Disclaimer - Tenchi and the crew are unfortunately not my property.  I 
had no part in creating them, though I am desperately trying to figure 
out how to give myself Ryoko's abilities.  I am not writing this for 
the purpose of making money, though if any kind souls see fit to give 
donations I will not complain.  I am writing merely because I'm an 
obsessive person in general and I really need to get it out of my 
system.  Mayhem is my creation however, and anyone using him without my 
OK will anger the Great Shaven Cat Goddess and cause her to sic her 
elite pack of Killer Llamas on you.  Criticism is welcome, flames are 
ignored, praise will inflate my ego greatly, and make sure I actually 
finish this one-day.  Enjoy.

Many thanks to my talented editor, and fellow fanfic author, for his 
help in making this readable.  THANK YOU DREZ!!!!



Mayhem, Chaos, and General Messes
Chapter 1
Greetings And Salutations


	It's amazing how far weapons fire can go when it's not forcing 
it's way through an atmosphere.  In this case the two GP cruisers 
pursing their latest target were taking potshots from nearly 2 million 
kilometers away... and scoring hits way to often for the pilots taste.  
The ship in question was a GP ship itself.  Designed originally as a 
light patrol ship, it had been heavily modified since it's initial 
launch.  The pounding it had taken had further served to make its 
original configuration a thing of memory.  Airfoils that were designed 
to help it in atmospheric maneuvering were little more than smoldering 
stumps.  The bulges and spines of its sensors and weapons were melted 
away, charred areas marking where they had been.  The armor protecting 
its outsized engines was warped and scarred from weapon strikes, and 
several compartments towards it's aft were open to space.  

	The pilot swore under his breath as another warning light came 
on.  More of the former patrol ships systems were damaged than intact 
anymore... but his ship's shields were still up and his engines were 
still running perfectly.  It would have to be enough.

	The two GP pursuit cruisers were new models, fresh from the 
shipyards and powerful enough to take on warships if they had to.  But 
the officers piloting them weren't willing to run the risks their 
quarry was.  The suspect's engines had been running in the red for 
nearly 15 minutes already, nearly twice the normal power levels being 
fed into them.  But his goal was in sight; they only had to last a 
handful of minutes more.

	"You are entering restricted zone Alpha-13-Zeta, you're already 
charged with several dozen serious crimes... don't make things worse 
for yourself!"  An authoritative voice called over the ships 
communications system.  

	The fleeing pilot rapidly threw a series of switches, rerouting 
power from the failing life support systems and dumping it into the 
remaining engine cooling systems.  Throwing his battered ship into a 
wild evasive pattern that made the ships frame groaned in protest, he 
managed to dodge the majority of a concentrated volley of weapons fire.  
Flicking open a communications channel he snarled his answer "If you 
catch me I'm dead anyway, so I might as well die a free man!"  

	Switching his comm. systems off and rerouting the power to his 
draining shields the fugitive muttered under his breath "God I hope 
that sounded convincing."  Looking out of the cockpit at the rapidly 
growing blue and green sphere ahead of him, a wistful smile graced his 
features.  "Well, even if I do die, at least I'll be in sight of 
home... maybe even on it."  With that thought he dumped the last of his 
reserve power into the already straining engines.



	"This guy's nuts."  Kiyone muttered under her breath even as she 
moved into an intercept position in high Earth orbit.  The pursuit of 
the pirate vessel displayed on an overhead screen.

	"Why is he nuts Kiyone?" came Mihoshi's bewildered question.

	"The guy is running his engines at nearly two hundred percent of 
their rated maximum output Mihoshi!  He's damned lucky that they 
haven't blown up from the strain yet."  Kiyone explained, rolling her 
eyes at her partner's ability to miss the obvious.

	"Oh... he must really be in a hurry then."  Mihoshi said 
brightly, smiling cheerfully at Kiyone.

	"I'd say suicidal would be a more appropriate term for it."  
Kiyone replied absently, her attention focused almost entirely on the 
approaching ships.  "Get that grapple beam ready... we're going to try 
and grab it as it goes by.  With this big a difference in velocities we 
won't be able to stop it completely, but hopefully we'll slow it down 
enough for the cruisers to catch up and complete the capture."

	"OK Kiyone!" the blonde detective replied cheerily.  Then looking 
at her control panel with a confused expression "how do I do that 
again?"  



	The ship's main sensor array had been hit nearly an hour ago, so 
it wasn't surprising that it's harried pilot didn't see the third GP 
ship until he was less than a hundred kilometers away from it, and that 
it had already fired it's grapple beam when he picked it up.  The 
sudden deceleration nearly overcame the ship's straining emergency 
acceleration compensators and threw him roughly against the control 
panel.  The already overloaded main drive exploded under the sudden 
additional strain and the battered hull of the much-abused craft split 
like an overripe melon, the pieces spiraling past the third GP ship and 
into the atmosphere of the blue planet.  Unobserved by the three GP 
ships a small pod shot away from the wreckage, hidden by the 
destruction of its parent craft, and descended rapidly into the 
atmosphere of the planet below.



Exhausted, Mihoshi and Kiyone staggered into the Masaki household 
and collapsed into the living room couch.  Mihoshi fell asleep the 
second her head hit the cushions.

	"So I heard you two had a bit of excitement on patrol today."  
Washu teased as she walked up behind the two bedraggled GP officers.

	"Yeah... the first time in months that we've had to deal with 
anything more interesting than a traffic violation and the suspect gets 
himself killed!"  Kiyone groaned, silently cursing the bad luck that 
had her patrolling a primitive system in the middle of nowhere.  

	"Do they know who it was?"  Ryoko asked, phasing into the room 
through the wall behind Washu.

	"We're not 100 percent certain because there wasn't a body in the 
wreckage we were able to retrieve... but they're pretty sure it was 
class A criminal Mayhem."

	"So what did this guy do to earn the A classification?"  Ryoko 
pressed, curiosity evident in her voice.  But just as Kiyone was about 
to answer...

	"Why so interested Ryoko?  Think he may be a friend of yours?"  
Ayeka sneered, a mean smile gracing her otherwise lovely features as 
she strode into the room.

	"Actually Ayeka, you might want to hear this too."  Kiyone cut in 
before Ryoko could retort; "it involves the Jurai royal family."  Not 
waiting for Ayeka to recover from her surprise Kiyone pressed on with 
her explanation.  "He murdered a fairly high ranking member of the 
royal family about three years ago."

	Shocked, Ayeka managed to stutter out a single word... "W.... 
Who?"

	Pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to remember the name 
Kiyone answered, "Ummm...  a Duke Satoshima... I think."

	"Uncle Sato!?!?" Ayeka yelped, her eyes widening in surprise.

	"Oh, I'm sorry Ayeka."  Kiyone responded in a sympathetic tone.  
"Were you close?"

	Sitting down Ayeka took a deep breath to steady herself before 
answering, "Not really, it was just a shock I suppose.  He and Father 
were close, but I didn't get to see him that often.  Even when I did, 
it was usually during some affair of state.  But still, he was my 
uncle."  She paused briefly before continuing, "You said that the 
criminal was killed... are you certain of it?"

	"About as certain as we can be without doing a large-scale search 
of the crash site and surrounding area." was Kiyone's answer.  "Because 
this is a restricted area though, we only had time to tractor up the 
major pieces of wreckage and do a quick sensor sweep of the area."  She 
frowned and rubbed her temples in an attempt to soothe the migraine she 
could feel forming.  "We're listing him as dead in the official 
records, I don't see how anyone could have survived that crash.  The 
largest piece of the ship left was the front quarter of one of the 
engines... and that was little more than a chunk of molten metal.  
Hell, the thing blew to pieces long before it impacted."

	"But you didn't find a body?" Ayeka asked, frowning slightly in 
disapproval.

	"I'm afraid not Ayeka.  There may not be a body to find after 
that crash."  Kiyone explained.  "And a search to find any remains 
wouldn't go unnoticed by the local population or authorities."

	Turning to look at Washu, Ayeka asked in a slightly pleading 
voice, "Washu-chan, do you think, perhaps, that you would be able to 
find out for sure if that murderer died in the crash?"

	"C'mon Ayeka, the guy's dead..." Ryoko cut in "what are you 
afraid of?"

	"I AM NOT AFRAID!!!"  Ayeka snapped.  "I merely want to be 
certain that that animal died.  If he survived, I will hunt him down 
myself if I have to." she growled.

	"Whatever."  Ryoko responded, rolling her eyes.  "I'm going to 
check on Mayuka, you probably woke her up shouting like that, after 
all, the soundproofing only works if people remember to close the 
door."  Right on cue a soft wail came from the direction of the 
nursery.  "See, told yah."  Sticking her tongue out at Ayeka, Ryoko 
teleported out of the room.

	Smiling softly at her daughter's actions Washu finally responded 
to Ayeka's question "I suppose I can check for you Ayeka."  She 
answered with a grin.  "This Mayhem actually has a bit of a 
reputation."

	"A reputation?"  Ayeka queried.

	Kiyone cut in with an answer before Washu could respond, "He's 
been reported killed on at least four separate occasions, though never 
in anything quite this dramatic before."  

	Ayeka's eyes widened in surprise.



	Lifting the crying Mayuka from her crib, Ryoko couldn't help but 
smile lovingly at the beautiful child she now cradled to her chest.  
Despite how she had behaved when the girl had arrived in their lives 
the first time, she had grown to love the child.  In fact, of all the 
girls, she had ended up spending the most time with the infant.  "Did 
that nasty ol' Ayeka wake you up Mayuka-Chan?" she asked in a quiet 
voice, placing a soft kiss on the child's forehead.

	Tenchi, responding to Mayuka's cries, peered through the half-
open doorway into the dimly lit nursery, not wanting to disturb the 
tender scene in front of him.  Times when Ryoko would drop her tough-
girl act were few and far between.  Though ever since Washu had brought 
Mayuka back, the brash cyan haired girl had been letting her guard down 
more and more.  

Tenchi watched quietly from the partially open door as Mayuka's 
cries quieted and finally stopped completely.  Sitting down in the 
comfortable rocker that stood beside the window Ryoko began to sing.  
The obviously alien words slipped from her lips, soft and calming.  
Ryoko's singing voice was low and a little rough, not really remarkable 
in the technical sense, but beautiful just the same.  Captivated, 
Tenchi listened and watched.  The song seemed to wrap itself around 
him, comforting and soothing.  Entranced, he watched the former space 
pirate lull his daughter back to sleep.

	"Beautiful." the word slipped unbidden from his lips.  With a 
start Ryoko's head whipped around to look at the door, her song cutting 
off abruptly.  Seeing Tenchi at the door, watching her, she blushed 
beet red.  Realizing that he was still staring, Tenchi followed suit.

	"Sorry Ryoko..." Tenchi stammered, silently berating himself for 
forgetting how good Ryoko's hearing was, "you looked so peaceful... I 
didn't want to disturb you."

	"That's OK Tenchi" Ryoko replied quickly, "She's asleep again 
anyway... I was about to put her back in bed." she finished in a 
whisper, her blush fading a bit as the soft smile she had been wearing 
returned.

	As Ryoko laid the sleeping Mayuka back in the crib and tucked her 
in, Tenchi whispered in a slightly nervous voice "That song you were 
singing, it was beautiful.  Where'd you learn it?"

	"I don't know really... I just remember the words... I'm not 
really sure what they mean exactly.  Honestly, I'm don't even remember 
exactly where I know it from."  Her voice took on a slightly sad tone 
as she continued, "There are a lot of places in my life that I can't 
remember..." then to herself, almost inaudibly "a lot more I wish I 
didn't remember."  Despite her best efforts a tear trailed down her 
cheek, and she hastily wiped the back of her arm across her cheek.  
Tenchi saw it anyway.

	Tenchi didn't think he was actually supposed to have heard the 
last part of that, he knew that she definitely hadn't wanted him to see 
the tear, but he responded before he could think about it.  Taking a 
few quick steps forward he wrapped his arms around Ryoko in a 
comforting hug, her back to him, one of his arms slipping around her 
slim waist, the other around her shoulders.  

	Stiffening for an almost imperceptible moment out of sheer 
surprise, Ryoko relaxed into the hug, savoring the contact.  She could 
count the times he'd hugged her without any sort of encouragement on 
one hand.  Each time was a treasured memory, but this, this was almost 
heaven.

	"You OK Ryoko?" Tenchi whispered.  He was surprised at his own 
reaction, but something inside of him couldn't stand to see the cyan-
haired girl in pain.  Not when there was something he could do about 
it.

	Shivering slightly from the feel of his warm breath brushing 
across her ear, Ryoko nodded.  Turning in his arms she buried her face 
into his chest, breathing his scent in.  Silent tears that she couldn't 
quite explain sliding down her cheeks as she concentrated on the boy 
holding her.  Letting his warmth chase her demons away for the time 
being.  "My Tenchi..." she purred softly sliding her arms around his 
waist to capture him in an almost fierce embrace.  For once Tenchi 
didn't pull away.



	The fugitive commonly known as Mayhem hurt pretty much 
everywhere.  Not surprising considering how hard the lifeboat had hit.  
Dunking his head into the thin stream to wash away the dried crust of 
blood he could feel coating the right side of his face, he let the ice-
cold water soothe the pain from his quickly fading injuries.  After 
cleaning up he started wandering down the mountainside heading towards 
the thin ribbon of asphalt that he could just barely make out a handful 
of miles distant.

	After an hour of scrabbling over the rough terrain the forested 
mountain offered.  He stumbled onto the road he had spotted, picked a 
direction and began hiking. It was nearly half an hour before he got a 
clue as to where he had touched down.  It was a street sign.  The sign 
was in Japanese and read, "Tokyo, 50 kilometers".



	Calling up several dozen recordings of the incident as filmed by 
her orbital surveillance network Washu quickly ran them through what 
she considered to be a fairly simple analysis program, the fact that 
nearly any government would have killed to get their hands on the 
program never really occurred to her.  Not that it would have made any 
difference if it had.  In a matter of minutes the program had isolated 
a single part of the incident and constructed the dozens of 2-D shots 
into a highly detailed 3-D holograph.  Chuckling slightly to herself, 
Washu found herself impressed.  Not something that happened terribly 
often.

	"Oh Ayeka's going to LOVE this." She muttered to herself, 
printing out a few hard copies of the escape pod entering the 
atmosphere to show the anxious Princess.



	Ayeka was feeling very agitated at the moment.  The two 
detectives had left the room to get some sleep, Kiyone practically 
dragging a half-asleep Mihoshi up the stairs to their room.  To work 
off some of the irritation she had started pacing back and forth across 
the large living room as she waited for Washu to finish with her 
analysis.

	 "I can't believe Mother didn't tell me about something this 
important immediately!" she ranted to the empty room, which, being 
largely ignorant when it came to human speech, did it's best to ignore 
her.

	"What did Mother not tell you Ayeka?  Sasami asked curiously as 
she walked into the room, Ryo-ohki following close behind the young 
princess in her toddler form as was normal.

	Stopping her ranting abruptly, Ayeka's eye's widened slightly as 
she realized that her sister hadn't heard the terrible news yet.  "Oh, 
Sasami..." she hesitated slightly before continuing in a soft, 
concerned voice, "Sasami, do you remember Uncle Sato?"

	Sasami nodded hesitantly before answering in a slightly 
uncomfortable voice, "Uh-huh.  Not very well, but I do remember him 
Sis."  She chewed on her bottom lip as she dredged up the few faint 
memories she had of her uncle.  "He always made me feel kind of 
uncomfortable." she said hesitantly, not liking to ever say anything 
even remotely bad about anybody.

	Ayeka blinked, then managed to chuckle slightly before replying, 
"He did always act rather more familiar than was appropriate for 
someone of his station.  He was just trying to be friendly I suppose." 
she mused briefly, a slight smile on her face as she remembered.  
Sobering quickly she motioned for Sasami to sit on the couch beside 
her.  "I'm afraid that he... died almost three years ago."

	"Oh... that's awful." Sasami said leaning over to give her 
obviously upset sister a hug.  "I wonder why mom didn't want to tell 
us?"  

	"I suppose she didn't want to upset us.... he was murdered."  
Ayeka explained softly her voice a mixture of quiet mourning and 
simmering anger.

	Sasami's eyes widened and she gasped at the news.  She didn't say 
anything, merely hugging her big sister as everything tumbled out of 
the older girl in a rush.  Washu watched from the doorway of her lab, 
giving the two sisters a few minutes to grieve together before she 
dropped the latest bombshell on them.



	Reluctantly unwrapping his arms from around Ryoko's slender form 
Tenchi tilted her chin up so he could see her golden eyes.  "Feeling 
better now Ryoko?" he asked the young woman standing before him.

	Despite her tear-streaked face and puffy eyes, a genuine smile 
graced her features.  "Yes Tenchi... thank you..." blushing a little 
despite herself under his gaze Ryoko tried to gather up some of her 
normal bravado... she took a quick step forward, bringing her face 
barely an inch away from his, her eyes half closed...

	Tenchi's eye's widened and he could feel the familiar pressure 
building in the back of his nose.  He swallowed nervously, almost 
painfully aware how little distance separated his lips from hers... 
from her soft, perfectly formed lips...

	Her next words were whispered, barely audible, her voice low, 
throaty, almost pleading, "Tenchi... please..." the tip of her tongue 
darted briefly across her lips... "Kiss me."  Tenchi, dazed and running 
almost entirely on autopilot leaned forward, his arms slipping back 
around Ryoko's slender waist... their lips brushed....  and an angered 
scream from downstairs shattered the moment.

	Pulling away abruptly, his face red to the tips of his ears and a 
small trickle of blood coming from his nose Tenchi practically ran out 
of the room, babbling confused apologies and excuses that Ryoko didn't 
really hear.  Wanting to scream herself, the only thing that stopped 
her from flying after the fleeing Tenchi and dragging him someplace 
private was Mayuka's upset wail.  With a frustrated sigh Ryoko turned 
to attend to the crying child.



	Tenchi bounded down the stairs into the living room, "What's 
wrong?!?!" he asked in a bewildered tone, observing the people in the 
room.  Ayeka was stalking back and forth almost growling under her 
breath...

	"Of all the incompetent, moronic, amateurish, screw ups!" she 
growled angrily to the room at large.

	Now thoroughly confused Tenchi threw a questioning look over at 
Washu, who was watching Ayeka with no small amount of amusement showing 
on her face.

	"Ayeka, nobody screwed up.  The guy's just damned good.  Heck, 
I'M impressed."  Washu exclaimed.  This calmed Ayeka down a little bit, 
as she stopped ranting to listen.  "Without the sensor net I have set 
up even I may have missed his escape.  Either the guy's one of the more 
skilled escape artists I've ever had the privilege of witnessing, or he 
has luck to rival Mihoshi's at her best."

	"Do you know where on the planet he is Washu-chan?"  Ayeka asked, 
a hard edge underlying the hopeful tone of her voice.

	"Well I'm pretty sure he's in Tokyo actually."  Washu answered 
with a grin.  "After I managed to get a track on his escape pod I was 
able to track a body walking away from the crash site.  A car picked 
him up, and I lost him after he entered Tokyo.  His energy signature is 
too weak to track from long range in that crowded of an environment."

	"Is there any way to find him Washu-chan?" she asked, her eyes 
flashing fire as she visibly struggled to keep her temper in check.

	Looking thoughtful for a second Washu answered "Well his energy 
signature is distinct enough that we could probably track it with some 
short range, hand-held units I have in my lab... but we'd have to get 
pretty close, a kilometer or two at the most.  If he's still in Tokyo 
that shouldn't be a problem though."

	"Ummm... what's going on?"  Tenchi practically wailed.



	Thanking the young woman that had given him a ride into Tokyo, 
Mayhem wandered as casually down the street as he could manage in the 
torn and battered fatigues he was wearing.  Doing his best not to 
attract any undue attention, he strolled into a nearby gift-shop and 
snitched a tourist map.  The pang of guilt that accompanied the theft 
didn't do anything to help his mood.  He was hungry, exhausted, and 
broke.  Fortunately he spoke Japanese fairly well, even if his accent 
was readily apparent.  Fingering the jewel-encrusted pendant in his 
pocket he began looking for a pawnshop.

	After about two hours and more wrong turns than he could count, 
Mayhem finally found what he'd been looking for.  The shop was old, 
battered, and had a distinctly disreputable air about it.  It was a 
place that wouldn't ask any questions or report anything unusual to the 
local authorities.  Exactly the kind of place a man on the run could 
sell off some of his loot.  Straightening his rather beat up clothing 
as best he could he strode into the dim shop, doing his best to look 
confident.  



	"Tell me again why we're going into Tokyo?"  Ryoko asked, sulking 
in the back of the van.

	"Because I will not let a murderer escape justice if I can 
prevent it.  Especially one powerful enough to kill a member of the 
Jurai royal family."  Ayeka replied in a tight voice.  "He killed a 
member of my family.  I WILL see him brought to justice."

	"Has it ever occurred to you that if he was able to take out your 
Uncle he may very well be able to kill you too Ayeka." Ryoko snapped 
back.  "Or kill or seriously any one of us... maybe even Tenchi."

	"Oh come on Ryoko." Tenchi called in a slightly nervous voice 
from the front seat.  "We've faced worse threats than this guy."

	"Actually Ryoko's got a good point Tenchi."  Kiyone interjected.  
We don't give criminals the A rating without good reason."  Her voice 
hard she added, "Underestimate this guy and it could get you killed."

	"Killed?"  Mihoshi asked in a trembling voice.  "I don't wanna 
die!!!" she bawled.  

	"No-ones going to die Mihoshi."  Ayeka barked, her already frayed 
temper snapping.

	"Really?" the blonde sniffed.

	"Really Mihoshi."  Kiyone said.  "We Just have to be careful."  
Sighing she added, "You know guys, this is really a GP matter, the rest 
of you don't really need to come along."

	"We're a team Kiyone… we do this together." Tenchi cut in from 
his place in the drivers seat, his voice rather atypically firm.  "Now 
Washu, what's the plan?"



Shrugging on the old army jacket he had picked up, Mayhem walked 
out of the old pawnshop into the quickly cooling evening.  Shivering 
slightly because of the chill he looked over his map for a nearby 
hotel.

	"Christ, I forgot how big Tokyo was."  He muttered under his 
breath as he tucked the map under his arm and started out.  "Now if I 
can only manage to not get lost."  

	Mayhem sighed out loud at the situation he was in.  "Well I guess 
I really shouldn't complain, at least I hit dry land.  I may be in the 
wrong hemisphere, but at least it's Japan instead of China or Mongolia 
or just about anywhere else."  With another sigh, he began walking in 
what he thought was the right direction.

*"Getting the rest of the way home from here shouldn't be a huge 
deal as long as I don't run out of jewelry to sell off."*  He barked 
out a harsh laugh at that thought, absently patting the small, multi-
dimensional pouch strapped to his belt.  

	*"Good lord,"* Mayhem thought to himself, *"I can't believe that 
a crook as successful as Zapan stored so much of his personal stash in 
one place.  Especially one this easy to steal."*  

	"Ah well, I'll call home tomorrow.  Of course, the fact that I'm 
probably listed as dead is going to be a pain, but it's not like I 
can't forge documents if I need to."  He muttered to himself under his 
breath.  "God, I can't wait to see everybody again… I just hope that I 
can explain what happened without getting thrown in the loony bin."  
Chuckling to himself he picked up his pace, eager for the next day to 
come.



	Ayeka glared at the still silent tracking device in her hand as 
if alone were responsible for the lack of any results so far.  
Unfortunately it's range was only about a kilometer, so in order to 
increase the groups chances of finding their quarry, they had split up 
in a carefully mapped out search pattern.  The second any one of them 
got a reading a homing beacon on their tracking devices would 
immediately switch on, and they would follow this Mayhem at a distance 
until the rest of the group had arrived.

	"Where can this criminal be hiding!" Ayeka seethed.  "If he's 
left the city already I swear I will call in the Jurian royal guard to 
track him down, protected colony or not!"  At the back of her mind she 
new she was being irrational about the whole matter.  But the rage over 
the murder of her Uncle, a respected member of the Royal Family, was 
drowning out that voice of reason quite effectively.

	Absorbed in her own angry thoughts the sudden beep of her 
tracking device's homing beacon switching on made her jump, a surprised 
yelp escaping her lips.  

	"Finally!"  She exclaimed with a snarl as she set out to find her 
target.  Pointedly ignoring the stares her shout had drawn.



	"Non-earth based energy signature detected broadcasting from 550 
meters, at 350 degrees from magnetic north."  His small portable 
computer beeped in English from its place on his belt.  The tinny, 
electronic words making his heart clench in his chest.

	Snapping on a small headset resembling a pair of wrap-around 
sunglasses he spoke a soft series of commands in his native tongue.  
"Activate tactical display, bring up tracking information and detailed 
IR display."  Drawing a small weapon from beneath his coat he quickly 
made his way towards the signal source, taking to the rooftops in a 
series of bounding leaps.

	Mere minutes later he slipped off the headset to get a better 
look at the small woman the signal was emanating from.  The wind was 
blowing from her direction, and he could smell her nervousness and 
anger clearly.  Her body language was controlled, but still quite 
anxious.  She was looking in his basic direction, but it was clear that 
she didn't actually see him.  Looking closely he bit back a curse.  The 
girl's hair was purple!  And the hairstyle was one he recognized as 
being pretty popular among the more affluent Jurians.  

	Slipping on his headset again he muttered "Light amplification 
mode, zoom to 200%".  Quickly scanning the small woman again he spotted 
her tiara, immediately recognizing it for what it was.  Her key, the 
item that made Jurian nobility as powerful as they were.

	"Great she's a noble, just my friggin' luck."  He muttered to 
himself even as he quickly worked out how he was going to get the tiara 
off her without it turning into a full-blown fight.

	Quickly activating a small jamming device he jumped down from his 
perch on a small balcony above a nightclub and slipped into the light 
evening crowd when the girl turned her head briefly.  Keeping his head 
low and temporarily joining a group of drunk college students that were 
heading roughly in the right direction he manage to get right next to 
the Jurian without attracting her notice.  His hand in his pocket he 
readied a tiny blaster.



	Ayeka was feeling distinctly nervous.  Shortly after the homing 
beacon had activated her quarry had started to rapidly close on her 
position.  Looking anxiously in the direction indicated by the tracking 
device, she could see dozens of people coming in and out of a busy 
nightclub a mere twenty meters away from her.

	When the tracking device's small screen fuzzed out Ayeka nearly 
panicked and ran.  For all her anger, she remembered all too well the 
briefing that Kiyone had given them on their target.  This Mayhem was 
dangerous, and had built a colorful and fearful reputation in the three 
years after murdering her Uncle.  He was credited with the deaths of 
several dozen very powerful individuals in the galaxies criminal 
community, among other things.  

	Before she could react Ayeka felt her tiara lifted from her brow 
and something press against the small of her back.   An overly friendly 
voice behind her said in accented, but otherwise flawless Jurian "You 
give me even the slightest reason to use this gun and I won't hesitate.  
If you were tracking me you must know who I am… and my reputation."

	Quickly composing herself Ayeka replied in her native tongue "If 
you kill me in this crowd do you really think you'll get away?  The 
police of this nation are supposed to be quite effective, and they will 
not be lacking for witnesses in a crowd this size."  

	While the girl's tone was bitterly cold, he could smell the raw 
fear pouring off her in waves.  Mayhem was rather surprised at her 
control, and he smiled slightly in admiration

	"I've killed in front of larger and considerably more formidable 
crowds than this one.  Now I want you to toss that device your holding 
into the trash can up ahead as we pass it.  Now move."  Prodding her 
gently in the back with the carefully hidden blaster he started 
walking.  As they passed the trashcan he had indicated Ayeka 
reluctantly tossed the homing device in… her tiara and the still active 
jamming device joined it.

	"You will not get away with this."  She hissed, the chill on her 
voice amazingly enough getting colder as her fear scent was gradually 
replaced with anger.

	"Please tell me you can do better than clichés in this situation 
M'lady."  He chuckled slightly.

	"Fine then… when I escape I swear I will have your head delivered 
to my father on a plate."  Ayeka growled, the chill on her voice 
replaced with an almost savage heat.

	"Your Father M'lady?"  Mayhem asked, amused.  "Now who might that 
be?"

	"My father is Emperor Asuza of the Jurai royal family."

	Mayhem paled.  "You mean I've just kidnapped one of the Royal 
princesses?  SHIT!  As if the guy wasn't pissed at me already!!!"  He 
was almost wailing, not really caring if the princess in front of him 
heard.

	"If you let me go now you may be lucky enough to earn a painless 
death."  Ayeka sneered.  "If you don't I guarantee that they will draw 
your execution out for days.  Weeks if what I've heard about you is 
even half true."

	"Well I guess I'll just have to avoid getting caught then 
Princess."  With that he pushed her onto a nearly abandoned bus headed 
for the outskirts of Tokyo.



	"Dammit!!!" Ryoko yelled, startling a good number of drunken 
partygoers into sobriety.  "Where the hell is that girl?" she growled, 
trying to keep the worry out of her voice.  She had been the first to 
arrive at the position where Ayeka's homing device had indicated.  Now 
the only one left to arrive was Washu, who had been searching in almost 
exactly the opposite direction from Ayeka.

	The group had been questioning the people in the immediate area 
about Ayeka, but unfortunately most of them were either too drunk to 
remember much or simply hadn't seen anything.  All in all it was 
frustrating and was playing havoc on their nerves.

	"Washu!" Tenchi cried as the diminutive scientist jumped out of 
the cab she had grabbed in order to get to the site of Ayeka's 
disappearance. "We can't find any sign of her or her tracking device." 
he explained in a worried voice.  "We haven't found anybody who 
remembers seeing her yet either."

	Activating her ethereal computer Washu started to rapidly punch 
in a series of commands.  "Well if the tracking device I gave her is 
still intact I should be able to track it no matter what.  At least in 
this low-tech environment."  She furrowed her brow in concentration a 
she scrolled through the information on her computer screen, ignoring 
the amazed stares that her computer was drawing from partygoers as they 
walked by.  "That's odd," she murmured.

	"What's odd Washu?"  Tenchi asked.

	"That's Washu-CHAN!" she admonished before continuing.  "There's 
a localized Jurian style jamming field covering this area."  She said, 
shutting off her computer and walking over to a nearby garbage can.  
Looking into it she wrinkled her nose, took a step back and kicked the 
thing over, spilling its rather ripe contents onto the sidewalk.  
Pulling a pair of rubber gloves out of a subspace pocket she pulled 
them on and crouched, digging through the spilled trash.

	"What the hell are you looking for Washu?"  Ryoko asked, walking 
over from her inspection of one of the nearby shops.

	Fishing out several familiar looking objects, she held them up 
for the rest of the group to see.  Ryoko cursed under her breath.  
Tenchi just muttered a soft "oh no."  They were dirty, but they were 
instantly recognizable as Ayeka's tiara and tracking device.

	"If he managed to get her key away from her she's essentially 
helpless.  I doubt he did it by force though.  After all, I think 
people would have remember the kind of fight it would have taken to get 
it away from her by force."  Washu reasoned.  

	Ryoko snorted "No kidding... there probably wouldn't be much of a 
street left after a fight like that."  Tenchi just nodded in agreement.

	Holding up a small pen shaped object Washu continued in a grim 
voice, "This is a top of the line Jurian special ops personal jamming 
device.  Apparently he managed to salvage at least some equipment from 
his ship before it blew.  We just better hope he didn't manage to keep 
a hold of anything too dangerous.  The guy's supposed to be deadly even 
unarmed.  I hate to think of what he's capable of with access to top of 
the line Jurian military equipment like he's been reported as carrying"

	"So this makes it how many times that Ayeka's been kidnapped 
now?" was Ryoko's only comment.



	Ayeka examined her captor out of the corner of her eye.  His chin 
was about level with the top of her head, and looked to be in good 
shape, broad shouldered with the build of a swimmer or a gymnast.  His 
hair was a rather ordinary brown, fairly short, but from the looks of 
it, hadn't been trimmed in months.  He also sported a somewhat ragged 
goatee and mustache.  

	His eyes were somewhat unusual.  Silver, tinted with green, they 
flashed slightly in the dim light, reflecting what little light there 
was much like a cats.  His nose was sharper and more prominent than 
most of the Terrans she had seen since arriving on the planet, but 
wouldn't have been considered unusual on a Jurian.  Similarly, he was 
noticeably paler than Tenchi or most of the other people she had met in 
Japan.  

	His mouth was generous, though not overly so. The slight frown he 
wore looked almost unnatural on his features.  Other than that it was a 
very ordinary face, the kind of face that would disappear in a crowd.  
The only thing that really drew your attention to it aside from the 
eyes were the scars and the tattoo that decorated it.

	One scar, about an inch long, split his left eyebrow in half at a 
low angle, causing the hair to grow in an unusual pattern, making it 
look like the brow was permanently arched.  Another set of scars, faded 
enough with age that you had to look twice to really see them, started 
under Mayhem's left ear and trailed down his neck and across his 
throat, ending just above his collarbone.  From the look of the ragged 
lines they had been caused by a set of claws, and had very nearly 
killed him, should have killed him.  

	The tattoo was actually on her kidnappers neck.  It started just 
under his right ear and ran down the length of his neck, disappearing 
under the collar of his jacket.  It appeared to be text of some type, 
though she didn't recognize the language.  It consisted of seven runes 
that she could see, though there may have been more hidden by his 
jacket. Each one was about a centimeter square.  Flat black, the thing 
reminded her of nothing more than an identification code.  After what 
felt like an eternity of riding in silence Ayeka finally worked up 
enough nerve to ask a question.

	"Why are you doing this?"  Ayeka asked in a voice still tight 
from anger and nervousness.

	"Doing what?" he asked from his seat beside the Princess, 
sounding slightly amused by the question.

	"Doing what?  You have the nerve to ask me that?" the Princess 
asked in an angry whisper.  He shrugged expressively before retorting.

	"You were the one pursuing me Princess, I'm just trying to 
protect myself."

	"But why kidnap me?" she asked tiredly.  "Why not just kill me 
and be done with it?"  

	"And get your parents even madder at me then they already are?  
No thank you."  Mayhem shuddered slightly before adding "Your Mother is 
a scary woman when she's pissed Princess."  He paused briefly, a 
thoughtful look passing momentarily over his face, "What's your name 
anyway Princess?"

	"Why should I tell a murdering piece of scum like you that." she 
answered harshly, the only thing that kept her from yelling it was the 
press of his gun against her side.

	"Tell you what Princess, I'll tell you my name if you tell me 
yours." he said in a teasing voice, seemingly completely at ease 
despite the situation.

	"I already know your name Mayhem." she spit out.  

	"I seriously doubt that Princess.  Mayhem may be what everyone 
calls me, but it's not my name.  Hell, I don't think that anyone off 
this planet knows my real name.  At least no one alive."
 
	"And why is that you monster, did you kill everyone who found 
out?"  Ayeka retorted angrily.

	Mayhem's expression hardened briefly, and he answered in a sharp 
voice,  "I only told one person.  She died in a raid by some of your 
soldiers Princess.  They were so anxious to get their hands on me that 
they ignored the presence of a completely innocent girl and came in 
shooting."

	Ayeka couldn't think of an appropriate response to that, and said 
nothing.

	The bus lurched to a stop and the driver called "Last stop!" over 
the intercom.

	"Well we're here."  He sighed.  "C'mon Princess."  With that they 
stepped off the bus into the quiet country night.


End Chapter one.