All previous notes apply.
Chapter Four
"Hunted"
Washu stumbled to her feet and pushed Sasami far back behind her near where the smashed dive-light lay. "Stay here and do not move. Got it?" Sasami nodded, pale and trembling. Washu turned, gulped, and slowly approached Ayeka, grimacing at the scent in the air. "Sweet God. . ." Sasami gave a scared look at the professor, barely hearing her own terrified - if not at least horrified - mumble.
"Ayeka," Washu whispered. She looked over the still, buxom girl, feeling a wash of guilt and familiarity as she took in the sight of the mostly green gleam that was reflected off her body. In her eyes' wandering, she saw thin traces of blood.
Washu, even on her steeliest of days would have shivered at the sight. She called up her computer and released Ayeka from her bonds, one of the arms rolling and dropping to hang limply off the side of the table. Washu shot a quick glance to Sasami, stopping her approach with a glare before she went back to work, using a speedy goddess-scan to find her nearing mental and physical instability. Goddesses can do that, you know. Though, milliseconds after the thought, she realized she didn't need the computer to see that. Trauma to her face and legs was trace but noticeable, her breast looking a little larger and more swollen than they had been before.
Not thinking twice, her hands ran over the keyboard and a half-piped, padded gurney dropped from the ceiling. Four metal posts held the corners as the space-age coffin look-a-like awaited a charge. The table tipped and rolled Ayeka face down onto the gurney and the half-pipe lifted and carried her off on a prompt, urgent course. Washu reached back, grabbing Sasami's hand and pulled her along in a race after Ayeka. While running, Washu blindly tapped at her keyboard, the macabre silence partially broken by the rush of air and Sasami's aching cry, which quickly turned into a pant from a child who had apparently been on the couch too long.
Beyond the south face column was a very metal and circular room, two other hallways of machinery leading off from the sides and elsewhere into the darkness. It was a large area, a few giant, vertical green tubes lining the center around a large steel central column. One of the cylinders set in the post hissed and opened, sliding down into the decorated and buttoned-up base. The gurney positioned before it, tipping Ayeka into a crumpled heap inside the pipe. It closed with a vibrato and flashed, immediately filling with a liquid. Ayeka quickly floated as nearby consoles lit up, and as conduits snaking into the jell-o-like fluid, attaching to Ayeka. Washu's computer disappeared as the liquid inside polymerized, bringing about a sigh of pressurization.
Sasami crept up beside her with a sniffle and continued her crying. "Whuh-what happened to Ayeka? Washu?"
"She's. . . had an unpleasant. . . experience. . ."
"Whuh-will she be alright?"
"I don't know. . ." Sasami suddenly hugged Washu tightly, her wails continuing as Washu's arms gently closed around her. Washu looked up to the princess's strung appearance and, as thoughts of her past raced to mind, wanted nothing more than to apologize to Sasami for what she had done.
-o-
Mihoshi - changed into far more comfortable wares, namely an infamous pink tank and brown pants - stood again and sat back down in an irritated restlessness. She couldn't find her tail and now reasoned that instead of commencing her hour-long search, she could have simply gone to the kitchen for that bowl of cereal she wanted. Looking around the living room, she dropped to the floor, scanning under the sofa. With no luck, she stood again and yawned wide. Having nothing to do only made her sleepy; being sleepy actually made her kind of hungry. However, since being sleepy also made her lazy, she figured that lying down would be easier than walking, which was wont to make her tired, anyway. She lay down on her side, staring at the blackened television. She looked up ceiling beams, turning on her back accordingly as she slipped her hands behind her head.
The house felt very empty. Indeed it was, but the concept struck a deeper chord because Mihoshi just didn't like to be lonely. Tenchi was still at sword practice with Grandfather, Nobuyuki had finally gone to work (with much insistence by her), Ayeka, Ryouko and Sasami were nowhere to be found, Kiyone had gone to town and had yet to return - she was probably out fucking some guy, Mihoshi thought with a twinge of bitterness - and Washu had traipsed off to somewhere unknown.
Oh, Kiyone, she thought. "It wasn't my aim to be bother."
A clumsy bother, Kiyone's voice rang in her head.
"Right, clumsy. . . I don't understand how she can vow to never speak to me again and beg to sing karaoke the next." The silence that followed seemed to act as an appropriate answer before Mihoshi continued. "Okay, so she doesn't beg, but she can get into it just as much as I do." Briefly she giggled as the most obvious solution came to her. Smacking her head lightly, she exclaimed. "Of course, she's on the Pill! I guess she really is out with some guy. . . I never pegged Kiyone as one to whore herself around. . ." She shrugged briefly, her carefree 'tude making up for however morally reprehensible she thought slutting around was. "Her life, she can do what she wants. . . Just wish she didn't hate me some . . . er. . . most of the time. . ."
She twitched her nose a bit as her mind traced back to the last few words, running over them like fingers through hair. "I bet everyone thinks I've had massive loads of luh. . ." she blushed a moment, her indignation not coming through as well as she found the subject difficult to even discuss with herself. "Love making. . . I've never even gone down on anyone. Gregarious or not, I'm just too shy. . ."
Mihoshi's eyelids fell and her eyes burned briefly, but adapted to the perpetual sleep stasis as she slipped into a dreamscape. "Maybe it's for the better," she mumbled quietly. A warm smile overtook her as her hands slipped down, crossing over her and hugging herself. "Something to offer Tenchi. . ."
Above, resting on her rafter, Ryouko stared down with golden eyes ablaze, quietly watching her next prey. The urge was returning to its highest pike and she could feel herself becoming well over the bounds of aroused. She phased out and reappeared over Mihoshi, a scant, far less gentle smile on her face. Seeing the rise and fall of Mihoshi's hug-amplified chest brought on an intense sensation, surprisingly intense for the fact that it was just a set of breasts - but nice breasts, as was agreed before.
Somewhere, the memory of a black swimsuit surfaced.
She grinned darkly as she lowered down, a leer like no other set on her face. Her smile did not last, however, as sanity raced back in a fleeting moment that briefly sent her flying into to a world of further surfacing memories. For that transient moment, the lights dimmed and she dropped into isolation, the floor seemingly miles away; cold, gray and concrete. The strings that held her lunacy together snapped, sending her crashing as though she were a marionette with her wires slashed. Enveloping her was a dark, dirty, miserable feeling. A spark of heat wouldn't last an instant in her now chilling world; where things most unknown, but felt most of all, became clear and defined.
Pain, hate, and self-loathing resurfaced with a torrent as Ryouko grasped what she had done. Her soul understood the graveness of the deed, time slowing as the things she had committed to could be reviewed in explicit detail. Agony ripped through when she realized what heinousness she'd done, even wanted to do, and what she so nearly repeated. Even someone like Ayeka, - that's right, Ayeka - someone whom Ryouko wanted to rip the voice box from couldn't possibly deserve that.
That.
THAT.
Ayeka. . . Mitsuko became a shadow, a distant memory even in this sudden world of aching recollection.
"Why is this happening to me!" Ryouko screamed, the rush of a tempest in the enclosure of a wine glass shattering the dark world around her. What's kept me level for so long. . . why this decline. . . why Ayeka? Ryouko reached up and pulled on her hair as she was torn apart from the inside out. The blacks and grays swirled like a cloudburst, pushing torrential rains of jagged recall around her as she pulled herself up to her knees. She screamed, feeling the peel and burn of fire inside. Her skin split and blistered, black smoke and wisps of death pouring out through the crispy cuts.
STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTO
She fell forward as her bones turned to dust, leaving her limp in the inferno that surrounded her. The rest of her flesh just melted away as a blackness thick like molasses swirled with the blood that seeped out through her.
NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
Why me!
Silence. . .
But, yes, it was transient, as the click and slide of the front door marked Tenchi's entrance into the Masaki residence and a return to a bleaker reality; erasing entirely what Ryouko had just suffered so that she may prey once more.
-o-
Washu gripped Sasami tighter, tempted further to become the adult she was meant to be and cradle Sasami in her arms as they looked upon the shambles of Ayeka for a few moments longer. The younger of the two ended her rain of tears, sobbing quietly as her weary mind drifted to the skewed escape of the soul's abyss. Picking up the now exhausted child, Washu set her on her floating pillow and beckoned it to tag along as Washu wordlessly marched to a darkened corner of the multi-vertex lab.
She gazed around, sighing, knowing that even she - the most scientific genius in the universe, naturally - couldn't reverse this, ANY of this, with conventional methods.
Even certain unconventional methods did not sound so productive.
The first step, she figured, as she wasn't the type to barge into a situation without a full scope, would be to review what could be stopped, what could be prevented and ultimately, what HAD to be done then and there. Fear struck her, however, as she moved upon the one thing that kept Ryouko functioning for over two thousand years; a chill rode up her spine as its dark overcast left her with a foreboding feeling. She quickened her pace to a jog and skidded to a stop in front of the silenced, towering machine. She called up her computer and went through many frustrating attempts to restart it as, next to her, Sasami stirred amongst the flurry of tapping and typing, but the machine and child remained dormant. Pausing, she squinted through the hologram and looked at the cylindrical console, seeing the remnants of white power.
Stepping through the holo-top completely, she examined it closer and saw the unmistakable remains of Mihoshi's stupid, white bunny tail.
"Oh son of a bitch! Mihoshi!" Washu's eyes narrowed when her mind ran over a few thoughts of torture and sadism - it was always an excuse for a new invention. "Oh will I kill you this time. . ." She swept away the feathery power and went through a manual rebooting system, grimacing as bypassing the setup was not the time-waster she wanted to commit to, right now. Popping open a gleaming black panel, she nearly ripped to shreds a few wires that she not-so-gingerly pulled from the console. Making a few hasty reconnections, and after smacking the entire thing a few times, a beep and a click signified its return to technically working order. While it reloaded, her ability to rationalize disbanded entirely, leaving her fearing the worst and whether or not there was anything left to even stabilize.
For the sake of the universe, there had better be.
"Any reaction from that. . . that thing could have upset the figures greatly. Aside from keeping Ryouko safe, this could program her to be a murdering, raping, vicious little machine." She felt the chastising tone of her own mind give herself a sharp slap for her choice of words before further thinking aloud. "While I can't actually make her go one way or the other, a short in the system most definitely could. This thing wasn't meant to do anything but stabilize and hold fast, but knowing Mihoshi and her little toys, the entire thing has probably scattered into oblivion. . ." She snorted, stomping the ground with the heel of her foot. "I knew I should have been developing a program to make her healthy. . . make her sane again. . . but I was selfish, after my own ideals for all this time. . ."
She trekked off a few meters under a small archway, stopping in the bare expanse of a wide thoroughfare. To both her left and right were miles of blank hallway, bordered only by tall, black, metal walls. The light above was high, leaving the path's glow dim.
"I figured this thing would keep her above the red forever. . . What have I done?" The lights on the machine hit a final sequence and a small microwave-ding rang behind her. Stepping back through the little archway to get back to the now rebooted machine, she lightly ran a hand along Sasami's still resting head. Appearing back in front of the computer, she quickly scrolled through the data. What she saw made her face run free of color, sending her stumbling. Hesitantly, she reached over and shook Sasami firmly. "Wake up. Now."
Groggily, Sasami wiped her eyes as she awoke, propping herself up on her elbows. "Ayeka. . ." Washu was quickly eye level with her and spoke gravely.
"Come with me, I need a favor."
Across the lab, - though of course, not literally, since Washu's lab spans the expanse of a small dimension and saying 'across the lab' implies the ridiculous idea that Washu would place her work station so completely and inefficiently out of reach - Washu handed Sasami what looked like a vial of mace. On it, a small crab slept soundly, the vibrant red 'z's threatening to jump right off the can. "It's a high powered barbiturate," Washu said almost sternly, holding up her own can.
"'Tranzine 022'?"
"Tranquilizer effect. Barbiturates are drugs derived from barbituric acid."
"What do they do?"
"Conk you out."
"Neat. . ."
"Sasami, pay attention. I need you to help me go through the house and find everyone you can. . ." She looked away briefly. "If you see Ryouko, you will attach one of these to yourself." From her pocket, wherever one may have been hidden, Washu presented five red-capped crab-shaped pills.
"When you find anyone, spray this. It'll act pretty fast. Try to avoid getting them in the eyes, just spray their generally vicinity. Make SURE you do not inhale much of this. It won't linger in the air; it's pretty heavy stuff. After you knock 'em out, attach a beacon to them. Whomever they're stuck to will instantly transport to my lab." Sasami gave a worried nod, the burden a bit too much of an onslaught weighed on her after not only having just woken up, but after having way too much science talk for one day.
"Why do I have to spray them?"
"Well, if the brain is in a fully functioning state and is in no way aware of being transported, it can be torn down by the system change. However, you'll know, and thus be aware of the transport. . . Uh, just in case, try shutting your eyes." Sasami gulped -– more science.
"Right. Why uh, can't you just transport everyone here with your lab equipment?"
"Would if I could. It's hard for my equipment to single beings out and would bring all heat signatures matching general humanoid structure here. That would include Ryouko."
"Um. . . what did Ryouko do, Washu?"
Washu looked away another moment before turning back with a small shimmer on her cheeks. "When you find and transport everyone, attach one to yourself. I'll try to find and subdue Ryouko. You see her, you get away. I'll explain it all in due time. Understand?"
"Crystal clear." They both turned to the hampered blare of an alerting alarm. Washu gave a small gulp, blanching a little once again. She winced slightly, the boy-toy plushie bouncing from a section of low ceiling.
Tenchi was home.
-o-
Crack!
Pebbles shot out from under Tenchi feet, rocketing away as he slid to avoid the downward slice of Katsuhito's blade. Tenchi skipped back a few more steps as his foe spun on a tilted axis, whipping the blade under him, back up and then down for another slice two times in succession. Tenchi stepped to the side, his bokken whistling through the air as he brought it up to meet the priest's third downward chop. Tenchi brought it up and back around, cutting from the left before Katsuhito sliced down on it, knocking Tenchi forward a bit.
In a near panic, Tenchi swept his sword weakly to the side, trying to cut it under Katsuhito's feet. In response, his opponent spun his blade back from his right, the edge aimed squarely for the notch under his head.
Right, the neck.
Ducking, Tenchi swept to his right, freeing his blade from beside Katsuhito's foot. Tenchi hopped back a few more times as Katsuhito followed through with the blade, thrusting it forward to jab Tenchi in the stomach. He fell back with an 'oomph', and was again on the ground. The younger of the two looked up at a worn but sturdy bokken as the victor held it to his face. "Eh?" he spoke down to Tenchi. "That was a good one, hmm? 'Thought you'd appreciate it!" Tenchi grimaced as he spoke his surrender. "Ah, so now you're dead."
"Well, it's getting along to dinner time, I'm hungry; give me a break!"
"Tenchi, if I've not told you before. . . "
In unison, and with irritation from Tenchi, came the finish. "Enemies won't break for meals and leisure."
"Yeah, I know," Tenchi smiled. "But you're my grandpa."
He looked down at Tenchi and backed away, also smiling. "Go eat, Tenchi, we'll continue tomorrow." Katsuhito turned and walked to the shrine. "Drop off my wares when you come for an extra-early morning practice, eh?"
"Early morning!" He sighed, scratching his head. "Never mind. . ." Tenchi rubbed his head and went to the house, making sure to remember to swing by the field to pick up Katsuhito's robes. Walking down the shrine steps, he rubbed his stomach a little, the stab to his gut taking away much of his appetite. "I WAS hungry, at least."
He walked up to the front porch, not wishing to go through the kitchen due to his loss of hunger. His ulterior motive, of course, was to avoid having to get vegetables for Sasami. He was just too tired.
And lazy.
And a bit of an ass. . . I mean, she's a little girl, you clod.
Stumbling a few times, he ascended the steps and opened the sliding door, kicking his shoes off before stepping up into the hall. He stood at the base of the stairs when a loud crash came from the living area. Curious, he shuffled through the kitchen anyway, –- finding it odd that the main doors wouldn't open - nearly fainting away upon his entrance into the room.
Ryouko snarled as she rubbed her head, Washu dropping the bat she gripped to hold her captive down. "Sasami! Do it now!" Tenchi tipped his head to the side, looking to try to make a reasonable explanation out of seeing Washu pin Ryouko down. What shocked him first - as small a shock as it was - was the absence of Ryouko's clothing. Now however, the shock lasted in Washu's curious position over her daughter.
"Hi, Tenchi!"
"Hi, Sasami," he muttered, stepping into the room to inquire before he really did faint off his feet, disappearing before hitting the ground.
"Sasami, get Mihoshi!"
Ryouko growled again, looked back to Washu with slits for eyes. The Academy Professor yelped when the pirate shot her arms up, gripping the girl's neck. "Well if I can't have them, then I'll take you. . ." Alarmed, and with no other resources at her disposal, Washu panicked and elbowed Ryouko in the face. "Ow!" she shouted as Sasami looked quizzically at Mihoshi.
Do I still have to spray her? She's asleep!"
"Still!"
"Yeah-huh."
Washu hopped off the writhing Ryouko, who held her nose to stop the continuous spray of mucous and blood, and attached the micro transporter to Mihoshi, turning back to look at her daughter as the blonde vanished with a small red flash.
"Wait, what about when Nobuyuki gets home?"
Washu's only reply was a wry look to which Sasami simply blushed slightly.
"Oh, right. . ."
Washu glanced over to Ryouko who was still squirming in pain. "We've just gotta worry about when Kiyone gets home."
"But she did come home!" Sasami suddenly exclaimed. "She came home about an hour ago, actually. She snuck up to the onsen to avoid Mihoshi. She had'da really goofy grin on her face, and her clothes were so disheveled-"
"Then we can go," Washu took out a blue capsule and bounced it in her hand, "and this should take care of Ryouko for a while." She attached it to the pirate just before she stood, vanishing with a shout of indignation.
"Where is she going, Washu?"
"Oh, a familiar place. . ." They heard a splash and Washu grinned, if only for a moment. It soon turned to a small grimace. "Let's go." They split the scene and raced all over the house, beating feet to check room after room. Doors slid, clicked and rolled and the sound of a toilet being lifted came at one point. After finding no one, they returned to each other, meeting in the living area.
"Did you check everywhere, Sasami?"
"Everywhere in the house. . ." She quietly trailed.
". . . Fuck!" Sasami's eyes went wide after her companion's had as she and Washu suddenly raced out the door, the pink-haired goddess briefly apologizing for her choice of words.
-o-
Smiling in a momentary memory, Kiyone leaned back on her lounge chair taking in a bit of sun near the lake. That Meiko girl she'd met earlier that day was a very, very generous person. Of course, as far as Kiyone was concerned for that hour and a half, there was no such thing as being too generous. She hadn't even considered that one could go from drinks at a bar to that in so little time. . .
She frowned for a moment, removing her sunglasses to rest them on her stomach below the gray and dark blue top of the two-piece she wore. "God. . . when did I turn gay?" She shook her head, sliding the glasses back on. "I'm just experimenting, I know it. . . everyone experiments at my age. . ." She let out a whoosh of air as she stretched her arms above her head. Despite the shock-effect is still had on her, she smiled. "Wow. . . girls can just be so much more graceful than men. . ." She was tempted to give herself a slap but let it pass. "But it's back to the penis for ol' Kiyone. . ."
Kiyone looked at the muted sun through her sunglasses and smiled again. What a peaceful day, she deemed with a sigh. "Especially without Mihoshi. . ." She frowned again at her thoughts, a small wash of guilt coming over her. She hadn't meant to say that, it just came out. "I need to stop giving her such a hard time. . ." Her grimace furthered as clouds began to gather, filtering her sunlight to a simple glow in the fluffed sky. Sighing again, she turned over onto her stomach, intent on getting a little sleep. "I'll apologize to her next time I see her. . ."
She flinched at the splash that sounded behind her, thoughts along the lines of Ryouko trying to snake into Tenchi's room slipping into her head. Instinctively, she shifted the chair a few feet away, lying back down as a wave of water swept up, missing her new position by inches. She didn't bother to look back, shifting a few times as a few drops of water managed to catch her calves any way. She growled a bit when even more came, her sunlight still gone and leaving her cold. Removing her glasses, she looked back with a gasp to see Ryouko staring down. Naked.
"Wha. . . What are you doing, Ryouko?"
"Completing."
". . . Completing what?"
"My command."
". . . To do?"
"You'll find out."
"Oh, I don't like the sound of that. . ." Her tone told Kiyone to run but Ryouko was too close for her to get away now. Slowly, she turned around on her back so to leave Ryouko with a less advantageous position, but to her chagrin, it hardly helped matters. Kiyone cried out and scooted back into the lounge chair as Ryouko dived, sitting astride her stomach, grabbing her by the arms. Kiyone sucked in a breath, her eyes roaming wildly, looking for an out as she remembered just how sore and weak she was after her afternoon's pursuit. Strong as she considered herself to be, Kiyone knew at once that she was no match for Ryouko. She cried out when Ryouko leaned in for a kiss, prompting Kiyone to go for the headbutt. Ryouko swiftly pulled to the side and grinned, awarding an attack on her ear instead.
"A-ahh!" Kiyone squirmed, trying to pull away. Ryouko lifted her hand to hold her head in place but instead, she traced a finger along the trembling girl's throat before she planted her hands over a breast and squeezed firmly.
"Ryouko, stop!" She tried to slide back further but the weak metal hinges of the chair gave way and snapped, sending Kiyone toppling back and Ryouko vaulting forward. As the two recovered from the fall, Washu and Sasami burst from the kitchen door.
Ryouko smiled, mumbling something about thrice the opportunity. Sasami tried to inch closer to Kiyone but Hakubi quickly spotted her. The princess jerked, dropping her can as a figure not unlike a feline's made a slow approach.
"So you want to be first, little girl?" Sasami whimpered and stumbled back a little more, tripping over a few ill-placed stones. Had Tenchi been present, he would have felt guilty about not having moved them sooner. The transporters fell from her hand, one sliding into a small puddle where it crackled and deteriorated almost instantly, a small wisp of smoke wafting away in a passing breeze. Wincing as she watched, Washu looked over to where Sasami eyed back at her with the same sense of uneasiness. Perhaps a little more on Sasami's end as Ryouko still came closer. Getting to her lab without a micro transporter wasn't a problem, but the problem lay with her daughter being trained to follow phase-vapor trails. If she couldn't detain Ryouko for long enough, the pirate could follow her path and endanger them all once again.
Washu had legs, she could run it.
"Sasami, you and Kiyone go." She stepped past the youngest, nearing Ryouko with a daring gait.
"But Washu!"
"Go." Sasami, terrified, found no means to argue. Grappling at her can of Tranzine, she put Kiyone out before she could ask questions and as the two disappeared, Washu slipping her hands behind her back.
"Sacrificing yourself? Awfully noble. . . I can't very well complain," Ryouko chuckled almost mechanically, "you're a cute one."
Washu herself smiled as she reached into the nothingness. "Thanks! I think so, too!" Another mace-like can appeared in her hands as she approached Ryouko. Above, the clouds begin to swirl and stir like the banter of rowdy spectators. "Regardless of what you've done already, I know you don't mean it. . . I can help you, Little Ryouko. . ."
Ryouko flinched slightly at the term and narrowed her eyes. "I couldn't need any less help." Holding out her hand, the can was ripped from Washu's palm as she let out a brief cry, the cylinder zipping to Ryouko's outstretched digits. Ryouko smirked and approached once more. "Don't you resist me either, you saw what happened to your friend." Ryouko grinned, head hung in a dark cast.
"Professor Washu. . ."
Shuddering slightly at the thought, Washu maintained composure. "Oh, I'm not worried, because you've just doubted the number one genius in the universe!" Holding out a remote with the other hand she flicked a switch, causing the can to explode into a force field.
"Hey!" Ryouko cried as she pushed against the bubble, making it skew and bend. It sank in like Reynolds Wrap, tangling between her limbs and causing her to fall. Ryouko looked like a pile of leftovers. Washu grinned, winked and ran back to the house as clouds merged and as the first few drops of rain began to fall; just another shadow cast over the lands and people of Japan.
-o-
Tenchi's eyes opened to the anger of bright light as a slow groan emerged. Man, it felt like he fell for ages. Maybe Katsuhito hit him too hard? "Wha? Wha' happene'?"
"Finally," Washu called irritably. Tenchi could only see the ceiling from his back-down position, a blur of blackness still at the corners of his vision. Sitting up, he viewed the others, bar Ryouko and Ayeka, across the short curved hall. Tenchi soon, but hesitantly joined them after hopping off the cushioned table. "Now I can explain."
"Explain, Li'l Washu?" Mihoshi inquired.
"Ryouko's. . . well, unexplainable activities as of recent."
"Well!" Mihoshi almost giggled, "If they're unexplainable, nothing left to go over!"
"SHADDUP!" Washu bellowed. All but Mihoshi mumbled and turned their heads to the side until Washu whistled them back to attention, Mihoshi still sulking a little from, what she still considered, a friend's immense indignation. "All of us," she began, pointing accordingly, "Tenchi, Mihoshi, - especially Mihoshi, - Kiyone, myself, Nobuyuki and even Sasami are about to become subject to one of the greatest dangers this side of the universe." Her pause caused everyone's anxiety to jump twenty fold as Washu's gaze panned over them left to right, from right back to left. Tenchi gulped.
"Ryouko's sexual prowess."
Nobuyuki, who had returned home just moments before Washu disappeared into her lab and was thus dragged along, almost smiled. Boy, after that hard two hours at work, this sounded to be the turnabouts of a nice day! Off in his own fantasy, he just stood there amongst the other girl wish a stupid and most certainly ecchi grin on his face.
Sasami glanced up. ". . . Honorable Father. . . ?"
Tenchi just groaned and sat down on the floor with a grunt. "Yeah? So what else is new?"
Washu glared at him, trying not to let his ignorance of the situation get to her. Failing, however, she marched forward and grabbed him by the shirt, hauling him to his feet. He visibly blanched, Washu's snarl as menacing as the roar or a lioness on the hunt. "This isn't just her pursuit if YOU anymore, Tenchi!" She let him go with an almost rough shove, her out of character and spiteful notions bringing about a small round of gasps from the peanut gallery.
"If she manages to get hold of any of us, and I mean any of us, this could be the result!" The floodlight above, blazing white fire, cut their lives short and the green tube containing Ayeka illuminated to cast a sickly wave of glow upon the now shock-struck onlookers. Washu quickly pulled Sasami to her, hugging the child close to keep her from seeing the horror to which she'd already been forced to bear witness. The others, bar those two, gasped heavily in the bath of green light. Shadows stretched far behind them as the scene Ayeka was placed in transcended the shock of her being naked.
Hardly battered, hardly bruised; evidently violated just the same.
Tenchi grabbed his stomach as he viewed Ayeka's goddessly stance in the tube, arms spread to the side like an angel on her ascent; legs locked together at the knees and ankles. Kiyone pardoned herself politely and wretched into a nearby and most convenient trash can. Mihoshi winced and sat down on the floor, shivering as Washu took to grimacing.
Tenchi asked, "Why is Ryouko doing this? This, this," he gestured at Ayeka, "could happen to us?"
"Yes. But it's not her fault."
Kiyone stumbled back in and looked skeptically to Washu. "Then whose is it? Did you do something to her?"
Turning with a vicious snarl and poking her sharply in the shoulder, Washu growled, "You're lucky this is a more pressing matter or you'd need just as much medical attention!" She stepped back, taking a deep breath and a few spots of sweat gathered on her forehead. Kiyone gulped and backed up a step, the accost bringing back the idea of what she just barely escaped out by the lake. Hugging her bare shoulders, she realized that she'd forgotten to thank Washu. "Not to mention Queen of the Water Sprites. However. . . this, all of this is, the indirect result of Kagato."
"I should've guessed," Tenchi hissed, ". . . but how?" he further questioned.
"Ryouko's. . ." Washu stopped briefly to, what seemed to Tenchi, wipe away a tear. "Ryouko's experienced. . . brutal treatment when under his control. Beatings, molestation. . . and. . . and rape." Washu this time turned for a moment, a heavy feeling in her heart moving to her throat. She turned back, her eyes blurred slightly, spilling a tear or two down her soft, pale cheeks. "All this fear, hatred and mistreatment; it's manifested itself into her own personality, and the years and years of his control have permanently imprinted on her. That's what that is," she motioned to the expanse of machinery stretching far away, as if her entire lab were devoted to her daughter, "or was for." Mihoshi looked up, feeling the wavering anger in Washu's voice directed at her like an angry stare. "Many of these machines kept all her abnormal levels stable, at least, until recently.
"Even that wasn't so bad; she was a little promiscuous, but that was all. . . at least, until an accident caused all levels to flux to their extremes. This has come to our present result. She has a primal urge to feed off us. Ayeka was. . . the closest thing at the time, I suppose." Hearing her sister's name made Sasami burst out in a sob and she broke from Washu, running forward to clutch Tenchi who soothingly hugged her back. Washu frowned as a blade of guilt stabbed at her mercilessly.
She knew why it was Ayeka. She made the reason.
She knew damn well who Mitsuko was.
Mihoshi gazed at Ayeka as Kiyone looked to Washu. "But if this machine can keep her stable. . . why can't you just enter values that will make Ryouko alright?"
"I wish it were that easy. I can't actually control the values, I can only prevent them from moving. It's a. . . an eclectic suppression. The machine was meant to counter balance those particular 'traits', let's say, as well as other imprints. Although, programming the counter balance is a tough job in itself because it's hard to define polar emotions. Not to mention the fact that emotions aren't very tangible. Metaphysics isn't my area of expertise."
"Couldn't you create an excess of counter balancing?" Kiyone asked, curious.
"It would risk literally frying her brain."
"Well, you said accident, so. . . So how did Mihoshi manage to do things. . . so perfectly?"
Washu frowning, sighing. "Can you explain Mihoshi at ALL?"
"Good point. . . So what do we do now?" Kiyone asked.
"We do what I say. Ryouko at this point is subdued in a weak force field. It was all I could manage without taking up too much time. She's probably already broken free. What we have to do is get her to a secure part of subspace I created without hurting her or us. Hurting her would result in a violent retaliation and hurting us goes without saying. What I plan to do is create a high concentration of the barbituric acid Sasami used on all of you and we'll transport her via this," Washu held up the red transporter. "It will send her to a secure part of. . . of subspace." The last hitch in her voice went without notice as Sasami's gentle crying held most of their attentions.
As Sasami whimpered into Tenchi's chest, he spoke. "What stops you from using your equipment?"
Washu shot him an unintended glare but recovered to just giving a general sour face. "I'd love to if I could. AsI've explained to Sasami, the problem with that is that my machinery can't perform magic. All things follow a sense of logic and algorithm, Tenchi. My machinery, when it transports people, identifies heat sources within a certain radius. I couldn't just pluck someone from Shanghai and bring them here, I haven't developed that kind of singularity-system. So, instead, it relies on general heat pattern emissions of humans. Because Ryouko is practically human, this heat signature includes her, as well as other humanoids. Thus, if I were to try that, you all would run the risk of going with her. I've thought out all the possible methods and while this isn't the safest, it's the fastest. Our priority must be to capture Ryouko." She turned dark all of a sudden, stepping from the green glow and into a gray dimness.
"You don't know what it's like, Tenchi. You're not a mother, you're not a father. You don't have children," she whispered. "You just do not understand, nor will you ever, I'm sure. You don't know what it's like to feel helpless when your baby needs you. . . and you especially don't understand how it hurts that Ryouko can't even understand that herself." She looked up, a frigid stare locking his jaw in place. Tenchi was speechless, dumbfounded as to how he could think he could do this better than Washu could.
"I'm sorry that I have to put you at risk and that so many have already been hurt but this is just the way it has to be. Got it?"
Tenchi gulped, the mask of a child swaying him from the sudden professionalism of her words. "Got it. What do we do until then?"
"You won't have to wait," Washu replied. "I work fast."
-o-
Why?
What a stupid question. The answer's either always too simple or far too complex for the question posed. And that damn question is always, always applicable to everything. The answer 'because' is often given, despite its extreme non-acceptance. It's never enough to answer a question and it's always too much to answer the question.
Ryouko, what did you do to me?
Swimming, nude, Ayeka floated slowly, turning in a limp path. Her face openly displayed her melancholy, depression sinking into her core as the idea of her friendly nemesis becoming just a nemesis really hit home. Her eyes shut, tear droplets springing off and drifting off into the void.
God, 'why' was such a stupid, stupid question.
She whipped around, eyes flung wide open as a touch crawled along her spine. Seeing no one, she turned again at the dance of fingers on her back and lower still. Turning once more in a small whimper, she voiced a noiseless cry as a shadow hopped up on her, pushing her into a tumble through the inky place. Ayeka cried, shrieked and roared as hands roamed her shifting body, over her most sanctified places and delving in.
Ryouko, what did you do?
Ayeka awoke with a long scream, however much it may have been muffled by her facemask. Her chest ached to no end, a dull sweep of pain wrapping around her like a tight corset; her sides ached. Looking around frantically, noting the struggle it took to even turn her head, she realized that everything was colored a muted green and immediately thought of Washu. She looked down and tried to move through the thick gelatinous liquid, the substance as permissive as loosely-packed snow. Reaching over her naked form, she pulled off the quivering tubes and wires but left the facemask, reasoning that without it she wouldn't be able to breath, despite it being such a chore.
Duh.
As her vision became crisper, she saw with a sick discern that she was not alone; that again she was watched with such anger and indignation. Again, her life was in the grasp of a being so cold and so caring at the same time. Somehow the coldness always and greatly outweighed the care as Ayeka gulped and watched the gold eyes staring at her from the darkness. Oh, how she wanted to scream.
Ryouko. . . what will you do?
-o-
Sasami crept back through the living room with her can of Tranzine 023 - titled and trademarked to Washu - poised in the air. Penalties for using the name Tranzine or any contingents in the Tranzine Series (including U-Doze, Mononoir and Sleepy-Time-Fun) without the consent of the Greatest Scientific Mind in the Universe extend to, but are not limited to, five hundred thousand years imprisonment as her personal guinea pig. Y'hear?
As Sasami neared the steps, she yelped lightly upon hearing a thump and a slow creak as the presumed footfall bounded down the stairs leading into the room. Hopping back, she was relieved to see it was just a ball bouncing down the steps. A suitable explanation came upon hearing the dimmed voice of Mihoshi as she continued around and through to the kitchen. She slid the door shut behind her, tempted to peek under a few overturned pots and pans, as though Ryouko we're spring-loaded and hiding.
She faltered slightly as her attention was drawn to the patter against the window and the roll of raindrops that milled from the roof down. Passing through with little difficulty, she stepped into the dark hallway where the slit of Washu's door caught her gaze. Slightly ajar, it hung as a symbol of safe haven, almost, as Sasami entered in to continue her search. Her actual desire to find Ryouko was nil despite how much she liked her. Sasami just wanted a good place to hide.
Inside, she heard the idle blinking and beeping of lazy lights wanting to be put to use while the floodlights above her remained out. It was hard to see her hand in front of her face, nothing but a techno-glow lighting her path. Far down, where the ceiling dropped, the illumination of her sister's tube acted as a beacon in the dark laboratory. Below her, where one would work the controls, marked the silhouette of a low expanse of spiky hair.
In front of Ayeka's pound-on-the-glass rattling and banging, Ryouko bent over the control panel trying to figure the odds of her unwrapping her prey by pressing a random sequence of buttons. Glancing up, she grinned like a mad woman at Ayeka's sudden retreat, her shivering form swimming back to press against the far side of the glass. Ayeka trembled, turning away as Ryouko's hungry-again eyes roamed to no end. Her prey, no matter how scared or small had nice, nice legs.
Weren't her breasts much bigger last time?
Ryouko's gaze narrowed in frustration and she prepared to annihilate the machine entirely when Sasami yelled out. "Washu? What are you doing?" Ryouko shot a look back over her shoulder before leering up at Ayeka who, with the appearance of a war refugee, was still pushing against the far side of the tube. However, she took on a more confused expression when the demon disappeared; though terror rose with the aid of a speedy heart when little Sasami came into view.
"Washu?" Sasami approached to where she saw the short form of the scientist before the shadow had seemingly faded away, and stopped to look around. Her head snapped back to up in surprise to see her sister's mobile form as Ayeka banged as wildly as she could on the thick glass. "Ayeka?" Sasami ran to the tube and held her hands to the cool surface, condensation patterns fogging up a little around her warm fingers. "Ayeka! You're awake!" Ayeka violently shook her head, pointing down the far stretch of hall reaching back behind the little princess. Sasami looked back and saw nothing. Again, Ayeka shook her head, pounded and pointed. "What are you tellin' me, Ayeka?"
Sasami stilled as a whisper of air snaked by the nape of her neck, sending her stumbling forward down one hall before she turned, back to the console, can wildly pointed in front of her. Her mouth gaped in the attempt to make a modicum of sound, whether to warn or to cry out as Ayeka's steady pounding resonated above her. She shivered at another pass and launched herself forward in a mad dash to the exit of the area where the hall opened back up into a wide corridor where the ceiling was nowhere to be seen.
Where, you funny little word.
Where are you, Ryouko?
She whipped her can around, whimpers and peeps escaping her here and there. "Ryouko. . .?"
After an indeterminably long pause of blips and beeps, she responded from nowhere in particular. "I'm here. . ."
Sasami swallowed heavily, cautiously stepping back into the sector where Ayeka still moved. Sidling along the curve that followed the tube around to the left, she grimaced lightly as it folded into a dead end. She looked up to Ayeka, who was turning around to gaze back as she reversed, freezing when a tall pillar met her retreat. Hands came down upon Sasami's shoulders, the can dropping instantly from her hands as she desperately tried to keep her eyes closed.
"I'm right here."
"St-stay back, Ryouko. . . "
"You asked for me, didn't you?" She laughed slightly, rolling her hands along Sasami's trembling shoulders. "I didn't think Master liked them so young. . ."
"Wha-what do you mean, Ryouko?"
"What's your name?" Ryouko asked softly before her hands slipped to massaging along Sasami's neck. Sasami convulsed slightly and broke forward, escaping the grasp with a small scratch on her skin from the edges of Ryouko's nails. She placed her hand there to quell the miniscule burn as she stumbled back to the wrap of hallway that led around the right side of the tube. Ayeka watched, herself shaking as she slammed into the side of the glass. She winced but did it again, a heavy bruise showing even through the dark green liquid. The mask slipped from her face, large bubbles of oxygen beginning to flood the tank. Atoms of rogue hydrogen in the gelatin began fusing with the oxygen to dilute the substance with water, filling the tube past its capacity. She slammed into the side of the tube repeatedly as the sealer at the top began to crack.
Sasami scooted back but slipped as Ryouko slowly paced her way. "What's you're name, little one?"
"You know, Ryouko. . ."
"What is it?"
"Suh-Sasami."
"Sasami. . ." The name came out as a hiss, rolling off Ryouko's tongue to wrap around the princess' head and slip into her ears. Ryouko stopped to grin up to Ayeka, tracing a small line on the tube when Sasami's hands once pressed. A faint trail followed and sunk into the glass. "I bet Mitsuko would like to watch."
Crack!
There was a loud split above them as the tube began to tip through its hold. A spray of air and water exploded from the top like an insane fountain as it fell towards Ryouko in a slow but paralyzing-to-watch fall. Sasami screamed, quickly rolling back and away, another crack slicing through the pipe as the tube exploded, still in mid fall, under the vast and great pressure. The blast landed atop the frozen pirate in a wave of glass, metal and green. From the center of the tube, Ayeka fell from the burst of water and landed on the flood of liquid. The wave rushed down the two branches, washing over Sasami before swirling back to empty out into the rest of the lab. Many shards and slivers of glass stuck to her and her sister as the tsunami of fluid left its torrent from over the blue haired princess. Wet, Sasami looked up wearily, seeing only Ayeka stand from the mess of debris and diluted blood. "Ayeka. . ."
Ayeka looked and gimped over, her slender legs scratched and steadily bleeding. She held her purple, swollen and bruised arm as they looked back to Ryouko who lay motionless under the pile of emerald. Small globs of thin gelatin swirled there but aside from that, the crushing power of the break left the mound motionless. Ayeka, after leaning against a slick metal wall, slid down and looked to Sasami with tired and worn eyes.
"Ayeka?" The stately Juraian representative didn't respond and closed her eyes in a well-received act of slumber. "Aye-Ayeka . . .?" Sasami scrambled over and grabbed her wrist, feeling desperately for a pulse. Feeling a shimmer of a heartbeat, she grabbed Ayeka by the arms, dragging her away with all her might. Sasami got about ten meters away before a quiver shook her body, the sounds of stir of the mess of emerald where Ayeka once stood slinking back to meet her. She slowed her retreat, staring at the glass, seeing it begin to tink and clink as the jigsaw pieces rose off the floor. Sasami gasped as Ryouko's now uncovered body turned over, rising in the air slowly.
First upside down, in a small ball, before she blossomed into an arced stance. Her silhouette was slender and magnificent in a subtle show of power. Her arms were cast as her sides, toes pointed down. Even from her distance, Sasami could see the sick trails of blood, nearly gushing from wounds all over her body. A river of the vermilion flow spilled from somewhere above her forehead, dripping down her nose, along her cheeks and from her chin. It fell from pointed fingers and toes, adding morbidly to her beautiful shine. She twisted and contorted, finally turning slowly into a face-forward - meaning towards Sasami - floating stance. Sasami fell back, still gripping Ayeka's wrists.
The remainder of the glass rose and spun, helixing around Ryouko in a deadly slicing and dicing swirl. A dim orange glow came from her wrists' jewels, traipsing up and around her arms, resembling the glass whirling around her. Stray strands broke away and penetrated her like thin knives as the orange wisps mingled to spin around her neck and down her body. Soon, her entire figure radiated in spirals of orange. The spinning shards of glasses reflected the sickly light like orange stars twinkling in a black, black sky.
Sasami swallowed the transfixing sight and skittered back to her feet as she pulled Ayeka off, mouth still slightly agape. Ryouko's arms rose, parallel to the floor as the glow intensified. Her eyes slowly opened in blazes of white, mixing with the deep orange to make a creamy incandescence. Her deep cuts, bloody scrapes and lengthy gashes all pulled back, disappearing into her pale skin. The pirate's eyes dimmed and narrowed, leaving only the amber glow of her golden, feral eyes as she then vanished, the orange radiance gone more quickly than it had come.
-o-
There's a fine line betwixt heroics and stupidity. Washu, when Sasami dragged Ayeka to her like a kitten presenting a tiny mouse, deemed the stunt that dinged up the princess as a tough call. On one hand, it left her in bloody and banged up situation - not to mention the fact that it did harm to Washu's equipment. But despite the fact that Washu was on her way to the lab anyhow, the act did take some brass. Risking one's life for another keeps one in another's mind for a good while. Ayeka wasn't all bad; she, like all people, had her moments.
All gathered around the battered princess as Washu set her down, bandaged and recovering steadily, in the onsen waters. "Well. . . It's now gotten more dangerous, from what Sasami's told me. Ryouko's probably ready to haul ass like you wouldn't believe."
A few audible gulps circulated the bathhouse in a nervous conversation.
"We've got to be careful. The waters in the onsen are a natural healing agent. I'll close down the interdimensional link so she'll be as safe as can be. I'm pretty sure that in her current mind set, she wouldn't know about the onsen anyhow. But we don't have much time before Ryouko takes drastic measures in satisfying herself."
"Oh God. . . " Tenchi moaned.
"Yuh."
"What's drastic mean?" Kiyone tested, shifting in her place as the warm waters lapped up, dancing along the edge of her foot.
Mihoshi leaned over to whisper, "It means 'serious'-"
"I KNOW WHAT THE WORD MEANS!" Kiyone yelled angrily, tempted to throw her Tranzine at the blonde. Mihoshi recoiled and huffed, sighing. "I mean, pertaining to the situation."
"You sure you wanna know?"
Pausing, Kiyone shook her head. "Not anymore. . ."
Tenchi snapped his gaze away from Ayeka to drill his sight on Washu. "You're kidding me, right? Why is this happening?" he asked urgently.
"Would I kid, now!" Washu huffed. "I told you why this is happening! Don't tell me how bad the situation is!" She turned to Sasami, her urge to push Tenchi under the water for a few minutes already gone. It was hard to stay mad at that guy. "Can you still go through with this?" She nodded succinctly, accepted the new can that Washu produced for her.
"You've got to remember that it's not her fault."
"Kagato."
"We know, Washu," Kiyone said, "we're not going to persecute."
"You'd better not," Washu said with a hint of a growl. "She's my little girl; NOTHING is going to happen to her." Nearly storming in her sour tirade, Washu made her way out of the onsen. The others followed suit will a small exchange of glances before they were all once again in the hallway. As soon as the door's hatch clicked, Tenchi reopened it, seeing a long-forgotten bathroom present itself in weak, dull, white colors.
Gone. . .
"She's safe, Tenchi."