Disclaimer: I do not own any of the chars or ideas of Tenchi Muyo or the other series mentioned in this fic. This was done purely for fun and probably wouldn't make a profit even it is was actually made into an anime or manga.
Author's Notes: Alright here's the second chapter to this fic that I didn't even know I was going to write. As with the first chapter this really evolved out of one scene I had in my head and demanded to be written. In doing so I went back and changed a few things from the first chapter on the advice of Dameus, who I thank for his critical and actually HELPFUL review. To all those flamers out there that THINK you're giving critical reviews, I suggest you look at his reviews to see how to give helpful advice and still be respectful to the author. Unfortunately since I'm going to reload the first one I'm not sure if the original reviews will stay or not. If not then I'll just say thanks to Dameus right now and sorry for losing your first review. And to clear things up, this is a crossover between another property which will be made very clear in this chapter. So just stick with it and you'll see.
"Is anybody still watching after all that?"
The Power of Gods
Chapter 2- Sasami's Dream
Sasami walked along the plain, dirt roads of the planet Catrautesse. Since it was a such a small planet, she had only been there a handful of times and that was only when her mother or aunt wanted to personally check up on the progress of their crops, or when they just wanted to get away from the stress of ruling the kingdom. She had to admit it was a good spot for a vacation, because of the vast farmlands and forests the planet held. In fact, because their main source of living was from their crops, they kept as much of the planet unpaved as they could. The only place that had true roads was the capital city and even that was small enough to be a suburb in the capital city of Jurai. And the mansion for the head of state could be considered the living house for the lowest level noble. Still, it only added to the rustic charm of the whole planet. The people where so nice and friendly that anytime she, her mother and aunt visited, they were treated more like family than the royal leaders they were.
This was the feeling Sasami had as she continued her trek through one of the small towns. She waved back to all those that had sent her a welcoming one and stopped once in awhile to talk to some of the farmers and their children. She had always loved coming here and regretted that she didn't get the chance to visit the planet more often. Perhaps one day she could convince Ayeka and Ryoko to put their fighting on hold long enough for the entire family in the Masaki house to come here for a vacation. If nothing else she was sure Tenchi would enjoy it and probably end up getting gardening tips. As for the others...well she was sure they'd find something to enjoy or at least keep themselves occupied.
Her thoughts, and her body, both stopped dead in their tracks when a powerful, overwhelmingly strong evil presence surrounded her. Her body shook, as the presence seemed to go closer and closer. It was just so...evil! Not even Kagato had frightened her like this. But what could it be? WHO could it be? Who could have such a powerful presence about them? What did they want? Where were they coming from? What would they do to her or this planet? Most importantly, was there anything she could do to stop them?
Sasami was so intertwined in her thoughts that she failed to realize that her body was still trembling, but this time it was not due to fear, but rather because the ground itself was shaking. It was only when she heard the scream of a nearby farmer that she noticed the shaking ground and the bright red light that had encompassed the area around her. The earthquakes grew in intensity and she quickly found herself stumbling to keep her balance. As she leaned against a tree to keep from falling she spotted something coming over the horizon. It looked like a gigantic metal claw. She watched helplessly as it tore through the atmosphere and into the dug into the ground in some far off point on the planet. On a hunch she turned her head the other way and saw the exact same thing happening on the other side. As she tried to comprehend what was happening, she vaguely became aware of a weightless sensation coursing through her body and quickly realized she was floating. With a whelp of surprise, she grabbed onto one of the branches of the tree she had just been standing beside.
Panic welled up inside her as the screams of the villagers filled her ears. She watched in horror as they, along with rocks, shrubs and even whole houses, floated upwards towards the titanic thing hovering above the planet. From what she could make out through the intense light and large amount of debris, everything and everyone was being drawn into some kind of...mouth. So then, this thing wasn't attacking the planet at all, it was eating it! But if it was eating then that meant it was alive. So why would even living creature cause this much destruction? She looked around her again at the large clumps of the planet that were being broken up. The houses were being pulled out of their foundations. The children that cried out for their mothers and fathers and those very same parents trying in vain to protect them. All of devastating and chaos was being created by one being. A being that seemed to regard this plant and it's people as nothing more than food.
"WHY?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! PLEASE STOP IT!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!!" She tried to shout over the havoc, though a part of her knew it would do no good.
She let out a terrified shriek that only added to those of the farmers as the tree she clung to finally gave into the strange beam and had its roots tore out of the ground. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped for a beat as she watched the impossibly large mouth grow closer and closer. She closed her eyes and prayed that one of the others was there to help her. Ayeka, Ryoko, Tenchi, Washu, anyone. She needed someone to help her. Someone, anyone that could make this beast stop!
Her eyes snapped open and she sat up right in her bedding with a loud scream. Although she knew it had just been a dream and that she was safe in Tenchi's house, she just couldn't stop her screaming. Something about that dream had just been so...so...vivid. She could still feel that overwhelming sense of terror running through her. She stopped screaming only when she realized that was someone was shaking her and calling her name. She slowly turned her head to find Ayeka staring at her with concern filling her red eyes.
"Sasami, what is it?" The older princess asked.
"I-I had a bad dream," Sasami replied.
Ayeka breathed a slight sigh as her concern turned into relief.
"Is that all?" She questioned. "Well you know that it was only a dream and it can't really hurt you, right?"
"I guess so," the blue haired girl answered, lowering her head.
Although she wanted to believe that her sister was agreeing with her, something in Sasami's voice and eyes made Ayeka believe that she wasn't thoroughly convinced. Briefly she glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was around two in the morning, much too late for either of them to have a conversation that would truly resolve this problem. But she knew that Sasami would never be able to get back to sleep in this state of mind and that would only cause her to stay up with worry as well. So, she had to think of something to comfort her sister for the moment and then they could have a more in depth conversation about it tomorrow. With that resolution in mind, she took a breath before asking one simple question.
"So what was this dream about?" She asked.
"I was on the planet Catrautesse, do you know it?" Sasami stopped her story to ask.
The older sister placed a finger on her chin as she thought about the question.
"Catrautesse," she repeated. "Yes I believe I remember it. Mostly farmers, yes?"
The other princess nodded. "Uh-huh. I was walking along one of the roads there when it was....it was..." She stopped as a set of tears threatened to overtake her.
"Attacked?" Ayeka asked if that was the word her sister was looking for.
"No," Sasami replied with a shake of her head. "It was...eaten."
At this, the purple haired girl's eyes widened in disbelief. Eaten? What in Tsunami's name could eat a planet? Nothing to her knowledge. So it had to be a dream. A strange one to be sure, but still just a dream. Although she did wonder where Sasami would have gotten such an odd idea from. Probably that damned pirate allowing her to watch scary movies even though she was told repeatedly not to. Oh well, that was a problem that would have to be resolved later. Right now, she had to deal with the problem at hand.
"Sasami, you know that was just a dream, don't you?" She asked, placing her hands on her sister's shoulders.
"I guess so," Sasami relented. "But it felt so real."
"A lot of dreams do, but that doesn't make them real."
"Maybe...but do you think we could call father and ask him about it? Just to be sure?"
Ayeka gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course. But we'll do it tomorrow. It's late and we need to get some sleep."
"Okay," the blue haired girl nodded in agreement.
With that, they both settled back in to bed to return to the land of dreams. Unfortunately, while Sasami had been able to put aside dream and sleep again, Ayeka was not so lucky. She knew it was stupid, she hadn't even had the nightmare, but something in her sister's eyes and voice kept her awake. She had this since of pure...terror about her when she explained her dream that disturbed Ayeka. While it was true she was always concerned when Sasami had a nightmare, this one really worried her. It seemed to awaken a general sense of uneasy in Ayeka. A feeling that something, somewhere just wasn't right. She glanced up again at the clock and sighed. It *was* late, but she wouldn't be able to sleep until she put her own mind at ease. She stood up slowly and carefully to avoid waking Sasami. She slipped on a robe and then tiptoed to the door. She cast one last glance back at her sleeping sister before sliding the door open and exiting the room.
Once out in the hall, she made her way to the staircase and then walked down them straight to the door to Washu's lab. She knocked gently and almost instantly Washu's face appeared in the small window.
"Oh Ayeka, it's you," she mused.
"Yes. May I come inside for a moment Ms. Washu?" The princess asked.
"Of course."
After the diminutive scientist's face disappeared, a small clicking sound signified that the door was now unlocked. Ayeka placed her hand on the knob then pushed the door open. She stepped into the eternally darkened lab to find Washu standing in front of her.
"So what do you need at this time of night?" She asked.
"I need to know if you have anything that would allow me to get in contact with Jurai," Ayeka told her frankly.
Washu quirked an eyebrow. "Kinda late to be calling home, isn't it?"
"If you're worried about what my father might say, you don't have to be, I can handle him."
"That is part of it, but I am curious as to what's so important you'd have to call him in the dead of night, even on Jurai."
"It's...private."
Once again, Washu gave the purple haired girl a quizzical look but quickly relented and lead her to a well-furnished part of her lab with a vid screen. After a quick lesson in how to use it, Ayeka nodded in understanding and then politely asked Washu to leave. Although her curiosity was still burning away at her, the genius agreed and left the small room-like set up. Or at least that's what she wanted Ayeka to believe. Something was defiantly wrong with the princess and she was determined to find out what that was.
When she thought she alone, Ayeka executed the sequences Washu had showed her to reach Jurai. The screen displayed the word "Waiting" in large, red lettering with a small grab crawling around it. Despite her dour mood, Ayeka couldn't help but smile a bit at the animation, it was so typically Washu. It soon disappeared, however, to be replaced with the groggy and visibly irritated face of her father.
"This had better be important," he barked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"And hello to you too father," she replied calmly.
"Ayeka? What are you doing calling this late? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I was, until Sasami had a nightmare."
"So? You use to have them all the time and they never keep me up after you're clamed down."
"Nor do hers usually, but this one was...different."
"Different?" Azusa asked, now fully awake. "Different how?"
Ayeka didn't answer right away. Instead she simply stared back at the image of her father as she tried to think of a subtle way to ask him about the planet in Sasami's dreams. Unfortunately, her sleep deprived mind seemed unable to come up with one, so she decided to forgo subtly and just ask him flat out.
"Father, what happened to planet Catrautesse?"
This time it was Azusa's turn to stare blankly at the screen, though his lack of response was do to being shocked.
"What? How did-?" He stopped and shook his head. "Ayeka, whatever is or isn't happening on that planet is none of your concern. Now get back to bed."
"Please father, I need to know."
"You might not *want* to know."
"Please," she pleaded again.
The Emperor sighed. "Very well. Earlier today the planet was...attacked by some...thing."
"Attacked? Attacked how?"
"It was...devoured."
Ayeka's eyes widened with this revelation and at how her father's words almost mimicked that of her sister's. So...it was true. But how could Sasami have known? And what was this thing that had...eaten an entire planet?
"Father, do...do you have any more information on this...thing?" She asked, still trying to comprehend everything that was happening.
"We do have footage of the...attack, but I'm not sure if you'd want to see it," Azusa cautioned her.
"I do father. I *have* to see it."
The Emperor sighed and nodded slowly. He punched in a key sequence and his image was quickly replaced with that of a small planet floating peacefully in space. Suddenly another world composed of orange metal appeared on the other side of the screen. Ayeka watched in horror as the new planet drew ever closer to the smaller one and, just as she had been told twice already, began to consume it. Her hand went up to her mouth as it hung up in silent terror. As she continued to watch the site before her, she could almost hear the screams of the planet's inhabitants. She tried to imagine what it must have been like to be on that world when this was happening and only succeeded in scaring herself even more. When Sasami and their father had told her about this creature, she didn't believe them and now that she was seeing it for herself, she didn't *want* to believe it.
Ayeka wasn't the only one being shocked by the events on the screen. Washu's eyes widened as she watched the scene from her hiding place. Unlike the princess and emperor she knew exactly what being on the screen was, but that knowledge caused her to be even more frightened. She had read the legends about this entity, but she was never one to give into legends and myths without any prove. Well there was proof enough for her right there in living color. He was real and there was no telling what kind of destruction he could reign across the universe. And if everything about the legend was true, then there was nothing *they* could do to stop him.
Once the video on the screen had finished, it faded away and was replaced by Azusa's face once again. He saw the look of fear on his daughter's face and felt his heart sink. He knew there were times when he wouldn't be considered the greatest father, but still cared for his children and right now he saw his eldest daughter in great distress and there was nothing he could do about it. He growled at his own helplessness and tried to think of something he could say that would comfort her.
"Ayeka, are you alright?" He asked and cursed himself inwardly for asking such an inane question.
"Yes. Or I will be once I...take all this in," she replied, trying to convince herself as well as her father.
"If you need to talk about this."
"No father you have enough to worry about right now. Trust me I'll be fine."
She gave him a weak smile and they both knew that she was lying but neither one would admit to the fact. Finding nothing else to say they each bid the other farewell and cut off the link. Ayeka stared at the darkened screen for a moment in a daze, here mind still reeling from what she had seen. There truly was a creature out there that could devour worlds. But what was it? How had it come to be? And how did Sasami know about it?
"Unicron," she heard a voice say from behind her, causing her to jump a bit.
She spun around in the chair she was sitting on to find Washu right behind her. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and as she did so thought about the word the scientist had uttered. Or...what it a name?
"Unicron," she repeated. "Who's Unicron?"
"A planet, that devours everything in it's path."
The princess' eyes widened in realization.
"So that's the monster's name," she whispered.
Washu nodded.
"But how do you know about him?"
Washu gave her a crooked smile. "My dear Ayeka, I make it my business to know. But the simple answer is I've read about him in legends."
"There are legends about that thing? I haven't heard of them."
"Wouldn't except that you did. That's because he isn't a Jurian legend. He's a Cybertronian legend."
"Cybertronian?"
"That's what I said. And before you ask, it means that it originated from the planet Cybertron."
"Cybertron," Ayeka repeated, the world calling up something in her mind. "Yes...yes I believe I remember hearing about that planet. If I remember correctly we tried to convince them to join the Jurian Empire but they refused."
"Probably because the two ruling factions of the planet have been at war for a couple of million years now."
"Factions?"
"Yep. Autobot and Decepticon. Of course, collectively they're known as Transformers but that's neither here nor there."
"Why would they-" Ayeka started to ask and then shook her head. "No, that's not important right now. How does this Unicron tie in with them?"
"Well from what I remember reading he was the enemy of their god Primus and supposedly they existed even before this universe did. In fact, it was apparently the last blow of their last battle that caused the Big Bang that created our universe. From there each of their essences were transferred into two asteroids where they sat dormant for a few billon years. And then Unicron found a way to change the form of his asteroid into a new body for him and once again began to reign terror on the universe. To combat this, Primus created a race of living robots he could use to defeat his old foe."
"The Transformers," the princesses concluded.
Washu nodded. "Unfortunately, at some point they split up into the two factions and began to fight each other. And to complicate matters even more a third race of Transformers called the Mini-Cons popped up. But that's a completely different story in itself. The point here is that as long as Primus' children are at war with each other, they're distracting themselves from defeating Unicron."
"Well there must be something we can do!" Ayeka declared as she stood up. "Jurai has one, if not the, most powerful fleet of warships in the universe, surely they can do some harm to this creature."
Washu shook her head. "Not according to the legend. Only the children of Primus can defeat him. Anyone else trying to fight him is just committing suicide."
"So there's nothing we can do?"
"Well there is one thing I can think of."
Ayeka looked at the diminutive genius with a gleam of hope in her eyes. Surely, if anyone in the universe could think of something that could defeat or even just detain this horrible monster it was her. She could come up with some kind mind bogglingly brilliant device that would help the Jurian army overcome the menace they faced. She stared intently at her, waiting to hear the perfect solution to this problem. For her part, Washu stared back at her with a most serious look in her eye. She finally answered the princess with one, short word:
"Pray."
Ayeka blinked at this blunt and simple answer. "That's...that's all?"
"I'm sorry, but yes," Washu admitted. "I don't know enough about Unicron to even begin to think of something that would do him any harm. And if I could I'm not sure even *I* have the resources to build it. So all we can do now is pray that Autobots and Decepticons can put aside their differences and finally beat this monster once and for all."
"And if they don't?"
"Then we all very well may be doomed."
Author's Notes: Alright here's the second chapter to this fic that I didn't even know I was going to write. As with the first chapter this really evolved out of one scene I had in my head and demanded to be written. In doing so I went back and changed a few things from the first chapter on the advice of Dameus, who I thank for his critical and actually HELPFUL review. To all those flamers out there that THINK you're giving critical reviews, I suggest you look at his reviews to see how to give helpful advice and still be respectful to the author. Unfortunately since I'm going to reload the first one I'm not sure if the original reviews will stay or not. If not then I'll just say thanks to Dameus right now and sorry for losing your first review. And to clear things up, this is a crossover between another property which will be made very clear in this chapter. So just stick with it and you'll see.
"Is anybody still watching after all that?"
The Power of Gods
Chapter 2- Sasami's Dream
Sasami walked along the plain, dirt roads of the planet Catrautesse. Since it was a such a small planet, she had only been there a handful of times and that was only when her mother or aunt wanted to personally check up on the progress of their crops, or when they just wanted to get away from the stress of ruling the kingdom. She had to admit it was a good spot for a vacation, because of the vast farmlands and forests the planet held. In fact, because their main source of living was from their crops, they kept as much of the planet unpaved as they could. The only place that had true roads was the capital city and even that was small enough to be a suburb in the capital city of Jurai. And the mansion for the head of state could be considered the living house for the lowest level noble. Still, it only added to the rustic charm of the whole planet. The people where so nice and friendly that anytime she, her mother and aunt visited, they were treated more like family than the royal leaders they were.
This was the feeling Sasami had as she continued her trek through one of the small towns. She waved back to all those that had sent her a welcoming one and stopped once in awhile to talk to some of the farmers and their children. She had always loved coming here and regretted that she didn't get the chance to visit the planet more often. Perhaps one day she could convince Ayeka and Ryoko to put their fighting on hold long enough for the entire family in the Masaki house to come here for a vacation. If nothing else she was sure Tenchi would enjoy it and probably end up getting gardening tips. As for the others...well she was sure they'd find something to enjoy or at least keep themselves occupied.
Her thoughts, and her body, both stopped dead in their tracks when a powerful, overwhelmingly strong evil presence surrounded her. Her body shook, as the presence seemed to go closer and closer. It was just so...evil! Not even Kagato had frightened her like this. But what could it be? WHO could it be? Who could have such a powerful presence about them? What did they want? Where were they coming from? What would they do to her or this planet? Most importantly, was there anything she could do to stop them?
Sasami was so intertwined in her thoughts that she failed to realize that her body was still trembling, but this time it was not due to fear, but rather because the ground itself was shaking. It was only when she heard the scream of a nearby farmer that she noticed the shaking ground and the bright red light that had encompassed the area around her. The earthquakes grew in intensity and she quickly found herself stumbling to keep her balance. As she leaned against a tree to keep from falling she spotted something coming over the horizon. It looked like a gigantic metal claw. She watched helplessly as it tore through the atmosphere and into the dug into the ground in some far off point on the planet. On a hunch she turned her head the other way and saw the exact same thing happening on the other side. As she tried to comprehend what was happening, she vaguely became aware of a weightless sensation coursing through her body and quickly realized she was floating. With a whelp of surprise, she grabbed onto one of the branches of the tree she had just been standing beside.
Panic welled up inside her as the screams of the villagers filled her ears. She watched in horror as they, along with rocks, shrubs and even whole houses, floated upwards towards the titanic thing hovering above the planet. From what she could make out through the intense light and large amount of debris, everything and everyone was being drawn into some kind of...mouth. So then, this thing wasn't attacking the planet at all, it was eating it! But if it was eating then that meant it was alive. So why would even living creature cause this much destruction? She looked around her again at the large clumps of the planet that were being broken up. The houses were being pulled out of their foundations. The children that cried out for their mothers and fathers and those very same parents trying in vain to protect them. All of devastating and chaos was being created by one being. A being that seemed to regard this plant and it's people as nothing more than food.
"WHY?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! PLEASE STOP IT!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!!" She tried to shout over the havoc, though a part of her knew it would do no good.
She let out a terrified shriek that only added to those of the farmers as the tree she clung to finally gave into the strange beam and had its roots tore out of the ground. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped for a beat as she watched the impossibly large mouth grow closer and closer. She closed her eyes and prayed that one of the others was there to help her. Ayeka, Ryoko, Tenchi, Washu, anyone. She needed someone to help her. Someone, anyone that could make this beast stop!
Her eyes snapped open and she sat up right in her bedding with a loud scream. Although she knew it had just been a dream and that she was safe in Tenchi's house, she just couldn't stop her screaming. Something about that dream had just been so...so...vivid. She could still feel that overwhelming sense of terror running through her. She stopped screaming only when she realized that was someone was shaking her and calling her name. She slowly turned her head to find Ayeka staring at her with concern filling her red eyes.
"Sasami, what is it?" The older princess asked.
"I-I had a bad dream," Sasami replied.
Ayeka breathed a slight sigh as her concern turned into relief.
"Is that all?" She questioned. "Well you know that it was only a dream and it can't really hurt you, right?"
"I guess so," the blue haired girl answered, lowering her head.
Although she wanted to believe that her sister was agreeing with her, something in Sasami's voice and eyes made Ayeka believe that she wasn't thoroughly convinced. Briefly she glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was around two in the morning, much too late for either of them to have a conversation that would truly resolve this problem. But she knew that Sasami would never be able to get back to sleep in this state of mind and that would only cause her to stay up with worry as well. So, she had to think of something to comfort her sister for the moment and then they could have a more in depth conversation about it tomorrow. With that resolution in mind, she took a breath before asking one simple question.
"So what was this dream about?" She asked.
"I was on the planet Catrautesse, do you know it?" Sasami stopped her story to ask.
The older sister placed a finger on her chin as she thought about the question.
"Catrautesse," she repeated. "Yes I believe I remember it. Mostly farmers, yes?"
The other princess nodded. "Uh-huh. I was walking along one of the roads there when it was....it was..." She stopped as a set of tears threatened to overtake her.
"Attacked?" Ayeka asked if that was the word her sister was looking for.
"No," Sasami replied with a shake of her head. "It was...eaten."
At this, the purple haired girl's eyes widened in disbelief. Eaten? What in Tsunami's name could eat a planet? Nothing to her knowledge. So it had to be a dream. A strange one to be sure, but still just a dream. Although she did wonder where Sasami would have gotten such an odd idea from. Probably that damned pirate allowing her to watch scary movies even though she was told repeatedly not to. Oh well, that was a problem that would have to be resolved later. Right now, she had to deal with the problem at hand.
"Sasami, you know that was just a dream, don't you?" She asked, placing her hands on her sister's shoulders.
"I guess so," Sasami relented. "But it felt so real."
"A lot of dreams do, but that doesn't make them real."
"Maybe...but do you think we could call father and ask him about it? Just to be sure?"
Ayeka gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course. But we'll do it tomorrow. It's late and we need to get some sleep."
"Okay," the blue haired girl nodded in agreement.
With that, they both settled back in to bed to return to the land of dreams. Unfortunately, while Sasami had been able to put aside dream and sleep again, Ayeka was not so lucky. She knew it was stupid, she hadn't even had the nightmare, but something in her sister's eyes and voice kept her awake. She had this since of pure...terror about her when she explained her dream that disturbed Ayeka. While it was true she was always concerned when Sasami had a nightmare, this one really worried her. It seemed to awaken a general sense of uneasy in Ayeka. A feeling that something, somewhere just wasn't right. She glanced up again at the clock and sighed. It *was* late, but she wouldn't be able to sleep until she put her own mind at ease. She stood up slowly and carefully to avoid waking Sasami. She slipped on a robe and then tiptoed to the door. She cast one last glance back at her sleeping sister before sliding the door open and exiting the room.
Once out in the hall, she made her way to the staircase and then walked down them straight to the door to Washu's lab. She knocked gently and almost instantly Washu's face appeared in the small window.
"Oh Ayeka, it's you," she mused.
"Yes. May I come inside for a moment Ms. Washu?" The princess asked.
"Of course."
After the diminutive scientist's face disappeared, a small clicking sound signified that the door was now unlocked. Ayeka placed her hand on the knob then pushed the door open. She stepped into the eternally darkened lab to find Washu standing in front of her.
"So what do you need at this time of night?" She asked.
"I need to know if you have anything that would allow me to get in contact with Jurai," Ayeka told her frankly.
Washu quirked an eyebrow. "Kinda late to be calling home, isn't it?"
"If you're worried about what my father might say, you don't have to be, I can handle him."
"That is part of it, but I am curious as to what's so important you'd have to call him in the dead of night, even on Jurai."
"It's...private."
Once again, Washu gave the purple haired girl a quizzical look but quickly relented and lead her to a well-furnished part of her lab with a vid screen. After a quick lesson in how to use it, Ayeka nodded in understanding and then politely asked Washu to leave. Although her curiosity was still burning away at her, the genius agreed and left the small room-like set up. Or at least that's what she wanted Ayeka to believe. Something was defiantly wrong with the princess and she was determined to find out what that was.
When she thought she alone, Ayeka executed the sequences Washu had showed her to reach Jurai. The screen displayed the word "Waiting" in large, red lettering with a small grab crawling around it. Despite her dour mood, Ayeka couldn't help but smile a bit at the animation, it was so typically Washu. It soon disappeared, however, to be replaced with the groggy and visibly irritated face of her father.
"This had better be important," he barked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"And hello to you too father," she replied calmly.
"Ayeka? What are you doing calling this late? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I was, until Sasami had a nightmare."
"So? You use to have them all the time and they never keep me up after you're clamed down."
"Nor do hers usually, but this one was...different."
"Different?" Azusa asked, now fully awake. "Different how?"
Ayeka didn't answer right away. Instead she simply stared back at the image of her father as she tried to think of a subtle way to ask him about the planet in Sasami's dreams. Unfortunately, her sleep deprived mind seemed unable to come up with one, so she decided to forgo subtly and just ask him flat out.
"Father, what happened to planet Catrautesse?"
This time it was Azusa's turn to stare blankly at the screen, though his lack of response was do to being shocked.
"What? How did-?" He stopped and shook his head. "Ayeka, whatever is or isn't happening on that planet is none of your concern. Now get back to bed."
"Please father, I need to know."
"You might not *want* to know."
"Please," she pleaded again.
The Emperor sighed. "Very well. Earlier today the planet was...attacked by some...thing."
"Attacked? Attacked how?"
"It was...devoured."
Ayeka's eyes widened with this revelation and at how her father's words almost mimicked that of her sister's. So...it was true. But how could Sasami have known? And what was this thing that had...eaten an entire planet?
"Father, do...do you have any more information on this...thing?" She asked, still trying to comprehend everything that was happening.
"We do have footage of the...attack, but I'm not sure if you'd want to see it," Azusa cautioned her.
"I do father. I *have* to see it."
The Emperor sighed and nodded slowly. He punched in a key sequence and his image was quickly replaced with that of a small planet floating peacefully in space. Suddenly another world composed of orange metal appeared on the other side of the screen. Ayeka watched in horror as the new planet drew ever closer to the smaller one and, just as she had been told twice already, began to consume it. Her hand went up to her mouth as it hung up in silent terror. As she continued to watch the site before her, she could almost hear the screams of the planet's inhabitants. She tried to imagine what it must have been like to be on that world when this was happening and only succeeded in scaring herself even more. When Sasami and their father had told her about this creature, she didn't believe them and now that she was seeing it for herself, she didn't *want* to believe it.
Ayeka wasn't the only one being shocked by the events on the screen. Washu's eyes widened as she watched the scene from her hiding place. Unlike the princess and emperor she knew exactly what being on the screen was, but that knowledge caused her to be even more frightened. She had read the legends about this entity, but she was never one to give into legends and myths without any prove. Well there was proof enough for her right there in living color. He was real and there was no telling what kind of destruction he could reign across the universe. And if everything about the legend was true, then there was nothing *they* could do to stop him.
Once the video on the screen had finished, it faded away and was replaced by Azusa's face once again. He saw the look of fear on his daughter's face and felt his heart sink. He knew there were times when he wouldn't be considered the greatest father, but still cared for his children and right now he saw his eldest daughter in great distress and there was nothing he could do about it. He growled at his own helplessness and tried to think of something he could say that would comfort her.
"Ayeka, are you alright?" He asked and cursed himself inwardly for asking such an inane question.
"Yes. Or I will be once I...take all this in," she replied, trying to convince herself as well as her father.
"If you need to talk about this."
"No father you have enough to worry about right now. Trust me I'll be fine."
She gave him a weak smile and they both knew that she was lying but neither one would admit to the fact. Finding nothing else to say they each bid the other farewell and cut off the link. Ayeka stared at the darkened screen for a moment in a daze, here mind still reeling from what she had seen. There truly was a creature out there that could devour worlds. But what was it? How had it come to be? And how did Sasami know about it?
"Unicron," she heard a voice say from behind her, causing her to jump a bit.
She spun around in the chair she was sitting on to find Washu right behind her. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and as she did so thought about the word the scientist had uttered. Or...what it a name?
"Unicron," she repeated. "Who's Unicron?"
"A planet, that devours everything in it's path."
The princess' eyes widened in realization.
"So that's the monster's name," she whispered.
Washu nodded.
"But how do you know about him?"
Washu gave her a crooked smile. "My dear Ayeka, I make it my business to know. But the simple answer is I've read about him in legends."
"There are legends about that thing? I haven't heard of them."
"Wouldn't except that you did. That's because he isn't a Jurian legend. He's a Cybertronian legend."
"Cybertronian?"
"That's what I said. And before you ask, it means that it originated from the planet Cybertron."
"Cybertron," Ayeka repeated, the world calling up something in her mind. "Yes...yes I believe I remember hearing about that planet. If I remember correctly we tried to convince them to join the Jurian Empire but they refused."
"Probably because the two ruling factions of the planet have been at war for a couple of million years now."
"Factions?"
"Yep. Autobot and Decepticon. Of course, collectively they're known as Transformers but that's neither here nor there."
"Why would they-" Ayeka started to ask and then shook her head. "No, that's not important right now. How does this Unicron tie in with them?"
"Well from what I remember reading he was the enemy of their god Primus and supposedly they existed even before this universe did. In fact, it was apparently the last blow of their last battle that caused the Big Bang that created our universe. From there each of their essences were transferred into two asteroids where they sat dormant for a few billon years. And then Unicron found a way to change the form of his asteroid into a new body for him and once again began to reign terror on the universe. To combat this, Primus created a race of living robots he could use to defeat his old foe."
"The Transformers," the princesses concluded.
Washu nodded. "Unfortunately, at some point they split up into the two factions and began to fight each other. And to complicate matters even more a third race of Transformers called the Mini-Cons popped up. But that's a completely different story in itself. The point here is that as long as Primus' children are at war with each other, they're distracting themselves from defeating Unicron."
"Well there must be something we can do!" Ayeka declared as she stood up. "Jurai has one, if not the, most powerful fleet of warships in the universe, surely they can do some harm to this creature."
Washu shook her head. "Not according to the legend. Only the children of Primus can defeat him. Anyone else trying to fight him is just committing suicide."
"So there's nothing we can do?"
"Well there is one thing I can think of."
Ayeka looked at the diminutive genius with a gleam of hope in her eyes. Surely, if anyone in the universe could think of something that could defeat or even just detain this horrible monster it was her. She could come up with some kind mind bogglingly brilliant device that would help the Jurian army overcome the menace they faced. She stared intently at her, waiting to hear the perfect solution to this problem. For her part, Washu stared back at her with a most serious look in her eye. She finally answered the princess with one, short word:
"Pray."
Ayeka blinked at this blunt and simple answer. "That's...that's all?"
"I'm sorry, but yes," Washu admitted. "I don't know enough about Unicron to even begin to think of something that would do him any harm. And if I could I'm not sure even *I* have the resources to build it. So all we can do now is pray that Autobots and Decepticons can put aside their differences and finally beat this monster once and for all."
"And if they don't?"
"Then we all very well may be doomed."