Ryoke looked at her teammates and sighed. "Get ready for a really long explanation guys..." The members of the group looked nervously at each other and sat down. It was still night, the moon hanging high above them. Lost Magi looked around, wiggled his nose and conjured a nice pot of coffee. Then he wiggled his fingers and conjured mugs (with cute little purple cabbit designs) and a roaring fire.

While everyone was taking a cup, Ryoke sat down. A faraway look entered her eyes, her voice was soft and low as she began....

"I lived in an alternate dimension, my parents, believe it or not, were the Tenchi and Ryoko of that dimension. That's why I look so much like Ryoko. My life was perfect, Literary Pluto and I were going to Senshi School together, all the kingdoms, including the AFC, were in harmony. The Senshi School is the place where all people go for various training in the anime arts. My friends and I all went and we were happy. Life was perfect."

Ryoke paused to close her eyes to remember, a small smile creeping onto her face. She opened her eyes and looked towards the fire, suddenly sad.

"But nothing lasts forever. Even the light casts its own shadow and soon, my world became infected," she shuddered," with a horrible sickness. The lemon sickness. My parents tried to fight it, Aeka, Sasami, everyone, but we were overtaken. The kingdoms fell, one by one as people became infected with it. Our dimension was nothing more than a wasteland. It was a rotten yellow, the stench of putrid lemons everywhere. The AFC, the RFFC, everything was destroyed. The lemon sickness doesn't just infect people, it infects the land, the pokemon, the cabbits, everything. It makes it twisted and surreal, no longer as it was. And soon, Arrowyn came."

Ryoke shuddered at the name. A cold breeze blew through the group and Lost Magi held his robes a little closer. The name seemed to send a chill down everyone's spine. Crikit urged Ryoke to continue.

"Well, Arrowyn was the one who infected our dimension, he gave us this sickness. It infected everyone. Even I have it, though it's dormant."

Everyone nervously backed away from the spiky haired girl. But Kale sat closer and gave Ryoke a small hug. She smiled.

"He came looking for the best fighters, the strongest and most powerful warriors. He wanted to either kidnap them and make them his henchmen, or destroy them so they wouldn't oppose him. I was with Lita Pluto at the time, trying to defend the Sailor School as best as we could. I...I don't know what happened to my parents. The last I remember was Lita Pluto opening a time/space portal and jumping in, yelling at me to follow her. But I couldn't, the next thing I know, Radhaz is staring at me through a tube of green glass. I didn't know where any of my friends were. My parents, Aeka, I didn't know if any of them were left.

"I was his experiment. I was to be trained even further in the extent of my powers. But I refused the darkness he promised me. OddRyoga was another warrior, taken from this dimension. He hated me, I accepted and became what he couldn't. He always had a grudge against me. Any test he failed, I aced.

But I hated it there. And the longer I stayed, the more the sickness festered inside of me.

"I fled. Wandering everywhere, looking for a familiar face, hoping others made it out alive. I came upon the E-lemon-ators. I saw whom you call Literary Eagle, but it was not my dimension's Lita. I joined the AFC and all the kingdoms I could here, trying to gain supporters. And now, here I am, trying to stop this world from suffering the same fate as my own."

Ryoke finished and looked to the others in silence. Suddenly Crikit whispered something to PA and they both stood up, circling Ryoke.

"Uh...guys, what are you doing?" Ryoke asked nervously.

"If vat you say is trru, then the hole verld is in danger. Ve have Vays of making you talk," Crikit said as she attached a "BAD COP" pin to her shirt.

"Yeah, if you're right, then we're all f%&&$#ing screwed," said PA, fumbling with his "GOOD COP" pin.

"Oh no...." Ryoke muttered.

**************

Meanwhile....

A tall, lean, muscular man holding a white rose walked silently under the silver light of the moon. He spotted from far away a group of travelers.

He noticed a shock of spiky cyan hair. He smiled and walked towards them.

*************

"Favorite candy?" shot Crikit.

"Lemonheads."

"Favorite soda?" asked PA.

"Anything with lemon-lime."

"Favorite movie?"

"American Pie."

Things were getting weird now. Crikit and PA were nervous at all of Ryoke's lemon related answers. This girl, who had been their friend, whom they trusted, could she really be working for evil? For the sake of their kingdom they had to find out. AcidTenchi sat there, watching with the others as the events unfolded before him. Finally, AcidTenchi asked her the biggest question of all.

"Favorite pie?" he asked.

"Lemon cream," Ryoke said quietly.

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Crikit nearly fainted, PA was cursing up to high heaven, and BGlanders was praying to whatever God could hear him.

"WHY?! IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, PURE AND NOT SHIN TENCHI, WHY??!!" ^^;;;

"Wait! Wait!!! It's a disease!! I can't help it!!!!" Ryoke yelled, looking for some kind of consolation.

Kale and Lost Magi broke the commotion with a loud paf from Lost Magi's fingertips. "Look everyone, she said the disease is dormant, and if she wanted to turn us over to the bad guys, she would have," Kale said. Everyone took their seats and muttered to themselves guiltily.

"Sorry Ryoke," Crikit said, "But you know with all this "Master" crap, we can get a little....edgy."

"Understandable," Ryoke replied, giving her a small smile.

Suddenly a sharp clapping noise pervaded the awkward silence. From the shadows appeared a tall man with soft brown hair and hazel eyes. He was holding a white rose between his fingers as he stepped into the light.

"Well done Ryoke," he said in a slow, hypnotic voice.

"Ayashi?!!!!" Ryoke replied.

"The one and only."

"AYASHIIIIIII!!!!" Ryoke cried as she flung herself onto the Shojou manga cut-out, a la Misaki/Mihoshi. Ayashi sweatdropped but gave the spiky haired girl a hug in return.

"Where have you been all this time? I thought you were in the north tower with all the magical girls!"

"I was, but then I got ran to see you guys. Lita Pluto came in and asked me to jump into this portal thing."

"Lita P?!" Ryoke squealed, "Is she alright?!"

"I don't know, after I got out, I landed here. I just saw you guys here right now," Ayashi_No paused, "How long was I out?"

"Oh...only about the last twenty bios or so."

"Achem," Crikit cleared her throat, "We're in this bio too you know?!"

Ryoke sweatdropped. "Of course." She introduced Ayashi_No and explained the whole situation to him. Afterwards he sat quietly, deep in thought.

"Can I join this AFC? Might as well rebuild what we've lost."

Ryoke nodded, "You're right. But where will you go now?"

"Well, does the RFFC exist?"

"Yup, but it's a long way off."

"Well, then I'll meet you there when you're done with where you're going."

With that, Ayashi_No, new member of the AFC, hugged Ryoke, said good bye to the crew, and walked away into the rising dawn, towards the RFFC.

*************

"You realize we still need to get to the AAK," Crikit pointed out.

"Well, it's been twenty-four hours, I guess I could try my teleportation spell again."

Everyone huddled together next to Ryoke. She closed her eyes and lifted her hands into the air. Teleporting everyone would be hard task, especially with so much conflicting energy. Blue light formed at her fingertips as she muttered the chant under her breath. Power began to gather in the air around them. Crikit noticed a blue green tinge in her eyes and a golden glow was gathering at the ends of her hair. And just when the blue light was at it's zenith, Lost Magi muttered under his breath, "I wonder how strong she really is." In a flash of light they were gone.