Tenchi Muyo: Culture Shock Chapter 7: Meeting Her Majesty Starring: Terry McMahon as Ter'ay Scott Craven as Scotah Raymond Ryckman as Raiman-doa Minor Roles: Many. by Gitaro the Metalhead (NOTE: This chapter isn't necessarily in chronological order.) - FORCED JOURNAL ENTRY - DAY 1- <> -END TRANSMISSION- *** The weather was very cold, and misty. It was especially cold considering that it was only barely fall. Frost clung to the grass throughout the valley that surrounded the house, and a bone-chilling wind made it's way through the trees. Even the normal birdsong was absent, creating an especially desolate scene. The only sign of warm was the orange of the sun coming over the mountains, promising light and warmth for the near future. Inside, in the living room, someone was beginning to stir. She was the only person in the house, and as such, was privy to any sleeping spot she wanted. She had picked the couch in front of the TV. She made her way to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. Her red hair hung long, and her green eyes made impression on even her. Her tall body made use of the entire length of the mirror, and her face made her want to smile. < It's been a while, Washu. > She thought to herself. < But your shot at adulthood looks like it's returned. > She smiled again, and left for the kitchen. She didn't feel like anything special, just maybe some rice and some cakes. Luckily there was some in the refrigerator, because Washu wanted her time for more than just preparing food for the morning. She didn't even want to bother with heating it up. After eating, she dressed herself. It was a rich combination of robes and undergarments. She also put on a coat of white make-up. Why, she wasn't so sure, but she felt like a walk. She took a sun umbrella, and went to the front doorway. The first thing that hit her when she opened the door was the chill of the wind, and the absence of the birds. This morning seemed more like a mid-winter one than it did early fall one. It was bound to warm up later, though. It was still early. She walked out to the walkway. She almost felt like she was role-playing a country girl or something. It was unlike her to go out and waste her time dressing and putting on make-up. She laughed to herself, and felt a butterfly sensation in her stomach. The lake was just ahead. She took a few steps out to the bridge, and gazed over the horizon. She tilted her umbrella back, and examined her surroundings. Trees glistened in the orange of the rising sun, and in the distance mountains could be seen. She looked toward the water, and examined the hazy reflection of the same scene. < When I first met him, I thought he was a criminal of sorts. > She thought. She could make out a few fish in the lake, and they soon disappeared into the glare of the reflection. < And then I thought he was a member of the enemy. It's strange how things work out. > She blushed, and became a little flustered. Her arms and legs were a little cold form the temperature, but her body was kept warm by the fuzzy feeling in her heart. < And he seemed so... rough at first. Not in a threatening way, but in a stupid way. I'm not even sure what made me interested in him... aside from the fact that he was such a unique blend of species. > She picked up her feet, and walked down the bridge a little more. In the distance she could see the wind carrying the leaves in circles. It was like an intricate dance, each leaf with it's partner, like a waltz through the forest. < And when I saw him fight, I was amazed. He had something I had never seen before. I was angry with him at first, thinking he was a pirate, come to steal my ship, or some of my technology to sell to my enemies. I shouldn't have been so foolish. He was probably my greatest ally at the time. > She glanced toward the sky, noticing the beautiful arrangement of color in the clouds. There were oranges, purples, and blues that she had seen only in the deep recesses of space. Earth was unique, that was for sure. It had a lot going for it. < I wish I wouldn't have been thinking with my mind quite so much back then. I should have trusted my emotions more. I guess that's all in the past now. > She closed her eyes. < I can only barely remember what he looks like now. I remember the crab tattoo on his right wrist, the one that I gave him. And now I remember the scar over his eye, the one that Tenchi gave him. And the repairs I found on him were *my own*. It all makes perfect sense. > She kept her eyes closed, and could picture what it would be like when she saw him again. She didn't want to overreact, and she probably wouldn't. She never really did. On second thought, maybe she really *did* want to overreact. It would feel good to get it out of her system. All of those years, waiting. Most of which were spent in captivity with Kagato. By now the sun had made it's whole body visible, and it was beginning to warm the countryside. Washu could feel it in her face. It really did remind her of how it felt to be in love. The way the sun felt on her face was the same way her stomach felt. With any luck she would be able to feel this way for a while. She continued on her walk, and with her memories of the past. *** The pain wouldn't go away. It was like a knife, stabbing at her side, in her head, all around. Sharp and repeatedly, her sorrow grew more and more. It took all she could muster to keep her body from collapsing. Her eyes were swollen. Her hair was a mess. She couldn't concentrate. "You're absolutely sure?" She whispered. "Please tell me you're not... please..." Sitting in the corner of the office room, Ryoko was more sorry than she had ever been. Whatever she had done in her life to deserve this kind of pain, she was sorry. All she could think about was how to change it, what she could have or should have done differently so that he could be alive now. She should have never run away. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, really. But we can't spend much more of our resources researching the matter. There's nothing to be found that implies... anything. It's like your friend's ship was never there in the first place." The GP officer's face was calm and callous. But that was to be expected. He had dealt with death cases many times over. A second officer chimed in. He was standing next to the where the first one was sitting, behind the desk. "What we're saying is that if the ship really *was* destroyed, there would be some sort of debris." He paused and swallowed. "Even if it was disintegrated, there would be molecular remains scattered throughout the area! All we have is your testimony, ma'am, and it doesn't match anything we've found." The other officer chimed back. "He's right. The third ship you mentioned didn't leave any traces behind, either. When we arrived at the scene, you were the only person there. I would like to recommend that you talk to one of our doctors." "And we request that you volunteer for drug testing. It would be in your best interest." She couldn't believe it. The one time she did the right thing, and she got screwed for it. First it was Tenchi, then it was that man, and now the GP were trying to screw her over. Her sorrow began to disappear. "If you would please follow us, ma'am." Ryoko stood still. What did these officers really want to do to her? "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, ma'am, please." She remained where she was. When she made eye contact with each of the officers, something didn't seem right. That's when they each stood up. They each worked their way along opposite sides of the table, toward her, looking right at her. She felt like she was being backed into a corner. By now, hatred was starting to build up in her, where loss had been. Nervously she eyed the two of them, and they reached out in an attempt to grab her. She panicked. Tear stricken, she grabbed one officer, and slammed him against the wall. The other one, now frozen in shock, found himself being slammed into the table, breaking it in half. Ryoko, realizing what she did, made a run for it. She had done it again. < Damn it. I have to stop acting reckless! > She was immediately met with a squad of police. Her instincts told her to do away with them all, but she needed to break that habit. She phased through the ceiling, and continued upward, until she was in space. She swung around, searching the area for her comrade, Ryo-ohki, and found her in the distance. < Ryo-ohki! Quick! > < Mayas! > Ryo-ohki was quick to respond. It was like the old days again. Except this time, outrunning was the only option. Unfortunately, they were up against a faster ship. < Ryo-ohki, you have to hurry! > Ryoko's heart was actually beating kind of fast. Now that her life was in her hands, and it was her choice not to fight anymore, she had no option but to run. < We can't risk fighting anymore, for him... > Ryo-ohki responded with a long drowning miya. She moved around and sped off, back in the direction they were originally headed. Away from earth, into space. The GP ship closed behind them. It was going to be a battle of maneuver. Ryoko tried to shake around, but it was no use. The GP ship could easily fall back and keep a distance until Ryoko tried something else. There really wasn't much she could do. It seemed like it was going to be an endless wild goose chase until the GP ship started opening fire. It landed one nice shot at Ryo-ohki's shielding, which had already been weakened from the previous battle. < Shit. > Ryoko hit the control panel. < There's nothing we can do. We either fight, or get caught. > Ryoko closed her eyes, and more tears came streaming. The situation was so stressful. Here she was, trying to hold honor to someone that was dead. Someone that she had seen die in front of her. Someone that she had indirectly killed, because she ran away. Which is what she was doing now. Even in keeping her honor, she was running away. She was killing Tenchi all over again. She turned and narrowed her eyes. The GP ship behind her seemed to be laughing. Little did it know what Ryoko had in store for it. < I guess as long as I don't *completely* destroy it, it would still be a change for the better. > She actually managed a smile. It felt like she was making a difference. Like she was bringing Tenchi back by standing up for herself. < Ryo-ohki, turn around. > Ryoko brought Ryo-ohki around so that it was headed straight for the GP ship. Quite frankly, that seemed like the last thing the GP were expecting for her to do. They froze, as Ryoko let loose a few shots toward the rear of the ship, and headed in the direction behind it. It took a few moments for the GP ship to turn around, and by the time it did, Ryoko was already headed for it again. As she passed it, she made another shot at it's aft, and waited for it to turn around again, which it did. Finally, Ryoko made one last pass, and shot the rear engine out. There was a chance it would take out the whole ship, but it was better than giving up. The GP ship slowed down, and came to a still. Ryoko waited for an explosion, but it never came. She did it. She successfully nullified the situation without completely destroying the ship. It was a start. And now it was time for another start. Ryo-ohki was headed for earth again. < I'll see you again, Tenchi. If not in life, I'll feel you in spirit. > Tears in her eyes, and a half-sense of satisfaction, Ryoko was headed home again. *** On another part of the world, Ayeka, Sasami, Tenchi, and his Grandfather were having their own obstacles to overcome. It was time to find out what had been happening with Funaho, and the clues of the other trees suspected of being on earth. The group stood staring down the road. It was very simple looking. If the road had a personality, it would have been a very stupid road. "Do you suppose this is the town where Bryan's from?" Ayeka asked out loud. No-one really said anything, until a lone tumbleweed rolled across them. The group sweat in unison. To think that Bryan could come from a place that was the perfect picture of American backwardness was unthinkable. Well, *mostly* unthinkable... It wasn't a particulartly slow town, surprisingly. There were people moving about, in and out of buildings. Then again, it was hardly an exciting kind of busy. More like a lazy kind. "Man..." Tenchi began. "..there's a tree of Jurai somwhere around *here*?" No sooner had he asked that when an entire balcony collapsed off of a building in the distance. It was just so... wrong. "Well, I can't say for sure." Tenchi's grandfather's eyebrows were furrowed in half concentration. "All I have to go by is what Washu said... and this map." Tenchi looked over his grandfather's shoulders. "It looks almost three-dimensional..." They both looked at it, scratching their heads. The map had various points on it, marked in red, which were simple enough, except that there were also green and blue and neon dots as well. The fact that the map had layed out several astral planes seemed quite unnecessary. "Well," his grandfather began. "I suppose looking for a place to stay for the next few days wouldn't be such a bad idea. Why don't you take the girls to eat?" "Right." Tenchi scratched the back of his head. "Dinner sounds great." The restaurant in itself wasn't so bad. The window's were draped over with a nice red and white pattern, and the smell was... pretty good, actually. It could have made out all right. It could have, except that it didn't at all. Tenchi breathed in. He tried to keep from making direct eye contact with Ayeka, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. He didn't know why either. He would find himself watching her when she would look away, and then look away when she glanced back. She looked at him. He suddenly found the tablecloth very interesting to look at. < Ohhh... > he muttered to himself. < I think I'm going to be sick. > Ayeka wasn't feeling much better. She was having a hard time trying to keep from looking too obvious. Everything was so different without Ryoko, it was almost bizarre. Now she was free to do whatever she wanted with Tenchi, and... she couldn't' think of anything to say. She tried to look him in the face, but suddenly thought the ceiling more appropriate. Sasami just sat there watching the two of them. "Are you both... ok?" Both of them felt huge beads of sweat raise on the back of their head. They both froze. "'Cuz if it's ok with you, I'd like to go and look at the fish." Tenchi and Ayeka both breathed out, and faced her. "Oh, yes of course!" They nervously laughed, and managed weak smiles. < Man, this is weird.. > Tenchi thought. < Why am I acting so stupid around her? > < This is a disaster! > Ayeka wondered. < I can't even look at him! > They both made eye contact, and smiled like nervous hyenas. Just then they noticed the menus in front of them, and picked them up. It was like a bizarre first date. "So... what do you think you'll... have, erm..." < Oh, crap. Her name.. I forgot her name... > Tenchi fidgeted with his fingers. "Well... to tell you the truth... I'm not so.. sure.." she replied. Both their hearts were racing. It was a very uncanny experience. Suddenly they heard someone else's voice. A young lady's. It was the waitress. "Hey, what's going on?" She made a pause as she set up a small desert menu on the table. "My name's Katherine, and I'll be your server today." Both Tenchi and Ayeka peeked over their menus. The lady was obviously Tenchi's age, and had a simple, almost hippie look about her. She was very plainly American. "You two look nervous. Is this your first time in Lawful?" They eyed her uneasily. Suddenly a look of mischief came over the waitress. "Wait, a minute... you two are on your honeymoon, aren't you? Did you guys just get married?" Tenchi and Ayeka's eyes bugged. "Guh! No!" Tenchi raved. He glanced at Ayeka hurriedly ".. I mean.." She was nervous as well. "What he means to say is, is... we're.. that is.." "We're friends! That's all... well, not *all*, but..." "Yes, not *all*, but.. no I, what we mean ..." They both laughed nervously. It was like they were trying to protect each other from realizing that each of them already knew that they really liked each other, even if only slightly. Tenchi and Ayeka stood there, in a dry sweat. They were ruined. This was really stressful. "I'll... just have the mozzarella stix." Tenchi wearily admitted. Ayeka, crushed dry, agreed. "Me, too." "Sauce?" They both nodded. "On ...*seperate* plates?" The waitress noticed. They nodded again. "Well, all right." The waitress took their menus. "Two mozzarella sticks." As she walked off, the two of them nearly collapsed on the table from exhaustion. < Phew. Let's just hope she didn't really notice. > Tenchi thought. < With any luck I pulled that off pretty smoothly. > Ayeka wanted to believe. A few moments passed. And before long, Ayeka hadn't really remembered if she was paying attention or not. It sounded like someone was talking to her. "...Ayeka...Ayeka, are you all right?" Sasami's voice intruded. Suddenly Ayeka came back from her imagination. "Ayeka, I was telling you how different the fish here are. They don't have the little whiskers on their faces like the ones where Tenchi lives ." Suddenly she remembered why she had zoned out. Had she imagined the whole thing? No, she was eating mozzarella sticks. She looked back up at Tenchi, and he was looking back. "It's... um, kind of dark now.. Ayeka." It was... She sighed. "Yes.." "I was thinking that we should go see where Grandpa is. It's kind of bothering me that he hasn't shown up, yet." A silent... "I suppose your right. Where could he be?" By now she was in half interest. She was ruined. She had been so preoccupied with keeping Ryoko away from Tenchi in the past that she hadn't ever thought about what she would do with Tenchi when she did get the opportunity. Quiet... "Aren't you coming?" Tenchi asked. Cautious... "No... it's all right." Ayeka said. Her stare gave the impression that she was serious. Resting... Tenchi stood up. "Are you sure?" Awkward... Ayeka nodded. "Could you take Sasami with you?" Shy... Tenchi smiled. "Of course, Ayeka." Moment. A few moments passed. Ayeka really didn't know what she wanted to do. There must have been some way to tell him what she wanted to. Or at least... there must have been some way to get him to like her the same way. By now her mozzarella sticks were very cold. She didn't much care for them in the first place, but them being colder made it all the worse. Gradually the restaurant became less and less crowded, and became more and more apparent that Ayeka was alone. It has been a silent, quiet, cautious, resting, awkward, shy moment. *** She found herself at the entrance of the same doorway she had never used. What was the purpose? For her, entering the house was as easy as a thought. This time, though, she didn't feel welcome for some reason. The house wasn't just going to let her pass through it, not after what she had done to it's owner. She knocked, silently, and the house seemed to relax. She didn't live here anymore. It was her choice to run away. Nobody answered the knock. She knocked again, louder this time. Were they ignoring her? Did they find out what she had done, somehow? Something didn't seem right. She opened the door, and lost her breath. She didn't think she would ever see the inside of this house again. Simple sights such as a stairway, and a doorway made her lose her mind with excitement. She half anticipated him to walk down the stairs, telling her to leave him alone, or to do some chores. Reality hit her. That would never happen again, and it was all her fault. Her eyes welled up. It was time to go inside. She walked down the first hallway, taking note of some of the pictures. There were ones of Tenchi's Grandfather, of his father, and a few of the other girls. None of them were particularly special. But they each represented someone that she owed an apology to. She never thought that by running away, she could hurt so many people. She moved around to the living room, and her heart sank. They were all right there. Three of some of the most important pictures Ryoko knew of. One with him and her, side by side. Another of him with all of the girls, but he was looking at *her* when the picture was taken. The third was a picture of him as a child. As a child. She felt an instant cold come over her body. It always happened when she saw that picture. It was just like the cave. Even being in the cave would be better than the way things were now, if it meant she could watch him from a distance again. Ryoko vowed never to take anything for granted again. She walked over to the stairway, slowly, and walked up it. There were a lot of memories associated with this stairway, also. She smiled through her tears. < This is where he fell down the stairs when I tried to kiss him. > She was about to laugh, but she stopped herself. How could she laugh at a time like this? She continued up the stairs, and made a right. She was about to enter his room when she heard a noise from downstairs. The TV was on. She froze instantly. Someone was in the house. It could have been Mihoshi, Yosho, Sasami... Ryoko froze. < ...or Ayeka. > A whole different realization came over Ryoko. Not only had she taken away Tenchi from herself and his family, but she had taken him away from Ayeka as well. She knew Ayeka had to care about him as much as she did. It was obvious. Suddenly Ryoko didn't feel the expressed dislike for Ayeka anymore. Instead she wanted to hide from her. She phased back down to the living room, and found nobody there. The TV was on, but nobody was watching it. She looked at the screen. It read 'ON TIMER: 8:30'. Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief. She walked up, and turned the TV off. < Where *is* everyone? > She wondered. She turned around and looked at the couch. There was a pillow and some blankets on it. *Someone* had been sleeping there. Ryoko sighed. < This is where we would all watch TV together. > It all seemed so distant. < And I would try to sneak closer to him all the time. > Her eyes began to water again. < There's nobody here. > She phased back up to Tenchi's room. It was so dreary. Everything was covered over with a light coat of dust. The room hadn't been touched since she left. That meant that as soon as she had left, he had gone after her. Her eyes welled in memory of the words he said right before he left her. He said that he didn't love Ayeka. She wasn't sure of what to think about what he said after that. She was sure he was going to say that it was her. She turned around. There was his bed. The place where she could always find him at night. She would watch him sometimes, occasionally she would watch him all night. She could even make out the permanent indentation of his body against the mattress. She bent down, and rested her upper body against it. Lost in thought, or the absence of it. She wasn't even crying anymore, she was so sad, so sorry. It was unreal. Here she was again, with everything so different. And yet, the house seemed so much the same. Everything was still. It was then she noticed something. In the back of her mind, she could hear singing. It was strange. It was as if a voice from somewhere else was putting a song in her mind. It got louder. It was a happy song, the likes of which Ryoko had never heard of before. It felt as though it was coming from behind her. Suddenly it stopped, and Ryoko turned around. Her eyes met with those of a tall young-looking lady, with red hair. < Ryoko?! > The woman's green eyes were wide with a puzzled excitement. < Washu?! > Ryoko's face was one of half-fear. They froze, looking at each other. One looked a complete disaster, the other looked as if handcrafted from perfection. They're eyes stared at each other for a while, from across the room, neither sure of how to react to the other. < What are you doing here? > They thought in unison. Washu quickly searched her daughter's mind. Ryoko tried to fight it, but there was so little she could hold back. She had to let *someone* know. < He's... dead? > Washu wondered. < But how can that be? > < It's... it's.. > Ryoko quivered. Her breathing became shallow, and fast. < It's not what you think! > < Ryoko, what happened? > Washu tried to move toward her daughter. She was concerned. Ryoko wasn't acting herself. Ryoko felt trapped again. Everything inside her told her to lash out. Her breathing got faster, and heavier. < Get.. Get away from me! > Ryoko backed away quickly, knocking the table behind her over, and smashing it. She tripped, and broke the window as she made a hasty retreat out of the building. Washu quickly ran to the window. She didn't see Ryoko anywhere. "Ryoko! It's not as bad as you think! Ryoko!" In the woods, running from her own self fear, Ryoko was headed back to the only place she knew of that would be safe for the present being. If she could get back to the cave, things would be all right. She could vent there for a while. A long while. Away where she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. *** Alone in the vastness of space, an odd craft made its silent voyage amongst the stars. Its crew, motionless, unconscious, and generally not moving. The engines were silent as well. Any less activity and the it could have been mistaken for a inert piece of floating metal, perhaps an asteroid. Everyone inside was passed out. They had just been hit by some sort of attack, obviously, and had each hid their heads on a respective surface. The windshield in front of Bryan had the most interesting silhouette formed of minute cracks and scratches that were roughly the exact same size and shape of Bryan’s currently throbbing head. Slowly, Tenchi stirred. His head hurt, and he was having trouble focusing. What had he just been through? His eyes shot open. < Ryoko! > He looked around. There were no signs of Ryo-ohki, or the other ship. In fact, they looked stranded. Tenchi looked to his left. Bryan had a few dried cuts across the top of his head, and appeared to be sleeping. He looked behind him. Scotah was sprawled with his head tilted back unconscious. Mihoshi had her head on his thigh, and was snoring. She didn't seem to have a scratch on her. There was a moment of silence as Tenchi wondered what to do next. Suddenly he heard a gasping noise. Tenchi looked to his left, and saw Bryan in his seat with his eyes wide open. He had just woken up. It took him a while to realize that they were still in space, and that he was still with Tenchi. He didn't say anything at first. He relaxed his head in his seat, but his eyes were still wide open. "She's gone?" He asked. Tenchi shook his head. "And so's that other guy..." Bryan noticed. Tenchi continued to nod, and stopped. They both sat in their seats, leaning back, wondering what to do. There was really nothing to say. They failed. Ryoko was gone, and now there was nothing either of them could do about it. "This..." Bryan began. "...really sucks." Again, Tenchi nodded. Without a doubt, the situation sucked, really. They didn't even know how to make the ship operational again. At least, they thought they didn't. Instinctively, Bryan turned the ignition. The engine whirred to life, and some of the instruments became operational. None that were all that important, but it helped to know some of the ship worked, anyway. He took a glance at Tenchi. Come to think of it, shouldn't they have been destroyed by now? He could have sworn that they were being attacked before they passed out. He pushed the gas pedal forward. The ship moved pretty good considering. Even the CD player was online. They were the luckiest men in the universe. "Where..." Bryan paused. "should we go now?" Tenchi sighed. "Do you mind?" "What do you mean?" Bryan asked. Tenchi narrowed his eyes in fury. "I'm not going home without her." Bryan let a wily smile, and pushed the Delorian to the metal. He liked this side of Tenchi. [ I'll find you Ryoko. ] Tenchi thought. < Although... I don't know if... > He hesitated slightly. [ No, ] he corrected himself. [I'll find you, as long as it takes. ] They flew for a while, all the while leaving Scotah and Mihoshi peacefully. Bryan got the impression that Scotah was only pretending to be asleep, but there was really no way of knowing for sure. There wasn't really an intended direction, either. For now, all they could do was fly until they found somebody to fly into, or until they ran out of the means to fly altogether. This wasn't really a good plan. "I'm going to put a search on any wake-patterns in the area." Bryan said. "Why don't you..." Bryan thought about it. "I guess you could try putting all these wires back together..." Tenchi gave him a very drab look. It would have been easy, they were color-coded after all, but Tenchi hardly wanted to.. [ Just do it, wuss. ] There was a moment of silence as Tenchi tried to discern whether it was really his own voice he was hearing in his head. Tenchi breathed a hard deep breath. < Fine. > After a short while, The Delorian was at about 90% capacity. Aside from the obvious physical damage, and the absolute mess it was on the inside, it was pretty much back to the way it was before. Still, the question remained, what to do now? On one of the only screens left in the dash, flashed a bright wake pattern, followed by a huge ship. Whatever it was was moving slowly, and was very big. It was certainly curious. "I think we'll want to stay away from this thing." Bryan said. "Right." added Tenchi. Then they saw something else. It looked like a bunch of tiny dots, closing in on them. "Bryan you don't think those are..." They heard a voice from behind them. "You idiot! Shields! Turn on the shields!" "Scotah?! I knew you were awake!" Bryan yelled. "Damnit do I have to do everything?!" Scotah lunged forward, and messed with the controls. No sooner had he gotten the shields operational than was the Delorian surrounded by tiny ships. All of them were in pursuit of the dull gray vessel. "What the hell are these things!" "Idiot, they came from that war craft in the distance!" Scotah was fuming red. "Tenchi, let me sit up there!" They switched seats, and Scotah lunged for the control panel in the glove compartment. < I knew there was one of these here... > he thought. Bryan looked at him curiously. There must have been some uniformity to the way all ships worked, he thought. Suddenly they were hit from behind. Scotah's eyes bugged tremendously. "What are you doing? Fly! Fly this thing!" Bryan gained his concentration back, and circled around. Dodging these guys shouldn't have been *that* difficult, although it was making him really sick. He noticed small radar screens in the readout area where the gas meter and temperature meters should have been. All he had to do was avoid the little dots represented in those screens. Scotah was busy working on something else. He tapped furiously at the controls, and appeared to be in some physical discomfort. Suddenly his eyes went wide, and he smiled, as if he had just gone mad from some insane bit of information. "You...you.." His wily smile got even larger. "You don't have any... weapons?" Bryan tossed him an uneasy look. "Yeah, this ship's not... really... done yet." Scotah's face fell. "We're doomed!" "Relax, man. I think I got it taken care of." At first, Scotah looked as if he was going to lose his mind, but he suddenly came to the realization that they hadn't' been hit at all, since that first time. Scotah gave Bryan a questionable face. "You know, you're not too bad a pilot." "Thanks." The whole crew was feeling a little ill, but Bryan was holding his own pretty well. He dodged not only the ships, but their shots. It wasn't too hard considering the speed of the Delorian, and it's tiny size compared to most ships. Yawning, Mihoshi emerged from one of her infamous cat naps. "What’s going on?", she inquired. "Somebody’s trying to kill us!", shouted Scotah. "Oh. Are you sure?" She asked, quite innocently. "YES!" yelled Bryan. "Oh that’s okay then." "WHAT?!?" "Well, I just thought that it looked like they were leading us into a trap, but seeing as how you’re sure that they’re trying to kill us, I guess they’re not. Of course if this *WAS* a trap, then you’d probably think that they were trying to kill us, so that means..." In unison, the entire group began to sweat profusely as they began to slowly turn around, only to face exactly what they had expected. The group eyed the large craft in unison. Suddenly the ship froze. They could feel the air get colder as the Delorian became enshrouded in shadow. Overhead lie some huge sort of battleship. It was enormous, and slowly, the smaller ships started to disappear. The worst seemed about to come. They were headed for the ship, as if being pulled. That's when they started feeling dizzy, and tired. It felt as if some alien presence had come over them. They didn't like it at all. Tenchi looked next to him. Mihoshi had lost consciousness again, and she had only just woken up. In front of him, Scotah was out also, and Bryan's head was nodding oddly. He was trying to fight the sleep off. Eventually Tenchi's vision faded to black, and he forgot about everything around him. His world was shrouded in black. *** "Are you okay?" The voice sounded familiar. It was the waitress. By now she had changed into her regular clothing. She had a baseball cap on, and her ponytail stuck out of the back in it. How long had Ayeka been sitting here? How long had Tenchi been gone? Ayeka felt like it must have been forever. The store was almost closing. "You look kind of lonely." Ayeka lulled in her seat. "Yes. You could say that." There was awkward silence. The waitress sat down across from her, turning her chair backwards as she sat. "You like him quite a bit, I can tell." Ayeka didn't say more than a silent whimper. "I mean, what is it that makes you like that guy? He seems... pretty ordinary." She didn't reply at first, but her stare made it obvious. Then she closed her eyes in thought. Why was this person talking to her? "C'mon. You can tell me. I'm just a waitress here, who am I going to tell?" Ayeka sighed, and rolled her eyes, which were hidden by her eyelids. < I may as well. > She swallowed in a dry throat. "I guess it's because he's so simple and shy on the outside, but really unique on the inside. He always came through for me when I really needed him to." She closed her eyes. "I suppose something as simple as being there should be easy to find in a man, but it isn't, you know?" The waitress nodded. For a while they were both quiet. "Yeah. You'd think so, but it's not. You're definitely right..." Ayeka moved in her seat. "And... Oh, I don't know..." Ayeka looked to her side. She breathed deep. Who was this person she was talking to? For some reason she seemed reasonable. "I don't know why... I *do* like him though." The waitress was smiling at her, almost evilly. "You think I should help you, I mean while your here?" "HUH?" Ayeka jerked. "Come on! I've been able to hook myself up with a number of great guys." Ayeka's eyes opened in shock. How dare she imply that Ayeka need help. Then again, Ayeka knew she needed it. "You want to help me? What would you want to do that for?" "Well to start of, you were really butchering that dinner tonight." The girl looked her in the eyes. "You're a nervous wreck around him. I owe it to woman kind just to set you straight!" "What?!" Ayeka's expression widened. She looked to the right, in embarrassment. "I couldn't of been that obvious!" "Please. You were putting on a show for the whole restaurant." She rolled her eyes. "You know, *I* could always talk to him *for* you..." "What!? How.." Ayeka's eye's were half cocked in surprise. Now the damn girl was teasing her. "Hey, I'm just kidding." They sat there in silence for a little bit. The American girl leaned back a little bit. "So where're you from?" "Um.." Ayeka paused a little. "I come from ....well, you could say I come from... ...Japan." "Oh, really? Wow. I really have to complement your English. I thought you were American." "My.. English?.." Ayeka was confused for a moment. < Of course... Washu... > "Oh, yes, thank you." "I know a little Japanese, you know." "Really?" Ayeka said, kind of thrown off. "Ohayo-gozaimas!" The girl proudly exclaimed. That's when Ayeka realized she had no recollection of her prior language. "Um... yes. That's right. Keep up the good work..." She felt kind of embarrassed now. She forgot she had even been speaking a different language the whole time. This must have been what Bryan felt like. "Wow." So How do you say..hmm.. let's see..." Ayeka half-panicked. "Actually, I would prefer if we get straight to business." She smiled. "Of course. You want to get 'straight to business', don't you?" She wasn't quite sure what the girl meant. "I'm terribly sorry, but what was your name again?" Ayeka asked. "I'm Katherine. Call me Kathy." "It's a pleasure to meet you, then." They shook hands. It wouldn't be the first time Ayeka would see this person. "Anyway, there's this tree a little bit out by the edge of the forest. It's the most romantic place around. I say you should go there, with your 'friend', and then give him *this*." "Give him what?" The girl reached in her purse. "Well, you can never be *too* safe, so I always carry a few of these. The way we do things around here..." She dug around a little bit more in her purse. "Here we go! Give him this, trust me, and he'll get the hint." Ayeka held up the small square package. It's contents were hard to determine, as Ayeka had never seen anything like it before. Whatever it was, it was definitely flexible. She could practically bend it in half without it casing the contents to bend out of shape. It was actually kind of fun to play with. That's when she noticed the girl staring at her. "Oh, heh heh..." Ayeka laughed nervously. "Right." She put it away. "So how do I get to this 'romantic' tree?" "It's easy. That's the best part. It's just a little down the road, and it's perfectly deserted, if you know what I mean." Kathy was acting a little weird, but Ayeka paid no mind. She had what she needed. Whatever was in that package was sure to make Tenchi rise to the occasion. Ayeka could hardly keep herself from leaving the restaurant fast enough. "I don't know how to thank you for this." "It's fine. My favor to you, from all of us here!" Ayeka stood to leave. "Say, where's the closest hotel around here?" Kathy smiled. "It's the next building over." "Oh, thank you." She started on her way out the door. "Hey." Kathy said. "Yes?" Ayeka stopped. "I'm having a party later tonight. If you want to meet me here later on.. say after you and your boyfriend 'talk'... you could join me." The first part left her baffled, but she didn't care. "Sure, no problem." She said, and ran off. Ayeka was starting to like the people in America. *** Raiman looked the report over. His face was pale, and cold. He had done something very wrong. "Is this *really* true?" He asked. "It's true. What's worse, is that the force field weakened his condition such that he will not survive much longer. He may even regain consciousness in this condition, which means he could escape without any treatment at all." "How badly is he wounded?" His expression was bleak. If there was anything in his power to do so, he would have to heal the members of the ship he had found. After all, if they really were royalty, they would be greatly rewarded for their efforts. "Well, he's in some sort of shock, now. He has several wounds across his body, and a rather large laceration on his head. It's odd that he's in shock. His body is handling the wounds in a very weak manner." The tall bald man replied. Raiman nodded, but in his face you could tell he didn't agree. Whenever royalty became involved, there was more involved than just physical damage. Strange things usually happened with the arrival of the nobility. < The royal family. > He thought, in awe. < The blood relatives of Tokimi herself... > He tried to change the subject. "Looking at him gave me a chill." Breathed Raiman. "To think that he could be royalty...... and he had hair. That's odd, as well." The warrior nodded. "Yes, but we have no way of confirming whether that's normal or not. We've only heard rumors of their appearance." "Especially his face. Have you ever seen hair on a face?" Raiman looked truly puzzled. "I've heard rumors to that effect." The second man eyed the area. "We're going to have to cut his hair, if we're to revive him, though. We need to operate." "Do whatever is necessary. He must survive, Ssrotal." "Agreed." Ssrotal walked across the room, and leaned against the edge of the table. "What about the other three?" Raiman seemed puzzled by the question. "What do you mean? What's wrong with *them*?" "What we've found about them is inconsistent with just about *all* of our data." Came Ssrotal's answer. "One appears to be from Tsunami's clan, Jurai." "What?" Raiman choked. "Surely *he* isn't associated with Cleavi Royalty!" "There's more, you're majesty. The other two are completely alien. There's nothing like them in our records." The General put his head down, and stared at the floor. You could see his head vibrate slightly in frustration. He had been awake and busy for far too long. "Ssrotal, you don't suppose this could mean a *fourth* clan, do you?" "I do not know what to think, your majesty." Ssrotal seemed to be just as concerned. He moved around next to his master, and sat as well. "We'll have to wait until the first one wakes up." Ssrotal seemed puzzled. "So what should we do with them?" "Do not release them until the one that is *ours* regains consciousness." "Understood." Raiman nodded. The fact that there were Jurai and Cleavi royalty members aboard that ship could have meant a number of possibilities. < This couldn't mean a peace agreement is... > Raiman's face soured. < Perhaps... perhaps we are being set for disaster... Ashito. > Raiman stood up immediately. "Ssrotal." Ssrotal stood, also. "Yes, your majesty?" "Something is trying to force us into making a horrible mistake." He turned his head, and stared directly into his warrior's eyes. "Cancel all efforts against the Jurai Clan for now. Ashito has obviously kept something from us in an effort to destroy me." "Understood." Ssrotal tightened his facial expression. "So you suggest we set all of our efforts toward the Falsi Clan?" "Not quite yet. Simply make sure not to touch Jurai for now. We will wait until these... royal guests of ours shed some light on our situation." Discontent rose over Ssrotal's eyes. "I see. I suppose battle will have to wait." "You'll have your chance to prove yourself, friend. I promise." The sickly smile returned to Ssrotal's lips once more. "Thank you, your majesty." They stopped short of laughing. There was no need to show emotion. They both knew that they shared an extreme sense of anticipation for battle. It could wait until they had enough information to move again. *** "Ready?" Tenchi asked. They group was surrounded in darkness. "Ready." Came Scotah's reply. "What about you Mihoshi?" "Um... Ready, I guess." She sounded like she was starting to fumble for something. "All right. On one.... Two.... THREE!" Suddenly the light turned on, and they all froze. "What's all the ruckus in here?" Yelled a guard. The watchman saw Tenchi on top of Scotah's shoulder's, trying to hoist Mihoshi through the vent in the ceiling. Huge beads of sweat all formed on their heads. "What the...?!" The guard replied. The entire group swayed to and fro, and then fell directly on top of the guard, knocking him unconscious. Tenchi rubbed his head. "Well, I guess that's as good an escape plan as any..." "RUN!" Scotah had grabbed Mihoshi, and was already out the door. Tenchi stared at them, bleakly. "Hey, don't you think that's a little...", began Tenchi, "HEY WAIT FOR ME!" An alarm could suddenly be heard throughout the ship. The group ran down several corridors. Doors everywhere were shutting, in an attempt to seal them off. Strangely there were no guards around... yet. Tenchi looked behind him. There were several short pursuers. He turned to face them, and drew his Tenchiken. The blade flashed bright blue. It was strange that they hadn't disarmed him in the first place. "You keep going, I'll keep the rear secure!" Tenchi yelled. The short attackers reached him, and looked very odd. They were cloaked, short, and very fat. You couldn't even see what they looked like under the hoods they wore. Suddenly, a long arm came from under one of the cloaks, holding a bladed glove. Tenchi blocked it, barely. His Tenchi-ken had removed some of the blades from the glove of his pursuer. It seemed to laugh. Suddenly, a series of very long limbs came from underneath the robe, each in a succession of attacks. The arms and legs were far to long for a person *that* short. It fact, the head seemed oddly large, as well. Suddenly it grew in stature. It hadn't been a short soldier at all. In fact he was very tall. It must have been the style of this army to fight very low to the ground. "Su to'k natal' Jurai!" It stated, and pulled out what looked like it's own light sword. The blade extended. It was more like a small knife. The other soldiers disappeared behind Tenchi, in pursuit of Scotah and Mihoshi. < Damn it. > Thought Tenchi. He eyed the other soldiers as they disappeared behind him. With incredible speed, the thing in front of him attacked. The robe it was wearing came only about half way down it's body, so as to cover it completely only when it was crouched very low. It looked... human, though much to fast to be so. Tenchi was having difficulty seeing it. His training seemed accustomed to it, though, so he trusted his instincts. When it would strike, Tenchi would use a pattern of attacks to block it. It was almost as if it were a carefully manipulated dance. Now Tenchi was really appreciating his Grandpa's strict lessons. As soon as he saw an opening, Tenchi ran. There was no telling how far away Mihoshi and Scotah had gotten by now. He didn't even see them. Suddenly, he realized that a door had come in his way. He had been separated from them on purpose. He had no choice but to fight this thing. "Tshor...kood, Tchuray'an." (You're good, Juraian.) The thing said. It had a very strong, hard accent, but it was speaking his language. "But char you 'kood ee'noff!?" (But are you good enough?) < Am I good enough? > Wondered Tenchi. "Sru-man tio'k!" It was definitely a man, there was no mistaking it. But it was a different kind of man than Tenchi had ever seen before. Almost animal-like, and harder. His skin was a dark, reddish tone, and he was wearing just the robe and what looked like very small shorts. < This must be what Bryan said Washu was talking about... > Tenchi wondered. < This is a... Cleavi? > The man drew another double bladed knife, and activated it. Tenchi knew he would have to concentrate. The enemy in front of him jumped around, and swung his arms. He appeared to be flailing wildly, but this was all very well rehearsed. Tenchi jumped forward, and swung his blade about, attempting to block. Surprisingly, the fighting styles seemed tailored to fit each other, as if all of his patterns were tailored to nullify his enemy's patterns. The fighting became very predictable. Tenchi practically moved from his warm-up techniques to his basic techniques, all the while keeping his attacker at bay. The battle went on for some time like this. It seemed easier with Tenchi attacking, because Tenchi wouldn't have to think about the defense as much. Especially with the speed of this guy. Each blade came deathly near Tenchi. There was one problem, he seemed to be getting faster. What was worse, he was becoming more random. With a loud grunt, the man came down on top of Tenchi, dancing across his sword with his knives, and quickly moving behind him. Tenchi thrust his sword behind, and moved it in a semi-circle, then sending it straight up. He followed around to face him. He could see now that the man's left hand was left unarmed, and cut. That's when the man let out a smile. It was very sick and twisted, and by now the man was uncloaked as well. He was tall and muscley, and very imposing. All of his features seemed really pointy. Tenchi sensed that something was very wrong. The man seemed to be concentrating very hard, upon which he immediately disappeared. It didn't make sense at first. How could a man disappear? Suddenly Tenchi was struck from behind. That's when everything made a lot less sense. Tenchi tried to jump around, but every time his pursuer was just out of sight. It reminded him of the feeling he got when he was fighting Bryan, those several weeks ago. It was an eerie alien feeling. Tenchi felt as if he were really slow. His opposer knocked him flat down. He started laughing. It would have been intimidating, had the laugh not been so utterly annoying. < Damn it. He's too good. > Tenchi looked toward him. He wasn't even doing anything. Tenchi tried to lunge at him, but he moved so quickly, Tenchi barely knew it. He moved up to block, but no attack came. Instead his assailant kept laughing. It wouldn't stop. [ But how can he be this damn *fast*! ]. Tenchi tried to concentrate. Maybe if he thought harder, it would help him out. Instead it only seemed to slow him down more. If there was any advantage at all, that Tenchi had it was that Tenchi was used to getting beaten a lot. Between his Grandpa and the girls, he had a high tolerance for pain. He managed all right with them. This guy, however, was *still* very frustrating. The fight continued. By now it was obvious that his assailant was getting tired of merely playing with him. He came around, and boxed Tenchi swiftly. Tenchi realized that he'd been hit, but the pain didn't sink in yet. Before he could, he was suddenly knocked in the other direction. The blows were all body oriented. Tenchi tried to make sense of it. The other guy kept circling around him, beating him. He was feeling betrayed. Betrayed by his own senses. It was if he was bind. At any rate he was bound to lose consciousness soon. He closed his eyes, and focused all concentration to a single spot. It seemed instinct, but now he was very aware of how he did it. It stopped, and he found himself surrounded in a blue light. His own light. His heart beating, Tenchi could see very clearly now. It was *this* man's fault that he couldn't escape. It was *his* fault that Tenchi couldn't find Ryoko. *This* was the guy responsible for it. At least for now it was. His assailant was frozen in what seemed to be fear, of peril. His eyes wide, he seemed to cower against the wall. Tenchi grabbed the man from the throat, pushing him toward the wall. Tenchi grimaced. < No. > He thought. He suppressed the strange urge to chop his enemy to pieces. < That's not like me. > His other side screaming at him, Tenchi moved along, down the hall. He had won for now. He just needed to escape, or hide until he could figure out how to. He moved into one of the adjacent rooms. No one had seen him go in. Automatically the door sealed behind him, and Tenchi relaxed. The pain came back, but it wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be. He sat there for a while, resting, collecting his thoughts, and gasping for air. He heard some noises coming from the door. For a moment it seemed like someone was trying to open it. The sounds stopped, and Tenchi relaxed. It was about a minute later he started feeling really sick. It was almost as if he were going in circles. It reminded him of what it felt like when he tried to read in a moving vehicle. He tried to get the door to open. There was something about this room that was making him sick. It was dark, and surrounded in a dark ruddy light. There was room for a few more people, even some food. It might have been some odd living quarters, although tiny. The door wouldn't budge. Maybe he had found his way into another jail cell? This wasn't good in either case. There was a control panel of some sort nearby, and it had a few buttons. Tenchi decided to check it out. After pushing a few buttons a screen came up. It was some sort of reading, although it wasn't all that obvious what it was meant to represent. He pushed another. This opened a side hatch. It was like a window, and Tenchi suddenly saw why he had been feeling so sick. In the distance was the ship he had just been on. And now he was in some sort of... escape pod? Now he was feeling more sick than when he began. *** Slowly, the color started returning to his eyes, and he could see his surroundings, for the first time. He was strapped down, although loosely, and was apparently being monitored. He was still half asleep, but well aware of the more important details surrounding him. There was a door to his right, and clothes to his left. He looked at himself, he hadn't been undressed at all. For a moment he thought he was in Washu's lab again. He half expected her to come out and tell him even more about how different he was then she had originally expected. Maybe he had some odd second brain or an extra intestine. It never happened though, and as he slowly woke up, he slowly remembered that he had been captured, and whoever was holding him had done so by force. Bryan looked at his right wrist. The straps that were holding him down were very flimsy. He pulled his right arm up. His left wrist wasn't very secure either. He obviously wasn't meant to wake up. He felt his head. His hair was significantly...shorter. It was now shaved down to about a quarter of an inch. < What's this all about? > Bryan rubbed the back of his head. < I have to get out of here... > Looking around, he didn't see anything that would give him any answers about why he was there. He put some of the clothes on, and started looking around. The chart on his bed that showed incision marks on his head didn't put him at ease at all. < I have to get out of here. > He thought again. This time a little more seriously. He walked over by the door. Simple enough, it opened. There was no one outside, either. < No sweat. > Bryan walked down the hallway, against the wall. < Just breathe. > He thought. < Breathe, just like a space hero would. > He breathed deep, and kept walking. He moved with the greatest of ease, full of anticipation and confidence. < I'm a space-hero.... I'm a space hero... > He thought to himself. He peered around the corner. < Slow, and cool. I *am* an intrepid space hero. > He dashed around the corner, with all the stealth he could muster, and dashed straight into a steel pipe. < Arrrgh! STUPID PIPE!! > Bryan rubbed at his forehead. < I... uhg.. Does this happen to *all* space heroes? Or just *me*? > He continued walking, a little more carefully, down the chute. His head was still throbbing. He came to another corner. This time, instead of dashing, he casually walked around the corner. < Sheez... Since when do heroes hit themselves in the head? And since when do space heroes walk directly into a pair of guards and say..> "Hello." Before him stood two immense guards. It was very likely that either of them would make mince-meat of him. Each gave him a demeaning stare. It took a split second for realization to come over them, but they soon saw Bryan for what he was. The taller guard, and obviously stronger one began talking in a loud voice. "Sir! You're speaking in Juraian tongue!" Said the guard. Bryan paused a moment. He didn't expect *that* to happen. "Fool, don't question him!" The other said. By now, he was very confused indeed. In front of him were two very large guards, who had apparently confused him for some one else. For a brief moment, he felt compelled to tell them he was really an imposter. He deserved *some* sort of punishment for being so stupid as to blatantly stumble into a pair of guards. Then again, it was 'their' stupidity that would have to pay for his messing up. "Of course I'm speaking in Juraian tongue. I'm testing you." Bryan blinked. < Did I just *say* that? > "I told you not to question him, you fool!" The other one whispered. "Wait, he's here to *test* us, what about the password?" All three paused awkwardly. "Oh, crap, the password! We didn't challenge him!" "I'll do it." The guard on the right turned to Bryan. "Halt." < Well, now I'm done for. > Bryan thought. He held his hands out. "You might as well get this over with." The guard on the right asked the other. "Is that right?" "How should *I* know? We've been down here, out of contact, for five days!" "I'm going to let him pass." Said the one. "I think you should, considering we've already butchered this as far as it can go." In the meantime, Bryan casually snuck around. He didn't want to have to stick around any longer than he had to. Being in the bowels of ships can make you go crazy. "Oh, good. He's gone." said the one guard. "You don't suspect he was on to us do you?" The other replied. "Not at all..." "He sure didn't *look* Cleavian." The one on the right removed his hood. "That's not really any of our concern. Let's get back to work." By now Bryan had worked his way down the hall a ways. He was running quite fast, so it wasn't particularly surprising that he had worked his way further into the bowels of the ship than he had wanted to. He really had no idea whatsoever where he was going. He decided to rest a little while. All of this running around was really getting to him. Not to mention his heart rate. The adrenaline in his body was sending him a little over the edge. He needed a rest. He needed to gather his thoughts. < Where the heck could the others be? > Bryan wondered. < I know they were in the Delorian with me. > He wondered if they could have been in any of the rooms near where he had woken up. < I don't think I have enough guts to go back there... > He sat there for a while. For a while things seemed to be slowing down. He was starting to feel better. The silence grew a little more, leaving him to concentrate on what the thoughts in his head were trying to tell him. If only he could muster up the courage to go back. He might be able to find out where Tenchi, Mihoshi, and Scotah were. Just then he felt something behind him. It was like a breath. It made the hair on his back stand. "Are you really royalty?" He heard a voice ask. "Are you all they say you are?" Bryan's froze. His pupils dilated with suspense. He turned around, only to get smacked in the face, hard. He flew across the hallway, hitting the opposite wall. Bryan clutched his face, writhing in pain. He saw the shadow of a huge man walking slowly toward him. "Tell me!" The man demanded. "What is the royal family up to these days?!" He walked up to Bryan, and held him up by the collar. Bryan could only look at him in dismay. His face looked like that of a scared pathetic animal. The man tossed him down, to the ground. Bryan's body hit it with a loud 'thud'. He began feeling dizzy. He should have been in great shape, considering it hadn't been all that long since Washu had nursed him back from that fight with Tenchi. He could see the vision all around him turn starry. Suddenly Bryan came to his senses. He had to do something. He changed his stance. At any cost, he had to avoid this intruder. He was so tall. His skin and face were completely bald, and he was very large, and muscular. Bryan looked into his eyes. "I suppose you're wondering how I know you speak only *this* language." The man stood normal. "I know you're an imposter. I *know* you are from Jurai." "What!" Bryan yelled. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Bryan breathed, and was getting angry. "Why does *everything* I do have to do with JURAI!? I'M NORMAL! WHY CAN'T I BE NORMAL!" The man came around, and moved to impale Bryan with his fist. Bryan dodged, and tried to kick him. He did, but it was a very weak kick. At least it was weak as far as the man was concerned. Bryan's foot was struck with pain. He might as well have been kicking into the jagged corner of a wall. He got angrier. He came toward the man, and punched at him repeatedly. His fists stung each time they connected with his hard body. It was useless. It was wearing Bryan out more than anything else. The man grabbed his last punch. He took Bryan's arm, and began to twist it. Bryan did everything in his power to keep from falling to his knees. It didn't work, and soon, he found himself writhing on the ground. He wished he had never made that last punch. Slowly, he found himself becoming far too submissive for his own comfort. He didn't care if his arm twisted off. He didn't want this ugly, hairless man controlling him. With surprisingly little effort, he pulled his arm out from the grip of the man in front of him. "Amazing..." The ugly man loomed over Bryan. "Where did you learn that.." The man's face became suddenly serious. < Good Lord...> The man saw a pair of glowing dots just above Bryan's brow. < What is this? > The dots disappeared. He smirked. For now, he soon had the upper hand. The tall ugly man lunged at Bryan. He knew that he was to die by the hands of this strange force in front of him, but if he was, he wanted to give it as much pain as he possibly could. He put punch after punch into Bryan. Bryan's skin started turning purple in some places. He was starting to lose track of humanity, and somewhere between consciousness and oblivion Bryan felt himself expanding. The tall man gasped, his eyes wide. The power had returned, only stronger. Bryan nearly disappeared from sight altogether. The man felt a barrage of attacks from all around him. There were flashes of light around him such that it appeared a lightning storm had erupted around him. He was very afraid. He knew now that his death was at hand, and that this was the one that would change the outcome of the entire war for the Cleavi Clan. He felt hopeless, being circled by a presence more than he had ever known. Bryan's world became surrounded in red. Bryan opened his eyes. He felt awake again, aware again. Before him lie the man that had just been attacking him. Only now, it was a lifeless body in a pile of blood. Bryan nearly threw up. The body was completely torn apart. It was despicable. He had to turn away, he couldn't look at it. He closed his eyes, and rubbed his head. His hand felt very... < Warm? > though Bryan. He opened his eyes, and looked at his hands. They were soaked in blood. Bryan gasped, and ran. He had to run from himself. He thought he had seen someone kill the man *for* him. Was that man *himself*? < I killed him? > He kept running. That's when he heard sirens all around him. Someone was looking for him. They knew what he had done. Someone was dead. < But... he was the enemy.. > Bryan couldn't make sense of it. He was still trying to escape, at the least. He dodged into the next room. It was a dead end. < Damn! > Bryan turned around, and the door shut behind him. He slammed his fists against the door. The man's blood flung from his hands into his face, and eyes. He quickly stopped flailing. He felt very disgusted again. He heard a distinct clicking sound come from the door. Someone was trying to come in. It might have even been the person he had left for dead. < No. He's dead. > Bryan reinstilled. < This is someone else? > He wanted to find out. At the same time, he wanted to run away. Suddenly he realized that he himself was bleeding. Some of the blood on his face was his own. He couldn't help but feel that maybe his blood was mixing with the blood of that stranger. He didn't like it. He wanted to be clean again. He felt like his world was rotating in circles. Wait, it *was* rotating in circles. He accessed a small panel, and managed to open a tiny window. < I'm in an escape pod? > He wondered. In the distance, he saw a small tube like object, floating in the opposite direction from the ship that he was. < There's another one. > He thought. < Another escape pod? > Then he saw a red arc in the distance. He knew what that was immediately. < The Delorian. > Bryan sighed. < I guess everyone else made it out all right. > *** "I don't think we're ever going to find either of them!" Mihoshi yelled. "This is a disaster!" "Shh... not so loud..." Scotah looked around, behind the corner of the wall. There were two guards down the hall some distance. Scotah felt down his right leg. < Heh. It's a good thing they didn't find *this*. > He pulled out a small blaster. It was about fist size, not very large, but it was enough to stun people for as long as half an hour, and that was good enough. He looked around the corner, and aimed. With two shots, he stunned the guards. "Let's go." He stated. They went down the corridor little by little. It was strange trying to sneak around this ship. It was modeled so weird. It had odd corners, and a dark ruddy rust color scheme to it, making it look old and somewhat archaic. They silently prodded around a corner, and came found a sealed passageway. It was a door of some kind. Their only option was to go through to door or to turn around. "Damn." Scotah said. "Another wrong way." Mihoshi moved over to an odd console. "But what about this here..." "Don't touch that!" No sooner had Scotah said those words when Mihoshi pushed the button. The door started to open. "Hey..." Scotah said. "I have to admit, that was pretty g.." Suddenly they both realized that the door was the only thing between them and a lot of guards. There was a moment of silence, as either side was trying to collect what exactly to do next. Scotah quickly pulled his blaster out, and started firing. He rolled around the ground, and came back up, perfectly poised to hit his head against the wall as he fell back. He shot another two of his assailants, knocking them out. A few remained. "Run, Mihoshi!" "AAAAAHHHGH!" came her reply. They each ran down the hallway, side by side. "I really want to commend you..." began Scotah, "...for opening that door..." "Oh..hehe, well.. thank you..." Mihoshi blushed. Scotah's face went blank with incomprehension. "Well uh, next time... just..." "Just what?" "Never mind. Just let me open the doors next time." "Oh, well, If you want.. I mea... heh.. uh... OH!" Mihoshi tripped, falling behind. Scotah bugged. < Damnit! > By now, they were being chased by at least 15 guards, each holding at least one kind of disembodying weapon. He turned around. This was going to have to take all of his guts. He ran back where Mihoshi was, and fired a few shots at their pursuers. They fell back, getting in the way of the other pursuers. Next Scotah helped her up, and pulled her up, turning around, and practically pulling her with him. "You know," Mihoshi ran clumsily beside him, holding her hat. "...if you would just relax, I could pull out *my* blaster, and this whole thing would *soo* much easier..." Scotah paused as much as you can pause while your running. "*YOU* have a *blaster*?!" "Of course!" Mihoshi held up her standard issue GP blaster. "You know..." He yelled. "...If you could just find some way of actually being..." "Yes?" Mihoshi asked. "DURRGH!" Scotah yelled. "Never mind! Just run! Just fire at them!" They ran through several corridors. It was a very furious pace. Scotah could feel the muscles around his lower legs starting to feel funny. Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to properly stretch before running. It was starting to hurt. That's when his foot caught something. He fell. His face hit the deck, chin first. It was a very painful experience. Mihoshi turned and paused. "Oh, no!" "Mihoshi! NO!" He yelled. "Save yourself!" "But I can't just let them *kill* you!" "No! I'm warning you! Don't get killed for my sake! I'll be fine!" Mihoshi held her blaster at the barrage of guards running for her. None of them stopped charging. It was all rather fearsome to watch. She fired at them. That's when Scotah realized he was a lot worse off than he had expected. < Good lord... > He thought to himself. < She's the worst shot I've ever seen! > "Damnit! RUN, Mihoshi! D'oooh, you're such a.." Suddenly he realized that no one was moving anymore. There was an odd pinging noise bouncing around the hallway. First it came from Scotah's right, then his left. Mihoshi's blaster was ricocheting all around the room. < What the... > Scotah asked himself. It was coming straight back at him. His eyes bugged. "Gaah!" He jumped as it bounced against the ground under him. It bounced several more times, against a pipe here, a corner there, and a wall on the other side of the hallway. The guards jumped to and fro, dogding it, as it came their way. The only person it seemed to stay away from was Mihoshi. "Urrrgh! You're going to kill us all! Mihoshi, you're *SUCH* a.." It hit several more objects, until it hit a small panel on the wall. A large door came toward the ground. It casually separated Mihoshi and Scotah from the rest of the guards. Scotah, eye twitching, was in amazement. "...GENIUS!" Surprisingly, the same panel had opened up yet *another* door. Scotah could hardly believe his luck. Sitting right behind it had been the Delorian. *** The two figures looked strange walking down the road together. One was very clearly dominating the other. The more they walked, the more they seemed like two parts of a single whole. One limping half, writhing in pain, and the other, a more abusive half. "I still don't know why you want to take me down here... Grandpa's going to worry about us." "Are you sure you couldn't... urff.. just follow me a little bit farther?" Ayeka was very insistently dragging Tenchi to the 'site'. She could hardly wait. Granted, she could have been a little smoother about persuading Tenchi in coming with her. Regardless, they were on they're way, and so they were headed for the tree that Kathy had told Ayeka about. By now Tenchi's arm felt like it was going to twist off. On dragged his upper body in the air, as his legs desperately tried to find a rhythmic step to follow. It was pretty hard with his upper torso twisted around like that. Ayeka kept pulling at his arm. "Just a little further." She muttered. Once they got there, Ayeka let go of him. He stumbled back a little, but held his balance. "What's this all about?" Ayeka breathed in. She had been rehearsing the speech since she left the restaurant. "You see... Tenchi..." She began. "..for a while now, I've been thinking.." < No, that's not right.. > she thought. "What I mean was, recently, I've been having problems.. trying to get to talk to you seriously... ..no, honestly... er..." < This is getting worse. > She tried to laugh it off. It didn't really work. Ayeka sighed, and closed her eyes. "You don't even know what I want to say!" "Ayeka, get a grip." Tenchi moved up, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Are you all right?" She nodded. "Oh, I... I can't even say it in words." That's when she remembered. It was what Kathy had given her a little earlier. She could almost feel the wrapping digging into her skin, begging her to show it to him. "Tenchi.." she began. "I believe this will make it a little clearer." Slowly she pulled it out. At first it was hard to see. It was very dark outside, and Tenchi was feeling a little confused in the first place. It looked like a small square package. It was about the same size as a... By the time Ayeka had figured out what a 'condom' was used for, Tenchi had already fainted, and was lying on the floor. This was just her luck. She was so angry, she didn't even know what to say. The boy she loved was laying unconscious on the ground next to her, and she had just unknowingly proposed that she wanted him to have sex with her, before even touching on the idea that she liked him in the first place! Suddenly Ayeka was hit with a terrible fear. What if her father found out? Even worse, what if someone within the senate found out, and spread the gossip throughout the entire kingdom *before* her father found out about it? "AAAAAUUGH!" She yelled out loud. "This is soooo frustrating!" In the distance, almost as if responding to her cry, a huge light shot up in the air. It very strongly resembled... < ... A tree of Jurai? > She wondered. Instinctively, she walked up to it. She had completely forgotten why she was in America in the first place. She and the others were looking for clues as to the location of Jurai's missing past. Was this a part of it? She walked up to the tree. It could tell that she recognized it. It sent more light up toward the sky. It seemed altered somehow. The light was faded. Not near as powerful as it should have been. It must have been old. And dying. She walked up to it, and put her hand against it. It felt like a weak heartbeat in her hands. It was a very original generation tree, aged to a state weaker than even a 6th. Ayeka moved her mind's eye to see if it had any memories left. There were a few. It was hard to make it out. There was a shape... a person... male. Next to it was another. The second one was also male, a Juraian. They were fighting a single force. A very fast force. It was vastly small, but over- whelmingly supported by something else. Some sort of outside power. She was beginning to make out the face of the Juraian. He was wielding... the Tenchiken? < No... > Ayeka thought. < This doesn't make sense... > The image was very clear now. It showed a very different Bryan and Tenchi fighting some third person. Everything seemed so bitter. Was this in the mind of the tree? Or was this in Ayeka's head? It must have been some combination. Suddenly, she saw Tenchi become surrounded in a fierce blue light, as the unknown man and Bryan disappeared. There was a series of Brown and Red lights in front of Tenchi, and Tenchi drew a large sword of his own. Then the vision faded out. Ayeka gasped. She had to let go. The tree was trying to force her into it. It was too aggressive. Something was wrong. She let go. Instant darkness surrounded her. She was back in the forest again. Her breath was heavy. It was the same kind of thing that happened to her at Tenchi's house with Funaho. Was there something wrong with her? What could it mean? < There must be some confusion with what's going on in my mind, and in the memory of the tree... > Ayeka presumed. < Why is it that Tenchi... oh my goodness, Tenchi! > She immediately ran to the unconscious young man. She forgot all about him. She had to get him back to the hotel. After all, things could always be explained later, and with any luck he would of completely forgotten about it. *** Now that she thought about it, it wasn't all that dark. The series of steps and pools that made up the floor of the cave were illuminated with an eerie blue glow. Still, it made her uncomfortable. One doesn't spend captivity with something and learn to enjoy it. Not unless the captivity was enjoyable. In a sense it could have been, once she learned how to escape, at least mentally. She fell in love for the first time in that cave. She was still in love with him. And now she was here again. For a third time, at least. Everything was surprisingly the same. Not even the temperature had changed, in the change of seasons. It was a damp cool, the kind that got into your clothes and made you feel moist and uncomfortable. By now her fury had calmed. She was able to take it out on her surroundings for as long as it was that she had been in the cave. Now, she was tired. Not physically, but mentally. She was tired of feeling angry, tired of feeling sad. Is that all her life would be from now on? "I knew I would find you here." Washu said. Ryoko was unaware she had been standing there. Washu's appearance was something like a tower over Ryoko, who was sitting in the middle of the room. She was sitting on the same platform Tenchi found her on. Perhaps she was waiting to be found again. "Washu..." Ryoko said, weakly. "...why are you here?" Her voice was very gruff. It seemed as though she had been screaming. Some of the walls had marks on them. A lot of the ceiling was damaged also. < Ryoko, > Washu switched to thought. < Listen carefully. Think about what would have happened if Tenchi were really dead. > Ryoko stiffened. The idea that Washu knew what she was going through was one thing to stomach, but what did she just say? < What... what do you mean... 'really' dead? > Washu walked up alongside her daughter. < He had that Master Key of his with him, didn't he? > Ryoko thought hard about it. She hadn't seen it personally, but when did Tenchi go anywhere without it? < What's your point? > Ryoko lowered her head into her knees, and drooped her eyes more. Taking a deep breath, Ryoko yawned through her nose, mouth closed, trembling slightly from the tears as she breathed out again. Washu actually smiled, but tried to hide it. < Think about it. Whatever it was that supposedly destroyed Tenchi would have destroyed his sword, also. > She closed her eyes keenly, and cocked her head slightly. Ryoko lifted her head in thought. She was starting to catch what Washu was saying. She instinctively checked her right wrist. There was no gem there. She rubbed at the back and front of her neck. There was nothing there, either. It was like a light had switched on in Ryoko's head. If the sword was destroyed, the gems would have returned to Ryoko. The sword *had* to have been with Tenchi, so the absence of the gems on Ryoko would have meant the sword was intact, and with it, Tenchi. Was that right? Ryoko didn't know. < Exactly. > Washu watched as her daughter turned her head, to make eye contact. < So if the sword is intact, that means Tenchi's alive, somewhere, doesn't it? > Ryoko couldn't believe what her 'mother' was saying. As much as she didn't like the woman, she could actually forgive her if she was right. At the least she could thank her now. She stood up, and walked around the room. Her stature was better, and her complexion much repaired now. Her composure rose, as she walked around. She couldn't bring herself to make eye contact, yet, so she stared through her mother. "Could you come back later?" She asked. Washu smiled. She could tell her daughter would be better with just a little time. "Of course." Washu turned, and began her ascent toward the exit. < Your welcome, Ryoko. > She thought. Ryoko watched as she left. She was beaming right now, although tears were still present. It's a good thing no one was there to see her. It's embarrassing to be so wrong, and to know you're right. < Thank you, mother. > Ryoko watched as Washu left. This could have been the closest she had been to anyone. Whether that was good or not, Ryoko didn't particularly care. *** "Wow. I really didn't think he would faint like that, Ayeka. I'm sorry." "It's fine, really." Ayeka murmured. She sipped down another shot of Vodka. She took a deep breath. "I should've thought about what *it* was used for a little more carefully..." Katherine could tell Ayeka was kind of pissed. Really pissed actually. Surprisingly, though, Ayeka had come back to the restaurant to meet her. Maybe it was just because she knew she could get alcohol if she did go. "Well, I'm sorry, either way." "It's fine... *really*." Ayeka murmured. The alcohol was starting to seep in a little more. "I just want to forget about it for now." < Hmm. > Kathy laughed to herself. < She seems pretty adamant about this guy. > "Just how long are you going to be staying here, anyway?" Kathy asked. Ayeka pondered. If she could, she needed to make contact with that tree a few more times. She had to talk to it with a clear mind. Not one that was concentrated on Tenchi, or *anyone* for that matter. "A... few days, I think.." Ayeka guessed. "Why do you ask?" "Oh, no reason... none at all." Kathy smirked. She might be able to help Ayeka if she acted fast enough. For now though, she was thinking of other things. Like the party, for instance. That was sure to be fun. "Tell me, Ayeka, what sort of things do people do for fun in Japan?" Ayeka thought about it, after taking another shot. "Well," she staggered. She pouted her lips to think. "I was usually.. um... well, you see, I have this..uh, roommate." "Yeah?" Kathy rose an Eyebrow. "Most of the time, we kind of.. um..well, fight for Tenchi." "That *all* you do?" Kathy's face twisted. "Well, not *all*... there are chores to do of course." Kathy's face went blank. "...chores?" "Well, yes. There aren't many times that I actually have a lot of *fun*, you see, we don't go out all that often." Kathy was staring at her. "That settles it. We're going *now*." Ayeka looked kind of startled. "Where to?" "My house. I'm having a party tonight. I was telling you about it earlier." "Oh...Right." Ayeka stammered. "Now?" *** Moving rather unmajestically, the Delorian was again making it's way along the dark starry highway known as space. The swift red arc was gone, instead replaced by an awkward sideways triangle. The trajectory of the craft was somewhat sideways as well. Scotah had gotten what he wanted, namely the ship, but now he was having second thoughts about it. "This is going to take a lot of work." He replied, looking at some of the damage. Mihoshi gazed at the tangle of wires with a gaping wide expression. "Oh, you think you can fix this?" Scotah breathed deep, and exhaled. "...at least temporarily. I've had to deal with worse." He bent over to analyze some of the wire damage. "I am a criminal, after all. We have to know about these sort of things." "Oh..." Mihoshi held her finger to her chin, as if in thought. "...What kind of criminal, exactly?" "Oh, well you know..." by now he was upside down, under the dashboard, messing around with some of the computer systems. "...I've stolen artifacts, and pawned them... robbed a few banks..." He continued to work, occasionally wiping his brow. "Is that all?" Mihoshi asked, half playfully. >From under the dash, he smiled. "Oh, not by a long shot. You'd be surprised with just how much I'm involved with!" "Like what?" She asked. Scotah stood up, and looked her in the eyes. They were so big, and blue. Her face outlined them perfectly, and he couldn't help but admire her nose, her eyebrows, everything about her. "Well, you know the famous 'Doonesbury Heist'?" "You mean the only GP robbery in history not to have any clues left behind?" Scotah nodded. "I planned that operation." He leaned back smugly. "Yup, there's a lot of things that I've masterminded..." "Wow, you must be some sort of big-shot, huh?" Scotah smiled. He like being called a big shot. "Well... just a little big-shot." Mihoshi got closer to him. "Do you have any code names, or secret affiliations?" She looked at him with her puppy-dog face. He couldn't resist. "Well... I come from a long line of great thieves, actually, including my great-ancestor. Usually I go by his name, usually." "Wow, you mean your whole *family* is crooked? No wonder you're such a great thief!" Scotah smiled, and leaned a little closer to her. "You really think so?" "Oh, yeah. I think you're probably the greatest thief I've ever known!" Scotah leaned toward her even closer. They're eyes met again. His dark red eyes gazed into her bright blue ones. His heartbeat sped up, and he felt his stomach tie a little. They leaned toward each other, slowly, and Scotah closed his eyes, in anticipation of what was about to happen. He leaned a little more. < Score. > He thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt something close around his wrists. He opened his eyes, and saw Mihoshi glaring back at him. "What the..!" "This is Detective First Class Mihoshi, and I am placing you under arrest!" Mihoshi's stance was aggressive, and she had Scotah right where she wanted him. "What the hell is going on! You're a GP officer?!" He yelled in a whiny voice. "Oh, I should have known!" With a little effort, she was able to get his arms behind his back, and sitting in the back seat, out of her way. She sat down in the pilot's chair. "Let's see..." She looked down at her side. "This must be the forward thrust..." She pushed the lever, and the ship rocked a little. "Great! And this must be.. the modified steering column!" "Mihoshi! Let me out of this! You don't know what you're doing!" Scotah was struggling in the back seat. It was useless trying to get the cuffs off. They just kept getting tighter. He laid over on his side. "Oh, this is *sooo* lame.." Mihoshi was doing a good job of ignoring him. "Let's see... now all I have to do is find a Galaxy Police station!" "Groann." Scotah had never felt more stupid in his life. Of all the times to fall for the 'cute female cop' gig, he had to do it now. "Really, Scotah, if that *is* your real name..." Scotah rolled his eyes. "...you should really stop whining. They've been teaching that trick in the academy for years!" He closed his eyes in embarrassment. < Oh, man. Why can't I just have *one* romantic encounter with a *normal* woman?! WHY!? > *** It was a very organized kind of chaos. People everywhere were doing their own thing, while at the same time being completely oblivious to the people around them. It was everything like every ball Ayeka had ever attended, except that the people were different, the drinks were different, and the atmosphere of the place suggested that one should get as messed up as possible. Not that that had been all *that* different. Perhaps the music was the *most* different. She had heard this same music several times before, only now in a different light. The music reminded her a lot of Bryan, actually. It was chaotic, and convincingly sounded unorganized, smelly, and obnoxious. It was actually very... welcome to Ayeka, though. The people here seemed to make Bryan make a lot more sense. It wasn't Bryan that was particularly nasty, or unhealthy, or uncivilized, or even unclean, she had found. It was the entire American youth. < How odd this is... > Ayeka wondered. < Doesn't anyone care about who's going to clean this place up? > As she walked into the next room, she took note of the sheer amount of alcohol that was at her disposal. The various beers, liquors, and wines were enough to make even Ryoko sick. It was just what Ayeka needed. She grabbed a drink at random, and went back to one of the many circles of groupies in the living room. They all had an odd nature to them. Laughing, laid back eyes, not a care in the world. They had no manners to them whatsoever, and yet they had a set of their own rules all to their own. It reminded her of old Juraian men. Sitting among them was Kathy. She waved at Ayeka. "C'mon over here!" She yelled. There were more guys than there were women, which made Ayeka kind of nervous, but she didn't necessarily let it get to her. She had made it her objective to forget everything this evening. She opened the container of the random substance, and took a drink of it. It tasted so unlike anything she had had before. It was disgusting, but definitely alcoholic. She drank more. Looking at the people around here, she felt a little less awkward than before. In fact, she was feeling kind of hot. It hadn't been long before she had changed into attire similar to what everyone else had been wearing. It was very fun. Kathy had given her some rather large jeans, a bright red shirt, labeled 'Korn', and a beanie cap. No wonder Bryan was so relaxed all the time, the clothes were more comfortable than even her sleeping outfits. All the while Ayeka had been becoming progressively drunk. She wasn't feeling very sick, though. She was still all right. There was an odd smoke in the air as well. It all added to the experience. People all around were making funny faces. Some were smiling. Some looked very blank. All of them were listening to the music, though. It was pretty loud. It sounded destructive. Ayeka looked around at Kathy. She was smiling. She was wearing a purple bra. "Wha..?" Ayeka tried to protest, but it really didn't seem such a bad idea. It wasn't a good enough idea for *her* to try it, but it wasn't bad, either. Ayeka tried to remember if she even *had* been wearing a bra. She had been quite quiet. "Have.. you ever been this messed up?" Kathy slurred. "I don't believe... I have.." Ayeka replied. Ayeka smiled goofily. The music was really loud, she had noticed. "I have an idea..." Kathy mentioned. Things started to make a lot less sense after that. Ayeka understood less what it was people were actually saying, just what they were trying to say. She eventually had fallen asleep, but could never remember when, exactly. *** It was an odd feeling for Bryan. He wasn't quite sure what to think of it all. The time he had spent in that damn escape pod was enough to make him see stars. The air had gone so bad that he felt he was going to die soon. Now, however, he found himself in the middle of some large hallway. It was huge, surreal. It was all very ornate, and golden. It wasn't the kind of gold that reeked of bad taste, either. Everything had a light yellow color to it. All around the room were very casual blue curtains. Not too overbearing, like Royal blue, it was much simpler. The overall effect was tremendous. Everything looked fancy. Even the people leading him down the hallway were dressed ornately. They had been speaking with him, in fact. They had told him that he wasn't their enemy, just their prisoner. If he were to co-operate, they might even let him go. It was so odd. The way they treated him made him almost *want* to be taken in. He couldn't tell either man's facial features, they were completely covered in a very ornate series of robes. It was very similar to something Bryan had seen before. Almost as if from some sort of video game. < Almost just like Gogo from FF3... > He thought to himself. He shook his head. He couldn't believe he was thinking of games, or even Earth. He was still a prisoner, and he still had to find some way of finding the others. They brought him into a massive room. It was all very ornate, and decorated. There was even a simulated waterfall in the distance. It was all too cool. On the other side of a bridge in the middle of the room were more men, dressed all the same, in robes, with their faces covered up. It looked kind of eastern to Bryan. Not that he knew that much about the east. The men made two lines, about four in each on either side of a large purple carpet. It led up a small flight of stairs, to what looked like a throne, or more, an ornate bed of sorts, very small, with the back arched up to sit up with. None of them spoke. They all seemed to be in anticipation of something. Bryan was somewhat unsure of what to do. It seemed he was supposed to talk to someone. Fear started to build up in him. What kind of person was he supposed to meet? It could have been any manner of leader, really. He began looking over the eyes of his captors. None made eye contact, but they all seemed to have the same spark to them. They looked like very smart eyes. Oddly, all of them had blue eyes, save one, the one in the front. He had an odd combination of brown and green. Bryan couldn't help but feel he's seen *those* eyes, somewhere before... The room fell silent. Even more silent than it had already been. There was a noise of someone walking in the distance. This was the person he was supposed to talk to. What would he be like? Would he be hostile? Would he have to fight him? The walking came nearer. By now, the occupant of the footsteps had cast a shadow a mile wide over the enormous room. It was making Bryan sweat. The steps came nearer, and nearer, until there was a figure in the shadows, barely visible. The men surrounding him remained quiet. They were accustomed to this sort of interrogation, he was sure. The shadowy figure was hard to make out. It was certainly an odd looking man. Very tall, but not very large, physically. He had just as many robes on as did the rest of the group, but was considerably skinnier. He stepped out from the shadows. Bryan could hardly believe his eyes. It wasn't a man at all. It was a woman. Tall, and well-figured, she stood a little taller than he did. Her eyes stared into his. It was all of her face he could see. They were teal green, and very threatening. Rogue strands of red hair came out from under her hood, threatening to annoy her whenever she had become aware of their presence. For now, though, she stared at him. The eyes were foreign, but Bryan felt he knew them also, the same way he felt that he knew the eyes of the one man. "It's all right, young Cleavi, you can speak." She said. Bryan knew he had heard that voice before, even if only once. He didn't really know what to say. She smirked, not that he would have been able to tell. "Hmm.." She laughed. "I can understand your uneasiness, soldier. You've been through a lot. I can tell *that* much from all the way up here." "I'm not a soldier." Bryan said. It was all he could think of. He at least didn't want to be confused for something he wasn't. "Oh?" The lady replied. "Well, you certainly have the look of one... Your hair... the scar over your eye... you've seen a lot of battle for one of your age..." "You... could say that." Bryan shrugged. He didn't really like the word 'battle'. He felt it was inappropriate. "But I haven't been through *that* much." "Hmm." The woman sighed. "Maybe you don't know just how much you've been through, young man." Bryan looked at her, and tilted his head to the left, slightly. "I don't know what you mean." "I'll tell you. Were you aware that you were dying until we found you?" The entire congregation of men turned their eyes on him. Bryan's eyes went wide with shock. "What?" "You're unique, young man. You have some business with us that I have no knowledge of." The area under her eyes rose slightly. He could tell she was smiling now. It was as if his state of being confused pleased this woman. She spoke more. "And what else, you're some mutt of all the tribes. It's an uneven percentage match as well, meaning that wherever you came from has been mixed for some time. Tell me, where are you from?" Bryan didn't know what to say, really. America? Japan? *Earth*? The Solar System? "Or were you *created* somehow?" The woman said. "You have synthetic components, you know." "What!?" Bryan yelled. "How the hell do you *know* this stuff?!" The woman laughed for a moment. "Do you know how long you've been with us, even? For how many days?" He couldn't think of it. He had been conscious for only the last few hours. All he could remember was going to sleep in the pod. Did he... he couldn't remember. "Well, I won't indulge you with details." She said. "I merely hoped to learn something from you about your past. I guess you don't have enough of a past to concern me." Bryan was stupefied. What was he to do? Then he noticed something. It was something about the woman in front of him. Her eyes, he remembered where he had seen them before. The voice, he was beginning to remember that, as well. "I merely wanted to tell you that you are to be our prisoner here for some time. Placed in charge of you is Ter'ay, one of my guards." The man in front, the one Bryan had noticed before stepped forward. "Yes, my lady." Bryan recognized *that* voice, as well. "Ter'ay will tell you about the details of your imprisonment later. Disperse." At the command of disperse, the men all turned, and left, going in different directions. The lady stayed where she was. She suddenly noticed the hair that had gotten in the way of her eyes. She moved her hand up, to brush the strands of red back. Bryan watched her. The way she brushed her hair back told him who it was. Green eyes.. < Red hair.. > It came back to him. "Washu!" Bryan yelled. "It's you!" Her eyes widened with terror. The men that had been walking away all turned and faced him. It seemed that Bryan had done something wrong. "I said disperse!" Washu turned toward the brown eyed man. "Ter'ay! Get rid of him, now!" The man moved back, and replied, concernedly. "Yes, my lady." He motioned for Bryan to follow him. Bryan felt it may have been necessary to do as he was told. They moved from the room, a different way than Bryan had entered. He felt as if being led somewhere he didn't want to go. The man next to him was walking fast. He was thoroughly shocked. It was easy to detect the uneasiness in his eyes. "You'll be living with me." He said. "She'll want to speak with you now." *** Ending Song: 'Change (in the house of flies)' by Deftones. I've watched you change Into a fly I looked away You were on fire I watched a change in you It's like you never had wings Now you feel so Alive I've watched you've changed I took you home Set you on the glass I pulled off your wings Then I laughed I watched a change in you It's like you never had wings Now you feel so alive I've watched you've changed It's like you never Had wings ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh I look at the cross Then I look away Give you the gun Blow me away And I've watched a change in you It's like you never had wings Now you feel so Alive I've watched you've changed Now you feel Alive You feel Alive You Feel Alive I've watched you've changed It's like you never Had wings ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh ahh ahhh Ahhh You've changed You've changed You've changed It's over.