Legal Stuff : I don't own most of these characters. AIC owns them. But I own the ones the I created. So if the brilliant minds at AIC or PIONEER wish to use my characters, Email me, we'll talk about the cost... ************************************************************************************* The Darkest Hell 4 : Destruction of Jurai Yosho stood there and looked at the biomechanical horror. The evil creatures eyes stared at him also, illuminating the area with their red glare. Yosho squinted his eyes and prepared for combat. Then, quicker than the blink of an eye, the biomechanical warrior flew through the air and attacked Yosho with a downward swipe. The creatures aim was true, fast and hard; Yosho barely blocked it in time. The creature, attacking faster than any enemy Yosho ever encountered before, tossed several well balanced and hard to dodge hits at Yosho. After a few minutes, Yosho began to sweat, his body heat rising and forming a smoke around him in the chilled morning air. The creature didn't even seem to be breathing hard... ************************************************************************************* "FATHER! NO! PLEASE!" Ayeka screamed as she watched the large reminisce of the Dark Juraian fleet go up in a blinding flash of light. Then, after the flash subsided, there only remained the broken pieces of the ships strong enough to nearly withstand that much power. The entire area was encased in a shroud of silence. Ayeka fell to her knees, sobbing. 'First Tenchi, now Father... how much more of this must I endure?' she thought to herself as she cried. Ryo-oki let loose an empathetic "Meow" as they soared through open space, almost losing themselves in the large fleet of broken ships. Ryoko was amazed at the amount of destruction that the fleet withstood. They had won, yes, but at the cost of a great leader. Ryoko's thoughts began to wonder at how, now that the emperor was dead, many would strive to take his place. One of them would be... would have been... Tenchi. Ryoko shook her head to clear it of all those thoughts of... him. He was gone now, and there was nothing she could do, except make every last one of those Dark Juraian mother fuckers pay for what they have done. And there would be plenty of time for that... ************************************************************************************* "YYYYyyyyyyeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh" screamed Yosho as he dove in for a very powerful hit. The creature blocked it with what seemed little difficulty. 'Damn, he's too strong. How do I take out an enemy such as him?' Yosho thought to himself. Then a thought occurred to him, 'Know your enemy.' "Who... are you?" Yosho asked as he parried a very powerful, and painful, attack. "I am what has always been, and what shall always be. Now, in my mortal form, I can do more than mere mind tricks." "You are the Demon that we defeated, then." Yosho said, squinting his eyes. "Yes. And now my revenge is nearly complete. You have destroyed everything dear to me, so I have done the same to you. My work is almost complete, then this realm will be mine." "So you are a warrior of Tokimi's then?" Asked Yosho, trying to seem haughty. "No. Tokimi is nothing compared to me. Now... you will die." The creature, without even giving any form of forewarning, faded into the air and reappeared behind Yosho. If Yosho hadn't been so well trained, he would have died right then and there, but, using the swiftness only seven hundred years of training and self discipline, he turned around just in time to dodge a devastating attack that caused the earth underneath the warriors "Dark Hawk Sword" to break up and levitate. Using the split second he had to counter attack, Yosho swiped forward, slicing the front of the warriors mask off. The warrior then grasped his face, apparently in pain. Slowly, the warrior removed his black, biomechanically gloved hand away from his face. Yosho saw the face under the mask and froze, petrified in pure shock and terror. The creatures eyes glowed brighter as the mask slowly regenerated itself into its normal skull countenance. Then the creature let loose a loud, vile laugh. Yosho just stood there, not believing what he saw. He saw a face that had haunted his recent nightmares, when he realized that they were not nightmares, but visions. The memories of his sleepless nights came back to him as he saw what was to become. "Good. Now you see what has been done cannot be reversed. Now, prepare to join your grandson as a star in the sky." The evil warrior stabbed forward, but was blocked by a seriously pissed Yosho. The warrior watched as Yosho's old features regenerated into that of a young man. Still, the evil warrior did not flinch. Suddenly, spurred with a newfound fighting spirit, Yosho attacked the warrior, determined to end it here and now. Yosho began to release Jurai energy that had long remained dormant, and began to dissolve the ground around the evil warrior. Chuckling slightly, the evil warrior leaped into the air and did several flips till he reached safe ground. 'Oh, no, this battles just getting started...' thought Yosho as he prepared for another attack... ************************************************************************************* "How long is it till we reach Jurai?" asked Funhao as they glided through outer space. "Only a few hours. Why?" asked Ryoko. "We need to prepare for the funeral ceremony. The people of Jurai will not be pleased to hear their emperor has died." Replied Funhao, as she struggled to hold back her sadness. Curious, Ryoko looked behind her to see what has become of Misaki. She saw her, giving Washu the biggest, tightest bear hug that she is possible of. Washu was slowly becoming purple from the lack of oxygen. Ryoko couldn't help but giggle a bit, that is, until she noticed that Misaki was weeping her royal heart out. Speaking of her majesty, where was Ayeka? "Ryo-oki. Take over. I'll be... right back." Ryoko told the living spaceship. "Meow!" was the response she got as she left the piloting area and wondered around the bridge. Soon, she found her, sitting scrunched up in a hidden corner somewhere, looking like a broken china doll. She slowly rocked back and forth, lightly smacking her head against Ryo-Oki's inner hull. Ryoko couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She held in her pride and sat next to the traumatized woman. Ayeka didn't even acknowledge her existence. "Ayeka... Ayeka, we need to talk." Ryoko said quietly. There was no response. "Now come on Ayeka, don't give me the silent treatment. Come on. I'm here, talk to me." Still, no response. "Listen, I know you've had a rough time of it, I have too, but you can't let them beat you. What do you think Tenchi would say if he were here now?" Slowly, Ayeka turned her head and glared an Ryoko, making a face that, actually, scared her a bit. Still Ryoko bit her lip and stayed there. Ryoko but on her best 'humble' face and once again tried to get Ayeka to talk. "Come on Ayeka, don't you think I hurt too? I lost the most important think in the world to me. Tenchi was all I had, and he died trying to save my life. I saw it Ayeka, I saw him die. Do you think that was EASY for me!? Now, you're just going to sit here and cop a fit when the bastards that did this to us are still out there!?" Ayeka continued to glare at Ryoko, her face steadily becoming red. She began to grind her teeth. "Say something to me, Ayeka." Finally, Ayeka began to talk. "Fine, you want me to talk, I'll talk. Fuck you." "What...?" "You heard me, Fuck you. You haven't lost a FRACTION of the amount that I lost. I had lost the only man whom I loved, AND my father. My father was the Emperor of Jurai. When he died, the throne of Jurai went up to those who could afford to get it. He had no male heirs, and I am not married, so the throne goes up to the highest bidder. I am NO LONGER of any importance to Jurai. My entire LIFE has been for nothing. And you have the nerve to tell me the YOU HAVE LOST EVERYTHING!? You have lost nothing. You should count your blessings..." said Ayeka said as she then turned her head away from Ryoko and never looked back at her. Ryoko stared at Ayeka, aghast. Without another word, Ryoko got up and walked back to the front of the ship. Ayeka continued to stare out into the nothingness. ************************************************************************************* The devastation was enormous as Yosho and the evil warrior continued to fight. Buildings crumbled and people ran. The evil warrior sliced right through the massive trees of Jurai, trying to topple them on top of the great warrior Yosho. Yosho dodged them with ease. Yosho continued to fight against the vile warrior, taking out an entire block of Juraian homes. Luckily, most of the citizens of Jurai have retreated to safety by now. The warrior continued to gaze at Yosho with his evil red eyes. With a shout filled of rage, Yosho let loose a blast of Juraian energy that nearly ripped the entire left half of the palace apart. Yosho's clothes were shredded and the warrior's body armor was busily trying to regenerate itself. Both of their swords flickered weaker and weaker as their users got weaker and weaker. But they continued to fight, and the destruction became greater and greater... ************************************************************************************* The people all around him shouted and screamed as the warriors fought, destroying what was once a beautiful city, but Zeb didn't care. He reveled in the glory of the greatness of Dark Jurai. He sat and watched the destruction from afar, chuckling to himself. And a large smile crossed his face as he realized that HE was responsible for this. He was the one that summoned the dark forces and told them of the nefarious plan of Jurai to wipe them out of their dimension. The Emperor was sure to make him a royal guard now. Thoughts of glory and the hint of bloodlust in his veins made Zeb want to kill, but then he would be found out and destroyed, although death in the service of the Emperor was a privilege not bestowed to many. A faint weeping broke him out of his thoughts of darkness. He turned his head to see a little girl, crying as she looked out at the two warriors fighting. Her hair was a light blue, or Cyan, if you wanted to get technical. She was tall for her age, but barely tall enough to see out the window. 'I have seen her somewhere before...' thought Zeb. Then, on his countenance, a vale of malignancy spread, once he realized who it was. Zeb got off the chair he was sitting in, positioned perfectly to watch the battle, and walked over to the little girl. "Hello, little girl. I say, you look mighty familiar. What's your name?" he said with pseudo-cheeriness. "Oh, hello. My names Sasami..." she said, wiping away the tears. That was all he needed to hear. A large smile flushed upon his evil face. ************************************************************************************* The silence on the deck of Ryo-oki was penetrating. No one even tried to talk to another person. Ayeka still sat in her secluded corner, Ryoko still flew the ship, Misaki and Funhao stood there, thinking, and Washu lightly taped on her computer, not necessarily doing anything, just keeping busy. Without warning, the communication screen popped up, causing everyone to jump just a little. A picture of Kiyonne showed up, slightly lifting the heaviness of the immediate area. "Yes, Kiyonne? What is it?" said Ryoko sullenly. "We just got a communication from Jurai. They're under attack!" "WHAT!?" The group screamed in unison as they crammed together in front of the monitor. A small sweat drop formed on Kiyonne's head. "Ryo-oki! Full speed ahead! We've got to get to Jurai!" Shouted Ayeka. "MEOW!!" responded Ryo-oki as the group all fell to the ground as she sped faster. Ryoko saw the other ships fly by at a fast rate until there was nothing but stars. Then, next to Ryo-oki, flew the Yagami, then followed by several more ships until finally, the whole fleet was flying at warp speed. ************************************************************************************* Yosho stood there, barely standing. The warrior too showed fatigue as his Dark Hawk Sword began to fade into the air. The warrior then heard something in the back of his head. He turned his gaze away from Yosho. Taking this opportunity, Yosho ran forward at top speed, his sword ready to strike. Then, as he swung, an incredible force knocked Yosho back, into some buildings that were mysteriously left standing, but not anymore. The Warrior Demon returned his gaze to the shocked and hurt Yosho. "They are here..." grinned the Warrior Demon. Unexpectedly, the entire planet of Jurai was surrounded by robed warriors. Their hoods concealed their hideous biomechanical faces. The Demon Warrior's eyes glowed bright red as he turned his back to Yosho. "Look around you Yosho. Gaze upon the beautiful destruction you have wrought with your fury. Look at how many lives were lost in your mad quest to destroy me." Yosho looked around and saw the utter devastation. And he then knew that most of it was because of him, not because of the demon. His face was a road map of sadness when this realization came to him. "How many more must die so that I can be destroyed? How many more worlds must be ravaged? As long as you fight us, the death will continue, till you exist no more. I will give you one chance, Yosho, the great warrior. Embrace the darkness. Join our ranks and rule countless universes. Or, you can spend the rest of your natural life seeking us out, wasting your life in the futile attempt at wiping us all out. The choice is yours..." the demon continued. "The choice has already been made." Answered Yosho as he struggled to stand up. "Then so be it. But, I'm afraid you cannot spare the energy to fight me more. Unless you want her to die." "What...?!" Yosho asked in a jolt. "Right now, one of us has the young half-god in his custody. In mere minutes, she will find herself the victim of a most gruesome violation before she finally dies. The choice is yours Yosho. Either way...I win." "Sasami..." Yosho whispered under his breath. He looked at the Warrior Demon, and then over to the space port, where everyone was running and packing up to leave. He used his Jurai powers and looked at the building closer, gazing through the window as he saw Sasami, smiling brightly, leaving with a man who had a familiar glow in his eyes. "NO!" he yelled as he ran toward the building, his powers too exhausted to make him go any faster. Behind him, he heard a loud, deep, roaring laughter that sounded too much like a roar, than laughter... ************************************************************************************* Ryo-oki flew faster and faster as they reached Juraian space. On the monitors inside, the surviving members of the royal family, Washu, and Ryoko looked at the planet of Jurai. Encircling the planet, moving around in various directions were several million little black dots. They also saw a small fleet of Juraian transport ships. "They must be trying to evacuate..." said Misaki as she stared into the monitor. Then, without any foresight, one of the indistinguishable black dots pasted over, or through, actually, one of the transport ships. It detonated in a bright flash. Everyone gasped at the same time. "Oh, my god! All of those people!" stated a dismayed Funhao. "Ryo-oki, enhance black dot on grid number 37047734, track it's movement too." "Meow" the space ship answered. A little green square appeared over one of the dots moving around the planet. Then, every second, the picture got bigger and more focused, until finally, they saw what it was. They gasped again when they saw the black robed figures hovering around the planet of Jurai. Ryo-oki then pushed herself to the limit, going faster than she has ever had to before. ************************************************************************************* "Are you SURE you know where my mother is?" asked Sasami innocently as she gazed up at Zeb, holding is small hand. 'He sure has beady eyes for a servant.' Sasami observed to herself as they walked down the hallway, making way around the people scrambling to get onto the remaining transports. "Yes, for the FIFTH TIME, Yes! I saw your mother's ship touch down. We have to go THIS WAY!" he snapped. 'God DAMN this bitch is annoying!' Zeb observed silently to HIMSELF. His mind did a mental 'Uh oh...' as he saw the little girl's face contort to fear and sadness. 'Shit, got to cover this up.' Zeb thought. "I'm sorry Sasami. Forgive me, your highness, I am just really stressed because of this current situation. I throw myself at your mercy." Said Zeb in his most humblest manner. Slowly, the annoying smile returned to Sasami's face. 'Great. Now, just over here.' Zeb thought as he pictured the Emperor giving him the highest honor one of his servants can receive, whatever it was. "SASAMI!" a voice shouted as they began to turn the corner. Sasami stopped for a brief second and looked at the running man trying to make his way through the heavy crowd. His face was awfully familiar. Then it occurred to her. "Brother Yosho?" Sasami said quietly to herself as she was lightly jerked around the corner, out of Yosho's line of sight. Yosho continued to push his way through the crowds of people, trying to find his little half-sister. She was nowhere to be found. ************************************************************************************* "Wait, there's no one here." Said Sasami innocently as they reached the Royal Juraian landing pad. The place was deserted. Sasami then heard a light chuckle. It came from the man she had so blindly trusted. She looked at him with hurt eyes as he turned his head and looked at her. His eyes glowed a frightening red. ************************************************************************************* Yosho's head popped up as he heard a scream. It was Sasami, the little girl he had grown to love over the long months she had lived with him and his family. He turned the corner and ran down the almost empty hall leading to the Royal Juraian Landing Pad. The threw open the doors just in time to be hit with a massive gust of wind. In the center of the landing pad was the beady eyed servant boy that he had seen earlier. In his arms was Sasami, screaming his name and reaching out for him. "YOU'RE TOO LATE YOSHO! WE HAVE HER NOW!" Yelled Zeb as he levitated eighteen feet off of the ground. Sasami just screamed even louder. Yosho fought the high winds as he headed toward Sasami, occasionally being blown back by the powerful gusts. The area then became distorted and was flooded by a dark presence. A blanket of darkness began to envelope Sasami and Zeb. "BROTHER! GET OFF OF JURAI! THEIR GOING TO..." Sasami shouted before they both disappeared. Yosho looked at the now empty spot with despondency as the winds died down. Sasami's words rang in his head. Taking those words to heart, he ran back into the building. ************************************************************************************* "WHOA!" exclaimed Washu without a single warning. "WHAT!?" replied Ryoko, mad a Washu for making her jump. "I just monitored a massive dimensional rip in the space/time fabric! It was amazing! Good thing I had monitored the planet at that exact moment, or I might've missed it!" "Well, good, I hope your happy. What does it mean?" returned Ryoko. "It MEANS that one of our boys in black decided to go home. Now, all I have to do is extrapolate several variables in order to find out the exact coordinates of the Dark Juraian home dimension! We're gonna kick some Dark Juraian ASS NOW BUDDY!" "Uh, okay..." replied Ryoko, not quite sure what she meant, but she knew it must be something that'll give them an edge against this seemingly invincible enemy. Ryo-oki then made a sound and flipped off the monitors. Jurai was within plain sight now, and growing by the second. ************************************************************************************* Yosho, horribly tired and depressed, barely got on the shuttle in time. With a loud CLANG the doors sealed shut and the last transport ship off of Jurai began to shudder. Then, shortly after, it took off. Yosho made his way toward the window and stared at the rapidly shrinking ground. "Sasami..." he said to himself as he pounded his head against the hull, feeling powerless. Then, a hand touched his shoulder ever so slightly. Behind him were two young children. "You see! I told you he looked just like him!" the boy said to the girl. "Wow! Your right! He DOES look like him!" the girl responded. "May I help you?" Yosho said weakly. "I'm sorry sir. We just thought you looked like the legendary warrior Yosho. We saw his picture all over the palace when we visited there. You bare a striking resemblance." "Yeah, you do!" said the girl, her eyes glittering. Her smiling disposition made Yosho think of Sasami. His eyes go soft and sad, and the children notice this. "Hey, mister, what's wrong?" the little girl asked, her smile fading. "Yeah, what's wrong?" the boy added. "Nothing. I'm, just a little... tired. Come here, I'll tell you of the great warrior Yosho and his adventures on the small planet of Earth." Yosho responded, trying to smile as brightly as possible. The two children smile at each other and then leaped on Yosho as they knocked him into a chair that was placed next to the hull of the ship. "Now, our story begins with a great demon, who went on a rampage of death and destruction..." Yosho began. ************************************************************************************* The Warrior Demon rose his muscular biomechanical arms into the air, his eyes glowed brighter and brighter as Dark Juraian energy coursed around his body. He rose into the air as he faded away into the swirling air. The robed figures surrounding the planet moved faster and faster as black energy coursed in between them. The Transport holding Yosho and the last survivors of Jurai barely made it past the rapidly moving robed figures and leaped into hyperspace. Ryo-oki finally slowed to a planetary entry speed, and sensing something wrong, Ryo-oki stopped. "What's wrong Ryo-oki?" asked Ryoko in a concerned voice. "MEOW!!" Shouted Ryo-oki. "What?" Ryoko asked as her head whipped forward due to Ryo-Oki's rapidly accelerating reverse speed. "Ryo-oki... STOP!" screamed Ryoko. Ryo-oki reluctantly did as she commanded and stopped a far distance away from the planet. The rest of the fleet was still far behind. "What's going on down there?" wondered Washu, as it suddenly occurred to her. "Oh, God..." "What!?" repeated Ryoko, angry at being left out of the loop. "Oh, God. Ryoko! Turn around!" shouted Washu again. "Not until I know what the HELL'S going on!" shouted Ryoko, who finally had enough. "Yes, Washu, tell us. What's wrong?" asked Misaki. "You want to know? Then keep looking at Jurai." said Washu, finally giving in. The others began to look at Jurai. Even Ayeka got up from her perch in her lonely corner and look out at Jurai. Black energy began to course around the planet, and thick green clouds began to form. Ayeka's eyes widened, along with Funhao's and Misaki's. Soon, the planet seemed to break out in large flames and shake violently. Without warning, as large telekinetic shockwave shot past Ryo-oki and out into space. Everyone on board began to scream in horrendous pain and suffering as their heads felt like they were going to explode. And during this painful ringing in the back of their heads, the planet of Jurai went up in a bright flash of light. Soon, the ringing faded away and everyone opened their eyes. "Shit..." whispered Ryoko as she looked out to where Jurai used to be. 'Holy shit! Jurai's gone! How can anything DO that?!' thought Ryoko. She then looked at Ayeka, who's face was as pale as it has ever been. She watched as Ayeka's eyes rolled into the back of her head. She continued to watch as she fell to the ground, having fainted. She heard two other thumps. She turned her head and saw Misaki and Funhao collapsed on the floor. Then, she noticed that the Juraian fleet had finally caught up to her. They parked and stared at the empty space that was Jurai. There wasn't even any debris. Even in the Yagami, the normally empty headed Mihoshi just stared out the window at the empty space in disbelief. Kiyonne began to shake her head, denying what had apparently happened. Everyone just stood there, staring, not believing that Jurai, the most POWERFUL empire in the known universe, was gone. The Emperor was dead, and now Jurai was gone. A wind of hopelessness blew through the somewhat small fleet of ships... ************************************************************************************* Send Any Comments to : ruby@pa.net