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Jason felt his eyes widen at the revelation. An alien? On Earth? This early in history? As far as he knew, Earth was alone in the universe. Sure the Doctor said he was an alien, and Jason did believe him, but this just made it...real. Besides, the Doctor at least looked human, so it had been easy to treat him as such.

"You mean an alien like you?"

"Of course not," the Doctor shot him an offended look. "I'm not a parasite."

"What then?"

"Not sure."

Jason scoffed. "Helpful."

"Oi," the Doctor defended, "I'll have you know there are at least a dozen different species that this could be! To figure out exactly what it is," a smile crept over his face, "we'll have to find one."

The assassin could only blink in surprise. "So you want to go out there, run around, and try to find a creature that wants to suck our bodies dry of energy when we have no idea what it looks like?"

The Doctor considered that for a moment. "Basically." That stupid smile never left his face.

Jason suppressed a sigh, shooting a dangerous glare at him. "Do you enjoy living like this?"

The Doctor shrugged. "What's not to love? Lots of running. Keeps you healthy." The American rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when a noise from behind him distracted them both.

"Where is this?" Kenshin had apparently woken up, because he sat up and looked around at the large room, his face paling slightly again.

"Um, it's..." the Doctor started, "a little complicated."

"We're inside his space ship," Jason spoke up, his voice dry.

Kenshin blinked at them, took another quick look around, then turned back to them. "What is a space ship?"

Jason stared at him like he'd sprouted wings and horns. How could someone not know what a spaceship was? Had they gone that far back in time? Hadn't most first world countries gone through major ideal awakening in the late 1800's?  He'd thought it would just be that simple.

"It's...a ship that sails through the stars," the Doctor finally spoke up.

Kenshin's eyes widened. "The stars? How is that possible?"

"Look," Jason said before the Doctor could say anything, "one of us will explain the details later. Right now, we need to find an alien."

"Not helping," the Doctor muttered. He then turned and spoke to the red-head. "We found you on the road, passed out. Do you remember what happened before that?"

Concentration crossed the boy's features as he tried to remember. "I...found something."

"What?"

"In the ground. It looked like an egg, but it was soft."

"What?" The Doctor's voice had turned serious again.

"That's all I can remember," Kenshin said with a scowl.

The Doctor held up his hand. "Small and white, about this big?" he asked, nodding to the two or three inches of space between his forefinger and thumb.

"Yes," the kid nodded. "What's wrong?" Apparently, Jason wasn't the only one who saw the color drain from the Doctor's face.

"The situation just got worse."

"How?" Kenshin asked. At the same time Jason said, "Why?"

"It's a Demmelfca," he said. "A parasite that can travel through space. It lands on planets, reproduces and buries its young, which then feed off of the life on the planet while the parent moves on. The larvae ravage the land then move on themselves when the food source runs out."

Jason spoke up. "Let me guess; the food source is 'life force'."  He couldn't believe he just said that seriously.

"Life force?" Kenshin asked, looking thoroughly confused.

The Doctor turned around and squatted in front of the console, reaching up and into something on the bottom. When he pulled his hand out, he held four, white, smooth gems that seemed to glow. On the flat bottom, a circuit had been placed.

"Here," the alien tossed one to each of the humans. "These will protect you from them."

"These?" Jason raise a skeptical eyebrow.

"What are they?" Kenshin asked, studying his closely.

"They're telepathic gems with dampening circuits."

"Huh?" the swordsman looked up, more puzzled than ever.

"The thing you touched feeds through a link to your mind. Well, your soul really. This will protect you from it. Place it somewhere on your skin, and it will stay there until you want it released."

The Doctor put it on the back of his hand and held it up for them to see, wiggling his fingers. "See?"

Jason raised an eyebrow and reluctantly decided to place his on his person, just below the collarbone. Kenshin continued to look at it skeptically for several seconds before he placed his on the back of his neck.

"Right! Do not take those off, and don't touch them! The eggs, I mean. That's how they make contact, through touch. As long as you don't touch any directly, you'll be fine. And you," he pointed at Kenshin, "if you take it off, that thing will start to feed off of you again. Got it?"

Kenshin's eyes widened. "It is still 'feeding' off of me?"

The Doctor began to rush around again, grabbing the vegetable and sticking it in his coat pocket with one hand while the other hit a few more buttons. "Was. Right now, the TARDIS is protecting you." Looking down, he seemed to contemplate for a moment. "Now where did I put that? Oh yes!" He rushed over to a seemingly random part of the mesh floor, dropped down and removed said flooring. He then stuck his hand down inside and pulled out a large, old-fashioned looking remote control.

"What's that?" Jason asked.

"This..." he paused, "is a way for me to link back to the ship," he said absently as he checked it over. A few seconds later, apparently satisfied, he got up again and ran out of the room. "Don't touch anything!" he said before he disappeared deeper into the ship.

Behind Jason, Kenshin cleared his throat. "Could you please explain now?" he asked.

Jason scratched his head. He really had no reason not to. "Um, you know the Earth is round, right?"

Kenshin deadpanned. "I am familiar with the concept."

"Good." That made the explanation much easier. "So, what if I said there were other planets out there? Like ours, but more advanced. They can travel through the stars."

"The planets?"

"No, the people on the planets."

The red-head cocked his head, trying to wrap his mind around the new concept. "Like ships sail through the sea?"

Jason paused for a moment, comparing the analogy. "Something like that," he said finally. "Well, this guy is from one of those planets."

"Why would he visit Earth?"

The former assassin shrugged. "Beats me."

"Oi, I have my reasons," both men turned to see the Doctor coming through the door, and tossed each of them a small bundle.

"What's this?" Jason asked.

"Gloves," the Doctor said. "They have to make skin contact to establish the feeding link."

Kenshin shook his head as he forced himself unsteadily to his feet. "I still do not understand. How can something feed off of one's life?"

The Doctor still seemed to be rushing around, although Jason had no idea what he was doing. "Living requires energy. These feed off of that energy."

"How?"

The alien finished with a flamboyant slap to a particularly large button and turned around to face them. "You know, you're as bad with questions as he is," he nodded to Jason, who didn't react. Then he turned and ran to the door, taking out the device he'd said would link him back to the ship. "All right, boys, let's go!"

xXx

Kenshin had seen his share of strangeness in his life. After his time and involvement in the war, for his young age, he had definitely witnessed the practically unexplainable.

This topped the list. Easily. And he wondered exactly how the situation had come into being so quickly. Somehow, he'd been quite literally swept up and now traveled with another man from across seas, who at least somewhat shared his sentiment, and another who apparently wasn't even human. He didn't look strange, although now that he thought about it, there had always been something off about this man. His ki felt...different, in a way he couldn't describe. So honestly, Kenshin could believe this man was not born on this planet (although he still found the whole idea difficult to swallow). That could also explain how he'd thought the man was older than he looked. Perhaps on other planets, people lived for centuries.

He followed the Jason (now in dark, tight clothing that made Kenshin uncomfortable just by looking) who in turn followed the Doctor. The alien had left his long coat behind, and now only wore the brown suit similar to those that the Westerners favored.

That's when he noticed where they'd exited. It was the exact place the small, blue box had been earlier. Turning around, Kenshin couldn't help his mouth dropping in astonishment.

"This is the work of youkai!" he gasped. The inside of the box, which he could now clearly see, was somehow bigger than the outside. It made no logical sense!

"Nope," the Doctor responded as he shut the doors and locked them, "It's not magic. Not really. It's just..." he paused, noticing Kenshin's frankly astonished look. "My...magic. This way!" With that, he grinned broadly and then started off towards the fields. Kenshin decided he'd think on it later. He didn't know if his over-taxed mind could handle it at the moment.

The three men hurried over the fields, with the Doctor in the lead.  He turned slightly north, away from the roads, and angling towards the opposite end of the fields, closer to the forest. Kenshin wondered briefly why they had decided to forgo looking into the small, egg-like creatures, and he also wondered how the man seemed to know his destination as his eyes stayed locked on the little box-like thing he'd said would hook himself up to the impossible box. Yet another thing that made no sense to him, just like seemingly everything else about this man.

As they continued to walk, coming to the edge of the forest and never slowing down, Kenshin came to two realizations. First, they made for strange allies. Second, he'd begun to trust them. Saving someone's life tended to render that kind of bond, but it was more than that. These two men had not lied to him once. Even the man who claimed to be a former assassin. They'd both withheld information (not that Kenshin could really blame them, as he would do the same in their shoes), but they had not lied.

"Doctor," Jason spoke up, drawing Kenshin's glance. "Are these things we're going after intelligent?"

"Don't know," the alien shrugged and smiled again. "We'll find out."

"That's why we're passing the fields. You're heading after the parent."

The Doctor shot another impressed glance at the assassin. "You're assuming the stronger signal is the parent."

"It is, isn't it?" The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, his grin widened, showing more than a little mischief and a touch of insanity to boot. It didn't seem to reassure Jason, and the former hitokiri found he agreed with the sentiment.

Kenshin still found following their conversations somewhat difficult. Even though they spoke Japanese well, it still seemed like they were really speaking in a completely different language. He'd only vaguely heard of half the terms they threw around and discussed, as if they used them on a regular basis.

Honestly, for the first time since he'd left his Master's place, Kenshin felt outclassed. The alien possessed knowledge and experience that he suspected put his brief (albeit harsh) experience to shame, while the other had lived a life much like his, but for longer and with more up-to-date knowledge on technology. All Kenshin had at his disposal was Hiten Mitsurugi. The style wasn't anything to scoff at, but it still felt somewhat inadequate. Of course, he also had not seen the men fight. Perhaps he'd reserve judgment.

The Doctor traipsed, uncaring and loud through the underbrush, while the two humans ghosted along behind him, intent on the area around them and keeping their senses open for danger. The ground began to slant up more steeply as they approached the mountains.

Kenshin felt the strange ki long before the Doctor stopped them with a hand signal. It made the human-like alien's ki seem normal. Again, Kenshin tried to place the feeling, but the only word that his mind would supply was "different".

"Right," the Doctor said, shoving the device into his pockets (Kenshin vaguely wondered how he could do so when the pocket didn't seem large enough). "It's just ahead," he fixed them with a serious look. "Now, by the time they become adults, their appearance changes somewhat, but you can't stare at it or it will get offended.

"Look around. If you can see anyone else, help them while I talk to it."

"What will you discuss?" Kenshin asked calmly.

The Doctor gave him a scrutinizing look. "It's only doing what it was born to do," he responded. "If it's intelligent at all, I have to give it a chance."

"And if it doesn't want to take your chance?" Jason asked, his tone dry and sarcastic.

The Doctor didn't answer, meeting his eyes for just a moment before pulling out his own pair of gloves and slipping them on.

"Alright," he said, fixing them both with one last look. "Alons-y!"

Immediately, he turned around, hurrying through the trees and bamboo shoots again. Kenshin and Jason quickly caught up, although Kenshin noticed his fellow human seemed to be having a slightly more difficult time. Perhaps American and English forests weren't like these? The thought had never really crossed his mind.

They slowed as a large ridge stretched up a good 20 feet before them. Almost directly ahead, a large cave opened ominously. Without so much as a hesitation, the Doctor climbed inside. Kenshin exchanged a wary glance with Jason before they both followed.

xXx

Jason didn't know quite what to expect when they walked in the cave. He'd figured it would be something that he'd see on Star Trek or Twilight Zone or something like that. Instead, he got an eye-full of psychedelic 70's. The actual shape the Doctor had described for what he assumed were the young didn't change too much, although it got lumpier. And disturbingly, it pulsated.

Strange colors seemed to have dyed the skin, snaking out like splashes that mixed and melded in a few places like ink tossed on a canvas, but unmoving like a tattoo. Red, purple and blue throbbed through the top-most, transparent layer of skin, coloring over the dull yellowish gray flesh below.

He noticed its large tentacles moving around lethargically, and it even seemed to glow slightly, (seriously, it looked like it had been yanked right out of a bad trip). It also didn't look quite like a what he thought a giant squid would, as the tentacles varied in size and tapered off at the end to a sharp point. They reminded him more of tree branches swaying in the wind than actual appendages. The varying iridescence cast the dark cave into a dim, spinning light that reminded Jason of a lava lamp.

The really strange thing about the whole scene, was that the thing wasn't nestled in a corner, nor did it look to be the center of a web with the tentacles spread out. No, the large mass of flesh easily the size of a car actually floated lazily around the small cave.  He had no idea how the heck something that large could freaking fly. Some of the floating appendages had wrapped themselves around various objects, and it took a few seconds before Jason realized they were people. Even from here, he could see many had turned into dried-out husks, now resembling the vegetable thing they'd extracted from the ground earlier.

A little worried, Jason glanced over at Kenshin to see how the kid was taking it. Not very well, he concluded. He'd stopped, eyes wide in utter disbelief as he tried to take in the impossible scene. He also looked a little sick. Whether that was from the sickening motion of the pulsing light or just the scene in general working on him was anybody's guess.

"Hey," he whispered to the kid, who turned his dark eyes up to Jason. "You gonna be okay?"

For a moment, the former hitokiri said nothing. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, nodded and walked past Jason, stopping behind the Doctor, who had paused on some fairly level ground a few feet inside the cave entrance.

With a glance back at the other two, the alien reached down and removed the white gem from the back of his hand. Jason and Kenshin eyed him warily, but said nothing. Then he turned and tossed the gem to Jason.

"Stay out of it's way," he nodded into the cave. "If you find anyone, put that on them. I have another one, remember?" Jason wanted to ask if he'd suddenly lost it. Of course there was no way he was going to approach that thing. Kenshin, on the other hand, simply nodded and began edging his way around the thing, keeping close to the large rocks that littered the ground and made a partial wall. Watching the kid simply follow orders like that struck a little too close to home, and he made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

Right now, though, he figured he should probably try going the opposite direction.

"Oh, that's not good," the Doctor's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"He's never heard of the Shadow Proclamation."

"The what?"

The Doctor shot him a look that said 'I'll tell you later'. "Well," he said aloud to the thing. Jason had the distinct feeling he was speaking up specifically for their benefit. "It essentially means, 'I come in peace, let's talk'!"

He paused for a moment, apparently listening through telepathy, Jason realized. Had he really taken off the protection just to talk to the thing? Such a dangerous move would never have crossed his mind, and even now he couldn't help but marvel at the stupidity of it. You weren't supposed to open yourself up to the enemy like that!

"That's why we're here," he said.

Another pause.

"I'm here to help," he said finally. Jason found himself a little more on edge when he heard the slightly desperate tone in his voice. "I can take you and your young to a planet with no sentient life where you can raise them..."

He faded off. After a moment, his face took on a slightly sickened look.

"But you can live off of...other types..."

The Doctor stopped again, 'listening' to the thing. Jason had reached a corner of the cave, and did not like what he saw. Apparently the thing liked to deposit its victims in this corner. He recognized the clothing on the bodies belonging to what he'd been able to observe of the culture. They'd come too late. An indifferent mask slid over his face as he began to shift through them. Normally as an assassin, he wasn't the one who had to 'clean up' after his missions. That's what he left to the cops and politicians. That's also what it felt like he was doing, for some reason.

He hated it.

"I could take you there in minutes! They won't die!" The Doctor insisted. Jason didn't respond, just looking for a sign of unwrinkled flesh...of life.

"No you—Kenshin!" The Doctor's voice had him spinning around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. He could barely see the kid over in the corner, and he didn't look too bad. The red-head stared defiantly back at the doctor, his hands on something.

"I will not let him die," Kenshin said softly, although Jason could hear him clearly.

"You really shouldn't have done that!" The Doctor said.

"I'll be fine," the teenager insisted.

And right about then is when everything hit the fan.

xXx

Kenshin wished he could hear how successful the Doctor's arguments were, but without 'hearing' the other side, he could only take what the human-like alien said.

He didn't sound too successful.

The former hitokiri continued his stealthy glide around the cave, over crumbling boulders and through the dust, dirt and leaves littered throughout the smaller rubble on the floor. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and froze, looking over to find one of the Thing's appendages (he really couldn't call them arms) had drifted towards him...and what's more, it held something in it.

The bloated tentacle had wrapped its rough, uneven skin around someone. Kenshin felt his eyes harden. It had just sucked the life right out of him.  It was a boy, Kenshin surmised from the build. Couldn't have been more then 13 or 14...

Wait... Kenshin's eyes went wide. He'd felt ki from the form... The boy was still alive. He took several quick steps that put him close to the slow tentacle easily as thick around as his waist. As soon as he'd come up to the yellowish-gray flesh, he put a hand on the boy's mouth. Yes! He could feel a breath! But only barely.

It only took moments for the swordsman to surmise the situation. Who knew how long the kid had been wrapped up and touching the thing? It needed direct contact to start feeding, but what happened if it continued to touch someone? Kenshin had had serious problems after only 15 minutes or so, although he suspected a lot of that had to do with how it worked on his mind.  He figured he'd only been out maybe three and a half hours judging from the position of the sun when they'd exited the impossible box.

The boy was dying.

So Kenshin did the only thing he could think of. Reaching in back of his neck, he grabbed the gem/jewel thing that somehow had stuck there, and it came off immediately. He glanced over at the doctor one more time, and then stuck the gem on the boy's neck.

"Kenshin!" The Doctor yelled his name. Somehow, the red-head felt whatever 'link' he had with the little egg immediately. Now that he concentrated on it, the influence it had over him, even from this distance, surprised him. It was subtle, but there nonetheless, and it did seem to be draining his energy.

Nothing he couldn't handle, now that he was aware of it. At least for a while. With determined eyes, he fixed his stare on the Doctor, flaring his ki dangerously.

"I'm not going to let him die."

The man ran a hand through his hair. "You really shouldn't have done that!"

"I'll be fine," the former hitokiri insisted.

He saw it coming, but even with his reflexes he couldn't dodge it. The formerly lethargic, slow tentacles suddenly shot out at a much greater speed, wrapping themselves around his upper body and neck. Kenshin's eyes suddenly went wide.

You taste good. Instinctively, Kenshin knew it was the Thing talking...directly into his head? The thought process he quite literally felt from the thing was surprisingly simple.

No! Don't! That was strange...he heard the Doctor, but it felt more like an echo...like someone had yelled from a great distance. Still, the intensity of the man's words weren't lost.

"Let him go!" This time he knew he'd actually heard the Doctor.

Then the feeling of his energy draining away came back, but so much stronger and more sudden it took Kenshin's breath away. His hands had already grasped the tentacle in a vain effort to get it to let go. The rough-looking skin felt rubbery beneath his gloved fingers.

They worked hard on you. They weren't words per se, but Kenshin understood the basic concept none the less. He didn't quite realize what the thing meant until the flashbacks started. He saw his memories surround him, each as realistic as when he'd lived through them. His parents, smiling as they worked on their fields, making sure to keep him out of sight of others passing by. The women who protected him from the marauders falling before his eyes, begging him to live. Hiko Sejiro thrusting a sword into his hand, spending hour after hour on training him to wield the weapon.

So small, but so tasty... The army doing everything they could to keep him a secret, even as he sharpened and honed his skill as a hitokiri. The blood never really did seem to come off of his skin even now...and then the really painful memories started.

"NO!" he yelled, screamed really, rejecting the utterly drenching pain as she flashed before his eyes. He couldn't face this...not so soon after. Only two years, and he hadn't been able to visit her grave once. He didn't feel worthy. He never would. She'd done so many things for him...she'd changed him...

They stopped almost as quickly as they had come, and he sat there, breathing hard. The Thing still had its tentacle wrapped firmly around him, but he couldn't hear it any longer.

"Kenshin?" he heard the fairly strained voice of the Doctor and forced himself to look up. He stood there, looking at him worriedly with his hand on Kenshin's now exposed arm where the loose sleeve had fallen down when he'd tried to loosen the thing's grip. The white stone in between the dark-haired man's fingers pressed firmly to Kenshin's skin.

"That's...yours," the hitokiri said tiredly.

"Are you alright?"

So...tasty... The voice came faintly to his mind.

"It's...still there," he said slowly, gasping for breath. "The stronger...one. I can still...hear it."

The Doctor didn't look too happy, but he nodded. "It's stronger than the dampening gem."

You different...but so delicious... That's when Kenshin realized it. The thing had turned its attention away from him. The tentacle had loosened enough he could even slip out with a little struggling. Why had it? Then he realized where its energy had turned to instead...

"You touched it," Kenshin, his voice accusing.

The Doctor didn't answer.

"He what?!" Jason asked, coming to stand beside them.

"I'm fine," The Doctor insisted, but his face had gone pale. Determined, Kenshin finally slipped free of the appendage, surprised that he could remain standing upright.

"Sunofa..." Jason muttered, fading off before he finished, and fished inside a pouch at his hip. Seconds later, he had the fourth gem in his hand and had stuck it onto the Doctor's hand.

The man sighed in relief.

Why!? Almost not feel you! Suddenly more tentacles shot towards them, almost faster than Kenshin could watch...but not faster than he could draw a sword.

Slash. He'd turned the blade to the reverse side, cutting through at least three of the appendages like they were made of butter. The thing recoiled, and vaguely, Kenshin heard it scream in his mind in pain.

Both Jason (who had some strange, metal tube in his hand pointed at the thing) and the Doctor couldn't help but stare in amazement. Out of habit, the swordsman slid his sakabatō back into the scabbard after flicking off the substances the thing had left on his precious sword.

I kill you! Even more tentacles came at them. Jason came out of his stupor first. Loud bangs that hurt Kenshin's ears came from the metal tube. Was that a gun? He'd never seen one shaped quite like that before...

"Get out! Now!" he vaguely heard the Doctor say, and nodded in acknowledgment. Somehow, they ducked all of the now incredibly fast tentacles and made it out of the cave. It seemed to be somewhat cautious concerning them now, although the anger was slowly pushing that caution to the side.

Once outside, Kenshin realized that Jason had grabbed the boy, now carrying him as he rushed along ahead of them. After a few seconds, Jason seemed to realize they weren't keeping up with him, and turned to urge them on. He never got the chance. Instead, his eyes flew wide.

"DUCK!" he yelled. Kenshin's battle reflexes kicked in, and he did as he was told, dropping to the ground as something rushed by overhead. The thing had flown at them, taking out several of the trees and bamboo shoots, raining them heavily down around the group.

I kill you! I kill you! I kill you! I eat you now!

He felt the words in his head, along with the anger and frustration that came along with it, and for just a moment, he wasn't in the Meiji era, but in the Bakumatsu, on protection detail. A touch of depression made it's way in through the mask he used to clamp down on his feelings. So this is what his teacher had meant when he'd told Kenshin that he'd never be able to escape it. Would he be drawn back every time a remotely dangerous situation arose?

Standing up, he shoved those thoughts aside to contemplate on later, ignoring the drain on his energy reserves. He only had a handful of techniques he could use against an opponent like this. Most of his battoujutsu required him to be standing on solid ground. With the way this thing was flying at him, he doubted he'd live through using those techniques against that...thing. He'd never had to go up against something with that kind of mass and speed before.

So he had to get higher...than a flying youkai-like thing. Right. He'd have one shot at this, if he was lucky.

Expertly, he dodge-rolled as the thing came diving at them again. It was worse than a volley of cannon balls! Fortunately, that kind of speed required a great deal of control to stop, pause or turn. As such, they should have a few seconds in between each attack. Glancing around, he saw Jason taking shelter at the base of a tree, leaving the boy there. The Doctor crouched low to the ground, searching the sky. One look told Kenshin the alien would be alright, so he followed the man's gaze. In the distance, the thing turned and began to speed back towards them.

Eyes steeling, the former hitokiri sprinted towards a nearby tree, placed his foot on the sloping trunk and leapt towards the lowest branch, landing on it nicely and crouching immediately so as to use the momentum to launch himself towards the next cluster of branches. That would be high enough.

The thing swooped low, heading for the Doctor. Jason had pulled out his guns again and was shooting at the thing, yelling and racing towards them. Kenshin liked his spirit. Not to mention the distraction.

The thing continued to scream in his head, louder and angrier each time the shots hit it. He saw it adjust its position just enough to take a swipe at both the Doctor and Jason. The assassin apparently realized it too, because he started running sideways, never stopping his bullets except to reload, and, impossibly, he shot 12 bullets before he had to reload each time! The very idea of guns that efficient did not sit well with the hikotiri at all.

He didn't need to steel himself or take a deep breath before he took a running leap off of the branch, directly at the Doctor, who had flattened himself on the ground again. The gun shots stopped, and Kenshin realized that Jason had paused to stare in both amazement and utter disbelief. The thing passed directly underneath him, and he thrust his sword down through the hard, rubbery flesh in a perfectly executed Ryu Tsui Sen Zan.

The egg-shaped alien screeched in his mind, now in panic more than anything else. It immediately swept up into the sky, speeding away with Kenshin clinging to the sword now buried almost to the hilt in its flesh. The colorful substance that had flashed through its skin had begun to spurt out, staining Kenshin's hakama and making the thing's back slippery.

His expression never changed through the whole ordeal, but now just a slightest touch of worry entered his eyes. Heights and hikotiri didn't often mix. He'd had to deal with a few assignments that incorporated some of the higher buildings in Kyoto, but those rarely reached more than three or four stories. All of this flashed through his mind in an instant as he realized he had to withdraw immediately.

Bracing his feet as well as he could, he yanked at the sword. It took more strength than he cared to admit, but it finally slid loose, causing the thing to shriek yet again and increase its speed. With his sword came more of the substance, now covering him in a strange, glow. No longer able to keep his footing on the slippery, moving surface, he pushed off haphazardly, only then realizing just how high into the air they'd been able to climb in just those few seconds he'd been on the thing's back.

If he came out of this alive, he doubted he'd be able to move for a very long time. If not...well, he hoped he wouldn't be reincarnated as bird.

Of course, that's when his adrenalin rush wore off and his vision faded to black as the combination of speed, fatigue and sheer shock finally overtook him.

Description
Jason felt his eyes widen at the revelation. An alien? On Earth? This early in history? As far as he knew, Earth was alone in the universe. Sure the Doctor said he was an alien, and Jason did believe him, but this just made it...real. Besides, the Doctor at least looked human, so it had been easy to treat him as such.

"You mean an alien like you?"

"Of course not," the Doctor shot him an offended look. "I'm not a parasite."

"What then?"

"Not sure."

Jason scoffed. "Helpful."

"Oi," the Doctor defended, "I'll have you know there are at least a dozen different species that this could be! To figure out exactly what it is," a smile crept over his face, "we'll have to find one."

The assassin could only blink in surprise. "So you want to go out there, run around, and try to find a creature that wants to suck our bodies dry of energy when we have no idea what it looks like?"

The Doctor considered that for a moment. "Basically." That stupid smile never left his face.

Jason suppressed a sigh, shooting a dangerous glare at him. "Do you enjoy living like this?"

The Doctor shrugged. "What's not to love? Lots of running. Keeps you healthy." The American rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when a noise from behind him distracted them both.

"Where is this?" Kenshin had apparently woken up, because he sat up and looked around at the large room, his face paling slightly again.

"Um, it's..." the Doctor started, "a little complicated."

"We're inside his space ship," Jason spoke up, his voice dry.

Kenshin blinked at them, took another quick look around, then turned back to them. "What is a space ship?"

Jason stared at him like he'd sprouted wings and horns. How could someone not know what a spaceship was? Had they gone that far back in time? Hadn't most first world countries gone through major ideal awakening in the late 1800's?  He'd thought it would just be that simple.

"It's...a ship that sails through the stars," the Doctor finally spoke up.

Kenshin's eyes widened. "The stars? How is that possible?"

"Look," Jason said before the Doctor could say anything, "one of us will explain the details later. Right now, we need to find an alien."

"Not helping," the Doctor muttered. He then turned and spoke to the red-head. "We found you on the road, passed out. Do you remember what happened before that?"

Concentration crossed the boy's features as he tried to remember. "I...found something."

"What?"

"In the ground. It looked like an egg, but it was soft."

"What?" The Doctor's voice had turned serious again.

"That's all I can remember," Kenshin said with a scowl.

The Doctor held up his hand. "Small and white, about this big?" he asked, nodding to the two or three inches of space between his forefinger and thumb.

"Yes," the kid nodded. "What's wrong?" Apparently, Jason wasn't the only one who saw the color drain from the Doctor's face.

"The situation just got worse."

"How?" Kenshin asked. At the same time Jason said, "Why?"

"It's a Demmelfca," he said. "A parasite that can travel through space. It lands on planets, reproduces and buries its young, which then feed off of the life on the planet while the parent moves on. The larvae ravage the land then move on themselves when the food source runs out."

Jason spoke up. "Let me guess; the food source is 'life force'."  He couldn't believe he just said that seriously.

"Life force?" Kenshin asked, looking thoroughly confused.

The Doctor turned around and squatted in front of the console, reaching up and into something on the bottom. When he pulled his hand out, he held four, white, smooth gems that seemed to glow. On the flat bottom, a circuit had been placed.

"Here," the alien tossed one to each of the humans. "These will protect you from them."

"These?" Jason raise a skeptical eyebrow.

"What are they?" Kenshin asked, studying his closely.

"They're telepathic gems with dampening circuits."

"Huh?" the swordsman looked up, more puzzled than ever.

"The thing you touched feeds through a link to your mind. Well, your soul really. This will protect you from it. Place it somewhere on your skin, and it will stay there until you want it released."

The Doctor put it on the back of his hand and held it up for them to see, wiggling his fingers. "See?"

Jason raised an eyebrow and reluctantly decided to place his on his person, just below the collarbone. Kenshin continued to look at it skeptically for several seconds before he placed his on the back of his neck.

"Right! Do not take those off, and don't touch them! The eggs, I mean. That's how they make contact, through touch. As long as you don't touch any directly, you'll be fine. And you," he pointed at Kenshin, "if you take it off, that thing will start to feed off of you again. Got it?"

Kenshin's eyes widened. "It is still 'feeding' off of me?"

The Doctor began to rush around again, grabbing the vegetable and sticking it in his coat pocket with one hand while the other hit a few more buttons. "Was. Right now, the TARDIS is protecting you." Looking down, he seemed to contemplate for a moment. "Now where did I put that? Oh yes!" He rushed over to a seemingly random part of the mesh floor, dropped down and removed said flooring. He then stuck his hand down inside and pulled out a large, old-fashioned looking remote control.

"What's that?" Jason asked.

"This..." he paused, "is a way for me to link back to the ship," he said absently as he checked it over. A few seconds later, apparently satisfied, he got up again and ran out of the room. "Don't touch anything!" he said before he disappeared deeper into the ship.

Behind Jason, Kenshin cleared his throat. "Could you please explain now?" he asked.

Jason scratched his head. He really had no reason not to. "Um, you know the Earth is round, right?"

Kenshin deadpanned. "I am familiar with the concept."

"Good." That made the explanation much easier. "So, what if I said there were other planets out there? Like ours, but more advanced. They can travel through the stars."

"The planets?"

"No, the people on the planets."

The red-head cocked his head, trying to wrap his mind around the new concept. "Like ships sail through the sea?"

Jason paused for a moment, comparing the analogy. "Something like that," he said finally. "Well, this guy is from one of those planets."

"Why would he visit Earth?"

The former assassin shrugged. "Beats me."

"Oi, I have my reasons," both men turned to see the Doctor coming through the door, and tossed each of them a small bundle.

"What's this?" Jason asked.

"Gloves," the Doctor said. "They have to make skin contact to establish the feeding link."

Kenshin shook his head as he forced himself unsteadily to his feet. "I still do not understand. How can something feed off of one's life?"

The Doctor still seemed to be rushing around, although Jason had no idea what he was doing. "Living requires energy. These feed off of that energy."

"How?"

The alien finished with a flamboyant slap to a particularly large button and turned around to face them. "You know, you're as bad with questions as he is," he nodded to Jason, who didn't react. Then he turned and ran to the door, taking out the device he'd said would link him back to the ship. "All right, boys, let's go!"

xXx

Kenshin had seen his share of strangeness in his life. After his time and involvement in the war, for his young age, he had definitely witnessed the practically unexplainable.

This topped the list. Easily. And he wondered exactly how the situation had come into being so quickly. Somehow, he'd been quite literally swept up and now traveled with another man from across seas, who at least somewhat shared his sentiment, and another who apparently wasn't even human. He didn't look strange, although now that he thought about it, there had always been something off about this man. His ki felt...different, in a way he couldn't describe. So honestly, Kenshin could believe this man was not born on this planet (although he still found the whole idea difficult to swallow). That could also explain how he'd thought the man was older than he looked. Perhaps on other planets, people lived for centuries.

He followed the Jason (now in dark, tight clothing that made Kenshin uncomfortable just by looking) who in turn followed the Doctor. The alien had left his long coat behind, and now only wore the brown suit similar to those that the Westerners favored.

That's when he noticed where they'd exited. It was the exact place the small, blue box had been earlier. Turning around, Kenshin couldn't help his mouth dropping in astonishment.

"This is the work of youkai!" he gasped. The inside of the box, which he could now clearly see, was somehow bigger than the outside. It made no logical sense!

"Nope," the Doctor responded as he shut the doors and locked them, "It's not magic. Not really. It's just..." he paused, noticing Kenshin's frankly astonished look. "My...magic. This way!" With that, he grinned broadly and then started off towards the fields. Kenshin decided he'd think on it later. He didn't know if his over-taxed mind could handle it at the moment.

The three men hurried over the fields, with the Doctor in the lead.  He turned slightly north, away from the roads, and angling towards the opposite end of the fields, closer to the forest. Kenshin wondered briefly why they had decided to forgo looking into the small, egg-like creatures, and he also wondered how the man seemed to know his destination as his eyes stayed locked on the little box-like thing he'd said would hook himself up to the impossible box. Yet another thing that made no sense to him, just like seemingly everything else about this man.

As they continued to walk, coming to the edge of the forest and never slowing down, Kenshin came to two realizations. First, they made for strange allies. Second, he'd begun to trust them. Saving someone's life tended to render that kind of bond, but it was more than that. These two men had not lied to him once. Even the man who claimed to be a former assassin. They'd both withheld information (not that Kenshin could really blame them, as he would do the same in their shoes), but they had not lied.

"Doctor," Jason spoke up, drawing Kenshin's glance. "Are these things we're going after intelligent?"

"Don't know," the alien shrugged and smiled again. "We'll find out."

"That's why we're passing the fields. You're heading after the parent."

The Doctor shot another impressed glance at the assassin. "You're assuming the stronger signal is the parent."

"It is, isn't it?" The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, his grin widened, showing more than a little mischief and a touch of insanity to boot. It didn't seem to reassure Jason, and the former hitokiri found he agreed with the sentiment.

Kenshin still found following their conversations somewhat difficult. Even though they spoke Japanese well, it still seemed like they were really speaking in a completely different language. He'd only vaguely heard of half the terms they threw around and discussed, as if they used them on a regular basis.

Honestly, for the first time since he'd left his Master's place, Kenshin felt outclassed. The alien possessed knowledge and experience that he suspected put his brief (albeit harsh) experience to shame, while the other had lived a life much like his, but for longer and with more up-to-date knowledge on technology. All Kenshin had at his disposal was Hiten Mitsurugi. The style wasn't anything to scoff at, but it still felt somewhat inadequate. Of course, he also had not seen the men fight. Perhaps he'd reserve judgment.

The Doctor traipsed, uncaring and loud through the underbrush, while the two humans ghosted along behind him, intent on the area around them and keeping their senses open for danger. The ground began to slant up more steeply as they approached the mountains.

Kenshin felt the strange ki long before the Doctor stopped them with a hand signal. It made the human-like alien's ki seem normal. Again, Kenshin tried to place the feeling, but the only word that his mind would supply was "different".

"Right," the Doctor said, shoving the device into his pockets (Kenshin vaguely wondered how he could do so when the pocket didn't seem large enough). "It's just ahead," he fixed them with a serious look. "Now, by the time they become adults, their appearance changes somewhat, but you can't stare at it or it will get offended.

"Look around. If you can see anyone else, help them while I talk to it."

"What will you discuss?" Kenshin asked calmly.

The Doctor gave him a scrutinizing look. "It's only doing what it was born to do," he responded. "If it's intelligent at all, I have to give it a chance."

"And if it doesn't want to take your chance?" Jason asked, his tone dry and sarcastic.

The Doctor didn't answer, meeting his eyes for just a moment before pulling out his own pair of gloves and slipping them on.

"Alright," he said, fixing them both with one last look. "Alons-y!"

Immediately, he turned around, hurrying through the trees and bamboo shoots again. Kenshin and Jason quickly caught up, although Kenshin noticed his fellow human seemed to be having a slightly more difficult time. Perhaps American and English forests weren't like these? The thought had never really crossed his mind.

They slowed as a large ridge stretched up a good 20 feet before them. Almost directly ahead, a large cave opened ominously. Without so much as a hesitation, the Doctor climbed inside. Kenshin exchanged a wary glance with Jason before they both followed.

xXx

Jason didn't know quite what to expect when they walked in the cave. He'd figured it would be something that he'd see on Star Trek or Twilight Zone or something like that. Instead, he got an eye-full of psychedelic 70's. The actual shape the Doctor had described for what he assumed were the young didn't change too much, although it got lumpier. And disturbingly, it pulsated.

Strange colors seemed to have dyed the skin, snaking out like splashes that mixed and melded in a few places like ink tossed on a canvas, but unmoving like a tattoo. Red, purple and blue throbbed through the top-most, transparent layer of skin, coloring over the dull yellowish gray flesh below.

He noticed its large tentacles moving around lethargically, and it even seemed to glow slightly, (seriously, it looked like it had been yanked right out of a bad trip). It also didn't look quite like a what he thought a giant squid would, as the tentacles varied in size and tapered off at the end to a sharp point. They reminded him more of tree branches swaying in the wind than actual appendages. The varying iridescence cast the dark cave into a dim, spinning light that reminded Jason of a lava lamp.

The really strange thing about the whole scene, was that the thing wasn't nestled in a corner, nor did it look to be the center of a web with the tentacles spread out. No, the large mass of flesh easily the size of a car actually floated lazily around the small cave.  He had no idea how the heck something that large could freaking fly. Some of the floating appendages had wrapped themselves around various objects, and it took a few seconds before Jason realized they were people. Even from here, he could see many had turned into dried-out husks, now resembling the vegetable thing they'd extracted from the ground earlier.

A little worried, Jason glanced over at Kenshin to see how the kid was taking it. Not very well, he concluded. He'd stopped, eyes wide in utter disbelief as he tried to take in the impossible scene. He also looked a little sick. Whether that was from the sickening motion of the pulsing light or just the scene in general working on him was anybody's guess.

"Hey," he whispered to the kid, who turned his dark eyes up to Jason. "You gonna be okay?"

For a moment, the former hitokiri said nothing. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, nodded and walked past Jason, stopping behind the Doctor, who had paused on some fairly level ground a few feet inside the cave entrance.

With a glance back at the other two, the alien reached down and removed the white gem from the back of his hand. Jason and Kenshin eyed him warily, but said nothing. Then he turned and tossed the gem to Jason.

"Stay out of it's way," he nodded into the cave. "If you find anyone, put that on them. I have another one, remember?" Jason wanted to ask if he'd suddenly lost it. Of course there was no way he was going to approach that thing. Kenshin, on the other hand, simply nodded and began edging his way around the thing, keeping close to the large rocks that littered the ground and made a partial wall. Watching the kid simply follow orders like that struck a little too close to home, and he made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

Right now, though, he figured he should probably try going the opposite direction.

"Oh, that's not good," the Doctor's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"He's never heard of the Shadow Proclamation."

"The what?"

The Doctor shot him a look that said 'I'll tell you later'. "Well," he said aloud to the thing. Jason had the distinct feeling he was speaking up specifically for their benefit. "It essentially means, 'I come in peace, let's talk'!"

He paused for a moment, apparently listening through telepathy, Jason realized. Had he really taken off the protection just to talk to the thing? Such a dangerous move would never have crossed his mind, and even now he couldn't help but marvel at the stupidity of it. You weren't supposed to open yourself up to the enemy like that!

"That's why we're here," he said.

Another pause.

"I'm here to help," he said finally. Jason found himself a little more on edge when he heard the slightly desperate tone in his voice. "I can take you and your young to a planet with no sentient life where you can raise them..."

He faded off. After a moment, his face took on a slightly sickened look.

"But you can live off of...other types..."

The Doctor stopped again, 'listening' to the thing. Jason had reached a corner of the cave, and did not like what he saw. Apparently the thing liked to deposit its victims in this corner. He recognized the clothing on the bodies belonging to what he'd been able to observe of the culture. They'd come too late. An indifferent mask slid over his face as he began to shift through them. Normally as an assassin, he wasn't the one who had to 'clean up' after his missions. That's what he left to the cops and politicians. That's also what it felt like he was doing, for some reason.

He hated it.

"I could take you there in minutes! They won't die!" The Doctor insisted. Jason didn't respond, just looking for a sign of unwrinkled flesh...of life.

"No you—Kenshin!" The Doctor's voice had him spinning around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. He could barely see the kid over in the corner, and he didn't look too bad. The red-head stared defiantly back at the doctor, his hands on something.

"I will not let him die," Kenshin said softly, although Jason could hear him clearly.

"You really shouldn't have done that!" The Doctor said.

"I'll be fine," the teenager insisted.

And right about then is when everything hit the fan.

xXx

Kenshin wished he could hear how successful the Doctor's arguments were, but without 'hearing' the other side, he could only take what the human-like alien said.

He didn't sound too successful.

The former hitokiri continued his stealthy glide around the cave, over crumbling boulders and through the dust, dirt and leaves littered throughout the smaller rubble on the floor. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and froze, looking over to find one of the Thing's appendages (he really couldn't call them arms) had drifted towards him...and what's more, it held something in it.

The bloated tentacle had wrapped its rough, uneven skin around someone. Kenshin felt his eyes harden. It had just sucked the life right out of him.  It was a boy, Kenshin surmised from the build. Couldn't have been more then 13 or 14...

Wait... Kenshin's eyes went wide. He'd felt ki from the form... The boy was still alive. He took several quick steps that put him close to the slow tentacle easily as thick around as his waist. As soon as he'd come up to the yellowish-gray flesh, he put a hand on the boy's mouth. Yes! He could feel a breath! But only barely.

It only took moments for the swordsman to surmise the situation. Who knew how long the kid had been wrapped up and touching the thing? It needed direct contact to start feeding, but what happened if it continued to touch someone? Kenshin had had serious problems after only 15 minutes or so, although he suspected a lot of that had to do with how it worked on his mind.  He figured he'd only been out maybe three and a half hours judging from the position of the sun when they'd exited the impossible box.

The boy was dying.

So Kenshin did the only thing he could think of. Reaching in back of his neck, he grabbed the gem/jewel thing that somehow had stuck there, and it came off immediately. He glanced over at the doctor one more time, and then stuck the gem on the boy's neck.

"Kenshin!" The Doctor yelled his name. Somehow, the red-head felt whatever 'link' he had with the little egg immediately. Now that he concentrated on it, the influence it had over him, even from this distance, surprised him. It was subtle, but there nonetheless, and it did seem to be draining his energy.

Nothing he couldn't handle, now that he was aware of it. At least for a while. With determined eyes, he fixed his stare on the Doctor, flaring his ki dangerously.

"I'm not going to let him die."

The man ran a hand through his hair. "You really shouldn't have done that!"

"I'll be fine," the former hitokiri insisted.

He saw it coming, but even with his reflexes he couldn't dodge it. The formerly lethargic, slow tentacles suddenly shot out at a much greater speed, wrapping themselves around his upper body and neck. Kenshin's eyes suddenly went wide.

You taste good. Instinctively, Kenshin knew it was the Thing talking...directly into his head? The thought process he quite literally felt from the thing was surprisingly simple.

No! Don't! That was strange...he heard the Doctor, but it felt more like an echo...like someone had yelled from a great distance. Still, the intensity of the man's words weren't lost.

"Let him go!" This time he knew he'd actually heard the Doctor.

Then the feeling of his energy draining away came back, but so much stronger and more sudden it took Kenshin's breath away. His hands had already grasped the tentacle in a vain effort to get it to let go. The rough-looking skin felt rubbery beneath his gloved fingers.

They worked hard on you. They weren't words per se, but Kenshin understood the basic concept none the less. He didn't quite realize what the thing meant until the flashbacks started. He saw his memories surround him, each as realistic as when he'd lived through them. His parents, smiling as they worked on their fields, making sure to keep him out of sight of others passing by. The women who protected him from the marauders falling before his eyes, begging him to live. Hiko Sejiro thrusting a sword into his hand, spending hour after hour on training him to wield the weapon.

So small, but so tasty... The army doing everything they could to keep him a secret, even as he sharpened and honed his skill as a hitokiri. The blood never really did seem to come off of his skin even now...and then the really painful memories started.

"NO!" he yelled, screamed really, rejecting the utterly drenching pain as she flashed before his eyes. He couldn't face this...not so soon after. Only two years, and he hadn't been able to visit her grave once. He didn't feel worthy. He never would. She'd done so many things for him...she'd changed him...

They stopped almost as quickly as they had come, and he sat there, breathing hard. The Thing still had its tentacle wrapped firmly around him, but he couldn't hear it any longer.

"Kenshin?" he heard the fairly strained voice of the Doctor and forced himself to look up. He stood there, looking at him worriedly with his hand on Kenshin's now exposed arm where the loose sleeve had fallen down when he'd tried to loosen the thing's grip. The white stone in between the dark-haired man's fingers pressed firmly to Kenshin's skin.

"That's...yours," the hitokiri said tiredly.

"Are you alright?"

So...tasty... The voice came faintly to his mind.

"It's...still there," he said slowly, gasping for breath. "The stronger...one. I can still...hear it."

The Doctor didn't look too happy, but he nodded. "It's stronger than the dampening gem."

You different...but so delicious... That's when Kenshin realized it. The thing had turned its attention away from him. The tentacle had loosened enough he could even slip out with a little struggling. Why had it? Then he realized where its energy had turned to instead...

"You touched it," Kenshin, his voice accusing.

The Doctor didn't answer.

"He what?!" Jason asked, coming to stand beside them.

"I'm fine," The Doctor insisted, but his face had gone pale. Determined, Kenshin finally slipped free of the appendage, surprised that he could remain standing upright.

"Sunofa..." Jason muttered, fading off before he finished, and fished inside a pouch at his hip. Seconds later, he had the fourth gem in his hand and had stuck it onto the Doctor's hand.

The man sighed in relief.

Why!? Almost not feel you! Suddenly more tentacles shot towards them, almost faster than Kenshin could watch...but not faster than he could draw a sword.

Slash. He'd turned the blade to the reverse side, cutting through at least three of the appendages like they were made of butter. The thing recoiled, and vaguely, Kenshin heard it scream in his mind in pain.

Both Jason (who had some strange, metal tube in his hand pointed at the thing) and the Doctor couldn't help but stare in amazement. Out of habit, the swordsman slid his sakabatō back into the scabbard after flicking off the substances the thing had left on his precious sword.

I kill you! Even more tentacles came at them. Jason came out of his stupor first. Loud bangs that hurt Kenshin's ears came from the metal tube. Was that a gun? He'd never seen one shaped quite like that before...

"Get out! Now!" he vaguely heard the Doctor say, and nodded in acknowledgment. Somehow, they ducked all of the now incredibly fast tentacles and made it out of the cave. It seemed to be somewhat cautious concerning them now, although the anger was slowly pushing that caution to the side.

Once outside, Kenshin realized that Jason had grabbed the boy, now carrying him as he rushed along ahead of them. After a few seconds, Jason seemed to realize they weren't keeping up with him, and turned to urge them on. He never got the chance. Instead, his eyes flew wide.

"DUCK!" he yelled. Kenshin's battle reflexes kicked in, and he did as he was told, dropping to the ground as something rushed by overhead. The thing had flown at them, taking out several of the trees and bamboo shoots, raining them heavily down around the group.

I kill you! I kill you! I kill you! I eat you now!

He felt the words in his head, along with the anger and frustration that came along with it, and for just a moment, he wasn't in the Meiji era, but in the Bakumatsu, on protection detail. A touch of depression made it's way in through the mask he used to clamp down on his feelings. So this is what his teacher had meant when he'd told Kenshin that he'd never be able to escape it. Would he be drawn back every time a remotely dangerous situation arose?

Standing up, he shoved those thoughts aside to contemplate on later, ignoring the drain on his energy reserves. He only had a handful of techniques he could use against an opponent like this. Most of his battoujutsu required him to be standing on solid ground. With the way this thing was flying at him, he doubted he'd live through using those techniques against that...thing. He'd never had to go up against something with that kind of mass and speed before.

So he had to get higher...than a flying youkai-like thing. Right. He'd have one shot at this, if he was lucky.

Expertly, he dodge-rolled as the thing came diving at them again. It was worse than a volley of cannon balls! Fortunately, that kind of speed required a great deal of control to stop, pause or turn. As such, they should have a few seconds in between each attack. Glancing around, he saw Jason taking shelter at the base of a tree, leaving the boy there. The Doctor crouched low to the ground, searching the sky. One look told Kenshin the alien would be alright, so he followed the man's gaze. In the distance, the thing turned and began to speed back towards them.

Eyes steeling, the former hitokiri sprinted towards a nearby tree, placed his foot on the sloping trunk and leapt towards the lowest branch, landing on it nicely and crouching immediately so as to use the momentum to launch himself towards the next cluster of branches. That would be high enough.

The thing swooped low, heading for the Doctor. Jason had pulled out his guns again and was shooting at the thing, yelling and racing towards them. Kenshin liked his spirit. Not to mention the distraction.

The thing continued to scream in his head, louder and angrier each time the shots hit it. He saw it adjust its position just enough to take a swipe at both the Doctor and Jason. The assassin apparently realized it too, because he started running sideways, never stopping his bullets except to reload, and, impossibly, he shot 12 bullets before he had to reload each time! The very idea of guns that efficient did not sit well with the hikotiri at all.

He didn't need to steel himself or take a deep breath before he took a running leap off of the branch, directly at the Doctor, who had flattened himself on the ground again. The gun shots stopped, and Kenshin realized that Jason had paused to stare in both amazement and utter disbelief. The thing passed directly underneath him, and he thrust his sword down through the hard, rubbery flesh in a perfectly executed Ryu Tsui Sen Zan.

The egg-shaped alien screeched in his mind, now in panic more than anything else. It immediately swept up into the sky, speeding away with Kenshin clinging to the sword now buried almost to the hilt in its flesh. The colorful substance that had flashed through its skin had begun to spurt out, staining Kenshin's hakama and making the thing's back slippery.

His expression never changed through the whole ordeal, but now just a slightest touch of worry entered his eyes. Heights and hikotiri didn't often mix. He'd had to deal with a few assignments that incorporated some of the higher buildings in Kyoto, but those rarely reached more than three or four stories. All of this flashed through his mind in an instant as he realized he had to withdraw immediately.

Bracing his feet as well as he could, he yanked at the sword. It took more strength than he cared to admit, but it finally slid loose, causing the thing to shriek yet again and increase its speed. With his sword came more of the substance, now covering him in a strange, glow. No longer able to keep his footing on the slippery, moving surface, he pushed off haphazardly, only then realizing just how high into the air they'd been able to climb in just those few seconds he'd been on the thing's back.

If he came out of this alive, he doubted he'd be able to move for a very long time. If not...well, he hoped he wouldn't be reincarnated as bird.

Of course, that's when his adrenalin rush wore off and his vision faded to black as the combination of speed, fatigue and sheer shock finally overtook him.