115Chapter Forty: Mihoshi's Hour
The channel cut out. Ayeka and Mihoshi stood silent and still in the ship's corridors. Were they dead? No, Ayeka couldn't think that way. Even if they were dead, she had to do something to stop this.
"What do we do Ayeka?" asked Mihoshi.
"Let me think. Let me think." said Ayeka. Don't panic. Everyone was counting on her and Mihoshi. If she panicked she would let them down. "Everyone is counting on us. So we've got to somehow find a way to reverse the timelines. But... how?" That was the problem. Then she remembered what Washu had said. "Wait, this ship has many different timelines on it. Perhaps we could find one where Clay has not yet captured Sasami?"
The ship suddenly began to shudder. The lights dimmed as darkness arose behind them. It was blacker than the void of space. Ayeka looked back, then grabbed Mihoshi and ran.
"What's happening?" cried Mihoshi.
"So... a Nexus that exists outside of time and space..." said a cold voice Ayeka knew all too well. "Very clever indeed, Tokimi. But it won't save you for long."
As they ran the entire hall collapsed behind them. In its place was not space, but nothing. It was not blackness. It was the complete absence of anything. Just looking at it hurt Ayeka's eyes.
She pulled Mihoshi through the halls. But no one else came. Kagato, it seemed, was not aware of them. Finally, she stopped. Where was she going and what would she do when she got there?
"So you know where we're going?" asked Mihoshi, looking scared.
"I..." Ayeka came to a revelation. "No, Mihoshi, you know where we're going."
"What? No, I don't." said Mihoshi.
"Yes you do!" said Ayeka. "Whenever you want to get somewhere you always end up getting there, even if it shouldn't be possible!
"Mihoshi, lead me wherever your instinct leads."
"But I'm scared." said Mihoshi.
"So am I." admitted Ayeka. "But the entire universe is counting on us. Just think of what Kiyone would do." Kiyone, who was that?
Mihoshi looked at her. Then her eyes widened. Finally, she nodded. "Okay. I'll try to be brave." And she took a step forward.
"Bravery won't save you, I'm afraid." said Kagato.
Ayeka looked up and saw the darkness coming. Ayeka knew she must act now, or they would die. And everyone would die, or worse.
She unleashed her power into the darkness. It was blasted away and reeled before beginning to reform. "We can run if you want!" said Ayeka.
Mihoshi ran, and Ayeka ran with her. They sprinted through the halls that seemed to groan around them. This entire ship was falling to pieces. Kagato must have been putting everything he can into destroying them.
And then they came into a corridor which was oddly calm. A brown haired girl was standing there in the middle of it. Everything seemed tranquil for a moment. "What?"
"Oh, hello. Are you new here?" asked the girl.
"Yes, I'm Ayeka." said Ayeka. "Who are you?"
"I'm Mirei." said the girl. "I've always been here. Would you like to play with me?"
"I would love to." said Ayeka. No sense in worrying her. "But, I need some help. You see, we're looking for someone from the future. A bad man named Doctor Clay.
"Have you seen anyone like that?"
Mirei shook her head. "Nuh uh. But I can find them if they're here. I can sense everyone.
"Follow me."
And so she led them. Ayeka and Mihoshi followed Mirei throughout the halls. Soon they came to a great ballroom with a chandelier above. Mirei halted. "They should be coming in through that hall soon. Out of the other ballroom."
"Right," said Ayeka, "thank you. I'll play with you once we finish-"
And then darkness seeped in from above. The chandelier shattered and Kagato's will seeped in. Ayeka saw it heading for the entrance. She leaped forward and summoned her power. Even as she did the surrounding area was reduced to nothingness.
The Jurai power clashed with the will of Kagato. Agony coursed through Ayeka as she tried to hold him in place. She felt him, felt Kagato drawing near.
"You will not escape me so easily, Princess Ayeka..." whispered the voice.
"Leave us alone!" cried Mihoshi, firing her gun.
It did nothing.
But it might do something against Clay. As Kagato turned his will to attack Mihoshi, Ayeka went on the offensive. Kagato's form screamed in agony as she cut through it, and the nothingness retreated.
But it would be back.
Ayeka made a three-point landing and looked up. "Mihoshi!"
"Yes." said Mihoshi.
"Listen to me very carefully." said Ayeka. "You are going to go with Mirei to find Doctor Clay. As soon as you see him, shoot him dead. Don't ask him to surrender. Don't give him a second chance. Just kill him." The darkness began to resurge. "I'm going to stay here and hold this... thing off."
"Very brave of you, Princess. But futile." said Kagato's voice.
And the tendrils of his will surged down upon Ayeka in strength far greater than before. They collapsed the surrounding passages, and they were trapped. The Princess knew she could not stop them all.
No.
No she had to stop them all. Light blazed from her like never before and the tendrils were burned away. Kagato's will was thrown back and the passages returned to what they were. "I can hold you back, Kagato!" cried Ayeka, shocking him. "I am a Princess of Jurai! I hold a responsibility for the safety of trillions! And I will not fail in my duty!" She looked to Mihoshi. "Mihoshi, see to it that you do not fail in yours."
Mihoshi stood up straight, looking serious suddenly. She saluted. "Goodbye, Ayeka."
And then she ran.
Ayeka was going to die. Mihoshi realized the fact as she ran. She'd sacrificed herself so Mihoshi could finish it.
But Mihoshi had never been able to finish anything. She was a bad police officer. She was always crashing her starships. She couldn't even give tickets properly. She'd always relied on...
Relied on who?
As she ran she kept remembering things. A face that was important to her, but she didn't know who it was. Mirei reminded her.
Kiyone.
"Come on, quickly." said Mirei, leading her through the halls.
And then there was a scream. Ayeka's scream. It was bloodcurdling, and Mihoshi turned back. No, no Ayeka told her what she had to do. She had to kill the bad guys. She had to kill Clay.
"Mihoshi, come on!" said Mirei. "Before it's too late!"
They ran. Ran away from Kagato. Away from Ayeka. Away from it all.
Soon they came to a crossroads and Mirei halted. She sighed. "Um, they should be coming around this corner. But I can't go any further."
"What, why not?" said Mihoshi.
"I can never be in the same place as one of my other selves." said Mirei. "When a past version of myself nears me, one of us always fades. And I'm with Clay."
How had Mirei know Mihoshi's name. "So I'm on my own?" said Mihoshi.
"Yeah, sorry." said Mirei. Then she turned to walk away. "See you, partner."
Then she was gone.
Mihoshi leaned against the wall. She raised her gun and waited. No sign of Kagato or Clay. She hoped Kagato didn't find her.
But what about Mirei? Who was she really? How did they know eachother? Wait, Mihoshi didn't know Mirei, did she? And why had she called her partner?
"Quickly, this way Nagi." said a voice. "We must reach the ship before whatever this is destroys everything."
"What even is causing this? I've never felt anything like this, Clay." said Nagi. So Clay was with her. "It chills me badly."
"It doesn't matter what it is." said Clay. "Once we've released Lord Kagato everything we could ever desire will be ours, now-"
They were getting nearer. Mihoshi trained her gun on the hall. Soon they would come into view. Mihoshi had to shoot the one that wasn't Nagi. But she'd never killed anyone, couldn't she arrest them.
'Mihoshi, you have to do this. You have to do this.' she told herself. 'You are a space detective. Fighting to the death is what you do. It's who you are.'
A chill took her.
"Wretched policeman... you will join the Princess soon..." said Kagato behind her.
Mihoshi knew she was out of time. She rushed forward, feeling something rip the flesh on her shoulder. She rounded the corner and saw the people approaching. Aiming for the one with the octopus beard she fired.
Clay stopped. He looked down to see red coating his chest. Then he staggered.
"You..." he began. But he never finished, merely collapsed to his knees and fell dead.
Nagi rushed at her, but Mihoshi ducked under her attack. Then Kagato surged into view. Mihoshi heard Nagi scream behind her as she rushed to where Sasami and Mirei were. The goo that had trapped them was sapping.
She grabbed both by the hand and ran.
Around her the ship began to fade. There was a scream of absolute rage. And as they ran the world started to go white. Everything faded and they were walking in a featureless expanse.
Then she halted.
The others were there. But Mirei was gone.
"Tenchi!" cried Sasami. "What's going on?"
"I think we won." said Tenchi.
Mihoshi looked up and saw Ayeka. She ran forward and hugged her. "Ayeka!"
"Mihoshi, what is going on?" asked Ayeka.
"You died!" said Mihoshi. "Kagato, he... he..." She sighed. "Where's Kiyone?"
"Well that's a complicated question." said Washu as she appeared. "I think we've created a time paradox."
"What do you mean?" asked Ryoko.
"Well," said Washu, "Clay used a dimensional warper to alter the time space continuum. He was hoping to release Kagato. But, we stopped him from ever getting the means to use the dimension tuner."
"But if he never activated the Dimension Tuner why would we send the message?" asked Tenchi.
"Wait a minute," said Ayeka, "I'm not genius. But it seems to me that it isn't a paradox at all. I was on a ship where the timeline was fluid. I received a message from Washu telling me to do something to stop Clay.
"But I would have been there anyway. So maybe the message was sent by you specifically to make Clay's plan fail. So you lied."
"Weren't we chased by Kagato, though?" asked Mihoshi.
"And doesn't Kagato now exist outside of time and space?" asked Tenchi.
"This is making my head hurt." said Ryoko. "Look, did we create a paradox or didn't we?"
Washu put up her hands. "...Kinda?"
Sasami transformed into Tsunami. "I'll just handwave it."
"Hand wave?" asked Tenchi. "What do you mean you'll hand wave it?"
"Look, the events that just took place do not make sense from a linear view of time." said Tsunami. "A linear timeline was merely the battleground. Generally when my sisters and I run into paradox's we throw out a vague answer. Then we hope everyone forgets about it."
"Okay," said Ryoko, "how are you planning to spitball this?"
Tsunami considered that. "Well, I'll probably do what Ayeka suggested. Turn it into a self fulfilling prophecy. We'll be able to keep the same basic events without worrying about all the details."
"And the eldritch abomination trying to kill Mihoshi and I?" asked Ayeka.
Tsunami considered that. "Mass hullucination?"
"There is no such thing!" said Tenchi. "It's been proved."
"Fine," said Tsunami, "then I'll make such a thing for this specific scenario. And I invented it specifically to explain this paradox."
"...What about Nagi?" asked Mihoshi.
"What about her?" asked Tenchi. "I trapped her in subspace."
"Well yes," said Mihoshi, "but um... she was with Clay and tried to kill me. Then... um... Kagato kind of killed her."
Tsunami put her face in her hands. "Okay, well, she didn't really do anything. I'll just tweak Clay's decision making so he sent Nagi on ahead to prepare the ship after he captured you. Then there was a... um... temporal shift which let her get there in time for her showdown with you."
"...Do you have any idea how contrived that is?" asked Washu.
"Do you want Nagi to kill Mihoshi?" asked Tsunami. "Because she's not getting paid now."
"Fine, whatever." said Tenchi. "Now where are we and how do we get out."
"Um..." Tsunami paused. "good question."
Then the light parted and darkness emerged. Kagato emerged, looking much as he had in life in a long white cap. He threw it aside dramatically. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you don't mind the intrusion. I must congratulate you on foiling my attempt to escape. But the dimension tuner is still active and my will is flowing through it.
"Even now we are surrounded by a myriad of possible universes. All of them within my grasp. For it was by my will that Clay did his work. Thus do I command this subspace.
"Oh, it is not the universe I'd hoped to enslave. But it suits my purposes to keeping you occupied. And when my secondary plan goes into effect, there will be no one left to stop it."
"You aren't going to stop us, Kagato." said Tenchi, drawing a blade.
"Whose trying to stop who?" said Kagato. "Proceed, into your darkest nightmares!"
The light gave way to darkness all around them. Visions of horror surrounded them as time and space fell away.
And they were plunged into nightmares.
Author's Note:
And here we have the resolution to the Clay plotline. And the beginnings of another one. A sort of reverse-Time and Space Adventures.
I wanted to give both Mihoshi and Ayeka a chance to be awesome in this chapter. Ayeka was fairly easy, and I could have done a fight with Nagi. But that would have left Mihoshi without anything to do. So I had Ayeka come up with the initial plan, then forced into a heroic sacrifice. Then Mihoshi had to finish the job.
This is two chapters in a row Clay has been shot in the heart.
