Disclaimer - Tenchi and the crew are unfortunately not my property. I had no part in creating them, though I am desperately trying to figure out how to give myself Ryoko's abilities. I am not writing this for the purpose of making money, though if any kind souls see fit to give donations I will not complain. I am writing merely because I'm an obsessive person in general and I really need to get it out of my system. Mayhem is my creation however, and anyone using him without my OK will anger the Great Shaven Cat Goddess and cause her to sic her elite pack of Killer Llamas on you. Criticism is welcome, flames are ignored, praise will inflate my ego greatly, and make sure I actually finish this one-day. Enjoy.
Many thanks to my talented editor, and fellow fanfic author, for his help in making this readable. THANK YOU DREZ!!!!
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Mayhem, Chaos, And General Messes
Chapter 10
Reunions
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The "Myah" of general complaint that issued from the small bed on the other side of the med bay was a welcome sound, even if it did sound rather pathetic.
"Hey little sister." Ryoko called through their link. "Glad to have you back in the land of the living. How do yah feel?"
"Head hurts... hungry." Was the cabbit's typically simplistic response. "Ryoko sister Okay?"
"I'll live." Was the cyan-haired girl's somewhat sardonic response. "Though I'm not going to be able to play very much for a while."
"That okay..." Ryo-Ohki responded dismissively to the apology. "Why sister upset? Why mad Tenchi?" Ryoko cursed under her breath at the question, her mental shields were still in shambles from the incident, and the little cabbit was hard to hide things from to begin with.
"Tenchi... Tenchi..." Ryoko started, searching for the words to explain what the young man had done to her. "He betrayed my trust. He used my feelings for him to force me to do something I didn't want to do."
"What did he make you do?" Ryo-Ohki asked confusedly, the slightest hint of anger tingeing her thoughts.
"He made her stay." Washu answered for Ryoko as she walked into the room. "He made her try to live. Personally I think she's being a little silly about the whole thing."
"Myah!" the little cabbit agreed loudly.
"And here you managed to be supportive for a whole 24 hours." Ryoko retorted, her voice still raspy, but considerably improved. "I thought you were going for a new record or somethin'."
"Ryoko..." Washu sighed, "I love you dearly and I will support you as best I can, but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and let you continue in this kind of self-destructive behavior."
"What's self destructive about it?" the Cyan-haired girl shot back with a scowl, "I'm mad at Tenchi, not mad at myself."
"What's self destructive about it is the fact that you're pushing away one of the most important people in your life." Washu explained calmly. "And you're doing it because he saved your life." She added before Ryoko could raise her voice in protest.
"He held himself hostage!" Ryoko protested.
"And if you want to be mad at him for the method he used, that's fine." The pink haired scientist responded with a shrug as she wandered over to the table that Ryo-Ohki was curled up on. "But at least tell him WHY you're pissed at him so he can start to make amends. Tenchi is a wonderful person, but he can be more than a little dense at times."
"You can say that again." Ryoko snorted, running one hand through her newly short hair. Near silence reigned in the small room for a while, the only sounds being the click and hum of various medical instruments as Washu checked over the recently awakened Cabbit.
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Keith had felt the first dose of the drug starting to kick in even as the shuttle that had carried him up to the waiting Jurian warship. Now, as the guards were strapping him to his prison cot, it was all he could do to hide the fact that he was feeling rather loopy and more than a little buzzed.
The guards left the cell hurriedly after they finished; obviously a little worried by his reputation. As the door closed he allowed the exaggerated, drug-induced, grin he had been concentrating on keeping under control slip into place. He managed to keep the accompanying giggle from slipping out, but just barely.
It wasn't long before the cell door opened again, and a regal-looking blonde man strode in, a satisfied smirk on his handsome features. Keith's drug-induced grin stayed firmly in place, but twisted into something dangerous and predatory.
"How yah doin' Blondie. Long time no see." Keith greeted the man flippantly.
"Do you have any idea how long I have looked forward to this moment?" Heero asked quietly, his normally arrogant countenance ruined somewhat by the crazed gleam that was creeping into his ice-blue eyes. "You killed my master and ruined my life. Your actions lost me my position as a member of the Jurian royal guard. You have led me in a most frustrating pursuit across half of this galaxy for years... and now it is at an end."
"Fuck you and fuck your master." Keith replied cheerfully. Admittedly it wasn't exactly a clever comeback, but it did convey his feelings on the subject rather effectively. "Compared to what you've stolen from me, that's a bargain."
Heero's reply to the comment was swift, and required even less thought than Keith's crude insult. With a snarl he stuck out with the stun-baton he was carrying in his hand, laying several solid blows to Keith's ribcage and sending tens of thousands of volts of electricity through his targets lanky frame.
"Feel fortunate that I've been ordered to deliver you alive." Heero snarled once Keith stopped convulsing. "Your death will not be any less unpleasant under Emperor Asuza's administrations, but the process will grant you nearly two days of extra life."
"Of course, those two days will not be pleasant ones." And with that he slammed the stun-baton into Keith's midsection.
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"Well, I've finished decoding that message you received Tenchi." Washu said as the young prince came into the room. "It took me a while longer than I would have liked because I was expecting something based off a GP encryption instead of a smuggler's code."
"A smuggler's code?" Tenchi repeated, still half asleep.
"Yep." Washu affirmed. "Pretty sophisticated too. Not on the level of a good GP or Jurian encrypt, but good enough for a crook. It'd take even Jurian Intelligence a day or two to decipher, if they even noticed it."
"Fascinating Washu-chan," Tenchi responded insincerely, "but what's the message say?"
"I was getting to that." Washu shot back with a bit of a scowl. "It's from Ayeka, and the other girls."
"Is something wrong?" Tenchi asked worriedly.
"Have patience Tenchi-kun." The pink haired scientist said soothingly as she typed in a few commands on her holotop. "Just listen to it."
"Tenchi, Washu-chan, Ryoko... if you receive this and are able, hurry as best you can to Rylos 9 and retrieve us." Ayeka's voice, sounding more than a little worried sounded from the comm. system's speakers. "Keith has been captured and is sentenced to be executed in less than two days on Jurai. We are currently being forced to remain on the planet by a number of orbiting Jurian warships. Please Hurry." With that, the message ended.
"Can we make it in time?" Tenchi asked quietly, his brow wrinkled in worried thought.
"On Yukinojo? No." Washu responded thoughtfully. "No offense Yukinojo." She added hastily.
"None taken Washu-Chan." The ship's A.I. responded politely. "You are simply stating fact. Few ships in the Galaxy Police fleet are fast enough to meet the deadline."
"Is there anything we can do then?" Tenchi asked, frustration evident in the soft-spoken young mans voice.
"Of course there is." Washu replied with a self-satisfied smirk. "We have one of the fastest ships in the Universe aboard."
"Ryo-Ohki?" Tenchi responded, baffled. "I thought she was still unconscious."
"She woke up about half an hour ago and is currently going through her third bushel of carrots." Washu grinned as she stood up and started back towards the sickbay. "When I build a ship, I make 'them tough."
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He could feel his ribs mending underneath the skin... again. His left hand was still a ruined mess, but his immune system had better things to worry about, like internal bleeding and that pesky punctured lung, so it was likely going to stay that way for a while longer. The amount of energy he was expending on healing himself meant he was starving, but there was little he could do about it tied to the cot as he was.
Fortunately even Heero's intense hatred of him wasn't enough for the man to lose control completely and neglect his other schemes or accidentally kill his prisoner prematurely, so Keith was currently alone and free of torment. The drug Si'Glara had given him was helping to keep him conscious and something resembling coherent, but a painkiller it was not.
Taking stock of his surroundings as best as his fuzzy senses would let him the young pirate did some mental calculations. The conclusions he came to weren't good ones. The amount of damage Heero had inflicted was enough to effectively immobilize him even if he hadn't been securely restrained by shackles and chains designed for someone much stronger than he was at his best. The fact that he'd been stripped of everything but a pair of boxers meant he didn't have any of his normal bag of tricks to work with either. All and all, he was screwed.
It was in the midst of these thoughts that the door to his cell creaked open, the sudden influx of light from the hallway making him wince. The figure outlined in the doorway was about a foot too short to be Heero, and very obviously female.
"Who the fuck 'r you?" Keith slurred, desperately trying to get his eyes to focus properly.
"No one of consequence." The figure responded in a slow drawl as she entered the cell fully, and drew the door shut behind her. "Just someone who wants to see what kind of monster her master has been chasing for so long. So far I'm not impressed." With that the figure stepped into the sparse light of the cell where he could make out her features.
"Talia!?"
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"How much longer until the ship is prepared to go?" Ayeka asked anxiously, failing miserably in her attempt not to be a pest as Sari and her work crew scrambled over the small ship that was their way off the planet.
"The less you bug us the less time it'll take Princess. Sari drawled in response as she manhandled a panel back into place. "If you want to help hand me that welding torch." She added, pointing at the appropriate tool."
"This one?"
"The one to the left of that," Sari responded "no, your other left Ayeka. Look, I know you're worried about lover boy," the tiny blonde continued as she grabbed the tool from Ayeka and started to adjust it "but he's one of the single toughest and stubborn people in the galaxy. If anyone is going to last until we get there it's him. Oh, and we shouldn't be more than another hour or so." With that she flashed Ayeka a grin before lowering her goggles and starting to weld the panel in place.
Ayeka sighed, too worried and nervous to even get embarrassed over the "lover boy" remark the small mechanic had made. She just didn't know enough. Were Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki even alive? If they were, was that group even close enough to help? Would Heero actually deliver Keith to Jurai alive? Or had he already killed him? Or had he just tortured Keith for the whole of the twenty hours that he had passed since the scruffy pirate had surrendered?
The violet haired young woman felt the bile rising up in her throat and cut of that line of thought violently, taking several deep breaths to steady herself and unconsciously squeezing the small pouch Keith had left behind. Dwelling on the maybes of it all was getting her nothing, except possibly an ulcer. With that thought she left the work bay and went to find the other girls.
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Mihoshi yawned, reaching for the half empty cup of coffee sitting on the desk a couple feet away as she watched the feed that they'd hacked into from one of the local spaceports displaying the starship traffic around the planet. Only three of the Jurian warships were still in orbit. It wasn't enough to make an effective blockade if more than a handful of ships tried to make a break for it. But they were enough of a deterrent to keep basically every ship on the planet willingly grounded.
This basically meant that any attempt on their part to flee was all but suicidal without a distraction of some kind. Not a happy thought. Mihoshi really didn't like those kinds of thoughts, and normally she was pretty good at avoiding them. But the long watch wasn't letting her employ any of her normal distractions.
Fortunately the monitor in front of her was waterproof... because, typical of her luck, she had just started to take a sip when a VERY excited Sasami ran into the room, making her spew the mouthful of coffee she had just drunk all over it.
"We got a reply from Washu and the others!" the little girl reported excitedly. They're gonna be here in a little more than an hour! And Ryoko's alright!" she added joyfully.
"That's great!" the blonde detective replied sincerely, returning the blue-haired princess's joyful smile and standing up to give her a hug. Sasami happily returned the embrace before bouncing towards the door again.
"I gotta find Ayeka and tell her! Kiyone says that you should get ready to go as fast as possible and head down to the hangar!" With that she bounded down the hallway and out of sight.
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"Oof!" Ayeka exhaled loudly as Sasami literally ran into her as she turned the corner.
"Ayeka!" Sasami exclaimed excitedly, all but hopping in place. "Get packed! We're going in an hour."
"What?" was the elder girls confused response. "Slow down and explain it properly Sasami."
"Tenchi, Washu, and Ryoko are on their way and will be here soon!" Sasami explained quickly. "Everyone else is already getting ready, so we need to hurry."
"So Ryoko is alright then?" Ayeka asked, relief evident in her voice.
"Yep!" Sasami confirmed happily, giving her big sister a hug, which was enthusiastically returned.
"Then we had better not dawdle." The elder princess said, "Keith-kun is waiting for us after all."
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"Sir! A ship is approaching the planet at high speed!" called Lt. Yamagura from his position at the communications station.
"So?" the Captain, a rail-thin man who's neatly trimmed beard was just starting to go gray, responded in a bored tone. "Hail them, relay the standard warnings, and send them away."
"But Sir, we already have!" came the immediate reply. "They've ignored all hails and are continuing their approach! They'll be within firing range in less than 2 minutes!"
"Tactical!" the Captain barked, sitting up straight in his chair... an excited grin forming on his face. "Ready weapons and give me a targeting solution NOW!"
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"Only three 3rd generation cruisers." Washu mused from Ryo-Ohki's control chair. "Shouldn't be too hard. At least it shouldn't be if Ayeka and the others are paying attention and do what they're supposed to."
"Feh!" Ryoko commented over their link. "If I were you I'd be counting of Kiyone and Sasami for that particular bit of the plan."
"Now, now, Ryoko-chan," Washu chided, "it's not fair to insult the girl when she's not here to respond."
"Whatever." Was Ryoko's rather sullen response. "Lets just get them and get the hell out of here already."
"Yes dear." Washu chuckled. "Now just relax, you're still far from recovered you know."
"Tenchi?" the pink-haired girl called, breaking her mental contact with Ryoko. "Are you ready up there?"
"As ready as I can be sitting on top of a spaceship without a suit." Tenchi responded, only half-jokingly, from his place atop Ryo-Ohki's dome, protected from the vacuum of space by a thin force field. "Are you sure this is a good idea though?"
"Of course it's a good idea!" Washu exclaimed arrogantly. "It's MY idea after all!" She added with a cackle of glee. Tenchi just sighed and readied himself.
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"There they are!" Sari crowed from her place in the co-pilots seat. "Lets get this scrap heap moving!"
"It's usually a bad sign when the ships builder calls it a scrap heap y'know." Kiyone groused, even as she shoved the ships throttle forward and yanked back on the control column, sending the ship hurtling skyward on a narrow stream of flame.
"Hey, I was rushed." Sari replied with a grin as the small ships acceleration shoved her back into the padding of her chair despite the acceleration compensators best attempts. "Everyone comfortable back there?"
"Just Dandy." Ayeka replied sarcastically. "I rather think we had more room in the last ship. And there I was sitting on someone's lap the entire way."
"And you enjoyed every minute of it I bet." Sari shot back, making the taller girl blush a rather impressive shade of red.
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"Sir! There's a second ship taking off from the city!" Lt. Yamagura shouted.
"Leave it for the other ships!" the captain barked in response. "Do we have a firing solution yet?!"
"We will in ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two...
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"Tenchi! NOW!" Washu shouted from Ryo-Ohki's bridge.
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"...One... now Sir!"
"Fire!"
A hundred bright beams of raw destructive force lanced out from the Jurian warship, only to splash off Tenchi's spread light-hawk wings like so much water on a boulder, and Ryo-Ohki speed closer.
"Sir!" called the frantic voice of the ship tactical officer, "Our fire's completely ineffective! The targets own shields are being supplemented by Light-hawk wings! We don't have the firepower to hurt her by ourselves!"
"Tell the other ships to hurry!" the Captain replied, the slightest hint of panic creeping into his voice. "And keep firing! Even if we can't hurt her we can keep her from firing back if we keep up the pressure!"
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"Now THAT is a distraction!" Sari whooped as they watched Ryo-Ohki scream past the blockading ship, incoming fire all but bouncing off the brilliant white shield that was protecting the crystalline ship.
"Washu, this is Kiyone! Do you read?" The teal-haired detective shouted over her headset, ignoring Sari's commentary completely.
"I do! Now hurry up and get you're butt on board before those other ships get here!" Washu's voice, made even more nasal than normal by the distortion of the headset speakers, called back. "Even Lord Tenchi has his limits, and those other cruisers will be here any second now!"
"We're almost there!" Kiyone replied, gritting her teeth as she slammed the throttle forward.
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"Sir, That ship just took on the shuttle we picked up coming from the planet!" Lt Yamagura reported.
"Damn them." The Captain cursed under his breath, trying not to imagine what Heero would do to him upon hearing this news. "After them! Don't let them escape!"
"Sir, Yes Sir!" came the chorused response from the bridge crew as they brought the ship around and accelerated after the rapidly fleeing vessel.
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"They're following us Washu!" Tenchi reported, as he was teleported from his position on top of the cabbit's dome and onto the bridge.
"I know." Washu responded. "They may outmatch Ryo-Ohki in sheer firepower, but they don't have a chance of catching her in a straight-on race Tenchi. So relax already... and it's Washu-CHAN!" She added with a mock-glare.
"If you say so I guess I just have to believe it I guess..." Tenchi laughed, "Washu-Chan."
"You'd better believe it!" Washu affirmed with one of her trademarked grins. "Now why don't you go and greet the girls. I can handle things up here fine by myself."
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"Ayeka! Sasami! Mihoshi! Kiyone!" Tenchi called happily as he entered he makeshift docking bay Ryo-Ohki had formed in her lower levels for the occasion. "You're all alright!"
"Tenchi!" Sasami responded first, rushing to hug the Japanese youth.
"It is good to see you again Lord Tenchi.' Ayeka added politely, throwing the young man a tired, but genuine smile.
"Took you guys long enough." Was Kiyone's only comment, but she smiled as she said it, giving Tenchi a wink. "But I'm glad you made it when you did."
"Tenchi!" Mihoshi called, barely managing not to completely fall over as she got out of the shuttle. "I am soooo glad to see you!"
"So... who's gonna introduce me to the cutie?" Sari asked after a few seconds of continued greetings, giving Tenchi a rather... inviting smile.
"Sari!' Ayeka admonished, though she was only half serious about it. "Lord Tenchi has quite enough female attention without you adding to the problem." The purple haired girl added with a small grin. Sari just laughed.
"My name's Sari," the tiny blonde said, sticking out her hand in greeting, "just incase yah missed the Princess yelling it."
"Nice to meet you." Tenchi returned politely, taking her hand.
"Yep, definitely cute." Sari chuckled. "Needs to loosen up a bit though."
"All that aside," Kiyone interrupted, "can we visit Ryoko Tenchi? Or is she still..." the teal-haired detective trailed off.
"She's doing fine." Tenchi smiled, relief obvious in his voice. "Follow me."
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Washu was waiting for them as they approached Ryo-Ohki's newly formed sickbay.
"One at a time Girls." Washu cautioned as they got within earshot. "She's a lot better, but I don't want her getting overexcited by a mass invasion of well-wishers quite yet."
"So who goes first?" Sasami asked, glancing anxiously from the door to the rest of the group and back.
"Why don't you go first Sasami." Kiyone offered with a smile, "I'm sure Ryoko will want to get her hands on that lunch you made her."
"Oh...she'll definitely love that." Washu confirmed, trying to hide the small grin that started to form and sending a quick mental command for Ryo-Ohki to record what was going on in the room. After all, this would be Ryoko's first real meal with her taste buds in working order. This she wanted on tape.
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When Ayeka finally entered the sick bay, Ryoko was still happily licking the last few crumbs and drops of sauce from the bottom of the lunch-box that Sasami had given her. Even knowing ahead of time that the former pirate was the only one in the room, it took a second for Ayeka to really recognize the person she saw sitting on the bed.
Ryoko's once luxurious and gravity-defying mane of Cyan hair was barely more than an inch long and gave the impression that someone had attacked the girl with a pair of hedge clippers. Her cheeks were sunken and there were dark circles under her golden cat's eyes. Most frightening of all was how FRAIL the woman looked. Before she had been all hard muscle and womanly curves, strong and assured of that strength. Now... she looked to be little more than bones and thinly stretched, almost transparent looking, skin.
"So yah done staring yet Princess? Or should I pose for yah?' Ryoko asked sarcastically, setting the spotless lunch-box aside reluctantly, somewhat upset that there wasn't any more.
"I'm sorry Ryoko." Ayeka apologized sincerely, blushing a bit at her own behavior. "It's just that...'
"I look like crap." Ryoko finished for her. "Damn barber did an absolute hack-job." She added with a smirk, earning a small laugh from the other girl.
"I'll have my own personal hairdresser fix it up for you when we get to Jurai." Ayeka replied teasingly, and earning a genuine, if short, laugh from the bed-ridden girl.
"I'm not sure if I'd trust ANY Jurian near my neck with a pair of scissors, but thanks for the offer Ayeka." Ryoko retorted, before adopting a Cheshire cat smile. "So... tell me, what happened to your clothes?"
"It's just a disguise!" Ayeka stammered out, blushing as she remembered that she was still wearing the outfit Keith had bought for her. Complete with the chains and black-leather chocker.
"Uh-huh, suuuuuure." Ryoko replied, grin still firmly in place, before taking an exaggerated sniff. "If that smell's any indication you've been enjoying wearing that tiny little skirt more than you shoulda been."
"Ryoko!" Ayeka all but shouted, going even redder.
"Oooo... I think I hit a nerve." Ryoko noted, her grin widening, if such a thing was possible.
"Oh please!" Ayeka retorted, still bright red. "I am sure you have no right to tease me about such things at this point you pirate! I am quite sure that you have been using every dirty trick in the book to get Lord Tenchi while I was away." the princess added, the familiar argument slipping into the friendly fight they were having more out of habit than anything else. Ryoko's face almost immediately fell, her Golden eyes going cold.
"Tenchi's all yours Ayeka." Ryoko replied, completely serious. "I don't want that creep anywhere near me."
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End Chapter 10
Many thanks to my talented editor, and fellow fanfic author, for his help in making this readable. THANK YOU DREZ!!!!
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Mayhem, Chaos, And General Messes
Chapter 10
Reunions
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The "Myah" of general complaint that issued from the small bed on the other side of the med bay was a welcome sound, even if it did sound rather pathetic.
"Hey little sister." Ryoko called through their link. "Glad to have you back in the land of the living. How do yah feel?"
"Head hurts... hungry." Was the cabbit's typically simplistic response. "Ryoko sister Okay?"
"I'll live." Was the cyan-haired girl's somewhat sardonic response. "Though I'm not going to be able to play very much for a while."
"That okay..." Ryo-Ohki responded dismissively to the apology. "Why sister upset? Why mad Tenchi?" Ryoko cursed under her breath at the question, her mental shields were still in shambles from the incident, and the little cabbit was hard to hide things from to begin with.
"Tenchi... Tenchi..." Ryoko started, searching for the words to explain what the young man had done to her. "He betrayed my trust. He used my feelings for him to force me to do something I didn't want to do."
"What did he make you do?" Ryo-Ohki asked confusedly, the slightest hint of anger tingeing her thoughts.
"He made her stay." Washu answered for Ryoko as she walked into the room. "He made her try to live. Personally I think she's being a little silly about the whole thing."
"Myah!" the little cabbit agreed loudly.
"And here you managed to be supportive for a whole 24 hours." Ryoko retorted, her voice still raspy, but considerably improved. "I thought you were going for a new record or somethin'."
"Ryoko..." Washu sighed, "I love you dearly and I will support you as best I can, but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and let you continue in this kind of self-destructive behavior."
"What's self destructive about it?" the Cyan-haired girl shot back with a scowl, "I'm mad at Tenchi, not mad at myself."
"What's self destructive about it is the fact that you're pushing away one of the most important people in your life." Washu explained calmly. "And you're doing it because he saved your life." She added before Ryoko could raise her voice in protest.
"He held himself hostage!" Ryoko protested.
"And if you want to be mad at him for the method he used, that's fine." The pink haired scientist responded with a shrug as she wandered over to the table that Ryo-Ohki was curled up on. "But at least tell him WHY you're pissed at him so he can start to make amends. Tenchi is a wonderful person, but he can be more than a little dense at times."
"You can say that again." Ryoko snorted, running one hand through her newly short hair. Near silence reigned in the small room for a while, the only sounds being the click and hum of various medical instruments as Washu checked over the recently awakened Cabbit.
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Keith had felt the first dose of the drug starting to kick in even as the shuttle that had carried him up to the waiting Jurian warship. Now, as the guards were strapping him to his prison cot, it was all he could do to hide the fact that he was feeling rather loopy and more than a little buzzed.
The guards left the cell hurriedly after they finished; obviously a little worried by his reputation. As the door closed he allowed the exaggerated, drug-induced, grin he had been concentrating on keeping under control slip into place. He managed to keep the accompanying giggle from slipping out, but just barely.
It wasn't long before the cell door opened again, and a regal-looking blonde man strode in, a satisfied smirk on his handsome features. Keith's drug-induced grin stayed firmly in place, but twisted into something dangerous and predatory.
"How yah doin' Blondie. Long time no see." Keith greeted the man flippantly.
"Do you have any idea how long I have looked forward to this moment?" Heero asked quietly, his normally arrogant countenance ruined somewhat by the crazed gleam that was creeping into his ice-blue eyes. "You killed my master and ruined my life. Your actions lost me my position as a member of the Jurian royal guard. You have led me in a most frustrating pursuit across half of this galaxy for years... and now it is at an end."
"Fuck you and fuck your master." Keith replied cheerfully. Admittedly it wasn't exactly a clever comeback, but it did convey his feelings on the subject rather effectively. "Compared to what you've stolen from me, that's a bargain."
Heero's reply to the comment was swift, and required even less thought than Keith's crude insult. With a snarl he stuck out with the stun-baton he was carrying in his hand, laying several solid blows to Keith's ribcage and sending tens of thousands of volts of electricity through his targets lanky frame.
"Feel fortunate that I've been ordered to deliver you alive." Heero snarled once Keith stopped convulsing. "Your death will not be any less unpleasant under Emperor Asuza's administrations, but the process will grant you nearly two days of extra life."
"Of course, those two days will not be pleasant ones." And with that he slammed the stun-baton into Keith's midsection.
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"Well, I've finished decoding that message you received Tenchi." Washu said as the young prince came into the room. "It took me a while longer than I would have liked because I was expecting something based off a GP encryption instead of a smuggler's code."
"A smuggler's code?" Tenchi repeated, still half asleep.
"Yep." Washu affirmed. "Pretty sophisticated too. Not on the level of a good GP or Jurian encrypt, but good enough for a crook. It'd take even Jurian Intelligence a day or two to decipher, if they even noticed it."
"Fascinating Washu-chan," Tenchi responded insincerely, "but what's the message say?"
"I was getting to that." Washu shot back with a bit of a scowl. "It's from Ayeka, and the other girls."
"Is something wrong?" Tenchi asked worriedly.
"Have patience Tenchi-kun." The pink haired scientist said soothingly as she typed in a few commands on her holotop. "Just listen to it."
"Tenchi, Washu-chan, Ryoko... if you receive this and are able, hurry as best you can to Rylos 9 and retrieve us." Ayeka's voice, sounding more than a little worried sounded from the comm. system's speakers. "Keith has been captured and is sentenced to be executed in less than two days on Jurai. We are currently being forced to remain on the planet by a number of orbiting Jurian warships. Please Hurry." With that, the message ended.
"Can we make it in time?" Tenchi asked quietly, his brow wrinkled in worried thought.
"On Yukinojo? No." Washu responded thoughtfully. "No offense Yukinojo." She added hastily.
"None taken Washu-Chan." The ship's A.I. responded politely. "You are simply stating fact. Few ships in the Galaxy Police fleet are fast enough to meet the deadline."
"Is there anything we can do then?" Tenchi asked, frustration evident in the soft-spoken young mans voice.
"Of course there is." Washu replied with a self-satisfied smirk. "We have one of the fastest ships in the Universe aboard."
"Ryo-Ohki?" Tenchi responded, baffled. "I thought she was still unconscious."
"She woke up about half an hour ago and is currently going through her third bushel of carrots." Washu grinned as she stood up and started back towards the sickbay. "When I build a ship, I make 'them tough."
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He could feel his ribs mending underneath the skin... again. His left hand was still a ruined mess, but his immune system had better things to worry about, like internal bleeding and that pesky punctured lung, so it was likely going to stay that way for a while longer. The amount of energy he was expending on healing himself meant he was starving, but there was little he could do about it tied to the cot as he was.
Fortunately even Heero's intense hatred of him wasn't enough for the man to lose control completely and neglect his other schemes or accidentally kill his prisoner prematurely, so Keith was currently alone and free of torment. The drug Si'Glara had given him was helping to keep him conscious and something resembling coherent, but a painkiller it was not.
Taking stock of his surroundings as best as his fuzzy senses would let him the young pirate did some mental calculations. The conclusions he came to weren't good ones. The amount of damage Heero had inflicted was enough to effectively immobilize him even if he hadn't been securely restrained by shackles and chains designed for someone much stronger than he was at his best. The fact that he'd been stripped of everything but a pair of boxers meant he didn't have any of his normal bag of tricks to work with either. All and all, he was screwed.
It was in the midst of these thoughts that the door to his cell creaked open, the sudden influx of light from the hallway making him wince. The figure outlined in the doorway was about a foot too short to be Heero, and very obviously female.
"Who the fuck 'r you?" Keith slurred, desperately trying to get his eyes to focus properly.
"No one of consequence." The figure responded in a slow drawl as she entered the cell fully, and drew the door shut behind her. "Just someone who wants to see what kind of monster her master has been chasing for so long. So far I'm not impressed." With that the figure stepped into the sparse light of the cell where he could make out her features.
"Talia!?"
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"How much longer until the ship is prepared to go?" Ayeka asked anxiously, failing miserably in her attempt not to be a pest as Sari and her work crew scrambled over the small ship that was their way off the planet.
"The less you bug us the less time it'll take Princess. Sari drawled in response as she manhandled a panel back into place. "If you want to help hand me that welding torch." She added, pointing at the appropriate tool."
"This one?"
"The one to the left of that," Sari responded "no, your other left Ayeka. Look, I know you're worried about lover boy," the tiny blonde continued as she grabbed the tool from Ayeka and started to adjust it "but he's one of the single toughest and stubborn people in the galaxy. If anyone is going to last until we get there it's him. Oh, and we shouldn't be more than another hour or so." With that she flashed Ayeka a grin before lowering her goggles and starting to weld the panel in place.
Ayeka sighed, too worried and nervous to even get embarrassed over the "lover boy" remark the small mechanic had made. She just didn't know enough. Were Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki even alive? If they were, was that group even close enough to help? Would Heero actually deliver Keith to Jurai alive? Or had he already killed him? Or had he just tortured Keith for the whole of the twenty hours that he had passed since the scruffy pirate had surrendered?
The violet haired young woman felt the bile rising up in her throat and cut of that line of thought violently, taking several deep breaths to steady herself and unconsciously squeezing the small pouch Keith had left behind. Dwelling on the maybes of it all was getting her nothing, except possibly an ulcer. With that thought she left the work bay and went to find the other girls.
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Mihoshi yawned, reaching for the half empty cup of coffee sitting on the desk a couple feet away as she watched the feed that they'd hacked into from one of the local spaceports displaying the starship traffic around the planet. Only three of the Jurian warships were still in orbit. It wasn't enough to make an effective blockade if more than a handful of ships tried to make a break for it. But they were enough of a deterrent to keep basically every ship on the planet willingly grounded.
This basically meant that any attempt on their part to flee was all but suicidal without a distraction of some kind. Not a happy thought. Mihoshi really didn't like those kinds of thoughts, and normally she was pretty good at avoiding them. But the long watch wasn't letting her employ any of her normal distractions.
Fortunately the monitor in front of her was waterproof... because, typical of her luck, she had just started to take a sip when a VERY excited Sasami ran into the room, making her spew the mouthful of coffee she had just drunk all over it.
"We got a reply from Washu and the others!" the little girl reported excitedly. They're gonna be here in a little more than an hour! And Ryoko's alright!" she added joyfully.
"That's great!" the blonde detective replied sincerely, returning the blue-haired princess's joyful smile and standing up to give her a hug. Sasami happily returned the embrace before bouncing towards the door again.
"I gotta find Ayeka and tell her! Kiyone says that you should get ready to go as fast as possible and head down to the hangar!" With that she bounded down the hallway and out of sight.
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"Oof!" Ayeka exhaled loudly as Sasami literally ran into her as she turned the corner.
"Ayeka!" Sasami exclaimed excitedly, all but hopping in place. "Get packed! We're going in an hour."
"What?" was the elder girls confused response. "Slow down and explain it properly Sasami."
"Tenchi, Washu, and Ryoko are on their way and will be here soon!" Sasami explained quickly. "Everyone else is already getting ready, so we need to hurry."
"So Ryoko is alright then?" Ayeka asked, relief evident in her voice.
"Yep!" Sasami confirmed happily, giving her big sister a hug, which was enthusiastically returned.
"Then we had better not dawdle." The elder princess said, "Keith-kun is waiting for us after all."
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"Sir! A ship is approaching the planet at high speed!" called Lt. Yamagura from his position at the communications station.
"So?" the Captain, a rail-thin man who's neatly trimmed beard was just starting to go gray, responded in a bored tone. "Hail them, relay the standard warnings, and send them away."
"But Sir, we already have!" came the immediate reply. "They've ignored all hails and are continuing their approach! They'll be within firing range in less than 2 minutes!"
"Tactical!" the Captain barked, sitting up straight in his chair... an excited grin forming on his face. "Ready weapons and give me a targeting solution NOW!"
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"Only three 3rd generation cruisers." Washu mused from Ryo-Ohki's control chair. "Shouldn't be too hard. At least it shouldn't be if Ayeka and the others are paying attention and do what they're supposed to."
"Feh!" Ryoko commented over their link. "If I were you I'd be counting of Kiyone and Sasami for that particular bit of the plan."
"Now, now, Ryoko-chan," Washu chided, "it's not fair to insult the girl when she's not here to respond."
"Whatever." Was Ryoko's rather sullen response. "Lets just get them and get the hell out of here already."
"Yes dear." Washu chuckled. "Now just relax, you're still far from recovered you know."
"Tenchi?" the pink-haired girl called, breaking her mental contact with Ryoko. "Are you ready up there?"
"As ready as I can be sitting on top of a spaceship without a suit." Tenchi responded, only half-jokingly, from his place atop Ryo-Ohki's dome, protected from the vacuum of space by a thin force field. "Are you sure this is a good idea though?"
"Of course it's a good idea!" Washu exclaimed arrogantly. "It's MY idea after all!" She added with a cackle of glee. Tenchi just sighed and readied himself.
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"There they are!" Sari crowed from her place in the co-pilots seat. "Lets get this scrap heap moving!"
"It's usually a bad sign when the ships builder calls it a scrap heap y'know." Kiyone groused, even as she shoved the ships throttle forward and yanked back on the control column, sending the ship hurtling skyward on a narrow stream of flame.
"Hey, I was rushed." Sari replied with a grin as the small ships acceleration shoved her back into the padding of her chair despite the acceleration compensators best attempts. "Everyone comfortable back there?"
"Just Dandy." Ayeka replied sarcastically. "I rather think we had more room in the last ship. And there I was sitting on someone's lap the entire way."
"And you enjoyed every minute of it I bet." Sari shot back, making the taller girl blush a rather impressive shade of red.
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"Sir! There's a second ship taking off from the city!" Lt. Yamagura shouted.
"Leave it for the other ships!" the captain barked in response. "Do we have a firing solution yet?!"
"We will in ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two...
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"Tenchi! NOW!" Washu shouted from Ryo-Ohki's bridge.
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"...One... now Sir!"
"Fire!"
A hundred bright beams of raw destructive force lanced out from the Jurian warship, only to splash off Tenchi's spread light-hawk wings like so much water on a boulder, and Ryo-Ohki speed closer.
"Sir!" called the frantic voice of the ship tactical officer, "Our fire's completely ineffective! The targets own shields are being supplemented by Light-hawk wings! We don't have the firepower to hurt her by ourselves!"
"Tell the other ships to hurry!" the Captain replied, the slightest hint of panic creeping into his voice. "And keep firing! Even if we can't hurt her we can keep her from firing back if we keep up the pressure!"
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"Now THAT is a distraction!" Sari whooped as they watched Ryo-Ohki scream past the blockading ship, incoming fire all but bouncing off the brilliant white shield that was protecting the crystalline ship.
"Washu, this is Kiyone! Do you read?" The teal-haired detective shouted over her headset, ignoring Sari's commentary completely.
"I do! Now hurry up and get you're butt on board before those other ships get here!" Washu's voice, made even more nasal than normal by the distortion of the headset speakers, called back. "Even Lord Tenchi has his limits, and those other cruisers will be here any second now!"
"We're almost there!" Kiyone replied, gritting her teeth as she slammed the throttle forward.
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"Sir, That ship just took on the shuttle we picked up coming from the planet!" Lt Yamagura reported.
"Damn them." The Captain cursed under his breath, trying not to imagine what Heero would do to him upon hearing this news. "After them! Don't let them escape!"
"Sir, Yes Sir!" came the chorused response from the bridge crew as they brought the ship around and accelerated after the rapidly fleeing vessel.
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"They're following us Washu!" Tenchi reported, as he was teleported from his position on top of the cabbit's dome and onto the bridge.
"I know." Washu responded. "They may outmatch Ryo-Ohki in sheer firepower, but they don't have a chance of catching her in a straight-on race Tenchi. So relax already... and it's Washu-CHAN!" She added with a mock-glare.
"If you say so I guess I just have to believe it I guess..." Tenchi laughed, "Washu-Chan."
"You'd better believe it!" Washu affirmed with one of her trademarked grins. "Now why don't you go and greet the girls. I can handle things up here fine by myself."
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"Ayeka! Sasami! Mihoshi! Kiyone!" Tenchi called happily as he entered he makeshift docking bay Ryo-Ohki had formed in her lower levels for the occasion. "You're all alright!"
"Tenchi!" Sasami responded first, rushing to hug the Japanese youth.
"It is good to see you again Lord Tenchi.' Ayeka added politely, throwing the young man a tired, but genuine smile.
"Took you guys long enough." Was Kiyone's only comment, but she smiled as she said it, giving Tenchi a wink. "But I'm glad you made it when you did."
"Tenchi!" Mihoshi called, barely managing not to completely fall over as she got out of the shuttle. "I am soooo glad to see you!"
"So... who's gonna introduce me to the cutie?" Sari asked after a few seconds of continued greetings, giving Tenchi a rather... inviting smile.
"Sari!' Ayeka admonished, though she was only half serious about it. "Lord Tenchi has quite enough female attention without you adding to the problem." The purple haired girl added with a small grin. Sari just laughed.
"My name's Sari," the tiny blonde said, sticking out her hand in greeting, "just incase yah missed the Princess yelling it."
"Nice to meet you." Tenchi returned politely, taking her hand.
"Yep, definitely cute." Sari chuckled. "Needs to loosen up a bit though."
"All that aside," Kiyone interrupted, "can we visit Ryoko Tenchi? Or is she still..." the teal-haired detective trailed off.
"She's doing fine." Tenchi smiled, relief obvious in his voice. "Follow me."
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Washu was waiting for them as they approached Ryo-Ohki's newly formed sickbay.
"One at a time Girls." Washu cautioned as they got within earshot. "She's a lot better, but I don't want her getting overexcited by a mass invasion of well-wishers quite yet."
"So who goes first?" Sasami asked, glancing anxiously from the door to the rest of the group and back.
"Why don't you go first Sasami." Kiyone offered with a smile, "I'm sure Ryoko will want to get her hands on that lunch you made her."
"Oh...she'll definitely love that." Washu confirmed, trying to hide the small grin that started to form and sending a quick mental command for Ryo-Ohki to record what was going on in the room. After all, this would be Ryoko's first real meal with her taste buds in working order. This she wanted on tape.
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When Ayeka finally entered the sick bay, Ryoko was still happily licking the last few crumbs and drops of sauce from the bottom of the lunch-box that Sasami had given her. Even knowing ahead of time that the former pirate was the only one in the room, it took a second for Ayeka to really recognize the person she saw sitting on the bed.
Ryoko's once luxurious and gravity-defying mane of Cyan hair was barely more than an inch long and gave the impression that someone had attacked the girl with a pair of hedge clippers. Her cheeks were sunken and there were dark circles under her golden cat's eyes. Most frightening of all was how FRAIL the woman looked. Before she had been all hard muscle and womanly curves, strong and assured of that strength. Now... she looked to be little more than bones and thinly stretched, almost transparent looking, skin.
"So yah done staring yet Princess? Or should I pose for yah?' Ryoko asked sarcastically, setting the spotless lunch-box aside reluctantly, somewhat upset that there wasn't any more.
"I'm sorry Ryoko." Ayeka apologized sincerely, blushing a bit at her own behavior. "It's just that...'
"I look like crap." Ryoko finished for her. "Damn barber did an absolute hack-job." She added with a smirk, earning a small laugh from the other girl.
"I'll have my own personal hairdresser fix it up for you when we get to Jurai." Ayeka replied teasingly, and earning a genuine, if short, laugh from the bed-ridden girl.
"I'm not sure if I'd trust ANY Jurian near my neck with a pair of scissors, but thanks for the offer Ayeka." Ryoko retorted, before adopting a Cheshire cat smile. "So... tell me, what happened to your clothes?"
"It's just a disguise!" Ayeka stammered out, blushing as she remembered that she was still wearing the outfit Keith had bought for her. Complete with the chains and black-leather chocker.
"Uh-huh, suuuuuure." Ryoko replied, grin still firmly in place, before taking an exaggerated sniff. "If that smell's any indication you've been enjoying wearing that tiny little skirt more than you shoulda been."
"Ryoko!" Ayeka all but shouted, going even redder.
"Oooo... I think I hit a nerve." Ryoko noted, her grin widening, if such a thing was possible.
"Oh please!" Ayeka retorted, still bright red. "I am sure you have no right to tease me about such things at this point you pirate! I am quite sure that you have been using every dirty trick in the book to get Lord Tenchi while I was away." the princess added, the familiar argument slipping into the friendly fight they were having more out of habit than anything else. Ryoko's face almost immediately fell, her Golden eyes going cold.
"Tenchi's all yours Ayeka." Ryoko replied, completely serious. "I don't want that creep anywhere near me."
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End Chapter 10