Finally, after they had been walking for miles, Ryoko and Aeka noticed that
the trees had begun to thin out and light could be seen up ahead.
"We made it!" Aeka exclaimed.  At that moment, the girls heard the sound of
approaching horses.  Prince Kagato and Dr. Clay, the prince's most trusted
associate and a demented scientist, approached them.
"Surrender at once," Kagato demanded.
"Oh," Ryoko said, "you wish to surrender to me?  OK, I accept."
"Don't make this harder on yourselves.  Surrender!"  From the corner of her
eye, Aeka noticed that Kagato's soldiers had begun to surround them, ready
to
strike.
"Death first!" Ryoko shouted.
"That can be arranged," Prince Kagato sneered.
Aeka saw that the soldiers were closing in on them.  She cried, "Will you
promise not to hurt her?"
"What was that?" Kagato asked.
"What was that?" Ryoko repeated.
"If I return with you peacefully, will you promise not to hurt this woman?
She is a sailor on the spaceship Revenge.  Will you promise to return her to
her ship?"  Aeka pleaded.
"May I live a thousand days and never play the organ again.  I swear it will
be done." Kagato declared.
Aeka turned to Ryoko.  Ryoko's golden eyes were filled with confusion.  Aeka
said, "When I thought you were dead, it almost destroyed me.  I couldn't
bear
for you to die again, not when I could save you."
As the two girls were speaking, Kagato turned to Dr. Clay and said, "Throw
her in the Pit of Despair."
"I swear it will be done," Dr. Clay promised.  With that, Kagato rode forth
and snatched Aeka up by her collar before the two girls could even really
say
good-bye.  Dr. Clay turned to Ryoko.
Ryoko sighed, "Oh well, another battle lost.  That's the story of my life."
One of Dr. Clay's soldiers tied her hands behind her back.
"Come, miss," Dr. Clay said, "We must get you to your ship."  It was then
that Ryoko noticed a pi symbol on Dr. Clay's hat.  She smiled.
"What is it?" Dr. Clay asked puzzled.
"You have a pi symbol on your hat.  Someone was looking for you."  Without a
word, Dr. Clay struck Ryoko over the head with his sword, knocking her
unconscious.

Hours later, Ryoko slowly awakened.  Someone was cleaning the wound on her
shoulder.  She opened her eyes and found herself in a cave tied down on a
table.  Standing over her, cleaning the wound, was a young woman with big
blue eyes, a dim expression, and lots of blonde hair.
"Where am I?" Ryoko asked.
"Oh, hi!  You woke up.  My name is Mihoshi and you're in the Pit of Despair!
How are you feeling?  Would you like something to drink?  On second thought,
maybe I shouldn't give you anything.  Dr. Clay might not like that.  Well
anyway, don't even think about trying to escape.  And don't think anybody's
going to rescue you.  The only way in is a special secret and only Prince
Kagato, Dr. Clay and I know it!"
"So, I guess I'm here till I die," Ryoko said.
"Oh no," Mihoshi replied, "they'll kill you way before you die."
"Then why are you curing me?" Ryoko asked.
"Well, because, um, I think, uh, oh yeah, because Dr. Clay says he likes
everyone to be healthy.  Health is so important and you know-"
Ryoko cut her off, "So I'm going to be tortured," she said.  "I can handle
that."
"Oh no, I don't think so," Mihoshi shook her head.  "You made it through the
Fire Swamp, which I think is really amazing, so that means you're very
brave,
but nobody can withstand the karaoke machine!  Do you like karaoke?  I love
it.  I could sing it all day…"
 That very night, Prince Kagato and Aeka were married.  Aeka met her
subjects
once again; this time as their queen.
*
"Hey, hold it, grandpa!  She can't marry Kagato!  She has to marry Ryoko.
After everything Ryoko did for her, if Aeka didn't marry her, it wouldn't be
fair!" the grandson exclaimed.
"Who told you life was fair?" the grandfather asked.
"I'm telling you you're messing up the story!  Get it right!"
"Do you want me to continue reading?" the grandfather questioned.
The boy nodded his head.
"OK, then, shut up."  The grandfather continued the story.
*
"I present to you you're queen, Queen Aeka!" Kagato declared.
As Aeka walked out to meet her people, she heard a voice calling, "Boo!
Boo!
 You suck you little slut!!  Boo!"  Aeka turned to face a hideous, old
woman,
draped in rags.
"Why do you say that?" she asked.
"Because you had love in your hands and you gave it up!  Boo!"
"But they would have killed Ryoko if I hadn't done it!" Aeka protested.
"You're true love lives and you marry another, you tramp!" the woman
shouted.
 "Her true love saved her, in the Fire Swamp!  And she treated it like
trash,
that whore!  So bow down to her if you want!  Bow down to the queen of
filth,
the queen of scum, the queen of denial!" she turned to Aeka, "Boo!"
Aeka awoke with a start.  Her nightmares had grown worse.  It was ten days
till the wedding and she could bear it no longer.  She got up and ran to
Kagato's study.  He was playing the organ.  Aeka winced as she always did
because Kagato couldn't play the instrument to save his life.
She said, "It comes to this, I love Ryoko, I always have.  I always will.
If
you say that I must marry you, I promise I will be dead by morning."
Kagato stopped playing.  "I do not want to cause you grief.  The wedding is
off."  He turned Dr. Clay, who was sitting in the corner of the room with
cotton stuck in his ears.
"You returned this Ryoko to her spaceship didn't you?"  But Dr. Clay didn't
hear him. Kagato shouted, "You returned that blue-haired woman to her
spaceship didn't you?!!"  Dr. Clay jumped and pulled the cotton from his
ears.
"Of course," he answered.
"Let's try a little experiment.  You write four copies of a letter.  I'll
send my four fastest spaceships, one in each direction.  If Ryoko still
wants
you, so be it.  If not, then please consider me as an alternative to
suicide."  Aeka nodded.  She turned to leave.
"Are you certain Ryoko still wants you?" he asked.
"My Ryoko will always come for me," Aeka insisted.
The following day Prince Kagato and Dr. Clay were walking in the woods.
Dr. Clay said, "You're princess is quite a charming creature."
"Yes," Kagato agreed, "the people are very fond of her.  I thought it was
brilliant when I hired Kiyone to murder her on our engagement day, but it
will be so much better when I strangle her on our honeymoon."
Dr. Clay smiled, understanding.  "Get some rest," he said.  He turned and
pressed a secret knot on a gnarled, old tree.  He went inside.
Once inside, Dr. Clay wheeled out his greatest invention.  Mihoshi was
dozing
in a corner.  Dr. Clay kicked her.
"What?" she asked, whipping drool from her mouth.  He handed her a
microphone.  She squealed.
Dr. Clay turned to Ryoko, "I'm sure you've noticed my deep and abiding
interest in pain," he said.
"Did anyone ever tell you your head looks like a big, ugly, octopus?" she
asked.
 The eight, fat curls that surrounded Dr. Clay's head shook with anger.  He
said, "Because this is your first time, I was going to start you on the
lowest setting, but for that," he turned to Mihoshi, who was picking her
nose, "sing Christina Aguliera's What a Girl Wants!" he ordered.
"Oh goody, I love that song!" Mihoshi cried, wiping her booger on the wall.
She began to sing off key, "What a girl wants, what a girl needs…"
Ryoko lay listening to Mihoshi sing.  The sound of Mihoshi's voice combined
with the annoying song was enough to slowly drain the life from her.  Her
body began to twitch.
"Whatever makes you happy and sets you free," Mihoshi wailed.  Ryoko
couldn't
move or scream.  Her body began to convulse in agony.  Just when she thought
she could bear the pain no longer, Mihoshi came to the end of the song.
Ryoko lay shaking on the table.
Dr. Clay said, "As you know the concept of the karaoke machine is to slowly
suck your life away as you listen to boring songs sung by people who can't
carry a tune.  I've just sucked one year of your life away with a Christina
Aguliera song.  I might one day go as high as Hanson, but I really don't
know
what that would do to you.  Let's work with what we have.  How do you feel,
tell me?"  But Ryoko could only whimper in reply.