Chapter 8: No Need for Murder

"Let's try over there."

"Alright."

Two cops from the search party had split off, and were looking around a large rock formation. They looked for any signs of the missing persons. One of them stopped to rest for a minute. He pulled a water canteen from his pocket and opened it. He raised it above his mouth. Only a few drops of water dribbled out. He looked at the canteen with disappointment. Just then, he heard a noise that caught his attention. It sounded like birds. He forgot about the water and turned around towards the noise. He heard it again. It was coming from behind a group of trees. He walked towards it. As he started to move around the trunks, he heard a new noise that sounded like a distant purr. He paused for a moment, but then continued to move around the trees. The sound of flies could be heard, and the smell of dead meat filled his nostrils. The cop gulped before pushing some tall bushes aside. As soon as he did, birds flew in all directions in a panic. The cop gasped when he saw what the smell was coming from.

"Gah!" His blood pumped twice as fast as he quickly turned around to run. He tripped and almost fell. Stumbling, he leaned against the tree. His partner stood there ahead of him.

"What? What is it?" The cop walked around to see what made his partner jump. He stopped and looked upon the scene with horrified eyes. Before him he saw a mangled body. It was missing an arm, and it seemed to have no head. Blood caked it from the shoulders down. Flies buzzed everywhere. A drop of blood dripped onto the cop's boot. He looked down to look at the blood. Another drop made him slowly look up. His jaw dropped. About thirty feet up, hanging by the feet, was a body. It was completely stripped of its skin. Blood dripped from every inch of the mass.

The cop immediately turned around and gagged. He threw up. His partner, who had just recovered from such events, joined him after seeing the skinned corpse.

. . .

"Uh! I'm so bored!" Ryoko whined. She crashed on the couch and leaned her head back. She could see Ren, Minagi and Sasami sitting at the eating table. Sasami rested her chin on her folded arms on the table. Minagi was simply watching Ren as he was drawing. Ryoko rolled her eyes and lifted her head up. She picked up the remote. "Let's see what's on T.V." She switched it on and began to flick through the channels. Kiyone sat down on the other side of the couch.

"So, what's on?" she asked.

"I dunno," Ryoko answered without looking at her. She suddenly came to a channel that was playing a movie. She stopped on that channel and lowered her arm. "What's this?"

"Huh?" Kiyone looked at the screen. It was a science fiction film. She saw two alien creatures fighting each other. One attacked like an animal. The other, however, fought using a staff of some sort.

"Hmmm, this looks interesting," Ryoko said crossing one of her legs.

"But, what is it?" Kiyone wondered out loud.

"It's PVH."

"Huh?" both Kiyone and Ryoko said looking around. It was Ren. He had stopped drawing and was looking at the television screen.

"What's...that?" Ryoko asked him.

"A film from America, Prey versus Hunter. It's about these two alien species who fight each other, and these humans get caught in the middle of it all."

"Ah," Kiyone nodded. "So, who's who?"

"Well, the humanoid alien is the hunter, and the one with the tail is the prey." Ren answered her. At that moment, the hunter pulled a gun out and blasted a hole through the prey's neck. The alien's head popped off with a spray of blue blood. "Awesome."

"Looks scary," said Minagi.

"It's supposed to be, but I've seen so many of those films that I only like them 'cause they're fun. They don't scare me anymore." Ren explained to the space girl. He started to draw again. Minagi nodded and then looked down at his work in progress. She saw multiple stick figures. Some were shorter than others. Ren was starting to draw a body structure over the lightly drawn figures. Sasami looked at the sketch pad. Ryo-Ohki suddenly jumped onto her head and mewed.

"He's drawing something, Ryo-Ohki. Look, see?" Sasami pointed to the paper. Ryo-Ohki mewed to let her know that she understood.

"Whoa! Hey! What the hell?" Ryoko said frustrated. "What's the big idea? They're interrupting my movie!" Ren and the others looked up to see that a news station had taken over the screen.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special report," the man on the screen said. "Earlier today, a public bus was discovered on the highway, not far from the local Masaki Shrine." Everyone immediately gathered around the couch to listen in on the report. "The bus was found in the middle of the road on its side, the passengers, and driver are currently missing."

"Whoa," Kiyone gasped.

"The local police have started to conduct a search for the missing persons. So far, no traces of the missing persons have been found. Some of the news stations who arrived on the scene minutes later have started to help the police. Even some citizens have joined the search. As soon as we get more information on this matter, we will let you know." Everyone stared at the screen in silence.

"Well ya don't say," Ryoko said breaking the silence.

"What a minute, we have just received word from our reporter who's on the scene. Akiko?" The news man looked to a screen in the studio with a young woman's image. It suddenly filled the entire screen.

"Thanks, Hiroki. I'm standing here at the scene of the overturned bus. Behind me are rescue vehicles, police units, news vans, and now an ambulance. You are probably asking if we have found any of the missing personnel. Well, we didn't. Instead, it's a possible murder."

"Huh?" everyone in the room gasped.

"Two police officers were out with a search team when they found a gruesome sight. Two brutally mangled bodies were discovered not far from the scene. So far, the police have been unable to identify the bodies. The first victim was found decapitated. The head has yet to be found. The other victim was found hanging in a tree by the feet, and skinned alive."

"Holy shit!" Ryoko gasped with aw. "And I thought I was violent!"

"No further information has been released, but as soon as we receive new information, we will be the first to let you know. Back to you, Hiroki." Kiyone turned the television off. The room was quiet. Even Ryoko didn't start complaining about Kiyone turning off the T.V.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ayeka had entered the room. Nobody answered. "Huh?" Everyone turned their heads to look at her. It began to creep Ayeka out.

"You will not believe what just happened," Kiyone finally said.

"Yeah, we just saw a report that proves that I'm not the worst humanoid out there. Sorry, Princess!" Ryoko said in a serious tone. Ayeka glared at her.

"Oh yeah right! I'm sure there isn't another humanoid out there that is worse than you!" Ayeka said doubtfully.

"No, it's true. We saw it too," said Ren. Minagi nodded.

"Huh?" Ayeka tilted her head. She didn't know what to believe.

. . .

Careful, not a sound. Be cautious.

These words played back in Mutt's mind, over and over. He had to be this way, or else he would be discovered. He sat there on his branch and watched. The oomans had found the bodies of the hunters he took pleasure in killing the previous night. Several oomans were taking pictures. Some were talking to others while taking notes. Mutt cocked his head. After awhile, a couple of oomans with large bags stepped into view. As two of them loaded the headless corpse into one of the bags, the other two cut the skinned body down. Soon, it too was in a bag. They carried the bodies off.

Mutt counted the number of oomans present. Thirty-four oomans. He sat back and relaxed. There was nothing he could do now. He had to just wait. Hours passed. The oomans down below had been searching for the missing persons. They had started to head back towards the road. Mutt followed them cautiously. When they were half way there, Mutt noticed something. There was movement, and it was not from the oomans. He crouched down and scanned the area. He saw no more movement. Mutt shrugged and continued on. Once he arrived at the edge of the road, he counted the number of oomans. Thirty.

Wait a second.

Mutt counted again. He came up with thirty again. Four were missing. What had happened to the others? Mutt purred with concern. Not for the oomans of course, but for the possibility of xenos still out there. Stupid bugs. Why didn't he see them? Mutt growled at himself for being careless. He had to go back and find them. Hopefully, the oomans wouldn't do the same. That would just make things worse.

. . .

Washu examined the creature behind the glass in silence. She pressed a few buttons on her keypad and turned to a large glass tube. A glob of mass began to form. Washu pressed a few more buttons and the glob began to take shape. It formed a human structure. Washu pressed some more buttons and then turned to her guest.

"Time for the real test to begin," she announced to the little alien.

Meanwhile, back at the Masaki residence, Tenchi was outside in the fields. He was tending to the carrots he had planted. He wiped his forehead and looked around. Ryo-Ohki was in her humanoid form, playing with Sasami. Tenchi smiled and looked down towards the house. Ayeka was sweeping the deck with Minagi. Kiyone and Mihoshi had gone to town to look for work so they could earn money to pay the rent for their place. Let's just hope that Mihoshi doesn't screw things up for her partner. Tenchi smiled again and continued to his work. He suddenly paused. He looked up again. Where was...

"...Ryoko?" he murmured to himself.

"Were you looking for me?" Ryoko asked. Tenchi freaked and spun around. Ryoko was standing behind him. She was smiling.

"Ryoko, I...Huh?" Tenchi studied her up and down. She wasn't wearing one of her dresses. Instead, she was wearing a pair of dirty pants, a worn shirt, and a handkerchief was tied around her head. She had a pair of gloves on and was holding a hoe in one hand.

"What? I came here to help you," she said looking at him with a weird expression. Tenchi gazed at her with surprise. He didn't know what to think.

"Help?" Tenchi asked with shock. Ryoko nodded, still smiling.

"Mm-hm! So just tell me what I need to do!" she said with excitement.

"Um, okay," Tenchi nodded. What else could he do?

Meanwhile, Ayeka and Minagi swept the fallen leaves into little piles. A gentle, cool breeze threatened to knock the piles over. Minagi paused to look out towards the lake. The trees were starting to turn colors. A majority of them were still green, but a few were already changing to red, orange, brown, or yellow. It was so beautiful. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Ren coming down the steps from the Masaki Shrine. Ayeka saw him too and stopped sweeping. The two waited for him to finally approach them.

"So?" Ayeka asked. Ren reached them and stopped.

"I told Tenchi's grandfather about the news report. He didn't seem too worried about the whole thing," Ren answered. Ayeka sighed.

"That sounds like Grandfather to me," she replied. Minagi stared in silence at Ren, who noticed this and smiled at her. Minagi blushed and quickly looked away.

"I also told him what Washu told us about our little guest from Mars, or wherever it is from," Ren continued. Minagi looked up at him with shy eyes.

"I see, and?" Ayeka asked.

"Oh, he just simply nodded," Ren answered.

"Ah, well, okay."

"Alright then," Ren put his hands on his hips. "So, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, you could help Tenchi in the fields," Ayeka suggested.

"Oh, I already saw Ryoko helping him there," said Ren. Ayeka dropped her broom. Her face went from normal to furious. Her fists clenched with anger.

"She what?"

"Um, yeah. Ryoko is already helping Tenchi in the fields," Ren repeated. Ayeka began to walk away towards the carrot fields. She was murmuring things to herself as she went. Ren looked at Minagi and simply shrugged. He bent over and picked up the dropped broom. He sighed as he stood up next to Minagi.

"Um, I guess," she started to say, but then decided to keep her mouth shut. Ren only grinned and started to sweep.

"I guess this means I'll be sweeping with you," he finished for her. Minagi attempted to smile. She felt her cheeks turning red. Her eyes bugged out when the sound of screaming and yelling echoed from the fields behind the house. Ryoko and Ayeka were at it again.

. . .

What's that?

Mutt looked up at the sound of distant screams. Xenos? Only one way to be sure. He took off after the sound. It was getting louder. He soon spotted what looked like a building amongst the trees. He paused on a branch and listened. The screams were close, but not here. He continued on. He saw another building. He landed on a branch and zoomed in. He saw two heated figures who seemed to be minding their own business. He looked around and spotted three figures a few hundred meters away from the structure. One just stood there while the other two were brawling with each other. He zoomed in to get a closer look. The two were female while the other was male. Not much was going on. Mutt purred with disappointment. It wasn't xenos after all. Just a couple of females who seemed to fighting over the male for a mate. Mutt chuckled and remembered seeing similar sights back home. Except it was usually the males who fought for a mate. He hasn't been involved in a fight for reproduction yet, but he hoped it wouldn't end with him losing when the time came. The sound of a distant hiss disturbed his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder up at the other building.

What was that?

Mutt listened, trying to block out the sound of the stupid lou-dte kale oomans. Did he really hear that, or was it just some native woods creature? He couldn't be too sure. He decided to stick around for awhile, just in case. Maybe it was a xeno, maybe it wasn't. He couldn't take any chances. Mutt looked around at his surroundings. He paused, and suddenly realized something. The area looked familiar. He recognized the lake where he landed in when he first arrived on this planet. So does this mean that the building he was looking at...?

Mutt purred with amazement. He suddenly became quiet when he heard someone approaching. Whoever it was sounded familiar. He jumped down to a lower branch. He spotted two small heated objects heading his way. He recognized one of them as the small female he ran into the other day. As she and her friend grew closer, he couldn't help but let out a small purr.

. . .

Sasami stopped and listened. Ryo-Ohki stopped behind her. She mewed in confusion.

"Shh, did you hear that, Ryo-Chan?" Sasami whispered. It was quiet. The girls from the fields had finally seemed to have calmed down. Sasami waited.

"Would...You...Like...A...Carrot?"

Sasami gasped at the sound of her own voice. She looked around. Ryo-Ohki looked around too. Sasami raised an eyebrow. She suddenly spotted a blurry object just above her in the trees. The same one she had seen from before.

"You?" she asked. The invisible creature didn't move. It repeated the phrase it knew from her. She saw a pair of yellow eyes flash. The blur leaped down in front of her. It stayed crouched down as it looked at her. There was a soft purr.

"Mew?" Ryo-Ohki looked up at Sasami.

"Um...Hi, I'm Sasami!" Sasami introduced herself. The invisible creature didn't answer. After awhile, it finally did reply.

"Mut...Terk..."

"Mut...Terk?" Sasami asked.

"Mut'terk," it repeated. Sasami smiled.

"Oh! Mut'terk! Is your name Mut'terk?" she asked. The creature gurgled with delight, now that she knew its name.

"Sa...Saw...Mi," it replied. "Sasami." Sasami giggled. He, she, or it was saying her name.

"Yes, that's right. I'm Sasami, and you're Mut'terk!" She looked down at the cabbit girl who was clutching to her dress. "And this is Ryo-Ohki!" Ryo-Ohki shyly mewed her respects to the unseen creature. It purred back.

"Ryo-Ohki," it said. Ryo-Ohki peered out from behind Sasami and mewed with acceptance.

"Sasami! Where are you, Sasami! Ryo-Ohki?" Ayeka was calling for her. Sasami turned her head.

"Coming!" she called back. When she looked around again, her new friend was gone. "Huh? Where did he go?"