First of all, I want to clarify that this is a fanfic adaptation work mixing with the pulp comics series "Captain Future", from1940 Edmond Hamilton and the Japanese anime version from 1979. The main characters have been replaced by their equivalent from oh my goddess and the two universes have been mixed even if the shading remains about 85% of that of the original novels by Hamilton. This is a work of adaptation, modernization (at 1940, it starts to date a little) and a merge with the ah my goddess universe. Some chapters have been adapted and their fate and the role of some characters have been changed. I think I did a pretty good job overall and hope you will enjoy reading it. Besides Edmond Hamilton, I particularly thank Kosuke Fujishima for his work "ah my goddess." For this fanfic I want to explain that nothing would have been possible without the beta reading of "Nena Camadera", I therefore thank them with all my heart. I also thank all those who worked on the series "Captain Flam", which is the French adaptation of the anime series "Captain Future" inspired by the work of Hamilton.
04) The final battle.
The Space Emperor had so far managed to get the upper hand in his struggle against Captain Keiichi.
He's gathered the soldiers of the planet Deneph on its giant meteor and with Keiichi a prisoner in an arena in the ancient city of the planet, the Space Emperor prepared to launch a general offensive against all Humans living on Deneph and beyond.
While Skuld and Megumi, remained aboard his spaceship, the "Space Goddess," Keiichi, Belldandy and Urd manage to escape from their prison, but can they intervene in time to prevent the Space Emperor from implementing his projects?
While the satellite approached its target, the Space Emperor entered communication on planetary waves.
"Governor Eiri. I know you hear me. You have 8 hours and 15 minutes before the attack. I advise you to surrender immediately."
"Where is he?" The governor Eiri asked.
"On Satellite 9, near the planet Deneph." Replied the colonel.
"Legend says that this meteor was thrown off the planet by a violent explosion a long time ago, and was then converted into a satellite for this planet." Eiri explained.
The legends were true. This mysterious meteor originated from the planet Deneph. Over time, it was converted into a satellite by the planet it was orbiting. But its people secretly arranged the interior into a true basis of space and it is from this basis that the fantastic armada set up by the Space Emperor emerged for future conquests.
Aboard the "Space Goddess" Captain Keiichi began discussing military tactics with Colonel Chihiro.
"We have no hope of resisting a massive attack. We only have a few spaceships which will be quickly overwhelmed by their numbers." Explained the Colonel.
"It's really not worth it. Listen Sir, have you ever fought against a swarm of bees?" Asked the Captain.
"What do you mean? Why are you asking me that?"
"You can crush ten, twenty, or even a hundred. It does not stop other bees. On the other hand, if you manage to crush the queen, the attack stops immediately."
"In other words, we have to directly take out the Space Emperor. Do you have any idea of how you are going to act?" Asked the colonel.
At that time, the Colonel's communicator rang and the voice of Governor Eiri was heard.
"Colonel Chihiro, come right away, come right away!" Said the distraught voice.
"The governor has urgently requested my presence. This meeting must come to an end." Chihiro told the others. To Governor Eiri she said, "I shall be with you as soon as possible."
Moments later, Chihiro joined the originator of the call and found the Governor Eiri above the body of an ape-woman.
"How did an Ape-man get up here?" Chihiro asked.
"According to her clothes, I'm guessing it's miss Halburn." Eiri replied sadly.
"Halburn?"
"She didn't appear at work today, so I went to her neighborhood to see if she was okay. I discovered that she'd been transformed into an ape-woman, however, fortunately I had my anesthetic gun."
Soon after, Chihiro was again in contact with Captain Keiichi and explained the situation to him.
"Poor Halburn was the next victim of this terrible disease that strikes Humans here. This means that of our four initial suspects, only Governor Eiri is left, but she was in the presence of several people when you saw the Space Emperor."
"So Eiri is not the Space Emperor either." concludes Belldandy.
"She could not fight both against us and be in the base at the same time."
"Say, you don't think the Emperor is Shiho Sakakibara, do you?" Suggested Sen.
"Who is Sakakibara? Ah yes, the scientist who disappeared while she was studying the ancient civilization of Deneph." Urd said.
"Sen's opinion is not necessarily false, since the Space Emperor also knows the secrets of the ancient civilization of Deneph." Megumi said.
"Indeed. We'll go back to the ancient city." decided the Captain Keiichi.
Shortly after, the "Space Goddess" returned to the Colosseum. In the center was a globe representing the Deneph planet.
"Look, there's a mark on this world, which according to my sensor has been traced recently. Probably by a human hand. I guess this is the work of Shiho Sakakibara," Concludes Megumi.
"What is this place?" Belldandy asked.
"This is the entrance to the old Mount Deneph, located in the Sea of Fire. Sakakibara obviously knows about this place, and coincidentally, the Space Emperor appeared right after this terrible "disease" was discovered." Keiichi said.
"So you think it is Sakakibara?"
"Right now I don't know Bell, but the only way to find out is to follow the same path as her.
Immediately the "Space Goddess" took her crew to the indicated place.
Deneph's Sea of Fire! The most dangerous and breathtaking scenery on the planet!
It stretched before them once again, a vast ocean of crimson and boiling lava that stretched to the distant horizons and beyond for 2400 km.
The surface of this ocean was comprised of orange magma and red-hot flames. Small, heavy waves covered its surface, with bubbling maelstroms swirling in its midst. Above, there were dancing flames that looked like leprechauns, and swirls of smoke. The irradiated heat would have been unbearable without the protective shell of the vessel.
"Do not travel too far from land, Skuld, a well-placed lava jet could destabilize the vessel. Hug the shoreline." Said Keiichi
"Okay Captain." echoed Skuld.
She swerved the ship east before expressing her feelings: "I do not like this place."
"Me neither, I'd rather be on the ice floes of Raka instead of here," admitted Keiichi, contrite.
"I do not see anything along the shore." remarked Urd.
"Indeed. However there must be something here from the map."
Below them lay the south shore of the Sea of Fire. The molten waves of the ocean of flames licked the huge range of hills with black rocks, serving as dikes that repelled the waves.
The rocky cliffs of the hills was heavily encrusted with solidified lava, showing the footprints of the tides where the waves reached the lava. But on this incredible shore there was little else to see and what's more, it seemed impossible that a single living creature could have one day set foot there.
Captain Keiichi looked at this with great attention, while the ship roared eastward along the shore. He was convinced that there would be some ruins or other remains to mark the spot that had once been used by the ancients.
The doubt grew in Keiichi as the kilometers stretched on below him, unnoticed. There must be something, he thought, as he had the evidence from the ancient world map with the 'Place of the Dead" to guide him.
An hour passed, during which they had flown uniformly throughout the east coast of the ocean.
They watched with great attention. Yet there was nothing else to see but the lava encrusted in the rocky cliff and the ocean's fiery-red molten lava that stretched away on their right.
Suddenly, Skuld slowed the ship. She had noticed something in front of a strange opening in the rocky shore on the banks of the sea of lava.
They approached, gravitating to the above point.
"This must be the place that we seek!" Said the robot girl.
"But I see nothing but a big round hole in the cliff where the lava flows," Urd said, intrigued.
Below them, there was a large opening in the circular and jagged rocky hill sloping, right where the ocean of fire fell on it.
A stream of molten lava flowed incessantly between the lips of the mouth, with a heavy resonance, like thunder.
"There is a kind of large cavernous space down there in the rock," said Skuld, her robotic eyes were much more effective than Keiichi's human vision, or even Urd's modified vision.
"And the opening that leads down is too round to be natural. It is as if it was artificially created or extended in the past."
"Bravo Skuld. The ancient place we seek is certainly down in this hole." Congratulated Keiichi before adding, "It's a possibility, anyway, and it corresponds roughly with the card. We have not seen any other place that might be what we seek. We'll go in."
"But how do we get down there?" Skuld sounded intrigued. "There appears to be no other opening than that by which the lava falls, Captain. Even with the Beemerlem, it seems very dangerous."
Keiichi grimaced at his sister. "When there's only one entrance, we can't afford to be picky, Skuld. This is our only way to enter. There was barely enough room for the shuttle to do so without being caught by the fire cascade".
Skuld stared at her brother in exasperation and bemusement.
Keiichi was calm, yet he knew the perilous nature of the descent they were about to attempt.
Shortly after, the Captain left his Spaceship aboard the "Beemerlem" and entered the cave beneath the lava flow of the Sea of Fire. Skuld accompanied him.
"Skuld, show us your driving skills by entering this corridor."
"Passing through the lava flow?" Asked Skuld.
"Of course. If Shiho Sakakibara could enter before us, you should succeed too."
He would have taken control himself, but he knew that Skuld, with all her internal sensors, processing speed and robotic calm was a much better pilot than him. He had complete faith in the abilities of his sister and had already entrusted his life to her many times.
Skuld moved the controls slightly, photoelectric robotic eyes staring straight down. The small shuttle reacted, pricked gently to the dark jagged opening, in which the fire waterfall flowed into indefinable depths. The frail craft plunged even its keel, supported by its keel-tubes. The lava cataract was only a meter on their side and its tumult was deafening. Raging drafts screamed at the shuttle in its descent. His stern squeaked ominously against the side of the cliff, threatening to send the spacecraft tumbling into the lava.
But Skuld expertly navigated the ship, keeping its descent directly down. A moment later, they came down through the opening in a vast dark underground space strangely illuminated by the red glow of a lava waterfall.
"Keep moving to this cave if you please, Skuld," asked Keiichi.
They arrived in a cave with a width of about three kilometers and an indeterminate length. There, they rested.
"These galleries would have certainly allowed the Emperor to appear and disappear at the hospital at will. Skuld? What is it?"
Indeed, Skuld tilted her robotic head, the soft metal of her face reflecting concern. "I hear moaning over there," she replied.
Keiichi and Skuld followed the direction of the noise and came in a corridor with several armored doors. Skuld stopped at one of them.
"There's a woman behind that door." She said to Captain Keiichi.
"Open it."
Skuld then tried to force the door with her finger laser, without success. "It does not work. This door is made of a metal absolutely unassailable." she said after a while. Searching the sides of the room, they found a button to operate the shutter. It had been covered in dust and had initially escaped their notice.
The door then opened, allowing Keiichi and Skuld to enter the vault. In the center was a body lying on the ground.
That's an Human!" Skuld exclaimed, waving her metal arm.
Keiichi had seen the woman at the same time. She was not more than twenty meters away.
A puny figure in a brown suit threadbare zipper, the individual lay back, her face against the rocky floor of the cavern. Next to her, there was a table on which a lamp was off, and many papers covered with triangular and elongated writing.
"She is either unconscious or asleep, Captain," said the robot girl.
It was pretty easy to guess which. The woman was snoring like a truck. It was that…natural…sound that Skuld had initially heard.
Keiichi leaned over the woman, or rather the girl, and in doing so he smelled a recognizable sour scent. "She was drugged." The Captain turned the girl onto her back. "Snore's" face (because she seemed to snore more than she slept) was illuminated in the red glow of the fire river.
That's when Keiichi and Skuld saw the monogram on the synthetic silk jacket of "Snore". The letters were 'S. S.' "No doubt the famous Shiho Sakakibara. She was drugged. Give her an antidote, quickly." Keiichi said.
Meanwhile, the Space Emperor, which was monitoring the "Space Goddess" from his base, had noticed that it had approached the place where the galleries were. He then ordered his men to continue the preparations for the general attack, and took a small vessel to personally go to the scene.
In her resilient metal body, Skuld had a compartment where she kept some emergency medicines for various situations. Now she opened it, removing a small cylinder of anti-narcotic.
Keiichi was struggling to contain his excitement as he placed the woman in a sitting position. He suspected for some time that Shiho Sakakibara was probably the key to everything in this interstellar conspiracy. And now finally, he had found the young archaeologist.
"She was drugged more than once. Look at all the needle scars on her wrists." Skuld remarked as she made an injection in Shiho's arm.
As the tiny drop of anti-narcotic overkill dispersed into the bloodstream of the young archaeologist, she began to shake. A moment later she opened her dark eyes and dazed. She seemed exhausted.
"Kill... Kill me, please," were her first words, hoarseness, and blurred vision. Then the vision of Shiho Sakakibara cleared and as she saw Captain Keiichi and the large female robot staring down at her, she gave a shocked cry. "But who are you?"
"I am the Captain Keiichi, and you must be Shiho Sakakibara."
"Y... Yes." The young archaeologist knew the name, like most humans in the galaxy. As the words penetrated her foggy mind, a feverish relief came over her face. "Thank God, you came!" She wept. "These last few weeks have been hell for me here. The Space Emperor..."
"Who is the Space Emperor?" Keiichi strongly asked impatiently.
But again he was disappointed.
"I do not know!" Cried the young Shiho before adding, "I feel like I've been dealing with a demon. It may seem childish to say that, but that is the only way I can describe him. He kept me here for weeks, forcing me to read him these Ancient Denephean inscription and drugging me whenever he was finished with me."
"You're the one who discovered this place, are you not?" Asked Keiichi.
"Yes" Shiho nodded weakly. "I found it, and I thought I had made the greatest archaeological discovery of the history of the planet."
Now she sat and spoke with frantic speed.
"I came to Deneph because I had heard legends recounting an ancient and powerful race that had once inhabited this planet. I wanted to sort fact from fiction. From Jovopolis I went north to the jungles and there I tried to learn from the Denepheans themselves, but they became suspicious when I mentioned the legends of the Ancients. Then I learned that they often met for ceremonies in an area they called the "Place of the Dead", so I followed them there and I discovered that it was an old city that no one had really explored yet. There, I found a Deneph world map, left by the Ancients. It showed the locations of their cities. But a site was scored differently from the others, and I thought it was probably more important. It was located on the shore of the Sea of Fire, where no city could have been built ordinarily."
Shiho paused to catch her breath.
"As the case was going to push me to take some risks and that my budget diminished, I went to the governor. I remember it very well. Her secretary, Valerie Halburn, did not seem very enthusiastic about the story. She feared provoking conflict with the natives by breeching their sacred sites in order to discover scientific relics of a long forgotten time. The thing is, even if I'd found the artifacts, they would have certainly been unusable do to their age and wear. However, the governor seemed genuinely charmed by my enthusiasm and saw instead the possibility to establish a relationship between Humans and the Denepheans. So she gave me a reasonable credit and a small shuttle adapted to explore the Sea of Fire, telling me to be careful."
"Then I came north alone, and I looked along the shore of the sea aflame until I discovered this place. I went down and I thought it was a wonderful knowledge mausoleum of Ancients Denepheans." The ravaged face Shiho brightened a moment by her passion for science as she continued.
"I managed to decipher certain entries here, and I learned snippets of it's history. I learned that a ten thousand years ago, probably more, the Denepheans had been a powerful civilization, larger than that of earth today. They had managed to solve many problems that have puzzled our physicists. They had perfect knowledge of the intra-atomic. They had even been able to develop a way to make the matter really immaterial by creating a leap in atomic frequency vibration, which allowed any material to freely intermingle with another material as if it didn't exist. They had used this method of immateriality to explore the bowels of the planet. Their biologists also found a method to cause de-evolution at will which allowed them to study the past evolution of their race and all other races. The ancients had done all these things, but apparently this has not prevented a civil war from breaking out within their cities. It was conducted with such ferocity that that it inevitably led the great civilization to ruin. And while the Ancients became a semi-civilized tribes wandering in the ruins of ancient cities, some others, holders of ancient scientific knowledge, thought to preserve the greatness of their race Hoping that one day, their people would forget the wars and return to a peaceful civilization, these few Ancients gathered all their scientific knowledge and all the tools they could recover in a secret cave, so that they might not be lost forever."
A deep and bitter emotion flashed across Shiho's tormented face as the woman continued. "As I said, I learned by translating some inscriptions in this cave, and going through the computer archives they left. You can not imagine my joy when I saw everything was in good condition, and that I had managed to adapt our technology to theirs. I realized that it was a wonderful mine of scientific secrets, and that a proper authority needed to be alerted to ensure the knowledge did not fall into the wrong hands. So I wrote a report on my findings to Governor Eiri as promised. I had hoped that the governor would come here soon. But two nights later, while I was sleeping here, I woke up tied and blindfolded. Someone had intercepted my report and had come here to steal the scientific powers I'd spoken of. And that person forced me to tell him everything I had learned of. I have learned the secret of immateriality. He once used to get itself immaterial. He also learned the secret of de-evolution species and grabbed one of the instruments that degenerates its victims. I don't know the man's identity, but he calls himself the "Space Emperor", and he's returned several times since. Each time, he's forced me to provide him with more and more secrets of the Ancients under the threat of death. Whenever he leaves, he drugs me, locking the door so I cannot escape in his absence."
Shiho's eyes were burning in a very understandable hatred, especially after Captain Keiichi has explained to the young archaeologist the gravity of the situation.
"Can not you stop him in any way, Captain?"
"Not until I can remove the immateriality that protects him from any attack," said Keiichi. "That's why I came here, looking for a way to do it. Can you tell me its secret?" He asked nervously.
Before Shiho could reply, the door to the room began closing. Keiichi, Skuld and Shiho barely had time to see the hidden face of the Emperor. Immediately Skuld raced fir the door, grabbing it and trying to prevent the door from closing. For a moment she and seemed to achieve it, but even with her strength, the mechanism was too powerful.
Behind the door, the Emperor's voice was heard.
"There are 5 hours and 40 minutes before the general attack. This room will be bombed. You will await here." He said before leaving.
Soon after, the Emperor spoke to the head of government: the President Sayoko. The transmission could be heard in the "Space Goddess".
"This message is addressed to the President of the Interstellar Government. It was sent by the Space Emperor. I hold in my hands the lives of billions of men and woman that live in this part of the galaxy and the wealth of many rare metals within the moons as well. If the President wishes to save them all, she must agree to my conditions and leave me the position of president. I hold among my hostages, Governor Eiri, the Colonel Chihiro and Captain Keiichi."
President Sayoko as she heard Captain Keiichi's name listed amongst the hostages. He was her only hope to end this catastrophic situation and avoid an interstellar war. If he'd fallen into the hands of the Emperor, many people would be killed in the war, as it was unthinkable to hand over the key to galactic power to a masked tyrant. In any event, even if Sayoko had, no one in the state would obey this individual.
"Oh no, not Captain Keiichi." Belldandy said frightened.
"How could he have captured the Captain?" Sen said angrily.
"Skuld was with him. She should have protected him." Urd said with annoyance.
Even mini Banpei and Sigel were arguing.
Only Megumi kept her composure. "The Space Emperor is far too confident. Urd, let's see the molten lava falls." She said.
Meanwhile, the Captain and Skuld were working together. In the hopes of forcing the door open, however they could not so much as scratch it, even with their weapons fully charged. Keiichi had initially planned to remove the safety of his weapon and use it as an explosive rather than a gun, but he estimated that the resulting explosion would not be sufficient to destroy the door, instead simply killing everyone trapped within.
"No, you will not get anywhere. The metal of the door is unassailable. If we want to get out of here we will have to find another method." Shiho said.
"If Urd was actually intelligent, she'd find us by following our trail in a matter of hours," Skuld said.
"No, the "Space Goddess" won't fit in the cave. It is much too big. In addition, it will take too long to go for help. By then, the attack will begin and you and I will be dead." Keiichi said before turning to Shiho.
"Do you know if there are any more of the devices that vibrate atoms?" He asked, though he doubted he'd receive a positive response.
He was wrong.
"Yes, there still remains one in stock." Said Shiho, indicating to a shelf that held several alien devices on it.
"Why didn't you mention this earlier? It would be a breeze to simply pass through the door while fitted with this equipment." Captain Keiichi said in astonishment.
"Oh, I know that very well, yes. However there are two problems. The first is that this device is incomplete. It's missing a component that allows the wearer to breathe when out of phase. The Emperor has the other device hidden under his cloak. Of course one could stop breathing for the few seconds it takes to cross through the door, however that leads to the second problem. These devices have been dormant for a long time, and thus have no energy to work."
Keiichi thought for a moment. The conclusion made him laugh.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH."
"I don't see what's so funny." Shiho said with astonishment.
"No, but it is a very good joke! Need to breath? No energy? You and the Space Emperor have not thought about Skuld!" Keiichi explained.
"Skuld?" Shiho asked, watching the silver robot girl.
Then she understood.
"Yes of course, I'm so stupid. A robot does not need to breathe, and she has a lot of energy in her battery." the scientist said, smiling.
"Good. You understood. Hurry up and attach the device to Skuld's arm."
"What? Wait, if ever this device does not work very well, I do not want to become a "ghost robot" for eternity!"
Meanwhile, Colonel Chihiro was preparing for the upcoming battle. Though it may have been a lost cause, she was a soldier, and each soldier had a duty to fulfill, in the end. Silently she watched the satellite approach the planet's capital, the Emperor threatening to unleash his ship armada at any moment.
"You have only 2 hours and 47 minutes to surrender. Then the general attack will be triggered, and you will all be destroyed," said the Emperor.
The device was installed and activated on Skuld. Keiichi put his arm through his sister's robotic components. "You see? It works perfectly, you have nothing to fear." The man said encouragingly. "Come on now, get us out of here."
Despite her extremely wide knowledge, becoming a ghost and passing through a doorway was a new experience for Skuld. It was like entering another universe, with a lot of little light like moving stars.
"I did it. I wish Urd was here to see this." Passing through the door, Skuld deactivated the device and opened the door.
Shortly after, Captain Keiichi was back aboard the "Space Goddess" with Skuld and Shiho.
The period of grace granted by the Space Emperor had just passed. "I order every ship to attack the capital." ordered the Emperor.
A moment later, thousands of small vessels emerged from the giant meteor and swooped to attack the capital. They would arrive in less than thirty minutes. Then would come the massacre.
"That's it, the general attack has started. Skuld, have you had time to do what I asked of you?" asked Captain Keiichi.
"Yes, but this system is hardly compatible with our devices. We can only use it four, maybe five times." Answered the robot girl.
"Just once will suffice. Now, forward!" Keiichi ordered while opening a communication channel to the governor's headquarters. "This is Captain Keiichi. We are preparing to attack the enemy", he said to Eiri and Chihiro.
"It's suicide. The "Space Goddess" may be a powerful ship, but even she can't fight an entire invasion fleet." Stammered Eiri.
"Rest assured. The Captain is not a suicidal madman. He surely has something unpredictable up his sleeve." Chihiro smiled confidently.
On Earth, President Sayoko and her assistant Sora, watched the situation anxiously, while General Lind prepared the army for battle. If Captain Keiichi failed, when the Space Emperor was finished with Deneph, he would surely target Earth next. The entire fleet was mobilized and on standby.
"We are all counting on you Captain," said Sayoko staring at her screen.
"Less than twenty minutes," added Sora.
The "Space Goddess" sped right for the giant meteor.
"An enemy ship is approaching us, Majesty."
"Rest assured, it cannot be Captain Keiichi. FIRE AT WILL." Ordered the Space Emperor.
All defense batteries fired on the "Space Goddess". Though the ship was one of the most sophisticated in the galaxy, even it could not withstand such an attack. It was like a butterfly gliding into a lava pit.
The shooting was coming from everywhere. The target literally could not be seen through the light of thousands of proton cannons firing from above. After a few minutes, the Emperor ordered a cease fire to see the extent of damage to the spaceship.
He looked on in shock behind his mask…The "Space Goddess" was completely intact.
The explanation for this small miracle was actually very simple. Now that the Captain had obtained a device capable of vibrating atoms, he had ordered Skuld to adapt its technology to the "Space Goddess".
For humans, such a feat would have required at least several weeks worth of work, but for Skuld, disassembling a machine, understanding its inner mechanisms, and adapting them to the ship was a mere formality. Two hours were more than enough for her.
And now, the "Space Goddess", completely intact and intangible, entered inside the satellite, totally indifferent to the defense systems or the rock walls. The ship came to rest in the center of a large hanger with several attack shuttles. The place was not yet empty, and hundreds of Denepheans appeared to fight the intruders.
"Megumi, I have a huge favor to ask you." Said the Captain.
"What?" Asked the brain.
"If we fail, I'm asking you to fire the "Space Goddess" proton cannon inside the satellite. Once the meteor is destroyed, the invasion fleet will have no fallback base. Their ships will very quickly run out of energy. So if we cannot save Deneph, we can at least prevent a war from spreading to Earth. This is a last resort tactic. None of us will survive if we use the Proton Cannon in this satellite 9. I know this is a huge sacrifice I'm asking of you, but under the circumstances I feel it is necessary." Keiichi said.
"You can count on me. If you fail, I would not have much of my future anyway. At least I know that I would not suffer, since I have no nerves with which to feel pain." Replied the Captain's adopted sister.
"Good. Now to get to the Space Emperor." Said Keiichi, leaving the ship and followed by his sisters and Belldandy.
The Space Emperor came through the floor in front of his troops. He did not understand how Keiichi had survived, or how he had managed to get so far, but he knew he had to stop him now. Confident in the invulnerability provided by the device hidden in his belt, he would eliminate Captain Keiichi and his crew himself, before his troops.
"So you finally came to be destroyed." he said to his enemy.
"No, it's to neutralize you and stop the Denepheans assault, that's why I'm here. We will fight against each other, and this time I will defeat you." Said Keiichi.
"I think you're dreaming again. You can't even touch me, so how are you going to fight me?" Asked the Emperor with a mocking tone.
"LIKE THIS !" Yelled the Captain Keiichi, rotating the button of atomic vibrator he wore on his belt.
FLASHBACK ON
Keiichi had a conversation with Shiho.
"How? You're going to use the device on yourself?" Asked Shiho.
"Yes, to successfully beat the Emperor."
"But, you're not a robot or a form of modified biological life. You won't be able to breathe and you will asphyxiate."
"Well I would stop breathing for a minute, which is enough time to grab the device from the Emperor and take it away. Then he will be easy to capture." Keiichi explained.
"Why not give the unit to Urd or Skuld? Either one of them would make short work of the Emperor and they don't need to breathe. It would be a much safer way," suggested Shiho.
"I thought about it, but it's not that simple. The real goal is not just to capture the Emperor, but to stop the attack of the Denepheans. For that I have to defeat them psychologically. Defeating the Emperor is the best way, and it will have a greater impact if he is defeated by a human."
"So let Urd take your appearance. She will quickly defeat the Emperor and the Denepheans will not see the illusion."
"Too risky. Urd would surely succeed, but if she is unmasked, it will be a disaster. I can not take this risk. It must be me who does it."
"Then I wish you luck Captain." Shiho concludes.
FLASHBACK OFF
Behind his mask, a look of terror crossed the Emperor's face, as he realized the Captain could now strike him.
As the Captain threw himself on the Emperor, a red spark appeared as the two 'out of phase' individuals touched. Keiichi was able to throw down the Emperor and had almost immediately succeeded in reaching his belt. Almost. While the Captain was on him, the Emperor managed to push him with a foot strike in the chest.
The Denepheans were in shock. Their seemingly invulnerable Emperor was staggering under each attack, although he managed to defend himself with an unnatural strength and terrible talent, as though he was a demon.
Urd and Skuld attempted to help their brother, but they could touch neither him nor the Emperor. They were irritated by their own impotence. All they could do was monitor the Denepheans, ensuring that none of them would shoot at them. Even with the two of them together though they could not overcome so many soldiers. Moreover Belldandy would surely die very quickly in battle, and so they remained on their guard, waiting for the slightest opportunity to aid their brother.
Belldandy for her part, did not care about the threat the Denepheans provided. She watched the Captain fighting heroically against the Space Emperor, hoping he would come to defeat him before succumbing to lack of air. Though no stranger to strong emotions, the woman could never in her life recall a time she'd ever been so scared. Not for herself, though she knew that her fate would be sealed if Keiichi lost, but for the life of the Captain himself.
Keiichi and the Emperor fought on equal terms but time was against Keiichi, who would not last very long time without breath. It was then that the Emperor tried a sneaky but ingenious maneuver. He disappeared into the floor, only to rise up behind the Captain, grabbing his feet and yanking him off balance. Keiichi fell to the floor, and the Emperor was upon him, pummeling him with punches.
The assault was great enough that Keiichi almost fell unconscious. However adrenaline kept his cognate. If he fainted in his intangible condition, no one could save him because no one could touch him. He would die of asphyxiation and be reduced to a ghost forever.
Meanwhile, the assault troops had entered the atmosphere of the planet. They would begin firing in minutes. One of the first targets was the headquarters of the governor where Eiri and Chihiro were. "We are entering the atmosphere of the planet. We will attack the objectives within 10 minutes." Instructed the assault force commander.
With Keiichi weakening from lack of air, the Emperor had clearly gained the upper hand. The Denepheans were delighted, for they saw the oncoming victory as symbolic of the ancestors against the greatest hero of the enemy Humans.
"He won't last much longer without breath." worried Urd.
The Emperor moved behind Keiichi in an attempt to hold him down, pressing his weight against the Captain. However, this was a fatal error. He was so close that Keiichi, despite being on the edge of unconsciousness, grabbed the belt and pulled the Emperor, causing him to become solid. His goal reached, Keiichi immediately deactivated the device from his belt and took a long, laborious, breath.
The incividual drew his Proton pistol to kill the Captain but did not have time to use it. Skuld and Urd were already on him, immobilizing him on the ground. The Emperor tried to struggle, but it was futile against Urd's flexibility and Skuld's strength, each of which was ten times more than necessary to neutralize the ennemy.
Belldandy approached, placing her hand on the Emperor's mask and removing it, revealing the face beneath.
"MISS HALBURN!" Belldandy cried, astonished.
"The Space Emperor is an Human woman?!" Reemook stammered, stunned.
"But I thought she had already devolved!" Urd cried.
"I guess in fact, it was a trick. She must have placed an ape-woman in her quarters to make it look like it was her. She knew it would take days for the DNA to be examined. By then the war would have begun and nobody could reach her. She was disguised as a man to better hide herself and convinced the Denepheans to fight for her. They would have been reluctant if they knew that their "Living Ancient" was a woman." Keiichi explained before turning to Denepheans, completely disoriented.
Valerie Halburn remained on her knees, having lost all will to fight. She knew that her troops would no longer obey her and that she had lost. However, she had a small thing to say.
"Halval. My name is Halval. No Halburn Valérie." Declared the defeated "Empress".
Keiichi did not answer. Given the situation, the "real" name of Valerie Halburn, Halval, and the reasons for which she had hidden it, did not matter.
"So you see that you have been deceived," said Captain Keiichi to the Denepheans before adding, "This is an Human, not one of your ancestors. She is a ruthless and ambitious woman who hoped to seize the planet Deneph and then the rest of the galaxy by using you. She mocks your ancient civilization and its past glory, only interested in her own personal gain. Stop the attack. This bloodshed is unnecessary and meaningless now."
Reemook was smart. He agreed with Keiichi. They could continue the fight against Humans but was it really useful? Although the Emperor was an impostor, she had built them a powerful army and the means to enforce order on their planet. She'd provided them the means to rebuild their ancient civilization. A war against humanity would not allow them to profit or flourish. Peace was the better option.
The attack was halted.
On Deneph, particularly in Jovopolis, all Humans released a sigh of relief on seeing the enemy ships turn back and return to the giant meteor from which they came.
The war did not take place and Denepheans began to rebuild their civilization; with their new capital installed on Satellite 9. Thanks the medicine developed by Professor Megumi, all the victims of the devolution device were treated and returned to normal.
His mission completed, Captain Keiichi returned inside his secret base on the moon with his sisters after saying his goodbyes.
"Bell, protect and help Sen, please."
"Yes. I'll take care of him and teach him what it takes to become a man like you. But..." Belldandy trailed off.
"Yes Bell?"
"But when will we have the great pleasure of seeing you again Captain Keiichi? I regret that you did not stay with us, or allow us to accompany you. I'd like to be at your side forever, I think."
"We will meet again soon. I'll come visit you, I promise," replied the Captain, who, after all, was still a young man in love with a young woman.
Then the ship took off.
The Captain Keiichi knows that there will always be tyrants and monsters to fight in space. But he also knows that he had just won one more fight...Until the next.
To be continued…..