Tenchi Universe: No Need for a Team-Up!
Rowan Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except for the original ones. The characters you do recognize are copyrighted by their respective companies. I'm not making any money off this fanfic. ^ ^ indicates thoughts.  ~ ~ indicates telepathy.

Chapter 3: An Unlikely Proposition

Nagi was trying her best and failing to glare daggers into the unknown entity's head. Ryouga simply settled for glaring. Sitting across from the Eternally Lost Boy and the Best Bounty Hunter in the Universe the phantom-like creature calmly sipped a cup of tea it had materialized just seconds ago.

"As I was saying," it began, "I have an offer for the two-"

"I work alone," Nagi stated coldly, ignoring Ken-ohki's mental protest.

"I don't even know her," Ryouga added, annoyed but still depressed. It's not everyday one finds themselves lost in outer space, even if you are a Hibiki.

"Unimportant details," the phantom said with a casual wave of its hand. "Neither one of you can succeed at this mission alone."

Nagi snorted. "I doubt that, whoever you are. With enough time to plan, there's nothing I can't do."

The phantom grinned mirthlessly. "Even break into Hitno-rai?"

"...Except maybe for that," Nagi conceded begrudgingly.

"Um...excuse me," Ryouga interrupted, "but what's Hitno-rai?"

Nagi looked at him as if he was insane while the phantom grinned some more and explained. "Hitno-rai is the most secure planet in the Jurai Empire, even moreso than the homeworld. It's where Jurain nobles go on vacation when they want to relax without worrying about assassinations, kidnappings, and the press."

"It's also protected by an entire fleet of Jurain treeships and has one of the most elaborate and impenetrable forcefield defenses ever created. Ken-ohki could hold his own against the fleet, but you'd need a weapon powerful enough to destroy several suns to bring down the forcefield," Nagi added angrily.

"Not so," the phantom said, a hint of smugness creeping into its tone. "There's another, much less difficult way to eliminate the forcefield." It gestured, and a rectangular blue forcefield shimmered into existence in front of Ryouga. "Try hitting its breaking point."

Seeing no harm in trying Ryouga closed his eyes and concentrated, expanding his awareness outside of himself. Remembering what Cologne had taught him, he mentally probed the forceshield and located its breaking point. Extending his index finger with a tiny sliver of invisible ki in front and with a cry of, "Bakusai Tenketsu," he jabbed that point. The forcefield lost its solidity and shape, dissipating into tiny balls of energy that went in all directions which, with another wave of the phantom's hand, disappeared before striking anything. Nagi raised an eyebrow in interest.

"As you can see Nagi, forcefields pose no problem to Ryouga. If you want to break into Hitno-rai, which is precisely what I'm going to ask you two to do, you're going to need Ryouga's assistance."

"You might be right, but why would _I_ want to break into Hitno-rai? No one there has a high enough bounty for me to risk the wrath of Jurai," Nagi asked, her deadtone belying her curiosity.

"While we're asking questions, could someone please tell me what's going on here?" Ryouga inquired, a confused and upset expression on his face. "One moment I'm on Earth, the next I'm on some distant, far off planet, and now I find myself involved in what sounds like an elaborate plot to break into a planet I've never heard of."

"I do believe the time for explanations has come," the robed wraith agreed. "First I'll start with my story. A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away-" A piece of white, crisp paper with words printed on it suddenly materialized in front of the wraith. While it scanned the official looking document Nagi and Ryouga made out such words as "Copyright infringement" and "Appropriate legal actions".

"Damn lawyers," the wraith cursed under its breath, disintegrating the paper with a hand gesture. "Let me begin again.  About five hundred years ago in the galactic empire of Jurai, there was a very powerful family known as the Ryoduns. They managed to gain a monopoly on Jurai treeships and energy sources. Being of ambitious character, they then attempted the unthinkable: overthrowing the Masakis, Jurai's royal family."

Nagi snorted. "That's not so unbelievable. The Masakis have made a lot of enemies over their regime, not to mention a lot of mistakes." An alien, unidentifiable look entered her eyes as she said this before it quickly vanished.

"Anyway," the wraith continued, ignoring Nagi's interruption, "the Ryoduns managed to drum up a lot of support. Contrary to popular belief, the Masakis aren't as well liked among the people as they think. There are still bitter feelings over the Yugi incident of so long ago, among other things. The Ryoduns then proceeded to capture the power producing planets in the Empire that they didn't already own.  Cut off from their energy sources the royal family and its supporters became desperate. Without a stable and dependable energy source they'd only be able to reliably defend against the Ryoduns for two months. They needed energy and they needed it badly. The solution: Arcadia," it spoke bitterly.

"Arcadia was a desert world. The extreme temperatures and harsh winds on the surface made it inhospitable to most forms of life. Below the surface was another story, however. There cool water flowed and nocturnal flowers bloomed." A nostalgic note entered the wraith's voice. "A race of beings small in number and gifted with incredible telepathic gifts lived there with a 'primitive' but peaceful culture. On the galactic scale, it was below notice except for one detail: the profusion of dilithium crystals in the ground. There were enough to power the loyal Jurai fleet for years...Just what the Masakis needed."

The wraith seemed to grimace as it continued. "Unfortunately for Jurai, the planet's inhabitants regarded the crystals as being sacred. They refused to part with them. Things went downhill from there. The person sent to retrieve the dilithium crystals by any means necessary was Prince Kenji, 2nd in line to the throne and younger brother of Emperor Dan Masaki of Jurai.  When negotiations fell through he reluctantly resorted to force. He unleashed the power of his Jurain fleet, but Arcadia would not fall."  A hint of pride crept into the wraith's voice before it resumed.

"Using the power nature gave them, the telepaths resisted and fought Kenji's forces to a standstill. After a month of inconclusive fighting and with time running out for his brother's empire, Kenji was forced to make a painful decision. He weighed the lives of the telepaths against the continued rule of the Masakis and judged the latter to be more important. He unleashed a virus on Arcadia engineered to weaken and knock the telepaths into a dreamless sleep. Unpredictably, the virus mutated into a lethal form in less than a week. It spread through the telepathic population with alacrity, ravaging and killing just about everyone. Only a few dozen of the telepaths survived by separating their astral forms from their physical selves and reluctantly taking up residence on the astral plane.

Prince Kenji, victorious but now guilty of genocide, became a rather controversial figure. On one hand he'd saved the empire, but on the other he'd dishonorably killed thousands to do so. The Galaxy Police issued a warrant for his arrest, accusing him of war crimes. Emperor Dan and the Jurain nobility would not allow him to be tried by the GP, however. No Jurain noble had ever been so before and was not about to be now. Instead, despite numerous protests, they banished him to Hitno-rai where he'd live out the rest of his life peacefully, in comfort, and out of the
public scene. The surviving telepaths living on the astral plane were furious but couldn't do anything. The mystical trees of Jurai blocked their minds from the most important planets of the empire, Hitno-rai included. I think you both can now guess what I am and why I'm here, right?" the wraith finished, looking at them intently from within the folds of its hood.

"I'm guessing you're one of the surviving telepaths, and that you want us to break into Hitno-rai to capture this Prince Kenji, right?" Ryouga asked. Nagi remained silent. The telepath nodded. "And then what?" Ryouga questioned.

"Then you deliver him to the Galaxy Police so that he can be tried. My race can never know peace until the destroyer of our world has faced justice!" the wraith answered angrily, eyes glowing a dark red and hands clenching.

"And what do I get in return, telepath? Your vendetta is of no concern to me so tell me why I should even bother getting involved," Nagi spoke coolly, arms crossed and eyes alert.

The telepath chuckled once again, its earlier display of bad temper gone.  "As I said earlier, I have an offer the two of you can't refuse. In return for capturing Prince Kenji and turning him over to the proper authorities I'll give the two of you something you both desperately want:  the whereabouts of Ryoko the Space Pirate and a cure for your Jusenkyo curse, Ryouga."

Shocked then hopeful expressions crossed the faces of Nagi and Ryouga. Quickly getting a hold of herself, Nagi spoke in her usual cold inflection, "You better not be lying because if you are I'll-"

"Do you really have a cure?" Ryouga interrupted, eyes wide. Nagi spared a glare in his direction.

Almost seeming to smile the telepath answered, "Yes. If you perform this task you'll never have to worry about turning into P-chan again."

Ryouga blanched, realizing that the telepath knew about _that_ and wondering how much more it knew about him. He got his answer soon.

"Oh, I know _all_ about the both of you. I've done a lot of research trying to locate two people who actually have a chance at pulling this off and that would be willing to do it if given the proper incentives," the telepath answered Ryouga's unspoken question smoothly. Turning its head slightly to face Nagi it said, "Yes, I know about your origins as well. Rather...interesting, I must say. Don't get upset though. Your secrets are safe with me."

"They better be," Nagi uttered harshly, her red eyes filled with anger, and voice with unspoken menace. "I don't take kindly to people probing into my past."

The telepath shrugged its slender shoulders. "Be that as it may, the offer's open. Will you two accept?"

"Yes," Ryouga said quickly, mind filled with the possibility of a cure. Nagi hesitated briefly, mulling over options, before nodding her head in assent.

"Excellent," the telepath said with hands clasped in its best Mr. Burns' impersonation. "There are two small details, however. Ryouga's curses-" It nodded its head in Ryouga's direction. "-could prove to be a hindrance on this mission. Therefore, I'm blocking your Jusenkyo curse for 1 month. If at the end of that time you two haven't succeeded the curse will return. As for your Hibiki sense of direction-" The telepath quietly chuckled. "-not even my power is enough to remove it so
improvisation is required. We can't have you duck into a corner and end up on Naboo now, can we?" Raising its left hand, palm facing forward, in front of its face a black aura sprung into existence around the telepath. Quickly, the black aura grew and expanded until it filled the room, sending Ken-ohki into a panic and surrounding Ryouga and Nagi. When it shrank and disappeared a minute later Ryouga had a pair of tattoos identical to Nagi's except that they were on the opposite side of his neck.

Ryouga's right hand went to the right side of his neck in wonder. The tattoos felt cool against his skin, but that wasn't the biggest change he noticed. Along the borders of his mind he could feel two new presences: one sharp, cold, and female, the other wise, friendly, and male. Both seemed somewhat shocked.

~This certainly is...different.~ the male voice telepathically sent to Ryouga, ~but not completely unpleasant. I'm Ken-ohki the Cabbit, spaceship extraordinaire. You've already met my partner, Nagi the Bounty Hunter.~ Ken-ohki indicated the female presence.

"What have you done?!" Nagi demanded of the telepath, her usual calm demeanor gone, as she began to threateningly rise out of her chair.

"I only gave your new partner a 'lighthouse' to find his way. Now when he gets lost he'll be able to hone in on you two. Besides, with the obstacles you'll be up against a telepathic link might prove handy. After the mission I'll remove it if you desire. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a daughter that needs to be watched. Good day," the telepath stood up and bowed politely before disappearing in a flash of black light. The table and chairs soon likewise followed and the tea began to slowly fade away leaving Nagi and Ryouga alone on Ken-ohki together.

There was a moment of silence as the two looked at each other, wondering what to do next. Finally, with a sigh, Nagi spoke. "Ken-ohki, plot a course for the Jurai System. I have a feeling it's going to be a long trip."

End Chapter 3.