========================================== Chap 4 - I Have Visitors, How Nice ========================================== Ayeka, in her battle garb, looked into the starry space as they left the orbit of Earth. Mihoshi, in her GP armor and sitting in her navigating chair, was steering her ship on the view outside her cockpit window. Besides her was the smashed navigation computer. Ayeka was somehow thankful that Ryoko had smashed it to bits, it had not forced them to head for Jurdain space instead. Mihoshi was quietly humming a rather peaceful tune, she seemed to be rather oblivious to the danger they all approached. Ayeka also noticed Ryoko standing behind her, she had morphed into a striking set of red and black armor. The gems that she held in her wrists and neck dimly throbbed with red power. The small laces in her outfit threatened to burst open, as if they were holding in water. Ayeka had guessed that Ryoko hadn't worn her shape in quite a while, it looked a bit saggy to her. It certainly didn't look like Ryoko was the active type, a clear example came to light as she arched her back and let out a not so peaceful yawn. They had left Yosho, Sasami, and the Jurdain guardians back at the house. She was sure that her brother would protect her younger sister with his life. Sasami was too young to get involved with something that could mean the end of her life. Still it had taken an extra set on convincing orders for the loyal logs to leave her side, much less leave with her former enemy. As for herself, her stomach was knotted even more than she could even imagine. Here she was, with an inept GP officer and her most powerful opponent in cahoots to rescue the man of her dreams. In these last few months, with feeling of strandedness and loneliness, Tenchi had been there for her. He had first been her friend, her researcher, and now much more. Though they have expressed their feelings for each other, their actions hadn't been complete. It was still the feeling of being with such a common man that drove a stake into the middle of their relationship. Not her now, but in her dreams. When she introduced Tenchi to her father and mother. To Funaho and Masaki. But the recent news of discovering that Katsuhito was her brother, meant that true royal blood did flow through the veins of her love, Tenchi. Her dreams meant little for the reality that would follow. The news made for a hopeful future. "So, are we ready?" asked the impatient voice behind her. Ayeka turned to see Ryoko cracking her wrists and stretching her arms out. "Uh-huh." answered a rather calm voice from the cockpit chair. "Do you think this crazy scheme of your is going to work, Ryoko?" questioned Ayeka. "Well, do you have a better idea?" Ryoko charged back. Ayeka clammed up at Ryoko's response. There was not much else to wait for. "Ok, there's the Souja. Let's do this." commanded Ryoko as they all saw the massive craft up near Earth's moon. He was patient. It was one of the traits that he did indeed so master so well. The giant viewscreen in front him told of a simple picture, of A simple GP shuttle heading towards his unbeatable craft Souja. A viewscreen that had cost him over 100,000 Jurdain credits to a couple of thieves from the Albinkin system. Installing it had taken over a week. It was worth it. Actually, toying them with his new sophisticated playthings was a good idea. All he needed were those indestructible gems, therefore all he needed was Ryoko, dead or alive. So what if her body was done in, after all those gems were indestructible. Then the power of Jurai, the power of Tsunami, was his for the taking. Trenching on the deck of the most powerful of ships had many rewards. The builder, his hostage, built this vessel to be fully automated. She had made sure it required no crew and no need for maintenance. And now he controlled it with his mind. How easy is was. As for himself, the luck of finding his other lost plaything, Ryoko, on such a backwater planet with the princess of Jurai and her dear brother was almost too good to be true. He had been distracted at his mission, for almost as long as Ryoko had been missing. But not everything had turned out perfectly: releasing Ryoko had been a mistake, her guile had used his body and energy to escape. Somehow, the master key had been poisonous to his touch, though Kagato could not fully understand why. He looked back behind him, behind his organ and stage. Wrapped in white sheets of fiber around one the pillars was Yosho's grandson, Tenchi. He was still unconscious, the gash in his head slowly dripped blood down this front. Yes, Kagato thought, stealing this earthling boy was perhaps his easiest move yet. He had no powers. And they cared about this pawn, so they came for him. How wonderful. It was time for the show to begin. Kagato walked up to his latest hostage, quickly releasing the fiber bonds with mind. Without the support, Tenchi's body fell onto the cold floor with a sickening thud, the fall waking his aching body from its slumber. "I see you're awake, boy. Now get up." Kagato came around from the other side the column, shuffling his feet. "It's time to see your friends die." Tenchi, on one knee, slowly got up and looked into the burning eyes of Kagato. His head still cut, he ripped his left shirt arm and wrapped it around his head, covering his wound. "What do you want, Kagato." "Don't even try anything." said Kagato, pointing to the viewscreen. "It's about time you learn of my services." "I will fight you, Kagato." said Tenchi, definitely. "I will not let you hurt Princess Ayeka and the rest of the girls." "You have no powers, boy." flashed Kagato, coming closer to the standing Tenchi. He flashed his energy sword on, holding to the throat of Tenchi until he could see the glow of the weapon against Tenchi's sweating skin. "I see how well you are, you don't seem to shiver and shake like the rest of my victims. Yosho has raised you well." Undiluted by Tenchi's tactics, Kagato extinguished his energy weapon, slid away and sat down at his organ. "In a few moments..." he said, under his breath. "See your friends approaching? Watch them suffer. I am only interested in that pirate Ryoko. The others can endure the cold feeling of space..." spoke up Kagato as he began to play somber, chilling cords from his organ. Tenchi waited patiently, looking at the screen at the approaching GP ship that was Mihoshi's. It's most definitely a trap and I'm the bait, he thought. What a way to end up. I feel like fish food. And he for once, felt useless and barren. Kagato's music was not helping his spirit. "It's time." announced Kagato, licking his lips between chords. Souja, reacting to Kagato's mind, creaked with power, reconfiguring itself into an attack position. At the same time, its secondary guns opened, coming into focus of GP ship. The first few shots missed completely, but the next few barrages soon struck the outer wings of the GP ship, causing it to excessively smoke. Stopping his masterful tune, Kagato looked ever so much closer at the screen. "And now boy, you will see the power of this vessel." And at a drop of hat, Souja's main cannon fired a lightening licked ball of red energy toward the advancing enemy. Tenchi could only look up at the screen at the fiery sun-like ball approach his friends. It look like the poor ship would only absorb a fraction of the energy, the Earth would serve as a convenient backstop. There was nothing to do except wait. But just before Souja's shot could hit, the blast battered into an invisible wall of space. It compressed itself into a flat pancake and scattered out into many directions, letting space absorb most of the energy in plumes of red and yellow. It was only a split second after that a Jurai ship materialized in front of them, unmarking the ten ivory bows of its hull. "Tsunami! I should have known!" Kagato jumped out of his chair and roared as he raced closer to the viewscreen, his eyes and senses distracted from everything else. "How can it block so much power!" The Jurdain flagship immediately unleashed a barrage of weapons fire that the Souja was immediately not ready for. "Aaagh," yelled Kagato as the deck shook, sending Tenchi reeling onto the cold gray floor. Kagato, still floating and balanced, barked out orders to his ship. "Reinforce our decking to the bow of the ship. Merge our layers into one and move us into the ethereal plane." Good, thought Kagato, that would give his ship double the reinforcement while maintaining its own weaponry. Secondary shots from Tsunami rang through the hull of the now reinforced Souja. Usually the firepower would hit and engage the hull. But by hiding most of Souja into another dimensional plane made it difficult for Tsunami to find its target. Meanwhile, Souja's guns were starting to peel away at Tsunami's ten shields. It was only a matter of time. And then, Tsunami stopped firing. Not wanting to hurt her most prized icon, Kagato mind-linked Souja to halt as well. Tenchi, relieved at the silence, came out to take a look at the viewscreen. "What is going on?" asked Kagato, staring distastefully up at the monitor. A few more seconds of silence were finally answered by the sudden shattering of metal and steel from behind him. A sudden gust of smoke and wind from the rear of the ship signaled something very different. The ship lurched, losing gravity distortion for a few seconds before re-balancing itself. This time, Kagato unexpectedly stumbled to the ground. Screeching sounds of breaking metal made him look up. His brand new viewscreen had suddenly released itself from its weak hinges, as it fell on his spread body. Kagato could only think how much pain was he was going to dish out to those pirates if he ever saw them again. Amazing herself to no degree, Ryoko got up from the cold iron floor after their purposeful conversion into the ethereal space. Popping literally inside of Souja's ship had been hard enough. The cavernous room they were in was bruised and battered; it was now mostly shaped in the indented form of Ryo-ohki, except where her spiked wings had penetrated into other decks of Souja. "mew..." rang poor Ryo-ohki, now in cabbit mode. She was still shaken up from her latest trip. She had black and blue bruises covering her body from head to toe. "I'm sorry Ryo-ohki." answered Ryoko, looking down at her furry companion, very worried for her and her ride home. "But it was only way to get here. We would have never made it here without your help." "Meya!" smiled the worn cabbit due to the compliment from its master. "Waaaa! Give me my cube back! It's not fair that you had to do it! I would have gotten it eventually," screamed a very upset Mihoshi. She made several futile swipes to take the dimensional cube away from Ayeka, who was actually recovering from the rough transition trip as well. Only ego bruised from her un-lady like landing, Ayeka quickly recomposed herself. "OK, here you go" answered Ayeka, dropping the cube back to Mihoshi. "But I seem to understand this thing better than you do." "Hmmp," as the GP police officer took her cube, swiping it from Ayeka's hand. Mihoshi quickly morphed it back into a white furball and placed it on her uniform belt. So far, thought Ryoko, they were getting out of this alive. It was only a couple of years ago, in another time, that herself, Ayeka, and Tenchi had fought Kagato, defeating him. That fight from so recently gave Ryoko a bit of insight into Kagato's wishes so far. First, from seeing the little GP ship, defenseless, coming his way must have awakened Kagato's side for playfulness. Operating the detached navigation controls, Ryoko steered the GP ship closer from their hiding spot on the Earth's moon. Sill, the Souja lay in waiting, like a cobra coiled and ready to strike. Now that Tsunami was visible and vulnerable, Kagato could not avoid delays as Tsunami was too much of a temping target. Still, using Tsunami as a distraction card had given her presence away. Ryoko had been very persuasive that the goddess should follow her plan. Still, the three of them had barely enough time to sneak up to the Souja with Ryo-ohki. Immediately after overlapping in space where Souja's former physical self had been, Ryoko proceeding to shake Mihoshi of her dimensional cube. After a few tense moments and a scuffle with Mihoshi, Ayeka managed to pick up the now lost cube from the floor and jump Ryo-ohki into the ethereal plane. So far, so good. "Ah, I see I have visitors. How nice." Not good, thought Ryoko. They weren't even all settled when Kagato approached, silently, gutturally laughing in their direction. Besides a few rips in his cape from the last couple of skirmishes and one lightly skinned hand, Kagato still looked intimating as hell. "Tenchi!" exclaimed Ayeka as her lover rounded the corner after Kagato. Both of his sleeves from his morning tunic were slashed and missing, there were blood soaked wraps around his head and thigh. Physically in bad shape, Tenchi was definitely alert and walking around. "Tenchi!!!" wailed Mihoshi. Ryoko saw Tenchi, but a ray of energy from Kagato distracted her long enough. She could see Tenchi's eyes light up as the blast hit her, throwing her back to the far wall. The wall caught her, preventing her body from doubling over and flattening against the solid floor. Grimacing in pain, her suit smoldering a fine black cloud, Ryoko rematerialized to her feet. No longer, Ryoko thought, will that creature Kagato take advantage of me. Powering up the three gems, Ryoko shot herself as a projectile with lightening force. Wind blew and energy increased, Tenchi and the others were blinded from the wave of energy, and thus fell back. Ryoko struck into Kagato's body, he never had a chance to phase his physical self out of existence. As Kagato fell, he curled in pain, feeling for his lower half. Still conscience, energy swirled into a small cloud of dust as he dematerialized thought the floor. Ryoko, now red hot for Kagato's bleeding heart to be served on a platter, struck at the deck plating where Kagato's midsection had once been. Sticking her hand thought well past her elbow, Ryoko took a huge swipe into the deck. She peeled back the two-inch steel plating with ease like a skin to an orange. "I'm going after him. You know what to do," announced Ryoko as she looked over at Ayeka. Before the princess could object, Ryoko dived into the black-fill hole she had just formed. "So, where are we?" asked Tenchi. He was defiantly feeling better now that the girls had rescued him. Sort of. "Are we going home?" "Ryoko directed us to go this way." pointed Ayeka as they stormed down the long dim hallway. "Are you sure we shouldn't be going that way?" pointed Mihoshi, to a passage that led off to the right. "Oh, I'm sure..." The three of them turned a corner to discover their goal. Encased in a clear rectangle of quartz was a young girl of perhaps 14 years old, with long brazen red hair. Covering her chest was a golden crest of two birds intertwined. With her eyes closed, she was standing at peace. "Umm, is that her?" barbed the blond. "Ooh, I just love those ancient outfits!" "I believe that is her." Ayeka closed her eyes, focusing her energy onto the cellulite walls as a small ring of logs engaged it around in several hoops of energy. The chase was fun indeed, even if he was the pray. Not so much by hiding behind some of Souja's engine equipment, but staying out of view of his current opponent, Ryoko. She was too powerful right now, she could easily liquefy his physical body, then slam what was left into pulp and more. Kagato's thoughts spirally delighted, he continued to pave his later goals into accomplishments. It had been more than a calculated plan to get Ryoko aboard his flagship. Now that Ryoko was following his, it would be long until she was in the exact spot to strike back. His dreams stopped as the dimly lit engine room suddenly brightened with the glow of red. The rest of the lights weren't on nor working, the room hadn't had the presence of a mortal in quite some time. Still, mounds of dust and soot lined the ever-present humming equipment and green-glowing monitors. Ryoko more than strolled into the room, she literally lighted up the place. With power that pulsed and breathed from her wrist and neck, Kagato imagined that in some worlds they might have viewed her as an angel, sent down from the gods to help them. But seeing those demon eyes and fangs, along with the presence of untapped power would have scared even the tamest of souls. Ryoko quickly scanned the darkened engine room for her former suppressor. Her gems shined an eerie glow off the glass monitors, dust in the screen caused red energy to hazily cascade out. All the equipment was making her job very complicated at the moment. Kagato blew his nostrils out, collecting the strength for his upcoming assault. A small bit of dust popped up into the air. It was here, more than 2,000 years ago where he had repeated the action already once done. He remembered the delight in looking down at Ryoko tortured body that first week. Gashes and deep wounds in her body. A face drawn in, her skin stuck to her life it had been glued and shellacked into place. She screamed for hours at a time. At the lost of her energy, at the loss of part of her mind. He coaxed Washu into wiping Ryoko's mind in order to save her sanity. It had been almost an accident on how she had insured herself. Too painful to ever remember, Washu struck the memories from her daughters mind as well as her own. Including how Kagato had once captured Ryoko. Alas, a thoughtless game once ago had provided his answers for collecting the gem energy. He lurched near the ground, in search of his goal. And unscrewing one the intake values that led directly into the warp core, the released hose licked with dark shaded energy. The blue and white tube, about two inches round, was quite flexible as it twisted silently like a cobra, still attached by its tail. The warp core acted as suction, Kagato felt the immediate drain of his free-flowing energy as tingles ran down his arm to the intake that was once attached to its massive batteries. He could see his flesh almost boil away furiously, lines of pure fine silk energy that streamed themselves out of his skin and into the now open vacuum. Putting his hand near the intake, he could feel as well as see flesh almost drawn out of him and disappear. Kagato looked down at his left hand which he had lost so recently, losing skin and muscle was just part of the process again. And he smiled, not just at the stripping pain but at the sheer horror of the effect it would have on Ryoko and her gems. Grasping the hose near the nozzle with his now stripped hand, it no longer drew energy because Kagato could no longer feel his arm below his elbow. Sucked dry of power, his arms now hardened and stiff. Only this near could Souja's core accept a direct connection with the gems, sucking them dry in minutes. With the core that breathed on the everlasting and intoxicating power of the gems, there would be no way to stop him. All of Kagato's movements had raised quite a few dust clouds into the air. Ryoko, sensing movement and knowing her pray, struck quite quickly in Kagato's general area, firing with both hands large balls of energy. "Good show, Ryoko. Now come and get me if you can." dared the voice of Kagato. "Yea, that's right. I'm finishing you off once and for all." spat Ryoko. In response, she dived behind the counter where Kagato surely lay in wait. But he was not there. Pissed as hell, Ryoko hastily fired energy shots in every direction. Equipment went flying. Tiles and steel fell from the high ceiling. Huge amounts of dust was released into the air, chocking the cramped view for Ryoko. "I'm afraid ever with all that given power, you can't seem to find me." Kagato was doing was he did best; toying with his enemy. "I see how your mind will always be primitive, Ryoko. Such a pity." Shooting random shots in all directions just infuriated Ryoko even more since none for them could drive Kagato out of hiding. His voice seem to come from everywhere, the reflective walls hid his true position very well. It was never a good idea to piss off the pirate demon, therefore it was definitely not a good idea to mess with one that could poke holes through the hull like a hot knife through butter. And Kagato laughed. He was having the time of his life and knew it. He also knew he was very close now. Indeed. Ryoko was in no mood for mind games. Tearing though half the ship had been one thing. But the games were starting to tire her mind as well as her reflexes. She urged to corner her long time master and finally strike him down. The last time they met, Ryoko had been able to complete her due because Ayeka was in the same room and might have been killed by an irregular blast. This time, the only reason Ryoko had not just torn though the ship like a total savage is that she knew the rest of them were on board getting her mother out of stasis. Kagato was her job now, the three gems just made her power much easier the handle and fiercer to control. Still, playing this most recent cat and mouse game had really ticked Ryoko off. Shooting energy balls in all directions, Ryoko was sure that the crispy form of Kagato would throw himself at her feet for mercy. She was close to unbeatable. With no ego checks to stop her, dust and debris soon littered everywhere. She lost it when Kagato laughed. Throwing equipment around like cars in a tornado, Ryoko blazed a path towards where she thought Kagato's sickly laugh originated. She proceeded without caring, without danger. A few more panels blew to smithereens as Ryoko let out a few more balls of energy. Suddenly, a shadow of white surprised her, popping up from behind a nearby panel, under twenty feet from herself. The dust had hidden the face, but Ryoko had seen enough of the evil smirk to know who it was. "Kagato!" she roared. With both hands up, she fired massive energy bolts toward the surprising figure. But they didn't strike Kagato, instead they 'disappeared' as if the hand of god as swiped their existence away. Not pondering what had happened, she charged, lighting a path of fire behind her. As Ryoko came closer, a sudden force swung her balance out of control. She could see Kagato bracing for her impact, but his hands held firm onto a tube. As if Kagato were capturing pray, he seemed to smack his lips in excitement. Off balance, Ryoko spindled in the air now out of control. Her body turned sideways facing perpendicular yet she fell forward toward Kagato. It all happened in a flash. As soon as contact was made, her own body burned without fire. She realized that the tube was sucking the very life force from her body. And for the next second, she was held fast while she screamed in intense pain. "AAAAHHH!!!" Ryoko's eyed blazed over in fury, with her arms she made strong swings at Kagato's head, missing badly. "...You will pay!!!...AAAAAAaaaa!!" as Ryoko gritted her fangs. "Why, I am surprised at you Ryoko. I would think that you would remember the first time I caught you." smiled the guardian once more. With arms moving and legs flailing uncontrollability, Ryoko could no longer respond with intelligent words. The gems, angry about being tapped like the natural springs they were, throbbed with unevenness on Ryoko's body, but they could do no other action. Tilting her head over, Ryoko looked into Kagato's eyes once again with every form of hatred she knew. How typical, thought Ryoko, to be captured again. The cycle of pain, freedom and anguish just continued without peace. In the last two days, Kagato had struck her down with a single maneuver. As if he had read my mind. A swirl of imagination entered her mind as her physical body once again fell. Why again, she thought. Do I have a sign that says 'plan to so and so' stamped on my forehead? Am I just plain stupid? Ryoko had no idea why her movements had been so guessed by her opponents. It was if as her thoughts had betrayed her. Aware her precious energy that had been bled away, she was still unprepared for the unbearable pain that came at last. And again her body joined with her clouded mind into unconsciousness.