and his family. That was it." Kamidake leapt over his opponent as the larger man tried to cut him off from his legs. Turning in mid-leap, he landed with his staff raised and ready to strike. However before he could attack the giant kicked straight back, catching him in the chest. Kamidake felt the air leave his lungs as quickly as his feet left the ground. He flew backward and skidded for several feet before coming to rest facing the ceiling. " These days I have to go flying across half the galaxy, infiltrate alien super weapons, help pilot ultra advanced spaceships..." The giant suddenly appeared in his field of view, having teleported by Kamidake's head. He held his sword in both hands, the blade pointed at the knight's face. " ...and fight warriors with powers only the emperor of Jurai used to be expected to have." He jerked his head to the side as the blade pierced the floor. Kamidake kicked and caught the big man in the face, knocking him back. He flipped up to his feet and swung his staff around hard. He got a satisfying 'crack' as the end made contact with the man's skull. Even more satisfying was the fact that the giant actually fell to one knee from the blow. " Well, maybe things aren't quite as bad as they seemed." With a yell to focus his actions, Kamidake swung straight down, aiming for the top of the giant's bowed head. At the last second, the man's arm shot up and he caught the staff in a fist the size of the young knight's head. The large man's head came back up and a deep growl rumbled from his throat. " On second thought, their even worse..." "I'm getting too old for this," Azaka told himself as he blocked yet another flurry of lightning quick thrusts from his rival. The tall, lanky man was taking full advantage of his long reach and the fact that his weapon had no weight. He flicked his wrist, snapping the blade over the knight's staff and grazing his arm. " This fight has barely started and I'm already feeling tired." Azaka struck back with a series of quick swings, but his opponent ducked, dodged, and sidestepped each one. " Didn't even have to use his sword to defend. I'm definitely slowing down." Leaping backward, he pointed his staff like a gun and launched a blast of energy. The tall man ducked under it, then flew sideways to avoid the next blast. " My aim's not what it use to be either." Azaka swung hard, knocking aside his opponent's return fire. Another blast, another swing, another missed shot. On the next blast he swung down, knocking the shot into the floor. Using the resulting cloud of dust as cover, Azaka made a quick shift to his right. With a little boost from Jurai's power he managed to cover a good fifty feet in half a second. He brought his staff up, his target still facing his previous location. " Well at least I can still think quickly in battle." His blast shot straight at the other man's head. Right before impact however, he vanished. As the blast went sailing off to crash into the far wall, Azaka felt a sudden build up of power behind him. He spun around, just bringing his staff up in time to absorb the blast. His legs wavered slightly as he fought to stay on his feet. His hands were numb and there was a tingling feeling running through his arms, but at least he was still standing. " If I live through this, I'm going to definitely give some though into retirement." A glowing ball of energy appeared in the tall man's grasp. Azaka swung his staff up and the tip began to glow as well. With a yell, both men fired. There were flashes, explosions, shouts of pain and anger. Tenchi heard none of it. His mind filtered it all out as his entire focus was fixed on his wife. With a surge of energy he sped up the side of the cone shaped structure below Ryoko. His feet kept slipping out from beneath him as he tried to scale the slick surface. Bending to use his hands to add him, Tenchi continued to scramble upward. The effort reminded him of a bad dream, the type were you could never reach your destination no matter how hard you tried. Not for the first time he wished he could fly, or at least teleport. He knew both were abilities that could be accomplished with Jurai's power, as Kagato had shown. However Kagato had spend decades training, learning all he could of Jurai's power. Tenchi just didn't have such mastery. He did however have a huge surge of adrenaline and a searing desire to reach his wife. Finally reaching the pinnacle of the structure, he clasped his arms around the point to anchor himself in place. Looking up he could see he was just a few short feet below his wife. With a deep breath to focus his mind, Tenchi pushed down with his power. Flying might be beyond him, but he did have enough control to hover. Slowly he rose above the slanted surface. Sweat trickled down his face from the concentration it took to maintain his position. Pushing harder he continued to rise, reaching Ryoko's feet, then her knees, hips, stomach, chest. With a final shove Tenchi found himself face to face with his wife. Her eyes were closed as if asleep, her hair floating gently around her face. Brushing a few strands aside, Tenchi hesitantly reached out to stroke her cheek. At his touch Ryoko's eyes snapped opened. Looking into her golden yellow eyes, Tenchi felt an enormous pressure inside him drop away. She smiled at him and he couldn't have resisted returning it if he'd wanted to. " Ryoko..." " Hi honey." Unable to containing himself any longer, Tenchi kissed her full on. Ryoko returned it, wrapping her arms tightly around him. As he pulled back, he could see her smile as it turned into a wicked grin. " It's such a shame," she said. " What is?" " That your such a good kisser. I'll miss you when your gone." Before Tenchi could ask what she meant he was forcibly thrown back by a wave of energy that radiated from Ryoko. Flying backward, Tenchi managed to reorient himself and land on his feet, using his power to cushion his landing. He had hardly touched down however before he had to jump sideways to avoid a barrage of energy bolts. Unbelieving, he watched as Ryoko casually floated to the ground. Her sword flashed into being as she flashed him another grin. " Ryoko, wha...what are you...?" " Isn't it obvious darling? I'm trying to kill you." She emphasized her words with a lunging swing that came very close to giving Tenchi's windpipe a new opening. She lashed out with a hard kick that caught him right in his ribs and he felt them break, again. The sound of his impact on the floor was drowned out by Ryoko's maniacal laughter. " Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Ryoa looked down at the cauterized stump that had been her right arm. She hissed in pain as the severed muscles in her upper arm twitched. She looked up in time to see Hushira casually kick the severed appendage out of his way as he strolled toward her. " Perhaps you should consider giving up. If you bow at my feet and offer your most sincere apologies, I might let you live. At the very least, I'll give you a quick death." Ryoa clenched her teeth to keep from crying out as her new arm sprouted. Hushira sighed theatrically. " Just like your sister, you don't know when your beat." Ryoa launched herself at him. He merely stepped back while countering her slashes before dropping her to the ground with a knee to the stomach. Ryoa's vision blurred and her throat burned as she tried to breath. Hushira stepped on her head and ground her face into the floor. Ryoa emitted a broken off yelp as her nose broke. She suddenly went out of phase and pushed up, passing through his foot. He fell forward slightly and she aimed a heavy punch right at his face. Hushira reacted faster then she thought possible and caught her arm at the wrist. He squeezed and Ryoa felt something break. He then twisted and something else broke. She nearly passed out as her nerves overloaded with pain. Her breath was coming in rapid, uneven breaths. Hushira jerked her arm and something tore. Ryoa screamed as her abused arm convulsed. Her whole body was covered with sweat and she could barely see past the tears in her eyes. Ryoa tried to call on her previous anger, but she just didn't have it in her. Her mind was too disoriented to think of anything but the pain that ravaged her body. She was only dimly aware when he grabbed her hair and jerked her head back, making her look up at him. " To think, you went through so much, endured so much pain and hardship and frustration, only to fail. How pathetic." Hushira kicked her and she felt her ribs crack. She screamed. " You should have stayed out of this." He kicked again and Ryoa's whole body convulsed. " You should have stayed home and not gotten involved with things that are too big for you to handle." He landed a jarring punch across her face. " And most of all, you should not have challenged me!" Hushira's sword blazed as he drove it into her chest. Ryoa's mouth opened to scream, but only a weak gasp came out. The intense burning in her lungs gave way to a spreading coldness. She stared upward, averting her gaze from Hushira's glaring eyes. The last thing she wanted to see before she died was his face looming over her. Looking past him she could see her twisted arm, still held up in his vise like grip. Seeing her hand, something sparked in her mind. He was holding it right by his head. " If only..." Ryoa concentrated, hoping she had enough power left. It seemed painfully slow, but eventually she managed to collect tiny ball of energy in her hand. Her gaze turned back to Hushira, who was watching her face, waiting for her to die. Summoning up the last of her strength, Ryoa grinned. As Hushira's face contorted in confusion, she squeezed. The energy sword sprung into being, and right into the side of Hushira's head. He let out a brief cry as his brain was fried before kneeling over and falling flat on his face. As he collapsed Ryoa's power gave out and her weapon vanished. No longer supported by his grip, she fell back with a dull thud. As darkness crowded her vision she kept smiling, satisfied that she'd done all she could for her sister. It took a supreme effort just to stand, but Kamidake refused to stay down. As he struggled to his feet he was pleased to see his opponent having an equally hard time getting up. Leaning on his staff, the knight managed a weak smile. " I don't know how much more I can give, but I got to try." The giant finally got back up. He wavered slightly, but his footing seemed sure enough that he wasn't going to fall over. " Well, maybe all he needs is a good push." Kamidake shifted his weight back to his feet and hefted his staff. The wood weapon felt like it was made of solid lead, but he managed to lift it. He thrust up at a slight angle, then sifted it back to center. The end glowed as he fed power into it. Calling on what little strength he had left, Kamidake managed to twirl the weapon over his head before jamming it into the floor. The energy surged downward and exploded toward the giant. Jurai's needle tore through the floor as it raced toward it's target. The big man brought his arms up in an effort to protect himself. The attack washed over him like a wave of razors. Deep slashes appeared across his body. He staggered back but somehow remained standing. " Alright, maybe two good pushes." Pushing the limits of his endurance, Kamidake struggled to preform the attack one more time. Midway through however, the giant somehow managed to gather enough energy to fire off a blast that caught the surprised knight right in the chest. He flew back, his staff clattering to the ground. He gasped in pain as his charred flesh cracked. The monestrous man half crawled over to the fallen knight. He wrapped a massive hand over Kamidake's throat and squeezed. The Jurai warrior tried to push the larger man away, but he didn't even have the strength to make a decent effort. Realizing he'd never win in a test of strength, he refocused his efforts. Ignoring a feeling of revulsion, he dug his fingers into one of the big man's deep cuts and pulled. His efforts were rewarded with a painful yell and an easing of the pressure around his neck. Kamidake reached up with his other arm and grabbed his opponent by the collar. He then pulled himself up and drove the top of his skull into the other man's face. He fell back and Kamidake used the larger man's weight to pull him up and over, reversing their position. Reaching for his staff, he head butted the giant again to keep him down. His hand closed around the familiar shaft of his weapon and he pressed it across the giant's throat. Suddenly the big man vanished and Kamidake feel flat on his face. He felt an enormous weight crash down on his back as a huge arm snaked it's way around his throat. The giant's other hand pressed down on the back of the knight's skull, further squeezing shut his windpipe. Kamidake didn't even bother trying to struggle. Instead he jabbed behind his head with his staff. He heard a light thud and an 'oof!', but the giant didn't let go. Feeding what little power he had left into the weapon, he tried again and got a much better reaction. The arms around him went slack and he somehow managed to shove the big man back. He rolled over to find the giant standing over him. He held up a heavy fist and a sword sprung from his clenched fingers. Before he could act however Kamidake kicked out, catching him in the knee. His leg buckled and the giant fell forward even as the knight reversed his staff, placing the thick end against the floor and bringing the other side up. Unable to stop his fall, the giant collapsed neck first onto the staff. The tip tore violently into his flesh. In a spray of gore he was impaled. The staff was torn from Kamidake's grasp as his fall continued. The giant offered a final gurgle before dying. Looking over at his defeated opponent, Kamidake sighed in relief. " Well Washu, looks like I'll be seeing you again after all." Closing his eyes, the exhausted warrior drifted in unconsciousness. Azaka looked down at his charred arm as if the damaged limb had betrayed him. He tried to bend it but the pain brought his attempts to a screeching halt. With a disgusted sigh he switched his staff to his left hand, wondering how he was going to use it with only one hand. " And it had to be my good arm that got hurt. Tsunami, whatever I did to offend you, I apologize." He looked up to see his opponent bend his similarly damaged limb. The charred flesh cracked and peeled away to reveal fresh, undamaged skin beneath. " Sure, why not?" The knight thought bitterly. Noticing that the warrior wasn't watching him at that exact moment, Azaka lunged. The tall man barely managed to duck under his staff, but was unable to avoid his rising knee. Azaka caught him hard in the gut before bringing his elbow down on the man's head. Reversing his grip on his staff as quickly as he could with one hand, he drove the tip down as he fed his power into the weapon. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was blast a hole in the floor as his target disappeared. Anticipating what was to come, Azaka leapt to the side just as a blade of energy swept through the space he had been occupying. His opponent faltered slightly do his surprise. He had been certain he had been about to win the fight. His momentary lapse cost him as he took the full brunt of Azaka's energy blast in the chest. He tried to bring his arm up to shield his body but only managed to lose it in the process. Realizing he needed time to recover, the tall man teleported himself to the other side of the room. Satisfied that he had time to heal himself, he was taken completely by surprise as Azaka's staff crashed down on his skull. Cradling his throbbing head, he looked up at the knight in surprise. " But how?" he exclaimed. The Jurain warrior narrowed his eyes at his opponent. " You think you're the only one with the ability to dematerialize? Jurai's power has unlimited potential, for those who take the time to learn." He tried to get up but Azaka's boot drove him back to the floor. "You should never relax in battle, even if your ninety-nine percent sure it's safe. Because it only takes that one percent to get you killed." The tall man tried to teleport behind the knight, but when he reappeared his target was gone. Before he could figure out were Azaka had gone he was struck from behind, hard. A terrible scream escaped his lips as he felt a searing pain rip through his back. His body collapsed, a smoking corpse before it hit the ground. " You should also avoid repeating yourself," Azaka told the dead man. His attention no longer focused on fighting, he noticed his fellow knight lying on the ground not far away. Ignoring the pain in his battered body, Azaka hobbled over to Kamidake. He was deeply relieved to see him still breathing. As he approached, the younger knight's eyes fluttered open. He looked up at his old friend and smiled. " Next time, how about you take the big one?" Azaka laughed lightly and knelt beside Kamidake. " Hopefully there won't be any 'next times'. Right now I'm looking forward to getting back to Jurai." He helped his friend sit up. " I promise, I'll never complain about guarding the palace again, no matter how boring it gets." " Yeah right. You'll be bored and ready to take off on some fool-hearted mission before you even fully recover from your injuries." As much as he wanted to continue with their light hearted discussion, Azaka knew that there was still work to do. " Were's Tenchi and Ryoa? I have no desire to be in this ship any longer than I have to be, not with one of Washu's little creations pointed at it." " I'm not sure," Kamidake answered as he got to his feet. He bent over to fetch his staff, jerking it from the neck of the fallen giant. As he stood back up Azaka laid a hand on his shoulder. " I have found Ryoa." From the tone in his voice, Kamidake could tell that things hadn't gone well for their companion. He turned to the direction Azaka was looking and saw Ryoa's broken body. The two knights made their way over to her as fast as their abused bodies could carry them. Even before they reached her they could tell it was too late. A massive hole had been burned straight through her chest. Kamidake knelt beside her and offered a silent prayer to her departed spirit. Azaka meanwhile searched for Tenchi. The room they were in was huge, but it was also empty save for the massive structure that had held Ryoko. Seeing as she was no longer there, the knight assumed that both she and Tenchi must be on the other side. His hunch was proven right a moment later by a powerful explosion. An energy blast streaked out from behind the cone shaped structure, followed by several others. " Come on Kamidake, we still have work to do!" Fighting his wife, Tenchi found out quickly, was the absolute hardest thing he had ever had to do in his life. Worse then his grandfather's training, worse then dealing with Ryoko and Ayeka's previous battles over him, worse then being on the run as a wanted criminal, worse even then fighting Kagato. At least in those situations he had been able to act toward a resolution, wether it had been fighting, talking, or just plain running away. Fighting Ryoko however, was impossible because all he could do is defend himself. No matter what, he just couldn't bring himself to hit her, so there was no possible way to end it. As she lunged and slashed at him, Tenchi saw numerous openings in her defenses. It would be simple to slip past one of her strikes and put her down, but he just couldn't do it. Even for the sake of helping her, he just could not hit her. At first he had hoped he might be able to outlast her. Ryoko was firing off a tremendous amount of power, far more then Tenchi had thought possible. At the rate she was going, he knew she should have run out of energy long ago. However something was feeding her power. As it was, Tenchi saw only one way to end this. He could just barely make out the wire mesh that was hidden beneath her hair, but he knew that it was the reason his own wife was trying to kill him. Unfortunately he had yet to come up with a way to get it off her, at least without removing half her head in the process. Tenchi let out a growl of utter frustration as Ryoko moved in for another attack. "Shut up, I'll kill him when I want to." There was pain, but she ignored it. "I don't take orders from you." The pain increased, but not enough to make her listen. " Well I can't say I'm sorry he's gone. But that doesn't mean I have to listen to you." The pain became excruciating, but she refused to give in, not now. Not now that she was free. " I told you before, LEAVE ME ALONE!" She heard a horrible wailing, something screaming in unimaginable pain. "Serves you right! Now go AWAY!" The wailing intensified, becoming painful to listen to. The voice began to fade. Tenchi had watched in confusion as Ryoko's grin faded into a look of pain. At one point she had fallen to one knee with her hand on her head. Before he had been able to take advantage however she had gotten back up, the grin on her face seemly wider than before. " Well so much for hoping she was coming to her senses," Tenchi thought. Ryoko dove at him and he batted her sword away, spinning into the strike and reaching for the device attached to her skull. She knocked his hand away and slashed, coming dangerously close to ending the discussion she and Tenchi had been having on and off about having kids. Her return stroke was deflected and Tenchi once again tried to get behind her. This time she simply teleported away. Putting some distance between them, she began taking shots at him. However this grew boring quickly as none of her blasts came anywhere near hitting him. The game was becoming lame, and Ryoko decided that it was time to end things. Suddenly appearing behind him, she swung her sword across the level of his neck. Expecting to wrap things up quickly, she was surprised when he blocked her attack with little apparent effort. She attacked again, and again she was blocked. Seeing as she was no longer playing around, Ryoko found her inability to hit her target frustrating. She redoubled her efforts, slashing, blasting, phasing, teleporting, but nothing worked. Every attack was avoided or blocked. Screaming in frustration, Ryoko let loose a wave of energy that picked Tenchi up off the ground and hurled him through the air. However when he landed with ease a few dozen feet back, it was the final insult. With a banshee like scream, she fired off a blast so strong her own hands blistered from the effort. The beam chewed up the ground it passed over. Tenchi flung himself to side, using his power to aid his leap as well as protect him from the excess energy that spilled off the attack. Before he could even be shocked by the power of the blast he had to dodge another, then another after that. Watching the battle, Kamidake knew that Tenchi needed help, but he had no idea what to do. He and Azaka were in no condition to take on Ryoko, especially with her power being boosted by the ship. He was about to ask Azaka if he had any ideas when the older knight laid his hand once again on his shoulder. Kamidake's eyes widened as he felt energy begin to flow into him from his friend. " What are you...?" " Listen," Azaka cut him off. " Tenchi needs our help. I'm too badly injured to help, and you are too low on power. There's nothing we can do about my arm here, but I can give you my energy so you can fight." " But even if we were both at full strength there would be little we could do. I know you can feel the power being emitted by Ryoko, it's enormous." " And do you know why it's so large?" " Well, I assume it's because the ship is giving her power, but..." " No 'buts' about it. I can feel her power, however I can also feel were she is drawing it from." Realization suddenly hitting him, Kamidake turned to look at the cone shaped structure that dominated the center of the room. The orb of power that had held Ryoko was pulsing with energy, glowing brighter with each moment that passed. " I see. Very well then, leave it to me." Hefting his staff, Kamidake made for the center of the ship as fast as he could. " Be careful," Azaka whispered as he sat down. Giving away his power had left him feeling very weak, and tired. He glanced over at Ryoa and laid a hand on her arm. " I promise, your sacrifice won't be in vain." Ryoko's hands were beginning to bleed as her own attacks ate away at her flesh. She didn't care. All she cared about was ending the fight. She noticed that Tenchi's jumps weren't carrying him as far, nor were his landings as smooth. He was wearing out. It was only a matter of time. Just a little longer. Suddenly a searing pain erupted in her mind. It felt like a white hot razor had just sliced through her brain. She cradled her head in her arms as she sank to the floor. Her mind whirled as she tried to figure out this new pain. It seemed to tug at her mind, drawing her attention behind her. Looking over her shoulder she found the cause of her pain. A jagged line had been torn up the side of the ship's control structure. The tip of the massive cone had been blown completely off. Her eyes followed the trail down the sides to the floor, were it ran back to...Kamidake. The Jurain knight had his staff raised and as she watched he jammed it into the floor. Another blast streaked toward the structure. As soon as it touched Ryoko felt another blade of pain rip through her skull. It felt even worse then before. Screaming, she let loose a blast of energy at him. Kamidake leapt back to avoid it. He turned to face her, apparently ready to fight. Ryoko was more than ready to oblige him. Her sword flashed and she was about to teleport over and remove his head with it when she felt someone grab her from behind. Strong fingers tightened around the mesh behind her head and pulled. Wires snapped and Ryoko felt the world turn upside down. Fighting the urge to throw up, her legs buckled and she started to fall. However she was caught before she hit. Caught and cradled in strong arms that her body instantly recognized. She looked up as the fog that had clouded her mind lifted. " Tenchi!" she wailed as she wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face in his chest and cried in a mixture of joy and grief. She held him so tightly her arms ached, but there was nothing in the universe that would make her let go of him at that moment. Tenchi returned her hug with equal strength as he fought to keep his emotions in check. " It's okay. It's over. It's over." Watching the reunited couple, Kamidake hated to interrupt, but he had to. " Lord Tenchi, we should be going. There's no telling how much longer we have before Washu destroys this ship." " Right. Go get Ryoa and Azaka. I'll see if I can get Ryoko calmed down enough to free Ryo-ohki." As the knight left, Tenchi gently lowered Ryoko so her feet touched the ground. However she still held him in a death grip that was not helping his busted ribs. Fighting to keep the pain out of his voice, he stroked her hair as he spoke. " Ryoko listen. I'm happy to have you back as well, but we have to get out of here. This ship is going to be on the business end of Washu's dimensional cannon, and I don't think any of us want to be in blast zone when she fires that thing. Now do you think you can contact Ryo-ohki and get us out of here?" Tenchi resisted the urge to sigh in relief when she finally released him and he could breath without too much pain. Ryoko straightened up so she was eye level with him. Her eyes were red from crying but Tenchi could see the old fire return to her. She flashed him a smile. " Sure, just give me a second." She drew in a deep breath, and screamed. She collapsed so suddenly that Tenchi didn't even have time to catch her. " Ryoko!" He quickly knelt beside her. She was screaming and writhing violently. " Ryoko what's wrong!?" The answer he got was not one he expected. Tenchi fell back as the voice tore through his mind. " What the hell was that?" " Tenchi," Ryoko cried out. " It's...the ship...it...it's alive. It's...pure evil. It only wants...to destroy." Tenchi placed himself between Ryoko and the core of the ship, wondering what he could do to stop the massive energy that he felt building within the structure. A few hundred feet to his left he could make out the form of Kamidake. The Jurian knight stood ready, his staff raised. Although the voice seemed to originate in his own head, Tenchi could somehow feel the words being directed at Kamidake. A bolt of electric energy struck down from glowing orb. The knight tried to block it, but the energy cracked his staff like a toothpick. It grabbed him, lifting him up and tossing him into the far wall. He fell to floor, his robes smoking. From were he stood, Tenchi had no way of telling wether he was alive or not. Tenchi gripped the handle of his ancient weapon, the sword from which he had got his name. The clear blue blade erupted as he fed his power into it. The lightning flashed and struck the sword. The blade glowed white hot as it took in the massive power. Sparks jumped from the weapon, stinging Tenchi, leaving behind scorched flesh. He tried to push against the power, but he felt the strength dwindle from his arms. The sword was torn from his grasp. Before it even hit the floor Tenchi was grabbed and lifted. The ship slammed him back down and he felt his should shatter. Thankfully he was released after the attack. He tried to stand, but the effort sent him into a fit of coughing that brought blood up with it. " Tenchi!" His name brought his head up. Ryoko was struggling to stand, pulling herself toward him. The voice seemed to strike Ryoko like a blow. She collapsed back to the floor. Her arm still reached for Tenchi. " Ryoko." He watched in horror as she seemed to grow weaker. Her body quit thrashing, becoming a weak quivering. And then even that stopped. She just laid face down, unmoving. "RYOKO!" The yell tore at his throat. He tried to reach her but his body wouldn't respond. His arms and legs moved in uncoordinated spasms. A feeling of complete helplessness overcame him. " No!" his mind screamed at him. " Get up! You have to get up!" Tenchi felt a sudden flow of power around him. However it wasn't from the ship. It held him gently. The pain drifted away. He saw images flash through his mind. He could see Ryo-ohki as she crashed to Earth. Ryoko lying shaken but unhurt by the crash. He saw them together in the cave, a rope tied around his arms. Ryoko, crying as he rushed off to fight Kagato. Ryoko lying in bed, her face relaxed, looking so peaceful. Ryoko, telling him how much she loved him... Something inside him snapped. This time though it wasn't a bone. Somewhere in his mind, Tenchi felt a wall collapse. Behind that broken barrier waited a well of seemingly unlimited power. He didn't hesitate, didn't pause to reconsider. He reached in and pulled out the full force of Jurai's power. Despite his broken body, Tenchi stood up. His injuries screamed at him, but he pushed past them. His attention was solely focused on the structure in front of him. " Try me," he taunted the machine. An electric blast reached for him, but Tenchi deflected it with nothing but his will. In his mind he could sense a feeling of disbelief from the ship. Another, even stronger blast followed. It curled around him, but it's energy couldn't reach him. Tenchi ignored the ship's bellow. His eyes flicked over to were his weapon lay. The sword leapt to him at his gaze. He caught it, relishing the feel of the familiar wooden handle. Power surged through Tenchi into the sword. The seemingly simple blade glowed brightly as energy pulsed off it. The ship struck again, but this time Tenchi caught the blast with his sword. With a flick of his wrists he sent the energy back at the structure. The ship wailed and shuddered as more of it's core was damaged. Tenchi ignored the ship's protest's. He fell into the deep breathing patterns his grandfather had taught him, concentrating on the power within him. The mystical energy of Jurai flared up around him, cloaking him in blue fire. His namesake flashed and crackled with the power. With his mind, body, and power fully focused, he swung. A blade of invisible force sped across the room, it's passage marked only by a faint rippling of the air. When it struck there was a blue flash that streaked across the core, then...nothing. A second passed, then another. Then... The structure exploded in a blast of flame and debris. The flash lit up the room like a supernova. Smoking, the white hot metal collapsed in on itself. Electricity sparked and jumped. Feeling utterly empty, Tenchi fell. His landing however, was cushion by strong, protective arms. He looked up into his wife's brightly shining eyes. " Ryoko! I thought..." He was silenced by what had to be the most passionate kiss she had ever given him. He was quick to return it. " Tenchi that was unreal," Ryoko exclaimed as their lips parted. " I've never seen such power." Her breath was coming in rapid gasps and Tenchi thought he could see something a little more intense then just passion in her eyes. " I don't think I've ever been more turned on in my life," she whispered, confirming his speculation. She kissed him again and it seemed like she was going to take him right there. However a moment later she ended the kiss and helped him to his feet. " As soon as we get home..." " I'll make you forget all about this," Tenchi promised. Ryoko giggled in anticipation. " Oh, what the hell does it take?" Ryoko and Tenchi both turned back to the shattered remains of the ships core. An aura of hatred seemed to pulse around it. Tenchi prepared to fight, but Ryoko's laughter stopped him. He looked over his shoulder to see her smiling at the structure. " Yeah yeah, whatever." Looking up, she called out. " Ryo-ohki." " Meow." The underside of the cabbit glowed and an intense beam of energy blasted down on the remains of the core. The ship wailed in protest, but the cabbit kept up her assault until the structure had been reduced to a gaping hole in the floor. " Ha, serves you right," Ryoko gloated. Tenchi gave her a huge hug. " Way to go Ryo-ohki," he called out. " Meow!" the ship responded happily. A beam of light washed over them as Ryo-ohki pulled them aboard, followed by the two knights and Ryoa. " Alright Ryo-ohki. Ready to get out of here?" Ryoko asked as she took her ship's controls. It had been a while, but she hadn't forgotten a thing about her ship. " Meow!" In high orbit above the Earth, Washu found herself having to resist the urge to chew her nails. Of all the bad habits in the universe, nail biting was the one she had been cursed with. She did allow herself a worried sigh. She cast a glance over at the timer. Less then a minute remained. She felt her stomach twist and was glade she had programed the dimensional cannon to fire on it's own, because she knew now that she never could have pulled the trigger while Tenchi and the rest of them were still in that ship. Behind her she could sense Thantaous shifting nervously. She could blame him. Both of his daughters were on that ship. Nobiyuki was a complete wreak, muttering and wandering around in circles. The only one not visibly agitated was Katsuhito, of course. Washu knew he was just as worry though. He just hid it well. " Thirty seconds," she called out as the timer hit the half minute mark. Washu swore she could feel the tension in the room pressing against her. " Come on Tenchi," she whispered. When her holo-top suddenly started beeping Washu thought she might have a heart attack. A quick glance behind her showed that the feeling was well shared. Even Katsuhito looked mildly alarmed. Cutting off the noise, Washu entered a few keystrokes to see what her sensors had picked up. The screen showed a close up of the top of ship, focusing on were Ryo-ohki's dome protruded. As they all watched cracks started to from around it. With a sudden flash the surface exploded outward. Ryo-ohki was free! " They made it!" Thantaous boomed. Nobiyuki and Katsuhito exchanged looks before bursting out into relived laughter. Washu summoned her floating cushion and sat down feeling very relieved. " You did that just to get me back for all those tests, didn't you Tenchi?" she thought. The room's good mood was brought to a screeching halt however as a beam of energy suddenly shot from the ship and grabbed hold of Ryo-ohki, jerking the cabbit to a halt. " What's going on?" Thantaous yelled. " That ship shouldn't be operational without Ryo-ohki and Ryoko on board!" " Washu, stop the count down. They still have a chance to escape," Katsuhito told her. Washu felt like screaming. Instead she looked over her shoulder at the old warrior. " I can't stop it," she explained. " No one can." She glanced back at the timer just as the numbers reached ten seconds. " Come on Ryo-ohki! You can do it!" The cabbit wailed as she fought against the energy that held her. Ryoko was busy blasting away at the lashings, but it seemed that two more replaced every one she destroyed. At first it seemed they had been making progress, but now it was clear that they were being dragged back into the ship. Ryoko sent several blasts down into the heart of the ship, but to no avail. " Dammit! It's not fair!" Ryoko screamed. Ryo-ohki suddenly screamed for her attention. A screen appeared showing a close up of an object hanging above the Earth. Ryoko's blood went cold as she recognized Washu's dimensional cannon. She saw the charge building within the firing chamber as the weapon counted down the final seconds. Ryoko felt like crying. " I can't believe this, after everything we've been through..." She turned away. If she had to die, she wanted to die holding onto the only thing in her life that was more important to her then her own. She half fell into Tenchi's arms as he hugged her. " Don't worry Ryoko. I promise we will never be torn apart ever again." Ryoko chose to let him have the last word. She laid her head on his shoulder and waited. Washu felt numb. Her body and mind seemed to have shut down as she watched the last second disappear. In horrible silence she watched as the blast from the device she had once considered her greatest invention speed it's way toward the ship. Toward her friends. She wanted to look away but she wouldn't let herself. This had been her idea, she'd be damned if she would cower away now. The blast struck the ship dead on. The energy rapidly spread out into a sphere that enveloped the craft. At full power the sphere would have continued expanding for thousands of light years until the entire galaxy was engulfed. Watching it destroy the ship, she now wondered just what the hell she had been thinking in even designing such a device. She swore to herself that the instant this was over she would destroy the cannon and delete the plans from her computer. She even considered wiping her memory of the weapon. For now though, she would watch. Tenchi felt the blast tear into him. It felt like his body had simply ceased to exist. In front of him, Ryoko began to waver. " Tenchi." Her distorted voice called to him. He shut his eyes and clung to her. A warm feeling passed through him. It felt good. " That's something to be grateful for I guess." The ship shimmered as it collapsed. It came apart below the subatomic scale. Even it's protons and neutrons broke apart. It didn't even give off any light as even photons were destroyed. Instead it was replaced by a dark hole in space, noticeable only because of the stars it blotted out. Washu imagined a similar void opening up within her. She felt empty. She felt like she should do something, but for once in her life nothing came to mind. When Katsuhito placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him. His normal calm frown now ran deep along his face. He looked down at her and she saw the unmistakable sadness in his eyes. It was too much for her. She fell against him as she cried. She had just killed her only true friend. The first person who had ever saw her as a person and not just some crazy scientist. She'd also killed someone who might actually have loved her. Her mind just kept kicking her as she thought of everything she should have done. She called herself 'the greatest scientist in the universe', yet she'd been unable to prevent their deaths. She sunk down to her knees, clinging hopelessly to Katsuhito's robes. He knelt down beside her, wrapping an arm behind her back in support. Washu wondered how he could be so kind to someone who had just gotten his grandson killed. " Hey. What's that?" Nobiyuki's question brought her gaze up. He was staring at the screen of her computer, which showed the fading effects of her cannon. The darkness disappeared to leave behind nothing, or did it? Washu's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she noticed there was still something intact within the blast zone. She surged out of Katsuhito's grasp and half leapt for the zoom key on the control panel. The screen resized and there was a collected intake of breath within the room. Ryo-ohki sat in space, seemingly undamaged. The ship was surrounded by a faint blue aura. Washu's fingers danced across the keypad. When the results came up she made the computer recheck the sensors in disbelief. " What is it Washu?" Katsuhito asked. " The power of Jurai," she whispered. Washu took a deep breath, trying to clear her head. " It can't be possible, but it is." She brought her hand to her mouth as an ecstatic laugh came from her. " It's totally impossible, but I don't give a damn." The next few days were a bit hectic, but marked with joy. Thantaous was overjoyed to finally see his younger daughter again. Ryoko was a bit unnerved, but her father's friendly attitude helped wear down her guard. Ryoa's death was a definite mood killer, at least until Washu stepped in. She explained that while her body had died, her mind had yet to shut down. She gave the princesses healing powers a 'kick start' and to everyone's amazement she started to breath again. Thantaous nearly broke down into tears trying to express his gratitude. Washu simply took it all in with a smug smile and offered to 'donate' some medical equipment to Rygoth. Washu had wanted to give Tenchi a thorough look over, but Ryoko wouldn't allow it. " It doesn't matter how he did it. All that matters is we're all safe. Just accept it," she had told the scientist. In the end, Washu relented, but only after being allowed to collect Ryo-ohki's sensor record of the event. Mihoshi and Kiyone were well on their way to recovery. Nagi however, was gone. Ydal was missing as well along with a Ken-ohki and several of Washu's medical droids. Even worse, at least from Washu's point of view, were that the droid's tracking devices had been left on the floor of her lab. With the immediate crises over, Thantaous decided that it would be a good time to open up talks with Jurai. So Ryo-ohki had flown them all there, after everyone unanimously declined to use Washu's G.E.T. T.H.E.R.E device. To call their arrival interesting would be putting it mildly. Sasami of course was overjoyed to see her friends all return safely. Ayeka was happy as well, though she did tend to avoid Tenchi and Ryoko when the two were together. Katsuhito found himself once again having to decline the throne. The emperor himself tried to get him to take over, if only for a short while. He claimed he needed some time off. However the old priest was adamant. Besides, it seemed to him that Ayeka was more than ready to take the throne, which he told the emperor several times. Azaka and Kamidake both asked for time off. Azaka wanted to find a apprentice so that he could retire in a few dozen years. Kamidake claimed he had some...personal issues to deal with. Interestingly enough, Washu also remarked that she was going off for extended field research and didn't know when she'd be back. Nobiyuki spent a lot of his time studying Jurain architecture. He had some plans to bring certain element back to Earth and hopefully make some money off the designs. His efforts however were often delayed since he spent as much time checking out the palace maids as he did the palace. As for Ryoko and Tenchi, they mainly stayed out of the way when they could get away with it. They both endured, but were more then ready to go home when the time came. After everything they had been through however, the biggest surprise came right before they reached the Earth. When Ryo-ohki had announced that they had an incoming message, Ryoko figured it was from Jurai. Both she and Tenchi were surprised when the connection was established and Washu's face appeared before them. It took them both a moment to recognize her as her usually childlike appearance had changed into that of a young woman. Before either of them could ask she had started talking. " Hey you two, I got some good news. I was just going over some data I collected from both of you. I know you think I should just accept things Ryoko, but I just can't do that. Anyway, I was looking over this scan I took of you, when I found out something very interesting." " Oh yeah, and what's that?" Washu's face split into a huge smile. " Congratulations Ryoko, you're a mother." Ryoko could just stare blankly at the screen as her mind tried to restart itself. " Well that's all I had to say. Until next time." Ryoko kept staring at the blank screen until Tenchi put his arm around her. She looked at him to find him wearing one of the biggest smiles she'd ever seen. With a happy cry she leapt into his lap and hugged and kissed him, feeling more satisfied with her life then she ever had. The End. Okay, That took a lot longer then I ever thought it would. I never imagined this story would end up being as large as it is. I can't tell you how great it is to finally be done. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who's written to express their feelings about my work. It really means a lot to me and I truly appreciate it. I know several of you have asked me what was taking me so long to get done. I'm sorry about that but I have been busy in life. I just finished high school and things have been chaotic. Also I had to completely rewrite parts of this story, and that just served to make me frustrated with it. Anyway now that I'm done I will be focusing all my efforts on my 'Light in Darkness' series which, like this story, seems to have no end in site. Important: I would like to dedicate the completion of this story to the memory of my grandfather, Jim Byrnes, who passed away on Friday, May 31, 2002. May he rest in peace.