Again that time freezing thing seemed to take place. So I allowed myself to make an update of my situation. I was rescuing a freaks mother from a cave she had been locked in for no reason, pulled from my life by the ever so caring Ms.Demon-come-to-take-me-to-hell, and was now faced with two teenage girls who looked so young they could not have possibly been to college, that seemingly wanted to play police woman with myself and Ryoko, daughter of the decaying carcass in a box. I would have given anything about here and now to go back to my life of eye squirting toothpaste and ditzes named Sakuya.
I opened my mouth to inform them that we had no time to play games, you see we are busy attempting to retrieve a dead body that has been so nicely buried in that box down here, so this lil' girl can have her mum back. Sounds more important, huh? … No, not really. And at the time being, I would have rather been arrested than spent my remaining days comforting Ryoko when she figured out that a person who's been in a box for hundreds of years just does not make a good parent.
Though before I could say anything, Ryoko had ducked behind me in the gloom of the cave where we stood on the edge of the cliff. She slipped her arms around my waist from behind and perched her head atop my shoulder, grinning at the girls who wanted to play police with us. "We haven't got any weapons, but we're not going to keep our mouths shut for you and…" Her grin widened more if possible as she tightened her grip on me. "And we're most definitely not going to hold still for you." She finished as she threw all her weight back wards off the cliff… taking me with her.
Okay, for a moment stop and imagine what this had to feel like for me. I had a perfectly normal life with a not so normal soon-to-be-wife and just happened to be having a bad day. Sure, that was fine. But had I really wanted to come with this stupid girl and rescue her dead mother from a harmless box, then get pulled fifty feet off the edge of a cliff so we could run from some kids who wanted to play police? I decided I really did not want to think about it anymore and shut my eyes as tight as they would go as I felt Ryoko's grip releasing on me and knew that we must be reaching the bottom.
As soon as we hit the murky waters that had looked so shallow from above, I Immeaditly knew they had to have been at least as deep as the cliff was high. As the freezing, stale water pressed in around me, my clothing became water logged and I began sinking to the bottom. I insistently thought I was going to die and every kid makes a promise to himself or herself (even if they don't know it) when they are little, that the last thing they will do before they die is scream. I mean, it's fun to scream anyway, right?
So on instinct rather than thought – I wouldn't have had time to think – I opened my mouth to take in the air I needed to scream. Oh silly you, Tenchi. There isn't air in a pool of water so how're you going to scream? You're not, are you? You're going to drown silently… If I could not scream, it meant I could not have my death wish… and if I could not have my death wish… well hell, then I didn't plan to die down there in that cave. As fast as I could in that strangely thick water, I brought my arms up and began clawing at the water, kicking helplessly with my feet. Water was pouring into my mouth, which I did not seem able to close fast enough, and I needed air desperately.
I felt my arm break the surface and I knew I was going to live as I felt a strong hand clamp down on my arm and pull me by all the way out of the water so I was dangling above it. My first thought was that one of the girls who had wanted to play police had got me, but my eyes met a farmiliar pair of golden eyes, which I Immeaditly associated with Ryoko. And whoever this was, it looked a lot like Ryoko. She was about six inches taller than the first had been and her hair was much spikier, seeming to stand up in strange little pyramids on her head. She had the same good figure and creamy skin as the original, though.
I blinked awkwardly a few times as I tried to figure out who she was. My glance shifted to the left where I saw a pre teen girl with brilliant pink-orange hair spiking out in every thinkable direction. She grinned at me and when she spoke I noticed that she had the same voice as the hysterical Ryoko which had come to my school. "You know, Tenchi." She was saying. I wasn't really paying any attention. Instead I was staring at the incredibly tight outfit that perfectly framed the new Ryoko's body and I was trying not to give into the sudden nosebleed that was coming on. "I lied. My name isn't Ryoko; my name is Washu. This…" She said, pointing at the 'new Ryoko' "Is my daughter – not my mother – Ryoko."
"Cute one, isn't he?" Ryoko asked, her prefect red lips smirking into a devilish grin. "You aren't going to use him for some experiment of yours are you… because I must say, he would be useful."
I winced and wanted to ask what she meant by 'useful' – A minion of hell, Tenchi – but neither Washu nor I had a change to respond before one of the Girls-who-wanted-to-play-police screamed down at us. "Drop that unarmed man this instant and put your hands in the air in the name of the Galaxy Police! We refuse to tolerate you harassing innocent by standers and we command you come with us this instant!"
Ryoko shrugged nonchalantly and promptly let me fall back into the water, only to remind me how much the bitterly coldness of it numbed my skin. I groped in the gloomy water for the side and when I finally found it and pulled myself up onto the rock ledge, Ryoko had turned and was facing the police officers. "You're going to have to come catch us if you want us that bad!" At this, my stomach dropped. What exactly did she plan to do? They had guns and she didn't.
Ryoko turned and smiled that devilish smirk at Washu again. "Are we going to continue as planned?"
Washu nodded and was suddenly gone from sight. I didn't even bother trying to comprehend it.
Before I could get done groping for another handhold to myself up with, Ryoko had my arm again and had yanked be all the way out. She levitated momentarily, then turned to me, the grin no longer on her face and actually looking serious for once. "Get on my back." She demanded. Probably looking like an idiot to any by standers – luckily there where none - I ambled onto Ryoko's back and she took off towards the wall.
I Immeaditly knew she planned to go through the wall, but I wasn't quite sure if she knew I couldn't go through it. I soon learned she hadn't known. Time slowed down and everything got quiet as I watched her head, then her shoulders go through the wall, but as she began trying to get me through, I was slipping backwards and she was going forwards. Soon I had slipped off completely and sat on my rear looking at the wall of the cave in a daze.
Then I heard a scream and before I could think about it… everything went black.