Deep within the depths of the alien base, a figure strode through hordes of twisted mutants and monsters. He was the worst of them all. The hideous creatures fled before him, knowing better than to risk their great lord's anger. The shrieks of one of their kind could still be heard in the background, one who did not get out of the way in time. They moved as if their lives depended on it, because they did.
Darkon gave an evil smile behind his helmet. Striking terror into his minions was an activity that pleased him to no end. He clenched his hand around the great lance in his left hand, and with a lightning motion blasted it through a spider crab that had not gotten out of his way. Cape flapping around his armored body, Darkon stepped from the twisted, energy ridden area that was the breeding chambers.
A long hallway confronted him. His hallway, for this was the path to his throne room. The walls were made of a sickly organic substance, and spider crab guards trembled in his presence. Not that he needed them. Darkon was the first and most powerful of all the Teknomen, and the creator of all the rest. Unfortunately, Slade and his cadre of rebels had managed to push
him from his former empire. He cursed silently. Slade should never have been allowed to escape to join with the Space Knights against him.
Darkon stood before his throne, and linked himself into the core of the Venemoid base. Feeling power running through his body, he began to lay his plans...
Finding Kagato had been a stroke of pure luck. This alternate dimension that Darkon had fled to possessed many empires of beings compatible with the Teknopods. Including an Earth... Ah what sweet triumph it would be to destroy that planet that had resisted him for so long...
Kagato had speculated that he would not be able to defeat the Tenchi boy. He may have been right, he may have been wrong. Darkon was not going to take any chances.
He would send Saber.
...
Tenchi was downstairs enjoying a rather subdued breakfast. Reports were coming in over Washu's subspace radio of attacks against the Jurai empire. Ayeka, shoulder still bandaged from the wound she had received several days before, shook in her chair. What was it that was attacking the Jurai? And why?
Washu finally turned off the radio. "Two days of these attacks and no one still has any idea what their up against?"
Sasami turned to Washu and spoke quietly, "This is what Ive dreamed of..."
Ayeka wrapped a comforting arm around Sasami. The dreams were getting more intense. The dream that she had had the pervious night had sent both Ayeka and Sasami running to Tenchi's rooms to check on him.
"It was horrible," Sasami had moaned. "Tenchi was fighting that darkness on all sides and it was closing in around him. Then he was engulfed by it, and I heard him scream! It wasn't a scream that signaled the death of his body, it was a scream that signaled the death of all he stood for and cared about..."
That had disturbed all of them enough that they had send a message to Funaho and Misaki asking for any information concerning the raids. As of yet, no information had come. Tenchi paced around, waiting for the beep from Washu's subspace radio that would signal a message. Sasami looked forlornly at Tenchi, while Washu, Ayeka, Mihoshi and Kiyone kept looking out the windows, expecting something horrible.
Something horrible came all right. But not from the outside. From the radio.
-<static>under attack...<static>everywher<bzzt>too many to fig<snap pop><fizzt>et the emp<crack><static>aki<static>that shi<fizz IT>-
Washu toggled levers and flipped switches on the radio in an attempt to clear up the signal. For a few seconds, the message was clear
-<static> repeat, we are under attack but unknown forces! These creatures seem to be everywhere, to many of them to fight, we are being over run! The Imperial Bodyguard is attempting to get the Emperor to Misaki's Ship. All troops, you are ordered to guard that ship!!! <static>ou mean tha<static>ip has been destr<static>hip over er<static>emper<static>What
THE??? (Huge Explosion) AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!! <radio cuts out>
Tenchi and Ayeka both jumped to their feet shouting "get them back, get them back!"
Washu looked at them helplessly. "The transmitter has been destroyed. There's nothing I can do..."
Ayeka shouted helplessly at the radio "Mother! Father!!!!"
Everyone stood looking tensely at the radio, hoping, praying, for some form of news. None came. It was as if Jurai had dropped out of existence. Other reports poured in about attacks to other parts of the Jurian empire, but from Jurai came only silence.
Sasami's face screwed up. Ayeka thought that she was going to cry for a moment. Well, she though that SHE was too. Her mother and father, gone. It was too terrible to even think about. Yosho looked stricken, Kiyone and Mihoshi were stunned, and Tenchi looked like he was going to be sick.
Sasami screamed.
Ayeka and Tenchi both caught her as she fell to the ground, clutching her side. Another spasm of pain wracked her small body, and another scream was torn from her lips. Tenchi lowered her to the floor gently as Sasami wavered in and out of consciousness. Blood seeped through her kimono onto the floor at her side and from her upper arm. Bruises had appeared all
over her body, as if some invisible force was attacking her.
Washu tapped on her ethereal laptop and medical supplies shot out of subspace holes. Tenchi, Washu and Ayeka immediately worked to staunch the flow of blood from her wounds, while Mihoshi bathed Sasami's face in cool water and Kiyone dragged more of the appearing medical supplies over to the area.
"What's happening to her Washu?" Kiyone panted, dragging a heavy crate.
"I cant say. There's no force in the area that could be doing this..."
...
Washu stepped out of her lab, and glanced at at the concerned gathering. "She going to be fine. The wounds were not as bad as we thought, and they seem to be healing at an incredible speed."
Tenchi then asked, "Could Kagato be doing this?"
"I doubt it Tenchi. No matter what powers he may have gained, there is no way he could hurt Sasami with out me being able to detect something. I have no idea what happened."
...
An ominous silence fell around the house. The very air felt oppressive. Some great power was watching the house, and he decided that it was time to make his presence felt.
"TEKNO BOLT!!!"
The Masaki house was rocked to its foundations as the top story simply ceased to exist before the massive energy blast. Secondary explosions were kicked up at the Masaki shrine up the mountain as the energy surge traveled up the slope.
Tenchi glanced at Washu, who said one word, "Kagato."
Tenchi nodded, and in a flash transformed into his Jurian battle gear. He turned to see Ayeka similarly equipped, and Kiyone and Mihoshi both held energy rifles at the ready. Washu simply seemed to be prepared despite her lack of weapons.
The group charged out of the house, ready to do battle. Tenchi glanced up, and Kagato yelled again, "TEKNO BOLT!!!"
"Seek COVER!!!" Washu shouted, and the group scattered as the energy blast dug a crater where they had been a moment before. Kiyone and Mihoshi leveled their energy rifles and began firing at full power. The armored form of Kagato seemed to laugh at the light ping he heard on his armor.
"This is grand. Is that the best you can do girls?" Kagato dove towards the Galaxy Police women, and they both nearly didn't get out of the way as he crunched into the ground. Seeing that his first targets had escaped, he turned his attention to Ayeka.
"You were lucky that you survived our first meeting, Princess. This time, you wont be so fortunate!" Kagato engaged his boosters and rushed Ayeka. Ayeka responded by ducking under a swipe of his clawed hand and driving the strongest punch she could into Kagato's armored face. The armored head whipped back, and Kagato arced into the air. Regaining control, he
regarded Ayeka. "A good shot, Princess. Pity it will be your last!"
Kagato flung himself in an all out attack against the purple haired princess. He smiled as a sonic front built up in front of him. He knew that he would be able to kill Ayeka with one shot. As a result, he never noticed Tenchi leaping up to intercept him.
Tenchi-ken flashed as Tenchi delivered a massive upwards slice to Kagato. The force of the blow made Kagato arc back into the air, missing Ayeka but just inches. Tenchi landed and whirled, ready for Kagato's counter attack.
None was forth coming. Kagato glared darkly at the long rent in his armor. "That was a luck shot boy. You wont get any more like that!" To the companions amazement, they watched the rent seal on the armor.
Kagato pointed his wrist at Tenchi. A red wire shot from it, and before Tenchi had time to dodge, it had wrapped around his neck. Ayeka shouted "NO!" as she watched Kagato lift Tenchi off the ground and slam him into a nearby tree. She leapt into the air, only to meet Kagato's fist on the way up. Her vision spun, and she crashed to the ground. Struggling to rise, she
moaned "Tenchi, no..." She crawled towards where Tenchi lay, but nearly fell unconscious due to the fact that the wound in her shoulder had reopened.
Kagato smiled evilly behind his helmet. Grabbing the glowing wire with his other hand, he attached 75% of his maximum power output into the line. Electricity surged down the line, and Tenchi screamed as the massive energy ripped through him. "I have you now, Tenchi..."
Washu screamed "NO!" as the pelorons on Kagato's shoulders rose into the air. Ayeka tried to rise, to attack, to do something as she saw more panels open all over Kagato's armored form.
With an insane laugh, Kagato yelled "ANTIMATTER DISRUPTERS!!!"
Beams of destructive energy leapt from all over Kagato's body, arcing and streaking towards the helpless Tenchi, who lay
moaning on the ground. Kagato's eyes flashed bright red in his helmet as he watched the energy streak towards the boy...
It was at this point that several things happened at one.
First, a glowing blue wire shot out of the sky and wrapped itself around Kagato. The owner of the wire, garbed in blue and white armor, yank upwards and back, causing Kagato's shot to fly harmlessly into the air.
Second, another armored form swooped down and grabbed the helpless Tenchi as the first of the energy that hadn't been redirected closed on him. It flew towards Ayeka and Washu, and deposited Tenchi at their feet, then spun and shot towards Kagato.
A mad look in his eye, Kagato spun to face the newcomers. "How DARE YOU!!! JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE????? DARKON SAID THAT I COULD KILL HIM IF I CHOSE!!!"
The first of the two, in the blue and white armor, spoke. His tone was soft, but it carried an unmistakable menace in it. "My name is Teknoknight Glave. And there is no way that I will allow you to harm that boy."
The second of the newcomers, in the green and red armor, spoke. Her voice was clearly angry. "And I am EDGE!!! Remember it Blade! For I will be the one to DESTROY YOU!!!"
Kagato clearly looked confused. "How did you know my name as a Teknoman... Wait, YOU ARE THE TRAITORS THAT THE MASTER TOLD ME OF!!!"
Glave looked at Kagato with a gaze that could stop a train. "We are members of Slade's group dedicated to stopping Darkon. And you are obviously one of his zombies, so we have to stop you." With that, Glave pulled his namesake weapon, a bladed pole arm, from his back. "Shall we battle then, Blade?"
"I will DESTROY YOU!!!"
"That's so nice. Edge?"
"Grrrrr. Yes Glave?"
"Take care of Tenchi. Use the medipack I gave you to help him. The jolt Blade gave him probably stopped his heart, and he'll
need help. Ill deal with this minion of Darkon."
"But.."
"DO IT!!!"
"Yes Glave."
Edge flew towards Tenchi, hearing Kagato raving behind her. She landed next to Tenchi, and got to work. The medipack was easy to deploy, and had Tenchi stabablied within moments. Edge looked back and realized that Ayeka was still in the battle area.
"Prepare to die Traitor!" Kagato shouted.
"Your the only one who will be dying." whispered his opponent.
"YYYYYAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
In the heavens above the Masaki house that day, it seemed that two daemons had come to do battle. Kagato launched brute power attacks against his opponent, hoping to destroy him in one massive detonation. Glave's weapon flicked in and out of the battle, scoring minor hits on his opponent. Kagato screamed in frustration as this Teknoknight continued to dodge his attacks.
Washu gazed thoughtfully as Edge sailed back in, carrying an unconscious Ayeka in her arms. These two seemed so similar to Kagato, but yet so different... She turned to Edge and asked, "Who are you?"
Edge seemed to be taken aback by that question. She hesitated for a moment, and then responded: "A friend."
Kagato continued to be unable to hit the nimble Glave. He screamed his frustration as that damn Glave torn another rent in his armor. He was tired from his previous battles, and this upstart was fresh. This was a losing battle...
Kagato activated his Pelerons, and shouted "TEKNO BOLT!!!!"
As the energy lashed out towards Glave, Washu hid her eyes. The poor man wasn't even moving! She couldn't stand to see
someone else be hurt or killed. Not another person who was going to die helping Tenchi...
She was startled to hear Glave yell "TEKNO BOLT!!!"
A bright flash of light appeared as the two shot smashed into each other. Kagato looked in amazement. There was only one
thing he could do. He'd use his most powerful attack and try to distract Glave by shooting and Tenchi and Washu. He'd then
make his escape.
Panels rose from all over Kagato's body as he shouted "ANTIMATTER DISRUPTERS!!!" The energy lashed towards the
ground, eager to destroy the Masaki boy. But then Glave was between the energy wave and Tenchi, shouting "PHOTON
ENERGY COLLECTORS!!!" Huge panels sprouted from his back and intercepted most of the energy that Kagato poured
forth. Kagato realized what was happening, and ceased his attack. He watched as an aura of energy appeared around Glave,
who shouted "TEKNO CANNON!!!!"
From Glave's back came two booms, which came around and locked on the front of Glave's arm, looking like a huge tuning fork pointed directly at Kagato. Plasma licked between the two bars, and Kagato could see the power building up between Glave and himself.
The energy seemed to reach a peak, and then a massive stream of plasma ripped from the cannon mounted on Glave's right
arm. Star flame shot towards Kagato, who prepared himself to see the great unknown. But this was not to happen. A huge weight struck him in the small of the back, forcing him under the beam, which struck a nearby mountain, tearing the peak off.
Glave swore under his breath, and then shouted, "So Saber. It took you long enough."
The newly arrive Teknoman gave Glave a look of pure hatred. "So, my little brother has sent his playmates to deal with us."
He gave Kagato a sharp kick. "Your making a fool of yourself!!! Allowing yourself to be defeated by this WEAKLING!!!"
Kagato grimaced as Darkon's second in command chewed him out. Next time Glave, he swore.
Saber turned and shouted to Glave. "Id fight you right now, you fool, but my journey has tired me and my ally and I must be going." With that , Saber and Kagato fly off towards the horizon.
Glave shouted to Edge: "We cant let them get away!!! Come on!!!"
Edge shot one look back at the unconscious Tenchi, and then flew after Glave. Inside her helmet, a single tear rolled down her
cheek...
End of 4
