LEGAL DISCLIMER: Tenchi Muyo is the register copyright and trademark of AIC and
Pioneer. All Rights Reserved. This work of fiction is written for
entertainment purposes only and not for profit.
=============================
NOTES: This is the chapter I've been waiting two long years to finally write.
I can't believe I finally got this far. I have only more to go and I am
finished with this saga. I hope you really enjoy it as much I do.
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THE DARK LORD OF JURAI
EPISODE THREE - NO NEED FOR AN APPOCALYPSE
By Michael "The-Zorch" Haney
CHAPTER THREE: THE DARK ONE
=============================
Ryoko, Aeka and Katsuhito climbed out of the wreckage of what had once
been the most advanced and powerful starship in the universe next to the Tsunami
itself. Following close behind came Washu with the owner of the ship, Prince
Orrin Quintarin. The ship had been thrown to the Earth by the immense powers of
a creature that could only be described as the ultimate evil in the universe.
The Dark One, the source of the Darkling race.
Darius and Yuko, Orrin's children, also climbed form the wreckage of the
once great ship and looked around at the destruction. They had all come here to
save Princess Aeka form Kagato who kidnapped her. They succeeded in saving her,
but they failed to prevent the Dark One from entering Kagato's body. Thus, the
incredibly evil entity is reborn to wreak havoc upon the universe once again.
Orrin attempted to destroy the monster by firing everything the ship had
at Tokyo Tower, but in the aftermath of the devastation the thing was still
alive. Then, they tried an ultimate weapon that Washu had made a long time ago,
but it was totally useless against this beast. When Orrin attempted to lure the
thing away from the Earth, the Dark One had different plans. He grabbed the
ship called the Kryton out of the sky and slammed it with all his might into the
Earth crippling it. Now they were without a ship and faced with fighting a
creature that was a million times more powerful than all of them combined.
"This is fucking great!" Darius yelled as he looked at the ruined Kryton.
"Would you shut your fucking mouth for once!" Yuko shouted back at him.
"Both of you shut the fuck up! We have to think!" Orrin shouted.
Ryoko looked into the sky where the Dark One in Kagato's body still
floated in place. "Think hell, that thing is still above us." She said.
"What do you know about the Dark One?" Washu asked.
"Not too much. Only that he is somebody you don't want to fuck with, and
this is proof." Said Darius as he pointed to the wreckage of the Kryton.
"It took ten thousand Elo'Quin to destroy him the first time around."
Orrin said.
Katsuhito stepped up to them. "We unfortunately do not have ten thousand
super-beings to help us." He said.
"I wish Tenchi were here." Aeka said. Ryoko nodded and two women hugged
each other for comfort. They had been and were still joined in the Great Bond
with one another and Tenchi. It was a sharing of thoughts, feelings, and souls
giving them a relationship that made all others pale by comparison.
"Ok! Here is the plan. We head across country to the house and gain
access to the lab. There must be something there we can use against this
monster." Washu said.
"Is the lab still connected with Jurai?" Aeka asked.
"Yes it is." Washu replied.
"Sounds good to me." Said Katsuhito.
"Sounds like a plan, I like it." Orrin said and they started walking over
the wreckage of the ship. All around them were the ruins of the local vicinity
of Tokyo Tower. There was nothing left of the tower itself after Kryton fired
on it at point blank range with all weapons. In the distance could be heard
thousands of emergency sirens from police and fire, search & rescue vehicles.
The whole scene reminded Ryoko of the events of 911 in America a few years ago.
The Dark One easily had the power to wipe them all off the face of the
planet without breaking a sweat, but it decided to let them live so it could
make them suffer later on. He had more important things to do that the moment.
The new host he was in was more than suited to his needs. I was physiologically
capable to handling the metabolic shift caused by his presence in the body, and
it could easily withstand the power he could summon at any given time. The
Regis had chosen well. It was a shame, he thought, that she was unable to be
here to see his resurrection that she made possible. But, it was time to move
on, and in his mind's eye he could feel the presence of the new young Regis she
had made before her untimely death. The Dark One took one more glance at his
prey as they scampered away to plot his demise, as if they could defeat him, and
then summoned his powers. A stable wormhole appeared in the air next to him and
he passed into it and vanished from sight.
Getting past all the police and military guard around the site of the
destruction was simple for a group of super-powerful beings and one greatest
genius scientist in the universe. The group wound their way through the streets
of Tokyo until they came to a train station. Katsuhito bought tickets for
Ohkawa for everyone. The ground sat together on the bullet train as it raced
along over the Japanese countryside.
"It doesn't really seem like home anymore." Ryoko said as she looked out
the window.
"Without Tenchi here it certainly doesn't." said Aeka.
"This is the first time we've ever really been apart from him for a
while." Said Ryoko.
Aeka nodded. "We've always been together, if not physically, but mentally
as well. We've grown accustomed to him being in our minds, so that even when he
wasn't in the same room he was always with us." She said.
"I certain Tenchi will come out of whatever it is he is in soon." Said
Washu.
"It's the thought of never seeing him again, never touching him again,
that frightens me." Said Aeka on the verge of tears.
"Stop Aeka or you're gonna make me cry." Ryoko said with tears welling in
eyes as well.
"Since the lab is still linked with Jurai why not just go through the
doorway and see him." Orrin told them.
Aeka and Ryoko looked at the alien prince and said, "We'll do that."
"The others are probably worried about us also." Katsuhito said.
"What I don't get is why that thing let us get away?" Ryoko asked.
Orrin smiled and looked at her. "It's playing with us. It know we don't
have the means to destroy it so it let us go." He said.
"So it likes to play mind games, eh?" Washu said.
"Not many of the original Elo'Quin from the time the Dark One was
destroyed were still around. But we heard a lot of really terrifying stories
about that thing." Yuko said.
"I though all the Elo'Quin died killing it." Ryoko said.
"Only those ten thousand. The Elo'Quin existed in the trillions at the
height of their civilization. Many of that generation were still alive when we
were born. Our grandmother was one." Darius explained.
"The Dark One is the source of the Darkling race. He is the most powerful
of them all." Orrin said.
"We've been through many tight situations. First Kagato, then Dr. Clay,
and then Yugi. But this, this one is different." Said Aeka.
"Everyone has a weakness. That thing must have one. There's gotta be a
way to stop it." Said Ryoko.
A few hours later the train stopped at the Ohkawa station. The group
caught a bus the rest of the way cross-country. Familiar landmarks began to
appear. Tenchi's high school, which was closed now due to the crisis in Tokyo,
the shops that they frequented from time to time to purchase groceries or sake,
and even the pavilion where the festival was held on that faithful night that
seemed to have happened so long ago.
"We're home." Aeka said.
"I suppose we are." Said Ryoko.
The bus let them off where Tenchi usually always did when coming home from
school. The long stairway to the shrine wound up the mountainside. The shrine
looked like it always did, and Katsuhito was surprised to find that somebody had
been keeping up the place. It was then that they remembered that they left
someone in charge of the house and shrine when they all left for Jurai in what
seemed like a million years ago.
"I wonder if Makoto and Aeko are still here?" Ryoko asked. Makoto had
been one of Tenchi's friends from school. Like Tenchi he had an alien love
interest in the form of the lovely Aeko. Soon after the disastrous quake that
occurred due to the shifting the moon's orbit the two arrived at the Masaki
residence. Tenchi and all of them left the two in charge of the place when they
left on Yagami for planet Jurai.
As they all reached the bottom of the stairs and the house came into view
they all knew they were finally home. Yet, without Tenchi there it didn't seem
like home anymore. The guardians, Azaka and Kamadake, were not in their usual
places at the main gate because they were back on Jurai.
"Hey! Long time no see!" Aeka yelled from the front porch. She had a
broom in her hand and was sweeping.
"You and Makoto stayed her all this time?" Ryoko asked in surprise.
"You guys left us in charge of the place, didn't you." Aeko said with a
smile.
"Thank you so much for looking after it for us like this." Said Aeka.
"No problem." Aeko told her.
"Where is Makoto?" Washu asked.
"Well, somebody came here before you guys did. Said he was waiting for
some friends to show up. Makoto and that person are in the kitchen." Aeko said.
"Oh. I wonder who it might be." said Aeka.
As the girls entered the house they suddenly felt a presence. That
presence opened itself to them and they urgently ran as fast as they could
towards the kitchen. The two almost slammed into each other as they crowded
through the kitchen door. Inside Makoto was sipping on some tea at the kitchen
table. Across from him sat a young man. The girls froze when they saw him, but
the wave of powerful emotions coming from both of them was almost too much for
either of them to contain.
"TENCHI!" they cried.
Tenchi Masaki stood up and opened up his arms. The girls ran to him and
wrapped their arms around him as tight as they could. They didn't want to ever
let him go again. They knew this was the real Tenchi because in their minds,
which he now opened up to them fully, was the feeling of his immense love for
both of them. Yet, somehow there was something different also.
"Oh my darling Tenchi, we missed you so much." Aeka sobbed.
"We thought we'd never ever see you again." Ryoko cried.
Tenchi returned their embrace and kissed them passionate one by one. "You
both know me better than that. I'd never leave you." He said.
Overwhelmed by his simple but sweet words they both sobbed into his chest,
drenching his shirt with tears.
"Well, looks like the mountain comes to Mohammad." Said Washu after see
Tenchi with the girls clinging to him. Her own eyes were starting to fill with
tears. She had been afraid of never seeing his face again either. Despite
everything that went on Washu loved Tenchi very much. He was a part of her
family, and she a part of his.
"Man, we thought you were like vegged out or something." Said Darius.
"Actually I was learning something." Tenchi said.
"Learning something, learning what?" Ryoko asked.
"Actually I sort of met someone, and little Washu has some explaining to
do also." Tenchi said.
"Me?" asked Washu with a perplexed look on her face.
"I know the truth Washu. I know why I was born." Said Tenchi.
"Of, course. Sasami told you." Said Aeka.
"No, that was just the tip of the iceberg. I know the real reason why,
and a whole lot more." He said.
Washu sat down at the table and poured herself a cup of tea. "Ok. What
did I do?" she asked.
"You, Tsunami, and Tokimi had foreseen the coming of the Darkness. You
knew your powers would be nothing compared to them, so you began to work to
create the ultimate warrior. However, none of you saw eye to eye on how to go
about it, so you went your separate ways to create your own." Said Tenchi.
Washu's face was one of total shock. "You spoke with Tokimi." She said.
"What? You mean Lady Tokimi?" Aeka asked.
"You made it sound as if she was the most evil being in existence." Tenchi
said giving Washu a scolding look.
Washu's face was blushed bright red and she said, "Well, you know me
Tenchi I tend to exaggerate. Hehehe!"
"Uh huh?" he said in response.
"What else did she tell you?" asked Washu.
"Its not what she told me, but what she showed me." He replied.
Tenchi looked at Orrin and asked, "Does the name Eli Prime have any
meaning to you?"
Orrin sat next to Washu at the table. Katsuhito went and sat next to
Makoto. Darius and Yuko stayed where they were totally transfixed on what
Tenchi was saying.
"It is the homeworld of the Elo'Quin Empire, but we were never able to
find it." He replied.
"I was there. Tokimi took me to Eli Prime. I saw the events that took
place that heralded the end of their civilization." Tenchi told him.
"You saw the first appearance of the Darkness?" Darius asked in surprise.
"WOW!" Yuko exclaimed.
"This won't be easy for you to hear, but you have to know the truth. The
Elo'Quin lied about the origin of the Darkness." Tenchi said.
"Huh? What do you mean? They came through a dimensional gateway the
Elo'Quin created on Eli Prime." Said Orrin.
"That isn't what happened at all. The Elo'Quin were experimenting but not
on dimensional portals." Tenchi said.
"What did they do then?" Orrin asked.
"They were experimenting on a life form in an attempt to create what they
called an living ethereal energy battery for implantation into their bodies."
Tenchi said.
Darius slammed his hands onto the tabletop. "Wait one fucking minute! Do
you mean that the Elo'Quin created the Darkness?" he asked.
"Before they woke up the first person they implanted one of the scientists
said that they hadn't done enough research into the true nature of the creatures
they were working with." Tenchi explained.
"It all makes sense. If they found a race that could function as ethereal
energy collectors then they could have re-engineered them into a kind of living
implant to store that energy in their bodies to boost their powers. Given the
aggressive nature of the Darkness, it is likely that the life forms they found
were not docile creatures, but actually aggressive predators." Said Washu.
"None of this was in the archives." Said Orrin with a shocked expression.
"If you created a race of beings capable of destroying whole universes
would you want to spread the word that it was your fault?" Washu asked him.
Orrin put his face in his hands and said, "Oh god."
"Where is Kagato?" Tenchi asked.
"He isn't Kagato anymore. He's some kind of thing now." Ryoko told him.
"I see. So the Dark One has come back already." Tenchi said.
"Yea, and he totally thrashed poor Kryton." Said Darius. Tenchi looked up
at him in surprise and then Ryoko said. "We tried to destroy it, but it was too
powerful for us."
"What happened?" Tenchi asked.
"He grabbed us out of the sky and buried Kryton half way into the ground
is what that son of a bitch did." Said Darius.
"I'm afraid he isn't going to be flying for quite a while. At least
until we can repair him." Said Washu.
"Nah. Just get his main system core functioning and he can rebuild
himself like last time." Said Orrin.
"Anyway, that fucker is on the loose and we have no way of stopping him."
Darius said.
"And, without a ship there isn't much we can." Said Aeka.
"I wouldn't exactly say we didn't have a ship." Said Tenchi.
"That's right, you came here in a ship." Ryoko said.
"Actually no, but there is a ship on its way." Tenchi replied.
"Huh? How did you get here then, and what ship is it?" Washu asked.
"She'll be here in just a minute. Go outside and see for yourself."
Tenchi told her.
The others looked at Tenchi with a strange expression and did as he said.
They all crowded onto the wooded patio outside of the house and looked into the
sky. Immediately a huge dark portal formed in the sky and out of it came a long
elegant Juraian starship. It was the Tsunami.
"Sasami!" Aeka shouted as the ship descended towards the pond and stopped
just above the waters. A tall figure materialized at the waters edge and it ran
towards them.
"Aeka!" Sasami cried as she reached her sister and embraced her.
"Oh Sasami, I missed you." Aeka said returning the embrace.
Katsuhito looked at the Tsunami and then back at Tenchi. Somehow he could
sense something different about Tenchi but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Hmmm. I guess now we have a ship." He said.
The President of the United States sat in the Oval Office and ran a tope
playing the alien message over and over again. She stopped the recording after
it played for the tenth time and sighed. What did it mean she thought? There
were few answers coming in. She called for the director of the CIA to come to
her office again. She was going to need him to gather information for her, and
this time he had to do whatever it took to get it.
"Director DeLandra his here, madam President" said a Secret Service agent
who opened the door to let the man in.
"Alex, what the hell is going on?" President Natalie Harrison asked.
"I have been running myself insane the past couple of hours. Some very
serious shit has gone down in Japan." He said.
"I heard; the message, the explosions, and the alien ship has crashed if
the reports on the news are correct." President Harrison said.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg. Apparently there has been a lot more
going on, a lot more going back years." Director DeLandra said. He opened his
briefcase and took out a stack of papers and photographs. "The mysterious
destruction of a high school in Ohkawa, Japan that has their arson specialist
scratching their heads to this day. The destruction of the Sato Bridge by an
alleged meteor that nobody can find evidence of. Reports of strange events
taking place in the city of Tokyo over a period of one year." He continued.
"My God." Was all the President could say as she looked at the photos and
paperwork.
"That isn't the worse of it. There is report from 1995 of a UFO appearing
over a suburb of Ohkawa. People report hearing a loud voice calling for a
person named Ryoko, loud explosions, and then a house mysteriously vanishes.
The house belongs to an architect by the name of Noboyuki Masaki. The house was
reported to have moved several miles to a rural region outside Ohkawa near a
Shinto shrine owned by the man's adopted father, Katsuhito Masaki. In the years
following there have been numerous reports of UFO sightings over that same
area." DeLandra said.
"What was the date the house vanished?" Pres. Harrison asked.
"July 7th, 1995 I believe." Directory DeLandra told her.
"This translation of the house relocation permit shows a date of August
17th." She said.
"Son of a bitch, it does." The director said after looking at the paper.
"Get somebody on this and ride it until we get some answers. All hell is
breaking loose out there. The Russians are on full nuclear alert, Israel is in
a state of war, a race war between blacks and Hispanics has broken out in
California, there are riots in the streets of London, and now this shit in
Tokyo!" The President told him. She her hand down on the papers DeLandra
brought to her.
"We're on it madam president." DeLandra said as he left the office.
Gaining access to the lab was easy. All Washu had to do was create
another gateway in subspace. It was in its customary spot in the broom closet
under the stairs. Everyone was gathered around Washu's holographic laptop as
she rapidly tapped out commands on the keyboard. A display of Kagato was on the
screen.
"According to this his metabolic and psychometric patterns have doubled
nearly one hundred percent." She said.
"Whatever that means." Said Ryoko.
"It means his body is in turbo charge mode." Washu told her.
"Is there any way we can exploit that?" Orrin asked.
"None that I can determine. Kagato's body modified by his Darkling Regent
parasite can easily withstand those forces, and more." She replied.
"What would happen if we killed the parasite?" Aeka asked.
"There may be a way to do that, but you'd have to survive long enough to
get close enough to him to do it." Orrin said.
"Stab a shaft of pure silver into the region where the parasite is.
Silver disrupts the flow of energy inside of a Darkling, and it should distract
it long enough for one of us to get close enough to finish him off." Orrin
explained.
"Sounds like a suicide mission." Said Ryoko.
"There is no way we could survive a frontal assault against that monster."
Said Darius.
"I agree with that." Said Washu.
"Where did he go, anyway?" Sasami asked.
Washu typed in a sequence of commands and a new display appeared. "He
isn't in Tokyo anymore, and neither are any of the other Darklings for that
matter. But, I do detect the trace of neutrino emissions that suggest that
wherever they went they did so via subspace." She said.
"Then they could be anywhere in the universe for all we know." Said Orrin.
"No, he's still on Earth." Said Tenchi.
"Huh?" everyone said at once and they looked at him except Washu. "I can
feel him. He is here on Earth. Whatever it is he wants it's on this planet."
He added.
"What he wants is you Tenchi, or more accurately your life essence. He
needs a huge recharge of power and your life force supplemented by your hidden
powers is exactly what he needs." Said Washu.
Ryoko's eyes went wide. "If Tenchi can feel this thing, can this thing
feel where Tenchi is?" she asked.
"Very likely." Said Washu.
Ryoko grabbed Tenchi's arms and started to pull him towards the door.
"Then lets run away from here. Get away from this planet as fast as possible."
She said.
"It won't do any good running. That thing will chase us down for all of
eternity to get what it wants." Washu told her.
"I have to face him." Said Tenchi. He turned to Ryoko and Aeka and placed
his hands on their shoulders. "I know you don't like it but this is my destiny
to face this monster. It is what I was born to do." He added.
"Tenchi." The girls said on the verge of crying.
Katsuhito pushed his glasses up on his face and said, "Something else
happened when you were talking with Lady Tokimi. Didn't it Tenchi?"
"Yes, grandpa, something else did happen. And I have to face this monster
or this universe and everyone in it is doomed." Tenchi replied.
Special Agent Daniel Nagasaki was attached to the special investigations
branch of the CIA. His job was to infiltrate and investigate suspected
terrorist groups. As it happens he was in Hong Kong at the time the events in
Tokyo went down. At the American consulate he received a call from Director
DeLandra requesting him to set his current assignment aside for one of greater
importance. He had been investigating suspected financial ties between the Hong
Kong mafia and a Palestinian group suspected of two car bombings in London over
the past two years. Daniel accepted the new assignment and headed for the Hong
Kong airport. Getting into Japan during its state of emergency would be
difficult, but Daniel discovered that DeLandra made sure he had to obstacles in
this path. The Director of the CIA even had agents from the Ohkawa Police
Department waiting for him at the airport in Tokyo.
The agents drove Agent Nagasaki all the way from Tokyo to Ohkawa. He was
the son of American Japanese who immigrated to the States before the outbreak of
World War II. He was fluent in speaking and reading Japanese, but this was the
first time he had been to the birthplace of his parents. His family lived in
rural Ohio and he father was a steel mill worker.
He did not have time to look at the beautiful scenery of the Japanese
countryside. He was too busy looking at the materials DeLandra faxed over to
him concerning this case. It was a matter of the highest national security. It
made him feel good that Alex DeLandra trusted him enough to carry out this
sensitive mission. After all, he was one of the best field agents in the CIA.
Daniel has seen action all over the world; Afghanistan, Cuba, South
Africa, Libya, Iran, Southern Ireland, and Soviet Russia before the fall of the
communist government. He'd been on all sorts of missions, but this one was the
strangest he ever been on in his entire career. His job to investigate a house
belonging to an architect named Noboyuki Masaki. His mission, find evidence of
alien involvement there and report back his findings directly to Washington.
"We are nearing the Masaki residence now, Agent Nagasaki" said the officer
who drove the car.
"Stop here. This is where I go alone, gentlemen." He told them.
"Sir?" the officer said.
"This is an urgent high security matter and I'm not at liberty to say any
more about it. Thank you for your assistance. You've done a great service to
both the government of the United States and the government of Japan. Thank
you." He told them. He got out of the car and headed for the stairs that lead
to the Masaki family shrine.
"I located him! He's on Easter Island!" Washu shouted. Everyone had left
the lab and were out in the house. It had been so long since they had been home
that the place almost seemed alien to them. Sasami and Aeko immediately went to
the kitchen. It had been so long since Sasami had many anything here and she
wanted to get back to work as usual. Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko sat on the couch
watching the world news coverage of events.
"What could he be doing on Easter Island?" Tenchi asked.
"Simple, Easter Island is a major nexus for the ethereal ley lines that
encircle the Earth." Said Washu.
"I thought that strange universe where our powers were doubled was the
only place with ley lines." Said Ryoko.
"Nope. Earth has ley lines, only not as strong as that other Earth did.
Even planet Jurai has ley lines." Said Washu.
Tenchi stood up and said, "We'd better get ready then."
"Easter Island is unpopulated, so there is no chance of innocent deaths.
We should take this opportunity now to get him." Said Orrin.
"Then let us go." Said Aeka.
They went outside and headed for the lake. Still hovering about the
surface was the beautiful form of the starship Tsunami. They stopped at the
edge of the waters and looked back at the house.
"Why do I get the strange feeling that this is going to be the last time
we see this place?" asked Ryoko.
"Your just nervous." Tenchi told her.
"I guess so." She replied.
"Once we get their we might run into those Darklings that went with him.
They are going to fight us like with an insane ferocity, so be ready." Orrin
told them.
"Ok, here we go." Said Sasami and she called upon the ship to teleport
them.
"FREEZE!" came a voice from behind them.
"Now what!" Ryoko shouted as she turned around and found the barrel of a
gun sticking in her face.
A tall, young Japanese man in a gray sport coat and slacks with a Glock
handgun stood on the patch from the shrine.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Ryoko.
"Special Agent Nagasaki of the CIA. Don't any of you move so much as a
muscle." The man said.
"We don't have time for this." Said Orrin.
"I said don't move, and don't say a word!" Agent Nagasaki shouted. He
reached into his sport coat with his other hand and pulled out a cell phone.
"Sasami, take him with us." Tenchi said.
"I said don't------WAAAAHHHH!!!!!" the man screamed as the world around
him suddenly fell away.
After several seconds of disorientation Daniel found himself in different
surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a huge room with a vaulted
ceiling, huge jutting architecture, and a scattering foliage. In one part of
the huge room was a massive, magnificent tree. The whole experience left him
petrified and he couldn't move.
"I'll take that. Thank you." Washu said as plucked the pistol from his
hand.
"W-w-w-w-where am I?" he asked.
"You're on our ship, the Tsunami. Although where we're going you'll wish
you'd stayed out of our way." Washu told him.
Daniel snapped out his paralyzing fear and he looked at these people more
carefully. The one who took his gun was a tall, beautiful woman with a mane
full of red hair. The other woman who had spoken after he shouted for them to
freeze was tall and just as alluring with powder blue hair in a spiked style.
Nest to her was a very lovely young woman with purple hair. The next was a tall
woman with long sky blue hair who looked like she was working some kind of
strange console. That woman was the most beautiful creature he had ever set his
eyes on. The next two appeared to be teenagers, a young man and a young girl.
Their resemblance to one another suggested that they might be twins. The last
three was a young Japanese teenager with black, short-cropped hair, a tall
elderly Japanese man wearing priest's robes, and a tall man who looked American
who wore a suite that was all black with a black cape.
"Who are you people?" Daniel asked.
"I'm Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe, that is my
daughter Ryoko, Princess Aeka, Tenchi, my boyfriend Orrin, his kids, Darius and
Yuko, Tenchi's grandfather Katsuhito, and Princess Sasami sister to Aeka is at
the helm." Washu said quickly.
"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?" he asked.
"Two more minutes and we'll be at Easter Island." Sasami said.
"That's where your base is, eh?" Daniel said with a suspicious look.
"No, that is where he is." Said Washu.
"He who?" Agent Nagasaki asked.
Washu went back to monitoring her instruments. It was then that she
discovered a strange energy pattern. As soon as she realized what it was she
gasped in shock. The Dark One was channeling the natural ethereal energies of
the Earth ley lines through his body. The creature concentrated the energy on
one point and hurled it into space. The energy ball traveled beyond the orbit
of the moon and suddenly changed.
"He's forming a dimensional rift in space!" she shouted.
"What!" everyone shouted in surprise.
"Oh no, he's gone! The Tsunami's sensors don't detect him on the island
anymore!" Sasami shouted.
"What the hell is going on? Somebody tell me what is happening here?"
Daniel asked again.
"We are trying to prevent a galactic apocalypse!" Orrin shouted back at
the man.
Washu watched her laptop as a spatial rift formed. From the maw of its
event horizon emerged a massive object. Orrin walked his way over and looked at
the display screen. His face turned white for a moment. The others looked also
and could not believe what they were seeing.
"What the hell is that?" Ryoko asked.
"It is a hive ship. The most powerful vessel in the Darkling fleet."
Orrin told her.
"That thing is almost as big as the damn Xevius was!" Washu exclaimed.
"It is nearly one-hundred times more lethal." Orrin said.
The massive hive ship fully emerged from the rift and immediately began to
expel thousands of smaller vessels. These and the hive ship itself turned onto
a course away from the Earth and raced off into deep space. Washu tracked their
course and checked her star charts to find out where they were heading. She
gasped when she saw what their destination was.
"They're heading for Jurai." She said.
"That is an attack force that is nearly one-hundred times larger than the
one they originally arrived with. This time I don't think even the disruption
wave generators will stop them." Orrin added.
"We have to do something!" Aeka cried. The thought an attack was heading
for Jurai that could overwhelm the defense forces there terrified her.
Tenchi walked up to Sasami and put his hand on her shoulder. The young,
beautiful woman who had been a child only a few days ago turned and looked into
his eyes. When Sasami did so she saw something in them, she was not afraid of
what she saw there, but she knew that this was not the same Tenchi she once knew
and adored. This Tenchi was a different person now. "Take us to Jurai." He
said. All she could do was nod, and then she turned to the command podium for
the ship and set a course for planet Jurai.
Life on Jurai was slowly beginning to get back to normal. The rebuilding
process was going to take some time though. It had been only a few days since
the great battle to liberate the capital and the palace had taken place. The
emperor of Jurai and his two wives enjoyed some private time in their private
suite in the palace. It had been a while since they'd been able to sit down and
relax since the great battle ended.
"The Minister of the Interior will have a report on the total amount of
damage to the capital city in the morning." Misaki said.
"Arch Prelate Annias and the Holy Council are calling a session tomorrow."
Fonaho added.
"What about?" the emperor asked.
"Some members of the other branch families have requested it. They want
to investigate the appointment of Tenchi as the official heir to the throne."
Fonaho told him.
Azusa stood up with surprise. "What?" he shouted.
"Some of the members of the other families feel that your appointment of
him as heir was in total disregard for regular royal protocol." Fonaho said.
"As far as I am concerned he is the only one suitable for the throne!"
Azusa yelled.
"That certainly is a major change in attitude." Misaki observed.
"That was before all of this happened, before I saw Tenchi for who he was
and understood that he was a good man. That he was good to my daughters, a
loving husband to Aeka, and willing to fight to protect a people he never knew."
The Emperor said.
"You need to go before the council and say that." Misaki said.
"Who in the branch families called for this investigation?" Azusa asked.
"Well, you will not be happy about this. It was Seiryu, and a few
others." Fonaho told him.
Azusa ran his hand down his face. He could not believe he actually tried
to saddle Aeka with such a pathetic shadow of a man. Seiryu was a stereotypical
foppish courtier. He was self-absorbed, arrogant, and annoying. The Emperor
shuttered at the thought of what his and Aeka's children would have looked like.
"That little weasel." Azusa growled under his breath.
"They can't withdraw Tenchi as the heir, can they?" asked Misaki.
"It would take a majority vote of the Holy Council to supersede the
Emperor's choice for heir to the throne. Unfortunately, much of the council is
made up of members of the families that filed the grievance concerning Tenchi's
appointment." Fonaho explained.
"Tenchi is married to Princess Aeka who is my daughter and who is
automatically next in line to the throne by proclamation of the law passed by
the Holy Council thousands of years ago!" Azusa shouted.
"That is true, but many in the branch families have become adept at using
the many loop holes in the laws to get their way. There is a chance, albeit a
very remote one, that they could get the council to name a different heir."
Fonaho said.
"And I thought our problems were over when these Darklings were defeated."
Azusa said.
A holographic image appeared in the middle of the room and the face of
Admiral Shakar appeared. The expression on his face was enough to make the
hairs on the back of Fonaho's head raise.
"I am sorry to interrupt your private time together, your majesties, but
we have just received a transmission from the Tsunami." Shakar said.
"Sasami. Where is she? She just ran off without telling anyone." Misaki
asked.
"She went to the planet Earth. Princess Aeka has been rescued, but now
there is very grave news." Shakar told them.
"What now?" Azusa asked in a exasperated tone.
"It appears that the Darklings have resurrected a being that Lord Orrin
calls the Dark One. It is a thousand times more powerful than a regular
Darkling. The creature opened a rift to another universe in space and called
forth a fleet of ships that is one hundred times larger than the initial
invasion force they used on us earlier. Worst yet, that force is on a direct
course for Jurai." The admiral told them.
"Declare a level 1 alert to all stations. I'll meet you in the command
center in one hour." Fonaho ordered.
"Yes, milady." Admiral Shakar said before signing off.
"It looks like this is not over quite yet." Said the Emperor.
"I only wish we knew where Tenchi went to. He disappeared all of a sudden
and we haven't seen him since he woke from his coma." Misaki said.
"I have a feeling we will see him soon." Said Fonaho.
The Tsunami was not know as the most powerful of all ships for nothing,
and its raw speed was one of its assets. The vessel easily overtook the
Darkling forces and arrived in Jurai space an hour and a half ahead of them.
The ship materialized in the middle of the largest mobilization of Juraian
starships in the history of the empire. Thousands of ships of all shapes and
sizes were everywhere. Some were the first generation ships that were extremely
powerful, and others were different generations that were not as strong. In
total there was half a million ships surrounding the homeworld of the Juraian
Empire.
"So many ships. I've never seen the entire fleet in one place before."
Aeka said in awe.
"This brings back a lot of really bad memories." Orrin said.
"Isn't that field thingy that's supposed to keep them from suppressing
magic still working?" Ryoko asked.
"It is, but against a force the size of the one that is coming it may not
make a difference." Orrin told her.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Aeka asked with a desperate look on her
face.
Tenchi pulled his two wives into his arms and they accepted his embrace
with all the love in their hearts. They could feel Tenchi's feeling for them
wash over them through the link, but also at the same time they felt something
different as well. It as an alien feeling they never sensed before, but it was
not frightening or threatening in any way.
"Tenchi?" said Ryoko as she tried to sense what this strange sensation
might be.
"Don't be afraid. I'm the same Tenchi you know and love, but I am also
different in ways you couldn't even begin to understand right now." He told
them.
"What happened to you?" Aeka asked.
"The sleeper has awakened." He replied.
Sasami patched a communication link with the royal palace. Fonaho had
already headed for the command center deep underneath the palace, but Misaki was
still with Azusa when Sasami's transmission was received. The Emperor and
Empress were pleased to see Tenchi alive and well, and were also very happy to
see Aeka safe. They were sympathetic when they learned what happened to Kryton.
"He can be repaired. Just reactivate his system core and he will
regenerate." Orrin explained.
"That is good." Misaki said with some relief. The ship had been
instrumental in saving the planet.
"What is this Dark One?" Azusa asked.
"He is the source of the Darkling race. The Elo'Quin destroyed his
original body millions of years ago. His essence is immortal, and to be
resurrected he needs a host that was as powerful as his original body. Kagato
was a suitable host, and thus the Regis was grooming him for that purpose."
Orrin explained.
"What does that do to Kagato?" Misaki asked.
"The man who was Kagato is gone forever. When the Dark One takes over a
host the previous mind and living essence are absorbed. Kagato no longer does
and no longer will ever exist again." Orrin told her.
"Good riddance." Said Ryoko.
"The force that is coming is made up several thousand Darkling vessels of
a more powerful class ship. Also, they have a hive ship with them. It is a
carrier for ships, a mobile base for hundreds of thousands of Darkling troops, a
flying fortress with the most powerful weapons in the Darkling fleet, and it can
even open portals to other dimensions." Orrin told them.
"Sweet Tsunami." Misaki gasped.
"I want the truth. Can our forces stand a chance against a force of that
magnitude?" Azusa asked.
"All I can tell you Emperor is what I know from experience. We faced a
force of this strength once before in my universe. When the battle was over we
won, but there was a terrible cost. The Earth was devastated, many races in the
galaxy were wiped out, and more than half of our entire fleet was left in ruins.
The death toll was unimaginable. It took an immense effort to keep civilization
together so we could recover from the disaster. Even four hundred years after
it was over we were still feeling the after effects of that battle." Orrin told
him.
Azusa had heard Orrin's explanation of the Great War with the Darkness
before. That was before he knew what they were really like, and just how
powerful the creatures really were. Now, after hearing the tale told again he
could not say anything. Azusa for the first time in his career as Emperor of
Jurai was afraid this could be the last day of the Juraian Empire. He looked
at Orrin in the holographic display and asked, "Is there anything that we can
do?"
"Yes. Pray."
Sasami positioned the Tsunami in among the fleet of Jurai to prepare for
the desperate battle ahead. She went to the planet and dropped Orrin, Washu,
Darius, Yuko, and Katsuhito off at the palace before taking up this position.
Aeka, Tenchi, and Ryoko decided to stay. The trio was standing on the bridge of
Ryo-Ohki, which hung in space next to the Tsunami. The countdown to the arrival
of the Darkling force had started. It was now fifteen minutes before their
arrival.
"Show no mercy Ryo-Ohki. These things are inhuman monsters so give them
all you've got." Ryoko told the Cabbit ship.
"Miya, miya miya miya!" Ryo-Ohki meowed in reply.
"Will she be able to fight them and make a difference?" Aeka asked.
"With all of my gems, Ryo-Ohki is now as powerful as the Tsunami." Ryoko
told her.
Tenchi touched the two on the shoulder with loving hands and said, "No
matter what happens, I don't want either of you coming after me."
"What do you mean?" Aeka asked. Ryoko looked back at Tenchi and thought
the same thing instead of saying it out loud.
"Just promise me you won't try and follow me. There is something I must
do when the Darkness arrives." He told them.
Ryoko turned and grabbed Tenchi by the shoulders. "What is going on?
What has happened to you?" she asked as tears started to fall down her face.
Tenchi closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel Ryoko's fear. Not
fear of him, but fear for him. He looked into her eyes, and then reached deep
into the minds of Aeka and Ryoko. The girls gasped, the sensation this caused
was close to that of an orgasm for a split second.
"This." Tenchi just said and suddenly a flurry of images raced through
their minds. When it was over the two staggered for a few seconds as if the
experience was physically tiring to them. The implications of what they just
saw in their minds were almost too much for them to comprehend.
"My god. Tenchi." Ryoko said quietly. Aeka could not say a word.
"I am still Tenchi. I love the both of you very much. I want to spend
the rest of my life with the both of you. But, at the same time I am not the
man I once was. I don't even fully understand the change inside of me, but I
know that this is what I was born for. This is my destiny." He told them.
The two embraced him tightly and exchanged loving kisses with him. He
asked them again, "Please, do you promise not to follow me?" They nodded this
time and he knew through the link that they were telling the truth. He held
them tighter and the love they felt for one another was soothing to their
troubled minds. Ryo-Ohki's frantic meowing brought the three back to reality.
"They're here." Ryoko said.
In the subterranean command center on Jurai, on the bridge of every ship
in the fleet, and even on the Tsunami warning klaxons sounded. Sensors detected
a massive distortion of subspace directly ahead of the fleet. The Juraian ships
had formed up on top of one another in a huge wall formation. The most powerful
ships went to the front, and the lesser ships stayed in back. The sky lit up
with bright white light as the vessels opened their Light Hawk Wings. The
Tsunami and Ryo-Ohki did the same, with the Tsunami forming ten, and Ryo-Ohki
forming six. As the last ship finished summoning their protective shields a
mammoth spatial anomaly formed in front of the fleet. Thousands of Darkling
ships of a class never before seen by Juraians emerged from the maw of the
anomaly. Then, behind them, slowly emerged the gargantuan hive ship. The
vessel was larger than the Xevius had been, and was more powerful as well. It
took some time for the massive vessel to fully emerge from the anomaly and
several thousand more ships arrived after it. When the subspace portal finally
closed there was a cloud of death surrounding the hive ship consisting of eight
hundred thousand ships.
"Holy shit." Ryoko said slowly.
Fonaho and Admiral Shakar looked at the image of the Darkling force on a
holographic display. Azusa and Misaki soon arrived in time to see the subspace
portal close. The official count of enemy ships appeared on the screen.
"Eight hundred thousand. Dear Tsunami, how are we going to survive this
day?" the Emperor said. It was more a statement than a question.
"All ships, engage the enemy! Fire at will!" Fonaho ordered.
The skies above Jurai lit up with the light of hundreds of thousands of
energy beams. High-resolution death was dealt back and forth between the two
massive fleets. Huge blossoming explosions on both sides bore testament to the
massive power that was being called forth. The COM channels were filled with
thousands of people barking orders or screaming out the last words they would
ever speak again. When a huge hole in the massive wall of ships was opened up
more ships would fly in to take their place and continue firing. Sasami could
feel and hear the cries of her children, the space trees, as they died. Tears
welled up in her eyes as she heard them, but she also knew that they we
willingly giving their lives so that millions more could live on. Ryo-Ohki and
the Tsunami weaved in and out among the maelstrom of energy blasts and added
their own to the fray. Ryoko screamed a loud battle cry as she dove the Cabbit
ship toward one Darkling vessel after another opening up with every weapon the
ship had. Ryo-Ohki's awesome power was more than enough to pierce the shields
of the enemy ships and send them to oblivion. The Tsunami did the same, but
there were so many ships that even their best efforts had little effect.
On Jurai Washu and Orrin watched the massive battle in a holographic
screen. They were in a large room main for entertaining guests of the royal
family. The furniture was ornate and comfortable, but despite the lavish
surrounds the two did not feel very good about being there.
"I should be up there." Orrin said.
"In what, the Kryton isn't going anywhere right now." Washu told him.
"I don't really need a ship." He said. Washu understood this. Orrin's
powers were awesome when he called forth its full strength. The only thing was
he could only use to as long as his strength held out. Immediately, Orrin
thought of something.
"Lend me your holographic computer for minute." He said and Washu summoned
it for him. Orrin started typing rapidly at the keyboard. Washu came behind
him and looked at his work over his shoulder. When she saw what he was doing
she smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
"You are one really devious bastard, aren't you?" she said.
A face appeared in a window on the computer. It appeared human, but the
life form reading in the instruments of Washu's advanced technology was able to
detect that the person was Satari. "Lord Orrin, what a surprise." The man said.
"Jorjan, listen I need a huge favor." Orrin said.
"Milord, there is nothing that anyone in this universe would not do for
you." The man said with a smile.
In space the battle raged on. Hundreds of ships fell on both sides of the
fight, but it appeared that the Juraians were making a different. That
unfortunately, to their sorrow, was only an illusion. The hive ship began to
open up with its four primary cannons. The blasts were a mile wide and they
incinerated hundreds of ships at a time. Their firing rate was slow however.
"All vessels begin evasive maneuvers. Don't let those guns lock onto
you." Admiral Shakar ordered.
"Those things will reduce the fleet to nothing in no time." Fonaho said.
A technician at one of the stations suddenly turned around from her post
and shouted, "Registering multiple spatial rifts forming behind the hive ship!"
"What?" Shakar, Fonaho, and Azusa all shouted at once.
In space dozens of rifts opened up and began to disgorge thousands of
Darkling ships. "We now register one million enemy ships in Juraian space@!"
the technician proclaimed.
"One million ships. How can we ever survive a force of that magnitude?"
Fonaho said and Azusa wrapped his arms around her as best he could from his
hover chair.
Onboard Ryo-Ohki, Tenchi and the girls witnessed the arrival of the
additional ships. This did not frighten them so much as it pissed them off.
"Damn those bastards!" Ryoko shouted with clenched fists. She issued a loud
battle cry and sent Ryo-Ohki charging into the mass of new arrivals with weapons
blazing. A few of the new ships were felled by Ryo-Ohki's awesome firepower.
"Ryoko, get me close to the hive ship. It is time." Tenchi said.
"Tenchi." Said Aeka.
"Remember your promise." He told both of them.
"Come back to us." Aeka told him.
Ryoko guided Ryo-Ohki through the mass of fighting ships. The Juraian
ships now mixed it up among Darkling ships to take the battle to them. Since
then the hive ship did not fire its four large guns or it would destroy its own
vessels. Soon the Ryo-Ohki was skimming the surface of the massive hive ship.
"I love you." Tenchi said before vanishing.
"We love you too." Aeka and Ryoko both said as they watched Tenchi
dematerialize.
With the addition of more vessels the Darklings were starting to win the
fight again. The larger first generation vessels of the Juraian fleet had a
better time of it, but the smaller less powerful consecutive generation ships
wee falling to the wayside. The tide of the battle had quickly shifted in favor
of the Darkness. Ryoko brought Ryo-Ohki back into the battle. The Cabbit ship
meowed defiantly as she dove into a group of enemy ships and cut loose with
everything she had.
"We have new signals. More anomalies forming all over the place!" the
technician in the command center cried out.
The Emperor's two wives were clutching to Azusa now. Terror gripped the
two now. The battle in space was nearing Jurai, and soon the massive hive ship
would be in range of the planet. The four beam cannons would make short work of
the orbital defenses surrounding the planet. Not to mention what they would do
to major population centers.
"Detecting one hundred rifts forming near Jurai!" the tech shouted.
In space the spatial rifts formed. Ryoko and Aeka watched in desperation
as the maw of hundreds appeared in space surrounding the planet. It looked like
all was lost for the Juraian Empire. What emerged from the rifts were not
Darkling ships however. Hundred of thousands of vessels of all shapes and sizes
arrived. The ships had the same alien organic appearance that Kryton possessed.
Several large ships of the line emerged as well, and one of them was massive.
A voice came over the COM channels that Juraians were using.
"This is the United Galactic Alliance Battle Cruiser Antares, Grand
Admiral Jorjan Holkoris speaking. All carriers deploy fighters and engage
targets at will. Happy hunting boys!"
Thousands of small fighters were suddenly disgorged from the larger ships
that arrived. Like an angry cloud of hornets, the fighters ranged in on the
Darkling fleet and dealt out their own brand of justice. Among the fighters
were heavier gun ships that were literally flying arsenals. This force alone
began to turn the tide of the battle once again.
"All battleships and battle cruisers concentrate firepower on that hive
ship. Don't let it get anywhere near the planet." Grand Admiral Jorjan ordered.
Everyone in the command center watched in total surprise as the new
arrivals suddenly began to join the fight, on their side. The power of these
newcomers was tremendous. That was evident in how quickly the fighters, gun
ships, and destroyers were reducing the numbers in the enemy fleet. The damage
being taken by the gargantuan hive ship was unimaginable.
"The United Galactic Alliance. Those are Lord Orrin's people." Fonaho
said.
"He must have called for help somehow." Misaki said.
In the palace Washu sat straddled on Orrin's lap and covered his face with
a flurry of kisses. "I love you! I love you! I love you!" she shouted. Orrin
accepted about three dozen kisses before he slowly lifted her up, and said, "I'd
better get up there. The fleet of powerful, but the Dark One is stronger."
Washu nodded and gave him one last kiss. Orrin called up a display of the
battle in space and concentrated on the image. He used his line of sight
teleportation ability and suddenly dematerialized and rematerialized out in
space. Washu sat and watched as a glowing aura surrounded Orrin's body and he
flew streaking through space. As he went he launched balls of energy at passing
enemy ships. The impacts were immense enough to thoroughly whole the ships he
was aiming at.
On the cavernous command deck of the Antares, Jorjan watched the battle
unfold from a complex array of holographic displays. Tactical data from every
ship in the fleet including the fighters poured into this command center. One
display focused in on a small form moving in and out among the enemy ships.
This tiny object was dealing out more destruction than any of the ships of the
fleet. "I wondered where he might be." Jorjan said as he watched his old friend
cut a swath of devastation through the Darkling fleet.
"Why did Lord Orrin leave to come to his universe, anyway?" another person
asked. He was Carl Reece, captain of the Antares and a resident of planet
Earth. He, Jorjan and Orrin had gotten to know one another very well before
Orrin left to come to this universe. Jorjan had known Orrin the longest. Being
a Satari he possessed the long lifespan of the species. He and Orrin had
traveled the stars together piecing the jigsaw puzzle of clues left behind by
the Elo'Quin in order to find the Star Gem Sword. Afterwards, they fought in
the Great War together against the Darkness.
"A woman, of course." Jorjan said with a smile.
"Yea, that is the Orrin we know and love alright." Captain Reece said.
The interior of the hive ship was dark and threatening. The atmosphere
was damp leaving the living, organic walls covered in moisture. A thick white
mist covered the floor as if somebody had turned on a smoke machine and left it
running. Strange alien sounds issued from every direction either by the bizarre
organic technology that ran the ship or from the thousands of Darkling that made
up the crew. The crew mostly deserted the part of the ship that Tenchi found
himself in. This section was deep inside the ship and thus did not need any
special protection. That did not mean there weren't any guards.
Tenchi rounded a blind corner and found himself face to face with four
Darklings. They charged their powers to strike him down quickly. They didn't
have a chance. Tenchi raised one hand and unleashed a maelstrom of energy that
obliterated them in seconds. Once the dust settled the continued on his way as
if nothing happened at all. He came to a massive set of blast doors. He
prepared to charge up for a strike when the doors suddenly began to open on
their own. Once there was an opening large enough for him to walked through
Tenchi moved. He found himself a cavernous chamber that so large you could not
see the ceiling or the walls. The floor was a huge walkway that appeared to be
suspended in the air. At the far end of the enormous chamber was a huge high
backed throne. Seated in that throne was the creature in Kagato's body, the
Dark One.
"Impressive. So you are the Champion of Light in this universe." The
Kagato thing said in an inhuman voice.
"I have come to warn you to leave Jurai alone or pay the price." Tenchi
said.
The thing laughed and the sound made the hairs on the back of Tenchi's
next rise. "You are in no such position to warn me of anything." It said.
"You're wrong. If you do not heed my warning I will destroy you." Tenchi
said calmly.
"Certainly must you must be joking." The creature laughed.
"Why don't you find out." Tenchi said as he took a fighting stance.
The thing in Kagato's form stood up and chuckled under its breath. "Why
not, I haven't had a good battle in a million years, and your essence will help
to fuel the destruction of these pathetic Juraians."
The Dark One immediately transformed into its monstrous form. It was the
same as the thing Tenchi remembered from the scene he watched on Eli Prime as it
cut a swath of destruction through the capital city.
"I will enjoy destroying you. And, your wives, ah, I see. I can sense
your link with them now. I will enjoy pleasuring myself with them before I kill
them. Especially the one named, Ryoko. She is most pleasant to the eyes.
Maybe I'll make her a Regis so I can have her whenever I want, and however I
want." The thing said imperiously.
Tenchi in a fit of sudden rage launched a burst of massive energy. It
splashed against the Dark One but did not appear to do any damage at all.
"I certainly hope that isn't all you have. I'd like this to be at least
some of a challenge." It said.
The Dark One let loose with a maelstrom of power it had not released in a
long time. Tenchi erected a shield around himself and deflected the attack.
"Very good!" the beast shouted.
"This is you last warning. Heed it or die!" Tenchi shouted.
The monster's response was a more massive barrage of energy. Tenchi
deflected it with ease. This appeared to enrage the creature that made it
unleash and even stronger attack.
"Why won't you die?" It cried, as its last attack had no effect.
Tenchi prepared to attack, but ended up putting up a new defense as the
Dark One let loose with a strike stronger than it had ever unleashed before.
"Admiral, we're detecting an immense surge of energy inside the hive
ship." Said a technician on the command deck of the Antares.
Jorjan and Captain Reece turned and looked at the data display. "We
didn't hit the core did we?" Captain Reece asked.
"Negative." The tech replied.
"Whatever it is it's tearing that thing apart from the inside. Move the
fleet away from the hive ship and warn the Juraians to do the same." Jorjan
ordered.
The attacking Juraian and UGA ships suddenly broke ranks and made a run
for it. Ryoko and Sasami followed each other after receiving the warning. The
two girls were fearful for Tenchi, but something told them he was going to be
alright. Suddenly, the great Darkling hive ship erupted in a massive explosion
that incinerated nearly all of the other Darkling vessels around it. The
shockwave hit the fleet and personnel all over were thrown from their stations
by the force. Ryoko managed to maintain control of Ryo-Ohki through it all and
looked back at the remains of the hive ship. All that was left was a giant
expanding cloud of gasses and debris.
"Tenchi."
A whirlwind of energy, gasses and debris swirled around the combatants as
the hive ship exploded around them. The Dark One was unfazed by the blast, and
Tenchi did not seen to be effected either. The storm settled into a nebula like
cloud of gas and free floating debris.
"My turn." Said Tenchi.
Three Wings of the Light Hawk materialized in front of Tenchi, but they
were unlike any Light Hawk Wings ever seen. Instead of bluish white these
appeared to be red. Two of the wings merged with him to form the holy armor,
and the third went into his hand to become the magical Light Hawk Sword, but
this time the blade was bright red.
"This power, I have never sensed anything like it. What is this power?"
the Dark One yelled in surprise.
Aeka and Ryoko could see through the expanding dust cloud now and saw
Tenchi and the monstrous Dark One facing off against one another. They
witnessed Tenchi summoning the power of the Light Hawk Wings, but their
different appearance was a shock to them.
"What kind of Light Hawk Wings are those?" Aeka asked.
On Jurai in the command center the royals watch in fascination as Tenchi
deployed with looked like a new kind of power, but Washu in another part of the
palace had a very different reaction.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Washu cried.
"What is it?" Orrin asked with concern.
"It's the Crimson Light Hawk Wings! Oh god! Tenchi what has become of
you?" Washu shouted and put her face into her hands.
"What is it?" Orrin asked again, except louder this time.
"You don't understand. No one god or goddess can summon the Crimson Light
Hawk Wings. It takes dozens together to summon just one by combining their
powers together! The Light Hawk Wings have the power of material conversion,
but these, these can mold and shape the very fabric of reality itself as if it
were putty!" she cried.
The Dark One charged Tenchi unleashing every once of power it had. To its
horror the energy it was releasing was absorbed into Tenchi's sword.
"It is not possible!" It cried.
The thing attacked again and this time raced towards Tenchi at immense
speed. Tenchi let out a loud battle cry and raised the Crimson Light Hawk
Sword. A massive burst of energy and light splashed out into space from the
point of impact. The blast was visible from the daylight surface of Jurai. On
the command deck of the Antares the amount of power let loose was too much for
their instruments to measure, and it exceeded the capabilities of Washu's
instruments to fully read. A loud mournfully cry, in the voice of the Dark One,
issued in everyone's mind at once. "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Tired and battered, the Ryo-Ohki teleported her passengers to the surface
of planet Jurai. They were in a large open field somewhere in the middle of a
forest. She transformed to Cabbit form and landed with a thud in the grass.
Ryoko ran up and scooped her up into her arms and nuzzled the tired little
creature.
"You did really good up there, Ryo-Ohki." Ryoko told the little creature.
"Miya." The Cabbit meowed as her eyes whirled around dizzily before it
collapsed into sleep.
"Where is Tenchi?" Aeka asked. She looked up into the sky for any sign of
any other ship.
Ryoko looked up into the sky and gasped as a red light streaked through
the sky. The light flew over the field and plowed into the ground. Energy
splashed along the ground in all directions. Wherever the energy touched the
ground a myriad of brightly colored flowers suddenly sprang to life. Soon the
entire field was covered with rightly colored blossoms. Once the red energy
dissipated the familiar form of Tenchi was revealed.
"Tenchi!" the girls cried and they ran to him with their arms
outstretched. Tenchi ran to them and grabbed both women up in his arms. They
kissed him all over his face, and it their excitement they did not realize that
Tenchi and two of them were flying off the ground.
"Tenchi?" Ryoko said.
"I'm tired. Lets go home." He said. The girls just hung onto him
lovingly as they floated through the sky.
=============================
TO BE CONTINUED...
NEXT TIME...
CAHPTER FOUR: RETURN OF THE LIGHT
The battle with the Ultimate Evil, the Dark One, is finally over. It is a time
to start picking up the pieces, sweep up the ashes, and rebuild what has been
destroyed. The conclusion to "The Dark Lord of Jurai", but the story is only
just beginning...
Pioneer. All Rights Reserved. This work of fiction is written for
entertainment purposes only and not for profit.
=============================
NOTES: This is the chapter I've been waiting two long years to finally write.
I can't believe I finally got this far. I have only more to go and I am
finished with this saga. I hope you really enjoy it as much I do.
=============================
THE DARK LORD OF JURAI
EPISODE THREE - NO NEED FOR AN APPOCALYPSE
By Michael "The-Zorch" Haney
CHAPTER THREE: THE DARK ONE
=============================
Ryoko, Aeka and Katsuhito climbed out of the wreckage of what had once
been the most advanced and powerful starship in the universe next to the Tsunami
itself. Following close behind came Washu with the owner of the ship, Prince
Orrin Quintarin. The ship had been thrown to the Earth by the immense powers of
a creature that could only be described as the ultimate evil in the universe.
The Dark One, the source of the Darkling race.
Darius and Yuko, Orrin's children, also climbed form the wreckage of the
once great ship and looked around at the destruction. They had all come here to
save Princess Aeka form Kagato who kidnapped her. They succeeded in saving her,
but they failed to prevent the Dark One from entering Kagato's body. Thus, the
incredibly evil entity is reborn to wreak havoc upon the universe once again.
Orrin attempted to destroy the monster by firing everything the ship had
at Tokyo Tower, but in the aftermath of the devastation the thing was still
alive. Then, they tried an ultimate weapon that Washu had made a long time ago,
but it was totally useless against this beast. When Orrin attempted to lure the
thing away from the Earth, the Dark One had different plans. He grabbed the
ship called the Kryton out of the sky and slammed it with all his might into the
Earth crippling it. Now they were without a ship and faced with fighting a
creature that was a million times more powerful than all of them combined.
"This is fucking great!" Darius yelled as he looked at the ruined Kryton.
"Would you shut your fucking mouth for once!" Yuko shouted back at him.
"Both of you shut the fuck up! We have to think!" Orrin shouted.
Ryoko looked into the sky where the Dark One in Kagato's body still
floated in place. "Think hell, that thing is still above us." She said.
"What do you know about the Dark One?" Washu asked.
"Not too much. Only that he is somebody you don't want to fuck with, and
this is proof." Said Darius as he pointed to the wreckage of the Kryton.
"It took ten thousand Elo'Quin to destroy him the first time around."
Orrin said.
Katsuhito stepped up to them. "We unfortunately do not have ten thousand
super-beings to help us." He said.
"I wish Tenchi were here." Aeka said. Ryoko nodded and two women hugged
each other for comfort. They had been and were still joined in the Great Bond
with one another and Tenchi. It was a sharing of thoughts, feelings, and souls
giving them a relationship that made all others pale by comparison.
"Ok! Here is the plan. We head across country to the house and gain
access to the lab. There must be something there we can use against this
monster." Washu said.
"Is the lab still connected with Jurai?" Aeka asked.
"Yes it is." Washu replied.
"Sounds good to me." Said Katsuhito.
"Sounds like a plan, I like it." Orrin said and they started walking over
the wreckage of the ship. All around them were the ruins of the local vicinity
of Tokyo Tower. There was nothing left of the tower itself after Kryton fired
on it at point blank range with all weapons. In the distance could be heard
thousands of emergency sirens from police and fire, search & rescue vehicles.
The whole scene reminded Ryoko of the events of 911 in America a few years ago.
The Dark One easily had the power to wipe them all off the face of the
planet without breaking a sweat, but it decided to let them live so it could
make them suffer later on. He had more important things to do that the moment.
The new host he was in was more than suited to his needs. I was physiologically
capable to handling the metabolic shift caused by his presence in the body, and
it could easily withstand the power he could summon at any given time. The
Regis had chosen well. It was a shame, he thought, that she was unable to be
here to see his resurrection that she made possible. But, it was time to move
on, and in his mind's eye he could feel the presence of the new young Regis she
had made before her untimely death. The Dark One took one more glance at his
prey as they scampered away to plot his demise, as if they could defeat him, and
then summoned his powers. A stable wormhole appeared in the air next to him and
he passed into it and vanished from sight.
Getting past all the police and military guard around the site of the
destruction was simple for a group of super-powerful beings and one greatest
genius scientist in the universe. The group wound their way through the streets
of Tokyo until they came to a train station. Katsuhito bought tickets for
Ohkawa for everyone. The ground sat together on the bullet train as it raced
along over the Japanese countryside.
"It doesn't really seem like home anymore." Ryoko said as she looked out
the window.
"Without Tenchi here it certainly doesn't." said Aeka.
"This is the first time we've ever really been apart from him for a
while." Said Ryoko.
Aeka nodded. "We've always been together, if not physically, but mentally
as well. We've grown accustomed to him being in our minds, so that even when he
wasn't in the same room he was always with us." She said.
"I certain Tenchi will come out of whatever it is he is in soon." Said
Washu.
"It's the thought of never seeing him again, never touching him again,
that frightens me." Said Aeka on the verge of tears.
"Stop Aeka or you're gonna make me cry." Ryoko said with tears welling in
eyes as well.
"Since the lab is still linked with Jurai why not just go through the
doorway and see him." Orrin told them.
Aeka and Ryoko looked at the alien prince and said, "We'll do that."
"The others are probably worried about us also." Katsuhito said.
"What I don't get is why that thing let us get away?" Ryoko asked.
Orrin smiled and looked at her. "It's playing with us. It know we don't
have the means to destroy it so it let us go." He said.
"So it likes to play mind games, eh?" Washu said.
"Not many of the original Elo'Quin from the time the Dark One was
destroyed were still around. But we heard a lot of really terrifying stories
about that thing." Yuko said.
"I though all the Elo'Quin died killing it." Ryoko said.
"Only those ten thousand. The Elo'Quin existed in the trillions at the
height of their civilization. Many of that generation were still alive when we
were born. Our grandmother was one." Darius explained.
"The Dark One is the source of the Darkling race. He is the most powerful
of them all." Orrin said.
"We've been through many tight situations. First Kagato, then Dr. Clay,
and then Yugi. But this, this one is different." Said Aeka.
"Everyone has a weakness. That thing must have one. There's gotta be a
way to stop it." Said Ryoko.
A few hours later the train stopped at the Ohkawa station. The group
caught a bus the rest of the way cross-country. Familiar landmarks began to
appear. Tenchi's high school, which was closed now due to the crisis in Tokyo,
the shops that they frequented from time to time to purchase groceries or sake,
and even the pavilion where the festival was held on that faithful night that
seemed to have happened so long ago.
"We're home." Aeka said.
"I suppose we are." Said Ryoko.
The bus let them off where Tenchi usually always did when coming home from
school. The long stairway to the shrine wound up the mountainside. The shrine
looked like it always did, and Katsuhito was surprised to find that somebody had
been keeping up the place. It was then that they remembered that they left
someone in charge of the house and shrine when they all left for Jurai in what
seemed like a million years ago.
"I wonder if Makoto and Aeko are still here?" Ryoko asked. Makoto had
been one of Tenchi's friends from school. Like Tenchi he had an alien love
interest in the form of the lovely Aeko. Soon after the disastrous quake that
occurred due to the shifting the moon's orbit the two arrived at the Masaki
residence. Tenchi and all of them left the two in charge of the place when they
left on Yagami for planet Jurai.
As they all reached the bottom of the stairs and the house came into view
they all knew they were finally home. Yet, without Tenchi there it didn't seem
like home anymore. The guardians, Azaka and Kamadake, were not in their usual
places at the main gate because they were back on Jurai.
"Hey! Long time no see!" Aeka yelled from the front porch. She had a
broom in her hand and was sweeping.
"You and Makoto stayed her all this time?" Ryoko asked in surprise.
"You guys left us in charge of the place, didn't you." Aeko said with a
smile.
"Thank you so much for looking after it for us like this." Said Aeka.
"No problem." Aeko told her.
"Where is Makoto?" Washu asked.
"Well, somebody came here before you guys did. Said he was waiting for
some friends to show up. Makoto and that person are in the kitchen." Aeko said.
"Oh. I wonder who it might be." said Aeka.
As the girls entered the house they suddenly felt a presence. That
presence opened itself to them and they urgently ran as fast as they could
towards the kitchen. The two almost slammed into each other as they crowded
through the kitchen door. Inside Makoto was sipping on some tea at the kitchen
table. Across from him sat a young man. The girls froze when they saw him, but
the wave of powerful emotions coming from both of them was almost too much for
either of them to contain.
"TENCHI!" they cried.
Tenchi Masaki stood up and opened up his arms. The girls ran to him and
wrapped their arms around him as tight as they could. They didn't want to ever
let him go again. They knew this was the real Tenchi because in their minds,
which he now opened up to them fully, was the feeling of his immense love for
both of them. Yet, somehow there was something different also.
"Oh my darling Tenchi, we missed you so much." Aeka sobbed.
"We thought we'd never ever see you again." Ryoko cried.
Tenchi returned their embrace and kissed them passionate one by one. "You
both know me better than that. I'd never leave you." He said.
Overwhelmed by his simple but sweet words they both sobbed into his chest,
drenching his shirt with tears.
"Well, looks like the mountain comes to Mohammad." Said Washu after see
Tenchi with the girls clinging to him. Her own eyes were starting to fill with
tears. She had been afraid of never seeing his face again either. Despite
everything that went on Washu loved Tenchi very much. He was a part of her
family, and she a part of his.
"Man, we thought you were like vegged out or something." Said Darius.
"Actually I was learning something." Tenchi said.
"Learning something, learning what?" Ryoko asked.
"Actually I sort of met someone, and little Washu has some explaining to
do also." Tenchi said.
"Me?" asked Washu with a perplexed look on her face.
"I know the truth Washu. I know why I was born." Said Tenchi.
"Of, course. Sasami told you." Said Aeka.
"No, that was just the tip of the iceberg. I know the real reason why,
and a whole lot more." He said.
Washu sat down at the table and poured herself a cup of tea. "Ok. What
did I do?" she asked.
"You, Tsunami, and Tokimi had foreseen the coming of the Darkness. You
knew your powers would be nothing compared to them, so you began to work to
create the ultimate warrior. However, none of you saw eye to eye on how to go
about it, so you went your separate ways to create your own." Said Tenchi.
Washu's face was one of total shock. "You spoke with Tokimi." She said.
"What? You mean Lady Tokimi?" Aeka asked.
"You made it sound as if she was the most evil being in existence." Tenchi
said giving Washu a scolding look.
Washu's face was blushed bright red and she said, "Well, you know me
Tenchi I tend to exaggerate. Hehehe!"
"Uh huh?" he said in response.
"What else did she tell you?" asked Washu.
"Its not what she told me, but what she showed me." He replied.
Tenchi looked at Orrin and asked, "Does the name Eli Prime have any
meaning to you?"
Orrin sat next to Washu at the table. Katsuhito went and sat next to
Makoto. Darius and Yuko stayed where they were totally transfixed on what
Tenchi was saying.
"It is the homeworld of the Elo'Quin Empire, but we were never able to
find it." He replied.
"I was there. Tokimi took me to Eli Prime. I saw the events that took
place that heralded the end of their civilization." Tenchi told him.
"You saw the first appearance of the Darkness?" Darius asked in surprise.
"WOW!" Yuko exclaimed.
"This won't be easy for you to hear, but you have to know the truth. The
Elo'Quin lied about the origin of the Darkness." Tenchi said.
"Huh? What do you mean? They came through a dimensional gateway the
Elo'Quin created on Eli Prime." Said Orrin.
"That isn't what happened at all. The Elo'Quin were experimenting but not
on dimensional portals." Tenchi said.
"What did they do then?" Orrin asked.
"They were experimenting on a life form in an attempt to create what they
called an living ethereal energy battery for implantation into their bodies."
Tenchi said.
Darius slammed his hands onto the tabletop. "Wait one fucking minute! Do
you mean that the Elo'Quin created the Darkness?" he asked.
"Before they woke up the first person they implanted one of the scientists
said that they hadn't done enough research into the true nature of the creatures
they were working with." Tenchi explained.
"It all makes sense. If they found a race that could function as ethereal
energy collectors then they could have re-engineered them into a kind of living
implant to store that energy in their bodies to boost their powers. Given the
aggressive nature of the Darkness, it is likely that the life forms they found
were not docile creatures, but actually aggressive predators." Said Washu.
"None of this was in the archives." Said Orrin with a shocked expression.
"If you created a race of beings capable of destroying whole universes
would you want to spread the word that it was your fault?" Washu asked him.
Orrin put his face in his hands and said, "Oh god."
"Where is Kagato?" Tenchi asked.
"He isn't Kagato anymore. He's some kind of thing now." Ryoko told him.
"I see. So the Dark One has come back already." Tenchi said.
"Yea, and he totally thrashed poor Kryton." Said Darius. Tenchi looked up
at him in surprise and then Ryoko said. "We tried to destroy it, but it was too
powerful for us."
"What happened?" Tenchi asked.
"He grabbed us out of the sky and buried Kryton half way into the ground
is what that son of a bitch did." Said Darius.
"I'm afraid he isn't going to be flying for quite a while. At least
until we can repair him." Said Washu.
"Nah. Just get his main system core functioning and he can rebuild
himself like last time." Said Orrin.
"Anyway, that fucker is on the loose and we have no way of stopping him."
Darius said.
"And, without a ship there isn't much we can." Said Aeka.
"I wouldn't exactly say we didn't have a ship." Said Tenchi.
"That's right, you came here in a ship." Ryoko said.
"Actually no, but there is a ship on its way." Tenchi replied.
"Huh? How did you get here then, and what ship is it?" Washu asked.
"She'll be here in just a minute. Go outside and see for yourself."
Tenchi told her.
The others looked at Tenchi with a strange expression and did as he said.
They all crowded onto the wooded patio outside of the house and looked into the
sky. Immediately a huge dark portal formed in the sky and out of it came a long
elegant Juraian starship. It was the Tsunami.
"Sasami!" Aeka shouted as the ship descended towards the pond and stopped
just above the waters. A tall figure materialized at the waters edge and it ran
towards them.
"Aeka!" Sasami cried as she reached her sister and embraced her.
"Oh Sasami, I missed you." Aeka said returning the embrace.
Katsuhito looked at the Tsunami and then back at Tenchi. Somehow he could
sense something different about Tenchi but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Hmmm. I guess now we have a ship." He said.
The President of the United States sat in the Oval Office and ran a tope
playing the alien message over and over again. She stopped the recording after
it played for the tenth time and sighed. What did it mean she thought? There
were few answers coming in. She called for the director of the CIA to come to
her office again. She was going to need him to gather information for her, and
this time he had to do whatever it took to get it.
"Director DeLandra his here, madam President" said a Secret Service agent
who opened the door to let the man in.
"Alex, what the hell is going on?" President Natalie Harrison asked.
"I have been running myself insane the past couple of hours. Some very
serious shit has gone down in Japan." He said.
"I heard; the message, the explosions, and the alien ship has crashed if
the reports on the news are correct." President Harrison said.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg. Apparently there has been a lot more
going on, a lot more going back years." Director DeLandra said. He opened his
briefcase and took out a stack of papers and photographs. "The mysterious
destruction of a high school in Ohkawa, Japan that has their arson specialist
scratching their heads to this day. The destruction of the Sato Bridge by an
alleged meteor that nobody can find evidence of. Reports of strange events
taking place in the city of Tokyo over a period of one year." He continued.
"My God." Was all the President could say as she looked at the photos and
paperwork.
"That isn't the worse of it. There is report from 1995 of a UFO appearing
over a suburb of Ohkawa. People report hearing a loud voice calling for a
person named Ryoko, loud explosions, and then a house mysteriously vanishes.
The house belongs to an architect by the name of Noboyuki Masaki. The house was
reported to have moved several miles to a rural region outside Ohkawa near a
Shinto shrine owned by the man's adopted father, Katsuhito Masaki. In the years
following there have been numerous reports of UFO sightings over that same
area." DeLandra said.
"What was the date the house vanished?" Pres. Harrison asked.
"July 7th, 1995 I believe." Directory DeLandra told her.
"This translation of the house relocation permit shows a date of August
17th." She said.
"Son of a bitch, it does." The director said after looking at the paper.
"Get somebody on this and ride it until we get some answers. All hell is
breaking loose out there. The Russians are on full nuclear alert, Israel is in
a state of war, a race war between blacks and Hispanics has broken out in
California, there are riots in the streets of London, and now this shit in
Tokyo!" The President told him. She her hand down on the papers DeLandra
brought to her.
"We're on it madam president." DeLandra said as he left the office.
Gaining access to the lab was easy. All Washu had to do was create
another gateway in subspace. It was in its customary spot in the broom closet
under the stairs. Everyone was gathered around Washu's holographic laptop as
she rapidly tapped out commands on the keyboard. A display of Kagato was on the
screen.
"According to this his metabolic and psychometric patterns have doubled
nearly one hundred percent." She said.
"Whatever that means." Said Ryoko.
"It means his body is in turbo charge mode." Washu told her.
"Is there any way we can exploit that?" Orrin asked.
"None that I can determine. Kagato's body modified by his Darkling Regent
parasite can easily withstand those forces, and more." She replied.
"What would happen if we killed the parasite?" Aeka asked.
"There may be a way to do that, but you'd have to survive long enough to
get close enough to him to do it." Orrin said.
"Stab a shaft of pure silver into the region where the parasite is.
Silver disrupts the flow of energy inside of a Darkling, and it should distract
it long enough for one of us to get close enough to finish him off." Orrin
explained.
"Sounds like a suicide mission." Said Ryoko.
"There is no way we could survive a frontal assault against that monster."
Said Darius.
"I agree with that." Said Washu.
"Where did he go, anyway?" Sasami asked.
Washu typed in a sequence of commands and a new display appeared. "He
isn't in Tokyo anymore, and neither are any of the other Darklings for that
matter. But, I do detect the trace of neutrino emissions that suggest that
wherever they went they did so via subspace." She said.
"Then they could be anywhere in the universe for all we know." Said Orrin.
"No, he's still on Earth." Said Tenchi.
"Huh?" everyone said at once and they looked at him except Washu. "I can
feel him. He is here on Earth. Whatever it is he wants it's on this planet."
He added.
"What he wants is you Tenchi, or more accurately your life essence. He
needs a huge recharge of power and your life force supplemented by your hidden
powers is exactly what he needs." Said Washu.
Ryoko's eyes went wide. "If Tenchi can feel this thing, can this thing
feel where Tenchi is?" she asked.
"Very likely." Said Washu.
Ryoko grabbed Tenchi's arms and started to pull him towards the door.
"Then lets run away from here. Get away from this planet as fast as possible."
She said.
"It won't do any good running. That thing will chase us down for all of
eternity to get what it wants." Washu told her.
"I have to face him." Said Tenchi. He turned to Ryoko and Aeka and placed
his hands on their shoulders. "I know you don't like it but this is my destiny
to face this monster. It is what I was born to do." He added.
"Tenchi." The girls said on the verge of crying.
Katsuhito pushed his glasses up on his face and said, "Something else
happened when you were talking with Lady Tokimi. Didn't it Tenchi?"
"Yes, grandpa, something else did happen. And I have to face this monster
or this universe and everyone in it is doomed." Tenchi replied.
Special Agent Daniel Nagasaki was attached to the special investigations
branch of the CIA. His job was to infiltrate and investigate suspected
terrorist groups. As it happens he was in Hong Kong at the time the events in
Tokyo went down. At the American consulate he received a call from Director
DeLandra requesting him to set his current assignment aside for one of greater
importance. He had been investigating suspected financial ties between the Hong
Kong mafia and a Palestinian group suspected of two car bombings in London over
the past two years. Daniel accepted the new assignment and headed for the Hong
Kong airport. Getting into Japan during its state of emergency would be
difficult, but Daniel discovered that DeLandra made sure he had to obstacles in
this path. The Director of the CIA even had agents from the Ohkawa Police
Department waiting for him at the airport in Tokyo.
The agents drove Agent Nagasaki all the way from Tokyo to Ohkawa. He was
the son of American Japanese who immigrated to the States before the outbreak of
World War II. He was fluent in speaking and reading Japanese, but this was the
first time he had been to the birthplace of his parents. His family lived in
rural Ohio and he father was a steel mill worker.
He did not have time to look at the beautiful scenery of the Japanese
countryside. He was too busy looking at the materials DeLandra faxed over to
him concerning this case. It was a matter of the highest national security. It
made him feel good that Alex DeLandra trusted him enough to carry out this
sensitive mission. After all, he was one of the best field agents in the CIA.
Daniel has seen action all over the world; Afghanistan, Cuba, South
Africa, Libya, Iran, Southern Ireland, and Soviet Russia before the fall of the
communist government. He'd been on all sorts of missions, but this one was the
strangest he ever been on in his entire career. His job to investigate a house
belonging to an architect named Noboyuki Masaki. His mission, find evidence of
alien involvement there and report back his findings directly to Washington.
"We are nearing the Masaki residence now, Agent Nagasaki" said the officer
who drove the car.
"Stop here. This is where I go alone, gentlemen." He told them.
"Sir?" the officer said.
"This is an urgent high security matter and I'm not at liberty to say any
more about it. Thank you for your assistance. You've done a great service to
both the government of the United States and the government of Japan. Thank
you." He told them. He got out of the car and headed for the stairs that lead
to the Masaki family shrine.
"I located him! He's on Easter Island!" Washu shouted. Everyone had left
the lab and were out in the house. It had been so long since they had been home
that the place almost seemed alien to them. Sasami and Aeko immediately went to
the kitchen. It had been so long since Sasami had many anything here and she
wanted to get back to work as usual. Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko sat on the couch
watching the world news coverage of events.
"What could he be doing on Easter Island?" Tenchi asked.
"Simple, Easter Island is a major nexus for the ethereal ley lines that
encircle the Earth." Said Washu.
"I thought that strange universe where our powers were doubled was the
only place with ley lines." Said Ryoko.
"Nope. Earth has ley lines, only not as strong as that other Earth did.
Even planet Jurai has ley lines." Said Washu.
Tenchi stood up and said, "We'd better get ready then."
"Easter Island is unpopulated, so there is no chance of innocent deaths.
We should take this opportunity now to get him." Said Orrin.
"Then let us go." Said Aeka.
They went outside and headed for the lake. Still hovering about the
surface was the beautiful form of the starship Tsunami. They stopped at the
edge of the waters and looked back at the house.
"Why do I get the strange feeling that this is going to be the last time
we see this place?" asked Ryoko.
"Your just nervous." Tenchi told her.
"I guess so." She replied.
"Once we get their we might run into those Darklings that went with him.
They are going to fight us like with an insane ferocity, so be ready." Orrin
told them.
"Ok, here we go." Said Sasami and she called upon the ship to teleport
them.
"FREEZE!" came a voice from behind them.
"Now what!" Ryoko shouted as she turned around and found the barrel of a
gun sticking in her face.
A tall, young Japanese man in a gray sport coat and slacks with a Glock
handgun stood on the patch from the shrine.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Ryoko.
"Special Agent Nagasaki of the CIA. Don't any of you move so much as a
muscle." The man said.
"We don't have time for this." Said Orrin.
"I said don't move, and don't say a word!" Agent Nagasaki shouted. He
reached into his sport coat with his other hand and pulled out a cell phone.
"Sasami, take him with us." Tenchi said.
"I said don't------WAAAAHHHH!!!!!" the man screamed as the world around
him suddenly fell away.
After several seconds of disorientation Daniel found himself in different
surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a huge room with a vaulted
ceiling, huge jutting architecture, and a scattering foliage. In one part of
the huge room was a massive, magnificent tree. The whole experience left him
petrified and he couldn't move.
"I'll take that. Thank you." Washu said as plucked the pistol from his
hand.
"W-w-w-w-where am I?" he asked.
"You're on our ship, the Tsunami. Although where we're going you'll wish
you'd stayed out of our way." Washu told him.
Daniel snapped out his paralyzing fear and he looked at these people more
carefully. The one who took his gun was a tall, beautiful woman with a mane
full of red hair. The other woman who had spoken after he shouted for them to
freeze was tall and just as alluring with powder blue hair in a spiked style.
Nest to her was a very lovely young woman with purple hair. The next was a tall
woman with long sky blue hair who looked like she was working some kind of
strange console. That woman was the most beautiful creature he had ever set his
eyes on. The next two appeared to be teenagers, a young man and a young girl.
Their resemblance to one another suggested that they might be twins. The last
three was a young Japanese teenager with black, short-cropped hair, a tall
elderly Japanese man wearing priest's robes, and a tall man who looked American
who wore a suite that was all black with a black cape.
"Who are you people?" Daniel asked.
"I'm Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe, that is my
daughter Ryoko, Princess Aeka, Tenchi, my boyfriend Orrin, his kids, Darius and
Yuko, Tenchi's grandfather Katsuhito, and Princess Sasami sister to Aeka is at
the helm." Washu said quickly.
"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?" he asked.
"Two more minutes and we'll be at Easter Island." Sasami said.
"That's where your base is, eh?" Daniel said with a suspicious look.
"No, that is where he is." Said Washu.
"He who?" Agent Nagasaki asked.
Washu went back to monitoring her instruments. It was then that she
discovered a strange energy pattern. As soon as she realized what it was she
gasped in shock. The Dark One was channeling the natural ethereal energies of
the Earth ley lines through his body. The creature concentrated the energy on
one point and hurled it into space. The energy ball traveled beyond the orbit
of the moon and suddenly changed.
"He's forming a dimensional rift in space!" she shouted.
"What!" everyone shouted in surprise.
"Oh no, he's gone! The Tsunami's sensors don't detect him on the island
anymore!" Sasami shouted.
"What the hell is going on? Somebody tell me what is happening here?"
Daniel asked again.
"We are trying to prevent a galactic apocalypse!" Orrin shouted back at
the man.
Washu watched her laptop as a spatial rift formed. From the maw of its
event horizon emerged a massive object. Orrin walked his way over and looked at
the display screen. His face turned white for a moment. The others looked also
and could not believe what they were seeing.
"What the hell is that?" Ryoko asked.
"It is a hive ship. The most powerful vessel in the Darkling fleet."
Orrin told her.
"That thing is almost as big as the damn Xevius was!" Washu exclaimed.
"It is nearly one-hundred times more lethal." Orrin said.
The massive hive ship fully emerged from the rift and immediately began to
expel thousands of smaller vessels. These and the hive ship itself turned onto
a course away from the Earth and raced off into deep space. Washu tracked their
course and checked her star charts to find out where they were heading. She
gasped when she saw what their destination was.
"They're heading for Jurai." She said.
"That is an attack force that is nearly one-hundred times larger than the
one they originally arrived with. This time I don't think even the disruption
wave generators will stop them." Orrin added.
"We have to do something!" Aeka cried. The thought an attack was heading
for Jurai that could overwhelm the defense forces there terrified her.
Tenchi walked up to Sasami and put his hand on her shoulder. The young,
beautiful woman who had been a child only a few days ago turned and looked into
his eyes. When Sasami did so she saw something in them, she was not afraid of
what she saw there, but she knew that this was not the same Tenchi she once knew
and adored. This Tenchi was a different person now. "Take us to Jurai." He
said. All she could do was nod, and then she turned to the command podium for
the ship and set a course for planet Jurai.
Life on Jurai was slowly beginning to get back to normal. The rebuilding
process was going to take some time though. It had been only a few days since
the great battle to liberate the capital and the palace had taken place. The
emperor of Jurai and his two wives enjoyed some private time in their private
suite in the palace. It had been a while since they'd been able to sit down and
relax since the great battle ended.
"The Minister of the Interior will have a report on the total amount of
damage to the capital city in the morning." Misaki said.
"Arch Prelate Annias and the Holy Council are calling a session tomorrow."
Fonaho added.
"What about?" the emperor asked.
"Some members of the other branch families have requested it. They want
to investigate the appointment of Tenchi as the official heir to the throne."
Fonaho told him.
Azusa stood up with surprise. "What?" he shouted.
"Some of the members of the other families feel that your appointment of
him as heir was in total disregard for regular royal protocol." Fonaho said.
"As far as I am concerned he is the only one suitable for the throne!"
Azusa yelled.
"That certainly is a major change in attitude." Misaki observed.
"That was before all of this happened, before I saw Tenchi for who he was
and understood that he was a good man. That he was good to my daughters, a
loving husband to Aeka, and willing to fight to protect a people he never knew."
The Emperor said.
"You need to go before the council and say that." Misaki said.
"Who in the branch families called for this investigation?" Azusa asked.
"Well, you will not be happy about this. It was Seiryu, and a few
others." Fonaho told him.
Azusa ran his hand down his face. He could not believe he actually tried
to saddle Aeka with such a pathetic shadow of a man. Seiryu was a stereotypical
foppish courtier. He was self-absorbed, arrogant, and annoying. The Emperor
shuttered at the thought of what his and Aeka's children would have looked like.
"That little weasel." Azusa growled under his breath.
"They can't withdraw Tenchi as the heir, can they?" asked Misaki.
"It would take a majority vote of the Holy Council to supersede the
Emperor's choice for heir to the throne. Unfortunately, much of the council is
made up of members of the families that filed the grievance concerning Tenchi's
appointment." Fonaho explained.
"Tenchi is married to Princess Aeka who is my daughter and who is
automatically next in line to the throne by proclamation of the law passed by
the Holy Council thousands of years ago!" Azusa shouted.
"That is true, but many in the branch families have become adept at using
the many loop holes in the laws to get their way. There is a chance, albeit a
very remote one, that they could get the council to name a different heir."
Fonaho said.
"And I thought our problems were over when these Darklings were defeated."
Azusa said.
A holographic image appeared in the middle of the room and the face of
Admiral Shakar appeared. The expression on his face was enough to make the
hairs on the back of Fonaho's head raise.
"I am sorry to interrupt your private time together, your majesties, but
we have just received a transmission from the Tsunami." Shakar said.
"Sasami. Where is she? She just ran off without telling anyone." Misaki
asked.
"She went to the planet Earth. Princess Aeka has been rescued, but now
there is very grave news." Shakar told them.
"What now?" Azusa asked in a exasperated tone.
"It appears that the Darklings have resurrected a being that Lord Orrin
calls the Dark One. It is a thousand times more powerful than a regular
Darkling. The creature opened a rift to another universe in space and called
forth a fleet of ships that is one hundred times larger than the initial
invasion force they used on us earlier. Worst yet, that force is on a direct
course for Jurai." The admiral told them.
"Declare a level 1 alert to all stations. I'll meet you in the command
center in one hour." Fonaho ordered.
"Yes, milady." Admiral Shakar said before signing off.
"It looks like this is not over quite yet." Said the Emperor.
"I only wish we knew where Tenchi went to. He disappeared all of a sudden
and we haven't seen him since he woke from his coma." Misaki said.
"I have a feeling we will see him soon." Said Fonaho.
The Tsunami was not know as the most powerful of all ships for nothing,
and its raw speed was one of its assets. The vessel easily overtook the
Darkling forces and arrived in Jurai space an hour and a half ahead of them.
The ship materialized in the middle of the largest mobilization of Juraian
starships in the history of the empire. Thousands of ships of all shapes and
sizes were everywhere. Some were the first generation ships that were extremely
powerful, and others were different generations that were not as strong. In
total there was half a million ships surrounding the homeworld of the Juraian
Empire.
"So many ships. I've never seen the entire fleet in one place before."
Aeka said in awe.
"This brings back a lot of really bad memories." Orrin said.
"Isn't that field thingy that's supposed to keep them from suppressing
magic still working?" Ryoko asked.
"It is, but against a force the size of the one that is coming it may not
make a difference." Orrin told her.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Aeka asked with a desperate look on her
face.
Tenchi pulled his two wives into his arms and they accepted his embrace
with all the love in their hearts. They could feel Tenchi's feeling for them
wash over them through the link, but also at the same time they felt something
different as well. It as an alien feeling they never sensed before, but it was
not frightening or threatening in any way.
"Tenchi?" said Ryoko as she tried to sense what this strange sensation
might be.
"Don't be afraid. I'm the same Tenchi you know and love, but I am also
different in ways you couldn't even begin to understand right now." He told
them.
"What happened to you?" Aeka asked.
"The sleeper has awakened." He replied.
Sasami patched a communication link with the royal palace. Fonaho had
already headed for the command center deep underneath the palace, but Misaki was
still with Azusa when Sasami's transmission was received. The Emperor and
Empress were pleased to see Tenchi alive and well, and were also very happy to
see Aeka safe. They were sympathetic when they learned what happened to Kryton.
"He can be repaired. Just reactivate his system core and he will
regenerate." Orrin explained.
"That is good." Misaki said with some relief. The ship had been
instrumental in saving the planet.
"What is this Dark One?" Azusa asked.
"He is the source of the Darkling race. The Elo'Quin destroyed his
original body millions of years ago. His essence is immortal, and to be
resurrected he needs a host that was as powerful as his original body. Kagato
was a suitable host, and thus the Regis was grooming him for that purpose."
Orrin explained.
"What does that do to Kagato?" Misaki asked.
"The man who was Kagato is gone forever. When the Dark One takes over a
host the previous mind and living essence are absorbed. Kagato no longer does
and no longer will ever exist again." Orrin told her.
"Good riddance." Said Ryoko.
"The force that is coming is made up several thousand Darkling vessels of
a more powerful class ship. Also, they have a hive ship with them. It is a
carrier for ships, a mobile base for hundreds of thousands of Darkling troops, a
flying fortress with the most powerful weapons in the Darkling fleet, and it can
even open portals to other dimensions." Orrin told them.
"Sweet Tsunami." Misaki gasped.
"I want the truth. Can our forces stand a chance against a force of that
magnitude?" Azusa asked.
"All I can tell you Emperor is what I know from experience. We faced a
force of this strength once before in my universe. When the battle was over we
won, but there was a terrible cost. The Earth was devastated, many races in the
galaxy were wiped out, and more than half of our entire fleet was left in ruins.
The death toll was unimaginable. It took an immense effort to keep civilization
together so we could recover from the disaster. Even four hundred years after
it was over we were still feeling the after effects of that battle." Orrin told
him.
Azusa had heard Orrin's explanation of the Great War with the Darkness
before. That was before he knew what they were really like, and just how
powerful the creatures really were. Now, after hearing the tale told again he
could not say anything. Azusa for the first time in his career as Emperor of
Jurai was afraid this could be the last day of the Juraian Empire. He looked
at Orrin in the holographic display and asked, "Is there anything that we can
do?"
"Yes. Pray."
Sasami positioned the Tsunami in among the fleet of Jurai to prepare for
the desperate battle ahead. She went to the planet and dropped Orrin, Washu,
Darius, Yuko, and Katsuhito off at the palace before taking up this position.
Aeka, Tenchi, and Ryoko decided to stay. The trio was standing on the bridge of
Ryo-Ohki, which hung in space next to the Tsunami. The countdown to the arrival
of the Darkling force had started. It was now fifteen minutes before their
arrival.
"Show no mercy Ryo-Ohki. These things are inhuman monsters so give them
all you've got." Ryoko told the Cabbit ship.
"Miya, miya miya miya!" Ryo-Ohki meowed in reply.
"Will she be able to fight them and make a difference?" Aeka asked.
"With all of my gems, Ryo-Ohki is now as powerful as the Tsunami." Ryoko
told her.
Tenchi touched the two on the shoulder with loving hands and said, "No
matter what happens, I don't want either of you coming after me."
"What do you mean?" Aeka asked. Ryoko looked back at Tenchi and thought
the same thing instead of saying it out loud.
"Just promise me you won't try and follow me. There is something I must
do when the Darkness arrives." He told them.
Ryoko turned and grabbed Tenchi by the shoulders. "What is going on?
What has happened to you?" she asked as tears started to fall down her face.
Tenchi closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel Ryoko's fear. Not
fear of him, but fear for him. He looked into her eyes, and then reached deep
into the minds of Aeka and Ryoko. The girls gasped, the sensation this caused
was close to that of an orgasm for a split second.
"This." Tenchi just said and suddenly a flurry of images raced through
their minds. When it was over the two staggered for a few seconds as if the
experience was physically tiring to them. The implications of what they just
saw in their minds were almost too much for them to comprehend.
"My god. Tenchi." Ryoko said quietly. Aeka could not say a word.
"I am still Tenchi. I love the both of you very much. I want to spend
the rest of my life with the both of you. But, at the same time I am not the
man I once was. I don't even fully understand the change inside of me, but I
know that this is what I was born for. This is my destiny." He told them.
The two embraced him tightly and exchanged loving kisses with him. He
asked them again, "Please, do you promise not to follow me?" They nodded this
time and he knew through the link that they were telling the truth. He held
them tighter and the love they felt for one another was soothing to their
troubled minds. Ryo-Ohki's frantic meowing brought the three back to reality.
"They're here." Ryoko said.
In the subterranean command center on Jurai, on the bridge of every ship
in the fleet, and even on the Tsunami warning klaxons sounded. Sensors detected
a massive distortion of subspace directly ahead of the fleet. The Juraian ships
had formed up on top of one another in a huge wall formation. The most powerful
ships went to the front, and the lesser ships stayed in back. The sky lit up
with bright white light as the vessels opened their Light Hawk Wings. The
Tsunami and Ryo-Ohki did the same, with the Tsunami forming ten, and Ryo-Ohki
forming six. As the last ship finished summoning their protective shields a
mammoth spatial anomaly formed in front of the fleet. Thousands of Darkling
ships of a class never before seen by Juraians emerged from the maw of the
anomaly. Then, behind them, slowly emerged the gargantuan hive ship. The
vessel was larger than the Xevius had been, and was more powerful as well. It
took some time for the massive vessel to fully emerge from the anomaly and
several thousand more ships arrived after it. When the subspace portal finally
closed there was a cloud of death surrounding the hive ship consisting of eight
hundred thousand ships.
"Holy shit." Ryoko said slowly.
Fonaho and Admiral Shakar looked at the image of the Darkling force on a
holographic display. Azusa and Misaki soon arrived in time to see the subspace
portal close. The official count of enemy ships appeared on the screen.
"Eight hundred thousand. Dear Tsunami, how are we going to survive this
day?" the Emperor said. It was more a statement than a question.
"All ships, engage the enemy! Fire at will!" Fonaho ordered.
The skies above Jurai lit up with the light of hundreds of thousands of
energy beams. High-resolution death was dealt back and forth between the two
massive fleets. Huge blossoming explosions on both sides bore testament to the
massive power that was being called forth. The COM channels were filled with
thousands of people barking orders or screaming out the last words they would
ever speak again. When a huge hole in the massive wall of ships was opened up
more ships would fly in to take their place and continue firing. Sasami could
feel and hear the cries of her children, the space trees, as they died. Tears
welled up in her eyes as she heard them, but she also knew that they we
willingly giving their lives so that millions more could live on. Ryo-Ohki and
the Tsunami weaved in and out among the maelstrom of energy blasts and added
their own to the fray. Ryoko screamed a loud battle cry as she dove the Cabbit
ship toward one Darkling vessel after another opening up with every weapon the
ship had. Ryo-Ohki's awesome power was more than enough to pierce the shields
of the enemy ships and send them to oblivion. The Tsunami did the same, but
there were so many ships that even their best efforts had little effect.
On Jurai Washu and Orrin watched the massive battle in a holographic
screen. They were in a large room main for entertaining guests of the royal
family. The furniture was ornate and comfortable, but despite the lavish
surrounds the two did not feel very good about being there.
"I should be up there." Orrin said.
"In what, the Kryton isn't going anywhere right now." Washu told him.
"I don't really need a ship." He said. Washu understood this. Orrin's
powers were awesome when he called forth its full strength. The only thing was
he could only use to as long as his strength held out. Immediately, Orrin
thought of something.
"Lend me your holographic computer for minute." He said and Washu summoned
it for him. Orrin started typing rapidly at the keyboard. Washu came behind
him and looked at his work over his shoulder. When she saw what he was doing
she smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
"You are one really devious bastard, aren't you?" she said.
A face appeared in a window on the computer. It appeared human, but the
life form reading in the instruments of Washu's advanced technology was able to
detect that the person was Satari. "Lord Orrin, what a surprise." The man said.
"Jorjan, listen I need a huge favor." Orrin said.
"Milord, there is nothing that anyone in this universe would not do for
you." The man said with a smile.
In space the battle raged on. Hundreds of ships fell on both sides of the
fight, but it appeared that the Juraians were making a different. That
unfortunately, to their sorrow, was only an illusion. The hive ship began to
open up with its four primary cannons. The blasts were a mile wide and they
incinerated hundreds of ships at a time. Their firing rate was slow however.
"All vessels begin evasive maneuvers. Don't let those guns lock onto
you." Admiral Shakar ordered.
"Those things will reduce the fleet to nothing in no time." Fonaho said.
A technician at one of the stations suddenly turned around from her post
and shouted, "Registering multiple spatial rifts forming behind the hive ship!"
"What?" Shakar, Fonaho, and Azusa all shouted at once.
In space dozens of rifts opened up and began to disgorge thousands of
Darkling ships. "We now register one million enemy ships in Juraian space@!"
the technician proclaimed.
"One million ships. How can we ever survive a force of that magnitude?"
Fonaho said and Azusa wrapped his arms around her as best he could from his
hover chair.
Onboard Ryo-Ohki, Tenchi and the girls witnessed the arrival of the
additional ships. This did not frighten them so much as it pissed them off.
"Damn those bastards!" Ryoko shouted with clenched fists. She issued a loud
battle cry and sent Ryo-Ohki charging into the mass of new arrivals with weapons
blazing. A few of the new ships were felled by Ryo-Ohki's awesome firepower.
"Ryoko, get me close to the hive ship. It is time." Tenchi said.
"Tenchi." Said Aeka.
"Remember your promise." He told both of them.
"Come back to us." Aeka told him.
Ryoko guided Ryo-Ohki through the mass of fighting ships. The Juraian
ships now mixed it up among Darkling ships to take the battle to them. Since
then the hive ship did not fire its four large guns or it would destroy its own
vessels. Soon the Ryo-Ohki was skimming the surface of the massive hive ship.
"I love you." Tenchi said before vanishing.
"We love you too." Aeka and Ryoko both said as they watched Tenchi
dematerialize.
With the addition of more vessels the Darklings were starting to win the
fight again. The larger first generation vessels of the Juraian fleet had a
better time of it, but the smaller less powerful consecutive generation ships
wee falling to the wayside. The tide of the battle had quickly shifted in favor
of the Darkness. Ryoko brought Ryo-Ohki back into the battle. The Cabbit ship
meowed defiantly as she dove into a group of enemy ships and cut loose with
everything she had.
"We have new signals. More anomalies forming all over the place!" the
technician in the command center cried out.
The Emperor's two wives were clutching to Azusa now. Terror gripped the
two now. The battle in space was nearing Jurai, and soon the massive hive ship
would be in range of the planet. The four beam cannons would make short work of
the orbital defenses surrounding the planet. Not to mention what they would do
to major population centers.
"Detecting one hundred rifts forming near Jurai!" the tech shouted.
In space the spatial rifts formed. Ryoko and Aeka watched in desperation
as the maw of hundreds appeared in space surrounding the planet. It looked like
all was lost for the Juraian Empire. What emerged from the rifts were not
Darkling ships however. Hundred of thousands of vessels of all shapes and sizes
arrived. The ships had the same alien organic appearance that Kryton possessed.
Several large ships of the line emerged as well, and one of them was massive.
A voice came over the COM channels that Juraians were using.
"This is the United Galactic Alliance Battle Cruiser Antares, Grand
Admiral Jorjan Holkoris speaking. All carriers deploy fighters and engage
targets at will. Happy hunting boys!"
Thousands of small fighters were suddenly disgorged from the larger ships
that arrived. Like an angry cloud of hornets, the fighters ranged in on the
Darkling fleet and dealt out their own brand of justice. Among the fighters
were heavier gun ships that were literally flying arsenals. This force alone
began to turn the tide of the battle once again.
"All battleships and battle cruisers concentrate firepower on that hive
ship. Don't let it get anywhere near the planet." Grand Admiral Jorjan ordered.
Everyone in the command center watched in total surprise as the new
arrivals suddenly began to join the fight, on their side. The power of these
newcomers was tremendous. That was evident in how quickly the fighters, gun
ships, and destroyers were reducing the numbers in the enemy fleet. The damage
being taken by the gargantuan hive ship was unimaginable.
"The United Galactic Alliance. Those are Lord Orrin's people." Fonaho
said.
"He must have called for help somehow." Misaki said.
In the palace Washu sat straddled on Orrin's lap and covered his face with
a flurry of kisses. "I love you! I love you! I love you!" she shouted. Orrin
accepted about three dozen kisses before he slowly lifted her up, and said, "I'd
better get up there. The fleet of powerful, but the Dark One is stronger."
Washu nodded and gave him one last kiss. Orrin called up a display of the
battle in space and concentrated on the image. He used his line of sight
teleportation ability and suddenly dematerialized and rematerialized out in
space. Washu sat and watched as a glowing aura surrounded Orrin's body and he
flew streaking through space. As he went he launched balls of energy at passing
enemy ships. The impacts were immense enough to thoroughly whole the ships he
was aiming at.
On the cavernous command deck of the Antares, Jorjan watched the battle
unfold from a complex array of holographic displays. Tactical data from every
ship in the fleet including the fighters poured into this command center. One
display focused in on a small form moving in and out among the enemy ships.
This tiny object was dealing out more destruction than any of the ships of the
fleet. "I wondered where he might be." Jorjan said as he watched his old friend
cut a swath of devastation through the Darkling fleet.
"Why did Lord Orrin leave to come to his universe, anyway?" another person
asked. He was Carl Reece, captain of the Antares and a resident of planet
Earth. He, Jorjan and Orrin had gotten to know one another very well before
Orrin left to come to this universe. Jorjan had known Orrin the longest. Being
a Satari he possessed the long lifespan of the species. He and Orrin had
traveled the stars together piecing the jigsaw puzzle of clues left behind by
the Elo'Quin in order to find the Star Gem Sword. Afterwards, they fought in
the Great War together against the Darkness.
"A woman, of course." Jorjan said with a smile.
"Yea, that is the Orrin we know and love alright." Captain Reece said.
The interior of the hive ship was dark and threatening. The atmosphere
was damp leaving the living, organic walls covered in moisture. A thick white
mist covered the floor as if somebody had turned on a smoke machine and left it
running. Strange alien sounds issued from every direction either by the bizarre
organic technology that ran the ship or from the thousands of Darkling that made
up the crew. The crew mostly deserted the part of the ship that Tenchi found
himself in. This section was deep inside the ship and thus did not need any
special protection. That did not mean there weren't any guards.
Tenchi rounded a blind corner and found himself face to face with four
Darklings. They charged their powers to strike him down quickly. They didn't
have a chance. Tenchi raised one hand and unleashed a maelstrom of energy that
obliterated them in seconds. Once the dust settled the continued on his way as
if nothing happened at all. He came to a massive set of blast doors. He
prepared to charge up for a strike when the doors suddenly began to open on
their own. Once there was an opening large enough for him to walked through
Tenchi moved. He found himself a cavernous chamber that so large you could not
see the ceiling or the walls. The floor was a huge walkway that appeared to be
suspended in the air. At the far end of the enormous chamber was a huge high
backed throne. Seated in that throne was the creature in Kagato's body, the
Dark One.
"Impressive. So you are the Champion of Light in this universe." The
Kagato thing said in an inhuman voice.
"I have come to warn you to leave Jurai alone or pay the price." Tenchi
said.
The thing laughed and the sound made the hairs on the back of Tenchi's
next rise. "You are in no such position to warn me of anything." It said.
"You're wrong. If you do not heed my warning I will destroy you." Tenchi
said calmly.
"Certainly must you must be joking." The creature laughed.
"Why don't you find out." Tenchi said as he took a fighting stance.
The thing in Kagato's form stood up and chuckled under its breath. "Why
not, I haven't had a good battle in a million years, and your essence will help
to fuel the destruction of these pathetic Juraians."
The Dark One immediately transformed into its monstrous form. It was the
same as the thing Tenchi remembered from the scene he watched on Eli Prime as it
cut a swath of destruction through the capital city.
"I will enjoy destroying you. And, your wives, ah, I see. I can sense
your link with them now. I will enjoy pleasuring myself with them before I kill
them. Especially the one named, Ryoko. She is most pleasant to the eyes.
Maybe I'll make her a Regis so I can have her whenever I want, and however I
want." The thing said imperiously.
Tenchi in a fit of sudden rage launched a burst of massive energy. It
splashed against the Dark One but did not appear to do any damage at all.
"I certainly hope that isn't all you have. I'd like this to be at least
some of a challenge." It said.
The Dark One let loose with a maelstrom of power it had not released in a
long time. Tenchi erected a shield around himself and deflected the attack.
"Very good!" the beast shouted.
"This is you last warning. Heed it or die!" Tenchi shouted.
The monster's response was a more massive barrage of energy. Tenchi
deflected it with ease. This appeared to enrage the creature that made it
unleash and even stronger attack.
"Why won't you die?" It cried, as its last attack had no effect.
Tenchi prepared to attack, but ended up putting up a new defense as the
Dark One let loose with a strike stronger than it had ever unleashed before.
"Admiral, we're detecting an immense surge of energy inside the hive
ship." Said a technician on the command deck of the Antares.
Jorjan and Captain Reece turned and looked at the data display. "We
didn't hit the core did we?" Captain Reece asked.
"Negative." The tech replied.
"Whatever it is it's tearing that thing apart from the inside. Move the
fleet away from the hive ship and warn the Juraians to do the same." Jorjan
ordered.
The attacking Juraian and UGA ships suddenly broke ranks and made a run
for it. Ryoko and Sasami followed each other after receiving the warning. The
two girls were fearful for Tenchi, but something told them he was going to be
alright. Suddenly, the great Darkling hive ship erupted in a massive explosion
that incinerated nearly all of the other Darkling vessels around it. The
shockwave hit the fleet and personnel all over were thrown from their stations
by the force. Ryoko managed to maintain control of Ryo-Ohki through it all and
looked back at the remains of the hive ship. All that was left was a giant
expanding cloud of gasses and debris.
"Tenchi."
A whirlwind of energy, gasses and debris swirled around the combatants as
the hive ship exploded around them. The Dark One was unfazed by the blast, and
Tenchi did not seen to be effected either. The storm settled into a nebula like
cloud of gas and free floating debris.
"My turn." Said Tenchi.
Three Wings of the Light Hawk materialized in front of Tenchi, but they
were unlike any Light Hawk Wings ever seen. Instead of bluish white these
appeared to be red. Two of the wings merged with him to form the holy armor,
and the third went into his hand to become the magical Light Hawk Sword, but
this time the blade was bright red.
"This power, I have never sensed anything like it. What is this power?"
the Dark One yelled in surprise.
Aeka and Ryoko could see through the expanding dust cloud now and saw
Tenchi and the monstrous Dark One facing off against one another. They
witnessed Tenchi summoning the power of the Light Hawk Wings, but their
different appearance was a shock to them.
"What kind of Light Hawk Wings are those?" Aeka asked.
On Jurai in the command center the royals watch in fascination as Tenchi
deployed with looked like a new kind of power, but Washu in another part of the
palace had a very different reaction.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Washu cried.
"What is it?" Orrin asked with concern.
"It's the Crimson Light Hawk Wings! Oh god! Tenchi what has become of
you?" Washu shouted and put her face into her hands.
"What is it?" Orrin asked again, except louder this time.
"You don't understand. No one god or goddess can summon the Crimson Light
Hawk Wings. It takes dozens together to summon just one by combining their
powers together! The Light Hawk Wings have the power of material conversion,
but these, these can mold and shape the very fabric of reality itself as if it
were putty!" she cried.
The Dark One charged Tenchi unleashing every once of power it had. To its
horror the energy it was releasing was absorbed into Tenchi's sword.
"It is not possible!" It cried.
The thing attacked again and this time raced towards Tenchi at immense
speed. Tenchi let out a loud battle cry and raised the Crimson Light Hawk
Sword. A massive burst of energy and light splashed out into space from the
point of impact. The blast was visible from the daylight surface of Jurai. On
the command deck of the Antares the amount of power let loose was too much for
their instruments to measure, and it exceeded the capabilities of Washu's
instruments to fully read. A loud mournfully cry, in the voice of the Dark One,
issued in everyone's mind at once. "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Tired and battered, the Ryo-Ohki teleported her passengers to the surface
of planet Jurai. They were in a large open field somewhere in the middle of a
forest. She transformed to Cabbit form and landed with a thud in the grass.
Ryoko ran up and scooped her up into her arms and nuzzled the tired little
creature.
"You did really good up there, Ryo-Ohki." Ryoko told the little creature.
"Miya." The Cabbit meowed as her eyes whirled around dizzily before it
collapsed into sleep.
"Where is Tenchi?" Aeka asked. She looked up into the sky for any sign of
any other ship.
Ryoko looked up into the sky and gasped as a red light streaked through
the sky. The light flew over the field and plowed into the ground. Energy
splashed along the ground in all directions. Wherever the energy touched the
ground a myriad of brightly colored flowers suddenly sprang to life. Soon the
entire field was covered with rightly colored blossoms. Once the red energy
dissipated the familiar form of Tenchi was revealed.
"Tenchi!" the girls cried and they ran to him with their arms
outstretched. Tenchi ran to them and grabbed both women up in his arms. They
kissed him all over his face, and it their excitement they did not realize that
Tenchi and two of them were flying off the ground.
"Tenchi?" Ryoko said.
"I'm tired. Lets go home." He said. The girls just hung onto him
lovingly as they floated through the sky.
=============================
TO BE CONTINUED...
NEXT TIME...
CAHPTER FOUR: RETURN OF THE LIGHT
The battle with the Ultimate Evil, the Dark One, is finally over. It is a time
to start picking up the pieces, sweep up the ashes, and rebuild what has been
destroyed. The conclusion to "The Dark Lord of Jurai", but the story is only
just beginning...