ADDITIONAL A/N: Told ya it'd be here a lot sooner. Not as soon as I thought since I had a break to watch "Frasier", but… anyway. Enjoy! I tried really hard with "Hot Patootie", but it just wasn't playing… If y'all want to imagine it being done, that's up to you. Anyway, let's see where Rygel was…
CHAPTER SEVEN
The location of the elusive Hynerian was, at that moment, revealed, as his Throne Sled hovered through the door. He did not look impressed. However, he didn't have much time to reveal why, since he was immediately enveloped in the blur of grey that was Chiana when she hurled herself at someone.
"Rygeeeee!!" she screamed, launching herself in his direction. Rygel vanished again, save for the slight whirring of his Sled. When he finally managed to struggle free, John caught a glimpse of his clothing for the first time. He was wearing… a biker jacket? John blinked. Yes. A biker jacket, fashioned in his size. There were also two pieces of metal attached to the front of his chair, which frighteningly resembled a pair of handlebars…
This, all of sudden, seemed the most normal thing in the world, and he realised he'd actually been expecting it as soon as Rygel appeared in the doorway of the Apothecary. He wasn't even remotely worried by this fact any more. Before Rygel could start talking the same sort of gibberish as everyone else, Crichton clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, we know. Saturday night, cosmic light, hot patootie, yada yada yada…" He could sense Aeryn's "human-nonsense" look boring into him and chose to ignore it, instead looking over to Chiana, dubiously. "Chi, I swear. If you tell me you've been having sex with Rygel, I will throw up. Nobody should be seriously that happy to see Buckwheat…" He fought back an apparently terrifying image, then let Rygel go. Chiana giggled, but said nothing that might suggest his suspicions were right.
It was Crais' turn to look unimpressed. Aeryn's suspicions that he'd used Rygel's DNA were now confirmed, if the small patch above his left eye was any indication. Rygel also had that look on his face which suggested he'd been medically violated, the same look he'd adopt whenever Zhaan helped him without his consent. Crais glared pointedly at Rygel.
"What are you doing here, Hynerian?"
"After you violated me, you mean? Confining me to my quarters wasn't going to stop me from escaping, Peacekeeper."
Crais frowned. "But… the doors-"
"Secured, I know. Pilot happens to be on my side. He let me out."
Crais sneered, stood perfectly still for about two microts, and then took action. He ran at Rygel, shoving Chiana violently out of the way as he did so. Rygel's eyes went wide with terror and he manoeuvred his Sled up as fast as it would move. Unfortunately, he didn't move fast enough, and Crais managed to grasp the bottom of the Throne Sled, stopping it mid-ascent. The two struggled momentarily before Rygel managed to break free.
He zipped across the Apothecary and did a sharp turn just before he crashed into a wall, then revved up before zooming to the other wall. He narrowly missed John and Aeryn's heads as they ducked to avoid him, and he skimmed past Crais, literally a hair's breadth from his ears. Crais dropped to the ground as Rygel came at him a second time, and looked for a weapon, his eyes skimming the floor to see if anything was in reaching or scuttling distance.
He spotted it. A large, flattish object that resembled an Earth cricket bat, which Crais, obviously, didn't know. However, what he did know, was that it was absolutely the perfect thing to attack Rygel with… Getting up, cautiously, Crais scanned the room for the Hynerian, and eventually found him, up near Moya's ceiling in a far corner, preparing to dive bomb the room. As expected, he did just that.
What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion, but, in reality, only took about a microt. Rygel growled and let out something resembling a war-cry, revved the Throne Sled to the highest power it would handle, and drove it forwards. He got within about half a metra of Crais when disaster (and, in fact, Crais) struck. The Sebacean swung the bat around as hard as he could and sent Rygel flying into a wall, while the Throne Sled completed its tangent, slipped neatly between John and Aeryn (who leapt apart to accommodate its flight), and collided neatly with the wall of the corridor.
There was silence. Crais dropped the bat, flipped his hair out of his face, and looked nonchalant. Meanwhile, an irate Chiana was now trying to rouse a heavily and very unconscious Rygel. She glared up at Crais, but couldn't form anything coherent to say to him.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, Chiana," he chided. "He'll recover." With that, he smiled at Stark and coaxed him out of the protective ball he'd curled himself into, leading him back into the centre of the room. "Don't worry, Stark. Rygel isn't going to hurt you."
Silence then descended on the room. John felt suddenly very unnerved…
A/N: End of Chapter 7! Once I get Chapter 8 translated into English, it'll be here, but right now it makes very little sense. Anyway. Lotsa reviews gets it here faster (in theory…) And even though it's exceedingly obvious now, you still have to guess who got cast as Dr. Scott…
