Insertion

Part 84

Attack on Jurai!

++++++++++++++

Trunks smirked as he held Ryoko by
her neck in a headlock and pulled her
behind him forcibly.

"You little runt!" cried the
irritated woman as she was dragged along
with Tenchi following behind her with a
frown on his face.

"Ryoko!" muttered the boy
uncomfortably.

"She'll be fine, we've got to show
her how to use her power so she can kick
her old man's ass when we get back
though," said Trunks cheerfully as he
continued on his way.

A Juraian guard followed behind
Tenchi, none of them looked quite sure
what to do. "Lord Tenchi, should we..."

Trunks smirked at them for a moment,
pausing long enough for Ryoko to beat on
his head a few times. "If you don't want
them to get hurt, I wouldn't suggest
that Tenchi," he replied calmly. "You've
already seen what a Super Saiyan can do.
Imagine what one with enough training to
use all that power might be able to do
to these men. The transformation Ryoko
used against Kagato is nothing compared
to what I can do myself either."

The boy went slightly pale and
looked at the guards. "It's fine, she'll
only be gone a day anyway."

Trunks smirked as the door opened in
front of him. He smirked as the woman
tried to phase out of his grasp, or
teleport away desperately. Her power had
been sealed away, as he had requested
though. Washuu still hadn't undone the
'declawing' as Trunks had affectionately
dubbed it. "Well, come on then."

Hotaru was waiting just inside and
turned as he pulled the woman in. Trunks
blinked for a moment and cocked his
head. "Hey, I just realized that there's
only three of us."

"What of it?" muttered Hotaru
irritably.

Trunks shrugged and reached back
with his arm just outside the door.
Panicked cries arose from those just
outside as he tossed Tenchi Masaki on
the ground and closed the door in their
faces. "There, now we've all got a
sparing partner."

Tenchi blinked and looked up at the
boy dumbly from his back. "Wha?"

"Tenchi?" muttered Ryoko. She had
calmed considerably when she noticed the
boy sitting rather dumbly on the ground
in front of her. She tried to crane her
neck from under Trunks's elbow. It was
quite uncomfortable for her, but she had
managed.

"Yeah, we're gonna need someone
pretty close to your power level for you
to train with," replied Trunks
cheerfully.

"Close to her power level?" said
Tenchi dumbly. He stared at Trunks for a
moment, apparently he had no illusions
about how good his skills were in
comparison to Ryoko's.

"You're the one who beat Kagato
aren't you?" snorted Trunks.

Tenchi blushed slightly and turned
his head away. "Well...I..."

"That Juraian power of yours isn't
anything to scoff at. Although I admit
you're a little under powered as far as
Hotaru and I are concerned. At least we
aren't stuck with that horrible demon
this time."

"Demon!?" cried Tenchi in panic.

"Relax, she's still outside," said
Hotaru with a rough snort.

"Yeah, I don't think she'll bother
us," agreed Trunks. "I sent her on a
little errand for us, should take her
all day on that end!" He smiled
cheerfully and released Ryoko's head.

+++++++++++++++

Meanwhile...

"Are you sure? They said they really
wanted to have some for dinner
tonight..." Mihoshi looked like she was
about to cry, and the Jurian shopkeeper
was panicking.

"I'm sure! I've never heard of it!
Honest! Are you sure you're saying it
right? We've got a lot of food with
weird names here..."

"Yes I'm sure! Okonomiyaki! You've
got to have some! It says you've got
every food in the entire galaxy here,
and I've been looking for hours!"

"I don't think there is such a
thing," grumbled the man as he turned
away on another fruitless search of the
store. He knew there was no such food,
or rather, he thought he knew. Trunks
had asked Washuu before sending her off
to find it. Earth was the only place in
the galaxy that you could find the food.

"I promise, that I, Detective First
Class Mihoshi, shall find you an
Okonomiyaki for dinner tonight!" cried
Mihoshi as her eyes burned with
determination. She just had to find a
store on Jurai, or one of the nearby
moons that sold it...

+++++++++++++++++++

"I am so out of here," grumbled the
Ryoko as she headed for the door.

"You sure about that?" said Trunks
playfully. "I mean, a day in here, last
a whole year. A whole year alone with
Tenchi doesn't sound that bad does it?"

Ryoko froze and slowly turned to
look at the boy. "What?"

Tenchi struggled to his feet,
realizing that he was having difficulty
with it. "Hey, what the...?"

"Oh, that," said Trunks cheerfully
as he waved his arm around. "This is the
room of Time and Space! In here, a day
lasts a whole year, temperatures
fluctuate wildly, and I can control the
gravity. The default setting is two
times that of Earth. That's what you're
feeling right now."

The boy blinked as he felt his arms
hang down at his sides like they were
weighted down. His whole body felt
somewhat sluggish. He wasn't having much
trouble moving around though, due to his
grandfather's training.

Ryoko snorted in disgust and turned
away. "Big deal," she muttered
irritably.

"Oh, the fun's just started. We'll
be increasing the gravity a little each
day, starting tomorrow. For today, you
can relax and get used to this place."
He smiled at them all and flexed his
arms. "Hotaru and I spent all day in
here the other day. We're going off for
a while; you two behave yourselves.
We've got to spar a bit, and get used to
the new gravity level. It's a bit low
for us."

Hotaru narrowed her eyes and nodded.
She floated off the ground and flew off
into the vast nothing. Trunks followed
behind her with a rather cheerful
looking grin on her face.

Tenchi looked over at Ryoko
nervously. "So...now what?"

The woman blinked and suddenly
realized her situation. "Tenchi...we're
all alone..." She skipped over to his
side and smiled at him. "I'm sure we can
think of something..."

"Ryoko!" cried the boy with a huge
blush on his face. "Come on, stop it!
This is serious! I can't spend an entire
year in here with you!"

"Why not?" said Ryoko with a small
pout on her face.

"Because! Grandpa is going to talk
with the Emperor about those Senshi
today!"

"I'm sure he can handle it," said
Ryoko with a little seriousness in her
tone.

"I told him I'd come along,"
grumbled the boy with a small sigh.

+++++++++++++

Hotaru frowned as she punched at
Trunks and dodged a kick meant for her
head with practiced ease. The boy seemed
to be only half paying attention to her,
which irritated her slightly, while at
the same time, humbled her a bit more
about where she stood in comparison to
him.

"Why did you bring that boy along?"
she said as she flew back and stared at
him for a moment.

"Huh?" said Trunks as he blinked at
her. "Oh, you mean Tenchi?"

"Yes," said Hotaru as she powered
down and floated opposite him.

"I think he needs the training for
one, his grandfather is an excellent
teacher, but we can show him a whole new
level of his own power. He'll be forced
to use it in order to survive this
place. Five thousand times the Earth's
gravity is no small thing to a Jurian."

"So, you're doing this for his
benefit?" she muttered under her breath.

"And my own, he'll be more useful if
he can fight well," said Trunks with a
slight agreeing nod. "Plus, I also did
it to placate Ryoko a bit. Tenchi will
help keep her in line once he falls in
with our training. Plus, I want her to
get a bit closer to him. She wants it
pretty badly, and this is a good way to
do it."

"Any other reasons?"

"He'll appreciate it, and he'll
respect me as his sensei. That's a good
start towards a relationship with Jurai,
especially if he takes up his place as
Emperor one day. If not, it never hurts
to have another friend you can count
on."

This caught Hotaru by surprise and
she stared at him for a moment. "So,
you're building a relationship?"

"Possibly political, possibly just a
friend, either way, I can't lose." He
smirked at her and turned his head
towards the living area. "Plus, my
daughter really has her heart set on
him. I want to give her an open chance,
she won't have much time to fool around,
despite what she's thinking I'm sure.
However, training with someone the way
they will, will build a relationship
that even Ayeka can't compete with."

"Playing matchmaker? That doesn't
seem like you," said Hotaru with a small
sigh.

"I agree, but call it sentiment if
you like," he replied with a small
shrug. "She'll respect his skill more
after this as well. She won't feel the
need to protect him as much as she seems
to now. Kagato seems to slip her mind,
but an entire year of training along
side him will probably change that."

"What of Ryoko's transformation?"
said Hotaru carefully.

"Pardon?" said Trunks as he looked
at her. Her tail was swishing about
behind her somewhat violently.

"Ah, saw through me that quickly did
you?" he chuckled. "Yes, I'd like to see
if the effect is the same. I doubt if
it'd affect Tenchi though, just a hunch
on my part."

"We'll have to raise her power
levels first," said Hotaru. "It won't
work as she is now, if what you told me
is true."

"I know. We'll work on getting her
near your power, and then try the fusion
dance. Maybe it will change her, maybe
not. I'm not sure. She's got my DNA in
her, so there's a good chance she'll
change like you did."

"Three of us, as able and true Super
Saiyans will catch them by surprise,"
said Hotaru with a small chuckle.

"That's my plan," said Trunks as he
smirked at her. "Ready to start again?"

"Anytime," said Hotaru as she
grinned back.

"Never expected you to answer that
Nine," replied Trunks casually.

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly
as her smirk changed to a frown. "I'm
not strong enough to destroy you yet,
boy. However, I think you're actually
planning on changing that."

"You'll never catch up to me,"
snorted Trunks. "Hotaru's Super Saiyan
transformation makes you all stronger,
but you still lack the spirit or will to
beat me, and you'll never get them as
you are now."

Nine snorted in disgust and glared
at him. "We'll see," she replied
snidely. "Hotaru's soul darkens a bit
more every day. Soon she'll be mine, and
Saturn won't be able to stop us."

This caught Trunks off guard a
little and he narrowed his eyes at her.
"Vengeance?"

"Perhaps. She doesn't respect you as
she used to boy. I had thought she had
her heart set on you at one point."

"Maybe she did, and it doesn't
concern me much now. I've got more
important things to worry about, and so
do you three. I doubt if Hotaru will
fall enough for you to take over though.
You're dreaming if you think she's like
that."

"And you're fooling yourself to
think otherwise," replied Nine
hatefully.

"That's enough," replied one of
Hotaru's other personalities. Trunks
couldn't tell which it was. There was a
slight anger in her eyes, and he
couldn't tell if it was directed at him
or Mistress Nine.

Trunks sighed and relaxed his
stance. "You'd best be careful Hotaru.
She may be right, Chibi-Usa isn't worth
it. Believe me, she's definitely not
worth it."

"I'll decide that," growled Hotaru.

"That transformation makes your body
stronger Hotaru. It increases your
power, but you must remember that
Mistress Nine becomes just as strong.
Don't think it will protect you from
her, stay on guard."

The seriousness in his tone caused
the girl's anger to abate somewhat and
she simply stared at him for a long
moment.

"He is right you know, not even I
can fight you both off, if it comes to
that. I would rather see us destroyed,
and I have the power to do just that,"
said Saturn calmly. "Tread carefully
Hotaru."

The girl's face seemed angry and
confused at the same time, she wasn't
sure what to say or do at that moment.
"All right. I understand."

"Revenge is nice Hotaru, but it
won't fill the void he left behind. Even
when she's gone, he won't be back. I'll
help you destroy her, but don't think
for a moment that it's worth losing
yourself over." Trunks smiled at her
gently and turned away. "Come on, we'd
better go save Tenchi before my daughter
rapes him or something."

+++++++++++++

"So, what do you want from me
exactly?" muttered Azusa as he glared
down at Yosho and frowned deeply.

"Just a place to train for a few
months. Ayeka has already seen to
everything else we'll need while we're
here," said the man as he stared up at
his father in defiance.

"You disappoint me Yosho," said
Azusa with a small tired sigh.

"Maybe I do, but the fact remains
that my home is under siege. I cannot
turn my back on it now. I will not
remain, no matter what you say now. We
can discuss that at a later time. This
is not the time for such things."

"I'll decide that while you're under
my roof," growled Azusa coldly.

"Should we be here?" whispered
Makoto to Usagi nervously. The Senshi
were all standing behind Yosho as he
argued with his father.

"I'm not sure, but I'm afraid to
leave right now," replied the girl as
she frowned at the pair in front of her.


"I'm inclined to agree with Usagi,"
said Ami as she looked at the pair for a
moment. "We don't want to insult them.
This isn't Japan, this might not be rude
here."

"Or it might be, and they just don't
care," replied Rei as she watched the
pair continue to battle verbally.

"I saw what Ayeka has acquisitioned.
Metal, enough to build a starship with.
Very expensive and rare metal, along
with several other questionable
materials. Care to explain this Yosho?"

"I'm not sure, perhaps she is
building a ship?" replied Yosho calmly.
"I didn't inquire."

"It seems odd that she would do
that," commented Azusa irritably. "Is
she not happy with..."

"I don't believe she is building it
for herself," said Yosho calmly. "Queen
Serenity's fleet has been unsealed
according to a reliable source. It
wasn't these girls who did it. They do
not yet have the knowledge to do so. I
believe that is why the boy brought us
here."

"What?!" said Usagi as she turned to
stare at Yosho in shock.

The man turned to look at her and
frowned. "Washuu confirmed it after
Trunks told her about it. She thought it
would be a good idea to inform me. They
are roughly three months away from your
planet, according to your time."

"The fleet?" muttered Ami as a
distant memory began to form in her
mind. "Oh! Oh no!" she fell to the
ground clutching her head.

"What's wrong?" cried Minako as she
knelt down beside her friend.

"That fleet..." muttered Ami in
horror.

Usagi stared at her blankly. "You
mean...space ships?"

"No Usagi. Warships," replied Ami as
she struggled to her feet with Rei and
Minako supporting her. "Warships with
enough firepower to wipe all life off of
the face of the planet. There wouldn't
be any way to defend against it, not
even we could stop it."

This caused a moment of dead silence
among the group.

"I would not send my fleet against
such a force, not to save a single
planet. The loss of life would be too
great, and we would not be able to stop
them from destroying the planet anyway."
Azusa was firm and cold in his words.

Usagi nodded in understanding
though. "I wouldn't ask you too."

"Where is the boy?" said Azusa as he
stared at Yosho for a moment.

"Tenchi has been missing for some
time now. I'm surprised at the boy, he's
never acted like this before. Ryoko has
not been seen for some time either, I
suspect they are together." Yosho looked
absolutely ashamed at his words and
growled under his breath.

Before the Emperor could gloat about
it, Ayeka burst into the room with tears
in her eyes. "Tenchi's been kidnapped!"

Everyone turned to stare at her for
a long moment as she simply stood there
panting in the doorway. Her face was
contorted with tears and worry.

"What?" said Yosho as he blinked at
her for a moment.

"Tenchi, he's been taken away! By
that horrible little boy!" cried the
princess.

Washuu walked in behind her calmly.
"Now, now, it's not that bad."

"Explain at once!" snapped Yosho
before the Emperor could command the
same thing. Azusa settled in his chair
with a frustrated frown as he glared at
the man for a moment.

"Well, he'll only be gone for a
day..." said Washuu as she backed away
slightly. "It's not as bad as it seems."

"That monster woman kidnapped my
Tenchi!"

Azusa perked his eyebrow at this,
and the princess quieted down quite
suddenly.

"He sort of, went into the room I
built for Trunks. They'll come back
tomorrow some time. Around the same time
they went in. It's not a big deal. I
mean..." Washuu seemed to be skirting
around something, most of them could
tell this.

"Well, go and get him!" snapped
Ayeka angrily.

"I kind of can't," said Washuu
sheepishly. "Once the door is closed,
you can't open it until the day is over.
It's for the safety of the time field
really. It would disrupt everything
around it if we opened it now, and
possibly cause some real damage."

"So shut it down," said Rei calmly.
She suddenly wished she hadn't spoken
when everyone looked at her.

"I can't," muttered Washuu. "I
didn't have time to build anything more
than the basic features. By the time I
fixed a way to reopen the door without
causing any damage, they'd be out
anyway."

"Why would this room, disrupt the
'Time Field'?" said Azusa as he narrowed
his eyes at the woman.

"Because it was designed to make a
day last an entire year," replied Washuu
proudly. "It was really a rather
ingenious invention actually. I wish I
had thought of it myself! Trunks asked
me to build it for him on the way here,
it wasn't too difficult, but it was time
consuming. I spent almost the whole trip
on it..." She trailed off when she
realized that no one looked very happy
with her. "What's the problem? He'll
only be gone a day."

"An entire year with that monster
woman!?" cried Ayeka in horror. She
almost passed out from the sheer shock.

"Tenchi..." muttered Yosho with a
small sigh. "How did he end up...?"

"I'm not entirely sure, someone must
have closed the door before he left. He
probably went to see Ryoko off or
something," said Washuu with a small
shrug. "Once the door is closed, there's
no way in or out." She withered under
the slightly irritated glares from Ayeka
and the Emperor. Yosho seemed somewhat
calm, and the Senshi didn't appear to
care either way really. "I probably
shouldn't mention the gravity settings,"
she thought to herself with a little
sweat forming on her brow.

+++++++++++++++

Meanwhile, just outside the
atmosphere of the planet...

"So, this is Jurai," said the dark
figure as his small round space-pod
stopped in space. It opened up, and a
tiny figure emerged from inside, barely
visible against the light the huge
planet reflected into space. It was just
ahead of the defensive field that
protected Jurai from attack. The shield
would repel a large hostile fleet of
ships, but a single ship with the right
pilot could probably make it through.
Unfortunately, he wasn't that good of a
pilot. Fortunately, he didn't really
need a ship.

His tail whipped back and fourth
violently as he smirked at the green
surface of the sphere below him. His
pale and purple skin twitching slightly
as he narrowed his eyes at the jewel of
a planet below. "Now is where I start
having a little fun. Ranma Saotome is
nothing but a little boy, and these
Jurians sound like they might be strong
enough to be a little fun almost. Heh,
I'm going to enjoy this."

His power flared and alarms started
to sound inside the satellites that
orbited the planet, keeping the field in
place. Kooler chuckled as he raised his
palm at the nearest one and formed a
small black energy ball in his palm.
"Let's get started, shall we?"

The tiny black ball shot forward,
slamming into the side of the satellite.
It exploded in a spectacular ball of
flames that flared just long enough for
the oxygen inside the small machine to
be eaten away. His eyes flicked sideways
and he noticed a larger space station
like base a short distance away. He
smirked and flew towards it. "Ah, my
first kill."

+++++++++++++++++

Alarms sounded all around the
building. Nabiki Tendo stood in the
hallway watching men run around her
towards the halls that lead outside the
palace. "What's going on?" she muttered
to herself as she strolled around.

One of the men moved up to her side
and was shortly joined by another. Both
were wearing armor and had a pair of
wooden poles in their grasp. "Miss, I'm
afraid we're going to have to ask you to
return to your quarters."

"But...I'm supposed to wait here
for..."

"The meeting is about to end I'm
afraid," said the other guard. "Some
fool is attacking the planet. The
Emperor is going to have to cut it
short, it shouldn't take long, but for
your own safety you need to be in your
room. Your friends will join you
shortly."

"Attacking the planet?" muttered
Nabiki in confusion.

"Yes, it's been over seven hundred
years since someone was fool enough to
try something like this," said one of
the guards with a light smirk. "Don't
worry, there's a reason for that. They
won't pose a problem."

Nabiki found herself nodding as she
started walking away. She frowned deeply
as she strolled back towards the
quarters they had been given and glanced
around at the diminishing wave of
soldiers that had seemed to fill the
hall only moments before. After a
moment, she realized that she was alone.
The halls had been quite busy up till
the time the alarm sounded, and now she
was pretty much alone.

A soldier ran by her with a panicked
look on his face as he pulled his
armored shoulder pads on as he rushed by
her, obviously late. After a moment of
walking towards her room, she shifted
her direction and turned down another
familiar hallway.

She emerged from the palace and onto
the launch pad where the Mikon Taka was
sitting still. She sighed in relief and
walked up to the ship. It was easy to
distinguish the new parts on the ship
with the old ones. Repairs had either
been cut short by the attack, or they
had already been completed. As she
suspected, the ramp was down, and George
was fiddling with something on the
underside of the ship.

"George," she called out to him as
she walked up.

The man turned to look at her and
frowned. "Eh? Oh, it's you. What do you
want?" He didn't seem upset with her and
dusted off his hands on his spandex
pants.

Nabiki gave an involuntary shudder
at his appearance and quickly pushed it
aside for the moment. "Something is
going on. Have you heard anything?"

"Not really," replied the man with a
small shrug. "We finished all the major
repairs on the ship last night. I've
been making a few adjustments to occupy
my time though."

"That's good to hear," said Nabiki
as she glanced up at the hull above her
head for a moment. "What kind of
communications equipment do you have on
this thing?"

"Most of the standard stuff, plus a
few extras. Why?" He smirked at her and
snorted before she could answer. "You
want to find out what's going on?"

Nabiki smiled and nodded. "I've got
a bad feeling about this. I heard
someone is attacking the planet."

"Jurai? What kind of idiot would
attack Jurai?" said George dumbly.

"That's what I'd like to find out,"
said Nabiki.

"It's probably already over,"
snorted George as he motioned for her to
follow.

Nabiki nodded and walked onto the
ship after him. "Maybe, but if it's
really that stupid to attack this
place...why would someone do it? Unless
they knew that they could."

George looked back at her and
nodded. "Actually, I was thinking the
same thing."

++++++++++++++

Azusa stood up from his throne,
glaring down at the guard kneeling in
front of him in a rage. "WHAT!?"

"Someone is attacking the planet!"
said the guard fearfully.

"Impossible! What kind of idiots
would do such a thing?" he snarled.

"We don't know sir, we haven't
gotten a visual confirmation yet!"
replied the man.

"Why not?!" snarled Azusa. "How can
we not find a fleet of ships right under
our noses!?"

"It's not a fleet, Your Highness!
It's a single person!" said the man as
he glanced up at the emperor. "We've
caught glimpses of him on our thermal
radar, but no video confirmation for
identification."

Azusa went silent. "A single ship?"

"No, a single man, Your Highness!"

"You're telling me someone is
attacking Jurai from space, with his
bare hands?" said Azusa in disbelief.

Yosho frowned deeply. "Who could do
such a thing?"

"Even Ryoko had to use Ryo-Ohki,"
said Washuu with a small frown of her
own.

"This is preposterous! Impossible!"

Usagi stepped forward and frowned.
"You don't think...they came here
because of us do you?"

Yosho shook his head. "I doubt it.
Jurai has many enemies."

The guard kneeling before the emperor
put his hand against his ear and gasped
in horror. "Sir, the intruder has broken
through the defense shield, he's heading
towards the surface of the planet! Under
his own power!"

"Who could do such a thing?!"
snapped Azusa angrily. An image appeared
on the wall beside him and he went pale.
"Kooler! It's...the damn Cold family!
They've betrayed us?!"

"Betrayed?" said Yosho with a small
frown on his face.

Azusa ignored him and stared at the
screen in a rage. "Those back stabbing
lizards! How dare they presume they can
destroy us!"

"What is that thing?" said Usagi in
horror. A memory of her own tickled the
back of her mind. It wasn't one from her
past life either.

"The Cold family are a group of
mercenaries, the depopulate planets and
sell them off as real estate. It's
earned them a rather nasty reputation,
and also made them some of the most
wanted criminals in the galaxy," replied
Yosho calmly. "Disgusting pirates, but
very powerful warriors."

"I'll put a stop to this," growled
Azusa angrily. "Those idiots aren't
stupid enough to try and oppose us. I
don't see how this could have happened!"

Yosho narrowed his eyes at the man
for a moment and turned away. "I see."

Azusa frowned at him and stormed by
the group gathered in front of him
through the doors of the throne room. "I
doubt that Yosho."

"Ashikara, the Jewel of the Juraian
Empire. Second only to Jurai itself in
beauty. I had often wondered, why such a
planet with so much beauty, had no
inhabitants. When I was a boy, we had a
palace built there, so that the royal
family could enjoy the summers there."

"What are you talking about?"
muttered Usagi dumbly.

"He wouldn't," muttered Washuu as
she stared at Yosho.

"There was a time, I would have
agreed with you," said the man calmly as
he turned to stare at her. "Now do you
understand why I would not remain here?
Why I had no wish for Tenchi to know of
his true heritage? I admit, even I never
truly suspected he was capable of this.
Still, I often wondered."

Rei seemed to be the first one to
understand what they were talking about.
"Oh...oh no..."

"Come, we will go back to our rooms
for now. The sooner we are away from
this place, the better," said Yosho with
a disgusted sounding snort.

"Brother..." muttered Ayeka softly.
It seemed she was truly hurt by his
words, but she dared not say anything
else to him as he walked by him.

"You knew about this?" said Makoto
as she walked up to the girl and stared
at her with a barely disguised anger.

"No. I had no idea, but..."

"You suspected as well?" asked Ami
with a small understanding nod.

"Never anything like this," she said
as she shook her head for a moment.
"Relocation maybe, but the Cold family?
Oh father, how could you?"

"And relocation is any better?"
grumbled Washuu under her breath as she
walked away. The practice of relocation
was expensive; inhabitants rarely did so
on their own, and were often moved to a
place where the atmosphere would sustain
them. Little else was considered, such
as food, or environments that
complimented the species, or even the
amount of space needed for the size of a
population. After all, if they could
breathe, what else did they need?

+++++++++++++++++

Trunks smiled as he floated past
Ryoko's defenses easily. "Not bad."

"You little punk! I'll make you pay
for locking me up in this prison!" she
snarled angrily as she continued to
attack.

"Heh, you're dreaming if you think
you can even come close to beating me
like that," snorted the boy as he caught
her wrist and stopped her attack cold.
She whirled around and connected with a
kick. He made no move to stop her and
smirked as the attack had no effect,
aside from really hurting Ryoko.

"Augh! Damn it!" she cried in anger.

"Heh, transform, and you'll at least
have the strength to hurt me. You've
done it before, it shouldn't be that
difficult for you now." Trunks frowned
as he glared at her for a moment and
noticed the frustration on her face.

"Why should I bother? Once I get my
gems back..."

"You'll ignore those under powered
rocks, because when I'm through, you
won't need them," replied Trunks as his
maddening grin widened suddenly. "Come
on Ryoko, you can do it."

"What good was it? Kagato still beat
me!" she snarled.

"You're still on about that? You
couldn't use the power you'd gained
fool! You were vastly superior to him in
strength and power. I'm still not sure
how he was able to match that speed
though..." He looked thoughtful for a
moment and noticed the woman was glaring
at him.

"How would you know anything about
that?" she snarled.

"I read about it," he lied.

Ryoko growled at that and turned her
head away. "Well, you read wrong. Kagato
was very powerful."

"Kagato had a base power of around
fifteen hundred on his own, Shouja is
what made him dangerous. Your first
transformation was twenty five hundred
easy." He blinked as she stared at him
again. "In my future, Washuu developed a
rating system for power levels based on
a numerical ranking system. She used
that battle as one of her test
theories." Another lie, impossible to
disprove or verify. This future thing
was fun!

"Was I really stronger?" she
muttered under her breath.

Trunks chuckled at this reaction and
put up his fists. "Why don't you
transform again and find out?"

"Maybe I will then!" snarled Ryoko
as she attacked again.

Trunks frowned slightly from behind
his fists as he reacted to her attack.
"She's still not there yet! Damn."

++++++++++++++++++++++

Fire surrounded him, the pained
screams of the dying floated in the air
as he hovered above the burning surface
of the planet. His arms were spread wide
in an almost euphoric joy. "Ah, the
feeling is so wonderful! So much to
kill! So little time!"

The burned wreckage of a Juraian
cruiser slowly crumbled into the ground
behind him, a huge cloud of smoke
billowing into the sky as it crashed
into an area of the city. Thousands
would die in the resulting explosion.
"Where are you!? I know you're here, I
know you know I'm here! Come out and
play little one! When I'm through with
you, my fun can really begin!"

"Kooler! Enough of this!" snarled an
angry sounding voice just below him.

The alien looked down at the man
below him, a cold smirk forming on his
face as he returned the intense glare
with a cool and casual glance. "Oh, and
who might you be?"

"What are you doing fool? How dare
you attack us?! I'll see you and your
whole retched family destroyed for
this!"

"You must be the Emperor of Jurai!
I'll admit, I'm impressed." Kooler
chuckled as he floated down in front of
the man.

Azusa had his sword drawn, the blade
of light hummed with power as he snarled
at the thing in front of him angrily.
"You! How dare you! Pathetic worm, you
can't even begin to stand up to the
power of Jurai!"

Kooler snorted as he narrowed his
eyes and returned the glare this time.
"You? Beat me? I think not Juraian
Emperor. I am the ultimate power in the
universe. You're too reliant on this
planet. Perhaps I should just destroy it
and cut off your power source?"

"Not even you have the power to do
that," snorted Azusa in what appeared to
be amusement.

"Really?" snorted Kooler as his
smirk widened. "I suppose I shouldn't be
able to touch you either then? Hmmm. I
wonder..." He formed a tiny pinprick of
black light on his fingertip and looked
at it for a moment. "Come Emperor of
Jurai, let's test your power then."

"You dare?" snarled Azusa angrily.
"Very well! I'll destroy you!" He closed
his eyes and began to focus his power on
his blade. A visible shield of energy
formed around his body as he prepared to
attack.

Kooler snorted and flicked his
finger forward lightly. After a moment,
nothing appeared to have happened.

Azusa's face had turned into a mask
of anger though, he snarled hatefully at
the thing in front of him and a group of
men started to swarm around them like
bees. "Get back! All of you!" snarled
Azusa as sweat began to form on is brow.
He appeared to be white as a sheet now.
A single line of blood formed on his
cheek that started to run down his face.
"Impossible!"

"What's the matter? Not feeling so
invincible anymore?" chuckled Kooler in
amusement. "That shield of yours is
impressive, I'll admit it. However, it's
no match for my power." He glanced
around. "The Juraian army? How nice of
you to gather them all in one place for
me! I'm so glad I don't have to hunt
them all down." He reared back his head
and started to laugh as he raised his
palm over his head and formed a huge
ball of darkness there.

Azusa's eyes went wide and he gasped
in horror. "No!"

A huge explosion of dark energy
could be seen from orbit, it engulfed a
huge portion of the surface of the
planet, leaving behind a large brown
area of dirt and death.

Kooler chuckled as he floated down
towards the base of the crater. The
palace could be seen in the distance,
just outside the destruction. It went on
as far as the eye could see in every
other direction. Nothing stood now, no
trees, no life, nothing.

The alien paused as he stared down
into the dust, and saw movement below
him. He grinned and landed next to the
broken and bleeding form of the Emperor.
"Well, that certainly is impressive
Emperor of Jurai."

"Monster!" growled Azusa weakly as
he rolled onto his back and stared at
the thing hatefully.

Kooler placed one of his feet on the
man's chest and leaned in, pinning him
to the ground. "I should really kill
you. It would be rather stupid of me to
let you live. However, I think I'll
enjoy leaving you alone on a dead planet
after I destroy everything!"

"Why?" muttered Azusa. "We have
always supported your family? Why have
you betrayed us?"

"Betrayed? I don't recall ever
having an alliance with you Azusa. We
were to disgusting and vile for such a
relationship. Something to be used when
it was convenient as I recall. Now,
well, let's just say I've come to find
someone. After I'm through with him,
I'll worry about killing the rest of
your pathetic planet."

Azusa gasped for breath under the
weight of the thing's foot. Kooler's
grin widened as he narrowed his eyes at
the man for a moment. "You don't even
realize what's going on do you? It's
pathetically simple, but just beyond
your grasp."

The Emperor growled angrily at this
and turned his head aside. He had
several broken bones, and couldn't even
crawl away. To put it simply, he was
helpless. "You won't destroy this
planet, it will destroy you before that
happens."

"If you mean Tsunami, and I
certainly hope you're referring to
something more interesting, then you
should know that I am more powerful than
that pathetic starship could ever be
offensively. The wings of the Light Hawk
cannot protect the planet from something
that is already on it."

Azusa knew he was right, the Light
Hawk wings could do little more than
protect a single place for a short time.
They were invulnerable, but took an
enormous amount of power to call. Even
if they used them offensively, Kooler
was far too small and agile for there to
be much hope of harming him with the
blast.

"We'll destroy the planet then, and
take you with it," snarled Azusa
angrily.

"Even Frieza could survive the
destruction of a planet, do you honestly
think I couldn't as well? Stop simpering
you pathetic wretch, you're beaten. Once
I have what I want, I'll see about
tormenting your people for a while
before moving on. After all, there's
nothing you can do to stop me."

Kooler floated into the air, a
confident smirk chiseled into his
features as he floated off in search of
his target. "Now, where is Ranma
Saotome?"

++++++++++++++++++++++

Trunks glared forward with his
student pushing herself to the limits,
her hair still the same color as it was
before, but now with slightly red roots.
"Damn it!" cried Ryoko in frustration.

"Remember that feeling! Ryoko,
you're getting stronger, but you're not
going to be able to keep up if you don't
get this! Remember when you thought
Tenchi died! You have to unlock the
secret!" growled the boy as he landed
and prepared for her next assault.

Ryoko's eyes went wide as she hung
in the air. "Tenchi...No! I don't want
to remember that!" she growled
defiantly.

Trunks narrowed his eyes at her and
felt something shift in the air. "Come
on...you can do it!" he muttered to
himself as he lowered his guard and
started to move back.

"I'll do it without that horrible
memory! I'll never lose my Tenchi
again!" she cried into the sky. Her eyes
became a deep cobalt blue and she turned
her gaze towards Trunks. She glared at
him hatefully and snarled. "Never. I'll
never let that happen again! Do you hear
me?!"

The boy smiled in reply, his aura
flaring to life in an instant, changing
his hair and blasting outward. "I hear
you Ryoko, now...are you ready for some
real training?"

The woman blinked at this and stared
at him. "What?" she muttered it somewhat
dumbly.

"Come on, now that this is over
with, we can really get started," said
Trunks as he put up his fists and
floated towards her.

Ryoko looked at her hands and
gasped, a golden field of power seemed
to surge across her skin, barely
contained within her. "This is..."

"Pay attention! We've got work to
do!" snarled Trunks as he charged
forward.

Ryoko glanced up at him and shot
forward like a bullet. "I'll show you!"

+++++++++++++++++

"What should we do?" asked Nabiki as
she watched George as he stared at the
communications panel on the dash of the
Mikon Taka.

"Run," replied the man calmly.

"You know anything about this
'Kooler'?" she inquired.

"Yes, it's a faded memory, but the
Cold family was around even in the
Silver Millenium. They're nasty pirates,
and we shouldn't be anywhere near them.
He could destroy this whole planet
pretty easily." He glanced at her and
noticed her frown.

"You know, Ranma used to watch a lot
of Dragon Ball Z. This is unnerving,"
she commented idly to herself. "We
should go get the others."

"It would be better to just leave,
Kooler could get fed up and destroy this
place any time he felt like it. The
Juraians are already evacuating." He
nodded towards another screen, thousands
of small dots filled the image, showing
the ships leaving planet.

"Leave them behind?" she asked with
a sort of thoughtful frown on her face.

"I'm just giving you our options, I
was never one for giving orders," he
replied calmly.

"I thought you were some big time
movie producer," she snorted as she
leveled a small glare at him.

"This is nothing like making a
movie," he replied calmly.

Nabiki nodded and turned towards the
exit. "We should go get the others." She
didn't walk outside though and simply
stared at the ramp.

"They know about this, I'm sure," he
replied calmly. "We'll wait as long as
we can, if things get too hot, we'll
take off."

Nabiki glanced back at him and then
to the door again. "I guess you're
right." She turned back inside and sat
down at the table to wait.

Artemis jumped up onto the seat next
to her and she jumped. "What are you
doing here?" inquired the cat.

"I could ask the same of you!" she
snapped in shock.

"I don't like Jurai. The nobles here
have a nasty habit of keeping large,
stupid, dog like pets," replied the
animal calmly.

Nabiki calmed somewhat and frowned
at him. "You know what's going on?"

The animal nodded. "I overheard."

"I'm surprised you haven't run off
after your friends," she said to him
with a slight frown.

"You're no better. Besides, I have
faith in them," he said with a serious
looking nod. "The Senshi are stronger
than you think."

Nabiki snorted at this. "From what
I've heard, Ranma was handing them their
behinds."

Artemis shook his head and sighed.
"I know, but they always came through.
It's only a matter of time, and time is
on our side."

"Pluto?" asked Nabiki. She'd heard a
lot of stories over the course of the
voyage.

"Yes. Although I didn't mean it
quite that literally."

The girl slumped down slightly and
stared at the door. "I hope they come
back soon, this is making me nervous."

"I hope the same thing, Luna isn't
fool enough to let them try and take on
one of the Cold family," replied the
cat. "Don't worry."

Nabiki didn't feel that comforted by
those words.

++++++++++++++++++

Trunks chuckled as Ryoko blasted at
him with a beam of power, he dove out of
the way and spun around, tossing a small
ball of ki at her that exploded on
impact. Ryoko was ready for attack again
after uncrossing her arms from the
block.

"Not bad kid," she snorted
irritably.

Trunks nodded and floated down
towards the ground. "I could say the
same of you, you're ready."

"Ready? We can..." she glanced
towards the doorway.

"So, you realized something was
going on outside did you?" he asked as
his smirk fell slightly. "There isn't
anything we can do until our time here
is over. You'll just have to wait I'm
afraid."

"I thought you said..." she snapped.

"You're ready for the next phase of
your training, tomorrow, you'll go with
Hotaru, and I'll take Tenchi for his own
training. There's more to that
transformation than you realize."

Ryoko growled, but nodded. "What
more can there be?"

"Heh, you're only at the first
level, I haven't even been using half my
power up to this point Ryoko. You're
about to break through, but there's
something else we need you to learn. A
trump card if you will." His eyes
sparkled with a mischief that promised
her pain.

"I don't like that look," she
replied irritably.

"Heh, it won't hurt much, not this
time," he snorted as he nodded towards
the area where Hotaru and Tenchi were
training. "In about a month, we'll start
training together, it shouldn't take you
long to learn this."

That caught the woman by surprise
and she frowned. "So what are we going
to do?"

"I guess we can go watch Tenchi
train for a while. You haven't been able
to spend much time groping him over the
past few months."

"Why you!" snarled Ryoko.

"You'll keep quiet, and stay away
from him until Hotaru is done with him,"
said Trunks with a frown that told her
of how serious he was. "Tenchi is
training just as hard as you are, and I
don't want you being stupid and trying
to save him. Got me?"

"Save him from what?" growled Ryoko.

"Come on, follow me and you'll see,"
he replied calmly.

The pair flew at top speed for about
five minutes and stopped suddenly. Ryoko
frowned as she glanced around and saw
two tiny specks below them. "Is that?"

Trunks nodded and smirked. Ryoko's
eyes were wide with something similar to
shock. "What? What's this power? I knew
it was here...but..."

"Jurai has impressed me more than I
had anticipated, Tenchi is coming along
nicely," replied the boy as he nodded at
her surprise. "He still won't beat
myself or Hotaru, but he'll give you a
run for your money."

Ryoko nodded at this and started to
float a little lower. Trunks watched her
closely, but she stopped after coming to
a comfortable distance and merely
watched. He heard her growl at what she
saw, but she still remained away from
the battle below.

+++++++++++++++++++

"Haaaaaaaa!" cried Tenchi as he
jumped into the air and shifted his
weight to counter Hotaru's punch. The
girl smirked as she flipped backwards
and kicked him in his chest. The boy
flew to the ground and something
shimmered for a moment. He was dressed
in his Juraian armor, but it was haggard
and worn looking.

"Not bad, but you're still not fast
enough," she said calmly as she landed
lightly and formed a ball of power in
her hands. "You've got to be quicker on
the release."

Tenchi narrowed his eyes and stood
up. "You're right."

"You've been pretty agreeable since
we came here boy," said Hotaru as she
smirked at him.

"You're not old enough to call me
boy," he replied calmly.

"I'm older than you think!" she
snapped as she blasted him with the wave
of power that had been forming in her
palm.

The boy stood calmly, in a relaxed
position as the wave simply passed
around him, leaving him unharmed. His
face was calm, but firm. He was
completely focused on his training, a
sight those who knew him rarely saw. His
grandfather was the only one besides
Hotaru who knew this face intimately.
"Good shot."

"I thought so too," she replied with
a small chuckle as the energy
boomeranged around behind his back and
slammed into him. He didn't react in
time and was thrown across the ground in
the explosion.

"You're not paying attention," she
chided calmly. Saturn's icy mask
appeared to scold him, Hotaru seemed to
actually be enjoying herself, and Nine
was completely absent for the training.
Trunks knew it was mostly because she
thought of it as a waste of time, time
they could be spending bettering
themselves.

"That's enough," said Trunks as he
landed in between the pair.

"Tenchi!" cried Ryoko as she flew
into him, not bothering to power down.

The boy spun around in a defensive
stance, but relaxed before she dove onto
his neck and hung from him. "Hello
Ryoko," he said with a small sigh.

"I wasn't expecting you today," said
Hotaru as she smirked at Trunks for a
moment.

"I know, Ryoko's ready for the next
level," replied Trunks calmly. He nodded
at Tenchi and then glanced back at
Hotaru.

"He's doing better than we
expected," she replied with a small
chuckle. "The power is second nature to
him now, I doubt he realizes it."
Neither of the students heard this, as
Tenchi was busily pushing off Ryoko's
advances. He was doing surprisingly
well, despite her newfound power. "The
Wings of the Light Hawk are giving him a
bit of trouble still. He's still got a
rather short reaction time."

Trunks nodded at this and looked him
up and down. The boy was well muscled
now, it was easy to see with his
tattered armor. "Heh. Those two still
think we're at five hundred?"

"Neither of them suspect," replied
Hotaru.

"We're running out of room to move
the gravity up. Another month and we'll
be working at full power again."

Hotaru nodded at this and looked
over at Ryoko. "The dance?"

"Yes, she's as far as she'll go as
she is now. She's pushing on the second
transformation. I'm worried her body
won't be able to take it."

"If she doesn't react the same?"
inquired Hotaru.

"She will," said Trunks without a
hint of worry in his voice.

"Are you certain?" asked Hotaru.

"Yes, I checked on it," he said as
he glanced at her.

"Washuu?" asked Hotaru with a small
amount of curiosity in her voice.

"No, her aura matches yours closely.
She's already started," he replied
calmly. "I'm not sure why, but I've got
an idea who had a hand in it."

Hotaru assumed he meant Washuu and
didn't press the matter any further.

"So, three of our kind?" asked
Hotaru.

"Yes. Tenchi and the Juraians, I'm
still working on that, but I don't think
they should be there. This planet is
going to need a lot of work after this
training is over. I'm going to ask them
to remain for a while."

Hotaru frowned at this. "So. You
noticed as well?"

Trunks merely nodded.

"You realize that you're depriving
us of some very valuable and battle
worthy allies," she said as she turned
her head away.

"This is personal, for the both of
us," he said as he turned away and
started to float in the air. "Come on,
we should get back and eat."

++++++++++++++++++

Yosho frowned as he strolled through
the halls of the palace with a
determined frown on his face.

"No! You can't!" cried Ayeka as she
followed after him with the senshi
trailing behind her.

"Ayeka, this is not the first time I
have gone off in defense of this planet
against such an evil," said Yosho.

"Look what happened last time!" she
snapped.

"What? He found happiness?" said
Usagi dumbly.

"No! He vanished for hundreds of
years!" snapped Ayeka. She quickly
turned back to her brother. "Don't do
this! Father is..."

"Probably dead," replied Yosho
calmly.

"That means you're the Emperor now!
You can't go..."

"Ayeka!" snapped Yosho firmly as he
turned to face her. "I have no desire to
be the Emperor of an asteroid field. I
will go and face Kooler, and you will
take these girls and leave."

"What?" said Rei as she stared at
him.

"No way! We're fighting too!" agreed
Makoto.

"Um...we are?" said Usagi as she
stared at her friends for a moment.

"Usagi, we can't just let this
happen to these people," said Ami
quietly.

"No, your hearts are admirable, but
you are not strong enough to help me. If
you come, I will be forced to protect
you. I cannot afford that." He turned
away from them, trying his best not too
look back.

"No! You can't do this alone!" said
Minako in horror.

"That's enough!" snapped Luna
suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "We
have a mission of our own. Trunks can't
help us at the moment, so we need to
stay alive!""

"Luna! How could you?!" cried Usagi.

"No! I'm not about to let you run
off to fight one of the Cold family!
You'll be destroyed! The youma you've
been fighting are nothing to one of
those monsters!"

This caused the girls to become
silent.

"She is right," agreed Yosho calmly.
"I am sorry, but this is my planet, and
my responsibility. I must fight." He
turned and walked on alone.

"Are we just going to stand here?"
cried Makoto as Ayeka started to sob.
The princess didn't attempt to follow
anymore though.

"Yes, we are," said Luna.

"We should...go back to the ship,"
said Ami numbly. It was clear that she
was as upset as the rest of the senshi.

"You're right!" agreed Usagi
suddenly. "We'll get there much faster
if we use the ship!"

The girls started walking towards
the dock. Luna skittered after them
calling to them as best she could. "No!
Don't! Come back here!"

+++++++++++++++++++++

"Um. What is this?" asked Ryoko as
Hotaru stood in the final pose of the
fusion dance.

"This is our next mission," replied
Saturn's icy cool demeanor.

"Dance lessons? Is this some kind of
joke?" muttered Ryoko angrily. She was
about to fly away when Hotaru appeared
in front of her.

"No. This training looks stupid, I
know that, but it will boost our power.
It will make us almost twice as strong,
possibly three times as much."

"What? That's crazy!" snapped Ryoko.

"It is the truth, I have experienced
the fusion myself. It is no joke,"
replied Hotaru calmly. "It works."

"So? What do we need this power
boost for?"

"Ranma will also know of this technique,
and Chibi-Usa is more than willing to
accommodate him I'll wager," replied
Hotaru calmly. "We will begin now."

Ryoko growled irritably, but made no
move to leave.

The girl nodded at her student's
compliance and spoke again. "We must
learn this correctly. If we do not get
it right, it will make us weaker instead
of stronger. That is not acceptable."

Ryoko blinked at this and stared at
her. "Um...okay..."

++++++++++++++++++

"So, Tenchi, how ya been?" asked
Trunks as he backhanded the boy in his
face.

"What?" muttered Tenchi as he
staggered back and blinked.

"How's it been going? Enjoying the
training?" asked Trunks as he continued
to attack, oblivious to his opponent's
beating almost.

"Fine I guess," muttered Tenchi
after he took a blow to the gut. He
hadn't summoned the Wings of the Light
Hawk, as per Trunks's instructions.
"What is this training anyway?"

"This is banter class," said Trunks
cheerfully as he shoved Tenchi face
first into the ground.

"Banter?" muttered the boy as he
staggered to his feet and took a kick in
his face.

"Yes, you have to be able to have
dramatic dialogue while getting the shit
kicked out of you," said Trunks with a
sagely nod. "It's very important. You've
got to be able to create meaningful
dialogue and shit talking in the midst
of battle. It makes them more epic."

"Okay," muttered the suitably beaten
Tenchi with a slight slur in his voice.

++++++++++++++++++++

Yosho frowned as he stood in the
crater that remained of a portion of one
of Jurai's major cities. "Kooler," he
said icily as he stared the thing down.
It was floating overhead and smirking at
him.

"Ah, you must be Yosho," said the
thing calmly. "Welcome to hell."

"Humph, I've come to destroy you
monster," snorted the man as a sword
came to life in his hands. The Tenchi-
ken.

"What? You think a mere key will be
enough to defeat me?" snorted the thing
in disgust. "Your power is nowhere near
my own. You've come to join your Emperor
in death."

Azusa was lying on the ground
nearby, crawling towards them with an
angry looking frown on his face. His
power was gone, and there was nothing he
could do but stare hatefully on the
ground. "Monster! I won't..."

"You'll do nothing but watch me
destroy everything," said Kooler in what
appeared to be amusement for a moment.
"Weak fools."

"What do you want here?" asked
Yosho.

"Ranma Saotome," replied Kooler.

"He is on Earth," said Yosho as he
readied himself.

"Oh? The boy didn't tell you did he?
I wonder how he convinced you to come
here? It's no concern of mine, I suppose
you wouldn't really know. He's quite
wily."

"What are you talking about?"
snarled Yosho.

"Maybe you'll figure it out if you
live long enough," said Kooler calmly as
he landed on the ground between the
fallen Emperor and Yosho. "Somehow I
doubt that. Tell me Azusa...should I
kill him slowly? Make you watch him
die?"

Yosho growled and continued to wait
for the attack. He had no illusions
about attacking first. His only strategy
was staying alive long enough to find an
opening.

"I think I will," said Kooler as his
smile widened. He rushed forward, there
was nothing Yosho could do to defend
himself.

The man was thrown into the air by
the first blow. The attacks kept him
suspended hundreds of feet above the
ground, far to fast for him to defend
himself against. He tried, fighting
valiantly by swinging his sword despite
the blows. His energy shield seemed
completely useless.

Yosho paused and landed on the
ground with a dull thud. He rose to his
feet and glared at the thing standing
over him.

"Still able to move? I'm impressed.
This could be more fun than I had
thought," said Kooler with a small
chuckle.

"My shield?" muttered Yosho as he
realized that he had been using it.
"He's going through it as if it wasn't
there? No!" He glanced up again and
allowed the shield to fail. "He's
draining the power from it! How?"

"Figured that out did you?" said
Kooler as he narrowed his eyes. "No
matter, not even you can fight the full
power of your own planet Yosho!" Kooler
raised his arms and a soft glow began to
form around his body.

Yosho gasped in horror as he saw the
plant life in the distance become brown
instantaneously. "What? This
is...impossible!"

"Heh. You're no match for me, give
up and die now. I'm through playing with
you, you're not amusing anymore," said
Kooler with his smirk widening. "One
blow, and you'll be gone forever!" A
black ball of power formed on his finger
and his eyes went wild.

There was an explosion, and
everything went white. Yosho collapsed
on the ground as his strength gave out.
"What happened?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++

"Well, this is it," said Trunks as
he smiled at the trio standing in front
of him. "We're halfway done."

Ryoko watched him irritably, her
hair gold and the tail that hung from
the back of her skirt now wagged
irritably. "What is it this time you
loon?" she snapped angrily.

"Today, you're going to start
training with Tenchi," replied Trunks.
"Hotaru and I are going to train as
well. This trip wasn't just for you
two."

Ryoko nodded and looked at Tenchi.
"Tenchi! Isn't this great!? We get
too..."

"You get to train," interrupted
Trunks. "I'll be watching you. If you
aren't training, and seriously, I'll
pair us up again. That means no holding
back." His frown silenced Ryoko, and
Tenchi looked slightly relieved. "What
you do on your off time at night is your
own business though," said the boy with
a playful wink at Ryoko. "You're on the
honor system, but don't think for a
moment Hotaru and I don't know exactly
what you're doing."

Ryoko snorted and turned her head
away from the pair. "Yes dad," she
muttered in disgust.

Trunks blinked at this and shook his
head.

"She knows?" whispered Hotaru.

"She was being sarcastic," said
Trunks in reply.

"Oh," said the girl as she blinked
at him and turned away. "Well, we should
go."

"Yeah," agreed Trunks as he moved
after her.

Ryoko turned to Tenchi and smiled.
"So?"

The boy blushed. "I guess we should
get started."

Ryoko nodded and sighed. "I wonder
why they did this?"

"I think it's so we can get some
practice in, fighting different
opponents then we're used too..."
ventured Tenchi.

Ryoko shrugged and jumped at him.
"Who cares! You're mine!" She spread her
arms wide and grinned devilishly.

She blinked at the blade that
appeared between herself and the boy.
"Sorry Ryoko, but we're here to train,
remember?"

This caught her off guard and she
faltered in mid air. Tenchi tensed his
body and charged at her. "Get ready
Ryoko!"

"Tenchi?" muttered the woman in
confusion as she backed away. Slowly,
her face contorted into a grin. "We can
play again! Just like when we first
met!"

"I might enjoy the game more this
time," replied the boy with a slight
confidence in his tone that she'd never
heard before.

++++++++++++++++++++

"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"
cried Kooler as he reeled from a shot
from behind. "What the?" He spun and
glared at the offender with a rage in
his eyes.

"A class criminal Kooler! You're
under arrest!" cried Mihoshi as she
leveled her firearm at the alien.

"What the?" said Kooler dumbly.
"She...?"

"In the name of the Galaxy Police,
and the Emperor of Jurai, I'm placing
you under arrest! Please keep your hands
in the air and..."

"You little imp! How dare you attack
me!?" snarled Kooler as he stared at her
in shock. His eyes fell on the pistol in
her grip and he frowned. "There's no way
that should have hurt me this much!" His
back was still slightly irritated by the
shot.

Mihoshi leveled the weapon on him
and fired again. A huge beam of power
shot from the nozzle and he shifted to
avoid it easily. "That's not..." he
muttered to himself.

"Don't move!" snapped Mihoshi with a
firm frown on her face. Beside her was a
small take out box that lay at her feet.


"I'll just destroy you!" snapped
Kooler as he charged up another bolt of
power and fired it at her. Mihoshi
shrieked and jumped aside, the blast
missed.

"What?" muttered Kooler dumbly.
Another shot took him in the side and he
grunted in irritated pain. It was little
more than an annoyance. He spun and
found Mihoshi standing there with the
weapon trained on him. "This is insane!"
he snarled as he started firing blast
after blast at her.

Mihoshi seemed to always be just out
of reach, and started to fly around him
under her own power. Kooler thought
nothing of it and continued his attack,
becoming more and more frustrated in his
attempts.

"Hold still damn you!" he snarled as
he blasted ball after ball of power at
her, they always seemed just out of
reach as she fluttered around.

"There's no way she can be this fast
with such a miniscule power level!"
thought Kooler angrily as he continued
his assault.

Mihoshi was doing amazingly well
against the creature, but blinked when
she pulled the trigger on her weapon
again. It gave a dry click and she
paused long enough to look at it. "Uh
oh."

"What?" said Kooler as he stared at
her for a moment in surprise. "Out of
ammo?" He thought about it for a moment,
it seemed impossible. Especially since
she was using her own ki energy to fire
the blast at him, and not the weapon.
She wasn't nearly out of power yet.
After a moment, he shrugged and charged
another ball of energy to fling at her.

Mihoshi continued to dodge, seeming
more and more frightened with each shot.
She fumbled around aimlessly, which only
served to irritate Kooler more.

Finally, one of the balls of power
seemed to hit home. It exploded, leaving
nothing more than a slightly cooked
ozone smell in its wake. "Ha! Take that
you irritating little insect!"

"Whew! That was close!" said Mihoshi
from directly behind him.

"Impossible!" cried Kooler as he
whirled around and stared at her in
shock. "There's no way you're this
fast!"

"Fast?" muttered Mihoshi as she
stared at him fearfully.

"Take this then!" cried Kooler as he
lunged for her, only to have her vanish
from in front of his fist and appear
behind him. The woman blinked and was
still in the act of flinching.

"So, you can teleport can you?" said
Kooler with a small chuckle as he
realized what was happening.

"Um? I can? Can I?" said Mihoshi in
genuine confusion.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On the Mikon Taka Washuu was beating
her head against the wall in
frustration. "Of course! That explains
it! Damn it! How could I be so stupid!"

"Um... is something wrong with her?"
asked Usagi.

"Just let it be," said Nabiki. She
was with the senshi in the lounge area
of the ship, watching the battle on a
small screen that hung from the ceiling
just above the table. It was being
broadcast by the Juraian news media,
probably taken from satellites in orbit,
giving that all the views were from
above. Apparently they also had the
technology to get speech from orbit as
well. The idea of that made Nabiki
somewhat uncomfortable.

"Ready?" asked George as he walked
back with them and frowned. "We're
leaving. We should be in orbit within
the hour."

Usagi gave him an unreadable stare
and nodded.

"Maybe Mihoshi will die?" said
Washuu as she stopped beating on her
head and thought about that for a
moment. She didn't seem very upset to
anyone else, but it was hard to tell.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Trunks, Tenchi, Hotaru, and Ryoko
all smirked as they walked up to the
door of the room. With an audible click,
they simply looked on as it slowly
opened up for them. "Well, it's time,"
said Trunks as he stepped outside.

The others followed after him, and
they found themselves standing alone.
The palace was dead, silence that was
not even broken by a chirping bird.

"It's too quiet," commented Ryoko.

"Shall we go and see who our
mysterious visitor is after he kills
Mihoshi?" asked Trunks.

"No, Trunks," said Hotaru with a
small sigh.

"Damn," grumbled the boy as he
kicked a small stone off the edge of the
platform. "Come on then, let's get
going. Don't want to keep them waiting."

"Looks like we don't have to worry
about that anyway," said Hotaru as she
stared off into the distance.

Tenchi frowned at this, but nodded.
"I feel it too."

"Good, we should get going then,"
commented Trunks as he floated into the
sky. The others followed after him.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Mihoshi was in bad shape, Kooler was
fast. It hadn't taken long for him to
start figuring her out once he realized
what was happening. Yosho was lying on
the ground near to Azusa, both of them
were down for the count. She didn't
realize it, but her power was fading
fast.

"Trying to run away again?" said
Kooler as he chuckled and caught her
after she avoided another punch. She had
teleported behind him, only to find a
kick waiting for her. With a grunt of
pain, her hair went black and she
slammed into the ground. Tears flowed
from her eyes, and she was beaten pretty
badly now.

"You...won't get away...with this,"
she gasped painfully.

"Who's going to stop me? You?"
chuckled Kooler as he floated
malevolently above her. "Just die this
time." He started to charge another ball
of power in his hands above his head. "I
think I'll just be rid of the three of
you. You've given me too much trouble to
take any chances!"

Once again, an explosion slammed him
out of the attack. This time, it was
large enough to send him flying through
the air and into the ground nearby.

Mihoshi's vision blurred for a
moment. She squinted and managed to make
out a ship floating overhead. A familiar
voice floated over to where she was
lying. "Hurry up! That won't keep him
occupied for long! We've got to go!"

"George?" she muttered painfully as
she felt hands on her body, helping her
to her feet.

"Hurry!" said Usagi as she moved
along side Makoto to carry her onto the
waiting ship. It hadn't even landed, but
merely hovered above the ground with the
ramp down. Azusa and Yosho received the
same treatment, being carried onto the
ship by the Senshi.

Once onboard, they door quickly
closed and the ship blasted into the
air.

George chuckled to himself as he
flew into the sea of stars above Jurai.
"See, less than an hour." He tapped the
clock on the control panel and smirked
at Usagi.

Nabiki heaved a heavy sigh of relief
and slumped down. Her back was against
the wall and she had been sweating
bullets. "I'm surprised that worked."

"Those missiles are powerful,"
commented Washuu. "It's why they're
illegal."

George glanced back at her and
laughed nervously. "Well, a girl has to
protect herself from pirates right?"

"Girl?" said Minako dumbly.

"Sorry, I used to be one," muttered
the man as he went red. "You know...last
time."

"Oh," said the girl as she pretended
to understand.

Washuu rolled her eyes at this, but
said nothing. "We should go now."

"What about Trunks and the others?"
asked Usagi.

"We can't leave Tenchi behind!"
cried Ayeka fearfully.

"Destroy it...the planet is dead
anyway," muttered Azusa. "Maybe we'll
take that bastard with it."

Yosho was recovering a little as
well. "There may be nothing else we can
do..." He looked angry and frustrated.
No one could tell if it was because of
his failure, or the destruction of the
planet.

"No, we should wait first," said
Washuu.

"Who are you to..." started Azusa.

The woman's glare silenced any
further protests. She continued
uninterrupted. "Tenchi, Trunks, and
Hotaru are all fine. They just emerged
from the room."

"Great! We'll just go back and pick
them up!" said Usagi cheerfully.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. We
won't be able to do that again. Kooler
will destroy us before we get the
chance, we only caught him off guard,"
said Washuu.

"But, he'll never get to the palace
before us!" cried Ami.

"True, but they aren't at the
palace. They just landed right in front
of Kooler's location. They're going to
fight him," said Washuu with a small
sigh. "There's nothing we can do for
them but pray."

"No! Tenchi and that monster!?"
cried Ayeka right before she passed out
cold.

"She took that rather well,"
commented Artemis.

Luna promptly thwacked him with her
paw.

"What's that?" asked Minako as she
looked at the box in Usagi's lap.

"I dunno, it was on the ground where
we found Mihoshi," replied the girl with
a small shrug. She opened it and
blinked. "Hey. This looks like
Okonomiyaki!"

"What? That's impossible..." said
Washuu as she walked over and stared
into the box. "Never mind. I forgot who
I was talking about here." She glanced
over at the sleeping woman. Her hair was
still black and she looked rather
peaceful really. "Let's just watch this.
I'm sure none of you want to miss it."

With that, everyone's attention
turned to the small screen that hung
from the ceiling.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Kooler growled as he stared at the
sky, briefly considering going after
those who had dared attack him. He
paused though when something caught his
eye. On top of a rather large stone,
looking down on him, was a small boy of
about eight years old.

"Ah. You must be Kooler."

"Ranma Saotome?" said Kooler as he
smiled and waged his tail in irritation.


"My name is Trunks...and you're
about to find out what it's like to
fight a real Super Saiyan, and I don't
mean Ranma." The boy smirked at the
expression the alien gave him.

"Somehow, I doubt that," replied
Kooler as he glanced around. He was
surrounded. "Well, this looks
interesting. None of you can match my
power though."

Trunks chuckled at this. "You ain't
seen our real power yet."

"What the hell is this thing?" said
Ryoko.

"I'm not sure," said Hotaru as she
narrowed her eyes at it.

"This is it?" asked Tenchi as he
glared at the monster that would do such
a horrible thing.

"Yeah, this is Kooler," snorted
Trunks. "Never expected to see your ass
again," he commented at the thing.

"That, is not Kooler," replied
Hotaru before the thing answered. "He
was my opponent, and this thing's power
is completely different. I'd say it's
more likely that he's..."

The thing gave a small chuckle, and
its skin seemed to liquefy, melting away
until its body was reformed into
something else. "Yes, I am Ekitai." It
spoke as the body reformed into a new
figure. He was skinny, a gangly looking
man with spiky blue hair that went
straight up into the air. It was tied up
by a thick blue bandanna, and his skin
was pale and his eyes a bright,
unnatural looking blue. He chuckled at
them and eyed them all for a moment. His
clothing was nothing but a pair of dark
blue kung-fu pants and a light blue
vest. "Well, I've found what I'm looking
for at any rate. We're going to play a
game, and the prize is this planet."

Trunks frowned at this and growled.
"Youma Lord..."

"He is strong," commented Hotaru.

"You're going down buster!" snarled
Ryoko.

Tenchi merely nodded in silent
agreement.

"I think we'll just kill you and be
done with it," said Trunks calmly.

"Why bother with that?" snorted the
Youma with a small shrug. "This'll be
more fun. You see, I discovered this
wonderful thing you call manga. I've
grown rather obsessed. Saiyans huh?" He
chuckled as he got a dark look in his
eyes. "I've got just the thing for
that." His body liquefied again and
reformed.

Trunks gasped at the thing that
stood before him. It laughed insanely
and cocked its head. It had black eyes
and pink skin, its body was muscular and
short. Instead of hair, a pink dorsal
like protrusion flopped lazily behind
its head.

"Oh shit," muttered Trunks. "Majin
Buu!" He dropped back into a defensive
stance, and everyone around him noticed
the reaction with a bit of worry. "Get
ready guys, this is going to suck."

Buu laughed, whether it was at what
the saiyan boy had said or not; they'd
never know.

TBC...


You hate me, I know this. Heh. ^_^