Tenchi Muyo!

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Disclaimer: This episode of Tenchi Muyo! is of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Tenchi Muyo. "Tenchi Muyo!" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1992-2003 AIC Inc. and Pioneer LDC. All rights reserved.

Note: This story line is a sequel to 'The Choices We Make' by C-kun. I recommend reading it, it is pretty interesting.


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The Darkness Within
Chapter 9:
The Beginning of the End


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The Vengeance flies through endless space, on its way to Tokimi's grand temple. The goddess is still sitting comfortably in her husband's lap, her arms draped around his neck. A feeling of euphoria flows through her body. She leans in and nuzzles his neck, inhaling his scent. "I love you," she whispers into his ear.

He pulls her into a warm hug. "I love you too my dear," he says back to her. She smiles lovingly at him just before she pulls him into a fierce kiss. He quickly returns the kiss with equal ferocity and passion.

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A couple hours later, the cruiser lands perfectly next to Tokimi's grand temple. A platform lowers from the ship onto the floor. Out walk Tenchi and Tokimi, hand in hand and looking thoroughly pleased with themselves. Sasami follows shortly behind, still trapped in the floating crystal prison. She has finally wakened up, but appears to be in a grumpy mood. "Why are you playing games with my family like this? What is your real plan?"

The two lovers share a knowing look to one another, followed by an identical pair of evil grins. "The games are now over my dear little sister," Tokimi replies while still walking towards her temple. "Everything from now on will be quite serious and even more deadly!"

The trio finally enters the vast and looming temple. D3 is right at the entrance to greet them. "Good day my Lady. Good day my Lord," the demi god starts looking to Tokimi and Tenchi. The former prince looks at the servant surprised. He wasn't expecting to be called that. Tokimi giggles lightly at him. His unpredictability is one of the few characteristics of his old personality that have stayed even through his 'transformation.'

"Tenchi dear," the goddess says, letting go of his hand and wrapping her arms around his right arm, "you have not rested in quite a while. I think it wise for you to lie down and regain some strength."

Her Champion looks at her thoughtfully. "You know, now that I think about it, you're right. With all the excitement going around, I never thought about sleeping."

Tokimi gives her husband a seductive look. "Well, we do not necessarily have to sleep," she purrs into his ear.

Shivers of excitement course down Tenchi's spine. "My, that is another thing I haven't thought about."

"Shame on you!" his wife playfully replies.

He chuckles lightly. "Yes, it has been awhile since I've had some real quality time with you."

She releases his arm and wraps them around his neck, looking at him with nothing but love. "We have both changed one another so much. My body screams for your touch. Every moment I am not in your arms feels like an eternity to me."

"Then let's make up for lost time," he replies before giving her a deep, passionate kiss, which she gladly returns. He suddenly lifts her off her feet and carries her to the bedroom area while the goddess giggles merrily.

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Ayeka lies in a bed in the hospital wing of the Royal Palace unconscious. All of her accountable family sits around her bed, all concerned for her well being. Several highly advanced medical machines silently move back and forth over her body, scanning her progress, if any. Washu looks at the results and sighs deeply. "I am glad to say that Ayeka is healing nicely, though I have no idea when she will be back to one hundred percent. Whatever it was that did this to her, it sure did a number on her. I am clueless as to what did this, but I have a good idea as to who did it."

Everyone nods and exchanges dark looks with each other. Misaki sniffs, trying to stop the torrent of tears that refuse to stop coming. "Wh...what happened to her?"

"I did a few small tests on Ayeka's room and I concluded that the weapon used Lighthawk energy of some sort. It was obviously not to the full potential otherwise her room and most of this palace and surrounding grounds would've been turned into dust. I also found trace particles of a very rare virus all in her room. I checked her systems and found this virus is indeed in her system. Don't worry, it's not fatal!" she adds at the worried expressions on everybody's faces.

They all sigh in relief. "But what does it do mom?" Ryoko asks while gripping her unconscious friend's hand tightly.

"It usually doesn't do much but keep you feeling all stuffy and woozy for a few days. Unfortunately for Ayeka, a mixture of certain aspects of her Jurian DNA and her already damaged immune system have increased its influence on her body. It will keep her bedridden for quite some time I'm afraid to say. I have removed the virus from her system and it looks like its cut down her recovery time, but she'll still be down for a few days at most. But on a better note, I estimated that she will be waking up in a few hours, and, like I already said, she will make a full recovery, but it will take time."

"At least that is some good news," Azusa states, though he looks utterly defeated.

Ryoko suddenly lets go of Ayeka's hand and gets off her seat, looking determined. She starts to walk away with Ryo-Ohki at her side. "Ryoko!" Washu shouts.

The pirate stops walking, but doesn't turn around. "What?" she asks back.

"What are you doing? Where are you going?"

She clutches her hands into fists. "I'm gonna find Tenchi and one way or another, he will be coming back with me. I will turn him back into the man I once loved."

The former goddess takes several steps towards her daughter. "But what about Tokimi? What are you going to do if she gets in your way?"

Ryoko sighs deeply. "If she gets in my way of Tenchi, I will destroy her," she answers in a monotone voice. With that, she and Ryo-Ohki leave.

"Good luck, my daughter," Washu sadly mutters, knowing all too well that she will not succeed in finding Tenchi. 'The only person who could find her,' she thinks to herself, 'is Tsunami.'

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Sasami sighs deeply. She has been released from her prison, but she has nowhere to go. Shortly after they all came to the temple, Tokimi released her, but sealed her off in the main corridor of the temple. The young princess swings her arms lazily around, bored out of her mind. 'I wish I didn't have this stupid collar on,' she thinks to herself, 'then at least I'd have Tsunami to talk to.'

She suddenly stops walking and looks up thoughtfully. "D3," she yells out. "D3, please come out. I just want to talk."

A giant red jewel shimmers into existence, signifying the demi god's immediate entrance. The visage of the old man appears before Sasami. "You wish to speak with me Tsunami?"

"Yes, but is it alright if you can call me Sasami? That's the name I like people to call me when I'm...well me," she finishes with a corny smile.

D3 shows no emotions, and nods lightly. "Understandable. So what do you wish to ask me young Sasami Jurai?"

"No no no. I don't want to ask you anything, I just want to talk." She favors him with a cheerful smile.

The demi god blinks. "I suppose it to be alright if we were just to talk. My Lady gave me strict orders to watch over you, but she had not mentioned anything about talking."

"Okay then. I want to know what happened to Tenchi. What made him change into the man he is now?"

"From everything I have gathered and have watched with Lady Tokimi, it is you and those who you once lived with on planet Earth that have helped him change."

Sasami frowns lightly. "Tenchi sorta told me the same thing, but what does that mean?"

"My Lady has been always been interested in young Masaki, from before he was even born. She watched him grow up, knowing about his noble heritage and what the future may have in hold for him. When Washu joined your household, she sent Dr. Clay to retrieve her from your household, about ten mortal years ago. It is during that time when she witnessed my Lord activate his Lighthawk Wings. Since that time, Lady Tokimi kept an even closer eye on him."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," D3 answers. "My Lady and I have watched over the years as, one by one, you and the rest of his family left him. Shortly after his father passed away, my Lord had wanted to end his own life."

The young princess covers her mouth with her hands in horror. "No...he...he would never do something like that."

"And how would you know that young princess?" the demi god asks. "He was once a man with everything who, within a decade, became a man with nothing. To him, his life had no more meaning. Lady Tokimi was still quite interested in him so she protected him from himself. She made sure to make every one of his attempts to take his own life unsuccessful. She could save him, but she was still unable to make him her Champion. Part of Tsunami still resided within him. Fortunately for us, an old friend had decided to visit him."

Sasami is hanging on every one of his words. She finally is getting to understand why Tenchi changed so much. "What friend? Who visited?"

"Galaxy Police Officer Lieutenant Mihoshi Kuramitsu."

"Mihoshi!?" she shrieks.

"Yes," D3 responds. "She had arrived on an unexpected visit. The small conversation with her proved to be quite amusing. All of the hidden, dark emotions he kept deeply within him finally surfaced. During his verbal tirade at the young woman, he unknowingly rejected Tsunami. This was the one chance my Lady had been waiting for. Just as he rejected you, or more precisely, the goddess within you, Lady Tokimi entrusted him with a portion of her own powers. His deep, powerful need for vengeance brought his powers into even greater heights."

Sasami falls to her knees. "So...so that's how it happened," she weakly mumbles out.

"After my Lord destroyed his old home, he went out, searching for something, though he was not quite sure what he was searching for."

The young princess stands up and puts her hands on her hips. "Let me guess," she says angrily, "he was searching for Tokimi?"

"You are quite wise for one as young as yourself. My Lady brought him before her and asked for hi to join her. He happily agreed. And now..." the demi god trails off for a moment. "Yes, I understand," he says while looking upwards. "As you wish my Lady." He turns back towards Sasami. "I must leave now. I have new orders," and with those words, he vanishes.

"Um...thanks for the talk," Sasami mutters out loud.

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Tokimi smiles lightly. 'That was a rather fine idea,' she thinks to herself. 'At least I will know immediately if she is up to something.' She looks over to her side, where Tenchi is sleeping peacefully. The goddess smiles at him. She reaches over and lightly caresses the side of his face. "Rest easy my love," she whispers to him. "Soon, very soon the final battle will begin." She leans in and kisses him on the lips and then lies down with her head resting on his chest. Tokimi is soon sleeping soundly.

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Ryo-Ohki flies silently through space. Ryoko silently sits in her command chair with her arms crossed. "Are you still on the trail Ryo-Ohki?"

"Mya meow mya!" answers the cabbit ship.

The pirate smiles happily. "Great. Keep on it okay?" Ryo-Ohki meows in response. 'I'm glad I thought of this ahead of time,' Ryoko thinks with a small sneer. 'While Tenchi and that bitch Tokimi were yacking on, I had Ryo- Ohki get both their and that cruiser's scent. I don't think anybody expected that!' She suddenly throws a fist into the air. "Look out Tenchi, cause here we come!"

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"Look! She's waking up!" Misaki shouts. Azusa, Funaho, Yosho and Washu quickly run around Ayeka's bed. Indeed, the princess is beginning to awaken. She moans lightly and her eyes start to flutter open. She groggily looks around the room. Her mother grasps both of her hands tightly. "Ayeka honey, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

The princess nods slightly. "Y...yes mother," she replies weakly.

The second empress begins to cry as she pulls her daughter's hands up to her face. "Oh I was so worried about you!" She turns to Washu and brings her into a crushing bear hug. "Thank you so much for taking care of my little Ayeka!"

"Don't...mention...it!" the genius gasps between breaths. She somehow manages to release herself from Misaki's vise like grip and walks up to the machines that are monitoring Ayeka's current condition. "Well she seems to be doing a lot better, but she will still remain bedridden for a while. My estimations are two and a half to three days max."

"Whatever do you mean?" Ayeka asks while trying to sit up, with no success. "W...why can I not move? I feel fine, but I seem to be weak."

"Let me explain," Washu starts. "The device that blew up your room contained within it a very rare virus. Normally it doesn't do much to whoever gets infected by it, but it affected you differently. The virus isn't in you anymore, but it is still affecting you, namely you're still pretty weak and you will be in that bed for a few more days. You should have more control of your upper body tomorrow."

"Well that is something to feel fortunate for." Ayeka looks around the room and notices the missing member. "Where is Miss Ryoko?"

"She, uh...she went looking for Tenchi," Yosho states.

"Is she insane?" the princess shouts. "She is not powerful enough to face Tenchi or that Tokimi woman. What is she thinking? Why did not any of you stop her?"

"Because," Washu begins, "my daughter has no chance of finding them, but she does have a whole lot of pent up frustration. I think it is best if we just leave her be for a while."

Yes," Funaho agrees. "We all have not been in the best moods as of late."

Ayeka lies her head down. 'Why Tenchi?' she thinks sadly. 'Why did you do this to me? How could you do all of this to my family? Why?'

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Tenchi slowly opens his eyes. The first thing he sees is also quite a welcome one. Tokimi is sleeping with her head and her right arm on his chest. She has a look of utter content on her beautiful face. Tenchi smiles warmly at her and reaches down and pushes a few stray hairs away from her face. 'How lucky can one guy get?' he thinks happily to himself.

As if she can feel her husband is awake and she must join him, Tokimi begins to stir. She opens her eyes and looks up lovingly at Tenchi. "Good morning dear," she says to him just before she crawls up and gives him a sweet kiss on the lips.

When she pulls back, Tenchi gives her a slightly confused look. "Is it really morning?"

Tokimi gets a look on her face that matches Tenchi's. "Good question. Time is never kept here in my dimension like it is everywhere else. I do know that we have only slept for a short while, around two hours."

The former prince yawns loudly. "Two hours is more than enough rest. I think the time is right for our plan to come into effect." He shifts over to the edge of the large bed and starts to put his clothes on. "Do you want to come with me this time?"

Tokimi stands up, her billowing blue and purple robe shimmers onto her body. "Although I would love to go with you, I have more pressing matters to attend to, namely my little sister."

Tenchi pulls his shirt over his head. "Okay, but you know where I'll be if you change your mind."

The goddess crawls across the bed and wraps her arms around her husband's waist from behind. "I will be sure to keep that in mind dear." She gives him a kiss on the back of his neck.

"I will be back as soon as I can," he says while starting to walk away. He jumps forward suddenly when a hand grabs his rear. Tenchi quickly turns around, only to see his wife giggling at him. He smiles and shakes his head lightly. "Good bye my love." Black flames surround his body and in the blink of an eye he is gone.

Tokimi gets off of the bed and silently walks out of the bedroom and down the long corridor into her main temple region. The sight that greets her is Sasami lying on the floor with her arms spread out from her body. "Well look at you," the goddess starts, getting the young princess' attention. "You look positively bored!"

Sasami sits up and brushes the hair from her face. "Of course I'm bored!" she hotly replies. "There is nothing to do here!" She is about to say something else but stops and turns bright red because her stomach makes a loud lurching sound.

The goddess giggles loudly. "Oh my. It seems that you have not eaten in a while now. Shall we?" With a wave of her hand, a table appears before them, as do two soft cushions. She waves her hand again and delicious looking and smelling food appears on top of the table. She sits down on one of the cushions and begins to put some food on her plate. Sasami looks at her hesitantly. "Oh do not worry," the goddess starts, "the food is not poisoned and it is quite good!"

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"Ryo-Ohki, are you seeing this?"

The cabbit ship "Myas" lightly. Right in front them is an area of space that neither of them have ever seen before. Small orbs of light surround them. Bits and pieces of destroyed ships float aimlessly through space. The only plausible direction to go is straight ahead.

"Okay," Ryoko begins softly, "lets go through this thing slowly and carefully. You and I don't know what is ahead of us. I think we should keep as quiet as possible and talk to each other mentally, okay?"

'Okay,' the cabbit's voice replies in her head.

The pirate smiles lightly. 'Alright, let's get going.'

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Tenchi appears in space, several hundred miles from Jurai. 'It looks a lot like Earth from this distance,' he thinks to himself. 'Well, except for all of those Jurai tree ships patrolling around.' He smiles very evilly. 'I think I should take care of that!' The black flames surround him once more and he vanishes.

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'Oh my goddess!' Ryoko thinks in awe, 'this place is amazing!' For the last few minutes, the pirate, on board her good friend and spaceship, have been silently floating through what can only be described as something someone would see in a dream.

They are flying along the path of a large river. Around the river are some spectacular sights. A giant tree floats in midair with its roots covering an earth like planet. Large strips, showing water and other such landmasses, go across for countless distances. Below them, a gigantic whale like creature surfaces for a breath of air.

Suddenly, the river disappears, as well as the land around them, showing endless stars and more strips and chunks of land. Far in the distance, a looming temple appears. Ryoko's eyes narrow, her face deadest. 'That's where we're going.'

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Ayeka looks down at her hand. She tries to move her hand in some form or fashion. Her fingers twitch and move slightly. The princess smiles lightly. 'Well at least I can move them,' she thinks, 'if only a little bit.'

Yosho notices her and walks to her side. "Do you need anything Ayeka?" he asks politely.

"Could you please sit me up brother?"

He smiles. "Of course." He gently puts his arms around her and shifts her into a sitting position. He places some pillows around her so she doesn't fall over.

"Thank you Yosho." She smiles very warmly at him.

The prince leans in and gives her a kiss on the forehead. "I just hope you get better soon."

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Tokimi is just about to take a sip of tea when a large explosion rocks her temple. "What the..." her speech is cut short by a dozen small energy beams that explode all around her. During the confusion, Ryoko appears next to Sasami. The young princess shrieks in joy and wraps her arms around her long time friend. The pirate smirks and rips the restraint collar to pieces. Instantly, Sasami feels the very welcome presence of Tsunami flood into her.

The smoke around Tokimi is pushed aside. The goddess is looking murderous. She immediately notices Ryoko standing next to her sister's avatar. "You!" she shouts, her eyes now glowing in rage.

"Yeah me!" Ryoko says smugly. "Sorry to bother you, but we need to leave. So long bitch!" The pirate grabs Sasami's hand and the two teleport away, leaving a very angry goddess alone in the temple.

"How!?" Tokimi fumes. "How could she gain entry into my dimension without any..." she trails off as a thought suddenly comes into her head. "Of course," she hisses. "Washu."

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On board the Ryo-Ohki, which is moving out of Tokimi's realm as fast as it can, Sasami is dancing around, rejoicing in her newfound freedom. Ryoko laughs at her. "Hey kiddo, how are you doing?"

She runs up and hugs the pirate again. "Fantastic thanks to you and Ryo- Ohki! Tsunami thanks you too!"

The ship "Meows" happily at her good friend.

"Finally!" Sasami shouts, "free!"

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Tenchi scratches his chin thoughtfully. "This is...beautiful, if you really love trees." He floats around in the Royal Tree Room, looking for the one tree that will help begin the end of his long suffering and pain.

After several minutes, and about a dozen or so floors later, he finally finds what he is looking for. "Tsunami," he hisses. "The all great, all powerful Tsunami, the legendary tree of beginnings." Five black triangles glow on his forehead as his five fiery black Lighthawk Wings appear in front of him. He closes his eyes in concentration. 'This won't get the whole job done,' he thinks to himself, 'but it should do a number on her.' The entire room is engulfed in a brilliant white light.

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Meanwhile, the two pirates and the princess/goddess have just encountered some resistance. "Good," Ryoko smirks, "I was afraid that we weren't gonna have any fun!"

The ship flies through the barrage of shots directed at her, dodging and weaving though them with utter perfection. She lets out several shots and takes down a few of their mysterious attackers, pitch black ships that look similar to Jurai third generation tree ships only with sharp, pointy features.

On board, Ryoko chuckles merrily. "Oh come on! Can't you guys do better than that?"

Suddenly, Sasami grabs her head and screams out in pain. She collapses onto the floor. Ryoko is at her side in an instant. "Sasami! Are you okay?"

The young princess sits up, her hands still on her head. "I...I'm fine, but something's wrong with Tsunami."

"What is it?"

She looks at her friend, a mixture of fear and confusion on her face. "I'm not too sure," she begins, her eyes filling with tears, "But I think she is dying!"


To be continued...

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Author's notes: Everything is starting to unravel now. Only 4 more chapters left. Expect more action and violence soon.

Sgeekyomega gave me the idea of doing a story in first-person perspective. I have decided to make a special chapter that takes place all during this one, only through the eyes of Tokimi! Expect more understanding of some of the things she did and some extra scenes not added in this chapter. Until then, keep reading! -- lighthawkdemon

Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com