Darkness Falls
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Chapter 2 - Emerging Future!
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Several days had passed since Tenchi arrived in Tokyo, and he and Sakuya had become friends. The sky was sunny, its light shining on the large grounds of the high school in Tokyo.
"Masaki-kun!" came Sakuya's voice from the stairs entering the school. Masaki Tenchi, currently dressed in his school uniform of a white long-sleeved shirt, red necktie, and black pants, ran up to the black-haired girl.
"Kumashiro-san. How was your day so far?" Tenchi asked the girl in front of him. It has halfway through the day at the time. But his conversation with Sakuya was cut short as people started screaming. Tenchi's face hardened. "Kumashiro-san, stay here. I have to handle this." With this, the boy took off in the direction of the screams… Where he saw a finger with thick arms, boxing gloves, and spindly legs. Te.
"So, the Masaki boy has revealed himself. Time to follow Master's orders." Te said, a maniacal tone in his voice. He sunk into a standard boxing stance - hands raised to protect his head, one leg back, knees bent.
Tenchi, on the other hand, did not enter a stance, but just charged straight forward. His charge was short-lived, however, as Te backhanded him into a wall. "So, I heard from Takuya-sensei that his attacker was strong, but not this strong." He muttered, brushing off the dust from impacting the wall. "But his evil ends now!"
At this, Tenchi broke into another charge, which was brushed away just as quickly when Te dodged Tenchi's punch and hit the Jurain prince with an uppercut to the stomach. "It's over, Masaki!" Te yelled, for Tenchi was clearly showing signs of weakening after the hit.
"No… I must protect… Everyone!" Tenchi yelled, as he kicked at the monster. His kick was blocked, and, a second later, was on top of a car six feet away. Te charged at the boy, and began pounding the human into the pavement until Tenchi's face was a bloody pulp, but the monster boxer was suddenly shot in the shoulder by a police officer who had arrived. Realizing that he was caught, Te began speaking in his usual, emotionless voice.
"Master, this is Te. Mission failed. Target is injured, but a negative interruption has arrived." And with this, he vanished.
"What the… I get paid way too little for this job…" the police officer muttered, not realizing that he had just thwarted a plot that affected all of humanity.
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"Kage, arrive." The shadow behind the waterfall called. Instantly, Kage appeared, his eyes the only thing visible in this world of shadow.
"You have called, Master?" Kage asked, his voice tinged with a hint of fear. His master was angry, and being in his master's presence while the latter was angry was considered a death sentence. His master made allowances to Kage because of his record, but even the most patient of people have their limits.
"You mean that your monster was thwarted by a mortal being?" the shadow asked, its voice edged with malice.
"I am afraid so. When I created Te, I gave him the ability to judge the situation. He judged that a human with a handgun could threaten the plan. So he fled."
"You must be punished for your creation's mistake, Kage." At this, a ball of shadow surrounded by sparks appeared in front of its eyes. The ball flew at Kage, enveloping the man-shaped shadow and electrocuting him. "Now go, and do not fail me again."
"Y-yes, Master." And Kage vanished.
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"I knew we should have gone to help Tenchi-sama!" Ayeka exclaimed. "Now he's going to die!"
"Relax, Ayeka. I think there is only a fifteen percent chance that Tenchi-dono will lose his life from the wounds." Washu replied. "And I think my calculations have merit; I being the greatest scientific genius in the universe."
"But we're dealing with human doctors!"
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"Tenchi-kun…" Sakuya muttered, as she sat in his hospital room. She had been there all night, watching to make sure he was okay. Her mind drifted to right before the fight, when Tenchi told her to stay where she was while he fought the thing. She admired his courage, even if that had been reckless.
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"That's it, I can't wait any longer! I'm going to Tokyo to check up on Tenchi." Ryoko said.
With that, Ryoko took off into the air, Ayeka shouting for her to come back. But the space pirate ignored her, choosing instead to continue her lonely flight to Tenchi… And Sakuya.
"Oh… I'm going after her! Azaka, Kamidake! We're going after Ryoko!" Ayeka yelled, and her faithful logs came to help her.
"Yes, Princess Ayeka!" they exclaimed, and created an electric field around her, beginning the long flight to Tokyo.
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"Kumashiro-san!" Tenchi yelled, as he regained consciousness. He saw that it was night, and that Sakuya had been sleeping on a chair next to his bed when he shouted. This alarmed him; he feared he had awoken the sleeping girl. But she seemed to be a deep sleeper, so he just smiled at the ceiling slightly.
"It sure feels different, to be around a girl who isn't overly powerful and clingy - like Ryoko or Ayeka. And… What is this feeling? No, I can't let myself get any closer to Kumashiro-san, for her own good. If I do, and Ayeka or Ryoko hears about it, she's in big trouble." Tenchi thought.
"Tenchi-kun?" Sakuya asked; she had finally woken after his yell. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Kumashiro-san. Just a nightmare…" he muttered quietly, a hint of tenderness in his voice.
"I'm not falling for her, just trying to calm her after a rough experience… She's not used to all this…" he said to himself.
"Oh… Anyway, Tenchi, how are you? That boxer guy hurt you pretty badly…" Sakuya questioned.
"I'm fine. I've taken much, much worse."
"Ah… Anyway, how is your family? I never saw them, even on the days we studied together."
"That's because they're not in Tokyo. Mother… Well, Mother died. My grandfather is the head of the shrine. Father would have inherited it, but he is too sinful for that." At this, both Tenchi and Sakuya started laughing.
"You seem to have an… interesting family, Tenchi-kun."
"There's also my friends who live with me - Ryoko, Ayeka, Washu, Sasami, Kiyone, and Mihoshi. I can't tell you much due to a promise I gave them, but let's just say life at home is…"
But what life at home is, Tenchi never got to say, for Ryoko had barged in, expecting to find Tenchi unconscious, cry on him, have him awaken, and sweep him off his feet with her charm, only to find him, in a dark room, talking to a girl she didn't even know.
"Who is this… this…" Ryoko yelled, too furious for words.
"It's… it's not what you think! Kumashiro-san's a friend from school!"
"Don't… don't try that, Tenchi-kun! Am I not good enough?" Ryoko yelled, and Tenchi was getting nervous; it seemed like the space pirate was mad enough to hit Sakuya.
"I had no such thoughts, Ryoko! I was just protecting her from the thing that hurt me, and she came to make sure I was fine!"
"So my Tenchi got hurt because of that bimbo? I'll kill her!"
"Your Tenchi?" Ayeka had come as well.
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A/N: Well, things sure don't look to good for Tenchi, eh? Sorry for the delay, little inspiration, since I hadn't seen anything Tenchi-related in a long time. Anyway, sorry if it seemed random - I'm trying to end the Te arc quickly so that I can get to the more interesting parts. If you want to guess what is going to happen, examine closely the part where Ryoko barged in as Tenchi was talking to Sakuya about his life in the country - particularly where Tenchi starts to get nervous.