Legal Info- I do not own any of the characters represented in my story. They are the sole property of AIC/Pioneer. Note- This is an OAV based saga. One slight difference is that the girls are a little bit friendlier to each other than they are in the actual show. That was enough talk from me, so enjoy! The War of the Destined Chapter 3 The Tenchi gang was walking around the potion room. Aien spotted the one that they needed on a very high shelf, which he couldn't reach. He summoned the rest of the gang over and told them that he found the potion that would reverse the spell on Ryoko. The whole gang looked up and noticed that none of them would be able to reach the potion without at the very least a ladder, which unfortunately there were no ladders in the room. Washu looked up at the shelf and then, she being the only other one who can fly besides Ryoko, flew up there and grabbed the potion as quickly as possible. She flew back down and then they all went back to the entrance of the room to get out. Once they had left the room, they realized that none of them knew where Zantron could be hiding Ryoko. Well, none of them except for Aien. He looked at the group somewhat guiltily and they all shot him a perplexed look. "Hey Aien, is something wrong?" asked Tenchi. "Yes, Lord Aien. Is there something troubling you?" Ayeka inquired. He nodded and cleared his throat. "I know where Ryoko is." Everyone's eyes widened. "You do?!" He grinned nervously at the group. "Yeah, I do." "Then why didn't you mention that sooner?" cried Tenchi. "Because it was more necessary to get the potion first than seeing Ryoko. As long as you know now, we can still get to her," replied Aien. "Well then, lead the way Lord Aien," said Ayeka. Zantron felt the group's presence becoming stronger. He walked over to a very long and large mirror, which worked like a surveillance camera, and looked into it. He noticed that none other than Aien was leading the group. He growled at what he saw and walked away from the scene with disgust. "That traitor. How was he lured into becoming "friends" with that group of people? One of them must have reached out to him and softened his heart. That's no problem for me though. I have plenty of other minions who will fight for me and do a better job than that boy I hired," he said. He then summoned three of his best fighters along with their own troops. "Seltres, Claytros, and Mering, come forth!" The three men appeared in front of him. Seltres was a humanoid that looked almost like Aien, but the only difference was that he was a bit stout and had slash marks on his face. Claytros was part humanoid and part dragon. He had green scales on his back, but he had no tail. Other than that, Claytros looked a lot like Zantron, bit only a little bigger in height. Mering looked old, but his speed and intelligence helped him to be a great fighter. He had silver- blue hair and violet eyes and was still in his youth. Mering cloaked himself by making himself look old to trick people, so he could get what he wanted out of them. "Yes, my liege," they all said in unison. "I want you to capture Tenchi Masaki and bring him to me unharmed. I would like you to kill any of his companions. If you see Aien with them, disregard him. He is now with them and you have my permission to kill him off as well," said Zantron. "Yes, Lord Zantron." They then vanished along their troops. Zantron then heard the door to his study being opened. He turned and saw Ryoko standing there in a sleeveless, pale blue satin nightgown. He looked at her and lost himself in all her beauty. She approached him with curiosity written all over her face. "My love, why do you wish to kill Tenchi Masaki?" she asked. "He wants to steal you away from me and take away all of your powers," he lied. "He doesn't seem as strong as you or I, so why not just cage him up and just leave him in there for an eternity?" she asked once more. "That wouldn't be able to hold him back. He may look like a weakling, but he's stronger than you think," he replied. "Then your method of handling him is superb," she complimented. "Why thank you my dear. I need to ask you something. How would you like to become my bride?" he inquired. Ryoko's mouth hung wide and then she leapt into Zantron's awaiting embrace and kissed him passionately. When she finally pulled away, she nodded vigorously. He grinned at her and scooped her up in his arms and brought her back to his bedroom. Meanwhile, Aien was leading Tenchi's group towards Zantron's secret hideaway inside of the base. It was taking forever to find it. They finally reached a point that looked like a dead end. Aien explained this. He said that Zantron was very fond of illusions and that the wall was only an apparition. He demonstrated by walking right through it without getting hurt in any way. The rest of the group followed his example and walked right through the wall. Once they were all past it, a large, iron cage fell on them, and trapped them all within it. There was a miniature screen on one side of it as Zantron's sinister face appeared on it. "Greetings from the future ruler of the Universe," said Zantron. Everyone was growling at him. "What the hell do you want you bastard?" hissed Washu. "Ah! Miss Washu, I'm so glad that you are here. Did you have a nice trip? Or did you have a nicer time watching the demise of my cousin, Kagato?" he inquired angrily. Washu scowled at him, but kept silent. Tenchi then stepped up to the screen with contempt on his face. "Where is Ryoko?!" "Why, my dear boy whatever do you mean?" he asked grinning evilly. "If you have hurt her in any way, prepare yourself because you'll have some bodily harm coming your way!" yelled Tenchi. "Silly boy! Why would I hurt my future bride?" he asked, his grin increasing rapidly in size. "You didn't?!" growled Tenchi/ "Oh, but I did," he said smoothly. "You.you asshole!!!" screamed Tenchi. "Now, then. My men and their troops should be arriving soon, so don't move. Oh that's right, you wouldn't be able to anyway," he said sinisterly as he laughed. "One more thing before I leave you all. Tenchi Masaki, my men will not harm you. They will bring you to me because I want to be the one to finish off the one who killed my cousin," he said. "That is all. Ta ta, for now." With those last words, Zantron disappeared from the screen. "Well, it looks as though we're stuck here," muttered Kiyone. "Oh.hey Kiyone! Why don't we play a game to pass the time before those guys come here!" Mihoshi bubbled. "Mihoshi, this is not a time for us to be playing games! We need to figure a way out of this cell," growled Kiyone. "Now, why don't you make yourself useful and help us out, huh?" "I'm sorry Kiyone!!!" bawled Mihoshi. Kiyone just rolled her eyes and started to examine the structure of the cell. Tenchi had tried to cut through the steel bars with his sword, but it just wasn't working. Ayeka sat in a corner depressed and scared. She shivered at the thought of being so helpless. Aien noticed this and sat down next to her to give her some comfort. Ayeka turned to him and she felt his green eyes look deeply into her own crimson ones. Aien smiled at her and put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't be afraid, Lady Ayeka. We'll get out of here. You'll see," he said confidently. "Thank you Lord Aien. You are very kind to comfort me at such a moment," replied Ayeka with a smile. "The pleasure is all mine, Lady Ayeka. I never had the chance before to comfort such a beautiful creature such as yourself. Now, that I do have the chance, I won't pass it up," he said, smiling warmly at her. Ayeka felt a blush grace her face. Aien noticed and gave her a small grin. "My words flatter you, Lady Ayeka?" "Yes, I admit that they do," she replied timidly. "Tell me, Lord Aien, have you always had this affect upon young ladies?" Aien's grin vanished. "No, I have never been able to experience any type of true emotions, other than the ones that were implanted in me by Zantron. I will take this opportunity to tell you that I do find you very attractive Lady Ayeka and that I do like you very much. I know that I'm not worthy of you though. It just feels so good to let out these emotions that were for so long trapped inside my body. I love the ability to be able to use them freely without worrying about Zantron's control over me." Ayeka looked at him sadly. She draped her own arm around one of his own shoulders. He looked at her questionably. "Sometimes the comforters need to be comforted," she quipped ruefully. He smiled at her playfulness. He knew that she was trying to cover up the fear that was stabbing her heart continuously. Katsuhito looked over at the pair and grimaced. He had no right to interfere with the attraction that was blooming between them, but he had to tell Ayeka how he felt. He also needed to tell her his secret, the secret that he had been hiding from her for too long. "Ayeka?" said Katsuhito. "Yes brother?" she inquired. "I need to show you something," he said and with that, his disguise as Katsuhito was dissolved and his younger form of Yosho took its place. Ayeka's eyes widened at the sight. She walked up to him and asked him a simple question. "Why?" "I needed to stay here Ayeka. I wanted to come back to you, but I just couldn't. Someone needed to guard Ryoko's cave and since I was the one who put her in there in the first place, the task was mine and mine alone," he answered. Ayeka's look of sadness faded as a look of understanding dawned upon her face. "Thank you for being honest with me brother." "I'm not quite finished, Ayeka," he said nervously. `What more could he have to say?" she wondered. "Very well, I'm listening." "I still love you, Ayeka," he said finally. Ayeka's face took on a look of utter shock. She slowly backed away from him. "Brother! Why tell me now of all times? My feelings for have dissolved. I love you, yes, but not in the way that you would prefer," she said. "I am very sorry for injuring you like this, but I must speak the truth." Yosho's face was saddened indeed. He looked at his half-sister and sighed. "I understand Ayeka. I won't get in your way of finding a new love, but always remember that I'll be there for you whenever you do need me." Ayeka looked at her half-brother and smiled softly at him. "Thank you, brother. You are truly kind." Everyone else in the cell witnessed along with Ayeka, Katsuhito's transformation into Yosho. Tenchi was the most surprised out of all of them. His grandfather appeared to be maybe eight years older than him, when in reality his age surpassed even that of Ayeka's true age. "Grandfather?! What in the.how in the." Tenchi trailed off. He thought for a moment that his eyes were deceiving him, so he blinked a few times, but nothing changed. His grandfather was still in his more youthful form. Everyone else kept silent, but they were gaping at what they had just seen. Just then an alarm went off in the cell. It was very loud, so everyone had to cover his or her ears very tightly. Unfortunately for Ayeka, she had not been paying any attention to the alarm and did not cover her ears as it got louder. She started to become dizzy and then fainted. Aien broke her fall and held her head in his lap. Once the alarm ceased, Aien lightly patted one of Ayeka's cheeks. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she gazed up at Aien. He gave her a small smile, which she returned. "Thank you for helping me," she softly murmured. He lifted her up gently as he caught her grateful gaze. "I would do anything to help you Lady Ayeka," he replied gently. "Please, just call me Ayeka, Lord Aien. You've earned that privilege," she said. "I will, but only if you stop calling me "Lord" Aien. I hate titles," he said in return. "I promise I will," she complied. He hugged her gently. Ayeka felt safe in his embrace. She had never felt such warmth before, but it wasn't the time or place for such tender emotions. She decided to leave it up to fate whether she belonged with him or not, so she slowly pulled away from him. She smiled softly at him and shook her head. "Not yet, but hopefully soon," she said, answering his silent question. He grinned at her and helped her to her feet as they both got up off of the ground. As soon as Aien and Ayeka were up and off of the ground, the alarm started to go off again. This time, Ayeka covered her ears very tightly. As soon as the alarm ceased once more, three men and their troops approached the cell. Aien knew who they were and snarled viciously at them. He knew that they weren't under the control of Zantron. They were just pure evil who would do anything to have a piece of the pie. They all grinned wickedly at the group in the cell, without even acknowledging Aien. "Well, well, well. Now that we have captured all of you, tell me, which one of you is Tenchi Masaki?" asked the one with the green scales, in a vicious manner. Silence. That was all that could be heard in that cell that is until the person who was addressed finally decided to speak up. "I am Tenchi Masaki. If you seek me, then by all means, take me to your master. If I have to die in order to save Ryoko, I will, but do not harm the others, they play no part in this," he said harshly to the scaly humanoid. "I, Claytros, will not disobey my Lord's command. He told me to kill all of the ones following you, except for yourself, and kill them I shall all," he snarled viciously. "The first battle is your Claytros. If you cannot defeat them, then one of us will come and take your place until we do," said Mering. "Understood," replied Claytros as Mering, Seltres, and their troops disappeared. Claytros looked at the group and noticed something odd. There were five women and three men. In Claytros' civilization the men were always stronger than the women, so he assumed that because of the larger amount in woman in the cell would be fighting alongside the minority of men in there, then he would have a soaring victory. The cell was being slowly lifted. Fortunately for the group, Katsuhito was still in his young form of Yosho, so that made the ability for him to fight much better. The eight warriors that were locked inside of the cell summoned all of their powers. Tenchi summoned his Light Hawk Wings. Ayeka transformed into her Juraian battle uniform and had her miniature logs and her Key, which lied upon her head, ready. Mihoshi and Kiyone pulled out their GP blasters and had them pointed directly at Claytros. Washu had her energy sword ready, while Sasami had telepathically contacted Tsunami and asked her to help out, which she of course obliged to. They were all ready to fight to the death to save their friend Ryoko.