Chapter 4: Beyond The Rim Of All Sanity
It was a fine day. Birds were singing, and swooping gracefully from tree to tree as they went about their business. In the clear glistening water of the many ponds, fish of all shapes and sizes were streaking through their sparkling habitat. A sun shone it's glorious light beams upon the ground, eliminating shadow, and creating it at the same time. A cool, comfortable breeze swept across through the gardens. Perfectly conditioned paths wound their way across the floor, flanked by trees, bushes, and in some places, marble walls. Along one of these paths, a solitary figure strolled slowly down, marvelling in the beauty of this place. His body, once adorned in glistening metal armour, now stood within flowing robes. His massive sword, a feature of his previous life, now had a place on his apartment wall, a reminder as to how he got here. His white hair matched the searing white of the path, shining to the same extent, and with the same sharpness.
Sephiroth, Son Of Jenova, thought to himself, "Life is good....."
__________________________________________________________________________
Far beyond the rim of any galaxy lay a planet dedicated to one purpose: housing people who had commited evil. It was without any dimensional alignment, and served as the evil version of heaven for all universes. It was here that villians from all places repented for their sins. Few knew about it, but those that did refered to it as "The Villians Retirement Home".
Indeed, in most villian's minds, it was. Although not as spacious or as roomy as heaven, this place was not limited to one universe. It was considered to have great social implications. Many universes collided in this place. It was the only place that the multiverse truly converged. Common to every universe, but not in the way that Earth is. "Oh no," Sephiroth thought to himself, "this is different."
One of the many bars on this planet happened to be Sephiroth's favourite solitary pissup spot. While he rarely enjoyed alcohol while present in the living world, he indulged himself much more when in this world. Without all the problems megalomania can bring to a person's mind and life, you are free to experience the more enjoyable things in life, such as love and friendship. And getting leathered. Ironically, this place provided more of the intended benefits of mortal "life" than the actual mortal life did.
Pushing open the door to the bar, Sephiroth noticed several things.
1. For a Wednesday night, this place was rather packed.
2. An awful lot of people he knew personally were here.
"Hey Sephi!! Come and sit down over here!"
"Hmmm?" Sephiroth turned towards the source of the rather loud voice, an enormous man positioned on a stool, although the man's rear end was several orders of magnitude larger than the actual stool. A ridiculous orange moustache sprouted from the man's face, and again, was several times too large to look normal. 'Robotnik..' Sephiroth thought to himself, 'Great personality, but he has an ego several times larger than even his body...'
"Sephiroth." A deep, dark voice said, "We have business to discuss. We require your assistance."
"Alright Vader, as you wish." The Son Of Jenova took his seat next to the Dark Lord Of The Sith, and Eggman. "What do you want?"
"We've just gotta wait for a couple more people."
"Who like?"
"Kagato. Palpy. Word has got around that even Freeza is here now, that Goku fool actually did accidentally blow him up, so we are expecting him here any time soon. Also, by special dispensation, Dr. Clay is here." Robotnik seemed to sink another inch down on his chair, Sephiroth noted. 'I don't think anyone will see that chair for a while....'
"Strange grouping, and, barring Clay, all fighters."
"Sephi, we've been offered a chance I don't think we can refuse."
Sephiroth's interest perked. "Go on..."
"Care to take over, Vaddy mi laddy?"
Vader groaned, audible even through his mechanized breathing. Robotnik was too pleasant to be a real evil villian, although his laugh was something not to be believed... "Sephiroth. An entity known as Q has contacted myself and Ivor. Apparently, he has a job for us to do in the Tenchi Muyo universe."
"Yes.... what is this job?"
"Q has been somewhat interested in disturbing the balance of the universe present there. He has introduced foreign elements into a situation which is already moderately unstable. I have read the story so far, and have been amused by the effects his changes to the universe have caused. So far, however, despite the vast concentration of heroes there, there are no villians to provide further study." The Dark Lord Of The Sith groaned again, a very out of character gesture for the armoured warrior. "This, Q, wishes us to be those villians."
"One question Vader..... why?"
"Reasons are unknown. I have heard about this Q however, and I believe him to be an incredibly powerful cross universal being. One of the most powerful in existance, if not the most powerful. I would advise caution, as unlike Tarkin, you will most likely LISTEN to my advice."
This was all too much for Sephiroth. "Are you saying that a vastly powerful interdimensional being is wanting us to play the villians in his little game?"
A moment of silence. "Yes, but why, we don't know."
"Great. Just when I thought I got out of all these power games, I'm thrown right back into them. What if I don't wish to go. I like it here, there are no worries about taking the world on. My Masamune stays clean, and to be honest, there is no point in getting it dirty again."
A bright light flashed next to Sephiroth, momentaraly blinding every single person in the bar, and casting light into every dark corner. When it faded, half a second after, a figure, dressed in a strange uniform, stood in it's place.
"Greetings. I am Q."
Even through the mask, Sephiroth could tell the Dark Lord Of The Sith was agitated. Vader clearly didn't like this person at all. Bemused, Sephiroth watched Vader shuffle uncomfortably in his seat as he turned to face the new arrival.
"So, I see not everyone is here yet. Easily solved."
4 more flashes of light took form. From each, the majestic man named Kagato, Washu's former student, and self proclaimed master organ player, Emperor Palpatine, who, after undergoing dark force removal treatment, now had an Oil of Ulay face and a full head of hair, the basketball shaped Clay, and finally, the maniacal Freeza emerged. Wearing a pink tutu. Taking notice of the wide mouthed gazes, Freeza flushed bright red and stammered "Erm..... oh..... I'm exploring my feminine side..."
Q, unstartled as ever, turned to the motley crew of super powerful warriors and geniuses. "Gentlemen, we have business to discuss.."
__________________________________________________________________________
Yosho looked down upon the house now positioned at the base of Masaki Shrine. Every day, it seemed, that house ended up with more and more residents. It had been a week since the Weapon had been annihilated in a show of force a Jurain warship would have a hard time matching. 'All the better that it had occured quickly,' he thought. There were now too many residents to really support in one house, but Tenchi seemed to enjoy having them around.
Washu had created rooms in subspace for everyone, but that Goku was a remarkable persona. He refused any basic comforts as long as it inconvienienced someone. Yosho had even caught him sleeping on the roof at one point. The same could be said about Cloud, the leader of the latest batch of "refugees from another dimension" as Washu called them. The two were impressive examples of warriorship, and he looked forward to challenging both to a sparring match, although Yosho imagined he would be no match for Goku, at the very least.
Still though, the house was getting too small for this....
"Oh well Tenchi," Yosho thought out loud, "You deal with this as you see fit." He turned around, and began strolling back up towards the shrine.
__________________________________________________________________________
Tenchi had a decision that he would have to make soon. In effect, the decision was already made, he had chosen, but the problem was how to let the others know without breaking their hearts. Mihoshi would cry for a while, he knew, but she would swing her mood around within 10 seconds, and be back to normal almost immediately. Sasami wouldn't mind at all. Washu was 20000 years old, caught up in her work, and had probably suffered more rejection than anyone else here. The problem was Aeka, and a real problem it was.
Tenchi wasn't blind to how the girls felt for him. He knew how each and every one of them felt about him, he knew why they argued, and above all, he knew that the two biggest opponents for his heart were Aeka and Ryoko. Ryoko had won, but he didn't know how to let Aeka know...
"Meow??"
"Huh?" Tenchi looked down to his side at the little brown cabbit looking up at him. "Oh, it's you Ryo-Ohki. You want a carrot?"
"Meow... meooooooow!"
"Oh, I see. Ok, well, we'll get one then."
The little cabbits face lit up. She jumped into the air onto his shoulder, meowing with joy, as Tenchi got to his feet, on his way to the carrot shed.
"Tenchi! Is that you?" Sasami yelled from the kitchen.
"Yeah, it's me Sasami!"
"Get me some vegetables will you, pleeease?"
"Will do!"
Making his way out to the carrot shed, he spotted a glint of steel over towards the lake. Cloud, the mercenary leader of the latest residents of Masaki household seemed to be sparring with someone, though he couldn't quite make out who. It looked like Cid.
"&*$& Cloud, you nearly knocked my $(%&£%* head off!!!"
Definitely Cid. He caught three other people over there, no, four. Three on the ground, the bartender, Tifa, that panther.... erm..... Red 14 or something, and Barret. Plus Goku flying about 50 feet above them. All watching the fight, although it seemed to consist more of Cid swearing than anything else.
Sighing, he made his way to the vegetable store. With a push, Ryo-Ohki lept off his shoulder onto the soft grass nearby, meowing happily. Opening the door, he watched the small cabbit dart inside, but Tenchi felt a small tingling on his shoulder. He didn't show any reaction at first, but then it became more forceful and fingermarks could be seen in his shirt. A familar sound was heard, and a large cyan haired girl suddenly wrapped her arms around Tenchi's neck. "Hi..... Tenchi," Ryoko seductively purred into his ear, "Do you want to have some... fun?" A grin plastered itself across her face as Tenchi visibly strained to keep back a nosebleed.
"Uh..uh..err, Ryoko... erm... I've got.... erm.... something I've got to talk to you about," he stammered. "In a little while."
"Awww.." Ryoko's ever maleable voice took on the sound of a child, "Can't you tell me now?"
"Erm... no, not at the moment, I don't think."
"MISS RYOKO!!"
'Oh thank god.'
"GET YOUR FILTHY CRIMINAL HANDS OFF MY TENCHI!!"
"Why, little princess? You want to touch him yourself? Go right ahead, I won't stop you." The grin became wider, more mischieveous.
"WHA-WHA-WHA-WHA-WHAAAAT??!? I AM NOT A WOMAN OF LOOSE MORALS!!"
Tenchi managed to slip out of Ryoko's grasp for a second, only to catch Ryo-Ohki making off with a train robber's load worth of carrots. Too late to stop her, as it was to stop those two. Ryoko and Aeka were now arguing with each other all over again, as they did every day. 'Hopefully this will end soon,' Tenchi thought to himself. 'As soon as I figure out how I'm going to get this through to everyone. Maybe I ought to ask someone else for some help, this is beyond me..'
__________________________________________________________________________
Sephiroth stood on the "deck" of this rather strange ship. Looking around, the vessel was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was composed of a black/red organic material, with a holographic viewscreen projected down from the "ceiling". All in all, the ship reminded him of an insect, at least from the inside. The crowd of former supervillans marvelled at the ship, at the same time as being totally and utterly confused.
"So how do we utilise this "vessel", Q? I do not observe the presence of any control consoles nearby." Vader glanced towards the omnipotent badly dressed immortal, who stood there with a scheming look on his features.
"Simple, my armoured friend. You tell it what to do."
"You mean," Robotnik interrupted, "We talk to this ship/bug and it does what we want it to?"
"Precisely. Now, before I depart, I will tell you of the one assistance you will have in your 'quest'. There is a race awaiting your arrival at waypoint 1 - the ship knows this off by heart, so just say waypoint 1 - which will assist in your escapade. Good luck in your chaos making. I shall be watching."
In a flash of light, Q disappeared. In his absence, there was a moment of silence. Freeza was the first to speak up, now thankfully out of his tutu. "We should get this underway. I'm not immortal... yet."
"I agree." Robotnik stood up to his full, rather unimpressive height, puffed out his stomach, and yelled in his most confident voice "SHIP! BEST POSSIBLE SPEED TO WAYPOINT 1!! NOOOOOOOOOW!!!!"
A hideously loud scream sent every single person in the room to their knees, hands against ears, as the ship acknowledged the command. Spinning around, the ship phased into nothingness, as it's black, spidery shape slipped effortlessly into hyperspace.
__________________________________________________________________________
Washing lines hung from Azaka and Kamedake, who observed everything around them. "Azaka?"
"Yes Kamedake."
"Do you think we will ever see Jurai again?"
"I do hope so, but there are so many fine days on planet Earth, I can't imagine not being here."
"I agree. Princess Aeka would not want to leave under any circumstances, nor Princess Sasami."
"I cannot think of any either."
Kamedake turned to Azaka slightly. "Just another fine day-"
"On Planet Earth."
__________________________________________________________________________
Laughter could be heard in the infinite expanse of the Q continuum.
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Nice short chapter, just thought I'd get this one out of the way before I start actual character development. This isn't strictly an anime/gaming piece anymore, there are a fair few influences in it now. Anyone who is reading, keep doing so, I'm restarting this fanfic after quite a while again :)
Chapter 5 - The Shadow Of The Waterfall
It was a fine day. Birds were singing, and swooping gracefully from tree to tree as they went about their business. In the clear glistening water of the many ponds, fish of all shapes and sizes were streaking through their sparkling habitat. A sun shone it's glorious light beams upon the ground, eliminating shadow, and creating it at the same time. A cool, comfortable breeze swept across through the gardens. Perfectly conditioned paths wound their way across the floor, flanked by trees, bushes, and in some places, marble walls. Along one of these paths, a solitary figure strolled slowly down, marvelling in the beauty of this place. His body, once adorned in glistening metal armour, now stood within flowing robes. His massive sword, a feature of his previous life, now had a place on his apartment wall, a reminder as to how he got here. His white hair matched the searing white of the path, shining to the same extent, and with the same sharpness.
Sephiroth, Son Of Jenova, thought to himself, "Life is good....."
__________________________________________________________________________
Far beyond the rim of any galaxy lay a planet dedicated to one purpose: housing people who had commited evil. It was without any dimensional alignment, and served as the evil version of heaven for all universes. It was here that villians from all places repented for their sins. Few knew about it, but those that did refered to it as "The Villians Retirement Home".
Indeed, in most villian's minds, it was. Although not as spacious or as roomy as heaven, this place was not limited to one universe. It was considered to have great social implications. Many universes collided in this place. It was the only place that the multiverse truly converged. Common to every universe, but not in the way that Earth is. "Oh no," Sephiroth thought to himself, "this is different."
One of the many bars on this planet happened to be Sephiroth's favourite solitary pissup spot. While he rarely enjoyed alcohol while present in the living world, he indulged himself much more when in this world. Without all the problems megalomania can bring to a person's mind and life, you are free to experience the more enjoyable things in life, such as love and friendship. And getting leathered. Ironically, this place provided more of the intended benefits of mortal "life" than the actual mortal life did.
Pushing open the door to the bar, Sephiroth noticed several things.
1. For a Wednesday night, this place was rather packed.
2. An awful lot of people he knew personally were here.
"Hey Sephi!! Come and sit down over here!"
"Hmmm?" Sephiroth turned towards the source of the rather loud voice, an enormous man positioned on a stool, although the man's rear end was several orders of magnitude larger than the actual stool. A ridiculous orange moustache sprouted from the man's face, and again, was several times too large to look normal. 'Robotnik..' Sephiroth thought to himself, 'Great personality, but he has an ego several times larger than even his body...'
"Sephiroth." A deep, dark voice said, "We have business to discuss. We require your assistance."
"Alright Vader, as you wish." The Son Of Jenova took his seat next to the Dark Lord Of The Sith, and Eggman. "What do you want?"
"We've just gotta wait for a couple more people."
"Who like?"
"Kagato. Palpy. Word has got around that even Freeza is here now, that Goku fool actually did accidentally blow him up, so we are expecting him here any time soon. Also, by special dispensation, Dr. Clay is here." Robotnik seemed to sink another inch down on his chair, Sephiroth noted. 'I don't think anyone will see that chair for a while....'
"Strange grouping, and, barring Clay, all fighters."
"Sephi, we've been offered a chance I don't think we can refuse."
Sephiroth's interest perked. "Go on..."
"Care to take over, Vaddy mi laddy?"
Vader groaned, audible even through his mechanized breathing. Robotnik was too pleasant to be a real evil villian, although his laugh was something not to be believed... "Sephiroth. An entity known as Q has contacted myself and Ivor. Apparently, he has a job for us to do in the Tenchi Muyo universe."
"Yes.... what is this job?"
"Q has been somewhat interested in disturbing the balance of the universe present there. He has introduced foreign elements into a situation which is already moderately unstable. I have read the story so far, and have been amused by the effects his changes to the universe have caused. So far, however, despite the vast concentration of heroes there, there are no villians to provide further study." The Dark Lord Of The Sith groaned again, a very out of character gesture for the armoured warrior. "This, Q, wishes us to be those villians."
"One question Vader..... why?"
"Reasons are unknown. I have heard about this Q however, and I believe him to be an incredibly powerful cross universal being. One of the most powerful in existance, if not the most powerful. I would advise caution, as unlike Tarkin, you will most likely LISTEN to my advice."
This was all too much for Sephiroth. "Are you saying that a vastly powerful interdimensional being is wanting us to play the villians in his little game?"
A moment of silence. "Yes, but why, we don't know."
"Great. Just when I thought I got out of all these power games, I'm thrown right back into them. What if I don't wish to go. I like it here, there are no worries about taking the world on. My Masamune stays clean, and to be honest, there is no point in getting it dirty again."
A bright light flashed next to Sephiroth, momentaraly blinding every single person in the bar, and casting light into every dark corner. When it faded, half a second after, a figure, dressed in a strange uniform, stood in it's place.
"Greetings. I am Q."
Even through the mask, Sephiroth could tell the Dark Lord Of The Sith was agitated. Vader clearly didn't like this person at all. Bemused, Sephiroth watched Vader shuffle uncomfortably in his seat as he turned to face the new arrival.
"So, I see not everyone is here yet. Easily solved."
4 more flashes of light took form. From each, the majestic man named Kagato, Washu's former student, and self proclaimed master organ player, Emperor Palpatine, who, after undergoing dark force removal treatment, now had an Oil of Ulay face and a full head of hair, the basketball shaped Clay, and finally, the maniacal Freeza emerged. Wearing a pink tutu. Taking notice of the wide mouthed gazes, Freeza flushed bright red and stammered "Erm..... oh..... I'm exploring my feminine side..."
Q, unstartled as ever, turned to the motley crew of super powerful warriors and geniuses. "Gentlemen, we have business to discuss.."
__________________________________________________________________________
Yosho looked down upon the house now positioned at the base of Masaki Shrine. Every day, it seemed, that house ended up with more and more residents. It had been a week since the Weapon had been annihilated in a show of force a Jurain warship would have a hard time matching. 'All the better that it had occured quickly,' he thought. There were now too many residents to really support in one house, but Tenchi seemed to enjoy having them around.
Washu had created rooms in subspace for everyone, but that Goku was a remarkable persona. He refused any basic comforts as long as it inconvienienced someone. Yosho had even caught him sleeping on the roof at one point. The same could be said about Cloud, the leader of the latest batch of "refugees from another dimension" as Washu called them. The two were impressive examples of warriorship, and he looked forward to challenging both to a sparring match, although Yosho imagined he would be no match for Goku, at the very least.
Still though, the house was getting too small for this....
"Oh well Tenchi," Yosho thought out loud, "You deal with this as you see fit." He turned around, and began strolling back up towards the shrine.
__________________________________________________________________________
Tenchi had a decision that he would have to make soon. In effect, the decision was already made, he had chosen, but the problem was how to let the others know without breaking their hearts. Mihoshi would cry for a while, he knew, but she would swing her mood around within 10 seconds, and be back to normal almost immediately. Sasami wouldn't mind at all. Washu was 20000 years old, caught up in her work, and had probably suffered more rejection than anyone else here. The problem was Aeka, and a real problem it was.
Tenchi wasn't blind to how the girls felt for him. He knew how each and every one of them felt about him, he knew why they argued, and above all, he knew that the two biggest opponents for his heart were Aeka and Ryoko. Ryoko had won, but he didn't know how to let Aeka know...
"Meow??"
"Huh?" Tenchi looked down to his side at the little brown cabbit looking up at him. "Oh, it's you Ryo-Ohki. You want a carrot?"
"Meow... meooooooow!"
"Oh, I see. Ok, well, we'll get one then."
The little cabbits face lit up. She jumped into the air onto his shoulder, meowing with joy, as Tenchi got to his feet, on his way to the carrot shed.
"Tenchi! Is that you?" Sasami yelled from the kitchen.
"Yeah, it's me Sasami!"
"Get me some vegetables will you, pleeease?"
"Will do!"
Making his way out to the carrot shed, he spotted a glint of steel over towards the lake. Cloud, the mercenary leader of the latest residents of Masaki household seemed to be sparring with someone, though he couldn't quite make out who. It looked like Cid.
"&*$& Cloud, you nearly knocked my $(%&£%* head off!!!"
Definitely Cid. He caught three other people over there, no, four. Three on the ground, the bartender, Tifa, that panther.... erm..... Red 14 or something, and Barret. Plus Goku flying about 50 feet above them. All watching the fight, although it seemed to consist more of Cid swearing than anything else.
Sighing, he made his way to the vegetable store. With a push, Ryo-Ohki lept off his shoulder onto the soft grass nearby, meowing happily. Opening the door, he watched the small cabbit dart inside, but Tenchi felt a small tingling on his shoulder. He didn't show any reaction at first, but then it became more forceful and fingermarks could be seen in his shirt. A familar sound was heard, and a large cyan haired girl suddenly wrapped her arms around Tenchi's neck. "Hi..... Tenchi," Ryoko seductively purred into his ear, "Do you want to have some... fun?" A grin plastered itself across her face as Tenchi visibly strained to keep back a nosebleed.
"Uh..uh..err, Ryoko... erm... I've got.... erm.... something I've got to talk to you about," he stammered. "In a little while."
"Awww.." Ryoko's ever maleable voice took on the sound of a child, "Can't you tell me now?"
"Erm... no, not at the moment, I don't think."
"MISS RYOKO!!"
'Oh thank god.'
"GET YOUR FILTHY CRIMINAL HANDS OFF MY TENCHI!!"
"Why, little princess? You want to touch him yourself? Go right ahead, I won't stop you." The grin became wider, more mischieveous.
"WHA-WHA-WHA-WHA-WHAAAAT??!? I AM NOT A WOMAN OF LOOSE MORALS!!"
Tenchi managed to slip out of Ryoko's grasp for a second, only to catch Ryo-Ohki making off with a train robber's load worth of carrots. Too late to stop her, as it was to stop those two. Ryoko and Aeka were now arguing with each other all over again, as they did every day. 'Hopefully this will end soon,' Tenchi thought to himself. 'As soon as I figure out how I'm going to get this through to everyone. Maybe I ought to ask someone else for some help, this is beyond me..'
__________________________________________________________________________
Sephiroth stood on the "deck" of this rather strange ship. Looking around, the vessel was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was composed of a black/red organic material, with a holographic viewscreen projected down from the "ceiling". All in all, the ship reminded him of an insect, at least from the inside. The crowd of former supervillans marvelled at the ship, at the same time as being totally and utterly confused.
"So how do we utilise this "vessel", Q? I do not observe the presence of any control consoles nearby." Vader glanced towards the omnipotent badly dressed immortal, who stood there with a scheming look on his features.
"Simple, my armoured friend. You tell it what to do."
"You mean," Robotnik interrupted, "We talk to this ship/bug and it does what we want it to?"
"Precisely. Now, before I depart, I will tell you of the one assistance you will have in your 'quest'. There is a race awaiting your arrival at waypoint 1 - the ship knows this off by heart, so just say waypoint 1 - which will assist in your escapade. Good luck in your chaos making. I shall be watching."
In a flash of light, Q disappeared. In his absence, there was a moment of silence. Freeza was the first to speak up, now thankfully out of his tutu. "We should get this underway. I'm not immortal... yet."
"I agree." Robotnik stood up to his full, rather unimpressive height, puffed out his stomach, and yelled in his most confident voice "SHIP! BEST POSSIBLE SPEED TO WAYPOINT 1!! NOOOOOOOOOW!!!!"
A hideously loud scream sent every single person in the room to their knees, hands against ears, as the ship acknowledged the command. Spinning around, the ship phased into nothingness, as it's black, spidery shape slipped effortlessly into hyperspace.
__________________________________________________________________________
Washing lines hung from Azaka and Kamedake, who observed everything around them. "Azaka?"
"Yes Kamedake."
"Do you think we will ever see Jurai again?"
"I do hope so, but there are so many fine days on planet Earth, I can't imagine not being here."
"I agree. Princess Aeka would not want to leave under any circumstances, nor Princess Sasami."
"I cannot think of any either."
Kamedake turned to Azaka slightly. "Just another fine day-"
"On Planet Earth."
__________________________________________________________________________
Laughter could be heard in the infinite expanse of the Q continuum.
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Nice short chapter, just thought I'd get this one out of the way before I start actual character development. This isn't strictly an anime/gaming piece anymore, there are a fair few influences in it now. Anyone who is reading, keep doing so, I'm restarting this fanfic after quite a while again :)
Chapter 5 - The Shadow Of The Waterfall