Over on one wall was what looked like a large hole, which was covered by an enormous
boulder from the outside. This must be where the dragon enters, Ayeka decided.
She looked around. The walls were smooth, without holes or anything. There was no way
she could move that boulder; there was no way forty men could move that boulder. That was out
of the question. The only option was that tiny little hole in the wall, which was very high up.
And under the hole was a small foothold. It was very small. A child might be able to use it
to climb out the window, but no adults could, most likely; their large feet would slip right off.
"Sasami, if you can get your foot on that tiny little rock up there, you can climb out," Ayeka
said, knowing very well that if Sasami did get out...
"Okay," Sasami said. Apparently her train of thought had not reached the place where
Ayeka's was at the moment. Just as well. If she knew what Ayeka knew, Sasami would most likely
not go up.
"I'll give you a boost," Ayeka said. "As high as I can push you. If you can get your foot on
that rock, you'll probably be able to reach the hole and climb out. Ignore the pain, Sasami... Just
climb. Your life depends on it."
"Right," Sasami said, a terribly grim look on her face.
Ayeka laced her fingers together and held them knee-high. Sasami placed her left foot in
Ayeka's hands and placed her left hand on Ayeka's shoulder.
"Ready?" Ayeka asked. "You're going to have to jump with it."
"I'm ready," Sasami replied.
"Okay," Ayeka said. "One... Two... Three."
Ayeka pushed Sasami up with all her might. Sasami's right foot caught the rock and she
shoved herself upward, using some of the force of Ayeka's boost. Her right hand caught the edge
of the hole.
"Go, Sasami, climb!" Ayeka said, pushing her sister's foot higher. The little girl's foot was
up to her shoulder now. She bent over to get a better position to push from and began pushing her
sister's foot higher and higher as the girl got closer and closer to climbing out.
Finally, Sasami's foot was beyond Ayeka's reach; she could not help Sasami any more. She
watched as Sasami struggled to crawl out, crying all the while, but ignoring the terrible pain in her
back. Ayeka prayed a soft prayer that her sister would make it out...
Finally her feet were lost to sight. Moments later the little girl's face appeared in the hole.
This time her face was blanketed with concern.
*She's figured it out,* Ayeka thought to herself.
"Ayeka...?" Sasami said, her voice shaking, sounding almost on the verge of tears. "How...
How are you going to get out?"
"Sasami, you're the best sister I've ever had," Ayeka responded. She did not add that Sasami
was the only sister she had ever had. That was not necessary; if there had been one hundred
sisters, Sasami would have been the best, and both knew it, though Sasami would be modest and
deny it. "Get out of here. Run."
"No, I'm not leaving you!" Sasami sobbed. She rubbed her muddy cheeks, which only
smeared everything up. "I'm not leaving. I'll help you out."
"There's no way you can," Ayeka responded. "Sasami, the dragon will come back to eat me
soon, probably. You're alive; go! Go now!"
"I'm coming back in," Sasami said, sticking her foot through the hole.
"Don't you dare," Ayeka said. "Or I'll kill myself; I swear I will."
Sasami turned back around. "You'll WHAT?"
"I'm doomed anyway," Ayeka replied. "I said, if you come back in here, I'll kill myself.
Now go. Run. Find help, just get away from here."
"Ayeka..." Sasami cried, tears flowing freely, her small shoulders wracking in desperate
tears. "Please don't make me leave you to the dr... dragon..."
"Go," Ayeka said firmly, her own voice shaking. "Go."
"Ayeka!" Sasami half-screamed, half-sobbed. "Ayeka I love you and I won't leave you!"
"If you love me, go," Ayeka said, sitting down on a rock. "Somehow... This will be...
resolved..."
"Ayeka..."
"Go," Ayeka said, a tear slipping out of her left eye.
Sasami stared through the hole, her eyes overflowing with tears.
"G... Go," Ayeka said in a low, dreadful tone.
"Sis, I love you," Sasami said, then stood. Tears blurred everything in sight, but she ignored
them. She turned and started walking away from the hole in the huge rock.
Walking away was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. No person her age
should ever be forced to leave behind a sibling that they know is going to die; it's just not fair.
She walked, putting one foot in front of the other. A sickening force of anger overwhelmed
her. Anger, severe sadness, terrible thoughts... She wasn't sure how much she could take. She kept
moving on and on. So many times she resisted the temptation to just turn back around and fly
back to the hole and go back in, no matter what Ayeka had said, but Ayeka's words kept ringing
in her ears...
"If you love me, go."
Yes, Sasami loved her older sister more than anything.
*She's giving up her life for me,* Sasami thought. *It's... It's MY fault that she's going to
die.*
This thought filled her brain. Shaken by the sheer terror that came with that thought, she
broke out into a desperate run. She wanted to die in that moment. She wanted to die with her sister,
but her sister's last wish, apparently, was that her younger sister should live, and by gosh that was
what she was going to do.
*I'm going to survive,* Sasami thought to herself. *For Ayeka.*
CHAPTER 15
Knowing that you have given your life for someone else is a strangely bittersweet feeling.
One the one hand, Ayeka knew she was going to die, and die horribly. She would have to
sit in this small cave, knowing what was coming, the minutes stretching into hours, hours into
days, whatever. She would just sit here, thinking about her impending doom, for however long it
took the dragon to get hungry. Then he would come in here; there would be no place to run, no
place to hide. The dragon would catch her, rip her to pieces, chew her up, swallow her.
On the other hand, she knew that she had given her all for her little sister. The strange
feeling of being a hero washed over her. Also the wonderful feeling that her sister would be safe
enveloped her. Sasami would survive, she somehow knew that.
So Ayeka sat and waited. There was nothing else to do. Occasionally she broke out into
tears; she would never again see her sister, her father or mother... Well, perhaps she would see
them again, eventually, in the afterlife. She knew she'd meet up with Humyah; that thought was
comforting. She could thank him for all he had tried to do.
She could thank the man that had taken her into his house... What was his name? It all
seemed so distant now. Somehow, the past just didn't seem to matter. She was here, in the here and
now, waiting for everything to end horribly.
Waiting. Waiting for death.
This is another thing no person so young should have to experience; waiting for death.
Waiting for it to knock.
Ayeka sat and waited.
The rock covering the huge hole in the small cave moved slightly. Rock being ground
against rock was heard.
Tears rose in Ayeka's throat, and she held back desperate tears.
It was time.
CHAPTER 16
"What's that?!" Tenchi asked, stopping the group.
They all stopped and listened. They heard footsteps in the hall behind them.
Nothing had changed. The hall was completely featureless; just a long, white hall. They had
started running in the direction George had pointed them and just kept running. There had been a
door or two, but other than that, nothing. They had run and run, and George had insisted that it
was just a little farther... that this was just like his dream... That they were truly getting close.
"Someone's coming," George said, fear creeping into his eyes.
"We don't have time for a fight," Washu said, glancing at her small, handheld computer.
"According to my readout something's about to change in the past, and this change will certainly
do us no good. It seems as though Ayeka's about to die."
Ayeka turned completely white. "Wh... What did you say?" Ayeka asked, gulping.
"You are about to be..." Washu paused, looking over the readout several times, as if not
believing what she were reading. "You are about to be... eaten," Washu said.
"What?!" Ayeka shrieked.
"Shhh," Tenchi said softly.
"What??" Ayeka repeated in a horrified whisper.
"I... don't... You're about to be..."
"But... If that's in the past, hasn't it already happened?!" Ayeka asked hysterically. "I mean,
if it's in the past, shouldn't I be dead right now?"
"Technically, yes," Washu said, typing quickly at her computer. Far behind them, the
footsteps could still be heard; the people were gaining. "But it appears that... Well, that the past is,
kind of, occuring as the present occurs."
"I don't get it," Ayeka said, drawing closer to Washu.
"Everything about this time-changing business has been strange," Washu said, typing
furiously at the little black device in her palm. "It appears that the past is being changed as we
speak... It's not as if it has been undone and restructured again... This time its more like it's being
over-recorded. Do you see what I'm saying? Everything in the past has been done, yes, but it
appears that there is a sort of 'present' in the past which is moving along at the same rate our true
present is moving. It is 'over-recording' the points in time in the past that it passes, and in the
'present' in the past, you are about to be eaten."
"...Oh," Ayeka responded softly. "So... When I'm eaten..."
"You'll simply cease to exist in this present," Washu stated softly.
"Wonderful," Ayeka responded.
"Let's get moving!" Katsuhito urged them. "The people behind us are..."
"Here!" George shouted.
Near the back of the huge hall small dots--running men--could be seen. All watched for just
a moment before turning and running.
Before they even knew what was happened, laser bolts were flying by them. They streaked
by with deadly force and speed, and everyone put all the energy they could muster into their run.
There was a shout and a thump. Everyone turned around to see George lying on the
ground, clutching his leg, which was bleeding profusely. Tenchi made a move to help, but George
waved his hand.
"Don't waste time!" George shouted. "Just GO!"
"I could carry..." Ryoko started.
"GO!" George shouted.
They turned back to run, and Tenchi called over his shoulder, "You'll never be forgotten,
George... A true hero."
George smiled.
"Hero, ha," he called back.
Tenchi stopped short as something blue flashed in front of him. He took a step back and
saw that it was the blue wall of a force field. He turned around and looked behind him. There was
a force field wall there, too.
They were boxed in.
George laughed loudly and jumped to his feet. He pressed a button on a device on his leg,
and all the blood simply ceased to exist, as if it had never been there.
"Idiots," George laughed. "Okay, guys, you can stop your fire," he called to the men behind
him.
"Wha...?!" Tenchi breathed, astounded, angered. "You TRICKED us?!"
"Sure," George replied. "Boxing you guys up in a shield that prevents use of Jurai energy
was the easiest way to capture you."
"But... Why do you want to capture us?!" Washu asked.
"Easy enough," the man responded. "I work for a man who desperately wants the power of
Tsunami, which rests in Sasami. All we have to do is use Juraian energy to extract this power, and
then it's ours. And, since none of us own any Juraian powers, we have to steal them! Simple
enough, isn't it?"
"But... How can you use Juraian powers that belong to US?" Tenchi asked.
"Using simply miraculous machines we've invented for just that purpose," George replied.
"Well, you guys have fun in there. Your use of Juraian energy is completely blocked; there's no
way to escape. You're stuck. Katsuhito and Tenchi, be prepared; extraction of Juraian power is
*very* painful. See you all around."
Ryoko pulled back her fist and slammed the force field hard, which sent blue ripples up and
down its side. "I'll KILL you if I ever get my hands on you!" she shouted.
George walked down the hall, ignoring her. He moved out of sight after a while.
Tenchi tried to access Jurai powers, but as George had said, all access was cut off. He
couldn't access even the smallest amount of power.
"That explains it all," Washu replied, falling down to the ground and sitting with her back
against the wall. "The attacks against Ayeka and Sasami... I guess it would be much easier to
access the powers of Tsunami if Sasami was dead..."
"Washu, can't you get us out of here?" Tenchi asked, sitting beside her.
"I don't think so," Washu responded. "The only way I can think of out of here is with time
travel, which is extremely risky without superior equipment around... And which is also somewhat
prevented by the wall blocking movement in time."
Washu picked up her handheld computer and flipped it on. Strange diagrams appeared
which Tenchi did not understand. Washu turned the screen to show Tenchi. "See?" she asked,
pointing to a line which was moving across a bar. "Time barrier... Can't move back..."
"What's that?" Tenchi asked, pointing to a small dot on the bar.
Washu turned her computer around quickly in her hand and looked at the screen. Her eyes
widened. She looked back up to Tenchi, wide-eyed.
"What?" Tenchi asked.
Excited, Washu leaned forward and kissed Tenchi on the cheek. "GENIUS!" she shouted.
"GENIUS!"
"Wha... what?!" Tenchi asked, confused.
"That's a break in their barrier!"
"What?!"
"That's a faulty point! We can get through the time barrier!" she exclaimed.
"But isn't it risky?" Tenchi asked.
"Think of the alternative," Washu responded. "If they get ahold of Tsunami's powers,
there's almost nothing they can't do. On the other hand, if we can prevent them from getting
Tsunami's powers, and return to our normal timeline, everything will be normal. So even if you
die, if we could succeed, you could still live."
"So, I'm the one to be moved back in time?" Tenchi asked, feeling his chest become heavy.
"Yes, naturally," Washu responded. "There's only one problem..."
"What? What?" Sasami asked eagerly.
"I'm just the tiniest bit short of energy," Washu said, her mouth forming a crooked smile.
"To insure that Tenchi gets where he's supposed to be, in one piece... Or, anyways, to *relatively*
insure all that... Nothing is certain in time travel... I need just a bit more energy... I have access to
large amounts of energy in my lab, but that's not enough. I need just a tiny..."
Ryoko pulled a couple batteries out of her pocket. "I stole these from Ayeka," she said with
a tiny laugh. "Will they help any?"
"They will if I can find a way to convert them to the kind of energy I need," Washu said
with a smile.
"Oh, Ryoko!" Ayeka said in glee. "I never thought I'd be so happy that you stole something
from me!"
Ryoko laughed. "Never thought you'd be happy, period," she said, handing the batteries to
Washu. "I thought you'd be trying to fight me right here and now."
"You stole the batteries, so what?" Ayeka responded, a strangely insane smile crossing her
lips. "I'm about to be eaten; what can I say?"
Ryoko laughed again.
Washu took some other device out of her pocket and pried it open as quickly as she could.
The others watched as she furiously messed with the insides, changing things around, hooking
different wires together, moving pieces around. Finally she hooked the two batteries to the device
and set it on the ground.
"This... should... work," she said, placing emphasis on the word 'should'. "I'm not sure
though. You sure you want to try?" she asked Tenchi.
"Did I have a choice?" Tenchi responded somewhat gloomily.
"No," Washu replied with a silly grin. "I just wanted to make sure I had a clear conscience if
you died; at least I somewhat offered you an out."
Tenchi laughed. "Send me wherever you want, Washu."
Washu nodded. "Hold on. If I'm right, this is going to be a really bumpy ride for you."
CHAPTER 16
The grinding stopped. The hole in the side of the cave was wide open. The sunlight flooded
in and blinded Ayeka, whose eyes were completely accustomed to the dark.
She stared at the hole. She had cried her eyes dry. Now she stared, waiting for her death.
Then, her death stepped into the doorway. The huge dragon, its wicked scales reflecting the
sun like a thousand little mirrors; its massive wings like sails on a boat; its tail, like some sea
serpent; the huge feet, with those huge talons that had left the nasty, gaping holes in her back; the
small but powerful arms, each finger clawed as well; its gaping jaws, which dripped saliva and
boasted huge teeth; and its black, deadly eyes. That was what her death looked like.
The dragon snarled. It pulled its wings in to its body and ducked its head so it could fit in
through the huge hole, which was somewhat small to a creature that size. For a moment it was
almost completely dark again, as the dragon pressed its way in.
For the tiniest moment Ayeka was overcome with the desire to fight the thing, but it died
quickly. How could she possibly fight it, and would it do any good against a thing like that? No, it
was hopeless.
Ayeka sat and waited.
The dragon finally pushed its way past the door. The light streamed in behind the dragon.
The light, coming from its back, gave it a strange effect, as if the beams of light were originating
from the dragon itself, as if it were some heavenyly being.
The dragon snarled again, this time a puff of smoke coming out of each nostril. It made a
few shuffling steps towards Ayeka, its head ducked low so it wouldn't hit the ceiling.
Deep within its throat there was a rumbling, a combination of hard sounds and high sounds,
which seemed to produce a voice which said:
"Where has the other gone?"
"I helped her escape," Ayeka said defiantly, rising to her feet. "I don't care what you do to
me, I want you to know that I helped my sister escape, so HA!"
"Human," the grating, ugly, growling voice seemed to say. "I'm going to rip your body like
a ragdoll before I devour you."
Ayeka tried to keep the defiant look on her face, but knew she was most likely failing. The
words pronounced struck complete terror in her, and she knew it very well. She knew the dragon
was not joking; she was to have a painful death before being devoured.
One clawed foot came up. The dragon opened its toes, as if showing off its huge claws. If
huffed and smoke came out of its nostrils again.
Ayeka braced herself.
The claw swung, and her eyes snapped shut.
There was no impact. Instead there was a high, howling scream. Ayeka felt something
splatter all over her face and arms. Her eyes flew open and took in what had happened.
The a huge, clawed dragon toe lay quite far away from her. She followed a trail of black
blood to the dragon's foot, which was missing one toe. By the toe was a boy, perhaps 17 or 18,
with spiked black hair and a rat tail coming out the back of his hair. He was very tall and tan, and
in his hand he held a blue sword, which shined with some sort of angelic force.
Ayeka crawled away from the scene and watched the events as they unfolded.
The dragon's head has whipped up as it had screamed in pain, Ayeka knew, for she could
see a place in the ceiling of rock where rock had been knocked loose.
Now the dragon sucked in a huge breath, drawing its head back. The boy's sword
disappeared and he crossed his arms in front of him. The dragon's head snapped forward and
opened its mouth, breathing out the breath it had brought in. A river of fire blew out from its
mouth, and Ayeka's world was surrounded by fire.
*I'm dead,* was the first thought that crossed her mind, but then she noticed that she was
not burning, only uncomfortably warm. She looked around. The fire, coming at them in a constant
stream, seemed to split in half a few feet in front of the boy, flow around him in two separate
pillars, flow straight past Ayeka, one pillar of fire on each side of her, and on to the other wall of
the cave.
Eventually the dragon lost its breath. It drew back its head, sucking in another, knowing
that the boy couldn't keep his power shield up forever. The boy, not waiting for the dragon to
draw in its breath, jumped incredibly high and threw the sword over his head in a shining arc. The
blade slid through the dragon's stomach. Fire spilled out of the incision, and the as the creature
screamed fire blasted out of its mouth, bounced off the ceiling, and burned its face.
The boy let himself fall, keeping the sword planted in the dragon's body. It made a cut all
the way down to the bottom of its legs. The dragon howled and screamed and began to thrash
wildly. The boy was kicked and slammed into the opposite wall.
Amazingly, he got back up and charged the dragon again. The dragon was trying to effect a
retreat out of the cave, where it would stand a chance in a fight, but it took another nasty cut. It
howled and kicked the boy again. He landed on his back this time a few feet away from Ayeka.
"You stay here," the boy told her. Ayeka nodded.
The boy rushed over to the dragon, who was halfway out the door. He raised his sword and
shouted a war cry. Ayeka could see the sword grow brighter and brighter as the boy powered his
sword more and more. Then he made a leap that was simply impossible and planted his sword into
the dragon's heart. Beams of energy blasted out of the stab wound and hit the walls of the cave,
which caused explosions. Blood sprayed everywhere in a tidal wave and soaked everything.
The dragon gave a terrible scream and fell backwards out of the hole in the wall. It gave on
last terrible cry before lying still on its back. Ayeka watched in amazement as the creature faded
from view and was gone, as if it had never been there.
The boy walked back over to the trembling Ayeka and helped her to her feet. "It'll be okay
soon," he told her. "Let me help you find somewhere to stay. This nightmare is almost over.
Okay?"
Ayeka nodded, and burst into tears.
Somehow, with this boy, she felt... safe.
The boy took her into his arms and hugged her for a long, long time as she cried her heart
out. She cried out her fear of death, her insecurity, her hunger, her anger, her sadness, her worry...
She cried out her whole heart.
"It's okay," the boy said at length. "Now, we've got to hurry. Your sister is still in danger;
we need to find somewhere to put you until things can be changed."
She looked through tear-swollen eyes, not knowing what to say.
"When things get... changed," the boy explained. "You won't remember a single thing
about any of this. It will be like it had never happened."
This boy spoke with a strange knowledge, it seemed, and Ayeka trusted him completely. It
was an almost irrational trust, but Ayeka had looked her death in the eye and survived, so
rationality didn't amount to a hill of beans to her at the moment.
"AYEKA!"
Both heads snapped toward the hole in the wall. There stood little Sasami.
Ayeka fainted. She never remembered being carried away.
CHAPTER 17
"His work there is done," Washu responded.
"Who did you say that dragon was?" Katsuhito asked.
"I did a scan on him," Washu explained. "Using a probe I'd sent with Tenchi. That wasn't
exactly a dragon. You see, a whole bunch of people are in this plot to take Tsunami's powers, and
that dragon was one of them. Using superior time-manipulation techniques, the likes of which I've
never seen before, these people are actually turning the past into some kind of fantasy make-
believe world. They assume great power over their surroundings... Apparenly this guy made
himself a dragon. His goal was to kill Sasami, but she escaped..."
"Why didn't you just let me die?" Ayeka asked. "You wouldn't have known, and I wouldn't
have known, and when you got the timeline back to normal everything would have been
wonderful and I'd be alive again."
"You have a link with Sasami," Washu explained. "It's very weird, I know... But you have a
certain link with her that that dragon-man would have traced. He would have caught right up with
Sasami, caught her, killed her quickly, and then everything would be done with. We'd be beat, end
of story. I thought you were listening when I explained this?"
"I was worrying," Ayeka replied, blushing a little. "It's not every day that you're faced with
the fact that at any given second you might cease to exist. I was a little preoccupied with worry."
"Understandable," Washu replied. "Now we've got to try to find out, very quickly, who the
leader of this great plot is, or find some way to undo all of this, or whatever."
"How do we undo all this?" Katsuhito asked.
"There's got to be some way," Washu replied. "We've got to cut off the damage from the
source. But I don't know where the source is, or how to cut it off..."
"I wonder," Katsuhito mused. "Perhaps George is the leader."
Washu's eyes flicked over to Katsuhito. "What did you say?"
"Perhaps George is the leader in this plot to take Tsunami's power," Katsuhito stated.
"How do you come up with that?" Washu asked. "Honestly, my guess would have been that
he was just a pawn used to gather all of us together and trap us."
"He was wearing a bracelet with what looked like a gem on it," Katsuhito said. "Somewhat
like what Ryoko wears. At the time I saw it I had dismissed it as a fancy charm or something;
perhaps a good luck charm. Perhaps none of you noticed that, as he walked off, after he had
trapped us, the gem on his wrist was glowing."
"What?" Washu asked. "Really?!"
"Yes."
Washu tapped her little computer for a moment. "Okay, I'm looking at a log real quick...
This little device was set on 'autospy'... a little function that causes it to track certain present
conditions, even while off... It tracks air pressure and content, loud sounds, the such, and, most
importantly, energy signatures." She paused for a moment. "Ah! Yes! Here it is. Roughly around
the time that we found out that all his 'blood' was really just a hologram, energy signatures coming
from his location spiked. As he walked off, the signatures were bouncing off the chart." Washu
raised her eyes. "Now I believe your theory."
"He said he had no Juraian power," Katsuhito continued. "But that could be a lie. Right
now, however, the assumption needs to be made that the destruction of the gem will cut off his
power."
"If we can destroy the gem just after it was made," Washu continued for Katsuhito. "Then
we can assume that he will be left without power, that his quest will be ruined, and history will be
changed... everything will be back to normal. However, this would present a time paradox; by
preventing any of this from happening, the future Tenchi that has just rescued Ayeka would have
no reason to have gone back and destroyed the gem. I mean... We destroy the gem, and
everything goes back to normal; we're all eating, everyone's happy, no one knows what all just
happened. Fine. That means that the timeline goes back to normal, meaning that we aren't here
anymore. And that means that everything will happen again, just as it did. Understand?"
Ayeka gave her a blank look.
"Ok, let me explain it this way. Say there's someone who you really, REALLY hate, and
you decide to kill them. You go back in time and kill them. Yay, happy snappy. That means that
that person ceases to exist in the future, from the point you killed them on. Without that person, all
the hate you had for them ceases to exist as well, so your reason to go back in time and kill the
person is eliminated. Thus, it all happens again, perhaps for the rest of eternity."
"Oh," Ayeka responded.
"Only, this time it's a *situation* that we hate and want to kill. When it's gone, we've lost
our reason to hate it, so there's no reason to go back and kill it in this future, so it all happens
again. Time loop."
"Terrible," Mihoshi said. "That's terrible. So what do we do?"
"That's the interesting part," Washu said, typing at her computer again. "We've got to
reconstruct time, just like they did. We've got to find a way to combine the effect of getting the
gem away from George *and* using their machines, or whatever, to cause time to reconstruct
itself naturally."
"How do we do that?"
Washu smiled. "Find a way to cause the gem to be destroyed just after the first time
reconstruction that started all this starts. As close to the start as we can get it, that is. As soon as the
people throw the lever, pull the switch, or whatever, to start the first time reconstruction, we need
the gem to be destroyed as soon after the reconstruction starts as is humanly possible."
"Hey! We could do that by slipping a bomb in the gem in the past!" Mihoshi suggested.
"Good idea, Mihoshi," Washu said. "We only have enough energy for one more time
transfer for Tenchi, and this one will be the most dangerous of all. We need to write him a note
and send him the bomb with the device that will blow up when the reconstruction starts."
"So what will all this do?" Katsuhito asked.
"As soon as the reconstruction starts, all of time from that point on is immune to
paradoxes," Washu explained. "As time is, after all, being redone. So when the gem explodes, time
will reconstruct itself in the normal way."
"Ah."
"Now, you people write him a note explaining that he is to try to insert the device I'm
making him into the gem. I'm going to make the bomb. How big was it?"
Katsuhito made a shape with his fingers. "About this big."
"Good enough," Washu said, smiling. "Let's hope and pray this time transfer works. And
that these things can be sent to him."
CHAPTER 18
Tenchi had no sooner dropped Sasami and the unconscious Ayeka off at a house to be
watched when his entire world was enveloped by an intense, bright white light. He felt as if he
were being torn into a million pieces, every one of those pieces being burned. After another few
seconds of this, everything returned to normal.
"Man, what an uncomfortable way to time travel," Tenchi mumbled to himself. "Let's see..."
*What did Washu tell me? If I get transfered somewhere else, there's more work to be done. There
will be instructions for me. But where?"
Tenchi was in a small, dark room. It was very stuffy. After a few moments, he realized
some sort of clothlike material was hanging around him. He felt something like a box behind
him...
A closet?
Tenchi felt around. His hand rested over a small piece of paper and a small device... a
VERY small device. He picked both up and stood, rubbing his other hand along the wall, looking
for a light switch or something...
Eventually he found one. He pressed it, and the light came on. He opened the letter.
"Dear Tenchi--
I hope you remember what George looks like; we've assumed that he's the leader of this big
thing as of now. It's the best assumption we can make while we're sitting caged up in some box, so
we're acting on it.
What you need to do is put this device in, on, whatever, the gem on George's bracelet. If you
have not seen his bracelet, it is on his left wrist, and it has a somewhat large gem on it. You need
to put this device on his writst.
Don't be around when this device goes off. You are positioned in time about half an hour
before the first time reconstruction. Right now, we are off in Japan somewhere eating dinner.
Thought you'd like to know that... Anyway, get this on the gem in half an hour, okay? And don't
be around when it goes off.
If the data I've gathered is correct, George is asleep right now, and he will remain asleep for the
next seventeen minutes... But don't take my word for it. I could be wrong.
Be strong; the end is near. Make it a good ending for us, Tenchi.
--Washu"
"Oh, great," Tenchi mumbled to himself. "I wonder where I am...?"
Tenchi shut the closet light off and stepped out of the closet. He stepped into a hallway; it
was dark. He could see through a couple windows in another room; it was nearly dark outside.
Tenchi crept out into the hallway and took a look around. He noticed a staircase to his left
and decided to take it and see if dear old George was upstairs.
Tenchi almost laughed aloud at when the words "dear old George" popped into his head.
They had trusted the freak, and he had betrayed him. Tenchi couldn't wait to get his revenge.
He crept up the stairs slowly, being as quiet as humanly possible. Although he could almost
tangibly feel the time ticking away, he knew that it'd do no good to wake George, and Tenchi had
no idea if George was a light or heavy sleeper, and he didn't see any sense in trying to find out. So
he crept silently.
He came to the top and stopped. A hallway ran in one direction to his right. There were
three doors in the short, dark hallway; one on either side, and one at the end. The door at the end
of the hallway was slightly ajar, and inside, in the dark, Tenchi could make out a toilet. It was a
bathroom. He would not be in there.
Tenchi crept in between the doors, stopped, and listened. In the door to his right he could
make out breathing sounds.
*Jackpot!* Tenchi thought.
He opened the door with extreme care. As it turned out, the door did not make a single
sound; it slid open quietly. Tenchi thanked his god numerous times before creeping into the room,
being careful for any creaking boards, objects to bump into, or, Tenchi thought with unease,
booby traps.
It seemed an eternity before he reached the side of the bed and peered at the sleeping face
of George. Tenchi sat there, staring at the man, fear clutching at his heart like a tangible hand. His
throat was dry and sweat poured down his forehead. He expected, at any moment, for George's
eyes to simply pop open. Then Tenchi would have failed this mission and George would get
Tsunami's power and...
Tenchi pushed these thoughts aside and carefully examined the man's sleeping body. He
was sleeping on his left side; his left arm was under his body. Tenchi carefully lifted one of the
blankets. His hand, bracelet on wrist, stuck out.
*Attach anywhere,* Tenchi's brain told him. *Do it and get the heck out of here.*
Tenchi glanced at his watch and was shocked to notice that he had spent twelve minutes
sneaking upstairs and into this room. He only had seven minutes left.
*Remember, Tenchi,* his brain seemed to say to him. *Washu said she wasn't sure exactly
how long you had; you better get this done as quickly as you can.*
Tenchi pulled the little device out of his pocket. He felt it; it had some clips on it. It was
very, very tiny... He hoped that George would not notice it. It was very tiny, very VERY tiny,
but... still...
*JUST DO IT!*
Tenchi reached out and clipped the device on the bracelet next to the gem. He held his
breath for a moment, waiting for George to awaken and discover him, waiting for all the plans to
fail, waiting for anything.
Nothing happened.
*I've almost made it,* Tenchi thought. *Now I've just got to get out of here and
everything's successful...*
"Oh, geeze," George said quietly.
Tenchi froze as panic tore over him. He felt gooseflesh build all over him; his arms, neck,
even his legs. His whole body tingled with sudden shock, fear, wonder...
*DO SOMETHING! HE'S WAKING UP!*
Tenchi dropped quietly to his stomach and rolled under George's bed. He laid there,
practically holding his breath, just waiting for anything to happen.
George stirred above him. The bed-springs creaked slightly, and Tenchi could hear him
moving under his blanket.
"Cripes, what time is it?" came George's sleep-fogged voice. There was a moment of
silence, then, "CRAP!"
George practically leapt out of his bed. Tenchi froze, became as stiff as metal. He did not
move at all, and he almost dared not breathe. He laid there, listening...
Things opening, the sound of cloth. George was getting out clothes. Tenchi watched as
clothes fell to the floor, and he heard George pulling on the new clothes. Eventually he heard the
spray of spray-deodorant.
"No time for a shower," Tenchi heard George grumble. "I'll take one after the stupid
reconstruction... What the..."
*Oh, my God,* Tenchi thought. *He's found it...*
boulder from the outside. This must be where the dragon enters, Ayeka decided.
She looked around. The walls were smooth, without holes or anything. There was no way
she could move that boulder; there was no way forty men could move that boulder. That was out
of the question. The only option was that tiny little hole in the wall, which was very high up.
And under the hole was a small foothold. It was very small. A child might be able to use it
to climb out the window, but no adults could, most likely; their large feet would slip right off.
"Sasami, if you can get your foot on that tiny little rock up there, you can climb out," Ayeka
said, knowing very well that if Sasami did get out...
"Okay," Sasami said. Apparently her train of thought had not reached the place where
Ayeka's was at the moment. Just as well. If she knew what Ayeka knew, Sasami would most likely
not go up.
"I'll give you a boost," Ayeka said. "As high as I can push you. If you can get your foot on
that rock, you'll probably be able to reach the hole and climb out. Ignore the pain, Sasami... Just
climb. Your life depends on it."
"Right," Sasami said, a terribly grim look on her face.
Ayeka laced her fingers together and held them knee-high. Sasami placed her left foot in
Ayeka's hands and placed her left hand on Ayeka's shoulder.
"Ready?" Ayeka asked. "You're going to have to jump with it."
"I'm ready," Sasami replied.
"Okay," Ayeka said. "One... Two... Three."
Ayeka pushed Sasami up with all her might. Sasami's right foot caught the rock and she
shoved herself upward, using some of the force of Ayeka's boost. Her right hand caught the edge
of the hole.
"Go, Sasami, climb!" Ayeka said, pushing her sister's foot higher. The little girl's foot was
up to her shoulder now. She bent over to get a better position to push from and began pushing her
sister's foot higher and higher as the girl got closer and closer to climbing out.
Finally, Sasami's foot was beyond Ayeka's reach; she could not help Sasami any more. She
watched as Sasami struggled to crawl out, crying all the while, but ignoring the terrible pain in her
back. Ayeka prayed a soft prayer that her sister would make it out...
Finally her feet were lost to sight. Moments later the little girl's face appeared in the hole.
This time her face was blanketed with concern.
*She's figured it out,* Ayeka thought to herself.
"Ayeka...?" Sasami said, her voice shaking, sounding almost on the verge of tears. "How...
How are you going to get out?"
"Sasami, you're the best sister I've ever had," Ayeka responded. She did not add that Sasami
was the only sister she had ever had. That was not necessary; if there had been one hundred
sisters, Sasami would have been the best, and both knew it, though Sasami would be modest and
deny it. "Get out of here. Run."
"No, I'm not leaving you!" Sasami sobbed. She rubbed her muddy cheeks, which only
smeared everything up. "I'm not leaving. I'll help you out."
"There's no way you can," Ayeka responded. "Sasami, the dragon will come back to eat me
soon, probably. You're alive; go! Go now!"
"I'm coming back in," Sasami said, sticking her foot through the hole.
"Don't you dare," Ayeka said. "Or I'll kill myself; I swear I will."
Sasami turned back around. "You'll WHAT?"
"I'm doomed anyway," Ayeka replied. "I said, if you come back in here, I'll kill myself.
Now go. Run. Find help, just get away from here."
"Ayeka..." Sasami cried, tears flowing freely, her small shoulders wracking in desperate
tears. "Please don't make me leave you to the dr... dragon..."
"Go," Ayeka said firmly, her own voice shaking. "Go."
"Ayeka!" Sasami half-screamed, half-sobbed. "Ayeka I love you and I won't leave you!"
"If you love me, go," Ayeka said, sitting down on a rock. "Somehow... This will be...
resolved..."
"Ayeka..."
"Go," Ayeka said, a tear slipping out of her left eye.
Sasami stared through the hole, her eyes overflowing with tears.
"G... Go," Ayeka said in a low, dreadful tone.
"Sis, I love you," Sasami said, then stood. Tears blurred everything in sight, but she ignored
them. She turned and started walking away from the hole in the huge rock.
Walking away was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. No person her age
should ever be forced to leave behind a sibling that they know is going to die; it's just not fair.
She walked, putting one foot in front of the other. A sickening force of anger overwhelmed
her. Anger, severe sadness, terrible thoughts... She wasn't sure how much she could take. She kept
moving on and on. So many times she resisted the temptation to just turn back around and fly
back to the hole and go back in, no matter what Ayeka had said, but Ayeka's words kept ringing
in her ears...
"If you love me, go."
Yes, Sasami loved her older sister more than anything.
*She's giving up her life for me,* Sasami thought. *It's... It's MY fault that she's going to
die.*
This thought filled her brain. Shaken by the sheer terror that came with that thought, she
broke out into a desperate run. She wanted to die in that moment. She wanted to die with her sister,
but her sister's last wish, apparently, was that her younger sister should live, and by gosh that was
what she was going to do.
*I'm going to survive,* Sasami thought to herself. *For Ayeka.*
CHAPTER 15
Knowing that you have given your life for someone else is a strangely bittersweet feeling.
One the one hand, Ayeka knew she was going to die, and die horribly. She would have to
sit in this small cave, knowing what was coming, the minutes stretching into hours, hours into
days, whatever. She would just sit here, thinking about her impending doom, for however long it
took the dragon to get hungry. Then he would come in here; there would be no place to run, no
place to hide. The dragon would catch her, rip her to pieces, chew her up, swallow her.
On the other hand, she knew that she had given her all for her little sister. The strange
feeling of being a hero washed over her. Also the wonderful feeling that her sister would be safe
enveloped her. Sasami would survive, she somehow knew that.
So Ayeka sat and waited. There was nothing else to do. Occasionally she broke out into
tears; she would never again see her sister, her father or mother... Well, perhaps she would see
them again, eventually, in the afterlife. She knew she'd meet up with Humyah; that thought was
comforting. She could thank him for all he had tried to do.
She could thank the man that had taken her into his house... What was his name? It all
seemed so distant now. Somehow, the past just didn't seem to matter. She was here, in the here and
now, waiting for everything to end horribly.
Waiting. Waiting for death.
This is another thing no person so young should have to experience; waiting for death.
Waiting for it to knock.
Ayeka sat and waited.
The rock covering the huge hole in the small cave moved slightly. Rock being ground
against rock was heard.
Tears rose in Ayeka's throat, and she held back desperate tears.
It was time.
CHAPTER 16
"What's that?!" Tenchi asked, stopping the group.
They all stopped and listened. They heard footsteps in the hall behind them.
Nothing had changed. The hall was completely featureless; just a long, white hall. They had
started running in the direction George had pointed them and just kept running. There had been a
door or two, but other than that, nothing. They had run and run, and George had insisted that it
was just a little farther... that this was just like his dream... That they were truly getting close.
"Someone's coming," George said, fear creeping into his eyes.
"We don't have time for a fight," Washu said, glancing at her small, handheld computer.
"According to my readout something's about to change in the past, and this change will certainly
do us no good. It seems as though Ayeka's about to die."
Ayeka turned completely white. "Wh... What did you say?" Ayeka asked, gulping.
"You are about to be..." Washu paused, looking over the readout several times, as if not
believing what she were reading. "You are about to be... eaten," Washu said.
"What?!" Ayeka shrieked.
"Shhh," Tenchi said softly.
"What??" Ayeka repeated in a horrified whisper.
"I... don't... You're about to be..."
"But... If that's in the past, hasn't it already happened?!" Ayeka asked hysterically. "I mean,
if it's in the past, shouldn't I be dead right now?"
"Technically, yes," Washu said, typing quickly at her computer. Far behind them, the
footsteps could still be heard; the people were gaining. "But it appears that... Well, that the past is,
kind of, occuring as the present occurs."
"I don't get it," Ayeka said, drawing closer to Washu.
"Everything about this time-changing business has been strange," Washu said, typing
furiously at the little black device in her palm. "It appears that the past is being changed as we
speak... It's not as if it has been undone and restructured again... This time its more like it's being
over-recorded. Do you see what I'm saying? Everything in the past has been done, yes, but it
appears that there is a sort of 'present' in the past which is moving along at the same rate our true
present is moving. It is 'over-recording' the points in time in the past that it passes, and in the
'present' in the past, you are about to be eaten."
"...Oh," Ayeka responded softly. "So... When I'm eaten..."
"You'll simply cease to exist in this present," Washu stated softly.
"Wonderful," Ayeka responded.
"Let's get moving!" Katsuhito urged them. "The people behind us are..."
"Here!" George shouted.
Near the back of the huge hall small dots--running men--could be seen. All watched for just
a moment before turning and running.
Before they even knew what was happened, laser bolts were flying by them. They streaked
by with deadly force and speed, and everyone put all the energy they could muster into their run.
There was a shout and a thump. Everyone turned around to see George lying on the
ground, clutching his leg, which was bleeding profusely. Tenchi made a move to help, but George
waved his hand.
"Don't waste time!" George shouted. "Just GO!"
"I could carry..." Ryoko started.
"GO!" George shouted.
They turned back to run, and Tenchi called over his shoulder, "You'll never be forgotten,
George... A true hero."
George smiled.
"Hero, ha," he called back.
Tenchi stopped short as something blue flashed in front of him. He took a step back and
saw that it was the blue wall of a force field. He turned around and looked behind him. There was
a force field wall there, too.
They were boxed in.
George laughed loudly and jumped to his feet. He pressed a button on a device on his leg,
and all the blood simply ceased to exist, as if it had never been there.
"Idiots," George laughed. "Okay, guys, you can stop your fire," he called to the men behind
him.
"Wha...?!" Tenchi breathed, astounded, angered. "You TRICKED us?!"
"Sure," George replied. "Boxing you guys up in a shield that prevents use of Jurai energy
was the easiest way to capture you."
"But... Why do you want to capture us?!" Washu asked.
"Easy enough," the man responded. "I work for a man who desperately wants the power of
Tsunami, which rests in Sasami. All we have to do is use Juraian energy to extract this power, and
then it's ours. And, since none of us own any Juraian powers, we have to steal them! Simple
enough, isn't it?"
"But... How can you use Juraian powers that belong to US?" Tenchi asked.
"Using simply miraculous machines we've invented for just that purpose," George replied.
"Well, you guys have fun in there. Your use of Juraian energy is completely blocked; there's no
way to escape. You're stuck. Katsuhito and Tenchi, be prepared; extraction of Juraian power is
*very* painful. See you all around."
Ryoko pulled back her fist and slammed the force field hard, which sent blue ripples up and
down its side. "I'll KILL you if I ever get my hands on you!" she shouted.
George walked down the hall, ignoring her. He moved out of sight after a while.
Tenchi tried to access Jurai powers, but as George had said, all access was cut off. He
couldn't access even the smallest amount of power.
"That explains it all," Washu replied, falling down to the ground and sitting with her back
against the wall. "The attacks against Ayeka and Sasami... I guess it would be much easier to
access the powers of Tsunami if Sasami was dead..."
"Washu, can't you get us out of here?" Tenchi asked, sitting beside her.
"I don't think so," Washu responded. "The only way I can think of out of here is with time
travel, which is extremely risky without superior equipment around... And which is also somewhat
prevented by the wall blocking movement in time."
Washu picked up her handheld computer and flipped it on. Strange diagrams appeared
which Tenchi did not understand. Washu turned the screen to show Tenchi. "See?" she asked,
pointing to a line which was moving across a bar. "Time barrier... Can't move back..."
"What's that?" Tenchi asked, pointing to a small dot on the bar.
Washu turned her computer around quickly in her hand and looked at the screen. Her eyes
widened. She looked back up to Tenchi, wide-eyed.
"What?" Tenchi asked.
Excited, Washu leaned forward and kissed Tenchi on the cheek. "GENIUS!" she shouted.
"GENIUS!"
"Wha... what?!" Tenchi asked, confused.
"That's a break in their barrier!"
"What?!"
"That's a faulty point! We can get through the time barrier!" she exclaimed.
"But isn't it risky?" Tenchi asked.
"Think of the alternative," Washu responded. "If they get ahold of Tsunami's powers,
there's almost nothing they can't do. On the other hand, if we can prevent them from getting
Tsunami's powers, and return to our normal timeline, everything will be normal. So even if you
die, if we could succeed, you could still live."
"So, I'm the one to be moved back in time?" Tenchi asked, feeling his chest become heavy.
"Yes, naturally," Washu responded. "There's only one problem..."
"What? What?" Sasami asked eagerly.
"I'm just the tiniest bit short of energy," Washu said, her mouth forming a crooked smile.
"To insure that Tenchi gets where he's supposed to be, in one piece... Or, anyways, to *relatively*
insure all that... Nothing is certain in time travel... I need just a bit more energy... I have access to
large amounts of energy in my lab, but that's not enough. I need just a tiny..."
Ryoko pulled a couple batteries out of her pocket. "I stole these from Ayeka," she said with
a tiny laugh. "Will they help any?"
"They will if I can find a way to convert them to the kind of energy I need," Washu said
with a smile.
"Oh, Ryoko!" Ayeka said in glee. "I never thought I'd be so happy that you stole something
from me!"
Ryoko laughed. "Never thought you'd be happy, period," she said, handing the batteries to
Washu. "I thought you'd be trying to fight me right here and now."
"You stole the batteries, so what?" Ayeka responded, a strangely insane smile crossing her
lips. "I'm about to be eaten; what can I say?"
Ryoko laughed again.
Washu took some other device out of her pocket and pried it open as quickly as she could.
The others watched as she furiously messed with the insides, changing things around, hooking
different wires together, moving pieces around. Finally she hooked the two batteries to the device
and set it on the ground.
"This... should... work," she said, placing emphasis on the word 'should'. "I'm not sure
though. You sure you want to try?" she asked Tenchi.
"Did I have a choice?" Tenchi responded somewhat gloomily.
"No," Washu replied with a silly grin. "I just wanted to make sure I had a clear conscience if
you died; at least I somewhat offered you an out."
Tenchi laughed. "Send me wherever you want, Washu."
Washu nodded. "Hold on. If I'm right, this is going to be a really bumpy ride for you."
CHAPTER 16
The grinding stopped. The hole in the side of the cave was wide open. The sunlight flooded
in and blinded Ayeka, whose eyes were completely accustomed to the dark.
She stared at the hole. She had cried her eyes dry. Now she stared, waiting for her death.
Then, her death stepped into the doorway. The huge dragon, its wicked scales reflecting the
sun like a thousand little mirrors; its massive wings like sails on a boat; its tail, like some sea
serpent; the huge feet, with those huge talons that had left the nasty, gaping holes in her back; the
small but powerful arms, each finger clawed as well; its gaping jaws, which dripped saliva and
boasted huge teeth; and its black, deadly eyes. That was what her death looked like.
The dragon snarled. It pulled its wings in to its body and ducked its head so it could fit in
through the huge hole, which was somewhat small to a creature that size. For a moment it was
almost completely dark again, as the dragon pressed its way in.
For the tiniest moment Ayeka was overcome with the desire to fight the thing, but it died
quickly. How could she possibly fight it, and would it do any good against a thing like that? No, it
was hopeless.
Ayeka sat and waited.
The dragon finally pushed its way past the door. The light streamed in behind the dragon.
The light, coming from its back, gave it a strange effect, as if the beams of light were originating
from the dragon itself, as if it were some heavenyly being.
The dragon snarled again, this time a puff of smoke coming out of each nostril. It made a
few shuffling steps towards Ayeka, its head ducked low so it wouldn't hit the ceiling.
Deep within its throat there was a rumbling, a combination of hard sounds and high sounds,
which seemed to produce a voice which said:
"Where has the other gone?"
"I helped her escape," Ayeka said defiantly, rising to her feet. "I don't care what you do to
me, I want you to know that I helped my sister escape, so HA!"
"Human," the grating, ugly, growling voice seemed to say. "I'm going to rip your body like
a ragdoll before I devour you."
Ayeka tried to keep the defiant look on her face, but knew she was most likely failing. The
words pronounced struck complete terror in her, and she knew it very well. She knew the dragon
was not joking; she was to have a painful death before being devoured.
One clawed foot came up. The dragon opened its toes, as if showing off its huge claws. If
huffed and smoke came out of its nostrils again.
Ayeka braced herself.
The claw swung, and her eyes snapped shut.
There was no impact. Instead there was a high, howling scream. Ayeka felt something
splatter all over her face and arms. Her eyes flew open and took in what had happened.
The a huge, clawed dragon toe lay quite far away from her. She followed a trail of black
blood to the dragon's foot, which was missing one toe. By the toe was a boy, perhaps 17 or 18,
with spiked black hair and a rat tail coming out the back of his hair. He was very tall and tan, and
in his hand he held a blue sword, which shined with some sort of angelic force.
Ayeka crawled away from the scene and watched the events as they unfolded.
The dragon's head has whipped up as it had screamed in pain, Ayeka knew, for she could
see a place in the ceiling of rock where rock had been knocked loose.
Now the dragon sucked in a huge breath, drawing its head back. The boy's sword
disappeared and he crossed his arms in front of him. The dragon's head snapped forward and
opened its mouth, breathing out the breath it had brought in. A river of fire blew out from its
mouth, and Ayeka's world was surrounded by fire.
*I'm dead,* was the first thought that crossed her mind, but then she noticed that she was
not burning, only uncomfortably warm. She looked around. The fire, coming at them in a constant
stream, seemed to split in half a few feet in front of the boy, flow around him in two separate
pillars, flow straight past Ayeka, one pillar of fire on each side of her, and on to the other wall of
the cave.
Eventually the dragon lost its breath. It drew back its head, sucking in another, knowing
that the boy couldn't keep his power shield up forever. The boy, not waiting for the dragon to
draw in its breath, jumped incredibly high and threw the sword over his head in a shining arc. The
blade slid through the dragon's stomach. Fire spilled out of the incision, and the as the creature
screamed fire blasted out of its mouth, bounced off the ceiling, and burned its face.
The boy let himself fall, keeping the sword planted in the dragon's body. It made a cut all
the way down to the bottom of its legs. The dragon howled and screamed and began to thrash
wildly. The boy was kicked and slammed into the opposite wall.
Amazingly, he got back up and charged the dragon again. The dragon was trying to effect a
retreat out of the cave, where it would stand a chance in a fight, but it took another nasty cut. It
howled and kicked the boy again. He landed on his back this time a few feet away from Ayeka.
"You stay here," the boy told her. Ayeka nodded.
The boy rushed over to the dragon, who was halfway out the door. He raised his sword and
shouted a war cry. Ayeka could see the sword grow brighter and brighter as the boy powered his
sword more and more. Then he made a leap that was simply impossible and planted his sword into
the dragon's heart. Beams of energy blasted out of the stab wound and hit the walls of the cave,
which caused explosions. Blood sprayed everywhere in a tidal wave and soaked everything.
The dragon gave a terrible scream and fell backwards out of the hole in the wall. It gave on
last terrible cry before lying still on its back. Ayeka watched in amazement as the creature faded
from view and was gone, as if it had never been there.
The boy walked back over to the trembling Ayeka and helped her to her feet. "It'll be okay
soon," he told her. "Let me help you find somewhere to stay. This nightmare is almost over.
Okay?"
Ayeka nodded, and burst into tears.
Somehow, with this boy, she felt... safe.
The boy took her into his arms and hugged her for a long, long time as she cried her heart
out. She cried out her fear of death, her insecurity, her hunger, her anger, her sadness, her worry...
She cried out her whole heart.
"It's okay," the boy said at length. "Now, we've got to hurry. Your sister is still in danger;
we need to find somewhere to put you until things can be changed."
She looked through tear-swollen eyes, not knowing what to say.
"When things get... changed," the boy explained. "You won't remember a single thing
about any of this. It will be like it had never happened."
This boy spoke with a strange knowledge, it seemed, and Ayeka trusted him completely. It
was an almost irrational trust, but Ayeka had looked her death in the eye and survived, so
rationality didn't amount to a hill of beans to her at the moment.
"AYEKA!"
Both heads snapped toward the hole in the wall. There stood little Sasami.
Ayeka fainted. She never remembered being carried away.
CHAPTER 17
"His work there is done," Washu responded.
"Who did you say that dragon was?" Katsuhito asked.
"I did a scan on him," Washu explained. "Using a probe I'd sent with Tenchi. That wasn't
exactly a dragon. You see, a whole bunch of people are in this plot to take Tsunami's powers, and
that dragon was one of them. Using superior time-manipulation techniques, the likes of which I've
never seen before, these people are actually turning the past into some kind of fantasy make-
believe world. They assume great power over their surroundings... Apparenly this guy made
himself a dragon. His goal was to kill Sasami, but she escaped..."
"Why didn't you just let me die?" Ayeka asked. "You wouldn't have known, and I wouldn't
have known, and when you got the timeline back to normal everything would have been
wonderful and I'd be alive again."
"You have a link with Sasami," Washu explained. "It's very weird, I know... But you have a
certain link with her that that dragon-man would have traced. He would have caught right up with
Sasami, caught her, killed her quickly, and then everything would be done with. We'd be beat, end
of story. I thought you were listening when I explained this?"
"I was worrying," Ayeka replied, blushing a little. "It's not every day that you're faced with
the fact that at any given second you might cease to exist. I was a little preoccupied with worry."
"Understandable," Washu replied. "Now we've got to try to find out, very quickly, who the
leader of this great plot is, or find some way to undo all of this, or whatever."
"How do we undo all this?" Katsuhito asked.
"There's got to be some way," Washu replied. "We've got to cut off the damage from the
source. But I don't know where the source is, or how to cut it off..."
"I wonder," Katsuhito mused. "Perhaps George is the leader."
Washu's eyes flicked over to Katsuhito. "What did you say?"
"Perhaps George is the leader in this plot to take Tsunami's power," Katsuhito stated.
"How do you come up with that?" Washu asked. "Honestly, my guess would have been that
he was just a pawn used to gather all of us together and trap us."
"He was wearing a bracelet with what looked like a gem on it," Katsuhito said. "Somewhat
like what Ryoko wears. At the time I saw it I had dismissed it as a fancy charm or something;
perhaps a good luck charm. Perhaps none of you noticed that, as he walked off, after he had
trapped us, the gem on his wrist was glowing."
"What?" Washu asked. "Really?!"
"Yes."
Washu tapped her little computer for a moment. "Okay, I'm looking at a log real quick...
This little device was set on 'autospy'... a little function that causes it to track certain present
conditions, even while off... It tracks air pressure and content, loud sounds, the such, and, most
importantly, energy signatures." She paused for a moment. "Ah! Yes! Here it is. Roughly around
the time that we found out that all his 'blood' was really just a hologram, energy signatures coming
from his location spiked. As he walked off, the signatures were bouncing off the chart." Washu
raised her eyes. "Now I believe your theory."
"He said he had no Juraian power," Katsuhito continued. "But that could be a lie. Right
now, however, the assumption needs to be made that the destruction of the gem will cut off his
power."
"If we can destroy the gem just after it was made," Washu continued for Katsuhito. "Then
we can assume that he will be left without power, that his quest will be ruined, and history will be
changed... everything will be back to normal. However, this would present a time paradox; by
preventing any of this from happening, the future Tenchi that has just rescued Ayeka would have
no reason to have gone back and destroyed the gem. I mean... We destroy the gem, and
everything goes back to normal; we're all eating, everyone's happy, no one knows what all just
happened. Fine. That means that the timeline goes back to normal, meaning that we aren't here
anymore. And that means that everything will happen again, just as it did. Understand?"
Ayeka gave her a blank look.
"Ok, let me explain it this way. Say there's someone who you really, REALLY hate, and
you decide to kill them. You go back in time and kill them. Yay, happy snappy. That means that
that person ceases to exist in the future, from the point you killed them on. Without that person, all
the hate you had for them ceases to exist as well, so your reason to go back in time and kill the
person is eliminated. Thus, it all happens again, perhaps for the rest of eternity."
"Oh," Ayeka responded.
"Only, this time it's a *situation* that we hate and want to kill. When it's gone, we've lost
our reason to hate it, so there's no reason to go back and kill it in this future, so it all happens
again. Time loop."
"Terrible," Mihoshi said. "That's terrible. So what do we do?"
"That's the interesting part," Washu said, typing at her computer again. "We've got to
reconstruct time, just like they did. We've got to find a way to combine the effect of getting the
gem away from George *and* using their machines, or whatever, to cause time to reconstruct
itself naturally."
"How do we do that?"
Washu smiled. "Find a way to cause the gem to be destroyed just after the first time
reconstruction that started all this starts. As close to the start as we can get it, that is. As soon as the
people throw the lever, pull the switch, or whatever, to start the first time reconstruction, we need
the gem to be destroyed as soon after the reconstruction starts as is humanly possible."
"Hey! We could do that by slipping a bomb in the gem in the past!" Mihoshi suggested.
"Good idea, Mihoshi," Washu said. "We only have enough energy for one more time
transfer for Tenchi, and this one will be the most dangerous of all. We need to write him a note
and send him the bomb with the device that will blow up when the reconstruction starts."
"So what will all this do?" Katsuhito asked.
"As soon as the reconstruction starts, all of time from that point on is immune to
paradoxes," Washu explained. "As time is, after all, being redone. So when the gem explodes, time
will reconstruct itself in the normal way."
"Ah."
"Now, you people write him a note explaining that he is to try to insert the device I'm
making him into the gem. I'm going to make the bomb. How big was it?"
Katsuhito made a shape with his fingers. "About this big."
"Good enough," Washu said, smiling. "Let's hope and pray this time transfer works. And
that these things can be sent to him."
CHAPTER 18
Tenchi had no sooner dropped Sasami and the unconscious Ayeka off at a house to be
watched when his entire world was enveloped by an intense, bright white light. He felt as if he
were being torn into a million pieces, every one of those pieces being burned. After another few
seconds of this, everything returned to normal.
"Man, what an uncomfortable way to time travel," Tenchi mumbled to himself. "Let's see..."
*What did Washu tell me? If I get transfered somewhere else, there's more work to be done. There
will be instructions for me. But where?"
Tenchi was in a small, dark room. It was very stuffy. After a few moments, he realized
some sort of clothlike material was hanging around him. He felt something like a box behind
him...
A closet?
Tenchi felt around. His hand rested over a small piece of paper and a small device... a
VERY small device. He picked both up and stood, rubbing his other hand along the wall, looking
for a light switch or something...
Eventually he found one. He pressed it, and the light came on. He opened the letter.
"Dear Tenchi--
I hope you remember what George looks like; we've assumed that he's the leader of this big
thing as of now. It's the best assumption we can make while we're sitting caged up in some box, so
we're acting on it.
What you need to do is put this device in, on, whatever, the gem on George's bracelet. If you
have not seen his bracelet, it is on his left wrist, and it has a somewhat large gem on it. You need
to put this device on his writst.
Don't be around when this device goes off. You are positioned in time about half an hour
before the first time reconstruction. Right now, we are off in Japan somewhere eating dinner.
Thought you'd like to know that... Anyway, get this on the gem in half an hour, okay? And don't
be around when it goes off.
If the data I've gathered is correct, George is asleep right now, and he will remain asleep for the
next seventeen minutes... But don't take my word for it. I could be wrong.
Be strong; the end is near. Make it a good ending for us, Tenchi.
--Washu"
"Oh, great," Tenchi mumbled to himself. "I wonder where I am...?"
Tenchi shut the closet light off and stepped out of the closet. He stepped into a hallway; it
was dark. He could see through a couple windows in another room; it was nearly dark outside.
Tenchi crept out into the hallway and took a look around. He noticed a staircase to his left
and decided to take it and see if dear old George was upstairs.
Tenchi almost laughed aloud at when the words "dear old George" popped into his head.
They had trusted the freak, and he had betrayed him. Tenchi couldn't wait to get his revenge.
He crept up the stairs slowly, being as quiet as humanly possible. Although he could almost
tangibly feel the time ticking away, he knew that it'd do no good to wake George, and Tenchi had
no idea if George was a light or heavy sleeper, and he didn't see any sense in trying to find out. So
he crept silently.
He came to the top and stopped. A hallway ran in one direction to his right. There were
three doors in the short, dark hallway; one on either side, and one at the end. The door at the end
of the hallway was slightly ajar, and inside, in the dark, Tenchi could make out a toilet. It was a
bathroom. He would not be in there.
Tenchi crept in between the doors, stopped, and listened. In the door to his right he could
make out breathing sounds.
*Jackpot!* Tenchi thought.
He opened the door with extreme care. As it turned out, the door did not make a single
sound; it slid open quietly. Tenchi thanked his god numerous times before creeping into the room,
being careful for any creaking boards, objects to bump into, or, Tenchi thought with unease,
booby traps.
It seemed an eternity before he reached the side of the bed and peered at the sleeping face
of George. Tenchi sat there, staring at the man, fear clutching at his heart like a tangible hand. His
throat was dry and sweat poured down his forehead. He expected, at any moment, for George's
eyes to simply pop open. Then Tenchi would have failed this mission and George would get
Tsunami's power and...
Tenchi pushed these thoughts aside and carefully examined the man's sleeping body. He
was sleeping on his left side; his left arm was under his body. Tenchi carefully lifted one of the
blankets. His hand, bracelet on wrist, stuck out.
*Attach anywhere,* Tenchi's brain told him. *Do it and get the heck out of here.*
Tenchi glanced at his watch and was shocked to notice that he had spent twelve minutes
sneaking upstairs and into this room. He only had seven minutes left.
*Remember, Tenchi,* his brain seemed to say to him. *Washu said she wasn't sure exactly
how long you had; you better get this done as quickly as you can.*
Tenchi pulled the little device out of his pocket. He felt it; it had some clips on it. It was
very, very tiny... He hoped that George would not notice it. It was very tiny, very VERY tiny,
but... still...
*JUST DO IT!*
Tenchi reached out and clipped the device on the bracelet next to the gem. He held his
breath for a moment, waiting for George to awaken and discover him, waiting for all the plans to
fail, waiting for anything.
Nothing happened.
*I've almost made it,* Tenchi thought. *Now I've just got to get out of here and
everything's successful...*
"Oh, geeze," George said quietly.
Tenchi froze as panic tore over him. He felt gooseflesh build all over him; his arms, neck,
even his legs. His whole body tingled with sudden shock, fear, wonder...
*DO SOMETHING! HE'S WAKING UP!*
Tenchi dropped quietly to his stomach and rolled under George's bed. He laid there,
practically holding his breath, just waiting for anything to happen.
George stirred above him. The bed-springs creaked slightly, and Tenchi could hear him
moving under his blanket.
"Cripes, what time is it?" came George's sleep-fogged voice. There was a moment of
silence, then, "CRAP!"
George practically leapt out of his bed. Tenchi froze, became as stiff as metal. He did not
move at all, and he almost dared not breathe. He laid there, listening...
Things opening, the sound of cloth. George was getting out clothes. Tenchi watched as
clothes fell to the floor, and he heard George pulling on the new clothes. Eventually he heard the
spray of spray-deodorant.
"No time for a shower," Tenchi heard George grumble. "I'll take one after the stupid
reconstruction... What the..."
*Oh, my God,* Tenchi thought. *He's found it...*
