"Are you getting any closer to finding them?" Ayeka huffed and threw her hands in air out of building frustration.
"Hey-" Washu poked her head above the dimensional cube that had sucked Ryoko and Tenchi up almost three days ago. "You can't rush a genius!"
Ayeka narrowed her eyes at the pink-haired scientist, "A real genius wouldn't have such a huge junk pile of failed experiments…" she muttered under her breath.
Washu's head stood up with a dark scowl on her face, "Care to say that to my face princess?"
"You guys, this arguing is getting really old," Mihoshi sighed pathetically as she poked the dimensional cube with her index finger. "It really doesn't accomplish anything," the dumb blonde mused.
The princess and scientist sighed in agreement. It had been three grueling days since Ryoko and Tenchi disappeared to another dimension. Washu was worried that she may never be able to retrieve them because she couldn't even trace Ryoko's insane energy signals. Ayeka, however, was continuously worrying that Ryoko was placing her dirty thieving hands all over Tenchi.
"Let's get some dinner and sleep. I'll try it again tomorrow…" Washu stretched her arms high above her head and ushered the girls out of her lab to the kitchen.
Abel glanced out the window in the empty palace hallway as he let out a heavy sigh. The stars were bright out tonight but no falling stars. He could see the warm lights of the city from the duke's palace. It was pleasing to finally see the city of Byzantium had rebuilt itself to its former glory. He closed his eyes to smell the sweet scent of baking pastries and hot tea in the cold night air.
The priest wasn't able to enjoy the peaceful moment long, his thoughts began to linger back to the task at hand. He tugged at his tight neck collar; he despised wearing formal clothes that involved neck ties. Off in the distance he could hear the guests arriving for the vampire dinner party that Ion Fortuna was required to host each year as part of nobility duties.
It was a perfect opportunity for some of the vampire extremists or the Rosenkreuz Orden to rear their ugly faces. The plan was to capture any of the extremists that showed up at the party and find out where the orden was keeping Esther and Tenchi.
There was no question that the party would be interrupted, but at what cost? According to Ion there would be over two hundred dinner guests tonight at the palace.
Abel sighed again as he rubbed his forehead, "I am getting so tired of this…"
"That is what you get for playing hero in this chaotic world of yours," whispered a soft voice by the humble priest's right ear.
A small smile stretched across his pale face. "Your world isn't as chaotic?" he could feel Ryoko's hot breath on the back of his neck. Normally, he would have jumped out of his skin with someone sneaking up on him but he was now used to the space pirate's random teleportation skills. Abel continued to stare out the window.
Ryoko chuckled to herself, "I'd like to think so, but in reality it is usually me who makes the world chaotic. Comes with the space pirate job description," she moved to his side and observed the scenes outside the palace walls.
For a brief moment, Abel caught a glimpse of Ryoko out of the corner of his eye. He nearly choked at the sight. "Is-is that…makeup?" he gasped out without realizing that he was speaking aloud.
The cyan-haired pirate narrowed her yellow eyes into tiny slits when she thought he was about to make fun of her how she was dressed. Her hair was pulled back into a spiky pony-tail to reveal dangling ruby red earrings and her slender neck. Remembering all of the advice from those girly magazines Ayeka and Mihoshi enjoyed reading, Ryoko tried to keep her makeup simple to just red lipstick, dark eye shadow, and little bit of blush. She had to borrow a long, black dress from one of Ion's cousins.
"Hey-" Ryoko growled in a rough voice and clenched a fist at him, "Just because I'm in heels doesn't mean that I can't kick your ass up and down this hallway!"
Abel could tell that he had hurt her feelings. He gave her a soft, warm smile to reassure that he wasn't about to laugh at her. "I was just expecting you to hate this formal dinner party just as much as I do," he explained. "Looks like you have been to a few before…"
Ryoko's shoulders relaxed, "This is my first," she admitted in a tiny voice. The space pirate examined her clenched fist before lowering her arm, "I went on a date once with Tenchi. I was so nervous that I spent hours reading those stupid Earth girly magazines about what to do, how to act, what to wear, and blah, blah, blah. I even learned how to dance…"
"Was it worth it?" Abel pushed his glasses closer to his face and gave her a quizzical look.
"In hindsight…not really," she admitted honestly. She could still remember Tenchi's betrayal and how deeply it had cut her when he was in Tokyo for school. Without realizing it, Ryoko was frowning at her bitter memories.
The priest began to laugh to himself.
"What's so funny now?" she snapped.
"That you would try so hard to change yourself when you are perfect exactly the way you are," he winked to her slyly. "If Tenchi can't love you for the amazing demon-woman that you are, then he is an ass."
Ryoko punched his shoulder softly and ignored his fake cry of pain. "Thanks," she grinned at the Vatican priest. "We should probably head downstairs and meet up with your friends," she abruptly leaned close to his face without any warning.
Gingerly reaching out, she began to tug and fix the black silk tie Abel had nearly ripped off in order to breath properly. Her warm breath made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Once she finished fixing his tie, Ryoko took his pale hand in hers for a moment. "Thank you Abel…for everything." She released his hand and headed down the hallway, "Don't be too slow. You know how Tres likes to be punctual…"
Silently, Abel watched her disappear from the hallway. He was trying to swallow. It was as if he was drenched in frigid water and was still waiting to catch his breath. In the back of his mind he recalled the same description Ion had described to him when the young noble met Esther.
Shit… the priest found himself brushing his fingers against his neck tie, I'm in love.
"Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious," Gunslinger ordered the AX members in a monotone voice. "Alert everyone immediately."
Father Hugue grumbled under his breath. He was in a sour mood because the rest of the AX members could keep their pistols concealed under their dinner jackets while he had to leave his sword in his room.
"Ah don't worry about your stick," Leon teased as he reached behind Hugue's back to snatch a cocktail snack from a silver tray held by a passing waitress. "You should enjoy yourself for once," he said with a mouth-full, "All the pretty girls here…"
"They are all Methuselahs," he snorted in disgust at the thought.
Abel began to drool when he caught the scent of shrimp and crab cakes nearby. While Leon and Hugue argued back and forth, the silver-haired priest snuck his way over the food to fill his growling belly.
Ryoko was about to follow him when Father Tres caught her sharply by the arm and whispered into her ear. "I have strict orders to shoot you if you decide to take matters into your own hands again and transform into your demon form," he narrowed his eyes at her. "I will not miss this time for Father Nightroad's sake," he warned.
Glaring at the droid with her yellow eyes, the space pirate tugged her arm away from him. She strolled over to Abel at the snack table with a straight face until he turned around to reveal six shrimp tails hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Ryoko snorted a laugh at the sight.
Once his belly was full, the humble priest ears perked when he heard the music begin. He glanced over at Ryoko, who was pouring herself a third glass of wine, and could feel this throat tighten again. Taking a deep breath, Abel asked if Ryoko wanted to dance. His voice was so weak that Ryoko did not hear him; she just continued to sip on her wine.
Clearing his voice loudly, Abel stood in front of the space pirate and pro-offered his hand to her. "Would you honor me with a dance?" he smiled nervously when Ryoko stared at him blankly for a moment.
Finally realizing what he wanted, Ryoko put her goblet down and took his hand. Leading her to the dance floor, Abel's hands began to shake when it dawned on him that he didn't know how to dance…at all.
Ryoko smirked as she placed his free hand on her hip and instructed him to follow her lead. "Didn't think this all the way through did you?" she giggled at his reddened cheeks.
He kept smiling nervously at her as she talked to him about the vampires around them. Her voice sounded like a soft melody as Abel fondly watched how her earrings dangled when they twirled on the dance floor.
"Abel?" Ryoko tilted her head curiously to one side. He thought she looked beautiful tonight. "You are still blushing…did you have too much to drink?"
The priest shook his head, snapping back into reality. "You look r-radiant," he finally admitted quietly.
Ryoko narrowed her yellow eyes slightly at him, "You did have too much to drink. You are speaking nonsense. I'll go-"
Abel tightened his grip on her hand so she couldn't move away; his eyes asked her to stay.
Ryoko caught a glimpse of something dark quickly shifting through the crowd and moving towards them. By the time she realized what it was, the space pirate only had enough time to grab Abel by the collar and yank him to the ground.
The Death Hunter's blade struck nothing but air; it snarled at them from underneath its mask.
The Methuselahs immediately vacated the dance floor and began evacuating the palace in one giant mob scene. Both Leon and Hugue were fighting against the crowd but were slowly being pushed backwards. As the palace emptied, more Death Hunters slinked out from their hiding spots in the shadows.
"Abel get up!" Ryoko hissed when he was still lying on the floor. She once again snatched him by his neck collar and lifted him from the ground. Acting like he was made of jelly, Abel fell forward and face planted into Ryoko's large chest. "You're hopeless!"
Sensing that the stunned priest was the weaker of the two, the Death Hunter decided to take another swipe at Abel, who was still semi-unconsciously drooling on Ryoko's dress.
Grumbling under her breath the entire time, the space pirate reached under Abel's jacket and narrowly blocked the direction of the blade with the handle of one of Abel's pistols. While the creature was knocked off balance, Ryoko smacked it across the face with the pistol. Its mask clanked across the dance floor.
Ryoko winced when she saw what was underneath the mask. Flesh had been ripped from bone and was replaced with wires, bolts, and pieces of string. Most likely a creation specifically made by Deitrich. The only thing left untouched was a rotting white eyeball that looked like it was ready to fall from the eye socket.
The monster quickly recovered and snapped it jaws at them in anger. It raised its sword once more to strike but Ryoko shot the Death Hunter point-blank between the eyes. "Never bring a sword to a gun show," she muttered frankly. Without thinking twice about it, she squashed the decayed eyeball under her heel.
She glanced down at Abel to see his cheeks blushing bright red, "You could remove yourself and make yourself useful if you are done being an embarrassed school boy!" Abel stood straight immediately.
Ryoko flipped around to shoot a second Death Hunter that was slowly creeping upon them. She tossed over her shoulder the priest's second pistol.
"Thanks for saving my hide," Abel tore his neck tie off. He now at least had an excuse to no longer be uncomfortable. "And you thought this party was going to be dull," the priest winked to his partner playfully.
Rolling her eyes, the space pirate knocked the closest Death Hunter backwards with a powerful right hook. "I'm starting to regret hanging out with you…"
"Abel help!" squeaked a tiny voice from the opposite end of the ballroom. Ion Fortuna desperately tried to wrestle away from a Death Hunter holding him hostage. He bit the creature on the arm, but the undead vampire did not even flinch. The vampire noble's cries were muffled as the Death Hunter dragged him away into a nearby hallway.
Glancing back at Abel and assessing the situation, she told him to go rescue Ion. "I'll cover you," Ryoko narrowed her yellow eyes at him. "Get your ass moving!"
Abel elbowed a Death Hunter in his path and then promptly shot it with the barrel of the gun under its jaw. Clumsily dodging attacks, Abel noticed out of the corner of his silver eyes that Ryoko was creating a ball of energy between the palms of her hands. Once he was out of harm's reach, she released electricity which sent all of the Death Hunters around her onto their backs stunned.
That should have killed most of them, Abel stopped in his tracks when it dawned on him what was wrong. She still hasn't recovered all of her energy yet…
"Get the fuck out of here Abel! I'll be fine," she yelled. I hope…
Before heading down the hallway, Father Nightroad glanced back at Ryoko to see her kicking a stunned Death Hunter in the chest. When she lifted her head to see if he had left, he was already gone.
"Status report," Tres shouted to Hugue and Leon over the crowd of vampires evacuating the castle into an underground escape route.
Leon scratched the top of his head, "I'm guessing everyone is here…?" he had lost track a long time ago.
"Father Nightroad and Ryoko were still in the ballroom," Hugue paused to usher the group of young female vampires that were romantically interested in him away from his body to the secret passageway. "I haven't seen them exit yet," he called back.
The droid AX member heard a voice ringing in his ear; from all the panting it sounded like it was Abel. "Death Hunters-have kidnapped Ion-" it sounded like the priest had tripped. "I'm-I'm chasing after him," a gun was fired, "You have to help Ryoko. The ballroom is covered with them-STOP!" A second shot was fired and the transmission ended.