Konnichiwa!
	I promised to send this out today, and I've kinda been rushed, so it
might have some errors. Please don't hesitate to send me C&C. Thanks!

Twisting Dreams

Story by:  Susie ‘Ky’ Poole

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Chapter 3
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	Washu sat and desperately wished she were anywhere but where she was.
Heck, even back on Kagato’s ship would be better. Not only were the
strangers angry with her, but so was everyone else. And why, because her
experiment had screwed up again, and she couldn’t fix it right away. She
probably wouldn’t be able to fix it for weeks! She worried about the
tall dark man, the one with only one good eye. He sent shivers up her
spine. Where ever these people were from, it was not some place
pleasant. They were all so grim and closed mouthed. She fidgeted around
on her cushion and swallowed as Subaru sighed and stood up.
	“Well, what ever interfered with your... experiment also pulled us out
of our time and world, Miss Washu. Could this.... problem be dangerous?”
	“Well....” she looked out the window and over at Funaho, Yosho’s tree.
“I... don’t know what it could have been. It must have been something
locked between time and dimensions, and I’ve never heard of anything
like it. It was enough to even melt down all my fail safe guards....”
	“That still doesn’t explain why we got.... dragged into it. Why not
some place else?” Washu looked over at the second tallest, Fuma, and
smiled pathetically.
	“Errr.... I don’t know?”
	Her answer didn’t seem to make Fuma happy and he edged closer of Kamui,
protectively. Subaru watched them amazed. Once returned to normal Fuma
acted as he always had to Kamui while he and Seishirou sat as far apart
as ever. You can’t change what is, so he didn’t expect to have his
feelings for Seishirou to have changed just because they were out of
their situation. He almost wished that this Washu’s machine had effected
time. Well, perhaps it was best it had not...
	“Tenchi!”
	He looked up as Yosho entered and glared at him. “What, Grandpa?”
	“Tenchi, why did you send one of your guests out on their own?”
	“Huh? What do you mean?” Tenchi stood and looked around. The four
strangers were there, so who.... He stopped dead and stared as Subaru
appeared behind his grandfather’s shoulder. No, it was shorter than
Subaru, but.....
	“Hokuto!!” Tenchi jumped as Subaru’s voice cracked and rose as he
staggered to his feet, face dead white.
	“Subaru-chan!” Hokuto shouted and bound into the room and over to her
brother. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. She was
wearing the same robes as he, and looked so much like him, that everyone
but Seishirou was staring, trying to make out who was who. “Subaru-chan!
I’ve missed you so much! I really have!” She turned around and launched
herself over at Seishirou. “Sei-chan! Don’t look so unhappy! Smile, for
me? Oh, have you and Subaru-chan had an argument? But that wouldn’t be
at all like either of you, you’re usually so happy together. Such a cute
couple.” Subaru flushed instinctively at the old barb. Seishirou caught
her and smiled slightly. Feeling no emotion only went so far after all,
and he _had_ killed her, or had he.... or was it now, will be? This had
to be a paradox.
	“H....Hokuto.... how did you....” Subaru was stammering like a child
again. He stopped and flushed again.
	His sister turned on him, completely serious. “Subaru-chan! I’m very
unhappy with you! We need to talk!” 
	Ryoko nearly snickered as she watched the small girl tell her twin
brother off, but her next comment made her choke instead.
	“Just because Sei-chan killed me instead of you is no reason to lose
your true nature hating him! Really, you can’t blame him for being the
way he is, it *is* what he is. You really need to understand that,
Subaru-chan. Anyway, I went of my own accord. It was my fault he found
you again really, and I thought that you two would be happy together...”
Her voice had softened as she had spoken, and she seemed to have tears
in her eyes.
	The tender moment was shattered as Washu leapt up and shouted. “Ah-ha!
Now I understand what’s going on! It’s not time or dimensions, it’s
what’s IN BETWEEN!”
	Everyone stared at her, blinking.

	“Eagle. Eagle. Wake up.”
	Eagle Vision slowly opened his eyes and sat up, trying desperately to
shake the confusion out of his mind. His vision was blurred, and he
could barley make out anything around him. “Hikaru? Is that you? Where
are you?”
	“Hang on Eagle. Your eyes’ll adjust in a minute, it’s just too dark in
here.”
	Eagle waited and wondered faintly where ‘here’ was. Slowly things did
come into focus, and he realized he was sitting in Rayearth’s huge palm
with Lantis bending over him. He tired to stand, but Lantis restrained
him.
	“Oh no you don’t. What ever hit us, hasn’t gone away. We both have to
stay down until Hikaru gets us to someplace safe.”
	“Where in the world are we?” asked Eagle, his voice shaky. “I... I
can’t see anything.”
	“Rayearth says that we’re someplace in between time and space. A kind
of.... rift in reality.” Hikaru said as she walked slowly forward. “It
has to be dangerous. Lantis, do you have your sword with you? And Eagle,
do you have your weapon?” When both men had responded affirmatively she
paused and turned around. “This place just doesn’t end. How are we gonna
get out of here?”
	‘You’re not.’
	“What was that!?” Hikaru demanded, whirling around. Rayearth’s sword
rose and Hikaru forced herself to calm down. “Did one of you say that?”
	“Say what?” asked Lantis, looking around suspiciously.
	“That we weren’t getting out? I heard it!” Rayearth turned around,
looking for the speaker.
	‘Over here.... over here.’ This time is echoed around them, making
Hikaru angrier than ever.
	“Stop taunting me! Come out here!”
	If she could have taken back one thing she ever said, that would be the
one. She was suddenly horribly aware of her sorroundings. It was a
barren landscape, nothing even dead looking on it. And all around them a
mass of  darkness, pinpointed by thousands of red eyes. Rayearth backed
down and raised it’s sword menacingly.
	“Uh-oh.” muttered Hikaru. That was *not* what the two men had wanted to
hear.

	“Umi! Umi! Over here!” Umi Ryuuzaki turned and waved to Fuu Hououji.
She ran over and glanced out the window of the huge Tokyo Tower. “Umi,
have you seen Hikaru? Her brothers are really worried about her.”
	“Hikaru?But I thought she was going to meet us here.”
	“Well,” Fuu touched her finger to her cheek as she thought. “One of her
brothers said that she’d had a bad dream last night and had gone to the
Tower early this morning. But when I looked for her, she was nowhere to
be seen. I’m really worried.”
	Umi scratched her head and then smiled. “Oh, I bet she went off to be
with Lantis! Let’s go after her! Come on Fuu! You can see Ferio again!”
Umi giggled as Fuu blushed and looked down at the ring on her finger.
She nodded and the two girls linked hands and concentrated. When Umi
looked up again, she was not where she had hoped to be. “Ahhhh! We’re
not there! What happened!? Where are we!?”
	Fuu looked around at the darkness and shrugged. “Maybe we’re in a dark
room?”
	She swiftly rethought that comment as two huge creatures appeared
looming over them. A blue dragon and a green phonix. Both girls gasped
and laughed happily.
	“Ceres!” cried Umi, running over to her ‘Machine God’.
	“Oh, Windam! What are you doing here?” The huge phonix changed into its
huminoid form and knelt bofore her. She glowed and appeared in her
fourth level armor and so did Umi.
	“My Knight, our companion, Rayearth, is in danger, but we can not find
where Hikaru and the others have gone. Come, my Knight, we must find
them quickly.”
	“Ceres, is that true?! What happened!”
	The dragon shifted and bowed as well. “Yes. The one who was once the
Hashiru came back to help the land that was once Cephiro. Something even
we could not identify was tearing appart the world and she arrived to
help. But before she could do anything other than set up a stronger
barrier she was sucked out of the world along with Eagle Vision of
Autozam and Lord Lantis. We can’t find them anywhere.”
	Umi looked over at Fuu and nodded. “Let’s go!” And both girls leapt up
to their mechas and were gone.

	Washu was sure she was going to be roasted. Well, either that or diced
up and surved with ramen noodles. No one was listening to her at all.
Not only was her lab a complete shambles, but no one was going to help
her fix it. She sighed and watched as Tenchi passed out the tea to his
guests. No one seemed partial to annoying either Kamui of Fuma. They
were pretty much left to themselves. Subaru was being cornored by his
ecentric sister and forced to listen as she contunied to lecture him on
everything she could think of while shoving crakers at him. Sasami was
totally taken with the oldest of them, the one she couldn’t stand.
Seishirou seemed not to mind the little girl or the cabbit that hung
around her, but Washu just didn’t trust him one bit. Not after what
Hokuto had said. No one was intrested in the fact that she had done
something that could be not only dangrous for all of them, but each of
their worlds. Not like she was going to tell them everything, that would
just lead to a lynching. But, diminosial vampires on the lose made it
particularly hard for her to realx.
	“Miss Washu?” 
	She leapt up a foot into the air as Tenchi spoke right next to her.
“Tenchi! Don’t do that to me!” She panted for several minutes as he
waited. “What?”
	“I just asked if you wanted some tea. If you do, I’ll have to go get
somemore.” She nodded and he started to stand. Suddenly a tray with
several more steaming glasses was handed to him.
	“There,” said a sweet voice, “now you don’t need to get up.”
	Everyone turned around to face a beautiful girl with long golden hair
and wide innocent eyes. She was in a white dress and house slippers. She
smiled and looked at Tenchi.
	“Kotori!” Kamui’s voice was torn and ragged as he surged to his feet.
She turned and saw him with Fuma. She gasped and then went flying into
his arms. “Kotori!”
	“Kamui-chan! I’m so happy to see  you again! What happened? The last
thing I remember is being in the kitchen making tea for Father and Fuma.
I didn’t know what to do when I found myself in someone eles’s home. I’m
glad you’re here!” She turned and hugged her brother who’s face was
paler than Kamui’s. He hugged her back and then glared over at Washu who
seemed to shrink even further into her seat.
	“Ummm, there was an accident, that’s all.” he mumbled.
	Kotori looked up at her brother and then suddenly her eyes shifted
behind him. They widened and she screamed, backing up and hiding against
Kamui’s chest. Everyone turned and stared at the dark shapes that were
staring in the windows, glowing red eyes lighting up the darkness
outside.
	“No.” Everyone turned to Washu as she stood and bowed her head as if in
shame. “They’ve really escaped.” She was dead serious now, her tiny form
began to shake slightly. She looked up and shook her head. “I tired to
tell you. It’s too late now, they’re out.”
	“Washu,” said Ayeka, leaning forward but keeping an eye on the
creatures outside. “what ever do you mean?”
	“Princess Ayeka, those are the Vacuus, beings that exist only to
destroy. They are like energy vampires, feeding on anything that is. Not
just energy  or life, but reality. I had forgotten that they had been
locked within the only place able of holding them,  thier place of
origin, the Rift that lies at the nexus of time and space. It is what
they wish to turn the rest of all the infinat universes into.
Nothingness. They tear reality apart and feed on it, mulitplying faster
than anyone can imagin.  This is what ruined my experiment and drew all
of you into this dimension. No doubt they plan on spreading from reality
to reality, destroying as they go. They must all ready  be in your
Tokyo, and many others as well.” She stared at the creatures and
shuddered. “I’ve never heard of anyone fighting a Vacuus and winning. I
only hope that the power of the House of Jurai can destroy their bodies.
You have to stop them before they spread over everything!” She started
to go on, but stopped with a gasp as Kamui handed Kotori over to Fuma
and walked slowly to the sliding door. He opened it, shut the door, and
faced the hord of silent creatures. “What dose he think he’s doing?!
Stop him!”
	“No, let him be.” snapped Subaru. “He is Kamui.”
	‘Oh like that explains a lot!’ snapped back Washu mentaly. She started
to tell Tenchi to use his Master Key and help him when the boy began to
glow.
	Kamui’s eyes lit up as a strange force swept up around him like a great
wind. He stood silent for another moment, then suddenly moved.  He
raised his hands above his head and a point of light appeared and grew.
He lowered it to eye level and then threw it at the mass of creatures.
It exploded anoung them and sent them screaming. More than half were
disentragted right then. He looked calmly up as a group leapt to attack
him. He raised a hand and a blast of energy ended their existance. The
rest turned and vanished into the night.
	No one in the house said anything. He powered down and came back in,
took his seat, and drank his tea again.
	“Wow!” was all even Mihoshi could say. The only ones not impressed were
the other three from his time. But Kotori stared at him with fear and
puzzelment in his eyes.
	“Fuma-san,” she pulled on his sleeve until he looked down at her. “Is
that... is that really Kamui?”
	He didn’t answer, but put his arm aound her shoulders and held her
tightly.

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End of Chapter 3
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