Here it is.  The last part of "The Bonds of Sisterhood."  It's been
months since I started this story, now it's almost over.  There are
a few people I need to thank.  First, Seaver for cajoling me into
writing it in the first place.  Second, Cav for proofing my work,
and third, Meg, just for being there.  Tenchi Muyo is the property
of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I own only the writing.




The Bonds of Sisterhood part 12:
Breaking the Bonds


	A noise.
	The K'rystava guard turned and brought its spear up defensively.
It clicked to itself as it scanned the corridor with its green eyes.
	Nothing.
	He started forward.  Behind him, one of the great powerplants
of his goddess' Arena hummed loudly.  As it walked forward, it passed
near a ventilation grate.
	"Hey, bug,"  something whispered to his left.  He turned and
hissed.  There was a flash of light, a sharp pain in his eye, then
nothing.
	The ventilation grate popped out and hit the floor with a clang.
Sergeant Misa Rikari pulled herself out of the ventilation duct and
hit the floor with a grunt.  She crouched there for a moment and
checked to her left and right, the PP90 blaster pistol held firmly
in both hands.  She checked the body of the guard and removed the
silencer and flash suppressor from the pistol.  Even at such close
range, it was important to check the body.  Flash suppressors rendered
a plasma bolt invisible to the naked eye, but also cut the pistol's
range to about ten feet.
	Content that the guard was dead, she turned back to the duct.
She gave the hand signal that meant, "all clear," and watched as
Tenza reached out, offering her carbine to her.  She holstered the
pistol and took the plasma rifle.  She checked from side to side as
Tenza and Gret'an pulled themselves out of the duct. Once out, they
turned.  Nol'al, bringing up the rear, pushed three, heavy, bags out
to them.  Each bag was about half as tall as they were, but just as
heavy.  Printed along the side of each bag were the words, "Warning:
N2 Charges."  In typical Marine fashion, some joker had scribbled a
message next to this in black marker.
	"Point Away From Face."
	Once the last bag was out, Nol'al joined them in the corridor.
	"Nol'al, Gret'an,"  Rikari ordered, "Police this body.  Tenza,
you're with me."  She bent down and picked up one of the bags with
a grunt.  Tenza slung his carbine over his shoulder and picked up a
bag of his own.  Nol'al and Gret'an started dragging the body of
the guard to a more suitable location where no one would find it.
	As Rikari walked towards the powerplant, she thought about
the awesome task ahead of them.  According to Nol'al, they had to
plant three N2 charges at each of the three powerplants specified
in order to start a chain reaction that would take the place out.
Luckily, they had plenty of charges.  Unfortunately, there was no
way they could carry nine charges through the ventilation system
at once.  Their only recourse was to set the charges at one
powerplant, return to the ship, pick up three more, then move to
the next powerplant.  It had taken them hours to get to the first
reactor through the air ducts.  The charges were equipped with
dampeners, so it was unlikely that anyone would notice them unless
they actually saw one with their own eyes.
	It was still risky, though, and the more time they spent
planting the charges, the less there was for finding Ayeka.
	<Hold on, Ayeka.>

	"Tenchi?"
	Tenchi's eyes fluttered open, and pink eyes stared back at him.
He moaned and tried to clear his head.  He was lying on his back,
on a hard metal floor.
	"Are you okay, Tenchi?"
	His eyes focused on Tsunami's concerned face.  He growled and
stood up.  The goddess, arrayed in her blue kimono and holding the
Tenchi ken, stepped back a pace.  They were in a bare metal room,
empty except for a few green lights.  He approached her angrily.
Tsunami continued to back away until her back hit the wall.  He
stood right in front of her, glaring at her.
	"Is it true?"  he asked quietly.
	"Tenchi, please.  Try to underst..."
	"IS IT TRUE!?"
	She flinched at his tone.  "Yes," she said quietly.  "It's
true."
	He glared at her in abject hatred.  "How could you?" he
whispered.  "I never would've thought you, *YOU*, would be capable
of something like that."
	Tsunami took a breath and tried to explain.  "Tenchi, I was
desperate.  Ayeka had put Sasami in cold sleep for her search for
Yosho, I didn't know how much time I had."
	He shook his head.  "I can't believe it.  I trusted you."
	"Tenchi."  There was pain in her eyes.  "I didn't know.  I
swear to you, I didn't know that...that would happen.  The
assimilation with Sasami was so quick, so painless, I....I never
thought about what might happen if someone actively *resisted*.  I'm
so sorry,"  she whispered.
	Tenchi glared at her.  "Sorry won't bring my mother back," he
hissed.  "Sorry won't give me a childhood with her.  Sorry won't
make it hurt any less."
	Tsunami said nothing.
	"What will you do now?"  she asked him.
	Tenchi turned away from her.  "She offered to bring her back,"
he said.  Tsunami gasped.  He turned back to her.  "Can she do it?"
	She took a breath, closed her eyes and said, "Possibly."  He
continued to stare at her.  "Will you...will you join her?"  she
asked nervously.
	"No," he whispered.  Tsunami blinked in shock.  She had expected
him to tell her yes, to go to Hell.
	"Why not?"  she asked.  "I thought..."
	"I'm tempted, Tsunami,"  he growled.  "You have no idea how
much."  His voice softened.  "Tokimi told me about the Contest, and
what she has planned for after it.  But if I joined her, and she
*did* bring my mother back..."  He looked up at her and shook his
head.  "How would I ever be able to look her in the eye?"
	She blinked.  "Does...does this mean you'll fight as my
Champion?"  There was a hint of hope in her voice.
	He glared at her.  "Yes, Tsunami," he told her.  "I'll fight,
but *not* for you.  I'll fight because if I don't, Tokimi is going
to send those K'rystava all over the multiverse to 'promote
evolution,' as she called it.  So I'll fight for you."
	Tsunami smiled and handed the sword to him, but this smile
fell a moment later when Tenchi finished,
	"But I will *never* forgive you."

	"Ryoko,"
	E. Ryoko's eyes opened slowly.
	"Ryoko, you must wake up."
	She lifted her head off the metal floor and focused on the
child-like figure before her.  "Mom?"
	Washu nodded and knelt next to her.  "Ryoko, listen to me.
There isn't much time."
	"Why can't I sense you?"
	"Tokimi's influence,"  Washu answered quickly.  "It's
interfering with my powers.  Listen to me.  We're in trouble.  The
entire Empire is in trouble.  The thing holding us here is a goddess.
I don't know the specifics, but I know that she's having some sort
of...competition, some kind of contest.  She wants you to fight as
a representative of the Empire."
	"Mom, you're not making any sense."
	"I know.  It's complicated.  The long and short of it is that
if her fighter wins this contest, she'll have the power to destroy
everything.  The Empire, Jurai, Mollidon, Belegast....gone.  Just...
gone."  E. Ryoko looked at her in horror.
	"How?"  she asked.
	Washu shook her head.  "I don't know.  I know Tenchi has
agreed to fight as well..."
	"Tenchi?!"
	The scientist nodded.  "Yes."  She shook her head.  "But...I...
don't think he can win."
	Ryoko's mouth hung open in shock.
	"Ryoko, you are our only hope.  The *Empire's* only hope!  If
Tokimi's champions are not defeated, the galaxy will know an eternity
of darkness.  I know this is hard to accept all at once, but you
*must* fight."
	"Mom, I think..."
	"Ryoko, they need a decision.  There's *no one* else!"
	E. Ryoko nodded.  "All right, Mom.  All right.  I'll fight.
What do I do?"
	Washu smiled.  "I'm proud of you, Ryoko."  E. Ryoko smiled.
Washu reached out and touched her forehead.  There was a flash of
light, and E. Ryoko disappeared.
	Washu's smile widened into a grin.  Her eyes flashed pink.
She aged visibly, her red uniform transforming into a red kimono.
Washu stood there and took a cleansing breath.  It had taken some
mild deception, but it was done.  Of course, she had other problems
with this arrangement.  She was certain that this Ryoko would never
kill Tenchi.  Still, she wasn't overly concerned.  Chances were,
Tokimi's champions would cut Masaki to pieces inside fifteen minutes,
anyway.  Hopefully, he'd be able to take one them with him when he
died.   Then, her new Champion would mop up the remaining one.
	There was still a risk, but she didn't have anymore options.
The Contest was only an hour away.
	She'd simply have to do.

	"You wished to see me, Your Ladyship?"  D-6 asked his goddess.
	Tokimi nodded and waved her hand.  A golden box appeared,
floating in the air before D-6.  He reached out and took it.
	"What is it?"  he asked her.
	"A second chance," she intoned quietly.  "You will take that
box to D-3.  In the event of defeat, he will know what to do."
	D-6 nodded.  "I obey, Your Ladyship."
	"Go now."
	D-6 bowed.  "Yes, Your Ladyship."

	Tokimi appeared in the throne room, her kimono shimmering in
the light.  Tsunami and Washu appeared there as well.  The three
goddesses were floating several feet off the ground.
	"The time has come,"  Tokimi said.  "The Champions are
assembled."  She waved a hand.  Tenchi appeared beneath Tsunami.
"Tsunami's Champion, Tenchi Masaki."  Another wave.  E. Ryoko
appeared under Washu.  "Washu's Champion, Ryoko of Carissia."
	Tenchi's eyes went wide.  His head snapped around, and he saw
E. Ryoko.  He looked up at Tsunami.  "Tsunami!  This wasn't part of
the deal!  What's going on!?"
	Tsunami looked just as surprised as he was.  "I don't know."
	"My Champions,"  Tokimi announced, "Lady Reek'sta, Hive Mother
of the K'rystava people."  A red insect, even taller than the green
ones they had seen so far, appeared there.  It clicked at Tenchi
and Ryoko.  "And Masayoshi Rotarin of the Jurain people."
	E. Ryoko gasped in shock.  A blonde man appeared below Tokimi.
He smiled at E. Ryoko.
	"The Champions will be sent to the Arena..."
	"A moment, Sister, please,"  Tsunami begged.
	Tokimi's eyes narrowed.  "Very well."  Tsunami turned to
Washu as the goddesses disappeared.  Tenchi blinked, unsure of
what was happening.
	"You,"  E. Ryoko hissed, glaring at Rotarin.
	"Hey, *Sis*,"  Rotarin said.
	<"*Sis*!!">  Tenchi thought in shock.
	"I should've known,"  E. Ryoko growled.  "Anyone who'd turn his
coat once would turn it twice!"
	Rotarin grinned.  "Call it, 'knowing how to survive.'"
	"Yeah, well I guarantee you won't survive this!"
	"The Terrans have a saying, Ryoko," Rotarin told her, "Your
ass is grass..."
	"The Terrans have another saying, *brother*,"  E. Ryoko shot
back, "And you're full of it!"
	By this time, Tenchi had gotten over his shock.  He approached
her and took her by the shoulders.  "Ryoko!  What are you doing
here?!"
	She broke off her glare on her brother and turned to Tenchi.
"Tenchi, I don't know everything that's going on, but Mom told me
what Tokimi's planning.  I have to make sure she's stopped."
	"You shouldn't be here."
	"None of us should."  She threw another look at Rotarin.

	"What is this?!"  Tsunami asked Washu angrily.  "That is not
your Champion!"
	"She is now,"  Washu said.  "She has agreed to fight."
	Floating in the sky above the Arena where they would observe
the final battle, the goddesses had one last round of bickering to
do.  Tokimi smiled and watched.
	"And what of your old Champion!?"  Tsunami demanded.  "What of
Ryoko?!"
	"I have cast her aside,"  Washu told her.  "She was unworthy."
	Tsunami glared at her sister.  She turned to Tokimi.  "This
is an outrage!"
	"I see nothing wrong with it,"  Tokimi said.  "After all,
dear Sister, *you* have gone through more than one Champion."
	"That's different!"  Tsunami shot back.  "I *had* to find new
champions!"
	Tokimi smiled.  "If you like, we could ask Quintin to pass
judgement."
	Tsunami glared.  If Quintin decided to throw out Washu's
Champion in favor for the original, Ryoko, he might also force
Tsunami to throw out Tenchi in favor of Sasami.
	"That won't be neccessary,"  she growled.
	Washu grinned.  "You didn't tell him, did you?"
	Tsunami said nothing.
	"You couldn't tell him that one of them had to die, could you?"
	Tokimi smiled at his sisters.
	"Fine.  Let the Contest begin."

	"So who is he?"  Tenchi asked her.  Standing on the other side
of the room, Rotarin and Reek'sta were watching them.
	E. Ryoko glared at the man.  "My brother, Masayoshi,"  she
growled.
	"Brother?"
	She nodded.  "Well...half brother, anyway.  He's the son of
my mother and her first husband, Bail Kuramitsu."
	Tenchi blinked.  <Kuramitsu?  Isn't that...>
	"It's a long story, Tenchi,"  E. Ryoko finished.  "The point
is, he's a lying, treasonous, backstabbing, bastard."  She gave him
a feral grin.  "So don't get between us when the shooting starts."
	Tenchi bit his lip but nodded.  It was at that moment the
goddesses reappeared.
	"The Contest will begin now,"  Tokimi intoned.  She nodded to
her sisters.  Washu closed her eyes, and the gems on E. Ryoko's
wrists glowed.  A second later, she vanished.
	Tokimi gestured to her champions.  A yellow glowing collar
appeared around Reek'sta's neck. She hissed and disappeared.
Rotarin grinned at Tenchi as gold bracelets appeared on either of
his wrists.  He vanished a moment later.
	Tenchi looked up at Tsunami.  She reached down and touched his
forehead with her finger.  In a flash of light, Tenchi was in his
Jurain battle outfit.  Tsunami took a breath and said a single word.
	"Believe."
	He nodded and vanished.

	"Got it!"
	PM Washu heard Ayeka's cry of victory and tore the collar
from her neck.
	<Ryoko!>  She projected.  <Ryoko!  Answer me!>
	Nothing.
	<Ryoko!  Respond!  Ryoko!>
	Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, and Ryo-Ohki looked on worriedly as
PM Washu tried to establish contact with her daughter.
	She took a breath and shook her head.  "Nothing."
	"What does that mean, Ms. Washu?"  Sasami asked.
	PM Washu swallowed nervously.  "It...It just means she's out
of contact."
	Ayeka saw the fear in PM Washu's eyes.  The scientist turned
to her.  "Kneel down, Princess.  I'll get that collar off you."
	Ayeka obeyed.  Suddenly, PM Washu tensed.
	"Ms. Washu!?  What is it?!"
	PM Washu blinked.  "Ryoko?"

	The sisters appeared above the Arena.  Three meters below them,
a force field separated the Arena from the Goddesses.  They could
see into the Arena, but the Champions could not see out.  It would
be from here that they would witness the final battle.
	Tsunami glanced at Washu.  "I noticed that your Champion was
not at full power, Sister,"  she said, "Is there a problem?"
	Washu glared at her.  "None.  My full power is not needed for
this."
	Tsunami grimaced in disgust.  This wasn't a game.  Tokimi had
split her power between two champions while Tsunami and Washu had
entrusted Tenchi and E. Ryoko with all of theirs.  For some reason,
E. Ryoko had only two gems.  She briefly wondered what had happened
to *her* Ryoko, but there was no more time for such concerns.
	The Champions had arrived in the Arena.

	Tenchi reappeared only a few feet from E. Ryoko.  He looked
around and blinked in shock.
	They were standing in the middle of a forest.
	Green trees surrounded them.  The undergrowth was light.  He
could see rocky hills nearby.  They could've been in any of a hundred
different forests back on Earth.
	E. Ryoko looked around and nodded.  She turned as Tenchi
activated the Tenchi ken.
	"Douse that!" she hissed.
	Tenchi blinked and deactivated the sword.  "What?"
	"We have no idea how far the hum of that sword will carry, and
I don't want Masayoshi showing up and telling me either."  She
looked around herself hurriedly.  She was an Empress, yes, but for
the three hundred years before that, she had been a trained combat
officer in what was considered one of the most ruthless and
efficient militaries in the galaxy.  She thought quickly.
	She pointed up at a nearby hill top.  "We'll set up a
defensive position on that ridge."
	Tenchi saw where she was pointing and nodded.  "Okay, let's
get going."
	The two started for the hill, keeping low and moving as
quietly as they could.  Tenchi kept the Tenchi ken out, but unignited.
Ready, just in case.
	They were out of the forest and at the foot of the hill before
Tenchi spoke again.  "I wonder how big this place is,"  he commented.
	E. Ryoko stopped.  "A good question."  She turned to him.  "You
start up the mountain.  I'm going to go up and take a look around."
Tenchi nodded and started climbing the hill.  E. Ryoko flew straight
up into the sky.
	She stopped about two hundred feet up and surveyed the Arena.
It looked just like a planet.  She could see trees and mountains in
every direction.  She wondered where they were.  Could Tokimi have
the power to transport them to a completely different world?  Or
was this just a simulation?  She couldn't be sure.
	She heard something behind her, a kind of deep buzzing sound.
She turned and found the K'rystava, Reek'sta *flying* towards her.
The giant insect was being held aloft by two pairs of gossamer wings.
It hovered before her and clicked sharply, punctuating this with
some buzzes and a faint hiss.
	E. Ryoko didn't understand what she was saying, but thought
she got the gist of it.
	"Yeah," she said, igniting her lightsword and bringing it up
to an en guarde position.  "Fuck you, too!"
	Reek'sta hissed and charged at her.

	Tenchi reached the top of the hill and looked up.  The insect,
he forgot her name, was darting at E. Ryoko.
	"Ryoko!"
	"I'd worry more about myself, if I were you,"  a voice told
him from behind.  Tenchi whirled just in time to struck in the face
by someone's boot.  He cried out as he fell back down the hill.  When
he came to a stop, he was covered in scrapes in bruises caused by
collisions with sharp stones on the way down.  He painfully opened
his eyes and saw Rotarin triumphantly standing on top of the hill.
He held his arms out and formed a green energy lance.  With a war
cry, he launched himself off the hill and at Tenchi.
	Tenchi rolled out of the way just before the lance would've
skewered him.  He got to his feet and ignited the Tenchi ken.
	Rotarin smiled.  "So you're him,"  Rotarin commented.  Without
another word, he leaped into the air...and disappeared.
	Tenchi blinked.  "What the..."
	BEHIND HIM!
	He turned and brought the Tenchi ken up just as Rotarin
brought the lance down.  The two weapons crackled together.
Rotarin brought his knee up into Tenchi's stomach.  Tenchi gasped
and dropped to one knee.  Rotarin raised his weapon and sneered
while Tenchi coughed below him, trying to regain his breath.
	Just as Ryoko's brother was bringing the lance down, Tenchi's
hand darted out and grabbed Rotarin's boot.  With a sharp tug,
Rotarin fell backwards onto his back.  Tenchi shot up and attacked,
bringing the blue blade down on Rotarin, but the Jurain officer was
too quick.  He rolled to his right and brought the energy lance up,
blocking another attack.  He lashed out with his boot and caught
Tenchi in the chin.  Tenchi fell backwards.  He got up quickly and
watched as Rotarin did the same.

	"Come on!"
	Ayeka rubbed her neck where the collar had been.  "Um...Ms.
Washu?  How?"  She gestured at the cell around them.  PM Washu had
been in an intense hurry to leave ever since she had felt a faint
trickle of Ryoko's mind.  She was even forgoing removing the
collars from Sasami and Ryo-Ohki's necks in favor of time.
	PM Washu looked at the princess in annoyance.  "You'd rather
stay?!"
	"Of course not!"  Ayeka shot back hotly.  "But in case you
haven't noticed, we're trapped here!"
	"Not quite, Princess,"  PM Washu announced.  She reached up to
her head and began digging through her elaborately worn hair.  Ayeka
watched as the Prime Minister found her target and pulled.  She
turned her head and showed Ayeka her prize.  Ayeka blinked.
	Wrapped tightly in pink hair was an egg.

	E. Ryoko hit the canyon wall with a crash.  A plume of dust
surrounded her.  Reek'sta hung in the air and watched cautiously.
She clicked to herself and waited.
	She was not disappointed.
	E. Ryoko flew from the dust cloud, swinging her sword around,
intent on taking the insect's head off with it.  Reek'sta dodged
the attack and struck back with her razor sharp foreclaws.  E. Ryoko
reached out with her other hand and managed to catch one of
Reek'sta's arms, the claw coming within inches of her face.  She
swung her sword around, but Reek'sta managed to bring her other arm
around and block her.  They remained suspended in the air like that
for almost a minute.
	Suddenly, E. Ryoko vanished!
	She reappeared directly behind the insect and wrapped her arms
around Reek'sta's throat.  Reek'sta shrieked in rage.  E. Ryoko
brought her sword around, but Reek'sta once again managed to hold
it at bay.  They struggled, each trying to get the upper hand.
	Reek'sta looked up at the sky suddenly.  Then, for no apparent
reason, she flew straight up, taking E. Ryoko with her!  E. Ryoko
held on for dear life as the insect drove her upwards into the sky.

	The goddesses watched the battle unfold beneath them.  They
said nothing now.  The battle could go in any direction at this
point.  Tsunami blinked as a red and cyan dot got steadily larger.
Suddenly, Reek'sta and E. Ryoko slammed into the forcefield beneath
them.  E. Ryoko was pinned to the ceiling of the Arena like a bug
on a windshield.  Before any of the goddesses could say anything,
the two began to fall again.
	"Care to forfeit now, Sister?"  Tokimi asked, grinning smugly
at Washu.
	Washu didn't respond.

	Reek'sta and E. Ryoko fell a few hundred feet, then the insect
stopped and darted upward again, intent on smashing E. Ryoko into the
ceiling a second time.  This time, E. Ryoko was ready.  At the last
second, she dematerialized and appeared beneath Reek'sta.  She
grabbed the front of the insect and pushed up, slamming the Hive
Mother into the invisible forcefield.
	<It's not a planet,>  E. Ryoko thought quickly.  Lady Reek'sta
shrieked in rage as her body was slammed into the invisible barrier
in the sky.  She held her claws out.  Suddenly, E. Ryoko was
enveloped in two streams of red tendrils shooting out from
Reek'sta's foreclaws.  Before she could react and dematerialize
again, Reek'sta's eyes began to glow.
	Reacting quickly, E. Ryoko's hand shot out and grabbed the
side of Reek'sta's head, pushing it to one side.  Less than a second
later, a red energy bolt flew from Reek'sta's eyes, barely grazing
the Empress' cheek.  So intent on the battle, they began to fall,
no longer able to give conscious thought to flight.
	Reek'sta's eyes began to glow again, and again, E. Ryoko
managed to foul her shot, but it was getting more and more difficult.
The ground was hurtling towards them.  E. Ryoko engaged her sword
and brought it around, burying it into Reek'sta's neck, just above
Tokimi's gold collar.
	Reek'sta howled in pain.  E. Ryoko did not remove the sword.
She held onto it as tightly as she could.  Reek'sta continued to
shriek.
	Suddenly, without warning, Reek'sta's head darted toward
E. Ryoko.  The Empress gasped and cried out as a pair of hidden fangs
buried themselves in her left shoulder.  She still didn't let go
of the sword.  The two continued to fall.
	Finally, Reek'sta's eyes began to dim.  One last, drawn out
shriek and that was all.
	Then the ground met them.

	Out of the corner of his eye, Tenchi saw E. Ryoko and
Reek'sta fall.  "Ryoko!"  He grit his teeth and redoubled his
attack against Rotarin.  E. Ryoko's brother began to lose ground.
Tenchi continued to attack.
	Rotarin paused and looked around.  He threw Tenchi a very
Washu-ish wink and vanished.  Tenchi remained at the ready, sword
up in anticipation of a renewed attack.
	None came.
	He blinked and gasped as he remembered.
	"Ryoko!"
	He started down the hill towards the area where he had seen her
fall.  When he got there, he found Ryoko climbing out of a crater,
coughing dust.
	"Damn," she remarked. "That hurt."
	"Are you okay?!"  he asked worriedly.
	She dusted herself off and threw him a smile.  "Better than
okay, Tenchi."  She pointed down into crater.  Tenchi looked down
and saw Reek'sta's broken body at the bottom.  "I got her!"  E. Ryoko
told him proudly.  "One down, one to go," she remarked dangerously.
"Where is he?"
	Tenchi shook his head.  "He took off."
	Ryoko blinked, then grimaced.  "Just like him.  Things get
too tough and he takes a powder."
	"Now what?"
	E. Ryoko grinned.  "Now I track the little bastard down and
cut his throat.  That's what."
	Tenchi took an unsteady breath.  "Maybe we should be looking
for a way out of here instead."
	E. Ryoko looked at him for a moment, her grimace softened.
"You're right.  I'm sorry.  You just don't know him the way I do."
	Tenchi smiled.  "Okay.  Let's get out of here."
	E. Ryoko smiled and nodded.  Tenchi turned and started walking.
E. Ryoko began to follow, but stopped and winced for a moment.  Her
fingers trailed to her shoulder, where Reek'sta had bit her.  She
looked at her fingers and found blood there.
	Black blood.
	She blinked.  It was her blood, she was sure of it, but it
was...darker, thicker than it should be.  Her shoulder was aching
as well.  She took a breath and pushed it aside.
	It was probably nothing to worry about.

	"One down, one to go,"  Washu said smugly.
	Tokimi merely smiled.  "If I were you, Washu, I'd be more
frightened now...not less."

	Rotarin appeared at the edge of the crater and looked down.
Reek'sta's unmoving body seemed to twitch for a moment.  Rotarin
extended his hand and closed his eyes.  The body twitched again.
There was a flash of light, and suddenly, Reek'sta's gold collar was
floating in the air in front of him.  He opened his eyes and smiled.
The collar moved towards him and touched his neck.  The collar
seemed to melt around his neck.  After a minute it was solid again.
	The gold bracelets on his wrists began to pulse, the collar
pulsed in tune with them.  They began to glow steadily.  Rotarin's
eyes flashed open, and he gasped.
	His body was surrounded in bright, yellow light, reaching out
in all directions.  The light began to...constrict...to focus...
	In three different directions.
	The light congealed into three, solid shafts, each pointing in
a different direction.  The shafts flattened and began to rotate
around him...

	"Oh no..."  Tsunami whispered.
	Washu said nothing.
	Tokimi smiled.
	Tsunami shook her head slowly in frightened disbelief.  "It
can't be..."
	"The wings of the Light Hawk."

	"Are you sure this is the right way, Ms. Washu?"  Ayeka asked
as she gripped the rung of the ladder.  The ladder in the jeffries
tube was designed for K'rystava to use, so the rungs were spaced
farther apart.  Sasami clung to her shoulders as Ayeka climbed.
Above her, clinging to Mihoshi's shoulders, PM Washu looked back and
grimaced.
	"No, but I have a very good feeling about this direction."
	"Oh...goody..."  Ayeka muttered.  Ryo-Ohki, who was riding on
Sasami's head,  miya'd optimistically.
	Ayeka looked up the ladder and saw how far they had yet to go.
It looked like miles.  She sighed and continued to climb.
	At least she had her powers back.  The insects had neglected
to take her headband from her, trusting their collar to neutralize
her.  Now, the next time she saw one of the green bugs, things would
be different.
	She continued to climb.

	Tenchi climbed the hill and reached the top.  He looked around
himself at the view and couldn't help smiling.  It was a nice place,
where ever they were.  They had been marching for hours, and there
was still no sign of a way out.  E. Ryoko had told him that they
were still on the Arena, so there must be a way out.
	"Ryoko, do you think..."  He paused and looked down.  E. Ryoko
was resting against a boulder, panting.  "Ryoko?"
	She looked up and nodded.  "I'm...I'm coming, Tenchi."
	Tenchi frowned and started down the hill.  He was tired too,
but Ryoko looked terrible.
	"Are you okay?"  he asked worriedly as he came up to her.
	She nodded.  "Yeah, Tenchi...I'm fine."  She was holding her
shoulder.
	"Ryoko?"  Tenchi asked, "What happened?"
	"It's nothing."
	"Sit down," he ordered.  He helped her sit next to the boulder.
He reached out to her shoulder.
	"Tenchi, no.  It's okay.  I'm just tired."  Tenchi didn't stop.
"Tenchi!  I said it's okay."  She reached out to take his hand, but
he didn't stop.  He undid the top buttons on her uniform shirt and
pulled it open.  He gasped at what he saw.
	E. Ryoko said nothing.
	The top half of E. Ryoko's chest was black.  Two puncture
wounds in her left shoulder dribbled with black blood and crusted
pus.
	"Kami sama,"  Tenchi whispered.  "Where did you get this?!"
he demanded.
	E. Ryoko gave up trying to hide it and whispered.  "Reek'sta...
bit me."  Tenchi noticed that although she was now resting, she was
still breathing hard.
	Tenchi bit his lip and looked around himself quickly.  "We
have to get you out of here.  Washu will know what to do."
E. Ryoko nodded.  "We'll rest here a bit, then move on."

	Ryoko stared out at the lake before her as she sat on the
soft grass.  She could hear birds singing around her.  The wind
blew gently, adding it's own song to the mix.  Every once in
awhile, a fish would break the surface of the water and fall back
with a splash.
	<Where am I?>  she asked herself for the hundredth time.
	<You're here,>  the same gentle voice told her for the
hundredth time.
	<I know that.  But where is here?>
	<Here is where you are.>
	She growled, but that growl trailed off.  She felt so...warm...
content.  She didn't know how long she had been at this lake.
Hours, days, maybe.  In that time, she hadn't once gotten up to see
what was out there.  She hadn't left the lake shore.  She was happy
just to sit there and look out at the water.
	<What about Tenchi?>  she asked herself.
	<You cannot help him yet.  It is not your time.>
	<Who are you?>
	The voice didn't answer.  She would swear that she knew him,
knew the voice.  It seemed so familiar, yet strange at the same time.
	<Your friends are here,>  the voice told her.
	<Huh?>
	<It's time for you to go.>
	Fear welled up in her for a moment.  She could still remember
her cell, though the memory seemed distant, fading.  <I don't want
to.>
	<You must.  Go now.  Be safe.>
	<Wait!  Tell me who you ar...>

	There was a horrible screach of metal.  Ryoko's eyes opened
groggily.  She turned her head, but only with great effort.  She
felt so weak.  It was a chore just to keep her eyes open.
	A crack had formed in the wall of her cell.  Electricity
crackled around it.
	Very familiar electricity.
	She heard a voice, Washu's, cry out.  "Keep it up, Ayeka!
We almost got her!"
	The crack widened.  She felt hands grab her and pull.  The
cell disappeared around her.  She blinked.  She was lying on the
floor.  PM Washu and Mihoshi were staring down at her.  She heard
a shriek and turned her head to the right.
	Ayeka's hand flew to her headband and pulled sharply.  She
quickly threw it to the ground and dropped to her knees in exhaustion.
Ryoko saw the headband burst into flames, overloaded by the output
of Ayeka's efforts.
	"Is she okay?"  she heard Mihoshi ask worriedly.
	"Ryoko?!"  PM Washu cried.  "Can you hear me!?  Ryoko?!"
	Ryoko smiled sleepily and said a single word before falling
back into unconsciousness.
	"Father,"

	"Gret'an, give me an update,"  Rikari ordered through her
communicator headset.
	She heard the young Marine's anxious reply.  "Last nuke is in
place and key, Sarge.  Can we get the fuck out of here, now?  This
place is creeping me out."
	"Hold on, Gret'an, we're almost done," she said, trying to
reassure him.
	"Sarge!"
	She turned to Nol'al and saw him holding up a datapad.
"Whatcha got?"  She approached him and looked over his shoulder at
the pad.
	"A massive theta band spike," he told her.  "Concentrated in
one place on one frequency."
	Rikari wasn't sure where he was going with this.  "So?"
	He looked back at her and grinned.  "So you ever been in a
battle where a Jurain noble was leading the counterattack?"
	Her eyes widened.  She looked at the pad.  The source of the
theta band emission had been fixed.  They had coordinates.
	She smiled.  "Ayeka."

	"This way, I think,"  PM Washu told them.  Ryoko was being
supported between Mihoshi and Ayeka.  PM Washu led the way, and
Sasami stayed near her.  Washu had taken a few minutes to let Ryoko
rest and also removed the collars from around Sasami and Ryo-Ohki's
necks.  "If we can get back to the ship, we can look for the others."
	They continued on, ducking in and out of corridors, being
careful of K'rystava guards.  They hadn't seen many yet.  Ayeka
wondered if maybe the station was empty, running on a skeleton crew.
She said a quick prayer for Tenchi and shifted Ryoko's weight.
Her one-time adversary was heavier than she looked.
	PM Washu looked down a corridor and turned back to them.
"It's clear, let's go."
	She turned the corner and stopped with a gasp.
	A K'rystava guard was now standing there.  It hissed at them.
	"Ahhhh......shit,"  PM Washu muttered.
	The insect shrieked and tensed itself for an attack.

	Tenchi supported E. Ryoko on his shoulder.  They continued to
walk.  He was becoming more frightened by the second.  The black
splotches on E. Ryoko's chest had spread further, moving up her neck
and covering one cheek.
	"Hang on, Ryoko," he whispered.  "We're almost there."
	"Almost where?"  a familiar voice asked from above him.
	Tenchi looked up and found Rotarin floating above him, grinning.
Before Tenchi could react, Rotarin's hand shot out.  An energy blast
enveloped he and E. Ryoko, throwing them twenty feet through the
air.  Tenchi landed with a grunt.
	In a second, he was back on his feet, the Tenchi-ken was
ignited in his hands.  Rotarin laughed as he descended, his feet
lightly touching the ground.  He grinned.
	E. Ryoko looked up at him from the ground.  "You bastard," she
hissed and raised her arm.  Several energy blasts left her hand
and struck Rotarin dead on, the explosions eclipsing him in a cloud
of smoke.
	Tenchi readied himself for some kind of counterattack, but
gasped when he saw the nature of that attack.  The smoke had
cleared, displaying an unscathed Rotarin being protected by three
shafts of yellow light that orbited about his body.
	The Wings of the Light Hawk.
	"Kami sama,"  Tenchi whispered.
	Rotarin held out his hands.  One of the wings obediently flew
to them and coalesced into a new energy lance.
	"You did all right the first time around, Masaki," he told
Tenchi.  "Game for a rematch?"
	Tenchi braced himself.  If ever he needed the Light Hawk Wings,
it was now.
	But they were silent.
	Rotarin laughed and lunged at Tenchi!  Tenchi managed to turn
the first few blows.  Rotarin attempted to stab the lance through
Tenchi's face.  Tenchi turned and bent backwards.  He felt the
warmth of the blade pass within an inch of his nose.  At the end
of Rotarin's thrust, the Jurain officer visciously brought his elbow
down into Tenchi's face.  Tenchi fell to the ground.
	Tenchi tried to blink the stars out of his eyes, but without
much success.  He looked up and saw Rotarin standing over him.
	Suddenly, the entire Arena lurched to one side...

	The insect prepared to lunge at them.  It stopped suddenly
as a voice cried out.
	"Hold it!"
	Insect and humanoid alike turned to the sound.  Rikari and the
other Marines stood there, their carbines up and locked on the
K'rystava.
	"Misa!"  Ayeka cried.
	"You're a tough bitch to track down, Ayeka,"  Rikari told her
with a grin.  Her weapon never wavered.
	The insect hissed at her, but made no move.
	"Okay, Washu,"  Rikari told her.  "Get 'em out of here.  We'll
make sure this one doesn't do anything stupid."
	PM Washu didn't waste any time.  She led the others down the
corridor from which the Marines had come.
	"Let's waste the fucker,"  Tenza suggested.
	"The sound will bring other guards,"  Rikari told him.
	"Let's use the pistol," Gret'an said.
	Rikari nodded.  "Go ahead, Gret'an.  The silencer is in my
pocket."  Before Gret'an could move, a beeping was heard.  Rikari
turned her head slightly and saw Nol'al staring at one of his pads.
"Nol'al?"
	Nol'al looked at her.  "Movement!  A lot of it!"
	Rikari's eyes went wide.  "Where?!"
	Nol'al looked up at her with haunted eyes.  "Here."
	Rikari looked at the K'rystava and could swear it was grinning.
It hissed at her...

	"Dead end,"  PM Washu announced, slapping the wall in front of
her for emphasis.
	Ayeka sighed and readjusted Ryoko's weight again.  "Let's go
back and get the oth..."
	The sound of gunfire from down the corridor interrupted her.
She turned back.  "Misa!?"

	"FALL BACK!"
	Rikari let loose another volley and watched one of the insects
fall to the ground.  Another two seemed to take its place almost
immediately.
	"FALL BACK, TSUNAMI DAMMIT!"  she repeated, but the Marines
were being hard pressed.
	From her right, she could hear Gret'an screaming as he fired
his rifle on the bugs.
	"On your right, Tenza!"  Nol'al cried, followed by another
volley from his rifle.  Insectile shrieking followed it.
	Rikari ducked as another green blast struck the wall in front
of her.  She returned fire and repeated her order again.  "FALL BACK!
THAT'S AN ORDER!  TENZA!  GRET'AN!  MOVE YOUR FUCKING ASSES!"
	Tenza and Nol'al dropped back down the hall, Rikari and Gret'an
covered them and backpedaled after them, firing down the hall to
keep the insects' heads down.
	They came to an intersection.  Tenza and Nol'al went right,
and Rikari hoped they were going the right way.  She fired down the
hall.
	"GO, SARGE!"  Gret'an shouted, punctuating this with another
volley.  Rikari didn't argue, she ran down the corridor just in
time to see PM Washu throw a degg at the far wall.  The wall
shimmered.
	She heard Gret'an screaming as he continued to fire.
	"Cherry!  Move!"  Tenza shouted back.
	Ayeka and Mihoshi carried Ryoko through the dimensional hole,
Sasami right on their heels.  PM Washu, Nol'al, and Tenza a moment
later.
	"Gret'an!  That's it!  LET'S GO!"  Rikari screamed down the
hall.  She saw Gret'an come running toward her.  She entered the
hole and reappeared in another dark corridor.  She turned and saw
Gret'an come through...
	Only to be snagged a moment later by three red tendrils.  The
Marine tripped and hit the ground.  The tendrils seemed to come from
the hole in the wall.  There were K'rystava on the other side.
	Rikari grabbed Gret'an's wrist.  "Gret'an!"
	Gret'an looked up at her in horror.  "Rikari!?"
	Suddenly, Gret'an was pulled from her grasp and back through
the hole.  She unslung her carbine and tried to follow, but the hole
was already sealed.  From the other side, she could hear a few
blasts from a plasma carbine and Gret'an screaming.
	She whirled on PM Washu.  "OPEN IT!"
	"I can't!  It was my last degg!"
	"Shit!"  Rikari stood back and pumped the grenade launcher
under her rifle.  She aimed at the wall.
	Tenza rushed up and grabbed her, shoving her against the wall
while she struggled.
	"Rikari!  RIKARI!"  He slammed her against the wall one last
time.  "FORGET IT!  HE'S DEAD!"
	Rikari blinked and came to her senses.  "Get moving!"  She
kneeled down next to the wall and unslung her pack.  She removed a
few claymores and began to place them next to the wall.
	Tenza ran up to Nol'al, who was scanning the area with his pad.
Ayeka and Mihoshi set Ryoko down to rest.
	Nol'al shook his head.  "Nothing!  I got nothing!  They have
a dampening field up or something!  I have no idea where we are or
how to get to the ship."
	Tenza whirled around as a strange voice spoke from behind him.
"Go down that corridor and take a left at the first junction."
	"Shit!"  Tenza raised his rifle, but before he could fire,
Sasami cried out.
	"WAIT!"  She ran up and stood between the Marine and the
strange, brown-haired man.  "He's a friend!"
	Tenza regarded Quintin skeptically.  Finally he nodded and
shouted back at Rikari.  "Rikari!  Let's go!"  He bent down and
picked up Ryoko in a fireman's carry.  He started down the corridor.
	PM Washu helped Rikari fix the claymores to the wall.  "Charges
set?" she asked the Marine.
	"Yes, Ma'am,"  Rikari said dryly.  She pulled a small black
box and handed it to her.  "Here's the detonator."
	"How long?"  she asked.
	"Nol'al says that once the nukes go, it'll take a little while
for the station to fall apart."
	"Good."  With that, PM Washu hit the switch, detonating the
nukes.  The Arena lurched to one side.
	Rikari looked up at her in horror.
	PM Washu returned her look.  "No matter what happens," she
said quietly, "This place has to go."
	Rikari nodded and returned to work on the claymores.  "Get
going.  I'll cover for you."  PM Washu nodded.  She reached out and
took Rikari's PP90 blaster pistol from its hip holster and followed
the others.  Rikari armed the claymores just in time.  A K'rystava
claw punched through the wall with a sharp, "screach!"
	Rikari picked up her rifle and started down the hall.  As she
turned down the left corridor, she heard the claymores go off and
about a dozen of the K'rystava scream.
	Rikari pulled a grenade hanging from her armor and threw it
down the corridor behind her.  She started after the others as the
explosion of the grenade rocked the hallway.

	Tsunami looked up as the station lurched.  "What was that?"
	"Remain here,"  Tokimi ordered.  She vanished.
	Washu's glowing eyes narrowed slightly.  "This is...unexpected."
	<But perhaps fortunate,>  Tsunami thought.
	"Why isn't your champion using the Light Hawk Wings, Tsunami?"
Washu asked her.  "This should be over already."
	Tsunami sighed.  <He doesn't believe.>
	Just then, Tokimi reappeared.  "It is nothing."
	Tsunami pounced.  "Nothing?  It sounded like an explosion."
	"We have plenty of time."
	"Perhaps we should postpone the remainder of the Contest until
such time..."
	"We will do nothing of the sort,"  Tokimi told her acidly.
	"Sister,"
	Tokimi turned on her.  "Tsunami, so help me, if you pull your
champion now, you forfeit your rights *and* your powers."
	Tsunami turned back to the fight below her in anger.

	Rotarin fell to one side, and Tenchi acted.  He jumped to his
feet and attacked!  He brought the Tenchi ken up, but Rotarin's foot
lashed out from the ground, catching Tenchi in the stomach.  Rotarin
got to his feet and growled.  He fell forward as something slammed
into his back.
	E. Ryoko stood over him, her sword ignited and her breath
coming in labored gasps.  "We're not done yet," she hissed.
	Rotarin got up and faced her.  "So we're not," he muttered.
He raised the lance.  The remaining wings moved to cover his back.
	E. Ryoko lunged at him, but Rotarin turned the blow and brought
his knee up into her side.  He turned as Tenchi struck at him from
behind.  One of the gold wings lashed out and struck Tenchi, slamming
him against a nearby tree, the Tenchi ken flew from his grasp.
	"Tenchi!"  E. Ryoko cried.  She growled and attacked again,
swinging her sword wildly.  Rotarin laughed and swung the lance
around.  E. Ryoko cried out and fell backwards, landing on her back,
a shallow gash across her chest.
	"Ryoko!"  Tenchi got up and ran to her.
	"Tenchi,"  E. Ryoko whispered.
	He heard Rotarin approach and reached for the Tenchi ken, only
to find it missing.
	He had dropped it!
	He looked up and found it in Rotarin's hand.  The Jurain
examined it as the sword crackled with energy in his hand as it once
did with Kagato.  The difference, was, Rotarin didn't seem distressed
by the pain.
	He looked up at Tenchi lazily.  "Hmmph," he said and squeezed
his hand.  Gold energy from the Light Hawk Wings compressed into his
hand.  The Tenchi ken seemed to renew its attack against its new
enemy.
	Then it shattered.
	Tenchi blinked in shock.  It was if the Tenchi ken had been
made of glass.  One second it was there, the next, it was gone.
	Rotarin reformed his lance and grinned.

	"Which way now!?"  Tenza asked.
	Quintin, floating next to the Marine as he ran, pointed down
the hall.  "The next right, then another left."
	"Where's Misa?!"  Ayeka asked.
	Tenza turned back and watched.  Fifty yards down the hall,
Rikari suddenly appeared from around a corner, green energy blasts
right on her heels.  She fired down the corridor at the pursuing
insects.
	"Rikari!  Haul ass!"  Tenza shouted.
	Rikari started toward them, backpedaling, keeping a watch on
the corridor behind her.  She looked behind her and saw which
corridor the others were taking.  Her head shot back around as she
heard a noise from behind her.  She saw two K'rystava shoot out
from around the corner and latch onto the the far wall, hanging
there  They hissed, their eyes began to glow.
	Rikari didn't wait.  She fired back at them.  Red plasma
rounds tore into the insects' chitinous armor.  They shrieked and
fell from the wall.  She continued to fire as she made it to the
next corridor.
	The carbine clicked empty.
	"Shit," she muttered.  She started running down the corridor,
while simultaneously reaching for a fresh magazine.  She pressed a
button on her carbine and the empty power pack fell from the rifle
and struck the deck with a 'clack.'
	As she was maneuvering the new clip into the rifle, she heard
a shriek from her left.  She looked up and saw a K'rystava coming
toward her!
	Before she could work the action on her cabine and fire, the
bug was on her.  It slammed into her at full speed and crushed her
against the fall wall.
	Rikari screamed as she felt something puncture her arm.  She
banished the pain from her mind and grit her teeth.  She pressed a
toggle on the front of her rifle.
	*Da-Ziiim!*
	The sonic bayonet came to life.  Rikari cried out and stabbed
the sonic blade into the bug's chest.  The insect screamed.  The
Imperial then shoved the rifle upwards, the bayonet slicing its way
up the bug's chest.  The K'rystava screamed one last time and fell
away from her, crashing to the ground.
	Rikari took a breath and turned to follow the others...
	She stopped.
	She felt an intense pain in her arm, working its way out to
the rest of her body.  She looked at the armor on her arm and found
two puncture marks.  Suddenly she gasped and fell to her knees.
>From there, she fell to her side, writhing in agony.  She screamed
in pain and terror.
	She tried to get back up, but was overcome with nausea.  She
coughed.  A black substance fell from her mouth and struck the deck,
congealing like cake batter.
	<Blood,> she realized.
	She tried to control her breathing, but couldn't.  It was now
coming in quick gasps.  She removed one of her gloves and looked at
her hand.
	It was quickly turning black.  It felt as if it were on fire.
	She was overcome with another bout of pain and screamed again,
falling over on her back.
	"Tsunami!  Tsunami help me!"
	From behind her, she heard the pitter patter of insectile claws
coming closer...

	Ayeka heard Rikari scream and stopped in her tracks.
	"Misa!"  she called back.
	There was no answer.
	Ayeka started back the way they had come.
	"Ayeka!"  PM Washu called from the front of the line.  "AYEKA!"
	"Ayeka!  Where are you going?!"  Sasami called out.
	"Shit!"  Tenza said.  "Mihoshi, take Ryoko."  The GP took
Ryoko and supported her on her shoulder.  Tenza went after Ayeka.
	Ayeka turned a corner, and had Tenza not grabbed her shoulder
and yanked her back behind cover, she would've been struck by six
or seven K'rystava blasts.
	Tenza quickly peered around the corner.  He saw about a dozen
K'rystava at the other end of the corridor and Rikari, writhing in
agony, halfway between the insects and the Marine.
	"Shit!"  He aimed and fired a few blasts over Rikari's head at
the insects.
	"Misa!"  Ayeka called out.

	Rikari heard the gunfire and Ayeka's voice.  She turned her
head slightly as she struggled to breathe.  Her face was completely
black, and she was having trouble seeing.  She wheezed as she tried
to see.
	When E. Ryoko had been bit by Reek'sta, her unique physiology
and immune system had fought the venom, slowing its progress.
	Rikari had no such defense.
	"Hang on, Rikari, we're com'n to ya!"  she heard Tenza shout.
More plasma rounds shot over her head.
	"Misa!  Hang on!"
	"Ayeka,"  Rikari croaked.  She turned and saw more K'rystava
at the other end of the corridor.  They were starting toward them,
avoiding Tenza's shooting or simply using their dead as shields.
	Either way, they were advancing.
	Rikari reached out and took her rifle.  There was still a
grenade chambered.  She struggled to point the weapon up at the
ceiling...

	Tenza saw Rikari raise the rifle and whispered, "Tsunami in
heaven, Rikari, don't do it."
	Ayeka blinked.  "Misa?"

	Rikari's throat closed.  She had one final wheeze before the
life drained from her eyes.
	With her last ounce of strength, she pulled the trigger...

	Tenza pulled Ayeka back around the corner and started running.
	"Wait!"  Ayeka cried.  "What about..."
	The explosion behind them silenced her.  She turned quickly and
saw the ceiling caving in behind them.  She started back, but Tenza
grabbed her hand started running, dragging her with him.  She looked
up at him for an explanation, and the pain in his face said it all.
	Ayeka ran.

	Nol'al raised his carbine as he heard approaching footsteps.
When he saw who it was, he lowered it.
	Tenza didn't spare him a glance.  "Nol'al, watch our ass."
	"Where's Rikari?"  Nol'al asked.  Tenza didn't answer.  He
didn't have to.  "Oh, FUCK!"  Nol'al took up position and watched
for pursuit as the others started down the corridor.
	"Ayeka?"
	Ayeka saw that Ryoko was conscious now, though weak.  She was
being helped along by Mihoshi.
	"Are you okay?"  Ayeka asked woodenly.
	"What's going on?"
	Ayeka fought back tears.  "We're leaving?"
	"Where's Tenchi?"
	"I don't know."
	"But..."
	"I DON'T KNOW, DAMMIT!"  Ayeka cried out.  She couldn't hold
back any longer, and tears started streaming down her face.
	"Stop,"  a voice told them.
	They stopped and saw that Quintin had appeared in front of them.
	"You're here," he told them.  He waved his hand, and the door
on their right opened.
	"Who is that, Ayeka?"  Ryoko asked.
	"I don't know, Ryoko, but he's helping us."  The Arena began
to shake steadily.
	Quintin's eyes met Ryoko's for a moment.  From behind them,
they could hear the sound of Nol'al's plasma rifle keeping the
K'rystava at bay.  Ryoko blinked at him.
	He continued to stare as he said, "Your ship is in here.  I
will seal the door so they cannot follow you, but I can't do so for
very long.  I have other responsibilities to tend to."
	PM Washu nodded.  "Thanks for your help."
	"Can't you help us find Tenchi and the Empress, Quintin?"
Sasami asked worriedly.
	He smiled at the blue haired princess.  "No, that
responsibility falls to another."  He looked back up at Ryoko and
said,  "Go now.  Be safe."  With that he disappeared.
	Ryoko's eyes went wide.  "Wait!"  she called out.  "Come back!"
	Tenza was shouting something else.  "Nol'al!  Move like ya
gotta purpose, Marine!  We are outta here!"
	There were two explosions from down the hall, and Nol'al came
racing around the corner.  Tenza waved the others inside.  PM Washu
came up to him.
	"Corporal, I have new instructions for you."  In her hands
was Ryo-Ohki.

	Rotarin raised his arm to attack...
	That's when the ground rose up beneath him.  He jumped and
disappeared as a shaft of rock thrust up from the floor.  The entire
Arena was shaking.  Tenchi looked out and saw the fake world around
them starting to fall apart.  Trees fell.  In the distance, he
could see an entire mountain *collapse*!
	E. Ryoko disappeared.
	She appeared behind Rotarin and lashed out with her sword,
a final, last ditch attack using what remained of her strength.  A
Light Hawk Wing blocked the blow automatically.  Rotarin spun
around and shot out with his lance.  E. Ryoko brought her sword up
to turn the blow, but in her weakened state was too slow.  Rotarin
buried his lance into her stomach.  E. Ryoko screamed.
	"RYOKO!"
	Rotarin deactivated the lance and reached out, grabbing hold of
his sister by the front of her uniform.  With a sneer, he tossed her
unmoving form at Tenchi.  Tenchi rushed forward and kneeled next to
her.
	"Te...Tenchi..."  E. Ryoko whispered haltingly.
	"Shhh," he said quietly.  "Try to hold on."  The Arena shook
again.  Nearby, a hole ten meters across opened up in the floor,
flames shooting out from its cavernous mouth.
	<The entire place is falling apart,>  a part of his mind told
him.  The rest was focused on *her*.
	"Tenchi..."  she whispered weakly.  "I'm sorry.  I tried."
	"It's okay, Ryoko,"  Tenchi assured her.  "It'll be okay.
I promise.  I'm getting you out of this."
	E. Ryoko smiled up at him.  The venom had covered half her
face in dark splotches.  Black, corrupted blood dripped from the
corner of her mouth.
	Even so, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever
seen.
	<Please, just hold on,>  he begged silently.
	Behind him, he could hear Rotarin stir.

	Ryoko saw Tenza throw Ryo-Ohki into the air.  The cabbit
obediently became a spaceship.
	"MIIIIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
	Ryoko, feeling stronger now, walked over to him.  "What's
going on?"  she asked.
	Tenza looked at her.  "Washu's orders.  We're leaving in the
yacht, she's taking the AD7."
	"Why?" Ryoko asked.
	"She didn't tell me."

	Ryoko found PM Washu in one of the AD7's aft compartments.
	The armory.
	PM Washu slapped a magazine into a plasma carbine and turned.
<Don't,>  she mentally ordered her adopted niece.  <Don't say it.
They're alive, and there's still a little time left.>
	"Aunt Washu..."
	PM Washu looked at her angrily.  "She's my *daughter*!"
	She made to push her way past Ryoko, but the demon held an arm
out and stopped her.  Before PM Washu could protest, Ryoko began.
	"Fine.  But you'll never get to them in time."  The Arena
lurched to one side in emphasis.  "I'll go."
	PM Washu arched an eyebrow.  "What makes you think *you* can
make it?  You're a wreck!"
	Ryoko held up her left wrist, displaying the last gem.
	"Because I have an invitation."
	PM Washu stared at the gem, then slowly nodded.  "Okay," she
said.  "How will you find them?"
	"I'll head into the interior.  They're in there."
	"How do you..."
	"I just do,"  Ryoko told her deadly serious.  The Arena
lurched beneath them again.  "We don't have much time!"  Ryoko
told her.  "I'm going."
	PM Washu bit her lip and nodded.  "I'll be waiting.  Be
careful."
	Ryoko shut her eyes and concentrated.  She vanished.
	<Tsunami in heaven, Ryoko, please be careful.>

	"Ryoko,"  Tenchi whispered.  "Ryoko, look at me.  Look at my
eyes."
	E. Ryoko reached up took his hand, squeezing it.  "Tenchi,
it's...it's okay..."  She closed her eyes in pain.  "It's okay...
because...because I know...you loved me..."
	"Ryoko, you have to hold on,"  Tenchi told her, on the verge
of tears.
	E. Ryoko smiled at him.  "I'm sorry, Tenchi.  I wanted...to
give you a son."
	"Ryoko, please..."
	E. Ryoko's eyes glassed over, her breathing slowly came to a
halt.
	"Ryoko?"
	E. Ryoko didn't respond.
	"RYOKO!?"
	"You must be proud, Masaki."  Tenchi looked up at Rotarin.
"She dies well."
	Tenchi grit his teeth.  He could hear explosions around him as
the Arena fell apart.  He looked at his hand and saw E. Ryoko's
blood there.  He stared at it.  He shut his eyes and felt tears
stream down his face.  The blood-stained hand reached out in front
of him, the fingers began to close.  Blue energy coalesced around it.
Suddenly, that energy changed, forming a light sword.  The symbol on
Tenchi's forehead began to glow.  The light sword seemed to split
into three.  Two of the light shafts moved to either side of him,
the third remained in his hand.

	Washu stared down at the scene angrily.  So much for her new
champion.  She looked over at Tsunami, who was staring at Tenchi,
hope in her eyes for the first time.
	<Believe, Tenchi.>

	Tenchi leaned down and kissed E. Ryoko's forehead.  A tear fell
from his cheek and landed on her's.  He gently layed her on the
ground and looked up at Rotarin.  The Jurain grinned and raised the
lance to an en guarde position.  Tenchi screamed in fury and launched
himself at Rotarin!
	Tenchi swung the Light Hawk Sword around.  Rotarin jumped back
and countered.  Tenchi didn't let up.  He fought with everything he
had, tears streaming down his face as he continued to scream in abject
hatred.  Rotarin began to give ground.  He tried to use his other
two wings to fend off Tenchi's attacks, but Tenchi's wings moved in
and countered them blow for blow.  Gold met blue head on, warping
around one another, bending and twisting like two pairs of battling
cobras.
	Tenchi pressed the attack.  He no longer cared about anything
but cutting Rotarin's heart out.  He fought wildly, all of his
training fleeing him in a mad, barbaric lust for revenge against
this...this...thing that had killed *her*.
	Rotarin brought his lance up to block an attack and just
barely succeeded.  He countered with a shot of his own, but Tenchi
was fury unleashed.  Rotarin ducked under a slash that cut straight
through a tree behind him.  The tree fell between them.  Rotarin
jumped back again for more room, landing gracefully, but hurriedly
on the fallen tree trunk.  Tenchi followed him.  The two exchanged
blows, neither giving an inch for several seconds until finally, a
snap kick from Tenchi connected, throwing Rotarin from the tree to
the ground.  Tenchi leapt after him, swinging the Light Hawk Sword
like a mad man.  Rotarin rolled out of the way and jumped to his
feet.  Tenchi was on him in less than a second, and Rotarin was
forced to retreat again, ducking under slash after slash as he
fought to take the offensive.

	Ryoko phased into existance and hit the ground with a grunt.
It had taken a lot out of her, but she had made it.
	She hoped so, anyway.
	She looked up and gasped.  There was an entire world beneath
her. It was as if she were looking down on a stretch of land from
an airplane.  She saw a few flashes of light in one area.  Her eyes
went wide.
	"TENCHI!"
	She started to phase through the invisible barrier, but was
stopped by the forcefield.
	"Do not interfere!"  a strange voice told her.
	Ryoko turned and saw Tsunami, Washu, and a strange woman
floating not far away.  Ryoko looked down again and saw Tenchi
fighting for his life.  Parts of the ground were collapsing, being
replaced by plumes of fire.  The Arena was rumbling as the N2 charges
did their jobs.
	She looked back at the trio of women and cried out, "Tsunami!
Help him!"
	Tsunami threw her a guilt-ridden look, then returned to staring
down into the Arena, her face clouded over by guilt and concern.

	Tenchi blocked Rotarin's counterattack and lashed out again.
This time, however, Rotarin was ready.  The Jurain quickly turned
and delivered a slash to Tenchi's face!
	Tenchi screamed and fell to his knees, his left hand covering
his left eye.  Before Rotarin could follow up on this, Tenchi
screamed and rushed at him, shoving him into a nearby boulder.
Rotarin grunted as Tenchi brought his knee up into the Jurain's
stomach.  Tenchi lashed out with his hand, punching Rotarin across
the face.  Rotarin fell to his knees.
	Tenchi raised his sword over his head and prepared to bring
it down on Rotarin's head.  Rotarin rolled out of the way.  The blue
Light Hawk Sword struck solid ground, throwing up a plume of dust
and debris.  Rotarin used this to his advantage, fighting Tenchi
through the dust cloud.  Tenchi, exhausted, wounded, and bleeding,
countered as best he could, blocking Rotarin's strikes and returning
them where he could.
	Tenchi struggled to see through the dust cloud, blinking his
good eye in an effort to clear the dust from it.  Through the blur
he could see a patch of yellow.  He grit his teeth and lunged.
Rotarin turned the hasty blow and struck back.  The energy lance
darted out just as Tenchi was raising his sword for an overhand blow.
	The lance went straight through Tenchi's exposed chest.
Tenchi screamed.  The Light Hawk Sword in his hand began to dim and
flicker.
	Rotarin smiled.  "So much for Tsunami's champion," he said
as the Arena fell apart around him.  Behind him, another mountain
was consumed in fire.
	Tenchi continued to scream.  He was dying.  He always knew it
would happen eventually, but he would've preferred it if he could
take this animal with him.
	His good eye looked out and saw E. Ryoko's broken body not
far away.  Tenchi grit his teeth in hatred, the Light Hawk Sword's
brilliance intensified again.  Tenchi looked at Rotarin, hate in
his eye.
	Rotarin's smile slipped.
	Tenchi screamed and swung the Light Hawk Sword around.  Before
Rotarin could react, the blue shaft of light sliced through the
Rotarin's gold collar and bit into his neck, emerging on the other
side.
	Rotarin looked at Tenchi with fear in his eyes for the first
time.  The Jurain's head fell from his shoulders.  The energy lance
disappeared.  Tenchi fell to the ground.
	The Light Hawk Sword disappeared.  He looked up at E. Ryoko's
body and began to crawl.  The world around him shook worse than any
earthquake he had ever experienced back home.
	"Ryoko," he whispered.

	Tokimi turned to Tsunami and reluctantly bowed.  "I'll see you
in fifty thousand years, Sister."  With that, she disappeared.
	Tsunami wasn't paying attention.  She was watching Tenchi.
"It's over," she whispered.
	Washu grinned and waved a hand at the forcefield below.  "Not
quite."

	Ryoko saw a flash below her.  The forcefield was gone!
	"Tenchi!"  She flew straight toward him as fast as she could.
She looked to her right and saw the horizon *flickering*.  After a
final flash of light, the sky was replaced by a greenish black wall.
	The illusion was coming apart at the seams.
	She found Tenchi and gasped at the wounds she saw.  His Jurain
battle outfit was drenched in blood.  The left side of his face was
covered in red blood seeping from his eye socket.  She picked him
up by the armpits, intent on flying him out.  A hole opened up near
them.   Ryoko looked up and saw her double's body on the other side.
She wasn't moving.
	Tenchi chose this moment to stir.  "Ryoko," he whispered.
He began struggling, trying to reach the Empress.  Ryoko held him
tight.
	"Tenchi!  It's too late!  We have to go!"  Tenchi continued
to struggle.
	"Tenchi!  Please!"
	"No!" he cried, tears streaming from his good eye.  "We can't!
WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE HER!"
	"Tenchi!"  With a sudden move, Ryoko struck him in the back of
the head with her fist.
	"Ryoko," he whispered one last time before descending into
darkness.
	She picked Tenchi up and started up.  She heard another
explosion and turned to see a fissure opening beneath the Empress.
The monarch's body fell and was consumed by the flames.  Ryoko felt
a chill run up her spine and continued up...
	Only to be stopped by a red apparition.  She flew to a halt
before the figure and grimaced.
	Washu smiled at her as she floated before her.
	"Good girl, Ryoko.  Now's your chance!  Kill him!"
	"WHAT?!"
	"Quickly, Ryoko!"
	"Like Hell I will!"  Ryoko shot back.
	"This is your destiny, daughter!"  Washu told her.  "This was
the purpose for which you were conceived!  Embrace it!  Kill him
now and claim the Contest!"
	Tsunami appeared next to Washu.  "Sister!  What are you doing!?"
	"Finishing this once and for all, *Sister*!"  Washu bit back.
	"You are interfering in the outcome of the Contest!"
	"I am doing no such thing!  I am merely seeing to it that the
Contest be ended!"  She turned back to Ryoko.  "KILL HIM!"
	Ryoko grit her teeth and started past Washu...
	Only to be stopped by a force field.
	Ryoko looked at the sky and saw the occasional crackle of
electricity that signaled the presence of a forcefield.
	"Kill him or die with him!"  Washu spat.  "It's your choice!
Remember what's he done to you!  Remember how he tossed you aside
for a  mere *copy*!  You became inconvenient, and he dropped you
like a hot rock!  Make your choice, *Daughter*!"
	Ryoko glared at her mother.  "Then I choose to die with him."
	This only infuriated Washu more.  "KILL HIM!"
	Ryoko merely shook her head.  "No."
	"Fine!  Then I will do it personally!"  Washu extended her
arm for an attack.  Ryoko braced herself.  Suddenly, Washu cried
out, her entire body tensed.  The forcefield disappeared.  Ryoko
blinked in shock.
	Standing behind Washu, Tsunami had impaled her sister through
the chest with a shaft of blue light.
	"Go, Ryoko!"
	Ryoko hesitated.
	Tsunami looked directly at her.  "I said GO!"
	Ryoko nodded her thanks and flew off, Tenchi in her arms.
	Washu looked back over her shoulder at Tsunami.  "Sis...Sister?"
she gasped.
	Tsunami blinked back tears and whispered, "I'm sorry."
	With one final scream, Washu disappeared in a flash of pink
light.  Tsunami floated there for a moment.
	Then the gem Washu had given her, the portion of Washu's power
loaned to Tsunami, went dark.
	Tsunami cried out and fell.  She hit the ground hard and heard
the "crack!" as her legs broke beneath her.  She screamed in pain.
She tried to stand, but the pain was too much.  She collapsed.
	She opened her eyes and saw the horror around her.  The entire
Arena was in flames as the space station quaked.  Parts of the
ceiling were beginning to fall, some of the pieces as large as
buildings.
	Tsunami closed her eyes.
	<It's better this way,>  she thought as a piece of the ceiling
fell toward her.

	Ryoko flew as fast as she could, phasing through walls,
through fleeing K'rystava, through anything that got in her way.
She didn't even know which way she was going.  All she knew was that
it was out.  She looked down and saw Tenchi.  He wasn't moving.
She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, and she didn't have
time to check for a pulse.  She continued to fly.
	She wasn't sure which way to go!  All the corridors looked
the same!  She couldn't keep phasing through the walls, she didn't
have the strength for it!  She picked a direction at random and flew
as fast as she could.
	<Aunt Washu!  Aunt Washu!>  she screamed mentally.  <Where are
you!?  I need help!>
	There was no reply.
	Either she was too weak to broadcast or else PM Washu had
been...
	She shook her head.  She couldn't think about it.  She
continued on.
	She found a door that she thought looked familiar.  She flew
into it and found a landing bay.  The forcefield keeping the vacuum
out crackled as it struggled to stay in place.
	But it was empty.
	<Aunt Washu!>
	She heard an explosion behind her and fell to the ground.
Flames poured from the door behind her.  She couldn't take Tenchi
out into space.  Although she could survive, Tenchi would be killed
almost instantly.
	She was trapped.
	Another explosion rocked the station and the floor lurched
beneath her.  Ryoko fell to the ground again, but she kept hold of
Tenchi.
	<Trapped!>  Her mind screamed.  <Trapped!  Trapped!  TRAPPED!!>
	She sat on the ground in defeat and cradled Tenchi's head in
her lap.  She began to cry while slowly stroking his hair.
	"I'm sorry, Tenchi," she weeped.  "I tried."
	She leaned down towards him.  The flames were getting closer.
"I love you," she whispered.  She closed her eyes and kissed him.
	The light consumed her.
	<The light of Heaven?>  she wondered.  <It's so bright...>
	<RYOKO!>
	Ryoko's eyes shot open.  She turned and saw the AD7 just
outside the forcefield, its search light was trained on them.
	<Ryoko!  Hurry!>  she heard in her mind.
	Ryoko didn't waste time.  She picked up Tenchi's unmoving form
and concentrated, channeling all her strength into one final task.
She and Tenchi disappeared...
	And reappeared inside the AD7.  Ryoko gasped and collapsed to
the deck.  "Go, Washu!"  she called out.
	She felt the ship lurch beneath her as it turned and shot away
from the Arena.
	The AD7 increased in speed, accelerating away from the
deteriorating space station.  Ryoko felt the ship lurch as it entered
jump space.  She breathed a little easier.

	Tsunami took a final breath and braced herself.  She heard
the screach of metal and opened her eyes.  A piece of the ceiling
the size of a bus fell toward her.  She closed her eyes...
	The bus never connected.
	She opened her eyes and found the debris floating only a few
feet above her head.  She looked around and saw the rest of the Arena
had stopped in time.  She blinked.
	"Amazing,"  a voice spoke up quietly from her right.  She
turned her head and saw Quintin sitting on a piece of debris nearby.
"You were prepared to sacrifice the Contest, your powers, your
sister...and your life...For two mortals."  He looked at her.
"Why?"
	Tsunami took a weak breath.  "It's called...'being human.'"
	Quintin stared at her for a moment.  "Perhaps you've learned
something after all."  He stood up and faced her.  "Congragulations,
Tsunami," he said, raising his hand.  "The Contest is yours."  With
that, he snapped his fingers.
	The chunk of debris fell towards her, but stopped barely an
inch from Tsunami's now outstretched hand.  She smiled and stood up.
Her entire body glowed with an eerie blue light.  She felt her
powers return to her in full force.  She could see.  She could
see...everything.
	She waved her hand and disappeared in a flash of blue light.
The Arena continued to collapse.

	PM Washu hit the motivator and watched jump space appear in
front of them.  The AD7 entered the jump point just as the Arena
exploded behind them, a supernova in itself.  The ship rocked
beneath them as the AD7 felt the force of the explosion.  Then the
jump point closed behind them.
	They were safe.
	PM Washu quickly checked the status board and undid her safety
harness.  She rushed into the back to find Tenchi lying on the deck,
his head cradled in her niece's lap.  Ryoko looked up at her.
PM Washu's face fell.
	"Ryoko?" she asked.
	Ryoko shook her head sadly.
	PM Washu felt her throat close up.  She choked back a sob.
She had known it was true.  She couldn't feel her daughter's presence
anywhere, but she had still hoped that it was simply a matter of
the K'rystava interference.  Now, even that small hope had been
stripped away.
	She stepped forward and knelt next to Tenchi.
	"Ryoko...help me here...There...there's a med kit in that
compartment there."
	Ryoko looked at her aunt sadly.  "Aunt Washu, I..."
	"Please, Ryoko.  We don't have time now,"  PM Washu responded
woodenly.
	Ryoko complied.  "Where are the others?" she asked.
	PM Washu paused as she examined Tenchi's injuries.  They were
severe, but he would be okay if they moved fast and used the AD7's
sick bay.  "They got out in time to get clear in normal space, but
we'll have to pick them up."
	"Aunt Washu,"  Ryoko said softly.  "I...I tried.  I really
did."
	PM Washu remained focused on Tenchi.  "Help me, Ryoko.  We
have to move fast now."
	Quickly, but quietly, the two women saw to Tenchi's injuries.

	Everyone looked up as PM Washu entered the hallway from
Tenchi's room.  She was dressed in her usual uniform and white cape,
her hair was back to its normal style.  Ryoko and Ayeka waited
anxiously for her prognosis.
	"I...I had to take his eye,"  PM Washu told them quietly.
"He's okay now, but...he's pretty out of it."  Ryoko and Ayeka
watched as PM Washu continued.  For the entire trip back to the
Capital, she had been silent.  This was the first time she had
spoken more than a few words since leaving the Arena.  "I...I guess
I can't blame him...I...I..."  PM Washu's shoulders began to shake,
her hand went to her face, covering her eyes.  "I..."  She broke
down and fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.  "I...I lost
her!  Oh, Tsunami in Heaven, I lost her!"
	Ryoko stepped forward and kneeled next to her.  She gently
wrapped her arms around the petite politician and hugged her.  PM
Washu buried her head in Ryoko's shirt and cried.
	<Aunt Washu?>  Ryoko projected.
	PM Washu only cried harder.
	<Shhhh,>  Ryoko cooed mentally.  <It'll be okay.  It'll be
okay.>
	PM Washu cried.

	Tenchi awakened from his sleep and opened his eye.  His
other eye, the one he had lost on the Arena, was covered in
bandages that wrapped around his head.  It hurt, but not as much
the other part of himself he lost on that Arena.
	He stared at the ceiling, unable to cry.  He had run out of
tears.
	"Tenchi?"
	His gaze rested on Tsunami, standing next to the window.  She
was...different somehow.  The air seemed to glow around her.  A
small, white-gold crown encircled her forehead.  She offered him
an uneasy smile.  Tenchi went back to staring at the ceiling.
	"I wanted you to know...that it's over,"  Tsunami told him.
"All of it.  The Contest has been decided."
	Tenchi said nothing.
	Tsunami turned to the window.  "You know, Tenchi, before Sasami
and you and the others, I didn't really know what true sentience was."
	Tenchi was silent.
	Tsunami bowed her head.  "We've all sacrificed for the greater
good, Tenchi.  I lost a sister."
	"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?"  Tenchi whispered.
	Tsunami turned to him, tears in her eyes.
	"Am I supposed tell you it's okay, Tsunami?"  Tenchi asked
bitterly.  "That I *forgive* you?"  He turned his head toward her
and glared in hatred.  "The two most important women in my life were
taken from me by you and your sisters," he hissed.  "You put my
friends at risk.  You put the entire *universe* in danger."  He
glared.  Tsunami said nothing.  "Do you want me to forgive you for
that, Tsunami?" he asked.
	"Tenchi,"  Tsunami began, "I don't expect your forgiveness."
She bit her lip in pain.  "But I want you to know,"  she continued,
tears in her eyes, "That I *am* sorry.  So very, very sorry."
	Tenchi turned back to the ceiling and whispered.  "Get out."
	Tsunami swallowed back a sob and disappeared in a flash of
blue light.  Tenchi didn't watch her go.
	"Don't be too hard on her,"  someone whispered.
	Tenchi turned back and saw a strange man sitting by the window,
looking out at the capital.  There was something vaguely familiar
about him, but he couldn't tell what.  The man turned to him and
took a breath.  "She has good intentions, but she's still very
young."
	"Who are you?"
	Quintin smiled.  "A friend," he said simply.  His smile lost
some of its intensity.  "I know it's hard," he told Tenchi, "But
believe it or not, she had only the best interests of you and your
people at heart.  Her sisters would've turned sentience upside down
making it into their own vision of what it should be, believing
that sentience had something to learn from them.  Tsunami finally
realized that it was the other way around.  *They* had something
to learn from *sentience*.  Try not to hate her."
	Tenchi's eyes narrowed.  "Why shouldn't I?" he asked.  "I've
done *everything* she's ever asked of me.  Everything.  And I've
lost everything in return."
	Quintin smiled.  "Don't be too sure of that," he whispered.
He stood up.  "One day, you'll understand."
	Tenchi's eye blinked in confusion.  "Who are you?  Really."
	Quintin's smile intensified.  "Don't worry.  We'll meet again."
With that, he disappeared in a flash of light.
	Tenchi resumed staring at the ceiling, unable to cry.

	Ayeka wasn't sure she could do this.
	She sat in one of the small folding chairs on the flight deck
of the Soja and stared into her lap, unable to raise her eyes at
the sight she knew would meet her.
	Misa's funeral.
	Sitting next to her, Sasami watched sadly as the pall bearers
brought out the marble tablet inscribed with Rikari and Gret'an's
names.  The tablet was covered by an Imperial flag.  She recognized
two of the six pall bearers as Tenza and Nol'al.  The pall bearers
placed the tablet on a small hover sled in front of the assembled
mourners.  Colonel Stolykios took his place behind a small podium
and began to speak.
	"My friends.  We are gathered here today to pay final respects
to our honored dead..."
	Ayeka didn't hear him.  She stared at the floor.
	<"Hey, Ayeka!">
	<Ayeka turned and saw Misa approaching from the other end of
the palace corridor.  "Me and the guys are going to go torch this
joint downtown.  Wanna come?">
	Ayeka felt tears well up in her eyes.
	"...Though tragic, it must be mentioned that our comrades
died fighting for something they believed in..."
	Other images of Misa popped into her head.  Misa grinning at
her drunkenly over the table at that sleazy bar she had brought her
to that night.  Misa in her red, IMC T-shirt and shorts, sitting in
her quarters, drinking a beer.
	"...Though lost to us, they will not be forgotten..."
	Ayeka saw tears fall from her eyes and strike the deck below.
She felt Sasami's hand tighten around her arm.
	<"I guess I just needed a friend.">
	<"Well, you've got one here, Ayeka.  I mean that.">
	Ayeka's hand went up to her face as she tried to wipe away the
tears.
	"We commit their mortal remains to the void, with the hope
that Tsunami's grace will carry them into Heaven..."
	"Honor Guard!  Atten-HUT!"
	Ayeka shut her eyes.
	"Ready!  Aim!  FIRE!"
	Ayeka flinched as she heard the first volley of the twenty-one
gun salute go off.  The tears flowed faster.
	"Ready!  Aim!  FIRE!"
	Ayeka shut her eyes and cried out.  She could no longer
control the tears, nor did she really want to try anymore.
	"Ready!  Aim!  FIRE!"
	"Ayeka,"  Sasami whispered, fearful for her sister.
	Ayeka continued to cry.
	"Company!  Pre-sent!  ARMS!"
	The uniformed men and women saluted as the hover sled slowly
floated to the forcefield separating the flight deck from space and
passed through it.
	"From space we are born,"  Stolykios said quietly, "To space
we return."  The tablet floated away from the Soja towards the
Carissian system's sun.
	"Company!  Order!  ARMS!"  The soldiers dropped their salute.
	"Company!  Dis-MISSED!"
	The mourners began to leave.  Ayeka stayed in her seat, crying,
her face buried in her hands.  Sasami held her sister's arm and
cried with her, more for Ayeka than Rikari.
	"Ayeka?"
	Ayeka couldn't respond.  She was too far gone for that.  She
simply cried.  She didn't think it was possible to cry so much.
The tears kept coming and coming with no way to stop them.

	"How is she?"  Ryoko asked the guard.
	The young Marine looked at her nervously, unsure whether or
not to bow, salute, or tell Ryoko to get lost.  "No change, Ma'am."
	"Can I see her?"
	The Marine nodded and opened the door to PM Washu's bedroom
for her.
	Ryoko stepped inside.  The room was dark, but she could still
see PM Washu lying in bed.  She stepped forward.  "Aunt Washu?"
	PM Washu said nothing.
	Ryoko remembered a time when the roles were reversed and acted
accordingly.  She crawled into the bed and hugged the small
politician.  PM Washu didn't respond.
	"Do you see the stars, Ryoko?"  PM Washu finally whispered.
	Startled, Ryoko simply nodded.
	"She always loved them.  She loved watching them, flying
between them, exploring each one she came across,"  she whispered.
"She inherited my curiousity, I guess."  A flash of pride crept
into the Prime Minister's voice.  "What do I do now, Ryoko?"
	Ryoko was on the verge of tears.  She hated seeing this woman,
this woman who had treated her like family, suffer.
	"I can't stay,"  PM Washu told her.  "I can't.  Not here.
But I don't know where to go."
	Ryoko made a decision and acted.  "You'll come with us."
	PM Washu blinked and turned to her niece.  "What?"
	"You'll come back with us,"  Ryoko repeated.  "I *want* you
to come back with us."
	"I don't belong there,"  PM Washu told her.
	"You don't belong here,"  Ryoko countered.  "Not anymore."
	PM Washu shook her head.  "What would I do?"
	"You'd..."  Ryoko shook her head, trying to think of something.
She was out of her league on this one.  "You'd study.  Research.  I
don't know.  Whatever you want."
	"I...I need to think about it."
	Ryoko nodded and phased out, reappearing at the door.  <Try
to sleep, Aunt Washu,> she projected, and closed the door.

	Ayeka sat in the Palace kitchen and stared at a bottle of
brandy.
	<"Wow, high roller, huh?">
	<Ayeka was so surprised, she just blinked.>
	<"It'd take me three months to earn enough money to buy a
bottle of this stuff."  She undid the cork and took a healthy drink.
When she was done, she smacked her lips, shrugged her shoulders,
and said, "Eh.">
	Her friend was gone.  The only person she had ever really
called that.  Oh, sure, there was Tenchi and Mihoshi and even Ryoko,
but it wasn't the same.  Misa had been, what was the word?  A
"buddy."  Someone she could talk to about anything at any time
without worrying about losing face.
	And now she was gone.
	Because of her.
	Ayeka felt tears well up again.  Misa had gone into the Arena
looking for *her*.  *She* got her killed.  Her and Gret'an.
	She had been killed because she cared enough about her to go
on a suicide mission to get her out.
	<"Sergeant Rikari,"  Ayeka fumed, "It is inappropriate for you
to suggest such things.">
	<"Hey, *Princess*,"  Rikari told her with a slight smile
"We're two girls, out on the town, drinking, and talking about men.
I won't salute if you won't."  She smiled.  "It's, 'Misa', okay?">
	<"Misa,"  Ayeka repeated.>
	"Misa," Ayeka whispered.
	She undid the cork on the bottle and prepared to drink.
Before she could, someone took the bottle from her.  She looked up
and saw Tenza standing there.  He and Nol'al had helped her back to
her room after the funeral, but had disappeared afterwards.  Ayeka
thought they blamed her...
	Just like she did.
	Tenza looked at the label and arched an eyebrow.  Then he
brought the bottle to his lips, took a drink, and sat down.
Without looking, he passed the bottle to his right.  Ayeka blinked
as she saw Nol'al standing there.  He took the bottle and sat down
at the table.  He took a drink and passed the bottle to the right
again.
	"Sir,"  Nol'al said as he passed the bottle to the last man.
	Stolykios removed the oak leaves from his collar and sat down.
"It's 'Stolykios,'" he told the Corporal.  He took a slug of brandy
and handed the bottle to Ayeka.
	Ayeka blinked and took it.  She looked up at the men, who were
staring at her expectantly.  Ayeka raised the bottle to her lips and
took a drink.  She passed the bottle to Tenza, who began to speak.
	"I remember the first time I saw Rikari and Cher...Gret'an,"
he corrected.  "It was just after I got assigned to the Gate Room.
Rikari had her nose stuck in some damned book, and Gret'an was
trying to look like he belonged..."
	Ayeka listened as Tenza and Nol'al told stories about their
two comrades.  Stolykios didn't have much to say, so he listened.
Finally, they turned to Ayeka.
	Ayeka blinked, but understood what they were waiting for.
"Well," she said, clearing her throat, "The first time I met Misa,
she was aiming a gun at me and screaming at me to put my hands
up..."
	The group continued talking and drinking long into the night.

	D-6 approached his counterpart and nodded in greeting.  D-3, he
who was Tokimi's second in command, returned the nod.
	"It's been a long time, D-6."
	"It has,"  D-6 agreed.  "You know why I have come."
	D-3 nodded.  "Her Ladyship told me to expect you if she were
to...disappear.  You have something for me."
	D-6 nodded and presented the box to him.  The massive astral
projection of D-3's head blinked.  The box floated into the air.
"Did Her Ladyship tell you what it was?"  he asked D-6.
	D-6 nodded.  "Only that it was a second chance should we fail."
	"Hmmm,"  D-3 intoned.  He blinked again and the box opened.
He saw the contents of the box and smiled.  "A second chance,
indeed."
	From the open box, two gold rings floated into the air between
them.

	Tenchi rested the flowers on the grave marker and stepped
back.  E. Ryoko's funeral had been a quiet affair.  It was stated
in her last will and testament that she be allowed to pass away
quietly, almost obscurely, and the Imperials had granted that
request.  Only a small service was given, but complete with
military honors.
	Beside him, PM Washu stared down at the grave marker.  "I can
feel her," she whispered.  Tenchi looked over at her.  She tapped
the side of her head.  "In here.  I can feel her essence.  It's like
if I reach out far enough...I could speak to her."
	"Washu,"  Tenchi began, "I want you to know..."
	"I know, Tenchi,"  she interrupted.  "I know.  And I want to
thank you."  Tenchi blinked in surprise.  Washu looked up at him.
"You loved her.  You made the final weeks of her life the happiest
she had ever known."
	"I got her killed," he said guiltily.  "She was there because
of me..."
	"You are not to blame for this!"  PM Washu said angrily.
"*She*," she hissed, "*She* is to blame."  Tenchi blinked.  PM Washu
turned back to the grave marker.  "She did this to her, to my
little Ryoko,"  she growled.  "And if she weren't dead already, I'd
spend the rest of eternity hunting her down, goddess or no!"
Tenchi said nothing.  He knew who PM Washu was talking about.  "I
didn't even get to say goodbye," she finished in a whisper.
	Tenchi hugged her.  Neither spoke.
	For a brief moment, he wondered what had happened to Washu,
his Washu, not the goddess.  Was she dead, lost somewhere between
universes?  He didn't know.  They planned to have a memorial once
they returned.  It didn't feel right to have one here, in a universe
that was not her own.
	Tenchi and PM Washu stood there, hugging and crying long after
the sun set.

	Ayeka found Sasami in her room, sitting on her bed and sobbing
quietly.
	"Sasami?"  Ayeka asked softly.  "Are you okay?"
	"Ayeka,"  Sasami sobbed.  Ayeka sat on the bed next to her.
	"What is it, Sasami?  You can tell me."
	"I just...I just..."
	"What?"
	Sasami looked up at her.  "I just feel so alone."
	Ayeka blinked.  Tsunami was gone, no longer a part of Sasami,
so what did that mean for Sasami?
	Sasami hugged her sister.  "What's going to happen to me,
Ayeka?"
	Ayeka embraced her.  "It'll be all right, Sasami," she
whispered.  "I'm sure it will turn out all right."
	Even as she said it, she knew the words were hollow.  She had
no idea what would happen next.
	Only time would tell.

	"Tenchi?"
	Tenchi nearly jumped three feet into the air.  He turned
quickly...
	Then he remembered, and sighed.
	"Hi, Ryoko."  He turned back to the window and watched as the
sun came up over the capital.
	"Tenchi...I just wanted you to know....That I'm sorry."
	"What for?"  he asked woodenly.
	"Tenchi....Are you mad at me?"
	Tenchi closed his eye sadly.  "No, Ryoko.  I'm not mad at you."
	"Then why..."
	"Dammit, Ryoko!"  He cried.  "Don't you have any idea?!  Don't
you have any idea at all?!"  Ryoko looked at him in puzzled horror.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to hear you call my name?!  How
hard it is to turn around...and find that *she* isn't there?!"  He
blinked a tear out of his eye.  "And then I remember.  I remember
why."
	Ryoko was shaking her head sadly, tears in her eyes.
"Tenchi...I...I'm sorry.  I really am.  I don't know what to do or
what to say.  Please, please don't push me away.  Please."
	"I'm...I'm sorry, Ryoko.  I just need a little time, okay?"
	Ryoko wiped a tear away and disappeared.  Tenchi turned back
to the window and began to cry again.

	Ryoko reappeared in the Grand Corridor of the palace, tears
streaming down her face.  Tenchi hated her.  Tenchi hated her
because the very sight of her reminded him of what he had lost.
The one thing she had *never* wanted to do was hurt Tenchi.  Now
he couldn't even look at her without experiencing pain.
	She looked up and saw a life size, marble statue of the
Empress, smiling down at her.  Ryoko's hands balled into fists as
she shook with rage.
	"It wasn't enough you had to take him from me, was it!?"  she
screamed.  "You had to make sure he'd want nothing to do with me!"
She engaged her lightsword and screamed as it arced around, taking
the statue's head off.  The marble head fell and hit the floor with
a crash.  Ryoko's sword winked out of sight as she fell to her knees
and began to cry.

	"I'm glad you've decided to come,"  Ryoko said, but without
enthusiasm.
	Walking beside her, PM Washu nodded as she readjusted the
strap on her travel bag.  She was dressed simply, a red, silk
blouse and slacks.  "I have to start over somewhere.  Maybe your
world is the best place to start."
	"Yeah."
	PM Washu looked up at her.  "What's wrong, Ryoko?"  she asked
seriously.
	"Can't you tell?"  Ryoko asked bitterly.
	PM Washu paused.  "You know I won't go into your mind without
permission."
	Ryoko stopped.  "It's nothing."
	PM Washu reached out and took her arm.  "Tell me."
	How could she tell her?  How could she stand there and tell
her grieving aunt that she hated her daughter as much as she hated
anyone?  How could she do that to her?
	She couldn't.
	"I don't want to talk about it."
	PM Washu nodded.  "Okay."
	"It has nothing to do with you,"  Ryoko told her.
	"I understand."
	Ryoko bit her lip.  "I'm sorry."
	"It's all right, Ryoko."
	They stopped in front of the door and waited for it to open.
The others were waiting for them in the gate room.  There was no
fanfare this time, no one to see them off.
	"Everyone ready?"  PM Washu asked.  The others nodded.
	PM Washu took a breath and began entering the dimensional
coordinates for their universe.  A minute later, there was an
explosion of green light as the vortex appeared.
	"No side trips this time, I hope,"  Mihoshi muttered.
PM Washu went first to show them it was okay.  Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki
followed, then Ayeka and Sasami.  Mihoshi followed them in.
	Tenchi stood at the threshold between his world and her's and
paused.  He looked back one last time at her world, her universe
and took a breath.  The dream was over.  It was time to wake up.
	He stepped through the vortex.

	"There they go,"
	Standing on the palace roof, Tsunami turned to the voice.
"Yes, Brother.  They're home now."  She wiped a tear from her eye.
	"Tsunami,"  Quintin told her, "Death is a part of what we do.
It's not something you can escape from, and if you try, it will be
the multiverse that suffers."
	"I know.  I just wish there was something I could do."
	"There is."  Tsunami looked to him.  "Rule wisely...and with
compassion."
	"What of my sisters?" she asked. "What of Washu?"
	"Washu..."  Quintin smiled.  "Washu never really believed in
sentience.  It was her pursuit of power that dictated her actions."
	"Is she alive?"
	"Washu is...Washu.  I can't imagine the mulitverse without
her."
	Tsunami looked out at the Carissian sky.  "What will happen
to them?"
	"They will find their own destinies."
	Tsunami closed her eyes.  "I do hope so, Brother," she told
him.  "I do hope so."




Author's Notes:

The End.

Or is it?

Truth be told, no.
I don't like leaving things hanging, so I'm going to write a
standalone sequel to this story that will explain everything....I
hope.  So be on the look out for the next story, "Fate and Destiny."
Set three months after the death of the Empress, "Fate and Destiny"
will deal with Tenchi's attempts to come to grips with her death,
Ryoko's attempts to deal with her feelings for Tenchi, and PM Washu
will be forced to choose between saving Washu's life, or avenging
her daughter's death.

This just concludes the Bonds of Sisterhood story arc.  The Empire
Cycle continues...

Thomas "009" Doscher
doscher009@hotmail.com