Tenchi Muyo!
______
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 Darkness Within.' I recommend reading
the stories since it is an incredible series and is very well done.
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The Return to Darkness
Chapter 9:
Tensions Mounting
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"Wh...what did you just
call me?" Tokimi asks the now adult red head in
front of her.
Washu smiles gently, slowly walking up to the
goddess. She reaches up and places a hand on Tokimi's
right cheek, cupping it gently. "I called you sister. That is what you
are, my dear younger sister Tokimi." She taps
her temple lightly. "I remember…everything."
The goddess backs up, her eyes wide and surprised. "But how was this
possible? How are you able to remember?"
"I guess you could say that you, Tenchi and
Nobuyuki all helped me to remember. When I learned of your and Tenchi's marriage and of your being a goddess, things began
to stir within my mind, things that I had previously forgotten over 20,000
years ago. The only problem was that I was still unable to tap into them, that
something was still blocking me. It was not until Nobuyuki mentioned the news
about you being pregnant that everything finally clicked." She backs up
and spins around once. "So now I'm back! What do you think sister?"
The goddess sighs slightly. "I am pleased that you have remembered everything,
your timing could not be more perfect. Perhaps you can help straighten out some
of these problems. They will listen to you since myself
and Tenchi are, at the current moment, none too
popular with the others in the house." Tokimi
narrows her eyes, suddenly remembering the state of her dear husband. 'Ryoko shall pay dearly for her crimes against my love. I
have stood by and allowed her a free reign around here for far too long. Now it
is time for action.' She focuses some of her powers and lets
loose with some of her bottled up anger.
______
Some distance away where Tenchi landed from his
'flight' that was courtesy of Ryoko, the rest of the
girls are all helping the still unconscious prince up out of the rubble that
was once a large boulder in the forest. Nobuyuki is working determinedly, his
face showing strain from moving away all the rocks and miscellaneous objects
covering his son. Sasami and Mihoshi
are both crying while moving rocks out of the way and seeing the battered state
of Tenchi. Ayeka is so
mortified that she can't even speak, but does still help in getting Tenchi up and out of the rubble. Ryoko,
on the other hand, stands still in shock, glancing back and forth from the man
who she loves, and the fist that put him in his current position.
'I...I hit Tenchi,' her mind whispers in total shock.
'But I didn't mean to, I wanted to hit that Tokimi
bitch, not Tenchi…not Tenchi.'
Suddenly, just as she feels tears begin to fall, her entire body goes stiff and
she begins to float up in the air, but not by her doing. Ryoko
tries to open her mouth to say something, but finds that she is unable to do
so. 'What's going on?' she thinks worriedly. 'Why can't I...AAAAARRRRRRGGHHHHHH!' her mind screams
in pain as she feels her body begin to get squeezed extremely tightly.
Unfortunately, everyone around her is to busy with Tenchi
to take notice.
'What's...going...on?' her mind grits out. Just as she
finishes this thought, everything around her goes dark and a deep, evil cackle
rings in her ears, chilling her blood. She remembers that voice, she could
never forget who it belongs to and the endless pain and torment she went
through because of the owner of the voice. As the one person she fears above
all others appears in front of her, she completely forgets her pain.
"No!" she shouts, now trembling slightly. "It can't be you!
You're dead! Tenchi killed you, I saw him do
it!"
Kagato smiles evilly, advancing on the pirate, who
still can't move her body. He reaches out, grabbing her by her chin and pulling
her face so they are just millimeters apart. He chuckles slightly. "Still defective as ever Ryoko.
You above all others should know that what you see and what really happens are
two completely opposite things." He lets her go and backs up a few steps.
Holding out his right hand, he creates his light green energy sword. Ryoko feels a burning sensation course from her red gem in
her left wrist, which is now glowing green. "Now that I have returned, we
can spend many, many happy years together." He raises his head towards the
sky and laughs maniacally.
Just before Kagato has complete control over her, Ryoko begins to scream with all her might, "NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
______
Back inside the house, Washu
is still talking to Tokimi. "Perhaps, but I am more
curious as to how you were able to change Tenchi's
affections. Tell me sister, what did you do to…AAAAARRRRRRGGHHHHHH!" her question is cut short as she grasps
her head again and falls to the floor, the pain and mental anguish her daughter
is going through flows though their mental link and is causing her great pain
as well. With a quick thought, Washu closes off the
link with her daughter. She quickly jumps to her feet, albeit a little shakily,
and points an accusing finger at her younger sister while looking very angry.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing to my daughter!?" she
shouts.
"Just punishing her," the Goddess of Justice calmly states.
"Your daughter...my niece," she adds with a wicked smile, "hurt
her dear Uncle Tenchi while trying to hurt me. I am
just simply teaching her a lesson."
Washu stands up to her full height, which is a few centimeters taller than Tokimi.
"Now listen here, scolding her is my job, not yours! She is my daughter,
my responsibility! And by the way, why aren't you helping your husband? I mean,
if he means so much to you, you should be all over him right now, right?"
Tokimi narrows her eyes threateningly. "I
scolded your child because you never seem to do a proper job of doing so, which
shows off in her rambunctious behavior and lack of respect for you." She
smiles sweetly at the now enraged look on her older sister's face. "And as
for my dear, sweet Tenchi..." she snaps her
fingers and Tenchi magically appears in between the
two goddesses, still unconscious and floating in the air, "...I will take
care of him. You and the others are not worthy of accomplishing such a task so
I am warning you now to keep away from him. Oh, and do not worry about your
sorry excuse for a daughter, she is no longer in pain...for now. Now if you
excuse me, my husband and I wish to retire to our room." With that said, she and Tenchi
vanish.
Washu looks up, where she hears the sounds of
movement upstairs. "Well," she sighs, "that went well." She
turns her head over to the Tenchi shaped holes in the
wall. Sighing again, she summons her holo laptop and
begins to push a few keys. Within mere moment, several floating robots appear
and immediately go about repairing the damage. Just as soon as the robots
finish their job, they disappear. The goddess then pushes a few more keys and a
small portal appears next to her. A large bottle of saké
comes out and Washu catches it in her hands. Vanishing her holo laptop, she
hops onto the couch and begins to drink deeply from the bottle. "What a
day."
A few minutes later, the rest of the family runs into the house, Ryoko trailing behind and looking both very haggard and
fearful, her eyes darting around to see if Kagato is
actually around. Sasami rushes over to Washu, tears pouring from her large eyes. "W...Washu!" she cries. "Tenchi
just...he just disappeared! Wh…where is he?"
The goddess pats the young princess on the head lightly. "Don't worry Sasami. Tenchi is fine."
"He...he is?" she sniffs.
Washu smiles at the young girl's concern for the
prince. "Yes he is Sasami. Tokimi
took him and now they're both in his...I mean their room now." She takes a
long sip of her saké and sighs. Her daughter sits
down next to her and grabs the bottle, chugging down every last drip. Washu shrugs her shoulders slightly, but wraps an arm
around the pirate, who calms slightly under her mother's touch. 'Well I suppose
she needed it more than me after what Tokimi just did
to her. Oh yes! Our link!' she then reopens the link between her and Ryoko, but the pirate is still too distressed to notice
anything different, although she does lean into her mother more, craving the
warmth that had left her body so quickly when she thought Kagato
had returned.
Everyone settles down a bit upon hearing that Tenchi
is all right, but unfortunately with Tokimi. Mihoshi looks over at Washu, her
head turning to the side slightly and a confused expression on her normally
cheerful face. "Say Miss Washu," the GP
Detective begins, "why do you look like an adult now? And why weren't you
with us helping Tenchi?"
The goddess closes her eyes, thinking, 'Crap.' She opens her eyes and sees
everyone staring at her expectantly. Sighing deeply again, she stands up.
"Everyone please sit down. I'm about to tell you a few things and I'm
afraid that they will change a lot of stuff around here...a lot."
Ayeka sits down in Washu's
old spot, a hesitant look in her eyes. "Please Miss Washu, what do you have to
say?"
______
Upstairs, Tokimi is sitting down on her and Tenchi's bed, the prince still unconscious and his head
resting on the goddess' lap while she softly combs her fingers through his
hair. She leans down and kisses him on his forehead. "Rest comfortably now
beloved," she whispers to him, now caressing his face. "My
Tenchi, my brave savior." She pauses for
a moment, a frown slowly creeping it's way onto her
beautiful face. "I am changing," she says to herself aloud. "I
have already changed more than I would have ever expected. That foolish child
would have never been able to have the opportunity to strike me before
everything that has happened to me. I am...confused and frightened at the
thought of my skills not being as quick and potent as they once were...but then
again," she adds, looking down at the prince in her arms and the slight
protrusion in her belly, "I would never trade you two for anything in this
or any universe."
A slight moan from her husband catches her ears. Tokimi
looks down and sees Tenchi starting to stir. He opens
his eyes slowly, the first thing him seeing is a pair of beautiful blue and
purple eyes. The prince smiles slightly. "Hello there beautiful." He
then feels a pair of soft lips pressing against his. Without a second thought,
he begins to kiss back. After a few heated moments, the happy
couple separate, both smiling brightly. Tenchi
lays his head back onto his wife's lap. "So, how long was I out?"
The goddess sighs in remembrance. "Not very long, but I was concerned for
your well being. That...woman did strike you quite hard."
"I know," Tenchi sighs back. "I
managed to put up a small energy shield just before I hit that big rock, but it
still hurt a lot." They both chuckle at the comment. Tenchi
suddenly stops laughing and quickly sits up, looking concerned. "Are you
and the baby okay?"
Tokimi smiles sweetly. "Yes. Both of us are
fine...thanks to you," she finishes with a seductive, predatory look in
her eyes. The prince gulps loudly and backs up, only to have his lovely wife
slowly crawl up to him, a deep smile on her face. "What you did was very
sweet and brave Tenchi, and I wish to repay
you." She presses her body up against his, placing a hand on his cheek and
rubbing it slightly.
"B...but, everyone's downstairs! They'll hear us!" he pleads, though
part of him is anxious to be with his wife again. Now that everyone knows, he
doesn't have to be sneaky and secretive, something he never enjoyed doing,
especially around his family. That and the other part of him, the part that Tokimi managed to bring back, still does not think to
highly of most of the other family for what they had done to him in the
'previous life'.
The goddess sits up on her knees, putting her hands on her hips. "I do not
care. We are married and if we wish to make love, then we should be allowed to
do so. If the others are bothered by this, then that is their problem. They can
leave this house for all I care." She moves back in closer, kissing Tenchi on his neck. "And besides," she adds in
between kisses, "you want this just as much as I do." She uses her
tongue and licks along the edges of his right ear, causing him the shiver in
excitement. Her smile widens. "Perhaps even more."
______
Downstairs, Washu has just finished her explanation
of who she really is and the news about the prophecy. For a few minutes,
everyone sits down in stunned silence. The goddess looks around nervously,
waiting to see what will be said about her being a goddess. As
a hand places itself on her shoulder, she jumps up in surprise, catching
everybody's attention. Washu quickly looks
behind her to see Katsuhito calmly standing, a slight
smirk on his face. "I wish more women would act more excited to see me
around like you lady Washu," he chuckles. Upon
seeing the upset look on her face, he quickly coughs and resumes his calm,
non-caring expression.
"How can you joke around at a time like this?" she asks, her lower
lip trembling slightly. "This is not a time to be all happy."
The old shrine priest walks around the couch so now he is in front of it, and
the center of everyone's attention. "Tell me, did Tenchi
start acting differently when he discovered that he is a prince and the only
known human in the universe to bear the LightHawk
Wings?" Washu shakes her head no. "And did
any of you treat him differently after discovering that bit of news about him,
besides trying to constantly experiment on him?" he adds with an amused
look at the goddess, who now looks slightly embarrassed. Katsuhito
smiles slightly. "You see, just because you discover something new about
yourself does not change the person that you are on the inside."
The goddess looks around the room to her family. "I...is
he telling the truth? Do you guys still see me as the same person as you always
have?" Everyone nods, causing a few tears to form in her eyes. She lowers
her head, reaching up and wiping away the tears. "Thank you everyone, you
do not know how much this means."
Ayeka stands up and coughs politely, gathering
everyone's attention on herself. "Now that this situation has been solved,
I would like to know what we are going to do about Lord Tenchi
and his...his relationship with Tokimi."
"Yeah," Ryoko adds, calming down a bit from
earlier, "how are we gonna break those two up
and get that bitch out of here?"
While she is saying this, the crown princess rushes over to her younger sister
and quickly covers her ears. "Ryoko!" she
hisses out, her eyes narrowing at the woman on the couch, "watch your
filthy mouth around Sasami! She is far too young to
listen to you ramble out profanities!"
"She's a growing girl princess," the pirate sighs, slumping down into
a resting position. "She's gonna
here this stuff when she's older so we might as well get her prepared."
Ayeka's right eye twitches slightly. She is about to
shoot a nasty comment back when Katsuhito calmly
walks in between them. "Ayeka, Ryoko, now is not the time for petty quarreling. I am
interested in this whole situation as much as all of you. If you excuse me, I
will go upstairs and speak with my grandson and his bride. He will listen to me
so perhaps I can get some information out of him." With that, he makes his
way up the stairs, to Tenchi and Tokimi's
room.
Mihoshi looks over to Washu,
who is now sitting back down on the couch. "Do you think he'll find out
why Tenchi is acting all funny now Miss Washu?"
"I really don't know," the red head replies with a shrug.
"Things around here have changed so suddenly that I have no idea what's
coming next."
______
Katsuhito reaches his grandson's door. His left
eyebrow raises slightly at the sign at eye level,
saying, 'Tenchi and Tokimi.'
"They certainly waste no time," he murmurs out loud. Without paying
and heed to the strange sounds that are coming from the other side of the door,
the Shinto priest opens the door, saying, "Tenchi,
I wish to..." he trails off and his eyes go wide at the scene before him.
The couple looks up from their present business, equal looks of shock on their
faces. Tokimi quickly summons one of the sheets
tossed onto the floor and quickly covers up her and Tenchi's
nude bodies. She looks back over at Katsuhito, the
annoyance clearly seen on her beautiful face. "Well..." she begins,
"what is it that you want grandfather?"
The older man looks around for a second, confused. "I...hmm...well it
appears that I have forgotten. Forgive me for intruding." He slides the
door closed and leaves.
The couple looks at each other for a moment. They both shrug then toss the
sheet off of them, getting back down to business.
______
Ayeka looks up, hearing footsteps coming downstairs.
Hearing the soft clank of sandals, she instantly realizes that is her older brother.
"That was rather quick," she mutters before standing up and walking
to the foot of the stairs. Sure enough, it is Katsuhito
walking down, an odd faraway look in his eyes. "You are down awfully fast
brother Yosho. May I ask what..." she stops as
the shrine priest walks past her, paying her no notice and leaves out the front
door. Ayeka huffs lightly, putting her hands on her
hips. "My, that was quite rude of him!" She turns around and walks
back into the living room with the others.
"Was that the old man?" Ryoko asks. The
princess nods, looking a little miffed. "so what
did he say?"
"Nothing," the princess replies, getting several confused glances in
her direction. "He just walked past me and left the house."
Sasami tilts her head to the side with a confused
expression on her young face, making herself look
utterly adorable in the process. "Why would grandfather do that?"
The pirate stands up quickly. "Well whatever the reason, I think that this
bi." she trails off looking at Sasami. Quickly,
she corrects herself. "This Tokimi has
overstayed her welcome here. I for one want her to leave and never come back
and have the old Tenchi come back!"
Ayeka stands up next to her. "I agree with Ryoko. Our problems started the minute she walked into our
house and messed with dear Lord Tenchi. She must be
brainwashing him somehow, and she is a major threat that must be
eliminated."
Washu gets up al well, a sweatdrop
forming on the side of her head. "I seriously doubt we can eliminate her,
but I do agree that she had to do something to Tenchi
and I'm not too keen at having her around."
Mihoshi leaps off of her seat, pumping a fist into
the air. "Let's save Tenchi!" she
cheerfully shouts.
Sasami joins her amid giggles. "For
Tenchi!"
The toddler Ryo-Ohki leaps into the air with Sasami,
shouting, "Mya meow!"
Nobuyuki stands up and walks away, shaking his head slightly. "Something
tells me that I shouldn't get involved in this," he mumbles to himself. He
then raises his voice so the others can hear him. "Good luck with your
plan girls, but I think I'll stand this one out. If anyone needs me, I'll be
taking a bath in the onsen."
The six women stand in a circle, each putting their right arm in the center,
their hands all on top of one another's. "Okay," Washu
begins, "after now, there'll be no turning back until Tokimi
is out of here and Tenchi is back to his sweet, kind
and available self. I'm warning all of you that this won't be easy. Tokimi will be a pretty tough opponent. Are you guys ready
to do whatever it takes and suffer any and all of the consequences if we
fail?" Four 'yes!' and one enthusiastic 'myah!'
are answered back. The goddess smiles brightly. "Okay then, now let the
first meeting of operation Dump Tokimi, Save Tenchi, or DTST, begin!"
______
Upstairs, Tenchi suddenly stops kissing his wife, a
deep shiver running down his spine. "Why did you stop?" she moans,
moving her body to try to get him going again. When he doesn't, she looks at
his face. "What is it? What is wrong?"
"I...I don't know," he replies, shifting uncomfortably. "I just
had a strange feeling that something bad's going
on."
The goddess leans up and kisses him softly. "Can you please do me a favor
and think about it later. Right now, you have work to
do." She gives him a pouty face and he begins to
chuckle.
"You're right. Sorry about that." With that he leans down and resumes
his love making with his lovely wife, despite the odd sensations of dread he is
now feeling in the back of his mind.
______
Up at the shrine, Katsuhito
is busy meditating in his office. His meditations are usually over things that
have happened or the possibility of things that are still to come. He usually
meditates to try to get a better grasp on things or to remember past thoughts
and happenings. Right now, though, he is meditating to try to erase the
memories of what he just witnessed in his grandson's room. After a few minutes
of meditating very hard, her opens his eyes, a
defeated look on his face. He sighs deeply, standing up to get a cup of strong
green tea. "Great, now that image will haunt me for a long time," he
grumbles, wishing that he would have done the smart thing and knocked.
To be continued...
______
Author's notes: I know my updates
are few and far between. Sorry about that. But thanks for all of those who have
patiently waited all this time. You are the true fans.
I decided to add in a bit of comedy to this fic, it
was getting a little too deep and needed a comic relief here or there, my
original Darkness series didn't have much in it and I'm making up for it. - lighthawkdemon
Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com