Ep 14 – Nightmares

 

You guys are still reading this story?!?!  Well, I'm flattered, in that case. ? 

Tenchi is copyrighted Pioneer and DBZ is copyrighted by Funimation.  I've

got a new email address now, which is Russael@tmia.net.  Use that from

now on to send me questions/comments/friendly criticism/fanmail.  My

Mediaone address is going bye bye as a result of a cable company merger,

but I bought a domain name that can forward email to any account I want. 

Anyway, enjoy the final chapters of the story.  Only about 3 – 5 left to go…

 

Notice!  New Website is available for the Tenchi fans!  Come check it out

at http://russael.cjb.net or www.tmia.net and sign the Guestbook, letting me

know you were there.  The fanfic will also be posted there, as will it be on

the TMFFA, AND on www.fanfiction.net.  All updates to the story

(including progress per chapter) are posted there, and you can find a ton of

info regarding Tenchi.

 

            "Now on final approach to planet Xnafu.  Estimated time to

arrival, twenty minutes.  Now initiating wake-up sequence.  Wake up,

Zorpheus," the computer stated as it released a white gas into the spacepod,

breathing life back into the frozen saiyan seated in the soft leather.  Raising

the temperature up to a steamy ninety degrees Fahrenheit, warming the air

in the cockpit, it began its horrid beeping noise, patiently waiting for the

resuscitation process to finish.

            "Not now, mommy.  Just a few more minutes," Zorpheus mumbled

incoherently, still groggy from sleeping for three months straight.  He

stretched himself out, causing nearly every joint in his body to pop from

being immobile for so long.  Letting out a loud, long, deep groan, he

continued to stretch, his arms reaching to the very back of the pod and his

legs pressed against the door.  Finally taking notice to the beeping, he

casually smacked the button on the computer console, turning it off.  He let

out a huge yawn and rubbed his eyes, just now becoming aware of his

surroundings.  Noting the bright sunshine that glared at him though the

small window, he squinted his eyes to try to get a better look of the outside. 

A large, violet planet presented itself directly in front of him, and he

grinned to himself.

            "Computer, what planet is this?"

            No response.

            Zorpheus looked at the computer and then remembered that he

forgot to turn on the voice commands once again.  "Ugh.  Stupid defaults. 

Oh well.  I don't care about it this time," he said to himself as he keyed in

the necessary instructions.

            "Voice commands ready."

            "Thank you so much," he answered sarcastically.  "What planet is

this?"

            "This is the planet Xnafu.  It currently has one hundred billion

inhabitants, all of them Xenomorphs, and they…"

            "Yes, yes, yes.  That's all very interesting, but I didn't ask for it,"

he said, interrupting the computer's mindless dribble.  "What is the

maximum power level on this planet?"

            "Maximum scouter detection level stops at twenty million, and the

inhabitants of this planet surpass it," it responded.  "However, records

indicate that the strongest Xenomorph of all had an estimated maximum

level of one hundred eighty million."

            Zorpheus whistled to himself.  "Not bad.  Any special techniques

and are they considered a hostile race?"

            "They have an unnatural rate of speed at which they can move. 

However, they can only maintain it for less than a second and for very short

distances.  The Xenomorph race is not considered hostile and is generally

peaceful.  Their military is extraordinarily powerful and ruthless though,

and a confrontation with them is not likely, however, if provoked, they do

have the power to destroy a solar system."

            "How much time until I touchdown?"

            "Approximately one minute.  Initiating landing sequence."

            "Wow, and I told this thing to wake me up twenty minutes before. 

I guess waking up out of stasis takes longer than I thought.  I'll have to set it

for a half hour when I get to Earth, just in case Russ is there," he muttered

to himself.  "I hope he's not though.  I don't want to fight him.  I wish he

saw things my way."

            The small spacepod began to glow red as it screamed into the

atmosphere of the planet.  A bright red flame erupted around the outer shell

of the craft, leaving a long, red streak behind it.  Zorpheus began to talk to

himself.

            "I don't know what Russ's problem was with me becoming

immortal or invincible anyway.  He basically just said, 'No, and that's final'

and then left it at that.  No real reason behind it.  I hate it when he leaves me

guessing like that."  Zorpheus let out a sigh and then continued.  "I really

never wanted to live forever, but I wanted to be invincible for the time that I

was alive.  I never wanted to worry about being killed in a fight, unlike

some people.  Too bad he never gave me the opportunity to explain myself. 

Him and his high 'n mighty attitude and ways… ugh."

            The spacepod finally had slowed down enough to stop glowing

red, and the green land below him became visible.  Luscious green grass

and trees, flowers of unusual species and color, and a plethora of other plant

life covered the entire landscape, as far as the eye could see.  The terrain

was mostly flat, except for a few small rolling hills.  The sky was a

gorgeous shade of violet, which seemed to glow with its own form of

energy.  Blue clouds were spaced sporadically throughout the sunlit sky,

and everything just seemed so… perfect.  Hardly any planets looked this

wonderful, lively, and healthy.  It was like stepping into a brand new

dimension, which was untouched by crime, filth, and other unnecessary

evils.

            Finally, Zorpheus reached the surface, and his pod came to a halt

just before smashing into the ground, and then set down gently.

            "Scanning atmosphere," his computer informed him.

            "Yeah, yeah.  Hurry up already.  I need to get in some exercise

before going to Earth.  I've trained a hell of a lot harder than Russ ever has,

and I'm way stronger than he was the last time we met about a year ago,

even though he still thinks he's stronger.  And I'm sure he's working

himself to the bone as well, preparing to face me," Zorpheus mumbled,

looking out of the window and noticing several dozen creatures run up near

the pod, but didn't approach it.

            "Atmosphere is equivalent to that of Earth.  No poisons detected. 

Air temperature is seventy-four degrees Fahrenheit.  Barometric pressure is

at thirty-five atmospheres, which is higher than that of Earth.  Equalizing

pressure now," the computer quipped.  A quiet hissing became apparent, as

the pressure equalized on the inside of the pod.

            Zorpheus stared at the life forms in surprise.  "Weird looking

creatures.  They almost look like a bunch of Cells, but red in color.  Well, at

least they're humanoids."

            "Releasing hatch, and shutting down," his ship informed him as the

latch bolts withdrew, releasing the door.  It hummed as it raised itself,

letting in the warm, fragrant air and the sounds from outside.

            Placing his hand on the armrest, he raised himself up and poked his

head out of the door, checking out the surroundings.  Several of the

creatures gasped in surprise, but continued to watch in stunned silence.

            Standing up to his full height, he stretched himself out once more,

and then smiled at the creatures.  Pulling back his blue hood on his cloak, he

shook out his thick saiyan hair.

            "Hi guys," he began.  "I'm Zorpheus.  I'm sorry, but I can't think

of a better introduction than that," he laughed.  "Which one of you is the

leader or ambassador around here?"

            The Cells looked at each other and spoke between each other in

their native tongue.  One of them eyed Zorpheus, and he slowly stepped

forward.  Zorpheus regarded him with a look of curiosity.

            "Hello, traveler.  I'm Jordan, of the Xenomorph people.  We

welcome you to our humble planet.  Is there something we can help you

with, traveler?"

            Zorpheus grinned slightly and folded his hands in front of him. 

"Just call me Zorpheus, Jordan."

            "Very well, Zorpheus," he responded, his voice sounding like he

ate a live frog.  "From what race of people do you come from?"

            "I'm a half human, half saiya-jin hybrid, and I… um…  Did I say

something wrong?" he asked, noting the horrified stares from all the

bystanders.  Jordan somehow managed to keep his cool.

            "You are a saiya-jin warrior?" he asked worriedly.  "Please, don't

destroy us.  We didn't do anything to you or Frieza.  Why have you come

here?"

            Looking at him in astonishment, Zorpheus started laughing.  "Not

to worry, my friend.  I'm not a part of that Frieza gang or anything.  He's

been dead for nearly a millennia, Earth time.  Goku, also known as

Kakarrot, finished him off a long time ago," he told them.  "Actually, it was

Vegeta's son, Trunks, who dealt the finishing blow.  He killed off King

Cold too."

            Everybody's eyes went wide in bewilderment.  "Frieza is dead, and

his father too?  For over a thousand years?"

            "Where have you been?" Zorpheus responded indignantly.  "Yes,

he's been long dead and forgotten.  He was actually quite a pushover.  Your

strongest warrior was many, many times stronger than he was."

            Jordan looked nervously back at the still-growing group of people. 

"None of us were capable of defeating Frieza, except for our legendary

hero, Conqubine."

            "I see.  Anyway, to get to my point of being here, I'm here to

train."

            Again, the Xenomorph looked taken aback.  "You want to fight

us?"

            Zorpheus nodded his head enthusiastically.  "You got it.  I'm not

going to kill you or destroy your planet.  I just need training partners to

fight with."

            "I… see."

            "The computer records we have of your people and planet are a

little dated, but still accurate.  You guys should be able to provide me with a

very worthy challenge."

            Jordan looked hard into Zorpheus's red eyes, judging his power

level.  "Your power seems rather low, actually.  Are you sure you're strong

enough to fight some of our best warriors?"

            Again, Zorpheus nodded.  "Yes."

            "Very well.  Since I'm certain that you're ready to begin, you can

start by fighting me.  Prove your worth to me, and then I'll take you to our

most prominent warriors," Jordan croaked, clenching his fists.  The massive

crowd of people took off into the air and flew several miles away, leaving

the two to fight unimpeded.

            "No offense, but you don't seem very strong either," Zorpheus

said, looking hard into Jordan's eyes.  "Your energy is quite low."

            "I, like you, can hide my true energy.  Most of the time I can see

past that cloak, but I can't seem to be able to with you."

            "Well, let's cut to the chase.  Are you ready to begin?"

            Jordan's red energy exploded around him and the ground shattered

under his feet.  "Yes."

            Shielding his face, Zorpheus smiled.  He was more powerful than

he thought.  "Excellent!  Now, let me show you my power… the awesome

power of the Super Saiyan."

            Jordan stopped and stared.  "That's only a legend.  A fairytale. 

Super Saiyans aren't real.  Frieza always said that."

            "Then what…" he growled, clenching his fists.  "Would you

call…THIS?" Zorpheus yelled, as his hair and eyebrows became golden, his

natural eye became a sea green, and his muscle mass doubled in size.  His

aura of energy shined of gold as it pulsed around him, causing his dark blue

cape to flap in the wind of his power.  His black body armor was pressed

tightly against his chest and legs, and his artificial arm became much more

powerful, but not quite as strong as his natural arm.  His artificial eye's

retina remained red in color.

            Jordan looked at him horror.  "No… it's not possible," he stuttered. 

However, he looked again and his horror turned to skepticism.  "Why hasn't

your other arm grown larger in size, and why is your other eye still red?"

            "I had an accident many years ago in which I lost an eye and my

arm.  These are artificial."

            Jordan nodded his head in understanding, but his nervousness

returned.  "Shall we begin?"

            "I think that's a fine idea.  Let's go!" Zorpheus shouted.

 

            Light-years across space, something amusing was happening.

            "Uhhh…"

            "I don't feel any different at all.  What about you, Miss Lina?"

            Both Lina Inverse and Amelia looked at each other in confusion as

they tried to figure out what was going wrong with their spell.

            "Don't tell me!  Don't tell me that thing just now was it?!" Lina

yelled.

            "That thing just now wasn't it?" Amelia replied, worriedly.

            Zelgadis appeared from behind the coffin where the goofy clothes

and spell book was kept.  "Uhhh, so do you girls want to try another song?"

            "Are you kidding?!" Lina yelled, waving her arms around.  "I've

had it!  Some big ultimate spell of divine holy protection!"  She continued

to stomp her feet and wave her arms around like a child.

            "It's not an ultimate spell of anything," one of the twins, who had

chased them around, said.

            "They're lost festival dances," the other finished for her sister.

            Lina looked at them in horror.  "They're FESTIVAL DANCES?"

            "Dances and songs to honor the ancient gods," the first twin

explained.

            "You know?  Melodies to summon the holy light 'n stuff," the

other finished.

            Lina looked like she was about to have a heart attack and die.  The

monster that had followed them into the room chuckled.

            "Oh man, I was wondering what you were trying.  What an idiot,"

he laughed.

            On the other side of the room, Lina clenched her fists and began

reciting her most infamous spell.

            "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows…"

she began.

            "Uhhh, Lina?" Zelgadis said, trying to interrupt her.

            "…Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows.  I

pledge myself to conquer…" she continued.

            Zelgadis became extremely afraid, as he knew what was coming.

            "…All the foes who stand…"

            "Hey!  You're not gonna…"

            "…With the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand!  Let the

fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"

she screamed, looking psychotic as a red orb glowed between her hands. 

The room instantly cleared itself as the monster put up a wall of faces to try

to keep from being destroyed.

            "DRAGOOOOON SLLLLLLLAVE!" she screamed, releasing a

huge, ruby red beam of energy into the room.  The resulting explosion

completely annihilated everything within the blast radius and created a

crater about a quarter mile in diameter.  Once the smoke had cleared, we

could see the devastation.  The monster was completely vaporized except

for a few remaining chunks that littered the ground.  All the bandits were

charred and smoking.

            "That's no fair…" one of them choked out.

            "SHUT UP!" Lina yelled, balling up her fist.  "It's a small price to

pay for letting you watch me sing!"

            "That's Miss Lina for you!" Amelia chimed in, somehow

unscathed.

 

            Both Russ and Sasami fell off of the couch laughing at the scene

that played out on the TV.

            "No kidding that that's Miss Lina for you," Russ laughed,

struggling to get back onto the couch.  "She's so hilarious and irritating at

the same time."

            Sasami managed to get back onto the couch as she continued to

laugh along with Russ.  "I love The Slayers.  It's such a funny series!"

            "I agree with you there, Sasami.  Episode forty is one of my

favorites.  And this series is actually The Slayers Next, but who cares,"

Russ managed to say, trying to catch his breath just as Lina's energy flared

up around her in a pillar of fire.

           

            "I'LL MAKE YOU FORGET IT!  DRAOOOOOOOON

SLLLLLLLAVE!" Lina screamed again, resulting in another huge

explosion and another round of laughter from the duo on the couch.

 

            Aeka was on the other side of the room watching Russ and her

sister enjoy one of their favorite anime.  He had been with them for the past

three months, and she couldn't have been happier.  Always having a warm

smile and a caring demeanor about him, she had begun to become more and

more attached to him.  It was unreal.  There had been Tenchi, but he was

always divided and indecisive.  Russ was firm and very sure of himself,

most of the time.

            Tenchi was always kind and considerate towards her and always

polite, but he never really did anything beyond that.  He never took her

anywhere, never did anything with her, and had always seemed to be

distant.  But that could've been because of one of two reasons.  Either he

couldn't because Ryoko wouldn't let him, or he just wasn't interested.  Of

course, she always believed the former.  She was never able to be alone

with him.

            Russ, on the other hand, when he wasn't training, would look to

spend time with everybody, always looking for something fun and

enjoyable to do, or to just sit and talk.  He never made any advances, and he

did make it clear to her that he wasn't interested, however, on rare occasion,

she'd catch him staring at her from a distance.  Whenever she'd turn her

head toward him, he'd smile, wave, then continue whatever it was he was

doing.  He was fantastic company when Tenchi and Ryoko had gone on a

weeklong trip to the beach.  The house was empty and quiet, especially

without Tenchi, Ryoko, Mihoshi, and Kiyone.  Washu was always locked

up in her lab, and Nobuyuki was always gone at work, and her brother was

always up at the shrine, only coming down for meals.  The only people she

could to talk to were Russ, Sasami, and her two guardians.  But it was

enough.  He had cooked for the three of them on several occasions, and he

even cut back on his training to keep the two of them company.  He took

them all to the mall, the movies, and several other places of interest.  He

was a really fun loving guy, and she could see that he got immense

enjoyment out of seeing others smile.

            Continuing to watch her sister and Russ on the couch, she smiled. 

He was so much like a big brother to her, and Sasami loved him for it.  He'd

sit down and play video games with her, watch anime, take her out for ice

cream, and just be her friend.  On occasion, he'd wrestle with her, being

extremely gentle as to not hurt her.  One of the things he loved doing was

torturing her sister by ticking her, usually when she'd beat him at a game

they were playing.  They'd show each other different cooking recipes and

taste test each other's dishes.  Sometimes when Russ would play the organ,

Sasami would sit next to him on the bench and watch him play for hours. 

Ryo-Ohki loved him too, and all three of them would do activities from

time to time.  They loved to play pranks on each other.  He even began to

show her how to use her Jurai Power.  However, Russ never showed her

any attacks, but rather, taught her how to heal and mend.  He argued that

such a pretty girl should never have to fight, but should be known as a

healer instead.  After that, he explained to her how to fly, but she hadn't

quite gotten the hang of that yet.  As a very special treat, he took her to see

the Earth's Guardian, Dende.  Somehow, he was still alive, after a

millennium of watching the Earth.  Apparently being a god had given him

quite an extension of life.  From what she was told, Dende and Sasami hit it

right off and became good friends.  Mister Popo was still up there as well,

and he wound up mistaking Russ for Goku, as nearly everybody else had. 

She had asked why they had gone to this place, and Russ told her that it was

a secret.  However, Sasami had overheard something mentioned about

Dragonballs to Popo while she was being taught how to heal by Dende. 

Korin was still fine and well, and didn't look a day older than he was a

thousand years ago.  He too had mistaken Russ for Goku.  Sasami got a kick

out of the cat, but she was very respectful and she quickly made another

friend.  It was quite a trip for her.  Russ really loved Sasami, and it showed.

            Unfortunately, there was an aura of depression about Russ too. 

Sometimes, before he was done training, he'd stop and slowly walk off

toward the forest, where he'd jump up into a tree and sit for several hours,

looking very lost and deep in thought.  He never smiled while he was up in

that tree.  Other times, he'd just sit by the lake, his chin in his palm, as he

watched the ripples of the lake lap the shoreline and the dock.  His face

would take on a sad expression, and he'd become very quiet.  She wondered

what was bothering him, and she asked him on several occasions, but he'd

always just smile and say nothing was wrong, and that she didn't need to

concern herself about him.  It made her feel bad, as she wished that she

could do something for him to alleviate that sadness.  Whenever she'd try to

figure him out, she always came back to the same conclusion, and that was

loneliness.  The only argument she had against that is that he didn't want a

partner in life, or in love, but why would he continually subject himself to

that kind of torment?  Even if being with him put her own life in danger, she

was willing to risk it, but he wasn't willing to allow her to.  Whenever she

had seen him looking at her while she was in the garden or doing something

around the house, he was never smiling until she looked at him.  It was

almost as if he were wishing that she could be his, but something was

preventing it.  The one quest that she had set out to solve was to find out

what that barrier was, and destroy it.  However, what was it going to take?

 

            "Hey Russ?"

            "What is it, Sasami?" Russ answered, wiping a tear from the

corner of his eye from laughing so hard.

            "Do you think that your Kamehameha is more powerful than her

Dragon Slave?"

            Russ looked at her, and then smirked.  "I don't know.  What do

you say we go outside and see?"

            Sasami's eyes went wide.  "You can cast the Dragon Slave?"

            Russ grinned.  "Well, not really, but I could probably make a fair

approximation of it."

            "Oh, that is so cool!"

            Russ laughed as he stood up from the couch and grasped the little

princess's hand.  "Let's give it a try, shall we?"

            "You be careful with my sister, Russ!" Aeka called after him. 

Russ just turned around and gave her a raspberry, sticking out his tongue

and pulling his left eye down with his finger.  Sasami did the same thing as

they both laughed and made their way into the yard while Aeka stared hard

after them, growling obscenities at their retreating forms.

            "Okay, Sasami.  Stand here, just in case something goes wrong,"

Russ said, seriously, after releasing her hand.  "I don't want you getting

hurt."

            Sasami smiled and nodded her head as Russ walked to the edge of

the lake.  He looked into the sky, checking for airplanes or any other flying

machine that could get barbequed by the beam.  Turning around, he gave a

thumbs up, and then charged a little of his energy as he recited the lines.

            "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows,

buried in the stream of time is where your power grows.  I pledge myself to

conquer, all the foes who stand, with the mighty gift bestowed in my

unworthy hand…" he chanted, as a huge red ball formed between his hands. 

His energy exploded around him in a green fireball, as he prepared to

release the spell.  "…Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the

power you and I possess!"

            Aeka had appeared next to Sasami and watched him in awe. 

Ryoko was on the roof of the Misaki house, eyeballing him in curiosity, but

not paying much attention until his energy shot way up.

            "DRAGOOOOON SLLLLLLLLLAVE!" he roared, as he brought

his hands in front of him and released an incredibly huge, powerful, blood

red beam.  It screamed out of his hands and into the sky, blanketing the

entire area in an eerie red glow.

            However, the attack had an unexpected side effect.

            "What the hell?!" he yelled, as he lost his footing and started to fly

back from the massive recoil of the beam's launch.  Quickly killing off the

energy of the attack, he continued to hurtle back toward the house.

            "INCOMING!" he screamed, as he sailed past Aeka and Sasami

and then crashed into the mountainside, making a small crater in the hard

ground.  Ryoko could be heard laughing from the roof.

            "Oh my god!  Russ!" Sasami yelled as she ran toward his point of

impact.  However, she didn't need to worry, as Russ simply got back up out

of the hole he made and smiled.

            "That beam has some kick to it," he laughed.

            "You IDIOT!" Aeka yelled, balling her hands into fists at her

sides.  "You should be more careful!"

            "Ahhh, nothing to worry about," Russ said, flatly.  "I just wasn't

expecting that.  I better not cast the Gigaslave or I'd be in serious trouble." 

He started laughing.

            "Oooh!  You make me so mad sometimes!" Aeka yelled, as she

turned and stomped back to the house.  Both Russ and Sasami watched her

retreating form until she entered the house and slammed the door behind

her.

            "What's her problem?" Russ asked as he scratched his head.

            Sasami smiled.  "Don't worry about her.  She knows you can take

care of yourself."

            Russ laughed.  "She gets mad too quickly.  If she keeps that up,

she's going to develop wrinkles."

            "I HEARD THAT!" Aeka roared through an open window.  It was

followed up with another burst of laughing by the space pirate.

            "Well anyway, I guess I… should…" he began, but stopped in

mid-sentence.  Russ's face became a mask of concentration just as Washu

burst out of the house and ran toward Sasami and Russ, looking incredibly

worried.

            "What's wrong, Russ?"

            Looking off into the sky, he knew what it was.  "I can feel

Zorpheus's power.  He's become a super saiyan and he's fighting someone

or something.  However, he's still very, very far away."

            Sasami looked worried.  "I can't feel anything, Russ.  But here

comes Washu.  Maybe she can tell us what's going on."

            Quickly running up to the twosome, Washu took a moment to

catch her breath.  "Sasami, Russ.  We've got a big problem."

            "What is it, Washu?" Russ asked, reminding himself not to say

something sarcastic, as he didn't really like her all that much, and she knew

it too.

            "I've detected a subspace tear in the solar system," the red haired

genius began to explain.

            "So stitch it up or something," Russ said, unable to keep from

making a wisecrack. 

            Washu glared hard at him.  "I'm not kidding around here, Russ. 

This is serious.  There is an energy coming through that tear.  And I'm

afraid it's something we've dealt with before."

            Sasami's eyes went wide in horror.  "No… it can't be…"

            "I'm afraid so, Sasami.  We are in serious trouble.  Kain has

returned."

 

            "Kamehameha!!!!" Zorpheus yelled, releasing the blue beam from

his hands, letting it race toward Jordan.  However, he vanished from his

former position and the beam sailed through his afterimage, and then

smashed into the ground, creating a huge explosion and making a massive

crater.

            "Missed me!" Jordan taunted, as he punched Zorpheus from

behind in the kidney, punched him in the lower back, punched him in the

back of the head, and then finished off the combo with a double axe handle

on the top of Zorpheus's head, sending him to the ground, making a

thunderous crash and another crater.

            Zorpheus made it back to his feet and looked up at Jordan, who

looked about as beat up as he was.  Zorpheus's cape was torn to shreds and

his body armor was cracked in several places.  However, Jordan didn't look

any better.  His own clothing was torn up, revealing his skin in several

places.  He looked more and more like a Cell than ever before.  If he were

green, then he could've passed for Cell.

            "That technique of yours is very impressive.  It's so fast that it

almost circumvents time and space.  You seem to appear before you even

move in the first place!" Zorpheus said, leaping into the air and rocketing

toward Jordan, and beginning a flurry of punches and kicks, all of which

were being blocked, dodged, and parried.  After a moment, Zorpheus landed

a kick to Jordan's stomach, making him double over in pain, and Zorpheus

used his other foot to kick him in the face, snapping him back to a standing

position.  Quickly capitalizing on the situation, Zorpheus began a very high

rate of punches to Jordan's face, and then finished off with a roundhouse

kick, which sent Jordan to the ground.  Zorpheus quickly followed it up

with a yellow energy ball, which impacted the spot where Jordan landed,

creating another large explosion and yet another crater.

            However, Jordan returned to his feet rather quickly, and then

smiled.  "I'm quite flattered that you're impressed over one of our

techniques.  And yes, you're right.  It DOES circumvent time and space. 

For an instant, I'm actually in two places at once.  It's the fastest technique

that exists for moving from one place to another."  Quickly sprinting

forward several steps, he caught up to Zorpheus, who had landed several

dozen meters away and began a vicious offensive attack, mixing up

punches, kicks, and several other unorthodox blows, all of which were

being dodged by Zorpheus.  After a moment, Zorpheus managed to land a

punch to his face, sending him back a few paces.  He then was blown away

by a huge energy discharge by Zorpheus, and he crashed into the ground

once again, making a long trench.

            "That's incredible.  Not even the instantaneous movement can go

at that rate.  However, our way of using it can let us travel really long

distances in an instant.  It is very handy.  Perhaps we can teach each other

our techniques," Zorpheus asked, walking over to where Jordan had picked

himself up out of the dirt.

            "That sounds good.  I'd very much like to learn a technique like

that."

            Zorpheus smiled.  "Excellent.  Well, anyway, it was a pleasure to

fight with you, but now I must end it and move on to the tougher guys.  You

were a very worthy opponent, but I've been holding back for quite a while

now.  I'm surprised you're not winded yet.  And besides, we've utterly

destroyed this landscape.  A shame."

            Jordan smiled, and then bowed.  "I appreciate your compliment. 

And don't worry about the landscape.  This planet, in a way, is alive.  These

craters and all of this damage will be gone in only seven days.  The planet

'heals' itself quickly," Jordan explained.

            Smiling, Zorpheus became very impressed.  "Wow.  That's really

neat.  I've never known a planet like this one before.  No wonder I didn't

see any kind of damage when I was landing.  Very impressive."

            "Yes.  Well, shall we finish our fight?"

            Zorpheus grinned evilly, then appeared directly in front of Jordan. 

"Night night, and thanks," he said, balling up his fist and hurling it directly

into the stunned Jordan's head.  His fist connected and sent Jordan flying,

knocking him out cold, but not killing him.  He crash-landed several miles

away, his eyes going vertigo, as he mumbled incoherent phrases.

            "I love doing that," Zorpheus said, then started laughing.  "Ahhh,

the pleasures of toying with your opponents.  But that was a great warm-up. 

Now, let's see what we got around here…" he muttered as he scanned for a

higher power level.  Using the scouter built into his artificial eye, he

scanned the surrounding land.  Finding only two power levels at ten million,

he scanned a little further, and found two more that went over twenty

million, which was his scouter's limitation.

            "Well, this may have to do.  Jordan was about fifteen million, so

these guys ought to be able to do a bit more than he did," he said to himself

as Jordan appeared next to him.  Zorpheus acknowledged him with a nod

and a grin.  "Welcome back."

            Jordan smiled.  "Excellent technique.  You're much stronger than I

anticipated.  I shall now take you to our most powerful warrior that we have

on this planet."

            "Excellent.  I very much appreciate this."

            Jordan lifted off into the air and began to fly toward a distant

military base, where the strongest warriors stayed and slept.  Zorpheus

followed him, easily keeping pace.

            "So, what's the name of your strongest warrior?" Zorpheus asked,

pulling up next to Jordan.

            "Her name is not pronounceable in your tongue, unfortunately. 

But if you must call her something, call her Pyramid."

            Smiling and trying to keep from laughing out loud, Zorpheus put a

hand over his mouth.  "Pyramid?  Why that?  And did you say, SHE?"

            Jordan grinned, then shrugged his shoulders.  "Yeah.  She.  I have

no idea why she chose that, but it fits her.  She's lasted the longest out of

everybody on this planet in a fight, and pyramids are known to last tens of

thousands of years.  She's built like a rock and incredibly powerful.  I think

she'll be capable of pushing you to a much higher limit."

            "Awesome.  I'm looking forward to meeting this Pyramid for

myself.  Is she friendly?"

            "Yes.  Even though she is the most powerful person on this planet,

she has remained nice and friendly to everybody.  Just don't make her mad

or she goes crazy."  Jordan looked forward, watching where he was going,

and then looked over at Zorpheus.  "She's… also a flirt.  Be careful around

her."

            "Hmmm, very interesting.  I can't wait to meet this chick,"

Zorpheus said, turning back to normal from a super saiyan.  "I guess I

should play a little game with her as I did with you, and turn into a super

saiyan when the going gets tough."

            Jordan smiled.  "You'll definitely surprise her."

            "Excellent.  Well, let's get moving.  I got to get in a lot of training

before I head off to Earth.  There is another guy who is headed there as

well, if he isn't there already.  He's a lot like me, but a little weaker than I

am at present time.  I need to stay ahead of him, but it most likely won't

happen that way.  Somehow, he always manages to pass me.  However, I'm

usually a better fighter than he is.  I'm more careful and calculating, and he

relies on his increased strength.  But he too has some attacks that make

mine look like child's play," Zorpheus explained.

            "Why are you going to Earth?"

            Thinking a moment, he figured that he might as well reveal his

truth.  "Well, have you ever heard of something called Dragonballs?"

            Jordan shook his head.  "No.  What are those?"

            "Well, they're magical balls that, when brought together, can grant

the person one, two or three wishes, ranging from getting a pair of new

underwear to acquiring immortality."

            "Immortality?  Who would want to live forever anyway?"

            "Well, me.  What I'm really going for is invincibility.  I do not

want to die of an unnatural death, meaning, being killed by someone.  I'd

rather live a full, healthy, happy life without worrying about some evil

person planting a ki blast in my back or whatever.  I can still fight for the

good of the universe and not have to worry about dying while I do it. 

Immortality is really cool, but a little far-fetched.  However, Russ

misunderstood me and he thinks that I DO want immortality.  But I doubt

he'd want me wishing for invincibility either.  He's against cheating death."

            Jordan nodded his head.  "No offense, but I am as well.  There is

no feeling of satisfaction of winning a battle when you know you can't be

killed."

            "I see.  I haven't thought of it that way.  And being a saiyan, I do

take pleasure in defeating an opponent."

            Again, Jordan nodded.  "So what are you going to do?"

            Zorpheus smiled.  "Maybe I'll go for immortality anyway.  I can

live for a few thousand years, and when I feel that I've had enough, I can

simply wish for it to be taken away.  I could really piss Russ off by doing

that," he said with a chuckle.

            Jordan shook his head and grinned.  "I'm not going to get involved

in this one.  Do what you please, and take care of yourself," he said,

slowing down and pointing toward a large spaceport.  "Your challenger

waits in there.  Just go to the front gate and ask for Pyramid, and that you'd

like to train with her.  The guards should have no problem accommodating

your request."

            Zorpheus smiled and extended his hand.  "Thanks a lot, my friend. 

You've been most helpful."

            Grasping his hand in his own, Jordan smiled, shook his hand, and

after a quick goodbye, flew off back in the direction from which they came.

            "Well, this place certainly looks lively," he said, looking at the

gigantic starships and transports that littered the ground.  Platforms nearly a

mile high were scattered throughout what seemed to be a ten square mile

patch of land, situated in a large valley.  Transports and starships of all

sizes, shapes, and colors were parked at many of the available ports, held in

place by tractor beams or sitting on the platforms, using their landing gear. 

Fighter bays were positioned in various places throughout the port, and

thousands of people were out on the tarmac, waving flags around or

directing traffic.

            A monstrous transport fired its engines and began to lift off from

one of the platforms, rumbling the ground and making an extreme amount

of noise.  It had several strips positioned around the outer hull of the ship,

and Zorpheus, being both a trekker and warsie, recognized them as phaser

arrays.  As it lifted off into the sky, it slowly turned toward Zorpheus's

position and began to move forward, making the noise level increase as it

brought the throttle up to the take-off position.  After a few moments, it

flew over Zorpheus's head, creating such a racket that Zorpheus had to

cover his ears, and even then the noise level was almost unbearable.  The jet

wash from its engines caused him to have to shield his face.  The transport

lumbered higher into the atmosphere and then vanished, a star-like flash

marking its position as it left the planet's gravity well and made it into outer

space.

            "Those things are damn loud.  Ugh," he mumbled, flying toward

the front gate and then touching down.

            Walking toward the checkpoint, he poked his head inside the

office.  "Hello in there.  Can someone assist me?"

            One of the guards who was on duty looked up from his control

panel and nodded his head.  "What can I do for you, sir?"

            "Greetings.  Can you tell me where I can find a soldier known as

Pyramid?  I was told she was stationed at this base."

            Cocking his eyebrow skeptically, the guard got to his feet and

made his way over to Zorpheus.  "Who wants to know?"

            "Um… Well, my name is Zorpheus, and I would like to fight her,

if that is possible," he said, meekly.

            The guard's eyes went wide for an instant, and then he started

chuckling.  Turning away from the door, he looked at the other guard who

was on duty.  "Hey Qeuedl, this guy wants to fight Pyramid.  Isn't that the

most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?"

            Having a mouthful of some beverage he was drinking, he

swallowed it in a deliberately loud gulp.  "What?  Why?  Do you have a

death wish?"

            Zorpheus stood by calmly and smiled.  "No.  Now, can you please

tell me where I can find Pyramid?"

            Ladre shook his head.  "It's your life, but she's probably going to

hand your ass to you in two seconds.  Well, Qeuedl, go ahead and page her. 

Tell her to come to the front entrance, and that there is a challenger here

who wants to fight her."

            "Yes sir," he answered, as he keyed a few commands and made the

announcement over the base-wide intercom system for everybody to hear. 

Several soldiers who were marching past the front gate stopped and looked

at the newcomer and shook their heads, but they stayed in position, wanting

to see the match.  Several other people were approaching the gate as well.

            Zorpheus poked his head back into the office.  "Why did you have

to go and do that?"

            "What?  You didn't want anybody to watch you get your ass

handed to you on a silver platter?  The entire base knows her and knows

how she can fight.  Whenever she fights, we televise it via closed circuit TV

to the base.  Everybody loves to see her open up a can of whoop-ass."

            Groaning to himself, Zorpheus shook his head.  "Alright, alright. 

Where is she?"

            "She should be out here any minute.  Very beautiful and very

talented, you'll know her when you see her."

            "I've never seen a female of your species before.  Can't you tell

that I'm not from your planet?" Zorpheus asked.

            "Now that you mention it, you resemble a saiyan."

            Zorpheus grinned.  "Correct."

            "HOWEVER, saiyans don't exist anymore.  Frieza destroyed their

home world."

            "And what you didn't know, didn't hurt us.  There was another

colonized world far, far away from planet Vegeta.  Our race has survived. 

And you're looking at a saiya-jin," Zorpheus said, proudly.

            Both soldiers looked at him in surprise.  "You're kidding!"

            Again, Zorpheus smiled.  "Nope.  And I bet you guys think the

legend of the super saiyan is also fake."

            "Of course.  None ever existed."

            "Man, you guys must have been really isolated or something.  A

saiyan warrior named Goku killed Frieza.  He became a super saiyan and

nearly annihilated him on Namek, and then Prince Vegeta's son, Trunks,

finished him off when he went to Earth.  Frieza is dead and super saiyans do

exist.  You're looking at one," Zorpheus said ominously, drawing himself

up to his full height as he felt a tap on his shoulder from behind.

            Turning around, he looked into the deep green eyes of Pyramid,

the strongest warrior on planet Xnafu.  She was a good six inches shorter

than Zorpheus, and she looked extremely unusual.  She did have female

anatomy, but it was placed under her scale armor, creating a rather unusual

bulge around her chest area.  Other than that, she pretty much looked like

Cell again, except her skin tone was more orange than red.  She smiled and

extended her hand.

            "Hello," she said, in a light, sweet voice, completely unlike the

voices of the males of her race, and causing Zorpheus to turn a few shades

of crimson.  "I'm Pyramid.  It's a pleasure to meet you, mister…?"

            "Um… err… eh…  My name is Zorpheus.  The pleasure is mine,"

he said, grasping her hand and giving it a gentle shake.  "Yes, a great

pleasure."

            She smiled and nodded her head.  "Shall we get busy?  I have

some things I need to take care of, so, no offense, but I have to end this

fairly quickly.  I hope you're stronger than you look.  Your clothes are a

mess."

            "Well, I fought against a guy named Jordan, which explains why

my clothes are torn to shreds.  I went easy on him.  I wanted to spar and not

destroy.  But it helps my power level if I get beat up several times. 

Anyway, I'm extremely surprised to learn that a female is the strongest on

the planet," Zorpheus said, a wide grin on his face as he scratched the back

of his head.  "Most of the time, it's a super huge guy who is the strongest."

            Giggling quietly to herself, she smiled.  "Well, I don't think I'll

disappoint you.  Ladre?"

            "Yes, ma'am?"

            "Do you have the security cameras on and recording?"

            "Yes, ma'am."

            "Okay, great.  Come on out this way, Zorpheus, so we don't do too

much damage to the base," she said, pulling on his arm and leading him

about a mile away.  "This should do nicely."

            Zorpheus bowed and removed his cape, exposing the hilt of his

sword and his incredibly muscular arms.  He cracked his knuckles and

stretched himself a bit.  "I'm ready to begin whenever you are."

            Before Zorpheus even knew what happened, she appeared in front

of him and planted a fist directly into his head, knocking him back almost a

quarter mile, creating a massive trench and an earthshaking crash.

            "Holy shit," he groaned, trying to pick himself up out of the dirt 

"Did anybody catch the number of that bus?" he muttered as he lay back

down in his hole, resting a moment.

            "Is that it?  I thought you said you were strong," she said, sounding

disappointed.  "Well, if that's it, I must be going.  Come back when you're

ready."

            "Hold up," Zorpheus said, standing up and brushing the dirt off his

armor.  He shook his head around to clear his head of the cobwebs that

swam around in his brain.

            "Yes?"

            "I had no idea you wanted to skip the warm-up.  Well, okay.  I'll

skip it too," he said, tightening his fists.  His hair stood on end and instantly

turned gold, his energy yellow, and his eye the unusual sea green.  Once

again, he became a super saiyan and looked at her, while her face expressed

absolute disbelief.

            "Oh, no way!!  You ARE a super saiyan?!"

            Zorpheus laughed.  "You're about the fifth person who has said

that."

            "I've never seen one before, and your energy has just gone through

the roof.  You are going to be a worthy challenger.  I haven't had a good

fight in years!" she said, clenching her fists and causing her violet ki to

explode around her in a fireball.  "Lets warm it up a few notches!"

            The ground under her feet disintegrated, forming a huge crater as

the dirt further away from her cracked and split in a violet earthquake.  Dirt

chunks and rocks flew away from her at outrageous speed, pelting Zorpheus

and causing him to shield his face once more.  Quickly putting up a ki

shield in front of him, he watched her power up to levels beyond what he

expected from a girl, but only about half as high as the maximum level the

computer onboard his spacepod indicated.  This was going to be an

interesting fight.

            "I'm ready now," she invited.

            Instantly appearing in front of her, he smashed his fist into her

head, blasting her back about a quarter mile.  She made a super long trench

when she landed on the ground.

            Everybody back at the base gasped in surprise, as nobody had ever

done that to her.  Slowly, she picked herself up out of the dirt and ground

her teeth.

            "Okay, wise guy.  Now we're even.  Let's get this show on the

road!"

            "Yes ma'am," Zorpheus said, and then lunged at her.

 

            Massive thunderclouds began forming over the Misaki household,

and a distant rumble of thunder marked the coming of the storm.  Lightning

began flashing through the sky, and the wind picked up, stirring the fallen

leaves and flower petals that were scattered on the ground.  Ryoko had

gotten off of the roof and teleported over to where Russ, Sasami, and

Washu were standing, as they watched the phenomenon in awe and fear. 

Tenchi and Aeka had burst out of the house as well, wondering what was

going on.  Several more thunderclaps rumbled the ground and in the pit of

their stomachs, as the clouds swirled like a hurricane over Tenchi's home. 

It grew darker, like it would be late in the day, and the temperature dropped

to about seventy degrees from the warm eighty-five that they had about five

minutes ago.

            "This can't be happening!" Sasami cried, clenching onto Russ's

arm.  The little princess was shaking with the rush of adrenaline and fear. 

"We killed him!  He's supposed to be dead!  Washu?!"

            "I don't understand.  The dimensional cannon made a direct hit!"

Washu said, summoning her phantom laptop, and then started typing in a

frenzy.  "There is no mistake.  It's definitely Kain."

            "WHAT?!" Tenchi yelled, now standing by everybody else. 

Ryoko stood next to him, as she looked skyward, watching the lightning

and listening to the thunder as it rumbled throughout the valley.  "How the

hell could he be alive?!"

            "I don't know!" Washu yelled, irritated.  "Calm down, everyone. 

We're going to have to get him back into subspace.  I'll have to find another

way to destroy him."

            Lightning began streaking down to the ground at an alarming rate,

zapping the same spot over and over as a black aura formed in the middle of

it.  The noise level was extremely high, causing Sasami to cover her ears

and scream in terror.  Russ stood next to her and laid his hand on her

shoulder, pulling her close and shielding her from the bright flashes and

loud thunderclaps.  The wind was incredible, forcing everybody shielded

his or her faces from the scene, except for Russ, who glared at the spectacle

in concentration.

            The ball of dark energy grew bigger, and several other radically

different bolts of lightning began streaking inward toward the ball,

energizing it with their energy.  A white face and two white hands slowly

became visible, as the wind slowly died down, the lighting ceased, and the

distant rumbles of thunder continued.

            Standing at a terrifying ten feet tall, Kain, the most power villain

that planet Jurai, Tenchi, or any other opposing force had ever faced, stood

in front of the terrified group, a crude, evil, heartless smile on his face.  He

laughed, but his mouth didn't move.  His eyes were nothing but black orbs

that held no emotion.  His body had no definition at all, and he looked only

like a black aura, always changing shape.

            Slowly, he raised a finger and pointed it directly at Tenchi.  "You,

and your family, are going to parish at my hand," he rumbled, his mouth

motionless, except for a chilling grin.

            Tenchi wrapped his fingers around the master key, and withdrew it

from his brown robe.  Ryoko, Washu, and Aeka all looked at him, their

faces terrified of what was going to happen.

            "Listen, everyone," he began, but was interrupted.

            "I know what you're thinking Tenchi, and the answer is no,"

Ryoko said, looking at him with her most serious expression.  "You're not

fighting him alone.  No way, no how."

            "I'm sorry, Ryoko, but this is the way it has to be.  Because of him,

my mother died before I really ever had a chance to know her.  And by all

rights, he should be dead too, but WE FAILED!" he yelled, tears forming at

the corners of his eyes.  "He took my mother away from me, and he'll pay

for it with his life.  I appreciate you wanting to help me, but it's none of

your business, and I don't want you involved.  It's my job to protect you,

not the other way around."

            Ryoko looked at him in stunned hurt.  "Tenchi!  You can't be

serious!  You CAN'T WIN!" she screamed.  "Let me help you!  Please!"

            "No.  Now…"

            "Tenchi, you're being stupid," Washu interrupted.  "It's going to

take all of us to beat him."

            "I have the lighthawk wings to protect me this time," Tenchi said,

igniting his sword.  The blue blade hummed with radiant Jurai energy and

cast a light blue glow on everybody's face.  "I'll be fine," he said, and then

smiled.

            "But Tenchi!" Ryoko started, and then stopped.  Watching him,

she realized that it was no use arguing with him.  "Tenchi, if you get killed,

I'm killing myself and coming after you, you idiot," she whispered.

            "Don't talk nonsense, Ryoko.  If I die, I want you to go on living. 

Leave this place and get as far away from him as you can.  Take everybody

with you and flee."

            Ryoko shook her head as several tears streamed down her cheeks. 

"I'm only alive now to be with you.  Without you, I have no reason to exist

anymore."

            Tenchi stopped and stared at her saddened face and realized how

much he meant to her.  Carefully caressing her face in his hand, he gave her

a light kiss on her lips, savoring the moment, as it could be his last.  "I'll be

careful Ryoko.  If your survival depends on mine, then I'll live.  I promise."

            Ryoko somehow managed to smile, and she sniffled, and then

nodded her head.  "Okay.  Go get him, Tenchi."

            "That goes for the rest of you.  Nobody help me, as I'm going to

do this on my own."

            "Are you sure you want to do this, Tenchi?" Russ asked.  "I

understand the warrior ways.  If you do not want help, we will not give it.  I

hope you yourself understand what you're asking."

            "I do."

            Russ stared into Tenchi's brown eyes, which were taken over by an

incredible amount of sheer anger, concentration, and determination.  After a

moment, he smiled.  "Okay.  Good luck, Tenchi."

            "You're not seriously going to let him fight alone, are you?!" Aeka

said, wide eyed as she stared into Russ's face.

            "Yes.  He feels his honor has been violated, and he feels the need

for vengeance for his mother.  I understand how he feels perfectly," Russ

said quietly, as Tenchi slowly made his way over to the dark form.

            "How could you?!" Aeka nearly yelled, becoming hysterical. 

"How could you possibly know what he's feeling?"

            Russ looked at her with the sad eyes that he usually had when he

was alone.  "I know."

            Taken aback, she looked down toward his hand, which was

clenched into a tight fist.  Turning her head away from him and toward

Tenchi, who stopped about halfway between the group and Kain, she

recited a silent prayer to herself, hoping for a miracle.

            "Don't worry, Aeka," Russ said, placing his free hand on her

shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.  "I'm sure he'll be fine."

            Aeka wrapped her arms around Russ and buried her face in his

green gi, hugging him tightly.  "I believe you, Russ."

            Russ watched Tenchi, as he stood alone, defiant, against what

seemed to be an invincible foe.  Raising his sword up and wrapping his

other hand around the hilt, he crouched down slightly.  "You caused my

mother's death, Kain."

            "She was the only one capable of stopping me.  But it wasn't

enough."

            "How did you survive the dimensional cannon?" Tenchi asked, his

hands becoming sweaty from clenching the sword Tenchi in an ironclad

grip.

            "It would've worked well, if the ball had detonated."

            Washu stared, horrified, at this revelation.

            "It didn't explode?" Tenchi asked, not wavering in the least.

            "No."

            "It's a shame you decided to come back here.  My mother is gone,

but I'm not, and I'm going to send you straight to hell."

            Kain smiled, sending chills down everybody's spine except for the

two warriors, Tenchi, and Russ.  Sasami remained clenched onto Russ's

waist, her face buried in his stomach, not wanting to turn and face the

scariest enemy she had ever known.

            "You're welcome to try, Prince of Jurai," Kain taunted.

            Tenchi leapt into the air, and with a loud battlecry, he brought his

sword down onto Kain's awaiting form.  However, the black mass caught

the sword and held Tenchi several feet above the ground.  As he dangled

there, a look of pure hatred on Tenchi's face, Kain, taking his free hand,

swatted Tenchi away into the nearby mountain where he slammed into the

ground, causing him to cough up a mouthful of slimy crimson.  It dribbled

down the side of his mouth as he clutched his chest in pain.

            "TENCHI!" Ryoko screamed, jumping into the air and beginning

to move toward him.  However, Russ instantly appeared in front of her with

his arms spread wide, almost causing Sasami and Aeka to fall over, as he

disappeared before they let go.

            "Land.  You will respect his wishes, if you truly love him," Russ

said, his face blank.  Kain noticed Russ for the first time and looked at him

curiously, wondering how he moved with such speed.

            Ryoko bared her fangs as her orange sword blazed into existence. 

She floated poised, ready to strike.  "Get out of my way, or I'll kill you,"

she growled.

            "Tenchi is fine, Ryoko.  Trust me," Russ said, his face dead

serious.

            "How the hell can he be fine?!  LOOK AT… him?" she said,

trailing off as Tenchi returned to his feet.  He had a slight grin on his face,

the trickle of blood still dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

            Russ remained directly in front of Ryoko.  "He'll be fine, Ryoko. 

Be patient, and trust in him."

            Ryoko looked back at Tenchi, as a symbol on his forehead

appeared and glowed with radiant energy.  That energy, which she had seen

only twice before, had helped save her life twice… once from Kagato, and

once from Dr. Clay.  Ryoko landed on the ground, extinguishing her sword

while Russ turned around in surprise, wondering what was happening with

Tenchi.

            The symbol on Tenchi's head grew brighter in intensity, as his

brown clothes faded away and was replaced with brightly colored battle

armor.  Three semi-transparent blades rotated around Tenchi's body, until

one attached itself to his arm, the other seemed to disappear, and when

Tenchi wrapped his hands around the third, it transformed into a really

unusual sword, which was solid and not made of energy.

            Russ watched this transformation in awe, his jaw hanging slightly

open.  "What just happened?"

            "Tenchi is now using the full power of Jurai.  Those are the

lighthawk wings that you've heard of before.  They only come into

existence when Tenchi's life or others are threatened, and is in a situation

where he can't win without them," Aeka explained, watching Tenchi as she

clung to Russ's arm.  Sasami turned her face toward Tenchi, and she dried

her tears.  "He hasn't been able to will them into existence, and it seems that

he he has to have a need for them.  At least, that's how it has gone so far."

            "The lighthawk wings are powerful, but I have no idea what

they're going to do against a being like Kain," Washu said, continually

taking readings from Tenchi, as this is what she had always tried to get him

to do.

            Out of nowhere, Kain charged an energy blast and flung it at

Tenchi, blanketing the area in blinding, white light.  It raced toward him

and slammed into Tenchi's sword, and then vanished.  The lighthawk wing

hummed as it absorbed the energy, and then dissipated it.

            "What?!" Kain said in surprise.  "So this is the fabled power of the

Lighthawk Wings.  Very impressive."

            Swinging the sword around his body, Tenchi leapt into the air once

again and this time flew over to Kain, making one long swipe down the

center of his body, but Kain was gone.  Tenchi landed on the ground and

looked above him, where the black mass was speeding toward him with is

arm outstretched.  Casually, Tenchi stepped aside as Kain drove his fist and

fingers into the ground in a thunderous explosion, creating a small crater.

            Kain returned to a standing position and smiled.  Instantly tossing

another energy ball at Tenchi, he vanished and re-appeared behind him, and

drove his hand to the back of Tenchi's neck.  However, the lighthawk wing

that was attached to his arm as a shield appeared in front of Kain's hand and

blocked the attack.  The contact of Kain's hand and the lighthawk wing

sparked an energy surge that sent Kain back several paces, causing him to

roar in pain.  His hand and Tenchi's lighthawk wing were both smoking, but

both unscathed.  The energy blast that was fired had hit Tenchi's armor and

fizzled out.

            Once again, Kain made another offensive attack, using a

combination of an energy blast to Tenchi's back, vanishing and reappearing

in another spot and launching a second energy blast, then disappeared and

reappeared in a third spot, and again tried to drive his hand into Tenchi's

head.  However, the lighthawk wing that was behind Tenchi absorbed the

energy ball that Kain launched, Tenchi's armor absorbed the second energy

attack, and Tenchi used his sword to block Kain's hand, which when they

made contact created the same feedback effect, knocking him back several

paces.

            "What is he doing, Russ?" Sasami asked, watching the two through

frightened eyes.

            "Kain is probing him for a weakness.  So far, he hasn't found one. 

Those Lighthawk Wings offer a great deal of protection.  I wonder what

else they can do," Russ explained, still watching the confrontation in

complete focus.

            "Unfortunately, I think Tenchi does have a limit.  There may be a

level that Tenchi cannot block, but Kain is fully capable of generating. 

Right now, he hasn't even begun using his power," Washu described,

pulling up diagrams on her computer screen, continually taking

measurements.  However, she wasn't the only one watching the fight.

 

            "My Lady, the boy is using the Lighthawk Wings once again."

            "It's been a while since he used them last."

            "Yes.  Shall we take a record of the battle?"

            "I want to learn what my sister has been up to, and how her

weapon is progressing."

            "I understand.  I will begin recording the battle at this moment. 

Setting up all necessary scans and measuring devices.  Setting timeframe."

            Smiling, she watched the battle between Kain and Tenchi begin to

unfold, however, her servant, D3, noticed something odd.

            "Excuse me, Lady Tokimi, but there is something strange about

some of the individuals.  Tenchi has an extraordinary amount of Jurai power

and the foe he is fighting, known as Kain, also has an unusual amount of

dark energy.  However, there is one other there who has a large amount of

energy as well.  LIFE energy, or ki energy."

            Her smile slowly vanished.  "Which individual?"

            "That one, My Lady," D3 said, indicating on the screen.  A

computer outline traced the outer edges of Russ, who stood next to Aeka

and Sasami.  Several diagrams came up, measuring his current energy level,

muscle mass, and estimated potential energy levels.

            "Interesting.  Who is he?"

            "He is known as a saiyan.  We currently have no name.  However,

their race is supposed to be extinct.  We do have sketchy records of another

saiyan from almost a thousand years ago, known as Kakarrot, who was

supposed to be the most powerful being in existence at one point," D3

described.  "However, we have no data on how much energy he could

produce, or how powerful the combatants were at his time when he was

alive."

            "Hmmm…  We will have to see what happens.  I've never seen a

live saiyan, and it'll be interesting to see what he can do if he becomes

involved."

            D3 nodded and faded from existence, leaving Tokimi to watch the

battle.

 

            Thunderous shockwaves and blurs of motion marked the

continuing battle between Zorpheus and Pyramid.  At this point, the battle

had gone over thirty minutes, both participants finally starting to show signs

of fatigue from exercising their muscles to the extreme, but Pyramid more

so than Zorpheus.  They blurred into existence, exchanged a fast and furious

array of punches and kicks, and then vanished again, several shockwaves

surrounding their former position.  The ground from their battle was turned

into what could've passed for the surface of a moon, littered with craters

and other holes.  In one spot, lava was spewing up from a fissure, causing

volcanic ash and soot to fly into the violet atmosphere.

            Pyramid reappeared and fired a small, yellow ball of energy at

Zorpheus, who swatted it away and returned the attack with a small ball of

his own.  She swatted it away and then screamed in pain when Zorpheus

instantly appeared in front of her and buried his fist into her shoulder. 

Flying back several meters, she stuck her foot out and rammed Zorpheus in

the face, sending him to the ground.

            Watching Pyramid come screaming down out of the sky, Zorpheus

quickly returned to his feet and darted away, causing her to crash land into

his basin.  Quickly returning to the air, Zorpheus sensed something behind

him, but before he could react, he was knocked backward from a punch to

his face.  Realizing that she had used her enhanced technique to appear

behind him and then in front of him, he spat out a mouthful of blood and

grinned, balling up his fist and Zanzokening directly in front of her,

slamming his foot into her chest.  Pyramid flew back several dozen meters,

and then got a psychotic look on her face.

            Becoming infuriated, Pyramid used her anger to fuel her strength. 

Rushing him at her maximum speed, she began a vicious onslaught of

punches and kicks.  All of them looking like a blur, she became even more

frustrated when Zorpheus simply dodged every attack, and to make matters

worse, he was smiling the whole time.  Pushing herself to her limit, she

finally managed to land a punch on Zorpheus's face, and then landed nearly

every punch after that.  Pounding Zorpheus into pulp, she slowly caused

him to fall back to the ground, pounding him every inch of the way.  He

was too dazed to even put up a defense, as she kicked him in what felt like

five places at once.  Placing her hands together, she axe-handled him into

his back, sending him down to the ground.

            Picking himself back up, Zorpheus wiped a trickle of blood from

the corner of his mouth, and continued to smile.  Pyramid landed in front of

him, breathing heavily.

            "You are much stronger than I thought," Pyramid said, standing a

short distance away from Zorpheus, who was poised in a defensive stance,

awaiting her next attack.  Her toga-like clothing was torn in several places

and bruises littered her body, but for the most part, she felt they were evenly

matched.  "I haven't had a challenge like this before.  It feels good."

            "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Zorpheus said, then

zanzokened behind her, swinging his foot at her side, but she vanished. 

Quickly turning around and throwing a fist out behind him, he landed his

fist in her gut, causing her to double over in pain.  Capitalizing on the

situation, he speedily brought his knee up and planted it into her chest,

knocking more wind out of her.  Withdrawing his knee, he slammed it again

into her chest, repeated it several more times, making her become almost

immobile.  Winding up his fist, he slammed it into the side of her head,

sending her careening off into the valley wall, where she crashed and

created a large hole in the ground.

            "MASENKO HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" he screamed,

sending the yellow beam into the hole where it exploded, causing an entire

section of the valley wall to vaporize in a massive shockwave, sending out

debris as far as the military spaceport.  Standing up straight, he panted

heavily, quickly catching his breath from straining himself.  He patiently

waited for the dust to clear, and he knew that Pyramid was still alive since

he could still sense her energy, but it was substantially reduced.

            After a moment, a massive earthquake shook the ground, and a

huge, violet explosion erupted from the middle of the collapsed

mountainside.  Pyramid screamed at the top of her voice, pushing out a

tremendous amount of energy as she cleared out the rubble from her resting

place.  Standing tall and having blue blood trickling from several places on

her face, she clenched her fists and screamed, sending her energy as high as

it would go.  Her face looked completely insane as her energy level

continued to rise.  Moments later she finished, her energy burning brightly

around her battered and bruised form.

            Zorpheus grinned, and powered up to her new level, effortlessly. 

His golden energy pulsed around him in yellow flame as he prepared for her

attack.

            Racing toward him with a terrifying battlecry, she tried to plant her

fist into Zorpheus's face, but he put his hand out in front of him and

blocked it, catching her own fist in his hand, a massive shockwave

emanating from their point of contact.  Balling up her other fist, she tried

again to hit him, but he caught her fist in his other hand.  He then started to

squeeze, making pain shoot through her fingers, hands, and wrists, causing

her to howl in pain.  Not straining very hard, Zorpheus continued to apply

pressure, but Pyramid clenched her jaw tightly, gritting her teeth and trying

her best to fight back.  Both of their energy auras danced and mingled with

each other, changing colors where they touched.

            Looking Zorpheus in the eye, she brought her leg up and planted it

right between both of his legs.  However, it didn't have the desired effect. 

Smiling, Zorpheus released one of her hands, doubled up his fist and

punched her in the jaw, sending her flying into the air.  Zanzokening above

her, he spun around and put his leg out and smashed it into her head,

sending her back to the soil where she impacted, making another fissure in

the ground.  He followed it up with a blue generic energy ball, causing a

small explosion on top of her.

            Zorpheus landed on the ground in front of her and smiled, folding

his arms over his chest as he waited for her to return to her feet, which this

time was much slower than the rest.

            "Explain something to me," Pyramid said quietly, trying to keep

herself steady as she stood in her hole.  "How come you didn't feel anything

when I kicked you in the crotch?"

            "Industrial strength jock strap," he replied, simply.

            "And why would you keep one down there?" she countered.

            Zorpheus grinned.  "Being a ladies man, I've been kicked there

quite a few times, so I just got sick of feeling that kind of pain.  I put on the

jock strap, no more pain."

            Pyramid managed a weak smile, and then rose into the air, slowly. 

Landing on the far side of her depression, she placed both her hands out in

front of her.  "It's time to finish this with one final attack.  Block it if you

think you can, Zorpheus.  You are the strongest fighter I've ever faced, and

it has been an honor to meet you."

            Zorpheus bowed humbly.  "Thank you.  But before you go doing

what you're about to do, how are your medical facilities?"

            Looking at him in curiosity, she lowered her arms to her sides. 

"How come?"

            "I'm going to let you hit me with your attack," he responded,

standing up straight and lowering his energy level significantly.  "The

closer I come to death from a fight, the stronger I get when I heal."

            "I've heard about that.  So it's true then?"

            "Yes.  Even though I'm not a hundred percent saiyan, it is one of

the dominant traits that had surfaced within me.  If you hit me with your

attack and nearly kill me, when I heal, I'll be considerably stronger,"

Zorpheus explained.

            "I see.  Well, to answer your question, we have the newest

regeneration tanks that are available to the military.  It should be able to

heal physical wounds on a person of your size in as little as twenty

minutes."

            "Excellent.  That sounds good."  Zorpheus spread his arms wide

and smiled.  "Hit me with your best shot," he challenged.

            "One last question," she began.  "How much were you holding

back?  Seriously?"

            "Heh.  I'm at about half strength right now.  If I had gone to full

strength, you wouldn't have had a chance," Zorpheus said quietly.

            "I see.  Thanks again, Zorpheus."

            "Not a problem.  Lets see what this attack of yours is made of,"

Zorpheus invited, turning his palms outward and relaxing slightly.

            Pyramid grinned weakly, and then nodded her head.  Again placing

both of her hands out in front of her, cupping each hand and pointing them

toward each other in front of her midsection, she began to charge her most

powerful energy attack.  Red steaks of energy began to arc between her two

palms as a small ball formed in between them.

            "ITSU…" she yelled, as the ball of energy grew in size, intensity,

and brightness.  Zorpheus raised both of his eyebrows at the radical amount

of power this attack was generating, and he mentally prepared himself to be

blown away, but not killed.

            "…MASHA…"

            Her voice echoed around the area, making it all the way back to the

military base, where every single soldier had stopped what he or she were

doing to watch the finale of their battle royal.  They had never, ever seen

her make this attack on a person before, and they couldn't believe that the

individual that she had fought was able to take her on.  However, they

couldn't quite figure out why he stood there with his arms spread wide,

awaiting her attack.

            "…ZELU…"

            The red energy between her hands had gotten so intense that she

could barely contain it any longer.  Her hands were straining with all the

willpower she could muster, trying to keep from losing control and letting it

explode on her instead of Zorpheus.  It was so powerful and bright that it

could be seen from orbit.  Clouds and wind churned and spun near and

around her, as she finished charging the most powerful attack that her race

had created.  Pyramid looked at Zorpheus, her face contorted with strain,

and she managed a chilling smile.

            "…KUNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" she screamed, releasing the red

orb from her hands and flinging it at Zorpheus.  It was extremely small,

moved slowly, but had an astounding amount of energy gathered in it. 

Zorpheus's eyes went wide as he increased his energy to a safer level, and

watched the ball move toward him.  When it got to about a foot away from

him it detonated, creating a concentrated but utterly extraordinary explosion

that peeled away every living thing within a mile radius.  Pyramid shielded

herself, but she had hardly any energy left to defend herself from her own

attack, and as a result she was blown away like a leaf in a hurricane.  The

entire planet shook from the ferocity of the shockwave that was created, and

the noise from the explosion was deafening.

            The spectacle lasted nearly thirty seconds until the light slowly

faded away, revealing all the damage that was done.  Nothing was left

except for Zorpheus, who was barely breathing.  He lay in the bottom of a

bowl, the heat of the Itsumashazelukuno bomb turning the sand, clay, and

dirt into dirty glass.  Bleeding from several wounds on his body, he had

become normal during the explosion, his hair and eyes having returned to

black and his muscle mass becoming normal once again.  He was badly

burned in several places, especially his arms and legs.  The artificial arm

was sparking from several gouges that were caused by flying debris.

            Several thousand feet away, Pyramid somehow managed to drag

herself to her feet, also singed in several places, breathing heavily.  Barely

able to make herself walk over to the glass crater, she stumbled and fell

face-first into the dirt.  Her vision went black as she passed out from

exhaustion, the distant sound of a siren wailing in her ears.

 

            Staring each other down, both of their eyes filled with intense

hatred, Kain and Tenchi continued to square off, neither making any

progress on the other.  They had punched, kicked, and sliced at each other,

but neither had acquired any physical damage as of yet.  It had been a slow

battle as Kain was still testing Tenchi's abilities, and hadn't used the bulk of

his energy as of yet.  Sasami hung onto Russ's arm and Aeka stood very,

very close to him, but not touching.  Ryoko stood nearby, her face a mask

of concern.  She desperately wanted to go out there and help, but she knew

that she didn't stand a chance against a being like Kain, and at Tenchi's

current level, she knew that he had far surpassed her.  Washu concentrated

on her computer and the battle, continually taking readings and making a

visual record.  She had devoted nearly all the processing power of her lab to

measuring the battle.  Azaka and Kamidake were nearby, quietly conversing

amongst themselves.  Katsuhito was still up in the shrine, however, he

watched the battle unfold from the top of his hill, silently encouraging

Tenchi to fight onward.

            Skipping a few steps forward and then charging the black mass,

Tenchi swung his sword in a horizontal slash, trying to cut Kain in half,

however, Kain leapt back several meters, letting the blade whip through his

former position.  Gathering a small, white energy ball in his hand, Tenchi

flung it at the ground directly underneath Kain, where it exploded in a

vertical tower of white energy.  When the brightness faded away, Kain was

still there, smiling that hellish grin of his.

            "I've had enough of this.  If I cannot defeat you like this, I'll do

what I was going to do with your mother, and ABSORB YOU!" he roared,

drawing himself up to his full height and opening the white portal within his

mass.  Acting like a vacuum cleaner, it began to create a strong wind, trying

to push Tenchi toward him.

            "TENCHI!" Ryoko yelled.  "Fight it!  Come on!  You have to do

something!"

            Kain chuckled to himself, his voice sounding deep enough to

rumble the ground he stood on.  "After I absorb you, house of Jurai, I'll

absorb your friends as well," he taunted.

            Tenchi stood in front of him, his hair being blown forward from

the rush of the wind, but he didn't move.  Not from the force of the wind,

anyway.  Slowly making his way toward Kain, Tenchi steadily placing one

foot in front of the other, he walked over to the mass and stopped about

three feet from the portal opening, everybody gasping in horror at how

reckless Tenchi was being.

            Kain looked at him in curiosity, and then in horror.  Tenchi

brought his sword up and brought it down through the blackness, causing

purple goop to spew from Kain.  Roaring in pain and anguish, Kain closed

the portal and then drove his fist into Tenchi's stomach.  Using an

incredible amount of force, he managed to partially break through the

lighthawk wing armor, and Tenchi was smashed back several hundred feet

where he skidded to a halt, somehow managing to keep his balance and

remain on his feet.  However, Tenchi was severely weakened from such a

forceful blow, that one of the lighthawk wings flickered for several

moments, and then returned to its normal phase.

            "So, you DO have a weakness, Prince of Jurai," Kain said,

covering his wound, which was near his right shoulder.

            Tenchi watched him in determined anger, his face betraying the

fear he suddenly felt in his mind.  Standing up straight once again, he made

his lighthawk sword disappear, and then placed both of his hands directly in

front of him as his body became contorted with strain, forcing a tremendous

amount of energy into an orange ball that had formed in front of him.  Just

before he flung it at his arch nemesis, his target disappeared.  Looking

around in astonishment, he felt a sharp pain in his back, where Kain had

buried his fingers into Tenchi's lung.  Unable to scream, he coughed up a

mouthful of blood as Kain withdrew his fingers out of Tenchi's back, his

white hand covered in crimson, and Tenchi fell forward, his face in the dirt. 

However, he didn't lose any of the energy that he had gathered.  Rolling

onto his back, he placed both his hands directly at the ten-foot tall demon

and released it all at once.  An ultimately bright orange light flooded the

entire valley, causing nearly everybody to shield his or her eyes from the

incredible amount of raw Jurai power that Tenchi released.  An unholy roar

from Kain was the last thing they heard while the entire area became a

blinding, orange light.

            Several moments later the glare ceased, and everybody could see

what was left.  Tenchi lay on the ground, his armor gone.  Cuts, abrasions,

and bruises littered his body, a small river of blood coming from both

Tenchi's mouth, nose, and a small cut from his forehead over his left eye. 

His breathing was labored, but he was alive.

            There was no sight or sign of Kain anywhere.  No trace of a fried

corpse or anything physical from him.

            Everybody ran up to Tenchi and he opened his eyes, and then

smiled.  "I did it," he whispered, his voice garbled.  "I actually did it."

            "Yes you did, Tenchi," Ryoko said, smiling.  "I can't believe it,

but you've done it.  I'm so proud of you.  Goddamn, I love you more than

anything.  Praise Tsunami that you survived."

            "I'm afraid it isn't over," Russ said, his face dead serious. 

Everybody turned to stare at him in horror, except for Washu.

            "It is over.  Where is Kain if it isn't over?"

            Russ glared at her.  "I know you can sense energy.  I can still sense

Kain, clear as day.  He's been weakened, but he is still very much alive."

            Washu reached into a subspace portal and withdrew Russ's

scouter.  "This will tell me for sure.  I enhanced it too.  It can go five times

higher than what it was capable of before," Washu said, placing it on her

right ear.  It stuck itself to her head, and she turned it on.  The little screen

came to life and began calculating energy levels for everybody.  However, it

found an energy level much higher than anybody else's, but it could not

find a source.  After a moment, it beeped, displaying an arrow to the right,

and it recalculated the super high energy level.  Turning her head toward a

forming black mass, she stepped back in horror.

            "No…" Washu said, unable to articulate an objection any better

than that.

            Russ stood over Tenchi's broken and battered form.  "Are you able

to continue the fight?"

            "What the hell are you talking about?!  Look at him!  He can't

fight anymore!" Ryoko yelled, clenching her fist and venting her pent up

stress on Russ.

            Ignoring her outburst, Russ continued to look into Tenchi's eyes. 

He was barely able to move.  "Do you want me to finish this for you?  I can,

but only if you give me permission to."

            Tenchi smiled and nodded his head.

            "Okay.  You did very well.  I'm extremely impressed, but now it is

my turn," he said, turning toward the little blue haired princess.  "Sasami? 

Remember the healing technique I showed you?  Use it on Tenchi.  Now. 

He needs help," Russ ordered, looking at the little princess.

            Sasami stepped back a pace and looked at Russ, looking very small

and scared.  "I can't!  I haven't had any practice or anything.  I don't know

how!" she objected.

            Russ smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder while the dark aura

became much larger several hundred feet away.  "You have everything you

need to make this work.  Tenchi needs your help.  You can do this," Russ

encouraged.

            Sasami gazed at him as if he were a saint.  Becoming determined,

she nodded her head.  "I'll do my best," she said, approaching Tenchi. 

"Lay still.  I hope this works."

            "It'll work, Sasami.  You're both of Jurai," Russ said, simply. 

"But it won't work on me, unfortunately.  But I'll be fine," he said with a

smile.

            "Let me help you, Russ," Aeka asked looking determined.  "I can

help you."

            Turning toward her, looking her in the eye, he shook his head. 

"Don't be rediculous.  You stay back here and protect everybody.  I'll be

fine."

            "But…"

            "No," Russ interrupted her.  "Just do as I say, and everything will

be fine."

            Clenching her fists, she hung her head.  Ryoko approached her and

laid a hand on her shoulder.  "He's right.  Tenchi couldn't do it, so the only

one left is he.  And I believe he can do it."

            "I feel so useless," Aeka said quietly, hanging her head.  "All of

these problems are always caused by you or I, but we're never able to help."

            "Shhh…" Ryoko whispered.  "Look."

            Raising her eyes to where Russ had walked out to, she fixated her

gaze on the black form that stood several hundred meters in front of him. 

However, the mass had continued to grow, and it formed into a huge,

horrid, black dragon.  Nearly forty feet tall, it roared, purple blood still

present on its body as it locked its gaze on Tenchi, and then on the

individual who separated himself from the group.

            "Are you of the house of Jurai?" it rumbled, and then hissed, his

purple tongue darted in and out of his mouth.

            "No.  But you're going to fight me now.  And lose," Russ replied.

            Clenching his fists, Russ's face became a hard glare, as several

yellow bolts of lightning streaked through the sky.  Kain watched him in

amazement, wondering where this tremendous buildup of energy was

coming from.

            The scouter over Washu's ear beeped a warning and focused on

Russ.  The numbers climbed at an alarming rate.  Fifty million… seventy

million… eighty million… ninety million… one hundred million… and

upon reaching its limit, it exploded.  Washu shouted an obscenity at the

surprise, but she was uninjured.

            "What the hell is happening to him?!" Washu said, her eyes wider

than they had ever been.  "That scouter could go up to a hundred million,

and he just made it explode!"

 

            "What is happening to that man, D3?" Tokimi asked, continuing to

monitor the battle.  She had watched the entire fight, and at one point,

expressed fear at Tenchi's abilities.

            "I do not know, my lady," he replied.  "His energy keeps going up. 

He has far surpassed Tenchi, and he's reaching the limit of our equipment."

            "Keep measuring him.  I want to see what is happening and I want

a complete readout of his potential."

            "Yes, Lady Tokimi."

 

            Everybody continued to watch him in terrified awe, as a bolt of

lightning struck the ground nearby and grew more intense in the

atmosphere.  His aura had become visible, however, this time it pulsed

instead of roared around him.  His energy was golden, instead of his usual

green or red.  The wind picked up around him a little and his hair stood on

end, as if it were reaching to the sky.  In a blinding golden flash and a shout

from Russ, his hair changed from black to gold, his muscle mass doubled,

and his eyes became sea green.  As the flash dissipated, he stood, gold

energy pulsing around him and his golden hair waving in the wake of his

energy.

 

            The monitors that were watching Russ began to short circuit and

explode from his awesome transformation to super saiyan.  After a

hailstorm of sparks and flying glass only one monitor remained, fizzling,

barely able to hold a steady picture.

            "I don't believe it.  There is an individual who possesses far more

power than we thought," Tokimi said, calmly, but her face denied the fear

that flooded her mind.

            D3 watched dumbfounded, unable to come up with an explanation.

            "Do not take any more readings of him.  Just make a visual record

for now and we'll have to estimate those energy levels," Tokimi ordered.

            "Yes, my lady," he said, turning off all the scanning equipment.

 

            Waking up from what felt like a dream world, Zorpheus felt no

more pain.  Feeling rather light and warm all over, he drew in another deep

breath and let it out slowly, and then opened his eyes.  Realizing that he was

floating in water, he looked through the glass into the medical bay of the

military's spaceport.  Across the room from him, Pyramid was also sitting

in a regeneration tank, just then regaining consciousness.  Her eyes opened

slowly and then fixated on Zorpheus.  He smiled, and then realized that he

still had an oxygen mask covering half his face, so he gave her a thumbs up. 

She did the same, and they both patiently waited for the doctors to release

them from their tanks.  The tanks began beeping and a nurse entered the

room, noting their physical condition, and then programming the tanks to

drain.  A few moments later, the doors to both capsules opened, releasing

them from their imprisonment.  However, there was a slight problem.

            "Aw, son of a…  WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES!?" Zorpheus

roared, suddenly realizing he was butt naked in front of several women. 

Quickly covering his private parts, his entire face became the shade of a

well-done lobster, not even realizing that his artificial arm had been

repaired.

            However, Pyramid didn't have any qualms about getting out of her

capsule.  She looked at Zorpheus and giggled.  "There's nothing to be

ashamed of.  We're all adults here," she said slyly, making her own face

blush slightly and causing Zorpheus's face to almost turn purple.

            "ARE YOU NUTS?" he shouted, looking like he was going to pass

out.  "If I were in front of guys, it wouldn't matter as much!"

            Again, Pyramid giggled.  "Embarrassed to be seen naked in front

of a woman?  Especially one that almost blew you away?"

            Zorpheus shook his head rapidly and tried to hide behind the

capsule.  "No, that's not it, now will someone PLEASE bring me some

clothes?"

            The nurse shook her head and smiled, and then reached behind her

that had a chair with a fresh change of clothes on it.  She tossed it over the

tank to Zorpheus, who speedily put all of it on.  It wasn't quite his style of

clothing, being a simple toga, but it was better than nothing.  Slowly

coming out from behind the capsule, he looked at Pyramid, who was

smiling widely.  Suddenly realizing that she was still naked, his eyes

wandered downward to her chest.

            "Mmmm, like what you see, Zorphy?" she asked, striking a pose.

            Snapping his head up and looking her in the eyes, he again started

blushing.  "No.  I mean, yes.  I mean… I mean… uh…  I have to go to the

bathroom!" he said, racing out of the room and into the hallway.

            "What a strange man," Pyramid said to the nurse, sounding

disappointed.  "I guess he's not interested.  A pity."  She put on her usual

style of toga, as she had several pairs from having her clothes get

disintegrated during her battles.

            "I don't know," the nurse said, smiling.  "I've never seen anyone

turn as red as he did when he got an eyeful of you, and us of him.  I think

it's rather cute."

            Sighing dreamily to herself, Zorpheus walked back into the room,

his hair dripping wet.

            "Um, what happened to you?" Pyramid asked.

            Zorpheus waved his hand in front of her face.  "Just don't ask," he

mumbled, trying to not look at her.  "At least you're dressed now."

            Pyramid smiled and grasped his hand.  "Would you please join me

for dinner?  I'd very much like that," she invited.

            Again blushing, he nodded his head.  "Okay.  What's on the menu

for tonight?"

            "Well, what would you prefer?  We have cuisines from several

well known planets, including some really rare stuff from a planet far away

from here, known as Terra."

            Zorpheus cocked his eyebrow and looked at her curiously.  "That

planet wouldn't happen to also be known as Earth now, would it?"

            Looking at him in surprise, she nodded her head.  "Yes, actually. 

In reality, I really like their food.  Even though it doesn't quite satisfy our

nutritional needs, it tastes really good."

            "I guess you got most of this stuff from the Americas then, am I

right?" Zorpheus said, grinning.

            "Right again!  Come on," Pyramid said, leading Zorpheus out of

the medical bay by the arm.  "We'll go to my living quarters and eat there

where it's nice and private."

            "Uhhh, couldn't we just go to a cafeteria or something?" Zorpheus

asked nervously, his eyes glancing downward to her rear end.

            "Don't be so shy, Zorpheus.  I don't bite," she whispered

sensually, causing his skin to break out in goosebumps.  Even though he

tried to make himself not think about perverted things, he started to become

aroused anyway, even though he continually commanded himself to make it

stop.

            "Are you nervous?" she giggled, now holding onto his entire arm,

resting her orange head on his large shoulder.  "We're just going to eat

dinner.  That's all… unless you want something… else… to happen," she

whispered seductively.

            Zorpheus swallowed loudly, his face becoming redder by the

minute.  He began to question himself as to why he shouldn't accept such

an offer, after all, he IS the lady's man.  The Love Machine is what Russ

used to call him.  However, he was unable to complete his train of thought

as they had reached Pyramids quarters.  She keyed in the unlock code and

the door slid back into the wall, revealing absolutely extravagant living

arrangements.  The color scheme of the entire living room was gray, black,

and white, but it suited it well.  A huge entertainment center with a massive

TV, stereo, and other various electronics were placed in it.  A black leather

couch was seated across from it, and a beautiful marble coffee table was

sitting in front of that.  A loveseat sat adjacent to the couch, and a recliner

was situated across from the loveseat.  It all sat on a gorgeous oriental style

rug, which was all designed in gray and black.  The walls were lined with

shelves had quite a few items on them, including models of spaceships,

several clocks, and other rare collectors items.  Beautiful flowering plants

were spaced perfectly throughout the room, being accented by recessed

lighting in the ceiling.  Blacklights were also used to accent the color of the

plants, making them almost glow.  Moving onto the kitchen, crystal

glassware was lined up in the cupboards, pots and pans of all types were

hanging on the wall, and the kitchen itself was absolutely huge.  A six-

burner stove with an oversized chefs oven was set into the counter, and an

extra large sink was near that.  The counter itself was nearly twenty feet

long, and a large island sat on the other side of that, providing even more

counter space and yet another stove.  It was absolutely astounding.

            Standing there gawking, Zorpheus barely heard Pyramid ask him if

he wanted something to drink.  "Oh, uh, sure.  Orange juice, if you have it,

please," he managed to ask, scratching the back of his head and smiling.

            "Sure," she said, moving over to a hole in the wall.  "Two orange

juices, cold," she commanded the replicator.  It hummed quietly and two

tall glasses of OJ appeared, which she quickly grasped.  She handed one of

the glasses over to Zorpheus and took a sip out of hers.

            Thankfully, the orange juice didn't have any pulp, Zorpheus

thought to himself.  He was startled out of his thoughts when Pyramid led

him over to the couch and made him sit down.  She took a seat right next to

him and took another sip of her juice.

            "So, how do you like my living quarters, Zorpheus?  It's quite a bit

overkill for me, but I like it," she said, scooting over, trying to get a little

closer to Zorpheus, who watched her nervously out of the corner of his eye.

            "It's extremely nice.  I know Russ would really like the color

scheme too.  It's really, really nice," Zorpheus said, glancing once again

around the room, taking in his large surroundings.  "But no offense, I

thought you'd prefer something a little more… colorful."

            "I got the plants to break up the three primary colors of this room,"

Pyramid said, gesturing to the plants.  A huge picture window was behind

the couch that gave a huge view of the spaceport.  Strangely enough, it was

super quiet inside her quarters.

            "I see.  Very nice," he said, when his stomach croaked.  He

blushed slightly from embarrassment, and put his hand behind his head.  "I

guess I'm kind of hungry.  I haven't eaten in three months," Zorpheus

explained.

            Pyramid looked at him in shock.  "Three months?!  My word, I

will have to make you a huge feast in that case," she said, standing up and

rushing to the kitchen.  "Unfortunately, I don't have any fresh ingredients to

make anything, so we're going to have to eat replicated food.  But these

ones are state of the art and can make anything taste perfectly, and not only

that, it can make as much as we want.  I don't know about you, but I have a

voracious appetite!"

            "You'd never know it by looking at you," Zorpheus said, suddenly

realizing a nanosecond too late of what he said.

            Pyramid blushed.  "Thank you for the compliment, Zorphy.  Now,

what shall we eat for today?" she said, hitting several buttons on the

replicator, programming it to make large quantities of food.

 

            Lightning danced though the sky, clouds gathered and swirled

around the entire valley, and the sky became an inky black, except for the

horizon that glowed.  Tenchi, Ryoko, Aeka, Sasami, and the two guardians

looked at Russ in complete awe and fear, wondering what had happened to

him.  For the first time since he arrived, he became a super saiyan.

            "What is this… energy?" Kain said to himself, looking at the

golden haired fighter who stood a couple hundred feet away from him.  He

had never encountered another being capable of generating energy that

could match the entire Jurian fleet, except during his original capture.  But

this guy was doing it all by himself.  No galaxy police, no Jurians, just him. 

No external sources, nothing.

            "You're dead, Kain," Russ growled, staring at the monstrous

dragon.  "Get ready to meet your maker."

            Kain smiled, baring the hundreds of teeth that lined his jaw. 

Gathering up an astronomical amount of energy, he released a massive blast

through his mouth, aimed directly at Russ.  Everybody had screamed as the

blast impacted where Russ was standing, sending up a huge explosion and

rocking the local area, breaking windows on the Misaki home.  Tenchi was

healed at this point and he returned to his feet, summoning his lighthawk

wings and shielding everybody from the resulting shockwave that erupted

from the point of impact.  They watched the spectacle in horror, as they had

never seen Kain use that amount of energy before.  The dust and debris was

swiftly cleared away though, as the wind was quite strong.  What they saw

totally blew their minds.  Russ floated directly over the blast site, as the

ground had cratered under him.  He was completely unscathed.  Untouched,

as if nothing had even happened.  The ground directly behind him was

perfectly fine, also untouched.

            "WHAT?!" Kain roared, staring at him in utter surprise. 

"Impossible!"

            Russ floated to the edge of the crater closest to Kain and landed,

his poker face on and his hands at his sides, not even taking up any kind of

defensive or offensive stance.  His ki continued to burn brightly around

him, illuminating the nearby ground.

            Snarling menacingly, Kain pulled back his arm, and taking careful

aim, he drove it directly at Russ, intending to smash him into paste. 

Everybody gasped when the claw stopped directly in front of Russ.  He held

it in his left hand, effortlessly.  Kain continued to apply more and more

pressure, straining to cause Russ damage, but he couldn't move.

            Changing his poker face to an ice-cold grin, Russ squeezed the

claw, causing a sharp pain to lance back into Kain as he roared in

frustration.  Squeezing harder, and as if breaking a toothpick, he tore off the

claw, causing a massive spurt of purple blood to pour out of the hole where

the claw used to be.  Kain fell back, roaring in a horrid amount of pain. 

Tossing the claw into the air, Russ blasted it into nothingness with a small

beam.

            Sasami screamed in horror, but she continued to watch, transfixed

on Russ's new form.  Aeka, Ryoko, Tenchi, and Washu didn't say a word

and watched with wide eyes, completely astounded as to what Russ had just

done.

            Regaining his footing, Kain stared at him in horror.  However,

Russ had put his poker face back on.  "What are you?!" he rumbled, unable

to fathom that he could be beaten this easily.  Only Achika had possessed

the strength and power to do him in before, and that was with the assistance

of the master key.

            Not answering, Russ got into a sprinting position, and then

vanished.  Everybody quickly looked around for him, and they noticed a

golden glow directly in front of Kain's chest.  A yellow streak marked his

flightpath, leading their eyes directly to him, but they never saw him move. 

Russ floated in mid-air, his right arm completely buried in Kain's gut up to

his shoulder.  Kain didn't even realize where he had gone until he felt a pain

start throbbing from his midsection.  Russ backed off a bit, withdrawing his

arm from the inside of Kain and causing another burst of purple goop from

the hole that was caused.  Russ's arm was covered in lilac-colored blood

and it ran off of his fingers like miniature rivers.  Feeling extreme pain from

both his front and back, he realized that Russ had not only punched directly

through his armor, but fired a ki blast directly out the back of him too.

            Kain again roared as he fell onto his back, riving in pain. 

However, Russ grabbed one of his legs and started spinning, lifting him into

the air as he spun faster and faster.  Spinning at such a high rate of speed

that it felt like the leg was going to be torn off of his body, he was flung far

into the sky in the direction opposite from where Tenchi and the group were

standing.

            Russ floated about ten feet above the ground and watched the

shrinking form of Kain.  Slowly cupping his hands out in front of him, he

swung his arms back down to his right side and quietly growled out his

attack.  "Ka… me… ha… me… ha," he said, the blue ball of energy in his

hands glowing intensely, until he released it in an ultra huge beam, turning

the entire landscape blue with the light from the Kamehameha wave.  It

roared out of his hands with such intensity that it created a shockwave,

which peeled away some of the ground he was standing on.  It was so

massive that it made the house look tiny, being nearly sixty feet in diameter.

            Kain was nearly two miles high, spinning out of control.  Finally

regaining his bearings, he stopped spinning and halted his ascent into the

sky.  However, his entire surrounding area became blanketed in intense blue

light as Kain looked under him, seeing the leading bulge of the blast

heading straight for him.  Looking at it in terror, he could do nothing to stop

its approach, and the last thing he saw was blinding blue light, the beam

catching up to him and overtaking him, his body becoming vapor from the

extreme energy.  He roared, but nobody heard it as he was removed from

existence, and ceased to live.

            Russ continued to pour energy into the beam making absolutely,

one hundred percent sure that Kain was dead.  Discontinuing the beam a

few moments later, he brought his hands back down to his side, landed on

the ground, making his golden aura vanish.  However, his yellow hair

remained.  The sky cleared up and became a dark violet, as the sun was

setting in the distant horizon, casting a yellow glow on the battlefield.  The

birds began to sing once again, and the night insects began their nightly

chorus.  It was over.  The A1 class criminal Kain had finally been defeated.

            Letting his lighthawk wings fade away, Tenchi stood, completely

astounded, as to what he had just seen.  Washu, Aeka, Sasami, and Ryoko

all shared his look, as they watched Russ look into the sky at Kain's last

position where he had spent his last breath.

            Slowly, Russ turned around and faced the crowd of baffled

onlookers, causing them to gasp in surprise.

            "His eyes are green…" Aeka whispered.  "I would've never

believed this if I hadn't seen it.  I think we've been living with a god."

            Washu glanced at Aeka.  "You don't know how right you are,

Princess," she said to herself.  "I think Russ is a god, at least, compared to

us.  I hope my computers managed to capture all the data on this fight."

            Russ made his way over to the group and came to a stop about five

feet from in front of everybody, and he then smiled.  "I win."

           

            "That was a great meal, Pyramid.  Thanks a lot.  I very much

appreciate it," Zorpheus said, from behind a stack of about fifty dishes.  "It

tasted like real food instead of replicated proteins 'n stuff."

            Pyramid looked at him with a large sweatdrop on the side of her

head, but she mustered a smile.  "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Zorphy."

            "Oh yeah.  That was delicious."  Letting out a large yawn, he

stretched himself out, and then stood up from his position at the dinner

table.  "Thank you for the meal and the fight, Pyramid.  I really do

appreciate you going out of your way to do me both favors."

            "It's nothing.  You look tired.  Would you like to spend the night

and then you can leave tomorrow morning?" Pyramid offered, flashing him

a seductive smile.

            Zorpheus didn't notice it.  "Thank you for the offer, but I must

decline.  I have to get going if I'm going to make it to Earth within a

reasonable amount of time.  It's probably still going to take me nine months

to get there."

            Getting up from her seat, she made her way over to Zorpheus and

gently latched onto his arm, pressing her body against his.  "Are you sure I

can't change your mind?"

            Suddenly realizing what she was after, Zorpheus shook his head. 

"I'm really sorry, and I don't mean to offend you, but I just look.  I don't

touch.  I'm sure you have plenty of people around here who are attracted to

you and stuff.  What would happen if they saw you with me?  Wouldn't that

make them angry or possibly get you kicked out of the military?"

            She shook her head and looked at him with sorrowful eyes.  "I

have no interest in any of these men at this place.  All of them are weak and

unattractive.  You're the ONLY one who has been nice to me and not

perverted like some of the other lechers here at the base.  I really like that in

you.  Plus you're the only one who has ever defeated me in combat."

            Zorpheus looked into her eyes that had nothing but sincerity,

passion, and a desire for him.  "Are you SURE you want this?"

            Her face lit up like a firework on Jurai's Startica day.  "Please?"

            Struggling with his internal resolve, he let his heart decide for him. 

"Okay."

            Letting out a deep sigh, Pyramid smiled and hugged him tightly. 

"Thank you."

            Cupping his palm in front of him, but behind Pyramid, he

concentrated, and like magic, a protective device appeared in his hand.  He

quickly closed his fingers around it and stealthily shoved it in his pocket.

            Leading him to her bedchamber, Pyramid gestured to Zorpheus to

lay down as she disappeared behind a bathroom door.  Steeling himself up

for this, he slowly let out deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.  A few

moments later, she reappeared out of the bathroom, lacking everything but

herself.

            "Lay down on your stomach, Zorpheus," she ordered softly.  "And

remove your toga.  You won't need it."

            Doing as he was told, he lay down on his stomach, resting his head

on his pillow.  He felt the bed sag a bit when Pyramid got up on it with him,

and then felt her hands begin working his tense muscles, starting at his

shoulders and working around his neck, and then slowly massaging down

his back.

            "Mmmm… that feels wonderful," Zorpheus mumbled, allowing

his tense muscles to relax a bit.

            "I've never done this before with anyone.  I hope you enjoy it," she

whispered into his ear, as she got on top of him, continually rubbing down

his back, moving slowly and with steady hands.  "So, tell me about where

you're from, Zorphy.  I'd like to learn a little bit about you and how you

became a super saiyan and stuff."

            Feeling her fingers work a knot out of his back, he groaned in

relaxation.  "Well, where should I begin…" he started, thinking back a way. 

"Well, I was born on a planet far, far away from my home world of

Vegeta."

            Pyramid smiled as she continued to work the knots out of his back. 

"That's a good start.  Keep going," she encouraged softly.

            Zorpheus smiled.  "As you wish."

 

            "Russ?  How come your hair is yellow?" Sasami asked, looking at

the saiyan as if he were someone else, but in complete awe.

            Grinning, he knelt down to her level.  "This is what I look like

when I become a super saiyan," he answered.  "Right now, I'm so strong

that I could annihilate this planet simply by punching it.  It's somewhat

difficult to control energy like this, so I prefer not to take this form unless I

have to."

            Aeka looked at him and placed a hand on his shoulder.  "So you're

a super saiyan right now?"

            Russ returned to his full height, which was about an inch taller

than he was before, and he turned his attention to the Jurian princess. 

"Yeah.  My eyes turn green and my hair gold.  My energy turns gold too, as

you had seen, and my muscle mass almost doubles."

            "I can't believe you defeated Kain so easily," she said, shaking her

head and collapsing to her knees, holding her head in amazement.  She

looked at him with sad, sparkling eyes, and sniffled.  "I'm sorry I couldn't

help you, Russ.  You don't need me, that's for sure."

            Catching him completely off guard, Russ looked at her in stunned

silence, his jaw hanging slightly open.  "No, no, no," he began.  "You're my

friend and I protect my friends.  You didn't need to get involved.  No

princess should have to get involved in something like that.  That's what

I'm here for."  Russ smiled and lifted her chin up, being extremely careful

not to exert any energy or excess force.  "I need you to be my friend.  That's

all.  I have had so few in my life, and it's wonderful to be here with you and

everybody else.  I don't want anything to change, and I'll make certain that

it doesn't."

            "Hey Russ," Washu asked, looking at him as she continued

archiving the battle on her computer.  "Are you still more powerful than

what you had just shown us?"

            Russ smirked.  "That's for me to know and you to find out."

            Washu glared at him.  "I do have other ways of finding out, you

know.  With, or without your help."

            Russ stuck his tongue out at her and gave her a raspberry.  "Ask

me if I care, Washu," he snapped.  "I really can't stand…  ergh.  Never

mind!" he growled, turning away from her.  "Go back to your lab and do

whatever it is you do."

            "Humph.  See if I do you any more favors," Washu snapped.

            "Favors don't usually require a form of payment, Washu," Russ

shot back.

            Watching the red haired scientific genius call up several

commands on her computer, she placed her finger over a particular key and

glowered at Russ.  "If you don't show me more respect, I'll turn you into a

water sprite!"

            Russ turned toward her, his face a mask of anger.  Raising his

hand, he pointed it directly at her computer.  "Do it and I'll vaporize your

computer," he snarled.  "My beam is much faster than your finger.  And if

you continue to threaten me, I'll do something we'll both regret."

            Looking at him in surprise and shock, she couldn't come up with a

suitable retort.  "You're not serious, are you?"

            "Do I look serious?" he growled.

            Thinking twice about threatening him, she lowered her hand and

banished her computer back into subspace.  "Okay, you win.  You should

still be more respectful to me though."

            "I'd be more respectful if you were less arrogant and selfish," Russ

returned, still glaring at her with his green eyes.  "I appreciated the very few

favors that you have done and I have always thanked you for them, and I'd

do you favors if you needed them.  A thank you would be nice for saving

your life and cleaning up your mistake, Washu."

            Caught slightly off guard, her face went blank and she slowly

made her way back to the house, not wanting to argue the point any further. 

She didn't say a word.

            "Why did you do that?  You know I hate it when people fight,"

Sasami whined, pulling on Russ's gi.  "Why don't you like Washu?"

            "I'm sorry Sasami, but she knows how to push all the right buttons

with me to get me riled up.  She just… irritates the heck out of me," Russ

explained.  "I hate asking her for favors because she always wants

something in return.  I do favors because I want to, and don't expect

anything in return."

            "Well, anyway," Ryoko said, heading off the carnage.  "It's all

over.  Kain is finally dead and we don't ever need to worry about him ever

again.  I'm so relieved over that.  Thank you, Russ.  You saved my Tenchi

and you saved me too.  I don't know how we can ever repay that debt."

            Russ facefaulted.  "Didn't I just get finished saying that I don't

expect repayment for favors?" Russ said, looking at Aeka, asking her a

rhetorical question and smiling.  "Not to worry.  We're all safe and sound,

for now.  However, I still have a far greater challenge waiting me," Russ

said, looking skyward.  "I felt Zorpheus's power before Kain appeared. 

He's coming here, but he's still very, very far away.  But he is coming, and

he is strong.  I've got a major fight on my hands when he gets here."

            "Will you have to become a super saiyan to fight him like you did

with Kain?" Sasami asked, continuing to admire his golden hair.

            "Yes.  He too can transform into a super saiyan," Russ said, trying

to smile.  "Man, Washu really ruined the mood.  I guess I'll turn back to

normal now," he said, de-energizing.  His hair became black, his extra

muscle mass vanished, and his eyes returned to black as well.

            "That's so amazing," Tenchi said, watching Russ.  "But I must

apologize for Washu.  She doesn't mean anything by her arrogance, and she

does usually know what is best.  Sometimes she does get snippy.  Don't

take it personally."

            "I know, I know.  Belch.  Well, I'm hungry!  What do we got to eat

around here?" he asked cheerily, causing everybody to fall over.

 

            "I really enjoyed that, Zorphy.  Nobody has ever done that with me

before.  It felt really good, and you're good at it too," Pyramid said, laying

next to Zorpheus on her bed.  It was late and the sun had gone down,

blanketing the base in darkness.  "Are you sure you don't want to spend the

night?"

            Realizing that all she had wanted was a full body massage, he

sighed in relief.  But he was really sleepy.  "If you don't mind, then I don't. 

I haven't had a good nights rest in a long, long time.  I haven't slept in a bed

in what feels like years."

            Pyramid giggled.  "Well, you're welcome to stay here with me,"

she said softly, cuddling up next to him.  "Get yourself a good night's rest,

and I'll make you breakfast in the morning."

            Smiling, Zorpheus nodded his head.  "Okay."  After lying there

quietly for a few minutes, he spoke up once again.  "Pyramid?"

            "Hmm?" she asked, her voice barely a murmur.

            "Thanks again."

            Moaning very softly, she fell asleep on Zorpheus's shoulder,

cuddled up against him.

            Glancing down on her sleeping form, he smiled.  She reminded

him of a small child, afraid of being left alone.  If she weren't a Cell, he'd

probably be very attracted to her.  Mostly for the sex, of course, but he

couldn't bring himself to take advantage of her.  He blushed furiously at

where his thoughts were going, but it felt good and fun.  Too bad Russ was

such a stiff.  He could really have a good time if he'd just loosen up a little.

            Lying awake in bed a little longer, Zorpheus's thoughts continued

to drift, and his thoughts wandered on the planet he was on before he

arrived at Xnafu.  Remembering the man he had killed just because he

didn't know about the Dragonballs kept nagging him at the back of his

mind, and he knew what he had done was really bad and evil.

            "I'm not that way," he said to himself, being extra quiet as to not

wake Pyramid.  He regretted killing that man, as he could've had a wife and

family, and he took him away from them.  "I can't believe I did that."

            Rubbing his forehead with his free hand, he said a silent prayer to

himself, hoping the man he had killed had gone to a better place, and then

he said a second one, asking for forgiveness.  He realized that he was going

to really have to keep his temper in check, especially on this planet. 

However, the next planet that he was going to head off to was Earth.  A

non-stop flight there would take him about nine months, or possibly a little

sooner.  The upcoming battle there made him remember all the times he had

with Russ before they learned about the Dragonballs.

            They were an unstoppable team.  The two of them worked like a

well-oiled machine, always taking turns or double-teaming at the most

appropriate times, and never being defeated.  However, he was always the

one with the quick tongue.  Whenever they'd get into an insult war, he

always put Russ to shame.  Also having a knack for chemistry and other

science, he was a bit smarter to Russ when it came to that.  Russ was

talented too, having great taste in music and being able to play nearly

everything that he heard.  He could sing too, which was very impressive for

a saiyan.  But, all that talent aside, they were both nearly equal warriors. 

Whenever they'd spar or get into a major fight, it usually came out in a

stalemate, or one would beat the other, but barely, and after that, the victory

usually went the other way.  They had some great sparring matches together

too.  He still remembered the very first time they used their signature

attacks against each other… his Holy Raze up against Russ's Buster

Cannon.  They both ran out of energy before either attack hit each other, the

two beams fizzling out, causing no damage at all.  They both went to the

risqué bar after that and enjoyed a drink together.  Russ's was non-

alcoholic, of course.  He chuckled to himself over how Russ was always so

uptight about stuff like that.  It was amusing, but annoying too.  Fortunately,

he didn't try to force others to be like him, so for the most part, it was easy

to deal with.

            He missed those times.  Happy that he was going to see Russ

again, but dreading it at the same time, he wondered exactly what was going

to happen.  Russ was probably training really hard, and he wondered how

much he could've progressed, or how much he will progress within the next

nine months.  Since he was going to be in stasis for the duration of the trip,

his training will be on hold.  Fortunately, after that fight with Pyramid, his

strength had gone way up, so figuring that he should be all set, he decided

not to concern himself over it.

            Pyramid shifted positions next to him and moaned very softly, a

smile on her lips.  "She's cute, for looking like an orange Cell anyway," he

said to himself, as he closed his eyes and dozed off for the night.

 

            After a filling dinner Russ went back outside, surveying the

damage from the earlier confrontation, using the bright moonlight to see. 

After that time on Startica when Sasami had her nightmare, that thought had

always been buried in the back of his mind and he was unable to forget

about it.  It was freaky that a little girl was able to predict the future so far in

advance, however inaccurate.  She had said that he wasn't supposed to be

here and that everybody had been murdered at the hands of that monster. 

Fortunately, that never came to pass.

            It was remarkable how Tenchi had transformed into… whatever it

was that he had become.  Those blades that had protected him were a

remarkable manifestation of Jurai power.  Not only did it block any energy

blast that came near them, it transformed that energy into something

harmless, causing no extra or unnecessary damage.  It just bled away like a

lightning bolt does when it hits a lightning rod on a tall building.

            Making his way over to his tree, he leapt into the air and landed on

his favorite set of branches, which allowed him to sit comfortably in any

posture he wanted.  Placing his chin in his palm, he sat yoga style and

continued to ponder the events from earlier in the evening.  Curious about

the limitations of the lighthawk wing's power, he was unable to figure out

how Kain had managed to cause Tenchi any damage.

            He had never encountered another being like Kain before.  His

energy level had never changed throughout the whole battle, but yet his

attack strength varied.  Figuring that he had a way of controlling how much

energy he put into an attack had made the most sense, since he could do that

himself.  However, Kain never really felt all that powerful, but he had quite

an arsenal of attacks and abilities.  Kiyone had once described Kain in detail

for him and some of his known abilities, as he had asked her about a month

after the Startica festival.  Some of those abilities were far beyond what he

could do himself, such as time travel.  Kiyone had given him a full report on

the incident that happened about two or three years ago.

            His thoughts were interrupted by the approach of someone, who he

quickly identified by the energy as Ryoko.

            "Hey Russ?  What are you doing up there?" she asked, looking up

at him from the ground.

            He smiled.  "Just thinking."

            "Oh… would…  Uhh, would you mind a little company?" she

asked, hesitatantly.

            "Come on up and find a branch," Russ invited.

            She floated up to his level and sat on a nearby limb, keeping cat-

like balance on the small piece of wood.  "Thanks."

            "What's on your mind?  You look a little sad."

            Ryoko looked at him and managed a smile, which quickly faded

away.  "I wanted to apologize for threatening to kill you when Tenchi had

gotten hurt, and you got in my way.  I just… care for him so much and I'd

do anything for him, including dying.  I never want to see anything happen

to him, but I'm sorry for saying what I said.  I was upset."

            Russ nodded his head.  "I understand.  I've never cared about

someone strong enough to die for them, unfortunately.  I only cared about

one other, and when she died, I went berzerk and tore apart the man she was

fighting.  That's how I became a super saiyan.  Zorpheus couldn't believe

what I had done."

            "I thought you were never involved?" Ryoko questioned.

            "It was a lot like it is between myself and Aeka at this point," Russ

described.

            "Oh…" she answered.  "I just… don't know what I'd do without

him," she said, her voice wavering as a tear trickled from her eye.  She drew

her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly.  "He's the only one who

ever showed me kindness… true kindness, and not someone who wanted

something in return.  I fell in love with him on the first day I laid eyes on

him."

            Russ smiled.  "I heard about that story.  You were drunk at that

time too, weren't you?"

            Letting out a soft giggle, she sniffled and smiled.  "Yeah.  Mihoshi

had chased me down to this planet and I crashed, but Tenchi was the one

who found me first.  He gave me some water and asked me if I was okay. 

Nobody, and I mean nobody, had done that for me in my life.  And he was

happy that I was okay.  That's all I needed."

            "Hmmm.  That must've been quite a meeting.  But anyway, you

two have been actually been a couple for a little over a year now, right?"

            "About a year and three months, yeah."

            "But you never did 'this and that' kind of thing until I showed up

though, right?"

            Blushing slightly, she blinked, looking away shyly.  "That's none

of your business."

            Russ chuckled.  "Sorry.  I didn't mean anything by it.  Do you two

have any marriage plans?"

            Ryoko shook her head.  "I think he's too nervous to ask me, and

from what I understand about the culture on this planet, it's improper for the

woman to ask the guy."

            "Since when as that stopped you from what you wanted?" Russ

questioned, grinning.

            "I just… I don't know," she answered, looking out over the lake,

the pale moonlight shining off of the ripples in the water.

            Russ studied her for a few minutes.  "There is another reason, isn't

there?  I can feel it.  What's wrong, Ryoko?"

            Looking into his black eyes, she sighed.  "Tenchi and I are not

quite… compatible.  We can never have children, and that's one thing that I

had wanted since coming to live with him."

            Russ's happy mood melted away and he became quiet.  "Can't

your mother figure out a way to make it happen?"

            "She gave me some reasons that I couldn't understand and didn't

make any sense.  You know how she is.  She gets all technical and starts

sprouting off things that any normal person wouldn't understand," Ryoko

mumbled.  "I hate it when she does that.  And she never even tried to help

me."

            "I'm sure she would've, if she could've.  Even though she is

selfish at times, I think she'd really try to help you if she could.  It surprises

me that she can't make it happen though.  She IS the smartest person I've

ever known," Russ said, looking up the mountain at the shrine.  A yellow

light glowed in the window.  "It looks like Lord Katsuhito hasn't gone to

bed yet."

            They sat in silence a few more moments.  "Does Tenchi know that

you cannot have children with him?" Russ asked, looking her in the eyes.

            Ryoko shook her head.  "He thinks I'm just taking preventative

measures to keep from becoming pregnant.  He said he didn't want children

until we were married.  The problem is, even if he does ask me, I still

cannot have children and that's something I don't want to have to tell him. 

It may change the way he feels about me."

            "I doubt that.  Tenchi seems to be the kind of person who, when he

has made a choice, is going to stick with it.  He cares about other people's

feelings and I know he wouldn't care if you could have kids or not.  He

loves you for who you are."

            Sitting quietly for another few minutes, Ryoko broke the silence. 

"It's a nice night.  Warm, a very light breeze blowing, and a beautifully

clear sky," Ryoko said, gazing up at the stars.  "I remember travelling those

stars.  I never stayed in one place for very long, always being on the run

from Nagi or the Galaxy Police.  Even after all of this time, it still feels

strange to call this backwater planet, home."

            Russ smiled, the moonlight accentuating his facial features.  "This

is my home.  I was born here, as my parents had come here a long time ago,

and this is where I wish to live out my days.  It's nice to travel from time to

time, but I always somehow find my way back here."

            Smiling, Ryoko watched him from over her knees, but again, her

smile disappeared.  "I'm sorry for burdening you with my troubles.  I

just…"

            "It's okay," Russ interrupted.  "I'm no psycatrist, but I can tell

when someone needs to talk and have an available ear to listen.  If you ever

have something that is troubling you, feel free to come talk to me.  I won't

say a word to anybody else about it too."

            Watching him with sad eyes, she sniffled.  "You're a lot like

Tenchi, but even I can't tell him everything that bothers me."

            "If you need someone to talk to, anytime, anywhere, just let me

know.  Everybody has demons that they want to chase away, and talking

about them usually helps."

            Ryoko yawned and stretched herself out, keeping her balance on

the tree limb.  "I feel better now that I have apologized and having you

listen to my troubles.  Aeka has found a real keeper in you," she added.

            Russ closed his eyes a moment and slowly reopened them, those

same, sad eyes that Aeka herself had seen several times before.  Catching

her offguard with his look, Ryoko became concerned.

            "Is there something that you want to tell me?" she offered.

            Realizing his appearance, Russ forced a smile and a light chuckle. 

"No, I'm okay.  Just remembering a great many things that happened a long

time ago."

            Ryoko looked at his face and she knew he was lying, but she

decided not to go into it.  Instead, she made the same offer that he made her. 

"I may not be the worlds greatest listener, but you're welcome to come talk

with me if you're feeling down.  Even you must get upset sometimes."

            Russ nodded his head.  "Yeah, I do get upset from time to time, but

there is really nothing I can do about it.  I've had a lot of stuff happen to

me, and I'm sure you have as well.  Anyway, I do appreciate the offer. 

Thanks."

            "You're a part of the family now, or at least I like to think so. 

You're never mean, you entertain us with your music, and you're a

wonderful person to Sasami.  I haven't seen her so full of life before, until

you came along.  She talks about you all the time when you're training out

here.  She loves having you show her how to make new dishes of food,

watch anime with her, or play games.  A lot of times she calls you her big

brother," Ryoko added, smiling.  "And Aeka loves your company too. 

She's always wondering where you are and she worries about you.  I swear,

she's going to get wrinkles if you keep stressing her out like this."  Ryoko

them started laughing.

            Russ grinned.  "I had no idea Sasami thought of me like that. 

She's such a sweet girl, always happy and always willing to lend a helping

hand.  She has similar interests as I do, and she's a great friend.  I never

really thought of her as a sister, but I can see how she could think I'm her

brother.  Except the spiky hair makes me look more like YOUR brother,

Ryoko," Russ added, laughing.

            Giggling, Ryoko smiled.  "I did notice that.  My mother's hair is

also spiky.  I just wish I knew if I had or knew who my father was."

            "That was something else that I've heard about, but never bothered

to investigate further.  It's none of my business and I don't want to dredge

up old feelings about that stuff."

            "It would've been okay.  Just my mother is so secretive about so

much stuff.  She refuses to reveal anything.  I think it has to do with the

child she lost a long, long time ago," Ryoko said, a distant look in her eyes.

            "Washu told me about that on the first day we met.  I'm sure that

to a mother, losing a child is the greatest heartache of all.  Nothing could

possibly be any worse than that.  She'd probably go insane if she lost you,

Ryoko."

            "Hah!  Not MY mother," she spat, looking out over the lake.

            "I know she doesn't seem to appreciate you, but I'm certain that

she cares for you like only a mother could," Russ said quietly, trying to

calm her down.  "It's just a shame that Washu refuses to show it."

            "I know.  But anyway," she said, floating up into the air.  "I should

be getting back into the house and get ready for bed.  Tenchi is probably

wondering where I'm at.  Are you coming in now?"

            Russ shook his head.  "No, I think I'm going to stay out here a

little longer.  The weather is so perfect and the moonlight really makes this

place beautiful.  And… I also want to be alone for a little while longer, I

guess."  Smiling, Russ put up his hand.  "Bah.  Go on inside.  Don't worry

about me.  I'll probably come inside a little later.  Good night, Ryoko. 

Sleep well."

            Her face hiding her emotions, she smiled.  "Thanks again, Russ. 

Goodnight," she said before vanishing, teleporting herself back inside the

house.

            Russ sighed, alone once more, his face going back to that

thoughtful, faraway, and depressed expression.

 

            "Wake up, Zorpheus," Pyramid said, shaking the sleeping saiyan

back and forth like a dead weight.  After shaking him for nearly two

minutes straight, she gave up.  Giggling, she grabbed her pillow and began

beating Zorpheus over the head with it.

            "Ugh, what the… I'm under attack!" he yelled, putting up his arms

in defense as the pillow came down on his face again and again.  It ceased a

moment later.

            "Good grief!  You give a whole new meaning to sleeping like a

log," Pyramid laughed, tossing her pillow back onto the bed.  "Breakfast is

ready!  Come and get it!"

            "Okay, okay," Zorpheus mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the sleep

from his eyes, then letting out a huge yawn.  He stretched himself out,

raising his arms as far as they would go over his head and stretching his legs

out under the covers, groaning the whole time.

            "Are you awake yet?" Pyramid said, standing in the doorway,

striking a pose.

            Zorpheus just gave her a sour look, and managed a fake smile. 

"I'm not a morning person."

            Giggling, Pyramid held up a spatula.  "Well, at least I got you

awake.  Come on and eat before it gets cold.  Oh, and your clothes have

been mended.  They're there on that chair," she said, pointing to a recliner

in the corner of the bedroom.

            Zorpheus raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then smiled. 

"Awesome.  I'll be out in a few moments."

            Pyramid left the door and shut it behind her, making her way back

to the kitchen.  Speedily getting out of the bed and putting on his clothes,

Zorpheus checked himself in the mirror before leaving the bedroom. 

Quickly making his way to the table, he sat down at one of the chairs,

grabbed his fork and knife, and began beating the table in a steady rhythm,

chanting "Food" the whole time.  Pyramid got a kick out of it, and she

quickly set a stack of about ten pancakes in front of him.  In about five

seconds, the stack was polished off and eaten.  Pyramid had sat down and

finished her pancakes in about ten seconds.  She got up, made another order

of the flapjacks, and the same scenario played out a good five times.

            Breakfast pretty much progressed in that manner until they were

finished.  Moving back into the living room, Zorpheus took a seat on the

couch, and then let out a belch that could've started an earthquake.  Pyramid

had sat down with him and did the same thing.  Looking at her in surprise,

they both exploded laughing.

            "Good breakfast," they said in unison.

            Zorpheus laughed.  "Thank you.  That was very kind of you to go

out of your way to make me breakfast.  I'm sure we started a ton of rumors

around the base now that you haven't been seen since yesterday."

            "I don't care about that.  If they have something to say, I'll just

blow them up."  She then laughed.

            Zorpheus sighed.  "Man, nine months of dead sleep is what I have

to look forward to when I leave.  It sucks."

            Pyramid held onto his muscular arm and rubbed it affectionately. 

"You don't have to leave soon, do you?"

            "The sooner I leave, the sooner I can get to Earth."

            "Awww.  Do you have to leave now or can you stay a little while

longer?"

            Zorpheus laughed.  "I'll stay a little while longer, and then I have

to get going, okay?"

            "Yay!" she shouted.  "Want to watch some TV or anything?  I

rarely turn on the dumb thing since I'm usually busy with other stuff."

            "Well, let's see what's on," Zorpheus said, picking up the remote

and turning the TV on.  Flipping through a few stations, he turned to

Gundam Wing.  "Oh wow, you guys have anime here?  That's really

unusual."

            Pyramid laughed.  "Yeah.  Even though Earth doesn't really know

about extraterrestrial beings yet, we manage to steal all of their

entertainment off of their satellites."

            "You guys are evil," he responded with a grin.  "What about you? 

What's your favorite program?"

            "I really don't have one, but I too have a love for anime.  Gundam

Wing is pretty neat.  Just those gundams of theirs are near invincible."

            Zorpheus grinned.  "They wouldn't stand a chance against us," he

chuckled.

            "Of course not.  No anime character can stand against us.  Earth

just doesn't have a concept of real strength yet."

            "I suppose not.  Well, I guess we can watch this for a while."

            After watching the episode of Gundam Wing, Zorpheus and

Pyramid had made their way outside of the spaceport.  Lifting off, they flew

back to his spacepod, where he had originally fought Jordan.  The craters

that were caused by their battle had already begun to vanish, being covered

in vegetation, as the holes seem to magically fill themselves in.

            "Well," Zorpheus said, opening up the hatch of his pod.  "I really

had a nice time with you.  Thanks again for training with me and showing

me that unpronounceable superbomb of yours.  That's quite an attack."

            Pyramid bowed proudly and smiled.  "Will I ever see you again? 

Will you come back and visit me sometime?"

            "I don't know.  Our paths may cross once again," he said, putting a

foot into his pod.

            Pyramid grabbed his arm and yanked him out, grabbing his other

arm with her hand.  She pulled him down to her height, and then mashed

her lips onto his, Zorpheus's face becoming total astonishment and surprise.

            After a moment she released him, and smiled.  "I hope you do

remember me, Zorphy.  I had a great time with you and would love to see

you again."

            "I… I… uh…" he stuttered.  Clearing his head, he let out a huge

sigh, and then grinned.  "I had a great time too.  I'll try to make time to

come back and see you once again.  Here," he said, handing over a card

with a bunch of information printed on it.  "This is my spacecraft's

communication frequency.  Use this if you want to get in touch with me

sometime.  Just not within the next nine months because I'll be in stasis."

            Grasping the card and holding it to her heart, she nodded her head. 

"See you around?"

            "Most definitely."

            Pyramid smiled, and allowed a tear to drip from her eye.  "Have a

safe trip.  You know where to find me if you want to progress to step

two…"

            Lifting off and rocketing back to the base, a violet ki streak

marking her flightpath, Zorpheus watched her until he couldn't see her

anymore.  Sighing deeply, he stepped into his spacecraft and lifted off,

shooting back into outerspace.  Keying in several other commands, he

initiated the voice commands for the computer."

            "Voice commands ready."

            "Computer, set new default.  Leave voice commands on."

            "Affirmative," it responded.

            Zorpheus stared at the computer in astonishment.  "Wow, I didn't

know you could do that.  Cool.  Anyway, computer, plot a course for Earth

and head there."

            "Affirmative."

            "Initiate stasis sleep.  Set wakeup time to thirty minutes before

landing," Zorpheus commanded.

            "Affirmative.  Now initiating stasis sleep," it said, letting the

purple gas hiss into the cockpit.  Zorpheus's vision grew blurry, and then he

fell asleep, his bodily functions ceasing to work as he went into hibernation.

            "Stasis sleep confirmed," his computer announced to nobody. 

"Estimated time to arrive on Planet Earth: nine months, two days."