Previously in Apex AZ:
Locutus had boarded the main ship of the Resistance fleet. Tenchi, trapped in his mind, had talked with Ayeka, and helped to stall the Borg for a few hours. Locutus's personality, what there was of it, then disappeared, to be replaced by an empty mind. Tenchi's empty mind. But after remembering partially who he was, Tenchi beamed over to the Borg cube and self-destructed, destroying everything on the ship and the ship itself, as well as provoking the local star to start a second supernova cycle. The only casualty, Tenchi himself, was the one most sorely missed. He had sacrificed himself to help everyone else without even knowing who he really was. It was that much his nature. That's just too sad. But, considering the title, this episode should see his return. But if it doesn't...
Apex AZ, Part VII – Return of the Dead Guy
Ayeka stood staring at the door. She didn't know why, nor for how long. She just stared at the front door of the Masaki house, waiting.
A knock. Ayeka was brought out of her trance by the loud tapping on the door from outside. She moved towards it and opened it. Tenchi stood outside, in his normal clothes. Nothing suggested he had recently died. His expression was firm and unwavering.
"Tenchi!" Ayeka cried, moving towards him. "You're alive! Huh?"
An invisible barrier prevented Ayeka from moving any closer. One of Tenchi's hands was raised upwards a bit, fingers splayed. He had put up the barrier. "Stone," he said quietly.
"Wha... what?" Ayeka said, not understanding. "Stone? What do you mean?"
"Give me your firestone," Tenchi said, looking at the fire pendant draped around the woman's neck. "Give it to me."
"What? Why?" Ayeka asked, clutching it with one hand. "It's a symbol of our love."
"Return it to me," Tenchi said. "We share no love."
"What?" Ayeka said quietly. "That's not true. No. I can't believe it. You're lying," she said louder, bowing and shaking her head, closing her eyes. "You do love me, Tenchi. You do..." She trailed off as she opened her eyes again to look at Tenchi.
Locutus stood in his place. He moved forward, raising his left arm. "Resistance is futile," he said, as the assimilation probes emerged from his fingers.
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Ayeka woke with a start, breathing deeply and sweating. She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. It had been a dream.
Breathing easier now, she got up and went to the bathroom. She turned the taps on and gathered some water in her hands to splash on her face. As she reached for the towel she glanced in the mirror, and stopped. Her skin was bulging slightly on her right cheek. Suddenly, metal burst the surface of her face and spread out, as the Borg technology had done before. She stood staring in the mirror as her skin paled to grey. Her surroundings changed colour and shape.
She was standing in a Borg regeneration alcove, becoming Borg.
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Ayeka woke again, sweating even more than before. She sat upright, but was promptly pushed back down. She was staring at something she didn't recognise.
"Unfamiliar ceiling," she murmured. "Where am I? Is this real?" she asked.
"As real as it's ever going to be," the EMH said. "I've just finished removing your implant. A remarkable piece of technology, I must say. Even though it is Borg, it's fascinating how it works. Scientists could work for lifetimes and not come up with something like this."
"Enough of the admiration," Ryoko said, approaching the MedBay bed, on which Ayeka was lying. "Ayeka, are you okay?"
"No," Ayeka said, gasping a bit as the doctor placed a patch on her cheek where the implant had been. She sat up and swung her legs round. "Tenchi's not here."
Ryoko looked down in sadness. "I know," she said quietly. "We all know. But will you be alright?"
"It was only minor surgery," the EMH said. "She'll be fine, at least physically. I know it must have been a real shock knowing Tenchi did what he did."
"That's not the hundredth of it," Ryoko said, sitting down next to Ayeka. "He didn't even know what he was doing."
"No," Ayeka said. "He knew perfectly well. Saving the universe. He just didn't know anything else."
Ryoko sagged her head down, before leaning sideways and resting her head on Ayeka's shoulder. She reached out a hand and started rubbing Ayeka's arm with it. "The others are all sorting things out. They do care, you know."
"They do."
Silence.
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Aki was back at his school. He had gathered everyone into one large room. Since there were currently only two classes, alternating their lesson times, there were only about twenty-five people there. Aki entered and walked to the front of the room.
"Everyone, hello," he greeted. "As you know, a week ago, the Borg came. There was only one casualty, but he was perhaps the most important person ever. Whoever he met, whomever he talked to or smiled at, he changed their lives.
"I was born and grew up on planet Vegeta. I went through vigorous training, much harder than you do here. I was brought up to be a vicious fighter with no feelings, no remorse or regret. I had no friends. I arrogantly believed that the Neo Chronicles, the prophecies of God, referred to me. For a short time I was truly the strongest being in the Universe. He didn't use his powers, because he wanted to protect people. Myself, I just wanted to destroy.
"When I found out about him, I immediately wanted to fight him and kill him. It might have been partly because of my Saiyan instincts, but it was mostly because I was so egocentric. I didn't like to think there was someone like me out there. I found and fought him. He defeated me, and I killed myself, cutting my neck with his knife.
"While I was dead I had time to reflect. I was no longer driven by my urge to improve myself and become stronger. I began to think about my life, and I realised that I had the wrong end of it.
"He revived me, gave me back my body. That was possibly the first time anyone had ever truly been nice to me, even though he knew what I'd been like. He put his faith in me, and I never truly thanked him. And now he's gone. I miss him. I wasn't just his clone, certainly not in his eyes. We were brothers, friends. And the last thing he did was to save the rest of us. He's saved the universe so many times; I don't know what to say. I really miss him."
"Master, are you alright?" a young girl asked.
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks, Auria," Aki said. "I know some of you have met him. He was a really terrific guy."
"We all miss Lord Tenchi," an older woman said. "He gave us hope, and even in death he's still with us."
"That's just the thing," Aki replied. "He's not. I can talk with dead people, and Tenchi knew that. The first thing he'd do would be to come to me, tell me he's fine. But he hasn't. He really is gone for good this time."
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Mihoshi was standing in the Marshall's office at the GXP headquarters, looking rather sad. As with everyone else, she was still coping with the loss.
"Mihoshi, the Council has decided to offer you the position of deputy manager of the Jurai-GXP Confederate," the Marshall said. "It's a good job, and you'd hardly have to do anything. Of course, you can think about it however long you want."
"Marshall," Mihoshi said to her grandfather's successor, "I don't need any time to think about this. I don't want the job. I want to stay at Earth."
"But, it's a great position," the Marshall said. "Very few people have been offered it over these many years. It's a privilege to be even considered for the post."
"Even so, I don't want it," Mihoshi said firmly. "I want to be with my friends, those that are left."
The Marshall looked down. "I see," he said. "Well then, take however long you want off. Lord Tenchi's death was hard on all of us."
"It's not hard on me," Mihsohi said quietly. "It's unbearable."
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Somewhere on the desk in Tenchi's room, something began to beep. A countdown started. Two hours to go.
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Washu walked out of her lab, sighing. As before, she couldn't detect Tenchi anywhere. But this time, she knew he hadn't sliced his way through time. He wouldn't have remembered how.
She walked silently into the main room and sat down on a sofa. She closed her eyes and listened to everything around her. She was on the verge of falling asleep, in the mental state just before and after sleep, when she felt that something was different. She woke up, and couldn't hear it any more.
She summoned her laptop and tapped in a few command, putting on a set of headphones that had appeared. She increased the volume of the background noise. And there it was again. She located the source. Tenchi's room.
Tenchi's room hadn't been entered since everyone left to fight the Borg. Washu slowly slid the door open and looked inside. Immediately the sound grew louder as it was no longer muffled by the door. It was coming from the desk. She tentatively walked over and spotted the source of the beeping. It was the Dragon Radar. The seventh and final DragonBall had appeared.
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The five-star Light DragonBall rested on the table, along with the six others. They were glowing slightly, and pulsating with light. They were ready to be used. The dragon Shenron could be summoned.
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Aki was sitting down at the kitchen table in his house, a short distance from the MAGI, finishing off his breakfast. He drank the last of his orange juice and started choking.
Washu had appeared in front of him, in adult form. Whatever it was, it was serious. Aki knew that straight away.
"Aki," Washu said. "You must come now. The future of the Multiverse depends on this."
"On what?" Aki coughed.
"On what I am about to do. Come now."
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Once Aki and the other girls had been rounded up from their various locations, Washu explained what was happening.
"I've found the last DragonBall," she said.
"Wow," Aki replied. "Haven't heard about those for a while."
"No. Anyway, we're ready to use them. We can summon the dragon Shenron and claim our wishes. We've got the password. Now we just need to decide what our wishes are going to be."
"Tenchi," the others said without hesitating. And why should they?
"Of course our first wish will be to revive Tenchi," Washu said, "but we need to phrase the wish carefully. It could very easily get misinterpreted."
"Just get on with it," Ryoko said.
"Right." Washu turned to the DragonBalls, which were resting on the ground outside. "Come, Shenron. I summon you!"
"That's the password?" Mihoshi said. "It's a bit... obvious, isn't it?"
Still, it was the password. The sky darkened until it was black. The balls glowed brighter quickly, and a beam of yellow light shot straight up out of them. The light took form and dimmed, revealing a long green dragon body, with two sets of legs placed at different places along it. The thing was literally huge, a mile or two in length, curled round in the sky. The tail disappeared into a residual glow around the DragonBalls. The head was large, reptilian, yet somehow had human features. Two large spiked horns emerged from the back of the head. The eyes were completely red, gazing at everything around, seeing for the first time the conscious world.
"Now that's a dragon," Ayeka murmured as she stepped back, hopelessly trying to put some distance between herself and the beast. The others were doing similar things, even Washu, who was usually the least bothered by events of them all.
"I am Shenron, guardian of the DragonBalls," the dragon said slowly, with a low growling voice. "You have summoned me. State your three wishes now."
"Shenron," Washu called, her voice pathetic compared to the guardian's. "I wish for Tenchi Masaki's life to be restored."
"As you wish." A glowing ball, surprisingly looking a lot different to an energy ball, appeared on the ground in front of Shenron's tail. It shimmered and faded, revealing a figure. It was Tenchi.
No. It was Locutus.
Locutus looked around, seeing everyone in front of him, glancing between him and the dragon. Locutus looked up at Shenron. "Wow," he said after a moment. "Big." He looked towards the group in front of him. "Funny hair people," he said.
"It's Tenchi," Aki said, stepping forward. "Shenron must have restored him to how he was before he got all his memory back."
"He didn't have all his memory back when he died," Ayeka said. "He just has even less now."
"No," Sasami whispered.
Aki walked up to Tenchi. "Hello, Tenchi. Remember me?" he said. "I'm Ring Guy."
Tenchi shook his head. "No. You no ring guy. No ring."
No-one else had noticed this. Aki's ring was missing. Shenron had revived him as well.
"You are also called Tenchi Masaki," Washu recalled. "I wished for Tenchi Masaki to be revived, so you, and all Tenchi Masaki's, must have also been revived."
"I'm alive?" Aki asked. "I really wasn't expecting this. But save that for later. We need to restore Tenchi's memory, not to mention his body." He looked up at the dragon. "Shenron!" he called. "I wish for Tenchi Neo Masaki's body and mind to be restored to how they were before he was assimilated by the Borg, but let him keep all his memories that he gained from then on."
"As you wish." Shenron's eyes glowed, and Tenchi shimmered. His appearance changed to his normal form. The shimmering stopped, and he blinked. Tenchi looked around, a wild look in his eyes, before collapsing, unconscious.
"Tenchi, what is it?" Ryoko called. She flew over and hauled him up. "What's wrong?"
"Make your final wish," Shenron demanded. "Now!"
"Oh, okay." Washu faced the guardian. "Does Tenchi have his God powers back? Is the curse still on him?"
"The magic used to suppress Tenchi Neo Masaki's evolution to his God form is still present."
"Can you remove it?" the red-haired scientist asked.
"I can," replied the dragon.
"Then I wish for the magic cast on Tenchi Neo Masaki here to be removed and cancelled out."
"As you wish." Shenron's eyes glowed red again. "I have granted three wishes. Farewell." With that, Shenron started glowing a bright yellow and receded into his DragonBalls. The DragonBalls lifted off the ground into the lightening sky, and shot off in different directions, some disappearing soon after, departing into different dimensions.
Washu turned her attention back to Tenchi. He was lying on the ground, propped up by Ryoko and Ayeka. The others were surrounding him. "Hey, everyone!" she called. "Back off. Give him some room."
"But he's not waking up," Ryoko said. "Tenchi, please wake up. Please."
"Well, let's get him back to my lab."
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They carried Tenchi into Washu's laboratory, where he was laid down on a surgical bed in the experiment section of the lab. Instruments came down from the darkness of the ceiling and started to scan Tenchi. Washu was reading the data as it appeared. The scanning stopped and she turned around.
"Well?" Sasami said. "What is it?"
"Nothing serious," Washu replied. "He's in shock, that's all. He came back from only he knows where, and he's trying to cope with it."
"But why?" Mihoshi asked. "It must have been really bad, if he's in shock from that place. Here must be better, right?"
"I don't know," Washu admitted. "I only know that Tenchi has to deal with this on his own. We just need to give him some time."
"Tenchi, please recover soon," Ayeka said. "Forget about any torment you may have suffered in that other place. Just come back to us safely."
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In some ways, having Tenchi back was worse than knowing he was dead. He was completely unresponsive. His mind had recessed into himself, and was fighting some unknown battle in his soul. It pained everyone greatly to see him in such a struggle and be able to do nothing to help him.
Tenchi's mind faced another, in the mental sea of white silent noise. No features in this barren nothingness, just endless white. His mind, one of two figures there, was personified by his appearance. The other person, the persona of the other mind, was Locutus.
They stood, facing each other, unmoving, for an unknown length of time. Seemingly doing nothing, they were fighting for dominance of Tenchi's body. Two personalities clashing, hoping for victory. The winner takes the body, the loser oblivion.
Tenchi was losing.
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Ayeka woke up suddenly. She had spent all night by Tenchi's side. She lifted her head off the bed, where it had been resting by Tenchi's arm all night. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at Tenchi.
"I know you can't hear me," she said. "I know that when I talk, you won't hear me, but that won't stop me from doing so." She looked around the lab. Tenchi had been moved into the garden part of the laboratory, so at least the scenery was nice. "I know it must have been awful for you, wherever you went, but please, remember that you're alive now. You have your God powers back. Use them to help you." A rumbling from within her stopped her. "I'm going to get something to eat," she said, getting up. "I'll be back." She walked out.
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Tenchi was losing.
It was taking all he had, all his mental ability, to hold the relentless attack by Locutus's personality, what seemingly little of it there was. He wasn't going to win.
Tenchi had heard and sensed everything that had been going on since he slipped into the mind duel. He just hadn't processed it all yet. He might as well look over it, as he was going to lose his mind anyway. He looked.
He had his God powers back. He had completely forgotten about it. He hadn't been able to use it for so long, it just slipped his mind. He had learned not to try to use those powers automatically now.
Tenchi flexed a forgotten mental muscle, and tried it out. Immediately, images, sounds came rushing back to him. He was God again, even only in his own mind at the moment. Tenchi reflected, rather inappropriately, that many people were gods in their own mind, but this was different.
He looked back at Locutus. One small mind now, comparatively to Tenchi. Tenchi's mind was infinite again. It was hard to see how Locutus had caused Tenchi such problems before. Tenchi watched as Locutus was attacked simultaneously from infinite directions, and was dissolved into the abyss.
Tenchi had his body back.
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Tenchi's open eyes stared at the sky. So many different levels, was the sky. On the surface, a colour. On the next level, digital and hexadecimal information. Below that, quanta. Below that, the Multiverse.
The eyes flickered and looked down. Behind the nose was a body. His body. The eyes realigned back to the sky.
A hand moved slowly, up the body to the eyes. The hand dropped onto the cheek and stayed there for a while, before moving down to the chin, and finally back to its original position.
The eyelids moved, and Tenchi blinked. He risked a more complex movement. He sat up.
"Huh," he said. "Life."
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Ayeka walked back into the lab, carrying a drink and a sandwich. The sandwich and drink promptly stained the floor, as Ayeka had dropped them. She was too busy staring at Tenchi to worry about orange juice.
"T... Tenchi," she stammered. "You're back?"
"Apparently so," Tenchi replied. He was standing next to the bed, but walked up to the princess. "Don't be so shocked. It was your help that got me through it."
"What?" Ayeka had no idea.
"You told me I had my God powers back, remember?" Tenchi asked. "Just before you left. I heard it, and it helped me win."
"Win what?"
"I was fighting against Locutus, in my mind," Tenchi said. "I was losing, but once I realised I had my God powers back, thanks to you, I killed him. I didn't think about it before, because I haven't used those powers for so long."
At this point, Ayeka's emotional walls crumbled, and she fell onto Tenchi's chest, crying unstoppably. Tenchi wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm home," he whispered.
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It was later. No precise amount of time later, as the reunions, the crying and the explanations seemed to go on for ages. But eventually, everyone was sitting in the main room. Obviously, Ryoko and Ayeka were sitting tightly next to Tenchi, with the others close by. Tenchi had just finished explaining what had happened.
"So you weren't in shock from coming back from Hell," Aki said.
"Well..." Tenchi started. "No. I'm fine."
"You do seem a little detached, though," Washu said. "A bit distracted."
"Oh, I'm just thinking," Tenchi said. "I've got my God powers back now. That means I could do all my work right now. In fact, I will." He stood up.
"Tenchi, what are you doing?" Ayeka asked. "Are you leaving so soon?"
"I guess I have to," Tenchi replied. "I need to create the Multiverse, then life, and do a few other things, like the DragonBalls. They didn't just appear by themselves, you know."
"But how long will that take?" Ryoko asked.
"Well, the things I can think of should take about three years, but there's bound to be other stuff I'll remember to do as well," Tenchi replied. "I could be gone for decades, or even centuries. I just don't know."
"Centuries!" the others cried.
"You can't just leave us alone for hundreds of years," Sasami said. "We'll miss you too much."
"I doubt it'll take that long," Tenchi said. "But I do think I'm going to be at least three or so years. It all depends on what I can think of to do."
"No, Tenchi, I won't let you," Mihoshi sniffed, grabbing Tenchi's waist. "You can't go. You just can't."
"Mihoshi, I'm going," Tenchi said firmly. "You just have to trust that I'll get back as soon as possible." He removed Mihoshi's arms from his waist and glided back to an open area of floor. Large silver feathery wings sprouted from behind him and wrapped around his body, obscuring him. They unwrapped to reveal Tenchi, now in his God form. He raised two fingers to his forehead in the instant translocation stance, and prepared to slice time.
"I'll see you later," he said, before shimmering into another time and place.
Tenchi had gone again.
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Later again, about twenty minutes after Tenchi had left, the others were still in much the same place. They had all been looking forward to spending some time with Tenchi, but now he wasn't going to be back for at least several years.
Something happened nearby, but only Aki sensed it. He stood up and walked silently up the stairs to Tenchi's bedroom. He opened the door to see Tenchi sitting on his bed, in a contemplative mood. Aki closed the door behind him and sat down next to Tenchi.
"I thought you weren't coming back for a long time," Aki said.
"It's been five years," Tenchi said. "For me, anyway. What with all this slicing through time, I can choose when I reappear."
"Fair enough," Aki nodded. "So why haven't you come downstairs yet?"
"I was thinking." Tenchi stood up and walked to the middle of the room, before turning round. "When I killed myself protecting everyone from the Borg, I went somewhere else. The energy blast reacted with every bit of my spirit, causing the huge explosion, so I didn't have any energy left. I was just a mind. I shouldn't have been able to continue existing."
"So instead of the normal afterlife, you went somewhere else?" Aki asked. "Did you go to Hell?"
"No," Tenchi said. "I went where I've been before. I was in Heaven."
"Heaven?"
"Yes," Tenchi said, walking back to the bed and collapsing down onto it. "I became super powerful there. I could see everything that was going on in the galaxy, although I couldn't do anything about it. I was there for two weeks. Two whole weeks. Do you know what that's like? Being pulled out of there? The first time I went, I was only there for a couple of hours, but it was extremely difficult to try and forget it."
"Tenchi, I'm sorry," Aki said.
"Right." Tenchi rolled away from Aki and closed his eyes. He curled up on the bed, facing away from his brother. "I don't know why I'm acting like this. I guess it's because I haven't said more than three words in the past half decade, and I've only seen the start of life, and then only for about an hour as I perfected the evolution stages and all that. It's tough, I can tell you, even for me. I guess I've just lost the sense of what it's like to be around other people."
"Tenchi," Aki said quietly, reaching over to touch Tenchi. He stopped and withdrew his hand, staring at the floor.
"Heaven wasn't bad, though," Tenchi said, as if answering an unspoken question. "There're three other people in Heaven, all of whom got there the same way I did. That's by sacrificing all their soul. But now that I've had time to think about it, I'm actually better off. In Heaven, okay, there was no pain or anything like that, but I was mentally mixed with the others. I didn't have a mind to call my own. But now, I have my own personality, no-one else's, and I have more power than I had then. If I concentrate, I can see everything going on in the Universe, or any other Universe at the moment. All I could do in Heaven was see most things in the Galaxy, and that was from a far viewpoint. This is better."
"So, you're alright?" Aki asked.
"Sure I am," Tenchi said, sitting up. He looked at Aki. "I just thought that if you lost all your soul, you'd know now what'll happen."
"Oh yeah," Aki laughed. "I am alive again, aren't I?"
"It looks that way," Tenchi replied. He put an arm around the clone. "It's nice to see you again. After talking to nothing but rocks and proto-proteins, it's great to have a half-decent conversation again. You know, something that responds? But now I just hope everything can get back to normal soon."
Aki smiled at him, as he put his arm round Tenchi's neck.
"Come on," Tenchi said, nodding his head towards the door. "Let's go downstairs. I'll bet the others will be really surprised to see me again."
"Yeah?" Aki said. "Well, I'm not holding that bet."
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As it turned out, they were really surprised. After reassuring them that he was here to stay now, Tenchi settled back into his old life. The others soon returned to their routines as well. Aki stayed with them for a week, and then returned to his school.
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Tenchi had jumped to the school a few days later, for his weekly meal with Aki. He entered the MAGI building and proceeded to the classroom. As he entered, Aki was talking with his class. They were a bit late going out.
"Sure it's a good idea," Aki was saying. "In fact, I think I'll enter as well. What about you, Tenchi?"
"Enter what?" Tenchi asked, closing the door behind him.
"Saifer has just told me about a tournament that's taking place in a few weeks," Aki replied. "The galaxy's strongest fighters are all going to compete."
"And you think you'll get a good match?" Tenchi asked, smiling. "Come on. You're Super Two. The next strongest person is Sasami, as far as I know, and she's only a tenth of your power."
"Actually, I was hoping you'd enter as well," Aki said. "I'd like to face up against you again, see how we're doing, you know. Why don't you ask Sasami to enter as well? I'm sure she'd like the opportunity."
"I'm sure she would. Ryoko might want to enter as well, but I shouldn't think the others would. I'll ask them, though." He turned to Saifer. "Saifer, do you know how many places are available?" he asked the student.
"I think about sixteen," Saifer replied. He was perhaps thirty, with blonde hair with blue streaks, and red-brown eyes. He was human, as was everyone at the school. It was a Saiyan training school, after all, and only humans could become Saiyans. He was fairly solidly built, with a generous supply of muscles. Tenchi could tell he wasn't suppressing his power level much. "More can enter, but only the sixteen strongest will go through to the actual tournament. It's judged by a punching machine."
"Well, it does sound interesting," Tenchi said. "Okay, I'll enter. Are any of your students taking part as well, Aki?"
"Several," Aki replied. "There's Saifer, Auria, Lethena, Akito and Karmen. Some others could be entering too, but I don't know about them yet."
"Well, that's good," Tenchi said. "Saifer, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you after."
"Of course I don't mind," Saifer replied. "I'd be happy to talk to you, sir."
"Great," Tenchi replied. "Anyone else entering or thinking about it can come along, too. I might think of a few tips for you."
Some of the class started whispering to each other. Tenchi could hear everything, of course, as could Aki.
"Okay, you can go now," Aki said. "Those who want to, anyway."
Some of the students stood up and walked out, some of those pausing to greet Tenchi. Once they had left, half a dozen, including Aki, stayed behind.
"Saifer, if you don't mind, I'd like you to show me your power," Tenchi said.
"Of course, sir," Saifer said. He hopped to the front of the room and prepared to power up, but Tenchi stopped him.
"My name's Tenchi," he said. "I'm not a 'sir' anything. Just call me Tenchi."
"Okay, Tenchi," Saifer said. He proceeded to power up. After a bit of struggling, he became a Saiyan. He powered up a bit more, and stopped at about level 2.9 million. He stood up straight and looked at Tenchi. "Well?" he asked.
"So that's what Aki's been teaching you, is it?" Tenchi said. "Well, you are strong, Sai. I shouldn't think you'd have too much trouble getting a place in the tournament."
"Really?" Saifer asked. "Thanks!"
"Yes, well, I'm sure I can help you train some more before the tournament starts," Tenchi said. "If you want it, of course. I'll come back tomorrow, if Aki lets me, and we can begin training. I've got a whole different style to this guy over here." He gestured to his brother. "But if you'll excuse us, we have lunch to eat." Tenchi bowed to the others, before going out with Aki.
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"So you're going to enter?" Aki asked.
"Didn't you hear me?" Tenchi said. He had just come back from Earth, and met Aki at the restaurant. "I did say I was going to, didn't I? And Sasami and Ryoko both want to compete too."
"Are you sure Ryoko will be able to qualify?" Aki said. "I know she's strong, but I did defeat her without any effort, ages ago."
"I think she'll do alright," Tenchi replied. "Ah, here's our table."
They both sat down and scanned the menu. A waiter came over to take their orders.
"I'll have the special today, thanks," Tenchi said. "And the pikka cheesecake for dessert."
"Yes, same here," Aki said. He handed the waiter his menu, who promptly disappeared to register the orders.
"So what makes you think you can just take my students on some sort of training spree, eh?" Aki asked.
"I did say I'd only do it if it was okay with you," Tenchi replied.
"Of course it is," Aki replied. "Actually, I'll join you. I'm interested in this 'whole different style' you have."
Tenchi smiled. "You'll find it is actually very good," he said. "It helped Sasami get a power level of about seven million in half a year."
"It must be good, then," Aki said.
"Well, she does have a highly complementary mind/body/energy relationship."
"So what's yours, then?" Aki asked.
"Perfect," Tenchi replied. "There's no limit to my power now."
"I guess we'll see about that in a couple of weeks, then."
In the next episode of Apex AZ:
Tenchi, Aki, Sasami and Ryoko all begin training under Tenchi, as does everyone at the MAGI school, including Aki himself. They then all enter for the tournament. Most of them qualify, and the first round of fights starts.
All this and more in the next episode of Apex AZ: "Tournament Trials".