The Return of Kagato (chapter 10)
The giant green ball of energy shot toward earth. "Tsunami will not be able to block this shot. The gems on this ship are more than three times as powerful as the small Soja."
Kagato smashed the group's hopes.
Ryoko heard a voice. Come to me.
"Who are you?" Ryoko spoke out loud.
"Ryoko, who are you talking to?" Tenchi was used to Ryoko acting unusual, but speaking to the air was not like her.
Come to me if you want to save Earth. The voice spoke in Ryoko's head. This time, Ryoko understood what was happening and answered in her head.
Who are you? What do you want with me?
Hurry. There is little time. You must help me save Earth.
What do I have to do.
Nothing. I will do everything, but I needed your approval to be able to do it properly. Do not resist. Only two people were aware of this exchange, but one had already made a fool of herself and the other was contained, so when Ryoko suddenly disappeared it came as a shock to those present. Ryoko looked around to find herself in a Jurian spaceship. Tsunami appeared in front of her.
Welcome. Help me. Concentrate on your power and we will save the Earth together.
******Back on the Soja******
"What did you do with Ryoko?" Tenchi accused Kagato.
"It is none of your concern." Kagato shot back. (Lady Tokimi had better not have tried to double cross me and take Ryoko, or I'll never give her Washu and Tsunami.)
Before anyone else could talk, there was a blinding flash of light from outside the ship.
"Haha. Watch as your planet is destroyed." Kagato gloated before he saw that the light was not from the energy's impact with the planet, but from the energy being held in place by Tsunami. "HOW!!!?" Kagato roared. "That shot should have gone through Tsunami's wings and hit the planet." Kagato got the answer to his question after the last of the ball of energy dispersed. From behind Tsunami's lighthawk wings came another set, making a fan of twenty wings of pure light.
"Ryoko. I'm so proud of you." Washu said half to herself, but she was overheard.
"Ryoko! She stopped the blast. She will pay for this. Come and face me Ryoko!" Kagato challenged as he stared at the approaching ship.
"You're forgetting something." The voice was surprisingly close.
"And what's that?" Kagato turned slowly toward the voice to avoid looking worried.
"Me." Tenchi attacked with his lighthawk sword from the position he had gained while Kagato was watching Tsunami. Unfortunately, Tenchi's short conversation had given him away and lost him the element of surprise. While Kagato was not fully facing Tenchi at the time of the attack, he still had enough time to jump out of the way and fire shots toward Tenchi. Tenchi did not even need to block because Ayeka was doing that for him using her forcefields.
"Do not interfere!" Kagato launched a shot toward Ayeka. He was getting tired of people in the way of his fun. "Boy. This is a fight that we will do alone. You have beaten my image and now I must prove that I truly am the superior being. Now, I am done with this bit of exercise and I will fight you as I truly am." A network of rainbow colored lines began appearing on the floor of the ship as the blast reached Ayeka. While Kagato was talking, Tenchi had started toward Ayeka, but he was not fast enough and the blast exploded. He only avoided being blown backwards by having the wings revert to their original form in front of him as a shield. When the dust cleared, Ayeka was shaken, but fine. Her forcefield had blocked some of the blast, but the rest was absorbed by the sword Tenchi and its wielder, Azusa.
"Defeat him." Azusa spoke to Tenchi from where he lay on the floor bleeding. "You will now have to take care of my children. Do well, my heir." And with that last statement, the king died.{note to any Azusa fans: This is not because I don't like him. I gave him an honorable death as he saves his daughter.} While everyone stared, shocked, Washu spoke out.
"No. I won't let you." She was looking at her computer screen.
"You can't stop me from doing anything. I am taking all of the power of the gems and channeling it into myself. You will stand no chance." Kagato cackled gleefully as the power filled him.
"Got it!" Washu exclaimed. As a message on her screen blinked and the lines on the floor disappeared.
"What have you done!?" Kagato howled as the flow of energy stopped. "You will pay for that." He threw a green, crackling ball of energy at Washu. The ball exploded along the spherical shield and did no damage to the people inside.
(How did I do that?) Washu wondered. (My shield isn't that strong.) Her question was answered as she looked to her sides at Yosho and the queens of Jurai. (So they were trained too. I guess I'm lucky.) A moment later, Washu was knocked over from behind.
"Is it over yet?" Mihoshi clamped onto Washu.
"No. It's not over. Kagato isn't fully powered, but he's still there. Now GET OFF OF ME!" Washu responded as she pried Mihoshi off of herself.
"Grandpa! Catch!" Tenchi threw the sword Tenchi to Yosho. He then spoke to Ayeka
"Go to the others."
"So you are finally ready for a one on one fight. You cannot beat me." Kagato watched the group of people under the shield.(With all of them powering it, that shield should keep them from being destroyed during the fight, but I can break it.)
"Release Sasami." Tenchi stated. It took Kagato a moment to remember that he still held Sasami captive.
"Do I have to answer this question again? The answer is no." (Why does he want to save her so badly? She's just a normal Jurain princess. She was the easiest way to get all of them here. Does this have anything to do with what her mind said? Oh well. It will provide a better fight now that he's mad.) Kagato formed his long green sword. It glowed with an evil energy that shot in electric bolts over its surface. With his other hand, he started forming a ball of energy in his palm. Tenchi absorbed one of the lighthawk wings into his armor and formed the other two into swords. The fight started as Kagato launched the ball of energy which had been growing since it's formation. Tenchi brought the swords into an x, blocking the shot. He charged forward and swung the sword in his left hand toward Kagato's sword hand. Kagato moved his hand down to force Tenchi's sword to hit his sword instead of losing a hand. The watchers were shocked to see that Kagato's sword was actually blocking the Lighthawk sword. Unfortunately, this left his upper body open. He realized this and quickly formed a ball of energy and threw it to prevent the coming attack. The shot bounced harmlessly off of Tenchi's other sword, but it did its work and the fighters separated.
"So boy. You have some new tricks. Try this trick." Kagato withdrew his sword and used both of his hands to form a large, crackling ball of energy. Tenchi crouched and held the swords in front of him to block, but Kagato disappeared and reappeared behind Tenchi. Tenchi barely had time to blink before he was hit from behind by the ball of energy. The swords lost their form as he fell forward smoking. "You really are pathetic. And you thought you could defeat me? You will never interfere again." Kagato reformed his sword in one hand while throwing energy at the people in the shield.(There. That should keep them from helping him.) "Now you DIE." Kagato grasped his sword in both hands and plunged it down toward Tenchi's back. Before it hit, a blast exploded with such force that Kagato was thrown forward and missed Tenchi by less than a foot. "Who did that?"
"I did." Ryoko stepped from the shadows. "If you want Tenchi, you have to come through me."
"Very well." Kagato tried to perform the same attack that gave him the advantage over Tenchi, but when he reappeared, Ryoko had teleported away.
"You can't beat me with those types of tricks." Ryoko spoke from far in front of him.
"You have forgotten your handicap." Kagato spoke as he noticed he was closer to Tenchi. He fired a blast toward Tenchi's motionless body, knowing that Ryoko would block it. Ryoko did not make any move to help. Instead, she moved into an attack position on the place Kagato was moving to get behind where he thought she would appear. As she attacked the still reappearing Kagato, she made a gesture to Ayeka and the shot was blocked by the forcefield of logs.
"Forgetting about someone?" Ryoko taunted even as her attack was beaten off. "Do you want to actually fight now?"
"This is not a fight. You are even weaker than the boy is." Kagato said as he grabbed Ryoko's sword in his hand.
"That's what you think." Ryoko flew backward and opened her arms. A serious expression came over her face and the gems glowed brightly. A red mist came out of the gems, forming a ball between her arms. The ball stretched in all directions and changed from red to white. It was now a star with ten points, each one stretching five feet from the center. The mist forming each arm seemed to blow away; revealing ten fully formed lighthawk wings.
"Let's see just how good you are." Kagato launched a massive ball of energy with all of his might, but it hit the wings and the energy dissipated to the sides. The lines reappeared on the floor and Kagato jerked involuntarily at the new power.
"NO! Someone broke through." Washu typed frantically at her computer, but in response it sparked and disappeared.
"What happened?" Tenchi groaned as he regained consciousness. After seeing Ryoko in the air and Kagato absorbing new power, he summoned the wings once again.
(So you decided to help me after all, Lady Tokimi. I will no longer need your help.) Kagato thought to himself as the power renewed his confidence. Meanwhile, Ryoko was slowly sinking toward the ground.
"RYOKO NO! DON'T TOUCH THE FLOOR! IF YOU DO THE SOJA WILL ABSORB ALL OF YOUR POWER!" Washu screamed from the shield, but it was no use. The Soja was attracting Ryoko's gems like a magnet and she couldn't stop it. Ryoko's wings flickered in and out of existence for a few moments and then disappeared entirely as she lost consciousness and fell the rest of the way to the floor.
"Come on. We have to help Ryoko." Washu led the group under the collective forcefield stopped powering it long enough to run over to Ryoko and reform the shield over her. Washu bent over Ryoko, but without her computer, she couldn't help her. Yosho had an idea however. He walked up and jabbed Ryoko in the side with the Tenchi. She gasped in pain and woke up for about a minute before she was forced back into unconsciousness.
"As long as she's conscious, he can't get all of the power. I'm sorry I have to do this Ryoko." Yosho said as he touched her with the Tenchi again. Kagato turned to Tenchi.
"There really is no point to continuing this fight. You were no match before and now I have even more power." Kagato sent an invisible blast that knocked Tenchi backward. Before Tenchi could recover, Kagato nonchalantly threw a blast at him. The blast, while taking almost none of Kagato's energy, was enough to throw Tenchi against the nearest wall: fifty feet away. "Now to get what I came for and get rid of the rest." Kagato went over the list in his mind. (Washu, Tsunami, the gems, and the Master Key for Tokimi. The boy and Ryoko for me. Or at least that's what she thinks. After I get the gems, Lady Tokimi will not be a problem and I can have them all.) Kagato walked up to the shield and laughed. He destroyed the miniature logs and proceeded to walk through the weakened shield. "Old man. Stop." Kagato noticed what Yosho was doing and knocked the Tenchi out of his hand. Ayeka tried to summon more logs to bind him in place, but he broke the shield almost before it was formed. "Ahh. Washu. Come with me."(As if you had a choice.)
"I'm not going anywhere with you." Washu formed a light sword and swung it at Kagato. It hit him on the face and disappeared. Kagato grabbed Washu and teleported to a different section of the ship. He threw Washu into a bubble.
{note to self:redo and have Yosho take back gems}
"I hope you're comfortable. You're going to be here for a long time. That shield's frequency runs all of the way down the edge of reality. There is no way to teleport out or get out in any other way." Kagato disappeared, leaving Washu trapped and alone.(Now for Tsunami.) Kagato appeared in front of the group. Yosho had retrieved the Tenchi and was continuing his process of keeping Ryoko conscious. "I told you to stop!" Kagato roared as he grabbed the Tenchi and threw Yosho to the opposite wall of the chamber. Without the gems or a Jurain tree to supply power, the Tenchi could not mount any defense against Kagato. Now. Come, Tsunami. Kagato channeled his command through the Master Key. As Tsunami approached, Kagato turned to the remaining people. "Let's see, who's next?" Kagato surveyed the group. "Now for the gems and my prize." Kagato used his sword to sever both of Ryoko's wrists and he picked up the gems in his hand. (Now how to get the third one without killing Ryoko.) He threw the Tenchi to Lady Funaho. "Lady Funaho, use this sword to take that last gem out. You will be doing all of Jurai a favor by taking the power from this criminal." Despite the polite words, Kagato used a commanding tone.
"You hurt my Ayeka!" Misaki launched herself at Kagato, only to hit a wall of energy.
"You can't touch me. Stop trying." Kagato extended his shield to push Misaki farther away. "The gem, Lady Funaho."
"You will not defeat the Royal family of Jurai." Even using the Tenchi, Lady Funaho barely got closer than Lady Misaki. As she saw that she wasn't getting anywhere, she searched desperately for a source of power, then she remembered the last gem. (If I can get that, then this sword will be powerful enough to at least protect us.) In one movement, she stabbed Ryoko's neck to encase the gem in the sword, but before the gem reached the hilt, Kagato grabbed it out of the blade.
"Thank you, Lady Funaho. I no longer have a use for you." Kagato threw both queens to rest beside Yosho with one blast of energy driven wind.(Now, lets see what power these gems really have.) Kagato held the gems to his chest, where they sank in and rested.
*******meanwhile, in another part of the ship*******
"Welcome, sister." Lady Tokimi appeared in front of Washu's prison.
"What do you mean by 'sister'? I don't even know you." Washu said with all of the force possible for a hopelessly trapped person.
"Ahhh, but you are my sister. Still have not retrieved those memories, I see. Let me do that." Lady Tokimi held out a cube similar to Mihoshi's. "This is where we sealed all of your memories twenty thousand years ago. Would you like them back?" The cube floated next to Washu's prison and shot twin beams of light into her eyes. Before Washu could recover from what just happened, Lady Tokimi was distracted. "The power! Where did he get it? He must have the gems." Lady Tokimi disappeared from Washu's sight.
"What have you done!?" Lady Tokimi was outraged. "The gems are mine. Give them to me." Kagato calmly turned toward the goddess.
"I will take no more orders from you. I have all of the power I need. I have no equal. Now begone before I show you the extent of my new powers." Kagato turned back around to finish off the remains of the royal family.
"Your treachery will not be tolerated. The gems are mine and you will not keep them." Lady Tokimi summoned her lighthawk wings and they spiraled into each other until there was a cocoon shaped mass of light. With one movement of her hand, Lady Tokimi sent the energy hurtling toward Kagato. He laughed.
"I have all of the power of the Soja's gems and Washu's gems. Even that shot cannot kill me." Kagato pulled up his energy shield in preparation to block. The shining mass of lighthawk wings hit the shield and stopped. It stayed still, still trying to go forward but not making any progress. Suddenly, the mass of the lighthawk wings doubled and they punched through Kagato's shield. In an instant Kagato disintegrated and the gems fell to the floor. Everyone looked around for the source of the added power. There she stood, glowing with the power of Tsunami. Sasami spoke.
"Is everyone alright?" Sasami had just woken up and missed the fight until the last few moments. Before anyone could answer, Lady Tokimi appeared directly in front of Sasami.
"Where did you get that power?" She asked before noticing the triangles glowing on Sasami's forehead. "So it was Tsunami's power and not yours. You will not live to see your power released again." Lady Tokimi's wings returned to her and one started a swipe to sever Sasami. Before the wing had moved a foot, it was blocked by an identical wing in front of it. "What?!?" Lady Tokimi was shocked. Through the light of the opposing set of ten wings, Lady Tokimi saw the face of Washu.(So she has the power again, but she does not know how to use it. I do. I will have to manifest myself to win.) In an instant, Lady Tokimi ceased to be a semi-transparent being and became a woman of great stature wielding lighthawk wings that matched her size. Lady Tokimi and Washu each charged forward their wings met. The wings held even as bolts of electricity flew from the intersection. The two fighters stood there attempting to overpower the other while neither was making any progress. From behind Lady Tokimi there came a voice.
"You're not going to have all of the fun, Washu." Tenchi and Ryoko stood there. They were each beaten up some, but no permanent damage. Tenchi summoned his wings once again, and Ryoko made her energy sword. Each used them to form the largest possible blast. While they were forming theirs, a glow came from the other side of the room. The Queens and First Princess of Jurai were combining their powers into one massive ball. The Jurains formed theirs first and launched it at Lady Tokimi. As it passed over their heads, Tenchi and Ryoko threw theirs. The blasts combined in one giant ball and approached Lady Tokimi. Seeing the blast, Lady Tokimi turned five of her wings to block it. The blast hit the wings and it evened out for a moment, but the blast started the push closer. Seeing this, Lady Tokimi turned more of her wings to block it. The wings successfully blocked the shot, but while the other wings were turned away, Washu's wings overpowered Tokimi's and converged on their target. Lady Tokimi barely had time to notice before she too was a bit of dust in the air. Everyone powered down and looked at Washu and Tsunami. Ryoko was the first to notice.
"Hey Mom, give back my gems." The three gems were mounted on Washu's right hand.
"Are you sure you need them? I want to study what they do to me." Washu turned her hand so she could admire the source of her new powers. Tenchi looked around to count their losses. There were many bumps and bruises, and they were all tired, but the only casualty was Azusa. They gathered around his body. With the adrenaline and stress of the battle gone, emotions were allowed to surface. The Jurains started crying.
"We have to take him back to Earth. He may not have shown it, but he liked it enough to try to live there." Ayeka sobbed.
"Washu, get out your door. We're going home." Tenchi said with a tone of finality.
"Sorry. I can't. My computer's broken, but I know how we can get back." Washu motioned toward the viewscrean where Tsunami was still docked with the Soja. Tenchi and Yosho gently picked up the king and they walked through the ship to Tsunami.
Well, this could be the end. If enough people want an explanation, I will write an epilogue to answer such questions as 'Who will be the new king?' and 'What about the Soja?' Because this is the last chapter, I have people to thank. To all of the people who reviewed for your input, to Top_Quark for a constant review as I've written. To all of the people who read it not online, namely D-chan, Ka-chan, and the other people (you know who you are) whom I don't know nicknames and I don't want to tell your names online. Tomu-kun