No need for dragonballs Episode 6Startica

by Russ

6th chapter in this Tenchi/DragonballZ crossover

Ep 12 – Startica, Part 1

I finally decided to change this silly header. *snicker* Anyway,
everybody knows the copyright information so I'll just forgo that.
The story is approaching the end. I predict another 4 chapters, give
or take 2, and that'll be it. It's been a lot of fun writing this little
saga and I hope you've enjoyed reading it too. I MAY do
a second series or continuation of the story, or I may not end this at
all. It all depends. Send all hate mail / fan mail to
scottm@hot.rr.com

Notice! New Website is going up for the Tenchi fans! Come
check it out at http://russael.cjb.net and sign the Guestbook, letting
me know you were there. The fanfic will also be posted there, as
will it be on the TMFFA, AND on www.fanfiction.net.

It was black. It was an inky black like you find at a
graveyard. Tenchi lay on the ground, blood trickling from a corner
of his mouth as he clutched his chest and moaned in intense pain.
Ryoko was by his side, looking into his eyes that were filled with a
horror that had only been seen once before. Tears were running
out of her own eyes as her sword blazed into existence as she
lunged at her enemy, swinging wildly and screaming like a rabid
banshee.
An instant later, she joined Tenchi on the ground, her eyes
rolled into the back of her head, no longer showing any signs of
life. Tenchi moaned and rolled onto his side, then stared into the
lifeless face of his beloved space pirate.
Aeka stood nearby, her forcefield snapping and crackling,
trying to push back an intense force bearing down on her. Azaka
and Kamidake were at her side trying to help, but they were blown
away by the intense energy.
The forcefield finally gave out around her and she let out
a bloodcurdling scream when she was hurled through the Masaki
house, crashing through wood and plaster with a sickening crunch.
She fell silent and didn't get back up.
Yosho lay on the ground nearby, a gaping hole in his
chest as his face relived the last few seconds of his fate in a
contorted look of absolute terror. His glasses were a few feet
away, shattered.
Washu was nowhere in sight. Nobody knew what
happened to her or where she had gone. Did she live or die? She
vanished without a trace.
Tenchi somehow returned to his feet and faced his most
hated enemy, activated the sword Tenchi, and charged with a
scream of pure insanity.
He never had a chance. In a blinding flash of white
energy, his body was vaporized in an instant, leaving absolutely no
trace of Tenchi, almost as if he never existed. Sword Tenchi fell to
the ground, a red smear on the handle from its former owner.
Sasami stood defiant as she faced her mortal enemy.
Trying to summon up all her courage and the power of Tsunami,
her enemy started laughing. A cold, evil, heartless laugh rivaled
only by Kagato. It spoke to her.
"The power of Tsunami won't help you. Now, the House
of Jurai will die with you."
Sasami screamed in intense, overwhelming pain as she
lost her footing and fell onto her back, her cute face twisted into
horrendous torture, tears pouring from her eyes.
"Why?!" she screamed. "What are you doing to us!?"
Her only answer was another laugh, as it closed in on her,
concealing her in eternal blackness.

"Sasami!! Sasami, wake up! Wake up!" Russ said with
urgency, shaking her from side to side. "Wake up, darn it!"
Sasami's eyes snapped open as she sat bolt upright in his
bed, gasping for air and sweating profusely. Her small body
shuddered violently as she clamped onto Russ's arm and held it as
tightly as she could.
"It's okay now, you're awake." Russ sat down on the bed
and pulled the little princess into a protective embrace.
"Everything will be okay now. The dream is over."
"Oh my god, Russ! It was horrible!" she cried, starting to
sob uncontrollably, her body wracked with violent shudders.
Russ squeezed her more tightly, trying to console her in
the only way he knew how. "It's okay," he said again. "It was
only a dream."
She sniffled and tried to calm herself down after a few
minutes, listening to his deep, reassuring voice. "Thank you for
waking me up. I'm sorry that I woke you up though."
Russ's face pulled into a frown. "Don't apologize for
something that's not your fault. I felt a new, very strong, different
power start going crazy and that startled me out of sleep. I never
felt it before. Surprisingly, it was from you. Anyway, I would've
felt it anywhere in the palace, and I would've come running."
Sasami's eyes widened considerably as she looked into his face.
He nodded, and continued. "Even though I've only known you
guys for two weeks, I feel like a part of the family already. And
being a part of the family, I'd never let anything happen to you or
anybody. But anyway, Ryo-Ohki was also trying to wake you up,
but I guess she is a little too small to be able to do that."
The cabbit hung her head sadly and let out an apologetic
meow. Sasami sniffled and tried to smile, patting the animal on
the head.
"It's okay, Ryo-Ohki. I'm awake now. And thank you
for waking me up, Russ."
"Don't worry about it. Now, what was this scary dream
about? Do you want to talk about it? Do you think it was caused
by eating all that junk food before bedtime?" he said with a laugh,
lightly tickling her under the arm and eliciting a giggle from the
princess.
"I get nightmares once in a while, but this one was really
bad and scary. I dreamt that everybody was killed by something.
It was really horrible, and you weren't in it. However, the enemy
had said something familiar. Oh yeah, he said, 'Now, the House of
Jurai will die with you.' But it couldn't have been him. He's
dead. We killed him a long time ago."
"Killed who?" Russ asked, scratching Sasami's back and
trying to relax her, while scooting a little further onto the bed.
"His name was Kain. He was the most vicious, diabolical
being in existence. He was extremely powerful and scary too."
She shivered at the image her mind conjured up.
Russ scratched his head. "That name doesn't sound
familiar at all to me. What did he do?"
"It's a long story, but he had gone back into the past to
kill Tenchi's mother, and we had to go back to try to save her. We
did win, but Achika, who is Tenchi's mother, used up nearly all of
her power to try to defeat him. It severely shortened her lifespan
and she died shortly after Tenchi was born." Sasami hung her
head sadly. "Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and he tried to pull
us back into subspace with him even after Achika did him in. We
had to bring out Washu's Dimensional Cannon to blast him to
bits."
"Dimensional Cannon, eh? Sounds powerful."
"It was intended for destroying small galaxies."
Russ resisted the urge to facefault. "Whoa. That is a lot
of power."
"Yes. We fired it into the subspace rift right after we
pulled Tenchi's mom out. We don't know what happened after
that because the portal closed."
"I see. I'm sure it vaporized him and the area of subspace
that he was confined in. Nothing to worry about," he said, giving
her a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, okay?"
"Okay." Letting out a yawn and stretching a bit, she
looked at the clock on top of the nightstand. "It's three in the
morning. Oh no. We're going to be so tired when we get up
tomorrow morning," she complained, fretting again for having a
nightmare on such a festive occasion.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. Things like this happen
from time to time. Shall I send for some warm milk or do you
think you'll be okay?"
She looked up into his face, which was lit by the pale
moonlight and the thousands of colored lights on the trees.
Sighing quietly, she lay back down onto the bed. "I'll be okay.
Will you be nearby, just in case?"
Russ smiled. "I'll be right here on the floor, Sasami. I'm
not going anywhere. I promise. And Ryo-Ohki will be here too,
right?"
The cabbit let out a stern meow and bared her fangs, as if
waiting for something to challenge her. Russ chuckled and slid off
the bed, and lay back down onto his futon.
"G'night, Sasami."
"Good night, Russ."
Russ drifted back to sleep a short time later, but Sasami
remained awake a little while longer, still frightened from the
horrid nightmare.

For the second time since the family's arrival, the light of
dawn flooded the rooms of the visitors, gracing them with its
presence. Again, birds sang their melodious warbling calls,
rousing people out of their slumber who weren't awakened by the
bright sunlight.
Windows were opened, letting in the fragrant warm air,
the smell of it filling people with excited energy. The scent of
flowers and various snack foods wafted through the air, letting
everybody know that the festival was ready to commence in full
force. The shopkeepers were already at their booths, ready to wait
on the thousands of people who would be walking by.
The sky was a crystal blue, except for the thousands of
tiny little tick marks that represented the many ships parked in
orbit. As far as the eye could see, not a cloud existed on this fine
day and made visibility fantastic.
Back in outer space, the Galaxy Police were still directing
traffic for the late arrivals, doing their best to find them a place
where their ship would remain in stationary orbit, but places were
running thin, and still more vessels continued to arrive.
Ships that resembled roadsters with flashy paintjobs,
dozens of Jurai warships, personal Galaxy Police cruisers and
shuttles, and even a small whitish silver cabbit ship were in line,
waiting to be shown to a parking place.
Finally running out of spaces for the waiting vessels
around the planet, the GP made the decision to park them around
the two moons that orbited Jurai. They brought in three huge
transports to ferry the arrivals and take them down to the planet if
they didn't want to use their personal shuttles or transports.
However, at the rate the available shuttle spots were going on
Jurai, the transports was soon to become the only way to get down
to the surface.
The white spaceship was ordered to land on the planet,
and to take the ship with her since parking was nearly gone.
Following the designated flight path, the cabbitship passed through
Jurai's atmosphere and a short moment later, landed at the
appropriate site. After teleporting herself off of her ship, it
morphed back into a furry white cabbit with red eyes and a blue
collar. It bounded up to his mistress's side and gave her an
expectant look, questioning her with a "Shaow?"
Gleaming red eyes smiled back at him as she began
walking off into the massive crowd of people, the cape on her
shoulders billowing out behind her revealing her energy whip and
gun, and her cabbit began to bound energetically after his owner.

Yosho stepped out of his bedroom just a moment before
the servants knocked on his door, with the intention of telling him
that the empress had summoned everybody to breakfast, and that
they were there to tidy his room. Giving the lady a casual nod and
a smile, he turned down the hall and began to make his way to the
table.
He passed by Russ's room, which had a servant outside
who looked quite agitated, as she balled up her fist and pounded on
the door. Taking a moment to watch, the servant waited a few
more moments before trying the door handle, which was locked.
She frowned and raised her hand to pound on the door again, but
Yosho grasped her elbow just before she brought her fist to the
door.
Looking on him with surprise, she bowed humbly upon
recognizing the other Jurian prince. "Excuse me, your highness,"
she said, turning and preparing to leave.
"Hold on. What seems to be the trouble here?" he asked,
startling the maid.
"Oh, uh, well, it seems that Russ hasn't woken up. The
empress demands everybody's attendance at breakfast, but I can't
seem to get him to open the door."
Yosho couldn't help but laugh. "Don't you have a key to
go into his room?"
"We're not supposed to go in there unless he's gone. It's
against the rules to barge in on a guest."
"I see. Give me the key and I'll wake him up," he told
her with an impish grin.
"Yes, my lord."
Staring after her, he shook his head, not entirely used to
being treated as royalty. Thinking back to the aftermath of the
Kagato incident, he did remember how he indulged himself a bit,
as many servant women were tending him. Nobuyuki really
indulged himself, but he did more checking out of the women in
comparison as to what they were bringing him.
However, he really did enjoy being pampered, but
working for a living also had its own charm, and a much greater
degree of satisfaction. Fortunately, this was only a vacation and
nothing more, or he could get really used to being spoiled.
His train of thought was interrupted as the maid returned
with the key to Russ's room. Taking the key and pushing it into
the lock, he turned it slowly and the door unlocked itself.
Opening the door carefully, he peered into the bedroom
and stopped in his tracks. The sly, evil grin on his face melted
away and was replaced with a look of shock, but then that
transformed into a warm smile.
Russ and Sasami were both lying on the floor, right next
to each other, with the blanket underneath Russ's arm and just
below Sasami's neck. The little princess was snuggled right up
against Russ's chest, and his arm was draped over her in a relaxed
hug. Ryo-Ohki lay on the pillow right next to Sasami's head. All
three of them were still in peaceful slumber, totally unaware of the
servant's hammering on the door or Yosho's intrusion.
Whispering something to the maid, she quickly ran off
once again and returned a moment later with the object of his
desire. Carefully taking aim, he pushed the button on the small
box, causing a bright flash from the bulb and a quiet whining from
the internal motor of the Polaroid camera. Taking the photo in his
hand, he gave the camera back to the maid and she returned it to
his room.
They looked so cute together that he didn't want to wake
them, but he knew he'd have to, or the Royal Family would have
an absolute fit. Silently moving across the floor like a skilled
ninja, he knelt down in front of the sleeping trio and began to
gently shake all three of them awake. It took a bit of effort, but
they eventually started to show signs of life.
Stretching and yawning, all three of them opened their
eyes and looked up into Yosho's grinning face, wondering why he
was there. A moment later, Russ noticed where Sasami was and he
withdrew his arm, a slightly confused look on his visage.
"Good morning, you two. Breakfast is about to be served
so you better get going." Yosho returned to his feet as they both
sat up and yawned.
"Thanks," Russ answered, letting out another yawn and
stretching his arms. "We'll be there in a few moments."
Yosho nodded and then left the room, taking the picture
with him.

Sasami giggled and looked up into Russ's face. "Thank
you for keeping me company last night. You made me feel a lot
better and safer."
Russ put on a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his
head. "Sure. How come you got out of bed last night? I had no
idea you were even here with me."
"I still felt a little scared, but you fell asleep right away. I
hope you didn't mind me sleeping here with you," she said, a little
worried.
Russ chuckled. "I don't mind at all. Do you feel better
now?"
"Yes. I just want to forget about that dream." Yawning,
she stretched, then stood up, but flopped back onto the bed.
"Ohhh, I don't want to get up," she complained.
Russ imitated her movements and flopped onto the bed
himself. "Me neither. I'm still sleepy. It's too early." He started
laughing as he stretched himself out once more and let out a deep
groan.
"Well, I can't be too lazy or mom will get mad," she said,
sitting up. However, Russ grabbed the back of her clothes and
pulled her back down with a playful chuckle.
"Let's be lazy for a few more minutes. I still need to
wake up a little more."
Sasami giggled and sighed, and stared up at the ceiling.
"Today is going to be fun. I can't wait to play the games and stuff
they have here."
"Me too. This is the first time I've been to this planet, so
everything is new to me." Russ tilted his head back a bit and
looked out the window. Even though everything was upside down,
he could already see hundreds of people parading the streets,
stopping at various booths and playing games, doing their best to
win the ridiculously hard games for one of the various prizes.
"I liked that anime we started watching last night. That
was really neat and funny," Sasami said, turning toward Russ and
looking on him with her pink eyes.
"Yeah. It's pretty crazy. I watched the second disc even
though you had fallen asleep. I had to see what happened next."
Sasami giggled. "You're impatient, aren't you?"
Russ pursed his lips and stuck out his tongue, giving her a
raspberry. "Okay, so I am. Big deal. Drives me crazy if I don't
know what happens next."
The little princess giggled as she sat up once again.
Suddenly, her senses were overcome with an overwhelming
ticklish feeling coming from under her arms, as she squealed in
surprise, then exploded laughing. Russ was busily working his
hands around her sides, inflicting hilarious torment, and laughing
along with her.
"Stop it," she screamed though her fit of giggling and
laughing, the tears almost ready to start streaming down her face
from laughing so hard. "Please! We have… to go… eat…
breakfast!" she shrieked, now trying to get away from Russ's
hands.
He clasped her in his arms and gave her a gentle squeeze.
"Are we awake enough to go eat now? Or do we need a little more
torture?" he cackled evilly, but with a huge grin.
"No more," she panted, wiping her eyes. "Come on, let's
go. I'm feeling a little hungry."
"Yes, your highness," Russ said, winking at her. "But we
should take a shower or a bath before we go to the table. I need a
shower from all that exercise yesterday."
"Yeah, me too. I'll go back to my room and take a quick
bath and get some fresh clothes on."
Russ grinned as he leaned over and sniffed the air over
her. "Whew…" he said, pulling his face into a disgusted wrinkle,
then started laughing.
She looked up at him in mock horror, then punched him
in the arm and got up, making her way to the door, giggling the
whole time. Russ stood up and followed, opening the door just
before she opened it herself. She looked at him and grinned.
"After you," he invited. "See you in a little bit."
Taking the invitation with finesse, she skipped out the
door and Russ shut it, then quickly turned toward the bathroom,
shedding his clothing on the way.

After they both had their shower, they met each other in
the hallway, and casually made their way down to the Royal
Dining Hall. Wonderful smells and the sound of idle chatter came
from the other side of the door as Russ eagerly pushed it open,
revealing everybody seated at the table and the food being served.
Everybody turned their heads toward the late arrivals, but smiled
and greeted them warmly as they took their respective seats.
Everyone had a smile from the overwhelming excitement.
However, Tom was absent.
As the family dug in to the awaiting breakfast, Aeka
looked at her little sister, who at present moment was indulging
herself in her meal.
"Where were you last night, Sasami? You never came to
bed."
Before she could answer, Yosho cleared his throat and
slid something across the table to her. Arching an eyebrow for a
moment, she accepted the picture and looked at it. Almost
immediately her face melted into a warm smile as she looked at
both Russ, and then Sasami.
"Aww, you guys are SO cute!" she giggled. Both Russ
and Sasami looked at her with blank expressions, wondering what
in the world she was holding.
"Let me see that," Misaki asked, reaching over and
allowing Aeka to hand her the photo. Her face pulled into utter
surprise, and then her eyes sparkled as her expression went to pure
affection. "Oh my lord, they ARE cute. Here, look at this,
Funaho," she said, handing over the photo.
The empress carefully accepted the image and looked at
it, and had much the same reaction as everybody else who had seen
it. It then began making its way around the table to let everybody
see the picture. However, they skipped both Russ and Sasami, not
wanting them to see what it was just yet. However, when they
finished, Russ's impatience got the better of him.
"Okay, what is that thing you're passing around?" he
demanded, reaching for the photo that Azaka had, but he pulled it
away with a sly grin.
"Should I give it to him, your highness?" he asked.
"Yeah, let him see it now," she laughed, waiting to see
what his reaction would be.
Before he knew it, the picture was out of his hand and
was now in Russ's. He looked at it for a few moments, and then
grinned. "You're right. That is cute, isn't it?" Everybody nodded
in agreement. "Sasami fell asleep last night as we were watching
the anime Tom had given me. Instead of waking her up, I just let
her sleep in my bed and I slept on the floor. However, she had a
bad dream last night and I guess she felt scared. No harm done."
Aeka looked a little worried and decided that she'd ask
about the dream later, since she knew that when Sasami had horrid
nightmares, it usually was a warning that something bad was going
to happen. However, the only problem with it all was the fact is
she didn't know when it was going to happen. But it would be best
to prepare for the worst if her dream became a reality.
However, she couldn't help but smile and have a warm,
fuzzy feeling inside at Russ's generosity. He was so kind and
considerate, easygoing and appeared to be happy and fulfilled.
However, he also had a slight aura of sadness about him too.
Sasami looked very contented and happy, which was unusual for
her after having one of those nightmares. Whatever Russ had done
the night before had worked wonders, and it gave her a
wonderfully pleasant feeling. This was a man unlike any other she
had ever met. Not even Tenchi had managed to calm her down as
much as he had.

With that, breakfast passed without incident, and once
they finished, they all met outside on the palace steps, preparing to
join the masses for the festival. Maps of the local area were
handed out, and everybody split up into smaller groups. Kiyone,
Mihoshi, and Washu decided to head off together, Tenchi and
Ryoko went off on their own, Aeka, Sasami, Russ, Ryo-Ohki,
Misaki, Azaka, and Kamidake formed a rather large group, and
Nobuyuki, Katsuhito, and Funaho became the last group. Asuza
declined any invitation to join in the festivities and returned to the
palace.
Just as they were about to disperse, two extremely large
transports and one smaller one came into view and landed at one of
the palace landing pads, which happened to be the same one that
was occupied by Russ's Tie Defender. Six Tie Advanced
starfighters escorted the transports, and they managed to find
spaces to land on the same pad.
"Looks like Tom has brought down some of his crew to
enjoy the festivities," Russ said, staring at the gigantic Escort
Transports and the smaller Assault Transport.
The massive doors of the transports hissed open,
revealing nearly a thousand people in each transport, all on various
decks. The pilots of the Tie Advanced remained in their fighters,
preparing to escort the transports back to the Star Destroyer to get
another load of crew to bring down to the surface.
People of all shapes, sizes, and colors disembarked from
the massive transport, and dispersed themselves in the crowd,
drawing curious stares from many of the native Jurians. With a
loud roar, the dual ETRs and the ATR lifted off the pad with the
six fighters, and proceeded back into the atmosphere.
"Well, get going, people! The day has just begun!
Fireworks will be shown tonight, so make sure to get back here by
seven o'clock so we can eat, and then we'll go to our special area
to view the show!" Misaki shouted with much enthusiasm.
A collective nod, a few departing words, and the four
groups went their separate ways, ready for a day of fun filled
activities, and an evening of fireworks and gift giving.

"So Aeka, where should we go first?" Sasami asked,
walking beside her sister. "Should we play some of the games or
would you like to ride the roller coaster?
Smiling down at her sister, she shrugged her shoulders.
"It's up to you, Sasami. What would you like to do?"
"I don't know! There are just so many things to do here.
I don't know where to begin!" she giggled in delight.
"Why not start at that booth over there and then make our
way down the block until we reach the end?" Misaki suggested,
walking beside Russ. "That game looks fun."
Sasami laughed as she ran over to the very tall and wide
stand, which had a few individuals throwing baseballs, trying to
win a prize. A slender young man greeted the princess with a
warm smile and a humble bow. The rest of the group came up
behind her and he greeted them accordingly.
"Hello there, Princess Sasami," he greeted in a light, soft
voice. "Would you like to play the game and win a prize?"
Smiling widely, she nodded. "How do I play?"
"Well, you take this ball here and try to knock down all
the pins. You have to throw it hard though, or they won't fall over.
Here," he said, handing her a ball. "Take a free shot at it so you
can get the feel of it. You get two throws."
"Thank you." She accepted the ball as her complexion
went to full concentration, and a moment later, she hurled the ball
at the pins, knocking down four of the six targets. The young man
handed her a second ball and she threw it with a grunt, knocking
down one of the remaining two pins.
"Very good, Princess! Tell me, is this the first time
you've done this before?" he asked with genuine enthusiasm.
Sasami nodded eagerly. "I've never played this game in
my life."
"You have fantastic aim and an excellent throwing arm.
Would you like to try again? You can win one of these prizes," he
said, gesturing to a huge, blue, stuffed bear. The toy was even
larger in size than Sasami herself.
"No thanks," she answered, turning toward Aeka. "Your
turn, sister."
Again, the young Jurian smiled and greeted her
respectfully. "Princess Aeka, how are you today? You get a free
chance to win a prize," he announced, holding out a ball.
"It's okay. I don't really want to play, but Sasami can
take my turn if she wants," she answered, smiling down at her
sister.
"Come on, Aeka! We've got an entire day to mess
around. Please play the game. It'll make me very happy," Sasami
encouraged.
Sighing in resignation, Aeka stepped forward and
accepted the ball from the young man. Taking a deep breath, she
tightened her grip on the ball, brought her arm back, and hurled it
with all her might at the pins. However, the end result was
disappointing.
Sasami giggled. "Well, at least you got one of them, but
now you get a second ball. Go Aeka!" she cheered.
Russ was quaking in barely restrained laughter, as he
muttered comments under his breath, which were just loud enough
for Azaka and Kamidake to hear. They both grinned, resembling
teenagers again.
Frowning in concentration, she hurled the ball at the
remaining pins, and managed to knock all but one down.
Coincidentally, the same pin that Sasami was unable to knock
over. A polite round of applause greeted her ears as everybody
smiled at her, and congratulated her on getting almost all of the
pins. She took a step back and smiled, and then noticed that the
three men of the group were grinning from ear to ear.
"Who's up next?" Sasami called, looking at Azaka,
Kamidake, her mother, and Russ.
Ryo-Ohki stood beside Sasami, and tugged on her sleeve,
giving her an indication that she wanted to be next. She meowed a
couple of times and smiled.
"Okay, it's your turn, Ryo-Ohki! Let's see what you can
do!"
Giving her a determined meow, she grasped the ball from
the boy, and without taking aim, she hurled it at the pins, missing
all of them by a mile.
"Concentrate, Ryo-Ohki! Aim at the bottom middle pin,
and the rest should fall down!" Sasami indicated, pointing at the
intended target.
Again, Russ made a smart comment about where the ball
went, and a round of chuckles went between him and the
guardians. Aeka watched them out of the corner of her eye, but
remained quiet.
The clerk handed the ball over to the cutest little girl he
had ever seen, and stepped aside. Ryo-Ohki's forehead beaded
with perspiration from concentrating so hard, and when she was
satisfied that she could do it, she released the ball and threw it at
the intended target. However, she only managed to knock over the
very top pin, a result of tossing it too high.
"Aww, better luck next time. Who's next?" the clerk
asked.
Misaki stepped forward, and held out her hand. "I'd like
a try please."
Russ leaned forward to both guardians. "We're in trouble
now," he muttered, and then began snickering again. The
guardians both cracked amused grins.
"Yes, ma'am. Here you are," he said, handing over the
ball. "Good luck!"
Winding up and hurling the ball with incredible force, she
blasted five of the six pins over in one shot, scattering them behind
the table. However, the same pin that Sasami and Aeka missed
still stood. Accepting the second ball and throwing it, she didn't
concentrate enough and she missed the pin by the width of a piece
of paper.
"Rats!" she shouted, stomping her foot. "I should've had
that too." She then started laughing. "Anyway, who's up next?"
The three men who were standing behind everybody else
simply looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Without
warning, Kamidake stumbled forward a step, a look of surprise on
his face. He turned around and noticed both Russ and Azaka
quietly snickering, trying to keep from laughing out loud.
"Alright, which one of you did that?" he asked, mildly
perturbed.
They both looked at each other and shrugged their
shoulders, deciding to keep him in the dark. Eyeing both of them
suspiciously, he turned around and noticed everybody else was
quietly giggling amongst himself or herself. Giving up, he allowed
Sasami to hand him a ball and he to approached the booth, where
the doomed pins were waiting. Carefully taking aim, he threw the
ball directly at the bottom center pin, and all the pins except the
two on the ends fell over.
"Aw man! There's no way I can knock both over at
once."
"That's because you suck," Russ cackled under his breath,
causing Azaka to start laughing out loud. Kamidake stared hard at
both of them and took a deep breath, relaxing himself a bit.
"Don't worry about it," Sasami encouraged. "Just get one
of the two."
Kamidake smiled as he accepted the ball again, and he
threw it at one of the pins. It fell over with a soft thud, but the
other pin that everybody else missed remained standing.
Turning around, he pointed his index finger at his
counterpart. "I think it was you who pushed me. You're up next,
Azaka."
Still grinning, Azaka casually walked up to the booth and
accepted the ball, and hurled it at the pins. The ball hit the bottom
middle pin from the right side, and tapped the other pin that
everybody else missed. The middle one fell over, but again, that
same pin remained standing, along with the other one at the other
side; the same bedposts that Kamidake had.
Russ raised an eyebrow and didn't make any wisecracks.
The pin on the end didn't even wobble.
Looking quite agitated, Azaka accepted the second ball
and he took careful aim at the pin everybody else was unable to
knock over, however when he released the ball, his wrist twisted
slightly and he wound up knocking over the other pin.
"This game is harder than it looks. Oh well. It's your
turn now, Russ. Let's see how good your aim is. Hopefully it's as
good as your wisecracks."
"Alright, alright. I'm coming," he mumbled, approaching
the booth. Sasami clapped her hands in encouragement and
Aeka's smile grew slightly.
Accepting the ball, he took careful aim between the
bottom middle pin and the pin everybody else missed. Winding
up, he tossed the ball directly on target, however, what happened
really made everybody's jaw drop in shock. The ball was perfectly
aimed, however, the pin everybody else missed didn't fall over, but
the middle one was knocked out easily. All the other pins fell
over, except for the one.
"What the hell? I hit it and it didn't fall over?" Russ
growled. "Give me the other ball."
The clerk's forehead beaded with perspiration, as
everybody else's visage went to angry skepticism.
Carefully taking aim again, Russ lobbed the ball directly
on target, and the ball bounced off the pin without so much as
wobbling it.
"I knew it! You cheating prick!" he yelled, a small green
ball of ki appearing in his hand. Before anyone could stop him, he
hurled his ki ball at the pin and it totally annihilated the target, the
stand, and put a hole through the back of the booth.
Everybody else glared daggers at the clerk, who was now
quaking in fear. "Do you have an explanation for this?" Russ
asked. "There are several things I cannot stand or tolerate.
Cheaters and liars are two of them. You're lucky I'm in a good
mood or you'd cease to exist," he snarled, grabbing the clerk by his
robes and pulling him directly in front of his face, lifting him
nearly a foot off of the ground with one hand. Surprisingly,
everybody else just looked on casually and didn't say a word, nor
move to stop him.
Unable to speak, the clerk audibly wet himself. Russ
noticed the growing wetness on his robes and the odor of urine
reaching his nostrils. Feeling a pang of guilt, he set the horrified
clerk back down on the ground, and he softened his gaze. "Do not
ever cheat anyone. It's not fair to them, and I'm certain you
wouldn't want to be cheated either."
A moment later, Russ felt a strange sensation, and he
turned toward the group. A massive crowd of people was staring
at him and the clerk, and Russ took in a deep breath and sighed.
"I'm sorry about that, everyone. Let's go. This day sure isn't
starting off nice," he said, looking down at the ground.
Misaki approached and stood in front of him. "It's okay.
This happens from time to time. It's not your fault. And I like the
way you handled the situation anyway. You scared that man half
to death, and I think that had a more profound effect on him than
throwing him in jail." She smiled and nodded her head to the side.
"But you did knock over that pin, and therefore, you've won a
prize! Which prize do you want?"
Russ couldn't help but laugh. "I'll take one of those huge
bears in green, please."
A second clerk who was behind the table rushed over to
the stockpile, grabbed the prize, and trembling, he handed it over
to Russ, who accepted it with a smile. "Thank you kindly."
"Yes… s...s...sir. You have an n...nice day," he
stammered out, his forehead drenched in stressed sweat.
Turning away, he held the bear in front of him, with a
huge grin on his face. "This thing is huge. What am I going to do
with it for the rest of the day?" he fretted, and scratched his head.
A moment later, he released the bear and it floated above him,
almost as if it were possessed.
Sasami gasped in surprise. "What did you do? Is it doing
that?"
Russ smiled. "No. I'm using something called
telekinesis to hold it there. It takes a slight amount of
concentration and energy to do it, but it doesn't bother me. Makes
it easier than holding it the whole time," he explained.
"Cool! Can you lift me like that?"
Without warning, she floated off of the ground with a
look of surprise, but she calmed down as she came to rest on
Russ's shoulders. "How's this?"
"That's so neat. Well, let's go! There are more games to
play and more things to see!"
Everybody else smiled as they obeyed the little princess,
and made their way down the street, looking for a new game to
play and more prizes to win.

Off on an adjacent street, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Washu
were casually walking down one of the shop-filled streets of Jurai.
Hundreds of thousands of articles of clothing, technology,
kitchenware, appliances, jewelry, and other popular items of
interest were arranged outside the front of the shops, all with sale
and clearance tags. The doors to the shops were wide open,
intending to invite more customers in the store to browse their
selection.
Nearly every store had at least one employee standing on
the outside, trying to draw attention to their business. Some were
ringing bells, others were handing out flyers, and still others were
on megaphones, shouting out their tremendous deals.
In the middle of the street, several huge tents were set up,
and still more merchandise was put out from the surrounding
stores. The employees were running around from one end to the
other, assisting customers whenever they found something they
wanted.
The sheer number of people in the street and browsing the
stores was staggering. There was never a moment when a person
was more than ten feet from another. In the stores and under the
tents, it was shoulder to shoulder, as they slowly shuffled their way
around the place.
"Wow, look at all these people! I've never seen so many
in one place before," Mihoshi sighed in awe. "It's so exciting!"
"Yeah. Well, what do you say we do a little shopping,
and after we finish, we can go play a few games on the next
block?" Kiyone suggested.
"Sounds good to me. I'd like to see what new high tech
gadgets these people have created while I've been away. It sure is
a lot different than what I remember from the last Startica festival I
attended." Washu stopped at a nearby table and began browsing
the selection of electronic equipment. Kiyone and Mihoshi stood
behind her, idly watching Washu's growing interest as she picked
up a really strange looking object. It looked like a baseball with a
large bar through the middle of it, which protruded out both ends.
The ball itself was directly in the middle of the bar. Not finding it
impressive, she set it back down on the table and backed away, as
two more individuals took her place.
"What was that thing, Washu?" Mihoshi asked
innocently.
"It was a micro energy generator, but I found it to be
terribly inefficient. No need to buy junk like that now, is there?"
she said, grinning. The shopkeeper, on the other hand, stared at
her, trying not to be offended by her seemingly superior attitude.
He kept quiet and turned his attention to another customer who
approached him.
"I suppose you're right. Well, do we need anything
here?" asked Kiyone, looking down the block, trying to get a better
view of the shops and tents.
"Not me."
"I'm getting hungry," Mihoshi complained.
"You're always hungry! Isn't there a day when you don't
complain about getting hungry?" Kiyone growled. However, she
blushed slightly when her own stomach croaked.
"You were saying?" Washu asked innocently, smiling up
at Kiyone.
"I was saying, I'm getting hungry is all," she laughed,
embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mihoshi. Let's find a restaurant nearby
so we can chow down. What are you in the mood for?"
"Oh, anything is fine, as long as it tastes like Sasami's
cooking!"
"I second that! How about we try that place right over
there? It looks like an Earth equivalent of a steakhouse," Washu
indicated, pointing at a building between a clothing shop and an
appliance store. It had a green canopy over the entrance, and a
well-groomed host stood outside, greeting people as they walked
in.
"Looks expensive. Can we afford to go in there?"
"Kiyone, come on! I'm sure you couldn't eat anything
that didn't taste like Sasami's cooking either. Besides, we're
supposed to enjoy ourselves today!" Mihoshi giggled emphatically.
"We won't be able to enjoy ourselves at all if we don't
have any money, you know."
"Don't worry about funds, girls. I've got us covered this
time," Washu said, pulling out a credit card. The photo ID on the
card was Washu, in her adult form.
Grinning evilly, she waved her hand over the card, and
the identification changed to little Washu, almost as if it were
magic.
"Washu! What are you doing? Where did you get a card
like that?" Kiyone started.
"Not to worry. I've had this card for a long time, but I
never had a reason to use it. Most of the time I just make what I
need, so I have no need to buy anything," she chuckled, looking
down at the card.
"But…"
"Shush. Come on, let's just go enjoy ourselves," Mihoshi
interjected. "Besides, I'm STARVING!"
Hanging her head in defeat, Kiyone silently trudged
behind the other two women.

"Ahhh, that was a nice meal, don't you think?"
"Even though it wasn't as good as Sasami's cooking, I've
had a taste for fast food for quite a while. I'm surprised you like it
so much Ryoko."
Both Tenchi and Ryoko were sitting outside a café, which
had tables, chairs, and umbrellas set outside, so the customers
could enjoy the weather and eat outdoors.
After shrugging her shoulders, she wiped her mouth off
with a napkin. "What's the big deal? It's not like it's going to
make me fat."
"I didn't mean it like that, Ryoko," Tenchi groaned,
rolling his eyes.
"Oh? Then how did you mean it?" she said, narrowing
her own eyes slightly.
"I'm just surprised, is all. Nothing more to it than that,"
he said quickly, hoping that she'd drop the subject.
"Yeah right," she answered, lightly punching him in the
arm. "You think I'm going to get all fat and lazy now, don't you?"
"What?! Ryoko, what are you talking about?"
"It's true. Just admit it," she cried, looking away.
"You're probably thinking, 'Oh, she's going to get fat from eating
all that fast food and then she won't be pretty anymore.' That's
what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Groaning, he put his hand to his head and tried to think of
something that would save him. "Ryoko, you'll always be
beautiful to me, no matter how you look," he said, gently turning
her to face him. "I mean it. It's you and me, and that's how it's
always going to be." He gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek, and
pulled her a little closer.
Letting out a contented little sigh, she turned toward him
and smiled. "Do you really mean it, Tenchi?"
"Yes. Have I ever lied to you?"
"Well, no. At least, not that I can recall."
"What do you mean, 'not that I can recall'? I've never
lied to you, and I'll never start either. I'm a lot like Russ when it
comes to lying. I despise it, and there is no reason for it." He
gently squeezed her shoulder. "But enough of this. We're
supposed to be enjoying each other, so can't we leave all our
troubles behind us, just for today?"
"Yeah, you're right, Tenchi. I'm sorry." Wrapping her
arms around him and embracing him tightly, she closed her eyes,
and let out a blissful little sigh. Feeling Tenchi's arms wrap
around her as well, she felt so warm, safe, and contented.
However, her sense of awareness caused several hairs to
stand up on the back of her neck. Also, a shadow had moved
between her and the sun. Opening her eyes quickly, she instantly
focused on an individual standing not two feet away. Gleaming
red eyes stared down at her from under a black cloak, and an evil
smile also presented itself. Two black facial marks could be seen
clear as day on the left side of her face, and she instantly
recognized who it was.
"NAGI!!!!"
Tenchi was thrown back slightly as Ryoko jumped out of
his embrace and took up a defensive stance, her forehead instantly
drenched in perspiration. Her chair was thrown back several feet,
and had almost nailed a young couple that was sitting nearby.
"Hi, Ryoko. Long time, no see."
Tenchi whirled around in his seat and faced Ryoko's most
feared enemy. "What are you doing here!? Leave Ryoko alone!"
"My, my, so protective over our space pirate, aren't we?"
she cackled gleefully. "I had no idea you guys were here, but I
guess my luck decided to bless me today, didn't it?"
Tenchi scrambled up from his seat and stood in front of
Ryoko, his eyes narrowing to catlike slits. He reached under his
robes, tightened his fingers around the master key, and slowly
withdrew it, bringing it into plain view. "Leave us alone. We have
done nothing to you, and you even helped us before. Ryoko has no
bounties on her head, so you have no reason to continue torturing
her like this."
"Tenchi, please get out of the way! You don't have any
idea what you're dealing with!" Ryoko said, close to hysterics.
"Please, just get away from her!"
Nagi's gaze focused on the trembling space pirate behind
Tenchi, and she smiled. "My qualms are with you, not this
pathetic boy."
Tenchi stiffened up slightly. "Why are you still doing
this? I don't understand!"
"Ryoko is the only one to have ever eluded me. She's a
stain on my record. I don't like dirty records, and stains must be
cleaned," Nagi answered simply.
Gripping the sword more tightly, he took in a breath
through clenched teeth. "All you want is to simply kill Ryoko,
because she got away from you?"
"That's right. I have my own personal score to settle with
her."
"Tenchi!! Please! Stop it! Get away from her! You
remember what she did last time!" Ryoko nearly screamed, frozen
with fear. She made no move to get anywhere near Tenchi, even
though her mind screamed at her to.
"I don't care about your own personal vendettas. Go find
someone else's head to cash in, or whatever it is you do. Ryoko
and I have done nothing to you, so leave us in peace!" Tenchi
growled, his voice icy.
"What I don't understand is why you're getting involved,
boy. You better stand aside before you become an unfortunate
casualty," Nagi challenged, moving her cape away from her side
and withdrawing her energy whip. "Prepare yourself, Ryoko."
Without a second thought, Ryoko phased in front of
Tenchi, her orange ki sword blazing with radiant energy. She
quickly shoved Tenchi away from her, but as soon as she did, she
felt a hot sting on her arm that held the sword. With a scream of
surprised pain, the sword vanished and she cradled her fresh
wound.
Nagi's purple whip hummed quietly, as she stood some
ten feet away now. "I see your reflexes are still quite adequate.
This shall be an interesting challenge."
"You leave Tenchi out of this, or I'll be sure and kill you
this time," Ryoko snarled as she reactivated her sword.
"I'm ready when you are, Ryoko."
Before Ryoko had an opportunity to answer, Nagi
attacked.

"Not as good as Sasami's cooking, but still good," Russ
said, patting the little princess next to him.
Misaki laughed. "Don't tell me she does all the cooking
at your place. You're like a garbage disposal or a bottomless pit.
I've never seen anyone eat as much as you do. I'd have to feel
sorry for her."
Russ grinned slightly. "She does a great job, and she
always makes extra. When I'm done eating one of her meals, I'm
full."
"That's hard to believe," Azaka whispered to Kamidake,
who tried to keep from laughing out loud.
"And you three are like peas in a pod," Misaki said,
pointing at the two guardians and then at Russ. "Just what do you
talk about that you guys find so funny anyway?"
"It's a talent," Russ answered with a cocky grin. "But
anyway, I love Sasami's cooking. Most of the time I'm pretty
picky, but she always makes everything so tasty and good that I
can't resist eating everything."
"Garbage disposals aren't picky either and they eat
everything," Kamidake whispered to Azaka, who started
chuckling. Russ shot both of them a look of death, which caused
both of them to begin grinning widely. Aeka giggled quietly
nearby.
"Bah. Everybody is picking on me," Russ pouted.
"Spoiled sport. Can give it but you can't take it, can
you?" Azaka taunted.
"I can kick your butt and take everything you dish out
too," Russ answered, balling up his fist and grinning evilly. "Want
to…" he stopped in mid sentence, his expression becoming one of
surprise as he whipped his head to look outside a nearby window,
his eyes focusing on a single point.
"What's wrong Russ?" Misaki said, suddenly concerned.
Without any words, Russ immediately stood up from the
table, used telekinesis to lift about six different prizes of his, and
made his way to the exit. Wondering what the heck was going on,
everybody also got up and followed. He stopped outside the door
on the sidewalk, and continued to stare at the same point.
"What's wrong? What are you looking at?" Aeka said,
pulling on his sleeve.
Russ began quickly walking toward this unknown source,
and he quickly picked up to a jog, and then a run. Everybody
looked on in confusion, and then took off after him, doing their
best to keep up with his brisk pace.
"Russ! Wait up!" Sasami yelled after him, panting and
doing her best to keep up with the group. She sidestepped a
pedestrian and continued running, nearly tripping on a crack in the
cement.
Azaka, seeing the little princesses' plight, scooped her up
and carried her piggyback style. Increasing his own speed, he
quickly caught up with the rest of the group as they struggled to
keep sight of Russ.
Ryo-Ohki changed back into a cabbit, and raced alongside
everybody. Trying to figure out what could possibly be going on,
she unconsciously accessed her telepathic link with Ryoko, and
that instantly told her all that she needed to know. Meowing like
crazy, she ran even faster, doing her best to catch up to Russ.
Running only a few more paces, Russ stopped in the
middle of the street, watching a fight between two individuals. A
few seconds later, the rest of the group caught up to him.
"What the hell is going on here?" Misaki yelled through
her panting. "Who are those people and why are they fighting?"
Noticing Tenchi on the side, terrified recognition smashed
through Aeka's head. "Oh my god, that's got to be Nagi and
Ryoko! We have to stop them!"
"Nagi? Who the hell is Nagi?" Russ growled, watching
the battle unfold.
An orange, stray energy blast zipped toward the group,
causing the girls to scream in surprise, but Russ smacked it into the
air. A storefront exploded from a white energy discharge that
narrowly missed Ryoko, and the shockwave from the blast nearly
knocked everybody over.
"We have to stop them or they'll destroy most of these
shops!" Misaki shouted.

A moment later, Nagi's energy whip caught Ryoko's
ankle as she tried to dodge another blast from her energy rifle, and
she was flung to the ground. Moaning in pain, she sat up and
looked into the hateful eyes of the most feared bounty hunter in the
galaxy.
"Looks like I win this round, Ryoko. Too bad you won't
be around to go once more." She slowly brought her rifle up,
aiming it between Ryoko's eyes. "I win."
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!" Tenchi screamed, sprinting
forward and leaping between the two. Noticing him out of the
corner of her eye, she cracked a very slight grin, and pulled the
trigger. Sizzling, white-hot energy fired from the end of her gun,
its accuracy deadly, and its single target becoming two as Tenchi's
body placed itself between Nagi and Ryoko.
"TENCHI!!!" Ryoko screamed, horror written over every
pore of her face, her mind racing. But it was too late. A small
explosion occurred in front of her and encased the two in a cloud
of smoke.
Nagi smiled evilly, the adrenaline rush of battle and
victory coursing through her every vein. It was finally over. Her
most elusive quarry, Ryoko the Space Pirate, was finally lying
dead at her feet, after so many years of failed attempts. Too bad it
wasn't worth anything valuable. Most people find the taste of
vengeance bittersweet, but she strangely found it to her liking. She
deactivated her energy whip a moment later.
Watching the cloud of smoke slowly start dispersing, she
noticed something odd about it. For some reason, a silhouette of
someone was standing in the middle of the cloud. Her smile
slowly melted away as more of the smoke faded into the air, and
revealed a man standing in front of both Ryoko and Tenchi, with
his arm outstretched, and a look of angry determination on his
visage.
Ryoko slowly re-opened her eyes and focused on her
surroundings, and noticed Tenchi slowly getting up from his
position on the ground.
"Are you okay, Ryoko?" he asked, his voice shaking.
"Yes, but what…" she started to say, then stopped. A
spiky haired individual was standing in front of her, directly
between herself and Nagi, dressed in a green karate gi. His arm
was outstretched, but it slowly fell to his side as he slowly stood up
straight. "Russ?"
Ignoring her surprise, he stood fast, not moving a muscle
and glaring at Nagi, who hid her utter astonishment from all the
onlookers.
"Who are you and what do you want with my friends?" he
asked coldly.
The tip of her rifle was still smoking slightly, as she very
slowly lowered it. "Who are you?"
"I'm a friend of theirs, and you're in trouble for messing
with them."

"How did he do that? Russ was standing right here just a
moment ago! How did he get over there so fast?" Misaki said in
astonishment. Both guardians had the same exact expression on
their faces too.
"I told you mom, he's one of a kind," Aeka answered.
"Just watch what he does. Ryoko and Tenchi are both safe now."

Nagi cracked a very slight grin, as she looked her new
opponent up and down. Amazingly, he was very good looking and
had an extraordinary build. However, she couldn't figure out how
he appeared where he did, when he did. Nobody could possibly be
fast enough to get in front of a laser beam, so she figured he
must've been hiding nearby or something. It was just too
impossible to believe that this individual is faster than a laser
beam.
"This isn't your fight. Just stand aside and let me finish
what I've started," she replied, hoisting her rifle up and pointing it
at Russ, but aiming for Ryoko.
"I'm afraid it is now my fight. Back off, or you're going
to get hurt. Badly," Russ growled.
"I doubt that." Casually, without even thinking about it,
she pulled the trigger once more on her rifle, and the white laser
beam shot toward Russ. However, to her absolute disbelief, the
laser seemed to bounce off of something and sail into the sky,
where it dissipated.
Russ's hand was smoking slightly and was once again
outstretched in front of him, but didn't have a mark on it. "Your
toys are amusing. Do you want to try again?" he challenged.
Both Ryoko and Tenchi watched him in awe, as they very
slowly backed away from him.
Swallowing a growing lump in her throat, Nagi flipped a
tiny switch on her rifle, enabling automatic mode. Pressing the
trigger and holding it down, her rifle began spewing forth dozens
of lasers. However, the accuracy of the rifle was lowered slightly,
and the beams sprayed a radius of about a foot in diameter at
twenty feet.
But what was happening was unreal. Russ's hand
appeared in front of every laser beam, blocking their attempts to hit
Ryoko and Tenchi and smacking all the lasers into the air.
Releasing the trigger about five seconds later, she no longer hid the
horror from her face, the sweat running down the back of her neck
in miniature rivers.
"Now do you see?" Russ said, his voice stone cold.
Feeling panic, Nagi once again squeezed and held the
trigger to her rifle, firing off the white energy like a madman. But
once again, all the lasers found their mark in Russ's hand, all of
which were sent into the atmosphere, and it didn't harm him in the
least. A moment later, a slight beeping from her weapon could be
heard as it ceased firing.
"Oh shit," she whispered to herself. "Out of energy."
Russ lowered his hand and began slowly walking over to
the bounty hunter, causing her eyes to widen, and her to step back
a pace for every step Russ made toward her.
Reaching under her cape, she pulled out a smaller blaster
she kept hidden there and fired it at Russ's head. An elegant
weapon, very small, but extremely powerful, shot off a small but
potent purple energy ball. It was her own personal desperation
weapon, and it had never failed her. However, again, just as with
the rifle, it failed to do anything to Russ, who put his hand in front
of his face and swatted it into the sky, where it fizzled out a
moment later.
"What the hell are you?" she screamed, activating her
whip and casting it at Russ's neck. Again, just as with the two
guns, the whip found its mark around Russ's wrist. Seizing an
opportunity, she turned the energy of the whip to maximum,
intending to sever off his hand.
Radiant purple energy crackled around the energy beam
and around Russ's wrist, but he just cracked a small, but chilling
grin.
"Are you just about finished?" he asked, allowing his grin
to melt away and be replaced by his poker face as he tightened his
muscles, causing the whip to arc and fizzle out.
Immediately deactivating her energy whip, she backed up
a few paces, and turned to run. Never before had she encountered
someone who could do what he was doing. Sprinting forward
about two steps and then slamming into what felt like a brick wall,
she nearly fell over, but she managed to regain her balance.
Looking at what she ran into in bewilderment, she became even
more frightened when she saw that the wall she ran into was
actually Russ.
"How…" she stuttered, as she leapt back about a dozen
feet, her energy whip at the ready.
"You and I are going to have a little talk," Russ said,
slowly approaching her again.
"Get away from me, you freak!" she screamed, turning to
run in the opposite direction. However, once again, she slammed
into another very hard obstacle, and this time she did lose her
balance, and she fell on her backside. Focusing on what she ran
into, she nearly screamed in surprise.
Russ stood not two feet away, his black eyes staring down
into her eyes like orbs of death. Before she could react, he brought
his hand down, placed it around her throat and lifted her to her feet
effortlessly, but he didn't squeeze. She wrapped her hands around
Russ's arm, trying desperately to free herself, but it was like
gripping a piece of steel.
"I'm going to be taking her to another part of the planet.
I'll be back in a little while," Russ called over to Ryoko and
Tenchi, who were now being surrounded by Aeka, Sasami, Ryo-
Ohki, Kamidake, Azaka, and Misaki. The crowd of onlookers was
huge, and all of them looked absolutely astonished. "Oh! Could
you guys take care of all those prizes for me? Thanks," he added,
pointing over to the mass of stuffed animals.
"Don't kill her!" Tenchi shouted, but it was too late. Russ
had placed two fingers to his forehead and vanished from sight
with Nagi, just as Ken-Ohki bounded into view.
"I wouldn't worry too much. I don't think Russ would
kill her. He's probably going to scare the life out of her though,"
Misaki assured Tenchi. "But how did he disappear like that?"
Ken-Ohki immediately recognized Ryo-Ohki, and
bounded over to her. Everybody else stared at the white cabbit,
unsure of what his reaction was going to be.
The two cabbits greeted each other apparently, and then
began talking to each other. About a minute later, Ken-Ohki's
eyes widened, and he backed up a few paces. His fur bristled as
his eyes locked on Ryoko's, and he hissed at her menacingly,
thinking she was to blame. Ryo-Ohki continued to talk to him, and
he calmed down a moment later, but continued to watch the group
in absolute distrust. After another barrage of conversation, he
looked at the group worriedly and sat down, hanging his head and
repeating his discontentment.
"Don't worry, Ken-Ohki. Russ is just going to talk to her,
and hopefully once he's finished, the fight between Ryoko and
your mistress will finally be finished. I'm sure you're looking
forward to that," Sasami said, smiling at him.
Still not trusting them, but having no grounds to disprove
her, he looked at her with sad eyes and, in his own way, asked her
if she'd be all right. Sasami smiled and nodded her head, and it
seemed to relax him a little.
"He'll probably be back in about a half hour, depending
on how fast he can convince her to drop this ridiculous war
between you two," Aeka said, glaring down at Ryoko.
"Hey! I didn't do anything!" Ryoko yelled defensively.
"She just came up on us and attacked the two of us."
"I'm sure she did. Trouble follows you wherever you
go," Aeka snapped.
"It's true, Aeka. Stop this fighting right now," Tenchi
demanded, finally getting to his feet. He glared hard at Aeka, who
immediately quieted down and took on an expression of being
ashamed.
"I hope Russ will be okay," Sasami said, looking at where
Russ was a few moments earlier.
Misaki smiled. "I'd be more worried about Nagi. Russ
can take care of himself."
"Yeah. I guess you're right."
"Well," Misaki began. "Lets go get you two cleaned up.
Both of you are a mess, and need fresh clothes. The rest of you
can continue doing what you were doing. I'll be right back with
these two." She smiled happily, as if nothing had happened. "And
we'll all take Russ's prizes back to his room too."
"It's okay. Ryoko and I can find our own way back to the
palace," Tenchi said, brushing gravel off of his hands. "No need to
trouble yourself on our account."
"Oh, it's not a problem. Come on, let's go," the empress
said, taking both of them by the arm and leading them away, as
they both turned red when they looked at Misaki, and then each
other.
"Those two are hopeless," Sasami giggled.

Calm, peacefulness, and serenity: three things that most
people strive to have in their life, but few actually achieve. Some
find it in blowing away sprites in a video game, others find it in a
meal, and still others find it in a location, whether it is in a fantasy
dreamland, or a real place.
One place that Russ always found greatly appealing was a
beautiful landscape. Up on a mountainside, near a stream,
surrounded by a giant forest, but pushed back far enough to give a
grand view of the land below, is something that he always found
peace and calamity in. Sitting under a tree, with the air
temperature a pleasant seventy-four degrees, having a light breeze
blowing, was enough to lull him to sleep or help him forget about
his troubles. He hoped that this applied for others as well.
Appearing in this exact setting with Nagi, he released her
neck from his iron grip and allowed her to stumble several feet
away, watching her trip and fall over a root. No longer glaring at
her or showing any emotion, he just stood there, watching her,
thinking she resembled a frightened puppy who was taken from its
master.
Nagi, on the other hand, stared at Russ as if he were death
incarnate, just toying with its prey before he took her life and
silenced her forever. She had been in tight situations before, but
nothing quite as radical as this. It was the simplicity in which he
defeated her, not to mention how fast he did it too. This freakish
monster was impossible. How in the universe could someone
spawn such an individual that had such awesome strength and
astounding speed? It went against every law of physics that she
had known about, which unfortunately, were few and far between.
Russ continued to watch her, his curiosity piquing as to
what could be running through her mind. He knew that she knew
she was in trouble and that she had lost, and that she was at his
mercy. He could almost smell the terror from her, but his ability to
sense emotions in others was lit up like a Startica Festival tree, and
it told him exactly what she felt. Her fear was unmistakable, and
almost unsettling. Knowing others that he had battled against had
fear, but none as deep and rooted as this was.
Debating with himself, he figured the best way to proceed
with this talk was to simply not say anything, and let her begin.
Slowly walking over to a tree, his eyes never leaving hers, he sat
down under it and leaned his back against the trunk and relaxed,
letting a very small smile creep onto his lips.
Nagi's fear almost at the breaking point, she calmed down
slightly when he moved away from her, however, never taking his
eyes from hers. She watched him sit down under a beautiful Jurian
tree, which resembled a cherry blossom on Earth, with its rose
colored flowers on the branches and its lush, green leaves.
However, the trunk was white, like a birch tree.
Curiosity was starting to get the better of her as she
watched him relax and rest his back against the trunk of the tree, as
he continued to watch her, but now he was smiling. She knew
running was pointless, as he could easily get in front of her again
as he did before. Attacking him was useless, as she had already
exhausted her supply of weapons. The rifle should be recharging,
she knew, but wasn't enough to make a getaway attempt.
A light breeze ruffled her hair and her cape, and for the
first time she began to take in her surroundings. The forest that
was nearby, the sound of the wind through the leaves, the babbling
of the small stream that was rushing over and around the boulders
that littered the riverbed, and the grand view of the land below
instilled a feeling of peace, albeit very minute. She could feel the
breeze making its way around her cape and around her aching
body, almost as if it were telling her to relax and that there was
nothing to fear. Slowly, very slowly, she allowed it to relax her,
but she never took her eyes off of Russ.
"What is he waiting for? Why is he just sitting there?"
she muttered to herself. It didn't make any sense. A few minutes
ago it looked like he was going to kill her, but now, here he was,
just as happy and contented as could be under his tree. Watching
him intently, she saw him take in a huge breath and let it out
slowly, relaxing himself further.
Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore. "What do you
want with me!? Are you going to kill me or not?!" she yelled,
scrambling up from her fallen position, her body leaving an
imprint in the short grasses.
Her only response was a widening grin from Russ.
"Well?!" she yelled, balling up her fists and preparing for
a fight, the fear in her subsiding a little more, but being replaced by
a need to fight or run away.
Russ slowly closed his eyes and reopened them, his grin
not faltering in the least, and he made no movements.
Lowering her fists, she gave up trying to figure him out.
It made no sense. However, for some reason, she felt compelled to
stay and not walk away. There was just something about him that
made her calm down a little further, and allowed herself to think
more clearly. If he wanted to kill her, he could've done it at any
time, but he didn't.
She folded her arms across her chest and continued to
stare hard at Russ, who continued to grin at her, still in his same,
relaxed position. Surveying the immediate area around him, she
spotted a second tree that was about eight or ten feet away from
him, of the same species. She noted his position, which was turned
only slightly away from that tree, but directly toward her. Almost
at that moment, she realized what he was doing.
"Alright! You win," she growled, very slowly making
her way over to the second tree, very tense and ready to fight if he
attacked her. Russ's grin turned into a warm smile as he folded his
hands across his lap, and watched her.
Nearly a minute later, with her forehead beaded in
stressed perspiration, she reached the tree across from Russ and
slowly sat down, her red eyes burning with hate and fear, but a
slight hint of serenity also presented itself.
Five minutes passed by in silence, as they continued to
watch each other, some unspoken message being sent between the
two. Finally, Nagi broke the silence.
"You could've easily killed me back there. Why didn't
you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"I'm not quite that heartless. Just about everybody
deserves a second chance," Russ responded.
"So you can talk," she snapped, as she watched Russ raise
his hands as if he was being submissive. "Why did you bring me
here?"
"I thought that much was obvious. We're here alone, in
total privacy, where the only thing around us is nature. It can talk,
but can't understand. I want you to tell me why you attacked my
friends. I don't take kindly to strangers doing that. But first,
introduce yourself to me."
Taken aback by his soft, but deep voice, a few more
droplets of sweat ran off of her face and fell onto her lap. Trying
to find an excuse not to answer, she failed to come up with one.
He seemed completely genuine, and had no intention of causing
any more trouble.
"My name is Nagi. I'm a bounty hunter," she replied,
shrugging her shoulders.
Russ became thoughtful for a few moments. "Nagi… I
know I've heard that name before. I think Ryoko mentioned you a
couple of times, but she never explained anything about you. I just
know you simply by a name, so you have a chance at a different
first impression with me. I'll ignore the first one you gave me
back in the city, if you can show me you're not like that."
Letting a tiny gasp escape her lips and allowing her eyes
to widen slightly, she immediately banished her surprise behind a
scowl. "What's it to you?"
"You attacked my friends. Why?" he said, getting tired of
beating around the bush, but not leading on to that fact.
"As I told you, I'm a bounty hunter."
"I know that. Does Ryoko have a bounty on her head?"
Again, caught by his gentleness and bluntness, she shook
her head. "No. Not anymore."
"Then why did you attack her today, along with Tenchi?"
"She and I have a long history together. Let's just say
that Ryoko was a cause of great chaos and destruction, and she was
one of the most wanted space pirates in the universe. The price on
her head is what I wanted. However, she was the only prey to ever
escape me. But I've always caught up to her again and again.
Today would've been the last time too if you didn't get in the
way," she growled.
"If I didn't get in the way, not one, but two of my friends
would've been killed, and from what you tell me, without a reason.
It's murder in cold blood," Russ growled, allowing annoyance and
a little anger to creep into his voice. "Why did you shoot at
Tenchi?"
"An unfortunate casualty."
"In other words, you're a ruthless bounty hunter who
stops at nothing to get her quarry?"
Again, caught off guard by his uncanny ability to sum up
a situation in an instant and be so blunt about doing it, she just
stared at him, and didn't make a sound.
Russ shook his head. "This is very unfortunate. What
has Ryoko done to you to make you so… bent on killing her? Has
she done something to you in the past?"
"No. She has simply gotten away from me. She is the
only one who has been able to do that, repeatedly. It has almost
become a contest of cat and mouse."
"An interesting way of putting it," Russ answered,
scratching his head. "And what happens when this game ends?"
"Then it ends. I go on my marry way and forget that I
ever met her," she responded coldly.
"Why not end it now, and walk away?"
Nagi stared at him with her mouth hanging open, as if she
had never considered that possibility before. "I can't."
"Why? Because of some personal vendetta?"
"I wouldn't put it so crudely, but yes."
"Then how would you put it?" Russ asked, placing his
hands behind his head and crossing his legs.
"I already explained it to Tenchi. She's a stain on my
record. The one and only blemish that keeps me from being the
most feared bounty hunter in the known universe…"
"And once you kill her, you'll attain that status?" Russ
finished for her. "Sickening."
"And who are you to judge me?" she spat.
"Who are you to kill an innocent?" Russ countered.
She silenced herself and realized what he was starting to
get at. Shaking that feeling, she reasserted herself. "You can't
make an omelet without breaking some eggs," she growled.
"How cliché," came Russ's response. "Explain it in more
detail."
"Tenchi would've been an unfortunate casualty, but that's
what happens when you hunt a big mouse like Ryoko."
Russ looked out over the mountainside at the land below,
the greenery of it all. The planet looked like it was untouched by
industry. Looking back at her, he shook his head. "Look at this
place, Nagi. How do you feel?"
Her eyes went wide with utter surprise, and she held her
breath for a few moments, and then released it slowly. She looked
out where Russ had a moment ago, and took in the peacefulness of
it. It was such a contrast to sitting onboard Ken-Ohki for months,
or sitting in dirty slum houses or bars waiting for quarry.
Becoming almost used to hellish conditions, she barely recognized
her surroundings anymore, since they did nothing to help her
moods.
However, this place was different. It was quiet, unlike the
spaceports and bars. It was bright, unlike the darkness of space
onboard Ken-Ohki. There were hundreds of thousands of colors,
unlike the blackness of space. And it was warm, unlike the
coldness of space.
"Have you ever been to a place like this before and stayed
to enjoy it, Nagi?"
Startled out of her broadening daydream, she looked at
him with angry eyes, but Russ could see the sadness behind it. She
turned her face away and said nothing.
"How long has it been since you've been to a place like
this, where you could forget all your troubles?"
Nagi shook her head. "Where are you going with this?"
"I want to know why you have such a hateful demeanor to
you. You're so cold and almost heartless, but I can see a little
humanity left in you. I want to see that side of you, to put it
simply."
"I'm just as human as you are," she snapped. "Why don't
you tell me a little bit about you now?"
Raising an eyebrow slightly, then taking a deep breath, he
let it out in a huge sigh. "My name is Russ, as you have no doubt
heard. I'm from a race of people known as Saiyans, or Saiya-jin.
I'm a warrior. Nothing more."
"'Nothing more' he says. There's got to be more to it
than that. How did you fall in with Ryoko and her family?" she
asked, her eyes widening when she realized what she said.
Ryoko's family…
"I'm there to protect them and the Earth, against a foe that
is almost exactly like me," Russ answered, watching her.
"What?" She looked at him in disbelief. "Another one of
you is running around?"
"Kind of. Except his ambitions is a stark contrast to my
own. But yes, he's just as strong and as powerful as I am."
"That's not possible," she said, glaring at him. "I can't
believe it. I won't believe it."
"That's entirely up to you, but to be blunt, what I was
doing with you was absolutely nothing in comparison to what I'm
capable of. If you think Azaka and Kamidake are ones not to be
trifled with, I kicked their butts along with Misaki's yesterday in
the sparring room. Three on one, with me under intense gravity."
Russ smiled, remembering the sparring match from the previous
day.
Nagi shook her head as she stared at him. "How?"
"Do you have something that can detect a ki level?"
Nodding, Nagi produced a small device that vaguely
resembled a scouter, and placed the unit over her head, allowing
the small blue lens to cover her right eye.
Sitting quietly under the tree, Russ watched her fiddle
with the device, and set it up to fit her head. Glancing at him
through the small window, she slowly raised her hand and tapped
the button to turn the machine on. He watched Nagi's expression
as her scouter locked onto his body and began to calculate a level.
The scouter short-circuited and exploded, causing her to
flinch in utter horror. Russ immediately got up from his sitting
position, crossed the distance between them in less than an instant
and quickly knelt down near her, looking at her head and her face
to make sure she was uninjured.
"Are you okay?"
Nagi just stared at him in terror, her eyes wide and her
mouth agape.
"Talk about your cheap construction," Russ said, smiling.
"I wasn't even powered up. Listen, I'm not here to hurt or harm
you right now. Just relax and let's talk, okay?"
Swallowing a huge lump in her throat, she almost
couldn't think straight, but somehow, she managed a hoarse,
"Okay."
Russ grinned and sat down next to her, Indian style, and
placed his hands in his lap, making sure to keep a warm smile on
his face. "Where shall we begin?"
For the next three hours, both Russ and Nagi talked with
each other, sharing thoughts and feelings between each other, but
neither going very deep, until Nagi began talking on her own. The
more she talked, the more she revealed, and Russ listened to it all,
showing genuine interest. Finally, even though she didn't know
why, she found herself revealing more and more about her past,
and as a result, found it easier and easier to talk to him. She
touched on topics of her early childhood, why she became a bounty
hunter, her vendetta with Ryoko, murders and kills that she had
done that affected her in ways that only she could describe, her
parents and what was left of her family, and many other dark
secrets that she swore she'd keep locked away forever, but found
that they burst forth, like an uncontrolled avalanche that couldn't
be stopped. Several times she found herself babbling like a small
child, tears on the edges of her eyes, but never falling. However,
she totally failed to figure out why she told this stranger, who just
hours earlier was going to kill her, all that she did.
Russ sat and listened to it all. He never had to add
anything to the conversation, but just listen, and allowed her to
pour her heart out uninterrupted. He listened to stories that he
could relate to, and others that he only fantasized about. He could
see why her heart was locked away, and why she had the front that
she did, but he never challenged it. They continued to converse for
another hour or two, or so they thought. They both lost track of
time.
Finally, she looked at him with sad eyes and shook her
head. "I'm sorry."
Russ shook his head. "Don't be."
"You aren't… going to tell anyone about any of this, are
you?" she asked, resembling a child who just told a secret that she
wasn't supposed to.
"The only people who will ever know about this is you,
me, and these trees," Russ said, gesturing to the landscape once
more.
Hanging her head, she sniffled once more. "Thank you."
Russ smiled. "It's okay. Are you still going to try to kill
Ryoko? I have to know."
Nagi looked at him, and he stared back at her with sad
eyes, and her heart almost broke in two. Summoning up all her
courage, her feelings, and her pride, she answered him. "No."
"Thank you," he whispered.
Looking up at him and his warm smile, she felt like a new
person. "It's okay."
"I can understand why you'd still be a bounty hunter. I'm
just glad you're going to stop hunting innocents now and stop
holding a grudge," Russ said, slowly getting to his feet. The grass
where he was sitting was completely flat.
Nagi let out a small laugh, as she watched him return to
his feet. And when Russ offered her his hand to help her up, she
accepted it graciously. "I take it we're going back there now?"
"Yeah, unless you'd like to stay a little longer."
"It's okay. I think I've said enough for one day."
Russ grinned. "Hold on tight to my hand."
Nagi smiled as she watched him place two fingers to his
forehead, and watched the landscape fade from view.

"Oh Mother, you haven't changed a bit," Yosho
complained, dressed in the fourteenth set of robes Funaho picked
out for him. "I've tried on enough clothes for one day. This is the
fourth store that we've spent over two hours in!"
Glaring at her son, she placed the previous pair of robes –
light blue with gold trim – into a growing pile of other garments
for her son to wear while he was on Jurai. "All you dress in is that
white robe. It's time you get something new."
Nobuyuki was also dressed in an odd set of robes – olive
color with white trim – as he stood next to his own growing
mountain of attire.
"Come on, mom. It's getting late. The sun has already
started to set," he complained again, gesturing to the window
which had bright yellow sunlight filtering in, the sun low in the
sky.
"We're almost done, so quit your whining. You didn't
like the way I redid the great hall, so the least you can do is let me
dress you in something nice," she snapped, feeling like Yosho was
a small child once again.
"You're embarrassing me!" he hissed, the redness
flushing his cheeks. "You look like you're dressing your
grandfather or something."
Funaho gave him a look that would've stopped a freight
train in its tracks, and he immediately looked down at his feet.
Sighing, she glared at him. "You never come to visit me, you
never write, you never call. It's almost like I don't have a son to
speak of!"
Yosho looked taken aback by her statement, and he hung
his head in shame.
Nobuyuki looked at his father in surprise, and shook his
own head. "You should talk to your mother more often. You do
realize that she's not going to be around forever. You should
appreciate your parents," he said, sounding almost as philosophical
as Yosho typically does. "I'm fortunate to be able to see you every
day. It's too bad I can't see mom anymore though."
Funaho nodded her head in agreement. "At least my
grandson has more sense than some thick-headed boy I have," she
said, causing Yosho to fret with his new robes. "Let's pay for this
stuff and get back to the palace to eat, and then we'll have the
fireworks show to see."
"Why don't you ask Washu to help you out with talking
to your mom more often, Dad? I'm sure she can help you."
Yosho shot his son a withering glare, making sure that his
mother didn't see it. He gestured with his hand that he'd have the
thrashing of his life if he kept it up. However, Nobuyuki grinned
even wider, as he hefted all of his new clothes into a waiting
shopping cart, and helped Funaho with Yosho's garments.
"Dad seems to be embarrassed, Grandma," Nobuyuki
began, standing next to the empress. "Why do you suppose that
is?"
Catching his drift, she smiled casually. "He's always
been like this. I should tell you about some of the things he did
while he was a little boy."
Yosho stared at her in horror, a massive bead of sweat
appearing on his head. He dropped down to both knees in front of
Funaho, clasping both of his hands in front of him.
"I'm begging you mom. Please don't," Yosho said,
sounding desperate.
Nobuyuki looked at this in great amusement and smiled
widely. "Wow. He must've done some crazy stuff for him to do
that now, right?" he asked, turning toward his grandmother.
"You have NO idea," she answered, watching her son,
who looked like someone who was about to be marched off to
death and was pleading for his life. "Come on, and I'll tell you
about some of it on the way home," Funaho invited.
Yosho facefaulted and slowly got back to his feet,
watching the retreating forms of his mother and his traitorous son.
"I'm doomed."

"Where is Russ?" Aeka said for the tenth time within the
last two hours, on her way back to the palace with her group of
Azaka, Kamidake, Misaki, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ryo-Ohki, Ken-Ohki
and Sasami. "He's been gone the whole day. I'm really worried
about him. What if something happened and he's out there with
Nagi?"
"Don't worry! Russ will be okay. Just relax, Aeka!"
Sasami said, annoyed. She reached over and took Aeka's arm,
giving it a warm squeeze. "He can take care of himself, although it
is sweet that you're so worried about him," she added, and then
giggled.
Giving an exasperated sigh, she looked at her mother for
reassurance. "Mom?"
"Aeka! Enough already. He'll come back when he's
ready, okay? You're going to get wrinkles from worrying so
much."
Ryoko nearly exploded laughing because she had told
Aeka the same thing when they ran out of food on the Yagami, and
she had to go get more. Instead, she turned a bright shade of pink
and tried her best not to laugh out loud. Tenchi noticed Ryoko's
glee, and he shot her a withering glare that silenced her
immediately and made her hang her head in shame. Feeling a little
guilty, he put her arm around her and held her close, as he kept
pace behind the princesses. He then whispered a small apology to
Ryoko, who smiled in return.
"Well, it's getting late. We'll have dinner and then we'll
watch the fireworks. After that, we'll do the gift giving part of the
festival between all of us, and then we should all go to bed, so
we'll be rested for the last day of the festival," Misaki directed,
turning her head to look at everybody and to see if they approved
or not.
"Sounds good to me. How come this only lasts two
days?" Tenchi asked.
Misaki looked him a little funny, and shrugged her
shoulders. "It's tradition. How long do your holidays last?"
"Well, there are various ones on Earth that last varying
periods of time. Hanukah lasts seven days and Christmas is only
one day. Come to think of it, nearly all our holidays are just for
one day," Tenchi explained.
"Well, here, Startica is for two days. Everybody comes
home at this time and celebrates it with their families. Everybody
is in high spirits, gifts are exchanged, and families are reunited at
least once a year. It's the best holiday on the planet. People from
all around the galaxy come to join us in celebrating it too.
"It sounds a lot like Christmas back at home. As a matter
of fact, we decorate trees like you guys have for Startica, and we
exchange gifts and presents. However, not everybody has the
privilege of coming home on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
It's really unfortunate, and can also create a lot of depression."
"That's terrible! Everybody should be able to get
together for the holidays!" Misaki said angrily, glaring at Tenchi.
"I know. But most humans don't see it that way. Some
still have jobs to do and have to work on Christmas Day."
Misaki sighed in disgust. "I guess I still don't understand
you humans."
Tenchi chuckled. "Most don't. Half the time, humans
don't understand humans!"
Aeka continued to walk beside everybody in silence,
trailed by the two guardians who continually looked at each other,
and then at Aeka. It didn't take long before the put two and two
together and realized that she was attracted to Russ.
"Excuse me, your highness?" Azaka began.
The three members of the Royal family turned and looked
at him, wondering which one he was referring to.
"Um, Princess Aeka?"
Misaki and Sasami both looked at Aeka, and smiled. She
slowed down her step, allowing Azaka and Kamidake to catch up
to her, and she kept pace between the two guardians.
"Did you want something, Azaka?"
"Forgive me for prying, but why are you so worried about
Russ? You saw what he did to Kamidake and myself yesterday."
Aeka sighed and looked down at the ground. "I don't
know why, but I feel so… so… something when he's not around."
She laughed and looked at both the knights. "I know it sounds
funny, but I'm almost getting used to having him around. I get
worried when he disappears for long periods of time."
Kamidake grinned. "I wouldn't worry about him. He's
one of a kind."
"I agree with you completely on that one," she said,
smiling at the red knight.
"Yeah. I've never seen anybody eat so much in my life,"
Azaka said, trying to keep from laughing out loud.
All three of them smiled and chuckled quietly, as they
rounded a corner and began their approach to the palace.
"You like him, don't you, Aeka?" Azaka said, after
overcoming a fit of the giggles.
Aeka seemed to be caught off guard by the directness of
his question, but she shrugged her shoulders. "I like him as a great
friend right now. The thing is, I'd like… well, to progress it a little
further. The problem is, he doesn't, and has told me he doesn't
want to. I want to change his mind, but I don't know how."
"Hmmm… how do you know? Maybe he likes you and
doesn't want to say it."
Smiling up at the blue guardian, she sighed dreamily.
"You really think that could be the case?"
"I think so. Whenever you enter a room, or look at him,
he smiles. I know for a fact that he likes you," Azaka said with
authority. "He'd be crazy if he didn't."
"I think he's crazy," Kamidake said, causing a surprised
stare from both individuals. "I think he just feels that you're good
friends right now. He may not be ready for a relationship. You
could tell us about what went on between you two since you've
met. I'd hate to draw conclusions on incomplete data."
"It's a long story. But to put it in a nutshell, he told me
on the first day we met that he wasn't interested in any kind of
relationship. After some… circumstances, he then told me that
he'd think about it after the battle with his nemesis, Zorpheus. He
predicted that would take one year."
"I see. Has he ever been involved before?"
"I don't know. He told me that he hasn't, and from the
reactions I saw from Tom, I think he's being honest. I don't
understand why anybody wouldn't want to have someone with
them for the rest of their lives. It would be so lonely to be by
yourself all the time. I'm sure Ryoko could testify to that notion,"
she added, getting a nod from the space pirate.
"That's probably what he's used to," Kamidake said.
"Did he say how long he's been alone?"
Aeka thought a moment. "He did say that he was alone
for his entire life. Hardly any friends, and he spends a lot of time
by himself training. At least, I think that's what he said," she
replied, placing her finger against her cheek, trying to remember if
she forgot any details.
"Then he's probably not ready to have someone in his
life. But, if he's living with you now, he may just come around
and realize what he's missing. He'd find a great woman in you,
Aeka."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Kamidake," she said,
giving him a wink and a warm smile. "But thanks for the
sentiment."
They all reached the palace steps and began to make their
way inside. Aeka looked off into the garden, the only place
untouched by the festival. Out of nowhere, Russ and Nagi both
appeared in the middle of it, in the blink of an eye. After a quick
double take, she stopped in her tracks, almost causing Ryoko to
run into her back.
"Hey, watch it, your royal low-ness. What's wrong with
you?" Ryoko asked, irritated, but then noticed the direction Aeka
was looking off into. She turned to look, and saw exactly what she
was staring at. Fear flooded Ryoko's face as she gripped Tenchi's
hand and let out a quick gasp.
"What's wrong, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked, feeling her grip
tighten on his hand. He turned and looked off into the direction
she was gazing in, and saw both Russ and Nagi, facing each other.
They were too far off to see their expressions, but they both
seemed to be okay.
"It's… Russ…" Aeka said, trailing off in mid-sentence.
The entire entourage stopped and stared, and watched
both individuals in the middle of the garden. After what seemed
like a minute, both Russ and Nagi turned toward the palace and
began to make their way over. Aeka's excitement got the better of
her as she quickly made her way down the steps and into the
garden, making a brisk pace down the walkway. Ken-Ohki saw
his master, and he shot off like he was fired from a rifle, racing
directly for Nagi, raising a ruckus with his strange version of a
meow with Ryo-Ohki calling after him.
About five feet away from both individuals, he stopped in
his tracks and looked at both of them. Both Nagi and Russ smiled
at him and stood still, but Ken-Ohki glared hard at Russ, hissing
and bristling his fur.
"I guess I can't blame him for being pissed at me," Russ
said, shrugging his shoulders and eyeing the white cabbit. "Is he
going to bite me or something?"
"Ken-Ohki, that's enough. I'm fine," she told the cabbit,
and he calmed down instantly, but watched Russ with distrust.
"Anyway," she said, turning toward Russ. "I really appreciate you
listening to everything I had to say. I have never had a confession
before. It felt good, and I want to thank you for it."
Russ waved his hand and smiled. "And thank you for
giving up the chase on Ryoko. I really appreciate that. Also, if
you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be with Tenchi's family for
the year. Just let me know a date and time, and I'll meet you
anywhere you please."
They both looked at each other and nodded their heads,
smiled, and then Nagi turned away from him and made her way
across the field, never looking back, with Ken-Ohki at her side. It
wasn't long before Aeka and company caught up to him.
"You big jerk!" Aeka yelled, getting in his face. "How
dare you leave for so long and making me worry like this!" She
raised her hand and went to slap Russ across the face.
Russ saw it coming and he ducked, letting her hand sail
harmlessly over his head. However, when he stood back up, he
gave Aeka a glare that could've curdled milk. "Since WHEN do I
answer to YOU?" he snarled, startling Aeka out of her rampage.
"Don't you EVER make a move to hit me out of anger."
Aeka's jaw dropped, and she was caught speechless.
Russ just made a frown and walked past her, making his way to the
palace just as everybody else caught up to him, as she continued to
stare at him in shock, her eyes wide and mouth agape, and she
looked like she just saw a ghost.
"What are you doing, Aeka?!" Misaki yelled. "Why did
you try to hit him?"
"I… I don't know," she stuttered, looking at her hand and
the retreating form of Russ. He walked slowly, his arms dangling
at his sides with his hands balled up into fists. Looking at the
ground in front of him, he hung his head as he walked. "I just
reacted out of impulse."
Misaki grabbed her daughter in a hug. "I told you, there
is no need to worry about him now. At the moment, he doesn't
answer to anybody, and you have to accept that. He is who he is."
Aeka almost looked as if she was going to cry. "I just
made a big mistake, didn't I, mommy?"
Gripping her daughter more tightly, she shook her head.
"No. You were worried about him. In time, he'll come to realize
that."
"But… but…" she started to say. She hesitated, and
sniffled.
"It's okay, Aeka. Let's go back to the palace and eat
now. I'm starving," Misaki said cheerily, hoping to make Aeka
forget about the tirade that just happened.
Everybody else just stood by quietly and didn't say a
word. They all turned to follow the two as they made their way
down the path and followed Russ, keeping their distance, and
wondering what could be running through his mind.

Dinner passed by in relative silence. Every time Aeka
looked over at Russ, he was looking straight ahead and didn't say
anything to anybody, even to the guardians who tried to start a
friendly conversation with him. He ate his dinner at warp speed,
and then sat in silence, waiting for everybody else to finish.
Misaki glared at him for being so stubborn, but she reminded
herself of what she told Aeka earlier, and that he'd come around
eventually. She debated with herself on having another talk with
him or not. Eventually, she reached the conclusion that saying
nothing was the best way to proceed. Kids will be kids, and
despite all the advice she'd have, she figured that they'd learn
better on their own. They would have to get used to each other if it
were ever going to work.
Finally, desert was brought out – delicious cheesecake,
made from only the finest ingredients on Jurai, topped with Jurian
cherries. Everybody dug into the desert with gusto, but once again,
Russ finished his in a matter of seconds. Except this time, instead
of waiting for other courses or everybody else to finish, he got up
and marched himself out the door. Everybody stopped at stared at
his retreating form, and silence ensued after that. Nobody said a
word to stop him, and the only noise in the hall was the sound of
the door closing behind him.
Aeka looked over at her mother. "Mommy?"
"Shhh," she said quietly, and shook her head. "Just leave
him be. He's probably very embarrassed at how he acted out there.
Leave him alone for now. He has to think."
"But, where is he going?"
"Who knows? That's not important right now. He needs
a little time to reflect. If he isn't around by the time the fireworks
are supposed to start, then you can go find him," Misaki said,
smiling. "I'm sure he'll join us for that."
"Yeah, Aeka. He'll be around for that for sure!" Sasami
said, smiling sweetly. "I just know he will!"
The princess smiled slightly and nodded her head. "I
guess you're right."
Asuza glared hard at the door, and if looks could kill,
Russ would've been dead ten times over. He cleared his throat and
continued eating his desert as if nothing had happened. Everybody
else at the table did their best to appear uninterested, and they
continued eating their food.

Entering the Royal Theater, Russ made his way down the
hundreds of rows of chairs to the base of the stage, where he leapt
on top of the polished wood with a heavy thud.
"DAMMIT!" he roared, stomping his foot. "Why do
women have to be so friggin difficult!"
Looking around for something to mess with, he noticed
the portable holo-projector that Tom said they'd use to create
instruments and other important materials for that concert they
were supposed to have. Carefully moving it to the middle of the
stage, he hit a few buttons to turn the machine on, keyed a few
more commands, and his huge organ appeared to the leftmost side
of the stage.
"Man, I really blew it out there. I have to control my
temper if I'm going to be around these people. I just wish Aeka
didn't have the hots for me!" he muttered to nobody in particular,
walking over to the bench and sitting down, adjusting his gi for a
better fit. He let out a sigh and relaxed slightly, tilting his head all
the way back, looking at the ceiling. He swung his feet back and
forth under the bench, and silently abused himself for being so
hotheaded out there.
Sitting forward again, he looked at the gleaming white
keys of the massive instrument and thought of several songs that
would calm him down. Tapping a few keys on the computer
console, he brought up the rhythm and most of the background
music for Armitage III – Silent War, and began to play. He
cranked the volume of the organ to near maximum, which was
loud enough to vibrate the floor and feel it slightly in his gut, but
not quite deafening enough to hurt his ears.
Playing for several minutes, he could feel himself calming
down, as he moved his hands in the same pattern over and over
again, as more and more instruments joined in the piece. Having
the massive hall to himself, the surround sound from the extra
instruments echoed behind him, and he smiled. The drumbeat
kicked in near the end of the song, which was powerful enough to
feel in every bone in his body, and he felt so alive again as if he
finished a massive battle against a powerful foe. Continuing for
another minute or two, the song slowly faded its way out, and he
once again sat in silence.
"Music soothes the savage beast," Russ chuckled.
Deciding to pass more time away, he played the main
theme to Armitage III. However, after doing this song, he felt the
need to play something that had vocals in it, and he also gathered
an urge to play the drums. Moving over to the holoprojector, he
keyed some additional commands, and the organ vanished, but was
replaced with a huge variety of instruments. A drum set sat near
the middle of the stage up on a platform, several guitars were off to
the right next to three microphones. Still more instruments
presented themselves onstage, all ready to be played. Russ
grinned, and thought a few moments, then decided to play a few
tunes that starred Megumi Hayashibara.
In an instant, an entire cast of musicians appeared,
holding their instruments of choice, and an image of Lime from
Saber Marionette J stood in front of the main microphone. She
turned and looked at Russ, who smiled and gave her a thumb up.
She did the same and waited for him to make his way to the drum
set and sit down.
Cracking the two drumsticks together to start the rhythm,
the band began to play Hesitation Remix. Beating the drums in
perfect rhythm, the band stayed synchronized with him, as Lime
sang the song. Russ couldn't help but smile, and he felt as good as
new.
After that song was finished, he continued on to play
Izayoi, Proof to Myself Remix, the original Hesitation, and Lively
Emotion. After that, he switched albums and began to play songs
from The Slayers series. He swapped Lina Inverse in place of
Lime, and he chuckled to himself, thinking that Lina had more
hardware on her than Tom's Star Destroyer. Songs from The
Slayers included Breeze, Give a Reason, Get Along, Naked Mind,
Gloria, In This Arm, and even Unlimited Desire.
Once he finished with all the anime tracks, he moved over
to the projector and called up three more songs that he wanted to
do. All three were from a band called Linkin Park, and the three
songs he brought up were Papercut, In the End, and Pushing Me
Away. Moving back to the drum set, he fit a microphone over his
head and began the first song, singing the main lyrics of the piece
while pounding on the drums.
After about an hour and a half of solid playing, and
having his forehead drenched in perspiration from whacking the
drums for so long, he turned off the projector and sat down on the
stage, took several deep breaths, and tried to decide what would be
the best way to approach Aeka and her family again. He felt that
he acted like a complete moron. If only Aeka didn't take a swing
at him.
He knew that Aeka cared for him, even though he felt that
he didn't reciprocate it. She must really care deeply for him to pull
a stunt like she did out there.
"She may have been worried, but did she have to try to
slap me for it?" Russ asked aloud, hearing his voice reverberate
around the hall while he continued to stare at the floor in front of
him.
"She cares about you, that's why."
Russ's eyes became extremely large as his head snapped
up and looked directly into the pink eyes of Sasami. Caught
completely by surprise, he yelped and fell off the stage, landing on
his backside on the floor.
Sasami didn't smile, giggle, or give any indication that
she found the event funny.
"When the he… When did you get here?" Russ asked,
pulling himself up.
Sasami just looked at him, folding her arms over her
chest. "I've been sitting outside the hall doors the entire time
you've been playing. I was waiting for you to finish before I came
in and interrupted you. I wanted to hear the music, but didn't want
to disturb you."
"I wouldn't have minded you coming in, Sasami. You
know that," Russ said, looking mildly confused.
"But you would've minded my sister, right? Please tell
me you're not going to fight with her."
Russ closed his eyes a moment and reopened them,
watching the little princess and wondering how to worm his way
out of a potential trap. "I'm not going to fight with her. I hate
fighting with people. I just wish things had gone a little differently
out there is all."
"You left us for the entire day! You were supposed to
spend the whole day with us, and we were going to play a whole
bunch of games and stuff, but you vanished with Nagi! What were
we supposed to think?" she yelled, clearly upset.
"I'm sorry Sasami, but there were other circumstances
that needed my attention. You're too little to understand it."
"I am NOT too little! You were going to spend the whole
day with us, and you were looking forward to it. And now the day
is over!"
Russ sighed as his heart began to ache. "There is always
tomorrow."
"But what about what happened today!? You didn't think
about how we'd feel after you left, did you?"
Feeling his blood start to boil, he took in a breath through
his nose, and let it out through his mouth, slowly. "Please stop
rubbing it in. I'm getting upset over this again. All that I can do is
say that I'm sorry."
"Don't say it to me," she said, looking at him angrily.
"You know who you need to say it to."
"I know that!" Russ shouted, sliding off the stage once
more, but landing on his feet. Sasami's gaze didn't falter, and she
showed no fear. "I just need…" he said, but trailed off and looked
toward the doors, which were closing behind Aeka, who just
entered the hall. Squeezing his eyes shut, he turned away from
both princesses.
Silence ensued as Aeka made her way down to the stage
floor, and stood next to her sister. They both looked at Russ, who
slowly turned around and faced both girls, his expression unhappy,
and then he looked at the floor.
"And how long were you out there?" Russ asked, his
voice quiet. "Did you hear everything too?"
"Yes." Aeka slowly approached Russ again, and stood
directly in front of him, her hands folded in front of her. Russ
didn't meet her gaze, but continued to look at the floor in front of
him. "It's okay. I shouldn't have tried to slap you."
Russ shook his head. "It's my fault. If I had come back
sooner, you wouldn't have been as upset."
"But you had some things to discuss with Nagi, right?"
"Yeah, but still. I should've realized that I was making
you so concerned about me. I'm sorry about that."
"It's okay. We both made mistakes today, Russ," Aeka
said, looking at Russ's boots. "I don't think I'll make the same
one again."
"Me neither," Russ answered, shuffling his foot.
"Can we start over?" Aeka invited, reaching out and
grasping Russ's hand. His hand was so strong and warm, but felt
very relaxed. It was amazing that a hand so strong could still be so
gentle.
Russ sighed. "I'm sorry," he said again, and he didn't
pull away. "I'm so violent to be around. Why did you have to
become attracted to me?"
Aeka squeezed his hand tighter. "Because you have all
the qualities I look for, and am attracted to. Plus, you don't treat
me like royalty, but as a normal, everyday person. I like being
treated as a person rather than a figurehead. You're the only
person besides Tenchi to have done that."
"I see."
Aeka smiled, as she reached up with her other hand and
raised Russ's face, so she could finally see him, and him to her.
"Would you please join me for the fireworks? That would make
me and Sasami very happy."
"I think I can manage that," Russ answered, doing his best
to smile, but failing. He still felt bad over what he did, and he
continued to silently beat himself up over it.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're only human, after
all," Aeka said, taking him by the arm and leading him out of the
auditorium.
Sasami watched the two, and she felt very contented and
happy. Following behind them, she kept quiet and simply listened
to the two talk to each other. However, Russ continually
apologized for his outburst, and Sasami found that to be one of the
sweetest things that anybody could've done. Even Tenchi didn't
do what he did.

Some fifteen minutes later, Washu, Kiyone, Mihoshi,
Funaho, Yosho, Nobuyuki, Azaka, Kamidake, Asuza, Misaki,
Aeka, Sasami, Ryo-Ohki, and Russ, approached the apex of a
small hill in the Royal Garden. On top of the hill was a large
gazebo, complete with thrones and other chairs. The hill itself was
nearly twenty feet high, and the steepness of the hill was not very
bad. Steps ran all the way to the building, and made climbing
easy. Asuza, Misaki, and Funaho took their seats, and everybody
else, except for Russ, Aeka, and Sasami, sat in the available chairs.
Russ elected to climb down the hill slightly, and lie back onto the
soft grasses, and just relax. Of course, Aeka and Sasami did the
same.
It was dark and starting to get hard to see, as the time
wound down to what was supposed to be the beginning of the
fireworks, however, nothing was happening. Minutes passed by,
and still no fireworks. Russ could faintly hear a chorus of boo's
emanating from various crowds around the palace, and a light
amount of chatter coming from the gazebo above him.
"What's going on? How come there aren't any
fireworks? Aren't they supposed to start now?" Russ asked,
continuing to gaze into the darkening sky.
"They should've started about five minutes ago. I think
there is something wrong," Aeka replied, looking concerned. "I
hope they don't have to cancel."
Russ scratched his head and grinned slightly. "We won't
need to cancel."
Aeka and Sasami both looked at him in confusion. "What
do you mean?" Sasami asked, watching Russ's grinning
expression.
Without another word, Russ raised his arm, pointed it at
the sky, and an instant later a small white ball of ki fired from his
palm and raced to the stars, where it flashed and disappeared. A
second later, a massive boom resonated around the land, as an
uproar of cheers exploded from the nearby groups.
"Wow! I didn't know you could do that with ki!" Sasami
exclaimed in excitement. "Can you do others?"
"Sure can. You name it, and I can probably make it.
Watch this," Russ said, firing another small ki ball from his hand.
It raced into the sky and exploded in a gorgeous pattern of greens,
reds, and yellows, all circling around each other in a geometric
flower. A moment later, a thunderous boom resonated around the
buildings, rattling windows and causing another uproar of
cheering.
"That's fantastic. And no smoke either," Aeka
whispered, watching the spectacle fade out and vanish into
oblivion. "Can you do a Cherry Blossom flower?"
Russ grinned as he fired another blast into the sky. The
ball exploded into a fantastic sight, as it produced a perfect version
of the flower, along with a green stem and green leaves.
A round of applause greeted his ears from the onlookers
in the gazebo, and he smiled to himself has he fired off several
more blasts, each detonating in various patterns in dazzling arrays
of colors.
"How long is this supposed to go for?" Russ inquired,
firing off another salvo of ki balls.
"About forty five minutes to an hour. But if you get tired
out before then, you can stop at any time," Aeka told him.
"No problem. Sit back, and enjoy the show," Russ
declared, firing off another five balls into the upper atmosphere
and watching them detonate in wonderful and different colors and
patterns.
He continued to wow and dazzle all the onlookers, as he
finally realized it was time to wrap up the show. Raising his other
hand and bracing himself, he began firing off hundreds of ki balls,
all of them exploding like popcorn and producing incredible
displays of design, geometry, and color. Aeka watched him as he
continued to shoot his energy into the atmosphere like a machine
gun, and she felt so contented to be next to him, as she watched
him in the varying colors of his fireworks. He continued this for
another five minutes, and then fired off one last massive ball into
the upper atmosphere, where it exploded into an incredible design,
which read, "That's all, Folks!" and shook the ground with its
explosion.
Loud cheering from miles around could be heard, as well
as a roar of appreciation from the gazebo. Even Asuza was
applauding the performance, since he was one to enjoy fireworks
and was very happy that he wasn't disappointed this year.
Taking a deep breath, Russ lowered his hands to his sides
and smiled contentedly. "Did you enjoy the show you guys?" he
asked, looking at Sasami, and then Aeka.
"That was great!" Sasami squealed. "Thank you so much
for doing that for everybody. We've never seen anything like it
before."
"That's right, Sasami. This was a real treat for us, Russ.
Thank you," Aeka said, rubbing his arm. "Are you tired out?"
Russ yawned. "I'm not fatigued, but I'm getting sleepy,"
he said, rubbing his eyes. "Is there anything else we have to do?"
"Just one more thing. Gift exchanging!" Sasami said
gleefully. "I can't wait to see what I get this year."
Russ looked at both of them in horror, and then hung his
head. "Oh no. I had no idea you guys exchanged gifts at this
time!" he fretted. "What am I going to do now?"
Aeka giggled. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to
give anything. Just come with us back to the palace and keep us
company."
Everybody in the gazebo was already making his or her
way down the steps. Russ, Aeka, and Sasami all got to their feet
and followed behind the main group. "But I don't have anything
to give! I'm going to feel weird not giving anything."
"I told you not to worry about it," Aeka giggled. "Just
relax."
Russ sighed. "I know. I'll make it up to you at Christmas
time. Will that be okay?"
"Absolutely," Sasami said, hanging on Russ's right arm.
"I can't wait to see what you get me."
"I've got some planning to do, in that case," Russ said, his
face determined. "I'll make sure you guys have the best Christmas
ever!"
"Christmas isn't for another six months!" Aeka
exclaimed, looking at Russ. "What could you be planning that
would take that long for?"
"Well, I need to get one for you, Sasami, Tenchi, Ryoko,
Nobuyuki, Yosho, Washu, Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Ryo-Ohki.
That's going to take a lot of planning, especially for what I like to
do during Christmas." Russ grinned evilly, as he eyed both the
princesses. "It's going to be big."
Now both girls stared at him, their curiosity already
beginning to manifest and grow, wondering what he could be
thinking of that could be so gigantic and wonderful. In the past,
Russ was known to really go out of his way for holiday gifts,
especially for Christmas. Even though he was unsure as to what to
get everybody, six months should be plenty of time to decide and
plan out the perfect presents. Figuring that he'd have to call in a
few favors, he'd do his very best to make everybody happy, even if
it was only for one day. The problem was it was almost as
torturous for Russ to keep it a secret as it was for everybody else.
Already some ideas were beginning to develop inside Russ's mind,
and he began to grow excited, already thinking about Christmas.
However, he bit his tongue and decided to take one risk, and that
was to read their minds when they didn't know it, to be able to get
the absolute, most perfect present.
"Well, we're going to be in my parents living quarters.
There is a big tree there with lots of presents under it already,"
Sasami said, still holding onto Russ's arm.
"I'm sorry that I don't have anything to give you guys. I
feel bad about it. Maybe I can find something real fast…" Russ
stopped in mid-sentence as his mind began racing, and he decided
on something.
"What is it, Russ?" Aeka asked, watching his changing
expressions.
"Hmmm? Oh, nothing. I just thought of something,
that's all," Russ answered, walking up the palace steps and making
his way inside the front doors.
"Well, what is it?" Sasami inquired, pulling on his arm.
"You'll see it soon enough," Russ replied, smiling in a
sadistic way. "No hints until then."
Sasami pouted. "No fair." She then started gigging.
After a few minutes, they both made their way down the
main hallway to the Royal Family's quarters. Misaki unlocked and
then pushed open the massive doors, and then turned on the lights
to the room. Everybody entered directly into a living room, which
was extremely huge. Furniture that was crafted from only the most
skilled woodworkers on Jurai presented itself on the floor,
surrounding a gigantic, fifteen-foot tall Startica tree. A gorgeous,
red oriental rug was placed under it and the furniture, and the rest
of the flooring was hard wood. On a nearby wall, a beautiful
fireplace complete with gold trimmed glass windows was set into
the wall, with a marble mantle on top of it. About three quarters
the way inside the living room, there was a step up to another level
of the floor, which was the dining area, in case they wanted to eat
privately. A long table, some twenty feet in length sat on this
landing, made of a very light colored wood, as was everything else
in the room. A large chair sat at the middle of the table, and two
smaller ones sat at the ends. The entire room was extremely bright
and cheery, but didn't have a lot of color outside of wood. Lights
of all styles and craftsmanship were placed around the room,
which were made of old, black iron, and looked like something out
of medieval times. A crystal chandelier hung at the very top of the
twenty-foot tall vaulted ceiling that had nearly fifty small lights on
it. It sparked like a well-polished jewel.
Russ, Tenchi, and everybody else who have never been in
a high class situation before looked on it in complete awe, and
couldn't help but marvel at the grandness of the place.
Everywhere they turned, they saw items that they could've only
dreamt of affording. The only thing that Russ found a problem
with is that there was no technology, in terms of a stereo system or
form of entertainment. Assuming that they had yet another room
for that kind of thing, he continued gawking at everything in the
room, and barely noticed that Misaki, Funaho, and Asuza had sat
down on a nearby loveseat and were waiting for everybody to join
them, ready to hand out the gifts.
"Aeka?" Misaki called over to her daughter, who was
now pulling on Russ's arm, who barely seemed to notice her.
"You're first. Here's one of your presents!" Misaki waved around
a package that had some really unusual wrapping paper on it, in
that it was a very pretty shade of violet. It almost matched Aeka's
hair color.
Just as she was about to accept the package, she turned
around to see everybody as she opened it, and her jaw dropped in
astonishment. Russ was gone. Vanished. Poof. Just like he
wasn't there to begin with, and she frowned in disappointment.
"He's gone AGAIN!" she yelled, drawing curious stares
from all the occupants in the room. A moment later, they realized
whom she was referring to.
"Not again," Sasami said, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry,
Aeka. He's probably doing something and he'll be right back.
Maybe he went to the bathroom or something."
Aeka sighed to herself, and began to open her small
package.

"I gotta get this stuff to their rooms before they finish
their gift exchange," Russ said to himself, racing toward Aeka and
Sasami's room. Reaching it in a matter of moments, he used his
instantaneous movement ability and teleported inside their room.
Quickly leaving a gift on Aeka's bed, one on Sasami's and leaving
one on the floor for Ryo-Ohki, he left their room and teleported to
Tenchi and Ryoko's room, leaving a gift for each on their bed.
Repeating the same thing to get to Washu's room, he left her a gift
on her bed, then proceeded to Yosho and Nobuyuki's room, and
left the last present there.
"Well, that didn't take long," he said, and then let out a
massive yawn. "I feel like Santa Claus. But anyway, I should go
to bed. I'd feel funny about going back there. I think they'd
understand." Stretching and yawning once more, he teleported
himself back to his bedroom, where he quickly turned on his desk
fan, undressed down to his underclothes, and flopped onto his bed,
where he fell asleep almost instantly, snoring like a hibernating
bear.

"Oooh! That Russ. He'll never learn," Aeka growled,
her hands balled into fists at her sides, as she stomped off to her
room, trailed by Sasami and Ryo-Ohki.
"Oh Aeka, would you stop it already? You're going to
drive yourself AND Russ crazy with the way you worry about him.
Stop it already. It's not like the war between you, Ryoko and
Tenchi, where you'd have to watch Ryoko like a hawk all day
long," Sasami said, tossing her hands into the air in exasperation.
"You're so insecure about him and he's the last person on Earth
that you'd need to be concerned about!"
Aeka sighed in resignation. "Of course, you're right,
Sasami. I guess I just got so accustomed to being so worried about
someone else that I forgot what it's like to not worry about being
betrayed, or left behind."
"I understand that, Aeka, but you're overboard with him!"
Aeka giggled. "I guess that's what happens when you
chase someone. You'll learn about it sooner or later."
Sasami stared at her sister for a moment, and then looked
a little worried. "I won't be like you, will I?" she asked, cracking a
small grin.
Aeka whirled around and looked down at her little sister,
and then started laughing. "Sasami, you're bad. Come on, I'm
tired. Let's hit the sack, okay?"
"Yeah. But anyway, how do you like your gift?"
"It's nice, but not as nice as the present from Ryoko and
Tenchi from a few weeks ago." Aeka held up a beautifully crafted
emerald ring, made from platinum and emerald jewels, in a design
that would've made a computer crash if it tried to render it. "Just
another thing to add to my collection."
"If you don't want it, I'll have it," Sasami said, hopeful.
"Forget it. You'll probably blackmail this out of me
anyway as you did with the amethyst necklace and the matching
earrings and bracelet!"
Sasami giggled. "I don't know what you're talking
about."
"I'm sure you don't," Aeka said, arrogantly. "But how do
you like your present?"
"It's pretty nice, although, I would've rather had
something else," she said, carrying a brand new, ultra expensive
silk bathrobe. "I'm still a kid you know."
Aeka began giggling, and then started laughing. "Says
the one who always says, 'I'm not too little' all the time."
Sasami was about to say something, but they had made it
to their room, and Aeka pushed open the door, and then turned on
the light.
A huge violet lion, and a massive green bear sat on each
of their beds, respectively. The lion was for Aeka, and the bear for
Sasami. Both of them stopped, stared, and then turned to look at
each other, and they both knew whom it came from.
"We're going to have to thank Russ for these. You know,
he didn't get anything either. I guess he thought he was," Sasami
said quietly, admiring the huge toy on her bed. She then noticed
the super huge stuffed cabbit toy on the floor, which looked almost
identical to Ryo-Ohki herself. "And I bet I know who this is for,"
she giggled.
"That Russ… he's something else, that's for sure."
Turning around and closing the door to their room, they
locked it for the night, undressed, and fell asleep, all three of them
clutching the super sized animals for the night.

Washu, Kiyone, and Mihoshi all walked together down
the hall, heading to their rooms for the night. They were all
carrying gifts from the Royal Family, and they were all extremely
happy with their loot. They came to stop in front of the Galaxy
Police's quarters.
"Well, I had a real good time today. Thanks for having
me tag along with you girls."
"No problem, Washu. We enjoyed your company,"
Kiyone said, smiling, and then letting out a huge yawn, stretching
her arms over her head.
"Yeah Washu! Would you like to accompany us again
tomorrow?" Mihoshi invited.
Watching the both of them, she grinned and nodded her
head. "I think I'd like that. Thank you, Mihoshi. I appreciate it."
"Oh, think nothing of it. You can buy us dinner again!"
she said happily, and drawing a curious but perturbed look from
Washu. Kiyone just groaned and smiled.
"I'll see you tomorrow in that case, Washu. Good night,"
Kiyone said, pushing open her door and walking inside, nearly
dragging Mihoshi with her. Both girls stopped almost instantly
when they turned on the light and stared at their beds. On
Kiyone's bed, a small, green, froglike stuffed animal sat on her
pillow, and a brown teddy bear sat on Mihoshi's. They both
looked at the animals in astonishment, then turned to look at
Washu, who happened to notice Kiyone's and Mihoshi's hesitation
when they entered their room.
"What's this?" Kiyone asked to nobody in particular.
"Oh wow! Santa must've visited us!" Mihoshi squealed
in delight.
"Santa doesn't visit Jurai, and he's just a folklore!"
Kiyone shouted.
Mihoshi looked at her in confusion. "Then it was the
Easter Bunny?"
Both Washu and Kiyone facefaulted, recovered, and
shook their heads. They looked at each other, shared a quick
laugh, and smiled at each other.
"Good night, Washu. See you tomorrow," Kiyone said
again, closing the door behind her.
Washu grinned. "Good night, girls."
Now alone, she proceeded to her own room, where she
was now expecting to see something there, waiting for her. She
knew that this is why Russ vanished earlier, but her curiosity was
starting to get the better of her as she pushed open her own door
and stepped inside.
Turning on her light, she looked on her bed, and saw her
gift. She couldn't help but smile, since it was her favorite type of
gift. A red crab, about two feet in diameter, was sprawled on her
pillow. The real kicker was that this crab had a ribbon on it.
Shedding her clothes quickly and turning out her light,
she flopped into her bed and hugged the crab tightly, and quickly
drifted off into peaceful slumber, completely forgetting about any
scientific analysis that she had the computers perform the night
before. It could all go to hell for a couple days. The world wasn't
going to end if she didn't work on something for that long.

Yosho and Nobuyuki entered their room, turned on the
light, and noticed a small stuffed bokken sitting on their beds.
They stopped, stared and smiled, knowing whom it came from.
Setting it on the dresser, they quickly jumped into bed and fell
asleep quickly, worn out from a day of shopping and motherly
torture.

Lastly, Tenchi and Ryoko both went into their room to
find presents on their bed. On the bed, a miniature version of
Tenchi and a stuffed doll of Ryoko both sat, waiting for their new
owners. Ryoko and Tenchi both stared at each other, lifted his or
her presents at the exact same time, and they both chuckled, and
then started laughing.
"Only Russ would be able to find something like this in
such a short period of time. Hey, these are the prizes he won while
we were all out today. I wonder what everybody else got?" Tenchi
asked, putting the Ryoko doll back on the bed and pulling his shirt
off.
"Who knows? I'm tired. Let's go to sleep, Tenchi," she
said, pulling him down to the bed, where she had already laid
down. "We've got another big day ahead of us."
"Yeah. Good night, Ryoko," he answered, flopping onto
his pillow.
"Good night, Tenchi. See you in the morning."
Tenchi leaned over and kissed her, and then laid his head
on the pillow, drifting off into slumber a few minutes later.
Ryoko, however, stayed awake a little while longer. She
began to think about Aeka and how differently she acted around
Russ in comparison with Tenchi. She almost seemed paranoid,
even though she had no need to be. Russ wasn't going anywhere
soon. Debating on bringing it up with Aeka tomorrow, she looked
over at her treasure, which was sleeping peacefully beside her.
Feeling a little bit of pity for her once rival, she sighed and drifted
off to sleep a short while later.For the family's third and final time, the sunlight of dawn chased
away the shadows for the last day of the Startica festival, and the last day of
everybody's vacation. Even though they had been on the planet for three
days, it seemed way less than that. Time had just flown by, leaving
everybody in the dust. However, it was very satisfying for everybody to
finally kick back and relax, and just enjoy each other's company on such a
gorgeous planet.
Everybody had gotten up fairly early and made their way to the
breakfast table. Everyone, except for Russ, who had seemed to vanish into
thin air once more.
"You have got to be kidding me! Where is he now?" Aeka
snapped, sitting at the table and glaring at the empty seat. "I can't believe
he misses meals like this. It's really rude."
Sasami rolled her eyes and leaned toward Misaki. "Here we go
again," she whispered, then started giggling.
Already in a bad mood, Asuza was not about to put up with his
daughters complaining. "Be quiet! All you ever do is whine and moan
about where he goes. Who cares!" Glaring hard at Aeka, he sat up
straighter. "No barbarian of that kind should ever even have the privilege
of living with the crown princess of this planet let alone even consider
courting her!"
Everybody immediately became deathly quiet, turning their
attention to the meal in front of them and trying not to look at the king, who
had his eyebrows furrowed together and had an aura of rage about him.
Aeka stared at her father like he had suddenly sprouted a third eye, and she
failed to come up with a suitable retort.
Caught completely off guard by his nastiness and meanness,
several tears welled up in Aeka's eyes as she stared hard at her father,
letting the rage build higher and higher until it nearly reached the breaking
point.
"How dare you speak about him like that! You don't know
anything about him!" she shouted, the tears now streaming down her
cheeks. "What is your problem with him anyway?"
"He's less than a peasant here. He is nothing. He has nothing to
give to this kingdom or to you, which would even qualify as an offering,"
he dictated, as if giving a speech. "You will not become involved with him!
You will only see him for what he is, and that is just a dirty piece of trash."
Staring wide-eyed, the tears continued to drip from the bottom of
her chin. "That's not fair! I see him for what he is, and that is a kind,
caring, considerate and an incredibly nice man! I like him for who he is!
Why must you meddle in this and treat him like you do?"
"You know what I see?" Asuza began, staring hard into her
daughter's saddened eyes. "I see a man who has no morals, is rude,
conceded, has nothing to offer, takes up space, and is a waste of flesh. He
is so privileged to even know you, yet he continually shoves it in your face
since he doesn't care. You think he's a nice man? Hah! There are
hundreds of suitors out there who could benefit you, care for you, love you,
and contribute to the empire as well," he decreed, slamming his fist down
on the table, causing a few droplets of miso soup to splash out of his bowl.
He stood up from his chair. "But you can't see that, can you? You've been
blinded by this piece of trash and have been seduced by him." Asuza sat
back down and continued. "You're only seeing what you want to see and
nothing more! You can't see past the front he is laying down for you, can
you? No! Of course you can't. I don't know what that man has said to you
to make you behave like this, but I can assure you that he is not the man you
think he is, and furthermore…"
"SHUT UP!" Aeka screamed, her face beet red. "How dare you
say anything like that about him! You two haven't even SPOKEN to each
other! How can you draw conclusions like that! The first thing you did
when you met him was glare at him and turn away! You've been nothing
but rude to him, so it's no wonder he doesn't like you! That's all you've
done this entire time is badger and beleaguer him. I've had enough! He's
more of a man than you'll ever be! I hate you!" She immediately turned
and ran to the door, sobbing uncontrollably.
Asuza just let her go, and turned his attention back to his breakfast,
despite the horrified looks by both his wives, and a very sad face from
Sasami. The only sound in the hall was the door slamming behind Aeka,
and the occasional scrape of silver on china from those who were still
finishing their breakfasts, and a few sobs from the little princess.
Misaki stood up slowly, wiped her mouth off with a napkin, and
turned toward her husband with a vengeance. She bent down slowly,
placing her hand on top of his head and turning it toward her, looking
directly into his eyes, so he could see the burning inferno in her own.
"Get up. You and I are going to talk about our daughter," she
demanded quietly, through clenched teeth. "Now."
Looking back at her coolly, and with a slight hint of fear, he shook
his head, despite Misaki's iron grip on top of his hair. "After breakfast."
Raising her eyes to look at Funaho, she motioned for her to stand,
which she did. Turning her attention back to her husband, she put her face
directly in front of his once more. "Not later. Now. Get up, and you're
coming with both of us."
Sighing in resignation, he rose from his seat, amidst the stares from
around the table. "Please excuse me. My wives and I have something to
discuss. We will be back momentarily."
Misaki shook her head. "We'll be gone for about an hour. Please,
find something to do after breakfast, and we'll come and get you once we're
done. I'd recommend waiting within the palace."
Nods from the various people sitting around the table gave her the
acknowledgement she was looking for, and she regally, quickly, and
roughly, led her husband out of the dining hall, trailed by Funaho. Asuza
looked very nervous at hearing how long this conversation was going to
take.
Tenchi turned toward Ryoko. "What do you think is going to
happen?" he whispered quietly.
"I'm not sure you want to know, Tenchi. Jurai customs are quite
strange in comparison to what goes on back home," she replied, turning
away from Tenchi and looking fearfully at the door that the royals had just
exited. "I almost pity the king right now."
"Even after how he made Aeka cry?"
Ryoko became thoughtful for a split second, and an evil grin
presented itself on her lips. "Lets just say that he's going to get what he
deserves."
"I thought so, but what about Aeka? Where did she go?"
"Come on, Tenchi. Let's go find her," Ryoko suggested. "I'm
sure she needs a friend right now."
Tenchi nodded and stood up, and Ryoko did the same. Azaka and
Kamidake also rose from their seats, and approached the two.
"We'd like to accompany you as well, if you don't mind,"
Kamidake asked.
"Certainly. You two probably know Aeka better than the both of
us," Ryoko agreed. "Do you know where she went?"
"Not at the moment. But we have a couple of pretty good guesses.
She probably either went to her room, out into the garden, or possibly into
the theater. Most of those places are currently empty, and it would be a
good place for her to be alone," Azaka said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Let's go."

"Nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety-five… Nine thousand, nine
hundred, ninety-six… Nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety-seven…" Russ
grunted, performing pushups in the garden, where he was currently alone.
The weather was so nice outside that he figured he might as well train in the
outdoors, where he would be able to enjoy the scenery, the soft grasses, and
the pleasant temperatures. He had been exercising since he got up this
morning, which was before everybody else. It was still dark outside when
he began his routine under intense gravity. Increasing the gravity by ten a
day had really begun to push him to his limits, and he could feel it making
him stronger and stronger. But just because he was on vacation didn't mean
he could take a vacation from his exercise.
"Nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety-eight…" he growled again,
the salty perspiration dripping off of the end of his nose like a leaky faucet.
Since it was still early, there was hardly anybody out and about, and it was
very quiet and peaceful, except for a few insects that buzzed around his
head and the call of some early morning birds.
"Nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety-nine… Ten thousand!" he
said triumphantly, and then he collapsed onto the grass, breathing heavily
and giving his body a quick break. Rolling onto his back, he looked up into
the brightening sky, where the sun had already crested the distant horizon.
He closed his eyes and could feel sleep tugging at him from the back of his
mind, but he knew he would need to continue, and it was only the beginning
of the day. It was still quiet, aside from some elderly people who had left
their homes and were already walking the streets. The soft scraping of their
shoes on the ground and their idle chatter just barely to made it to Russ,
where he continued to lounge, near a flowerbed. The sounds of four people
walking down the nearby pathway finally reached his ears, and their voices
reached him a moment later. Listening to the conversation for a moment,
he immediately recognized all four individuals.
Grunting and straining to get himself into a sitting position, he
looked over top of the short flowers and saw Ryoko, Tenchi, Azaka, and
Kamidake coming down the path, slowly, but looking quite concerned at
each other. A moment later Ryoko noticed Russ sitting on the ground and
watching them, and she quickly began to make her way over to him, while
everybody else followed her.
"What's up guys? Is something wrong?" Russ asked, noting
everybody's appearance.
"Hey Russ. What are you doing out here?" Tenchi asked, looking
down at Russ's sitting form.
Russ smiled. "I was exercising. Instead of doing it in the training
room, I decided to do it here. It's nice and comfortable out here, plus the
scenery is nicer."
"I see. Have you seen Aeka yet this morning?"
"No I haven't," Russ answered, watching everybody's changing
expressions. "Why? Is something the matter?"
"Well, no. Not really," Tenchi began. "But she got into a fight
with her father at breakfast today."
Russ's eyebrow twitched slightly and he unconsciously clenched
his hands into fists. "What happened?"
Ryoko looked at Tenchi, and then back down at Russ. "It was
about you and Aeka again. The king basically hates your guts and he
doesn't want his daughter having anything to do with you," Ryoko said,
drawing a look of shock from all the bystanders at her bluntness. "She ran
out of the hall and took off, and we've been looking for her, to keep her
company and console her."
Russ shook his head. "Man, what should I do? Most of you guys
want me involved with her, and her father wants just the opposite. And to
be honest, I don't WANT to become involved. You guys know that. If you
do find her, tell her that her father is right."
Staring at him in utter disbelief, Ryoko nearly fell over. "You
WHAT?! I'd never do such a thing to her! You don't even know what he
said about you!"
Nodding his head, Russ shifted positions to a more comfortable
posture. "I don't need or want to know. Her father is a jerk and I don't
want anything to do with him. He can blow all the hot air he wants. I know
what I am and so do you guys. And I do not want to become involved. Not
yet. Maybe not ever."
Ryoko and Tenchi both facefaulted at hearing what he had to say.
"I can't believe it. Why?" Tenchi demanded.
"Look who's talking," Russ retorted, becoming peeved. "You've
got no room to say anything, lover boy. How long did it take you to
become involved? Hmmm?"
Tenchi looked nervously over at Ryoko, who looked a little hurt.
"It took me a long time to finally realize what I've been missing out on. I
don't want anybody else to go through that."
"It's my choice and my life. I live it how I want," Russ said,
glaring at the two of them. "I do not want a girlfriend. Maybe when I'm a
hundred and ten, but not now."
"Russ, come on. You're being ridiculous. You're worse than I
was," Tenchi said, folding his arms over his chest. "I didn't want to hurt
either of them. In the end, it was Ryoko who finally made me realize who I
wanted."
Russ rolled his eyes. "Whatever. If you find Aeka, do whatever
you have to do to cheer her up, but don't say anything like, 'It'll be okay.
Russ will still be waiting for you.' or something along those lines. She's a
princess and I'm nothing. And even though I treat her normally and as a
friend, I haven't forgotten that she IS royalty. What do you think would
happen if she married me and had to come back here to perform her
duties?"
"Things like that only matter to the king, Russ. Not everybody
else," Azaka said from behind Ryoko. He sidestepped a little and brought
himself into full view. "What the king says and what she wants are two
entirely different things. Do you really want to hurt her feelings? Are you
so stubborn that you won't even open yourself to any kind of relationship?
I don't get it."
Russ sighed to himself. "Give me a break you guys. So what
you're saying is that I should become involved, even though I myself do not
want to, just to make someone else happy? That's going a little too far in
my book."
"What irks me is the fact that you won't even try it!" Ryoko
growled. "She's such a wonderful person and you just slammed the door in
her face before she even got her foot in it. It's amazing that she's still
pursuing you."
"I wish she didn't," Russ replied. "I like being friends. I do things
for others because they're my friends. What's so great about a relationship
anyway?"
"You have no idea because you've never tried it," Kamidake said,
making his presence known. "You have no idea what you're missing,
especially with a beautiful, wonderful, and talented person like Aeka."
"That's probably true. But the answer is still going to be no," Russ
answered, standing up with great effort. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to
get back to exercising."
"I'd rather have you come with us. You said you were a friend to
her, right? And she needs a friend right now. Would you please come with
us and help us find her?" Tenchi asked, grabbing Russ's arm as he turned to
walk away.
Russ stopped and turned toward them, looking at all four of their
faces, which all read the same thing. Rolling his eyes once more, he
growled a few rude phrases to himself in his native language and turned the
gravity machine off.
"Fine, let's get this over with."
"Thanks Russ. It'll really mean a lot to both her and us, and it'll
prove to her father that you really do care."
Russ ignored him as he followed Tenchi down the path, trying to
find Aeka.

Sometime later and back onboard the Star Destroyer, Tom and his
crew were still hustling about, prepping the Escort Transports for departure,
which would allow the other half of his crew to join in the festivities. Fuel
hoses were brought out and connected to the massive fuel reservoir on the
transports, cleaning and maintenance droids scooted around inside the
massive hold, checking and re-checking all the necessary systems for
problems, and the pilots were in the process of putting on their flight suits.
Tom held up a roster and made an announcement over the ship's
communication system that the second group was to report to the hanger
bay for departure. The remainder of the crew was to remain onboard and
keep the ship running properly, and to basically remain on standby just in
case something happened.
Returning to the bridge, Tom sat down in the captain's chair, and
let out a huge sigh. Yesterday was quite an adventure for him. He had
never seen so many games or different varieties of technology that was for
sale during the festival. It reminded him exactly of Christmas… but in the
month of July. A particular pale-faced girl remained on duty, and she
elected to not go down to the planet for some unknown reason.
"Is something bothering you, Sakuya? You're free to go down and
visit the planet. Please go and enjoy yourself. Engel here can take care of
your duties just for today," Tom invited, hoping to get her to take a
vacation.
She shook her head slowly. "No thank you. I'm fine here. There
are some other things that I want to take care of."
"Come on. Something is bothering you. What's wrong? You
look depressed," Tom pressed, wondering why she refused to budge from
her seat.
Turning toward him, she looked at him with sad, green eyes. Her
pale face showed nothing but depression and sadness, but her voice
remained calm and steady. "It's okay. I just need to keep busy and I won't
think about it, sir."
Scratching his head a moment, Tom became thoughtful. "I've
never seen you like this before, Sakuya. It all started when we picked up
Russ and his friends. Since then, you've acted kind of weird. I thought it
was only a fluke and that you were having an off day. Would you please
tell me what's wrong so we can maybe find a solution?"
Sakuya's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Russ's friends.
She instantly thought of Tenchi. An image of him popped up in her mind,
but was replaced by another one of Ryoko draping her arms around him.
Ryoko looked at her and gave a sadistic little smile, and she could almost
hear her chuckling to herself.
"Sakuya? Hey, come on now. Look, if I take you down there
myself, would you go? Please?" Tom asked, seeing her changing
expressions. She snapped out of it a moment later.
Once again shaking her head, she declined his invitation. "No
thank you. I'd rather remain here. Fairs or festivals never really appealed
to me. I don't like huge crowds of people."
Tom shook his head and sighed. "If that is what makes you happy,
then you can stay."
"Thank you, sir."
Smiling, he shook his head. "Don't worry about it."
A small explosion flashed out of the corner of Tom's eye, and he
quickly turned toward it, squinting at something outside of the windows.
"Did you see that? Give me a status report on what's going on out
there," he ordered, standing up and trying to get a better view.
"Scanning," Sakuya responded. "Sir, it appears that a small
shuttlecraft is out of control, and is being chased by a couple Galaxy Police.
I think the shuttle is trying to get away from them. They're heading this
way. They're being very reckless."
"I see. Well, if they come this way, we'll lend our assistance," he
said, sitting down at his chair and keying a few commands on the armrest.
He turned on the communications system once more.
"Attention. This is the captain. We're going to yellow alert. All
gunners are to proceed to your designated turrets. Arm all ion cannons and
arm all tractor beams. There is a shuttlecraft that is evading the Galaxy
Police. If they come within range, open fire with ion cannons only. We
only want to disable them, not destroy them."
A warning klaxon sounded and the warning lights around the entire
warship flashed yellow. A few more moments later, Tom could see most of
the turrets begin rotating from the bridge. Quickly diverting power from the
engines to the weapons, all sixty ion cannons began charging up. It didn't
take long, and the shields were brought up. The transports that were
supposed to be leaving were still waiting in the hanger bay, ready to depart.
Watching the shuttle on a monitor, he could see that whoever was
piloting it wasn't very good, or he was just completely out of his mind.
Narrowly missing other vessels in its flight path, it continually dodged side
to side, up and down, and basically all over the place, trying to evade the
GP fighters that followed it. Every few moments he could see weapons fire
from the GP, but they continually managed to miss the small and agile
shuttle.
It continued to approach the Gray Wolf, but the pilot made a few
critical errors. Nicking one vessel that was parked in orbit, he spun out of
control and slammed into another Jurai Warship, which was parked two or
three kilometers in front of Tom. If it weren't for the shields on that craft, it
would've been completely annihilated. However, the Jurian Warship
wasn't so lucky. A small explosion erupted from the point of impact, and
as a result, knocked it out of stationary orbit. Slowly, it began to fall toward
the planet surface.
"Jesus Christ! If that ship hits the planet, hundreds of people could
be killed! Broadcast a message to the Jurians now! Tell them to get their
ground based defenses up or something so they can blow it up before it hits
the ground!" Tom shouted, directing his communications officer.
The small shuttle entered firing range, and hundreds of blue bolts
of energy began streaking from the turrets mounted on the warship. Over
three quarters of them impacted the shuttle, and it quickly shut itself down
and began to drift, letting the momentum of its erratic course continue to
move it forward. A moment later, several tractor beams locked onto the
ship and held it in place. The GP fighters surrounded the derelict vessel,
and one docked with it.
"Great, we got them. Did Jurai acknowledge the message or
what?"
"Yes sir, but they don't have any ground based defenses! They
always relied on their ships or some other kind of airborne assault
weaponry! And all of that is currently disabled!"
"Oh my god. I hope someone does something or hundreds of
people are going to meet a very gruesome demise."

Sitting on the palace steps, Misaki, Funaho, Aeka, Russ, Tenchi,
Ryoko, Azaka, and Kamidake all sat quietly, not saying much of anything
to anybody. It was quite a contrast to the bustling activity on the streets of
Jurai, where the Startica festival resumed in full force. People were
smiling, laughing, and completely enjoying themselves and the company of
their friends, as they walked from booth to booth, or shopped at the various
stores.
Aeka's eyes were red from crying, and she sat silently with her
head down, despite Ryoko and Tenchi's attempts to make her feel better.
Russ sat at the foot of the steps, his chin resting in the palm of his hand with
his elbow resting on his knee, resembling the statue of The Great Thinker.
He too remained as silent as Aeka, lost in thought.
"Aeka dear? Your father didn't mean what he said. He was
simply in a bad mood and he unfortunately took it out on you. We…
discussed it with him, so I don't think there is going to be any more
problems," Misaki said, squeezing her daughter's tense shoulder. "There is
no need to be sad anymore. You came here to enjoy yourself, so do it.
Don't let anything your father says bother you."
Aeka slowly lifted her head and looked into her mother's caring
eyes. Her cheeks were still wet from weeping. "I know, but he does it so
often. How can anyone not be hurt after going through something like
that?"
"I understand, Aeka. But it's okay. Everything is just fine now.
Would you please enjoy your last day before you have to go home? I know
you guys are planning on leaving this evening, and I'd really hate for you
guys to leave in a bad mood, or have some other event make you not want
to come back next year. I'd never forgive myself if that happened," Misaki
said to Aeka, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Aeka finally cracked a smile, as if a tremendous burden was lifted
from her shoulders. "I'm okay now, mom. Thank you for everything. I
love you. You're the best mom anyone could have."
Misaki blushed slightly and crushed her daughter in one of her
famous bear hugs. "That means so much to me to her you say that. I love
you too, Aeka."
"We all love you as well, Aeka. You're a part of our family, and I
wouldn't have it any other way," Tenchi said, grasping her hand and giving
it a tender squeeze.
Ryoko smiled and nodded her head. "I feel the same way. You've
become like a sister to me. Your happiness means as much to me as my
own."
Aeka's eyes widened at hearing this revelation, and she smiled,
letting a few more tears stream from her eyes. "Thank you… all of you.
For everything."
Out of nowhere, an alarm began wailing in the distance, and
several more joined it a moment later. Russ's head snapped up from his
daydream and looked around, then back at Misaki.
"What's going on? What is that?"
"That's the air raid siren. But why is it going off right now? There
aren't supposed to be any tests for another three days."
Sasami ran out of the palace, and she looked extremely worried as
she approached the group.
"Mom! Thank goodness I found you. A ship was knocked out of
orbit and it's falling toward the planet! It's going to crash into this general
vicinity! We have to take cover!" she shouted, now pulling on Misaki's
arm.
"What?! What about the anti air defense grid? Why aren't they
trying to blow it up?" Misaki demanded, standing up and looking down at
her daughter.
"All of that has been disabled for the Startica festival! They turned it
off because there was so much traffic and they were worried about the
automated defenses firing on suspicious vessels! Come on, mom! We have
to take cover now!" Sasami shouted in panic, continuing to drag her mother
to the door.
"Where is the ship?" Russ asked, looking skyward.
"It's supposed to be right above us," Sasami said, looking up.
Everybody else turned his or her eyes to the sky and searched for
the falling warship. Sasami gasped and began pointing toward a glowing
red dot in the air.
"There it is! I can see it!" she yelled, allowing more panic and fear
to enter her voice.
Russ also noticed the falling vessel, and he clenched his fists.
"Does that ship have a crew onboard?"
"Only a skeleton crew. Just enough to run the ship," Misaki told
him.
"Then why aren't they trying to regain control?"
"There must be something wrong with the engines, otherwise they
probably would've been able to. We're going to have to destroy that ship.
There isn't anything else we can do."
Russ looked back toward the group and smiled. "I've got this one
covered."
Everybody turned and watched him stand up, sprint about ten feet
away from the group and leap into the air, a green fireball of ki exploding
around his body. He rocketed off into the sky being followed by a green
vapor trail, marking his flight path.

Flying at near top speed, the ground below him got incredibly
small, but the falling vessel got quite large really fast. Stopping himself in
mid-air, he began flying backwards as the ship caught up to him. Getting
directly in the ship's flight path, he pressed his hands to the hull and began
to try to slow the vessel down.
"OOOOOWWWWW!" he screamed, quickly withdrawing his
hands and blowing air on his smoking palms. "That thing is damn HOT!"
Looking back at the ship, he encased his hands in a shield of ki,
and once again placed both his hands on the hull. Pressing with incredible
strength, he began to slow the ship's fall. He didn't use all of his force,
since he knew he couldn't stop the ship instantly or everybody inside would
be killed. It would be like slamming into the ground.
Gradually applying more and more force, he finally reached a level
of resistance to slow the ship down fast enough to keep from smashing into
the ground, but not kill everybody inside. It felt like three times earth's
normal gravity inside the ship, and nearly everybody was pressed to the
floor, unable to stand and move around.

"He's crazy! What is he doing?" Misaki yelled, looking at the red
dot begin to grow larger and larger. "He couldn't possibly be strong
enough to hold up a ship of that size!"
"Believe me," Tenchi began. "He is way more than capable of
doing what he's doing."
Misaki just shook her head. "Unreal. And we could actually SEE
his energy! I've never seen anything like that before either."
"My energy is blue, your highness," Azaka said, tapping his staff
on the ground. "All my energy blasts are blue that I shoot."
"Mine are all red," Kamidake added, standing next to his friend.
"But I don't think it really matters what color it is. I've never seen someone
charge up and fly like that before."
"He also has a transformation that we haven't seen yet," Washu
said, stepping out of the palace and drawing a bunch of curious stares. "He
says he's something called a Super Saiyan. I have yet to know what that
means, but apparently it is some sort of transformation he's capable of."
"What does it do? Do you have any idea, Washu?" Misaki
inquired.
"My only guess is that it makes him stronger, or gives him access
to his maximum power. He had given me a scouter a few weeks ago, and I
measured everybody with it. What the scouter does is takes a measurement
of your life energy and gives it a number. The higher the number, the more
power you have. However, some are capable of hiding it from scouters or
other energy detectors, like him," Washu explained.
"What was his number in comparison to one of you?" the empress
asked, genuinely curious. However, she kept her eye on the growing red
dot in the sky. It almost started looking like a ship at this time.
"Ryoko came in at about two thousand, which is really impressive,
even since she didn't have all her gems." Washu stopped and let that sink
in, letting everybody get a little anxious as she put on her most serious look.
"Russ came in at over four million, seven hundred thousand. That was over
two weeks ago, and since then, I think he's gotten much stronger. And not
only that, that's only his BASE power level. He has several abilities to
increase it many times above that. He used some technique called a
Kaioken attack at a multiple of three, and his power rocketed to over twelve
million."
Misaki stared at her in disbelief. "That's not possible. You mean
to tell me that he's…" she paused a moment, working the math out in her
head. "…Over two thousand, three hundred, fifty times more powerful than
RYOKO?!" Breathing heavily, she tried to let this sink in.
Having horrid flashbacks of Ryoko's original attack on Jurai and
the massive destruction she caused, led her to believe that the number was a
fluke. "That number can't be right. It's just not possible. Ryoko was the
most destructive force we ever encountered at the time. Um… no offense,
Ryoko."
"None taken," the space pirate answered, a slight hint of pride in
her voice. Pride not because of what she did, but because she was
considered very strong.
"Believe me, it is very possible. He's radically powerful, but he
manages to hide it easily," Washu continued. "When he did the Kaioken at
level 3, I came down with a tremendous headache."
"So what I felt WAS real," Azaka said, aloud. "When I shook his
hand on the first day you arrived, I felt it. It was incredibly powerful."
"And that was the tip of the iceberg too," Washu told him.
Looking at the sky, she noticed the vessel still continuing its descent.
"Look! The ship is still coming down, but it isn't glowing anymore. I hope
he's okay. He's trying to slow the ship down without killing everybody
inside."

"Slow down, you piece of crap!" Russ shouted at the spaceship,
which was no longer glowing red hot. He since then placed his bare hands
on the hull and continued to apply a tremendous amount of force, and
continually slowed the ship.
Suddenly realizing that he miscalculated his descent velocity and
how much distance he really needed to stop the ship, he applied more
pressure to the hull. Not straining or stressing in the least, he watched the
ship carefully, making sure no parts or pieces fell off of it.
However, several cracks began to form around his hands, and they
began to snake around the outer hull of the ship.
Russ's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "OH CRAP! Too
much pressure! Come on, baby. Hold together for me now!" he
encouraged, continually applying a tremendous amount of force to the
already overstressed hull of the ship, moving his hands to a different
position. "Just a little more!"
Now only a mile above the ground, he could see people scurrying
around, trying to clear the way of where the ship would impact the ground.
However, clearing out enough space for a three hundred, seventy-four meter
long ship would take time, and unfortunately, it was something that the
people didn't have. Some just stopped in the middle of the street and
watched the spectacle, not afraid in the least, or realizing that they may as
well see their death coming.
The ship began to shudder and shake violently, as it now was
trying to fall to one side or the other, since its center of balance was thrown
off by its very slow descent factor.

Finally only about fifty feet above the ground, he finally got the
ship to stop in mid-air, just above the palace steps, where everybody
continued to watch with awestruck eyes. The massive warship just hovered
there, as if it were in operation. It began to tip and fall away from the
palace, and everybody could see Russ dart away from the front of the ship
to directly under it, and he caught it easily, quickly finding the center of
balance. Fortunately, the wood was extremely strong, so it didn't buckle
around the single pressure point generated by the saiyan.
Casually holding the ship over his head, he lowered himself and
the warship to about ten feet above the ground and slowly began to fly off
to the landing pad that was occupied by his Tie Defender. Everybody
quickly leapt up from his or her sitting positions and ran to the waiting pad,
keeping pace with Russ.
A few short moments later, he hovered over the pad, and he
descended to the ground. The concrete around his feet from his point of
impact shattered, unable to withstand such a tremendous amount of weight
in such a small area. Russ looked down at the two holes and the hundreds
of cracks that appeared, and he shook his head.
"Aw man, I forgot about that. Oh well." Leaning back a little, he
swung forward and threw the ship some ten feet away from him, where it
hit the ground with a thunderous crash.
Finally able to get a closer look at the ship, Russ could see the
damage that was done and why it couldn't fly. The shuttle in space had
crashed directly outside of an engine exhaust port, where most of the thrust
to keep the vessel aloft was generated. It had collapsed in on itself and then
exploded, taking the engine with it, and unfortunately, even though the ship
had two engines, it could not stay in orbit with just one. Not only that, but
the power plant for the ship was in that general vicinity, and when the
engine detonated, it knocked out the power plant. The wood around the
damaged site was still smoldering, and it looked like a complete wreck.
Russ figured that it would probably be docked and in repair for quite a
while.
Everybody ran up the steps to the landing pad and got a look at the
damaged ship, and at Russ. Misaki continued to stare at him in disbelief, as
Russ hadn't even broken a sweat, and he didn't even look like he had
worked himself at all.
"You saved the ship and everybody in this general vicinity, Russ,"
Misaki said, approaching him slowly. "You have my humble thanks and
appreciation. That was incredible though. How did you become so
powerful?"
Russ blushed. "I'm not that strong. I'm sure Azaka or Kamidake
would not have had a problem holding up a ship of this size. The legend
had said that they had the power to destroy stars. Isn't that correct?"
Azaka smirked. "That legend was greatly exaggerated. We're
strong enough to destroy a small fleet of ships of this size, but not much
more than that."
"So Russ, what is this thing I hear about you being called a Super
Saiyan? I've heard that was a legend too," Misaki pried, standing in front
of him. She looked into his black eyes and tried to see if he'd lie to her.
"Been talking to Washu, I see," he responded, looking over at the
red haired super genius, who chuckled and waved her hand, giving her best
sadistic smile. "It's simply a transformation that allows me to use my full
power. I almost never transform since I don't need to."
"Could you transform so I can see? I'm sure everybody else would
like to see it," Misaki pleaded.
Russ smiled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it takes a huge
amount of energy just to transform. I also don't like transforming all that
much. I hate showing it off," he frowned.
"Aw, come on. Please?"
"No."
Misaki frowned again and stood up straight. "If you don't show it
to me, I won't have my cooks feed you. How's that for incentive?"
Russ just grinned. "Not good enough, I'm afraid."
Everybody facefaulted, knowing how much Russ could really eat
when he was hungry. Misaki just became more determined.
"Okay, if that isn't good enough, how about this. I won't permit
you to date or court Aeka in any way, shape, or form, so long as you live,"
she decreed, thinking that she had him on the ropes. Azaka, Kamidake,
Ryoko, and Tenchi all broke out in sweat drops, as they knew that this was
probably a huge mistake.
Russ frowned at Misaki. He stared directly into her amethyst eyes,
trying to determine her serenity and her confidence. He decided to call her
bluff. But, if it wasn't a bluff, then it was what he was hoping for in the
first place. Even though Aeka was undoubtedly the perfect match for him,
at least as far as he could see, he could not bring himself to say yes.
"I'm sorry. I will not transform, no matter how you threaten me. I
do not respond well to any kind of threat, whether it is against my life or
something of a lesser cause."
Misaki's eyes widened, and she stared at him in disbelief.
"What?" she asked, still unable to comprehend what he just said.
"I said no," he answered, putting on his poker face and giving her
an emotionless gaze.
"You'd give up Aeka over simply transforming yourself into a
Super Saiyan?"
Russ nodded.
Aeka looked at him in shock, and nearly fainted. She began to
tremble slightly, squeezing her hands into fists. She gazed hard into Russ's
face, which was still turned toward her mother, who had the same exact
expression on her face as Aeka did. She let out a quiet sob, then stopped
herself, and continually repeated the same question to herself over and over
again.
"Why? I don't understand! Why?" Misaki nearly yelled, letting
her temper flare slightly.
"Because I don't want to. Because it's better this way. Because I
don't want to see anybody hurt as a result of my actions. Because a
relationship is too soon. Do I need to keep going?" Russ asked, standing
tall, not faltering to any kind of persuasion.
"But…" Misaki began.
"No. I'm sorry." Russ looked at everybody's saddened faces and
they just looked on him with pity and sorrow. "I'm sorry to have invaded
your lives and give you this kind of grief. I never wanted or expected this
kind of thing. When we get back home, I'll move out and find some other
place to live. I'll manage somehow. You guys would probably do better
without me around."
Sasami's eyes went wide, and she began crying. Running over to
him as fast as she could, she threw her little arms around Russ's waist and
buried her face in his shirt. "Please don't go! I'd be so sad if you did!
You've been such a great friend to me and I don't want to see you go!"
Russ looked down at the little princess with surprise, and he looked
up at the rest of the group once more, taking in each of their expressions.
"Please, Russ. Please stay with us. Everybody has been so much
happier since you've been around. You're such a nice man to talk to!"
Sasami continued, hugging him tightly. She continued to sob quietly into
his clothes, until she felt a hand come down on top of her head, ever so
gently. Looking up into Russ's face, she became hopeful, and her eyes
sparkled, despite the streaming tears.
Carefully, Russ removed Sasami's arms from around his waist, and
he knelt down, looking up into her face. "Do you really want me to stay?"
"I do! Yes I do!" Sasami yelled, desperation in her voice.
"I do too," Aeka added. "Please."
"Me three," Ryoko demanded. "And if you leave, I'll find you and
kick your ass," she added. "And I owe you for moving in, as well."
"I think I speak for everybody here when I say that we want you to
stay with us," Tenchi said, stepping up to Russ. "We will stop pressuring
you about Aeka. Will that be fair enough?"
The Saiyan looked at him with surprise, and he nodded his head.
"You got yourself a deal."
Again, Sasami grabbed Russ around the neck in a warm hug,
eliciting a chorus of "Aww" from everybody. But there were way too many
voices to be just Russ and the group.
Suddenly noticing a massive crowd of people around the platform
and several dozen other people who stood near the warship, Russ's face
turned blue and he fainted dead away.
Aeka couldn't help but laugh, and she felt happy and contented,
and very satisfied that Russ would remain with them. However, she felt an
incredible sadness, since she now could see that he had no interest in any
kind of everlasting love for her. He was set in his ways, and it was almost
too much to bear. But, there was always the possibility of him changing his
mind, and that was enough to give her hope. However, she kept her false
smile on her visage as the crowd of people swarmed around everybody,
congratulating Russ on a job well done.

Back in the Royal Training Room, several hours after the incident
with the Jurian Warship, Russ continued his exercises in solitude. Straining
under intense gravity, he performed a rigorous routine of sit-ups,
handsprings, and other various aerobic exercises. The floor could barely
handle the amount of weight pressing down on it, and it continually cracked
and creaked under him.
Finally finishing his routine exercises, he began to spar by himself,
punching and kicking into the empty space. The sounds created by him
echoed around the room, making a considerable amount of extra noise, but
it didn't bother him all that much. His stereo system sat nearby, kicking the
soundtrack of the Saber Marionette series that Tom had given him earlier.
He continued to punch into the air at a rate of speed that couldn't be seen by
a normal human, and then he changed over to kicking.
After becoming bored with doing this for a while, he began to fly
around the room, sparring against an imaginary foe, as he zanzokened
across the room and back again, within the blink of an eye. Several
afterimages marked Russ's place as he appeared and vanished again, but
they faded into oblivion after a moment.
Salty perspiration continually ran off of his body as a result of
pushing himself to his limits. Continually changing styles of fighting,
techniques, and other ways of fighting, he finally landed on the floor in the
middle of the mat, and then fell over from exhaustion.
He lay there for several minutes, breathing heavily and feeling the
cold mat on his stressed body. Rolling onto his back, he stared at the
extremely high ceiling and relaxed, listening to the last third of Soshite
Itoshiki Omoi from Saber Marionette J.
"You are as strong as Washu says, aren't you?" a voice asked from
out of nowhere.
Russ turned his head to the source of the voice and smiled slightly,
noting the empress who stood some ten feet away. He nodded an
acknowledgement.
"But there was something that you had said yesterday that caught
me off guard. You can't form an energy weapon like a sword, can you?"
Russ struggled to sit up, and with great effort, he managed to prop
himself up to face Misaki. Reaching over to his stereo, he turned it off.
"That's correct. I've tried, but it blows up in my face whenever I do it."
Misaki chuckled. "You're just trying to squeeze a ball and hope it
forms into a weapon, right?"
Wearily, Russ nodded again. "Yeah. Is there some sort of other
trick to it?"
"Yeah. You have to focus your ki into the weapon. Just squeezing
an energy ball will always blow up. Here. Watch me," she said, moving
over to the training mat.
She stood about eight feet away from him, and she focused a little
of her power into the palm of her hand, where a ball of blue energy began to
glow. She squeezed, and a sword about four feet long appeared, humming
quietly with radiant energy.
Russ smiled. "Reminds me of a lightsaber out of Starwars," he
said.
Misaki looked at him in confusion. "What's Starwars?"
Russ's eyes bulged and he fell over. However, he then
remembered that he wasn't talking to an earthling. "Starwars is a movie
series back on Earth. It's a science fiction film, but it's wildly entertaining.
That massive ship in orbit is based off of the Star Destroyer you see in that
movie series."
"I see. And this was a weapon in it?"
"Sort of. The blade was made from energy, but the hilt was a
physical item."
Misaki nodded. "We also have our keys that act as a hilt, but some
of us can form a blade without it." She then began exercising with her
sword, casually performing the swordplay routine that Yosho had taught
Tenchi so many times before. The shimmering weapon hummed through
the air and around her body in a beautiful and very precise flow of motion, a
result of thousands of years of practice. She finished and extinguished her
weapon.
"Now, do you understand what I did?"
Russ shook his head. "Could you form the sword once more?"
"Sure."
Again, the blue ball appeared in her hand, and when she squeezed,
it formed into the blade once more. However, this time, Russ felt a change
in her energy, which he didn't see or feel before. But now he had a pretty
good idea of how it worked.
"My turn," he said, dragging himself to his feet, still under a huge
amount of gravity. Forming a small green ball of energy in his hand, he
squeezed it, and then placed the new power he felt from Misaki into it. The
ball flashed and then formed into a very crooked weapon, but it didn't
explode.
Misaki chuckled to herself as Russ concentrated very hard, doing
his very best to keep the blade in existence. He held it there for a few
seconds, and then he released his hand, which extinguished the abomination
that could only loosely be called a sword.
"Very good! Try it again, but this time, focus it into a straight line.
Remember, with an energy blade, the sword can cut from any angle, unlike
traditional weapons which are either one or two faced."
"Yes ma'am," Russ responded, once again allowing his energy to
flow into the palm of his hand. Once again he squeezed, applying his
newfound technique to his energy, and it formed into a perfectly straight
blade, about five feet in length. It hummed quietly, and Russ smiled in
satisfaction.
"Swing it around a few times to get the feel of it," Misaki
suggested.
Russ slowly brought the sword up and swung it down, and to his
surprise, it had a little weight to it. Swinging it in a wide arc in front of
him, he brought it back down in a diagonal slash, then across his front once
more with a horizontal slash, returning the sword to his right side.
"This is quite amazing and easy too. I'm surprised this thing has
some weight to it. I thought it wouldn't have any resistance at all."
"If it didn't have any resistance, it would be harder to control.
Once you master it a bit more, you'll probably learn how to remove the
weight factor from it, or add more," the empress told him, smiling.
Russ released his hand, allowing the sword to vanish into
nothingness. Feeling emboldened a bit, he formed another ball of energy
into his palm, this time coloring it blue. He held his hand out in front of
him, and squeezed. This time, the ball flashed and produced two blades,
each about three feet in length - A perfect staff. It hummed quietly and the
glow from the blue blade changed the color of Russ's clothes slightly.
Misaki smiled and nodded her head.
"Excellent. You're a quick study."
Russ grinned and released the staff, which vanished. "Thank you.
I appreciate you showing me how to do that little trick. It'll be most helpful
in my battle against Zorpheus."
Misaki smiled and nodded her head. "You're welcome. Now, it's
your turn to teach me something."
Russ looked at her in confusion. "Teach what?"
Misaki grinned. "Did you forget what you told me two days ago?"
Thinking back to the day before yesterday, he quickly ran through
the events in his mind and all the confrontations with Misaki. Still coming
up blank, he looked at her meekly. "I'm sorry, but I've got a bad memory.
What was it that I promised to show you?"
"That dance you did with Tom."
Russ's eyes went wide for an instant, and then he smiled. "I did
promise that, didn't I? I had forgotten. I'm sorry about that. Well, sure.
Let's get to work. The song that was played was November, by a group
called Mythos. I'll see about getting you a copy of the song."
"No need. I already have it," she said, smiling.
Russ nodded. "Okay then, lets get started."

Finally, after another long day of play, the sky finally began to
darken once more, signaling the drawing close of the Startica Festival.
Everybody was happy and contented, and had greatly enjoyed themselves
over the last couple of days. There were no major catastrophes aside from
the one Russ averted, so the GP had it easy this year. They were in the
process of patrolling around the planet, checking to make sure all the ships
that were departing could get out of their confined spaces. Fortunately, all
the vessels that parked around the Gray Wolf had departed, so it would be
easy for Tom and company to leave the planet.
Back inside the palace throne room, Asuza sat with both his wives,
flanked on either side by Azaka and Kamidake, awaiting the last and final
arrival from the group who had spent their vacation on Jurai. He was
scowling, and had other ideas for both his daughters. However, he kept it to
himself, and didn't let either of his wives know about it. It was high time
Aeka grasped the duty of being the Crown Princess of Jurai, rather than
living with the lowly commoners on a backwater planet such as Earth. He
didn't bother dealing with Yosho, since he had made up his mind a long
time ago, and he knew that Yosho would stick to it. He was too old to be
talked to.
He still recalled the day Yosho left Jurai to hunt the Space Pirate
Ryoko. After immense destruction and terror struck into the hearts of the
Jurai people, Yosho took it upon himself to leave the planet and chase
Ryoko until he either captured or killed her. And for some reason, Asuza
knew that he wouldn't return when he departed. Nothing was ever said
about it, but it was a gut feeling, and he left it at that. Funaho was really
depressed after he left, but she did a remarkable job of hiding it and
continuing on with her life. Aeka should take her as an example and buckle
down, and accept her duty as the Princess of Jurai. He'd make sure of that
this time.
The King of Jurai lost his train of thought when the throne room
doors swung open, revealing the entire group of Tenchi, Ryoko, Aeka,
Sasami, Washu, Kiyone, Mihoshi, the log Azaka and Kamidake, Ryo-Ohki,
Nobuyuki, Yosho, and lastly, Russ. They all made their way down the
long, red carpet, and their footsteps echoed around the massive room until
they came to a stop in front of the King.
"We're ready to head back home now, Father," Aeka said, bowing
her head. "I hope you and mother will be well once we're gone. We had a
very nice visit, and we'd like to come back next year."
"Aeka!" he began, in his commanding tone. "I want you to remain
here. You've been shirking your duties as the Jurian Princess for long
enough! Just how much longer do you plan on ignoring your obligation?"
"I am not ready to be the princess. I do not want to be the
princess! I've enjoyed my life back on Earth, and if I could, I'd live that
life forever!" she shot back, glaring hard at her father.
"Enough! The finance I have chosen for you is still here, waiting
for you," he said, gesturing to a set of curtains.
Everybody turned to stare in the direction the king pointed to, and
when the curtains pulled back, Aeka shuddered, and everybody else just
stared in amazement.
That pink haired retard stepped out from behind the curtain, his fan
in his right hand, and that insufferable laugh of his rang in her ears.
"I take it you remember who I am, Princess? I must say that you
look stunning this evening."
"Serio! I thought Tenchi vanquished you! How can you be
alive?!" Aeka demanded.
Serio smirked. "That boy could never have defeated me, if it
weren't for that tidal wave knocking me off of that platform. But now I
have another chance, since Tenchi is now occupied with… someone else,"
he said, glaring at the two.
"How dare you!" Aeka shouted.
Again, he laughed arrogantly. "Do you really want to go back to
that hellhole, instead of remaining here with me? I've got so many ships to
offer Jurai, and I can offer you, my darling, even more."
Aeka's eyes went wide and she shuddered violently. "You will do
no such thing! My heart is with someone else entirely, even though he
hasn't returned it yet."
Russ's face immediately went several shades of crimson, and he
swallowed a growing lump in his throat, loudly.
Asuza arose from his chair and glared down at his disobedient
daughter. "The challenge will remain the same. You can have your wish,
if, and ONLY if, that barbarian can defeat Serio in a duel!"
Letting out a breath, she smiled, but a cold, evil, heartless smile. "I
don't think that will be a problem this time, Father."
Aeka turned around and made her way over to Russ, who looked at
her curiously. She stopped in front of him, grasped his hand, and looked
into his eyes, while her own eyes begged, pleaded, for him to help her. Her
face looked desperate, and he knew what she wanted.
"I take it you want me to fight him, Aeka?" Russ asked, looking
into her saddened face.
"Please. This is the only way I can remain with Tenchi, you, and
his family. I don't want to be anywhere else. I know you do not want to
return any kind of love, at least, not yet, but… please help me," she said,
unable to say those three little words. "And you did promise me that you'd
help me."
Funaho and Misaki both looked at each other, and then nodded
their heads. "If Russ defeats Serio, then you may go home with them."
Serio laughed again. "That is what I have to fight this time? He
looks even more of a pushover than Tenchi was. At least Tenchi has a
higher level of energy than he does."
Russ's fists clenched as he fought to keep his power level from
going up, as he was trying to keep it that of a normal human. Looking back
down at Aeka, he nodded his head.
"Okay. I'll fight him, since it is your ticket home," Russ said, and
then smiled.
"Humph. This is going to be quite easy. He hardly has any power
to speak of," Serio said, stepping off of the platform and onto the floor,
standing about fifteen feet away from Russ, directly in front of the King.
Everybody else quickly stepped off to the side, giving them plenty of room.
Serio looked into Russ's eyes and offered him the same offer he
made Tenchi. "Do you wish to concede? That would be a wise decision,
even for a stupid idiot like you," he laughed. "But if you fight, I'll make it
easy on you. I won't use my maximum power. But you're most likely to
be killed anyway."
Russ smirked, as he used his senses to judge his opponents power
level. Keeping his poker face on, he didn't give away what he thought.
"You may begin when ready," Russ invited, not taking up any
stance at all.
"You're dumber than you look," Serio insulted once more.
"Prepare yourself."
Russ just stared at him, waiting for him to make a move. He
waited for nearly a minute, and he finally lost his patience. He began
tapping his foot impatiently, and then he placed his hands on his hips. As if
to prove his point further, he forced a yawn and then folded his arms over
his chest.
"This is rather boring," Russ muttered, looking at Serio's pink hair.
"Why haven't you made a move? And where in the world did you come up
with that cotton candy hairdo anyway?"
Serio looked at him in horror. "What!? Don't you dare insult me,
you ignoramus." He clenched his fists and began to power up. His body
began to glow red, but there was nothing much more than that. After nearly
a minute, he finished, and a brilliant orange sword came into existence in
his right hand. Looking at Russ, he smirked.
"Afraid of what you see?"
Russ shook his head. "No. But I've got a deal for you. If I can
power up higher than you, will you concede and walk away?"
Serio looked at him in surprise, and then started laughing. "You
power up more than me? You've lost your mind."
Russ continued to give him the poker face. "Well? Do you
agree?"
Serio extinguished his sword and waved his hand carelessly.
"Sure. But I know I have this match won already. I'm not even at my full
power."
"Then power up to your maximum. Let's see what you're made
of."
Serio glared at him, then did as he was told. Again, red energy
outlined his body as he continued to raise his ki higher and higher.
Everybody could hear him grunt and strain, as the glow became more
intense. A light breeze came from him, and a very slight shaking of the
room could be felt. Everybody who could sense a power level was
watching Serio, curious as to how high he could go.
It took him nearly three minutes, but when he was done, the glow
around his body was enough to change the lighting of the room to a reddish
color, and a strong breeze came from him. The king grinned triumphantly,
figuring that he had won. But of course, Russ had yet to show anything of
his own.
"Ahhh, lets see if you can match this," Serio challenged.
Russ looked at him and judged his power. "Impressive. I'd say
you're at about four thousand. Not too shabby."
Serio glared at him. "Power up, you moron. Lets see if you can
put up or shut up."
Russ shook his head. "I can't even compliment you without you
taking offense to it. Sheesh."
"Stuff it, already. Power up and quit stalling," the king demanded.
Russ glared at him, and clenched his fist. "I hope this building can
withstand a heavy earthquake," he said, spreading his feet.
Asuza looked at him curiously, but maintained his glare. Misaki
and Funaho looked at each other worriedly, and slowly began to back up.
"You wanted to see me power up. Don't run away now, your
highness," Russ called, noticing Misaki continuing to back off. She
regarded him with a look of surprise, but she sat down on her throne, next to
her husband. "Azaka, Kamidake? Shield them as best you can."
The two knights looked at each other, their foreheads beading in
perspiration. Now they'd see what they were originally up against in that
training room, and they'd see how much he was really holding back.
Taking in a breath through his teeth and letting it out in a primal
howl, Russ began to prep himself for a massive power surge. Tensing every
muscle in his body, and taking in another deep breath, his voice continued
to echo around the hall, and everybody watched him. Aeka had a slight grin
on her face, knowing what he was about to do, and how he was going to
blow the socks off her father and that arrogant fop, Serio.
A huge, green fireball exploded around Russ's body, enshrouding
him in flames, and blowing every single bystander off of their feet. The
wind from his energy was enough to knock paintings off of walls and cause
everyone to shield his or her face from the hurricane of dirt and other
objects that began flying around the room. The floor under Russ cracked
and shattered, causing several chunks of the marble tile to hover in the air
and break apart, swirling and mixing in with the other debris. He looked
exactly like Vegeta did when the prince powered up to fight Recoome.
Then, the earthquake began. It started only slightly at first, but it
continued to intensify, until the floor shook with such ferocity that nobody
could keep his or her footing. But Russ didn't stop, despite hearing several
people scream in panic. He continued to grunt and strain, pushing his
energy level to its maximum.
The king watched Russ through his arms, wondering what kind of
freakish person he really was, being able to generate this astronomical
amount of power. It was unbelievable. Never, ever, had he expected any
one individual to generate enough power to surpass himself, let alone the
entire Jurai fleet combined. This man made his own energy seem
insignificant, and he was the most powerful man on Jurai.
The king knew he was the most powerful being on the planet.
Azaka and Kamidake both knew it too. He didn't need any kind of
protection, because nobody was powerful enough to challenge him.
However, this man shattered every single expectation that they ever had.
And he wasn't even warmed up yet.
Misaki kept her face shielded, and she finally had her question
answered. He was overwhelmingly powerful. He went way beyond her
expectations, and now she knew why he kept it hidden. It was frightening
to be in the presence of such energy. He kept it low to be treated normally,
but he could call on his power whenever he needed it, like now.
Azaka and Kamidake did their very best to shield the king and
queens, but even they could barely stand up against a force as intense as
this. Their forcefield continued to fizzle, and they were able to block only
less than half of the junk flying around the room. They both grunted and
strained, and as they could sense his energy keep rising, they began to
wonder when he'd stop.
After only thirty seconds of powering up, Russ shifted himself into
high gear, and doubled his rate of energizing himself, causing a massive
shockwave which peeled away more of the floor and began to bring the
palace down around him. Bits of the ceiling began to break apart, the flying
debris had destroyed the finish of the wood pillars, and the walls were being
pelted with the marble chips that continued to swirl around Russ.
The roar of his energy was deafening, and they could barely hear
themselves scream. However, they could hear Russ perfectly clear, as he
yelled at the top of his voice, straining to take his ki to new heights.
Moments later, which felt like hours to the bystanders, the shaking
subsided, the wind died down, but all the debris remained floating in mid-
air. The roar of energy was still present, albeit much more quiet, and
everybody was finally able to uncover his or her faces.
The entire throne room was blanketed in an eerie green glow,
generated by the man who stood directly in the middle of it, his energy still
burning brightly around him. Marble and wood chunks still floated lazily
around Russ, held up by some unseen force.
His face was frightening. His hair was swirling around and
standing up, his clothes flapped in the wind of his energy, and his face
spoke words that didn't need to be said. Everybody just sat and stared,
except for Aeka.
The palace doors swung open and the throne room became flooded
with Jurian guards, who immediately stopped and stared at the spectacle in
the middle of the place. They had their weapons at the ready, but they knew
just by looking at him that they didn't stand a chance, but they were willing
to die for the king anyway, to protect him and to serve him.
Carefully, slowly, Aeka made her way around the debris, and
slowly approached Russ, who turned his head toward her, and nodded
casually, a slight grin presenting itself. He nodded his head forward,
indicating to her to have a look at something.
Turning to what he found so interesting, she couldn't help but
smile. Serio was planted into the stairs leading up to Asuza's throne. His
body made a perfect imprint of himself in the steps, and they could see him
lying there, his eyes looking like corkscrews as he moaned
incomprehensible phrases.
"Looks like I win," Russ said, letting out a deep breath and
allowing himself to relax. His green ki vanished and all the debris fell to
the ground with a loud clatter, sounding like a heavy rain for about two
seconds.
Slowly, everybody returned to his or her feet, but everybody
continued to stare at the Saiyan in absolute astonishment. King Asuza
looked at him in complete horror, and for the first time in his life, his face
expressed fear. He looked at the Saiyan as if he were a god, and not some
lowly commoner anymore. He realized that he made some major mistakes
with him. It was good for his sake that Russ had fair control over his
temperament or he could've been killed easily, and nobody could've
stopped him. Not even Tsunami or the lighthawk wings.
Misaki and Funaho both looked at him in amazement, and they
were unable to think of anything to say. They could sense his energy level
and they almost couldn't believe that it was real. It was scary being in the
presence of such power.
"I think that I should have you know, that what I just did was only
my base power level. That means I wasn't using any energy enhancements.
To be perfectly clear, I can go much higher than what you just felt," he said
coolly, staring into the Emperor's eyes. "And I'm stronger than I was two
weeks ago, when I first met the family."
"That's impossible," he whispered. "He's just too impossible."
Russ heard him. "I assure you, it is very possible. I can destroy
this planet and the ENTIRE solar system with the power I possess. But I'm
not going to do that," Russ told him, continuing to glare into Asuza's eyes.
"I think it's time I give you a little advice, and you better listen to it. Never
judge a book by its cover. You misjudged me, big time, and it came to bite
you in the rear, in the end. Look at this room." Russ waved his arm around
the place, which was utterly destroyed. The floor was cratered around
Russ's feet, which completely ruined the marble flooring. The walls were
trashed, and every single painting and ornamental item that had been on
those walls was obliterated. The wooden pillars were nearly destroyed, and
some of them looked like Swiss cheese, as a result of the flying debris
passing right through the wood like putty. The ceiling had massive chunks
fall out of it, leaving gaping holes throughout it. All the remaining pieces
of debris were scattered throughout the room.
The king looked at his once beautiful room and shuddered. He'd
have to condemn the room until it was repaired, but that was insignificant in
comparison to what could've been done. Looking back into Russ's eyes, he
couldn't find any emotion left in them, and it scared the daylights out of
him.
"This room was destroyed simply by me powering up. What do
you think would've happened if I focused an attack on you? To put it
simply, you would've been annihilated. Oh, and one other bit of advice.
Show more respect to those who are your subjects. You were extremely
disrespectful to me when we first met. I wanted to kick your butt since the
day I met you because you're arrogant, insulting, and in my opinion, a
person who is unworthy of remaining the King of Jurai."
Again, the king looked at him with a mixture of surprise and
horror. "How dare…"
"Shut up," Russ interrupted him. "This is exactly what I'm talking
about. You need a serious attitude adjustment. You could take quite an
example from both of your wives, since they are far more respectful than
you will probably ever be."
Funaho and Misaki looked at him in surprise and they both
realized that he was probably right. They'd have to console the king and
find a way to make him more respectable, and a nicer man. Perhaps if he
were in the presence of Russ more often...
"I'm sorry about destroying the room," Russ stated flatly. "I hope
you get it fixed up sooner or later. But anyway, it's time for us to leave. I
appreciate all the hospitality that you extended to everybody and myself."
Russ gave a slight bow, and stood up straight, relaxing himself and allowing
his power level to fall to that of a normal human once more.
Everybody else dusted their clothes off and stood next to the
saiyan, and also bowed.
"I'll see you next year, Mother and Father," Aeka said, standing
next to Russ, bowing her head. "I hope you will be well this coming year."
Misaki and Funaho both made their way down to the floor, being
careful to sidestep Serio, who was still out cold. They made their way over
to the group and they began to say their goodbyes, exchanging hugs and
kisses to everybody.
Carefully, stealthily, Russ slipped out of the throne room, being
careful to shut the door behind him. However, someone did notice him.
"Aren't you going to say goodbye, Russ?"
Stopping in his tracks, he slowly turned and faced Misaki, who
frowned at him. "I'm sorry, but I've never been good at goodbyes," he
answered.
"Now is as good as time as any to start." Slowly moving over to
Russ, she placed her arms around him and gave him a warm, caring
squeeze. "It was nice meeting you, Russ. I hope you come back next year."
Russ stood flabbergasted and he scratched the back of his head, but
smiled warmly. "Thank you for having me. It was nice meeting you."
"You were right about your power," she said, drawing a curious
look from Russ. "You ARE godlike with that kind of energy. I don't know
how you hide it, but I'm glad you're using it to protect Aeka and her
family."
"That's what I'm here for."
Misaki smiled. "Take care of Aeka, Russ. I'll be counting on it."
Russ blushed, but nodded his head. "Yes, your highness. I shall
do my best."
Misaki hugged Russ once more, giving him a gentle squeeze.
However, the sound of another pair of footsteps stomping on the ground
became present a second later.
"What are you doing, Mother?!?!"
Turning around, the Empress smiled. "No need to get jealous!"
She released Russ and grabbed her daughter in a hug. "I was just saying
goodbye."
Russ became several shades of red and had a huge sweat drop on
his head. Aeka looked surprised, and then she relaxed, shaking her head.
"Well, it's time to go," Russ said, noting everybody else exiting
the condemned throne room. They all made their way over to Russ, and the
entire entourage made their way out of the palace to the landing pad, where
an assault transport was already waiting for them. Tom stepped out onto
the ramp and waved his hand.
"Well, did everybody have a good time?" he asked, as Russ
approached.
"Sure did. Are we ready to get underway?"
"Yeah. All your bags and belongings have been loaded already, so
we're set to go. And Russ," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"What did you do? I've heard a lot of bystanders talking about an
earthquake. Did you power up or something?"
Russ gave him a grin that told him exactly what he needed to
know. Tom grinned in amusement.
"Well, everybody, hop onboard and we'll get ourselves out of
here," Russ said, gesturing to the ramp way, and everybody made their way
into the hold of the ship. Misaki and Funaho both remained at the edge of
the landing pad, waving their hands and having tears in their eyes.
"Bye everyone!" Misaki yelled as the door sealed itself.
Russ turned and waved one last time, as he climbed into his fighter
and started it up. Sealing the hatch behind him, he sat in the leather seat
and sighed deeply.
The roar of the ATR became extremely loud as a lot of dust and
dirt came out from under it, and it slowly lifted itself off into the air. Russ's
Tie Defender lifted off as well, the landing gear retracting back into the
body of the fighter, and he moved forward, flying over the heads of both the
empresses, and then swinging around to follow the ATR, which had already
begun its accent.
Remaining on the pad, the mother of Aeka and Sasami, and the
mother of Yosho both continued to wave, until both ships vanished from
sight. They looked at each other and smiled.
"We're going to have to go visit them sometime soon, since they
came to visit us," Funaho said, wiping away a tear.
"I think that's a great idea. But, how will we get there? It would
require almost a month of vacation time to go."
Funaho thought a moment, then nodded her head. "I think it would
be worth it, don't you?"
"Yes. Yes indeed," Misaki responded, clasping her hands
together.
Turning back toward the palace, both the empresses of Jurai made
their way to the air traffic control room, and they sat down at one of the
available terminals, drawing a bunch of curious and worried looks from the
various staff members. It wasn't often that they had the opportunity to even
see the rulers of the planet, let alone be in the same room with them. They
watched them punch a few keys, and they brought up an image of the Star
Destroyer in orbit. They zoomed in on it, and they watched both the ATR
and Russ's fighter both enter the hanger bay of the massive warship.
"That thing is huge, sis. This is the first time I've seen it," Misaki
whispered.
"Me too. What kind of ship is that?"
Thinking a moment, her eyes lit up. "Russ had said that the ship
was based off of a movie called Starwars, back on Earth. I think it's called
a Star Destroyer."
Again, several other staff members chuckled, thinking that was a
ridiculous name for a ship class.
"We're going to have to find a copy of that movie and see it for
ourselves," Funaho declared. But she silenced herself when the massive
warship began to turn and move away from the planet. "Well, it looks like
they're getting underway."
They both watched the huge ISD move a little distance away from
the planet, which happened to be the end of the planetary system, and it
stopped in place for a few moments. Several GP vessels began to approach
the ship, thinking that something had gone wrong. However, a moment
later, a bright flash from its engines and a streak of light later, the ship raced
out of the star system in less than a second, and then it vanished from sight
as it entered hyperspace.
Both Misaki and Funaho looked at their screen, which was trying
to track the ship, but it was gone.
"That thing must be going so fast that our sensors can't detect it,"
Misaki said, punching a few more keys on the console.
"They did say that it can get from here to Earth in about twelve
hours. I'd say that's moving pretty darn fast. I don't even think the
checkpoint even realized that a ship had flown right through it with them
moving at that rate of speed."
Misaki nodded. "Well, lets go back to the throne room. We
should help with the cleanup."
"Right as always. We've got our work cut out for us this time."
Both empresses laughed as they left the terminal and made their
way back to the great hall.

Onboard the Star Destroyer, the first thing Russ did was head off
to his quarters and went to sleep, even before he fell over and hit the bed.
Aeka and Sasami watched him crash-land onto the mattress, and they both
giggled.
"He completely wears himself out every single day. I don't know
how he handles himself like that," Aeka whispered.
"I know. He's so strong though."
Aeka nodded, undressing herself, preparing to get into her
nightgown. "But, he does have the right idea. We may as well go to sleep
and be rested for when we get back home. There isn't a whole lot to do
onboard a starship."
"There are plenty of things to do on this ship though. But I am
tired. We'll probably still have a few hours to do stuff when we wake up,
since I doubt we could sleep twelve hours."
"I know Russ can," Aeka giggled.
Sasami smiled. "I can always order a can of whipped cream from
the replicator," she cackled evilly.
"Sasami! You promised that you wouldn't pull any pranks on each
other during this trip, and I expect you to hold to it." Aeka glared down at
her sister, as she wrapped her gown over her slender body and tightened the
obi. "Besides, if you do, he'll probably go berserk, and I won't stop him
either," she added.
Sasami looked worried for a moment, but she nodded her head.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I'd probably wake up on the hull of the ship
or something, knowing what kind of pranks he likes to play."
Both Aeka and Sasami tossed back the covers to their futons, and
they both lay down, pulling the comforter up to their necks. They both let
out a yawn at the exact same time and stretched themselves, allowing their
bodies to relax for a nice and restful slumber.
"Aeka?"
"Yes?"
"Are you… still upset over what father tried to do today?" Sasami
asked, worried for her sister.
Aeka looked at the gray ceiling and sighed, closing her eyes slowly
and re-opening them. "I just don't understand why father feels he must
interfere in these things. All he ever manages to do is make me upset, and
make everybody else around him upset too."
Sasami rolled over onto her side, so she could see her sister.
"Well, you know what mom thinks, right?"
Aeka shook her head. "No. Actually I'm not sure what she thinks
about the whole thing. I know she got upset with father, but he continually
tried to prove a point. I know that I've been lax in my duties as the first
princess, but why must he force me to chose someone that would benefit the
empire, but make me miserable?" Sighing deeply, she continued. "But
anyway, you're a little young to understand such things. Not yet, anyway."
Sasami grunted, her face becoming cross. "I may be little, but I do
understand some of it. But what you don't know is how much mother really
wants to see you and Russ get together. She knows the relationship
between you and Tenchi has been resolved to friendship, and she knows
that Russ is completely available, and is the same age as you. Mother
doesn't care about what father thinks. She wants you to be happy, and
that's all that matters to her."
Aeka let out a tiny gasp, and then rolled onto her side, facing the
little princess. "Are you sure, Sasami? Did mother tell you this?"
"Yes. She wants to see you happy more than anything, and so do
I. I really like Russ. He's like a big brother to me. He's always sweet and
kind, and a little mischievous like me," Sasami giggled. "But he's stubborn
too. But anyway, I'm glad he's staying with us. That makes me very
happy."
"Me too, Sasami. He's so much like Tenchi, but a lot more easy-
going. Tenchi was always uptight and very strict, and at times, quick to
anger. He always got mad at Ryoko and myself whenever we'd get into a
fight, whether it be over him or not. Russ, on the other hand, seems to take
it in stride, as a way of life. He just minds his own business. I think I like
that about him more than the strictness with Tenchi."
"I see you noticed that too. Tenchi hardly ever had time to do
things with me or anybody else, since he was always busy doing chores
around the house. Russ has actually taken time out of his training when he
saw me playing by myself to play a game with me," Sasami described,
remembering a game of catch that was played about a week ago.
"You're right. Tenchi really hadn't done much of anything with
us, in terms of enjoying ourselves and having fun. For the most part, he
only got involved when one of us was in trouble. He'd always come to
rescue us," Aeka sighed, remembering how he risked his life to save her
from the Kagato that impersonated Yosho. "But Russ would do the same
thing, wouldn't he?"
Sasami smiled. "He already is. He's here to protect us."
Aeka thought a moment and smiled. "You're right. He is here to
save all of us, isn't he?"
Nodding her head, Sasami yawned and stretched herself under her
blanket. "He also comforted me when I had that bad dream back on Jurai."
"That's right! You never told me what it was about, did you?"
Aeka asked, becoming concerned.
"No. It was really scary, and I don't know why I dreamt it. It was
about Kain," Sasami said, her voice almost a whisper.
Looking at her sister in surprise, she reached out from under her
blanket, took Sasami's hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It was only a
dream. Kain is dead. We killed him, remember? We used Washu's
Dimensional Cannon and blew him away," Aeka said quietly. "He won't
ever bother us again."
"Yeah, you're right, but it was still creepy. Russ woke up and
made me feel a lot better. I'm glad he was there with me when I had that
dream."
Aeka smiled. "I'm glad too, Sasami," she said, rolling onto her
back once more, getting herself more comfortable. "Let's get some sleep."
"Yeah. Goodnight, Aeka. I love you."
"I love you too, Sasami. Goodnight."

"Come on, Ryoko! Don't you ever give up?"
"But Tenchiiiiii!!"
"You're being ridiculous, now cut it out, okay? I'm too tired to do
that again."
"You're such a spoiled sport!"
"I am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am NOT!"
"Yes you are. You don't want to, because you know you'll lose."
"Ryoko, we've played five games already. Give it up! You'll
never defeat me at chess."
Both Tenchi and Ryoko were hunched over a traditional
chessboard, with Tenchi's black army giving Ryoko's white pieces a good
trouncing. Ryoko's defensive line lay in ruins, and nearly all of her pieces
were sitting off to the side, having been taken by Tenchi. Only about a
quarter of Tenchi's pieces sat on Ryoko's side of the board that she had
captured, and they were all pawns. Her king was completely surrounded,
and Ryoko knew that she had lost.
Ryoko continued to pout, folding her arms over her chest and
turning away, an extremely peeved look on her face.
"You must cheat or something. There's no way you could've
beaten me this many times without losing once without cheating!" she
muttered, still not looking at Tenchi.
Tenchi shook his head and rested his elbow on the table, and rested
his chin in his palm. "Grandpa is a good teacher. And I don't cheat. You
would've saw me do it if I had."
"Humph!"
"Now who is being a spoiled sport?"
Ryoko turned her nose up at him and repeated her discontentment.
"Come on, Ryoko. We should get some rest. We had a long day
today, didn't we?"
"I'm not talking to you."
Tenchi facefaulted. "Aw, give me a break, Ryoko! If you're
going to be like this, we won't play anymore."
"Fine! See if I care!" she quipped, phasing out of existence and
reappearing some distance away in her evening attire. Or rather, lack
thereof.
Tenchi's eyes bulged a moment and a trickle of blood appeared at
the edge of his nostril as he turned away. Ryoko frowned at him.
"Don't tell me you're still embarrassed of me, Tenchi."
"It's not that. I'm just still not used to seeing you… naked. I wish
you wouldn't do that."
"We're born naked, Tenchi. And we're naked under the covers
too. What does it matter anyway? It's just you and me."
Tenchi scratched his head and thought hard, trying to come up with
a reasonable answer to her question without provoking her further.
However, fatigue mixed with a racing heart did wonders for ruining his
concentration, and only one thought came to mind.
Standing up slowly and turning toward Ryoko, he casually made
his way across the room, until he stood directly in front of the space pirate.
She looked at him curiously, but she was swept off of her feet as Tenchi
lifted her into the air and cradled her in his arms, a warm, caring, loving
smile on his lips.
"This isn't quite the answer I was looking for, Tenchi."
"Would you…"
Ryoko silenced him by pressing her lips to his, wrapping her arms
around his broad shoulders, squeezing him tightly. "But I like it."
"Would you like to… you know… head off to bed now?"
Ryoko smiled widely and she nodded her head. "Anytime, Tenchi.
Whether it is day or night. I'm always here for you."
Carrying his beloved to the bedroom, they both slid under the
covers, continuing to hold each other close. And, of course, getting ready to
do this and that kind of thing.
Ryoko turned out the light with the flick of her wrist, and the
sounds of sensual pleasure muffled by the comforter were the only sounds
in the room for the night.

Some eight hours later, Russ had woken up in a very cramped and
awkward position, as he had fallen out of bed sometime while he was
asleep. One of his legs had somehow gotten caught around the bedpost, and
it remained in mid-air throughout most of the night. It was ice cold and
Russ knew that when the blood started flowing again that he was going to
have that creepy feeling all over his leg, and he hated that kind of thing.
Quickly jumping in the sonic shower, he shed his clothes and
generated a fresh and clean karate gi, this time coloring it a steel gray. He
turned and left his room, noting Aeka and Sasami still asleep on his floor.
Cautiously, he exited his room and made his way down the corridor to the
lift, where he stepped inside.
"Holodeck one."
The lift quickly sped down its track to his requested level, and it
came to a stop a few short moments later. He made his way down the
hallway to the holodeck, and he discovered that it was already occupied.
Keying a few commands on a nearby console, he identified that the
occupants were, surprisingly, Tenchi and Katsuhito. He keyed another
command, which opened a comlink with the interior of the room.
"Hey guys, it's me. Mind if I come in?"
"Sure," Katsuhito answered.
The large double doors divided themselves and slid back into the
wall with a hiss, revealing a large clearing, covered in grass and surrounded
by trees, in much the same scenario as the training grounds back at the
Masaki home.
"What are you guys up to?" he asked, as the doors closed behind
him and disappeared.
"We're training again. Grandpa insists that I do some catching up,
since I haven't practiced for a few days," Tenchi responded, nursing a lump
on his head.
Russ grinned. "I hear that. I know what it's like to become rusty
after not training. But anyway, mind if I watch?"
"Hey Russ, why don't you train with Tenchi here for a little while?
I'd like to see how he fairs against you," Katsuhito invited, lowering his
bokken.
Tenchi regarded him with a look of stunned horror. "Grandpa!
You know I can't even touch him!"
"Better for practice! If you face someone who is superior to
yourself, a lot of times you will progress a lot faster," Katsuhito instructed,
tossing Russ the wooden sword.
Russ caught it easily and grinned, swinging it a couple of times to
get the feel of it. "Don't worry, I won't be as rough as your grandpa is,"
Russ grinned evilly, taking up a defensive stance, looking like a samurai
warrior.
Tenchi mumbled his discontentment as he hefted his own weapon
and taking up the stance Katsuhito had shown him many times before. It
was the most effective position for defending against an unknown attack,
since it left almost no part of the body venerable.
Russ watched him curiously, and out of nowhere, he released his
stance. He stood up straight and looked off to the side somewhere.
"I think we need a bit of music to spice things up a bit. Computer,
play Spybreak Short One from The Matrix."
A courtesy beep and a slight pause later, the music began. Russ
grinned as he took up a new stance, but drawing a very weird look from
both Katsuhito and Tenchi. The music was quite loud, and the two
opponents would have to shout at each other in order to hear each other.
"Go!" Russ yelled, charging Tenchi and swinging the bokken in a
wide arc, aiming for Tenchi's neck.
He saw it coming and he ducked, and swung his own sword in an
upward stroke, missing Russ by a few inches. Russ countered by spinning
around and swinging the sword in the same spot once more, keeping time
with the music.
This time Tenchi blocked the stroke, and took a swipe at Russ's
chest, missing once again and countering a third blow aimed at his neck.
However, Russ didn't stop, and he kept up a smooth, steady offense, going
with the flow of motion and music, swinging toward Tenchi's neck for a
fourth time. By this time, Tenchi was expecting it and he ducked, and then
thrust his bokken toward Russ's leg. However, he missed again as Russ
casually spun with the blow, and once again brought his sword down in a
smooth sweep, and he cracked Tenchi in the back of the neck, causing him
to fall over with his face in the dirt.
Tenchi quickly looked up at Russ, who was bringing his sword
down for the finishing blow, but Tenchi rolled out of the way as the sword
impacted the ground. He regained his footing quickly and began another
offense, swinging his sword toward Russ's own neck, which missed as the
saiyan ducked and thrust his own sword toward Tenchi's chest, which again
impacted, knocking him back a few feet.
Sprinting forward a few steps to catch up to Tenchi, Russ speedily
swung his sword at his opponent's leg, smacking it hard and leaving a large
welt, and he quickly withdrew the sword, and swung it again at Tenchi's
other leg, missing it as Tenchi did a backflip to get away from the persistent
saiyan.
Mounting his own offense, Tenchi quickly took a jab at Russ's
chest, but Russ rolled with the blow and whacked Tenchi in the ribs with his
own bokken. However, Tenchi closed his arm around the sword, but Russ
was quick to push him off of it, and resume his intense attack.
Beginning an all new offense, Russ began to swing the sword all
over his body, taking jabs and swiping the sword at various parts of
Tenchi's body, most of which connected, leaving bruises and welts
wherever the sword smacked him. He made an overhead swing, which was
blocked, but he continued the flow of motion and spun around, swinging the
sword at Tenchi's ribs again, which connected, making Tenchi howl in
pain. However, Russ did not stop, and he continued his flow of motion,
spinning around again and making his sword impact into Tenchi's leg,
knocking him over. Still not finished with his attack, he changed his handle
on the sword, now handling it like a knife, and he drove it straight toward
Tenchi's head, which narrowly missed as it impacted the ground.
Tenchi rolled away and sprung back to his feet, trying to nurse the
fresh injuries and mount an offense against a whirlwind style maneuver by
Russ. Blocking nearly every blow that came near him, he desperately tried
to find an opening in Russ's offense, but he was moving in such an irregular
pattern that it was impossible to tell what he was going to do next. It was so
much easier fighting his grandpa, where he'd do the same moves over and
over again, even though most of the time he couldn't block them because of
his grandfather's superior strength.

Katsuhito watched in amusement, as it looked like more of a dance
than a fight from Russ's perspective. He watched how Russ countered
nearly every move Tenchi made, which was quite impressive, since Russ
wasn't using any of his energy to enhance his speed. Russ watched
Tenchi's face and Katsuhito realized that he was able to read what Tenchi
was about to do, just by the motion of his eyes or a change in a facial
expression. It was quite interesting to watch.
Tenchi, on the other hand, was watching Russ's arms and legs, and
not paying any attention to his face, or what he could possibly be thinking.
His defense was very sloppy, even sloppier than when he spars with
himself. Of course, Russ was performing moves that he had never done
himself, and that made it far more difficult to fight against. He realized that
he was going to have to show Tenchi some new techniques to improve his
fighting ability.

Tenchi once again took a swipe at Russ's leg, which was blocked
with a smooth, flowing stroke from his opponents own weapon. However,
he stumbled backwards a few more feet when Russ's right hand planted
itself square on his chest, knocking the wind out of him.
"Hey, I thought we were only using weapons!" he shouted, gasping
for air.
"My hand IS a weapon!" Russ shouted back, continuing his fluid
offense and taking a quick jab with the sword at Tenchi's face.
Moving to the side quickly, he swung his sword down at Russ's
leg. "It's not a bokken! You're supposed to fight with the sword only!"
Russ lifted his leg over Tenchi's weapon, and he spun around,
sweeping his leg against Tenchi's, tripping him. "Your whole body is a
weapon! Use it!"
Tenchi quickly sprung back to his feet, blocking an overhead strike
from Russ, doing his best to win a quick test of strength. Russ didn't
waver, but he released his weapon, allowing it to fly back toward Katsuhito,
who was still sitting on a boulder.
Grinning, Tenchi took up an offensive posture, set to attack.
"Ready to give up?"
Russ looked at him in amusement and shook his head. "I can fight
without a weapon," he stated, placing both of his hands in front of him and
preparing for a fight.
Tenchi looked mildly impressed, and he began by swinging his
sword at Russ's arm, but he again missed as the saiyan leaned back a bit,
letting the blade whip by him. However, he was unable to counter a quick
sprint forward by Russ and a punch to his chest, which again sent him to the
ground, gasping for air.
He lay on the ground for a moment, stunned, until he saw Russ
leap over him, preparing to drive his knee into his chest. Rolling out of the
way, Russ impacted the ground and he leapt back to his feet, ready to
continue.
Tenchi made a swipe at Russ's leg, but he again moved just out of
reach of the sword, and he again sprinted forward, closing the distance
between Russ and himself. Sidestepping a fist that was aimed for his head,
Tenchi made a move to hit Russ in the head with the bottom of his sword,
but he missed, as Russ ducked out of the way just in the nick of time.
However, he didn't see the uppercut coming, and he was sent flying back
several feet, flat on his back.
Russ leapt into the air, trying to plant an elbow into Tenchi's chest,
but he missed when Tenchi just barely rolled out of the way, and he
impacted the ground with a heavy thud. Springing back to his feet, he spun
around and brought his foot up to Tenchi's head, trying to roundhouse him,
but he narrowly missed. However, he continued to spin, and this time made
an attempt at a leg sweep, which caught Tenchi off guard, and he again fell
over onto his back.
Tenchi quickly returned to his feet, as he knew that lying on the
ground was the absolute worst place to be in the middle of a fight. Holding
his sword steadily and shaking with the adrenaline rush of battle, he charged
at Russ who had just completed his spin and returned to his feet, and he put
all of his strength into a thrust for Russ's stomach. However, he missed, as
Russ had simply moved to the side, watching him go flying from the
momentum of the blow, and he again fell onto the ground.
Once again, Tenchi sprung to his feet, angry determination on his
face, and a blank poker face on Russ's. Swinging the sword in an overhead
stroke, he missed once again as Russ quickly moved to the side, but he had
the wind knocked out of him when Russ's knee smashed into his gut,
causing him to double over. He was sent to the ground once again from a
double axe-handle planted on his back.
Slowly, Tenchi returned to his feet. His clothes were tattered and
dirty, and so was Tenchi. He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely,
as he once again hefted his sword, preparing for an attack by Russ. It was
time to play the defensive game and wait for Russ to make a mistake.
"Go faster, Tenchi. You're much faster than this," Russ said,
beginning a slow flurry of punches, most of which were hitting Tenchi on
all parts of his body. He didn't hit hard, but hard enough to leave a small
bruise.
Tenchi quickly jumped back, but Russ had leapt forward, and he
resumed his punching frenzy. However, this time, Russ hit him
considerably less, as Tenchi was dodging at an increased rate of speed.
"Excellent! Go faster, Tenchi! Use your energy! You're still
faster than this!" Russ yelled, now adding kicks to his punches, and
increasing his own speed a very slight amount.
Tenchi continued to dodge, moving his body faster than he had
ever done before, and amazingly, he could feel his energy enhancing his
abilities, in much the same way the lighthawk wings had. Thinking quickly,
he remembered the words of Tsunami. 'Trust in your own power,' the blue
haired goddess had said, while onboard the Tsunami. This must be the
energy she was talking about. But he never expected it to enhance his
abilities in this way.
Russ continued to punch and kick at a rapid pace, not allowing
Tenchi any time to mount an offense, and he kept him moving backward.
Even Russ was impressed by how much faster Tenchi was moving. He had
already progressed beyond that of any normal human, and he knew Tenchi
had even more potential than this.
Deciding to change the game a little bit, he caught Tenchi's sword
in his hand, and yanked it away from him. Tossing it away over his head,
he continued his onslaught, punching and kicking.
"Time to fight without a weapon! Come on!" Russ encouraged,
not letting up in the least.
Tenchi increased his speed far beyond anything he had ever done
before. His mind was racing, and he could see everything clearly. Russ
never seemed to speed up, but he knew that they were both moving at a
phenomenal rate.
"I'm no martial artist! Just a swordsman!" he yelled, dodging
another fist aimed for his chest.
Russ caught a punch by Tenchi and threw him over his shoulder,
but Tenchi somehow caught himself and regained his balance, and landed
on his feet. Russ sprinted forward, and continued punching and kicking in
various places, nearly all of which were missing. Deciding to change that,
he increased his speed a little more, until about half of his punches and
kicks landed.
Fighting at his hardest, Tenchi did his very best to dodge all the
blows from Russ. Strangely enough, most of the blows that connected
didn't hurt as much as they did before. And he realized that his energy was
making him stronger. He felt a tinge of excitement as he continued to fight
Russ, dodging at such a high rate of speed and looking for an opening in
Russ's defenses.
Seeing one, he brought his foot up toward Russ's chest, but he
again missed as Russ had sidestepped it, spun around, and then knocked his
other leg out from under him, causing him to trip and fall once more. He
regained his footing at stared hard at Russ, but the saiyan was just smiling.
The song was drawing to a close, letting Tenchi finally relax as he fell over,
breathing heavily.
"I'm extremely impressed, Tenchi. You were moving fast enough
to dodge punches that would've sent any normal human flying. Excellent
work," Russ said, extending his hand to Tenchi, who was sweating
profusely.
Smiling, he grabbed Russ's hand and hauled himself to his feet.
His face was dirty and covered in sweat, and his lightweight t-shirt was
drenched under the arms and down his back.
"It'll take you some time to get used to using your energy to
enhance your own abilities. The stronger you get, the more energy you can
have, and you can use that energy in any way, shape, or form you want. If
you need to use it to increase your strength, you can. If you need to use it to
make yourself go faster, you can do that too. Katsuhito over there knows
how to do that, which is why he continually beats you up so easily. But
now, since you used your energy for this kind of thing for the first time, you
may be a much greater challenge to him the next time you spar," Russ said,
glancing over at the master, who smiled and nodded his head. However,
Ryoko was sitting next to him, and her eyes were nothing but twinkling
stars as she watched Tenchi.
"Tenchiiiiii!" she yelled, flying over to him and crushing him in a
hug. "You were amazing!"
Tenchi smiled. "Thank you, Ryoko. How long were you
watching?"
"I teleported in some time ago, since I woke up alone. I wanted to
go find you," she pouted.

Russ smirked and shook his head, ignoring he rest of the
conversation has he made his way over to Katsuhito, who was still relaxing
on the boulder.
"He'll be a much greater challenge to you once he learns how to
control his energy in this way. How come you never indicated to him that
he could do that?" Russ inquired, sitting down on a smaller rock, about a
foot away.
"I was waiting for him to discover that power on his own. He
already had exhibited some remarkable powers when he fought against the
first Kagato, but he still lacks the discipline to control or manipulate it
properly."
"That's the point of training him. But you should've at least
indicated to him that using his energy is a good thing. Every time I've seen
you two train, he does it all on his own, and you use some enhancements of
your own to continually defeat him."
Katsuhito grinned. "I know. But now that he knows he has this
power, it'll be interesting to see how well he progresses with it."
"True. Well anyway, once you two finish, I'm going to play a
game here in the holodeck," he said, standing up and stretching.
"We were just finishing up when you came in. I just wanted to see
how well he'd stand up to you. It surprised me that you managed to get him
to start using the Jurai power."
Russ nodded. "I call it ki, but it sounds similar. But it seems that
your Jurai power relies on some external source."
"Correct. Our trees are directly linked with us, and those are the
things that give us power."
"I see. My energy is my own. Nice thing about it is that nothing
can cut me off from this power. But I'm sure Washu would be able to
figure something out. After all, she is the universes greatest scientific
genius!" Russ laughed.
"Yes indeed," Katsuhito answered. "Tenchi!"
Trying to turn his head which had his lips still glued with Ryoko's,
he shrugged his shoulders. Katsuhito shook his own head.
"We're done for today. Russ wants to use the holodeck now, so
lets get out of here," he said, walking toward the doorway.
Somehow, Tenchi managed to nod his head, despite Ryoko
continuing to kiss him and display her affection. Russ turned away, trying
to keep from staring.
"Ugh, enough already," he muttered, never thinking that it could
be him doing that one of these days. "Computer, access the program Unreal
Tournament."
"Affirmative," it answered, as the landscape faded away, and was
replaced by three ultra tall buildings, each with platforms and ramps placed
all over each of the skyscrapers. None of the buildings were connected,
though. Russ, Ryoko, Tenchi, and Katsuhito all stood on the tallest
building, on top of the helicopter pad.
"Computer, set game parameters as follows. For mutators, use
Instagib, the speed relic, the vengeance relic, and the redemption relic. For
bot difficulty, set it to godlike. For bot parameters, load up 'Russ anime
set' and use a maximum of sixteen players. Set time limit to ten minutes
per round, and set to default maps. Game type is going to be deathmatch."
The computer gave a courtesy beep, and all the weapons, med kits,
and powerups vanished from all the buildings. A long, slender weapon
appeared in midair next to Russ, and he grabbed it, resting it in his right
hand. Three strange looking objects appeared in random places throughout
the level. One looked like an hourglass, another looked like a floating skull,
and the last one looked like a spiked wheel with an eye in the middle of it.
Tenchi, Ryoko, and Katsuhito all looked around the place in
astonishment, wondering where they were. Breaking his kiss with his lover,
they both continued to gawk at how high up in the atmosphere they were.
Looking down, they couldn't see the ground. It just seemed endless.
"What the heck is this, Russ?" Tenchi asked, still flabbergasted.
Turning toward him, he grinned. "This is based off of an earth
videogame called Unreal Tournament. I always had a ton of fun playing it,
and you guys don't have a computer, so I wanted to get in a few games
before we reach home. Except this is a bit different than playing on a
computer with a keyboard. Here, you're actually IN the game, and it
creates a whole new dimension of gameplay. It's a ton of fun."
"How is it played?" Ryoko asked, looking interested.
"Well, with the instagib mutator, it's a lot like laser tag. Have you
ever played that?"
"No."
"Uhhh," he mumbled. "Well, we take this enhanced shock rifle
here," he said, waving the orange weapon around, "and shoot the other
player. If you hit them, they explode. Quite messily, I might add. The
more you kill, the more points you get. Quite simple. The object of the
game is to kill the most while dying the least," Russ explained. "However,
I always seem to manage to kill the most, but die the most too," he laughed.
"Sounds like fun," Ryoko said, letting go of Tenchi. "Mind if I
play too?"
"Uhm, I suppose. But I recommend you sit this first game out. I
have the computer players at maximum difficulty, and since you're a new
player, you'd probably get really pissed off real fast going against them.
Besides, it'll also give you a chance to see how the game is played."
Ryoko nodded her head. "Okay, whatever you think is best."
"The computer will ignore you, and you can move freely
throughout the level. You don't need to worry about falling either. You
can just walk anywhere you please."
Tenchi and Ryoko looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders.
Katsuhito had left the room a little while ago, unnoticed.
"Well, time to rock and roll," Russ said, moving over to one of the
available starting positions. "Computer, add bots."
A loud, booming voice echoed around the arena, as it introduced
each of the characters. "Vash the Stampede from Trigun!"
The red-coated man appeared and quickly took up a starting
position, holding his rifle at the ready, having the light reflect off of his
glasses at just the right angle to make them glow yellow. The computer
continued to introduce the characters, and they all took up random starting
positions.
"Wolfwood from Trigun! Lina Inverse from The Slayers! Gourry
from The Slayers! Amelia from The Slayers! Zelgadis from The Slayers!
Xellos from The Slayers! Heero Yui from Gundam Wing! Duo Maxwell
from Gundam Wing! Wufei Chang from Gundam Wing! Gene Starwind
from Outlaw Star! Spike from Cowboy Bebop! Iria from the movie, Iria!
Akito Tenkawa from Martian Successor Nadesico! And lastly, Ryoko
Subaru from Martian Sucessor Nadesico!"
Each bot appeared as it was announced, and all the bots took up a
random starting position, out of sight from each of the other players.
Tenchi looked at all the characters, recognizing about half of them, since he
had seen the anime that they had come from. Vash the Stampede was tops
on his list, and he became curious as to how the bots were going to perform.
A device appeared over all the bots heads, and another one
appeared next to Russ, which he promptly put on. This device was the
HUD for the game, and it would indicate everything that he needed to
know, and who he killed, or was killed by. The little screen was green, and
it varied in color per bot.
Once again, the loud announcer's voice boomed. "Three… Two…
One… GO!" And in less than a second, the entire area was washed in
orange laser fire, and it wasn't long before Amelia was the first to explode.
"FIRST BLOOD!" the announcer roared, congratulating Gene
Starwind for annihilating her. A few seconds later, she reappeared in a
different part of the level, and resumed playing, a pouty expression on her
face.
Russ was racing down the ramp, looking to get under the landing
pad, but he ran into Lina Inverse, and he quickly took aim and fired,
vaporizing her and watching the chunks fly. However, Spike came up
behind Russ and shot him in the back, causing him to explode in a gory
mess.
Tenchi and Ryoko both looked horrified, as it had looked real.
However, Russ reappeared in one of the buildings and he sprinted off to go
find himself another victim. They simply turned, looked at each other, and
facefaulted, leaving their feet straight up in the air.
Quickly running up a ramp way, he approached the top, looked to
his right, and spotted Zelgadis. Pulling the trigger before he turned around,
he turned him into slag. In less than a second, Spike appeared on a platform
across from him, and Russ zapped him too, watching him disintegrate.
"DOUBLE KILL!" the announcer boomed.
Seeing Gene Starwind run around the corner from the helicopter
pad ramp way, Russ instantly pulled his trigger again, blasting Gene into
slop.
"MULTI KILL!"
Lina Inverse respawned directly in front of Russ, and she fired her
rifle, but missed. Russ once again took aim and pulled the trigger, killing
her off.
"ULTRA KILL!" the announcer congratulated.
Out of nowhere, Amelia shot Russ in the back, killing him.
"DAMMIT!" Russ roared, after he respawned and nearly getting a
monster kill out of the whole thing and going on a killing spree.
He respawned inside the building, and was blasted to bits by Heero
Yui, before he even had a chance to take aim. Respawning again, this time
on top of the helicopter pad, he was killed off again by Ryoko Subaru.

Tenchi and Ryoko watched him play the game for the entire ten
minutes, watching him getting his butt kicked at certain points, and go on a
killing spree once. They were both grinning, as they could see Russ get
extremely irritated, since he would be killed, sometimes up to five times in
a row before he respawned in a room where nobody was around.

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One…" the announcer boomed,
signaling the end of the match, and shining a spotlight down on the winner,
Russ.
On a nearby monitor for everybody to see, and on all the HUDs in
the game, it displayed the results. Number one on the list was Russ,
nicknamed Rustball, with sixty-six kills, and of course, maximum deaths,
which tallied seventy-nine. Number two was Spike with sixty-one kills, and
number three was Gene Starwind, with sixty kills. However, at the very
bottom of the list, was Vash the Stampede, with zero kills, and zero deaths.
About ten seconds later, the Morpheus level vanished and replaced
itself with the Gothic level, and a new variety of bots appeared, some of
them selected from the previous round.
Russ continued playing for another ten minutes, until he became
irritated and getting killed at an average of eighty times a round. The level
reset back to Morpheus and he jumped over to the tallest building, and saw
Tenchi, Ryoko, Aeka, and Sasami all standing around, smiling.
"You're pretty good at that game, Russ," Ryoko congratulated.
"Can we play now?"
Russ nodded. "Sure. I'll set up some new parameters for us to
play. Sound good?"
"Yeah!" Sasami agreed excitedly.
Russ laughed and entered the parameters to the computer, and once
again took up a starting position. However, Russ couldn't help but wonder
why Aeka would have a taste for this style of game. She didn't seem like
the type at all. Fortunately for them, they were already dressed for action
and excitement, and they didn't need to go change clothes.

For the next hour, they continued vaporizing each other, each
player turning the other into so much slag. Everybody was laughing and
having a good time, especially Aeka, since she had an uncanny ability for
shooting Russ in the back. The bot difficulty was set to novice, so it was
easy pickings for everybody.
Everyone exited the holodeck, all smiles and laughing warmly,
having enjoyed themselves immensely. They had never played a game like
it before. It was so action packed and fast paced that it filled them with
immense excitement and joy.
Everybody did quite well. Russ came out on top, and Ryoko was
in second place. Tenchi got third, Aeka got fourth, and Sasami got fifth.
The bots took up the other positions, having been nothing but target practice
for the human players. The standings continually repeated itself throughout
every single round, except for two, in which Ryoko had fallen a position,
and Aeka moved up. It nearly started a fight between the two girls, over
who was actually better, but Russ broke it up fairly quickly by vaporizing
Aeka and Ryoko, making them respawn in a different part of the level.
Exiting the holodeck, everybody was smiling, and congratulating
each other on a job well done.
"Well, did everybody have fun?" Russ asked, wiping off his
forehead with a towel. He tossed a clean towel to everybody, so they could
wipe themselves off from the exercise.
"I've never had so much fun in my life!" Sasami said excitedly.
Tenchi smiled. "That was a lot of fun. I've never done anything
like it before."
Russ turned toward him, grinning. "You've lived an isolated life,
haven't you? Judging by your reaction when I started the game, you
must've never even heard of Unreal Tournament."
Tenchi just smiled and scratched the back of his head. "I've heard
of it, but never seen it. I've heard my friends at school talk about it from
time to time."
"I see. Well, I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves. I did too."
It was at that moment that the deck shook from an intense
rumbling sound, which echoed down the corridor and making everybody
look around in amazement. Russ became a curious shade of red, and then
started laughing.
"Breakfast time!" he said, cheerily.
Everybody facefaulted, then followed Russ to the cafeteria to get
something to fill his or her stomachs.

About three hours later, the Imperial Star Destroyer Gray Wolf had
exited hyperspace and quickly made its way to planet Earth, sending out a
jamming signal so the orbital satellites could not detect and identify his
ship.
Tom had come down from the bridge to the hanger bay, shaking
everybody's hand once more and giving Russ a warm hug, inviting him to
come back sometime soon to chew the fat. As a going away present, Tom
had given Russ all three volumes of Saber Marionette J, the boxed set of
Saber Marionette J Again, Saber Marionette J to X, and Saber Marionette R,
so he could see the whole thing in its entirety.
Everybody's luggage was brought into the bay, and the men had
started loading it onto one of the ATRs, but they stopped when Ryoko
ordered Ryo-Ohki to transform into a spaceship.
A loud meow and some other weird sound effects later, the
crystalline ship hovered just above the floor, nearly touched the ceiling.
Tom and his crew stared at the vessel in astonishment, and they grew even
more amazed when the entire mountain of luggage vanished from their
hands.
Russ couldn't help but laugh, and he told Tom what had happened.
Shaking his head and muttering something about getting too old for that
kind of thing, he bid them farewell and left the bay, as everybody except
Russ was transported onboard.
Climbing onboard his new starfighter, Russ started it up, preparing
to follow the cabbit down into the atmosphere.
They were guided out of the hanger bay by the many tractor beams
throughout the hold, and they were released when they were clear of the
massive starship. However, a galaxy police patrol ship sped their way, and
they immediately recognized it as Mitzuki's vessel.
"I see you guys made it home. It's about time. I think I have
cobwebs becoming attached to me from lack of activity," she grumbled
through the open comlink to Ryo-Ohki.
The Star Destroyer pulled out of orbit and made its way out of the
solar system and then entered hyperspace, on its way back home.
"We told you that you could kick back and relax here, didn't we?"
Kiyone retorted, flashing her a wicked smile. "We always have plenty to do
around here."
"Is that so? Like what? Dusting your ship?" she shot back, a few
of her hairs getting out of place.
"Hey! You know I dealt with Kagato before," Mihoshi yelled,
getting irritated.
"Oh yes, the great Kagato, defeated by the worlds largest klutz,"
Mitzuki muttered, glaring at both GP officers.
Kiyone clenched her hands into fists, and began grinding her teeth.
"Go home, Mitzuki. Your shift here is over. You are OFFICIALLY
relieved of duty, now GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" she yelled at the
very top of her voice.
Everybody who had been onboard Ryo-Ohki had suddenly begun
to perspire, and they began to conform to their own little nervous habits.
Tenchi began biting his fingernails, Aeka fumbled with her kimono, Ryoko
looked off into the other direction, trying to look busy, and the others did
various things.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Nobuyuki mumbled to
himself, and then cracked a slight smile.
Mitzuki looked completely astonished, unable to come up with a
suitable retort before the comlink was cut off to her ship.
"DAMMIT! I can't STAND that woman!" Kiyone roared, way
beyond the level of pissed off.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Kiyone! She's going back to
headquarters and we won't have to look at her for a while, okay?" Mihoshi
pleaded, hoping to calm down her partner.
Still seething, she managed to stop grinding her jaw and sit back
down on the plush chair, just as Ryo-Ohki sped through the atmosphere.
The ship began to shake slightly and the temperature inside increased by
nearly ten degrees, and the ground began to take on more and more detail as
they approached their home.
Five minutes later, everybody transported off of the cabbitship, and
Ryo-Ohki turned back into the cute, cuddly cabbit that everybody loved.
Russ landed near the lake and sealed the hatch to the fighter, and made his
way over to the group.
"Washu?"
The red haired girl turned around, looking at him with brilliant
green eyes. "You need something?"
"Yes please. Do you have a place where I can put my fighter? I
don't want it to be seen by anybody," Russ fretted, looking back at the Tie
Defender.
"No problem. You can use the subspace garage thingy that Kiyone
and Mihoshi used to use before they upgraded to the Yagami," she said,
pressing a button on her suddenly present keyboard. A black hole opened
up out of nowhere and swallowed up the fighter, and then it resealed itself.
"Okay, great. Now how do I get it back out of there?" Russ asked,
looking worried.
Washu handed him a small, one button remote controller. "Just
press the button and your fighter will be ejected from subspace. Pure and
simple."
"Thanks a lot, Washu. I appreciate it," Russ said, giving a slight
bow.
"Think nothing of it. You were very kind to all of us in taking us
to Jurai. Anyway, I gave Tom's engineer some new technology, and I think
that's going to keep them busy for a while."
Russ grinned. "I'm sure he appreciates that as well."
Washu grinned. "Yes he does. They should have the transporters
installed soon. I explained why he was never able to beam through the hull
of the ship. As it turns out, he never put any emitters on the outside of the
ship. Once he does that, he'll be using the transporters rather than those
bulky transports of his."
"Wow, cool. I'm sure he really appreciates that."
Washu smiled and nodded her head.
"Well, what should we do today? We've got the whole day ahead
of us, since we fell asleep onboard the ship. Anybody have any ideas?"
Russ asked, looking full of energy.
Everybody turned and stared at Russ, as if he were crazy.
"Not everybody had gone to sleep, Russ," Nobuyuki grumbled, his
eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. "But that's exactly what I'm going to
do. I got to go to work tomorrow," he said, pushing open the door and
walking inside, followed by everybody.

Russ remained outside, looking dejected. He hung his head and
made his way over to the lake, preparing to exercise once more. However,
before he began, a meowing noise became present from behind him.
Turning around, Russ smiled. "Hi, Ryo-Ohki!" he said, sitting
down on the soft grasses and allowing the cabbit to jump onto his lap.
"You don't have anything to do either, I take it?"
The little cabbit meowed a no, and rubbed her head on Russ's
hand, encouraging him to pet her.
Chuckling quietly, he did, causing her to purr softly. Russ looked
up into the sky and sighed. "Man, what's with me anyway? Trouble
follows me wherever I go. It really had a stranglehold on me while we were
on Jurai. I don't get it," he sighed, scratching under the cabbits chin.
Ryo-Ohki looked up into Russ's eyes, which were downcast and
sad.
Russ continued. "But still, I have to keep looking forward. I can't
let things like that get me down or I'll go crazy. It's just that things like that
happen so darn often," he explained, not realizing that the cabbit understood
every single word that he was saying.
Meowing words of encouragement, she managed to get Russ to
smile.
"I should stop dragging my feet and forget about that stuff. That's
what you're saying, right?"
Ryo-Ohki shook her head, and tried to explain it to him once more,
without having much success.
Russ looked at her and thought a moment. "Well, what the hell.
Hold still, Ryo-Ohki. I'll try reading your mind. Maybe that way I can
understand you."
Gently placing his hand on the cabbits head, he concentrated,
letting his mind be flooded with the images and sounds of the little cabbit.
After several moments, he withdrew his hand and smiled. "I still
don't get it."
Ryo-Ohki facefaulted and fell off of his lap, meowing something
incomprehensible.
"Oh well. Thanks for trying to cheer me up. I guess I'll go relax
by those trees or something. It's a beautiful day," Russ said, standing up
and making his way over to the edge of the forest, where he found himself a
nice, comfortable spot under an oak tree. He set his stereo down on the
ground and sat on the soft grasses, between two roots, and he leaned his
back against the trunk of the tree. "I may as well enjoy the day for what it
is," he said, turning on the stereo and resuming the soundtracks of the Saber
Marionette series. He closed his eyes and let his imagination wander.
Dozing off a short while later with Ryo-Ohki on his lap, they both dreamt of
something pleasant, but they were unsure of what it was.