Power

Power.

When one is mortal, that is the ultimate goal in life. For thousands of

years, men have lived and died only to achieve this one, incomplete vision.

The question humans always ask is "How do I get Power?" They never ask, "What

exactly is Power?"

That is the greatest overlooked secret of the human race. Power is nothing

without purpose, without direction. When it comes right down to it, Power

itself is not the end, just the ends to a mean. Without a purpose for

possessing Power, any human to wield it raw and unadulterated would be as a

child with a loaded gun.

For some beings, however, Power is a tool. It is not some special magic that

can solve any and all problems, oh no. There's always a catch, always a

problem. The worst part about it is, the more Power you wield, the higher the

loopholes involved are.

For the being Ronoken, the catch can best be described as annoying.

Here is a being with unlimited power, a being with the ability to level

planets and destroy stars, but is restricted to operating strictly by the

barter system. For him to have any power over a creature, her must first

offer something in return. If a being accepts, then it in effect gives up its

soul as payment. This is the secret, and the crutch, of the Ronoken's power.

Know this, that any who do deal with him do so at their own peril, for the

Ronoken never works for his own motives, but is always serving some higher

being. Therefore, when one deals with the Ronoken, they are truly dealing

with something beyond their comprehension.

***

Things were starting to look dim.

Tenchi should have cracked. Never had a living soul EVER been able to resist

the temptations of the Ronoken. NEVER! It was unheard of! It was

unbelievable!

It was a momentary setback.

"Damn that boy! My power was at its peak! He should have given in! All I

wanted in return was a simple yes, and he would have had his dream come true!

This is not a contingency that I had planned upon."

Ronoken stood in low earth orbit, debating his next course of action. The boy

had been a mistake. He knew that now. He should have gone for the most

obvious choice of temptation first, the choice that had never failed him

before. He was falling out of favor with Tokimi, and in his line of work,

pissing off your employer was NOT the wisest thing to do.

"The boy was a mistake, I see that now. So, let's see who's next, shall we?"

Ronoken straightened his silk tie as a vision appeared before him, the vision

of a young girl with long blue hair and bright, shiny pink eyes.

"God bless the child, indeed…"

***

BGlanders presents…

The Devil and Mr. Masaki

Chapter Two: How the Hell Did You Get So Small?

***

"What the hell?!"

These words echoed through the sub space lab of Washu, the greatest scientific

genius in the universe. The red haired wonder was in front of her computer

counsel crunching numbers for her latest theory on trans-dimensional wormholes

when a little red light started blinking on her 'oh-damn-a-meter'.

"Oh damn. Not good, not good at all…"

Within seconds, twenty different screens appeared before Washu. Each of these

screens showed charts, patterns, fluctuations and row after row of numbers.

To any earthling, these images would have made no sense whatsoever.

For Washu, however, these screens told a slightly different story.

As Washu continued to work, sweat started to bead on her brow, and a dim light

of panic appeared in her eyes.

It was going to be a bad day.

***

It's gonna be a good day.

That was the main thought running through Sasami's head as she stood before

the kitchen window, washing the dishes from breakfast. The sunlight streaming

through the pane of glass made dancing images of light play across her face

and hands. The warm breeze from the open door behind her made her feel

relaxed and calm, and very content.

"I hope Tenchi gets home soon, otherwise he's gonna spend the whole day out in

that dumb old field and miss the lunch I'm making."

Sasami knew that working in the fields was Tenchi's duty, but that didn't mean

she liked it. She would have much rather preferred to have Tenchi back at the

house, spending time with her and the others. She liked Tenchi, but she knew

that she didn't stand a chance against her sister or Ryoko. Still, she didn't

mind dreaming...

Sasami was still daydreaming when a flash of light from the window caused her

to drop the plate she was holding. Just before it hit the ground, a small

pale hand caught it.

"Oh!" Sasami gasped as she saw the stranger beside her. He was about her

height, with pale skin and short black hair. He was dressed in a black suit

and seemed very thin. "Hi," he said as Sasami stumbled away from him, "My

name's Monis. What's yours?"

Sasami paused and eyed the newcomer for a moment. He seemed a nice enough

boy, with a warm smile and soft brown eyes. "My name's Sasami. How did you

get in here Monis?"

Monis pointed at the open door. "Through there. I'm sorry, if I'm not

welcome, I can go..."

Sasami shook her head and smiled. "No, that's all right. You just startled

me, that's all. Would you like to help me do the dishes?"

Monis took a look at Sasami, then at the sink. 'Well, if it means getting her

as an avatar, then why not?'

***

"So you're here to see grandpa?"

The dishes were almost done. Sasami was washing while Monis had taken his suit

coat off and was doing a fairly decent job of drying.

"Well kinda... I was on my way to the Shrine and I got kinda lost. I didn't

mean to scare you before, I was just looking for someone who could tell me

where I was."

Sasami giggled and picked up another plate. "Well, this is our home. The

shrine is up the hill. There's a set of steps leading the way."

"Thank you, Sasami. I guess I'm not too good when it comes to finding

things." Monis reached over to get the plate Sasami was holding and

accidently brushed against her hand. Monis suddenly froze at the contact, not

knowing why he was suddenly feeling the way he was.

'What's going on here? Why do I suddenly feel this...this rush of emotion?

And why haven't I started with my sales pitch yet? I should be done by now,

and instead I'm drying dishes and ranting on and on and...'

Sasami lightly blushed as Monis was still frozen in contact with Sasami's

hand. He suddenly caught himself and pulled away franticly while she lightly

giggled. "Hey are you okay Monis? You were kinda spaced out there for a

second."

'And she has the most beautiful pink eyes...'

"Umm..I..uh.. I was just thinking about..well.."

"About someone you love?"

Monis's head snapped up to see Sasami staring out the window with a dreamy

look on her face. "You said you came here to see grandpa. Why?"

Monis gulped and raced for an explanation as to why a 10-year-old boy would

visit a Shinto priest in the middle of nowhere.

"Well, you see, I came to pay respects...to my family, you see..and.."

Sasami's face suddenly took on a look of concern. "I'm sorry..I didn't know

your family was...I'm sorry Monis. I shouldn't have been so nosey."

'She's so thoughtful. No mortal has ever been this concerned about my

feelings before. No one's ever... asked me about them.'

"It's all right, Sasami. You didn't know. Say, when I was talking, you were

thinking about somebody. Tell me, who was it?"

'That's right. Do your job. Find out what she wants, then do the exchange

and give Tokimi what she wants. Then you can just leave this place and these

people who have thwarted you. You! You're supposed to be a damn

professional, so act like one!'

'But she's so young and innocent. So caring..so unlike me...'

Sasami blushed and turned away. "Well, he's just a friend. I know nothing

will ever happen, but it's nice to daydream..." Her eyes once again turned to

the window and a smile crept across her face. Monis just continued to stare

at her. The way the sunlight accented her features, the way her eyes seemed

to sparkle, she was... she was...

'NO! Damnit I'm here to do a job and I'm going to do it! I'm not going to be

distracted by this...'

"Hey Monis, you wanna take a walk?" Sasami hopped away from the sink and took

Monis by the hand. Monis grinned and nodded while grabbing his suit coat

jacket. Sasami giggled and led the way outside.

'...by this wonderful little mortal...'

***

Washu continued to scan her readings, checking probe results one after

another. The information her super computer was giving her was not what she

had hoped for.

"This can't be! These readings can only be caused by a high level dimension

reaction, and those can only be caused by a very select few beings..."

Washu continued to crunch numbers, trying to pin point the identity of the

multiverse culprit. She currently knew of only one definite being that could

create such a disturbance; Tsunami. However, as Tsunami usually didn't make

her presence known, Washu ruled her out. Besides, these readings didn't match

Tsunami's energy patterns.

"According to this, the being causing the reactions isn't...waitaminute. I'm

reading...yes! Another force blanketing the first one! That's why I didn't

pick it up before! There are strange doings afoot here..."

Washu continued to engross herself in her work, not paying attention to the

monitors behind her, the one's showing the Masaki household. She didn't see

as a tall, gaunt being had appeared out of thin air right behind Sasami, then

shrank himself down to the child's size. She didn't see Sasami doing dishes

and talking with the apparition that had appeared moments before, and she

didn't even notice when Sasami left with the very creature Washu was trying to

pin point.

Kinda funny how things can happen that way.

***

It really was a beautiful day.

The air was warm, but not humid or hot, and a gentle breeze could be felt

drifting across the cool green grass. The clouds overhead lazily sauntered

along on their paths to nowhere in particular and the song of a bird could be

heard on the wind.

Of course, Tenchi Masaki didn't care a bit about any of this.

The first thing he saw wasn't the blue sky or the green grass, but rather

dirt, and lots of it. He found himself lying face down in the middle of the

carrot fields he had been tending.

"What..happened? How'd I end up like this?"

He slowly gathered his wits, then tried to push himself up.

Then fell back down as a semi-truck smashed his skull.

The pain in Tenchi's head was unbelievable, like a thousand knives were

driving straight into his temple. Like a jackhammer was pounding into his

temple again and again and again and...

"So I guess this is what Ryoko feels like after drinking..."

Tenchi took a deep breath and then, with a force of sheer will, managed to

stand up. As Tenchi fought off the urge to pass out, he shook out the cobwebs

in his head and tried to remember what exactly had happened.

"I was working and then...something happened...but what? I...I don't remember

anything but..something about a man in a suit..."

Tenchi shook his head again and took a swig from his canteen. The water

tasted hot and stung his tongue. He cringed, but managed to drain his flask.

"Water...I remember something about water... It must have been heat stroke.

Yeah, that's it! I was working too hard and I passed out. Well, I am pretty

much done with the field anyways, so I might as well head home."

Tenchi proceeded to gather his belongings and started heading back to the

house, thinking the afternoon's transpirings nothing more than delusions

brought on by heat stroke.

***

"MISS RYOKO! I WILL MOST CERTAINLY NOT HAVE SEX ON THE BEACH!"

It was your typical pub setting, with dimly lit booths, dirty floors, and

stools lining a counter topped with smoked glass. What made this bar so un-

typical were the two patrons at the counter. The first was dressed in tight

jean shorts with a short red tank top. The other was wearing her

stereotypical pink and purple kimono.

"Calm down, Aeka. It's a drink, not an offer. Geez, you're so uptight! Come

on, lighten up!"

Aeka paused, mentally weighing the truth to Ryoko's words, as the barkeep

brought her a drink. Hesitantly, she took a sip, then proceeded to down the

rest of the beverage.

It had been Ryoko's idea to come into town. Things had been quiet lately, and

Tenchi's birthday was coming up, so Ryoko decided to pick him up a little

'something special'. Her first idea for a birthday gift had been, well, let's

just say it involved candles and wax, and wasn't a cake. So to keep Aeka from

going off the handle, Ryoko had agreed to buy a gift with Aeka. That way

neither one of them could get mad at the other's decision.

After three hours of arguing and one near meltdown over what to buy, Ryoko

decided that a break was in order. So after a bit of prodding and an offer to

pay, Ryoko finally managed to steer Aeka into the local tavern.

"Well Miss Ryoko, I must say that this was one of your better ideas…now you're

sure that you can pick up the tab? I don't feel like being ditched with the

bill AGAIN, if you don't mind."

"Hey Aeka, chill out. I said I'd pick up the check and I meant it. Now drink

up!" Ryoko downed another Sake cup as Aeka continued to enjoy her 'Sex'. "So

Aeka, what should we get him, anyway? I mean, if it were up to me, I'd give

him a present that would make this birthday especially happy."

"And that is exactly the reason I'm here with you, Miss Ryoko! I'm not just

going to sit around and let you pervert my Tenchi on his birthday!" Aeka

downed another drink as Ryoko started to chuckle.

"Don't sweat it. Remember, we both agreed to this so that we could be sure

Tenchi got something from the both of us, and so I could make sure you

wouldn't pull any funny business, Aeka."

"I know I agreed to it, but that doesn't mean I'm comfortable with the idea."

"And you think I am? Do you honestly believe that I wanted to spend my

afternoon in the company of her Majesty? No! I could be at home right now,

cuddling with my Tenchi, but no, I'm here with you, fighting about a stupid

gift!" Ryoko downed another Sake cup and sighed. This really wasn't her idea

of a good time. In fact, spending this much time together would have ranked

quite high on Ryoko and Aeka's list of personal hells had it not been for the

alcohol.

"Look, let's just try and get along, just this once, for Tenchi's sake." Aeka

paused and considered Ryoko's words then decided that for today, she could

handle a little torture if it meant the happiness of Lord Tenchi. Besides, it

wasn't like she had to share him with Ryoko in everything, was it?

"Very well Ryoko, for today, I'll try not to fight with you, but if you even

try to start anything, so help me I'll…"

Ryoko set her Sake cup on the counter and looked Aeka dead in the eye. "I

promise I won't start any fights today. Is that good enough for you Aeka?"

Aeka nodded, and the two clasped hands to shake on it. Two minutes of

squeezing later, they let go.

***

"So Sasami, you wanna play a game?"

Sasami and her new friend were at the base of the Shrine stairs. They had

walked out to the lake and watched the Funaho sway in the summer breeze, then

wandered until arriving at the base of the Shrine hill.

"Sure Monis, what do you wanna play?"

Monis paused and did his best to keep his eyes on the stairs ahead of him.

"Well, let's play a wishing game. If you could have anything in the world you

wanted, anything at all, what would you want?"

Sasami and Monis started up the base of the shrine stairs, Sasami enjoying the

scenery while Monis, now sweating, kept his eyes glued to the stairs ahead of

him.

"Anything I want? Well gee, Monis, I don't know what I'd want. I mean, I

laready have everything I could ask for right here, but I guess if I had to

wish for something, I'd wish…"

"Yes?" Monis was now wrining his hands behind his back in anticipation. This

was it, it had to be! She would wish and then his job would be done!

"I'd wish for you to stay here and be my friend."

Monis, who had until this point been on the preverbal edge of his seat, did

the only thing he could.

He face faulted and tripped down the stairs.

At the bottom, the well-dressed child was rubbing his head and trying to pick

himself up off the ground.

"This could be a problem…"

*****

Notes:

Just to answer the question once and for all… yes, the Gentle Sound of Thunder is DONE. Chapter 7 was the last chapter in the story… however, there is more. I wrote a prequel about a year ago, and will post it soon. ^^

Tenchi and Co. belong to AiC and Pioneer

All C&C to BGlanders@aol.com