Legal shtick : Blah, blah, blah, PIONEER owns these guys. I don't. Sorry. Thanks. ************************************************************ The Darkest Hell 5 : Bounty of the heart "GO FASTER!" shouted the copilot of the ship Leo-oki. The jet black ship soared faster and faster as a massive, black, alien ship blasted at the immensely smaller ship. "SHIT" screamed the copilot again. "Leo-oki! FASTER!" "ErrrrroooAAAARRR" roared Leo-oki loudly, totally atypical of the entire race of cabbit/ star ships. Leo-oki began to glow deep blue and then, in a blink of an eye, was gone. Leo-oki finally reappeared light years away, near the other end of the galaxy. The pilots of the ships breathed a sigh of relief. "GODDAMN IT, Matsui! What the HELL was THAT?" Matsui just shrugged in response. The other pilot rolled his eyes at Matsui and pulled a mini-cigar. He put it up to his lips. "I'm mean, shit man! We almost got FRIED back there. What the hell happened to you? You just freaking blacked out there! Talk to me, bitch!" screamed the copilot, the mini-cigar dangling from his lips. The pilot, Matsui, just sat there, a sullen look on his young face. The other pilot sighed and put a finger up to the tip of the mini-cigar. He then quickly moved his finger away, igniting it. They just sat there for a few minutes, flying Leo-oki to parts unknown when suddenly, a figure crept up behind them, a long laser staff, not unlike Ryoko's laser sword, but much longer, glowing from it's hands. A look of pure anger flooded the figures fair features. "Took you long enough, Gillian. What the hell happened to you?" the copilot said, surprising the figure behind him, known as Gillian. Gillian finally stepped into the light and revealed a VERY lovely young woman, who had a cute, yet unusual, cleft to her nose. "You BASTARD! I told you to TELL me if anything like that was gonna happen! Geez Togusa! You scared me half to death. Hi, Matsui." Answered Gillian, the young woman's long deep blue hair dangled mere inches off the ground. She bared her fangs and pulled her hair around her long pointed ears. Her eyes burned red, but faded to a pale blue as she calmed down. She stood in between Togusa and Matsui. Her hand went up on Matsui's shoulder. "Hey... are you alright? You took a nasty spill back there." Slowly, Matsui nodded. Gillian's eyes glowed purple with concern. Togusa just stared out into space, trying to figure out where the hell they were. He then noticed Matsui reach up to several of the crystal spheres in the middle of Leo-oki's bridge. He touched them and they started to glow. Without warning, hundreds of navigational charts and monitors showing various star systems popped up. Finally, Leo-oki let loose a small purr-like growl as a monitor showed them where they were to go. "Jurai? Why Jurai? Don't you think that place is a little too hot for people of our occupation?" asked Togusa, his green eyes eyeing his brother curiously. Matsui nodded his head and pointed toward the monitor. Suddenly, words flashed by. WE MUST GO. SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED. I HEARD THE SCREAMS OF MILLIONS. THEY NEED OUR HELP. "Wait, wait, wait. You want us to do some CHARITY work? CHARITY? US? Boy, you DID take a heavy blow to the head. Hah, charity work, hilarious!" laughed Togusa. "Come on, Togusa. You need to make nice with the Juraian government. Remember that one job you two pulled several hundred years back?" They both nodded. Matsui reached up and felt his throat. A long jagged scar ran its course all around his neck. "Come on. Have a heart. Besides, the Juraian government is the richest, most powerful government in the universe. There might be some heavy compensation in it for ya." Said Gillian, her now pink eyes pleading. "But... oh, alright, fine. I'm a sucker for a pretty face. Make way to Jurai, and make it quick. I'm gonna catch some shut-eye." Answered Togusa as he walked off the raised platform in the center of Leo-oki's bridge and out of sight of the other two. "You owe me one, squirt." Replied Gillian, as she playfully knocked on Matsui's head. Matsui just smiled and mouthed the words : 'Thanks.' "Don't mention it. Try to get some sleep. Oh, and Leo-oki, try not to get picked up by the GP. I don't want to have to meet up with good 'ol dad again." "Grrrr..." answered Leo-oki. Then, just like Togusa, Gillian walked off the platform and out of sight. Matsui stood there, all alone. Silently, he put two small orbs into his ears and pressed a small button on a little black box strapped onto his side. Immediately, loud alien music, the deep space equivalent of rock 'n' roll, began to play. Matsui sat down, lotus style and shut his green eyes. He then slept. ************************************************************ "Princess, wake up!" Shouted Ryoko, as she slapped Ayeka repeatedly. Still, Ayeka showed no signs of waking up. "Here, try this." said Washu as she gave Ryoko a small foul smelling tube. Ryoko turned her head slightly in disgust as she began to wave the tube under the princesses nose. Finally, she began to stir. "Thank God... AAAAAHHHH" shouted Ryoko as Ayeka lurched upright, scaring her. "Oh, NO! It wasn't a dream! Jurai is REALLY gone!" Ayeka uttered, still groggy from having fainted. She lowered her head in sadness a second later. " I thought it was all just a dream, and I would wake up, and Tenchi would be there and so would Jurai." "Well, I'm sorry princess. I don't know what to say. But I do know what we should do. We gotta get the HELL out of here before those Dark Juraians come back." "You mean you want us to run AWAY?! We should be planning a counter strike!" "Yeah, a lot of good your last one did..." muttered Washu sarcastically. "What did you say!?" growled Ayeka. "Stop it you two, your senseless bickering isn't going to bring Jurai back." interjected Funhao. "Yes... stop. We... must...oh, god..." attempted Misaki to reinforce what Funhao just said. But she failed, and broke down into tears again. A deep silence filled the room. It was eventually broken by Kiyonne's upset voice, as she hailed Ryo-oki. "What just happened here!?" wondered Kiyonne. "What does it LOOK like?" returned Ryoko, her face riddled with anger. "My god... what are we dealing with...?" whispered Kiyonne to herself. "Hey, where's Mihoshi?" asked Washu in order to break up the tension. "She ran to her quarters. She couldn't understand what was happening, so she ran off, crying." "Oh..." said Washu somberly. "We need to go someplace quiet to figure out what happened and what our next move will be..." Kiyonne mentioned, trying to get things started again. "She right." Ryoko added. "We should head to Rigal. That place is uninhabited and'll make for a good place to rest up. We need it." "Fine." Said Ayeka, upset at the fact that they will not go and at least attempt to destroy the enemy that had stolen so much from them. "Alright, Ryo-oki. You heard Kiyonne. Let's get moving." Said Ryoko, with only a fraction of her old self barely poking through. "Meow." Returned Ryo-oki. The group felt themselves lurch forward somewhat as Ryo-oki began to move forward. After doing a loop, Ryo-oki zoomed off to the planet of Rigal, unaware of a similar jet black ship rocketing close behind, undetected. ************************************************************ Days later, the entire reminisce of the Juraian fleet made it to the Rigal system, and to the planet that shared it's name. The twin suns of Rigal shone brightly in the mountainous regions of the isolated planet, thick with trees and beauty. A small town was eventually constructed out of the vast resources of the planet. Life, at least for now, was comfortable. Even some roaming merchants set up shop in the shanty town, hoping to make a buck, attempting to sell all sorts of different exotic items. Ryoko didn't give a crap about any of it. She WAS happy, although, about the small bar that had opened up. 'Hell, in times of crisis, I could always count on the sake to take me away from all my troubles. At least that's something no one can take away from me...' she thought as she once again entered the bar that she so often frequented. The place was nearly empty, except for three people. She barely opened the door when Ryo-oki, in her cabbit form, bounded in. She came to a screeching halt as she entered the bar and sniffed the air. She stuck her nose to the ground and began to walk off, following some sort of scent. Shrugging, Ryoko walked up to the bar and noticed the bartender wasn't there. 'Oh, good, free sake.' Thought Ryoko as she dematerialized and reached under the bar, pulling up a large bottle of sake. She opened it and began to chug it, not even looking for a glass. When she drank a few gulps, she opened her mouth and let loose a refreshed "Ahh". She then noticed the small puff of smoke that flew out into the air. "Damn, this is good stuff..." commented Ryoko. Then she heard someone set down there glass, and she also felt several eyes on her. "Well, god damn, if it ain't Ryoko! It's been, well, ages." Commented a stranger sitting to her right. She turned her head to see two very familiar faces. A flash of memories flooded her mind. Memories of meeting two up and coming Space Pirates / Bounty Hunters while she was under Kagato's control. She remembered that they raided his ship one day when he was absent and stole a shitload of equipment, including Kagato's little project that he was spending some spare time on. She never found out what it was, but she new it wasn't horribly important to Kagato, for he didn't spend too much time on it. "What the... YOU!?" Ryoko answered, surprised. She turned to see the smiling faces of Togusa and Matsui. On Matsui's shoulder rested a most peculiar creature, like that of a cabbit, but more cat-like and feral. Around his head was a large mass of loose, fluffy hair, like a mane. The creature stared at her with eyes as black as the rest of its body. "I thought you'd be dead by now, or arrested!" she continued. "What, US? Come ON Ryoko! We are the greatest bounty hunters in the universe! We just can't lose!" beamed Togusa proudly. His little self-indulging speech was interrupted by Matsui, who looked at his brother and began to mouth some words. Ryoko strained to hear what he was saying, only to realize that he wasn't saying anything. Then she noticed the scar, and knew why. "HA! Your kidding! Ryoko, my brother says you've been bunking on some little planet called Earth! Is that true? Where the HELL is that, anyway... the SOL SYSTEM!? Where's that!?" exclaimed Togusa as Matsui mouthed words to him continuously. Ryoko decided to ignore the two and looked over to her far right. She noticed a woman sitting close to them, drinking a bottle of sake like it was water. 'Now there is a woman I could get to know.' Thought Ryoko. "Hey, Togusa. Who's that?" Ryoko inquired. "Oh, that's Gillian. We saved her from a bunch of whack jobs over in universal sector 82204556. They tried to convert her to some crazy cult or something. Apparently she knew my brother, but he never told me from where." "Oh..." Ryoko thought, then something clicked, "wait, did you say 'cult'?" "Yeah. But I don't remember which one. They were a funky bunch though, I'll give'em credit for that. But still, I wouldn't want to meet up with them again. One ship nearly fucking KILLED us! But we were too damn good, right Matsui?" returned Togusa. Matsui just nodded and continued to drink. Gillian then moved closer to him. Ryoko noticed this and was reminded of the time her and Tenchi were on the roof, and she was upset over the whole Mayuka business. Now, that all seemed trivial to what was happening now. Ryoko sighed and chugged her sake again. Togusa, totally clueless, lifted his drink into the air, muttered "Cheers!" and poured it down, smacking his lips loudly afterwards. "Now THAT hits the spot. Anyway, what're you doing in this little shit town anyway. We saw you fly in and wondered, ' Damn, that looks like Ryo-oki. I wonder if that's Ryoko, or are our eyes playing tricks on us?'. So we decided to stop by and catch up on old times. So, how's the old man?" "Old man?" inquired Ryoko, not sure what the hell he was babbling about. "You know, what's his name, Gato or something." "Dead." Answered Ryoko as she took another drink. She was beginning to loosen up. "Oh, I'm sorry... I guess." Answered Togusa, not sure what to say. "Don't be. He was a megalomaniac and a psychopath. I hope he rots in the deepest, darkest hell." Muttered Ryoko, drudging up some more old memories of the past, then realizing that that was where she was, the deepest, darkest hell. She took another long, deep drink, finishing the bottle. Togusa looked at her, unimpressed. "Hey, if it's a drinking contest you want, I'll be sure to oblige you. Just say the word, but we drink what I choose, not this weak ass sake stuff." "I'm not in the mood." Ryoko growled. "Hey, sorry if I pressed some buttons that weren't supposed to be pressed. I didn't mean it." "Then shut the hell up." Gillian muttered from off in the background. "Hey, when I want your advise, I'll ask for it, Okay?" "Too bad you didn't ask for it last time. 'Oh, look... I'll press this switch!'" mocked Gillian. "Oh, well sorry the piss out of me. I didn't know that that stupid freaking switch was a dummy switch! You're the one who said to pull it!" "I said NOT to pull it. Are you deaf, or just hard of hearing?" "Ooooh, that is IT! Your walking home..." The two continued to argue as Ryoko rolled her eyes and began to walk out of the bar. She nearly reached the door when Washu, Kiyonne, and Mihoshi walked in. "Oh, Ryoko! You're already here! Great!" Smiled Mihoshi in her usual annoying brightness, totally unfazed by what had happened recently. "Yeah, why don't you pull up a seat by the bar and have a few drinks with us?" asked Washu politely. Ryoko began to say "No thanks", but then Mihoshi grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward the bar. "Great! I just thought that you would!" smiled Mihoshi as she dragged the groaning space pirate back over to the bar. She sat back down as she noticed the fight between Gillian and Togusa had escalated. "Great, this is gonna suck." Ryoko muttered to herself as Togusa kicked the chair out from under himself, and entered a fighting position. Gillian did the same, her eyes a shade of deep red. Ryoko stared at her eyes, finding something oddly familiar about their color. Kiyonne, just barely in time, saw the confrontation out of the corner of her eye. She leapt up and ran in between the two. "Now listen you two. This is the only bar in this little town. If you destroy it, I know a whole crap load of guys that'll rip you two apart. Now let's just settle down." "Not until he apologizes." Answered Gillian. "NOW who's the one being the insensitive prick!?" hissed Togusa. "Up yours, you little... cretin!" "Oh, she called me a cretin! Oh, how will I ever live it down!?" cried Togusa sarcastically as he pranced around in a small circle. "GRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" grunted Gillian as she summoned her laser staff. "Come on, baby. Let's rock." Returned Togusa as he summoned a Laser scimitar. Suddenly, he heard a CLICK. He moved his eyes over to his left temple. Pointed at said temple was a fairly large alien looking gun. It whined with power. Holding that gun was Matsui. Togusa gulped as his laser scimitar faded into the air. "S...sorry." Togusa said quietly, almost inaudible. "What was that? I couldn't hear you!" gloated Gillian. "Why you little bit..." Togusa started, but he felt the nozzle being pressed into his temple even harder, "OKAY GODDAMNIT! I SAID I WAS SORRY! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME, MY FIRST BORN!?!?" yelled Togusa, scaring everyone with the volume at which he shouted. Gillian giggled to herself a little and nodded at Matsui. Matsui immediately lowered the nozzle. "Freaking traitor..." mumbled Togusa as Gillian began to laugh hysterically. Matsui failed to see the humor in a near death situation and sat back down in between his brother and Gillian. Togusa slammed Matsui in the shoulder, and hard. Matsui mouthed his displeasure toward his brother, who began to drink again. Matsui realized that he was pouting and that he wouldn't talk to him for a few hours. 'Oh well...' Matsui thought. He began to drink also. Kiyonne, seeing that there wasn't going to be a major war in front of her, looked at the deep, navy blue haired woman. She had a cleft in her nose that Kiyonne thought looked familiar. "Excuse me, miss? I was just wondering, do you happen to be related to anyone in the Galaxy police?" asked Kiyonne. "Yeah, why? Did my father send you out to look for me, cause I ain't going back home. Tell him he can forget it." "Was your father Major Mikhal?" "Yeah... what do you mean by 'was'?" "I've got some bad news..." "What...!?" Gillian asked, her bottom lip quivering. "I'm sorry. Your father...died, a few days ago, during the battle outside of Jurai. He asked me to find you. I can't begin to say how sorry I am." Said Kiyonne in her most sensitive voice. She then witnessed a miraculous transformation. She saw the fiery, red eyed woman-warrior break down into a weak, sobbing, blue eyed child. Crying, Gillian ran out of the bar, soon followed by Matsui, his face a sheet of worry. He glared a Kiyonne as he passed by her. Kiyonne gulped, knowing that she didn't want to mess with that one. Togusa sat there, his mouth ajar. He seemed to stare for a few seconds before standing back up. "Man, that was low. Now I remember why I hate you freaking pigs." Togusa said as he walked out of the bar. Kiyonne groaned. 'Why god. Why can't my life go right for just once...' she thought as she joined the others. Mihoshi gently put her arm around her partner. "It's okay, Kiyonne. I know you did what you had to do. Come on, let's have a drink." "Yeah. Let's drown our sorrows. That goes double for you, Ryoko." Interjected Washu. "Yeah, fine. I could use a few more drinks." Ryoko muttered lowly, her mood down in the dumps. For the next few hours, Ryoko, Washu, Mihoshi, and especially Kiyonne drank like fish and reminisced about the old times, about Okayama, and about Tenchi. After a while, Ryoko just stopped talking altogether, and eventually excused herself, stumbling drunkenly to her temporary hut. The others soon followed, almost too drunk and tired to make it back. But, eventually, they did, and they all drifted into a deep, intoxicated sleep. All, that is, except three others... ************************************************************ Gillian ran into the massive, green, plush alien forest. The suns have long been gone and the night permeated the sky. She ran, crying, until her legs refused to go no further. Then, without a single thought, she instantaneously teleported up to the top of a high tree. There, she sat on a branch, against the tree and wept some more, until she cried her very last tear. With her highly sensitive ears, she picked up the sound of leaves rustling. She looked around and nearly fell out of the tree when Matsui mysteriously materialized in front of her. "I hate it when you do that." She joked. It was a futile, half-hearted, attempt. Matsui waved his right hand around, then made a fist. Out of the fist, he pulled a handkerchief, like some magician. Gillian chuckled a bit at his attempt to cheer her up, and gladly took the 'chief. "Thanks, little buddy..." she sniffled. Matsui put on a fake smile in order to try to cheer her up more, but frowned when he saw that it was failing. "Stop. You don't have to do that. I'm gonna be sad for a while. You know, I never got to say goodbye? Our last words together were spoken in anger and I never saw him again. Now I'll never get the chance to say 'I'm sorry, pop...' and he died thinking I hated him. Oh, god..." she cried as she grasped Matsui and hugged him with a bear hug that rivaled that of Misaki. And she continued to cry for hours and hours, still clinging to Matsui, who never moved an inch, even though he was standing in thin air. Eventually, the sad moment was interrupted by an echoing voice, ringing through the forested area. It was Togusa. Gillian lifted her tired head and looked in the direction that he was calling. "Come on. We better get back to camp, before Togusa has a coronary." Said Gillian as she wiped away the tears. Without warning, Gillian felt herself being lifted up as Matsui slowly floated to the ground far below. When they got to the ground, Matsui and Gillian headed back to town, slowly. Off in the distance, there was a heavy growl, a growl that has never been recorded on any world in any system in any known galaxy in the universe. And it was followed by more growls, until the night air was permeated with a deep bellowing from what seemed the pit of hell itself... ************************************************************ Kiyonne tossed and turned in her bed, her mind a jumble of thoughts and images. They didn't mean anything at all, they were just... thoughts and images. But slowly, a more defined memory pushed its way into her head. "Oh, my GOD! I'm gonna be LATE!" shouted Kiyonne as she ran down the clean hall. Her long green hair, much longer than it is now, whipped around as she turned a corner and almost dove into the class room. 'The first day of the academy and I was almost late! Oh, man, this isn't good.' She plumeted into her desk and lowered her head in defeat. She raised her head a few seconds later and noticed that the professor wasn't here. "Hey, where's the teacher?" asked Kiyonne, turning to the young woman sitting next to her. Immediately she noticed the lack of intelligence in the other woman's eyes. "Who?" asked the other woman innocently. Her blonde hair, which sharply contrasted with her deeply tanned skin, bounced as she cocked her head in confusion. "Nothing..." Kiyonne groaned. Suddenly, the professor walked in, his back straight. His walk was nearly a march and his uniform was in top notch condition, even for a Galaxy Police officer. The entire class immediately stood up and saluted, except for Kiyonne, who was a little slow to start. She was several seconds late in her saluting, and she caught several glares from her class mates. She blushed in embarrassment. After a while, Kiyonne noticed the rest of the students sit down, so she followed suit. 'Oh, man. This is gonna suck...' she thought as she raised her head to look at her new professor. But, instead of the normal, everyday Galaxy Police professors that she had heard so much about, she saw what she defined as the perfect picture of manhood. He was far older than her, she could tell, but his face hadn't exceeded that of around 30 earth years. His neck was thick, but not grossly muscular, and his shoulders were straight and broad. His chest, although it was covered in the typical high ranking officer GP uniform, was buff. He could tell he was ripped under that uniform, as she tried to picture him without his shirt on. She noticed everything else about him could have been plucked out of her best sexual fantasies, although he had an unusual cleft in his nose. 'Oh, well, it's cute' she thought. She fell instantly in love, and began to blush. She then looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but was caught by surprise when she saw the ratio of men to women in the class room. 'It's nearly all women...' she thought to herself. Then, she noticed in the back were a few guys, barely anything that she would deem 'good looking.' She took a deep breath and joined the rest of her female classmates in staring at the teacher. "Good morning, class, and welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives. For the next few years, I will mold you into the best cadets that the Galaxy police can ever hope for. And I'm happy to see that there are more females turning out in the past few years. It makes me proud to know that both sexes are taking consideration in the intricacies of interstellar federal protection." 'Yeah, right.' Though Kiyonne as she guessed at what the REAL reason all of these women chose this class, or maybe even JOINED the Galaxy Police. 'Well, I can't really blame them...' she thought, 'I mean look at him, he's a GOD!'. She began to feel herself drool, so she fixed herself up and opened her notebook. 'These next couple of years are going to be REALLY hard...' she thought to herself once again, 'but I think I could get used to it...' The next few years seemed to just fly by as Kiyonne grew in her classroom position. She quickly became one of the best officers in training in the academy. But she noticed something that hadn't changed, her infatuation with her teacher. Finally, graduation day had come upon her, and her long years of training were finally over. There was still something that needed to be done, something that she had to get off her chest. Dressed in her graduation uniform, Kiyonne made her way to her professors quarters. "It's either now or never..." Kiyonne whispered to herself as she summoned the courage to knock on the door. The door slid open to reveal her professor, still in the middle of getting ready for the ceremony. His uniform wasn't tucked in, his tie wasn't straight and he wasn't wearing any shoes. Kiyonne just stood there, afraid to do anything. She began to breath raggedly. "Uh, hi... Kiyonne. May I... help you?" asked her professor curiously. "Uh... hi... heh, heh..." Kiyonne answered nervously. "Do you... want to come in?" her teacher eventually asked. "S...sure." Kiyonne stuttered. She slowly inched her way into his quarters. The place was as neat and tidy, just how he always wore his uniform...most of the time. She wandered into the center of the small apartment and eventually felt her professors hand touch her arm as he offered her a place to sit. Kiyonne blushed briefly and then had a seat on a chair close to his bed, which was where he was sitting. "May I help you Kiyonne?" asked her teacher innocently. "Well," said Kiyonne as she thought of ways to stall, so that she can pounce when the time was right, "I'm a bit nervous about this whole graduating thing..." she said, lowering her head. "What, YOU, Kiyonne? You were my best student. You graduated in the top 1% of your class. What do you think you have to be nervous about?" the professor said, surprised. Then his expression calmed a bit. " I know exactly what your feeling." "You DO?" Kiyonne asked, as equally surprised, but lowered her head again when she realized it was about the nervousness, not the heart-aching love. "Oh, yeah. I went through the same thing when I went through the academy. I was entering the big time now, not some dinky little class. Hell yeah, I was nervous. Don't worry. I know that you'll become better than this old man." "Don't say that! Your not that old, and nobody can replace you. You're... special." Gulped Kiyonne as she stared into her teachers eyes. They seemed to change from dark to light blue. 'That's strange, I never saw that before...' thought the ardent young girl. She saw him get a little nervous as he stood up and walked over to the mirror. He began to fumble with his tie. 'Here might be my opening...' thought Kiyonne. She stood up and walked over to the object of her affection. She didn't even notice the seductive way she was moving her own hips. "Damn it. I hate these things. I can never get them on... straight." He said as he saw Kiyonne start to mess with his tie. He noticed that she had taken her cap off and let her hair down. It was shorter now and seemed to get in the way less than it did before. Finally, she moved her hands away from his collar. He turned to the mirror and noticed that his tie was perfect. He smiled. "Well, thanks Kiyonne. You saved me a lot of heartache and pain." He said gladly. His smile made her blush. 'She's been doing that a lot' the teacher thought to himself. Then, something inside his head clicked. "Uh, Kiyonne, you're not here to tell me how nervous you are about graduation... are you?" finally said. Kiyonne felt her heart stop. It was now or never. She decided it was better to get this love off her chest now, than to conceal it forever. "No... I'm sorry, it's just that, ever since I saw you on that first day, I... well, that is to say..." she stuttered. "That you..." continued the professor, moving his hand in a circular motion, indicating that he wanted her to spit it out. "Ah, hell." Muttered Kiyonne as she moved up and kissed him, and kissed him hard. She moved her hands around his strong neck and pulled him toward the bed. She laid down and pulled him on top of her, continuing to kiss him. The professor tried to fight it, but the instinctive part of him told him, 'NO! DON'T YOU STUPID DUMB ASS!? ARE YOU GAY OR SOMETHING!?' He began to fight his instincts with common sense, telling himself of all of the consequences that could happen, not only to himself, but to Kiyonne, the gentile young girl trying to get him to make love to her, right now. Eventually, he broke their kiss. Kiyonne looked at him, a little hurt. "Listen Kiyonne, and listen good. We cannot, and I mean CANNOT do this. I do not want the consequences of our actions to ruin your career in the Galaxy Police." "Wha...what's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" Kiyonne asked, almost crying. "If falling in love is wrong, than we'd all be locked up. But you, unfortunately, fell in love with the worst person you could fall in love with. Not only am I your teacher, but I'm also your superior. Everyone would suspect that the only reason you got high marks at the academy was because you were screwing the teacher. Every time you get a promotion, everyone will think it's because I made it happen. Our careers will fall to pieces, Kiyonne. And I can't do that to you." "I don't CARE what people think! Forget them. I just want you!" Kiyonne pleaded. "Okay... another reason. I am FAR too old for you Kiyonne." Said her teacher in a desperate attempt to end this, here and now. "Do you think I care about that?" Kiyonne told him, still holding the professor on top of her. The professor sighed. "You're not gonna make this easy on me, are you Kiyonne? Listen to me, I am over 40,000 years old, a father, and a widower. I have had this job since the early days of the galaxy police. If I choose to pursue this little endeavor with you, I will most certainly lose my job. And without this job, I'll have no way of supporting my daughter, who, I hope, will follow in my footsteps. I cannot do that to myself, to you, or to her. I'm sorry, Kiyonne. I know how much this moment must have meant to you." "Oh, GOD!" muttered Kiyonne in horror as the realization of what she was doing pounded into her like a freight train. Slowly, she released her professor, who had a look of confusion, shock, and sadness in his face. Kiyonne sat up on his plush, fluffy bed and began to cry. She buried her face into her hands and sobbed long, uneven sobs. All of a sudden, she felt a comforting hand fall upon her trembling shoulder. She looked up with tear soaked eyes and saw the face of the man she loved so much, she let it blind her of the reality of the situation. She managed to crack a very small, weak smile. "Don't cry, Kiyonne. If we'd have met some other way, like on the street or something, I would not even consider having this conversation. You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful cadet I've ever taught." "R...really...?" Kiyonne choked out through her constant blubbering. "Yes, really. But, unfortunately, fate decided to play us an unfair hand. But, I want you to know this... I will always be there for you, Kiyonne. Anytime you need anything, or to talk, or whatever, I'm only a call away. And you can always believe that." "Thank you... Professor L' nean." Kiyonne said, with only a trace of regret. "You don't need to call me that, Kiyonne. I'm no longer your teacher. Call me Mikhal..." And at that, Kiyonne woke up in a start. She was breathing hard and clutching the sheets. She finally let go of the slightly ripped sheets and made her way to the edge of her bed. Then, as she did before, she put her face in her hands and began to cry. ************************************************************ At the same time as Kiyonne, Ryoko too, was dreaming. But it wasn't a sex dream involving Tenchi, or a major, whacked up nightmare, but just a memory. Her eyes fluttered under their lids as her memory began... Instantly, she found herself back in Kagato's lab. Around her was the clear energy cell that he kept her in. She looked at herself and saw that she looked really young again, maybe the equivalent of a 13 year old, on Earth. She was wearing that damn one-piece that Kagato liked to dress her up in. But, then she noticed that he wasn't there. She then remembered that he had gone off to some planet to get some rare something or other. He decided not to send her out yet because he had not yet molded her to the perfect killing machine yet. Yet... She sat there in her corner, all scrunched up and afraid to move, when, right before her eyes, a figure popped up through the floor, right outside her cell. He was young, maybe her age, as he floated toward the invisible energy barrier. She held herself tight, preparing for the large shock the poor boy was to receive, but it never came. He simply passed through it like it never existed. He floated up to the perplexed Ryoko. "Who are yo..." Ryoko began, but was unable to finish when he put his finger up to her dry, parched, and cracked lips. The boy then waved his hand in the air and pulled a bottle of water out of nowhere. Ryoko licked her lips with a dry tongue. The boy then tossed it to her gently. She caught it and nearly ripped the entire bottle in half to get it open. Finally, she did and quenched her monstrous thirst. She let loose a loud "Ahh" as she looked into the boys eyes in gratitude. He simply nodded as he reached for her hand. Just as he grabbed her small, frail hand, a loud alarm went off. The boy just sighed and motioned for Ryoko to stay there. He then walked out of the cell and out into the interconnecting hallway. Suddenly, the doorway blew open as an older boy ran into the cell hallway, through the smoke. "Ah hell, I think I messed up. Come on Matsui, let's split!" shouted the boy. "Ahh..." muttered the nice boy, Matsui. "Come on, damn it! We DON'T have the time to fuck around!" yelled the other boy. "But, Togusa!" yelled Matsui. "NOW!!" shouted Togusa as loud as he could. Suddenly, a massive robot slammed through the broken door. It was fearsome and evil in its intent. Togusa screamed in fear as a massive sword slammed into the ground in front of him. The robot and Togusa began to fight in a life or death struggle, and Togusa, due to lack of experience, was losing. Soon, the robot had Togusa pinned against the wall. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" screamed Matsui as he leaped in front of the robot, piecing the robot's thorax with his laser Kitana and slicing him up to his head, ripping the robot in half. Losing all of its power, the robot's arms fell to the ground at a lightening fast pace. Before he could move, Ryoko saw the bladed arm fall at an angle and come down upon her new friend, slicing him through the neck. His blood squirted everywhere as Togusa screamed in protest. "MATSUI!!! NO!" Togusa shouted in the most hurt and damaged voice he had. The robot finally fell, mere seconds after Togusa's younger brother did. He quickly scooped up his brother's limp body and faded away. "NO! COME BACK! TAKE ME WITH YOU!" shouted Ryoko tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She slowly fell to her knees as she began to cry. But, in a small hut in a heavily forested area of the planet of Rigal, the real Ryoko stirred awake and slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She yawned, and got out of bed. Her head pounded and the sunlight poking through the shut window hurt her eyes immensely. "Oh, god. Not another day." She muttered as she walked into the accursed sunlight. ************************************************************ Ryoko stumbled along the small pathway made for the temporary town. She made her way down to a clearing, where she heard the sound of combat. She walked up to the clearing and saw Gillian and Togusa sparing. As they fought, they cut down small trees and scorched the ground. Matsui sat a few meters off, watching the mock fight. Ryoko looked at him and remembered her dream. She smiled as she remembered his kindness, and nearly cried when she remembered what had happened to him. 'How is he still alive?' she wondered, but shrugged it off when she decided it wasn't important. Finally, a few minutes later, Matsui blew on a small whistle, a misshapen version of Earth's typical whistle. It made a loud, high pitched screech that echoed through the forest. A few birds flew off into the distance. A few seconds later, there was a rustling in the trees. Ryoko heard this, and, she also felt the small tremors in the ground, which were growing louder and louder as the seconds rolled by. "Oh no..." mumbled Ryoko as suddenly trees started flying in the air, out in the distance. Using their superior senses, Ryoko and Gillian focused in the forest. They saw the most evil looking alien creatures that the two of them have ever seen in all of their travels. Massive, brutal looking creatures that looked like a cross between a bear and a scorpion began to pour out of the trees. They were over ten feet tall, walked on two legs, had a long, hairy scorpion tail with a foot long spike on the end and their faces looked like a cross between Predator(tm) and a rat. Everyone's jaws dropped when these creatures began their ascent on the small town. "RUN!" shouted Ryoko as hundreds of the creatures began to enter the small clearing. "NO! YOU RUN, WE'LL HOLD'EM OFF!" Shouted Togusa, always the noble one. "Not this time buddy, you left me once, you aren't doing it again!" commented Ryoko as more creatures came in. One of the creatures attacked Togusa, but he summoned his laser scimitar just in time to kill the vile creature. And, just as one died, three ran in to take it's place. "Well, someone has to go before these things reach the town! Everyone'll be slaughtered!" Ryoko added. "Fine. Stop your bitchin'! I'll go!" said Gillian as she faded into the air after killing another one of the creatures. More and more creatures flooded out of the forest, nearly overwhelming the small group. "Shit! This is gonna be harder than I thought!" smirked Togusa as he decapitated two monsters... ************************************************************ Washu exited her hut and stretched in the sunlight. 'What a warm day. I like it here. I guess I'm gonna have to come back one day.' She thought to herself. But her internal conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone shouting bloody murder. Curious, as always, Washu ran up to the source of all the racket. "Everybody run! Any minute now a shitload of big, big, BIG creatures are gonna wash over this little town like some freaking PLAGUE!" shouted that girl from the bar. 'Gillian, that's right...' thought Washu. Hearing this, she ran up to her. "Hey, what did you say?" asked Washu in her ever curious manner. "I SAID that a hoard of massive hairy beasts are going to attack this small town and kill us ALL in a matter of minutes! Everyone MUST EVACUATE!" she hollered at the diminutive red head. "Maybe we can help!" returned Washu once her hearing returned. Washu then held out her hands in a keyboard typing position and her transparent laptop appeared out of thin air. She typed on a few keys and out of the thin air popped Kiyonne, Mihoshi, Ayeka, Funhao, and Misaki. They hit the ground with a thump and quickly got back up, fully angered at this sudden intrusion. "Washu! What is the meaning of this!?" yelled Ayeka. "We need your help, or, guess what...?" asked Washu. "What?" asked the newly summoned group. "OR WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" she shouted into a megaphone that she pulled out of nowhere. "Now that we all know the direness of the situation, why don't you lead the way?" continued the small scientist as she turned to Gillian. ************************************************************ A million things plowed through Matsui's head while he was fighting these creatures. All of them seemed to point to one thing... 'I've got to protect her.' And every time he thought that, he fought just a little bit harder. He quickly glanced at his brother, checking on him. He's doing fine... barely breaking a sweat. In the moment he let his guard down, ten of the creatures came forward and attacked with unmatched fury and speed. Well, almost unmatched speed. Moving so fast that he seemed a blur, Matsui leaped backward and pulled out a huge gun, bigger than the one that he pulled on his brother, just last night. He pressed the trigger and fired. The massive bullet flew in the center of the clump of creatures and exploded, taking out eight of them. He began to aim again when the creatures suddenly were upon him. He managed to summon an energy bomb and tossed it at one of them, blowing a hole in one of the two creature's chest. Blood flew everywhere, the sent summoning even more of the creatures. A whole gang of them nearly toppled him, but before they could reach, Matsui felt himself being lifted into the air. He looked up to see Ryoko, the girl he met so many years ago. She smiled back at him as she lifted him up and set him down in a safe spot. But even there the creatures came, trying to kill off the intruders. Before the hoard could reach, Matsui whipped his arms out to the side, and two medium sized guns flew out of his sleeves. Quick, like lightening, he lifted the guns up and fired, wasting two or three of the creatures. He noticed them fall two the ground, squirming in pain and agony. He smiled slightly. Ryoko noticed this and felt a slight chill crisscross her spine. Somehow, this boy was different now. She just couldn't place it. Crazed by the sent of blood, more and more creatures just piled on top of the other ones. Matsui and Ryoko were backed against the wall of one of the buildings in the town, when, suddenly, a big black hole opened up under the charging group of creatures. They looked up and saw Gillian flying, carrying just about everyone. She began to look fatigued. Washu twisted out of her grasp and fell to the ground. She stood up tall and smiled. "Ahh, more specimens. Come on! We don't have all day. Most of the town has been deserted already. Let's pack our stuff and leave!" she said as she approached the two. Matsui looked at Ryoko and shrugged. Ryoko did the exact same thing. Ryoko watched as Gillian dropped off her passengers at different parts of the battle. The creatures seemed to flow out of the forest like a demonic flood. As more died, more came to take their place. Kiyonne stuck by Gillian, watching her back. Mihoshi stuck by Kiyonne, like always, cowering behind her more competent partner. Washu stayed out of the battle for the most part. She analyzed the creatures and conducted research. She tried to find a flaw, and was so far unsuccessful. Misaki and Funhao stood by each other. They used their Juraian powers to fight the evil creatures and defend those they had grown to love. Ryoko then looked at Matsui. His eyes lighted up as he ran toward the battle field. "Matsui! Wait! Don't go in there!" Ryoko yelled, like a concerned parent. But Matsui ran into the battle, dodging a fight at every turn. He eventually reached a very tall tree. He teleported all the way up to the top. Ryoko couldn't even guess at what he was doing. He sat on the tallest branch, lotus style. His green eyes widened as he summoned two mini-laptops, like Washu's, only under each hand. He tapped at the keys a while and then covered his ears. 'What the hell is he... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" screamed Ryoko as a loud high pitched whistle began to play. It was the same tone as the alien whistle he had used earlier, only amplified much, much more. The creatures all stopped fighting as they looked up at the tree. They all began to herd around the tree, snarling, and a few began to scale it. Ryoko, Mihoshi, Gillian, Togusa, and Washu all covered their ears and screamed in pain as Ayeka, Funhao, Misaki and Kiyonne just looked at them weird. Matsui, his ears still covered, began to type on his little laptops again. In the sky, Kiyonne saw a black spot form. It rocketed out of orbit and flew right above Matsui. It was Leo-oki. It growled in discontentment at the high pitched noise. Matsui typed a command and closed his eyes as everyone was teleported off the planet and into Leo-oki. Leo-oki then roared a fearsome roar and commenced firing on the surface of the planet, killing off millions of the creatures. They leapt at him, but Leo-oki was too far up. Finally, shielded from the noise, Togusa shook his head violently and said to Leo-oki : "Okay, okay. You've had your fun. Join the rest of the fleet, and make it quick." Leo-oki roared loudly as the sky around them shifted to blackness as they reached outer space. Ayeka looked over at Ryoko. "You just HAD to pick Rigal, didn't you?!" she yelled. "Well, I'm sorry! I just heard that no one had colonized it yet! I didn't know that it was because whoever tried was slaughtered by... whatever those things are!" she returned. "I swear, your just incorrigible!" Ayeka groaned as she turned her back and walked away. Washu walked over to Matsui. "So, how did you get those?" she asked. Matsui pointed at himself and mouthed "me?" "Yeah, you. You're the only one I'm talking to." Said Washu with a little more sarcasm than normal. Matsui just shrugged and typed on the keypads : I'VE ALWAYS HAD THEM. I DON'T KNOW WHERE I GOT THEM. The words popped up on a little holographic synthesizer, in full 3d and in bold. Washu giggled to herself. 'I might just like this kid...' she thought. "YOU JUST MIGHT." Typed Matsui. ************************************************************ And so ends Chapter five. Gimme an email ruby@pa.net