This is my fourth story using Tenchi's grandson, Hakubi. This will, most likely, also be the last one in to have Hakubi in it, so that means, anything goes! But for those who have not read any of my previous works, I'll give a quick and easy explanation of this little universe I created. This story takes place far into the future of the OAV universe. Tenchi has grown up and married both Ryoko and Ayeka and is now the emperor of Jurai. He has a daughter with Ayeka named Achika and a son with Ryoko named Devon. Devon later married Sasami/Tsunami and they have a son who is named Tenchi Hakubi-Jurai Masaki, (named after Tenchi) who is called Ten-chan by family and Hakubi by everyone else. Kiyone is also is this universe and is dating Hakubi. Rye-Ohki is Hakubi's cabbit that Washu made for him in my very first fic, and likes Ryo-Ohki. And before you say, "What about the age differences?" let me point out that we do not know the life spans of these aliens and Azusa and his wives did live for well over 700 years, while Ayeka and Sasami where in suspended animation. One more thing to mention, if not otherwise stated, the cabbits are in their cabbit form. Now let the story begin! As usual, I do not own these characters. Tenchi and crew belong to Pioneer LDC and AIC, I only own this story and the few extra characters I created for it. 'Mental Link' "Spoken or Audible Sounds" Do Not a Prison Make "In other news," an anchorman announced on the television, "the Galaxy Police are still continuing their investigation in the mysterious deaths of over 20 men in several different locations. Sources say that the murdered men were part of a secret society and were systematically being killed. Some good news to report; The Crown Prince of Jurai has be spotted back in the Royal Palace after disappearing for a few days-" Hakubi turned off the television, not wanting to hear the rest of the news. He casually tossed the remote to the other chair, the one Rye-Ohki had made such a hassle about and brought back from Earth. It landed with a muted "thump" and slid in between the cushions. He slowly got up and looked around his room. There were a few carrot shaped cushions lying about, and some pictures on the walls. He saw one of himself with a child Rye-Ohki walking hand-in-hand through a carnival on Jurai. Another picture showed Rye-Ohki as a young adult, holding up a first place trophy he had won at the empire wide martial arts tournament held a few years ago. The last photo to catch his eye was one of himself, Kiyone, Rye-Ohki, and Ryo-Ohki at the last family picnic. Kiyone was leaning against him as they watched the sun set from under a tree, and each of them had a cabbit in their lap. Hakubi wiped a tear from his eye and slowly walked to his desk. From one drawer he pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write. "To whomever finds this first, As of this moment, I Tenchi Hakubi-Jurai Masaki II, hereby abdicate my title as the Crown Prince of Jurai and all rights and privileges as a member of the royal family. In light of recent events, I find myself unworthy to even be associated with the house of Jurai and voluntarily banish myself to a pre-space colony to live out the rest of my natural life. To Ryo-Ohki, I can only say I am sorry. I am so sorry for what I did, and you must believe me when I say that I was not in full control of myself when I so wrongly ended Rye-Ohki's life. A part of me died with him and I can never forgive myself for what I did. I can only hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. To my dearest Kiyone, I love you. But these past events have shown that my mere existence will only cause you and others more pain and suffering. I cannot bear to again see you in pain over me. I will always love you and will never forget you. To the rest of the family, please do not try to find me. I know that you could if you wanted, and I am asking you to forget me and to not feel sorry for me. I have spent a long time thinking of my future and this is what I choose." Hakubi looked over what he had written, making sure he had including everything he had wanted, absentmindedly chewing on the end of his pen. His thoughts drifted back to Rye-Ohki and what had happened to cause all of this. (Flashback) "My Lady, the messenger has been sent. Your plan is in motion," a deep, ethereal voice spoke. "Good," a melodious voice replied. "I am your servant, my Lady Tokimi." "I should have listened to my mother and been an accountant," Shujo the messenger grumbled to himself as he flew through space in his Universal Parcel Service ship. "Accounting is where the money is these days, not parcel delivery." Shujo picked up the little brown-wrapped box. "And what a strange parcel I'm delivering. Who would pay triple the normal fee for delivery of such a small package? This Tokimi must be loaded." He shrugged his shoulders and put the box down. "I hope I get a big tip for such an easy delivery." Shujo spoke too soon as four lethal looking ships dropped out of subspace around him. "Pirates!" Shujo screamed as the ships opened fire. A few well placed shots later, and the battle was over. "This is Alpha lead to C's Pride, do you copy?" a deep voice asked over the radio. "Yes Alpha lead we copy. Did you get the package?" "That's an affirmative, repeat, affirmative. We're heading back now." "Excellent! Brother Mataki will be pleased." As suddenly as they appeared, the pirate vessels vanished back into subspace. "All Right troopers, pay attention," Hakubi yelled over the mixed group of Juraian soldiers and Galaxy Policemen. "The briefing's about to start." A screen came down from the ceiling and a projector turned on. "This is the target," Hakubi began as he pointed to a ship that appeared on the screen. To effectively end the threat of piracy in space, the Galaxy Police had joined forces with the Juraian Space Force and created a special task force designed to neutralize areas of high pirate activity. Hakubi was given command of the force and so far everything had been going well. "This is the Corella's Pride, a suspected carrier for a pirate group that is active in this area," the young Commander Karacus spoke from Hakubi's side. "As with the other carrier raids, I will lead the GP hardsuits to take over the hanger. Prince Masaki will lead the Juraians to the bridge where they will try to take command of the ship. But this time we have some new toys to play with, the Prince will explain." "Thank you Commander," Hakubi acknowledged. "This just came from Jurai, a cloaking device." Hakubi changed the slide to show a bunch of technicians attaching something to the hull of their assault shuttles. "This device should mask us not only from sensors, but also sight. This way, we should be able to sneak up to the carrier and board them without having to fight through a screen of fighters as with the other carriers. Any questions?" A Juraian soldier raised his hand. "Yes?" "Is this Washu-tech, Sir?" the soldier asked. "Yes it is, but she said that it should work," Hakubi said quickly over the groans of his men. "Don't worry, we'll be taking Rye-Ohki along just in case." When the groans subsided and he continued. "When we breach the hull, we'll split up as the Commander mentioned." The slide changed to a map of the ship. "Rye-Ohki will provide assistance to the hardsuits while the rest of us will go to the bridge." The slide changed again to show the different routes. "Remember, we are here to arrest them, but lethal force is authorized if necessary. Speed is the essence of this raid. We have to secure the hanger before any ship can escape. But, we have GP fighters on standby just in case. If there are no further questions, then this briefing is over. Get ready for launch in 4 hours." The group broke up, each going to check on their respective gear. Hakubi stayed in the briefing room and studied the diagrams of the ship again. Rye-Ohki walked up beside him and hopped up to his shoulder, in his cabbit form. 'Why do I have to go with the hardsuits? I want to go with you,' Rye-Ohki asked. "Because they may meet heavy resistance this time. We're timing this raid when everyone will be asleep, so there'll still be a lot of fighters docked in the hanger. Who knows what damage could be caused if one of those fighters opened fire in there. They need all the help they can get," Hakubi told his cabbit as he petted him. Rye-Ohki grumbled a little and crossed his arms. "You behave yourself in there too. Commander Karacus is in charge of the hardsuits and you'll be under his command as well. I expect you to follow his orders." Rye-Ohki nodded his head and began to purr as Hakubi scratched a spot he liked. Half a galaxy away, Sasami woke with a start. She quickly sat up in bed and hugged her knees. "What's wrong, dear?" Devon asked as her movements had woken him. "It's Ten-chan. I don't know what, but I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen," Sasami replied. "You don't have to worry about him," Devon answered as he also sat up and hugged his wife. "He's not a kid anymore, and if anything happens, Rye-Ohki will be there to bail him out." "I know. It's just, just a feeling," Sasami said back and returned his hug. "Let's go back to sleep. We'll check on the task force first thing in the morning." Sasami nodded her head and curled up to Devon. She rested her head on his arm and soon fell asleep. Devon thought to himself as he watched his wife sleep. All was quiet in the sector of space where the Corella's Pride lazily drifted. "Man, I hate the late shift," a pirate said to himself as he yawned. A small blip of light on the radar caught his attention. He turned to look at the scope, but the point of light disappeared. "Must've been another piece of space trash," the pirate mumbled to himself. "Did they detect us?" Hakubi asked the pilot of their assault shuttle. "Doesn't look like it. We still going?" the pilot asked back. "Yeah, go for it!" The shuttle lurched as the engines were pushed to their max; the raid had begun. Under the cover of their new cloaking device, the shuttle easily slipped by the few patrolling fighters and inched up to the hull of the large carrier. "This is it! Scans show that this is the thinnest section of the hull," the pilot yelled back to the troops. The shuttle slowing extended its docking tube till it was snug against the carrier's hull. Hakubi carefully walked to the end of the tube and checked the airlock. Once the pressure had been equalized, he opened the hatch. "All right," Hakubi told everyone, "Wait for my signal." With that, he cautiously phased through the hull. He poked his head out the other end and looked around. When he was sure no one was around, he gave the thumbs up sign to the troops and completely phased through. "Ok, cut it!" Karacus ordered. Immediately, two men with blowtorches moved up front and started to cut through the hull. On the inside of the ship, Hakubi hid in a convenient shadow and watched for any signs of alarm. No one had noticed their arrival and Hakubi silently watched as a small blue flame pierced the hull. In the cockpit of the carrier, an alarm went off. "What's that?" the pirate on watch yelled out loud. He instantly recognized the hull breach alarm and began to isolate it. "Hull breach on Sector 7! Hull breach on Sector 7! Repair crews, get off yer butts and get there now!" the pirate yelled over the intercom. Hakubi thought to himself as he heard the announcement. The nearest doors began to close, trying to protect the rest of the ship form the impending vacuum. "Commander, they detected a hull breach. Make it fast!" Hakubi yelled over the alarm into his communicator. "Roger that," Karacus replied. "How much longer?" he asked the men with the blowtorches. "We're about a quarter done. At least two more minutes," one of them replied. "Not fast enough. Score the rest and stand back." The men did as they were ordered and quickly cut an outline of a door on the hull. The second they were clear, Karacus raised an arm of his hardsuit and fired. Karacus thought to himself as the hull blew open, creating a large enough hole for them to enter. "So far they still think it is just a hull breach, not a raid," Hakubi told the men as they poured into the ship. "We still have the element of surprise. Remember the plan." Hakubi walked over to one of the doors and tried to open it. "Locked," he muttered to himself. The men lined up behind him, ready for action. Hakubi pressed a few buttons on the control panel and tried to unlock the door. To his surprise, it opened. On the other side stood and equally surprised technician. "You're under arrest!" Hakubi quickly yelled and slapped a pair of handcuffs on the man. "Wha!" the unfortunate technician cried as he was swiftly handcuffed to a pole. "Raid!" Hakubi ran past the man and headed deeper into the ship. The trooper behind him followed, and slapped a piece of tape over the technician's mouth as he ran by. Last through was Rye-Ohki in his humanoid form, who flashed the hapless technician a smile and disappeared with the rest of the troops. "This is where we split up," Hakubi yelled over his shoulder. "Be careful everyone." The team split up, with the hardsuits and Rye-Ohki going left, and the rest going right. The plan was once they had taken control of the bridge, they would call for backup and wait there till more men arrived. Hakubi took the point, running down the hall just slow enough for his men to keep up. They met little resistance on their way to the bridge. The pirates that were unlucky enough to have crossed their path were quickly subdued and handcuffed to the nearest secured object. "What's going on?" a pirate asked the man on watch. "Hull breach in Sector 7. Repair crews are already on their way, Captain," the pirate replied. "Have they checked in yet?" the captain asked as he looked over a monitor. "Not as of yet, sir." "Repair crews, check in," the captain ordered through the intercom. Having not received a reply, he tried again. "I don't like it. Something doesn't feel right," the captain said out loud. "Sound general quarters, we may have visitors." "Well, our luck was bound to run out eventually," Hakubi muttered to himself as the alarm went off. They had almost made it to the bridge without anyone setting off an alarm. "No need for subtlety anymore!" Hakubi flew up to the door of the bridge and blasted it open. "What in the world!" the captain yelled in surprise. "You're all under arrest!" Hakubi yelled back. The captain's eyes went wide and he lunged for the communications panel. Hakubi was on him in a blink of an eye and grabbed him before he could send out a warning. "Resisting arrest will only make it worse for you," Hakubi told his captive as he handcuffed him. "This is bad, very bad," the captain mumbled to himself as he was pushed into a chair. "Very bad, very, very bad." "Secure the bridge and call for backup," Hakubi ordered his men. They did as they were told and soon the ship was theirs. "What's the status of the other team?" "They took the hanger pretty easily, but the fighting has spilled over to one of the cargo holds," a soldier replied. "Commander, what's your status?" Hakubi asked through his communicator. "We're meeting some heavy resistance in one of the cargo holds," Karacus replied. Sounds of laser fire and explosions could be heard in the background. "We can handle it." Knowing that the GP never liked asking for help, Hakubi asked Rye-Ohki what the situation really was. 'We got one man in a large hardsuit blasting away at anything that moves,' Rye-Ohki replied over their mental link. 'We've been pinned down and can't get any closer.' 'I understand. I'll be there in a second,' Hakubi thought back. "I want you guys to hold out here till help arrives, I'm going down to help," Hakubi ordered his men. It didn't take long for Hakubi to reach the cargo hold. He saw the other team crouched behind some boxes and ran up to them. "Well, since you're here, I guess you could help," Karacus said with a smile from inside his hardsuit. Hakubi peeked over the box and saw the other hardsuit. It was a lot larger than the Galaxy Police model, and had a lot more weaponry. "Is this the only one?" Hakubi asked Karacus. "Yep, the last one too." "Ok, leave it to us." Hakubi looked over to Rye-Ohki who was hiding behind some boxes across the hold. 'Ready?' Hakubi asked. Rye-Ohki nodded and dropped the Juraian staff he had been using and pulled the Tenchi-ken from his belt (this is a copy of the Tenchi-ken that Rye-Ohki got from my last story, Who Needs Tenchi?). 'Go!' In a flash, Hakubi teleported away. A second later, Rye-Ohki jumped up from behind the boxes. Hakubi reappeared in mid air, but two appeared instead of one. A copy of Hakubi appeared in front of the hardsuit, with another Hakubi and Rye-Ohki at each side of the suit. Confused as to who to shoot first, the hardsuit pilot fired at the Hakubi in front of him. His blasts shot through this Hakubi and it vanished, having only been a distraction for the real Hakubi to attack. The real Hakubi fired a beam of energy at the right side of the hardsuit, hoping to destroy some of its weaponry. Rye-Ohki brought the Tenchi-ken down on the other arm and cut it off. The second he touched the ground, Rye-Ohki spun around and kicked the hardsuit behind its knees. The same time, Hakubi delivered a spin kick to the face of the hardsuit. Their combined attacks knocked the hardsuit down with a crash. The pair was on it in an instant and they both cut across its chest with their energy swords. Hakubi dug his hands into the cut he had made and pried the chest plate off. Rye-Ohki quickly grabbed the surprised pilot and pulled him out of the suit. With a loud hiss, he threw him into a pile of boxes in front of the GP. The police swiftly swooped down on him and seized him. "Good work!" Karacus applauded as the rest of the men cheered. "No problem," Hakubi replied, wiping some sweat off his brow. 'What do you mean no problem?' Rye-Ohki asked, changing into his cabbit form and hopping onto Hakubi's shoulder. "All right Rye-Ohki. You were great out there," Hakubi added, smiling as he petted his cabbit. "It's not over yet. We still have to go room to room and clear out this whole ship," Karacus told his men. Hakubi followed the troops out of the cargo hold, but stopped at the door. 'Did you hear something?' Hakubi asked his cabbit. 'No, why?' 'I thought I heard someone calling my name.' Rye-Ohki perked up his ears and listened. 'Nothing at all.' "Must've been my imagination," Hakubi said to himself and walked out of the hold. "So how did the raid go, son?" Devon asked over the viewscreen. As promised, they were checking on the progress of the task force. "It went great. No casualties on either side," Hakubi replied. A policeman handed Hakubi a data pad and he quickly looked it over. "What's that?" Sasami asked. "Just a preliminary report on the raid," Hakubi answered as he read some more. "Looks like they where just an ordinary group of pirates. Their hold had the normal pirated stuff. Hmm, this is odd." "What is?" Sasami asked, a little worried. "They inspected that large hardsuit that was giving us so much trouble and found something inside. It was a small wooden box with a single green gem inside. It looks like the pirate was trying to protect it from being seized." "Must be pretty valuable. What's it made of?" Devon asked. "That's the odd part, they don't know. Their scans can't determine what it is. It's some element they never seen before." "That's strange. Any clue as to where it came from?" "The only thing on the box was the word 'Tokimi'. Ever hear of it before?" Hakubi asked his parents, puzzled as well. "Tokimi?" Sasami gasped. "You know what it is?" Devon asked his wife. "Ten-chan, I want that box placed under the highest security and no one is to get near it until you can get it back to Jurai. Do I make myself clear?" Sasami asked his son. "But why? What's this Tokimi?" Hakubi asked in return. "I'm not really sure what this gem is, but it must not be touched till Washu or I can look at it." "All right, if you say so," Hakubi replied, not completely believing the explanation. "Ten-chan, I know what I'm asking must sound strange, but you have to trust me and not go near that gem," Sasami told her son tenderly. "Ok, if that's what you want." Hakubi put the data pad down and looked at a different monitor. "We should be leaving for home once we finished cleaning up here, maybe a couple more hours. The GP can handle the rest." "That's good to hear. Remember, leave that gem alone," Sasami ordered her son. "Fine, whatever. I'll see you guys soon." Hakubi turned off the viewscreen and picked up the data pad again. Hakubi asked himself as he read the report more carefully. Their work was finished sooner than expected, and the task force left for Jurai in less than an hour. The Galaxy Police remained to catalog all the cargo seized, and to figure out where it all came from. One piece of cargo they did not get to keep was the gem. As ordered, it was placed in a safe in a locked room aboard Hakubi's ship. Hakubi thought to himself as he sat at his desk in his cabin. Hakubi pushed the data pad aside and rubbed his eyes. He had stayed up late into their night-cycle trying to figure out this new mystery. Hakubi thought as he yawned. Rye-Ohki was already asleep on his bed. Careful to not disturb his little friend, Hakubi slipped under the covers and soon fell asleep. It wasn't long till Hakubi began to dream. In his dream, he was in battle, fighting an unknown foe. "What's going on?" Hakubi asked his father. "They've taken the palace! Hurry!" his father replied. Still not sure what was going on, Hakubi followed his father. They ran out into the courtyard and saw the rest of his family fighting. Even Kiyone and Mihoshi were there. "Ten-chan, we need your help!" Kiyone yelled out as she was pushed back by an unseen force. Hakubi tried to get to them in time, but his legs felt rubbery and everyone seemed to be getting farther away with every step. One by one, they were struck down. He could hear their screams of pain as bolts of lightening hit them and threw them back. Soon only Hakubi remained. He summoned his light hawk wings and began to charge his enemy. "Show yourself!" Hakubi yelled out as he ran into a strange mist that enveloped him. He raised his light hawk sword and readied for an attack. All around him, he could hear his family scream as if they were being tortured. "Help us!" Sasami's voice echoed through the fog. "Where are you?" Hakubi yelled to the fog. He flew towards the cries of his mother but couldn't find her. The fog was so thick he couldn't see past his hands. "Hakubi, help me!" Kiyone's voice cried out. The screaming got louder and Hakubi couldn't take it anymore. "Stop it! Stop it, please!" Hakubi fell to his knees, covering his ears to block out the horrible noises. His light hawk armor faded away, and he felt powerless to do anything. "Do you want to help them?" a new voice softly floated by. "For the love of God, yes!" Hakubi screamed back. "Then take this sword you will be given power beyond your imagination." Out of the fog, a sword suddenly formed. Without thinking, Hakubi grabbed it. As soon as he touched it, he felt an immense power come over him. It felt great, like nothing he had ever felt before. He let out a cry as he powered up, blowing the fog away. 'Hakubi!' Rye-Ohki's voice floated through his head. 'What are you doing? Wake up!' Hakubi woke with a start. Once his eyes had regained their focus, he realized that he was not in his room anymore. "What? Where am I?" he asked as he looked around. The room he was standing in was completely destroyed. The walls were charred black and off to his side sat a melted lump of metal. It looked as if a bomb had gone off right where he stood. Rye-Ohki stood in the doorway in his humanoid form. 'What's that on your neck?' Rye-Ohki asked. Hakubi carefully touched his neck and felt a small object imbedded below his throat. 'It's that gem! I thought your mom said not to touch it?' "What?" Hakubi looked at the blob of metal on the floor and realized that it was the safe that they had placed the gem inside. 'How do you feel? Are you all right?' Rye-Ohki asked with concern, approaching his friend. "I don't know how I got here, or how this gem got into me, but I feel fine." Rye-Ohki led Hakubi out of the room where they met some guards running towards them. "Sir, we detected a large surge of energy from this room. Is everything all right?" a guard asked. "Yes, everything is fine. Go back to your posts," Hakubi replied. The guards shrugged their shoulders and walked off. 'Are you sure you feel fine?' Rye-Ohki asked again. 'Maybe we should call Mom.' "I feel fine. You don't have to call anyone," Hakubi forcefully replied. 'OK, if you say so,' Rye-Ohki replied, slightly shocked. The stern reply was not what he had expected. It wasn't long till they reach home. Washu and Sasami were already at the dock, waiting for them. Rye-Ohki quickly scampered up to Sasami and hopped onto her shoulder with a happy "Meow!" "I told you not to get near that gem," Sasami scolded her son as soon as he was in sight. "What? How did you know?" Hakubi asked in surprise. He was wearing a shirt with a high collar, covering the gem. 'You told them didn't you?' Hakubi asked his cabbit. 'I'm sorry, but I was worried about you,' Rye-Ohki thought back. 'You little rat! I aught to pin your ears back!' Hakubi angrily thought. Rye-Ohki cringed and tried to hide within Sasami's hair. "Don't get mad at Rye-Ohki," Washu told her great-grandson. "He's only trying to help you." "I feel fine," Hakubi told the women between clenched teeth. "That may be, but you're going to my lab right now," Washu ordered. "But I just can't leave right now. I have to go-" "No buts about it. You're coming." Washu grabbed Hakubi's ear and dragged him out of the dockyard. "Meow?" Rye-Ohki sadly asked Sasami. "Don't feel bad. You did the right thing," Sasami told the little cabbit, trying to cheer him up. "Why don't you come with me while they take care of the ship?" Rye-Ohki sighed and nodded his head. "Are we done yet?" asked Hakubi, suspended in mid-air by multiple metal tentacles. "Almost done," Washu replied and she continued to type on her keyboard. "So far, there's nothing new." Hakubi rolled his eyes, "Then the whole day was wasted." "I wouldn't say that." Washu closed her computer and walked up to Hakubi. "You have gotten a bit stronger and a little faster since the last time I did a thorough physical on you, but that's just because you're older." Washu waved her hand and the tentacles let Hakubi go. "So what about this gem?" Hakubi asked as he rubbed his neck. "As far as my instruments can tell, it's doing nothing at all." "Then do we need to take it out?" "We'll talk about that later. Right now I want to analyze the data some more. There may be something I missed the first time." Washu walked with Hakubi to the door of her lab and opened it for him. "I'll see you in the morning." Hakubi nodded his head and walked out of the lab. As he had said earlier, the whole day had passed and it was now night. He slowly made his way to his room, thinking of the day's events. He opened his door and walked in. As soon as he stepped inside, Rye-Ohki jumped off his bed and hopped up to him. 'I'm sorry I called Mom behind your back. Are you still mad at me?' Rye-Ohki asked. "I'm not mad. I shouldn't have blown up on you like that either. I'm the one who should be apologizing," Hakubi replied as he picked up his cabbit. 'Whew, I'm glad to hear that.' "Let's go to bed, jumping through hoops for Ms. Washu has got me beat," Hakubi suggested as he changed into his pajamas and pulled the covers back. Soon he was fast asleep, with Rye-Ohki curled up at his side. Deep into the night, a dark figure stealthily made his way to the palace walls. Without a sound, he jumped over the wall and landed in the garden. The figure ran across the grounds, making his way to the royal quarters. Hugging the wall, he slid underneath the windows till he was at the one he wanted. After a quick check to see if anyone was around, the figure pulled a rope from under his cloak. With one fluid motion, he threw the rope up and caught the ledge of the window. He quickly climbed up and stood on the windowsill. A few seconds was all it took for him to easily pick the lock and slowly open the window to step inside. It was the correct room, and the man smiled. In front of him was the Prince, sleeping peacefully. As quietly has he could, the man slinked over to the door and locked it with a small "click." On the bed, one of Rye-Ohki's eyes flashed open. The man silently drew a small blaster from his belt and aimed for the prince's head. He pulled the trigger and a soundless flash of light burst from the barrel, racing for its target. The beam was stopped half way and it was deflected harmlessly off a force field. "What!" the man exclaimed. From the bed came a loud hiss and a blue beam of energy shot out, striking the gun. "Shit!" the man cried out and he grabbed his burnt hand. Another hiss came from bed, and the man looked up from his hand just in time to see a furry mass leap at him. Rye-Ohki changed into his humanoid form in mid air and tackled the man. They both fell to the floor, but the man easily flipped Rye-Ohki off of him. Rye-Ohki landed on all fours and bared his fangs. The man jumped up and ran for the window. Rye-Ohki leapt at him again. He hit him with such force that their momentum carried them through the locked door with a loud crunch. Now in the hallway, Rye-Ohki tried the pin the man down. He slipped out of Rye-Ohki's grasp and tried to run away again. Down the hall, he could see several guards running towards him and he turned to go the other way. In that direction he was met by a very angry Rye-Ohki and Hakubi appeared behind the humanoid cabbit a second later. "You're surrounded, give yourself up!" Hakubi ordered. "Never!" the man yelled back. "I may have failed, but the Order will never rest!" The man reached for his wrist and twisted a bracelet on his arm. His eyes rolled back and foam started to come out his mouth. "Oh jeez, that's disgusting!" Hakubi commented as the man slumped to the floor, dead. "Your Highness, are you all right?" a guard asked him. "I'm fine. I have the best bodyguard in the universe," Hakubi replied and he patted Rye-Ohki's shoulder. Rye-Ohki just nodded his head, not taking his eyes off the dead assassin. "How in the world could an assassin make it so far into the palace?" Ayeka asked the guards in front of her. "I'm sorry, your Majesty. It will never happen again," a kneeling guard replied. "It better not, if you know what's good for you," Ryoko hissed from Ayeka's side. The guard gulped and started to sweat. "Now go on and get out of here," Ayeka ordered. The guards quickly got up, bowed, and left. "It was a professional assassin you know," Ryoko said to Ayeka. "No matter how many guards you place around the palace, a good assassin will always find a way in." "What do you suggest then? Lock ourselves up in a metal box?" "Don't be stupid," Ryoko chided, "It's simple. We find who hired the assassin and pay him a little visit." "Exactly what a pirate would do," Ayeka sighed. Ryoko gave an evil smile back. "The Order has made its move," D3 reported to his mistress. "Yes, I know," Tokimi replied. "Is it time to proceed with the next phase of your plan?" "Yes." For some reason, Hakubi felt very tired. Maybe it was the testing, or all the excitement so late at night, he didn't know why. With his door broken, Hakubi went to a guest room to catch up on his sleep. Ayeka placed three guards outside near his window, two in front of his door, and four on the roof. Hakubi thought to himself as he tried to fall asleep in his new room. Down in Washu's lab, the rest of the family gathered. "Did you find anything about the assassin?" Ryoko asked her mother. "Yup, sure did," Washu replied. She pressed a button on her computer to enlarge the screen for everyone to see. A picture of the assassin appeared. "His name is Yuri Shamatov, a professional assassin and part time mercenary. He's been on the GP's most wanted list for a while." "Then why don't we call Kiyone and Mihoshi? They're at the GP headquarters aren't they?" Achika suggested. "Don't bother, I already took all they had on this character," Washu answered. Tenchi sighed, not very surprised that Washu had hacked into the Galaxy Police computers again. He made a mental note to have a very nice letter of apology sent to the GP if they ever found out. "Do they know who hired him?" Ayeka asked the scientist. "Nope. They are as much in dark as we are." "What about that Order he mentioned before he committed suicide?" Sasami asked. "Yes, that's something interesting." Washu changed the picture to of Yuri's upper arm. "Notice anything?" "Nothing," Tenchi answered, with everyone agreeing. "Wait," Ryoko spoke up, "There's something there, I can't make it out, but there's definitely a mark on his arm." "That's right. There is something there. A tattoo of some sort," Washu replied. "I still don't see anything," said Tenchi. "That's because my little Ryoko has better eyes than you and can see more of the light spectrum than a normal human." Washu pressed a button and the picture changed again. This time, a tattoo could be clearly seen. "I took this picture under a special filter so we all could see it." The tattoo was of a large oak tree, with a lone eagle's feather in front. "That looks similar to a Juraian royal tree," Sasami noted. "What does it mean?" "I don't know. I can only assume that this the mark of that Order he mentioned." Rye-Ohki sat on Sasami's head and watched the whole scene. He carefully opened his mental link with Hakubi to make a quick check. If they were not careful, they would accidentally enter each other's dreams and wake each other up. This time, he felt something odd. It was as if there was someone else in Hakubi's mind as well. Rye-Ohki went deeper into his counterpart's mind and closed his eyes. In his mind's eye, he entered Hakubi's dream. Rye-Ohki looked around as the dreamscape came into focus. He was in a field somewhere. More of the world came into focus, and he saw Hakubi sitting next to someone under a tree. The scene looked familiar, and Rye-Ohki remembered that this was the last family picnic. He hopped over to Hakubi and the other person came into view. Rye-Ohki skidded to a stop, almost tripping over a little rock. Rye-Ohki remembered that they were sitting with Kiyone and Ryo-Ohki, and the woman next to Hakubi was definitely not Kiyone. This strange woman had long, brown hair, but wore the same dress that Kiyone had been wearing that day. Rye-Ohki slowly crept up to the pair; he was sure that this was the other person he had felt. The woman suddenly turned around and looked at the little cabbit. Rye-Ohki stopped, stunned at sight of this woman. He felt her red on blue eyes bore into him and he decided that this had gone far enough. 'Hakubi wake up!' Rye-Ohki yelled through the dreamscape. "Kiyone, what's the matter?" Hakubi asked the woman next to him, ignoring his cabbit's cries. 'Wake up Hakubi!' Rye-Ohki tried again. "It's nothing, dear," the woman replied and turned back to Hakubi. "Why don't we go somewhere else? I'm getting bored just sitting under this tree." "Sure." The pair stood up and Rye-Ohki began to run after them. The woman looked at him again and Rye-Ohki came to a tumbling halt. It felt like he had ran into a brick wall. Rye-Ohki stood up and tried to go after them again. 'Hakubi!' Rye-Ohki cried out as the dream world started the fade away. He was loosing his mental connection. The woman looked at him again an unknown force hit him square in the chest. The world went black and the connection was severed. In the real world, Rye-Ohki grabbed his head with both his paws and tumbled off Sasami. Quickly, Devon reached out and caught him before he hit the hard floor. "Rye-Ohki! What's wrong?" Devon asked the panting cabbit in his hands. 'Hakubi...woman...Hakubi,' Rye-Ohki incoherently mumbled. "What about Ten-chan? What's wrong?" Ryoko asked the struggling cabbit. 'Get out of my head!' Rye-Ohki screamed. "Ryoko, check on Ten-chan fast!" Sasami ordered. She grabbed Rye-Ohki from her husband and closed her eyes. Ryoko did not have to be told twice and teleported away. A blue light glowed around Sasami as she pressed Rye-Ohki to her chest. The cabbit stopped struggling and his breathing returned to normal. The light disappeared and Rye-Ohki opened his eyes. 'Hakubi! Something's happening to Hakubi!' Rye-Ohki cried out. "Ryoko just went to check on him-" Washu was interrupted by the intercom. "You guys better get up here. Ten-chan's gone," Ryoko spoke over the viewscreen. "What do you mean he's gone?" Ayeka asked. "He's not here, gone. Just get up here." With that, Ryoko turned off the viewscreen. The family raced out of the lab and up to the guest quarters. As they neared Hakubi's new room, they saw all the guards lying on the floor. Washu ran up to one and checked for a pulse. "Out cold," she announced. They ran to Hakubi's room and entered. Ryoko was standing in the middle of the room scratching her head. "What happened?" Sasami asked. "I don't know," Ryoko replied. "When I got up here, all the guards were unconscious and Ten-chan was gone." Devon opened a window and looked down. All the guards outside were unconscious as well. He jumped out the window and flew up to the roof. The men up there were also in the same condition. He flew back into the room, just as Tenchi opened a channel to the main guardhouse. "What can I do for you, your Highness?" the guard on the other end asked. "I want to know where my grandson, the Prince, is." Sitting on top of his head, Ryo-Ohki added a "Miya!" for emphasis. "Just one moment, Sir." The guard opened another channel and spoke a few sentences. "No one has seen him, Sir. The guards around his room are not reporting in, I'm sending a team over right now," the guard replied franticly. "That's not necessary, I'm calling from his room," Tenchi said and sighed. "As you wish, my Lord. I will notify you the moment one of your men finds the Prince." "That's fine, out." Tenchi turned off the viewscreen and turned to the rest of the family. "If Ten-chan doesn't want to be found, he won't be," Ryoko told the others. "Are you sure he left under his own will? Maybe another assassin slipped in?" Sasami wondered out loud. "Why don't we ask Rye-Ohki?" Achika suggested. Everyone turned to the cabbit in Sasami's hands. 'I just wanted to check on him but someone else had control over him and threw me out his mind,' Rye-Ohki answered sadly. "Someone had control over him?" Washu asked. 'That's what it felt like,' Rye-Ohki sniffed as tears started to form in his eyes. 'And I can't feel him anymore.' "This is what we have feared," a new voice spoke from the doorway. Everyone turned to the voice and saw a man dressed in black. He had short, brown hair and a long scar ran across his face, almost over his dark brown eyes. "Who are you and how did you get in here?" Ayeka ordered. "My name is Mataki, and it was relatively easy to enter with all your guards unconscious," the man replied with a small bow. "Mataki the bounty hunter?" Ryoko asked. "I thought you retired." "I did, but a new crisis has forced me out of retirement." "So who are you here for?" Devon asked. "I am here for the Prince, but it looks like was too late." Ryoko and Devon immediately created their energy swords and pointed them at Mataki. "Who would dare put a bounty on him?" Ryoko asked as she stepped closer. "I am not here to collect on a bounty. Unlike that idiot Yuri, I do not shoot first and ask questions later," Mataki answered. Ryoko and Devon still did not distinguish their swords. "Keep talking," said Ayeka behind Ryoko. "I am here for the gem of Tokimi and I was told it was in the possession of the Prince." "The gem?" Washu spoke up, "Why do you want it?" "I was charged to secure the gem and know no more." "Roll up your sleeves and raise your arms," Washu ordered. Seeing that he was now surrounded, Mataki grimaced and did as he was told. >From a subspace pocket, Washu produced a flashlight and aimed it at Mataki. She turned it on and very light blue beam shown on his arms. On his right upper arm a tattoo appeared. "That's the same as the one on the assassin," Tenchi noted. Washu turned off the flashlight and Mataki lowered his arms. "Now then, why should we believe you when one of your Order had already tried to kill the Prince?" Ayeka asked. Mataki sighed. "Yuri was never ordered to attack the Prince. He was to wait till I arrived before doing anything. I can only give you my word that my purpose here is to collect the gem and nothing more." "That's not much to go on," Ryoko remarked, "but it was said that you were always a respectable bounty hunter, unlike some of the other bastards." She distinguished her sword and motioned for Devon to do the same. "But if you're lying, they'll need an atomic analyzer to identify your remains." Mataki nodded respectfully. Meanwhile at the Galaxy Police Headquarters, Kiyone and Mihoshi had been ordered to report to the Chief of their sector of space. "I can't believe this!" Kiyone yelled. They were standing in their Chief's office after making a routine report. "You better believe it," the Chief replied, "We've received numerous complaints from just as many governments about you and your relationship with the Juraian Prince." "That's none of their business," Kiyone retorted. "Oh yes it is. They feel that your relationship will effect your obligations as an ambassador, and so do we." "That's a bunch of BS." "Think about it Kiyone. You are dating the prince of the empire you should have neutral feelings for. We do not want to give the impression that we or the Juraians are playing favorites." "But that hasn't effected the way I represent the GP," Kiyone tried to respond. "I don't care what you have to say about it, the facts are the facts. The only reason you where chosen for this job was because we felt that a familiar face would help in our relations with the new Emperor. But now that he's settled in, you can easily be replaced," the Chief threatened. "So it comes down to this. Either I give up my boyfriend or I loose my job," Kiyone spit out. Behind her, Mihoshi bit her lower lip and twisted a handkerchief in her hands. "Think of it any way you want," the Chief replied, "You are ordered to remain here until your services are required on Jurai. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, sir," Kiyone replied through clenched teeth. She stormed out of the office with Mihoshi trailing after her. They reached their quarters and Kiyone couldn't hold it in anymore and kicked the trashcan repeatedly till it was completely bent out of shape. "Maybe Grandpa can help," Mihoshi suggested. "No, that'll only make it worse," Kiyone replied. She looked at her long time partner, who was on the verge of crying. "Cheer up, we'll think of something." "Well, the Prince isn't here," Tenchi told Mataki. "As I have seen and heard. That is why I chose to make myself known to all of you. I fear that I, alone, am not powerful enough to take this gem from your Prince and I have come to ask for your help," Mataki told everyone as they now stood in the depths of Washu's lab. "But how can we even find him?" Achika asked everyone. "If Rye-Ohki can't find him, then I most likely will not be able to locate him," Washu answered. "I may have a way," Mataki spoke up. Everyone turned and stared at the man. "My Order has followers throughout the galaxy. Wherever he has gone, one of my Order has surely seen him." "That's a pretty lofty claim to make," Ayeka commented. "Then contact them and ask," said Washu and she motioned to the communicator in the lab. "I'm afraid that I cannot do that," Mataki replied. "Why not?" Devon asked. "For security reasons." "For the love of... Then how are we supposed to find Hakubi?" Ryoko swore. "I will contact them from my ship." "Then let's go," Tenchi told the group. It was a short drive to the spaceport where Mataki's ship was berthed. They waited outside as he entered and contacted his Order. "How well do you know this guy, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked his wife. "I only know him by reputation. It was way back in my pirating days," Ryoko answered, "I heard stories about this bounty hunter named Mataki that was capturing the most dangerous and the most wanted. It was rumored that he was going after me next, but then I attacked Jurai and the rest you know." "Would he have gotten you?" Ayeka asked with an innocent smile. "He was supposed to be one of the best, but since you could never stop me, I doubt he could," Ryoko replied with a similar smile. "Now girls, that's enough of that," Tenchi butt in, knowing where this conversation would be going. "He's been spotted on a planet not far from here!" Mataki yelled out from the hatch of his ship. "Let's go." "We'll take Ryu-Oh and meet you in orbit," Ayeka replied. "Wait a sec," Achika spoke up. "We can't just all get up and leave. Who will run Jurai?" Everyone looked at each other and then to Achika, smiling. "No way. I'm not staying behind." "You always wanted a crack at being Empress," said Ryoko. "You'll do fine," Tenchi told his daughter and patted her shoulder. "Now we got to go. If anyone asks, we went to Earth for a family matter." Everyone stood back as Mataki lifted off and then raced over to where Ryu-Oh was docked. They all waved goodbye to Achika and lifted off themselves. They met Mataki's ship, The Hunter's Resolution, in high orbit and received the coordinates of the planet Hakubi had been spotted on. Not wasting a second, they both headed out at maximum speed. "How much do you trust this character?" Ayeka asked Ryoko aboard Ryu-Oh. "Not much. He is bounty hunter ya'know," Ryoko replied as she read the scan data on his ship. "Do you think this could be a trap?" "Could be, but we have two aces up our sleeves," said Ryoko and she pointed over to where Rye-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki were sitting. "I see," Ayeka responded. "I just don't want Ryu-Oh to get damaged after we spent so long growing him back." Off to the side, Rye-Ohki sat in his humanoid form, staring out into space. Next to him sat Ryo-Ohki, trying to comfort him. "I feel so helpless," Rye-Ohki muttered as he watched the stars zip by. "You could do nothing more," Rye-Ohki replied, placing her arm around him. "I know exactly how you feel. When Kagato had control over Ryoko, I could do nothing but try to keep her from getting killed. He even had some control over me too," she shivered at the memory. "I'm so glad that whatever took Hakubi didn't take you as well." She hugged Rye-Ohki tight, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's just that I can't feel him anymore. This is only the second time we've been separated like this and I feel so alone." "But you're not alone," Ryo-Ohki said at his side. Rye-Ohki hugged her back and continued to stare at the stars. "I'm detecting a transmission that appears to be for Mataki," Washu announced. They had been flying for an hour now and had not been able to speak to Mataki. He was not answering their hails. "Do you know what it's about?" Tenchi asked. He walked over to where Washu had set up her computer and looked at her screen. "Nope, it's encrypted. It's a good one too," Washu whistled. "But not good enough for the Greatest Genius Scientist in the Universe! I'll have this sucker cracked in no time." Washu opened another window and started typing. The transmission was brief and the signal ended before she could finish cracking the code. "It'll take a little more time now, but I'll get it eventually," the scientist commented. "The Hunter's Resolution is hailing us, your Highness," Kamidake spoke from his post. "Let's see what he as to say," Tenchi replied. A veiwscreen opened and Mataki's image formed. "Your Prince has been seen leaving the planet. We have an idea where he is going," Mataki told the others. He sent the new coordinated to Azaka and Kamidake and they changed course appropriately. Mataki seemed to hesitate, as if he wanted to tell them more. "Is there something else?" Tenchi asked. "Yes there is." Mataki hesitated again. "It may be best if I tell you in person. I'm sure there will be many questions." With that, Mataki closed communications. He set his ship to autopilot and teleported himself over to the Ryu-Oh a second later. "What's wrong?" Sasami asked the second he materialized. "It is about our new heading," Mataki began. He walked over to a conveniently placed picnic table and sat down. The others gathered around him. "I received a message saying that your Prince had attacked the members of my Order and some how found the location of one of our vaults and is heading there now." "Hakubi wouldn't hurt anyone unless he had a very good reason to," Sasami interjected. "But he has. At least one of my Order is seriously injured, maybe dead," Mataki gravely replied. "But that's not like him at all," Sasami trailed off. "You said that someone seemed to have control over him?" Mataki asked Rye-Ohki. He nodded his head and Mataki's expression went dark. "Then the prophecy is true." "Wait a minute here," Devon cut in. "All this talk about some Order and now a prophecy. I think it's time you told us the whole story." Mataki looked around at their serious expressions and bowed his head. "I belong to the Order of Tsanshu, a secret organization that has been in existence since man has recorded history. Our oldest and holiest scripture tells of the creation of our Order and its purpose. And I will tell you of it now. Long before man can remember, there were three Goddesses ruling this universe. One was named Tokimi." "The gem," Ryoko gasped. "And the others were named Washu and Tsunami." Everyone turned and stared at the two. "Come on, you know about me and Tsunami already," Sasami replied. Washu just shrugged her shoulders, "That may explain why I can't remember anything past 20,000+ years ago." "These three goddess split the universe among themselves and ruled it in their own way. Tsunami fell in love with a race called the Juriens, or what has become known as the Juraians and nurtured them. Washu let the peoples of her realm live to their own accord and she only watched, not interfering. Tokimi interfered tremendously within her realm and the scriptures do not tell what she did, but it does say that it was not for the benefit of those living there." Mataki stopped to see if he had lost anyone. As expected, he was met with many looks of disbelief. He continued anyway. "The Goddess Tsunami saw what was taking place in her sister's realm and began arguing with Tokimi. Tsunami believed that they should be using their powers to help their subjects in their times of need, while Tokimi believed that her subjects where there only for her amusement. This argument lasted for ages while the Goddess Washu took no side. She examined both her sister's realms to find the answer. For reasons we do not know, she became envious of the Juraians and their unwavering love for their Goddess, and she wanted her subjects to do the same for her. She began to side with her sister Tsunami, which undoubtedly enraged Tokimi. Tokimi unleashed her minions across the universe, causing great destruction within her sisters' realms. Having vowed not to directly interfere with their subject's lives, there was nothing they could do and the universe was in a time of darkness. The Juraians were about to be completely destroyed by the forces of Tokimi when Tsunami made her fateful decision. She left her realm to the control of Washu and descended to the mortal plane as the space tree we all know. With this powerful ship, the Juraians were able to drive off the invaders and stop the forces of Tokimi." "Yes, that is similar to the story all Juraians are taught about the first Emperor's discovery of the great space tree Tsunami during a great war that almost wiped out the Juraian race," Ayeka commented. Sasami nodded her head in agreement. "But this not the end of the story," Mataki continued. "Having ended the destruction caused by Tokimi, the Goddesses felt that their sister needed to be punished. The Goddess Tsunami had lost most of her power over her sisters as she entered the mortal plane, so it was the Goddess Washu that had set things into motion. She trapped her sister Tokimi in a separate dimension, or universe, we are not sure. This severely limited her power in this universe, effectively cutting her off. Peace again spread across the universe, with the Goddess Washu alone, left to rule over it. Again, for reasons we do not know, the Goddess began to feel lonely and looked towards her subjects for comfort. She decided to descend to the mortal plane as her sister had done. But to do this would cause the lock that kept Tokimi in her prison to slowly lose power and fail. And so, from a suggestion from her sister Tsunami, they devised a plan. Each Goddess created an orb of power that they would leave in this universe. These orbs would continue to sustain the lock with the drawback of themselves loosing substantial amounts of power." "What does this have to do with Hakubi?" Ryoko cut in impatiently. "Hold on, I'm getting there," Mataki answered. "From that day, the Order of Tsanshu was created as caretakers of this lock and to guard it. But before the Goddess Washu descended she gave a prophecy. That an angel with five wings will fall from the light and be seduced by the powers of Tokimi. This angel will be the herald to the end of the universe that will follow as the lock of Tokimi shall be broken with the help of her angel of darkness." There was complete silence. "You don't think that Hakubi is that angel in the prophecy?" Devon asked in disbelief. "Hopefully he is not. But his recent actions do suggest it," Mataki replied. "Did you know of any of this?" Devon asked his wife. "I have always known of Tokimi, but I never thought that Hakubi could be in any danger from her. I just..." Sasami buried her face in Devon's chest. "It's OK. We'll settle this somehow," Devon said to her softly. He gave Mataki an icy glare and led his wife away from the group. "So we have the dirt on you bucko," Washu spoke up, "But you haven't said why Hakubi is heading to your vault or whatever you called it." "That is something I do not know," Mataki answered. "I guess we will have to find out when we get there." Washu threw her hands up in disbelief and stormed off. 'Were you really a god once?' Ryoko asked through their mental link. 'Don't know and don't care,' Washu thought back. 'All that matters is the here and now. And now, that Tokimi bitch is playing with our Ten-chan like a little puppet and we're going to stop her!' Ryoko was taken aback by the sudden surge of feelings she felt from her mother. Washu had always kept her feelings in check, and the unexpected fury she felt was unlike her. "I've never seen Washu so angry before," Tenchi commented as he and Ayeka walked up next to Ryoko. "Well, there was that one time when Mihoshi accidentally blew up a quarter of her lab," said Ayeka. "Lucky for her, Kiyone was there to stop Washu from killing her," Ryoko added with a small smile. "Speaking of which, your highness," Azaka called out from his post, "We are receiving a call from Ambassador Kiyone." "Tenchi! What in the world is going on?" Kiyone asked from her office in the Galaxy Police headquarters. Behind her, Mihoshi peeked over her shoulder and waved at everyone. "We just got news that someone tried to kill Hakubi." "That was nothing serious, Rye-Ohki stopped him before any harm could be done," Tenchi replied through the viewscreen. "Where is he? Is he hurt?" "Well, um, we really don't know." "What? What do you mean you don't know? And why are you aboard Ryu-Oh?" Kiyone asked. "Well, there was this gem and it seemed to have taken control of Ten-chan and well, he seemed to have run off and we are trying to catch up with him." Kiyone didn't know how to react. She stared at the viewscreen for a few seconds. "A what'sit is doing what to who now?" Mihoshi asked from behind Kiyone. "Listen here you two," said Washu as she pushed Tenchi aside. "A gem that was acquired from his last raid against the pirates seems to be allowing a very powerful person, who we think is called Tokimi, to take control over him and she is using him to do her dirty work right now." "Is this like what Kagato done with Ryoko?" Kiyone asked. "Sort of," Washu answered. Kiyone was a good detective and Washu knew that she would catch on quickly. "Let's set up a rendezvous point. We're coming to help," Kiyone told the scientist. "Hold on, I got another call." Kiyone pressed a button on her viewscreen and her chief appeared. "We have just gotten news that there was an assassination attempt against the Juraian Prince. You wouldn't be thinking of joining them would you?" their chief asked. "Because the Juraians have not requested any help from the Galaxy Police. By rushing off, you will only be confirming everyone's belief that you have too many feelings for the Juraians and are not suited to be an ambassador." Kiyone glared at the screen. "Are you telling me that I can't go to a close friend when someone had just tried to kill him?" "That's exactly what I mean. The Juraian Prince should not be a close friend. What would you do if GP policy with the Juraians changed to something you didn't like? You're almost considered to be a security risk as it is." "This is a joke right?" Kiyone asked. In one hand she squeezed an ultra-stress relief ball that Washu had given her a while ago. "If you do feel the need to go anywhere, please be so kind as to tell the two guards at your door. And if that destination should be Jurai, then I'd expect a letter of resignation on my desk before you depart." With that the communication ended and the image returned back to Tenchi. "Is there something wrong?" Tenchi asked. "No, nothing," Kiyone replied as calmly as she could. "Forget the rendezvous, we have some things here we need to work out first." Kiyone cut the communication before Tenchi could respond. "Um, Kiyone. You, um," Mihoshi tapped her partner's shoulder and pointed to her hand. Kiyone looked down and noticed that she had popped the ultra-stress relief ball, spilling its contents all over her desk. Sasami watched Rye-Ohki pace back and forth in his cabbit form. Ryo-Ohki sat on her lap and watched as well. They noticed that as they got closer to the planet, he seemed to become more anxious, pacing faster and faster. "You need to settle down," Sasami said to the little cabbit as she picked him up in mid stride. "Worrying will not solve anything." She set him on her lap next to Ryo-Ohki and he crossed his arms over his chest and sulked. "Can you feel him yet?" Ryo-Ohki asked Rye-Ohki. They had arrived at the planet where Mataki's sources believed Hakubi had gone. "No, still nothing," he replied. "This is the location of our vault," Mataki spoke from a viewscreen. He had returned to his ship shortly before they arrived. Another viewscreen appeared at showed a map of the largest city on the plant. One block was highlighted red. "What's in this vault?" Washu asked. "We keep our oldest manuscripts in these vaults for safe keeping. The vaults are also a place of learning as our analysts are constantly studying the texts for new meanings." "Have you contacted your Order?" Devon asked. "I have been trying to since we began speaking and have not received a reply," Mataki answered with a worried look. "Communicator broken, perhaps?" Ayeka suggested. "I fear that we are too late. Let us get to the surface as fast as possible," Mataki spoke from his ship. They agreed on a meeting point and teleported away. The group materialized not far from the entrance of the vault and followed Mataki. To keep a low profile, they all wore the black hooded robes of the Order. The walked a short distance and turned a corner to be met by a crowd of people and Galaxy Policemen standing in front of the entrance. Mataki quickly walked up to the nearest policeman and spoke to him. "What is going on here?" "Looks like it was a robbery that went bad and the burglar had to shoot his way out. Killed almost everyone," the Policeman replied. "My god!" Mataki gasped. "I'm going to get a better look," Ryoko whispered to Tenchi. She took a quick look around and teleported high into the air. She saw that someone had blasted a few holes in the roof. One looked as if someone was trying to get in, and the other looked like someone burst out. Tenchi walked up to Mataki and spoke to him in a low voice. "What's going on?" "Looks like he was already here. We need to get inside to make sure," Mataki replied. He turned back to the policeman and asked, "Would it be possible to allow us to enter? We work here and just got back from a business trip." "I don't know, let me talk to my supervisor," the Policeman answered and he walked away. Ryoko landed behind the crowd and made her way to Tenchi. "Someone definitely hit this place pretty hard." Tenchi gave her a worried look. A policeman walked up to the group and introduced himself. "I am Detective First Class Hiroshi. I've been told that you know the occupants of this building." "Yes. We were away and did not know anything happened till we arrived. Can we enter and gather a few of our things?" Mataki asked. "That's fine with me, as long as you ask before you take anything." They followed Officer Hiroshi through the police line and entered the vault. At the entrance was a small figure covered with a blanket, the upper half. Not far away, they saw something else covered with a blanket, a pair of legs. "It was really a mess when we first got here." "I think we will stay outside," Ayeka spoke up. Sasami nodded in agreement and walked back outside with her sister. Tenchi nodded and walked deeper into the vault. They passed more bodies and saw typical burn marks of blaster fire. "Looks like they put up quite a fight," Ryoko commented. "They would have never surrendered," Mataki spoke quietly. Ryoko noticed deep cuts in the doors and walls and frowned. "I need to get a few things," Mataki told the others, "I'll be right back." He walked down another hallway and disappeared. "These burn marks look familiar, don't they Ryoko?" Washu asked her daughter. "What's that supposed to mean?" Tenchi asked. "What she means is that these marks where made by an energy sword, not a blaster," Ryoko answered. "Ten-chan?" Devon hazarded. "Could be," said Washu. Suddenly Rye-Ohki popped up from his hiding place in Washu's cloak. 'Hakubi was here, I can still smell him!' he meowed excitedly. "Are you sure?" Washu asked. Rye-Ohki nodded. "He said that Ten-chan was here because he can still smell his scent," she told the others. "This is not turning out very well," Devon muttered to himself. Mataki appeared from around a corner talking to a policeman. They shook hands and Mataki approached the others, carrying a knapsack. "What did you get, some clean underwear?" Washu joked. "Hardly. I got the main hard drive from our computers and the sensor recordings from the cameras," said Mataki as he led them out of the vault. "Wouldn't the police want to have a look at those?" Ryoko asked. "They don't know they're gone." Outside they met up with Ayeka and Sasami. "We have a house near by," was all Mataki said before he walked off. The house was only a few blocks away and appeared that no one had used it in many years. They entered and sat down in the living room. "We should analyze these recordings right away," Mataki said to the others as he pulled a few crystals from his bag. Washu grabbed these out of his hand and plugged one into her computer. "Nothing," she said after quickly scanning the crystal. She ejected it and put in another. "Here we go." The image was of outer chamber and of a guard at his post. Suddenly the ceiling caved in and a figure dropped down. In a flash of purple light, the camera was destroyed. "Can you tell who it was?" Tenchi asked. "No, but there are more cameras," Washu replied. She switched to another camera and tried to follow the intruder. He was wearing black and moving too fast for the camera to get a good picture of him. But the purple energy sword, slicing through walls as well as men gave it away. "It really is Hakubi!" Sasami gasped. She winced at the bloodshed in front of her, but forced herself to watch, looking for anything that could help them. They continued to watch in silence as Hakubi made his way to what looked like a large computer. "That's the central computer," said Mataki. After dispatching the remaining men, Hakubi walked over to the computer and started typing. "What is he after?" Mataki wondered out loud. He pulled out the hard drive and placed in on the desk next to Washu's computer. After a minute or two of typing, Hakubi closed down the terminal and began to slam his right fist on the tabletop repeatedly. "Didn't find what he wanted?" Ayeka guessed. He suddenly hit himself in the jaw. Hakubi staggered a few feet and caught his right hand with his left. "What in the world?" "Looks like he's trying to fight himself," Tenchi noted as they watched Hakubi spin in circles grasping his arm. The green gem on his neck flared and Hakubi settled down. He flexed is hand and walked away. They followed him with the cameras till he blasted a hole in the ceiling and flew off. "There may still be hope," Washu said as she rewound the recording. She stopped it where he began to hit himself. "It looks like he is trying to fight off the mind control." She slowed the replay when the gem flared green. "You can see that only after the gem stared to glow brightly, he stopped fighting. If we can separate Hakubi from that gem, he should be fine." "How are we supposed to do that?" Sasami asked. "I'm working on it," the scientist replied. "We still need to find out where he went," Mataki spoke up. "The other followers haven't seen him." Washu picked up the hard drive and plugged it into her computer. "Let's find out what he was after, then we can try to guess his next move." Hakubi felt like someone had hit him with a skyscraper. He opened his eyes and tried to see where he was. He was sitting in the cockpit of a strange ship, wearing strange clothes. "Where am I?" he asked out loud. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't listen. His mind became hazy and he tried remembered what happened. It was like waking up from a bad night's sleep. He remembered that he had tried to fight someone and a strange woman. "Back to sleep, my dear Prince," a woman's voice floated through Hakubi's mind. Hakubi struggled to remain awake. The voice sounded familiar and he tried to keep his thoughts in line to remember where he heard her before. "Kiyone?" Hakubi mumbled. "What is it?" Kiyone answered. She stood in front of him, wearing the white dress he liked. Hakubi looked around at he beautiful park around him. He tried to remember what was bothering him, but couldn't. "Nothing. Let's get some food." Kiyone hooked her arm around his and they walked over to the picnic table laden with food. Kiyone smiled and the ship silently flew on. "You said you found something, Washu?" Tenchi asked the red haired scientist. "That's right," she replied. Everyone gathered around her computer as she began to explain. "I examined everything on this hard drive and I think I know what Hakubi is up to." She typed a few lines into her computer and brought up a picture of a very old book. "This is a copy of one the pages from their 'holy' books," Washu said, making quote marks in the air with her fingers. "Don't mock our beliefs," Mataki warned. "Anyway, it talks about the orbs of power used to keep Tokimi in her prison type thingy. It says that in order for the lock to be opened, these orbs of power must be brought together at the gate. Of course the easiest way to open the gate is to get Tsunami and my former, goddess self, together and unlock the darn thing ourselves. But that ain't going to happen." "So what is the Prince after?" Mataki asked. "I believe that he's trying to collect these orbs of power." Washu pressed a button and a map of the galaxy appeared with one planet labeled, "You are here." "According to the data on this drive, there are two possible locations of these orbs, whatever they are," Washu told the group as two planets glowed red. "One might be found here," Washu pointed to the nearest planet of the two. "It is called Shashik and it was written in these books that one orb was once held there. There is another vault on that planet where researches and archeologists are trying to find it. I bet he'll show up there and search their computers like what he did with the vault here." "That planet is closer to us than the other one, and it's most likely the one where Hakubi is going to first," Tenchi noted. "And that's where I'm going too." "I'll go with you," Devon said somberly. "As will I," said Mataki. "Then the guys will go to Shashik and the girls will go here," Washu pointed to the other planet, "to Ursis Prime." "What! I didn't...I wanted to go with...oh never mind," Ryoko and Ayeka grumbled. "The other orb was once said to be on this planet and a similar vault will be found there." "What do we do if we find Hakubi? How do we get the gem out?" Sasami asked. "First, I want you to stay here with me, cause I have some questions for you. And Second, I don't have a way to get the gem out without him here in front of me. So that means that you guys will have to bring him back, preferably under his own will," said Washu. In the back of her mind, she wished she had put on her professor uniform for this little lecture. Rye-Ohki jumped up to Tenchi's shoulder and mewed, 'I'm going too!' "What about you Ryo-Ohki?" Ryoko asked her cabbit. Rye-Ohki looked to Ryoko and then back to Sasami, and then back to Ryoko. "Fine, you're staying here with Sasami." "Then let's go!" Devon exclaimed as he got up. They decided to take Mataki's ship to Shashik while Ryoko and Ayeka flew off in Ryu-Oh. After watching them teleport to their ships, Washu, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki walked back to the house. "Now that everyone is gone, you have some questions to answer, Tsunami," Washu said quietly to Sasami. "I will tell you all that I remember, my sister," Tsunami replied. Washu's eye twitched at being called her sister, but she continued to walk on. On a hill, overlooking a small village, two men and a cabbit crouched and surveyed the countryside. They watched as a third man exited a small building and made his way up to them. "Nothing," Mataki said to Tenchi, Devon, and Rye-Ohki as he sat down. "They haven't seen him at all." "Then, I guess we wait here till he shows up," Devon suggested. "Yeah, I guess so," Tenchi replied, taking one more look through his binoculars. "You sure this is the right place?" Ayeka asked Ryoko as they walked into a ghost town. "These are the coordinates that Washu gave me," Ryoko replied. "This place looks dead," Ayeka commented as she looked around. "Great place to hide something though." They continued deeper into the abandoned city, looking for any signs of life. It started to get dark, and they still had not found anything. "Is that a light over there?" Ayeka called out. "Let's check it out," Ryoko replied. They cautiously walked towards the source of the light, and found it to be coming from an open door. "Go in?" Ayeka asked. Ryoko nodded and they entered. It was the vault that Washu had told them about. The hallway was clean and the air smelled fresh. Ryoko looked around and frowned. "Something's not right here." They walked deeper into the vault, towards the main computer. Some terminals were flashing and Ayeka walked up to one of them. "Still active. Looks like they left in a hurry." "Or not at all," Ryoko said and pointed to a body slumped in the corner. A laser burn still smoldered over his heart. She walked over to the fallen man, and touched his arm. "Still warm!" "That means, we just missed him!" Ayeka whispered. Ryoko felt the air around her go stale and quickly jumped to her right, just before a purple bolt of energy sailed by. She turned around and saw him. "Ten-chan!" Ayeka cried out. He was standing in the doorway, with his purple energy sword in hand. "Ten-chan, it's us. Don't you recognize us?" Hakubi wore a blank expression and walked into the room. "Ten-chan, can you even hear us?" Ryoko asked. Hakubi made no sign of emotion or even recognition. He raised his sword and charged at Ryoko. She swiftly ducked and dodged his strikes. They were fighting in a small room, and she was running out of placed to jump to. Hakubi jumped at her with his sword raised high, but stopped in midair. Miniature logs circled him as Ayeka tried to place a Juraian lock around him. "We don't want to hurt you," Ayeka spoke from the side. Hakubi slowly turned his head towards her and stared with blank eyes. Ayeka shivered and continued to hold the lock around him. The gem on his neck began to glow a bright green and suddenly the room was filled with green light. Ayeka and Ryoko both screamed as they were thrown back from the suddenly intense power emitted. Ryoko opened her eyes as Hakubi came down on her. She reflexively held up her left arm in defense and felt the energy blade cut through it. She stumbled to the floor holding her wrist, having not expected this at all. Ryoko stared in shock as Hakubi leaned over her, with his emotionless face. The gem that was once on her left wrist materialized on Hakubi's right and began to glow. He raised his sword again, but stopped in mid-strike. His eyes softened and gained focus. "Get out of here now!" he hissed. The sword in his right hand distinguished and he turned around. "Get away from me, before I loose control again!" "Ten-chan!" Ayeka gasped. She quickly ran over to Ryoko and helped her up. "We can help you Ten-chan," Ryoko said in a soft voice. "I know what you are going through and I can help you fight her off." "I said leave!" Hakubi yelled. He flew straight up and burst through the ceiling, not caring about injuring himself. "Ten-chan, come back!" the two empresses yelled as he fled into the night. "That did not go well," Ayeka sighed. "You can say that again," Ryoko grumbled as she created a new hand. She flexed it few times and rubbed the spot where the gem would have gone. In a flash, she teleported high in to night sky and looked around. Hakubi was nowhere to be seen. She slowly drifted back to the ground, trying to figure out what had happened. she thought to herself. "There's nothing in this computer about the location of the orb," Ayeka said to Ryoko as soon as she floated down through the ceiling. "They haven't found it yet." "We better call Washu," was all Ryoko said. After a quick run, they had made it back to Ryu-Oh and called Washu. "We ran into Ten-chan," Ryoko said to her mother the moment she appeared on the viewscreen. "What happened?" Sasami asked from behind Washu. "He attacked us and then ran off again," Ayeka answered. "Azaka and Kamidake said they detected a ship leaving the surface but lost it as soon as it cleared the planet." "He also took one of my gems," Ryoko mentioned, giving Washu a hard stare. "He did what?" Washu exclaimed. "Gone," Ryoko stately flatly and she raised her left arm to show them that the gem was no longer there. "Why did he take one of your gems, or rather one of my gems..." Washu trailed off and then suddenly slapped her forehead. "Of course! How could I have been so blind?" "What is it, Miss Washu?" Ayeka asked. "The orb of power that I supposedly created are my gems! The ones that I gave to you, Ryoko." "Exactly, and now he has one the orbs needed to open the lock," Ryoko quickly added. "Get to Shashik as fast as you can, hopefully all you guys can stop him before he gets to the other orb," Washu ordered. Ayeka and Ryoko nodded and turned off the viewscreen. "Azaka, Kamidake! You heard her, let's go," Ayeka ordered her two guardians. "Yes, Ma'am!" they replied in unison. "If one of the orbs of power is one of my gems, then what could the other one be?" Washu asked out loud. "I don't have any gems," Sasami noted. Washu nodded in agreement. On the sofa near by, Ryo-Ohki was grooming herself as she listened to their conversation. Of course this whole situation bothered her, but she couldn't do anything about it and a good grooming always calmed her mind. Washu turned to watch her as she pondered the latest developments, sipping a cup of tea. Ryo-Ohki wetted her paw with her tongue and began to polish the gem on her forehead. Washu started to choke and quick slap on the back from Sasami cleared her throat. "Thanks," Washu said. Ryo-Ohki turned to see what was going on. "Remember when I was creating Rye-Ohki and I asked you to help me connect his mind to Ten-chan's?" "Yes, I remember. To solve the problem, I gave you the gem that you built Rye-Ohki around," Sasami paused. "But I formed that from a seed of the Tsunami space tree. It couldn't be the orb of power that these scriptures tell of." "But it does have some of your power in it and that's all Ten-chan needs to open the gate. If Tokimi knew about my gems, then she will most likely know about Rye-Ohki." "Ten-chan wouldn't dare hurt Rye-Ohki! They are connected, it would be like killing himself." "Right now, I don't think Ten-chan's thinking very clearly," Washu said as she let her computer disappear. She walked up to Ryo-Ohki and picked her up. "Come on Ryo-Ohki, we're going on a trip." "So your gems are the orbs of power?" Mataki asked Ryoko. They had gotten to Shashik and met up with the others before Hakubi. "The one that Washu made, yes. But we don't know what the other one is," she replied. "Do the followers here know what it is?" Ayeka asked Mataki. "No, they are still trying to find it," he replied. "Have they seen Hakubi?" Ryoko asked. "No. No one has seen him. It looks like you guys got here before him," Tenchi answered. Rye-Ohki was in his humanoid form and sat at the edge of the hill. He looked over the valley and let his mind wander. he wondered to himself. Without warning, a voice spoke back, 'Get away!' Rye-Ohki jumped to his feet and looked around. 'Get away as fast as you can!' 'Hakubi! Where are you?' Rye-Ohki thought back. Like a cool breeze flowing over him on a hot summer day, he felt their mental link come back to life. He stood still for a moment and tried to locate him. "He's here!" Rye-Ohki mewed out loud. "I can feel him!" "Are you sure?" Ryoko asked. "Yes!" "What's going on?" Tenchi asked his wife. "Rye-Ohki says that he can feel Ten-chan. And that he's coming." "Where?" Ayeka asked the cabbit. Rye-Ohki closed his eyes and turned in a circle. He stopped and pointed to the east. "There!" Immediately Tenchi and Mataki scoured the area with their binoculars. "I don't see him," Tenchi noted. "Neither do I," Mataki said at his side. "He's telling me to run away," Rye-Ohki said to Ryoko with a worried look. "We're not going anywhere," Ryoko replied with determination. "I see him!" Tenchi spoke out. "About two miles out. He's flying low over the forest." From behind there was a loud explosion and a beam of energy flashed overhead. Tenchi turned around and saw Mataki holding a large blaster. Tenchi wondered to himself. He quickly turned back to Hakubi and watched the blast streak towards him. He made no attempt to avoid it. As it the beam neared him, it exploded, throwing Hakubi out of the air into the forest below. "Let's go!" Mataki yelled as he jumped down the hill, blaster in hand. "Wait! We need a plan!" Tenchi yelled after him. "Damn it! Ryoko, Devon, take to the air. We'll follow on foot." "Got it," Ryoko replied and she and Devon took off. Tenchi, Ayeka, and Rye-Ohki ran off, after Mataki. Mataki thought to himself. He approached the area where his blast had knocked Hakubi down and slowed to a cautious walk. His shot had knocked off the tops of the trees and splintered limbs strewn the ground. He saw what looked like a figure lying in a slight depression behind a fallen tree and raised his weapon. He slowly walked up to it and looked over the log. It was only a burnt tree. The forest suddenly became quiet, and Mataki crouched next to the log. He scanned the area, looking for what had startled the forest creatures. He saw a flash of light and jumped back. The log he had been hiding behind exploded into thousands of slivers and Mataki fired through the explosion at his attacker. His shot missed and fell a tree instead. Mataki rolled back again and fired. From the corner of his eye he saw movement and he turned and fired just as a figure in black jumped away. Flying overhead, Ryoko and Devon searched for Hakubi. "Over there!" Devon yelled to his mother as a fiery explosion rocked the forest. More explosions followed as they veered closer. Mataki spun in circles, trying to get a clear shot at Hakubi. Suddenly he felt something slam into him and he was knocked down. He rolled onto his back and flipped himself upright. In front of him stood Hakubi. Mataki raised his blaster for a shot, but Hakubi was too fast. In a blur of motion, Hakubi flew at him, knocked the blaster out of his hand and delivered a hard sidekick to his stomach. Mataki fell backwards and rolled onto his knees. Hakubi just stared blankly. Mataki spit out a mouthful of blood and reached behind his back for another weapon. Before he could pull it out, Hakubi raised his hand and a beam of purple energy shot out. It hit Mataki in the right shoulder, spinning him around and throwing him back. He tried to push himself up with his left arm, but passed out and collapsed. Hakubi turned around and began to walk towards the city. "Hold it right there!" Ryoko yelled out as she landed in front of him and Devon landed behind him. "You're not getting that last gem." Hakubi looked behind him to see his father standing not far behind and then back to Ryoko. "Stop this please," Devon pleaded to his son. Hakubi replied by creating his energy sword. Ryoko and Devon immediately created theirs and squared off. Hakubi flew forwards at Ryoko with his sword raised high. At the last moment, Ryoko jumped up and struck downwards at the charging Hakubi. But instead, Hakubi teleported to behind his father and knocked him down with a swift kick to his back. Ryoko quickly flew forwards, and tackled her grandson. Hakubi shifted his weight and threw her off, high into the air. Devon had recovered from the blow and tried to knock Hakubi down himself. Hakubi easily escaped his grasp and threw him back into the forest. He hit and tree and knocked it over. "Devon!" Tenchi cried out as he saw his son fly backwards into the tree. He ran ahead as the Tenchi-ken came to life in his hands. He saw Hakubi a few feet ahead and charged. At the last second, Tenchi hesitated, not wanting to hurt his grandson. That was what Hakubi had expected and used this moment to his advantage. He grabbed Tenchi's right wrist with his right hand and spun around into him to drive the back of his left elbow into the side of Tenchi's head. Tenchi staggered back, stunned by the blow. Miniature logs appeared around Hakubi but he teleported away before they could do anything. The second he reappeared, Rye-Ohki leapt at him, with his Tenchi-ken ignited. Hakubi reacted instantly and ducked underneath his cabbit's strike and gave him an uppercut in return. 'Stay out of this!' Hakubi thought to his cabbit. Rye-Ohki ignored it and tried to attack again. Hakubi flew backwards, avoiding the blows. 'This is not a game!' He stretched out his hand and the Tenchi-ken flashed into it, out of Rye-Ohki's grasp. 'Maybe now you'll listen.' Before anymore could be thought, orange beams of energy rained down around him. Hakubi teleported away as Ryoko slammed into the ground where he once stood. He materialized a few feet away, in front of Tenchi, who had gotten his senses back. "I don't want to hurt you," Tenchi said to the approaching Hakubi. Rye-Ohki stood next to Ryoko but a hand grabbed his shoulder, holding him back from the fight. He turned around and was surprised to see Washu standing behind him. In one hand she held what looked like a pink ball and threw it at Hakubi's back. Just before it would have hit him, he teleported away. The ball continued in its flight, directly into Tenchi. "Look out!" Washu yelled as the ball expanded and enveloped Tenchi. "Get me out of here!" Tenchi yelled and he pounded on the walls of the force globe that had formed. Ayeka ran up to him to try to break it. "Don't touch it!" Washu yelled as she, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki ran towards it. The second Ayeka touched the globe, it expanded and engulfed her too. Hakubi materialized high in the air and watched the scene below him. Washu and Sasami stood with Ryo-Ohki in front of the force globe as Tenchi tried to calm Ayeka from inside of it. He didn't have much time to enjoy the chaos as Devon and Ryoko flew up at him from different directions. Devon got to him first and attacked. Hakubi blocked his blows and grabbed his arm to spin his father around. He spun him into Ryoko and threw him at the force globe below. He collided into Washu and Sasami and knocked everyone into the globe. "Now what?" Tenchi asked as he helped Washu up. Ryoko had been knocked back and flew at Hakubi again. This time she got a hold of him and slammed him into the ground. She quickly recovered and jumped back as Hakubi got up as well. Ryoko stood with her back only a few feet in front of the globe. She created her energy sword and prepared herself for anything. From behind Hakubi, Rye-Ohki made his move. He jumped up and locked his arms around him. Surprised, Hakubi struggled, unable to break free. "Good job!" Ryoko called out to the cabbit. But before Ryoko could do anything more, Hakubi quickly leaned forward and pulled the cabbit off the ground, almost flipping him over. He had gotten one arm free and threw the cabbit off of him into Ryoko. Ryoko stumbled backwards into the force globe. "Crap!" she cried out as she punched the inside of the globe. "Rye-Ohki, get out of here!" Washu yelled to the cabbit who had landed just a few inches from the edge of the globe. Hakubi approached the stunned cabbit and picked him up by his throat. 'I told you to get away!' Hakubi thought. With his free hand, he punched Rye-Ohki in the stomach and then threw him back into the forest. "Leave him alone, Tokimi!" Sasami yelled from inside the force globe. "He has nothing you want!" Rye-Ohki passed out from the pain and laid still. Washu swore she saw Hakubi wince in pain as he hit Rye-Ohki, the only sign of emotion he had made the whole battle. He turned away from the fallen cabbit and looked at his prisoners inside the force globe. Without a word, he touched a control on his belt and a ship soon hovered overhead. A beam of light came down and drew the force globe into it. Hakubi teleported into his ship and flew off a minute later, leaving a smoldering battleground in his wake. "What do you mean you can't get out of this thing?" Ayeka asked Washu rather loudly. "I created this force globe to be able to hold the most powerful of people," Washu replied calmly. They were in the hold of Hakubi's ship and could do nothing but sit and wait to see where he was taking them. "The fact that even I can't break out of it proves how perfect it is!" "But why did he take us with him?" Tenchi asked. "I thought he was going after the last orb." "We thought that the last orb might be Rye-Ohki himself, but he left him behind," Sasami pondered as she petted Ryo-Ohki. "Does anyone one even know where we're going?" Ryoko asked the group. Everyone looked at Washu and she shook her head. "Great, just great," Devon muttered. Rye-Ohki woke with a start. He opened his eyes to see a sky full of stars; he had been out for a long time. Rye-Ohki winced and sat up. As he did so, something fell off his chest and clattered on the ground. He picked up the object and immediately recognized it. It was his Tenchi-ken. Apparently, Hakubi had put it on him when he had punched him. Why, he did not know. Something groaned and stirred not far from him. Rye-Ohki slowly got up and walked over to the sound. He ignited the Tenchi-ken and from its illumination he could see that the source of the moans was Mataki. He let out a meow of surprise and ran up to him. A quick look was all he needed to see that he had been shot in the shoulder and had lost a lot of blood. Rye-Ohki carefully rolled Mataki onto his back and looked for more wounds. "You must stop the Prince," Mataki whispered deliriously. "Leave me, I will only slow you down." He tried to push Rye-Ohki away but was too weak to do anything. Rye-Ohki thought. Rye-Ohki remembered that he saw an automated medical bed on Mataki's ship and decided to take him to it. He picked up the ex-bounty hunter and walked to his ship. The medical bed knew exactly what needed to be done and immediately began to treat Mataki the moment Rye-Ohki set him down. After watching for a few minutes, Rye-Ohki walked to the bridge. He had explored the ship when they came to Shashik, and being a ship himself, had quickly learned the controls from just watching Mataki pilot it. Rye-Ohki thought to himself. He sat down in the pilot's chair and began the pre-flight start up. Someone's name had come up, and Rye-Ohki lifted off. "We've been flying for a long time now," Devon commented. "I wonder what Rye-chan's doing," Sasami said to Ryo-Ohki. 'Maybe he's going to rescue us,' Ryo-Ohki thought. 'Maybe,' Ryoko thought back. Rye-Ohki expertly guided the ship to the one place where he thought he could find help: The Galaxy Police Headquarters. The only problem is that he did not have permission to tell the Galaxy Police anything of what was going on. It was supposed to be kept a "family matter." As soon as the base was in sensor range, a GP cruiser ordered them to halt. "Please identify yourselves and state your business," a voice ordered. Rye-Ohki meowed back. "What? Is this some kind of joke? I don't have time for this!" the voice boomed. Rye-Ohki frantically searched for the right control panel and wished that he could speak Juraian. He found the right controls and began to type. "I need to speak to Ambassador Makibi," the officer read out loud. "Not until you identify yourself," he ordered. "I cannot tell you who I am for sake of national security. Notify the Ambassador and everything will be taken care of," Rye-Ohki typed. He hoped that he could try to bluff his way through. "I have standing orders to not let anyone by without having some form of identification. If you do not comply, you can turn around and leave, or I will arrest you." Rye-Ohki growled and tried another tactic. "We have a medical emergency and need to get to the medical facilities at the base!" "If that is the case, then let me escort you to the medical frigate. They are more capable than the medical center on base," the officer replied in a surly tone. Rye-Ohki noticed that the frigate was many hundreds of miles from the base and slapped his forehead. He had one more thing he could try, but he was ordered to never play around with it. Rye-Ohki thought about it for a minute. He would be breaking many rules and maybe even cause a massive security breach. He began to type. "This is operative Daucus Carota, operational code 42, pass phrase is 'That frood knows where his towel is.' I'll wait for you to authenticate." Each member of the royal family had a secret code name within the Galaxy Police that could be used to identify oneself when security was less than tight. He had just used Hakubi's. "I'll escort you in, Sir," the officer quickly replied. Rye-Ohki smiled and nudged the throttle higher to follow the cruiser to a docking bay. "You are one crazy bastard," Mataki suddenly spoke from the entrance of the cockpit. He sat down in the copilot's seat and looked around. Rye-Ohki saw that his wound had been cleaned and bandaged and that he seemed to be all right. "You think the Galaxy Police will help us?" Rye-Ohki nodded his head. "I've never been this close the their headquarters before. The GP do not like bounty hunters. And I hope you know what you're doing. The GP do not like practical jokes either." Rye-Ohki set the ship to autopilot and got out of the seat and motioned for Mataki to take it. "You go ahead and bring us in," Mataki replied. Rye-Ohki sat back down and maneuvered the ship into the docking bay. He landed softly and began to shut down the engines. When he finished, he helped Mataki up and together they walked to the hatch. Leaning against Rye-Ohki, Mataki opened the door and extended the stairs. Waiting for them were two women. "You're not Hakubi!" Mihoshi exclaimed as she watched Rye-Ohki and Mataki disembark. "Where is he, Rye-Ohki?" Kiyone asked anxiously. Mataki turned to Rye-Ohki and gave him a questioning look. Rye-Ohki nodded his head and helped Mataki over to Kiyone and Mihoshi. "You are Ambassador Makibi, I presume," stated Mataki. "That's right. And who are you, and where is Prince Masaki?" "I will tell you everything, but in someplace a bit more private." Kiyone nodded and led them out of the docking bay. Kiyone took them to her office and locked the door behind them. Mataki painfully sat down in one of the chairs as Kiyone sat behind her desk. Rye-Ohki changed back to his cabbit form and decided to perch himself on top of the bookcase along the far wall. Mihoshi went to get some tea. "Start at the beginning," Kiyone ordered the pair. "My name is Mataki, and I have been tracking the gem of Tokimi for many years now." "This is the same gem that has control over Hakubi?" Kiyone asked. "The same. Members of my organization had found the gem and were taking it to a secure location when the Prince acquired it." "You mean the pirates?" "We have members from all sides of the law," Mataki stated flatly. "When we learned of this, I went directly to Jurai to secure it before anything happened. Unfortunately I was too late and the gem had already embedded itself in the Prince. I then enlisted the help of the Royal Family and we began to track him. On the planet Shashik we finally confronted him. I was severely wounded and if it wasn't for the help of Rye-Ohki I would not be here." "Where are the others?" Kiyone looked to the cabbit and he replied by pointing to the window, out into space. "Do you know where?" Mihoshi asked as she passed out cups of tea. Rye-Ohki shook his head. Kiyone groaned and took a sip of tea. Rye-Ohki turned to look out the window, ignoring the rest of the conversation. He in fact did know where they were. Ever since the fight, he had a very weak mental connection with Hakubi. He could not talk to him or know his thoughts, but he could feel his presence. Rye-Ohki thought to himself. He remembered that when was thinking aboard Mataki's ship, Kiyone's name popped into his head. He felt that it was a great idea at the time so he went to her. The more he thought about it, the crazier his choice became. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Mihoshi sang. "This is Commander Karacus," a voice replied. "We're kinda busy right now, can you come back later?" Mihoshi asked politely. "This is of vital importance. We must speak to the Ambassador immediately," a nasal voice answered. "Let them in Mihoshi," Kiyone told her partner. Mihoshi went to the door and opened it. An unhappy Karacus entered followed by a weasel-like lieutenant carrying a clipboard. "Thank you for see me in such short notice," Karacus said to Kiyone and bowed slightly. "How can I help you Commander?" Kiyone replied and motioned for him to sit in the chair next to Mataki. "This is a matter of high sensitivity," the Lt. spoke, looking at Mataki. "I understand," Mataki said as he got up. "I will be in the infirmary." "One of the guards at the door will show you the way," Kiyone replied. Mataki nodded and left. "Now what is it?" Kiyone asked the Commander. "Have you seen these reports?" the Lt. asked Kiyone and handed her a data pad. Apparently, he did not notice Rye-Ohki sitting on the bookshelf behind him. Karacus did, but decided not to mention it. Kiyone quickly scanned the pad. It was of a robbery on a planet near Jurai and of a similar one on Ursis Prime. The last page was a preliminary report on a large firefight on a planet called Shashik. "What about it?" "You did not know of any of these cases?" the Lt. asked. "No I didn't." Kiyone handed the pad to Mihoshi who read it and shook her head as well. "I see," the Lt. commented and scribbled on his clipboard. "What is this about? I'm very busy," Kiyone demanded. "It's about Prince Masaki," Karacus answered and he sat down. "We need some information about him." "Such as weaknesses and favorite tactics," the Lt. spoke from the Commander's side. "What for?" Kiyone asked. "It does not concern you-" "She has the right to know," Karacus interrupted. "Sir, she is not authorized. It will jeopardize the whole operation." "What operation?" Kiyone asked. "I have been ordered to put together a team to apprehend the Prince," said Karacus. The Lt. began to protest but Karacus held up his hand and silenced him. "If this operation is to succeed, we need to know of any weaknesses we can exploit. I hate this idea as much as you do and I've already protested these orders and tried to get it assigned to someone else. It didn't work and your chief sent Lt. Puke here to keep an eye on me." "That is Lt. Puque, Sir." "Whatever. Since you're close to him, they felt that you might know something. I'm really sorry about having to do this." "So please cooperate," said Lt. Puque. "Weaknesses," Kiyone trailed off thoughtfully. "Well, butterscotch makes his stomach turn, and he's pretty bad at cards. Isn't he Mihoshi?" "Yeah, that's right. I've never seen him win a game of canasta or even spades," Mihoshi spoke up. "Remember that time I cleaned him out at poker?" Kiyone asked her partner. "I would've gotten a new cruiser and maybe a planet or two if Tenchi hadn't stopped the game." Karacus smirked as Puque fumed. Rye-Ohki laughed quietly to himself. he thought. "This is serious, Ambassador!" Puque yelled. "Well, that's too bad. It'll be a cold day in hell when I help with a screwed up plan like this!" Kiyone yelled back, slamming her hand on her desk as she stood up. "If you do not cooperate, then consider yourself under arrest for insubordination!" "I'd like to see you try," Kiyone hissed. "Now calm down you two," Karacus yelled above the arguing. "No one is going to arrest anyone." "It doesn't matter if I tell you anything anyway. Hakubi has faced enemies that can destroy entire planets and always came out on top. Sending anyone after him will be a disastrous mistake," Kiyone said icily. Rye-Ohki thought to himself. he joked to himself. Rye-Ohki suddenly stopped laughing. Rye-Ohki quietly jumped down from the bookshelf and hopped to the desk. He scampered between the two chairs and jumped onto her desk, meowing loudly. "What's wrong?" Kiyone asked in surprise. Puque eyes went wide in shock and he yelled, "Guards!" Karacus quickly put his hand over the Lieutenant's mouth and held him tight. Rye-Ohki meowed and gesticulated wildly. Karacus didn't understand a thing, but Kiyone did. "You want me to go where?" she asked. Rye-Ohki hopped over to the window and tapped on the glass. "Do you know where Prince Masaki is?" Karacus asked the cabbit. Rye-Ohki nodded his head and hopped up and down excitedly. Puque wriggled out of Karacus's grip and ran for the door. Rye-Ohki instantly changed into his humanoid form and picked up a book laying on the coffee table. Without a second thought, he threw it at the back of the lieutenant's head and knocked him out. "Rye-Ohki! That's not nice," Mihoshi scolded. "If you think you can stop the Prince, then get going," Karacus told Kiyone. "I'm sorry we mixed you up in this," Kiyone apologized to the commander. "My job is good as gone." "Don't worry about it. The reason your chief is so anal about this is because he was supposed to become the next ambassador to Jurai, and he thinks you stole it from him. I'll try to clean up this mess once you get out of here." "I want to go too!" Mihoshi exclaimed. Rye-Ohki shook his head and changed back to his cabbit form. He had made a rule that Mihoshi would not travel in him unless she was under the supervision of at least two people. With a final "meow" he phased through the window and began to transform into a ship. "Ah, please," Mihoshi begged. "Cancel my appointments," Kiyone called out just before she was teleported into Rye-Ohki. Once she was aboard, Rye-Ohki flew off at top speed, setting off every alarm in the sector. Before the GP could send any ships to stop them, they were gone. "I'm always left behind," Mihoshi pouted. A crystal floated next to Kiyone and Rye-Ohki's face appeared. "Where are we going, Rye-Ohki?" Kiyone asked the crystal. A viewscreen appeared with a map of the surrounding star systems. A large circle was drawn around one sector of space composed of numerous planets "You're not really sure are you?" The crystal wiggled back and forth, a negative. "You sure this is the right direction?" Rye-Ohki smiled and the crystal bobbed up and down. Kiyone sighed and sat down in the command chair. She did not know how to fly a cabbit-ship, and left him to fly himself. Another crystal floated near the chair, this one had five equally spaced blue dots in it. Underneath them, were the commands of a common VCR. Kiyone pushed the play button, hoping that it would be good in-flight movie. Another viewscreen appeared and flickered to life. The scene was of the interior of Ryu-Oh and Mataki suddenly materialized in view. "What's wrong?" the voice of Sasami asked from the side. The camera panned to Sasami and then back to Mataki. "It is about our new heading," Mataki began. The camera followed him as he walked over to a table and sat down. The image bobbed up and down as the camera walked over to the table. "I received a message saying that your Prince had attacked the members of my Order and some how found the location of one of our vaults and is heading there now." "Hakubi wouldn't hurt anyone unless he had a very good reason to," Sasami interjected. "But he has. At least one of my Order is seriously injured, maybe dead," Mataki gravely replied. The image flashed between Sasami and Mataki. "But that's not like him at all," Sasami trailed off. "You said that someone seemed to have control over him?" Mataki asked directly at the camera. The camera nodded, and Mataki's expression went dark. "Then the prophecy is true." "Wait a minute here," Devon cut in. The camera turned to look at him. He did not seem happy. "All this talk about some Order and now a prophecy. I think it's time you told us the whole story." Mataki looked around and spoke. "I belong to the Order of Tsanshu..." Kiyone realized that she was watching Rye-Ohki's memory files and listened carefully as Mataki explained the situation. She leaned back in the chair and began to watch everything that had happened since then. "We've stopped!" Ryoko said to the others. They could hear the engines powering down, but not the sounds of the landing gear. "We're not landing," Washu noted. "We must have docked somewhere." Everyone held their breath, straining to hear anything that might tell them where they were. After a few minutes of silence, they were unexpectedly teleported away. They reappeared in a large chamber, but still inside of the force globe. The ceiling was clear and stars could be seen outside. The walls were made of a silvery metal and golden pillars circled them and stopped at a large silver door. In front of the door stood Hakubi, facing them. "My dear sisters have finally come," a woman's voice spoke. They looked around, but could not find the source. "If you wanted us to come here, you just had to ask," Washu spoke out loud. "Sending Dr. Clay was quite inappropriate." "Always so confident," the voice laughed. Above the ceiling, a face began to form. It was of a woman with long brown hair. She wore a large gold medallion on her forehead with orange streamers. Her eyes were red set on blue and she had green markings on her neck. "Tokimi," Sasami said quietly to the others. "I have waited a long time for this day to arrive," Tokimi said to her prisoners. "Do you like what I have done?" "You have us here, now let Ten-chan go. You don't need him anymore," Washu ordered. Tokimi just laughed. "You have become pathetic, Washu. You were once the strongest of us three and you threw it all away to be with these pitiful mortals. Look at yourself. So easily held captive by a little toy that you created yourself. You couldn't even protect your own daughter when she was most vulnerable. And now you have failed again with your great-grandson. I'm surprised you even lasted this long." Washu quaked with rage, but bowed her head and sighed. "You are right. I have failed. Now I am begging you to let him go. I'll do whatever you want, just let him go," Washu said somberly. 'Mom!' Ryoko thought with surprise, 'You're not giving up to this bitch, are you?' 'I can never forgive myself for letting Kagato take you. Every second was sheer torture as I watched unable to do anything, as Kagato used you for his sick hobbies. I have sworn to myself that I will never let that happen to anyone I love again. Never! If it means giving myself up, so be it,' Washu thought back bitterly. "Mom," Ryoko said quietly. "It's not that simple my dear sister. I have suffered in this prison you created for thousands of years. Taking the ones you love is only to beginning of my revenge," Tokimi's voice boomed throughout the chamber. "And now it begins!" Hakubi turned towards to door and raised his arms. A blue light began to glow around him. The gems on his neck and wrist also began to glow. The multicolored points of light grew brighter and mixed to form an intense white light. "He never needed the second orb," Washu said to Sasami as she shielded her eyes, "Just being your son is enough." Loud creaking noises filled the room and the doors began to open. "We failed!" Tenchi yelled. The doors completely opened and Tokimi stepped through. "Free at last!" Tokimi cried triumphantly. "Freeze!" a voice shouted from behind. Everyone's heads snapped to the other end of the chamber. "Kiyone!" Sasami yelled in surprise. "Under Galaxy Police law section 13, paragraph 9, I place you under arrest!" Kiyone ordered. She stood with her old, standard issue Galaxy Police blaster aimed at Tokimi and Rye-Ohki on her shoulder. "So this is the Kiyone my poor prince is so enamored with," Tokimi said wryly. "I hope the Galaxy Police has a good life insurance policy." Without warning, Hakubi spun around and leapt at Kiyone. In a flash, Rye-Ohki jumped in front of her and transformed to his humanoid form. He brought up the Tenchi-ken and blocked the blow. 'Hakubi, snap out of it!' Rye-Ohki desperately thought. He pushed against Hakubi's sword, not giving any ground. "Hakubi! What the hell are you doing?" Kiyone shouted. Hakubi made no signs of emotion and continued to push against Rye-Ohki's sword, staring blankly ahead. "Talking to him will get you nowhere. He is completely under my control," said Tokimi with an evil smile. 'I told you leave,' Hakubi thought to his cabbit. 'Why didn't you listen to me?' 'I won't let you make the mistake that you'll regret for the rest of your life,' Rye-Ohki thought back. He didn't know if he had heard his thoughts. It felt like he was talking to a brick wall. "Kiyone, get away from there!" Tenchi yelled from inside the force globe. Kiyone decided that it was a good idea and backed away from the fighting pair. With Kiyone safely away, Rye-Ohki jumped back. "Hakubi, it's me. Don't you recognize me?" Kiyone pleaded. Hakubi's mind was in turmoil. He had a hard time concentrating and there were many voices running through his head. The world seemed hazy, as if these events were occurring in a dream. Hakubi thought to himself. his voice answered. In his woozy state of mind, it sounded like a good reason and so he continued to fight. one voice spoke in his mind. another voice shouted. The two voices continued to argue till they became a dull roar in the background. Hakubi flew at Rye-Ohki, ready to chop him in half. Rye-Ohki deftly dodged the attack and swung back. Hakubi blocked the strike and fired a blast of energy with his other hand. Rye-Ohki flipped backwards and avoided the shot. Hakubi asked himself. another voice replied. "Tenchi Hakubi-Jurai Masaki! You will stop this right now!" Kiyone yelled to Hakubi. Hakubi reflexively froze and looked at her. the other voice agreed. another voice added. 'Don't listen to that crap!' Rye-Ohki's voice pierced through the haze in his mind. He had successfully broken through the mental block that Tokimi had set up. 'Kiyone loves you.' a few voices spoke in unison. Hakubi thought to himself. He lowered his sword and Rye-Ohki did the same. 'Don't listen to those other voices. It's Tokimi try to control you!' Rye-Ohki pleaded to his friend. the voices asked. 'Rye-Ohki? Is that really you?' Hakubi asked. 'Yes it's me.' Rye-Ohki answered happily. He had finally gotten through to Hakubi. Hakubi could feel a wave of happiness wash over him from Rye-Ohki, and inwardly smiled. 'What's going on?' Hakubi asked. The haze was starting to clear, and he felt like he was waking from a dream. Hakubi let his sword disappear and Rye-Ohki distinguished the Tenchi-ken. Tokimi's voice floated inside Hakubi's mind. With a thought, his mind was suddenly thrown back into the darkness as Tokimi took over once again. "Now get rid of him!" Tokimi ordered. Hakubi robotically created his sword and charged Rye-Ohki. Rye-Ohki barely got his sword up in time to block the attack. 'Hakubi, fight her off! I know you can do it!' Rye-Ohki blocked another attack and stepped away. Hakubi chanted in his mind. a weak voice tried to be heard above the chanting. Rye-Ohki jumped away again. He had never beaten Hakubi in a sparring match, and this time it was for real. the voice shouted. the other voices chanted louder. the voice shouted, growing louder every second. Hakubi shot a beam of energy at Rye-Ohki and teleported away a split-second later. Rye-Ohki jumped away from the blast but Hakubi materialized right where he was going to land. Rye-Ohki's eyes went wide as he saw Hakubi lunge forward. He tried to bring his sword up, but was too late. A wave of pain broke over him as the purple energy sword pierced his body. Hakubi also cringed in pain and let the cabbit slide off his sword, to the floor. "Miya!" Ryo-Ohki screamed from inside the force globe as she pounded against the wall of their prison. Sasami gently reached for the distraught cabbit and held her close. "Miya, miya," Ryo-Ohki quietly cried. Rye-Ohki laid still, staring at the stars through the clear ceiling. He could not feel his legs anymore and he knew that his fight was over. At his side, Hakubi stood staring blankly at the sight before him. his voice shouted through his mind. another voice spoke. A surge of pain came over him as he felt his cabbit dying through their mental link. It felt like he, himself, was dying. He concentrated on this pain and used it as a beacon to reality to fight off Tokimi. "Why?" Hakubi croaked. This was the first word he had spoken since this all began. 'I just wanted my Hakubi back,' Rye-Ohki weakly thought back. The world began to get dark and Rye-Ohki closed his eyes for the final time. Hakubi fell to his knees and held his head in his hands. "Well, that was a little entertaining," Tokimi spoke. She began to walk towards the force globe, when she was suddenly entwined by an energy wire. "Not so fast!" Kiyone yelled, holding the other end of her energy yo-yo. Tokimi shook her head and the wires disappeared. Kiyone dropped her end and fired a shot at her feet. "I said FREEZE!" "Hey puppet. Get rid of this pest," Tokimi said to Hakubi. Hakubi slowly stood up and faced Kiyone. His face was a mix of emotions. He showed pain, anger, and sadness at the same time. "I said get rid of her!" Hakubi's eye began to twitch and he raised his arm. "Hakubi! Don't do this," Kiyone yelled, her blaster not wavering from Tokimi. Hakubi's arm shook as tears streamed down his face. "Now!" Tokimi ordered. Hakubi's whole body flinched and a beam of purple energy streaked out of his open palm. Kiyone gasped as the beam hit her, throwing her back several feet. She landed on her back, her blaster sliding out of her hand, across the floor with a loud clatter. "Now who will be next?" Tokimi wondered out loud. Hakubi lowered his arm, his whole body trembling. The red gem in his right wrist began to glow brightly as he clenched his hands. "This is terrible," Tenchi said sadly. "It's not over yet," Washu whispered into his ear. She motioned to Ryoko who was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Her two remaining gems glowed as she concentrated. "You can do it Ten-chan," she whispered to herself. "You bastard!" Hakubi's voice came from nowhere. Hakubi was all of a sudden thrown to the side, as if some one had kicked him. Above him appeared another Hakubi dressed in a black jumpsuit with red flames running down his right side. Half his face was blackened by war paint and his hair wildly flowed in all directions. "You're going to pay for what you've done!" Ryoko's eyes snapped open and she closely examined the new Hakubi. "What's going on?" Devon asked. "It worked," Ryoko said with a smile. The new Hakubi (who we will call Hakubi(R)) raised his right arm and a red gem could be seen glowing. He formed a deep red energy sword and lunged for the other Hakubi (Hakubi(G)). Hakubi(G) formed his own energy sword and blocked the attack. But instead of a purple sword, his was now green. The two struggled against each other before jumping apart. Hakubi(R) took to the air and fired a stream of red energy. Hakubi(G) quickly created a force field and blocked the attacks, the green gem on his neck glowing brightly. "Look, there's another one!" Sasami yelled in surprise. Kneeling over the fallen Kiyone, was another Hakubi (Hakubi(B)) dressed in the light hawk armor. "Ten-chan, is that really you?" Kiyone softly spoke. She reached for his face and Hakubi(B) held her hand. "I'm so sorry," he said softly. "It's not your fault." "Yes it is, this is all my fault," Hakubi(B) said angrily. "That's not true. Tokimi had control over you." Kiyone winced as pain shot across her body. "I'm getting you out of here," said Hakbui(B) and he kneeled closer to pick her up. "No! I'm not leaving till that woman is stopped," Kiyone forceful stated and grabbed the front of Hakubi's armor. "But, you're hurt bad-" "No!" Kiyone cut him off. "I know what's going to happen if she's not stopped. You have to stop her. That's an order!" Hakubi(B) hesitated. "Please, go," she said softer. Hakubi(B) closed his eyes and nodded. He gently let her go and turned to face others. "Don't die on me," he said quietly. "I won't, now go," Kiyone lied. She had been in many firefights and knew that she was wounded very badly. "This hasn't been a good day," she groaned to herself. "I'm going to tear you head off and take a crap down your neck!" Hakubi(R) shouted at Hakubi(G). He shot another beam of red energy, trying to penetrate the other's shield. "Such naughty language," Ayeka commented. "I wonder where he learned it from." Everyone turned to Ryoko. "Hey, it's her gem," Ryoko said and pointed to Washu. "You can't beat my puppet," Tokimi said smugly from the side. Hakubi(R) just growled and fired more energy. "It is time to end this," Hakubi(B) said calmly as and he walked towards his counterparts. "What can you do, you pathetic mortal?" Tokimi sneered. "I am only part mortal," Hakubi(B) replied. He clenched his jaw and a blue light began to glow around him. "You're toast," Hakubi(R) remarked as he floated to the ground. He fell directly into Hakubi(B) and combined with him. The light intensified and changed to purple. The red gem also disappeared and returned to Ryoko. "I have my gem back," she gasped as she felt the surge of power. "Good, because I have an idea to get out of here," Washu said. Hakubi(G) dropped his force field and created his green sword. With lightening speed, he charged Hakubi and lunged. He stopped in mid strike, pushing against his sword. In a blur of motion, Hakubi caught the sword and held it firmly, the end an inch from his chest. The green sword began to disappear and Hakubi(G) began to back away. In a flash of purple light, he was reabsorbed. "This force globe can hold in only so much," Washu began to explain. "I want you both to create your light hawk wings and push against opposite sides. Hopefully, the stress will be too much, and it will break," Washu said to Ryoko and Tenchi. They nodded and formed their light hawk wings. Standing back to back, they directed all their wings at opposite points on the globe, and pushed. The walls began to stretch till there were paper-thin. "Just a little more," Devon cheered. With one final grunt, they broke the walls and tumbled out of the force globe. "We've got to help Ten-chan," Devon shouted to the group and began to run towards his son. Washu and Ryo-Ohki immediately ran to Rye-Ohki and kneeled over him. He had returned to his cabbit form and lay in a pool of his own blood. "Not good," Washu grumbled. Ryo-Ohki looked at him with tears in her eyes and sadly meowed. Washu opened a subspace pocket and carefully placed the lifeless cabbit in it. "Now for Kiyone." Tenchi, Ryoko, and Devon ran to join the battle. They got within twenty feet of Hakubi when they all slammed to a halt, running head first into a force field. "Ow," Ryoko winced and rubbed her head. "Lady Tokimi has requested that no one interrupt her at this time," D3 spoke from above them. "Guardian, reveal yourself and state your designation," Sasami ordered. "I am D3, guardian of this universe," he replied as his face formed above them. "If you're supposed to protect this universe, then help us stop Tokimi," Tenchi yelled. "If we don't stop her, the universe will be destroyed!" "Yes, the universe as you know it will be destroyed. But the universe as a whole will still exist. The universe is in no danger." "What type of screwed up logic is that?" Devon shouted. "We need to get to Kiyone," Washu told the others. They could see Kiyone laying only a few feet inside the force field. "D3, let us pass!" Sasami tried to order the wayward Guardian. "I only serve Lady Tokimi." "Son of a," Devon muttered and slammed his fist against the force field. "Do you really think you can stop me?" Tokimi asked with a smirk. "I'm going to find out," Hakubi answered. He gathered his strength and called his light hawk wings. Five wings formed around him and he grabbed one to form his sword. The once brightly glowing green gem now lay dormant, but still imbedded in Hakubi's neck. Hakubi raised his light hawk sword and approached Tokimi. "The door is closing!" Tenchi yelled out loud. "Without all our powers together, the door cannot remain open," Sasami explained to the others. "What do you think you can accomplish with that puny thing?" Tokimi jeered at Hakubi. He replied by lunging at her. Tokimi swiftly stepped aside and slapped Hakubi away with the back of her hand. He stumbled backwards a few feet, surprised at the power of the blow. "You're going to make me break a nail." "You are going to pay for what you did to me," Hakubi hissed. "Blah, blah, blah. I've heard it all before," Tokimi replied coolly. Hakubi flew at her and tried to attack. Tokimi just raised her hand and Hakubi stopped in mid air. "Why don't you give it a rest?" With a motion of her hand, Hakubi was thrown back. "You can't kill a god!" Hakubi regained control of himself and flew upwards. He floated in the air as he thought of a new plan of attack. "The door is closing, Ten-chan!" Devon yelled to his son. Hakubi looked at the door and saw that it was indeed closing very slowly. It was also only a few feet from Tokimi. A plan quickly formed and he attacked. Hakubi brought his wings in front of him and launched them at Tokimi as he streaked downwards. Tokimi began to easily slap them away. Hakubi kept one wing as a sword and followed behind the other flying wings. Tokimi was still busy deflecting the wings and let Hakubi get closer. When he was close enough, he sliced downwards. Tokimi instantly stepped to the right, avoiding the attack. She angrily grabbed Hakubi in mid-air and slammed him into the ground face first. "I know what you're thinking, and it is not going to work!" Tokimi yelled and stomped on Hakubi's back. "I have a better idea," Tokimi said as she picked Hakubi up by a leg. Hakubi was too dazed to fight back and she dragged him over the closing door and held him up to it. "Now let's see how you like being a prisoner for thousands of years." "Tokimi wait!" Washu cried out. Tokimi turned at looked at her sister with an evil smile. "Just one question. What are you going to do with that doll?" Tokimi looked at her in surprise. She quickly turned back to captured prey to find a doll with a likeness to Hakubi in her hand. "No!" Tokimi gasped and dodged to the left. Her long hair trailed behind her, and Hakubi cut through it from behind. She turned and her eyes widened in disbelief as Hakubi shot a beam of energy at her as he flew by. It hit her directly in the chest and the power of the blast pushed her back. She lost her balance and stumbled through the almost closed door. The moment she hit the ground on the other side, the door creaked shut, sealing her in once again. Hakubi skidded to a stop and fell on one knee. He held his side and slowly stood. With much pain, he limped to Kiyone and collapsed next to her. "Kiyone?" Hakubi asked in a shaky voice. He gently touched her face, his hand trembling from pain. Kiyone did not respond, continuing to stare at the barren walls. "Kiyone?" Hakubi tried again. It was too late. Hakubi leaned over her and tenderly closed her eyes. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he hugged her tightly. "Why is this shield still here?" Tenchi asked out loud. "It's over, isn't it?" "Something's wrong," Washu stated flatly. Hakubi collapsed on top of Kiyone and cried. Losing Rye-Ohki was hard enough, but now Kiyone was gone. He couldn't take it anymore and poured his heart out over her. A blue light began to glow around him, but he did not care. The gem in his neck also began to glow. "Oh, no! The gem!" Washu cried. The green gem in Hakubi's neck, the one that belonged to Tokimi, came to life and flared an intense green. Hakubi threw his head back and screamed from the pain of his loss. His sorrowful wail, came to a sudden halt as the gem exploded in a fiery eruption. Hakubi limply fell backwards, blood streaming down his neck. "Ha ha ha!," Tokimi's voice echoed within the chamber. "I will have my revenge, I will!" "That bitch!" Ryoko yelled in surprise. Tokimi's image formed above the ceiling again and laughed at them. "It is now finished," D3 calming spoke and removed the force field. "Tenchi, Ryoko, destroy that door!" Sasami ordered as they rushed to Hakubi's aid. "With pleasure," Tenchi replied and he formed his own light hawk sword. >From opposite ends, they cut a large "X" across the silver door. With a blast of energy from Ryoko, the door collapsed in a pile of rubble. "I will escape this prison! And then I will get you all!" Tokimi wailed. Her image faded away and then there was silence. Washu ran up to the limp forms of Kiyone and Hakubi. As she approached, Kiyone suddenly took a deep breath. Kiyone's eyes snapped open and she quickly sat upright. She looked down at her wound and saw that it was somehow healed. "Kiyone! You're alive!" Washu exclaimed. Hakubi's body felt cold and numb. He could feel something running down his neck. It felt like warm water, but he didn't care. The world seemed to slow down and grow out of focus. He could hear voices yelling, but couldn't make them out. He felt so tired and wanted nothing but to fall asleep. he thought to himself. Hakubi closed his eyes and inwardly laughed. Hakubi thought to himself at his desk in his room. He looked at what he had written and raised his pen to sign it. he bitterly thought to himself. 'It's time,' a soft voice said in his head. Hakubi dropped the pen and froze. Hakubi slowly stood up. Something is his mind stirred. It was very weak, a warm and fuzzy feeling. Hakubi quickly turned to the door and raced out of his room. "How's he doing?" Washu asked Sasami as they sat in the lab. "He's still in his room, avoiding everyone," she replied. "Does he know about Kiyone?" "Yes, but he thinks you did it." "Me? That was all his doing. I guess he doesn't know about the perks of being the son of a goddess." Washu said and sipped some tea. A light blinked on her computer and she turned to look at it. "Almost ready," she said happily. Without warning, Hakubi slammed the lab door open. "Where is he? He's alive isn't he? You have to tell me!" Hakubi stammered. "Whoa, calm down," Washu said as she stood up. "Yes, Rye-Ohki is alive." She put her finger over his mouth before he could respond. "But before you get mad about me not telling you, hear me out." Hakubi silently nodded. "Rye-Ohki was hurt very badly and barely had enough energy to enter his regeneration cycle. I had to closely monitor him and it was touch and go for a while. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get your hopes up. You were so devastated when you thought he died and I didn't want to put you through all that again if he didn't make it." Hakubi nodded his head and calmed down. "Where is he?" he asked. Washu typed a few words into her computer and a subspace pocket opened. Hakubi held out his hands and a black egg fell into them. Hakubi hands trembled as he looked at his reflection in the polished egg. "It really is you," he quietly said to himself. The egg began to shake and then cracked, letting out a cloud of black smoke. The top of the egg popped open and Hakubi looked inside. Two purple eyes slowly opened and blinked at him. 'What's up?' Rye-Ohki happily asked through their mental link. "Rye-Ohki!" Hakubi shouted in joy and helped the little cabbit out of his egg. 'That's Rye-Ohki version 2.0!' he joked. Rye-Ohki stretched his limbs and proudly perched himself on Hakubi's head. He gave a triumphant "Meow!" and smiled at everyone. "Hakubi Masaki!" Kiyone's voice yelled from the door of the lab. Hakubi turned to look at her and saw that she was holding a piece of paper. "What is the meaning of this?" Kiyone asked and waved the paper at him. It was what he had written earlier. "I um..." Hakubi tried to explain. "Is this true?" she asked and stormed up to Hakubi. "Well it's..." "Do you really love me?" Kiyone asked unexpectedly. Hakubi was at a loss for words. 'Just nod your head like a good, little boy,' Rye-Ohki suggested. "Um, yes," Hakubi stuttered and nodded. "Then you aren't going anywhere without me." 'Don't worry, he's not going anywhere,' Rye-Ohki mewed and patted Hakubi's head underneath him. 'Now let's head to the kitchen. Being born is a lot of hard work!' Hakubi smiled and nodded again. He took the paper from Kiyone and tore it up. Kiyone face beamed and she gave Hakubi a big hug. He let out a peel of laughter as he hugged her back, picking her up and spinning in a circle. "Looks like everything will be all right," Washu said to Sasami. "Sure does," she agreed and smiled as they watched Hakubi and Kiyone kiss. The End! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whew, that's end! If you like it, hate it, or are just plain confused, please send all comments to tm_fan1023@hotmail.com. I really like to know what people think about my writing. Like I said at the beginning, this should be the end of the Hakubi series and I will start fresh in my next fic. There may be an epilogue to tie up few loose ends though. "Stone walls do not a prison make..." - Richard Lovelace