Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters, places, or events from the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OAV's or Manatsu No Eve. These are the property of AIC and Pioneer. I do own all new events, characters, and places that have occurred during and after Tenchi Muyo! Will of the Goddesses. Tenchi Muyo! Shadows of a Forgotten Sin "Final Atonement" Gabriel watched as the power levels began to rise. Soon the Ark would be at full power, and he would be able to take it to Nexus. He raised his head when he felt the change in the space around Jurai. "They've come for you, Tsunami," the entity announced. The bound princess, unable to turn her head away from him simply shut her eyes. "What? Nothing to say to me?" laughed Gabriel. "Even if they make it all the way here, you know as well as I do that they are no match for me. Resign yourself to your fate." He waved his right hand, and a view screen of the space around the planet appeared. Blue, green, and purple circles filled the local space with Juraian battleships pouring out of all of them. Gabriel took specific notice that none of the portals were red. "No Ryoko," he murmured with a smile. _____ Admiral Judroa straightened in his command chair aboard the Royal Pride. "Patch me through to the fleet," he ordered. "You're connected, sir," announced the COM officer. The old Juraian cleared his throat. "This is the Admiral to all ships in the fleet. You know what your orders are. We are playing a defensive game here, people. Front line ships open Light Hawk Wings. Second line ships provide cover fire only when needed. When you must fire, aim for none vital areas of the enemy ships that may succeed in crippling rather than destruction." The Loyalist fleet took up positions as ordered. Light Hawk Wing shields opened up. Seconds later the enemy fleet, which looked almost identical from the Loyalists, began to fire with all batteries. Some of Judroa's ships returned fire, but most remained in position as ordered. The Admiral tapped a COM button on the right arm of his chair. "Royal Pride to Sure Bet. Do you copy?" "This is the Sure Bet," came Ukarit's voice over the COM. "You are a go, Sure Bet," Judroa told him. "Good luck." "Luck is my trade, Admiral," replied the gangster. "Stand by, Royal Pride. We'll have the enemy fleet slaved to you in no time. Sure Bet out." The Admiral clicked off his COM unit. "Best speed to you, Ukarit." _____ "We're painted in enemy colors," announced Leah. Ukarit dropped into the copilot's chair next to Kiyone. "Buckle up, people. I doubt they'll be fooled by this for long." Not thirty seconds later, the Sure Bet was surrounded by a storm of yellow blaster fire. "Hold on!" shouted Kiyone. "We're heading into the atmosphere!" The Juraian cruiser, shields bright red from the combination of the atmospheric reaction and continuous enemy fire, descended upon the capital seemingly out of control. "Kiyone!" cried Ukarit. "What the hell are you doing?" The captain grinned without looking away from the front. "I've got a lock on the COM tower." "So?" She continued to grin. "There's no place to land safely. So, I'm taking a page out of the Mihoshi book of flying." "Wow," chirped the bubblehead from the rear. "Thanks, Kiyone." The cruiser tipped and turned as ground batteries slammed its underside. Kiyone pulled hard on the controls just as the white COM tower came into view. "Power to forward guns!" ordered Kiyone. "Powered!" replied Leah. Two barrels extended out from the hull of the ship and fired a pair of blasts at the tower. The two yellow blasts easily opened a hole in the side of the building, which Kiyone steered the Sure Bet right for. The strike team's world shook violently until the cruiser came to a stop a quarter into side of the tower. Almost immediately, everyone on the ship was unbuckling their seat harnesses and moving towards the emergency exit hatch. Weapons brandished, the strike team poured out of the Sure Bet into fresh storm of fire. Ukarit, Kiyone, and Leah remained at the exit hatch to lay down cover fire for their teammates. "Leah!" shouted Ukarit over the repeating blasts of his plasma rifle. "How far are we from the central control room?" The troubleshooter holstered her handguns and pulled out a hand computer. "We're on level four, and the control room is on level nine." She tapped a few of the on screen buttons. "Problem! Looks like the tower guards have called in some reinforcements." Kiyone hit the timer of a plasma grenade and tossed it. An explosion vaporized the Juraian guards, while Leah turned her computer screen towards Ukarit. The gangster frowned as her computer relayed a surveillance camera's images of a squad of Ssl'na entering the tower. The three of them ran from the Sure Bet down the hall the rest of the team had taken. Somar was waiting for them. "We need to get this over with fast and get the hell out of here," announced Ukarit to his first mate. "Why?" asked the pale man. "Reptilian incursion," replied Leah. The troubleshooter stopped and unslung her backpack. "What are you doing?" asked Kiyone. Leah motioned everyone over to Somar's end of the hall. "You guys go ahead." She pulled out several flat discs with motion sensor panels. "I'm going to set some traps for our new guests." Ukarit winced at what she was handling. "Cloak mines. Where'd you find those?" Leah flashed him a grin. "You'd be surprised what you can find in some people's armories if you look hard enough." She plastered one to the left wall and began inputting commands. "Now, go. The ground forces can't get here until we shut the fleet down." Kiyone and Somar ran off, but Ukarit staid an extra second. "Don't try and take them on by yourself, Leah. I'd hate to lose you." The troubleshooter winked at him briefly. "Don't worry about me, boss. I don't plan on dying any time soon." He nodded to her once more before following after the others. _____ "Admiral!" Judroa looked away from his tactical view screen towards the sensor station below. The battle had been a stale mate for the past twenty minutes. By this time, though, the enemy commanders had realized that Judroa's forces were not going to fire back with the intention to kill. So, now the Touched fleet was trying to make their way towards the portals. The Loyalist fleet had been forced back to defend the portals. The old Juraian quickly walked to the railing of the command deck. "Report, lieutenant." "I'm getting a strange energy build up from the capital, sir," replied the officer. "Early scans relate the energy to starship engine, but it doesn't match anything in the computer." Judroa cursed under his breath. "He's moving, and we're not even close to being ready." He raised his eyes and pointed to the sensor officer. "Send a message to Her Majesty of our situation." "Aye, sir." _____ What could only be described as a fleet of assault ships, with about fifty battleships as escort, was holding position in front of the portals generated by members of the Masaki family. Ayeka pushed her way to a computer terminal within the massive hold of her assault ship. A quick push of a button transmitted a message to the screen from the Royal Pride. "Dammit," she cursed. "What's the matter?" asked Shoytal. "We cannot wait here any longer," she answered as she spun around. "Gabriel is making his move. We must secure the capital now, so that Tenchi and the others can get to him." The Empress brushed past her husband and Royal Guard towards the bridge of the assault vessel. Shoytal and the others just watched her march past without objection. "You're the boss," muttered Gerin. _____ "Something's up," warned Washu. Tenchi slowly turned and opened his eyes to look at her. "What?" "The assault fleet is moving towards the portals," she told him. "I'm going to try an contact Ayeka." It was only a few seconds later before a view screen bearing Ayeka's visage appeared. "Ayeka, what's going on?" "We have had to move faster than anticipated," she started to explain. "I just received a message from Admiral Judroa saying that he believes Gabriel's ship is attempting to lift off from the capital. At the same time, the Touched fleet is trying to push its way past our forces and into the portals." Tenchi, his forehead rune still glowing brightly, walked over to stand next to Washu. "Any word from Ukarit's team?" The Empress shook her head. "It's been twenty minutes since they entered the designated tower. We just have to hope they upload the Slave program before its too late." The battleship escort had started entering the first portals. Tenchi was frowning, but he nodded to Ayeka all the same. "Then we need to get there now, despite the danger level. If Gabriel is able to get away, there's a chance we won't be able to catch him. Ayeka, you go through first. As soon as your fleet is on the other side, we'll follow." "Right," agreed the Empress. "Good luck." The view screen vanished. Tenchi looked over at Washu. "Let's go." _____ Ukarit carefully placed the bomb on the door's seam. He pushed the arming button and ran back around the edge of the hall. "Knock knock." There was a small explosion, followed by a cloud of smoke. The strike team lowered their weapons and charged inside. The main control room was circular in design with rectangular computer terminals all connected around a cylinder in the center that was in turn connected to a transmitter on the roof. To their relief, there were only a few scared tech officers manning the central control room. Each one of them raised their hands in surrender. "Phew," went Ukarit. "Guess we took out what guards there were on the way up." The tower suddenly shook slightly from an explosion several floors down. "And that should take care of the Ssl'na," added Kiyone. Ukarit, grinning from ear to ear, pulled a data chip out from the inside pocket of his coat and tossed it to Somar. "Upload that thing so we can get the hell out of here." The pale man caught the chip and nodded. "Right, boss." He ran over to the main terminal, inserted the chip, and began to upload the Slave program. "Should only be..." His words were cut off when the ceiling suddenly came down around them. Before anyone could react, four Ssl'na warriors were advancing on the team. "Scatter!" shouted Kiyone. Each of the reptilian warriors brandished a flaming sword as they charged. Mihoshi screamed and started firing wildly in all directions with her plasma gun. By sheer chance one of her shots loosened a piece of the ceiling, which happened to cause a small cave in on top of the Ssl'na that was charging her. Kiyone threw her own rifle at the one coming for her and started running. The large creature sliced the weapon in two without pausing to stop. The captain dropped into a forward roll, pulled a pair of blasters from her sides, and vaulted back to her feet facing the charging lizard. Kiyone didn't even take a second to aim before she started firing repeatedly at the Ssl'na. The alien deflected the first few shots, but after one clipped its left shoulder all the rest got through. Kiyone started to yell as she emptied the energy clips of both her guns into the Ssl'na. When each gun finally began beeping due to depletion, the reptile was a smoking corpse. The remaining two Ssl'na had gone right for Somar, but Ukarit had attempted to bar their path. One of the lizards was halted when the Twins jumped on to its back. The last one continued right at the gangster. Ukarit managed to get a couple of shots off, but the Ssl'na was too fast. The alien slapped the pink man's rifle away with his flaming sword. "Ah crap!" cried Ukarit as he ducked under another slash. Thinking quickly, the gangster lunged forward headfirst. He rammed his spiked head right into the Ssl'na's stomach, causing the beast to exhale loudly. Next, the gangster followed by swinging his head upwards and cracking the Ssl'na right in the chin. Finally, Ukarit finished by smashing his foe right in the snout with the top of his head twice. The Ssl'na, face a bloody green mess, staggered once and fell on to his back. The final reptile roared in pain as the Twins, still on his back, repeatedly stabbed him with plasma knives. Kiyone walked over to Ukarit, while reloading her handguns. "That was pretty impressive." Ukarit smiled and rubbed the top of his head. "It's not just for decoration." He looked over at Somar. "How's it going over there?" "Uploaded," answered Somar. "Sending a transmission to the enemy fleet with the Slave program riding piggy back." "Good." Ukarit grabbed his communicator. "Let's get out of here before more Ssl'na come by." He clicked the communicator on. "Leah! Where the hell are you?" "Look out the window!" came her voice over the speaker. Everyone looked around the windows of the control center until they saw an open top shuttlecraft hovering outside. Leah was in the driver's seat waving at them. "I made a stop in the shuttle bay," she said over the communicator. "I had a feeling we were going to need a ride out of here." She steered the shuttle closer to the window, smashing it with a wing. "Hop on!" she yelled over the engine. _____ Ayeka was watching from the cockpit of her assault shuttle as they entered local Jurai space. To her dismay, the Touched fleet had broken through the Loyalist fleet's defensive line. Her escort was already engaged with some of the Touched, and more battleships were already taking up positions to fire upon the secondary fleet of assault ships. "Ayeka," said Shoytal from behind. "You have to give the Admiral permission to fire back. Time has run out for us to show compassion. If you do not give the order, we will all die, and Gabriel will escape." The Empress dropped her head with the realization of the truth behind her husband's words. She was about to order a transmission sent to Admiral Judroa, when the ship's captain pointed to the forward view screen. "They've stopped!" Ayeka and Shoytal's heads snapped forward. Just as the captain had proclaimed, the enemy ships had stopped dead in space. "In coming message from the Royal Pride." "Put it through," commanded Ayeka. She turned to a terminal screen just as Judroa's old face appeared. "The Slave program has gone into affect as planned, your Majesty. We will begin moving he Touched fleet out of the combat zone immediately." Ayeka gave him a triumphant smile. "Excellent, Admiral. Proceed as planned, but I want you to take out the planetary defenses around the capital so that we can land without harassment. We will need all our forces to deal with the Ssl'na, and Lord Tenchi must have a clear path to get to Gabriel's ship." The Admiral saluted her. "As you command, Empress. Royal Pride out." The screen went blank, and Ayeka turned to the captain of the assault shuttle. "Captain, signal the fleet to take up planetary assault formation." "Aye, Majesty," replied the captain. The Empress watched the forward view screen as they approached Jurai. As ordered. Several hundred battleships took up formation and began to loose strategic fire down at the planet. "The way is clear, Empress," informed the copilot. "Bring us in five miles outside the city," she ordered. The fleet of assault ships descended upon Jurai like a blanket that blotted out the sky. One by one, the ships landed and released their eager passengers. Ayeka was one of the first to set foot on Jurai's soil. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She gazed around at her commanders with a cool expression. "Report," was all she said. One of her generals stepped forward. "As expected, a large force of Ssl'na has been picked up heading out of the city in our direction. They seem as eager to face us as we are them." She nodded. "Good. Get to work, now. According to Miss Washu's information, our enemy moves swiftly on land. It should be no more than ten minutes before they reach us. I want our force in the designated formations, immediately. This will not be like fighting the demon hordes of Tokimi. The Ssl'na are a warrior race that once nearly wiped us out over five thousand years ago." Her eyes thinned. "They failed once, I do not intend to let them succeed this time." All heads suddenly snapped up as a familiar cry split the air. "MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!" Ryo-ohki soared through the air, roaring her battle cry as she went. The battleship turned slightly and aimed for the city itself. Ayeka nodded once at the crystalline ship before turning back to her commanders. _____ Every member of the strike team grabbed the edges of their seats when something large flew right over their heads, causing the shuttle to nearly flip over. "MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!" Leah looked up from behind the controls just in time to see Ryo-ohki heading for the northern end of the city. Without pause, the troubleshooter powered up the engines and followed the cabbit battleship. "Leah! What the hell are you doing?" shouted Ukarit. "Following that cabbit!" she yelled over her shoulder. "Are you nuts?" cried Kiyone. "They're heading right for Gabriel!" Leah barely glanced at the teal haired captain. "Do you have any place better to be right now? I can drop you off in between the Ssl'na and the Juraians, if you like." Kiyone muttered something, but didn't reply otherwise. "Thought so." *I'm coming, Hiro.* _____ Tenchi stood quietly in front of his children as Washu steered Ryo-ohki towards the abnormal power readings. When they arrived at the Imperial Palace itself, there was no question what the source was. Right at the moment of their arrival, a ship to rival the immenseness of Souja had just started to lift off from behind the Palace. It was unlike anything any of them, even Washu, had ever seen. The back of the ship was half a sphere, with the round portion facing away. Eight large, circular engine ports covered the rounded area in the shape of a plus sign. The other side of the sphere was completely flattened except for a rectangular section, that had to be at least two miles long, extending out from the center. This rectangular portion was covered in what could only be called a series of oversized conductor cables surrounded by amplification sensors the size of towers. The other end of the rectangular section was connected to four cornered pyramid structure that pointed straight out. Each corner of the pyramid had a long bar that attached all the way back to the sphere. "Now that is impressive," uttered Washu. Everyone on the bridge turned and gave her astonished looks. She simply shrugged. "Well it is." Tenchi looked back at the monstrosity ahead of them. "Take us in, Washu." _____ An alarm went off all around, forcing Gabriel to look away from the engine readouts. He shut off the alarm with a gesture and summoned a view screen. "And so arrives the hero," he muttered. Ryo-ohki could easily be seen attempting to fly alongside his Ark. A new view screen popped up to show the space above Jurai. A grimace crossed his face. The Touched fleet had somehow been taken out of commission, leaving Ayeka's forces free to dispense a bombardment from space. His computer was already showing them taking aim at his army of Ssl'na. "I do not think so, Empress," growled the entity. The entire ship shuddered as Gabriel suddenly released an enormous amount of Light Hawk Energy. "That should take care of things. Now, to more important matters." According to his readings, everything was ready. The engines were at full power, and all he had to do was generate a portal through them that would allow the Ark to pass into Nexus. He could go there easily enough on his own, but without the Ark his goal could not be accomplished. Gabriel pushed a button, which caused a pair of conductor rods to rise up at his sides. He carefully placed a hand on each rod. The entity's white eyes flashed once, showing the only evidence of what he was doing. _____ Everyone on Ryo-ohki's bridge was forced to shield their eyes from the reaction suddenly produced by Gabriel's ship. Only Washu dared to open her eyes again to watch. The entire half sphere was a glow with Light Hawk Power. The gathered power ran down the bars connected to the pyramid and gathered at the structure's tip. Finally, a thick, white beam shot out from the pyramid to create a portal. The huge ship started to enter its creation. "Washu," asked Tenchi quickly. "Do you have any idea where that portal leads?" The former goddess nodded. *Nexus,* said Tokimi, echoing her sister's thoughts. _____ Ayeka had just straddled a hover cycle when her communicator beeped. She lifted it to her mouth to answer. "Report?" "This is Admiral Judroa," replied the voice over the speaker. "We are unable to provide further orbital bombardment. A shield has suddenly surrounded the planet, absorbing all our attacks." Any response Ayeka was about to make was swallowed when she looked out across the plains between her army and the capital city. An endless wave of Ssl'na was quickly making its way towards their position. "I'll have to call you back, Admiral." The Empress dropped the communicator. The hisses and roars of the approaching army could already be heard. "Give the order to form ranks," she ordered over her shoulder. Shoytal echoed her order to the field commanders. In moments, the Juraian army had divided itself into battle divisions. Ayeka sat upon a hill with at the head of a hover cycle squad. In front of her were four hundred thousand knights and soldiers. Behind her were two hundred thousand more. The Ssl'na horde halted a quarter of a mile from their position. The writhing mass of scales seemed to roar as one. "Scouts say they have no artillery or war machines of any sorts," reported Shoytal. "They seem to be a hand to hand only force." Ayeka nodded. "Artillery units take positions." "Artillery take positions," aides radioed over the communicators. The forward units of knights rearranged themselves in front of the rifle and artillery units set up behind them on the hills. The Ssl'na suddenly went silent. An uneasy quiet spread itself across the soon to be battlefield. Then it happened. The Ssl'na charged forward as one, roaring alien battle cries that would make any hardened warrior shake with fear. Their flame weapons flickered to life, reminding all that these were anything but Tokimi's demons from twenty years before. They were worse. Ayeka slowly raised her right hand. "Wait for it..." Their tooth filled maws were now visible. "Wait for it..." Their reptilian stench washed over them. "Fire!" commanded the Empress with a downward swipe. The Juraian rifle and artillery units opened fire on the charging alien horde. Thousands of Ssl'na were mowed down in the first few seconds, yet they still surged forward. The Juraians kept up the pressure, though, and soon it seemed as though the repeated force and plasma blasts were too much for the lizards. Then the Ssl'na made it clear why they should be feared on a field of battle. Suddenly, a wave of Ssl'na flew up from behind the front lines. Ayeka watched in horror as each of the aliens in the air sprouted a pair of leathery wings and swooped down at her rifle units. The Juraian riflemen turned their weapons on the descending menace, but were unable to open fire because of a second Ssl'na surprise attack. Fingers were on triggers when Ssl'na warriors suddenly exploded up from the ground right into all the rifle and artillery units. At the same time the airborne reptiles dropped down on the Juraians with a furious wrath. Juraians cried out in horror and pain as the enemy's flame weapons tore them down by the hundreds. With the artillery neutralized, the main Ssl'na force tore into the front lines of the Juraian army. "I want hover cycle units deployed immediately!" ordered Ayeka. "Have the first and third squads attack the flanks to take pressure off of the front lines. Then I want all remaining squads to get in the air and deal with those flyers." Aides went running off to issue her commands. Moments later thousands of hover cycles were soaring through the air to join the battle. Ayeka turned her head to Shoytal. "Take command of the reserves," she told him. "Once our hover cycle units have engaged the enemy, I want you to reinforce the artillery units." Her husband nodded once. "What about you?" The Empress flashed him a devious smile. "I've been thinking about our enemy. They seem to have forgotten that this is our planet, our home turf as Hiro would say. I'm going to remind them. Once you have engaged the enemy, I will take my hover cycle unit and attack the city. Our goal will be the Imperial Palace and the chamber of space trees within." Shoytal was about to respond, but Ayeka stopped him by placing her right hand over his mouth. "Just keep fighting be ready when the opportunity arrives." Her hand moved from his mouth to pull him into a brief, yet passionate kiss. "I love you very much." "I love you as well, my Empress," he replied while tracing her cheek with his right thumb. The Juraian lord spun around to the small legion of hover cycles behind them, mainly the members of the Royal Guard. "I leave the Empress in your charge. See that she is returned to us all safely." The four knights saluted their leader and friend stiffly. "We will guard her with our lives," replied Mastir. The bearded knight leaned forward slightly. "Just make sure you watch your back, old friend." Ayeka quickly looked away from her husband. She powered up her hover cycle. The rest of the hover cycles behind her started humming with power as well. "Lead your men to battle, Commander," ordered Ayeka without looking back. "Yes, Empress," replied Shoytal. She heard him run off to where the reserves were stationed. Several minutes later, two hundred thousand Juraian knights came pouring around the hills and slammed into the Ssl'na forces harassing what was left of the artillery and gunner units. Ayeka raised her right hand and brought it down swiftly as she threw her cycle into gear. The Empress's force lifted off into the already chaotic air battle taking place. Ayeka wasted no time in creating a force field around her cycle. She tapped the communicator earpiece in her right ear, making the item extend a microphone to her mouth. "This is the Royal One to Hammer Squad. Despite the battle raging around us, you are not to engage the enemy in direct combat. Our goal is the Imperial Palace. The outcome of this battle will depend on our success, so stay focused no matter what you see." The squad neared the perimeter of the battle. "All right, boys!" came Gerin's voice over the team's COMnet. "Time to plow the road!" Ayeka just shook her head and smiled. Ayeka aimed her right hand forward, gathering blue power in the palm of her hand. A beam of Jurai Power shot from her hand, disintegrating three flying Ssl'na instantly. The aptly named Hammer Squad opened fire and pounded their way into the battle. Any Ssl'na in their way met with several hundred energy blasts. Moving as one through the air, Ayeka's force literally plowed their way through the chaos of the aerial battle. Ayeka winced every time they were forced to pass by Juraian soldiers in trouble, but she just kept telling herself that the success of her mission would mean the outcome and survival of her people. Finally, the Hammer Squad burst out of the soup of war towards the capital. Ayeka immediately saw the trees of the Imperial Palace on the horizon. "Uh, Empress," said Gerin over the net. "We've picked up some strays." Ayeka quickly glanced over her shoulder to see a significant amount of Ssl'na flyers giving pursuit. A look down also revealed Ssl'na ground forces trailing them. "Keep on target," she told the Squad over the COMnet. "We'll deal with them once we're inside the Palace." The hover cycles flew, unchallenged, into the city. As she had expected, the Ssl'na had left the city in force to deal with them. "Predictable for a warrior race," she told herself quietly. "All fight, no defense." The Empress led her men down into the streets of the city, making it more difficult for the aerial pursuers to keep up. "Rear guard break off and prepare to keep the Ssl'na ground forces at bay. Do not, I repeat, do not engage them directly. Use harassment tactics to keep them off guard." "Copy that, Royal One," came a response over the COMnet. Part of the Squad tapered off to take up positions. Ayeka and the remaining hover cycles turned a corner and came upon the square in front of the Imperial Palace. A well placed blast from Ayeka blew open gates to the Palace courtyards. All the cycles poured through the shattered gates heading right for the front steps. "The Royal Guard is with me," announced Ayeka over the COMnet. "Everyone else brake off and keep the enemy detained." As the Empress and her Royal Guard flew up the steps of the Palace, the rest of Hammer Squad peeled off to engage the Ssl'na flyers that were closing fast. The five hover cycles set down at the top of the stairs. Ayeka leapt off her cycle, breaking into a hard run for the doors. Her circlet glowed briefly, and the large, ornate doors opened at her silent command. With the Royal Guard following at her heels, Ayeka ran through the halls of the Palace for the space tree chamber. They weaved their way around, up, and down as they went deeper into the Palace. Ayeka entered a terraced pathway, when at least a dozen Ssl'na flyers suddenly crashed through the windows. Acting on instinct, Ayeka threw herself into a forward roll just as two of the reptiles converged on her last position. The Empress rolled back to her feet and spun around, surrounded in righteous, blue fire. The two Ssl'na had only a brief moment to stare wide eyed before the Empress turned them to ash with a blast of her anger. Fighting to stay on her feet, Ayeka was about to continue to fight when Mastir yelled to her. "Keep going!" he shouted. The knight X parried a flame saber aimed at his head. He threw the saber to the right, while following up with a spin kick to the Ssl'na's mid section. Mastir quickly spun around to parry another Ssl'na's flaming claws by batting them down. A swift dash forward, and the claw bearing reptile was headless. "We'll hold them here!" he yelled to her. The Ssl'na he had kicked in the midsection tackled him from behind, sending both combatants to the ground. Ayeka moved to aide him, but Verka blew past three of the other lizards to help his comrade. The large knight reached down, grabbed the reptile by the neck, and twisted it with ease. "Go!" he yelled as well. "We can take care of ourselves!" Ayeka nodded once more and continued for the chamber. Five minutes later, and about to collapse from exhaustion, Ayeka arrived at the entrance to the tree chamber. The golden leaf, gilded doors swung open at her approach. Not trusting herself if she stopped, the Empress kept going at full speed into the chamber itself making a B-line right for the nearest space tree. Ayeka came to an abrupt stop before the ancient life form, breathing heavily. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she removed the glove on her right hand. Next, Ayeka placed her bare hand on the trunk of the tree. Her circlet began glowing brightly. "I come with an urgent plea," she began. "Our people now face one of its greatest enemies. To lose today could very well mean the end of the Juraian civilization. I come to you now, the Space Trees of Planet Jurai, and ask for your aide in saving our people from this menace. They have invaded out home world like an evil plague. Please, save us from this dark tide." Prismatic beams of light began to shoot off from the leaves of the ancient tree. The beams danced around the Empress before rebounding off the floor to seek out other trees. Soon, the entire chamber was filled with these prismatic beams as the space trees communicated with each other. Then, all at once, the beams combined into one gigantic pillar of colored light. Ayeka stepped back with a look of complete awe on her face. The pillar of colored light suddenly exploded through the ceiling of the chamber and into the sky above the Palace. _____ Shoytal ducked under a flame saber, and rose while swinging his double bladed sword right into the Ssl'na's chest. The alien fell, but that didn't mean Shoytal was safe. Another Ssl'na leapt over his dead brother, flaming claws seeking the Juraian's blood. Movement to the left forced him to shuffle back and right as a second Ssl'na charged. The first one reached the Juraian claws first. Shoytal dodged around his attack, kicked the reptile in the knee and spun around just in time to parry the saber of the second Ssl'na, pushing it down with his upper blade. When the lizard forced his blade back up, Shoytal swung his lower blade up into the alien, slicing it in two. Before he could turn around, the other Ssl'na raked Shoytal across the back with his flaming claws. The Juraian lord cried out, stumbling forward off balance. His feet got tangled, and Shoytal soon found himself on the ground. The Ssl'na loomed over him ready to drop the killing blow, when the battlefield suddenly exploded with colored light. The knight was forced to shield his eyes from the blinding light. Once he had adjusted, the Juraian lord dared to look at the scene around him. Nothing he had ever seen could compare to what the he was now seeing. What could only be described as a storm of prismatic rain was pouring down from the sky on to the battlefield. As a result, every single Ssl'na was paralyzed by the rain. Ayeka's warning to seize the moment when it arrived replayed in Shoytal's mind. He quickly jumped to his feet and raised his sword high over his head. "Death to the enemies of Jurai!" roared the Regent as he brought his sword down on the nearest Ssl'na. The entire Juraian army cheered in unison and began to cut down the paralyzed Ssl'na warriors. From that point on it was only a matter of time before not a single Ssl'na was left alive. When their grisly work was finished, Shoytal stood atop a pile of reptilian corpses with his sword raised high. "Victory!" he yelled. "Victory!" echoed the Juraian army. _____ Ayeka staggered out of the tree chamber completely drained of all her strength. It took her a little while, but she eventually made it back to the terraced pathway. To her great relief, all four of her Royal Guards were more or less in one piece. The Ssl'na, however, were all dead. Mastir's left arm was badly eviscerated, and he was leaning heavily on Verka. Gerin had a bandage around his left eye, and Nunar was tying off a gash on his right leg. Each one of them saluted the Empress as she approached. "What happened?" she asked. "There was a flash of colored light, and they were all suddenly paralyzed," answered Verka. "Then we just cut them down," added Gerin with a lopsided grin. Ayeka slowly walked to the edge of the pathway and gazed out through the broken windows. The Royal Guard soon joined her. The five figures watched silently as a monstrous ship of alien design began to enter an enormous white portal. For a brief moment, Ayeka spotted a familiar, spiky shape follow the ship in "Our battle may be won," she told her knights, "but once again we are forced to wait on the sidelines while our fates are decided someplace else." _____ Everyone on board Ryo-ohki braced themselves as they entered the portal. Time seemed to stop completely, yet Tenchi was still aware. Everything had stopped, but his mind was still active. Then, as abruptly as it had stopped, time resumed. They all blinked several times until it was clear they were out of the portal. Hiro was the first one to speak. "Whoa..." breathed the teen. "We are definitely not in Kansas anymore." Ryoko-ohki came to a stop at the edge of the weirdest place they had ever seen. It was like something out of a dream. What looked to be whole worlds shaped like ribbons streamed across space, into a distant light. Technological debris from countless ages littered the outer areas. Past the debris was what looked like an infinite collection of canals, with water flowing from no discernable source out into the space. Other things floated around the canal like full bodied trees, moons, asteroids, abandoned ship, and countless other things that made them all wonder if they were in fact dreaming. "Welcome to Nexus," said Washu finally. "Washu," asked Tenchi, "what is this place?" "It's one of many focal points in this dimension," she replied. "In fact, it is the largest. The dimensional layers around this place are the thinnest. For a time, this was where Tokimi kept her temple because from here she was able to have a greater influence on our world." Rei had walked over to the pilot's chair and begun touching the control spheres. A view screen popped up in front of her giving off sensor readings. "I'm getting extremely high levels of oxygen all over the place," she announced. "We're still in space, but there is no sign of vacuum anywhere." "The rules are different here," informed Washu. "We're wasting time," said Riley. He pointed to Gabriel's ship, which was steadily moving towards the distant light. "That thing's moving slow, but it's still getting away." "Riley's right," agreed Tenchi. "Take us in, Washu." Ryo-ohki resumed the chase after Gabriel's ship. Tenchi walked over to stand beside Washu. "Can you get any sort of schematic on that thing?" he asked. She shook her head. "Best I can get is an outside map and approximate locations of the power readings from within." Tenchi nodded. "Can Ryo-ohki do anything to slow it down?" "I'm afraid not," answered the genius. "Any damage any of us could do to the outside wouldn't matter in the end. That thing is one gigantic conductor meant to rip a whole in space-time. We can only shut that thing down from the inside." As the cabbit ship closed in on her target, they all watched as the immense ship grew larger in the forward view ports. Eventually, they were flying over the canal system and roughly a half a mile behind the ship. "I'm setting us down," Washu announced. "Why?" asked Mayuka. "The majority of us here can fly," her grandmother told her. "It will be harder for them to track our movements if we are attacking individually." The former goddess set Ryo-ohki down on one of the canal walls. Once everyone was beamed outside, the cabbit reverted to her animal form and took up a perch on Washu's left shoulder. "All right," Tenchi was saying. "Our goal is to rescue Sasami and stop Gabriel once and for all. Now..." "Sounds like fun," interrupted someone. All heads turned to look farther down the canal wall. Standing not twenty yards away was Rashoch. The former Champion of Tokimi was in his Light Hawk Armor and holding a black Sword in his right hand. "Oh, don't stop because of me," he added with a small giggle. Hiro started to move towards the madman, but Tenchi stopped him with an outstretched arm. "No, Hiro." "But, dad," hissed the teen. "With all of us here we can take him." Tenchi shook his head. "That's what they want us to do. Gabriel is perfectly willing to sacrifice one of his people if it will delay us getting to him in time." "The rest of you go ahead," continued Washu. "We'll deal with him." Tenchi looked over to the genius. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he gave her a knowing nod. Hiro reluctantly stepped back. "Fine," he muttered before lifting off towards the ship. Rei took off after him with Mayuka, carrying Riley, right behind her. _____ The three Masaki children and Riley flew through the space towards Gabriel's ship. By this point, the ship had stopped moving and was holding position above the canals. The small group came to a stop next to the half sphere that made up the rear of the vessel. "Now what?" posed Hiro. Rei flew past him up to the side of the sphere. She created a purple ribbon of energy in her right hand and used it to blow a fifteen foot hole in the sphere. "We go inside," she answered as she flew in. The all entered, only to find themselves in a hallway. Mayuka let go of Riley, who drew his guns. "My guess is that Sasami is at the front of this thing. If Gabriel is using her as a key, then they would be at the point closest to the door." "Fine," said Mayuka. "Then we head towards the pyramid." Rei was shaking her head. "We have no idea how long it could take you guys to get there. Gabriel could be finished before you're even halfway through this thing. You guys try and get there. I'm going to find the control center of this thing and trash it. That should do it no matter what." "Okay sounds like a plan," said Hiro. He reached out to squeeze his twin's shoulder. "Watch yourself." Rei smiled back at him. "You, too." _____ Washu's heart was beating rapidly. No matter how much she tried to calm herself, the genius couldn't banish her nerves. Tenchi and Rashoch stared each other down with neither one backing away. Rashoch grinned maniacally, and Tenchi watched him with an emotionless face. If Washu didn't say something soon, the two warriors were going to begin a fight that only one would survive. She stepped in front of Tenchi and started walking towards Rashoch. When the madman moved his focus to her, his insane grin was replaced by a violent grimace. Sensing the danger she was placing herself in, Washu slowed her pace. Rashoch started backing away in response. "Stay away from me!" he hissed. Washu raised her hands. "I just want to talk with you..." "Don't say it!" he screamed. "That man died a long time ago!" The maniac tapped his chest repeatedly. "Now only *I* remain!" "That's not true," she said past the lump forming in her throat. "You are still my son." "NO!" he roared. Rashoch raised his Sword threateningly. "He's dead!" Washu was shaking her head. "No, he's still inside somewhere. I know what Tokimi did to you..." "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" raged the madman. Energy began to crackle all around him. Rashoch lifted his Sword and pointed at her heart. "You abandoned me to Tokimi! You left me to be controlled by that bitch, while you went off to create my *dear* sister!" "That's not how it happened," Washu tried to tell him. "I regret not trying harder to get you back, but I didn't abandon you to create Ryoko. My creating Ryoko just happened. I love you just as much as I love her. You are my son..." "SSSSSSTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!" roared the madman. Five black, fiery Light Hawk Wings exploded into existence between them. The black flames streamed out, seeking to consume Washu. She would have been engulfed by the fire if Tenchi hadn't been there. Ryo-ohki meowed sadly as Tenchi flew them away from the wild Rashoch. Tsunami's Knight dropped them off a quarter of a mile away on another canal. "He's in such pain," said Washu quietly. *What is pain?* chimed Tokimi lightly. *Nothing but a pathetic mortal emotion.* Washu ignored her sister's comment and looked to Tenchi. "I have to accept it. If there ever was anything left of my son, it died long ago. Now he is just a tortured soul constantly in pain." Her voice became slightly pleading. "End his pain for me, Tenchi. I...can't stand to see him suffer like this." He nodded grimly to her. "Okay, Washu. Stay here until it's over." Tenchi turned and flew off back towards Rashoch. *I certainly hope Tsunami's boy doesn't die,* commented Tokimi. *It will be so much more difficult to fight Gabriel without him.* "Tokimi." *Yes?* "Just die." _____ Tenchi wasn't quite sure what he was feeling as he neared Rashoch. The former Champion of Tokimi was the center of a vortex of wild power. Black fire and lightning swirled about him, threatening to destroy anyone or thing that came too close. Tenchi touched down just outside the range of the madman's rage. He created a Light Hawk Sword, gripping it tightly in his right hand. "Rashoch!" he shouted at last. Somehow, his voice cut right through the vortex to what was left of the other man's mind. The raging energies dissipated leaving only Rashoch standing on the canal wall. "Masaki," he hissed. Tenchi lifted his Sword at his foe. "It's time to end this once and for all Rashoch!" He slowly dropped back into a fighting stance. "Let's finally finish the Goddess War." A smile of pure madness formed on Rashoch's lips. "Death comes to us all!" he howled. "Let me show you the WAY!" The madman launched himself across the canal wall with a horrendous scream. Rashoch cleared the distance between the two in less than a second. Their Light Hawk Swords clashed three times before Tenchi took off straight into the sky. Rashoch followed him upwards immediately and released a series of energy blasts on the way. Tenchi batted or dodged each blast, but suddenly skidded to a stop as Rashoch appeared above him. He deflected the madman's downward slash and rocketed away to the left. Rashoch appeared ahead of him again. This time, however, Tenchi didn't stop. He loosed a cry of his own and went right for his enemy. Rashoch parried Tenchi's side slash, but the momentum of Tenchi's attack pushed them across the space at a blinding speed. Tenchi tried to disengage, but the maniac was faster. Rashoch faked a spin to the right, when he really spun to the left around Tenchi, scoring a slash down the Knight of Tsunami's back. Pain raced across Tenchi's back causing him to lose direction in the air. He was partially able to turn in time to deflect a pair of slashes from Rashoch, but the madman quickly muscled Tenchi's weapon aside to score another slash across his chest. Tenchi cried out in pain and lost all control of his ability to fly. He started to plummet towards the water below. Determination was perhaps the only thing that saved him. His instincts flared, and the Knight was able to dodge a pair of fire bolts from above. Feet from the water's surface, Tenchi stopped his fall. His head snapped up to see Rashoch diving at him Sword first. Tenchi summoned all the power he could and flew backwards across the water's surface. Rashoch changed his dive ever so slightly so as to match his speed with Tenchi's. The pair of Light Hawk Warriors continued their dual down the center of the canal. The water parted into thirty foot waves as they sped across its surface: Rashoch attacking relentlessly, and Tenchi deflecting each of his attacks with desperation. Suddenly, Tenchi threw himself into a spin, which succeeded in creating a waterspout that punched Rashoch right in the chin. The madman was knocked back, giving Tenchi an opening. Tsunami's Knight quickly reversed his direction and charged. Rashoch regained his focus with time enough to raise his Sword in defense, but Tenchi easily slipped his blade around it as he flew past. Rashoch screamed with rage as the white bladed Light Hawk Sword left a deep gash in his right side. Tenchi, however, didn't stop to gloat. He just kept flying straight down the canal's water lane. *I can't keep fighting him in the air,* he thought. *Rashoch's greater abilities of teleportrion and phasing give him too much of an advantage.* He looked over to the canal wall. "Better keep this on the ground from now on," Tenchi told himself. A series of black energy ribbons reminded Tenchi that Rashoch was not even close to being out of the fight. Tsunami's Knight banked left to avoid the ribbons and quickly landed on the canal wall. His foe followed him without pause. Tenchi dug his feet into the ground just before their fight resumed with all its intensity. Both fighters weaved their Swords around one another. Suddenly, each weapon connected at such an angle that they both went flying in opposite directions. Before Tenchi could even react, Rashoch howled with rage and lunged hands first. The madman's gloved hands wrapped around his opponent's throat. He squeezed, and Tenchi nearly blacked out from the sudden lack of oxygen. Rashoch lifted him high into the air, and then slammed Tenchi down into the canal wall. Once down, Rashoch continued the throttle Tenchi. "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" shouted Rashoch over and over again as he slammed Tenchi into the ground. Somehow, through the haze, Tenchi managed to get his knees into a position where he drove them into Rashoch's gut. The maniac's sudden lack of breath forced him to stop the throttling. Tenchi quickly followed up with a pair of left and right hooks that stunned Rashoch enough for him to throw the madman off. Both men, drawing deep breaths, scrambled back to their feet. Each one created a new Light Hawk Sword and began to circle the other. That was when Tenchi knew what he had to do. All at once it was clear to him. He kept circling Rashoch, but something had changed in his movements. "I've been trying to figure something out, Rashoch," he said. "Since the first moment we met, you have done nothing but try to kill both me and my family. For that reason alone, I should hate you. And for a long time I did." Rashoch began to weave his Sword. "I still hate you, Masaki. I always will." Tenchi nodded. "That's the thing, isn't it. All you have is your hatred and thirst for revenge. It's the only thing that keeps you going, isn't it?" "Shut up!" shouted the madman. He charged Tenchi like a raging beast. Rashoch made several wild slashes, which Tenchi easily dodged. The Knight cross parried the last slash and continued to speak. "I should hate you, Rashoch, but I now realize that I do not. When it comes down to it, I pity you." "I don't need your pity!" roared the other man. He stepped back and lunged at Tenchi, who simply forward flipped over the attack. "After all that you have done, I pity you," he went on to say as soon as he landed. "Do you know why?" Rashoch's response was another series of slashes. Tenchi batted each one aside and jumped back. "I almost became you. When I thought my family had died, I was ready to let the rage swallow me whole. I never wanted to feel anything again. All I wanted was revenge on those who had taken the love out of my life." Rashoch roared and charged again. Tenchi slapped his Sword aside, spun around to the left, and slashed Rashoch across his back just as the madman had done so to Tenchi earlier. The former Champion of Tokimi stumbled forward to his knees. Tenchi slowly lowered his Sword while continuing to talk to his foe. "I pity you because you have never known what love is," Tenchi said in a somber voice. "You never knew the love of your mother, your sister, or those that would have become your family. You were denied the very things that make us human. And because you were denied these things, you despise life. You are in so much pain, that you want the rest of the universe to feel the same way. To you, that is the only justice there is." "You want to know my pain, Masaki?" growled Rashoch from his crouching position. "I'll show you!" The madman rocketed towards Tenchi from his crouch Sword first. Tenchi, grim faced the entire time, took a single step back to parry Rashoch's blade with the left edge of his own and then quickly took two steps forward. In one fluid motion Tenchi pushed Rashoch's Sword to his left and reversed the direction of his own Sword so that its right edge slid perpendicularly across Rashoch's abdomen. Then, as the white bladed Light Hawk Sword finished its deadly slice, Tenchi made a complete three hundred sixty degree spin, reversed both his grip and weapon, and drove his Sword, to the hilt, into Rashoch's stomach. Tenchi's grimace deepened when he pulled his Sword from his defeated foe. There was a sickening squishing sound as he freed the weapon completely and stepped back. Rashoch, blood already pouring from his stomach, took several shaky steps backwards. The dying man coughed once causing blood to trickle from the sides of his mouth. He staggered once more and dropped to one knee. "This...isn't over...Masaki," he rasped. Black flames enveloped Rashoch as he teleported away. Tenchi released a long sigh. His wounds were throbbing with pain, but he had to ignore them. Footsteps to the left alerted him to Washu's approach. He looked over to her with a frown. Washu gave him a reassuring smile. "Thank you, Tenchi," she said sadly, yet warmly. He managed a smile back. Next the Knight walked over and wrapped his left arm around her waist. "Come on," he said. "We have to get to Gabriel." Washu nodded, and they were soon heading towards the ship. _____ Rei barely glanced at her surroundings as she flew through the halls of the half sphere. She had already calculated the location of the central control room, so checking her directions would simply be a waste of time. However, minutes seemed like hours for her. Only several minutes had actually passed before Rei finally reached a door, but to her it had felt like an eternity of searching. Seeing no obvious control panel, Rei decided to use her own skeleton key. A single energy blast later, and the door was a smoldering pile of metal. The teen stepped through the smoking entrance into the room beyond. Once past the smoke, Rei was sure that she had found the central control room of the ship. The control room was a circular chamber, running a hundred yards in diameter, with a computer core pylon rising from the floor to the ceiling. Surrounding the pylon was a circle of flashing computer terminals showing various readings from around the vessel. Standing in front of the terminals facing the remains of the door was Doctor Clay. The old man smiled thinly as Rei started walking towards him. "Welcome to the Ark, child," greeted Clay. "I am so sorry that there wasn't anyone to greet you at the door." Rei's face remained emotionless. "Don't worry. We let ourselves in." She stopped, grabbed the small man by the front of his red robe, and threw him aside. "Excuse me, old man." She began to enter commands on a keyboard with little success. "Even if you crack my codes in time, it won't matter," gloated Clay from where he had landed. "The Ark has already attained sufficient power for Lord Gabriel's purpose." Rei ceased typing and turned her head to the right. A small smile played across her lips. "Well, at least I can get rid of you once and for all. With all the trouble you've caused my family, I'm sure it's justice enough." Clay suddenly started to laugh at her. "What?" she asked. "Not going to run? You don't have anyone that will pop out of the floor to protect you this time?" "Foolish girl," he cackled. "I am more than prepared to deal with you and your family myself, now." The old man reached into his robe and pulled out a vial filled with a glowing, pale green liquid. "Do you know what this is?" Rei shrugged. "Urine sample?" "No!" shouted Clay, slightly flustered by her demeanor. "This is the ultimate achievement of genetic science. Within this vile is the combined power of the Ssl'na and the Ten Wings of the Light Hawk." Rei's face went pale, and Clay nodded. "That's right, child," he sneered. "Right here is the combination of two of the universe's greatest evolutionary achievements! The power of two gods combined into one!" He pulled the stopper off and held the vial high. "With this, I will become something beyond both Light Hawk Bearer and Ssl'na!" "Don't do it, Clay!" warned Rei with an outstretched hand. "You have no idea what that could do to you!" "Ha!" he barked. "The contents of this vial are from Lord Gabriel himself! Combined with the DNA of the warriors of Ssl'Drav Goritra, it is an evolutionary elixir! My power will be comparable to that of a god!" It was clear to Rei that the old man was insane. Before she could act, though, he quaffed the liquid in one gulp. The reaction was instantaneous. Clay threw his head back in a horrific shriek, dropping the vial in the process. His skin began to bubble and pop. His one good eye became completely white, and his hair started to fall out. During all this, his body was growing in size. What had once been a dwarf of a man was now growing into something well over ten feet. Rei could only watch in horror as the transformation continued until common sense finally broke through her awe. The teen created her Light Hawk Bo and charged what had once been Clay. She was only feet from him, when the beast reared its head back, roared, and gave of a wave of power that threw Rei halfway across the room. The young warrior halted herself in mid air. When she flipped herself back in Clay's direction, it took everything she had not to flee. Doctor Clay, if he could even be called that now, stood completely transformed before her. The monster was ten feet tall and covered in greenish bronze scales. He had an elongated neck that ended in a face that still sort of resembled the old man's, except he had no nose and two reptilian eyes. Hard muscles rippled beneath his scales, giving shape to his massive upper body. Razor sharp bones extended out and all the way up the backs of his arms. A seven foot tail slapped the floor impatiently behind him. Finally, Rei noticed what looked like a glowing tattoo of a set of wings on his heaving chest. "This is incredible!" rumbled Clay, revealing a serpents tongue and rows of sharp teeth. "I never knew such power could exist!" "Your little transformation won't save you, Clay," said Rei in an attempt to bolster her own confidence. "I'm still going to kick your ass." The beast flexed his hands. "By all means, mortal. Come and test your imperfection against me." Not needing a second invitation, Rei soared at her opponent. Clay didn't even try to dodge as Rei laid down a series of attacks with her Bo. To her astonishment, not a single one of her swipes seemed to hurt the monster at all. Clay just took them all without moving an inch. Seeing her attacks ineffective, the teen jumped back into a defensive position. "Is that all?" asked Clay. "Frankly, I expected a little more." He extended his claws with each one sprouting what Rei could only call a blade of Light Hawk Power. "Let's see how well you take a hit." The monster lunged at Rei claws first. The teen nimbly ducked and dodged each of his swipes, although just barely. She batted away a pair of slashes and set up to counter attack, when Clay's tail suddenly shot around to slap her in the left side. Rei went flying through the air and crashed into the wall. The sound of Clay charging her forced the young warrior to vault herself into the air. She looked down just in time to see him aim his claws at her and fire a series of energy ribbons. Rei opened a shield that absorbed all the ribbons in response. Next she banished her Bo and dove around the shield at Clay. He saw her coming and redirected his fire. The raven haired Light Hawk Warrior flew around his barrage with ease. She slipped past the last of his ribbons and went in fists first. Rei successfully landed several punches right in Clay's chest as well as two roundhouse kicks. It was all to no avail. Not one of her punches or kicks had affected the beast. Rei had only a moment to comprehend this before Clay backhanded her with is right claw. The bones on the back of his hand tore gashes in her face aside from sending her flying away. Rei back flipped in the air and landed on her feet facing the abomination that was Clay. Her eyes went wide as he placed his hands side by side and released a large blast of energy at her. Using every bit of speed she could muster, Rei flew straight up to avoid the attack. The blast didn't last very long, but it had been strong enough to create a fifteen foot hole in the wall that went on for quite a while. "I need more room to fight this guy," Rei told herself. She glanced once at the new exit and flew right for it. Rei flew down the newest hall in the Ark with Clay in pursuit. The farther she flew, the hotter it was getting. At last, Rei exited out into what was obviously the engine room of the vessel. This massive chamber was the size of the entire half sphere, with the hundreds of cables winding out from a series of engine blocks all into what had to be the power source of the entire ship. The ship's power source was in fact the contained power of a supernova. Thanks to the power of her Wings combined with her knowledge of science, Rei could actually see the excess power of a dying star rebounding again and again within the a force field of Light Hawk Wings. A roar echoed from behind, reminding Rei of her current situation. "How the hell do I hurt this guy? Hitting him is like punching a ten foot thick wall of tritanium." Her last statement caused a good old fashioned light bulb to go off in her head. "Tritanium," she repeated with a smile. _____ Clay flew into the engine room and halted in mid air. He sniffed around once. "She's in here somewhere," he hissed while extending his Light Hawk Claws. "You cannot hide from me!" he roared. "I'm not hiding!" echoed her voice from all around. The abomination spun around just in time to see a metal fist the size of a small house punch him. Clay cried out as he felt his scales crack and shatter from the power of the blow. He had just righted himself in the air when another punch sent him hurtling down, only to have an equally painful kick send him flying back upwards. His ping pong flight was finally stopped when something wrapped around him and squeezed. Clay opened his eyes to see the impossible. Standing before him was a gigantic, metal version of the girl! She was hundreds of feet tall and coming right out of the wall! She smiled sweetly at him. "It's been fun, Clay, but I have someplace else to be. Bye." With that she threw him away. Spinning end over end, Clay only caught a couple glimpses of his destination before he crashed into it. "Curse you and all those related to you, Washu!" he howled. _____ Rei covered her eyes as she emerged from the tritanium wall, so that the explosion wouldn't blind her. The combination of Clay's new powers, plus the speed at which Rei threw him, enabled him to break right through the shield surrounding the supernova reaction. Rei heard his terrified scream just before the shockwaves vaporized the doctor. Not wishing to be killed herself, Rei quickly resealed the shield around the supernova. "No sense killing all of us along with Gabriel," she said out loud. Since she could do nothing else to really sabotage the ship without endangering herself and her family, Rei turned and flew in the opposite direction towards the front of the ship. _____ Mayuka, Hiro, and Riley had been running through the halls of the ship for at least five minutes. Mayuka could tell her brother was about to start tearing some new passages in the ship, when they finally came to the end of their trek. The three of them exited the system of halls to a long walkway that connected the half sphere portion to the rectangular segment. Massive conductor cables extended over their heads between all three segments of the immense ship. They had not gone far on the walkway, when Hiro stopped to point ahead. "Check it out," he said. Not thirty yards ahead of them were Zorin, Ashra, and Timerra. Gabriel's three servants, all using their Light Hawk Wings, stood side by side to block the path. "This was going to come sooner or later," remarked Mayuka. "Timerra's mine." There was a hum as Riley powered up his blasters. "I've got no face." Hiro nodded. "I'm more than happy to take Zorin." "Fine," said Mayuka. "We deal with these three as quickly as possible. If...once you finish keep going towards the pyramid. We need to get to Gabriel, so don't stop to help the other two no matter what." The two men nodded, and the trio began to slowly walk towards their opponents. Hiro moved first by releasing a pair of energy ribbons at Zorin. The large man batted each one aside with a Light Hawk Sword. Hiro fired again, but took off into the air this time with Zorin following in pursuit. Knowing that Riley couldn't fly, Mayuka decided to draw Timerra away from the walkway, so that the detective would have more room to maneuver. Since Hiro had gone up, Mayuka decided to go straight ahead. A bluish black glow suddenly surrounded her, and the young woman charged Timerra out right. A black energy sword came to life in Mayuka's hands, which she used to slash at her foe's head. Timerra created a Light Hawk Sword of her own to cross parry Mayuka's slash. The pair collided, and the force of Mayuka's attack pushed them back across the rest of the walkway and into the rectangular section. The interior of this portion of the ship was nothing but a protective casing in which the conductor cables could connect to one another. The metallic tubes criss crossed from one end of the section to the other with long platforms running along side them. Timerra forced them to a halt and disengaged their weapons. She jumped back a few steps, smiling. She shook her head, causing her long, brown braid to whip back and forth behind her. "You've gotten stronger since last we fought, little girl." Mayuka gave her a half smile. "Let's just say I found myself. Now, do you want to banter all day, or do you want to fight?" Timerra gave her a slight nod before dropping into a fighting stance. Mayuka mimicked her by dropping into a stance of her own. They faced off for several seconds, neither woman giving any hint of moving first. Then, suddenly, they both exploded into action. Two strides a piece, and their swords clashed. Timerra seemed somewhat shocked when her Light Hawk Sword didn't slice right through Mayuka's energy sword. Both women disengaged, with Mayuka making the first true attack. She went at Timerra with a series of high slashes, that the other woman more than easily parried. Timerra countered with a pair of thrusts followed up by a flying spin kick at Mayuka's head. The young woman side flipped away from the kick and reset herself. Timerra released a pair of spinning ribbons from her left hand, which Mayuka forward flipped over. She came out of the flip, diving sword first. Swords clashed again, and Mayuka turned herself in the air to land behind Timerra. The other woman spun around, leveling a combination of slashes at Mayuka's left side. She downward parried each slash leaving her right side open. Timerra quickly followed up by swinging her head around. Her braid, glowing orange at the end, leapt around and punched Mayuka in the right side of her face. The impact sent Mayuka spinning to the left towards the platform railing. Her back hit the railing, forcing Mayuka to arch in pain. She lurched forward only to be pelted by a series of energy ribbons. "Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" screamed Mayuka as the repeated hits pushed her over the railing. She fell for fifty feet before landing hard on the floor below. Mayuka rolled on to her back just in time to see Timerra diving towards her. She quickly threw her weight backwards and rolled to her feet seconds before Timerra's boots cracked the ground where her chest had been. With her balance regained, Mayuka attacked before Timerra could get into a defensive stance. She slammed her shoulder into the brown haired woman's gut, lifted her up, and threw her to the ground. Timerra recovered faster than expected, cross wrapped her ankles around Mayuka's neck, and pulled her down to the ground. Although the impact was hard, Mayuka rolled with it back to her feet. Timerra was also back up, and the two women started to circle each other. Every breath was a painful one for Mayuka. One of the falls had broken one or more of her ribs, but despite the pain she kept her face calm and collected. The question she was trying to answer was how was she going to win? *Her defense is too good,* Mayuka thought. *Every opening I attack, she reacts faster than I anticipated to recover.* A new Light Hawk Sword appeared in Timerra's hands, and she charged Mayuka. The young warrior frantically created a fresh sword and batted aside each attack. Timerra attacked her left again, forcing Mayuka to parry, but this time when her glowing braid snapped around she was prepared. Surprised was the best way to describe Timerra's face when Mayuka phased right through her braid. Mayuka became solid again and kicked Timerra in her open side. Gabriel's servant tumbled to her right, but as she went down her braid, which seemed to extend in length, snapped out again to hit Mayuka in the head. Again, both women went stumbling off to the sides. As she did her best to recover, Mayuka cursed inwardly at Timerra's continuous ability to always counter her attacks. *What the hell do I have to do to get an advantage here? Get myself killed?* That last thought made her pause. Running footsteps made her look up to see Timerra charging. Mayuka back peddled away, while dodging each of her foe's slashes. Timerra, seeing her opponent off balance and retreating, kept up the pressure. She continued to make small slashes with her Sword's tip, followed up by thrusts aimed for Mayuka's abdomen. A quick glance back alerted Mayuka to the fact that very soon her back would literally be up against the wall. She could always fly or phase through Timerra, but she had to keep up the image of being cornered. Timerra came at her with another series of slashes that forced Mayuka all the way to the wall. The brown haired woman smiled evilly. She feinted twice with her Sword, both of which Mayuka went for, before driving it home right into Mayuka's stomach. Mayuka screamed, but instead of letting the pain of her wound take her down she pulled herself forward on the blade. Timerra's eyes went wide as the Masaki pulled herself half a foot on to the blade, formed an energy sword, and struck. Timerra's head dropped to the floor, soon followed by her body. As soon as she died, the Light Hawk Sword in Mayuka vanished. The young warrior started chuckling to herself. She staggered forward several feet before collapsing to the ground unconscious. _____ Riley couldn't help but swallow when he and Ashra were the only two left on the walkway. *I've only got one chance against this guy,* thought the detective. *And it requires him beating the crap out of me.* "No guts no glory," Riley told himself out loud. He raised his blasters and started firing at Ashra. The silver haired man calmly walked towards him as if the yellow bolts of power did not even exist. Three blood red Light Hawk Wings opened up in front of the wiry man to absorb each of Riley's shots. Riley began to back away while continuing to fire relentlessly. When his guns started beeping from depletion, he tossed them aside and charged his foe. Riley quickly reached Ashra and threw a hard right punch at his head. Ashra easily caught the punch with his left hand. He squeezed on Riley's fist, crunching his bones loudly. The detective cried out in pain, and his knees started to buckle. Ashra smiled. "Hurts does it?" he said from behind his faceless mask. Instead of coming back with the expected witty remark, Riley made to drive his left knee into Ashra's stomach. The faceless man moved to block the knee thrust, but at the last second Riley changed his attack. His left leg suddenly changed direction, allowing his left boot to come down hard on Ashra's right foot. The wiry man cried out in pain and shock, releasing Riley's hand in the process. Riley quickly followed with a straight jump kick. His right boot connected with Ashra's chest, sending the wiry man to the ground. Riley was trying to think of what to do next, when Ashra suddenly jumped himself back up. A red energy ribbon flew from his left hand and slammed into Riley's chest. The ribbon exploded, and Riley was sent flying fifty yards back down the walkway. He hit the ground, bouncing and skidding several times before he came to a complete stop. The entire front of his breastplate had been vaporized by the ribbon, leaving what was left on his back to fall uselessly to the ground. Riley tried to get to his feet, but it was rather difficult since he couldn't even get a breath of air through his lungs. Then Ashra was suddenly there. Riley somehow managed to throw himself at the wiry man with a left hook. Ashra's Light Hawk Sword whipped out to slice the inside of Riley's left arm, causing the detective to stumble forward. The faceless man stepped back slightly so he had just enough room to kick Riley in the gut. The detective crumpled forward to his knees in pain. There was a clanking sound as Ashra dropped his mask to the walkway floor. Riley wheezed as the disfigured madman grabbed him by the neck. He was lifted up enough so that they were eye to eye. "Who do you think you are, little nan?" growled Ashra. "I am one of Lord Gabriel's Chosen! I have the phowers of the gods at ny phinger tiphs!" It was now or never. Heat rushed all along Riley's right arm as a red energy sword suddenly appeared in his right hand. Before Ashra even knew what was happening, Riley had driven his sword into the faceless man's stomach. Ashra's eyes went wide, and his hand dropped from Riley's neck. The detective grinned darkly at his foe. "My trump card," was all he said. Ashra started to reply, but Riley didn't give him the chance. The detective gripped his sword with tightly with his good hand and slashed upwards with all his might. The force behind his upswing caused Riley to stumble backwards a few feet. When he had regained his balance, the detective watched with grim satisfaction as Ashra, divided torso and all, dropped to the floor dead. Riley let his sword fizzle away. Using his teeth and his good hand, the detective made a quick turn kit around the gash in his left arm. Once that was secure he retrieved his guns and started back down the walkway. He never even looked back once as he went forward towards Sasami. _____ Waves of power flashed repeatedly above the conductor cables. On a closer inspection, a pair of figures could be seen dueling along one of the sloping cables. Light Hawk Swords sending off sparks, Hiro and Zorin fought fiercely. Both fighters' faces were masks of concentration. Over the past few weeks, these two had clashed repeatedly in battle, with both of them claiming his share of wins. If either one had anything to say about it, this was going to be their final battle. Hiro advanced on his enemy, pushing Zorin back with a series of powerful slashes. The large man parried each of Hiro's attacks without fail. He pushed away Hiro's last slice and countered with a pair of low thrusts. Hiro answered the thrusts by phasing down through the cable, to then rise up behind Zorin. The other warrior, however, had taken to the air. As Hiro came all the way up a pair of energy ribbons were screaming down at him. He managed to bat the first one aside, but the second exploded at his feet causing him to stumble back. Zorin seized the advantage and dove at his prey. Hiro cross parried his downward slash, but Zorin easily muscled down his green edged blade. His baldhead smashed into Hiro knocking the teen on to his back. Hiro lost the grip on his Sword as he fell. Seeing his opponent unarmed, Zorin drove his own Sword right at Hiro's unguarded chest. Through blurred vision Hiro some how saw his foe's weapon coming. There was a green flash as a green Light Hawk Wing suddenly appeared around Zorin's sea blue blade. Hiro nodded once making his Wing double in size. The Wing then moved up along Zorin's Sword and continued to move until it pushed the large man away. Hiro, still a little shaken from the head butt, was soon back on his feet. By this time, Zorin had sliced through the green Wing and was advancing quickly. A new Light Hawk Sword appeared in Hiro's hands. Zorin attacked again, and the teen was pressed to block each of his slashes. Bit by bit, Zorin was pushing Hiro down the slope of the cable. Hiro was frantically parrying, but Zorin was proving to be too much for him. He slapped aside two slices at his midsection and lunged. Zorin easily batted down his blade only to counter with a quick reverse slash. The sea blue Sword succeeded in scoring a hit across Hiro's chest, forcing the young warrior to retreat even more. Zorin pressed his attack with a strong side slash to Hiro's right. Hiro managed to block the slash, but the power behind it sent him flying right off the cable. The world was spinning out of control. Hiro finally righted himself in air just as Zorin reached him. Instincts saved the cyan haired teen. Sword inches from his chest, Hiro teleported ten feet up from his position. Having over committed to his attack, Zorin faltered, off balance, in the air. Not wasting the opportunity, Hiro transformed his Sword into a lance of green energy and threw it at his foe. The lance flew straight and true to impale Zorin right in his left shoulder. But instead of crying out in pain or showing any sign of weakness, Zorin simply straightened. He turned to look up at Hiro. A smug grin crossed his lips as he grabbed the lance, causing it to dissipate as though it had never been there. A curse passed Hiro's lips. "What the hell is this guy? The Terminator?" The fight quickly resumed. Hiro, his confidence shaken, was completely on the defensive. Swords crossed again and again, but not once did Hiro even try to counter attack. Once again, Zorin was pushing him back across the space next to the winding conductor cables. Hiro missed a parry, and Zorin's Sword sliced him across the chest once more. The teen lurched in pain, allowing the large man another opening to attack. His large left fist hooked around to smash Hiro right in the face. The force of the punch sent Hiro hurtling off to the side. He didn't stop going until his body crashed into the nearest of the cables. The teen bounced off the large object, only to run right into another slash from Zorin right down his back. A quick energy blast from Zorin finished the beating and sent Hiro on another trip, this time down towards the surface of the rectangular section of the ship. _____ A Juraian shuttle emerged from the portal just moments before the large circle closed. Leah steered the vehicle deftly into the strange world that the strike team suddenly found themselves in. Ukarit was the first one to speak about their surroundings. "What the hell is this place?" he said with a whistle. "A long way from home," replied Kiyone. The captain looked around while taking deep breaths through her mouth. "We're in space, but there seems to be oxygen out here." Somar leaned forward to point ahead. "I think questions will have to wait until later. Bad news straight ahead." They all followed his finger to see Gabriel's huge ship hovering above a series of floating canals. They all flinched when a series of explosions went off all around the immense ship. "We're definitely at the right party," commented Ukarit. Leah didn't even wait for his order before gunning it right for the ship. The closer the shuttle got, the easier it was to distinguish the colors of the explosions. First there were a series of blue and black ones. When those tapered off, a few green, red, and dark blue ones soon replaced them. Finally, there were only sporadic green and dark blue flashes. When they were roughly a half a mile from the ship, Leah was able to focus in the location of the green and dark blue ones. She didn't need a fortuneteller to know who the source of the green flashes was. The shuttle pulled up along side the massive ship. Leah hugged the sphere portion until they reached one of the long connecting bars. She flew around it and dove down towards the mass of winding conductor cables. Her eyes searched the space around the cables until they finally found what the troubleshooter was looking for. A pair of fighters were clearly dueling not one hundred yards from the approaching shuttle. One of them, bearing a recognizable tuft of cyan hair, was on the receiving end of a severe beating. Leah had to suppress a cry as she watched Hiro be beaten and thrown down. Hiro's opponent wasted no time in pursuing his weakened adversary. Leah pulled the shuttle to a stop directly over where Hiro had fallen. She jumped out of the driver's seat and moved for the side of the passenger area. A swift kick opened up a side compartment in which were several emergency repulsar belts. The troubleshooter quickly strapped one on and climbed on to the side of the shuttle. A hand suddenly shot out to grab her left arm. "What do you think you're doing?" asked Kiyone sternly. Leah shrugged the captain's hand off and smirked. "A swan dive." Before anyone else could say or do anything, Leah did just that. _____ Hiro landed hard on the surface of the rectangle. He bounced twice before finally coming to a stop. Rising took everything the teen had. He had just managed to get up, when Zorin touched down a few feet away. The large man didn't wait and came at Hiro full force. Mind racing, all Hiro could do was create an arm shield to block the attack. Zorin's downward slash brought Hiro to his knees. A swift kick from the large man to Hiro's chin sent the teen sliding across the ground. The young warrior's slide stopped when his back hit one of the conductor cables connected to the rectangle. His breaths were coming in rasps and blood from a gash on his forehead was seeping into his left eye. Hiro tried to rise, but he just didn't have anything left. His head lolled back against the cable, giving the teen a clear view of the now charging Zorin. The large warrior's Sword was level and aimed right for Hiro's head. Then the totally unexpected happened. Hiro wasn't sure what had transpired until it was too late. Out of nowhere, Leah suddenly dropped down from above just off to the side. She touched something at her waist, which sent her zooming forward directly between Hiro and the still charging Zorin. Time seemed to slow at that point. The troubleshooter came to a stop right in front of Hiro's prone form, completely obscuring his view of Zorin. A look of relief briefly passed across her face to suddenly be replaced by one of pain. "NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Hiro when the tip of Zorin's Sword burst through the lower portion of her chest. Leah cleanly slid off of the sea blue Light Hawk Sword into Hiro's arms. Hiro unconsciously teleported them fifty yards in the opposite direction away from Zorin. The teen carefully turned the woman in his arms until she was staring up at him. The glassy look of death was already forming in her eyes. Leah, however, still smiled up at him. Her right hand shakily came up to caress the side of his face. "We really could have had something...Hiro," she whispered. "See...you ar...oun...d." Her eyes fluttered shut, and she went limp in his arms. Hiro lightly touched her face. "Leah?" When she didn't respond or move, something deep down inside the young warrior snapped. He threw his head back and screamed to the heavens, "LLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" In response to his cry of anguish, a pillar of green power exploded up around the grieving young man. Pure power flowed through Hiro like spring water from a mountain. The pillar slowly faded away, leaving Hiro kneeling beside the woman who had sacrificed herself for him. He carefully placed her body on the ground and rose, slowly turning to see Zorin standing just forty feet away. Hiro lowered his head slightly to the left, closing his eyes in the process. A single teardrop fell from the corner of his right eye and landed in the center of his right palm. As soon as the tear made contact with his hand, a Light Hawk Sword with a blade of raging green fire exploded into existence. The Light Hawk Warrior raised his eyes up with his emotions clearly visible through them. There was only a brief moment as the two warriors dropped into fighting stances. At a silent signal both Hiro and Zorin charged each other with their respective Swords raised to strike. There was no doubt in Hiro's mind as he charged. His Sword, a burning reflection of his emotions, sliced right through and continued past Zorin's blade into the man himself. Hiro came to a stop just three feet behind Zorin. He didn't even turn to look as the large man's torso fell away from his waist. Hiro's flaming Sword vanished as he turned. Ignoring the severed corpse, he walked over to Leah just as a shuttle settled down just a few yards away. He stopped over her body and carefully picked it up. Several sets of footsteps came to halt behind him. "Oh no." It was Kiyone. Someone stepped around to Hiro's left. The teen looked up to meet Ukarit's yellow eyes. "She saved my life," he said quietly. He handed the body over the gangster, turned and started walking towards the pyramid. "Hiro," Ukarit called after him. "Where are you going?" "To put an end to this," replied the young warrior without stopping. _____ Gabriel felt it as each of his minions died. None of that mattered to him, though. All that mattered was the Eye. A quick check of the readings on the computer screen told him that everything was ready. "At least Clay did something right before he died." He input the first of the last two command codes. The chamber about him was suddenly split by four seams of light as the pyramid structure began to open. The four outer walls of the pyramid peeled back, and the inner section extended out towards the center of Nexus. The circle behind the princess was now pointing outwards. Gabriel's fingers danced over the keypad, inputting the final code. A great whine could be heard all across the ship as the stored power began to build. Once the power reached a certain level, it would be conducted and generated through the princess. The reaction caused by this would then flow from her point into the circle, creating a portal to the Eye of the Universe. Gabriel smiled to himself when he felt Rashoch appear behind him. "And so the last of them makes it back here." He slowly turned around. The madman was coughing blood and holding a gaping wound in his stomach. Gabriel did not need to be a doctor to tell that the man was dying. "Help me," rasped the former Champion of Tokimi. Gabriel lifted his left eyebrow. "What was that?" "I said help me!" shouted Rashoch. "I must win! I have to beat him!" "I thought you didn't want my help," replied the entity with a chuckle. "I know you have the power, so just give it to me!" screamed the madman. "Fine," he said. "Here is the power you desire, Rashoch. I hope you enjoy it." Gabriel waved his right hand, and a white portal opened up beneath the maniac. Energy began to crackle around and through the madman, causing him to cry out. Gabriel waved his hand again, and three objects started rising out of the portal. More energy flowed between the objects and Rashoch making the madman scream all the more. Gabriel just smiled. _____ Tenchi and Washu, with Ryo-ohki clinging to the genius's left shoulder, were searching for a way into the pyramid structure, when a way presented itself. The sides of the pyramid suddenly peeled back to connect to the rest of the ship. An extremely long platform proceeded to extend out from the ship towards the center of Nexus. Tenchi and Washu shared a knowing glance, but even as Tenchi started flying towards it some one else was way ahead of them. The pair had just crossed the threshold of the pyramid's base, when Tenchi was able to make out who was ahead of them. Rei, flying at what had to be her top speed, banked down to her right towards something in the center of the platform. Tenchi was about to try and catch his daughter when the entire ship was suddenly set a glow. The Knight and his charges were forced to pull to a stop as a great wave of energy raced from the sphere section, through the cables surrounding the rectangle, and finally into the extended platform. A female scream echoed all the way to their position. Following the scream, a beam of blue light shot out of one of the objects directly into the center of a large circle. There was a thunderclap, and both Tenchi and Washu could see that the circle was now a portal of countless colors. "We're too late," hissed Washu. Tenchi didn't say anything and simply flew right for the portal. They could just make out a figure that could only be Gabriel walking towards the portal. Another glance told them that it was Sasami who was being held in a slab like object between a computer console and the portal. Rei was suddenly there diving at Gabriel from behind. The raven haired warrior roared a battle cry while spinning her Light Hawk Bo over her head. Gabriel turned at the last moment to face his attacker. Then, with a simple gesture, he stopped Rei in mid air just feet away from him. The teen could only cry out as a second gesture from the entity sent her flying away in the opposite direction. Before Tenchi and Washu could land, though, a second attacker burst on to the scene. Hiro, energy literally rolling off his body, came tearing through the floor of the platform wielding a sword of green fire. The young warrior went for Gabriel without pause. The entity quickly created a pearl white Light Hawk Sword to parry each of Hiro's deadly slashes. For a brief moment, Hiro actually had Gabriel retreating. Using his speed, the cyan haired teen darted left and right while weaving his blade in the opposite direction each time. Gabriel fell for one of the ruses, and the fiery Sword sliced right through a portion of his robe, sending an item skidding off across the floor to the right. Gabriel, however, quickly recovered. With a flip of his blade, the entity pinned Hiro's Sword to the floor. Then a pair of white beams shot right from his eyes and impacted right in the center of Hiro's chest. Just as the one twin was knocked to the ground, his sister came soaring back into the fray. Rei attacked with deadly precision, but even that wasn't enough to get past Gabriel's defenses. The entity blocked each of her combinations and once again sent her flying back with a telekinetic blast. Tenchi hand landed with Washu by this point. Tsunami's Knight flew through the air and caught his hurtling daughter. It took a moment, but Rei soon realized who had caught her. "Hi, dad," she said quickly. Tenchi noted several gashes and bruises on her face, but suppressed his fatherly urges to dote over her. "You all right?" was all he allowed himself to ask. She nodded once, and he let her go. Both of them turned their heads to the sound of Hiro crying out. The teen was on the receiving end of another energy blast that sent him skidding across the platform. Tenchi and Rei flew over to him. While Rei helped her brother up, Tenchi moved between them and Gabriel. The Knight summoned a Sword and pointed it at his enemy. "This stops now, Gabriel. Give yourself up and return Sasami to us." The entity shrugged. "Take her. I have no use for the princess anymore." He waved back to the portal ahead. "The doorway is open. All I have to do is enter." Tenchi dropped back into a fighting stance. The twins moved to flank him. "We can't let you do that, Gabriel." "Oh, but you won't be able to stop me, my dear boy," he replied with a smile. "You are going to be dead." "Stop talking and fight, asshole!" snapped Hiro. Gabriel threw his head back and laughed. "I'm sorry, child, but you haven't earned the right to really fight me yet. You will have to settle for a different playmate." He waved his right hand over the floor, and a white portal opened up between them. Up from the portal rose one of the largest men any of them had ever seen. Easily eight feet tall, this man was made of pure muscle. He wore only a pair of loose black pants and boots with his chiseled chest completely bared. On his chest was a large black tattoo of what could only be described as ten Light Hawk Wings. No one could see his face because it was covered by long strands of green and black hair. The man slowly raised his head up, brushing aside his hair in the process. "Heaven help us," gasped Tenchi. "This isn't possible." "What?" asked Rei and Hiro at the same time. Tenchi was actually shaking slightly. "Ziasha?" "Not quite," answered Gabriel. "Masaki family, let me introduce Ziashoch." For a moment, Tenchi could see Ziasha Corodune in this man's face. "Hello, Masaki," he rasped. "It's been a while." Then his head snapped to the left, and it was Rashoch! "I told you this wasn't over!" he said with a mad laugh. "What have you done, Gabriel?" demanded Tenchi. "It's quite simple," replied the entity. "After you killed him, and before Tokimi's Temple was destroyed, I took Ziasha's remains. I was planning to put him to use eventually, but when Rashoch came to me dying I decided on this. I couldn't endow him with my own powers simply because the power given to him by Tokimi would not allow it. So, I combined him with Ziasha instead. Now, together, they are Ziashoch with the power of ten Light Hawk Wings." "You're mad," said Washu as she came up beside the others. "You haven't changed a bit since your imprisonment. Do you really think making a monster like this is creation?" Gabriel smiled evilly at her. "You haven't even seen what Creation is, my dear Lady." He bowed to them all. "I would truly love to stay and watch this, but I have Perfection to achieve." The entity looked up at Ziashoch. "Kill them all." _____ Washu didn't waste a moment before dashing off to the side. Hiro made the first move by going for Gabriel's retreating form. Ziashoch, though, wasn't going to have any of that. The abomination moved so quickly that he was almost a blur. Hiro's charge was stopped short as Ziashoch's massive right hand wrapped around his neck, lifted him up, and slammed him into the floor. Tenchi and Rei were soon rocketing towards them at full speeds. Father and daughter raised their respective weapons to attack Ziashoch. The abomination spun around with two black Light Hawk Swords in his hands. With apparent ease, he parried both Tenchi and Rei's attacks. "You're strength has increased, Masaki," he rasped in Ziasha's voice. "But now we are stronger!" he shouted as Rashoch. Ziashoch flipped his blades around, pinning his opponents' weapons to the floor. Then he dashed forward and knocked them both to the ground with a double close line. By this time Hiro was back on his feet and charging the monster from behind. Washu forced herself to look away from the fight. Her eyes drifted past the brawl to see Gabriel enter the portal. "Dammit," she hissed. She couldn't do anything to help her family in the fight against Ziashoch, but at least she could try and stop Gabriel. But she couldn't do it alone. The genius ran over to the still bound Sasami. Washu opened her holographic laptop, and her fingers started gliding along the keys rapidly. It didn't take her long to hack Gabriel's system and release the magnetic locks holding Sasami in place. Washu banished her laptop to catch her friend, but someone else beat her to it. Riley was suddenly there to catch her with his right arm. The semi-conscious Sasami weakly wrapped her arms around the detective, who in turn held her tightly. A small subspace hole opened next to Washu, and the genius pulled out a hyper syringe. She rolled up the sleeve of Sasami's kimono to inject her. "That should clear your head." It was only a couple of seconds before Sasami was able to stand under her own power. With the sounds of battle raging around her, the princess took in the situation around them with a grim face. She finally looked to Washu and nodded. "Let's go." "Whoa," said Riley. "Where do you think you're going?" Sasami turned back to her lover and caressed his face. "We have to go after Gabriel. If he opens and uses the Eye, then it's all over." The detective nodded. "Fine then. Let's go." Sasami was shaking her head. "No, just me and Washu. You can't go to the Eye." "But..." he tried to say, but Sasami placed her right hand over his mouth. "If you go to the Eye, Gabriel will kill you," she said calmly. "By going alone, we can stall for time. Gabriel won't kill us. He'd rather we witness the destruction of this dimension before we die." She removed her hand and leaned in to kiss him. "I...don't know what I'd do if you died," she whispered. Riley looked past her to the battle going on just fifty yards away. "Well, I don't know how much safer I am here...but okay." He kissed her and held her tightly. "Be careful. I love you." Sasami pulled her head back, her face slightly shocked by his statement. With tears in her eyes she kissed him one last time and started to step away. "I love you, too." Washu took Sasami by the arm and led her away towards the portal. The battle around them was so intense, that the path to the portal was cleared of all obstacles. The pair stopped just in front of the color filled circle to take one last look. Ziashoch was a blur of movements as he parried the attacks of all three Masakis. He parried Tenchi and Hiro to his left and right. Before Rei could move in to attack, the abomination converted his Swords into a pair of energy waves that sent both Tenchi and Hiro flying away. Just as Rei moved in to attack, he opened a ten Wing shield that forced her to back off. "Good luck, my children," whispered Washu before she and Sasami leapt into the portal. _____ "Tenchi!" Ryoko sat up in her bed breathing heavily and covered in sweat. "Mommy!" She looked over to see Achika, Conner, and Daisar standing at her bedside. Bedside? What was she doing in bed? "What's going on?" Achika jumped up on to the bed and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're better, Mommy." Ryoko slowly wrapped her arms around her youngest child. She looked over Achika's head at Daisar. "Daisar, what's going on? Where am I? Where's everyone else?" "You've been in a coma the past couple of days, Aunt Ryoko," he explained. "You are in a hospital built by Miss Washu." "All the other grown ups went off to fight that guy called Gabriel," added Conner. "I think they went to Jurai or something." Ryoko carefully removed Achika from around her neck and sat the child down on the bed. Three green circles appeared on her forehead as the pirate stretched out with her senses. Through their link she could feel Tenchi out there. Although, he wasn't at Jurai. He was...well she couldn't quite place where he was, but she could definitely feel him. And he was in trouble. "Daisar, look after these two," she told the young prince. Before he could answer, she teleported to the sky above the base. When she reappeared, Ryoko was in her Light Hawk Armor. It only took a thought to create a red portal to wherever her husband was. Without any hesitation the Daughter of Washu flew through the portal and into the strangest place she had ever seen. Ryoko stared wide eyed at the space around her. Ribbon worlds? Floating canals? And endless line of space debris? A giant space ship? "Giant space ship?" she said out loud. "Something tells me that's what I'm looking for." A series of explosions from the front of the vessel confirmed it. Ryoko flew right for the front of the monstrosity. It was not very long before she passed over the inverted pyramid and saw the battle raging below on the platform. Ryoko paused for a moment at the sight of what could only be an enlarged version of Ziasha Corodune. Yet, there were also distinct traces of her brother in this gigantic man. "What the hell is going on?" she breathed. This...man was in the process of beating the life out of her family. He wielded a pair of black Light Hawk Swords with deadly precision at Tenchi, who was frantically trying to parry each attack. Hiro and Rei were suddenly there trying to attack their foe at his flanks. The huge man pinned Tenchi's Sword with his left one and quickly reversed the right one back to slice the Knight across the chest. Tenchi fell back just as the twins made their attacks. Unfortunately, this beast of a man was too fast. He easily dueled with each of the twins. There was a flurry of weapon play which soon found Hiro disarmed and laid out on the ground thanks to a spin kick from the man. He completed the rotation of his kick with plenty of time to reset and parry a combination of attacks from Rei. Rei was giving it all she had to try and land a hit. However, her Bo was suddenly caught between the man's Swords and actually sliced in half! He slapped the two ends of her weapon aside and landed a brutal front kick to her gut. As Rei fell away, Tenchi was there again, but the man just parried down Tenchi's Sword and drove his right elbow into the Knight's face. In the brief moment that Ryoko watched the battle, something deep inside her clicked into place. This monster of a man was literally killing her family. Her husband was already wounded severely. Two of her children were be mercilessly pummeled. Not to mention that the eldest of her children was nowhere to be seen and could possibly be dying someplace on this ship. The monster grabbed Hiro and Rei by the throats and slammed them into the floor of the platform. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" screamed Ryoko. The Daughter of Washu's three gems suddenly erupted with power. One second there were three Light Hawk Wings in front of her, and then, suddenly, there were ten. Ten red Light Hawk Wings were now pulsating with power in front of the enraged woman. There was another flash of power as Ryoko teleported right into the middle of the fight. The monster was just about to drive his massive right fist into a prone Hiro, when Ryoko suddenly appeared to catch his fist with her drastically smaller hand. The man's face, which seemed to definitely switch back and forth between Ziasha and Rashoch, paled. "Hands off my kid," growled Ryoko. She quickly followed up her demand with a right cross hook that sent him flying across the platform. She knelt down and helped Hiro to his feet. "Mom? Is it really you?" "Yes, honey," she replied. "Now go get your sister and run for that portal thing over there." *Ryoko!* came Tenchi's relieved voice across their link. *Go with the kids after Gabriel, Tenchi,* she told him. *I'll handle this guy.* She could feel him about to argue, but she quickly sent him a vision of her ten Wings. Her husband gave her a mental nod. *All right. Be careful. He's a combination of Ziasha and Rashoch called Ziashoch. He's also got ten Wings at his command.* "Nice to know," Ryoko said quietly as she eyed her opponent, who was already back on his feet. *Watch yourself, Tenchi.* *I will,* he said. *I love you.* Ryoko smiled to herself. *I love you, too. Now go, before Gabriel opens the Eye.* She felt his presence and the twins' disappear when the entered the portal. "Okay, asshole. Now it's just you and me." Ziashoch straightened to his full eight feet and slowly started walking towards her. Ryoko straightened as tall as she could go and began to walk as well. Soon they were standing toe to toe. If ever there was a fight between David and Goliath, this was it. The monster's face twitched to become Ziasha. "The Daughter of Washu," he hissed. "You really think you can face us alone? It took two of you to kill me last time." His head tilted and became Rashoch. "Remember the beating I gave you last time, sis? This will oh so much worse!" He started giggling madly. Ryoko looked up at him defiantly. "I once believed that we were the same. I thought that if I reasoned with you, I could bring you out of the darkness. But now that you have joined with this...monster Ziasha," she said while gesturing to the towering man, "I know that you are truly evil, brother." The pirate slowly floated up until they were face to face. "And I am the one who will finish the two of you once and for all." Both combatants suddenly jumped away from each other. Ryoko extended her hands and released a series of energy discs as did Ziashoch. Each wave of discs exploded against the other. Their attacks having nullified each other, the pair launched themselves into the space above the platform. Ryoko vanished and reappeared as two flanking Ziashoch on both sides. The two pirates started firing relentlessly with Wing lances. Surprisingly, the monster teleported and reappeared not just as two, but as Ziasha and Rashoch. The former Champions of Tokimi released a series of energy ribbons that succeeded in hitting both Ryokos. The Ryokos both disappeared, and the original phased back in, flipped once, and landed back on the platform. Ziashoch reformed into one just a few feet from her. Both fighters charged instantly. They each threw a series of punches and kicks, but each punch and each kick only ended up countering one another. Stalemated again, they jumped away from one another. Before each combatant even landed, they were both wielding a pair of Light Hawk Swords. Ryoko's feet barely touched the floor, and she was once again charging Ziashoch. The closer she came the more faster she started weaving her Swords in front of her. Ziashoch, too, began to weave his Swords. Then, all at once, their Swords met. It was a literal maelstrom of sparks as their Swords clashed over and over again. Black and red blades danced back and forth seeking only one thing, death. Ziashoch made a double thrust, and Ryoko swung her weapons in and down to parry. The two red Swords pushed the black ones out, leaving the monster's middle open. Ryoko quickly threw her head forward, releasing a stream of hair needles. A countless number of glowing, cyan pins imbedded themselves in Ziashoch's upper body causing numerous streams of blood to start running down his chest. Roaring with rage, he spun to his left bringing his left Sword around at Ryoko's head. The pirate phased right through his attack. Once she was solid again, Ryoko went at his left flank wielding her blades in a side ways chopping fashion. Ziashoch reversed his left Sword to block her chops and slashed at her head with the right one. Ryoko ceased her chops, ducked under the right Sword, and brought both her weapons across Ziashoch's mid section. The abomination roared in pain and released a power surge that threw Ryoko back. She quickly righted herself in the air and reset her fighting stance. Ryoko didn't have to wait long for Ziashoch to attack. The monster flew right through the remains of his power surge. He leveled a pair of powerful slashes, which Ryoko was hard pressed to parry. The sheer strength behind the attacks made her falter under the pressure. For a brief moment her upper right was unguarded, and Ziashoch sent her to the ground with a swift kick. She hit the platform hard, rolling for several feet before teleporting to avoid a series of black energy globes. The pirate reappeared diving at her foe. Their Swords clashed again in a pair of cross parries. They pushed off each other, paused to reset themselves, and went right back to fighting. _____ Riley watched in complete awe at the fight going on in front of him. Ryoko and Ziashoch were almost evenly matched on all fronts. Although there was a significant size difference, Ryoko's strength was a match for the gigantic man's. Riley flinched almost every time their Swords clashed. Ryoko was pressing Ziashoch back with repeated upper body attacks, but seconds later he had reversed the flow of battle by teleporting left and right to confuse her. Ryoko parried a double side slash, but the force of the hit sent her shooting off to her right. The pirate righted herself in the air and released a beam of power at her enemy. Instincts forced Riley to drop to the ground and cover his head as Ziashoch deflected the red beam in his direction with an arm shield. The detective could hear the battle resume from beneath his arms. He slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes. But what caught his attention was not the fight, but an object lying a few feet from his position. Riley carefully crawled towards this mysterious object. He flattened out again, suddenly, as red and black energy ribbons flew over his head. When he finally reached the item, he was astonished to find that it was a Juraian tree weapon of nearly flawless design. He reached out to touch it, but quickly withdrew his hand when a blue bolts shot out from the weapon at him. It only took a second for the detective to figure out what he had just found. "I don't believe it," he whispered. "This must be the Royal Family's Master Key." He was still trying to decide what to do with the item when it suddenly floated off the platform floor and shot up into the sky. _____ Ryoko jumped back to avoid Ziashoch's powerful slashes. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she lunged forward with her left Sword leading. She made a swift jab with her left, which Ziashoch parried with both blades. Ryoko's right Sword sliced inward at his open flank, but the abomination surprised her by bringing up his left knee into her right wrist. With her second attack foiled, Ziashoch put all his strength into scissoring Ryoko's other Sword between his. The pirate cursed and back flipped away as her left Sword was broken in two. The advantage in his favor, Ziashoch dashed forward swinging his Swords. Unable to form a second Sword at the moment, Ryoko frantically parried the abomination's attacks. He was too fast and too strong, though. Her Sword was batted to her right, and his blades quickly slashed back in through her Armor leaving parallel gashes in her abdomen. Ryoko stumbled back, but somehow managed to bring her Sword around to parry another pair of body aimed slashes. The pirate tried to focus her powers for an attack, but Ziashoch wouldn't let up on the pressure long enough for her to concentrate. *Get ready!* cried a familiar voice in her mind, suddenly. Trusting it completely, Ryoko dropped back into a defensive stance. Right on cue, something dropped down right behind Ziashoch. Ryoko caught a brief glimpse of a blue blade as it slashed the abomination across the back. Ziashoch reflexively reared back in pain. Seizing the opportunity, Ryoko attacked. Her red bladed Light Hawk Sword darted in, batting both of Ziashoch's black blades aside. There was a flash of surprise from both Ziasha and Rashoch when Ryoko drove her Sword, to the hilt, into their chest. Then she wrenched it once in a circle and slashed back out through his left side. Ryoko went with the momentum of her attack, made a complete three hundred sixty degree spin to her right, and separated Ziashoch's head from his shoulders. As soon as he lost his head, a great pillar of Light Hawk Power shot up from Ziashoch's open neck. Ryoko teleported back twenty feet and covered her eyes. An explosion of black power soon followed the pillar. When it was all over, there was nothing left but the abomination's scorched remains. Ryoko removed her arm from over her eyes and looked down. "Rest in peace, brother," she said somberly. Her eyes then immediately darted up to see the person who had come to her aide. Mayuka was standing about fifteen feet behind the burnt corpse holding Tenchi-ken in her right hand and her left hand over her midsection. One teleport later, Ryoko was at her side. She nearly cried out when she saw the bleeding wound in her daughter's stomach. "Oh my god, Mayuka!" Ryoko started to dote over her. "Here, let me take a look at that." "I'll be fine," the young woman was saying. "I already cauterized it to stop the bleeding." Ryoko started to force her child's arm away from the wound. "You still need medical attention." "And you need to get into that portal and help the others," countered Mayuka. "I'll be fine, but the universe won't if Gabriel opens the Eye." "I'll look after her." Ryoko looked behind herself to find Riley standing there. She reached out to grab the detective by the front of his shirt. "If anything else happens to her..." "I know I know. It's my ass," he finished for her. "It won't be the first time." Ryoko couldn't help but grin at him. She released the GP, gave Mayuka a quick hug, and ran for the portal. _____ Washu and Tsunami suddenly found themselves in a place that neither woman had ever thought they would see again. An endless swirl of colors surrounded them. They began walking forward on the ground that wasn't there, towards the Eye. The Eye of the Universe, at this point, was only a thin white line that seemed to cut across the colors. Just ahead of them was Gabriel. The entity was standing with his hands outstretched. Energy began to crackle around his fingertips. "By the power of the gods!" he was yelling. "I command you to open!" The energy building in his hands suddenly shot out at the white line. Everything stopped, and the universe groaned as the Eye opened. The white line slowly expanded until there was an immense, all white eye staring back at them. Washu and Tsunami ran as fast as they could to reach Gabriel in time. When they finally came to a stop, he was already walking towards the Eye. "Gabriel! Stop!" shouted the aqua haired goddess. "Don't do it!" He actually ceased and turned to face them. "Do not do what, Tsunami?" he asked. "Don't complete what you denied me? Do not become Perfect?" "There is no such thing, boy," came Tokimi's voice from off to the left. There was a brief shimmer, and a translucent form of the dark haired goddess was standing next to Washu. "Ah, that is much better. At last we are someplace where I can bend the rules." "Tokimi," hissed Gabriel. "So, you live after all." She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I am an Immortal, something you will never be." "That's where you are wrong," he replied. "I will achieve a greatness that you three can only dream of." "No, Gabriel," Washu said at last. "You were never meant for such a thing. Nobody is. Perfection is an illusion only madmen and psychopaths seek. We made a mistake when we created you in this way." "A mistake!" he shouted. "Who are you to judge me in such a fashion, Washu? What gives you the right to make such a decision?" "We made you," answered Tokimi. "That is what gives us the right. Without us you would not exist." "No, he's right," said Washu as she looked to them. Both her sisters stared at her. "When we gave him self awareness, we gave up the right to make decisions for him." She turned her green eyes back to Gabriel. "But when you started abuse your gifts, that is when we decided to judge you." "Judge me?" he rasped. "You went straight to my sentence. You locked me away without even considering what I was trying to do. I am going to become the perfect being! I will be a god among gods with no faults!" "Wrong," interjected Tsunami. "You are heartless, Gabriel. You lack such necessary qualities as compassion and love. You might have had them once, but you discarded them when you broke your oath to protect those you tyrannized. You used the younger beings of the universe for your perverse experiments. Ziashoch is proof that you still hold no respect for the sanctity of life." "Life," spat the entity. "All that matters in life is the survival of the strongest. If the lesser races have to die so that I can achieve my perfection, then so be it. My greatness will outshine anything that all these races could ever hope to achieve. When I am Perfect, I will reshape your creation into my own image! *I* alone have the right to this power! No one else!" "Then prove it," said a new voice. Everyone looked over to see Tenchi walking towards Gabriel with Rei and Hiro moving just a few feet behind him. "Prove to me that you are worthy, Gabriel," the Knight challenged. "If you are the only one who is worthy of Perfection, then show me. Step out of your shell and fight me for it." Gabriel paused for a second. Then he threw his head back and laughed. "Are you serious, Masaki?" Tenchi's eyes thinned. "Dead serious." All humor left Gabriel's face. "Fine then. You want to see what it means to deserve Perfection, Masaki. Then you will." _____ Tenchi and the twins dropped into fighting stances with their Light Hawk Weapons raised and ready. Gabriel slowly tilted his head back until his face was staring straight up. Then, suddenly, a blinding light erupted from his mouth. Tenchi grimaced when he realized that the light was in fact energy. He lowered his Sword and set his feet. "Remember the plan," he told the twins. "Yes, sensei," they both replied. There was an explosion of white power, and Azusa's body was thrown aside. Finally, everyone saw Gabriel for what he really was. The white energy slowly began to take on a shape. It extended downward for about fifty feet with the upper body of a man running down into simply wisps of energy. A pair of arms ending in claws grew out of the shoulders. At last an energy tendril ridden head sprouted up from the neck. A pair of almond shaped black eyes snapped open followed by a bottomless maw of energy shaped teeth. With blinding speed, Gabriel surged forward. Before Tenchi could even react, the entity had grabbed him with his massive right hand, lifted him into the air, and slammed him down on the invisible ground. "Is this what you wanted, Masaki?" he rumbled in monstrous voice. "How does it feel to taste true power?" "Bitter," Tenchi managed to say. Gabriel raised his other claw to strike, but that was when the twins attacked. Hiro and Rei started laying down a relentless wave of energy blasts at the entity. Tenchi believed he actually saw Gabriel wince as the purple and green blasts struck him. The entity released the Knight and flew back away from the attacking twins. Not wanting to let up the pressure, Hiro and Rei pursued Gabriel. "No!" Tenchi tried to say. "Wait!" But they didn't hear him. Hiro ceased his firing, created his burning Sword, and charged in while Rei kept her blasts coming. Tenchi felt Gabriel's Light Hawk Power before he even attacked. There was a sudden flash around Rei, and her entire body was encased in a solid block of gray mater. The raven haired teen cried out as she dropped down to the ground. Undaunted, Hiro launched into his attack. He made several broad swipes with his Sword, succeeding in cutting into Gabriel's side, if you could really call it that. The entity turned his attention to the attacking young warrior. Suddenly, whips of white energy lashed out from Gabriel at Hiro. The cyan haired teen backed off immediately while weaving his blade in a defensive manner. Unfortunately, there were too many whips. A couple made it past Hiro's defenses to strike him. The shock of the whips paralyzed Hiro, allowing the other whips to slap him repeatedly. Breathing heavily, Tenchi pulled himself up and flew at Gabriel. First, he created a large, spinning blue disc and sent it at the whips attacking Hiro. Just as the disc sliced through the whips, which allowed Hiro to teleport away, Tenchi created a pair of energy ribbons and threw them at Gabriel. The ribbons exploded against the entity's chest, drawing his attention back to Tenchi. "Well, I got his attention again," said the Knight. Gabriel, showing what could only be a smile on his face, flew at Tenchi. Several bolts of power shot from his body at the Knight. Tenchi easily dodged the bolts and was about to charge in to counter attack, when he felt the space around him start to change. He looked to his left and right and blanched at what he saw. Flanking him on both sides were point singularities! Almost immediately, he felt his body being pulled apart at a molecular level. "You've got to be kidding me!" he shouted. Thinking quickly, Tenchi threw out his arms and created a pair of blue spheres around each of the black holes. Then he started shrinking the spheres until they closed each hole completely. Gabriel attacked again while the Knight was forced to close the singularities. A cone of white power shot from one of Gabriel's claws and slammed right into the center of Tenchi's chest. The Knight could only cry out in pain as he was rocketed across the colored space. Gabriel would have continued to attack him if the twins had not reentered the fight at that point. Surrounded in a green glow, Hiro tackled the entity in the side. There was a great explosion of power as the two different Light Hawk Wings clashed. Then Rei attacked from the left in the same way. Gabriel actually cried out in pain as the twins sandwiched him between their powers. Their victory, however, was short lived. From within the bind, Gabriel actually changed his shape. He literally slithered down until his tail wisps were the only things being bound. Then he reached up right through their spheres and grabbed each twin. Both of the teens instantly lost control of their Wings, following which Gabriel promptly slammed them together. As they fell, Tenchi came zooming back into the fray. Taking a cue from his children Tenchi created a wall of Light Hawk Power in front of him as he charged. He crashed right into Gabriel's body, pushing the entity back away from his kids. Before Gabriel could counter attack, Tenchi reached into his wall and converted into a pair of crossed Light Hawk Swords. Then he quickly slashed outwards with each Sword taking chunks of power out of Gabriel as he went. The Knight followed up his attacks by back flying away just as Gabriel's claws came slashing down. The twins were back up by now. They both extended their hands and started firing more energy blasts at Gabriel. Tenchi crossed his Swords together, changed them into pure power, and released a beam of blue energy at Gabriel as well. The combination of all their attacks seemed to actually be beating the entity. But that all changed in an instant when Gabriel quickly reminded them just what they were dealing with. The entity reared his head back and roared with pure rage. At his command a storm of power erupted around them all. Hundreds of white bolts rained down from above striking the three Light Hawk Warriors. Each one was forced to cease their attacks in order to raise some form of defense. At that moment, Gabriel attacked again. He suddenly became a ball of pure energy that shot out at them. Tenchi, Rei, and Hiro could do nothing to defend against Gabriel as he started to ping pong back and forth between them repeatedly. The living ball of power continuously rebounded back and forth between the trio causing them to lurch and cry out in pain. Finally, Gabriel stopped between them and released a three way power blast that succeeded in dropping all the warriors. The entity reverted to his original form. "You cannot defeat me," he gloated. "I am destined to be the..." His sentenced was cut off as a spinning red disc exploded against his chest. "Round two! New player!" shouted Ryoko as she came soaring across the colored space. The Daughter of Washu's hands were surrounded by a fiery red glow just before she attacked. Ryoko dove in and started to repeatedly pound Gabriel with her glowing fists. The entity lurched back and forth from her powerful blows. He tried to grab her, but the pirate nimbly flew up out of his reach. She teleported right behind his head, grabbed a handful of his tendrils, and pulled. The entity was lifted into the air and swung around several times before the pirate finally slammed him into the ground. "How does the power of the Ten Wings of the Light Hawk feel, pal?" she growled with a savage grin. "You tell me," he answered...from behind. Ryoko spun around, but not in time to avoid Gabriel's uppercut. His massive right claw caught her full in the body lifting the pirate right up to be punched down by his left claw. Ryoko hit the invisible ground hard. Gabriel might have finished her, but Tenchi intervened. Tsunami's Knight swooped in wielding two Light Hawk Swords. Taken by surprise, Gabriel could do nothing but back away as Tenchi's blades continually sliced into him. Gabriel finally found some room to counter attack, but Tenchi quickly transformed his Swords into arm shields that blocked both of Gabriel's claws. Tenchi flashed him a smile. The Knight converted his shields into spheres that went out to contain both of Gabriel's claws. Then his flew up out of the way just as Ryoko came charging back in. The pirate was holding a large, red lance of energy, which she threw right into Gabriel's unguarded chest. Ryoko clapped her hands once, and the imbedded lance exploded. Gabriel was literally blown in a hundred different directions. Tenchi gave the signal, and the Masaki family regrouped a hundred yards away. They all landed and watched as Gabriel was already pulling himself back together. "This is it," Tenchi told his family. "After that he won't be thinking clearly any more." "Good," said Ryoko. She started punching her left palm. "Let's finish him off." "He's energy, Ryoko," explained Tenchi. "We can't kill him, only contain him." "Grandma told us that we have to get him weakened enough so that we can lock him up again," added Rei. "We need to get him to expend as much of himself as we can in the fighting." "Looks like kicking his ass works just fine," Hiro said venomously. There was an inhuman roar, and they all looked over to see that Gabriel had reformed completely. Each one of them, though, could tell that he was not as strong as he had been at the beginning of the battle. "We're on the defensive from now on," Tenchi told them. "Quick attacks just to annoy and get him to fire back. I don't want any melee exchanges with him. Remember, he'll spend more energy chasing us around and trying to hit us." "How long do we keep this up?" asked Ryoko. Tenchi could feel that his wife didn't like the idea of playing a game of cat and mouse. Tenchi gave her a reassuring thought across their link. "Just keep a look out for my signal." _____ "Father. Father, are you all right?" Azusa opened his eyes slowly. When his vision cleared, his heart threatened to break. "Sasami," he croaked. She smiled down at him while caressing his face lovingly. "Yes, it's me. You're going to be fine." The Emperor was shaking his head. "No," he rasped. "I shall never be fine. It is because of my selfish actions that our universe may be destroyed this day." He reached up and touched the side of her face with his right hand. "Oh, my dearest Sasami, I am so sorry." "You should be, you stupid man," hissed another woman's voice. Azusa pulled himself up into a sitting position. Standing behind his youngest daughter were two other women. One of them was the scientist Washu Hakubi, and the other was a woman Gabriel had called Tokimi. "Be quiet Tokimi," hissed Sasami. "I speak the truth, Tsunami," replied the woman. "It is because of his selfish paranoia that Gabriel was able to enter this dimension. We should kill him for such a crime right here and now." Sasami stood and got between her father and the transparent woman. "Don't you dare touch him," she growled. "That's enough," ordered Washu. "It's starting." Azusa got to his feet and followed their gazes out across the colored space. He frowned with shame at what he saw. The boy, Tenchi, and his family were fighting with Gabriel. They were laying their lives on the line to fight a monster he had brought into this world. The four Masakis were buzzing around the entity like annoying fruit flies. The two teenagers darted in firing small blasts of power at him. Gabriel responded by releasing devastating blasts of white power, but the two young fighters had already broken off their attacks to dodge away easily. Then Tenchi and the pirate flew past loosing a series of their own energy blasts. Gabriel roared in anger while swiping wildly at the pair. They were too fast, however. Each one back peddled away making sure to keep up their individual firing. Enraged beyond clear thought, Gabriel launched himself at them. He fired beam after beam of power, but the two warriors easily dodged again and again. With his back unprotected, Gabriel could do nothing to stop the twins as they swept past leveling more energy blasts at him. When the entity spun around to attack the fleeing children, Tenchi and Ryoko only swept past him with blazing swords. Each blade cut a very visible chunk out of Gabriel's sides. Blinded with rage, Gabriel immediately chased after the parents, while forgetting about the kids again. The Knight and the pirate lead Gabriel around the colored space in a deadly game of tag. They only flew away from the entity, not even bothering to answer his repeated energy attacks. Then Tenchi and Ryoko parted ways to give the suddenly charging twins clear shots at Gabriel. The young pair halted in mid air, extended their hands, and fired green and purple beams that succeeded in hitting Gabriel right in the head. The entity was stopped dead in his tracks by the beams. He raised his claws to fire back, but Tenchi and Ryoko swooped down with their swords again and actually cut his arms off at the elbows. Gabriel, shouting in pain, released a several blasts from his eyes. This time, however, he wasn't advancing as he attacked. He was retreating. "It's time," announced Washu. "You aren't actually going to go through with this?" balked Tokimi. "You know there will be no coming back from this." Washu looked back at her. "I know. It's time we answered for our sins, Tokimi." Sasami looked back and forth between them. "What are you talking about?" Washu walked over and hugged the aqua haired woman. "Take care of everyone," she said quietly. "I'll miss you all." She stepped back and started walking towards the battle. Sasami took a couple of steps after her. "Washu, no!" she cried. "You don't have to do this!" The red head stopped and looked back briefly. She gave them all a soft smile with a nod. "I know what has to be done, Tsunami. I know what I have to do." Washu turned away and continued to walk. Azusa watched the entire exchange in grim silence. Finally, he nodded to himself. "So do I." _____ As soon as Gabriel started backing away, Tenchi knew it was time. A quick glance back confirmed that Washu was moving into position. *Ryoko!* he called out over the link. *Yeah?* *Make a portal, now!* he said urgently. *A portal?* she asked with confusion. *Where? Can I even do that here?* *It doesn't matter where,* he told her. *Just make one big enough for Gabriel to see.* Her thoughts were unsure, but his wife put her trust in his words, all the same. *Whatever you say, lover.* _____ Gabriel watched his opponents warily as he backed away. He was getting weaker by the moment. With the arrival of Ryoko, he had been forced to use more power than he had intended. Fear suddenly raced through him when a large red portal appeared. "No!" he cried out. "I will not be imprisoned again!" He could try accessing the power of the Eye, but in his current state the sheer strength of the Eye would probably overwhelm him. "I must find another way to survive." Then it came to him. A new host! If he could get inside a new host, then he could hold that body hostage until he completed the transformation. The entity looked around, but grimaced at his limited choices. Tenchi and his abominable twins were advancing on him again. Their Light Hawk Wings, as well as Ryoko's, made it impossible for him to inhabit their bodies. Tokimi had no physical form, Tsunami's power shielded her, and Azusa was definitely out of the question. Then Gabriel saw her. Washu was slowly walking out into the open. For all intents and purposes she was a mortal and perfectly capable of hosting his power. How ironic this was turning out to be. It would be through Washu's body that he would obtain his perfection. "Prepare yourself, Washu," he hissed. Summoning what power he could, Gabriel rocketed himself past the advancing trio towards Washu. They tried to hit him with energy blasts, but the entity's speed was too great for them to have any sort of accuracy. As he neared the former goddess, Gabriel began to go through the transformation that would allow him to merge with her. He was actually surprised when Washu didn't try to run away. She simply stood her ground and calmly watched him approach. Then the unexpected happened. Washu was suddenly pushed aside by another person. "Azusa!?" cried Gabriel. The entity tried to stop, but it was already too late. "Father!" screamed Tsunami. There was a small storm of white electricity around Azusa as Gabriel merged with him. Gabriel tried to break himself free from the Juraian, but the merging had sapped most of his remaining power. He then tried to assume control of the man's body, but in his weakened condition Azusa was able to fight him. That was when Gabriel realized that the Emperor was moving. His fear increased when he saw the man's destination. *Azusa! What are you doing?* Azusa was now running at full speed towards the open Eye of the Universe. "I'm atoning for the wrongs I have visited upon my loved ones and the galaxy," replied the Juraian darkly. "Make peace with whatever you believe in, Gabriel. For this madness will finally end." *Azusa, don't do this! We'll both die if you jump into that!* "Most assuredly." The Eye was now yawning before them with all its creative and destructive power. Using what little Jurai Power he could muster, Azusa jumped up and into the Eye. _____ Seconds after Azusa jumped into the Eye, there was a violent reaction. Bolts of white power began to shoot out from the Eye in random directions. Tenchi waved to his wife and children to fall back. The four of them ducked and dodged their way back towards where Tsunami and Tokimi were standing. Tenchi was forced to stop when Washu, who had been running back as well, was suddenly hit by one of the bolts. Both she and Tokimi cried out. The Knight quickly dropped down to pick up the unconscious genius. With Washu in his arms, Tenchi was soon setting down next to the rest of the group. "Okay," Hiro was saying. "How the hell do we get out of here?" Tsunami, face ashen and eyes red from crying, stepped forward. "Ryoko, please take my hand." The pirate reached out to hold her friend's left hand. Ryoko was surrounded in a red glow, and her Ten Light Hawk Wings opened up in front of her. Tenchi watched as Ryoko's power flowed down her arm and into Tsunami. The aqua haired woman raised her right hand, and a blue portal appeared. "With the help of Ryoko I've been able to open a portal back to Nexus," she said in a flat voice. No one had to be told twice. The twins were through first followed by Tenchi, with Washu, and then Ryoko. The group now found themselves back on the platform of Gabriel's Ark. A Juraian shuttle was parked not too far away with Ukarit and the rest of the members of the strike team standing around it. Kiyone was tending to Mayuka, who was leaning up against the side of the shuttle. Finally, Sasami stepped through the portal, which closed behind her. "It's over," she said in a tired voice. Riley stepped up and put his right arm around her. "Gabriel is dead, and the Eye has closed." Everyone started to talk with a sense of relief. Washu started to squirm in Tenchi's arms. The Knight carefully set her back on her feet, making sure to keep one arm under her. "Are you all right, Washu?" "Yeah," she replied while rubbing the side of her head. "I'll be fine. I just need..." She stopped in mid sentence and began to look around. "What's the matter?" asked Ryoko. Without responding, Washu freed herself from Tenchi and walked towards the portal ring. Tenchi and Ryoko followed after her, unsure about what to do. The genius walked behind the lower right end of the ring. Tenchi could see her bending over as if to pick something up. When she came back around the ring, Washu was definitely holding something. "I don't believe it," breathed Ryoko. Tucked into Washu's arms was a baby girl. The baby was completely calm with what could only be described as a grimace on her face. She looked up at the couple with a pair of purple and blue eyes. "That's not who I think it is?" asked Tenchi. Washu was beaming at them. "Say hello to baby Tokimi." The baby made a huffing noise at them. "She says hi." "Yeah, I bet," muttered Ryoko. "How...how is this possible?" stuttered Tenchi. "I told you that she was in my mind." He nodded. "Well, it seems that the blast from the Eye gave her a corporeal form again. And she's mortal to boot. I can't think of a better bit of irony." Tokimi started crying at that remark. Washu cooed at her lovingly. "Oh, it's okay, Tokimi. You can come and live with us and grow up to be a human with emotions and everything." Tenchi and Ryoko both groaned inwardly and outwardly. "Okay, everybody!" chimed Mihoshi's voice over Tokimi's crying. "It's time to go home!" The ditz hit the starter sequence, but the shuttle's engine exploded as a result. "Mihoshi!" shouted Kiyone. Everyone stated to yell back and forth over Kiyone and Mihoshi. "I'd better open a portal to Jurai," said Ryoko. "Good idea," agreed Washu. Mother and daughter walked away from the portal ring over to their friends and family. Tenchi, however, remained still and watched the scene before him. Almost everyone was showing signs of relief through their actions. Only Sasami and Hiro were not celebrating. Sasami was leaning into Riley's embrace with a sad and tired expression on her face. Tenchi had already decided he would be the one to tell Ayeka about Azusa's fate. Hiro was standing off to the side of the group over a body that had been covered by Ukarit's jacket. "We may have won the war," he said to himself, "but victory can sometimes be hollow." Not the end... Notes- keep reading...