Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Alpha Requiem I By Evil Dr. Tran and Otaku Jay for writing the final battle sequence between Onimaru and Ryoko. Disclaimer: The Characters you're about to read are created and owned by AIC/ Pioneer. This fic written just for entertainment purposes and not for Moneymaking. Author's Notes: When you read this three part story line there will be events where most things are different. Due to very limited information that's been so far released, this chapter will not in any way try to resolve the mystery between Tsunami, Washu and Tokimi. Everything will fall into place as you read along. Don't ask questions just yet, for now, enjoy. Once in awhile, we all need a little controversy to keep things fresh. This time, negative reviews of this fic will be thoroughly ignored. Love it or hate it, Ryoko's Love is still alive. George Lucas pulled out the same technique 20 years ago by placing people in the middle of the action instead of the beginning. He used virtually unknown characters and it made him lots of money. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Hunted On a faraway world named Jun, the jagged rock planet served its sole inhabitant's as a droid testing grounds. Along the crag landscape, Ryoko carried an exhausted Tenchi cradled in her arms in flight. "Damn." Ryoko muttered discontent to herself, she did not at all enjoy the sensation of being hunted like a pair of animals. Tenchi begun to stir slightly. "Feel...so...tired..." Tenchi said under a struggled breath. Ryoko heard Tenchi's worn out voice which filled her with intense frustration, sadness and anger. The pirate did her best to hold back the reservoir of tears. "Don't worry Tenchi, we're almost close to finding a place to hide." Up ahead, Ryoko noticed a wreckage of an old spacecraft. The pirate immediately decided to use the old wreck as a makeshift shelter. She carried Tenchi into the broken hull of the spacecraft, she examined the craft and figured it to been on the planet for at least fifty years, judging by its rusted old appearance. Ryoko leaned Tenchi against one of the ship's bulkheads, she gazed at Tenchi's battle-ridden face. She looked around for a cloth or anything she can use to clean her beloved's face. The ex-pirate ripped off the left sleeve from Tenchi's battle suit and wiped the battle debris off his face. After Ryoko swept the dirt off Tenchi's face, she sat down close to him, enveloped him between her arms and felt Tenchi's entire body shivering. Ryoko then proceeded to wipe the sweat and dirt off her forehead. After the moments of self cleaning, Ryoko felt an emotional shadow fell over her and tears welled up and distorted her vision. Immediately, she embraced Tenchi tighter in her arms and held him close to her heart. The pirate cried silently as waves of sorrow, anger, and worries clutched her soul. It all happened all so quickly... "That bitch!!" Ryoko screamed out angrily as she embraced Tenchi even more firm. Ryoko thought inquisitive. With a small flash from her energy blast, Ryoko started a small fire to keep herself and her loved one warm. She leaned back against the cold rusted bulkhead and rested Tenchi's head across her lap. The former space pirate closed her eyes and let her mind drift gradually, too tired too even mind the stinging pain sensed across her forehead. For the first time since Tenchi and Ryoko agreed to rescue Washu from Onimaru's clutches, the ex-pirate can finally rest and regain her strength. Instead of having Ryo-ohki bringing them straight to Washu, Onimaru saved the cabbit trouble and teleported Tenchi and Ryoko straight to Washu's captivity. To Ryoko's relief, Washu was still ok but contained in a stasis crystal; that was the good news. The bad news was that they were forced to flee from Onimaru's complex due to the fact that they were in the lion's den, from what little exchange from the brief meeting with Onimaru before she sent out the droids and activated the security lasers. Onimaru's motives of kidnapping Washu is still a mystery, all she did was brag about on how she was successful to attain Washu and not Dr. Clay. After being chased away from the complex, Tenchi and Ryoko had been both on the move for the past thirty eight hours evading and fighting numerous battle droids. "GOOOOOD MOOOORNING, in there!!!!" Screamed a loud voice that shook Ryoko awake. Startled, Ryoko looked around rapidly, she looked down and saw that Tenchi was still unconscious. "Tenchi, wake up!" Ryoko said loudly as she tried to nudge Tenchi from slumber. No response from him. "I said, Goood Morning !!" the voice yelled again. Ryoko's mind quickly cleared from it's mental stupor and immediately recognized the loud assailant's voice. Onimaru. The pirate gently placed Tenchi aside and stood up from the bulkhead. As she walked out of the makeshift shelter, Ryoko immediately spotted Onimaru, sitting alone atop a floating chair in front of her. "Well, I see that you're awake." The huntress chided. "I hope you had a good night's rest. Especially all alone with your dearly beloved, Terran-Juraian mutt." "Shove it, you lunatic." Ryoko replied as coldly as she could. Gleaming daggers into Onimaru's eyes. The red headed opponent narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Early morning crankiness, I see." "It was a bright and beautiful morning until you showed up." The floating chair moved in closer until the point where Onimaru and Ryoko were face to face. "Is that so?" Ryoko narrowed her gold feral eyes and frowned. No reply. Onimaru chuckled as she pulled away. "I see. You try to be resilient, Ryoko. Let me just put it plainly, that you and your Tenchi have demonstrated well in handling my drones..." "They were just stupid toys to play with. Easy to break." Ryoko said as she crossed her arms and turned the other cheek. Ryoko waited for a response. Suddenly, strong metal tendrils from Onimaru's chair, coiled around Ryoko's neck, arms and torso and pressed her against the ground. The chair sped off dragging Ryoko through the desert grounds. The gravel and sand was kicked into the air in Ryoko's wake. Ryoko felt immense pain through all the scrapes and bumps from the harsh drudgery. Ryoko struggled to free herself from the tendrils but then, she was immediately released; the ex-pirate painfully stood up and found that she was at least a half mile away from Tenchi. Ryoko shot a killer's look at Onimaru. "You bitch!! I'm gonna get you for doing that!" Onimaru floated away from Ryoko. "Well then, if you're so confident about facing my 'toys', then you'll have no problem facing these." The chair moved out of Ryoko's view, to her dismay a very large swarm of aerial droids were flying towards her and a small column of battle droids were sprinting towards her all with the obvious intention to kill. The pirate gave out a quick estimate in numbers, at least two dozen. Each of the individual machines were identical to each other, all with the basic hour-glass shape. In the air, the number of automatons that threatened her was only half a dozen. Ryoko gazed up at Onimaru as she readied herself for battle. "You coward!!! Why don't you fight me yourself instead sending out your damned pawns!!!" "Don't worry, I will. Its just that now isn't the time for that." Onimaru answered. "I'll be watching, good luck." She winked and floated off. Ryoko adjusted herself mentally for the upcoming battle, drew out her energy blade, and faced her surrounding opponents. The cyan warrior breathed in deep and hard to calm her nerves down, she closed her eyes briefly to give one quick prayer to the Kami. With only one of her gems, this was going to take a miracle. Ryoko opened her eyes and stood in battle-ready stance. Moments before the first of her attackers arrived, Ryoko quickly thought of a strategy to even out the odds a little. Ryoko crouched to the rock ground on her knees and hands, almost resembling a cat stalking its prey. As Ryoko concentrated, she felt her only real gem glowing with increasing power, Ryoko was channeling energy from the ground. Around the pirate, various eerie forms of spirits swirled in the air, convoluting into one massive form. Ryoko knew that there two sides of creating the demon-ghost, it will most likely turn against her that was the only downside. The major upside, was that the Demon-ghost will try to obliterate anything that appeared to be moving, which is what the pirate needs in order to overcome this ordeal. The only disadvantage is...well...refer to Episode 4 of the OVA series. Meanwhile in mid-air, a short distance away, Onimaru sat in her chair, surprised and amused by Ryoko's ability to form a demon-ghost. This was indeed going to be very interesting. The female spectator watched as flares of red energy bolts destroyed a number of her battle drones. Another malevolent smile appeared on the hunter scientist's face as she admired Ryoko's cunning use of the demon-ghost. Suddenly, she felt the air stir around close to her and sensed a new but familiar presence. "What can I do for you, D3?" Onimaru bemused. "About to show me my papers?" "If that is how you beings usually put it in this dimension, yes. I have left the invasion fleet behind to keep the Juraian fleet and the Galaxy Police busy. They are still not aware of my presence. Both organizations now hold you responsible for the attack in Orion and Planet Jurai." "Yes, I know. Just as planned, you wanted total freedom of movement while I kept both governments busy." "Now our task fleet is crippled. Hardly important enough to continue the diversionary invasion any longer. We have achieved our objectives." "Yep. As planned, you and Tokimi are off the hook. The Juraians and the Galaxy Police want me dead." Onimaru chuckled. "And the best thing of all, throughout this whole ordeal, they're still not aware that the both of you exist. Okay, Washu's ready for you in my lab. Just push the shiny red button to get her out of that stasis crystal." "I gratify you for your loyal services to Lady Tokimi." "No problem. Don't forget, to relay the growth generator to my ship. I'm going to need that device of yours just in case." "Don't worry, I will never forget. Keep in mind that it will only work once." The old man said sternly. "By the way, your job here in this part of the dimension is finished. Why do you continue to interact with Ryoko as if she was your play thing?" The crimson haired villainous grinned. "I don't really know, I find pleasure in harming those that are less fortunate than I am. My way of seeing what they're capable of, to see if I can out smart them and out fight them." The disguised Demi-god narrowed his eyes. "I see...you are a hunter." "If you put it that way, yes I am." Onimaru confirmed, as she beamed happily. "Are you even aware that you are putting yourself in danger if you stay on this planet any longer?" "Yes, I'm very aware and that's why it's so fun. The more odds that are piled against me, the better." After hearing out the Hunter/scientist, the human D3 looked nearly bewildered despite his stoic appearance. "As a hunter, you know that there is a cardinal rule about underestimating your prey." After a few moments of waiting, no reply was heard from his attendee. Much to the demigod's surprise, Onimaru didn't hear him out. It was a case of in one ear and out the other. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance of her unjustified arrogance. D3 admitted that he himself was arrogant but only on the scale of physical and mental existence. Her high nosed attitude deserved no respect and thus, it will all add up to nothing more than bad karma. "I must depart now, I thank you again." "You're welcome." Onimaru returned without turning around at all to acknowledge D3's presence. In a flash, D3 departed Onimaru's side. Battle's Climax On the outer rim of the galaxy, the final battle between Jurai and Tokimi's fleet is about to take place. The Galaxy Police forces have commenced attacks on Tokimi's fleet while the Juraian and Galaxy Police battleships maintained their distance from the fight. For several long minutes the Juraian fleet watched as the galaxy police unleashed wave after wave of attacks on the invaders, not avoiding the battle but waiting for their signal to attack. The small fighters of the Galaxy Police attacked along side the Juraian fighters, annoying the enemy dreadnoughts and keeping the enemy fighters away from the Juraian and Galaxy Police battleships. Finally, the signal to attack finally arrived, the once mighty flagship of Tokimi's Dominion fleet started to engulf itself in flames. The Juraians and the Galaxy Police battleships opened fired and engaged the enemy. Inside the burning inferno, Shoji carried a barely conscience Aeka to the escape pods while Mihoshi followed suit firing as they ran to keep their mechanical pursuers at bay. Then the firing from their pursuers ceased but the two kept on running. Aeka opened her eyes and found that she was no longer a child, she was finally transformed back to her normal age. Aeka gazed up and found that Shoji was still alright but she noticed something very wrong... "Shoji! You're wounded, put me down!" Aeka shouted. Shoji obliged to what the princess insisted. As soon as she was placed on the floor all three continued on their escape. Through the corner of her eye, Aeka briefly saw the pained expression on Shoji's face but he quickly changed it. She passed a quick glance at one of his sides and saw that blood is exposed through the cloth of Shoji's battle Suit. As they finally reached the Escape pods, Aeka looked out through one of the ship's portholes and saw that the Juraian battleships have initiated their attacks. A look of disbelief formed on her face, Shoji and Mihoshi ran up to Aeka and saw the expression on the princess. "What's the matter, Aeka?" Asked, Mihoshi. "Our battleships, their Light-hawk wings has not formed yet!" "WHAT?!?" Shoji yelled. "That's not possible! I've already deprogrammed Onimaru's jamming between Tsunami and the space trees!" For a moment, Shoji thought of the reason for the set back, then the thought came to him. "It might've been due to Onimaru's Zero units." Shoji stated grimly. "They probably reactivated the jamming device." Mihoshi walked over to one of the pods and started the launch code sequence. The ship began to jolt violently due to the various explosions. Aeka walked towards the pod and noticed that Shoji was not walking behind her. The princess quickly turned around and saw what she was dreading the most; Shoji was turning back towards the Ship's bridge. Aeka quickly grabbed Shoji's arm and held on tight. "W- where are you going?!?" Aeka yelled, doing her best to hold her tears back. "I have to go back and make sure the jamming device is put out, permanently! All of the Universe is depending on this!" "Let me go with you!! You're wounded, you can't do it all by yourself!" "NO! You have to go, it's too risky! It's not safe here, you'll be killed and you are Jurai's first crown!" "No! I will not go!" Shoji grabbed Aeka's shoulders. "YOU CAN'T STAY WITH ME! Your safety must be is most import-!!!" Shoji was interrupted by a sharp pain that coursed through his body and held his side. He held out his hand and saw that it was covered with blood. Aeka quickly calmed and tried to look firm. "Shoji, you are just too wounded! I must help you! I order it." Shoji was silent by Aeka's order. A long silent moment passed, he straightened up and gazed at Aeka. "I'm sorry Princess Aeka but the answer is no. This is one issue I can disobey your direct order." Stunned by Shoji's first ever insubordination, Aeka lost all hope and tears begun to burst out. "Y-you can't!" "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." Shoji apologized. Immediately, Shoji pushed Aeka into the escape pod and quickly gave a glance at Mihoshi. "W-what?! NO! PLEASE DON'T, SHOJI!!!!" Aeka begged. Mihoshi understood and grabbed onto Aeka and held her tight. Without a response, Shoji closed the pod door on Aeka, and ran off towards the bridge. Aeka managed to escape Mihoshi's grasp and crawled towards the pod doors. Mihoshi immediately launched the probe. Aeka banged wildly at the pod doors, screaming Shoji's name repeatedly. "I'm so sorry, Aeka." Mihoshi said quietly as she watched Aeka in her most vulnerable state. The escape pod reached space and headed back towards the Battleship Tsunami. Aeka's cries gradually quieted down and she watched as the ship that contained Shoji continued to shrink in view. Shoji ran towards the bridge, enduring the pain in his side. As he sprinted down the walkway, he heard several sounds coming from the rubble. He stopped in his tracks to see what or who made the sounds. Under the rubble that in front of Shoji, Onimaru's last battle droid appeared with the objective to prevent or kill Shoji from returning to the bridge. The mech drone had an hour glass-like figure, the bottom half was the repulse lift to keep it off ground and the upper portion had many mechanical arms, each with different types of weapons. the drone's head was diamond- shaped and it had a piercing red Cyclops eye. The machine moved back away from Shoji to block the entryway that led to the bridge. Shoji activated his energy blade and charged the fierce looking drone. As soon as the Battle drone identified Shoji's attack maneuvers, it opened fire on him. Fortunately, he had already anticipated the attack and he skidded to the side to avoid the barrage of searing lasers. Shoji reached the side of the drone and gave out a battle cry. He sliced two of the mechanical arms in half, jumped on top of the battle drone, and barrel flipped in mid-flight to avoid oncoming fire. Shoji dropped a smoke bomb as he reached the floor. The smoke was released as he landed in front of the behemoth, within a split second, he turned around and charged up his inner energy. As he charged, he felt a solid pain swell up from his side due to his inner channeling. The drone tried regain order within the confusion, it finally found Shoji but another three its arms was destroyed by Shoji's energy blast. Shoji tried to charge forward but a surge of excruciating pain coursed throughout the side of his body. The knight hugged himself with one arm trying to regain his focus and dull the pain a little. As he concentrated, he can taste the faint salty taste of blood. Suddenly, three probes launched from the battle drone rammed into his side and slammed the noble against the bulkheads. Shoji held back the urge to scream despite the overwhelming flood of pain that bombarded his senses. Back to Planet Jun Ryoko tried to keep away as much distance between her and the chaotic apparition while at the same time dodging fire from the machines. Ryoko teleported from one point to the other, slicing and dicing at the battle drones. A short distance away from the pirate, her demon-ghost gave out a fierce roar as it swung it's powerful arms at the ground based mechs. As Ryoko and the ghost destroyed bot after bot, various pieces of debris and shrapnel rained to ground. Meanwhile, Tenchi slowly regained his senses and felt his mind gradually crawling out of the cloud of sleep. Tenchi was suddenly startled by a figure who stood in front of him. As the prince's vision cleared, he immediately recognized the man. "W-what do you want?" Tenchi asked groggily. "I am here to help. This will assist you in your rescue." The tall man walked over to Tenchi and handed the prince his Tenchi-ken which contained the rest of Ryoko's gems. "What do you mean rescue?" Tenchi asked. The prince suddenly realized that Ryoko was missing. "Where's Ryoko!?" "She is currently in a predicament devised by an 'ex- employee'. "Why are you doing this? After causing all that conflict with Jurai and the Galaxy Police? What is it all for?" "Apprehending Washu was our main objective this is a matter that is far beyond your comprehension." "Even if it costs innocent lives?!?" Tenchi yelled out, obviously disgusted. The Demi-god did not even give any regard to Tenchi's remark. D3 simply started to make his exit by slowly vanishing into thin air causing a slight gust in the air. " As far as I am concerned. Onimaru's the real cause of all the trouble, I and Lady Tokimi are just establishing the means to complete our objective. By handing you what you need, I hope that you don't think of us as totally heartless. I wish you luck." Tenchi was silent after a few moments as he contemplated this enigmatic revelation. Disturbed by the fact that EVERYBODY was just a pawn to Tokimi's real intentions. The prince shook off the notion, he quickly hopped on to his feet and ran towards the sounds of a far off skirmish. Ryoko's demon-ghost fought the ground based drones with ease. Each of the machines' fired their lasers at the apparition but the ghost was unscathed. Most of the robots that had the misfortune of confronting the specter, ended up becoming a huge pile of scrap heap. Ryoko held herself well in battle as she looped around her last pair of aerial attackers and then rolled around and destroyed them with her energy shot. Suddenly, a barrage of fire came from below her, Ryoko re-energized her red blade and sped towards the source of the volley. The remaining ground-type battle mechs fired wildly at the speeding demon caller, every shot missed her as she phased in out of physical planes. Ryoko zipped through the last of the drones with her sword; she whipped her blade from side to side after each drone she passed. After flying through the mechanized squad, Ryoko flew straight up to the air, turned around and saw that the squad she attacked were all in pieces. The pirate suddenly felt very uneasy despite her victory. Ryoko did a quick scan of the ravaged area, searching side to side for Onimaru. Without warning, a searing-hot sensation flashed across her back, the cyan-haired fighter yelped in pain. Her blade disappeared from her hand as she fell towards the earth. Ryoko impacted the ground hard front-first to prevent from landing on her lacerated back. The pirate propped her torso on her hands, turned around to see that Onimaru was floating in mid-air armed with a shadow blade. Suddenly, Ryoko heard a close, loud roar emanating from across the field in front of her. She faced forward to find that the Demon-ghost she created was running towards her, coming in for the kill. Ryoko quickly ignored the pained sensations coming from her back and hopped into flight barely escaping the claws of the angry spirit. As the pirate pulled out of harm's way, Ryoko gasped as she realized a horrible discovery. Her healing ability was not kicking in to get reduce the pain and rid the laceration on her back. Ryoko shot a bewildered look at Onimaru. "YOU! What did you to me?!?" The hunter took notice of her prey's mixture of anger and fear. Onimaru smiled triumphantly. "My shadow blade has rendered your healing abilities to nil. Let us see how well you can fare against me. But first, I don't want any distractions." Onimaru switched her attentions toward Ryoko's chaotic demon-ghost. She held her hand up, aimed, and shot out a huge blast of shadow energy at the apparition. The dark energy projection blanketed the evil spirit, nullifying it from existence. The huntress turned her attentions back to Ryoko. "Okay, demon caller." Onimaru grimaced with a hunger for blood in her eyes. "Ready or not, here I come!!!" Ryoko did not at all respond to her opponent's overconfident jive. She breathed in a lung full of air to hold back the pain registering from down along her backside. The pirate closed her eyes, to regain her concentration. In a fraction of a second, Ryoko formed another energy blade in her hands and took in the best defensive position for aerial combat. Onimaru sped and collided in to Ryoko at a near-blinding speed, fronting each other face-to-face. Their blades made a cross while Ryoko was pushed across the air by her opponent's charge. Ryoko could feel her antagonist's frightful glare. The huntress suddenly whipped around the pirate and managed to place a metallic lasso around her. Ryoko found herself restrained by a strong rope as Onimaru pulled away. Onimaru laughed as she pulled Ryoko further up the air and then suddenly whipping the pirate downwards. The pirate side-landed hard against the ground. The forceful impact pushed Ryoko into a slight daze as pain emanated throughout the left side of her body. Ryoko coughed under the dust. "Did that feel good? How about another one? Good, ok!" Onimaru, exclaimed happily as she pulled Ryoko up into air and then suddenly pulled her back to the ground with the metallic whip. "I intend to pound you into the ground until you turn in to a bag of crushed bones!" After hearing her opponent's latest intentions, Ryoko allowed herself to be pulled back into the air. At the very last moment, before Onimaru was able to slam the pirate back into the ground, Ryoko straightened the front half of her cyan mane and shot a barrage of hair needles into Onimaru's arms and face. The result caused the huntress to scream in pain. Ryoko broke free of Onimaru's restraint and charged up her energy. Before Onimaru was able to shake off Ryoko's hair needles off her arms and face, an energy discharge impacted her body. The villain fell to the ground. To prevent the Huntress from reacting any further, Ryoko immediately took the opportunity and charged her opponent. The pirate reached the grounded mad lady and swung her sword. Unfortunately, Onimaru was able to raise her forcefield in time to deflect Ryoko's attack. The pirate pulled away as she gazed at the huntress's face and saw that her opponent's face has transformed. Onimaru's skin has turned darker and her eyes were glowing demonically green. "What the hell are you?" Ryoko asked, trying not show any hint of intimidation even though she was. "In all my years, I have never let anyone go as far as touching my face during battle. Let alone cheap needles." Onimaru growled. "With a face like yours who wouldn't?" Ryoko added with clear satisfaction. "I'm through playing with you. I'll show you for defacing me." "What the?!?" Ryoko, questioned. Bewildered by a sudden formation of a dark tornado formulating around her. Ryoko found herself encapsulated within the shadowy vortex. Onimaru stood outside the whirlwind, she held out her hand and balled her hand into a fist. The man-sized twister began to shrink and close in on Ryoko. Throughout the ordeal, Ryoko felt the violent air, a sensation of a thousand razors cutting her face and through out her body. The dark vortex dissipated and Ryoko felt Onimaru's punch into her lower torso. Ryoko found herself held up in the air by her opponent, her mind struggling to crawl out of its haze. Tenchi finally arrived the battle field, to his horror, he saw Ryoko in Onimaru's grasp. His beloved pirate was not looking well, Ryoko's battle suit contained numerous cuts and her face was dripping with blood. To even further Tenchi's anxiety for Ryoko's life, he saw the laceration on his loved one that went across her back. Tenchi asked wildly to himself. Suddenly, Tenchi started to hear audible screeching noises coming from above. The prince gazed up into the sky and found that the source of the screeching sounds were coming from projectiles heading towards the surface. The projectiles looked like missiles of various shapes and sizes, each with a smoky tail caused by the friction of zipping through the atmosphere. In other words, Tenchi quickly identified them as being meteorites. Ryoko coughed as Onimaru held her in the air, the pirate could taste the salty blood in her mouth. "What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to kill me?" "Not yet. Look over there, my dear Ryoko, isn't that your beloved prince?" The pirate looked over across the field to find that Tenchi was running towards them to rescue her. She clearly saw that Tenchi was now in his Juraian battle suit and armed with Tenchi- ken. Then Ryoko shot a threatening glance at Onimaru. "If you hurt him in any way, I swear, I'm going to kill you!" Onimaru chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't..., but they will." The huntress pointed towards the cloudy skies above them. "The hell do you mean? What the!!!" Ryoko yelled out as she saw a small meteorite impacted the ground next to Tenchi. The explosion of the rock's impact caused the prince to fly into the air. The prince landed on the earth hard. To the pirate's horror, Tenchi did not squirm or move after his hard impact to the floor. The cyan warrior's feral eyes turned even more fierce. Ryoko charged up her remaining gem's energy, aimed her palms at her enemy and fired a bolt of energy into Onimaru's chest. The captor released Ryoko. The pirate immediately flew towards Tenchi's side. "TEEENCHIII!!!!!" Ryoko screamed as she jetted towards her loved one. Onimaru fell back as Ryoko escaped her grasp. The energy bolt she received to the chest by the pirate did not at all do any harm. The Huntress smiled hellishly and watched as her prey flew off. "Go ahead, Ryoko!" Onimaru yelled out. "Fly to him! Can you avoid being hit by the incoming meteor shower?!" As Ryoko flew she ignored her opponent's remarks, her mind was too focused on praying whether Tenchi was alright or not. Tears welled up in her eyes when she reached him. The prince was laying on his side, Ryoko could not see his face from her position. The pirate finally reached her beloved, Ryoko gently held Tenchi in her arms and looked at him. She thanked the Kami that he was not armed. Then Ryoko noticed three familiar marks on Tenchi's forehead, they were the signs of the light-hawk. Suddenly, her surroundings became even more chaotic as numerous explosions occurred caused by the meteor showers. Then Ryoko spotted a flying rock falling towards her and the prince. Immediately, Ryoko turned around in front of Tenchi to shield him from the imminent explosion. The meteor impacted the ground in front of the protective pirate. The energy of the explosion pushed the two across the field. The heat, debris, and sheer force of the explosion slammed against Ryoko's lacerated back. The two landed hard on the ground. Ryoko still had Tenchi in her arms, a surge of intense pain welled up through out her body. Ryoko screamed in agony, she nearly lost consciousness. The emblem on Tenchi's forehead started to glow. At the sound of Ryoko's painful screams, the prince regained his senses, he can sense the power of the light hawk wings struggling to be activated. All he needed was more focus. Tenchi looked to his side and saw Ryoko on her arms, her face was showed signs of internal struggle, and her body trembled under intense pain. "R-Ryoko?" Tenchi muttered. The pirate did not respond at all due to the pain. Suddenly, the prince heard a woman laughing from the chaos of the meteor shower. Through the smoke and blazing fires he could see Onimaru's silhouette walking towards him and Ryoko. Tenchi still had the Tenchi-ken in hand, he regained his train of thought and pointed the hilt of the blade towards Ryoko. "Ryoko, focus your thoughts on these gems!" The pirate started to focus and concentrate on her two remaining gems. Turning Point A few clicks away, Aeka immediately felt more uneasy when she felt a presence calling out to her. The escape pod was near approaching the landing docks of Tsunami. Mihoshi looked over to Aeka and noticed that the princess was in her battle suit. "A-Aeka!?!" Mihoshi asked nervously. "W-what do you think you're doing?" "I'm going to back to Shoji." Aeka said quickly without a hint of hesitation. Mihoshi moved forward to Aeka and held the princess's arm. "You can't!! It's too dangerous!" "I don't care." Aeka said stoically. The she repelled Mihoshi's arm away with her force field and surrounded herself within the barrier. Aeka opened the pod doors, flew out into the vacuums of space. Mihoshi watched helplessly as Aeka exited the pod, immediately, Mihoshi closed the pod doors to return back to the Tsunami. Using, her natural Juraian power and training, Aeka channeled all her rage and passions into flying back to Shoji's side as soon as possible. Like a red-purple shooting star, Aeka shot through the battle field of space. Meanwhile, four more launched probes were on top of Shoji, pain and anger continued to boil within the struggling knight. Under the attacks of blows and punches, Shoji closed his eyes and focused his mind. After several moments, the Knight repelled the probes off of him with the remainder of his force field. The wounded knight struggled to his feet, picked up his energy blade and charged. He neared towards the closest probe and chopped off it's stubby mechanical arm. Shoji terminated the unit with another slice of the blade. Then, two of the remaining probes confronted Shoji with a new attack. One of the Units tethered an energy whip around Shoji's neck, strangling him while the other shot lasers at him. Sensation after new sensation of pain wreaked havoc through out the knight's body. Shoji fought the temptation to throw up, he gritted his teeth and tried for one risky maneuver. He shot his energy blade at the whip wielding drone's probe unit and destroyed the monstrosity. The whip that strangled him dissipated and he painfully ran towards his dormant blade while the other probe shot at him. Shoji reached his blade as he began to pull the blade from the body of the destroyed probe, the Cyclops drone appeared and shot a charged bolt of laser at the knight. The laser exploded in front of Shoji and kept him away from his weapon. He was on his back, his vision blurry, the only thing he felt was pain which told him that he was still alive. Shoji coughed up blood and as he gradually regained his vision. The last two probes were jetting straight towards him. Shoji turned over to his side and quickly leaned upwards. The probe units were closing on Shoji as he regained his footing and got into a ready stance. He breathed hard and deep, suddenly, a wave pain surged through him and he fell forward and landing on his knees. At the very last moment, the probes were swept off by an unseen projectile and destroyed. Not caring whatever happened to the droids, the knight lost all his remaining strength due to overwhelming pain and fell back flat on his back. Aeka made it in time to destroy the last probes before they reached Shoji. As the machines exploded, Aeka turned around and saw the battle drone looming towards her. Aeka narrowed her amethyst eyes and tapped into the Juraian energy pool. The princess held her hands up and released a brilliant beam of light. The Jurai beam sliced the battle drone and obliterated it. Aeka looked around for the Guardian Knight. What she saw next, hit her straight to the heart. The site of Shoji's battered body shook Aeka. "Shoji!!" Aeka screamed as she ran towards him. The princess reached his side and kneeled close to him. "No..." Shoji whispered. "What, Shoji, what?" Aeka asked her eyes welling up, her nose almost running. "You...deactivate...the...the..." Aeka quickly understood. She stood up and looked down at him. "I'll.." Aeka struggled. "I'll be back, Shoji." As she turned towards the bridge's entryway, she saw that under the battle ravaged face of the knight, laid a very slight smile. Aeka used her limited abilities of flight and shot towards the bridge. She reached the bridge and headed straight towards the terminal that activated the jamming device. In the middle of the room, the huge view screen showed the progress of battle, at the moment, the good guys were about to fallback. Aeka switched the jamming off and immediately, the Flagship Tsunami began to glow brightly. On the view screen, Tsunami glowed, several bright rays of astral light shot from the battleship and into the other Juraian Ships activating each ships' space trees. All the Juraian ships began to form their individual light-hawk wings. Onimaru "What's this?!?" Onimaru ceased her demented laughter as soon as the alarm on her wrist signaled that her Light Hawk inhibitor was offline. "This can't be happening!" A buried conscious deep within her mind spoke with great approval. "Shut up!" Onimaru ordered shutting out the second mind. The scales of glory has tipped away from her favor and rapidly approaching Ryoko's side. She looked over to Ryoko and saw that the pirate's body had become luminous. Kicking herself for being overconfident, the Huntress did her most to let assess the reality of the situation. "Looks like I'll be going down hill from here." The huntress flipped open her wrist to reveal a small computer panel and activated D3's growth generation device. She proceeded to key in all the essential algorithms to insure that there WILL be a Plan B. A few hundred feet away, Tenchi felt a familiar yet powerful feeling returned from inside his body. He knew and recognized immediately that his ability to form the Light Hawk Wings had finally returned. To Love One's Loss "Tsunami's power is finally released." Aeka stated as she watched Tokimi's false legacy began to crumble. Aeka sprinted back to Shoji's side. She reached the knight and held him close. Aeka placed her left cheek against his forehead. A tear rolled down her cheek and landed Shoji's on closed eyelids. "Shoji?" Aeka called out. No response. Aeka checked his wrist and chest, there's no pulse and he isn't even breathing. The knight was silent. "I'm..." Aeka said and wept. "I'm so sorry I couldn't be here any sooner..." Aeka wept hard and silent as she held the noble knight in her arms. "I never had the chance to say thank you..." Aeka said regretfully. "And...and..." Aeka was interrupted by a peculiar sound coming from under Shoji's battle garment. She focused in on the melodious sound and listened hard. She reached into the garment's pocket and took out a small music box. The music it played was sweet and simplistic. Aeka always loved it. The music box use to be Aeka's until she gave it to Shoji as token of their friendship and love. Ryoko's Duel Upon receiving the gems on her wrists and neck, the severe wounds that covered Ryoko's body were instantly healed. The pirate's golden eyes were suddenly replaced by glowing crimson orbs. The gem on the base of Ryoko's neck started to illuminate. Several brilliant beams of light formed around Ryoko into an incoherent mass, slowly becoming light hawk wings. Tenchi noticed the bewildered look on Onimaru's face and couldn't help but smile. The prince then looked over to Ryoko, her eyes were glowing red but not in a menacing way, Tenchi spotted that her wounds had healed completely, and he marveled at her brilliant light hawk wings. The pirate resembled an angel. She had four feather-like wings outstretched along her back and a pair from her neck. Tenchi figured the wings on her neck were probably for defensive purposes. The once cloudy gray skies parted away above their heads and gave sight to the emerald bright sky above. The meteor shower had long stopped since Ryoko's wings appeared, either that or merely diverted. After the transformation, Ryoko felt the rush of renewing energy coursing throughout her body. A feeling she barely remembered from her days as Kagato's pawn. Only this time, the ex-pirate isn't a pawn to any bloodthirsty maniac, she is in control of her own destiny and she will let nothing interfere with that right. Especially some demented harpy who is hell bent on starting up a feud. Tenchi sensed a rejuvenation throughout his body as Light Hawk Wings formed. The Prince held out his hands to touch the pair of LH Wings, ready to do their function. The rush of transformation turned his Juraian battle suit into a gleaming white uniform. Feeling the power course through her body Ryoko channeled all her strength and all of her anger and hatred into an immense ball of extreme crimson energy. Ryoko aimed at her opponent and hurled the focused projection at Onimaru. Onimaru was thrown backwards and into the air by the blast. In mid air, her vision was returned and Onimaru saw Ryoko pilling towards her. The huntress barely had enough time to raise any semblance of a shield from Ryoko's onslaught. The enhanced pirate saw her opponent's weakness from her attack. Ryoko re-directed one of her light hawk wings into the form of a glowing white scimitar-like sword. A blood curling battle cry sounded off as she wildly swung the sword in an arc. Ryoko attempted to slash through Onimaru's shoulder but it was blocked by her target's shadow blade. "I see your friends succeeded in disabling my device. No matter, perhaps we can have a proper duel now... still the outcome will be the same..." Onimaru said apathetically "Your slow demise!" The huntress fired an energy bolt into Ryoko's midriff. The blast was easily absorbed through the light hawk wings. Onimaru frowned with growing frustration. "You have a lot of power than originally I gave you credit for, PIRATE!" Onimaru spat. "Perhaps your weakness is your fondness of that feeble Juraian prince you adore so much! Isn't young love sweet, unfortunately, it will be short lived!" she cackled as a black energy blast amassed in Onimaru's hands pointed towards Tenchi below. "Leave Tenchi out of this you bitch!" Ryoko screamed as she threw herself in front of Onimaru's hands, barely catching all the blast in the four of her light hawk wings. Suddenly, the upper two wings to the side of Ryoko's neck unfurled and gripped Onimaru by the shoulders. Ryoko Dazed from the impact erratically shot upwards and into Jun's upper atmosphere, Thought, Ryoko. After regained her senses by the sudden change of atmosphere (Or lack of), Onimaru noticed the week link in Ryoko's defenses. She charged up an energy blast and aimed it directly at the bright red gem in Ryoko's neck. Upon impact the gem released a blinding white flash. Ryoko screamed and let her embrace of Onimaru go. Feeling the intense pain of the energy back flash through her system Ryoko realized the dark energy of Onimaru's attack flow through her body. Onimaru clutched her head in agony, the psychic feedback from the attack was her only chance of winning. In excruciating pain, Ryoko focused the last of her energy reserves into a triple light hawk-edged lance. The pirate quickly and swiftly thrusted the weapon through Onimaru's heart. Onimaru's scream would have made a banshee proud; it was like a million blackboards being scratched in unison. A thick black vapor escaped from Onimaru's eye sockets and mouth, leaving a gray husk that was Onimaru's body hanging lifeless on the tip of Ryoko's lance. The pirate jerked the lance free of Onimaru's body. The blade exited Onimaru's body. In the cold void of space, the shell started to dissolve into a fine gray dust. Ryoko felt a blanket of exhaustion slowly crept through out her body. Ryoko decided to head back to the surface of Jun and search for Tenchi. Meanwhile, back on the surface of Jun, Tenchi destroyed a few more drones which insisted on not staying dead from the previous battle. "Who's next?" Tenchi challenged at the immense pile of scrap strewn across the desert in front of him. The prince wiped the sweat from his forehead. Tenchi thought, , Almost as if to answer, a blinding white flash appeared in the sky above. "Tenchi!!" Ryoko shouted as she descended towards the planet surface. The pirate spotted a pile of metal objects with smoke pouring from them. Ryoko then headed towards the decimated battle drones in hope of finding Tenchi. Tenchi felt a prickle on the back of his neck. The prince spun around, ready to confront more drones, only to find Ryoko encased in her light hawk wings speeding towards him. Stopping not much further than a foot away from Tenchi. Ryoko threw her arms around Tenchi and embraced him in a killer hug, one that Masaki would be proud of. For a well deserved untracked time, The couple savored each others' warmth and security. Ryoko finally released Tenchi when she heard the familiar mewing of her partner Ryo-ohki through the re-established mental link. Meanwhile, in the vacuum of space, a familiar cloud of gray dust floated serving as a cold memorial to Onimaru's death. Suddenly, out of subspace, a ship appeared alongside the dust cloud. A hatch opened and a little drone appeared, it collected a sample of the dust with a metal cap at both ends, and flew back into the craft. The device promptly turned around, and re-entered subspace. The Spaceship Ryo-ohki now hovered above Tenchi and Ryoko ready to pick the both of them up. Tenchi looked over to Ryoko and noticed that her Light Hawk wings were dissipating. The pirate's legs started to wobble as the wings disappeared. Tenchi quickly took notice of Ryoko's escalating fatigue. "Ryoko? Are you alright?" Tenchi asked with concern. Ryoko shook her head negatively and started to falter on her stand. "I'm so tired..." Ryoko started to close her eyes. Which signaled Tenchi to immediately scoop the pirate into his arms. And so he did, the pirate was cradled in the Prince's arms. Ryo- ohki's transport beam, teleported the two on to the cabbit ship's bridge. "Miya? miya?" The ship asked with great concern. "Its alright, Ryo-ohki." Tenchi assured the pet spaceship. "We're both ok. Please, take us home." Tenchi sat down at the command console chair with Ryoko in his arms. He looked down at his sleeping beauty and smiled. The prince felt hot tears gathering in his eyes. He welcomed the long deserved sensation of relief, the weight of the universe was lifted off from his shoulders. The Masaki have survived the long crisis along with his love. Tenchi gazed at Ryoko and took notice of her new battle scars. The sight of them made the prince uneasy and sad. The scars were poignant testimonies for the space pirates struggle. Ryoko went through hell and back trying to stay alive as long as possible. If it weren't for the success of Aeka's part, the both of them wouldn't have survived. Tenchi held Ryoko closer to his thumping heart. He prayed to the Kami and thanked them for her survival and resilience. "Tenchi..." Ryoko whispered in her sleep. Ryoko's voice was barely audible to the young Masaki but he was able to figure out what the pirate said. Tenchi gently brushed Ryoko's bangs aside and softly planted a kiss on her forehead. He leaned against the command chair and relaxed. He closed his eyes and heard Ryoko's soft rhythmic breathing. His mind drifted off to sleep intent on finding Ryoko's astral in his relaxing dreamscape, not intending to wake up until they reached earth. Home sweet home. Departure The once mighty flagship of Tokimi's fleet is now a ghost ship. Two lone individuals were still onboard, a lifeless Shoji laid cradled in Aeka's arms, his face was finally dry from the moisture of the Princess's tears. An hour had passed since the battle had drawn to a close. The remnants of what was a mighty invasion fleet had fled. Through the view screen, Aeka solemnly watched as all the allied ships moved around the battlefield each craft had their search lights on, seeking out the princess. Suddenly, the amethyst-haired princess heard footsteps coming towards her from the hallway. "Aeka! I have finally found you!" "M-mother?" The lady queen embraced Aeka in a mother's embrace. "I thought I would never be able find you!! And you're back to normal!!! You're not a child anymore!! I am so relieved!!! Let's go back to the-" Misaki suddenly cut herself off as she noticed her daughter's guardian peacefully cradled in Aeka's arms. "Is..." Misaki struggled to speak. "Is he dead?" Aeka looked down sadly at Shoji and quietly nodded. "I am so sorry Aeka. I did not realize..." The queen trailed off. "Its alright, mother." Aeka assured sadly. For several silent moments Misaki watched as her daughter held on to Shoji as if not wanting to leave his side. The long haired royal placed her hand on Aeka's shoulders. "Come Aeka, we must leave. The shuttle is waiting for us, we have to go back to Jurai." "I..., I do not want to." "Do you love him?" Suddenly, Aeka held Shoji closer and tighter. The elder princess began to tremble and cry. Misaki moved in closer to her daughter and held the princess in her arms. "I was so close! It is unfair!" Aeka cried sadly. "I know, I understand how you feel about him-" "No mother! You don't understand!" The princess interrupted. "Understand what?" "I didn't get a chance to say the words to him." Misaki thought for a moment on what Aeka meant. She contemplated and realized what Aeka really meant. "I'm so sorry things did not turn out the way they should be." Aeka was still silent, quietly finding out a way to crawl out of her dark mood. "Come, Aeka. Let's go home. You will feel much better once you are back on Jurai." "Yes,...I need Jurai, but I just can't leave him here. I'm reluctant to leave." Aeka said sadly as she caressed Shoji's tranquil face. "Will father try to arrange my marriage, once I return?" "I am not sure." Misaki replied honestly. "If he does, I refuse to go back." "Now, I don't think you should worry about that. Your father is not TOTALLY careless of your feelings. Don't worry, my dear Aeka. I'll tell him not to do such a thing. The royal family can do fine without requiring your marriage." Aeka's face finally lit up and hugged her mother with a strongly. "Thank you mother." "My pleasure, Aeka. I will always support you no matter what. Now lets go, our shuttle is waiting for us at the landing docks." Aeka gently placed Shoji onto the deck where she stood. The princess looked down at her former guardian, a sad look on her face. "Once I leave, he will be all alone here." "I will leave for the shuttle and give you a minute alone with him." "Thank you mother." Misaki left for the landing docks where the shuttle stood on stand-by. Aeka kneeled down next to Shoji and clasped her hands together. The princess did a silent prayer for Shoji's safe journey. After her prayer, Aeka reached into Shoji's uniform pocket and took out the tiny music box. She wound up the spring fully and the melody started to play. The purple haired princess, took off her royal headband, placed it over Shoji's heart, and crossed his arms over her royal head band. Aeka wiped a sad tear from her eye and she slowly walked back to the shuttle. Then, after having paced down a few steps, Aeka heard a harmonious sound coming from where Shoji laid. Not knowing what to do, the princess quickly decided to run back and check on Shoji's body. She thought about the past time Shoji had spent watching over Aeka when she was turned into a mere child by Onimaru. Throughout the terrible quest for the ailment's cure, Aeka had to ride on Shoji's back in order to prevent her from falling back far behind. The course of the journey, gave Shoji and Aeka more time bond. So close, and yet, not able to fully explore the possibility. Aeka finally reached Shoji's location and was shocked to find that in her former guardian's place laid nothing. Sasami and Tsunami can now relax On the bridge of the Tsunami, Sasami is awaken from her dream-like state and sighs in relief. From what she had witnessed, Tsunami and Washu was able to negotiate a treaty of sorts with Tokimi. During the negotiations, there was a lot of talk about Tenchi and Ryoko's potential ability to tip the scales of balance within the universe. The level of conversation was beyond Sasami's comprehension but there are hints of new factors that has yet to reveal themselves. The unknown factors will ,undoubtedly, forever change the standing government powers of the Universe forever. The thought of which is most disturbing to Sasami. Whether it being for the best or the worse remains to be seen. For now, peace is at hand and there is plenty of time to prepare. "I understand my role now, Tsunami." Sasami said and smiled as she felt hints of Tsunami's power flowing through out her body and soul. Nearby, in the bridge pool, Shoji's body slowly regenerates with the glowing power of Tsunami's essence. To be continued in Requiem II: Air... Ending Song: THE DAY AFTER THE REVOLUTION Song written and performed by PULP You can find this song on their 'This is Hardcore' album. The dust has settled, replaced all the bulbs in all the lights. I guess I'll get no sleep, tonight. A Revolution happened. Oh sorry, you haven't heard? We are the children of the new world. If you're quiet you can watch if you like. They say the future's beginning tonight! Whole empires will crumble! Civilizations will fall! Lie on the bed, hear the sound of it all. No anger, no guilt and no sorrow: It sounds unlikely, I know, but tomorrow You will wake up to find that your whole life has changed! Although nothing looks different, A revolution took place! I love the way you do it, I love the way you put them on. You know the answers but you get it wrong. (just to confuse things) Why did it seem so difficult to realize a simple truth? The revolution begins and ends with you. Now all the breakdowns and nightmares look small. Now we decided not to die after all! Because the meek shall inherit absolutely nothing at all! If you could stop being so feeble you could have so much more. The answer was here all the time you see. Just how I missed it is a mystery to me! I have waited and waited for this day to arrive! The revolution was televised. Now it's over bye-bye, it's over bye-bye... Author's notes: Is this chapter a wild ride or what? Sorry if it's been such a while since anything worth reading was released by me. But that'll change ^^, you see the next two chapters are underway and both will be HUGE. I'll get them out ASAP but with care. I would like to give very special thanks to Charis Lesell, Shorin, K'thardin, Gensao, Lina Cutie, and Mag-chan for giving me input on this chapter. I would also like to thank my editors, BCcrisis and Random. Thank you all for taking the time.