Outsiders, chapter 6 Revelations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A titanic shower of glowing sparks. Residual embers burned blue in the screen for a few seconds more before fading to the black of their energy-leeching surroundings. Only a little time passed before the next globule came speeding at them, blazing with barely contained energies. Like the others, it bounced off a flawlessly aimed barrier field and detonated harmlessly. Everyone present knew that each detonation held enough power to vaporize Ryu-oh about five times over. "A minor distraction, and he knows it." This drew another look of mild astonishment. Despite all they had seen, and all other indications, the assembled group still had little idea of the true extent of his power. Another bomb bounced off the reflection field and detonated. They would find out soon enough. Five hours had passed since they last left jumpspace. By now the ship's sensors could feel the massive presence they were approaching. He knew what it was, and based on the absence of any evidence of their enemy's presence, he also knew where that one was. The insane core had gone inside, taking his stolen treasure to its final destination. One way of another, this game would end now. He stroked the dance of energies playing throughout nearby space with a metaphysical feeler. The remnants of a false-space bubble still clung to the ship's vicinity. A huge tangle of energy reared up straight ahead, monolithic and mysterious. The shell surrounding it prevented anything much more specific than that from getting through, for now. And something else played at the edge of his sensitivity radius. He decided to set that aside, judging that if it was worth worrying about, it would become clearer soon. Focusing the scan, he probed into the moods and mindset of each member of the "expedition". Aeka was holding back the grief with an old sense of duty, surpressing hope and sadness alike with her mighty willpower. Ryoko was nursing her anger, waiting for the chance to explode with vengeful fury at the one who had violated her. He would take that into account when the time came for that inevitable confrontation. Next, something unexpected happened. A different type of spatial fissure opened up, this one shaped like a near-planar vortex, obviously the product of a bridged pair of subfinities. What emerged was the equivalent of yet another familiar face. There was a slight crackle as the connection flared to life, and the crinkle of some empty wrappers being cleared away from the screen on the other end. "Oh I-I-I'm so glad you're all safe, we just woke up and then you were gone and we didn't know what had happened and then she made me- but you- and now-" Mihoshi's squealing monologue was broken as she started into her signature wailing cry, which was then broken as she was yanked away from the panel. "There you are. We've been looking everywhere, Tenchi. Now would someone tell me why we're out here in the middle of nowhere being shot at?" sweat drops were in evidence all around at this from a Kiyone who was very miffed at having all her friends disappear without so much as warning, only to find them several parsecs away, as she put it, 'being shot at'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More incredulous stares. "So now the bad man has Sasami's star seed and half of Aeka's, which he's going to use to turn Ryoko's embryo into a Phoenix and destroy the universe??" Sometimes she just acted like she didn't get it. Or maybe she really didn't get it until the very end. "Uh, yeah, pretty much. And now it's up to us to stop him, revive Sasami, and save the universe." *all in a day's work for us, I suppose.* Of course it wasn't quite as simple as that, due to most everyone having an ulterior motive. Ryoko wanted revenge. Aeka had to save her Empire as well as her sister. Washu.. well, she was inscrutable as ever. The Outsider made a mental note to add her to the List. As for himself, besides his responsibility to clean up this mess the renegade had caused, many of his constituents had become attached to this dimension and its inhabitants, as many of them had once held ideals proclaiming the life Phoenix would burn to be sacred and something to be preserved. Even having been exposed to the cynicism and pragmatism of ages, the ideas were still rather attractive. Regardless of all that, though, he had his mission, orders handed down from the pseudo-intelligence that could still keep secrets, presumably for fear of creating renegades like the one he now chased. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Where's he going?" He nodded, indicating the empty space that was their enemy's apparent destination. Knowing that was insufficient, he tapped a few commands into a nearby panel. Aeka had pretty much given him control of her ship, both because he could have taken it anytime he wanted, and because her mind was not clear enough to interface correctly with Ryu-oh. The scanners shifted their frequency, sending the key wavelength to illuminate the true destination. A round of gasps escaped the assembled group as the first rays returned, bearing a startling image. The objet was huge. Easily twice the size of Sol, although that wasn't quite reflected in the display. What could be seen was that against the expansive surface, garishly illuminated with false-color radiance, their enemy's ship appeared a speck. "The concept is similar to a Dyson Sphere," he explained, "it gathers energy from a star, mostly radiation and gravitational force. This one is built around a blue-white type O." "What's he trying to use it for?" Washu was predictably the first one to recover from the surprise. "He needs energy, and this is the only place he can get enough quickly." For better or for worse, they had to make a final stand here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Yagami pulled up slowly on final approach to their chosen docking port on the face of the sphere. They had chosen to leave Ryu-oh some distance away. There were ways to manipulate pseudo-intelligences like the one it used, while the Yagami would be sure not to turn against them after they had left it. There was a slight tremor as they made contact, and another one as the sphere's unresponsive hatch was blown open. The crew made the short trip through the weightless juncture, three floating, while Kiyone tried to make Mihoshi remember how to swim in air, and Tenchi and Aeka were pulled along by Ryoko and Washu. Ryoko's grasp on Tenchi's arm betrayed none of her usual overblown affection, and he shuddered to think of what she would do when she caught up with her defiler. Soon they turned a corner of sorts, and entered the zone where the sphere's fields no longer canceled the star's gravity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well well, we finally meet." The voice was low, yet oddly twisted. "Yes, we meet at last." The other being's back was to them. "You know what I have to do.. Jason." "Of course. You're still their slave after all. But Jason's dead." "He might be more alive than you think. Either way, it doesn't really matter anymore." He snickered faintly "confident, aren't you." "Always." "Enough talk." Ryoko ignited her blade, "I'll never forgive you for what you've done." With that she charged straight at him, all fields up and ready to kill." He turned instantly and knocked her back across the room with one wave of an oversized hand. "Ryoko!" "Enough of that. It's me you want, and I know you've been waiting for this moment as much as I have." A pause "Well, you're right about that. To kill one of you would almost make the entire project worthwhile. It would also be completely pointless." "Unless I win." His omnipresent transparent field glowed bright yellow. "Yes, unless you win." As if on cue, they both sprang into action, teleporting quickly for a better shot. There were torrents of sparks and shockwaves as the two titans duked it out. When Mihoshi fired, it seemed like she was aiming at nothing in particular but.. 'smack!' The shot had embedded itself in Jason's head. It popped back out a moment later though, and the insanely lucky shot was rewarded by a spread-wave which knocked the two officers and Tenchi, standing nearby, to the floor. Jason's attention was still on the fight, trying to block a large energy shot only inches away from his barrier field. "You know you can't win." Suddenly the loyal Outsider was standing over him, still trying to force the bomb past his efforts. ".....Yes. Something like me could never.. beat something like.. you. Only this time.. I don't need to." Suddenly he was gone. "That fool" Danza followed in a flash. Meanwhile, Washu was already at one of the terminals lining the control room' walls. "My my, he's already activated the final charging sequence." "What's that mean?" Ryoko had already gotten up, but was still rather stunned. She looked around at the three prone forms, then back to the screen, "This could be a problem.." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Face it, he's taken control" "No, you face it, the final sequence has begun, and you can't stop it. The phoenix will rise by an Outsider's hand. Your efforts have resulted in the destruction of this dimension." "Not ours, Jason's. I can feel it now, and so can you. He's taken control of you." "No! Jason is dead!" "He's not. You let him take you over." "I killed him! I killed him and took his body!!" "You didn't destroy his mind. But now I will." Suddenly Jason found himself gripped by the throat, his feeble efforts to free himself completely wasted. "You can't. You can't kill one of your own!" there seemed to be no panic in his eyes. "You're not one of us." With that, the bloated head popped, spraying blood and gray matter across alloyed deck plates. The core emerged. It looked like a metal heart embedded in the late fatso's brain. With complete apparent disregard for the assemblage nearby, the two star seeds slowly orbiting an oversized cell casing, underneath what was obviously an energy injector, Danza started searching the twisted neuro-domination unit's memory. Seconds ticked away, and a whining noise slowly made itself evident. Suddenly, it stopped. "Poor kid." He was staring at the remains of Jason Cullum. The traitor must have already been twisted to have taken his body in the first place. The combination of those sick minds must have been... But now that one was dead, and the other one, he looked at the ball in his hover-field, would be dead soon, once the collective had taken what he knew. Slowly, he scooped up the three objects from their suspension field and left. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "And now it's over. Forgive me if I'm not more excited." "Indeed, you seem to almost be in a worse mess now than you were with the Phoenix." This drew a characteristic wry chuckle. While the universe was no longer in danger, the planet might be in a little trouble as soon as Ryoko came to grips with what had happened. "She'll probably either drink herself silly or use the baby to try and get Tenchi." "'The baby needs a father figure, Tenchi.'" He mimed rather accurately. She joined in with Aeka's obligatory response, "'Lord Tenchi does not have to take responsibility for your illegitimate offspring, miss Ryoko.'" "'But I can't raise a son all by myself, an-'" "'You would not have to if you had not gone off and conceived one in the first place.'" "'Now wait a minute, I was just trying to...' and so on." "Until they get into a fight." "And blow up half the house, and expect everyone else to clean up after them." Washu sighed, "It's not easy being me." "I would imagine not." Sympathized Danza. "Still, I would also imagine things becoming a lot more interesting around here." "More than if we had eliminated the embryonic product of Ryoko and your renegade." "Yes, sometimes a conscience can actually come in handy. Speaking of that renegade, this should make up for helping me recapture him." He was reaching into a transpatial pocket in the air. "Here," he retrieved a small globule containing some mostly transparent, shimmering stuff, "I know how hard you've been trying to get that sample. Consider it a parting gift." She had already finished identifying the contents of the 'gift' and was staring at it, amazed. "But how did you get-" "Don't ask, don't tell, Washu-chan. Just have fun with it." He conveniently chose not to think about what she would do with 'essence of Tenchi'. In a white flash, he was gone from the lab, leaving the diminutive scientist standing nonplused for a second, holding her long-sought-after prize. Maniacal laughter filled the great dark expanse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hehehe. Well, that's all for Outsiders. Thank you for sticking through it. FYI I got the star seed idea from Sailor Moon season 5, as you might have already figured out. If anyone thinks this ending is just begging for more, go ahead and write a continuation. The idea of Ryoko with a son is just... Anyway, I'll be writing some more, much to the likely charingement of many. (Too bad for you) Now for some shameless placing: visit my page at members.xoom.com/CidVI take a look at everything by Peter Suzuki and Keiichi Masaki, which should be on Gensao's TMFF page, and see K'Thardin's reviews at members.tripod.com/kthardin. That's all for now, and don't be too cruel in your reviews, for I am trying... Stephen Daniel Whitestar