From: tenchiken@juno.com The Ways of the Goddesses Part three- Knight's Sacrifice By F. Van Assche Disclaimer: I don’t own Tenchi Muyo- Pioneer and AIC do. I used their characters. It doesn’t mean I’m a bad person. Don’t sue me. I’m really a nice guy. Marty’s my character, though. You can take the fic if you want, just give me credit if you ever use it. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------ "The first rule in dealing with the devil: don't." Chapter One The most dangerous thing that exists is a masterless weapon, a tempting prize for those who would desire it... A pawn, advanced to the eighth rank, can become a knight, and if sacrificed carefully, is the difference between victory and defeat. If heedlessly forfeited, it can be used against a player... In the games of the goddesses, one knight can make all the difference.... Marty awoke inside a cell. He examined his prison. After blasting and hacking at the doorway with no results, he spoke. "Who are you, and what do you want?" Then someone connected with his mind in a 100 decibel whisper. "I am your mistress... you are my weapon... I need you..." "Foolish little boy... there is no escape.. you are mine..." "It matters not... I will forge you to my desires, young one...." Then the world went black. ----------------------------------------------------------------- When Marty regained consciousness, he floated through an empty void. D3 and Tokimi appeared before him. "You won't beat me! I won't let you!" D3 laughed at him. "Pathetic scum. We already have. You just don't know it yet. I will give you a chance to go freely... It will be easier on you." "Yes... the best course is submission, young one..." "I'd rather die first." "Such noble sentiment... pity... your race is so easily controlled.." "C-controlled? What do you mean?" "I think you will soon learn, pawn,"D3 chuckled. And the horrors began.... --------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere around Earth, the tree that was Tsunami began to weep... --------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Two Agonies of the flesh, while excruciating, are only transitory. They leave scars, but the pain is fleeting. Perhaps the lucky ones die. Torture of the mind does not bring death. To teeter on the edge of madness, ah... that is hell unbound... The tortures of the mind are not designed to kill, only to break. They wear away the defenses of the mind like a rock in a stream, dulling the wits... Marty thought. The first day all he tried to do was scream. But where there is no air, there is no sound. Soon all he could perceive was his own thoughts, and these broke away one by one. He began to forget. Mokona, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka... they all vanished within two days. After that, all he could do was drift and watch as his soul split apart... D3 chose to examine his progress soon after. "Give up, you inept fool, or you shall truly see hell," he said. Marty tried to speak and found he could not. "I will not deign to communicate with you using speech. Try again." he thought dazedly. "Kill you? That was never my lady's intention. You are to become her machine. Resisting this will only serve to weaken you further." D3 scowled at him. "I suppose not. Let us truly see how durable you are, young knight." He then vanished, leaving Marty in the eternal emptiness. After eight more endless days of senseless floating through the void, D3 made his presence known once again. Marty was slowly losing all his resistance to Tokimi as well as his sanity. "You have not yielded, I see. Truly commendable for such an inferior species." "Oh, so you truly don't know of the legend of the gems on your world," D3 smirked. "Fool. Well, allow me to enlighten you. Those gems were under my lady's control when they left this universe. They remember what happened in your realm. That foolish king... He wore the gems then, as you do now. His feeble mind was overwhelmed by their power." As these words were spoken, the void shifted, becoming the anteroom of Tokimi's chambers. That held Marty's attention. The world existed for him, partially, once more. "Maddened with power, he led his armies to the ends of his known world, pushing back civilization after civilization. For who can stop a god? Further and further he went... then... then, he sought to stop. He tried to fight the gift he had been given. Lady Tokimi's might was given him and he dared to DENY IT!" D3 swung at Marty. When he made contact, the world shimmered and Marty screamed in desperation. "You will not think to me in that fashion again. Attempt it, and I will crush your mind into dust! Why Tokimi does not allow me to now, I do not know... Your ancestor... he fought the power, and it killed him. No fatal wound by an enemy, simply his own stupidity... Humph!" Tokimi's voice suddenly encompassed the two. "D3... leave him..." "Yes, my lady," he replied, and disappeared, as Tokimi's form appeared above Marty. "Oh... you of noble lineage.... why do you fight? I give you this power..." she said as she reached out and gently caressed his brow with her fingers. "You need not resist..." Her touch... the agony subsided. It was like air to a man trapped beneath the waves. Marty's universe flash focused; it was Tokimi. She was all that existed for him.... whether this moment lasted the briefest of seconds or millions of eons, the result was the same. His mind had been broken. Tokimi had won. ------------------------------------------------------------- Is it truly better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven? Or to pose it a different way, is the greatest horror to serve in hell? To cast away all inhibitions and goodness, and embrace the darkness? Perhaps. Compared to the madness of solitude, it is a preferable substitute. Tokimi's new warrior had cast away his old form, but the pain of conversion was costly. He emerged from the darkness emaciated and worn. Tokimi allowed him to recover, but then his new training began... As a severe understatement, it was sadistic. To get a comparable idea, imagine dissecting yourself, sans anesthesia, then rebuilding your body to working order. But survive it, he did, and emerged stronger than before. Now he began his missions. He started on small craft, then moved up to larger vessels, and finally took down a Juraian battle cruiser. Tokimi and D3 believed him nearly ready for his most important assignment, the task that would tilt the balance of the universe in their favor... ----------------------------------------------------------------- As a final test of merit, Tokimi sent her knight to a Juraian colony with one objective. Kill them all. And so he did. With all his training, the guards did not stand a chance, and fell, one after the other. He mercilessly disemboweled them with his sword as their attacks bounced off of him. Death was all around him as he entered the quarters of the civilians... No woman or child survived that day. The blood of the innocent was on the knight; he reveled in it. He entered into the tree room of the colony to finish the job. Inside, he gave pause, and his eyes awoke. The sun of this world had just begun to shine on the crystalline leaves of the Juraian wood. The light reflected through the chamber and onto him. He looked around and saw himself; bloodstained and gory. He gazed momentarily at the tree, then walked to the guestbook of the colony. He ripped away two pages, and wrote. He dropped the first as his eyes became dim once again, and summoned his blade to complete his task. --------------------------------------------------------------- Tsunami watched him destroy what she had built. When he entered the chamber, she allowed him a moment of peace. she thought sorrowfully. --------------------------------------------------------------- When the Galaxy Police arrived at the colony, all they found were pieces of flesh that were once people, and the remains of what was once a Juraian tree. They also found a letter near the remains of the tree. The GP officers attempted to use it to gain an insight into the attack, but the Juraian Defense Force seized it. Inexplicably, it was allowed to be delivered. --------------------------------------------------------------- "Well, done.... my young knight" "I thank you, my lady. What is my next task?" "You have proven yourself worthy of the task at which all others have failed," said D3 "I do not understand, my lady," he said. "I have a gift... your final power... the third gem." "Now you will be able to create the Wings of the Light Hawk." "Thank you. I will not fail you. What is my task?" "You... my dear little one... lay siege upon the Earth.... your mission is the death of the Juraian line..." -------------------------------------------------------------- The letter reached Mokona five days after the attack. It read: My dearest Mokona, I fear these will be the last words you will ever hear from me. The man you knew has ceased to exist. For all purposes, I am already dead. I am sorry with all my heart to say that I will most likely never see you again. I am, perhaps, an outcast even if I survive the days to come. Please don't cry. I just want you to know that I love you with all of my heart. -Marty The tears flowed to fill the Great Sea of Jurai as she wept. Chapter Three Time passed. Tokimi's champion readied himself for his new mission. From time to time Tokimi visited him, and they discussed the future, or rather, the future of their plans... The knight looked out at the stars from his chambers. "I will rule this, my lady?" "Yes... once the Juraian line has fallen... there will be a need for a new emperor..." "So, I will rule... incredible..." he said as Tokimi disappeared. ------------------------------------------------------------ In Tokimi's anteroom, D3 watched as his mistress appeared before him. "My lady, why do you fill the boy's head with these delusions? You know as well as I that he cannot be allowed to rule here..." "He is a means to an end, nothing more... after he has completed his task, he is yours to destroy..." "Thank you, my lady." ------------------------------------------------------------ Far in the recesses of the knight's mind, a whisper began to build... flickers of thoughts... memories... a woman... The knight brushed away this murmur, as he had long ceased to distrust his mistress. He departed for the Earth with his lady's blessing. As he plunged through the abyss of space, he vaguely recalled... a similar situation... He shoved the thought to the back of his memory. ----------------------------------------------------------- Then moon had just risen in the night sky above the snow covered Masaki shrine. It was no normal sight. The light from the moon reflected blood red, bathing the whole of the earth in an unholy glow. The knight landed softly inside a great forest, miles from his targets. He began to walk, the heavy snowfall masking all trace of his presence. By the early hours of the morning, he had reached the house. He steeled himself for the task at hand, then moved closer.. ----------------------------------------------------------- Sasami dreamed... She was awakened by the opening of her window... ------------------------------------------------------------ The knight grabbed the sill and pulled it slowly up. He saw his target, the Crown Princess of Jurai, sleeping quietly across the room. He did not notice the younger princess in the room until she moved to embrace him. He looked down coldly at the sobbing girl next to him. He stepped away from her and began charging his sword. As she stared into his dead eyes, Tsunami assailed her thoughts Sasami never even turned before the sword passed through her, and she dissipated into a cloud of energy. The near silent voice inside him built to a roar even as he moved to terminate Ayeka, who had awoken during the slaying. She blasted him with every iota of strength she could muster, only succeeding in knocking him through the window, away from the house, and waking everyone else up. Tenchi ran outside, master key in his hand, to face him. The knight let loose a huge blast of energy in Tenchi's direction. Tenchi had no chance of avoiding the discharge, and took it full force. He emerged unscathed, protected by the Wings of the Light Hawk. Tenchi now recognized his adversary. Needless to say, it shook him somewhat. "Marty? Wha- what are you doing?!" The knight's eyes were cold and emotionless, and he spoke in a low monotone, "If you knew me once, young price, you do not know me now. I have become the darkness; I have no name. Now, step aside, or I will kill you." Tenchi stepped forward. The knight's face quivered in surprise. He spoke again, more forcefully, "You not need die today, Juraian... My mission does not concern you... merely the princess." He moved to continue towards the house. "You stay right there. I don't care who you are, you're not going back in." The knight peered at Tenchi rather quizzically. "If you truly wish to die today..." He summoned his blade. "...I will fulfill your request!" he said, charging. Tenchi summoned his own Light Hawk Wing, and the distance between the two rapidly closed. In a moment's time, the two were within striking distance. They swung... Their swords clashed and locked together. The energy from the blades arced and flashed, burning away the vegetation around the fighters as they tried to gain the upper hand. Tenchi wrenched his sword away, then attempted to slash across his opponent's exposed middle. To his surprise, his opponent was not there... "Well met. That was the same type of strike you used to kill Kagato, correct? Let me inform you of something..." he said, as he fired off a two handed strike that knocked his former friend to the ground. "... I'm NOT Kagato." The knight moved in to finish the kill. He lifted his sword... Tenchi watched with amazement as his former houseguest lifted his sword, then stopped. The tiny voice he had been hearing climaxed in a fearsome rage, overcoming all the horrors, all the pain he had endured over the last months. It even beat back Tokimi's control. Marty began to weep as Tokimi and D3 pumped more and more power into him to regain command. Tenchi stood as a whisper echoed over the snowy field. "Finish it, Tenchi... Hurry, or you're all dead..." Tenchi summoned his Light Hawk Wing and fulfilled the request. As blood began to pour from his wound, Marty spoke. "Thank you..." He fell to his knees, then slumped over. A torn note fluttered to the ground by Tenchi's feet. He picked it up and read. -------------------------------------------------------- To my friends, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi, I suppose if you've managed to get this letter, you've managed to stop me from whatever I was forced to attempt. I'm sorry. Tokimi corrupted me. God knows what I've done already, or what I might have done had you not stopped me. I don't know why this had to happen, but finish what you have begun. Make sure Tokimi has no chance to attempt this again; next time, she will not fail. -Marty Tenchi crushed the paper in his hand and sprinted towards the house. ------------------------------------------------------- As Tenchi left the scene, Washu emerged from the bushes with Tsunami's energy form. "Damn it, Tsunami, I hope you know what you're doing here... if this plan doesn't work, we're both dead. My powers are locked in the gems... and you... you won't survive too long unless we can find a way to bring back Sasami..." "I know, I know. I should have gotten her out of harm's way, then this situation wouldn't be so critical!! I hope those three can defeat D3 and Aemon, otherwise..." "Let's not think about otherwise. We'll do what we can here," Washu said, gesturing towards the fallen form in the snow. The two goddesses hefted the broken body and walked toward Funaho. -------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes This one was tough to write... after all, how much could any one person take before betraying his friends? Would it take torture? appeal to greed? We all have weaknesses, and trying to access the weaknesses of the character as he is written. The flip side of this question is the motives to return to the state of character before the change. How, or even, why, did he escape the bonds of Tokimi's servitude? Muse on that, if you care to. On a lighter note, if you didn't like the character of Marty, he's dead now, and you won't see him for a while. That's it, I think. C&C, MST, and Flames go to All input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.