Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Tenchi characters Pioneer does. Matt is my character however and if you would like to use him please obtain my permission first.
Setting the Stage
"I can understand why my lord would give Ryoko back her life force," said the voice, "But you, he would be better off if you were still in that coma."
Ayeka woke with a start. The familiar voice jolted her from her uneasy sleep. Sitting up Ayeka looked to the end of her bed and felt a shiver run down her spine at the sight of the woman. Sor-ra-eyu looked exactly as the last time Ayeka had laid eyes on her. She still wore a long brown coat open in front revealing her tightly clothed, buxom, and very well shaped body. The purple star in her strange eyes gleamed along with the serpentine pendant she wore around her neck. Ayeka felt a twinge of fear hearing that smooth confident voice again. The first princess knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation, not that anything had been pleasant in the past few days.
"How dare you come into my room unannounced," Ayeka shouted shrilly trying to sound commanding.
"Be quiet," Sor-ra-eyu shouted back and Ayeka felt her anger wash away as those eyes bore into her's, "If I had a corporeal form I'd strangle you here and now. After all my master has done for you, you go and repay him by locking him in a cell."
"After all he has done," Ayeka shrieked finding her anger again, "All your "lord" has done is cause trouble and nearly kill Tenchi on more than one occasion."
"Let me set the record straight for you princess," the tall woman sneered, "It was your Tenchi that started the fight between the two of them both times not Matt. He was only defending himself when Ryoko attacked him and he gave his life to heal her then. As to the trouble caused trying to revive him you should blame me not him for that. Besides in the end he gave you back your life force and the life force of that boy you claim to love. He won't admit it but in the darkness loneliness of his soul he regrets not letting me live as a mortal."
"Pine away," Ayeka laughed at the spirit, "Matt loves Ryoko it's plain to see, not that it matters much with him imprisoned,"
"That's right," Sor-ra-eyu began sarcastically, "You him locked up for saving your people during the crash and again for healing that insipid boy Tenchi. I can't wait for my lord to learn the truth about what your father did to his ancestors for their good deeds. I imagine that he won't be happy, especially with what Azusa has planned for Ryoko."
"What do you mean," Ayeka asked worried now.
"Think about it princess," Sor-ra-eyu explained with a slow, evil smile, "My master has full command of his essence along with being a weapons master. Once he gets angry enough no cell will be able to hold him and the damage he'll cause will make that crash look like a firecracker. If I were you princess I would make amends and fast or after he is done with your father Matt will come for you and there will be nothing you can do to stop him."
Laughing manically Sor-ra-eyu vanished with a flash leaving Ayeka wondering if what the spirit said was true. Ayeka held no doubts that Matt was powerful, but was he as strong as the Sor-ra-eyu claimed? Knowing sleep was going to elude her this night Ayeka rose and swiftly dressed. Matt's dream woman had brought up some valid arguments on his behalf, but before she went to see him she had to be sure Matt was the threat Sor-ra-eyu claimed he was. Opening her door Ayeka stepped into the well lit hall hoping she remembered where Washu's suite was.
"I have failed mistress," Serendus admitted kneeling before her court, "I lost control and revealed myself to the Gem bearer and slew the crown prince/"
"My dear emissary," coed the regal woman from on high, "You have not failed, only been lead astray by your feelings. Your desire for her overwhelmed your senses and the Guardians weapon was beyond your control. No lasting harm is done, in fact all is better than I had hoped."
"How is that Mistress," Serendus asked confused, "The crown prince is dead and at my hand."
"Tenchi yet lives, healed by the guardian after you escaped," Serendus relaxed visibly at hearing these words and listened intently as his mistress continued, "You must return to Jurai and complete your mission, bring me Washu and the Gems."
"As you wish," Serendus lowered his head as he tried to work up the courage to make his request.
"I sense doubt in you my emissary what troubles you so," his majesty asked sensing his disease, so unusual in this one.
"When I held the Guardians weapon it granted me skills far beyond my own," Serendus explained shakily, "I fear to fail you should I face him in battle my lady."
"Then I shall ease your mind my servant," she promised causing him to look into her gem like eyes, "The guardian has been imprisoned once again, but I know that will not satisfy you. Should you face the Guardian in combat I grant you leave to take the Dreadaleus."
"I thank you mistress," Serendus said bowing his head once again, "I shall not fail you."
"You cannot fail me Serendus," the mighty woman spoke with a twinge of anger, "You are my emissary and beyond any in this existence."
With that the audience came to an end and Serendus found himself alone in the great hall once again. His faith restored Serendus rose to his feet and flexed his hands. His mistress was right, nothing could stand in his way, not the Gem bearer, not the Guardian, not even Washu would stop him from carrying out her will. Drawing upon the powers of her realm Serendus summoned a travel ring to take him to where the mighty Dreadaleus was stored. He grinned when he thought of marvelous weapon, with it not even teh Guardian's deadly skills would be enough.
He went over his mission parameters as he floated through the surreal environment his Mistress dwelt in. The near endless channels of water led away from the her fortress to various points of this massive place. Serendus stepped off the floating ring and strode commandingly past the guards of the armory. A single gesture of his hand caused them to step aside allowing him access to the vault where the Dreadaleus was stored. Drawing upon his gifts Serendus activated the runes that sealed the massive doors to the vault. His foot steps echoed in the darkness as he moved to the center of the vault where the weapon of darkness was kept.
Serendus enacted a crystal to light the room which was purposely kept in perpetual night. Serendus knew little of the Dreadleus other than it came from another dimension his Mistress reigned over and it derived it's power from the darkness of night. At first glance it was hard to tell how powerful it was. A black shaft two and half feet in length covered in strange purple runes not even his mistress understood. Without knowing what it was Serendus would have believed it to be some kind of wand, at least until you saw someone use it. At each end there was a thin cut in the wood of the haft, testing himself Serendus held his hand out before one end. He barely managed to keep his hand from getting impaled as a foot long blade flashed out of the odd weapon and just as quick returned to it's hiding place. He smiled wickedly as he took the weapon in hand. With this he was invincible.
"You will be mine Ryoko," he said to the empty vault, "You were meant for me and me alone."
Matt looked up as the two women entered the room. He was sitting on a circular platform suspended in midair and surrounded by a column of sparkling yellow energy. Why they had brought him here and returned him to the cells below he didn't know but with the amount of scientific equipment that was in the room he could only guess. Matt had only agreed to this imprisonment to prove his innocence, he had hoped in healing Tenchi his good intentions had been made known. That had been eighteen hours ago and no one had returned to speak to him since the guards had brought him and Ses here.
Currently his friend had fallen into an uneasy sleep in the nearby cage they kept him in. It had taken Matt hours to calm his friend down enough to allow him to rest, but Matt didn't blame the winged creature at all for his fear of cages. According to Washu Ses had watched his mate die at the hands of scientists, who didn't understand his species needs for a psychic bond, from a cage when they rescued a handful of animals from their doomed planet millennium ago. Matt had promised Ses nothing like that would happen this time and they would soon both be free again. It was a promise he meant to keep.
His eyes narrowed as the pair of women drew closer and Matt recognized the blue haired one as Misaki. After rescuing Ryoko from the crash it had been this woman who had arrested him the first time. Exhausted and angry Matt had fought back killing two of her escorts and severely wounding her before being subdued. She appeared none the worse now though other than she moved her arm stiffly from where Matt had nearly ripped it off. Forcing back his anger Matt turned his attention to the other one. The dark haired woman was a bit shorter than Misaki but her intelligent green eyes told Matt she was just as dangerous if not more so. Damning the barrier of energy that kept his powers suppressed Matt folded his arms in and dropped a glare on both of them.
"This had better be about you coming her to release me," Matt said as the pair came to a stop.
"Greetings to you as well Matthew Aaron Carson," the dark haired woman smiled causing Matt's frown to deepen even more, "May I introduce myself and my sister wife Misaki, I am Funaho Minister of Intelligence ."
"Start talking," Matt replied bluntly not in the mood for pleasantries and wishing he could read her mind, but the force field interrupted his view.
"You are not a very tact young man I can see why Ryoko likes you," Funaho smiled.
"She had better be unharmed," Matt said in a low voice.
"I assure you she is fine," Funaho lied damning her obstinate husband and his foolish need for vengeance, "However that is not the reason I have come here."
"Then spit it out already," Matt huffed.
"Let me begin by apologizing for the way you have been treated since arriving on Jurai," Funaho began.
"Forget the apology," Matt snapped, "Just let me out of here."
"I'm afraid I can't do that just yet," Funaho raised a hand to cut him off before he spoke again and allowed her to continue, "You must understand our position on this matter. The cause of the crash is still unknown and with Ryoko's past actions on Jurai your relationship with her places your motives in doubt. Also it has come to our attention you attacked members of the royal family while on Earth, this is a crime punishable by death. Along with that you resisted arrest and killed two members of the royal bodyguards and attacked Queen Misaki."
"Queen," Matt asked, "I thought she was the head of the royal bodyguards?"
"She is," Funaho explained, "She is also a Queen of Jurai as am I."
"Great," Matt mumbled to himself.
"However we believe the blood shed to have been caused by misunderstanding," Funaho continued, "Upon your arrival you helped to save a great many lives with substantial risk to your own and later gave up your freedom to give aid to Prince Tenchi. Also the scientist Washu has spoken in your defense. Is it true you came here in search of knowledge as to your origins?"
"It's taken you this long to figure that out," Matt said shaking his head, "A lot of this could have been avoided if you had only listened to me instead of trying to harm me and those I choose to protect. Yes, Washu is right, I am here to find out who I am and why I have these abilities when no one else does. To be honest though if I had known it was going to be this much trouble I would have stayed home."
A clamor outside the door interrupted Funaho before she spoke again. The sound of arguing and finally several loud crashes heralded the entrance of Azusa as his guards moved aside the men Misaki had left to keep their conversation with Matt private. The king stormed into the room followed by a pale Ayeka, four guards, and several robed men carrying a long tray covered by a white cloth. With an angry glare Azusa stormed up to his wives and demanded to know why they had tried to bar his entrance. Funaho tried to explain but the irate man brushed her aside and locked his glare on the swordsman trapped within the column of light. Matt returned the look with equal intensity.
"Are you ready to admit your guilt Terrorist," Azusa demanded.
"I am guilty of nothing more than self defense," Matt retorted defiantly.
"I doubt that," Azusa spat, "You are a terrorist in league with the Demon Ryoko even if she refuses to admit it."
"What have you done to her," Matt asked in a low, deadly whisper.
"Nothing more than she deserved," Azusa said indicating to the tray his men had carried in. Two men pulled away the cloth revealing a wide selection of sharp medical tools.
"You said she was unharmed," Matt said spinning towards Funaho.
"I, that is," Funaho could not continue looking into his desperate face, instead she turned to her husband pleadingly, "Please my husband do not do this, he means us no harm. Allow him to leave in peace, you have had your revenge against Ryoko isn't that enough?"
"He is no less a criminal than she is," Azusa said resolute, "You know the story, the Guardian is too dangerous."
Within his prison Matt sat drawing upon the anger he felt. Reaching out with his mind Matt grasped onto the essence of everyone in the room. In a rush he pulled into himself dropping all of his captors to their knees in the process. Empowered the swordsman sent it against the barrier that kept him here, away from Ryoko. Crackling blue energy raced through the yellow shield and in mere moments destroyed it. Matt stood as the platform he was on crashed to floor with aloud bang. Stepping over the unconscious forms that littered the room Matt opened Ses's cage and turned towards the table that held his weapons. Quickly he belted on his twin Sai and slipped his magnificent sword into it's scabbard. Without thinking Matt gestured and the doors to the room slid open at his command, blue energy racing through them. Two stunned guards tried to block his path but Matt knocked them aside with essence alone. Ses landed on his should as Matt strode openly and determinedly down the corridor.
Not that I'm complaining, but isn't this going to get us into more trouble, Ses sent.
"I don't care," Matt said simply, "They have harmed Ryoko, I will not stand by while they torture her."
Groggily Ryoko slowly came out of her pain wracked sleep. She heard the voice calling her name over and over but couldn't find the strength to reply. With a massive expenditure of what little strength she had Ryoko managed to open her eyes. Looking down on her with worried brown eyes was Tenchi. She would have flung her hands around him in joy but after what they had done to her all she could manage was a weak smile. Never in her life had Ryoko felt this weak, this helpless, she shuddered thinking again about the torture. They had strapped her to this table, which was living wood that held her tight, and then proceeded to cut away her flesh around her sole Gem taking away her power source. Azusa then proceeded to ask her questions about Matt and the crash. When she wouldn't condemn him Azusa used his key to inflict harm upon her. It had gone on for hours and still she refused to speak against Matt. Finally they had left her to her pain promising to be back.
"Come on Ryoko we have to get you out of here," Tenchi said shaking her lightly.
"Gem," Ryoko managed to croak hoping Tenchi would understand.
"Gem," Tenchi repeated confused until it dawned on him a moment later, "You need your Gem!"
She nodded slightly, he could be so slow at times, she thought. After several minutes of rummaging around the room Tenchi found the red jewel floating in a small cylinder still attached to flesh they had cut away from Ryoko's wrist. Sickened by what his relatives had done Tenchi swallowed hard and reached into the preserving liquid and grasped the gem. Taking it back to Ryoko Tenchi placed the Gem next to her right wrist. There was a tiny flash and instantly the Gem was once again embedded in Ryoko's wrist.
"Tenchi you'll have to cut me out of here," Ryoko said as her strength returned flowing from teh Gem, "I'm not strong enough to break it yet."
"Right," agreed Tenchi. He pulled Tenchi-ken from his belt and ignited the blue blade. Moments later Ryoko was free and she had her arms around her savior crying into his shoulder.
"Thank you Tenchi," Ryoko sobbed, "I knew you would come."
"It's ok Ryoko," Tenchi soothed her taking her back out to arms length, "After I heard that they imprisoned you I decided that Azusa was wrong about you and Matt so I came to help."
"Matt," Ryoko said suddenly, "Do you know if he's alright?"
"All I know is they took him somewhere else than last time," Tenchi shrugged.
"We have to find him Tenchi," Ryoko said worried, "They'll hurt him like they did me."
"We won't let them Ryoko," Tenchi promised.
Sasami walked through the darkness alone calling out for her sister and friends but she got no response. Why she kept going Sasami didn't know because the darkness seemed endless. Her visions always started like this, her wandering through the darkness, and as always the worst was yet to come. Finally in the distance she saw a figure. Running Sasami came up to the man who had his back turned to her. She gasped when she saw the blood stained sword held tightly in his fist. As he turned around the darkness washed away revealing a more terrifying reality.
Around her was the burning remains of the throne room, the bodies of her father, mother, and aunt sat dead on their thrones blood covered their mangled forms. Sasami felt tears running down her cheeks when she recognized Ayeka lying dead at his feet her life blood pooling there. She looked into the lifeless glowing eyes of the swordsman and stepped back in revulsion and fear. With an expressionless face he drew back the serpent engraved katana and thrust through her chest. Sasami cried out in pain as the blade tore through her piercing her heart it's tip erupting from her back in a warm spray of blood.
She slid to the floor as he retracted the weapon and walked away. Sasami reached out for help, calling for Tenchi, but no one responded. The last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her was Matt stepping up beside a dark haired man dressed all in black holding a purple glowing rod. Next to him with eyes as dead as Matt's was Ryoko dressed in her battle uniform. All three gems shined with cold light from her wrist's and neck. Then her vision dimmed and Sasami sank back into the darkness.
Author's Note
I know, I know it's a horrible cliff hanger but don't worry I'll have the next chapter up soon so worry not. Sorry this is a set up chapter to get everyone in place for the climax of the story. Now we have everyone involved. Tenchi and Ryoko racing to help Matt. Matt, who isn't in need of help, moves to save Ryoko and comes ever closer to discovering his past as his powers grow ever stronger. Serendus now armed with a weapon of dark power returns to complete his plans. The stage is set. Keep posting those reviews it spurs me to get these chapters up faster. If you want me to E-mail you when I post leave a review and your E-mail address and I'll add you to the list. Thanks again for all the wonderful feed back and of course keep 'em coming
Smack54
