I do not own any of the Tenchi Muyo characters. I am in no way making any money by writing this story. I write for the fun of it.

Shogun Muyo: Chapter 16 – The Calm Before the Storm

The forest had never looked so good. All the green beauty of nature had a more enlightening feeling rather than the lifeless void Draka turned out to be. Ayeka hadn't said a word since they left the grounds of the castle. No one had said much of anything for a while, no one wished to relive the events on Draka so soon after leaving it. But Tenchi felt that he had to say something to Ayeka.

"Ayeka?"

The group stops walking as Tenchi breaks the uncomfortable silence that had seemed to stretch on for the longest time. Ayeka didn't turn to face him, she had just stopped walking when he requested her attention.

"Ayeka, I'm sorry about Mireya."

"It's. . . . . . .it's alright."

"It's all my fault. I should have seen that she may have taken it wrong and explained it sooner. . ."

Ayeka shakes her head. "No lord Tenchi, it is not your fault. If the blame is to fall on anyone it would be me. We can't change what has happened, no matter how hard we wish it. . . .we cannot change the past. We can only move forward with it by learning from it. I have learned that the hard way, I only wish I had learned that lesson sooner, then Mireya would be alive right now." She turns away from the others and walks over to a tree and places her left hand onto the base of it and stares off into thought.

"Lord Tenchi, there's something I should tell you. All of you, I suppose. It. . . .It's difficult for me to say . . . ."

"Maybe you should just tell Tenchi whatever it is alone. If it's that hard for you to say Ayeka." Ryoko suggested, still holding Tenchi onto her back.

"No, I should say this now. I need to say this, more for myself. .I. . .I need to accept what has happened." She turns back around to face everyone. "Tenchi. Everyone, I. . . . .That is on Draka, I. . . ." Her voice seemed to catch in her throat, she wanted to let it all out, but part of her still fought to deny it. "I. . . .I was. . . . . ." Tears trail down her face anew during her struggle to let it out. ". . . . . . .Raped." Ayeka looses the strength in her legs as she falls to her knees on the ground and begins to cry. "I was. .raped. .several times. . . . .I. . .I just wanted to die. I remember. . .praying to Tsunami to let me die,. . . .but I didn't. I. .I even tried to kill myself. . . .by drowning myself in the toilet. . .of the cell." She cried the whole time, she gave pause to cry a little more.

"Oh. . .Ayeka. . ." Mihoshi spoke softly.

Regaining her composure from crying, she continued. "For the first few days. . .I kept telling myself that you all would come for me. I wasn't afraid at all, I just kept thinking 'Any moment Tenchi and the others would barge in here and free me. . . . . .but you never came." She hangs her head down. "I had all but given up hope, if it hadn't been for Mireya. . . . .I would have taken my life." Being there, in that moment listening to Ayeka pour her heart out to them was enough to depress anyone. Even Ryoko felt blame for Ayeka's misfortune on Draka.

If I hadn't started that fight. . . .none of this would have happened. I even teased her in the onsen when she first came back about her and Mireya. She closed her eyes and looked away from Ayeka, ashamed of her actions. Mihoshi walks over and crouches down next to her, her eyes tearing up.

"Ayeka, I feel so sad for what happened to you. I just. . .Aaahhhh." She lays her face into Ayeka's shoulder and begins crying on her. Ayeka pats Mihoshi on the head to comfort the blondes cries.

"Thank you Mihoshi, I appreciate the thought."

Ryoko felt she had to say something to lighten the moment. "Hey Princess, that doesn't matter now, your back here on earth. So cheer up, I'm sure Sasami is anxious to see you again, so let's get going." Ayeka almost wanted to glare at Ryoko, her words sounded cold to her feelings, but she knew that Ryoko had good intentions to cheer her up. "Your right." She agreed, rising to her feet and wiping any dirt that may have gotten on her kimono off. "I would be most happy to see Sasami again."

"Then let's go Ayeka." Tenchi agreed from Ryoko's back.

They continue their track through the forest until they reach the woods. They have finally returned to their home, none surprisingly Washu was standing out on the back porch of the house awaiting their return. She smiled and waved at them.

"Hey, Welcome back!" She quickly brings her hands onto her face with mock panic on her face. "Oh no." She runs over and rubs her head against Tenchi, while Ryoko is still carrying him. "Oooh, did my little guinea pig get hurt. Don't worry, mommy will make it all better." She finishes with a slight sadistic sounding laugh.

"Ehehehe." He pretends to laugh at her joke, while wondering if he should have welcomed Mireya's final blow.

It was at this point, Mihoshi noticed a young lady slowly coming out of the house, almost afraid or timid of everyone else. The young woman had bluish hair like Sasami's, but seemed to be a few years older than her.

"Oh my, it looks like we have company." Mihoshi guessed.

Everyone looked at the new girl, Washu turned confused to what Mihoshi was talking about.

"Hmm? Oh. No Mihoshi, that's not a guest, that's Sasami." Washu corrected the detective.

"What!" Everyone asked in near harmony.

Sasami cupped her hands behind her back and gently kicked at some dirt on the porch. "Yeah."

"Sasami? What happened?" Ayeka asked her little sister, who didn't seem so little anymore.

"Tsunami and I are. . ." She trailed off, figuring she didn't really need to finish the sentence.

"Oh, I didn't expect something like this. . ." Ayeka trailed off in thought.

Tenchi coughs from Ryoko's back in order to get everyone to remember that he needed to get medical attention.

"Oh sorry Tenchi." Ryoko apologizes to him.

"Well take the poor boy to the lab, I'll get to work on him as soon as possible." Washu directs Ryoko.

As Ryoko and Mihoshi walk off to help get Tenchi to Washu's lab, Washu walks over to Ayeka. The two look at each other for a moment in silence. The faces of both girls is hard to read emotion wise.

"What you did took great courage Ayeka."

"Huh?"

"Telling everyone about what happened to you, that took more courage than most people have."

Ayeka still looked confused. How did she know about that? Washu pointed to her head. "I have a link with Ryoko, everything she knows, I know."

"Oh. Thank you."

"You took a giant leap to recovering from your ordeal. I assume you know, that this incident will always be in your memory, you'll never be able to forget about it. But with my help, we can get you to where you can live with it."

A smile comes onto Ayeka's face. "Perhaps we can help each other."

Washu smiles at Ayeka's comment. "Perhaps." She steps to the side and gestures with her hand to let Ayeka enter the house first.

Everyone was hanging around in Washu's lab as she was examining Tenchi's back. Ayeka stood in front of a tank, silently watching the aquatic life inside swim around. Ryoko sat on the edge of a platform that Washu usually worked on that overlooked a garden. Washu's examination of Tenchi would probably have gone faster if she didn't have to turn around and tell Mihoshi not to touch something every few seconds.

"Good news my little guinea pig. . .Hey I told you not to touch that!" Washu yelled at Mihoshi, who was poking around one of Washu's machines.

"Oh. .I'm sorry, I'll just sit over here." Mihoshi replied. As Mihoshi walks over to bother Ryoko, Washu turns around and covers her face with her right hand.

"I swear she'll be the death of me." She mumbles to herself.

She sees Tenchi out of the corner of her eye and remembers she was telling him something.

"Oh, sorry Tenchi, as I was saying. As far as I can tell you were lucky, you don't have any broken bones, but you won't be doing any strenuous work for a while."

"Boy that's great news little Washu. Thank you."

"I'm just glad this is over now, I feel bad about the loss of Mireya, she seemed like a nice girl. But there is something that is on my mind, I can't help but wonder what happened to Daimyo. Ryoko said she searched that castle from top to bottom and didn't see him. I wonder what became of him?" Washu spoke.

"I wish I knew little Washu. It's not like him to just disappear and leave us. But we felt it would be best for us to leave as soon as possible. Who knows he may show up sooner or later." He replied to her.

Washu's holotop computer appears in front of her, red and yellow lights flash onto the screen. She was surprised it had appeared, she didn't call it, it was programmed to alert her to any information that may require her immediate attention. She glances over the screen, Tenchi could tell from her facial reactions that it was something confusing.

"That's strange, I'm picking up a strange energy reaction taking place here in the lab."

"Very perceptive Washu." A strange voice addressed her.

A large red gem appeared in the middle of the room, a transparent image of an elderly mans head appears. The head is large, taking up the majority of the space between everyone.

"Ah, what is that!" Tenchi asked in shock.

"I am D3, I am a servant of my lady Tokimi. As the sisters had agreed, the time of reckoning is at hand. Your Hawk, shall now challenge our Dragon, the victor shall determine the choice of the direction the universe will soon head. The door here. ." The giant head motions to it's left, a door appears near Ryoko. "Will allow access to the Hawk of Legend and Tsunami alone. Anyone else who tries to enter will be killed by the transfer. You have eight hours to comply with the agreed time or your champion forfeits the battle." The head fades away as soon as quickly as it appeared, the gem follows soon after. Everyone stands around looking confused as to what had just occurred.

"Tokimi? That was the name that Clay spoke of when he tried to kidnap me." Washu spoke to herself.

"Somebody tell me what that was?" Ryoko demanded.

"I believe I can explain." Everyone's attention turns toward the garden, as lights appear and converge onto each other. The lights brighten and the goddess Tsunami appears as the lights quickly fade away.

"Tsunami?" Ayeka spoke, surprised to see her.

"Yes, he was correct, it is time, I had hoped it wouldn't come to pass this quickly." Tsunami spoke, more to herself than anyone else.

"Time for what!" Ryoko inquired, becoming annoyed that every answer only gave another question.

"A long time ago, my sister Tokimi developed a different opinion on how the universe should be run."

"What! You have a sister?" Ayeka asked, confused at this new information. "Actually Ayeka, I have two sisters, but that doesn't matter at the moment. Since we had a difference in opinion, we decided that the only solution to our problem would be to have a battle of champions. The champion who wins, allows the goddess to run the universe for the next thousand years, without objection from the other sister."

"Hey wait a minute. That head said the Hawk of Legend had to fight their fighter. But Tenchi can't fight, he's to badly injured!" Ryoko expressed her concern for Tenchi.

"Don't worry, I can fight." Tenchi assured them. Tenchi stands up from the bed he was on, but falls to the ground in pain from his back. "Um. . .I just need a little more time to rest though."

Tsunami smiles at Tenchi. "But Tenchi, you are not the hawk we speak of." All the jaws in the room, except for Tsunami's drops open from shock.

"What? But if Tenchi is not the Hawk, who is?" Ayeka asked. Tsunami smiles with a tranquil look about her face.

"The hawk I speak of is you. . . .Ryoko." She turns her head to Ryoko as she says her name. Everyone in the room who wasn't a goddess face-vaults onto the floor of the lab. Ryoko quickly recovers.

"What?" Ryoko immediately spits out. "But, but I can't be your hawk. Tenchi's the one with the light hawk wings."

"Yes, it is true, Tenchi possesses the power of the light hawk wings. However it was not because I chose him as my champion. When Tenchi and the others raced to rescue you from Kagato, I foresaw that he would have killed Tenchi, resulting in your death at his hands while trying to avenge his death. So I repaired his body so that he may live, and in doing so he tapped into my space trees power, allowing him to generate the wings."

"But. . . . .I can't be your champion. I'm not even one of your children. I was created by Washu."

"That is correct, Ryoko I did not create you. . . . .but my other sister did." She turned her head to Washu.

Washu stands like a statue frozen in place, while everyone else's eyes pop out wide as they look at Washu. "S. . .Si. . . .Sister?" Washu stuttered out, taking a couple of steps back and leans on a machine to support her during this overwhelming shock.

"Yes." Tsunami confirms. "But, if I'm your sister. . . .wouldn't that make me a. . . .a. . . ." Washu's voice seemed to trail off before she could finish the sentence.

"A goddess." Tsunami finished her sentence for her.

"A goddess. . .?" Washu repeated to let the information sink into her mind. Washu clasps her hands together and her eyes become sparkly. "That means I'm now the Greatest Scientific Genius Super Goddess Washu!" She begins laughing proudly at her new status.

Large sweatdrops develop onto everyone except Washu. Ayeka and Ryoko glare at Tsunami. "You just had to tell her that didn't you?" Ayeka asked in an unhappy tone. Ryoko merely growled at her. Tsunami hangs her head down. "I'm sorry."

Washu pauses in her laughter. "Hey, wait a minute. If I'm a goddess how come I don't remember being one?"

"Well. . . .technically your no longer a goddess right now Washu. When you were a goddess, you desired to have more. You wished to feel like mortals do, you yearned to experience love and bearing a child like they do. So you crossed over from our dimension, but to do so you had to lock away your power and memories and start anew. So your powers and memories formed into. . ."

"Ryoko's gems!" Washu deducted before Tsunami finished her sentence.

"Yes." Tsunami confirmed. "When you are killed or when you choose too, you can cross back."

"Hmm. . .I think I understand now what Tokimi wanted Clay to kidnap me for. She wanted to meet with me to talk me into not having Ryoko fight. Am I right?" Washu asks the goddess.

Tsunami nods her head.

"So I guess I should go through this door. Right?" Ryoko asks standing next to the door that appeared during D3's announcement.

"Why don't you hold off for a second while I take a couple of scans." Washu replies.

As Washu types on her keyboard, Ryoko becomes curious at what she's doing? "Scan for what?"

"Well I can scan for positron emissions, plasma frequencies, and inter- dimensional power readings, just to name a few." She replies continuing to type commands into her computer. She looks up from the screen at her daughter when she doesn't hear any response from her. Instead she sees Ryoko's right eyebrow curved up and a completely lost look about her. Washu exhales from not having anyone else with nearly as much intellect as her around to understand what she says sometimes. "What I'm trying to say is that I can scan the doorway in order to see where it could lead, how many beings are there, and how powerful they could be."

"Oh, well why didn't you just say that in the first place."

Washu exhales again. "I did."

"I can find that all out just by walking through it. I can take on anyone on the other side of this door, no problem."

"I wouldn't do that." Washu replies, reading the information displayed from her scans. "According to my data there is a very large power reading on the other end. And. . as much as I would hate to say it. . .it looks like it could overpower you Ryoko."

"Baloney. Give me ten minutes and it'll all be said and done." Ryoko grasps the door.

"Ryoko you'll be killed!" Washu yelled, turning from her computer. "Comparing this energy reading to yours, your no match for it, even if you had all three gems again."

Ryoko was beginning to get frustrated as she grit her teeth in anger. "Then what am I supposed to do? I can't get stronger. I got to a point in that dimension you created for me to train in doesn't affect me anymore besides we only have eight hours right?"

The room fell silent as the attention of everyone in the room was focused on the small red haired genius. She cups her chin as she goes into deep thought for a solution to the current problem. Her eyes shift to the side as she looks at Ayeka from the corner of her eyes. "Hmm." She hummed in thought of an idea. She extends her hands over her keyboard and begins entering a calculation.

"Hmm?" Ryoko leans over her mothers shoulder and looks down at the screen to see what Washu was trying. As the results of her calculation are displayed on her screen she cups and rubs her chin. "Hmm, that could work." She seemed to speak to herself.

"What, what is it?" Ryoko inquired.

"Well for starters you should consider yourself lucky your mom is considered a mad scientist little Ryoko. Because any normal, boring scientist wouldn't have considered this."

"Ooouuhh, what IS IT?" She raised her voice higher in frustration that she was getting the run around from Washu with a straight answer.

"Allright everyone listen up. I may have something that could help even the odds, but it all depends on the cooperation of both Ryoko and Ayeka."

Ayeka looked surprised that Washu was including her in a plan. "W. .What is it?" She asks.

"I have an invention that I created a while ago that may prove useful." Washu begins to explain.

"What does this invention do?" Ryoko asked. "Well in short it would amalgam you and Ayeka together."

"Ama. .what?" Ayeka caresses her chin. "Amalgam. . . .I've heard that used before, what does it mean?" She asked Washu.

Washu felt herself redden up from frustration of having to re-explain herself over and over today. "For crying out loud, it means a fusion, a combination, a joining of two beings creating one new one!" Washu vented her frustration in her answer, nearly showing fangs through her explanation. "Need I continue!"

Everyone froze into place; quickly and clearly shaking their heads no in order to show her they understood.

"Finally."

"But if this machine does what you say it can, won't that mean that Ryoko and I would be stuck together forever?" Ayeka asked.

"Not at all, the process is reversible, so it's as temporary as you want it to be." Washu smiles at her genius during her response. "Now I've calculated that the combined powers of Ayeka and Ryoko would place them nearly equal with their opponent, so we'll be in good shape if the process goes the way it should."

"What happens if it doesn't?" Her cyan haired daughter asked.

Washu smiles and scratches the back of her head. "Well it's highly unlikely anything will go wrong, but there is a very, very, very slim chance you'll end up. . . . Cough geneticmushonthefloorCough " Washu speedily replied during the last part of her response, covering up the possible disaster with a couple of coughs.

"WHAT!" Both girls respond in unison.

"Oh forget that. There's no way I'm going to do that." Ryoko responds.

"Please Ryoko." Tsunami pleads. "If you do not try, Tokimi will win and run the universe the way she sees fit. She will force her will upon all living creatures in the universe, whereas Washu and I believed to remain out of the way to allow everything to develop on their own."

"I could care less about the whole universe." She replies turning her back to Tsunami and facing Tenchi. "But. . . .for Tenchi. . . . . . . .anything."

Tsunami exhales with relief. "Thank you Ryoko. And what about you Ayeka, will you help us?"

Ayeka lowers her head away from Tsunami's face. "You would ask me to help you, even after I cursed your name on Jurai?"

"Ayeka, I know that you did not mean what you said. You were too blinded by the hate that had consumed you to see what you were doing. I know that you are going through hard times now Ayeka. If I had it my way I wouldn't ask anything of you. . . .but I don't. I ask you again Ayeka, will you help us?"

"If you had asked me this question a couple of months ago. . .I would have said yes without hesitation. But after everything that has been happening, I have lowered myself down to something I never thought I could be. I would like so much to become that person that I once was again." She glances over to the bed ridden Tenchi. "To begin to become that person again, I say yes."

"All right then, let's get going shall we!" Washu gleamed. She types commands into her computer and a doorway appears. "It's through here." She informed first to walk through the door.

The new section of lab the others haven't seen before was darker than the other portions of Washu's lab. The lighting was dim enough to where you could make out the outlining of the machine, but looking past it was darkness. The invention Washu spoke of consisted of three cylinder shaped containers that had all sorts of wires and tubes connecting all three together.
Washu summons a chair out of the floor to allow the injured Tenchi to sit on.

"Ok watch your step. Especially you bubble head." Washu addressed Mihoshi.

"Oh wow. What is this?" Mihoshi asked, her mind seemed to trail off in wonder.

"This is a little something I tinkered with a while back. But don't worry, it's still in perfect working order."

Ryoko walks over and looks closely at one of the containers. "So how does this thing work?"

"It's simple really. You go into that one over there and Miss Ayeka enters this one. After the process is complete, one new person comes walking out of the center one."

"Um. . . .are you sure this is safe?" Ayeka asked, running her finger over one of the containers and brushes the dust off of her finger.

"Of course." She answers turning her back to the girls. "Theoretically." She whispers under her breathe. "Alright let's fire her up." Washu declares, typing commands into the computer.

Lights on the machine come on and highlight the form of the machine into better view. Electricity arches between a couple of lightning rods in the room, giving the experiment a Frankenstein movie feel to it. The two outer containers slide open doors to allow the test subjects entry, as they crack open steam from the coolant tubes on Washu's creation flow softly along the floor like an eerie fog in an old horror movie.

"Oop, I nearly forgot." Washu spoke to herself as she remembered something she wanted to do. "Ok, both of you take either tube and I'll get ready."

The small genius walks over to the wall and a small portion of it slides open, revealing a small room hidden inside. After stepping through the doorway, the door closes behind her. Ayeka and Ryoko decide it is best to do what the genius asks and hesitantly each enters their own container. Both girls take a long look at the others before the doors slide shut again.
After the doors slide shut, the door where Washu entered opens up and she comes walking out. She is wearing a white science lab coat, wearing large latex gloves and has large safety goggles nestled in the maim of her hair. "I'm ready now." She notifies the others, with a large grin on her face. She walks over to a wall where a large switch is located. She pulls the goggles down over her eyes and grasps the switch, which was currently pointed toward the ceiling, and turns to the others. "Let's get started shall we?" She spoke throwing the switch down.
At the drop of the switch the room becomes brightly lite by the large bolts of electricity coursing between the coils that are set up around the room. The large machine hums to life as the experiment begins.
Tenchi was feeling like he was in an old American Frankenstein film complete with the mad scientist laughing manically, as Washu was letting out a howl of laughter that was a little scary to the others. The crackle of the electricity running rampant was very loud, but they were still able to hear the petite scientists fun that she was experiencing.
After a couple of minutes, Washu cuts the power off by resetting the switch. The electricity dies out and the room becomes silent and dark once again. Tenchi felt a little curious about the method of the experiment, so he decided to ask Washu about it. "Excuse me? Little Washu?" She pulls the goggles off. "What is it Tenchi?" "I was just curious. What was all the electricity bolting around used for?" "Oh, that was just for the added affect Tenchi." "Affect of what?" "Entertainment of course." She grinned. "Huh? You mean all of that was just for show!" She nods her head. "Um hmm. You see Tenchi, we scientists have to keep ourselves entertained, otherwise we could loose interest in the field of science." Tenchi squinted his eyes closed. "Yeah, somehow I was expecting that type of an answer." "Well let's see how it turned out." She presses several keys on her computer and the door to the middle container opens, spraying out lots of steam, blocking their view of anything or anyone inside.

The group holds their breathe as a hand grasps the side of the door and a female foot slowly steps forth from the container. A strange looking young woman emerges from the container. She had cyan colored hair, much like Ryoko's, but a couple strips of purple ran down the length of her hair. Her hair style didn't look like either Ryoko's or Ayeka's, her hair was styled like a normal woman's hair that reached down to her shoulders. Most noticeably different about her was that one eye was golden yellow, the other was red.

"Hey glad to see your all right Ry. . uh. .Ayek. . .umm. . ." Tenchi trailed off when he realized that she wasn't either Ryoko or Ayeka.

"It's my new baby, so I get to name her. I'll call her little Ryoka." Washu cried with mock glee.

The newly named Ryoka looks herself over. Her outfit was similar to Ryoko's normal battle suit, but the parts that usually were red were now white. As she looked at her features, Washu walked around Ryoka looking at every angle to see if she had developed to top physical form.

"Hmm. . .I'd say they both formed together nicely."

Ryoka looks about the room, her eyes stop wondering around the room when her vision falls onto Tenchi. Having memories of both Ayeka and Ryoko, she knew who he was and how she felt about him. She vanishes from beside Washu and reappears next to Tenchi.

"Hi Tenchi." She says embracing him in her arms. "Oh." She says, releasing him quickly and covers her face with her hands as her cheeks turn red with embarrassment. "Oh my." She begins to giggle innocently as she sways herself left to right.

Tenchi looks confused as to what was wrong. "Well it looks like their emotions blended together as well. She shows Ryoko's daring and Ayeka's mannerly upbringing." Washu explained. "Hey crazy girl!" She shouted to get Ryoka's attention. "Don't forget that we have some work for you to do."

Getting her thoughts onto track, Ryoka nods her head in acknowledgement to Washu. Ryoka walks over to Tenchi. She places her hands on both of his shoulders and looks at him longingly.

"Tenchi. I. .. .I know that I haven't really existed for more than a few minutes. . . .but I want you to know that I remember everything as both Ryoko and Ayeka. I think they would feel the way I feel right now, so I will tell you that I . . .we love you with all of our being. I wanted you to know that in case I. . . .don't. . ."

Tenchi placed his hand onto her shoulder. "You don't have to say that. I know how both Ryoko and Ayeka feel about me. The truth is I feel the same way for both of them, for everyone here. So don't talk like your not coming back, knowing Ryoko and Ayeka, you'll be too determined to not get killed."

She embraces Tenchi in a hug and tries to burn this moment into her mind. For her to remember this feeling of want and need from Tenchi was everything that she could ever want in the universe.

Washu clears her throat to get their attention. Ryoka looks at Washu, knowing what it was she was wanting.

"I'll come back Tenchi. Even if I have to slay Death itself, I will come back to you." She reassured him, grasping his hands and squeezing them.

Tenchi smiles warmly at her. "Good luck Ryoka."

"Alright then. Let's go back to the door." Washu suggested.

Ryoka had been at the door longer than she had expected to be. Everyone was saying their good luck, but deep down inside she knew they were also saying their goodbyes, just in case. Because she knew this, she didn't try to rush them in hurrying their talking and hugging her. She cared deeply for their affection to her, or at least to the two people that she embodied. She enjoyed embracing the slightly older Sasami. The Ayeka side of her wanted to just hold onto her sister forever and never let go of her. The Ryoko side of her felt the same way about the youngest princess. She and Ryoko felt like sisters as well, Sasami was one of the only girls that didn't tease her or make her feel weird or unwanted. But she knew that she had to go now, so she cherished taking in the last few seconds with Sasami before breaking the hug.

"I should be going now."

"Please be careful." Sasami asked with pleading eyes.

"I will."

As the two lower their arms from each other, Tsunami appears next to the doorway. Ryoka turns around to her and looks the goddess in the face.

"Are you prepared?"

"Tell me, what are our odds of winning this fight?" Ryoka asks.

"I am afraid neither me nor my sister Tokimi can foresee a clear decisive victor in this fight, only the outcome of either winner."

"So I take it is bad looking if we lose."

"I foresee several worlds and races of beings extinguished by Tokimi's reign. Most of them vital to the universes development under my care."

"All right, so I just go through the door beat their fighter and all is well. No problem."

Tsunami smiles at how Ryoka has made something that will be challenging sound so easy. "I'm afraid your challenger may be more of a challenge than what you make the fight out to be. You must be careful."

"Will do. Wish me luck everyone." Ryoka spoke turning to everyone.

Everyone in the room each said their best wishes to her in their own turn. Taking a long look at everyone awaiting her return to the lab, she burned their faces into her memory and opens the door. Ryoka and Tsunami walk through the door and shut it behind them. The door vanishes from the lab and the others begin to wait for their safe return.

I hope you have enjoyed my story thus far. The thrilling conclusion is soon to come. Also please e-mail me to tell me what you think of the story, so that I can improve the story if need be.