Previously on Continuum T:
Having settled down into a fairly normal routine, the author has decided to introduce another villain. This one just wants Tenchi, though, and not control of the galaxy or anything. I don't have much to work on here, so give me a break.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Continuum T, Part IX – Evolution Revolution
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tenchi stared at the person standing in front of him. It was Tenchi. But there was something different about him. He wore different style clothes, black and tight fitting. There was a large scar across the right side of his face, crossing his eye and separating the eyebrow into two. It extended to the corner of his jaw. His hair was also different, longer, and tied in a crude tress with some string around the back of his head. His left hand had a glove on it, torn in some places. He looked bored.
"Hello, Tenchi," he repeated.
"Who?" Tenchi managed.
"I'm Tenchi Masaki," the visitor said. "I know you are as well, and I know why you seem so surprised. You thought you were the clone, didn't you?"
Tenchi just nodded.
"I thought so. Well, you're not. I am. All those powers you have are natural. They are all rightfully yours. Myself, I was given powers, and had some others enhanced."
"I'm not the clone?" Tenchi asked.
Ryoko chose this moment to look for Tenchi. She appeared in the hall and flew towards Tenchi, when she stopped dead. She was staring at the scarred Tenchi standing outside.
"Ah, the infamous Ryoko, I believe?" the other Tenchi said. "I heard you lived here. And Lady Ayeka, Princess Sasami and GXP officer Mihoshi are here as well. How splendid. But why can I not sense the goddess Washu?"
"She's in her lab," Tenchi said.
"Well, we may as well have everyone here. Hey, everyone, can you come here for a second?" the alter-Tenchi called.
They all appeared from the main room, and gasped and paused when they saw the confrontation at the door. Washu appeared from her lab, frowning.
"Who is this?" Ayeka asked.
"I'll answer this, if you don't mind, Tenchi?" the other Tenchi said. "I'm Tenchi's clone. I was created from genetic information from your good friend Tenchi here. I was placed into a surrogate family on the planet Vegeta, a place where everyone endures physical and mental training. It is a world of warriors, you see. Once I was discovered to have special abilities, I was trained extensively to develop these powers. This made me the strongest being in at least this galaxy. Believe it or not, I am far superior to your Tenchi."
"Why are you here?" Tenchi asked.
"Simple," was the answer. "I am here to tell you something. I know all about your past, where you've been, who you've fought, and I know you don't fully understand it all."
"But why have you come here now?"
"But you already know the answer to that question, Tenchi."
"To fight."
The scarred Tenchi nodded. "You see, you are my only rival. Only you could possibly face me and win. It's very unlikely, but it is possible."
"What do you mean?" Mihoshi asked. "The Royal Family of Jurai can control more Light Hawks than Tenchi. Surely they're stronger?"
"I don't mean the Light Hawk Wings," the alter-Tenchi said, spitting every word. "We can both summon three of them, but that's not the point. Tenchi knows what I mean."
"The Saiyan," Tenchi said evenly.
"Saiyan?" Ryoko asked, consfused. "There's no Saiyans here."
"You haven't told them?"
Tenchi shook his head.
"I think we need some more space, if we're going to fight." The other Tenchi hopped backwards and glided to the middle of the garden. Tenchi frowned as he went, and the girls stared, not knowing what to make of all this. Still, they followed Tenchi outside.
"May I ask you a question?" the other Tenchi said.
"I think you just did."
The pseudo-Tenchi smiled sarcastically. "We even share the same wit. Anyway. When was the first time you became a Saiyan? And don't lie to me. I hate it when people lie to me."
"Nearly seven years ago," Tenchi said.
"I see. And what level are you at now?"
"Super Saiyan."
Tenchi and Washu frowned, while the others looked on, not knowing what that was. Ryoko spoke up. "Wait," she said. "There's no such thing as a Super Saiyan. It's only a myth."
"And how do you know that?" the alter Tenchi asked.
"I told her," Washu said. She looked at Tenchi.
"I see. How ignorant," the other Tenchi said. He redirected his attention to Tenchi. "You have reached the ascended form of a Saiyan. Most impressive. But you haven't been so for long, have you?"
"No."
"I, on the other hand, have been a Super Saiyan for nearly three years now. It comes as second nature to me."
"No, wait," Ryoko insisted. "There's no such thing as a Super Saiyan. If Tenchi was one, he would have told us."
"Ryoko, there are some things you don't know," the scarred Tenchi said. "We Saiyans prefer to remain a secret. It's for other people's safety. But if you're still not convinced, Tenchi here will show you. Tenchi?"
"I can't," Tenchi said.
"Why not?"
"I just can't."
"Had some bad experiences with the Super Saiyan? I had those same problems. But then I realised something. I could be whoever I wanted to be. No transformation is going to tell me to be evil. It wasn't a problem after that. You need to realise that as well, if we're going to have a proper fight. Nothing can tell you who you are. You make your own path, your own life."
These words echoed in Tenchi's memory. He had heard them before. He was atop the highest mountain on the planet, just after defeating Sel and dying. Tokemi had told him those exact words.
Some other words rung into his mind. "Tenchi, remember your training!" That was Ayeka, near Funa-Oh, when Kagato was attacking. "And here I thought you were going to protect me." Ayeka again, under Funa-Oh, his grandfather's treeship, just after Ayeka had returned the sword to Tenchi.
Tenchi frowned. He had decided to try again. He would use his training to suppress the evil inside him, and become a Super Saiyan. He would protect his friends once again.
Tenchi lowered into a ready stance. He released his tight suppression on his energy for the first time since he had killed the drug dealer. His training had made him stronger, but he was still out of practise. He started yelling and became a Saiyan. He yelled louder and forced his energy higher. There was a burst of light, and Tenchi's hair turned golden. The aura around him was also gold. He had become a Super Saiyan.
"But that's a myth," Ryoko stuttered.
"If Super Saiyan is a myth, then the level beyond that must be impossible," Tenchi's other self said. "Want to see me do something impossible?"
"What?" Tenchi exclaimed. "There's a level beyond a Super Saiyan?"
The other Tenchi grinned and got into a similar stance to Tenchi. He powered up to Saiyan instantly. He raised his arms slightly, struggling as he did so, and became Super Saiyan. Then he started yelling. He raised his arms in front of his face and thrust them down. There was an explosion of light. Once it had dissipated, Tenchi could see the change. The hair was grouped into more lengths than a Super Saiyan, about twice as many. They also pointed directly upwards. Electricity crackled around Tenchi's opponent, running up and down his body. He relaxed from his stance and grinned.
"This is the ascended form of a Super Saiyan. It is the Super Saiyan Two, or as I like to call it, a Hyper Saiyan."
"How did you do that?" Tenchi asked.
"I told you I had extensive training. And I also told you that Kagato made me stronger. I'm stronger than you, and this transformation proves it."
"Kagato?"
"Oh, didn't you know? It was Kagato who cloned you. He was going to come for me in a few years and use me to take over the galaxy. Then I heard that you had destroyed him while he was trying to capture Tsunami, so I spent the next few months coming here to find you. I figured that if you had killed Kagato, then you would be a worthy opponent."
"I will not fight you, you fake," Tenchi said.
"Please, call me Aki. It's my middle name. I decided not to use Neo. It's just so religious. I don't like that. It's like Earthlings called Christian or Mohammed. It's like, what's the point? Why are they called that? Anyway," he said, getting back on track. "You will fight me, Tenchi, or you will die."
Tenchi tightened his stance.
"The thing is, there can only be one of us alive. It's just the way things are. I don't like the idea of there being another me. We will fight. One of us is going to lose. One of us is going to die. Let's face facts, Tenchi. It's you."
"But why do you have to kill me, Aki?" Tenchi asked. "I thought you were just like me. I hate to have to fight."
"But I'm not just like you, Tenchi. I let the evil win. I am evil. I have crossed the border, and joined the Dark Side. I wouldn't think twice about killing you, and it's that attitude that's going to get you killed."
Aki focussed on Tenchi. "Now let's fight."
Aki charged forwards. Tenchi leapt to the side to avoid his attack and swung a foot at him. Aki disappeared and reappeared behind Tenchi. Tenchi, caught off balance, was hit in the back, causing him to reel forwards. Aki vanished, as did Tenchi. A small crater appeared where Tenchi had just been, formed by an invisible cause. An impact in the air sent Tenchi flying into a nearby tree. Tenchi closed his eyes and landed on a small branch, standing on a leaf. Aki reappeared in front of him, hovering in the air.
"How are you doing that?" he asked. "I can sense you're not flying. That twig can't support you, can it?"
"I trust nature," Tenchi replied. "And so nature helps me."
With that, Tenchi leapt up and disappeared. Aki looked around and descended to the ground. He walked towards the group of girls, who were staring at the events in front of them in disbelief. Even Washu, who already knew that Tenchi was a Super Saiyan. Even so, watching what was going on was all the more unbelievable. Tenchi appeared between him and the girls, his arms spread.
"Don't come any closer," Tenchi ordered.
Aki cocked his head. "I was only going to apologise to them in advance for killing you. I feel they like you a lot, and although I am far stronger than them, I wouldn't want them after my blood."
"Leave them alone," Tenchi said. He walked forwards until he was standing right in front of Aki. Aki cocked his head again.
"Surely you don't think you can win?" he asked.
"Surely that's not a nervous twitch?" Tenchi said. He swung his fist forwards and punched Aki's blocking hand. Aki's other hand hit Tenchi in the stomach, throwing him away and causing a trench in the ground. Tenchi got up. Aki raised an arm towards him, his palm outstretched. Tenchi was suddenly paralysed as an invisible force grabbed hold of him.
"My telekinetic powers are unrivalled in the galaxy," Aki said. ""Don't try to struggle. It'll only make it that much more painful."
Tenchi struggled anyway, then faded. He had moved to behind Aki. He grabbed him in an arm lock. "I don't want to kill you, Aki," Tenchi said.
"You should," Aki replied. "I want to kill you."
Aki forced himself free of the hold, and turned and faced Tenchi. Tenchi clenched a fist next to his body. It started to glow green. Aki cocked his head as he watched with interest at what was going on. Tenchi swung forwards and a bright green beam of energy shot forwards impossibly fast. It ripped straight through Aki and continued in a straight line into the distance. It was the same attack which had killed Sel the first time, and which had killed Tenchi the first time as well. Tenchi opened his hand and the beam stopped.
Aki reached a hand into the hole through his chest, and looked at Tenchi.
"You got me. Well done, Tenchi," Aki said. "Your mastery of energy is higher than I expected. Most energy blasts don't come near to harming me, but yours..." He tailed off.
Aki waved a hand over the hole and it disappeared.
"Advanced regeneration technique," he said. "It's like Sel's, but mine's quicker. However, I can't regenerate from a single cell like Sel. That ability was unique. But if you're thinking of using that as a weakness, forget it. You couldn't come close, even with your fabled kameya-meya that can destroy planets."
"Destroy planets? I didn't think anyone was that strong," Ryoko said.
"Obviously you've never met a Super Saiyan," Aki said.
Aki reached a hand upwards above his head. "This is a nice technique, I think," he said. "It's called Destructo-Disc. I wouldn't touch it if I were you. It's immensely powerful."
Aki created a ball of orange energy in his hand. It flattened until it was a disc. He swung it backwards and threw it at Tenchi. Tenchi disappeared just before the disc hit him. The disc continued into the woods, cutting down a line of trees before exploding in a large blast.
Tenchi reappeared, clutching his wrist. His left hand was gone.
"A bit too slow, Tenchi?" Aki laughed. "Never mind. It won't hurt for long, not where you're going."
Tenchi paid no attention, but clutched his wrist. Sasami was screaming in horror, and Mihoshi looked ready to faint. The others had ill looks on their faces. Tenchi yelled, in effort rather than pain. He clutched his wrist to his chest and doubled over on it. He stopped yelling and stood up, revealing his hand. He had healed it. He bent down and picked up his old hand, lying on the ground where it had been cut off. He levitated it and formed an energy ball around it. The energy vaporised the hand and then disappeared. Tenchi glared at Aki.
"You're right," Tenchi said. "It doesn't hurt now. But I'm sure this will." He raised his arms above his head. "Masenko!" he shouted, forming a large blue ball of energy in his hands. He moved his hands together, which made the ball smaller until about the size of a football. He threw it at Aki. "Blast!" he yelled.
Aki stepped to the side, letting the energy fly past him and impact the ground just behind him. The ball instantly expanded to its original size, engulfing Aki and half of a chair. The blast dissipated, leaving half a chair, the other half having been vaporised. Aki stood there in shock, his clothes half disintegrated. Electricity crackled around his hand as he rubbed his face. He wasn't expecting that. He shook his head and powered up again, his aura reappearing around him. He tore off a loose sleeve, the other one having already gone, and threw it to the ground.
"You're going to pay for that," Aki said slowly. He launched himself at Tenchi, delivering a rapid flurry of punches to his chest. Tenchi staggered backwards with each impact, until tripping over a rock and fell onto the ground. Aki shot an energy beam at him. Tenchi rolled to the side, letting the blast pierce the ground and tunnel a long hole through the Earth. Tenchi stood up, and was grabbed from behind by Aki. Tenchi struggled against the headlock, but Aki was far too strong.
"Resistance is useless, Tenchi," Aki laughed. "There's no way you're going to get out of this one."
Tenchi tried to prise Aki's arm from around his neck, all the time feeling the electricity crackle around him. He was in serious danger of passing out of consciousness due to lack of oxygen. If that happened he was going to die.
Ryoko charged at Aki. "Leave Tenchi alone!" she yelled. "I'm not going to lose him just because some impostor comes along!"
Aki shifted his grip on Tenchi, freeing an arm. He raised it at Ryoko, now in her battle suit. Aki cocked his head slightly, and an invisible force threw Ryoko back with such strength that she broke a leg on the corner of the house. She recoiled from the glancing impact and skidded along the ground before hitting a tree very hard. The tree splintered, showing how strong the force was, and Ryoko lay on the ground half dead.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled. Although he couldn't see what was going on, he could sense it. He renewed his determination to escape the grip. He yelled, and his aura reappeared around him. Unlike when he had fought Sel, Aki held on. He was obviously very strong to do so. Tenchi kept on yelling, and his power level kept rising. It was now about three quarters that of Aki now. His aura increased in intensity and vigour. There was an explosion of light from him, followed by another and another. A very bright light emanated from him, much to bright to look at. Once the light had passed, everyone could see what had happened. Tenchi had ascended to Hyper Saiyan. Blue lightning sparked all over his body. His hair pointed straight up, and the points of hair had doubled in number. He wrenched himself free of Aki and dashed over to Ryoko.
"How did he become a Hyper Saiyan?" Aki mused.
Ryoko lay still on the floor. Tenchi crouched down and examined her leg. Blood stained the skin all around, and a hint of white bone protruded from the surface in the middle of the dried blood. Tenchi forced the bone back into position, wincing at the pain he was causing. He placed a hand on Ryoko's chest and gave her some of his energy, until she awoke. Tenchi gave her some more until he sensed that her injuries had healed, and then let go.
"Tenchi," Ryoko murmured. "You saved me."
Tenchi smiled at her. "Why wouldn't I? It'll have to do until I can give you an explanation of everything, though."
Ryoko smiled back. "Just as long as I'm with you, my Tenchi."
Satisfied that Ryoko was all right, Tenchi picked her up and took her back to the others. He put her down and faced Aki. Aki was looking on in mild shock and surprise.
"I'm through with your games, Aki," Tenchi said. "We're going to finish this now."
"Congratulations on your ascension, Tenchi," Aki said, having regained his senses. "But I'm afraid you're still nowhere near my strength. Surely you can feel it?"
"Yes, I can feel it," Tenchi said. "I don't care. You may not have anything to live for, but I do. My friends. I love them all, and I will fight to protect them with my life."
"You love them all? Tried anything yet, Tenchi? But surely little Sasami is too young for that?"
"That's none of your concern," Tenchi shouted. "All you should be worried about is how painful your death is going to be."
"You overestimate yourself, Tenchi," Aki said. "But here isn't where we should decide your fate. There's just not enough room. Follow me, if you can. I saw a nice open space on the other side of the planet where we can fight."
"You're so full of it," Tenchi said, taking off after Aki.
"Tenchi, be careful," Ayeka called.
"Don't worry, I will," Tenchi said.
Tenchi and Aki flew off at an incredible speed towards a rocky desert somewhere in Africa. They arrived about two minutes later. They landed and faced each other for the showdown.
Back in Japan, Washu was busy locating them, so that she could call up a visual display of them. She found them, and a big screen appeared in the air in front of the girls, a part of her laptop. The girls looked on as Aki and Tenchi fought.
Tenchi and Aki were locked in battle, both at their Hyper Saiyan form. They broke, before launching at each other for a fresh volley.
Several charts appeared on different screens next to the main one. They were all representations of the power levels of Tenchi and his clone. Aki's power level was given the value 27 million, and Tenchi's was 19 million. Given that the average power level of a human was about 100, this was very impressive. However, the large difference between Aki's and Tenchi's strengths gave Aki a clear advantage.
Tenchi could sense that the girls were watching him. He looked over at the place the girls were looking at him from. Obviously there was nothing there, but Tenchi could sense something there.
Aki could as well. "Why can't they just leave us alone?" he asked. "They already know you're going to die. Why do they want to watch it as well?"
"They believe in me," Tenchi said. "They believe I'm stronger than you are."
"How can they think that? I know they can see a display of our power levels. I have a rating of 27 million, and you only have nineteen mil, according to that data. You're far weaker than me."
"Despite that, they still believe in me. And that's what gives me strength. You see, your power come from you, but the source of my strength is my friends. And my friends love me. They give me all the strength I could need."
"A nice speech, but that's just figuratively speaking. You don't get physical strength from them at all. Without this extra strength, you are nothing."
"I could get strength from them," Tenchi said.
"Go on then. Nothing else you could do could hurt me."
Tenchi looked over to where the girls were looking from. He concentrated, and the image the girls were watching was disrupted. Tenchi raised both hands up next to his face, palms pointing towards him.
"Solar Flare!" Tenchi shouted. A bright light shone from his hands, blinding Aki. He groped around, waiting for the colours in his vision to disappear, leaving what was actually there.
Tenchi spread his arms. "Earth, wind, ice, thunder, light, fire and psyche. I call the elements to give me their strength. Give me the strength of my friends, so that they may help me in my quest. Come to me."
The girls were watching the viewscreen anxiously as Washu attempted to recall the picture. What looked like wisps of smoke started rising from them into the air. They looked at them in astonishment as the smoke of their energy soared through the air towards Tenchi, entering his body. Tenchi could feel them inside him, and focussed them into a cloud in front of him.
Aki stumbled around, trying to make sense of everything he could feel was going on. His vision was clearing somewhat, and he could just about make out Tenchi's shape.
The last of the energy came and joined the cloud. Tenchi reached into it and added his own energy in the form of a ball. The cloud adopted this form, and shaped itself into a sphere. Tenchi joined his arms together and pointed them at Aki, just behind the sphere.
"Spirit Bomb!" Tenchi shouted. The ball of culminated energy flew towards Aki, circled around him a few times, and then impacted. A dense cloud spread out, obscuring him.
The image returned, and the girls looked anxiously on. They watched as the smoke cleared, revealing Aki, who was very injured. Aki waved a hand over his injuries, healing them. He powered up even more, registering a power level of over 30 million.
"Very nice, Tenchi," Aki praised. "But you're still going to die."
"I may not have been a Hyper Saiyan for as long as you," Tenchi said, "but I'm a fast learner. It seems that every time I need to ascend, I do so. If there's a level beyond a Hyper Saiyan, you'd better be careful that you don't force me to become it."
"Is that a threat? It seems to me like you're scared, to go on ranting like that."
"Of course I'm scared. Half an hour ago I had a relatively normal life. Then you came along and turned it upside down."
"You still don't get it, do you? Saiyans don't have normal lives, Tenchi. Saiyans are not normal people. We can never be like anyone else, as long as we can do this. So how can you say you have a normal life, if Saiyans can never have such things?"
"Tokemi told me that I could do what I want with my life. No-one could tell me how to live. Especially not you."
Tenchi powered up, until his power level was about 21 million.
"We have incredibly high powers. I accept that. But at least I'm strong enough to resist my dark urges."
Aki snarled and put his hands to his side. "A favourite move of yours. The kameya-meya."
Tenchi moved his hands to his side as well.
"Kah!" they shouted in unison. "Meh! Hah! Meh!"
They both thrust their hands forwards. "Haah!" A large beam of energy was released by each Saiyan, and was shot towards the other. They collided in the middle and formed a huge energy ball, half Aki's energy, and half Tenchi's. They both put more energy in and the ball expanded, until it was almost touching them. Aki had put more energy in than Tenchi, so Aki's energy dominated the ball. Tenchi found some extra energy and evened the balance.
"One of us is going to lose this, Tenchi!" Aki shouted over the sound of colliding energy. "And that someone is you!"
Aki forced more energy into the ball and the dividing line between the two energies moved towards Tenchi. Tenchi struggled to even the score, but had no more energy. The ball was now totally made of Aki's energy, only held back by Tenchi's hands. Tenchi felt himself getting weaker, and struggled to keep the energy away. He yelled even louder, until he felt faint. His head bowed forwards, but his hands stayed up. Tenchi yelled again, louder than ever. He felt as though inside him was a barrier, and that he was getting closer to it.
Back in Japan, the bars showing Tenchi's energy were rising. They were nearly at 28 million now. Washu gasped in wonder as she watched the impossible.
"Where is he getting all that energy?" she wondered.
The barrier was coming closer, until it surrounded him. Then it broke.
Tenchi's hair grew longer and sagged down his back, until it reached his thighs. The ridges of his eyes became more prominent, like that of a gorilla or primate. His flaming aura disappeared, and was replaced by a spherical aura, which flamed out directly from Tenchi's body.
Tenchi had ascended to the next level.
--------------------
Tenchi stopped yelling. He clawed his hands slightly and raised them. The energy blast rose with them.
Aki had sensed what Tenchi had done, and now could see him moving the energy. He stopped concentrating. This was a bad mistake.
The energy ball blew up. Aki rapidly flew away, just avoiding the explosion. However, Tenchi was still there when it happened. The explosion covered three square miles of land, at the very middle of which was Tenchi.
The girls stopped breathing as they watched the event, looking desperately for any signs that Tenchi was still alive. Washu was completely stunned at Tenchi's transformation. Sure, she had already known about the Super Saiyan, as Tenchi had told her. The Hyper Saiyan was a shock, but possibly predictable. But Super Saiyan 3 was astonishing. She could feel his power, and knew that it was very high, even without looking at the charts. The charts showed that Tenchi's power level was 35 million, over fifty percent stronger than he had been a few minutes ago. Such a rapid increase in strength in such a short period of time was virtually impossible, but Washu knew that anything not strictly and definitely impossible is destined to happen. She just never thought that Tenchi would be the one to do this, and wouldn't have believed anyone who told her that he would.
Washu mentally recalled the prophecies. They spoke of a Chosen One, whose powers would be unprecedented, and who would unite even the gods. When Washu had first seen Tenchi, she didn't seriously believe that he could be the Chosen One, but now, having advanced twice in such a short time, Washu sincerely thought that he could be. If he was, he had a big reputation to live up to.
--------------------
The residual dust cleared. Aki watched in pure amazement as a figure was revealed. It had long golden hair and a very strong power. Lightning crackled on the floor all around him, and arced over his head, drawing random lines in the ground. He recognised the figure. It was Tenchi.
Aki slowly drifted towards him. He landed and walked slowly towards him.
"What is that?" Aki asked.
"This is the Super Saiyan 3. The ascended form of a Hyper Saiyan." Tenchi's voice was deepened, due to the transformation, no doubt.
"But what is it called?"
"I don't know. I guess I could call it Ultra Saiyan or something. A name which shows how strong it is."
"Maybe Extreme Saiyan?" Aki suggested.
"No. I think this form will be called Supreme Saiyan. It suits it, don't you think?"
"Oh yes," Aki agreed. "Supreme Saiyan it is. And I must say, it's a very impressive transformation."
"Have you noticed my power level? Nearly 35 million."
"Oh yes. That's incredible. But why haven't I become a Supreme Saiyan yet? I have a much higher top strength than you, but I've not advanced. Why is that?"
"You probably never needed to do so. It's the act of having to ascend to stay alive that allows us to do so. And what do you mean when you said that your top strength is much higher than mine? I thought you were using your full power?"
"No," Aki said. "I just kept it down to see how good you were. But I'm sensing that this is your maximum now. I, on the other hand, can go quite a bit higher."
"Show me."
Aki hopped away.
"Congratulations on the Supreme Saiyan transformation, Tenchi, before I forget," he said. "Don't think I'm not impressed, because I am. It's not like you run into that form every day."
Aki started powering up. The chart showed Aki's power level rising beyond Tenchi's, surpassing 40 million easily and raising until it was about 48 million. The ground started shaking slightly. Aki looked at Tenchi and smiled.
"My highest power," he said. "On the chart, it's about 48 or 49 million, far higher than your 35 million. It doesn't matter that you're a Supreme Saiyan. It's actual strength that counts."
"Tenchi's in trouble," Washu said. "Aki's power level is far higher than Tenchi's. Even if they don't manage to destroy the planet, they're going to do some serious damage. Tenchi could very well be destroyed."
The other girls gasped as they heard this.
"It's just a pity that we can't survive in space," Aki said. "We'd have some room to fight, then."
"Are you going to fight, or are you going to talk?" Tenchi asked.
"Actually, I think I'll show you a very special technique I've been developing," Aki replied. He instantly moved to behind Tenchi and grabbed hold of him. "The power leech."
Tenchi felt a strange sensation as Aki started to drain his energy. He couldn't move, paralysed by the draining. He could only feel his energy seeping away.
Aki laughed. "Do you feel that?" he asked. "That's your energy being absorbed by me. That's the last feeling you're going to have before I kill you."
Tenchi's power continued to disappear. Before he knew it, he had powered down to normal. The long hair still remained, but now it was just normal hair.
Aki continued to laugh. "I can feel your strength. Only now it's mine. You sure have a lot for such an inferior being. But now you don't have any."
Aki released Tenchi. Tenchi staggered away and tripped, landing heavily on the ground. He looked at Aki. Electricity was crackling all over him, even more so than before. It was obvious that he was much stronger.
"83 million?" Washu exclaimed. "That's unbelievable!"
"What about Tenchi?" Sasami asked, about to cry.
As if on cue, Tenchi powered up to his maximum. It didn't take long. Aki had taken nearly all of his energy. Tenchi didn't even reach his Saiyan form.
"Tenchi only has six hundred," Washu said slowly. "It's not even close to a fraction of Aki's power."
"Tenchi," Ayeka whispered helplessly.
Aki laughed once again and cocked his head.
"You know, that's really getting annoying," Tenchi said.
"Such big words for such a little amount of energy. Only six hundred, whereas I have over 83 million. You can never hope to beat me with such a big difference in power."
"Where there's life, there's hope," Tenchi said. "And my life is far from over."
"So optimistic. But hope isn't going to stop me from blasting you into dust. Right now, you only have one choice. Do you want to die painfully or even more painfully?"
"I can't believe you were ever like me," Tenchi coughed, dust getting into his throat. "I value life, and you destroy it. I give life to people, and you steal it. You thief. You're no person. You're a monster."
"You know, I think that's the worst insult I've ever heard," Aki remarked. "Seriously. I don't give most other people a chance to insult me, and those who do are usually meaningless amongst all the foul language."
Aki went serious. "You know the prophecies, don't you? The tale of a Chosen One with unbeatable strength? They refer to me."
"They refer to a benevolent being. That's not you. No-one could ever write nice things about you."
"What, so you think they refer to you?" Aki smirked. "You're going to die in a minute. And if you're the One, there's got to be some kind of a miracle to stop me. Right? I mean, how can you be the One if you're dead?"
Aki raised a hand towards Tenchi and splayed his fingers. "I just want you to know that this is going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt me." He formed a bright white ball of energy. And fired.
"Tenchi!" the girls cried out.
--------------------
There was no explosion. There was only a huge blast of light, reaching out for miles. Aki was perfectly safe, as he was strong enough to resist it, but everything else for miles around was levelled perfectly flat.
The light dimmed and faded, except for one bit in the middle. As the rest of the light disappeared, the shining centre could be seen more clearly. It wasn't round, but elongated in a rough oval. In fact, the more Aki looked at it, the more he imagined he could see a familiar shape. He saw it every time he looked into a mirror, or into a reflective surface of water.
"No," Aki said, not believing what was right there. "That's impossible. You're dead."
The figure raised into the air several metres and curled around itself, forming a sphere. Slight variations in the intensity of the light showed that it was spinning, slowly at first, but speeding up. Suddenly, it stopped. The sphere formed into another shape, similar to the first, but thinner. It descended and landed on the ground.
A voice emanated from the shape. It was Tenchi's voice. "Homo sapien evolved to..." it said. The light instantly faded, revealing what looked like a skeleton. It was a metal skeleton, with wires and cables running all over it, padding it out. The head was much like a metal version of a normal head, with a smooth grey skin-like material over it. The skin covering the mouth moved as the robot spoke.
"Homo validus," it said. "Powerful man."
--------------------
Everyone watching was completely taken aback. Washu was the only one to guess at what had happened.
"Spontaneous human evolution," she said distractedly. "I think Tenchi's evolved to the form beyond what we call human."
"You mean like, Super Saiyan 4?" Mihoshi asked, only half thinking about talking. The other half was staring at the robotic figure on the screen.
"No. Tenchi couldn't have become Super Saiyan 4, even if he wanted to," Washu replied. "He only had a strength of 600. Even though he needed to advance, there's still a minimum amount of energy he needed to have to become even a Saiyan, and that was far above what he had. No, this is actual evolution."
--------------------
Back in the desert, Aki was staring at Tenchi.
"What, what is that?" he gasped.
"It is the evolved form of a human being. A human become, if you will." Tenchi was examining his body, clenching his hands and twisting his torso. He was paying absolutely no attention to Aki.
"But I can't feel anything. You shouldn't be alive."
"Machines don't have power levels, Aki. My body is this now. My mind and soul operate it. It is far better equipped for surviving than the weak flesh of organic bodies. It is far more adaptable as well. Like this. Armour activate!"
From a dozen different points around his body, more metal started appearing, segmenting their way around his body. They linked up perfectly with each other, forming a flexible metal suit, which surrounded and protected his entire body.
"This is ablative armour," Tenchi said, examining his body once again. "It offers no hindrance to my manoeuvrability compared to before, but adds extra protection. It is virtually impenetrable, and also adaptable. Like so. Progressive knife, detach!"
The metal strip covering the underside of Tenchi's left forearm regressed and disappeared. A short metal knife came out, attached at the end of the hilt to his arm, and swung around into Tenchi's hand. Tenchi jerked his hand to detach the knife, and the connector retreated into his arm. The gap was closed by a segmenting piece of metal.
Tenchi brought the knife up in front of him. "Progressive blade, energise!" he said. The blade started to glow a light purple.
"You can't sense me, so you don't know where I am without looking at me." Tenchi vanished and reappeared right next to him. Before Aki could react he swung the knife around and cleanly severed his arm. Aki clutched at the small stump on his shoulder in pain and backed away from Tenchi, a look of pure terror on his face.
"Don't get me wrong, my clone," Tenchi said in a cold tone. "I'm not evil. I know that now. This evolution has given me a lot of extra knowledge. I know I am good. I'm just doing this to protect everyone else." He advanced towards Aki.
Aki backed away even more, and tripped over a rock. He reached out his arm to stop his fall, but he no longer had an arm, merely a stump. He landed on its end, causing an immense amount of pain. Distracted by this, he didn't notice Tenchi crouch down over him, pinning his legs and arm, and sitting on his chest.
Tenchi held his knife vertically over Aki's throat, ready to plunge it in. Aki opened his eyes wide. Tenchi could feel something.
"You can't force me away with your powers, Aki," Tenchi said. "They only work on organic people, not me."
Aki struggled and wrenched his arm free. He grabbed Tenchi's knife by the hilt and tried to force it away.
"Resistance is useless, Aki," Tenchi said, still in the same cold tone. "One of us is going to die. Let's face facts. It's you."
Aki whimpered at the sound of his own words being used against him. Tenchi was just too strong to be moved, irrelevant of how much energy Aki had. Aki closed his eyes.
"Do it," he said. "Just make it quick." He released his grip on the dagger.
"No," Tenchi said.
Aki opened his eyes. "No?"
Tenchi shook his head. "I won't do it. I can't do it. I cannot take another's life."
"But I'm only a clone. I shouldn't have ever existed. And I'm evil. Just do it. Kill me."
"People can change. All life is precious, no matter how that life was received." Tenchi moved to get up, but Aki grabbed his knife.
"Don't. I want you to do this."
"I'm sorry, but I can't."
"It's not that I'm a sore loser. True, I can see that you are stronger than me, stronger than I could ever be. But that's not it. I have seen how I could have been good. You managed it, so I should have as well. I can't live any more, knowing I had a choice. Either you kill me, or I'll kill myself when you get off me. I'd rather you killed me, because I wouldn't cause so much damage. I'd need to vaporise myself, and that would destroy nearly everything on this planet as well. Please, do this for me."
"I cannot," Tenchi said.
"Kill me!" Aki tried to bring the knife into his throat. Tenchi resisted.
"No!" Tenchi said. "You can be good. I can see it. I will not let you destroy your life, when you're making progress."
"I'm sorry for taking your energy, Tenchi," Aki apologised. "I would give it back, but I don't know if you could take it in that form."
"I'm fine. By evolving, my energy had been restored."
"That's good to know."
Aki relaxed his grip on the knife. Tenchi stopped resisting. Aki pointed his hand straight at Tenchi's face.
"I'm sorry, brother."
He fired a small energy blast into his face. Tenchi, although not damaged, removed a hand from the knife and clutched his face. Aki took the opportunity to grab the knife and plunge it through his throat. It cut his windpipe and went through and severed his spine. He died almost instantly.
Tenchi looked back at Aki, and noticed his knife had gone through his neck, Aki's hand on the end. Tenchi bowed his head. Aki was gone.
Don't feel sorry, Tenchi, Aki's voice sounded in the wind. I did it, not you. I am proud to have known you. May your prophecies come true.
Tenchi pulled out his knife and reinserted it into his arm. He stood up, before bending down and picking Aki up.
--------------------
Tenchi arrived back home half a minute later, carrying Aki's lifeless body. He laid it down on the ground and looked at the girls. They just stood still, gaping at what had happened.
Tenchi crossed his arms over his chest and bowed his head, in a stance of respect. He then bent down and placed his hand on Aki's chest.
"Goodbye, brother," he whispered. The space around Aki's body distorted and warped, and the body vanished.
Tenchi suddenly glowed bright white. His form changed slightly, and the light faded rapidly. He was back to normal.
--------------------
Later, Tenchi was in Washu's lab, being subjected to more tests. This time, however, the tests were strictly serious. Washu walked over to him, holding a test tube.
"I don't mean to sound rude, or like how I have been in the past, but I do need a sample of your semen. You may produce it in private over there, behind those screens. You will have complete privacy."
"Couldn't you just use a passive molecular scan?" Tenchi suggested.
"I'm sorry?" Washu wasn't expecting Tenchi to say something like that.
"A passive molecular scan," Tenchi repeated. He looked around the lab and spotted something. He pointed towards it. "Over there. The alignment reorganiser. You could modify that to produce a georamic wave, a non-invasive wave which can detect the location of any number of atoms, and then you can record them in a simulation."
Washu was stunned. Now that she had heard this, she knew it would work, but she had never thought of it before.
"How did you know that?" she asked.
"My evolution gave me extra knowledge. Not much, comparatively to the total amount of knowledge available in the multiverse, but a lot nonetheless."
"Oh." Washu was still amazed with everything that had gone on. "I'll get that started now then."
"Do you want me to help?" Tenchi offered.
"No, that's okay," Washu replied. "Although I will need to conduct more tests to see how much you really know."
"Okay then. I'll be off now. I'm sure Ryoko's waiting for me."
--------------------
And she was. She thanked him for saving her life countless times, and Tenchi talked with everyone there about what had happened. Tenchi told them all the whole truth about his past, which up until now had remained a secret.
Surprisingly, Ryoko didn't ask to sleep in Tenchi's room that night, for reasons she didn't say. Tenchi suspected that since he had saved her life, she didn't feel right sleeping with him. The next day was Mihoshi's, and that went fairly normally. Generally, Mihoshi was too embarrassed to show any true affection for Tenchi, and was content with just sitting next to him. She, too, didn't sleep with Tenchi that night, and so Tenchi spent that night alone as well. The next day was Washu's. She tried coaxing Tenchi into her lab with promises of nice food and anything else he wanted. Tenchi resisted, until later that day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the next episode of Continuum T:
The final part of the prophecy comes true. Tenchi faces his ultimate challenge, in "K'oko Attacks!". Will the prophecy be entirely accurate, destining Tenchi to die? Will Tenchi finally accept Washu's offer of pleasure? Will there be an apology for Aki's offensive behaviour towards religious names? Find out in the next episode of Continuum T.