The OC site itself is linked in my sig. Yes, the quote in my sig applies to this as well ::gulps::.
I will include what I have for Chapter 9 so far. However, you have to have read the first 8 to understand it. This is only about halfway done. There's a lot more coming. I'd love to see some comments on this.
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Copyrights, etc: Tenchi Muyo! and all corresponding characters are the properties of AIC and Pioneer. Joseph, Koros, and Loknar belong to me. They're restless, since I did minifics and not much else for a long while. I'm getting back to the story, now (finally).
Notes, etc: This chapter takes place a month after A Well Needed Vacation - TM OAV 21, OC Chapter 8 (in both chapter name and IRL). Things at the Masaki home have gotten back to normal, but Ryo-Ohki has gotten a little bit bigger, leading to the suggestion that she may be pregnant.
There will be violence in this chapter, as this will be an attempt to observe the other side of the universe that Tenchi and the others inhabit - The other side of the Galactic Union, the Lock Sector, based on theory. You'll be pleasently surprised, hopefully. This is the beginning of a two to three part section of OC in which half of the group is seperated from each other, allowing different situations, at the Masaki house and in the Lock Sector, that would not have been possible otherwise. A few new main characters (one of them being Nagi) will be introduced, so watch out.
I also appologize for my laziness. Real life has been really odd lately, with the good and bad parts of it fluctuating at such an alarming rate that has been hard to keep up, resulting in little time to write. Hopefully, that fluctation has been circumvented (I got the motovation back).
Oki. Here goes the results of a Well Needed Vacation, lol....
God Bless America.
Loknar, 1/31/02
Fanfic Began: 1/31/02. Fanfic Finished: xx/xx/02
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Tenchi Muyo! OAV 22: Locked In
(Orion Chronicles, Chapter 9)
Azaka and Kamidake stand out by the gates of the house, a few birds gently pirched on them, the two wooden guardians not seeming to mind. It was around late April, the summer beginning to enroach upon the spring, as the cherry blossoms dropped off, to be replaced with fruit, while the mighty trees of Jurai and their earthly brethren regrew leaves, large, mighty, and tough. The trees were almost filled with the greenness of life by now, and the flowers on the nearby mountain had begun to bloom, while a quiet, undisturbing breeze navigated through the air like an explorer's ship, always finding new places to pass through.
"Another beautiful day." Azaka said quietly, the jewel in his middle glowing as he did.
"We've said that too much lately." Kamidake replied.
"Huh?"
"We should say something new, instead."
"Like what?"
"Like 'Dang, it's pretty.'"
"No."
Kamidake sighed, and mumbled something under his breath.
Mihoshi sat on the porch, dozing on a lawn chair. She snored quietly, a look of absolute peace and relaxation on her sleepy face, as if in her dreams she was tasting the wonderful ambrosia of heaven.
"Mihoshi." Sasami said, tugging on her sleeves.
Mihoshi said something in her sleep, and turned over.
She tugged at her again, a little bit more forcefully. She had the look in her eyes like that of a messenger, with news that would change the world forever.
"...What?" Mihoshi asked, half-asleep.
"I think Ryo-Ohki is having her baby!" She replied, her voice full of joy.
"She is?" Mihoshi exclaimed, jumping out of her chair.
"Yup! She's in Tenchi's bedroom, and so are Ken-Ohki and everyone else."
Before Sasami could finish speaking, Mihoshi had raced to the top of the stairs, literally flying into Tenchi's room. Everyone was in it; Washuu, Loknar, Joseph, Tenchi, Kiyone, Ayeka, Ryoko, Noboyuki, Kasuhito, Ryo-Ohki, Ken-Ohki, as well as the small egg.
"Did I miss anything?" Mihoshi asked, filled with glee, Sasami coming inside as well.
"The egg is about to hatch. Keep it down." Joseph whispered, pointing to the slowly moving egg, cuddled by the happy parents, purring quietly. A light purr could be heard coming from the egg as well. The egg was ivory in color, with small green and yellow speckles covering parts of it. It was about the size of a small stack of children's books, and seemed to weigh at about a pound.
Everyone watched as the egg continued to move, small cracks appearing in its' side, about the size of a penny at first. They grew, each by amout a centimeter a second, some of the cracks starting to merge as the egg seemed to shake a little more, everyone's attention now settled on the small ovalish object.
Within a few minutes, the cracks along the top merged enough that it became loose, soon falling out. The egg rolled over, very quietly, a tired little silvery cabbit crawling out. It looked very much like a mix of its' parents, and sported a small gem on its' forehead.
Loknar and Washuu smiled; their creations had reproduced themselves. They had not known each other when each cabbit was born, and therefore had no idea if the two cabbits could interbreed. The answer was certain by now. Tears of joy fell from their eyes, as they now were essentially grandparents of an entity - Not a human per se, but a sentient entity.
Loknar and Washuu listened closely while the others watched in admiration and awe; they were telepathically recieving messages from both the newborn cabbit and its' parents.
Very gently, they brought it over to its' parents, Ryo-Ohki helping it to nurse, while Ken-Ohki cleaned it.
"It's a girl." The two geniuses announced. "Her name is Kii-Ohki."
Happiness filled the room, as the new member of their family was thus born.
Within an hour or so, with everyone watching, Kii-Ohki was walking on her own, and happily mewing.
Sasami petted her, and she snuggled with the little cabbit and her parents, everyone getting a turn to do so.
"Tenchi, why was she born on your bed?" Sasami asked him.
"I don't know...Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki must have felt comfortable there, and decided that it would be the place." He replied, still a little bit unsure himself. His bed was a little lumpy, and had been frequently replaced, due to the fighting of Ryoko and Ayeka.
Mihoshi had waited patiently - It was about to be her turn to pet Kii-Ohki. Ayeka was almost finished, gently stroking it, the cabbit purring happily in her lap.
Ayeka put her back on the bed, the cabbit still purring.
Suddenly, her watch began to beep. It glowed a deep blue, a hologram of the emblem of the Galaxy Police appearing. Kiyone and Joseph's watches began to do the same.
"Attention, all Galaxy Police Officers in the Sol System area." A female voice announced on the watches, everyone stopping to listen. "The wanted criminal Assassin Mizra Akaji Zonah has been sighted over Earth, sector H37BM12W, the Okayama region, after flying over Tokyo and Hiroshima. As you know, this is a flagrant violaiton of Galactic Union High Parliament Executive Order 3823, which forbids any Galactic Citizen from coming into contact with protective primitive planets, except under special circumstances. She is a level five criminal, wanted for murder, theft, arson, extortion, vandalism, and numerous other crimes. She has no remorse for killing anything, or committing any atrocity. A squadron of GP Special forces has intercepted her craft, but several of them have been shot down. Recovery teams are in place to retrieve remains of downed GP craft. Ms. Zonah must be captured or killed at all costs."
An image of Mizra appears on each watch. She is tall, with long, bloody crimson hair, straight in front, but spiky in back, small bits poking over her ears, with ashy eyes as dark as the laugh of the wicked, and a superior smirk on her face, as if mocking whoever looked at her. On several parts of her body, including her face, there were odd black markings. She wore a long, black cloak, covering most of her body, and a strange jumpsuit-like piece of clothing under it. An odd wand/saber-like weapon was on a seath at her side, stained with a dark liquid, probably blood.
Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Joseph, knowing their duties, rushed to change into their GP uniforms, Kii-Ohki becoming confused as to what is happening.
"Don't worry, Kii-Ohki." Sasami whispered reassuringly, "They'll be back, okay?"
Ryoko had seen the figure on the watch, at first seemingly alarmed by it, as if Zonah looked familiar. She sighed, then comfortably sitting back down.
"What's wrong, Ryoko?" Washuu asked, curious.
"She looked like someone I knew. Nothing else." Ryoko replied, easily.
"Who did Ms. Zonah look like to you?"
"N-No one." Ryoko replied, a little nervous.
"Okay, you don't want to talk. Tassi and I are going down to the lab to monitor the battle, kay?" Washuu continued, momentarily walking down the stairs with Loknar.
Tenchi had walked downstairs, and turned on the TV, knowing that if there were ships flying over the Okayama prefecture, it would be on the news. Sure enough, he turned it on to find the images of several ships, a few in the normal GP style, and one sleek, triangular black one (obviously Zonah's), shooting at each other, the people below in a panic.
"As of 11:00 AM this morning, several Unidentified Flying Objects were spotted over the general Okayama area. We are presenting you with live coverage of this event, as these.....these ships battle it out over our skies. Many citizens, fearing for their lives, have hid in their basements, while others, like Dr. Sakuya Misato, of the Skeptical Institiute of Japan, are doubting these events as tricks of the eye or JSDF test aircraft." A reporter announced, a thin, angry-looking woman in a labcoat next to him.
"These 'spaceships' are obviously military test craft. I am absolutely sure that no unearthly sentient life exists beyond this planet, or in the galaxy, for that matter." The skeptic spoke defiantly, her arms crossed.
At that point, Tenchi began to laugh, very very hard, as unearthly sentient people had been living with him for years, and he was a prince of an unearthly kingdom.
"If I am wrong, may something knock me uncouncious." The skeptic announced, grinning, not seeing the aerial battle moving over the television station for a bit, a stray laser blast then hitting directly at the roof above her head, and the ceiling tile that now hit her upside the head, causing her to fufill her recent prophecy.
Even the news anchor couldn't help laughing, soon helping her up and getting her some medical attention.
Mihoshi, Joseph, and Kiyone finished getting dressed into their uniforms, signaled Yukonojo with a small, black remote with a single button, the ship decloaking, and landing nearby.
"Hey, Tenchi! Wanna come with?" Joseph asked, taking his Orion-ken, just in case. "I don't think it will take that long to beat this villaness."
Tenchi smiled.
"Why not. I've never seen how you guys truly work, anyhow." He replied, taking his Tenchi-ken.
"Alrighty. You're now deputized, just for the record. Put on a spare GP uniform once you get inside, just in case. Let's roll." Joseph said, the four of them jumping into Yukonojo.
It was around that time when the aerial battle became a chase, now passing directly over them. The speed at which the ships traveled caused a small sonic boom, the house rattling a little bit.
"What do we have to do without this time, Yukonojo?" Kiyone asked as they took off, knowing that Mihoshi must have accidentally destroyed some important component of the ship since the last mission.
"None, actually." The computer replied.
"That has to be impossible."
"No kidding."
"Not even the emergency rations?"
"I restocked them just yesterday."
They began to fly very fast, soon catching up with the chase. Mizra's ship was being chased, not very damaged at all, by a small group of GP ships, some of them heavily damaged. A heavy plasma turret was on the back of Zonah's ship, and that was causing most of the damage. Everyone's stomach turned as they saw the turret tear a small ship to shreds, the pieces falling back to Earth as if it were scraps of burning paper, or ash. The chase soon brought them through the stratosphere, where another ship exploded.
"Are you sure we're going to be allright?" Tenchi called worriedly, his voice slightly drowned out by the loudness of the engines of all the ships. "We're not going to die, are we?"
"Far from it." Joseph replied, scoring a direct hit at one of the turret's guns, thus making it weaker.
A text message appeared on a screen, from a small GP ship, which seemed to be doing quite well, with very little damage. The ships' oddly named handle was "Don't Call Me Mr. Kitty", and asked this: "How're you folks doing?"
"We'll be fine." Joseph replied, gulping again as it was soon just the DCMMK ship and them against Mizra's ship. Loknar thought about the handle of that ship - The phrase sounded familiar. He smiled, as it reminded him of an old friend, one of his best friends, who he hadn't seen in years.
"No, that couldn't be him." He said, thinking out loud.
"Who, Joseph?" Mihoshi asked, quizically.
"An old friend."
"Would that be him?"
"I doubt it."
"Oh. Why did you say it then?"
"The phrase reminded me of him."
"Howso?"
"He's a Mirsan, a humanoid cat-like species."
"Is he cute?" She seemed quite interested now.
Before Joseph could respond, there was a blast against Yukonojo's shield, and then a video message.
"Uh...Guys....Tassi and I are detecting a weird anaomoly that seems to be forming within about 10 light-seconds from you. You'll be entering it within a minute. We're sending out a small probe to investiage it once you go in." Washuu said quietly over a visual message.
"What kind of anamoly, Mom?" Joseph asked, now getting used to her being his future step-mother.
"Nothing that bad. A wormhole, caused by Mizra's ship." She said, smiling briefly at the 'Mom' comment.
"That can't be good. What kind of wormhole, Washuu?" Kiyone asked.
On the video screen, Loknar handed Washuu a printout.
".....I don't know how to say this." She continued.
Everyone gulped.
"It's the kind that sends you to the other side of the galaxy. We're getting the probe to keep the wormhole stable enough so at least communication can go through." She spoke, quietly.
Tenchi, Joseph, and Kiyone fainted for a moment, Mihoshi taking the controls. Interestingly, while they were out, she got some powerful hits on Mizra's ship.
Washuu watched this, smiling.
"You're a great shot, Mihoshi."
"Thanks, Washuu." She replied, the others soon awakening.
They could faintly see the wormhole up ahead; besides a faint outline, it looked much like normal space, the exception being that a planet was now in view through it, and it wasn't Earth. The planet seemed to be colonized, but it didn't look very hospitable. It was very desert-like, the color of the Sahara, with small lakes and sparse vegitation in some areas. It had two moons, and two suns, the reason for the desert climate.
Mizra's ship sped up considerably, flying at the planet, and soon fading from view.
Yukonojo and the mysterious GP ship flew into the wormhole as well, which soon started to close.
"Oh, God! We don't even know where we are! Washuu, Loknar, do something, please!" Tenchi yelled into the radio, now quite upset.
"We're trying." Loknar replied, the transmission a little bit blurry as the wormhole continued to close, until a small satilite wedged itself between the rapidly closing circle, using magentic fields to keep it from closing completely. "We can't get it open any farther. There is some strange hyperspace dampner encoding on this thing."
"Encoding on a wormhole?" Kiyone responded, wanting to clarify if she heard that right.
"Yes, on a wormhole." He continued. "It is possible to put protection on wormholes, just like software, preventing hyperspace or subspace travel. Don't ask how. Anyway, someone put a huge encoding barrier in conjunction with hyperspace barriers over it. We can't open it, only close it, until we can break the code."
"...How long will that take?" Asked Tenchi, probabbly not wanting to know.
Washuu handed him a printout, and he sighed.
"At least two months. That's the first part of the bad news."
"There's more?" Said Mihoshi, now trying to wake up Tenchi, and Joseph, with Kiyone ready to faint.
"You seem to be in the Lock Sector, a region of the Galaxy that seems to be entirely cut off from the rest of civilization. The encoding that we encountered blocks any ships from entering a radius of 250 systems from the center. It can hardly recieve any locations back and forth, and even when they do, they are thousand-year old signals. The GP offices in that sector were extinguished 150 years ago, right when it became cut off - Whoever or whatever caused it is still at large. The area is full of crime, but there are some prosperous areas. Washuu and I will provide you with information as we come upon it."
Joseph sighed, sadly.
"I'm sorry for asking you to come with us, Tenchi. I didn't know it would be this bad." He said to his brother.
"It's not your fault. Besides, the three of you shouldn't be alone out here, even if you are GP officers."
A transmission came through the portal, heading straight to Loknar and Washuu.
They smiled for a moment.
"You'll have some company there, however." Washuu beamed.
"Who?" Mihoshi rsponded.
"He doesn't want us to tell. You'll meet him within the hour. We need to tell the others. You guys get settled in, okay?"
"Tell them we're allright." Kiyone added.
Another text message popped up from DCMMK.
"Where should we meet?" He asked.
"Geez, you love anonynimity. How should we know? We've never been here before." Joseph replied, entering his response into Yukonojo's terminal.
"Neither have I. The planet is named Kanraz, in the Sukiani system. My sensors have detected Mizra's ship landing in a place named Ersatz City. It's in the center of the middle landmass. According to my recently updated database, there should be a bar where Mizra might be. It's called 'The Lion's Jaw.' I suggest we meet there. I also suggest we all use function 382G282 on our ships. The natives don't seem to like GP."
"Who are you, Loknar's brother?"
"You'll see. ;-) I'll be wearing a white T-shirt that bears the same text as my handle. Joseph, Mihoshi, Kiyone, and...Tenchi? I'll see you guys there."
"How do you....how can you......?" Tenchi asked, dumbfounded as to how a stranger knew their names.
The mystery pilot's ship quickly changed from the paint job of a normal GP vessel to one of a rusted civillian craft. It flew off towards the position of Ersatz City, then fading from view.
"Is that function 382G282?" Mihoshi asked.
"Do the same please, Yukonojo." Kiyone instructed the ship, then turning to Mihoshi as the ship did just that. "Yes. Using nanobots, the ship changes its' paintjob to a disguise."
"Nanobots?"
Kiyone sighed.
"I have to explain EVERYTHING, don't I? I'll tell you later, Mihoshi."
---
"What's this about, Washuu?" Ryoko asked, drinking some sake, and still refusing to call her mother 'Mom'. Everyone at the Masaki house was assembled again, in the living room. Everyone, except Loknar and Washuu, were standing around the couch, on which they sat.
"Is everyone okay?" Sasami asked, worriedly.
"Sort of. To put it bluntly, Joseph, Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Tenchi are going to be kind of stuck in the other side of the Galaxy for a few months." Washuu announced, trying to make it as simple as possible.
Ryoko's sake flew out her nose, the same for Ayeka's tea.
"TENCHI AND JOSEPH ARE GONE?" They screamed, forgetting the other two people on the ship.
"How is this possible? My sweet prince Tenchi, and the wonderful Joseph are gone!" Ayeka exclaimed, nearly falling.
"Get them back, Washuu and Tassi! You're the geniuses! We can't live without them!" Ryoko added.
Sasami already began to cry, running to Loknar and Washuu for comfort, who held her close, and did just that. The cabbits felt the same way, even newborn Kii-Ohki, who barely knew anyone. They jumped up as well, to comfort and be comforted.
"I'll miss them!" She said, the tears coming like small rivers. Her love for them was painfully obvious. She truly did love them - Joseph with his stories and hugs, Kiyone with her help on cooking and her wonderful smiles, Mihoshi with her doodles and friendship, and Tenchi, just being the wonderful big brother she never had - She had very little time to know Yosho when he was on Jurai. They were an integral part of her family, her sense of being, her life. They were like a circuit to her; if one disapeared, the circuit would not be completed. That was unacceptable to her, and she did not know how to deal with it. She would do anything for them, even if it meant her life or soul.
Ryoko and Ayeka stayed silent, just staring at the floor. Tenchi was gone, for the time being, as well as Joseph. To them, Tenchi was more than just a boy, a friend, or an object of affection. He was to them like an electric light is to a fly, or a fish to water. They couldn't live without him, and they couldn't exist without bumping into him in some way or another. He was their God, their king, their life, their true love. Existance without him was not existance at all, just a sham, faux. Happiness without him was just a mask. He was also their friend, having helped them numerous times, in more ways that they knew, or probabbly ever would. Without him, all mature male companionship that they had was gone. Katsuhito was too old and strict for them, and Noboyuki was a crazy hentai. The only possibility left was Loknar, but he was Washuu's.
Still hopefully, they looked at him, grinning.
He returned it with a deep, dissapointed frown. Washuu responded to them in kind, except with a deep, dark, posessive, stormy glare that seemed to yell "TASSI IS MINE!" out into the heavens.
"No." He said to them, very easily, then kissing Washuu very, very passionatley, easily proving that he was sure. Washuu grinned, and kissed back, the princess and the space pirate mumbling and stomping off to their rooms to brood. Sasami giggled a bit, still trying to stop crying.
Katsuhito just mumbled after hearing the news, the word 'practice' being the only one audiable. It had become ritual to him to practice sword technique with someone for many years, and without it, something felt odd to him.
The only person left besides Loknar and Washuu was Noboyuki, who seemed to be busy reading some of his 'literature', giggling oddly at times. The cover read 'Magical Girl Pretty Yuki!', which was probabbly not aimed at his age group.
Loknar and Washuu blinked, still trying to calm Sasami and the cabbits down. After awhile, Sasami fell asleep in Washuu's lap, who gently put her on the couch with the cabbits, who had fallen asleep on Loknar.
"They needed a nap." He said quietly, then turning to Noboyuki. "We really need to do something about him."
"No kidding." Washuu replied, looking at the middle aged man reading manga about Magical Girls, and laughing like a schoolgirl.
"You know what? I think he's either one can short of a six-pack or he needs a girlfriend." Loknar whispered, the two geniuses huddling for a moment.
"Probably both." Washuu added, seeing Noboyuki suddenly drop the comic and laugh insanely, amazingly not waking Sasami.
"We've got nothing much else to do until the four of them get settled in there, in the Lock Sector."
"So you think we could?"
"Probabbly. It could work on him. They obviously aren't going to be attracted to his personality right now."
"Should we fool him into doing it or tell him flat out?"
"He'd most likely prefer it both ways. Besides, it won't hurt him. Let's just fool him, for the fun of it."
"How shall we fool him then?"
"Catch bees with honey, my dear, if you know what I mean. Let's go to the lab and get it started up first."
They walk into the lab, the sounds of heavy machinery quite loud for a moment. Suddenly, it stops. None of it seems to bother Noboyuki, who is looking at the manga again, this time upside down, and seems oblivious to what is going on.
"Oh Noboyuki, could you come in here, please? We have every manga in existance, now!" Loknar called, the lab door opening.
"Yay!" Noboyuki replied, flying off of the couch and into the lab, where he was promptly taken ahold of by robotic hands. "Hey, what's all this about? And where's the manga?"
"No manga." Washuu says.
"What, then? I need to get back to my - " He shifts his eyes for a moment, " 'Studies'. "
"We're going to take several years off of you, my good boy. We're also going to get you a girlfriend." Replied Loknar, who entered some commands into a console.
"I miss Tenchi and Joseph allready, but for at least a few months, I get to be the Alpha male!" He exclaimed, happily.
"Alpha male among bakas." Loknar grumbles.
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Very quickly, he is placed in a chamber, which fills with mist as he enters.
"Ready, Noboyuki? We can always change you back when we need to." Washuu yelled, the machine already making a lot of noise as it began to warm up.
"Fire her up!"
The machine initated, humming and whirring sounds coming from it. Within moments, it was finished.
"Let's see how you....Jebus." Loknar said, startled. Noboyuki had come out about 25 years younger, about Joseph's age. His hair was now very long, tied in a ponytail. His skin was very youthful, but there was the same odd grin on his face.
"Thank you!" He called, then running back to his room to do who knows what.
"Same old Noboyuki." Washuu grumbled, both geniuses' heads in their hands.
---
The newly repainted Yukonojo soon entered the athmosphere of Kanraz, towards the middle continent.
"From above, this looks like the area where I was born." Joseph murmmered, peering out the window, trying to spot every detail.
"Where is that, Joseph?" Mihoshi asked, knowing only a little bit of his past.
"A little desert down near Tuscon." He replied, the ship soon coming within view of Ersatz City. It was massive, with huge, steel megalythic buildings reflecting the light of the sunset, sprawling semi-rich suburbs, large littered parks, a small lakeside area, filled with riverboat-like casinos, odd statues, and of course, a large red-light district. In some areas, it looked very rich, with large estates, mansions, and peaceful towns on the outskirts, but in others it was very poor, with slums, abandoned buildings, and old crumbling streets. It looked very much like a normal Earthly city, the exception being the large amount of small ships and terrestrial hover-vehicles. Oddly, he smiled at it.
"I have recieved updates from the local information directory servers." Yuknojo announced. "Shall I direct us to the selected meeting place with our fellow officer?"
"Sure. I wanna to meet this guy that seems to know too much." Kiyone said to the computer.
Yukonojo pulled into the red light district. The area itself seemed to be pretty slummy, with poor housing, rampant vandalism, prostitutes on the street, little police presence, and boarded up buildings, with the exception of a few. Those buildings that weren't poor in that area of town were quite the opposite; high-tech brothels, bars, stores, or other establishments of questionable morals.
"Oh, my." Mihoshi giggled, blushing when she saw some of the names of the buisnesses.
Yukonojo soon flew over a large building. It was about the size of a small supermarket, and looked very new, with a large electric display of a lion-like animal roaring, searchlights, security stations, TV antennas, and a very large parking lot next door. It seemed to be themed like a rave, rather than a bar; rave lighting and decorations were everwhere. They slowly landed at one of the empty spaces for small ships.
"Oki. Let's go-" Mihoshi said, trying to open the door, only to be stopped by Kiyone. "Kiyone, what are you doing?"
"Mihoshi, we can't go outside in our uniforms! They hate GPs here! We should wear our normal clothing."
"We'll change first, okay?" Tenchi said, wanting to get it over with. He had been wearing GP clothing as a precaution during the whole thing, and he now regretted it. "Please don't look."
"We won't." Kiyone beamed, crossing her fingers. She patted the security camera nearby her that was monitoring the ship, grinning. She might be able to sell the tape to Ryoko and Ayeka once they got back home.
Joseph and Tenchi tried to undress quickly, hoping that the girls wouldn't look at them. When their backs were turned, however, Mihoshi and Kiyone took some peeks, giggling about it. The two of them were very gentlemanly when the girls changed, taking only a few quick looks. They soon finished, and got out of the ship.
"What kind of credits do you think they use?" Joseph asked, for what should be paid for the meter.
"Whateva ya got, kid." One of the attendants said. "By da way, you aren't gonna get inside dressed like that. The Lion's Jaw is a bar...err.....'rave', not some crappy school dance."
"Where could we buy the correct clothing then?" Tenchi asked the man.
He pointed to a small clothing store nearby it.
"I've never been to a rave before." Kiyone said to the group.
"Neither have the rest of us." Replied Tenchi.
"I've been to one. I sort of know how it works." Joseph spoke, bringing the others into the clothing store. It was very much like an earthly clothing store, except for the clothing, which seemed very strange to them.
"Can we afford all of this?" Tenchi asked the others, as they picked out clothing.
"Don't worry. We all got independently paid by Jurai after liberating Tsaniko. The checks came in yesterday. They agreed to keep out names secret." Joseph whispered, for fear that someone would try to rob them.
They picked out some clothing, Joseph having a vauge idea of the normal look; bright and black colored shirts and pants, and a large amount of bracelets and necklaces.
Joseph looked at himself in the mirror, frowning.
"God, I hate this stuff." He thought.
"Did I mention that this is somehow reminding me of this one anime where there was a club like this where the internet was called something else and this girl had all these powers and stuff and there were these knight guys and then all this stuff about God and it was cool and all and there was this accella thingie and a bearsuit and uncaring moms who eat too much rice?" Mihoshi said, speaking very fast for an odd reason.
"We have to stop her from looking at those odd sci-fi animes." Tenchi mumbles, then looking at himself in the mirror. "Geez, I hate rave clothing! Speaking of that, what the hell am I doing here?!?!? A few hours ago I was at home sowing fields at a little house in the Japanese countryside, and now I'm wearing rave clothing in a store on the other side of the galaxy!"
"This shouldn't be so suprising." Joseph muttered, frowning at the clothing. "Let's just go inside, and find the mysterious 'friend' of ours."
They dropped their normal clothing back at Yukonojo, then heading inside the building. Strobe light filled the air, while neon covered the walls, a few people seeming to be dancing back and forth to techno music. Most, however, sat at the bars, motionless, as if they weren't real.
"This...is odd. This place is filled, yet no one is dancing, and very few people are wearing rave clothing. That damn attendant tricked us into buying all this crap!" Joseph realized, speaking softly. "This whole thing must be a cover for some kind of outlaw meeting place! The ravers, bars, this place is fake! The real thing must be nearby."
Indeed, there were a lot of dangerous-looking men and women on the other side of a curtained glass wall, sitting at bars. Normal-sounding music filtered in from it.
Mihoshi touched one of the ravers.
"Uh, Kiyone, should this guy be made of metal?" She called.
"You're right, Joseph. The whole place is a fake. I think we should return these things, and then come back in our normal clothing. Hopefully, the store will return full price." Kiyone said, after hearing Mihoshi's question.
"Kiyone!"
"What?"
"You didn't answer my question!"
"What was it?"
"Should that guy be made of metal?"
"I don't think so."
They returned the clothing and came back to the building a moment later, with 50% of the money spent on the clothing back. The store hadn't been as cooperative in returns as Kiyone had hoped.
"How do we get in?" Joseph spoke, now in his normal clothes, and referring to the real tavern.
"In or out, okay?" A waiter called, opening a door in the curtained glass for them.
"That was simple." He mumbled.
They got inside, and it did look very much like a traditional bar; dim lighting, a large amount of stools and drinks, music, thousands of conversations, and a large amount of people, some of them looking very susipicious.
A man at one on of the stools got up and smiled at them. He had short, brilliant orange hair, like that of the sun and deep green eyes like forests. He had very cat-like features, such as orange cat-like ears on his head, and a long tiger-like tail. He stood at about Joseph's height, around 6'4, and wore sandals, faded blue jeans, and a flannel shirt over a white t-shirt that bore the words "Don't Call Me Mr. Kitty", along with an SD picture of a cat. He was about 18, and quite handsome.
Joseph grinned widely when he saw him, laughing a bit, the man doing the same.
"Yo, Joseph!" The man called, grinning, in a deep but young voice.
"Arti - Geez, it was a surprise to think you joined up in the GP." Joseph replied.
"Same about you too."
"How are you doing, kiddo?" Joseph asked, shaking his hand, hard, still laughing a bit.
"Doin' fine. Let me try and identify the folks with ya - Mihoshi Kuramitsu, Kiyone Makibi, and Tenchi something-or-other." Arti said, smiling at each one.
Kiyone and Mihoshi blushed, smiling at him.
"It's Tenchi Masaki. How do you know us - And how do you know Joseph?" Tenchi asked, a bit bewildered. He knew that Joseph had some friends from when he was in the Galaxian Marines, but he didn't think that they would come here.
"Quite simple - I'm a wee bit of a computer genius and a hacker. Didn't take much to match your bioscan and records, or anyone else for that matter." Arti replied, "Tenchi's was a little hard to track, as he isn't in the GP database. I figured it out eventually. I didn't tell you guys that I was the one pilioting that other ship because I know Joseph would have made a big stink about it, had me land with you guys, and me and him would go off and drink for a few hours while you guys were bored silly."
Joseph laughed again, joking with his friend.
"You didn't answer his question about how you know me, kiddo."
Arti smiled again.
"Me and him go wayyyy back. It's a real long story, and you'll hear it sometime soon. It's kinda serious, involving Psi Zeta, rest that squadron's soul."
"Psi Zeta." Mihoshi thought, remebering that it was Joseph's squadron that had been murdered by Christopher Stygian. She remebered Stygian's attack on the Masaki house, Resyuki, Stygian's second in command, the battle with Koros, everything. It felt like a knife had reopened an old wound, festering once more. She wasn't a psychic or a Psionic Mage, but she could tell that some parts of Joseph's life still felt like unhealing scars to him.
Kiyone beamed, looking at Joseph and Arti. She hadn't seen Joseph this happy in a long while; he was laughing, having a good time, and being around a friend of his. She didn't know what Mihoshi was thinking about. She took a look at Arti, observing him.
"He is really cute, just like Joseph." She thought, mischevious ideas coming into her head, a similar grin on her face. "Once we get a place to stay, I will start a little shounen ai manga, methinks."
Arti saw the pain in Mihoshi's eyes after thinking about those incidents. His expression saddened, and he went over to her.
"Are you alright, Miss Mihoshi?" He asked, quietly, with kind, understanding eyes. His tail flicked back a bit.
"I-I'm okay, I guess." She said, blushing a bit.
"I know how it is. I...I lost my parents due to the same event that Joseph saw." He whispered.
"You mean..."
"I'll explain it later."
For the first time, Mihoshi didn't require an immediate explanation, something that startled Kiyone.
While all this was going on, Tenchi was a little bit bored. He didn't like bars or alcohol, cheap music, or barflies. He looked around the room, seeing all the people drinking; the barflies, the casual drinkers, the gangsters, the daters, the ladies of the night, the office workers, the girl who looks like Mizra, the prostitutes, the space pirates - "A girl who looks like Mizra?" He thought, then tapping Joseph's shoulder as he saw that.
A woman sat at a stool, a very heavy drink in front of her. She had light blue hair, only a little bit darker than Ryoko's, straight in front with a headband, but spikey in back, with little bits coming over the ears. She had depressed, orangey-red eyes like the morning sunrise, and strange markings on the left side of her face. She wore a long black cloak, and an odd jumpsuit-like outfit, with strange boots, and carried a very long, clean wand, with a green orb at the top. At her side was a very young grey cabbit, no more than a week old. It seemed strong nonetheless, attempting to scare off anyone that would try to harm its mistress. The woman seemed desperately depressed, like she was going to die. She slouched over the drink, trying to hold herself up. She truly did look a lot like Mizra, except for the coloring of the hair and cloak, markings, and small physical differences.
Joseph nodded, glaring at the woman, thinking she was Mizra. He knew very little of the woman, but from what he did know, she sounded like the kind of person that Koros would employ.
Arti, however, just took one look at her, and said "I don't think that is Mizra."
"How do you know?" Asked Mihoshi.
"Mirsan instinct."
Joseph came up to the woman, holding collapsable handcuffs, Kiyone and Mihoshi following.
"Mizra Akaji Zonah, you're under arrest." He whispered, putting them on her.
The cabbit hissed.
"I'm not Mizra. But I don't care. Do what you like. It doesn't matter anymore." The woman whispered, her voice shaky, trembling, deep and tired, seemed filled with depression, the hopeless kind that Joseph himself experienced. It caused Joseph to frown, and doubt that she was Mizra.
"You look a lot like her."
"So do a few others."
"Who are you, then, if you aren't Mizra?" Kiyone asked, checking around. No one else was seeing what was happening, all of them caught up in their own discussions to hear.
"Nagi Kamura. Run a background check if you want, I don't give a damn."
Kiyone ran a scan on her on a small computer that she carried with her.
"Nagi Kamura, Bounty Hunter Extrordinare-"
"Ex-Bounty Hunter. I quit very recently." Nagi replied.
"Why?"
"Do I have to tell my life story or something so I can have a last drink before I....before I do something that I will probabbly regret?!?!?" She quietly yelled, trying to keep her voice down. She was very upset, even though she seemed to be drunk. She was trembling, a few tears falling down her face, and a look of absolute pain in her eyes.
Tenchi looked at Nagi. She seemed a lot like Ryoko, in an odd way. The spiky hair was distantly similar to Ryoko's, but there was something about her. This girl seemed to display how she felt very blantantly, but it probabably had something to do with her drunkeness. Ryoko was like that sometimes, but she was much more secretive about her fears and her worries.
"Are you allright, Miss Nagi?" He asked.
"Take it from me, kid - don't be a freakin' bounty hunter." He mumbled, her drunkeness very evident, like Ryoko's would be.
Arti took the handcuffs off of her.
"What are you doing?" Joseph exclaimed, trying to be as quiet as possible, as to not attract attention.
"She isn't Mizra. Nor is she guilty of anything."
"But the record scanner program says she is guilty of theft, murder, and conspiracy!" Kiyone added.
"It's all fake. I can tell." He said, then turning to Nagi. "You don't have a place to go, do you?"
"House burned down. Arsonists from my damned Great Uncle. It's a long story that you don't need to know." She replied, trying to hold her composure.
He was about to put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, when the cabbit meowed.
Almost instinctively, Arti looked directly into the cabbit's eyes, information seemingly exchanged telepathically through them with a primal link. The cabbit soon nodded, as if understanding who he was and what he was doing.
"Arti, you're staying with us, once we find a place to stay. I don't know about her." Joseph said quietly to his friend.
"She's coming with me then. My people are able to sense liers, murderers, and thieves - She is an angel covered in soot - That is what it comes down to, my friend." Arti whispered. He looked back at her. "Can you come stay with us, Miss Nagi?"
"I don't care." She muttered.
"We need to find a place first, anyhow." Joseph added.
"I already reserved us a place." Arti said, pointing to a small computer that popped up next to him. It displayed a picture of a building on the outskirts of town. It was a large apartment building, which used to be an industrial building. The rooms were huge, the option of being pre-furnished looking very attractive. "It's a nice loft apartment; with my cash combined with the three of yours, we can afford it. I already submitted my retnal key, we can register yours later."
He then turned to Nagi, and helping her up, the cabbit jumping on her shoulder. She seemed very sluggish, her drunkeness probably the major contributing factor.
As soon as Arti helped her up, a few drunks began to laugh.
"Look, its' that dyke Nagi and a bloody catboy!" One of them laughed. "I wonder what the kids will be like!"
Rage filled Joseph. If it was one thing that Joseph hated, it was bigotry. When he had first joined the Galaxian Marines, some of the elder races descriminated against those that came from Earth to serve their galaxy. He had faced it a lot, other squadrons playing sick pranks on his because it had Earthly members. Terrans did it to the elder species at that time as well, being a mess of racial bigotry. It was one of the major problems with humanity and society that he had. It paticularly angered him if it happened to other species.
Joseph took a deep breath, put his glass down, and went right up to the drunk, punched him in the jaw, and walked away. The drunk fell off the chair, his friends too drunk to care or notice.
"I'm bisexual, dammit." Nagi mumbled, very drunk. She turned to the cabbit. "Ako-Ohki, let me sleep late tomorrow, okay?"
The cabbit meowed, softly.
They got into Yukonojo, and very soon they were flying over the outskirts of town. It was very hilly around there, with old cliffs and ledges, sparse patches of grass, and a clear view of the night sky. The four moons of the planet stood above them, as if in a standstill. The stars were very easy to see in the dark sea, the city lights somehow having the opposite effect of light pollution; as if their spectrum was changed so it amplified the starlight. They landed near a large white apartment building, about fifty stories high. It seemed somewhat old, but it oddly seemed very recent. Next to it was a huge parking lot, with ships and cars of innumerable sizes parked there.
"What floor are we on?" Tenchi asked, not knowing what an apartment was like.
Arti checked the printout from his computer.
"45."
Tenchi gulped.
"It's allready pre-furnished, right?"
"Yup. Beds, chairs, tables, everything."
"How about rooms?"
"Allready taken care of, but it will take awhile to get used to. As these are loft apartments, we got one huge room, a smaller living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. The huge room will be the bedroom. I instructed the mantience people online to put curtains to seperate the rooms."
"You mean there won't be a real barrier between all of us when we sleep?" Tenchi gasped, the feeling of people watching him sleep still present, even though Ryoko and Ayeka weren't with them.
"It will have to do." Joseph said, pulling some of his books and clothes from a small pseudospace pocket.
"What the hell is going on?" Nagi mumbled.
"We have to get her inside. She's drunker than Ryoko usually is!" Tenchi said warningly.
They walked inside with what they had with them, Mihoshi stopping to look at a map on the wall.
"Ooo...There's an onsen on the floor below ours!" She said, grinning.
"We'll have to make a stop there later on." Kiyone added.
"Tomorrow. First, we need to get settled in, if it is possible. We need some sleep." Tenchi replied glumly, the effects of realizing that he would not be home for months finally setting in. They went into the elevator, soon getting to the 45th floor, and getting out.
"Room 4502." Arti said, putting his eyes up to a scanner on the door, which immediatley opened. The room itself was much like Arti had described; a large main room, a small living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. The main room was very well furnished, with normal futons in six places in the room, a white curtain surrounding each one. There was some decoration, but it was still somewhat spartan. The living room was a bit more elaborately decorated, with a couch, chairs, bookcases, a TV, and a nice view of the surrounding hillsides. The kitchen looked much like the one at home, as well as the bathroom.
"Pretty damn decent." Joseph thought, smiling.
"Guys, can you keep it quiet for a second? I need to make sure she's allright." Arti announced, putting Nagi on one of the futons, and closing the curtain. She was still very drunk, and still very upset. She still cried somewhat, Ako-Ohki trying to lick her tears away.
"You'll be safe here with us, Nagi." He said quietly.
"I don't give a damn about what happens to me, catboy. I'm a @#%$ criminal. I either kill or capture for a living, and I get paid for it. I'm a monster!" She said, putting her head into the pillow.
"You aren't, Nagi. I can sense you are a wonderful woman who got into some unfortunate accidents."
"I only got into bounty hunting so I could escape my @#%$ family, especially my great uncle."
"Who is your great uncle, Nagi?"
"I'll talk about it tomorrow or something." She mumbled, still crying. "I hate my job, I hate my life, I hate myself!"
Arti lifted her up, and held her in his arms, trying to comfort her. She was quite beautiful, but Arti was not interested in any of that right now, and neither was she. He did not even know her, yet all he wanted to do at that moment was make her feel better. He wanted her to find solace on this night, whether it be through him, or someone else. He held her for awhile, until she stopped crying, and the exhaustion setting in, causing her to fall asleep.
He put her on the futon, gently kissing her forehead.
"Feel better, Nagi." He whispered, going to the other unused futon. Everyone else had pretty much fallen asleep by now. He sighed, changed his clothes, and got in bed.
----
::Cutoff as of 2/13/02::
There's a lot more for me to do on this. Comments? ^_^
I will include what I have for Chapter 9 so far. However, you have to have read the first 8 to understand it. This is only about halfway done. There's a lot more coming. I'd love to see some comments on this.
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Copyrights, etc: Tenchi Muyo! and all corresponding characters are the properties of AIC and Pioneer. Joseph, Koros, and Loknar belong to me. They're restless, since I did minifics and not much else for a long while. I'm getting back to the story, now (finally).
Notes, etc: This chapter takes place a month after A Well Needed Vacation - TM OAV 21, OC Chapter 8 (in both chapter name and IRL). Things at the Masaki home have gotten back to normal, but Ryo-Ohki has gotten a little bit bigger, leading to the suggestion that she may be pregnant.
There will be violence in this chapter, as this will be an attempt to observe the other side of the universe that Tenchi and the others inhabit - The other side of the Galactic Union, the Lock Sector, based on theory. You'll be pleasently surprised, hopefully. This is the beginning of a two to three part section of OC in which half of the group is seperated from each other, allowing different situations, at the Masaki house and in the Lock Sector, that would not have been possible otherwise. A few new main characters (one of them being Nagi) will be introduced, so watch out.
I also appologize for my laziness. Real life has been really odd lately, with the good and bad parts of it fluctuating at such an alarming rate that has been hard to keep up, resulting in little time to write. Hopefully, that fluctation has been circumvented (I got the motovation back).
Oki. Here goes the results of a Well Needed Vacation, lol....
God Bless America.
Loknar, 1/31/02
Fanfic Began: 1/31/02. Fanfic Finished: xx/xx/02
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Tenchi Muyo! OAV 22: Locked In
(Orion Chronicles, Chapter 9)
Azaka and Kamidake stand out by the gates of the house, a few birds gently pirched on them, the two wooden guardians not seeming to mind. It was around late April, the summer beginning to enroach upon the spring, as the cherry blossoms dropped off, to be replaced with fruit, while the mighty trees of Jurai and their earthly brethren regrew leaves, large, mighty, and tough. The trees were almost filled with the greenness of life by now, and the flowers on the nearby mountain had begun to bloom, while a quiet, undisturbing breeze navigated through the air like an explorer's ship, always finding new places to pass through.
"Another beautiful day." Azaka said quietly, the jewel in his middle glowing as he did.
"We've said that too much lately." Kamidake replied.
"Huh?"
"We should say something new, instead."
"Like what?"
"Like 'Dang, it's pretty.'"
"No."
Kamidake sighed, and mumbled something under his breath.
Mihoshi sat on the porch, dozing on a lawn chair. She snored quietly, a look of absolute peace and relaxation on her sleepy face, as if in her dreams she was tasting the wonderful ambrosia of heaven.
"Mihoshi." Sasami said, tugging on her sleeves.
Mihoshi said something in her sleep, and turned over.
She tugged at her again, a little bit more forcefully. She had the look in her eyes like that of a messenger, with news that would change the world forever.
"...What?" Mihoshi asked, half-asleep.
"I think Ryo-Ohki is having her baby!" She replied, her voice full of joy.
"She is?" Mihoshi exclaimed, jumping out of her chair.
"Yup! She's in Tenchi's bedroom, and so are Ken-Ohki and everyone else."
Before Sasami could finish speaking, Mihoshi had raced to the top of the stairs, literally flying into Tenchi's room. Everyone was in it; Washuu, Loknar, Joseph, Tenchi, Kiyone, Ayeka, Ryoko, Noboyuki, Kasuhito, Ryo-Ohki, Ken-Ohki, as well as the small egg.
"Did I miss anything?" Mihoshi asked, filled with glee, Sasami coming inside as well.
"The egg is about to hatch. Keep it down." Joseph whispered, pointing to the slowly moving egg, cuddled by the happy parents, purring quietly. A light purr could be heard coming from the egg as well. The egg was ivory in color, with small green and yellow speckles covering parts of it. It was about the size of a small stack of children's books, and seemed to weigh at about a pound.
Everyone watched as the egg continued to move, small cracks appearing in its' side, about the size of a penny at first. They grew, each by amout a centimeter a second, some of the cracks starting to merge as the egg seemed to shake a little more, everyone's attention now settled on the small ovalish object.
Within a few minutes, the cracks along the top merged enough that it became loose, soon falling out. The egg rolled over, very quietly, a tired little silvery cabbit crawling out. It looked very much like a mix of its' parents, and sported a small gem on its' forehead.
Loknar and Washuu smiled; their creations had reproduced themselves. They had not known each other when each cabbit was born, and therefore had no idea if the two cabbits could interbreed. The answer was certain by now. Tears of joy fell from their eyes, as they now were essentially grandparents of an entity - Not a human per se, but a sentient entity.
Loknar and Washuu listened closely while the others watched in admiration and awe; they were telepathically recieving messages from both the newborn cabbit and its' parents.
Very gently, they brought it over to its' parents, Ryo-Ohki helping it to nurse, while Ken-Ohki cleaned it.
"It's a girl." The two geniuses announced. "Her name is Kii-Ohki."
Happiness filled the room, as the new member of their family was thus born.
Within an hour or so, with everyone watching, Kii-Ohki was walking on her own, and happily mewing.
Sasami petted her, and she snuggled with the little cabbit and her parents, everyone getting a turn to do so.
"Tenchi, why was she born on your bed?" Sasami asked him.
"I don't know...Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki must have felt comfortable there, and decided that it would be the place." He replied, still a little bit unsure himself. His bed was a little lumpy, and had been frequently replaced, due to the fighting of Ryoko and Ayeka.
Mihoshi had waited patiently - It was about to be her turn to pet Kii-Ohki. Ayeka was almost finished, gently stroking it, the cabbit purring happily in her lap.
Ayeka put her back on the bed, the cabbit still purring.
Suddenly, her watch began to beep. It glowed a deep blue, a hologram of the emblem of the Galaxy Police appearing. Kiyone and Joseph's watches began to do the same.
"Attention, all Galaxy Police Officers in the Sol System area." A female voice announced on the watches, everyone stopping to listen. "The wanted criminal Assassin Mizra Akaji Zonah has been sighted over Earth, sector H37BM12W, the Okayama region, after flying over Tokyo and Hiroshima. As you know, this is a flagrant violaiton of Galactic Union High Parliament Executive Order 3823, which forbids any Galactic Citizen from coming into contact with protective primitive planets, except under special circumstances. She is a level five criminal, wanted for murder, theft, arson, extortion, vandalism, and numerous other crimes. She has no remorse for killing anything, or committing any atrocity. A squadron of GP Special forces has intercepted her craft, but several of them have been shot down. Recovery teams are in place to retrieve remains of downed GP craft. Ms. Zonah must be captured or killed at all costs."
An image of Mizra appears on each watch. She is tall, with long, bloody crimson hair, straight in front, but spiky in back, small bits poking over her ears, with ashy eyes as dark as the laugh of the wicked, and a superior smirk on her face, as if mocking whoever looked at her. On several parts of her body, including her face, there were odd black markings. She wore a long, black cloak, covering most of her body, and a strange jumpsuit-like piece of clothing under it. An odd wand/saber-like weapon was on a seath at her side, stained with a dark liquid, probably blood.
Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Joseph, knowing their duties, rushed to change into their GP uniforms, Kii-Ohki becoming confused as to what is happening.
"Don't worry, Kii-Ohki." Sasami whispered reassuringly, "They'll be back, okay?"
Ryoko had seen the figure on the watch, at first seemingly alarmed by it, as if Zonah looked familiar. She sighed, then comfortably sitting back down.
"What's wrong, Ryoko?" Washuu asked, curious.
"She looked like someone I knew. Nothing else." Ryoko replied, easily.
"Who did Ms. Zonah look like to you?"
"N-No one." Ryoko replied, a little nervous.
"Okay, you don't want to talk. Tassi and I are going down to the lab to monitor the battle, kay?" Washuu continued, momentarily walking down the stairs with Loknar.
Tenchi had walked downstairs, and turned on the TV, knowing that if there were ships flying over the Okayama prefecture, it would be on the news. Sure enough, he turned it on to find the images of several ships, a few in the normal GP style, and one sleek, triangular black one (obviously Zonah's), shooting at each other, the people below in a panic.
"As of 11:00 AM this morning, several Unidentified Flying Objects were spotted over the general Okayama area. We are presenting you with live coverage of this event, as these.....these ships battle it out over our skies. Many citizens, fearing for their lives, have hid in their basements, while others, like Dr. Sakuya Misato, of the Skeptical Institiute of Japan, are doubting these events as tricks of the eye or JSDF test aircraft." A reporter announced, a thin, angry-looking woman in a labcoat next to him.
"These 'spaceships' are obviously military test craft. I am absolutely sure that no unearthly sentient life exists beyond this planet, or in the galaxy, for that matter." The skeptic spoke defiantly, her arms crossed.
At that point, Tenchi began to laugh, very very hard, as unearthly sentient people had been living with him for years, and he was a prince of an unearthly kingdom.
"If I am wrong, may something knock me uncouncious." The skeptic announced, grinning, not seeing the aerial battle moving over the television station for a bit, a stray laser blast then hitting directly at the roof above her head, and the ceiling tile that now hit her upside the head, causing her to fufill her recent prophecy.
Even the news anchor couldn't help laughing, soon helping her up and getting her some medical attention.
Mihoshi, Joseph, and Kiyone finished getting dressed into their uniforms, signaled Yukonojo with a small, black remote with a single button, the ship decloaking, and landing nearby.
"Hey, Tenchi! Wanna come with?" Joseph asked, taking his Orion-ken, just in case. "I don't think it will take that long to beat this villaness."
Tenchi smiled.
"Why not. I've never seen how you guys truly work, anyhow." He replied, taking his Tenchi-ken.
"Alrighty. You're now deputized, just for the record. Put on a spare GP uniform once you get inside, just in case. Let's roll." Joseph said, the four of them jumping into Yukonojo.
It was around that time when the aerial battle became a chase, now passing directly over them. The speed at which the ships traveled caused a small sonic boom, the house rattling a little bit.
"What do we have to do without this time, Yukonojo?" Kiyone asked as they took off, knowing that Mihoshi must have accidentally destroyed some important component of the ship since the last mission.
"None, actually." The computer replied.
"That has to be impossible."
"No kidding."
"Not even the emergency rations?"
"I restocked them just yesterday."
They began to fly very fast, soon catching up with the chase. Mizra's ship was being chased, not very damaged at all, by a small group of GP ships, some of them heavily damaged. A heavy plasma turret was on the back of Zonah's ship, and that was causing most of the damage. Everyone's stomach turned as they saw the turret tear a small ship to shreds, the pieces falling back to Earth as if it were scraps of burning paper, or ash. The chase soon brought them through the stratosphere, where another ship exploded.
"Are you sure we're going to be allright?" Tenchi called worriedly, his voice slightly drowned out by the loudness of the engines of all the ships. "We're not going to die, are we?"
"Far from it." Joseph replied, scoring a direct hit at one of the turret's guns, thus making it weaker.
A text message appeared on a screen, from a small GP ship, which seemed to be doing quite well, with very little damage. The ships' oddly named handle was "Don't Call Me Mr. Kitty", and asked this: "How're you folks doing?"
"We'll be fine." Joseph replied, gulping again as it was soon just the DCMMK ship and them against Mizra's ship. Loknar thought about the handle of that ship - The phrase sounded familiar. He smiled, as it reminded him of an old friend, one of his best friends, who he hadn't seen in years.
"No, that couldn't be him." He said, thinking out loud.
"Who, Joseph?" Mihoshi asked, quizically.
"An old friend."
"Would that be him?"
"I doubt it."
"Oh. Why did you say it then?"
"The phrase reminded me of him."
"Howso?"
"He's a Mirsan, a humanoid cat-like species."
"Is he cute?" She seemed quite interested now.
Before Joseph could respond, there was a blast against Yukonojo's shield, and then a video message.
"Uh...Guys....Tassi and I are detecting a weird anaomoly that seems to be forming within about 10 light-seconds from you. You'll be entering it within a minute. We're sending out a small probe to investiage it once you go in." Washuu said quietly over a visual message.
"What kind of anamoly, Mom?" Joseph asked, now getting used to her being his future step-mother.
"Nothing that bad. A wormhole, caused by Mizra's ship." She said, smiling briefly at the 'Mom' comment.
"That can't be good. What kind of wormhole, Washuu?" Kiyone asked.
On the video screen, Loknar handed Washuu a printout.
".....I don't know how to say this." She continued.
Everyone gulped.
"It's the kind that sends you to the other side of the galaxy. We're getting the probe to keep the wormhole stable enough so at least communication can go through." She spoke, quietly.
Tenchi, Joseph, and Kiyone fainted for a moment, Mihoshi taking the controls. Interestingly, while they were out, she got some powerful hits on Mizra's ship.
Washuu watched this, smiling.
"You're a great shot, Mihoshi."
"Thanks, Washuu." She replied, the others soon awakening.
They could faintly see the wormhole up ahead; besides a faint outline, it looked much like normal space, the exception being that a planet was now in view through it, and it wasn't Earth. The planet seemed to be colonized, but it didn't look very hospitable. It was very desert-like, the color of the Sahara, with small lakes and sparse vegitation in some areas. It had two moons, and two suns, the reason for the desert climate.
Mizra's ship sped up considerably, flying at the planet, and soon fading from view.
Yukonojo and the mysterious GP ship flew into the wormhole as well, which soon started to close.
"Oh, God! We don't even know where we are! Washuu, Loknar, do something, please!" Tenchi yelled into the radio, now quite upset.
"We're trying." Loknar replied, the transmission a little bit blurry as the wormhole continued to close, until a small satilite wedged itself between the rapidly closing circle, using magentic fields to keep it from closing completely. "We can't get it open any farther. There is some strange hyperspace dampner encoding on this thing."
"Encoding on a wormhole?" Kiyone responded, wanting to clarify if she heard that right.
"Yes, on a wormhole." He continued. "It is possible to put protection on wormholes, just like software, preventing hyperspace or subspace travel. Don't ask how. Anyway, someone put a huge encoding barrier in conjunction with hyperspace barriers over it. We can't open it, only close it, until we can break the code."
"...How long will that take?" Asked Tenchi, probabbly not wanting to know.
Washuu handed him a printout, and he sighed.
"At least two months. That's the first part of the bad news."
"There's more?" Said Mihoshi, now trying to wake up Tenchi, and Joseph, with Kiyone ready to faint.
"You seem to be in the Lock Sector, a region of the Galaxy that seems to be entirely cut off from the rest of civilization. The encoding that we encountered blocks any ships from entering a radius of 250 systems from the center. It can hardly recieve any locations back and forth, and even when they do, they are thousand-year old signals. The GP offices in that sector were extinguished 150 years ago, right when it became cut off - Whoever or whatever caused it is still at large. The area is full of crime, but there are some prosperous areas. Washuu and I will provide you with information as we come upon it."
Joseph sighed, sadly.
"I'm sorry for asking you to come with us, Tenchi. I didn't know it would be this bad." He said to his brother.
"It's not your fault. Besides, the three of you shouldn't be alone out here, even if you are GP officers."
A transmission came through the portal, heading straight to Loknar and Washuu.
They smiled for a moment.
"You'll have some company there, however." Washuu beamed.
"Who?" Mihoshi rsponded.
"He doesn't want us to tell. You'll meet him within the hour. We need to tell the others. You guys get settled in, okay?"
"Tell them we're allright." Kiyone added.
Another text message popped up from DCMMK.
"Where should we meet?" He asked.
"Geez, you love anonynimity. How should we know? We've never been here before." Joseph replied, entering his response into Yukonojo's terminal.
"Neither have I. The planet is named Kanraz, in the Sukiani system. My sensors have detected Mizra's ship landing in a place named Ersatz City. It's in the center of the middle landmass. According to my recently updated database, there should be a bar where Mizra might be. It's called 'The Lion's Jaw.' I suggest we meet there. I also suggest we all use function 382G282 on our ships. The natives don't seem to like GP."
"Who are you, Loknar's brother?"
"You'll see. ;-) I'll be wearing a white T-shirt that bears the same text as my handle. Joseph, Mihoshi, Kiyone, and...Tenchi? I'll see you guys there."
"How do you....how can you......?" Tenchi asked, dumbfounded as to how a stranger knew their names.
The mystery pilot's ship quickly changed from the paint job of a normal GP vessel to one of a rusted civillian craft. It flew off towards the position of Ersatz City, then fading from view.
"Is that function 382G282?" Mihoshi asked.
"Do the same please, Yukonojo." Kiyone instructed the ship, then turning to Mihoshi as the ship did just that. "Yes. Using nanobots, the ship changes its' paintjob to a disguise."
"Nanobots?"
Kiyone sighed.
"I have to explain EVERYTHING, don't I? I'll tell you later, Mihoshi."
---
"What's this about, Washuu?" Ryoko asked, drinking some sake, and still refusing to call her mother 'Mom'. Everyone at the Masaki house was assembled again, in the living room. Everyone, except Loknar and Washuu, were standing around the couch, on which they sat.
"Is everyone okay?" Sasami asked, worriedly.
"Sort of. To put it bluntly, Joseph, Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Tenchi are going to be kind of stuck in the other side of the Galaxy for a few months." Washuu announced, trying to make it as simple as possible.
Ryoko's sake flew out her nose, the same for Ayeka's tea.
"TENCHI AND JOSEPH ARE GONE?" They screamed, forgetting the other two people on the ship.
"How is this possible? My sweet prince Tenchi, and the wonderful Joseph are gone!" Ayeka exclaimed, nearly falling.
"Get them back, Washuu and Tassi! You're the geniuses! We can't live without them!" Ryoko added.
Sasami already began to cry, running to Loknar and Washuu for comfort, who held her close, and did just that. The cabbits felt the same way, even newborn Kii-Ohki, who barely knew anyone. They jumped up as well, to comfort and be comforted.
"I'll miss them!" She said, the tears coming like small rivers. Her love for them was painfully obvious. She truly did love them - Joseph with his stories and hugs, Kiyone with her help on cooking and her wonderful smiles, Mihoshi with her doodles and friendship, and Tenchi, just being the wonderful big brother she never had - She had very little time to know Yosho when he was on Jurai. They were an integral part of her family, her sense of being, her life. They were like a circuit to her; if one disapeared, the circuit would not be completed. That was unacceptable to her, and she did not know how to deal with it. She would do anything for them, even if it meant her life or soul.
Ryoko and Ayeka stayed silent, just staring at the floor. Tenchi was gone, for the time being, as well as Joseph. To them, Tenchi was more than just a boy, a friend, or an object of affection. He was to them like an electric light is to a fly, or a fish to water. They couldn't live without him, and they couldn't exist without bumping into him in some way or another. He was their God, their king, their life, their true love. Existance without him was not existance at all, just a sham, faux. Happiness without him was just a mask. He was also their friend, having helped them numerous times, in more ways that they knew, or probabbly ever would. Without him, all mature male companionship that they had was gone. Katsuhito was too old and strict for them, and Noboyuki was a crazy hentai. The only possibility left was Loknar, but he was Washuu's.
Still hopefully, they looked at him, grinning.
He returned it with a deep, dissapointed frown. Washuu responded to them in kind, except with a deep, dark, posessive, stormy glare that seemed to yell "TASSI IS MINE!" out into the heavens.
"No." He said to them, very easily, then kissing Washuu very, very passionatley, easily proving that he was sure. Washuu grinned, and kissed back, the princess and the space pirate mumbling and stomping off to their rooms to brood. Sasami giggled a bit, still trying to stop crying.
Katsuhito just mumbled after hearing the news, the word 'practice' being the only one audiable. It had become ritual to him to practice sword technique with someone for many years, and without it, something felt odd to him.
The only person left besides Loknar and Washuu was Noboyuki, who seemed to be busy reading some of his 'literature', giggling oddly at times. The cover read 'Magical Girl Pretty Yuki!', which was probabbly not aimed at his age group.
Loknar and Washuu blinked, still trying to calm Sasami and the cabbits down. After awhile, Sasami fell asleep in Washuu's lap, who gently put her on the couch with the cabbits, who had fallen asleep on Loknar.
"They needed a nap." He said quietly, then turning to Noboyuki. "We really need to do something about him."
"No kidding." Washuu replied, looking at the middle aged man reading manga about Magical Girls, and laughing like a schoolgirl.
"You know what? I think he's either one can short of a six-pack or he needs a girlfriend." Loknar whispered, the two geniuses huddling for a moment.
"Probably both." Washuu added, seeing Noboyuki suddenly drop the comic and laugh insanely, amazingly not waking Sasami.
"We've got nothing much else to do until the four of them get settled in there, in the Lock Sector."
"So you think we could?"
"Probabbly. It could work on him. They obviously aren't going to be attracted to his personality right now."
"Should we fool him into doing it or tell him flat out?"
"He'd most likely prefer it both ways. Besides, it won't hurt him. Let's just fool him, for the fun of it."
"How shall we fool him then?"
"Catch bees with honey, my dear, if you know what I mean. Let's go to the lab and get it started up first."
They walk into the lab, the sounds of heavy machinery quite loud for a moment. Suddenly, it stops. None of it seems to bother Noboyuki, who is looking at the manga again, this time upside down, and seems oblivious to what is going on.
"Oh Noboyuki, could you come in here, please? We have every manga in existance, now!" Loknar called, the lab door opening.
"Yay!" Noboyuki replied, flying off of the couch and into the lab, where he was promptly taken ahold of by robotic hands. "Hey, what's all this about? And where's the manga?"
"No manga." Washuu says.
"What, then? I need to get back to my - " He shifts his eyes for a moment, " 'Studies'. "
"We're going to take several years off of you, my good boy. We're also going to get you a girlfriend." Replied Loknar, who entered some commands into a console.
"I miss Tenchi and Joseph allready, but for at least a few months, I get to be the Alpha male!" He exclaimed, happily.
"Alpha male among bakas." Loknar grumbles.
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Very quickly, he is placed in a chamber, which fills with mist as he enters.
"Ready, Noboyuki? We can always change you back when we need to." Washuu yelled, the machine already making a lot of noise as it began to warm up.
"Fire her up!"
The machine initated, humming and whirring sounds coming from it. Within moments, it was finished.
"Let's see how you....Jebus." Loknar said, startled. Noboyuki had come out about 25 years younger, about Joseph's age. His hair was now very long, tied in a ponytail. His skin was very youthful, but there was the same odd grin on his face.
"Thank you!" He called, then running back to his room to do who knows what.
"Same old Noboyuki." Washuu grumbled, both geniuses' heads in their hands.
---
The newly repainted Yukonojo soon entered the athmosphere of Kanraz, towards the middle continent.
"From above, this looks like the area where I was born." Joseph murmmered, peering out the window, trying to spot every detail.
"Where is that, Joseph?" Mihoshi asked, knowing only a little bit of his past.
"A little desert down near Tuscon." He replied, the ship soon coming within view of Ersatz City. It was massive, with huge, steel megalythic buildings reflecting the light of the sunset, sprawling semi-rich suburbs, large littered parks, a small lakeside area, filled with riverboat-like casinos, odd statues, and of course, a large red-light district. In some areas, it looked very rich, with large estates, mansions, and peaceful towns on the outskirts, but in others it was very poor, with slums, abandoned buildings, and old crumbling streets. It looked very much like a normal Earthly city, the exception being the large amount of small ships and terrestrial hover-vehicles. Oddly, he smiled at it.
"I have recieved updates from the local information directory servers." Yuknojo announced. "Shall I direct us to the selected meeting place with our fellow officer?"
"Sure. I wanna to meet this guy that seems to know too much." Kiyone said to the computer.
Yukonojo pulled into the red light district. The area itself seemed to be pretty slummy, with poor housing, rampant vandalism, prostitutes on the street, little police presence, and boarded up buildings, with the exception of a few. Those buildings that weren't poor in that area of town were quite the opposite; high-tech brothels, bars, stores, or other establishments of questionable morals.
"Oh, my." Mihoshi giggled, blushing when she saw some of the names of the buisnesses.
Yukonojo soon flew over a large building. It was about the size of a small supermarket, and looked very new, with a large electric display of a lion-like animal roaring, searchlights, security stations, TV antennas, and a very large parking lot next door. It seemed to be themed like a rave, rather than a bar; rave lighting and decorations were everwhere. They slowly landed at one of the empty spaces for small ships.
"Oki. Let's go-" Mihoshi said, trying to open the door, only to be stopped by Kiyone. "Kiyone, what are you doing?"
"Mihoshi, we can't go outside in our uniforms! They hate GPs here! We should wear our normal clothing."
"We'll change first, okay?" Tenchi said, wanting to get it over with. He had been wearing GP clothing as a precaution during the whole thing, and he now regretted it. "Please don't look."
"We won't." Kiyone beamed, crossing her fingers. She patted the security camera nearby her that was monitoring the ship, grinning. She might be able to sell the tape to Ryoko and Ayeka once they got back home.
Joseph and Tenchi tried to undress quickly, hoping that the girls wouldn't look at them. When their backs were turned, however, Mihoshi and Kiyone took some peeks, giggling about it. The two of them were very gentlemanly when the girls changed, taking only a few quick looks. They soon finished, and got out of the ship.
"What kind of credits do you think they use?" Joseph asked, for what should be paid for the meter.
"Whateva ya got, kid." One of the attendants said. "By da way, you aren't gonna get inside dressed like that. The Lion's Jaw is a bar...err.....'rave', not some crappy school dance."
"Where could we buy the correct clothing then?" Tenchi asked the man.
He pointed to a small clothing store nearby it.
"I've never been to a rave before." Kiyone said to the group.
"Neither have the rest of us." Replied Tenchi.
"I've been to one. I sort of know how it works." Joseph spoke, bringing the others into the clothing store. It was very much like an earthly clothing store, except for the clothing, which seemed very strange to them.
"Can we afford all of this?" Tenchi asked the others, as they picked out clothing.
"Don't worry. We all got independently paid by Jurai after liberating Tsaniko. The checks came in yesterday. They agreed to keep out names secret." Joseph whispered, for fear that someone would try to rob them.
They picked out some clothing, Joseph having a vauge idea of the normal look; bright and black colored shirts and pants, and a large amount of bracelets and necklaces.
Joseph looked at himself in the mirror, frowning.
"God, I hate this stuff." He thought.
"Did I mention that this is somehow reminding me of this one anime where there was a club like this where the internet was called something else and this girl had all these powers and stuff and there were these knight guys and then all this stuff about God and it was cool and all and there was this accella thingie and a bearsuit and uncaring moms who eat too much rice?" Mihoshi said, speaking very fast for an odd reason.
"We have to stop her from looking at those odd sci-fi animes." Tenchi mumbles, then looking at himself in the mirror. "Geez, I hate rave clothing! Speaking of that, what the hell am I doing here?!?!? A few hours ago I was at home sowing fields at a little house in the Japanese countryside, and now I'm wearing rave clothing in a store on the other side of the galaxy!"
"This shouldn't be so suprising." Joseph muttered, frowning at the clothing. "Let's just go inside, and find the mysterious 'friend' of ours."
They dropped their normal clothing back at Yukonojo, then heading inside the building. Strobe light filled the air, while neon covered the walls, a few people seeming to be dancing back and forth to techno music. Most, however, sat at the bars, motionless, as if they weren't real.
"This...is odd. This place is filled, yet no one is dancing, and very few people are wearing rave clothing. That damn attendant tricked us into buying all this crap!" Joseph realized, speaking softly. "This whole thing must be a cover for some kind of outlaw meeting place! The ravers, bars, this place is fake! The real thing must be nearby."
Indeed, there were a lot of dangerous-looking men and women on the other side of a curtained glass wall, sitting at bars. Normal-sounding music filtered in from it.
Mihoshi touched one of the ravers.
"Uh, Kiyone, should this guy be made of metal?" She called.
"You're right, Joseph. The whole place is a fake. I think we should return these things, and then come back in our normal clothing. Hopefully, the store will return full price." Kiyone said, after hearing Mihoshi's question.
"Kiyone!"
"What?"
"You didn't answer my question!"
"What was it?"
"Should that guy be made of metal?"
"I don't think so."
They returned the clothing and came back to the building a moment later, with 50% of the money spent on the clothing back. The store hadn't been as cooperative in returns as Kiyone had hoped.
"How do we get in?" Joseph spoke, now in his normal clothes, and referring to the real tavern.
"In or out, okay?" A waiter called, opening a door in the curtained glass for them.
"That was simple." He mumbled.
They got inside, and it did look very much like a traditional bar; dim lighting, a large amount of stools and drinks, music, thousands of conversations, and a large amount of people, some of them looking very susipicious.
A man at one on of the stools got up and smiled at them. He had short, brilliant orange hair, like that of the sun and deep green eyes like forests. He had very cat-like features, such as orange cat-like ears on his head, and a long tiger-like tail. He stood at about Joseph's height, around 6'4, and wore sandals, faded blue jeans, and a flannel shirt over a white t-shirt that bore the words "Don't Call Me Mr. Kitty", along with an SD picture of a cat. He was about 18, and quite handsome.
Joseph grinned widely when he saw him, laughing a bit, the man doing the same.
"Yo, Joseph!" The man called, grinning, in a deep but young voice.
"Arti - Geez, it was a surprise to think you joined up in the GP." Joseph replied.
"Same about you too."
"How are you doing, kiddo?" Joseph asked, shaking his hand, hard, still laughing a bit.
"Doin' fine. Let me try and identify the folks with ya - Mihoshi Kuramitsu, Kiyone Makibi, and Tenchi something-or-other." Arti said, smiling at each one.
Kiyone and Mihoshi blushed, smiling at him.
"It's Tenchi Masaki. How do you know us - And how do you know Joseph?" Tenchi asked, a bit bewildered. He knew that Joseph had some friends from when he was in the Galaxian Marines, but he didn't think that they would come here.
"Quite simple - I'm a wee bit of a computer genius and a hacker. Didn't take much to match your bioscan and records, or anyone else for that matter." Arti replied, "Tenchi's was a little hard to track, as he isn't in the GP database. I figured it out eventually. I didn't tell you guys that I was the one pilioting that other ship because I know Joseph would have made a big stink about it, had me land with you guys, and me and him would go off and drink for a few hours while you guys were bored silly."
Joseph laughed again, joking with his friend.
"You didn't answer his question about how you know me, kiddo."
Arti smiled again.
"Me and him go wayyyy back. It's a real long story, and you'll hear it sometime soon. It's kinda serious, involving Psi Zeta, rest that squadron's soul."
"Psi Zeta." Mihoshi thought, remebering that it was Joseph's squadron that had been murdered by Christopher Stygian. She remebered Stygian's attack on the Masaki house, Resyuki, Stygian's second in command, the battle with Koros, everything. It felt like a knife had reopened an old wound, festering once more. She wasn't a psychic or a Psionic Mage, but she could tell that some parts of Joseph's life still felt like unhealing scars to him.
Kiyone beamed, looking at Joseph and Arti. She hadn't seen Joseph this happy in a long while; he was laughing, having a good time, and being around a friend of his. She didn't know what Mihoshi was thinking about. She took a look at Arti, observing him.
"He is really cute, just like Joseph." She thought, mischevious ideas coming into her head, a similar grin on her face. "Once we get a place to stay, I will start a little shounen ai manga, methinks."
Arti saw the pain in Mihoshi's eyes after thinking about those incidents. His expression saddened, and he went over to her.
"Are you alright, Miss Mihoshi?" He asked, quietly, with kind, understanding eyes. His tail flicked back a bit.
"I-I'm okay, I guess." She said, blushing a bit.
"I know how it is. I...I lost my parents due to the same event that Joseph saw." He whispered.
"You mean..."
"I'll explain it later."
For the first time, Mihoshi didn't require an immediate explanation, something that startled Kiyone.
While all this was going on, Tenchi was a little bit bored. He didn't like bars or alcohol, cheap music, or barflies. He looked around the room, seeing all the people drinking; the barflies, the casual drinkers, the gangsters, the daters, the ladies of the night, the office workers, the girl who looks like Mizra, the prostitutes, the space pirates - "A girl who looks like Mizra?" He thought, then tapping Joseph's shoulder as he saw that.
A woman sat at a stool, a very heavy drink in front of her. She had light blue hair, only a little bit darker than Ryoko's, straight in front with a headband, but spikey in back, with little bits coming over the ears. She had depressed, orangey-red eyes like the morning sunrise, and strange markings on the left side of her face. She wore a long black cloak, and an odd jumpsuit-like outfit, with strange boots, and carried a very long, clean wand, with a green orb at the top. At her side was a very young grey cabbit, no more than a week old. It seemed strong nonetheless, attempting to scare off anyone that would try to harm its mistress. The woman seemed desperately depressed, like she was going to die. She slouched over the drink, trying to hold herself up. She truly did look a lot like Mizra, except for the coloring of the hair and cloak, markings, and small physical differences.
Joseph nodded, glaring at the woman, thinking she was Mizra. He knew very little of the woman, but from what he did know, she sounded like the kind of person that Koros would employ.
Arti, however, just took one look at her, and said "I don't think that is Mizra."
"How do you know?" Asked Mihoshi.
"Mirsan instinct."
Joseph came up to the woman, holding collapsable handcuffs, Kiyone and Mihoshi following.
"Mizra Akaji Zonah, you're under arrest." He whispered, putting them on her.
The cabbit hissed.
"I'm not Mizra. But I don't care. Do what you like. It doesn't matter anymore." The woman whispered, her voice shaky, trembling, deep and tired, seemed filled with depression, the hopeless kind that Joseph himself experienced. It caused Joseph to frown, and doubt that she was Mizra.
"You look a lot like her."
"So do a few others."
"Who are you, then, if you aren't Mizra?" Kiyone asked, checking around. No one else was seeing what was happening, all of them caught up in their own discussions to hear.
"Nagi Kamura. Run a background check if you want, I don't give a damn."
Kiyone ran a scan on her on a small computer that she carried with her.
"Nagi Kamura, Bounty Hunter Extrordinare-"
"Ex-Bounty Hunter. I quit very recently." Nagi replied.
"Why?"
"Do I have to tell my life story or something so I can have a last drink before I....before I do something that I will probabbly regret?!?!?" She quietly yelled, trying to keep her voice down. She was very upset, even though she seemed to be drunk. She was trembling, a few tears falling down her face, and a look of absolute pain in her eyes.
Tenchi looked at Nagi. She seemed a lot like Ryoko, in an odd way. The spiky hair was distantly similar to Ryoko's, but there was something about her. This girl seemed to display how she felt very blantantly, but it probabably had something to do with her drunkeness. Ryoko was like that sometimes, but she was much more secretive about her fears and her worries.
"Are you allright, Miss Nagi?" He asked.
"Take it from me, kid - don't be a freakin' bounty hunter." He mumbled, her drunkeness very evident, like Ryoko's would be.
Arti took the handcuffs off of her.
"What are you doing?" Joseph exclaimed, trying to be as quiet as possible, as to not attract attention.
"She isn't Mizra. Nor is she guilty of anything."
"But the record scanner program says she is guilty of theft, murder, and conspiracy!" Kiyone added.
"It's all fake. I can tell." He said, then turning to Nagi. "You don't have a place to go, do you?"
"House burned down. Arsonists from my damned Great Uncle. It's a long story that you don't need to know." She replied, trying to hold her composure.
He was about to put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, when the cabbit meowed.
Almost instinctively, Arti looked directly into the cabbit's eyes, information seemingly exchanged telepathically through them with a primal link. The cabbit soon nodded, as if understanding who he was and what he was doing.
"Arti, you're staying with us, once we find a place to stay. I don't know about her." Joseph said quietly to his friend.
"She's coming with me then. My people are able to sense liers, murderers, and thieves - She is an angel covered in soot - That is what it comes down to, my friend." Arti whispered. He looked back at her. "Can you come stay with us, Miss Nagi?"
"I don't care." She muttered.
"We need to find a place first, anyhow." Joseph added.
"I already reserved us a place." Arti said, pointing to a small computer that popped up next to him. It displayed a picture of a building on the outskirts of town. It was a large apartment building, which used to be an industrial building. The rooms were huge, the option of being pre-furnished looking very attractive. "It's a nice loft apartment; with my cash combined with the three of yours, we can afford it. I already submitted my retnal key, we can register yours later."
He then turned to Nagi, and helping her up, the cabbit jumping on her shoulder. She seemed very sluggish, her drunkeness probably the major contributing factor.
As soon as Arti helped her up, a few drunks began to laugh.
"Look, its' that dyke Nagi and a bloody catboy!" One of them laughed. "I wonder what the kids will be like!"
Rage filled Joseph. If it was one thing that Joseph hated, it was bigotry. When he had first joined the Galaxian Marines, some of the elder races descriminated against those that came from Earth to serve their galaxy. He had faced it a lot, other squadrons playing sick pranks on his because it had Earthly members. Terrans did it to the elder species at that time as well, being a mess of racial bigotry. It was one of the major problems with humanity and society that he had. It paticularly angered him if it happened to other species.
Joseph took a deep breath, put his glass down, and went right up to the drunk, punched him in the jaw, and walked away. The drunk fell off the chair, his friends too drunk to care or notice.
"I'm bisexual, dammit." Nagi mumbled, very drunk. She turned to the cabbit. "Ako-Ohki, let me sleep late tomorrow, okay?"
The cabbit meowed, softly.
They got into Yukonojo, and very soon they were flying over the outskirts of town. It was very hilly around there, with old cliffs and ledges, sparse patches of grass, and a clear view of the night sky. The four moons of the planet stood above them, as if in a standstill. The stars were very easy to see in the dark sea, the city lights somehow having the opposite effect of light pollution; as if their spectrum was changed so it amplified the starlight. They landed near a large white apartment building, about fifty stories high. It seemed somewhat old, but it oddly seemed very recent. Next to it was a huge parking lot, with ships and cars of innumerable sizes parked there.
"What floor are we on?" Tenchi asked, not knowing what an apartment was like.
Arti checked the printout from his computer.
"45."
Tenchi gulped.
"It's allready pre-furnished, right?"
"Yup. Beds, chairs, tables, everything."
"How about rooms?"
"Allready taken care of, but it will take awhile to get used to. As these are loft apartments, we got one huge room, a smaller living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. The huge room will be the bedroom. I instructed the mantience people online to put curtains to seperate the rooms."
"You mean there won't be a real barrier between all of us when we sleep?" Tenchi gasped, the feeling of people watching him sleep still present, even though Ryoko and Ayeka weren't with them.
"It will have to do." Joseph said, pulling some of his books and clothes from a small pseudospace pocket.
"What the hell is going on?" Nagi mumbled.
"We have to get her inside. She's drunker than Ryoko usually is!" Tenchi said warningly.
They walked inside with what they had with them, Mihoshi stopping to look at a map on the wall.
"Ooo...There's an onsen on the floor below ours!" She said, grinning.
"We'll have to make a stop there later on." Kiyone added.
"Tomorrow. First, we need to get settled in, if it is possible. We need some sleep." Tenchi replied glumly, the effects of realizing that he would not be home for months finally setting in. They went into the elevator, soon getting to the 45th floor, and getting out.
"Room 4502." Arti said, putting his eyes up to a scanner on the door, which immediatley opened. The room itself was much like Arti had described; a large main room, a small living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. The main room was very well furnished, with normal futons in six places in the room, a white curtain surrounding each one. There was some decoration, but it was still somewhat spartan. The living room was a bit more elaborately decorated, with a couch, chairs, bookcases, a TV, and a nice view of the surrounding hillsides. The kitchen looked much like the one at home, as well as the bathroom.
"Pretty damn decent." Joseph thought, smiling.
"Guys, can you keep it quiet for a second? I need to make sure she's allright." Arti announced, putting Nagi on one of the futons, and closing the curtain. She was still very drunk, and still very upset. She still cried somewhat, Ako-Ohki trying to lick her tears away.
"You'll be safe here with us, Nagi." He said quietly.
"I don't give a damn about what happens to me, catboy. I'm a @#%$ criminal. I either kill or capture for a living, and I get paid for it. I'm a monster!" She said, putting her head into the pillow.
"You aren't, Nagi. I can sense you are a wonderful woman who got into some unfortunate accidents."
"I only got into bounty hunting so I could escape my @#%$ family, especially my great uncle."
"Who is your great uncle, Nagi?"
"I'll talk about it tomorrow or something." She mumbled, still crying. "I hate my job, I hate my life, I hate myself!"
Arti lifted her up, and held her in his arms, trying to comfort her. She was quite beautiful, but Arti was not interested in any of that right now, and neither was she. He did not even know her, yet all he wanted to do at that moment was make her feel better. He wanted her to find solace on this night, whether it be through him, or someone else. He held her for awhile, until she stopped crying, and the exhaustion setting in, causing her to fall asleep.
He put her on the futon, gently kissing her forehead.
"Feel better, Nagi." He whispered, going to the other unused futon. Everyone else had pretty much fallen asleep by now. He sighed, changed his clothes, and got in bed.
----
::Cutoff as of 2/13/02::
There's a lot more for me to do on this. Comments? ^_^
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"Though the darkness may threaten, it may never fully act against the light." - Tsunami, OC VI
