| Slayers |
| Episode 20: Trouble! Rahanimu, the Furious Fish Man! |
| Only charred messes of the structures that used to stand there were visible under the calm gaze of the night; all was destroyed, all was ruined. The scene pans to the right, and the Slayers gang is seen there, observing the mess. Amelia was looking into the distance. "That explosion was so big it forced all the water out of the ground and covered everything!" Lina and Gourry were pretty much expressionless, Zelgadis looked serious, and Sylphiel's eyes were sad and lost. "Sylphiel..." Lina whispered, concerned. Amelia suddenly decided to take off over the "lake" that they had been peering at. She leapt with agility over the rocks that still penetrated the water's surface. "Amelia, wait!" Lina warned. "It's dangerous to rush in like that!" "It's okay!" Amelia called back, confident. Unluckily for her, however, she slipped on the very next rock she came to; seeing stars, Amelia landed on her butt in the water. Lina and Gourry observed the scene with dry expressions. "Well, I warned her," Lina muttered. Amelia put her hand behind her head, chuckling sheepishly. Suddenly, her face turned red, and she let out a startled sound. In a second, she began jumping up and down as if the water was boiling hot. Lina, a little confused, put her finger in the water. "Incredible!" she commented, as she drew her finger back out. "It even heated up the water underground!" "Say, Lina," Zelgadis interrupted. "Why don't we rest up over there?" He pointed to a shack a near distance away. Inside, Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis sat around a small fire, looking moody. Sylphiel was lying down on a wooden "cot", tired and stressed out. "Poor Miss Sylphiel..." said Amelia sympathetically. "Losing the place she grew up in and her father in one night..." "Jeez, I never thought he'd to this!" Lina commented, referring to the evil of the supposed Rezo. "This is no time to be wondering if he's the real Rezo or a fake!" Gourry spoke up: "But if Rezo has that much power, what can we do except run away from him?" "That's it!" Lina exclaimed, pointing a finger in her enthusiasm. "Where?" asked Gourry, looking pointlessly in the direction Lina was pointing. She grabbed Gourry in a headlock, and fiercely ground her fists into his head. "There's a reason Rezo hasn't come after us!" "OW!" Gourry managed to say. "You're saying he isn't quite complete yet?" asked Zelgadis. Amelia became alarmed at the prospect that he might get even more powerful than he already was. "I'm saying we still have a chance against him!" Lina shouted, taking the optimistic side. "Think positively for a change!" "Um, Professor Lina, can I ask you a question?" Gourry asked from the ground, where he'd been left after his headlock.. Lina played at Gourry's game, squatting down to talk to him. "Okay, Mr. Gourry. And try not to make it too stupid." "Well, you beat Rezo once, right?" Why can't you just do what you did last time?" Gourry asked, not realizing the seriousness of the question. "The Giga Slave?" spoke up Zel in alarm. Lina looked thoughtful and concerned. "The Giga Slave..." There was a flashback of Lina casting her most powerful spell, and she described the Lord of Nightmares in the flashback, the one behind all of the chaos and destruction: The Dark Lord of all Dark Lords. And the unimaginable power that the Giga Slave wielded. "But it's a risky gamble..." Lina continued. "It worked last time, but one mistake in casting the spell would cause the magic to suck the life force out of us. It could kill us!" The others had listened in silence, but now Amelia let out an involuntary sound of alarm. "But I don't see any other options," Zelgadis put in. "It may be a long shot, but we have to try it!" Lina narrowed her eyes a little in thought. But everyone was surprised when a voice spoke up: "You mustn't!" Sylphiel had sat up on the bench, and her eyes were shadowed with seriousness. "Sylphiel..." Lina started. Sylphiel didn't look at her. "You mustn't use the Giga Slave! Never again, if possible!" "But why not?" "Because it's a terrible spell..." Sylphiel explained. "...that can return all creation to nothingness. If you miscast the spell, it wouldn't just kill us. It would consume the world... in a void of nothingness." There was a very tense silence after these statements, and the mood got darker. "Consume the whole world?" asked Lina in disbelief, getting to her feet. "Come on! You're exaggerating, right?!" "You mean you didn't know?!" asked Amelia accusedly. "I had no choice!" Lina protested, referring to her past usage of it. "I was sort of out of options at the time!" "Well, do we have any other options now?" asked Gourry wisely. Lina put her hand to her chin in thought. "Rezo's legacy," she stated decisively. Zelgadis agreed that there was a high possibility of finding a secret among Rezo's possessions that could help them to win the battle. "As in what our enemy's weak point might be!" Lina finished. "It's definitely worth checking out." Zelgadis got to his feet, saying that now that everything was settled, they should go to Rezo's laboratory right away. "Sylphiel, we need you to guide us," he requested. "With the city destroyed, we can't tell left from right. There's no one else we can ask." "But... But, I..." Sylphiel stuttered hesitantly. "Are you just going to let them get away with murder?" asked Zelgadis, in the same cold tone as always. "Will you let everyone end up like your father?!" Sylphiel fell back with hurt at the last ruthless comment, not able to speak. "Zel, back off!" Lina warned, but the damage was done. Sylphiel looked even more miserable than she did before. "Wood..." she muttered under her breath. She shakily got up, wiping her eyes. "I'd better get us some more wood." She ran out of the shack, crying. "Wait, Sylphiel!" Gourry called. "Miss Sylphiel!" Amelia called as well. Zelgadis let out a pained sigh, sitting down again with no pain of regret. Lina, pissed off at Zelgadis's heartless behavior, jumped up and slammed her elbow down on his head... not a smart idea, considering Zelgadis's golem body. She grimaced with pain and rubbed her elbow sheepishly while Zelgadis rubbed his head, muttering that it hurt. Sylphiel was an emotional mess outside. She crouched beside a bunch of scattered logs, picking them up one by one, and not caring if one dropped, sobbing all the time... "Sylphiel!" a friendly voice called. "Gourry dear..." Sylphiel whispered affectionately. Gourry looked like he felt a little awkward, but he still offered some support: "I- I know it's been rough... But, you know... Cheer up! Okay?" Sylphiel wiped at her eyes, and a smile appeared on her face; no doubt she felt a lot of love for Gourry at that point. "Gourry dear..." she said again, but she ended up accidentally dropping the few logs she'd managed to gather. "Oh, no..." she said. She bent down to pick up the logs, but Gourry bent down as well, telling her not to worry; he would pick them up. They ended up bonking their heads together, and both fell back at the pain. They both looked down, and saw that the only log they'd managed to get was the same one; they were holding opposite sides in a union. There was a semi-awkward silence as this, but then Gourry began chuckling, and soon Sylphiel joined in. And all was well again. The night sky is seen again, scattered with an infinitesimal number of stars. Beside the still-steaming water, Lina's clothes are all scattered in an untidy pile on the ground. Lina was naked in the water, taking a bath. She commented on how relaxing it felt, and then asked Amelia why she didn't come in as well, telling her to "quit sulking". Indeed, Amelia was sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around her legs and not seeming to be concentrating on anything. She bowed her head in apparently disapproval. "You couldn't care less, could you, Miss Lina?" Lina was indignant, lifting her hand out of the water in almost a fist. "What's with you?! It's not my fault this all happened!" she insisted. "And we may not get a chance to relax like this again!" She stretched out a little. Amelia turned the conversation to other topics, commenting on how long Gourry was taking. They'd apparently walked out to the water while waiting for him. "Oh, leave him be," replied Lina dissmissively. "He has something he has to do now." "I know, but things seem so complicated now," Amelia replied, glancing downwards a little. The scene rises overhead, until Amelia and Lina look tiny next to the water, and then can't be seen altogether. A fishman floats in the air, with human arms and legs. It makes strange bubbling noises, and then flies away towards an unknown destination. The focus goes back to Gourry and Sylphiel at this point. "Gourry, dear?" "Yes, Sylphiel?" The two voices are heard, but the voices appear to be coming from below the angle that's shown "Um, are you all right?" asked Sylphiel. At last, the scene pans down, and it's seen that Gourry's holding an absolutely enormous stack of logs shaped in a semi-spherical form on his back, supported by his arms. .Sylphiel, meanwhile, isn't carrying anything. "What, this?" asked Gourry, as if the logs were unimportant. "This is nothing!" His voice definitely showed the strain that he was undoubtedly feeling. "Gourry dear...." called Sylphiel again, catching his attention. "Will getting Rezo's legacy really let you kill a horrible enemy like him?" "Well, it's hard to say. He's pretty powerful, you know?" answered Gourry with the same semi-clueless air that he always spoke with. "But you're still going to fight him," stated Sylphiel. "Why?" Gourry explained that he couldn't just wait on the defensive, and wait for Rezo to come after him. Also, Lina would never let him sit out of it . That last comment surprised Sylphiel. "You mean Lina?" she asked. "Yeah, she's nothing like you, Sylphiel," answered Gourry, still carrying the huge pile of logs. "She's rude, violent, loudmouthed... She'd never be able to settle down. Honestly, it's been nothing but trouble since the day I met her." He looked off in a random direction, reflecting as he spoke. "I wouldn't mind if she acted more girlish. Like you, Sylphiel." He turned toward her, chuckling again. However, he abruptly cut off his own laughter when he saw Sylphiel's lowered gaze. "Huh? Uh... Look, Sylphiel..." "Gourry dear..." Sylphiel spoke up, still keeping her gaze lowered. "Promise me you'll win." She looked up at him with remarkably clear eyes. "That you won't get killed." "Sure," replied Gourry. "So quit worrying, okay?" His gaze was kind, as always. "I-If you come back in one piece, then I'll..." Sylphiel began. Gourry looked back with interest. "Then you'll make me some of that great cooking of yours?" he prompted, guessing. Sylphiel let out a small sound of surprise, caught off guard. Gourry let out a confused, "Huh?" as well at her sound. And at that, Sylphiel started laughing quietly again, finally rid of her emotional state. Elsewhere, an evil-looking tower jutted out of the ground. Inside, the scenery was strange and bizarre. Everywhere, violet-glowing containers filled with liquid housed floating chimeras of all kinds. Eris stood in front of them, speaking as confidently as always. "Foolish girls. Planning to steal Lord Rezo's legacy, eh? We won't let them." She looked back over her shoulder, and the same fishman that was hovering over the water previously flipped a lever, and then gaze some queer sounds of acknowledgment. Beside him stood apparently more chimeras. The lever being flipped, some weird green vine-like things began wriggling. "Lord Rezo's legacy is mine," Eris stated. "And..." She looked over her shoulder again, and there in his own empty chamber was Rezo, still in the chair from before, the vine-like things still covering him. Eris walked up to him, knelt, and then put her head to his knees. "My life is tied to yours," she said emotionally, looking a little feminine. "Lord Rezo... I, Eris, swear I will retrieve your legacy. And you need your rest, Lord Rezo. For the day that is soon coming." Back in the lab-portion of the place, a fierce-looking chimera growled, breaking out of the glass. All of the creatures were coming to life, looking completely bizarre, and very formidable. "Rahanimu! I leave them in your hands!" Eris ordered. The fishman made some more strange sounds of acknowledgment. The next day, Lina, Amelia, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Sylphiel were finally ready to set off to find Rezo's Legacy. With Lina's opening cheer, they set off under the glow of the new day. They ran through the streets of Sairaag, with Sylphiel as their guide. They got to the older portion of the leveled city, and the rubble of buildings was littered everywhere. "Miss Lina, to your left!" instructed Sylphiel, and they continued in the direction of Old Sairaag. "This is the city where the Swordsman of Light fought Zanaffar," thought Lina. "If we get through here to Sairaag's northernmost edge, we'll find Rezo's laboratory!" Her gaze became more determined. All of a sudden, from the sky, a black shape that moved with the speed of a bullet shot towards them, forcing them all to duck down, and only Zelgadis was left standing. Lina looked in confusion towards where the thing had crashed into the far wall. The fishman from before was seen standing amidst the rubble, and he let out more strange sounds to indicate his arrival. Lina was disgusted by it. It ran a bit in place, and then turned into the black thing again as it shot with amazing speed and crashed into the far wall on the other side. None of them was able to follow its movement, and they were forced to split up as it doubled back towards them again. Zelgadis and Amelia ran one way, entering a building to crouch for cover. "Damn, he's something else," Zel muttered, commenting on Rahanimu's speed. One of the walls inside their building suddenly caved in, and after the smoke cleared, the bizarre collection of chimeras from Eris's lab was shown to be there. "Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia cried, hiding behind him. "Let's have some fun!" Zelgadis decided, smirking. Meanwhile, Lina was still running from the fishman, but Rahanimu was too fast, and she could do nothing but fall onto the ground again and again. "Why do the stupid fish monsters always come after ME?" Lina complained, her eyes to the heavens from her position on the ground. She got to her feet, muttering that she was pissed now. She started an incantation: "You who crosses between sky and earth! Who eternally-" But she was cut off once again by Rahanimu's speed, and landed on the ground once again. "I hate this!" she stated lamely. The city of Sairaag is seen from above, and then Gourry and Sylphiel are seen, having taken their own path into the nearby forest. They were both still running, and Sylphiel suddenly tripped, landing on the ground. "Are you OK, Sylphiel?" Gourry asked, stopping. "I'm fine, Gourry dear," she answered back. "This is the Miasma Forest," Sylphiel explained, and looking up, both saw that the trees just seemed to be placed randomly everywhere. "I think we're lost," muttered Gourry sheepishly. "No, here will do nicely," declared a new voice. Up above them, Zangulus waited for them once again. "Looks that way," agreed Gourry. Zangulus drew his Howling Sword again, asking Gourry to draw his as well... "Blam Blazer!" yelled Zelgadis, causing the head of a snake-like looking monster to be blown off. Amelia was fighting as well, albeit very reluctantly. She defeated the monsters half not looking at them out of fear. "Oh, there's no end to them," she decided, dropping to her knees. Back on the ground, the decapitated snake's head moved its eyes. It rushed towards Amelia in an attack, but Zelgadis managed to barely destroy it with a Flare Arrow. Seen from above, there were still plenty of crazy-looking chimeras that weren't destroyed. Zelgadis decided, "I'm going to finish this with one shot!" Although they were surrounded on all sides, he was obviously going to use a large-range spell. "Get out of here, Amelia!" he ordered. He did the hand gestures for the spell, and Amelia jumped out of one of the windows before the spell. "Fireball!" he shouted, and the blast did destroy all of the chimeras inside, also knocking Amelia's path off a little with the force. Zelgadis was seen hovering above the rubble of the building encased inside a Ray Wing barrier. He looked in Lina's direction, and was surprised to see that she was still dodging Rahanimu, who seemed to have her in an endless trap. Lina is seen changing position over and over to avoid the black bullet that was assaulting her. "Oh, my. She's still at it," Amelia commented, putting her hand to her forehead to look further. "Oh, I'm sick of this," complained Lina as she was thrown to the ground. Zelgadis hovered down at that point, surprising her. "Going to play with it all day?" he asked. "There's no time to hang around!" "Easy for you to say!" replied Lina indignantly. "Why don't you do something, Zel?!" "Very well, then. On the next pass," Zelgadis replied decisively. Rahanimu reorganized himself, firing off in their direction once more. "Get down!" ordered Zelgadis, pushing Lina's head to the ground. "What, aren't we doing this together?" asked Lina. She looked up in surprise at Zelgadis's new position; he held his sword straight up in front of his face. Rahanimu's eyes widened, but he didn't have the time or reflexes to change his path. He plunged right through the sword, and his two halves moved a little when he hit the other side, and then he died. "What an idiot!" Lina laughed. "That was easier than I thought!" Zelgadis smiled, scratching his head a little as if he was being humble. This caused Lina to pout when she realized how easily Zel had beat the fishman while she'd been dodging the whole time. Back in the forest, Gourry and Zangulus were dueling again, matched once more, while Sylphiel watched from behind a tree in semi-fascination. Zangulus repelled one of Gourry's attacks, and then caught him off guard. He slashed his sword in triumph, but Gourry ducked just in time. Zangulus's strike flashed the tree behind Gourry in half, and the tree started falling down toward Sylphiel. "Sylphiel!" Gourry shouted. He dashed up and managed to grab hold of Sylphiel, jumping to safety. Zangulus unfairly seized the opportunity, using the wind feature of his Howling Sword to blow Gourry's sword away while he was still holding onto Sylphiel. "It's all over!" Zangulus crowed. "Damn!" cursed Gourry. Zangulus raised his sword above his head, going in for the finishing strike. Sylphiel lifted up her staff, and to everyone's surprise, jumped toward Zangulus in an attack. She supposedly got slashed, and let out a shriek before she landed on the ground nearby Zangulus. The aforementioned swordsman was totally caught off guard. "It's your fault! You jumped out at me!" he said sheepishly. "Out of my way!" he shouted, going back to "bad guy" mode. He swung downwards to kill Sylphiel, but before he knew it, his face was smashed in... by Gourry, who had dashed over and struck him with the ball portion of Sylphiel's staff. Zangulus clutched his face in pain. "Damn you, Gourry! But why didn't you hit me in a vital spot?" "You could have slashed Sylphiel with the first strike, but didn't!" countered Gourry. Zangulus had his head lowered now, and his eyes were shadowed under his bounty hunter hat. "As crafty as ever," he commended Gourry. "I want to beat you even more now! Next time we settle things once and for all!" He turned and beat a hasty retreat. "Oh, man..." Gourry muttered. Sylphiel fell to her knees again. Gourry turned to look at her the way a father looks at a daughter after she's done something wrong. "Sylphiel, that was a stupid thing to do." Sylphiel let out a small gasp of surprise, hurt. "Don't be so reckless, or I'll start to worry!" Gourry explained, going back to his normal kind smile. "Okay," Sylphiel replied, smiling again. Amelia, Zelgadis, and Lina walked through the forest, looking for their companions. "How far did that moron run?" asked Lina in exasperation. "Hey, Gourry!" "Mr. Gourry! Miss Sylphiel!" Amelia called. Amelia suddenly let out a gasp, seeing Gourry and Sylphiel in a seemingly romantic position facing each other. Amelia's expression turned silly. "Huh? What is it, Amelia?" asked Lina. Amelia turned around in alarm, waving her arms wildly. "Agh! No, Miss Lina! Don't look!" she cried, trying to keep her gaze from Gourry and Sylphiel. She suddenly jumped onto Lina, keeping her from looking. "Agh, what's the big idea?" complained Lina. "I can't see!" A closeup of Gourry and Sylphiel revealed that the only thing that was happening was Sylphiel healing Gourry's wounds with her white magic. "What's your problem, Amelia?!" demanded Lina, throwing her off and doing all sorts of wrestler positions to torture Amelia. "Are you trying to start a fight with me?!" "No!" poor Amelia cried, who was only trying to help. Meanwhile, Zelgadis had his arms crossed the whole time, not wanting to be involved. Gourry suddenly noticed them as Lina beat up Amelia. "Hey, Lina! Over here!" he called, waving. Lina abruptly stopped killing Amelia, smiling. "Oh, there he is! Hey there, Gourry!" she called back, waving. Sylphiel looked a little out-of-place at that point, suddenly letting go of Gourry and looking sheepish as Lina rushed towards them. "Great! Wonderful! You're both okay!" She stood beside Gourry. "We were getting worried about you!" Amelia got shakily to her feet. "Why did I do that?" she asked herself out loud. "Oh, I just don't understand." She shrugged. Zelgadis turned toward Amelia with some pity. "It must be really hard for you." "Zel! Amelia! What are you doing?!" asked Lina, waving to them. "Quit standing around and come on!" "Good grief! No matter what you say, they do make a good pair," commented Zelgadis, looking at how friendly and happy Lina and Gourry were being towards each other. The scene shifts to Eris and Rezo. Eris is still crouched on Rezo's lap, and Rezo is still in his chair, drawing energy. The circlet bearing the strange design still shows on his forehead. Apparently in Rezo's thoughts, he sees the Slayers continuing on their journey toward his laboratory. Lina, Gourry, Sylphiel, Amelia, and Zelgadis finally get to a strange, old-looking building. "No doubt about it," Zelgadis said. "That's Rezo's laboratory?" asked Lina. Eris opened her eyes. "Lord Rezo..." she whispered, but when she looked up, Rezo wasn't in the chair anymore. "Lord Rezo?" she asked, confused. She looked in surprise at Rezo, who was standing up and glowing with an evil blood-red aura. He smiled a bit. "Flare Arrow!" shouted Lina, bursting a whole in the metal doors that composed of the entranceway. "The door to the laboratory is open," she narrated. "Do demons and serpents lie beyond it? Or perhaps Eris and the Red Priest?! You'll have to wait until the next episode to find out..." |
| Overall Episode: 20 |
| Episode 3 of Video 6 |
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