Disclaimer: I don't own Tenchi or any of his supporting cast. I just own the perverted ideas to do this to them. If you're under the age of 18... you more than likely know the routine, but I doubt you'll listen, so I won't bother telling you. As always, if you don't like long-winded sex stories or if the characters within obsess you, GET AWAY NOW! If you keep reading it's your own fault. Without further interruption, I present Tenchi Muyo: The Clone Chronicles. He'd listened to the story for the past four hours. Listened to this boy talk on and on about his years of scientific research and about how he'd done it all for them. Azusa stroked his beard in deep thought, combing over the tale in his own mind--in his own way. How could such seemingly powerful women rely so heavily on one insignificant man? Loneliness, perhaps? No, they could remedy that at many a massage parlor worlds. Watching him chat up his wives, daughters, a space pirate, his guards, two Galaxy Police Officers, and even Washu--the emperor studied the young man out of the corner of his eye. How had this little worm become so much in so little time? He shifted in his seat, silently debating the slighted way Tenchi had told the story. Azusa noted the boy went into a great amount of detail one moment, in the next he'd leave bits and pieces of the tale untold. From what he'd pieced together, Tenchi could exist in seven different places (at any given time) thanks in part to the Wings of the Light Hawk. It was hard to fathom such powerful things could be used for such trivial matters as sparing a few people's feelings. "You're the same person, yet through the use of her technology," Azusa nodded toward where Washu floated on a cushion, "you were able to divide your soul seven ways?" "Yep," Tenchi said, having said the same thing four or so hours ago. "At least, I tend to go with that theory. The only alternative is that I have six additional souls." He leaned back in his chair. The little stage creaked, and the sound drew Azusa's eyes. They landed squarely on his great grandson. The two men--one prince, and one emperor--watched each other with a silent reservation. There was a pretty good idea drifting among the parental units that sex was being had. Azusa knew it was fact when neither of his daughters would look him in the eye. The idea that this... this... houseboy had violated his daughters put the emperor's mind on the edge of breaking. However, the time they spent in that lab-and to a lesser degree, Tenchi's story-had helped Azusa calm down. Still, the lingering questions, with answers that he didn't want to ask, were there. What did he do to seduce them? Was there contraceptive in use? Did they... orally gratify him? For that matter, did he orally gratify them? Azusa's knuckles cracked suddenly, as his anger swelled with the vile questions. Tenchi merely smiled at him, himself imagining the questions floating around inside of the emperor's head. He thought better of nodding to confirm Azusa's suspicions, but his cocky smile did the work. While Azusa and Tenchi played head games, the other side of the spectrum analyzed things. Misaki had found the story moving. She twisted certain elements so that it appeared that Tenchi had done this more for her daughters than the others. Funaho, meanwhile, inspected this decision more analytically. Ayeka had always called to discuss the issue of his indecisiveness with Misaki and herself if the other wasn't available. To hear the child explain it, Tenchi simply avoided thinking about the subject or even acknowledging that he played with then Ryoko and Ayeka's lives. Listening to him tell it (relive it in some ways), he thought about them more than anyone would've assumed. Her great grandson wasn't some flighty playboy who got his jollies by exploiting women's feelings. He was an honorable soul who, rather than directly hurt any one of them, thought it better to experiment on his body in secret to hopefully make each of them as happy as they'd thought he could. It really seemed like something out of an old man's tale, rather than the convoluted reality it was. "This still doesn't explain how you came to be involved in all of this," Funaho said in her usual manner--softly, yet to the point. The light air of the room took a dramatically darkened tone by the seemingly innocent question. Nagi stared quietly from the corner of her right eye, inspecting the first Juraian Queen. Slowly, she surveyed the rest of her surroundings--ending with Tenchi's eyes. "Could there be an underlying problem in the perfect home?" Azusa thought, moving to the edge of his chair, intrigued by this potential flaw. They couldn't call it a problem, as much as they could call it a difficult piece of the past that made the present uncomfortable. The emperor observed the silent looks each woman gave the man on stage; they seemed to debate if the interlopers could be trusted with the truth. Funaho noticed the strange looks as well as Misaki and the guards. But what did silent exchanges like those equate too? "Certain things happen for certain reasons. You don't know why they happen, or believe they ever should've happened. But once they've happened, you have no regrets," said an eerily calm Tenchi, while staring at Nagi. "That's how she became involved in all of this." His line of vision drifted back to his great grandmother, speaking with his eyes that the cryptic answer was as far as this subject would go. She nodded meagerly, accepting whatever they had allowed him to say. "That's not an answer," Azusa piped in, startling some with his sudden vocal registry. "It's a pathetic attempt to avoid the question." "Or a clever way to say mind your own business," Nagi added defensively, feeling a sudden urge to choke the older gentleman. Tenchi managed to stifle a chuckle at her barb, but kept a serious eye on the Juraian emperor. "Woman!" "So," Tenchi stated, loudly enough to draw attention from Azusa's delayed comeback. "How was the trip? And what brings you all to our humble neck of the woods?" "The same as any other trip through space. We came to see our children," Azusa grumbled, falling back into the plush recliner. "What makes you think any differently?" Ayeka began, "The last time you came to 'see' your children, you tried to marry me off to that loon with the pink hair." Her voice was deceptively calm, detecting something similar in her father's sudden appearance. "Well, it has been almost eight years," the emperor responded weakly. "And his name is Seiryou. He really isn't that bad once you get to know him. Speaking of which, as you know, I'm getting too old to continue my tenure as emperor..." Ayeka began to rub her temples. The old 'Marry someone from a neighboring planet to keep this treaty in effect' speech got underway. "I am not having this discussion," Ayeka said flat out, beginning to rub her forehead free of the tension headache. "I will not marry anyone other than Lord Tenchi," she said matter-of-factly. "Ayeka," the emperor said surprisingly soft, "I'm not asking you to ascend the throne or marry anyone now. I'm simply asking you to prepare to do so." The princess sighed--relieved that her mother and 'aunt' had managed to talk some sense into him. She looked down the couch to her right, as the two women nodded knowingly at her. Tenchi, sitting in observation mode, noticed that Azusa suddenly lost the urge to look in his general direction. Now what did that mean? "I'm a patient man, as of late," he looked at his wives with an impish smile, "I can wait until you've finished this childish fling..." "What! Fling?" shouted Ayeka, disbelieving that her father was this diluted. Azusa, for all of his intelligence, looked genuinely confused by the reaction. "This is not some fling!" "Honey, I know it may seem as though you like him," the emperor paused as his daughter stood suddenly. "Like? I love him!" the princess's voice shrilled as an argument that never happened began. "What part of that word don't you understand?" Tenchi still sat idly, as similar veins began to bulge in Ayeka and Azusa's necks. What followed were the expected debates of his being worthy or not worthy to takeover the throne of Jurai. In honesty, he didn't want the throne or any of the responsibility that came with it. But in the same amount of honesty, Tenchi knew he'd accept the position in order to keep Ayeka at his side. As the emperor and his daughter continued to bicker for the next 20 some odd minutes, everyone began to bestow little looks on him as if to ask, 'When are you going to break this up?' Tenchi would choose the moment though, as his constant observation of Azusa revealed him phrasing things in the present as opposed to the future. Instead of 'was' there was 'is', a simple set of mistakes? No, Juraian dialect was precise, and thirty thousand (30,000+) years of practice didn't spur Tenchi into believing the mistake theory. As his grandfather would, Tenchi seemingly foresaw the problematic events that were about to unfold. Depending on Azusa's response, Tenchi's next question could answer itself and get things over with a lot quicker. "Seiryou is on your ship, isn't he?" Tenchi asked bluntly, turning the pause for air between the man and his daughter into a stalemate. Azusa's gaze immediately snapped toward him, which proved his grandson's query correct. Ayeka hadn't heard the question, but her father's sudden downshift made her pipe down. "Am I right? Or is it another suitor this time?" he asked out of minimal curiosity, as he truly knew the answer. Everyone's attention diverted to the bearded man, as Tenchi began to tie his hair back with a leather cord that Tsunami had given him earlier. Azusa refused to answer. He wasn't the strongest emperor in the universe simply because he wielded five wings of the light hawk. He was as conniving as they came, and the instincts honed in such gave him the ability to notice situations that were beyond or out of his control. The native of Earth wasn't one of those things. He'd simply given away one of his cards, which Tenchi had mistaken for a flaw. Seiryou was on the ship, but not the same girlish figure of before. "Excellent," the emperor thought, yet keeping his surprised fa‡ade in place. "I hadn't expected this to come up so soon, but I will admit you've got me." Funaho and Misaki's shock turned into silent seething while plotting a manner fitting of the finest torture rack to punish their husband for lying to them. "Tell me something," Tenchi leaned back in his seat on the stage, "if I beat this idiot, literally beat him, with no interference from Mihoshi will you stop trying to give her away like a cake or something?" Azusa stroked the upper part of his beard, secretly masking the grin behind his hand. Yes, this little simpleton not only caught the blatant hints, but he even offered to partake in the challenge without having seen his opponent. Seiryou had undergone an intense training regime after Azusa reported his humiliating defeat to such a weakling to the man's father. For seven years the pink-haired buffoon studied under the most talented swordsmen on Jurai, all for the chance to regain face and Ayeka's hand in marriage. Once Ayeka saw that her precious Tenchi was every bit the primitive oaf that he'd claimed, she would take the throne and he (Azusa) could retire to council. "If you beat him," Azusa repeated, finally finding the resolve to remove his hand and reveal his usual tight lips. "Be aware that if you lose, she has to marry him." Tenchi felt a marginal pang of worry, as the terms placed in front of him were dire, even to the point he regretted his snap decision. He looked over at Ayeka surprisingly finding her face lined with a very sinister smile. She was confident that he'd win and if she were confident, then he would be too. His head inclined to the left, as the first princess nodded to the surprise (and enjoyment) of some. "Then I won't lose," said a shrugging Tenchi, as he stood and his body began to pulse with light. "Uh, Tenchi do you think it's wise to do that?" Ayeka asked, as her confidence seemed to take a blow in light of this development. "Perhaps he can't call upon the light hawk wings in such a state," Azusa thought, as Tenchi's women all seemed to react very poorly to his separation. The group of men made their way off stage, gathering coats and shoes before nodding to the group to follow them into the kitchen and out onto the deck. Everyone followed them clad in what they had on; the cold really wasn't that unbearable to the outer worldly crowd. "You're mine," the Tenchi standing in the middle of the deck said, staring directly at Ayeka, "and I'm yours; I'm going to do this myself." Ayeka smiled at the mere thought of the deeper meaning his ownership statements held, as she rubbed the friction burns on her wrist with an affection one would show a personal treasure. He'd foregone the coat, as not to have any restriction of movement. Which is to say the cold weather didn't bother Tenchi. Azusa parted the crowd with confidence, watching as his barely acknowledged great grandson began to stretch his arms. Nagi stood jazzed to see a fight, as the lug beside her offered up his coat. She declined, instead allowing his arm around her shoulders to do the work of warming her silk clad figure. Kiyone and Mihoshi looked at the proceeding as another night of detailed report typing, something neither were looking forward to being so close to the holidays. Ryoko and Washu communicated rather chattily through their mental union, discussing how long it'd take Tenchi in his current state of sword prowess, to mop the floor with this pathetic soul. Sasami, outside of looking considerably embarrassed at her father, wondered what exactly Kamadake saw in her direction that made him stare so. Tenchi took a deep breath and stopped his warm-up. He stood up straight, poised for what was to come; his eyes closed, focusing and forcing the bundle of energy at his center outward. A glowing wing expanded from his chest and hung in mid- air; Azusa barely managed to contain a gasp at the sight. Tenchi took hold of the large object, remotely intrigued by its transformation in his grasp. Azaka, noticing his brother's reaction, sighed under his breath, as Azusa obviously wasn't using all of his abilities to gauge Tenchi's strength if that surprised him. The ancient warrior had sensed the incredible power the moment they'd entered the star system. However, Azaka had felt it before (though not this intensely) and as so, didn't speak up about the power other than to Kamadake. The young (depending on how old ten thousand years is to a person) knight had dismissed it as one of the princesses who'd finally come into their own. "Why don't people listen to their elders in this day and age?" he thought at the time. "This isn't going to end well," the wise old knight thought to himself, as he stood tall outside of the kitchen door. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Azusa asked deceptively, allowing a tiny smile of arrogance to grace his lips. Tenchi mirrored the older gentleman's facial expression, highlighting an unnoticed familiarity between them. "Are you sure you want him to go through with this?" Their smiles fell at the same time; Azusa didn't like the casual tone the boy saw fit to address him. Where as Tenchi, for all of his old skittish ways, stood visibly annoyed by having this type of thing brought to his doorstep. An almost childish giggle erupted out of Ryoko, as the weird sight of Tenchi not mumbling his way through something replaced itself with a Tenchi that wouldn't back down from anyone--the space pirate found it a turn-on. "So be it," said Azusa, as he retrieved a device from the black, heavy robes that signaled a smaller drop ship to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. A ship that looked similar to Mihoshi's old cruiser came to hover over head moments later. Opening a circular portal and in a method Tenchi could only describe as 'beamed', a not-so-familiar foe appeared on the opposite end of the wooden deck within the tunnel of yellow light. Ayeka groaned at the first sight of pink, yet suddenly paused to absorb the warrior. His hair, still pulled into a Mihoshi-like ponytail, had lost the ridiculous curls. It hung loose, flowing almost in a manner like Tenchi's did. He didn't appear any bigger than he had the last time, though something about his walk seemed to instill an underlying strength. No fans or taunts of superiority prefixed the man with the pink beard, only an out of place determination. Seiryou, noble of the Juraian Empire, came prepared to do his emperor's bidding today. He'd undo the brainwashing of this beastly man and save the princess from her life of remedial labor, and perhaps he'd get a little sex out of the deal. He observed her rather lewdly with his peripheral vision noticing the beautiful shape that had taken form beneath the thin robe. "Yes, I'll enjoy her bed company a great deal," he thought smugly. "There will be no tidal waves to save you this time," Seiryou remarked with extra curtness. Azusa stood anxiously waiting for the perfect opportunity to pull this off as he'd rehearsed with Seiryou a few hours ago in space. A look passed between the two men, as a red tinted blade appeared from the wooden hilt of the challenger's weapon. Tenchi automatically assumed his stance, noticing the odd angular shape of the light that made his sword. The apex of the sword was blunt, exactly like the wing that'd birthed it. The hilt felt and looked remarkably similar to that of the Tenchi-ken. One would almost assume that it couldn't do any damage by simply looking at it, but as most on the deck knew, that was far from the truth. "So when do we start?" Tenchi asked, briefly looking over his shoulder to Azusa. "BEGIN!" Azusa shouted suddenly, to capitalize on this mistake. Tenchi whirled forward to face Seiryou, yet finding the man was mid-attack. Seiryou's sword crashed into the surprised Tenchi's hand, causing it to fly open due to the pain. Ayeka watched the sword fall from Tenchi's hand in seemingly slow motion; ultimately closing her eyes as it extinguished before reaching the ground. In the split-second it took Tenchi to be distracted, Seiryou had disarmed him and literally held him at sword point. Tenchi sighed, noticing a lesson in never taking your eye off the opponent was in order for next week. "Ah ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Azusa laughed like a frighteningly bass-voiced schoolgirl. This was too easy... too, too easy. "It would seem you've pegged him right, Sir," Seiryou said, confidence overflowing. "How sadly predictable? No, how fitting that I would be the one to remove a flower so delicate" -he tilted his head toward Ayeka- "from one so... so, filthy." "Hey! That's not fair!" Ryoko shouted, as sparks simultaneously flickered off her being. Her Tenchi gave her shoulder a squeeze, drawing her eyes to his. He shook his head no giving her a secretive wink the instant Azusa turned to gloat at his seemingly defeated great grandchild. Azusa looked at Ryoko a moment later, briefly deriving an even more intense pleasure from the proceeding events, though Seiryou didn't make that mistake. He kept his vision solely on the toad that'd been the source of his ridicule; he would crush Tenchi's pride then and only then would this encounter be over. That was all he asked in return from the emperor, who'd agreed out of his own wounded pride, and now stood fit for stuffing with his Cheshire Cat inspired grin. "Come, come now," Azusa chided mockingly toward the downtrodden group of women. "Don't blame me; blame Yosho for not instructing the boy better than that. After all, I didn't fly all of this way for things to wrap up this... easily." He ignored the heated eyes of his wives, truly submersing himself in this humiliating debacle. Another fit of laughter washed over him before Tenchi interrupted. "Don't blame either of us," said a rather neutral Tenchi, tilting his head back to escape the intense heat of his foe's sword, yet finding Seiryou would keep the blade on him at all times. Azusa turned back to inspect things, smiling deftly as there was no way Tenchi could escape. He couldn't even summon the light hawk sword again, lest Seiryou go through with stage two of their plan-- killing him. "Blame this idiot." "I suggest you watch your mouth," Seiryou warned, pressing the edge of the sword into Tenchi's neck until a thin stream of blood sizzled against the hot light- energy. "I hold your life in my hands and mine alone!" The snarled claim did nothing to change Tenchi's apathetic attitude towards the situation. "You hold nothing," Tenchi interjected with a small flash of anger, not flinching as the sword singed its way deeper. The group consensus was that Tenchi had lost it now; there was no need to compound the loss any further by letting this fool kill him. Of course, if Seiryou did try to kill him, he wouldn't be able make it off the planet without lungs... or a head... or in the multitude of pieces certain members of the household plotted to put his body in. Azusa had long since stopped smiling, as his great grandson showed that he held no fears of death. Another impressive quality that some young woman on that planet should experience, as it still didn't make him good enough for Ayeka (in Azusa's mind). He decided to observe this exchange a little while longer before declaring the match over. The plan had come together quite amicably beyond the part that involved Tenchi pleading for his life. "My sword says otherwise," Seiryou calmly said, easing his temper so as not to accidentally grant Tenchi his quick death. "What are you smiling about?" the noble demanded, as his victim began to slowly laugh. Tenchi's laughter stopped as suddenly as it began, and left him staring deathly serious into Seiryou's eyes. "You don't get it do you?" Tenchi asked, as a particularly odd gust of wind stirred past them. The noble didn't answer. "Your sword can't say anything that you don't. And do you want to know why?" Azusa suddenly began to recall hearing something similar in his extensive life. Why did it feel as though the answer wasn't one he'd like? Having sat in on enough of his training lessons, Ryoko suddenly knew what Tenchi had up his sleeve or thought she did anyway. She smiled up at the man at her side knowing that she could relax. Tenchi looked down at her, as she gripped his arm with a little more intensity, smiling that mischievous grin she wore all those years ago when she'd tried to hack him to pieces. Seiryou grew tired of pondering the answer in the meantime. "Why?" he asked dryly, as the desire to kill the beast grew. "It's not as if it matters anyway." Tenchi began to chuckle again, as what he had to say took on an entirely new meaning. "Your sword can't say anything that you don't because it's an extension of you." He told him with a cryptic smile. Before anyone could blink, a blue light suddenly shot out of Tenchi's chest, intersecting Seiryou's energy blade with its sheer power. For all of his reflexes, Seiryou couldn't move faster than the sword had appeared, and as so, the Light Hawk Wing smashed the noble's throat. His eyes bulged, as he dropped his sword reflexively, grabbing his throat to stop the blinding pain. Tenchi held his sword's handle level with his own eyes much like a baseball bat except for his wide-legged stance; he turned into striking position, next. Azusa mulled over the previous statement seemingly unconcerned with the events of current. And as Seiryou made a noisy inhalation, his eyes came from the sky above to the man in front of him--too late. Tenchi moved quickly forward, closing the small expanse between them. He brushed his sword past Seiryou's left side in a fluid diagonal stroke that to the untrained seemed to have made no contact. He made contact though, as Seiryou's waist-length jacket peeled away from his body like the skin of an orange. Had he cut a chunk out of Pinky? Was this simpering idiot going to bleed all over her new robe? Just a couple of questions on the spectators' minds, as Seiryou felt every rib on his left side simultaneously break. In the instant it took, Seiryou felt a glimpse of something... something strong. But for such strength, why hadn't it killed him? The nobleman didn't know, but he breathed in sporadic intervals and those painful breaths were life. Tenchi turned on his heel to face his opponent, having used the concentration from years of training to prevent cutting the man through like tissue paper. Seiryou stood perfectly still for a moment, took one gasp, and collapsed face first into the snow-covered deck. Tenchi looked mildly surprised the man had fallen with no attempt at retaliation. Heh, perhaps Seiryou wasn't as strong as Azusa thought. "He has severely underestimated this... man," Seiryou recognized humbly, as his warm breath melted the snow gathered at his nostrils. Tenchi kneeled, picking the man's head up by its pink follicles, eased his the light hawk sword under his throat, and whispered, "Because it's an extension of you." He looked up at his great grandfather, adding with the same quiet aggression, "Just like my sword is an extension of me." Azusa had looked up a moment earlier, recalling his giving Yosho the same speech. To most, what Tenchi had said made no sense. To others, Azusa, he felt himself grow enraged at having overlooked such a thing. Weapons were supposed to be metaphoric extensions of one's self, doing what normal limbs couldn't do while you used them. Where as Tenchi's weapon *was* a literal extension of himself that couldn't be disarmed or broken--he was the embodiment of his weapon. He had stood there the whole time telling him directly that he wasn't defenseless, and like a fool, he missed it. "Like I said, clever." Nagi smirked, leaning idly on the clever man to her right. Azusa looked at her like he was poised to kill, and as his eyes slowly averted elsewhere, the individual at her side gave a look that registered dangerously close to promised physical harm. "Tenchi, I think you've made your point," a voice said sternly, as he walked up the wooden stairs with his lover in step beside him. Prince Yosho--acknowledged by the two guards immediate kneeling--stood stunned, as Tenchi didn't make a move to obey his command. "Father, tell him this match is over," the Shinto Priest protested. "This fight is to the death," Azusa amended, feeling someone should suffer for his embarrassment. "Prove that you will make the ultimate decision for my daughter--kill for her." Most knew Tenchi's stance on bloodshed and needless killing; Nagi even knew what it was like on the other end of his eyes when you'd taken him too far. Intimidating, dark, merciless, colder than the blackest night--you did not want his eyes pointed at you when they were like that... How they stared at the broken man beneath him. The shift made his stare so intimidating and frightful. From calm to murderer in an instant, his eyes changed like day and night. They'd changed for the guy with the pink hair and it was officially nightfall at 10:36 a.m. A dead man, simple and plain is what she'd call him. This is how Nagi saw it and for all intents and silent purposes that's why she was glad to be on the other end of the spectrum. "Do you love Ayeka?" asked Tenchi intensely, craning Seiryou's numb head so that at least one barely open eye could face him. The noble saw Azusa's heated glance and answered like a trained seal. "Yes, I do." He lied while sensing what was beneath surface of Tenchi, yet knowing without question what lie inside of Azusa. "Enough to die? Can you say that you could die for her today? Not because you're scared of him, not because you're mad at me, but can you say it for yourself?" Tenchi asked, taking the sharpness off his tone. "What... what... happens if I say yes again?" asked Seiryou between ragged gasps for breath. "I'll kill you," Tenchi said with an obvious twinge of pity. "Because if it were me in your place, I would keep coming back for the woman I loved until I won or you killed me," he risked a glance at Ayeka and reassured that his words were true. "But at the same time, if you really loved her you'd be able to accept death a lot easier than you could ever accept denying that love--even if it were to save your life." >From everything his left eye could survey, Seiryou knew the faint electric tingle at his throat would end his life if he continued this charade. This supposed primitive held his life in his hands. Or did he? "If... I say 'no'?" Tenchi chuckled, saying, "What happens if you say 'no' is for you to decide. Leave and never return--you'll live. Stand and move towards your sword or comeback to my home with this ridiculousness ever again and I'll be forced to take more permanent action." Another one of those odd winds blew, making Seiryou shiver at the thought of his own bloodshed. A final glance at Azusa told him there would be no escaping death, and if he said no, it would be a very long death indeed. "Kill me, because I do love her, and I will be back," Seiryou stated defiantly as a man with shattered ribs could. Azusa snorted boldly, as the noble called his great grandchild's bluff. "Tenchi!" Yosho said sternly, unconsciously dropping into the gruff register of Katsuhito. Tenchi didn't flinch in his direction or even acknowledge his presence. Knowing his father, he knew that Azusa thought Tenchi didn't have the will to kill. But his father didn't know bluffing was not a game Tenchi played when it came to them. He watched in an undisclosed amount of horror as Tenchi said a prayer for the man he was about to destroy. "Father--stop this!" he demanded, showing the first real sign of emotion that any of them had seen. "May your journey in death be a peaceful one then," Tenchi whispered, taking an underhand grip on the sword to better slit the man's throat. Azusa stood in frustrated grace, as no one made a move to stop what he himself began to realize would happen. The blade began to glow more intensely, making Seiryou grunt his way through as his skin burned from the excessive energy output. He wanted to deny everything, but the fate of returning home twice the loser to some backwater person seemed a more horrible existence. Not to mention his sissified whimpering would only amount to a more drawn out death at the hands of the emperor's torture specialists. "And father said my ambition was a good thing," thought Seiryou for possibly the last time, if not for divine intervention. "Lord Tenchi," Ayeka whispered, causing him to look somewhere other than at the side of Seiryou's head. "Stop... please." Yosho stood mildly confused, as Tenchi extinguished his sword without hesitation and stood up, dropping the other man's head like a spoiled cabbage. It would seem the reigns of his control were theirs now, the prince noted as he brought his heart rate down. His grandson hadn't lost respect for him but the fear that'd once been present or influential in his own commands had lost effect. What those women wanted, Tenchi did. It felt good to see his work hadn't gone to waste. Tenchi was now the man he'd strived to make him or at least bring to the surface. "What? Are you too cowardly to kill this insignificant wretch for my daughter?" Azusa asked gruffly, as Tenchi stopped short his walk off the deck with Ayeka. He marched toward the emperor, stopping shy of bumping into him. "You'd be surprised who I'd kill," Tenchi said very slowly, with no attempt to hide 'who' that was. The height advantage was minimal, but Azusa angled his eyes upward to meet this arrogant fool, trying very hard not to lose even more of his short fuse. They stood motionless for the next handful of minutes, eyes of the past staring boldly into the eyes of the future. No, he would not let this fool steal his crown as well as his children! Or so Azusa liked to tell himself in the privacy of his bathhouse. The surrounding audience stood in shock--especially the royal guards, Misaki, and Funaho--as Tenchi may have been the first person to indirectly threaten Azusa and live. "Let's go, Lord Tenchi," said Ayeka, as she looped her arm through his and needled him away from her father. Though she didn't show it, she was very proud of this exchange. A gut feeling told her that her father respected someone with the backbone to stand up to him. And if an open threat wasn't backbone, Tenchi may as well have been a jellyfish. "Fine," Tenchi said airily, as his faced turned neutral. He turned his back on the man without a shred of a bow, descending the stairs with Ayeka to get some breathing space at the shrine. As they distanced themselves from the others, Tenchi whispered, "How did I do?" "You did very well," Ayeka commended, surprised by how responsive Tenchi had been to her request to show more firmness around her father. She'd told him a few months ago after remembering her father's complaints of the 'boy's' pacifistic ways. "And that comment about killing him, excellent ad lib." "Ad lib," said Tenchi, trying to paste the meaning to his prior commentary. "I aim to please," he said with a nervous laugh. Back on the deck, Azusa watched in growing trepidation, as the couple slowed to... kiss. The spectators were filing back inside, as a very large light hawk wing appeared in Azusa's hands. His wives hastily returned to his side to calm his agitation, but he would hear none of it. The wing, which could've easily measured some three or four feet in length by two or so feet at its width, slowly began to transform into a rather fearsome broadsword. It was translucent red, yet the aura around the blade was of deathly blackness, which traveled down to his hand where he held the solid energy hilt of the same color. The emperor watched a kiss that just wouldn't end. The mocking he could barely tolerate; the lack of respect he could brush off; but this... this was too much! Tenchi and Ayeka were at least one hundred yards away, but in his lack of thinking, Azusa knew he could peg that arrogant twit. "Azusa!" Misaki and Funaho shouted in unison, as the man sliced the sword through mid-air... to the tune of nothing happening--not yet anyway. No one noticed it at first, but an invisible force began to eat up Ayeka and Tenchi's footsteps in the snow. The technique was one Yosho recognized, having seen Tenchi use and explain it. The technique involved lashing an invisible energy off the light hawk sword, which traveled slowly and at the same time, gathered a devastating amount of energy the longer the traveled distance. This was that technique, but Azusa seemed to control the tempo of it. He guided it slowly towards Tenchi, using the fullest of his abilities to ensure the blow would be nothing less than fatal. By now, others had seen the invisible predator as the trail began to widen and move faster in route toward the serene couple. They were out of earshot as Sasami began to call futile warnings, and even as Yosho began to panic, he noticed the calm fa‡ades of his grandsons. Did all of them know? What was behind those eyes? And since when could he not read Tenchi like a book? All Tenchi present on the deck knew, yet the man in the field didn't. Behind most of those eyes were floods of anger, as the love and friendship they felt for Ayeka became in jeopardy. Behind the other set of eyes was a shared feeling from his five brethren. Reading a book was easy, given you knew where it started and where it ended. But Tenchi had six start points and a seventh that even he couldn't read that accurately, which left Yosho completely out of the loop. "This should prove interesting," the prince said demurely, deciding to have faith in his grandson and his teachings. "So how long do you think they'll be staying?" asked Tenchi, restarting their walk with a chipper smile. As Ayeka began to answer, he suddenly shushed her. "Do you hear that... that hissing sound?" The Princess shook her head no. They started to walk again, making it a few paces before... "Wait," she tugged him to stop very quickly, "I think I do. Listen?" Tenchi stood still, taking in the sounds around him. The hiss seemed closer, almost like it were on top of him. The couple looked at each other and shrugged. He looked back at the house in the distance, noticing a glowing sword on the deck. Probably Seiryou claiming he was ready for a rematch, he thought with a disenchanted sigh. It was at the precise moment that he saw it. The light cast from Seiryou... no, Azusa's sword distorted... almost as though it shown through a rain soaked windshield. All in one moment, Tenchi realized that his vision hadn't blurred, but that he was looking through a gigantic mass of energy. Ayeka found herself violently thrown away from Tenchi's side, as something hit him full on. She watched him sail through the air into the snow- covered trees without so much as a sound, until a hideous explosion reduced said trees to smoking cinders. "Aaah!" Ayeka briefly screamed before summoning her log shields to deflect the remanding heaps of smoke and debris that pelted her. "What have you done?" Funaho asked in bewilderment, noticing the odd smile that lined her husband's face. It was like he hadn't even seen Ayeka--he was that focused on killing Tenchi. "He made a threat on my life, no one does that to me! Not him, not you, NO ONE!" Azusa said angrily, focusing his deathly serious gaze at his wife. Funaho looked at him as though he was a stranger, backing away with little more than a hurt expression before entering the house. "And what have you to say?" he directed harshly at Misaki, noticing her rather adamant stance at the scenery in front of her. "Look," Misaki said softly, while staring straight ahead. Azusa looked forward at his daughter lying on the ground and then... sighed. "That is the future. You are the past--whether you like it or not." Misaki stepped away from her husband and between the heated onlookers into the kitchen to find Funaho. He turned to face Ayeka again, nearly losing his lower jaw at what lie before him. Tenchi stood where the explosion occurred, seven wings of the light hawk before him, and each with a tassel of energy that flapped as though it were a white ribbon that blew in the wind. There was no wind though as Tenchi ignored his anger for the time being, walking toward his fallen princess. The wings shrank into a tight-knit circle, disappearing at the center of his chest as he kneeled to help her up. Was he upset? No. Pissed? Not even slightly. Was he going to cut Azusa in half? He had no comment. He slowly brushed the burnt foliage off her kimono, apologizing for his piss-poor performance. He should've felt something that strong. There was no excuse not to. Instead, he looked upon the slight injury on her ankle and the generous amount of blood as the most excruciating thing he'd ever witnessed, in step behind her horribly mutilated body in that simulation. "Don't kill him, Tenchi," Ayeka said as he helped her up. Tenchi made no promises or signs that he'd even heard that request. His vision lie solely toward the astonished man on the deck of his house; he'd pay for this. "Please? I know this looks bad..." "You have no idea how this looks if it just looks bad," he growled between his teeth. "Stay here." "My father means well..." she began, only to be interrupted. "No he doesn't," corrected Tenchi, as he faced her. "He doesn't like me, fine. I can live with that. He hates me enough to try and kill me, with you a foot away... I will NOT live with that." Ayeka made no more objections as he walked away from her and murderously stalked toward her father. Azusa stood firm, waiting to see just how far Tenchi would take this. He'd yet to drop his sword and Tenchi hadn't drawn his, but the distinct way he walked the path made Azaka unconsciously shift backward. The legendary knight couldn't understand how his brother didn't feel the raw power surging within the man marching toward him now. But he felt it and it kept growing like some kind of ominous black cloud. Azusa and Tenchi were nearly identical from the knight's perspective now, which meant Tenchi was just as strong as Azusa. 50 yards and closing, Azusa stood primed with the power to destroy a good chunk of the Sol System and that still didn't compare to the power radiating off of the Earthling. Azaka dropped his staff; his wise eyes didn't foresee this. No one noticed, as the moment's intensity wouldn't allow for such an interruption. The power that moved toward his position continued to grow, so much so, until he couldn't feel his brother's presence or anyone else's. Sasami and Tsunami--his most powerful beacons by which to compare either man--were even phased out of the sensory radar. No one would survive if Tenchi struck with all of that. But how could he prevent it? A direct attack would bring that fury upon him. A witty remark wouldn't sway anything. The knight sighed, kneeling for his staff and preparing to die. "Leave it to Azusa to mess with the big ones," the old man said as Tenchi stomped up the stairs. "Is there something you wish to discuss?" the emperor remarked evenly, as Tenchi again stood directly in his face. Another moment of silence passed, as he seemed to look beyond the emperor. Azusa tensed as Tenchi suddenly grabbed his sword arm with an unheard of strength. He struggled, as his own physical strength only made Tenchi sway with the jerks and tugs for freedom. Okay, so the boy was strong, but he wasn't unbeatable. And with that, he decided upon an open handed attack, finding Tenchi's wings illuminating upon each impact--deftly absorbing the shock. With all of this, Tenchi still refused to acknowledge his presence. "I suggest you take your... ah... AH!" he screamed as a searing pain shot up his arm, as Tenchi finally gripped his arm with a percent of his genuine strength. Their eyes met for the first time, as Tenchi made a very quick pass with an energy sword beneath the man's throat. Azusa twitched, as the scent of his beard's melted hairs tickled his nose. The sword--Ryoko granted--lay in Tenchi's left hand, and against Azusa's right jugular. The older man trembled under the force being asserted on his right arm, as he searched frantically for a way to gain its freedom. The bone cracked again, and Azusa audibly grunted, this time relinquishing his sword to nothingness. He had one attack prepared, before the one least expected slapped the emperor directly in his face--Tenchi's bare hand. "What..." a disgruntled Azusa began, holding his inflamed left cheek utterly surprised by the attack. Tenchi held up his left hand--palm flat--to silence him, as the red flare of his sword disappeared into mini red globules of particle energy seconds prior. The sting slowly dissipated into out right disbelief. Etched into the boy's wrist were three very thick and very red rings. No. Could he? No. They wouldn't have... could they? Had he really went so far as to undertake such a sacred act for a chance to get into his daughter's underwear? "I told you before that I loved them," Tenchi said quietly, yet still with a look of murderous intent so deep that the bottom wasn't in sight. "Whether you believe me or not is of little consequence now." "Good," Azusa confirmed, "but I will expose you to her as the fraud that you are. Then she will leave you." A sudden twitch developed under the boy's right eye, as a battle marking flickered onto his left cheek and then off like a faulty Christmas light. "I'm no fraud," he managed to say without shaking with the anger that wanted to be unleashed. "I will marry her, and she will be with me. You can say what you like about me. You can even attempt to kill *me* but Gods help you if you ever try to come at me through her." The flame colored sword appeared between them in the right hand that previously held onto Azusa, illuminating in fierce detail Tenchi's indignant features. Azusa stood seething, because even with the obvious lines of affection creasing this man's face in devotion to his eldest daughter, he couldn't let go. He stared with coldness born of royalty into Tenchi's eyes, trying to see what exactly those chocolate-brown irises hid. Tenchi didn't blink, as the reflection of the sword shown heavily in his steely eyes. The venomous reply that Azusa had worked out faltered, as he saw something within the boy's pupils. They seemed to narrow... vertically, into slits. What was that? The emperor blinked, thus ending the silent staring contest. An array of questions appeared within his mind, but Tenchi had sprinted off toward Ayeka, who hobbled remorsefully toward the scene to attempt to defuse the situation. "Oh my," Ayeka said as Tenchi approached and without warning, picked her up. Her father stood in total disarray, as they neared him. The majority of his beard lay at his feet, as he held a hand to his cheek completely statuesque. She looked at Tenchi and realized how hard he must be trying to keep his anger in line... for her. Perhaps ten or so yards away from her father, Ayeka dismissed her overbearing father's presence from her mind and placed a delicate kiss on Tenchi's cheek. "Thank you," she said with a sincere smile, as his stride halted suddenly. "You're welcome," he said, as his eyes went from steely cold to pillow soft for her. "How's your leg? He didn't hurt you too much did he?" Tenchi looked at the slash the energy caused just below her calf and sighed, deeply staring at it as if to will it away. "I'll be fine," the princess assured him. "What about you? Are you going to be okay?" "I'll manage," Tenchi mumbled, as they made their way past the befuddled, enraged, depressed, and disgusted emperor without a word or pause. Like some kind of military regime, the large group of spectators followed them into the house in step and in silence. Azusa stood proud, yet unknowing of what to do next--which was a first for him, not having made a contingency plan this time. How could the boy be that devoted? He shook his head, trying to clear the reality and bring back the delusion. Tenchi was not devoted to his daughters; he only wanted them for verbose bragging rights. This begged the question: Why would he put up such an act? Tenchi didn't seem to desire power of any sort, nor did he seem explicitly high off his daughters' royal statuses. Azusa mumbled to himself as the snow began to fall. Too many questions were invading his defenses--he needed to go home and sort things out. Having enough of the cold, Azusa decided to enter the house and retrieve his wives at least-- it didn't work like that though. A sound of splitting air passed behind him, causing the emperor to cry out in pain and collapse. Ryoko spat on him, disappearing as she heard footsteps approaching the kitchen door. "Bastard," the wind seemed to say. Yosho, accompanied by Yugi, slid the door open to find Azusa face down on the deck. "I suppose he's lucky that we stayed behind to chat with him," Yugi said, not bothering to cover her lack of concern for the fallen emperor. "True," the prince agreed, walking over to pick up his father's body. He hoisted the gruff, yet deceptively muscled Emperor of Jurai, and motioned for Yugi. "Yeah," she said with a petulant sigh, "whatever." In the next instance, they were gone. While everyone in the household moved his or her own way, a certain redhead made her way outside again. Barely conscious, Seiryou heard the translucent keys clicking before that familiar warm light swallowed him back into the belly of the ship. With that out of her way, Washu surveyed the land again. "The residual energy those two put off should be... enough... for... a... project." Washu's train of thought slowed to a trickle, as she observed the landscape, thoroughly this time. A countryside that had been frosted in winter's white glory now lay completely barren of the substance known to Earthlings as snow. That was impossible though, wasn't it? Her line of vision was immense, but there wasn't an ounce of snow left in range. Almost out of secondary thinking, the scientist found her hands at work performing energy scans. After all, it would take an intense heat to melt that much snow; Azusa and Tenchi weren't putting off any. Ah, but it could've been ionic or... the thinking process halted again. She cautiously approached the once unnoticed scorch marks on the deck. "Footprints?" Washu asked, more than stated the obvious. For the first time in a longtime, she cautiously reached out to touch the prints, nearly screaming with fright as the wood turned to ash beneath her fingertips. There were two size 13 footprint-holes in the deck, as the befuddled scientist fell back on her rump. "No way!" she screamed, clamoring towards another set. It took a moment for her scientific bearings to catch up, but once they did, everything came into focus. Every one of those prints represented an area Tenchi had set foot on. Then she noticed something else--they appeared in delayed pauses, making it seem as though an invisible being walked and those were physical manifestations of its presence. "Interesting, my little guinea pig," she said to herself, following the ghostly footsteps down the stairs and out into the field. They stopped abruptly, ending where Azusa had struck and tossed him into the forest. Tenchi's footsteps began to walk the trail leading back to the deck then, with Washu recording the whole thing via her Washu Cam (patent pending). Climbing the steps--and careful not to fall through, as they now had holes in them--Washu saw the weird invisible feet stop right where Azusa and Tenchi had faced off moments earlier. A ring, no more than three feet in circumference, surrounded the footprints suddenly and engulfed the area in flames. Bringing up a spectral analyzer, she looked through the flames and saw Tenchi? A few strokes on her keyboard indicated that it wasn't him, but merely his energy index. Another round of keystrokes produced a spiffy set of purple lenses or her spectral shades. Washu noticed the, for lack of a better term, Spectral Tenchi mimicked everything the real one did. He was only composed of dotted energy, which made him look like a connect-the-dots puzzle gone horribly vivid, yet it was obviously Tenchi. His 'lips' moved to the same words that Tenchi had spoken nearly ten minutes prior; he lifted his hand to a non-existent Azusa, and even summoned a ghostly imitation of Ryoko's sword. "Why do I do these things to myself?" Washu asked in vain, though answering, "Because I have to know it all!" The data input from the shades dried up as the flames flickered to a smolder, and the Spectral Tenchi vanished as he ran toward the field in search of his invisible Ayeka. Feeling particularly smitten with discovering a new aspect of Jurai's power, the beautiful scientist summoned her favorite cushion and began to work with her data. Up first, a little in-depth measuring of that residual energy. "A little of this and a little of that and," Washu pressed enter and waited. Half of the screen was dedicated to where Tenchi's power had been put to its then extreme while holding himself, Mihoshi, and Ayeka safely within that black hole. As expected, the residual energy faired well against that impressive measuring stick. Still, this wasn't Tenchi in full bloom or Tenchi at all. So, a few keystrokes later piped her into the lab where the sensors (known as security cameras to most people) had recorded the events with Azusa and Seiryou in real-time. "Now, let's see what you can do when pushed." The scientist played back the video, interlacing it with a scale of measure she'd specifically built for the Light Hawk Wings. "Error! Error!" The computer squawked, just as Tenchi collapsed Seiryou's windpipe. "Scanner limit has been reached. Please set a higher limit and scan the subject again, Little Washu." "Silly me, I forgot to compensate for the four additional wings," Washu chided with an overacted sigh before correcting the problem. "There, all better." The image began again, revealing a massive leap in Tenchi's power, though still far from the maximum power limit she'd predicted he'd reach. "Error! Error!" the computer droned again, as Tenchi prepared to strike Seiryou. "Scanner limit has been reached. Please set a higher limit and scan the subject again, Little Washu." Unfazed, the scientist obeyed her computer's suggestion to recalibrate. The video began again, as Tenchi's energy seemed to hover statically near the top of her scale. Watching intently, Washu noticed his power became that of a grapefruit as Ayeka called him off, though it drastically rose when he threatened Azusa. "Error! Error!" the familiar robotic voice chimed in as it picked up Azusa officially. "Secondary subject detected. Please set a higher limit and scan the subjects again, Little Washu." Washu raised a suspicious eyebrow as Azusa's power charted for the first time... and charted big. He nearly reached the maximum of this particular power gauge, but plateaued just shy. Though, he did place well above Tenchi's previous benchmark. With nimble fingers, Washu switched the power analyzing to the mass of energy Azusa created. The theory was that the energy was merely a warning shot, more so than it was an attempt to fatally harm the young prince. As the gauge kept rising, ultimately reaching a point where the screen flashed "fatal on impact," Washu screamed, "Son of a bitch!" It felt like her heart dropped. "Oh, god!" Washu choked out, as she noticed Tenchi's wings didn't respond by instinctually taking the brunt of the force. Her heartbeat came into a normal rhythm as he arose like a phoenix from the ashes. There he stood, all seven of his wings in place, and largest of them all slightly pulsating. Overacting and silently routing for the ass kicking that never came, the scientist watched as Tenchi's power simply lay there... four notches lower than Azusa with one wing. "Damn," she muttered, finally able to overhear the brief round of words Tenchi had with Ayeka. They didn't matter though. "I guess this explains why he didn't attack him. Maybe he was releasing his energy into the atmosphere, as opposed to letting it store in his system... or maybe," Washu's fingers flittered across the keys and beamed at the results. Working on a hunch, she'd reconfigured the energy scale to measure testosterone. "That shot! How could I've been so stupid!" Azusa's testosterone levels were exceedingly high, where as Tenchi's-thanks to that shot she'd given him-was nearly non-existent. That's why Azusa was "stronger." His hormones weren't dampened, which left his power... "Error! Error!" The computer shouted, interrupting her thoughts. The chart that measured their testosterone switched to the video of the previous events that were still being measured in the background. "Please set a higher limit and scan the subject again, Little Washu." "Ten... chi?" As she said it, her fingers did their thing and the video began again. Her mouth was open in amazement as Tenchi's power continued to grow without the aid of the hormone. Azusa's veins had to be flowing with the stuff, which theoretically, kept his power at maximum. But Tenchi had all of the testosterone of a houseplant and still exceeded the emperor. "How are you generating this much power then?" The Tenchi on the screen didn't respond. "Error!" the computer shouted, as Tenchi took another step away from Ayeka toward Azusa. Washu upped the bar and pressed enter. "Error!" The video paused again, as Tenchi's power maxed out with the next step. The video began again. "Error!" "What in the gods' names?" Washu screamed, continuously compensating for his energy spike. "Error!" the computer itself nearly shrilled, as Tenchi took another video pausing step. Cautiously, Washu tapped the enter key... "ERROR! ERROR!" her computer immediately responded. "Aaah!" she screamed, finally putting the computer on an incremental automation. The chart maximum increased fivefold every time Tenchi reached the designated limit on each of the five levels of measurement. Washu tapped enter and watched. Sure enough, the computer went off in tune with each of Tenchi's steps. As he reached about the halfway mark to the deck, the computer started going off every ten or so steps... then twenty... then thirty on up until he was three feet away from Azusa on the deck's steps without setting the alarm off again. "Phew, glad that's," Washu paused as the video stopped with Tenchi directly in front of his great grandfather. "What? Move!" she commanded, typing through the pause that the video had taken. "Little Washu," the computer responded, as she shrugged as if to say 'yeah?' "Higher dimensional life form detected. Please convert measuring units and tables to compensate." There was a moment of incredulous staring from the scientist, which gave way to an exasperated sigh. "Right, I knew I should've done a maintenance test before I started." Washu sighed while cracking her knuckles before the extensive system check began. "I knew all of the sex was making me rusty. That's it, no more than three... four... five times during a seven-day week! Tenchi's a higher dimensional life form, yeah right. Next you'll be telling me that I'm a goddess." With that said, she could focus on putting this computer back in working order. To think, a Juraian going beyond level 5--a level reserved for Juraians in general--was utter crap is what that was. The Juraian Empire was composed of the strongest people, technology (minus her own), etc. in the known universe. Having done a research project on the race and a few others in her life, she'd calculated a system of measurement for the supposed strongest of every race. On Jurai, that was the emperor. The last two emperors had only two wings, yet provided an excellent thesis subject on relative power amplification. She never gave much thought to the wings other than that. Drusillians--a group of aquatic life on a planet with a methane sea--had similar defensive posturing. Though, theirs was more of a radioactive shielding, as opposed to a powerful weapon. Nonetheless, the Light Hawk Wings drew little of her attention other than to chart it at its peak and move on to the next experiment. "Fickle youth," she muttered, wishing she'd done a more thorough analysis. Tenchi was the only test subject she'd ever had when it came to how the Light Hawk Wings worked. And then again, he was the only lower dimensional being to ever mute a black hole's gravitational pull. Out of all the life forms she'd studied, the Juraians were truly the most powerful. Of course, if her faithful assistant throughout the millennia was right, Tenchi Masaki--one-quarter Juraian--had just eclipsed the last three emperors in Jurai's history in sheer power... combined. Pushing this aside until further evidence was gained, she rebooted the omnipresent laptop. "I really should invent something to make this obsolete," Washu thought, watching as the miniature versions of her bounced across the screen in various outfits ranging from a nurse to a dominatrix. "Here we are. Now, cue it up and let's see what we get." "Little Washu," the computer replied. "Higher dimensional life form detected. Please convert measuring units and tables to compensate." "Okay, this has to be it," Washu told herself, making sure that the computer only measured Tenchi. Azusa's power had went up some, which could've attributed to a dual reading merger as she usually measured power on a one-at-a-time basis. "Now you hunk of junk, tell me the right answer." Several seconds passed, as she waited for the results. "Little Washu," she could almost hear the 'accept the truth woman' in the computerized voice. "Shut up," the scientist muttered hitting mute on the sound processor. "Fine, let's see what happens now." There were three levels to the perfect higher dimensional measuring system. Level 1 consisted of creatures or beings that possessed metaphysical traits, while still existing on a plane of reality that the normal human could sense. Ryoko was at the higher end of the level 1 scaling system with all of her gems. "Could've been at least 2 if Kagato hadn't messed it all up," Washu unconsciously mumbled, pushing that pain from her heart and mind. Level 2 consisted of creatures or beings with metaphysical abilities that were able to move on or exceed the levels of reality known to the average humanoid. Life forms on the higher end of this scale could also move as freely between dimensional barriers as the average person could step into a new room of their house. Washu, Tsunami (when in cooperation with Sasami's body), and your occasional demon existed on this level. Level 3 of this system was exclusive. It was created after a preliminary scan of Dr. Clay's ship during his abduction of Ryoko. He was the usual pond scum, but there were two other anomalies present. One existed on the exact extreme of level 2, where as the other was immeasurable for awhile. This presence was somehow able to exist everywhere at once. And it felt vaguely familiar. At any rate, in a three year span she'd managed to construct an accurate gauge for it. She'd do an impromptu dance of triumph, as she dubbed herself 'The First Scientist to ever measure a God's Power'. After all, that's all that energy like that could've been. "Here we go," Washu said impassively striking the key after the preparations were made. Tenchi began to talk, but her attention was reserved for the red bar slowly ascending toward mid-range on level 1 of the higher dimensional scale. "Good, but I will expose you for the fraud that you are. Then she will leave you." With Azusa's words, Tenchi's energy hit the first maximum on this new scale. If it were a physical force, it would've probably jumped off the screen and blew something up. Applying the second scale, her intrigue turned away from concern for a seventh of her lover into a scientific objective. Yes, as Tenchi finally reached a quarter of the way on the secondary scale, Washu had begun her planning stages to test the full extent of his abilities again. "One-seventh," she repeated as if a foreign statistic. Looking at the screen as the camera angle slowly panned into a view that held the entire household in a frame, Washu's eyes slowly expanded. "One-seventh! One-seventh!" What limits did his power reach combined if this was just one-seventh? He'd made it halfway up the secondary scale and maxed out, but just how far could he take it when he was in one body? "Is something wrong, Washu?" Tenchi asked, as his search for her ended. He stepped onto the deck and she snapped her head toward him and stared in borderline fear. "I wondered where you went when I came back to the lab," he started with, trying to break through such a foreign look from her. "No... Nothing's wrong." She lied. "Just... just thought I'd take in some more of this wonderful snow!" Tenchi surveyed his surroundings. A few charred holes in his deck, a few piles of gray slush, and his girlfriend sitting with the biggest fake smile he'd ever seen. "Right, now what were you really doing?" Washu risked a glance at the screen, sighing freely as it read, "Source lost." "Seriously, I just thought I'd get some work done on this planet for a change." Her tone had returned to its normal register, as did her outward mood. The laptop and cushion faded away as she stood up. Tenchi took the sheepish smile as news that he could walk at a normal pace towards her--and he did too. "Guess I'm getting old, I didn't even hear you open the door." "Yeah," Tenchi said with total disregard or realization--it seemed. "Hey!" Washu complained before being playfully tossed across one of his shoulders. "But you're still beautiful," Tenchi added, thus proving he could keep a straight face. "Now, shall we get you out of this cold before you catch..." From the angle she was draped over his left shoulder, her butt was in view of his face and even it was laced with a look of 'I'm impervious to the cold you moron.' "Um, yeah." Tenchi stooped to allow her legging clad legs to the wood below. "Oh, no you don't! Free transportation for me!" Washu giddily proclaimed, having forgotten about the situation of earlier due in part to his presence. She draped onto his back much like a small child though with the weight of a woman. "Well, I do have a special going for cute redheads," Tenchi thought aloud, enjoying how the clothes he'd formed in the lab let all of her body's heat through to his skin. "Cute?" Washu asked in a disbelieving manner. "I was merely cute, as a child. Now, now I'm a woman," she rubbed her chest against his back to make that point, "and you think I'm simply... cute?" "Perhaps cute wasn't the right word," he added, walking back towards the kitchen door. "How about a special for the most fantastically-amazing-wondrously- pleasant-jaw-droppingly-beautiful woman I've ever seen?" "What--so, I'm just another pretty face?" She enjoyed turning joking conversation into moments of uncertainty for him. "Um, and you have a really big brain and no cranial lumps?" Where he got that, he didn't know. "Cranial lumps," Washu repeated seriously, though to the spectators in the living room she was obviously amused by the toothy grin. "Bwahahahaha! Cranial lumps... oh, god... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Casually Tenchi strolled over to the unoccupied end chair and dumped his passenger. "Oh, another joke at my expense. Hardy! Har! Har!" He was, of course, joking himself. "So, I take it you didn't get the joke," Azaka said as Tenchi past him, smiling demurely as Washu's legs flailed to gain proper positioning in the seat. The young man gave him a wink, headed towards the upstairs shower. "That's the problem with people today--nobody can take a joke," Washu said, finally falling over the edge of the chair onto a well-placed cushion. "Wait," she called after him, suddenly remembering her find. "I need to see you in the lab, later." "I'd like to, but I don't think I can," he made an eye gesture before Washu got it. "Oh! Not like that... not yet anyway," she mumbled. "I need to run a few tests." Author's Notes: Ten days, blah, blah, blah. I'm sorry, but I had to rewrite some things. (You try writing 100k worth of stuff, only to end up finding none of it salvageable, and tell me that you felt like starting over afterwards.) It seemed okay at first, but the odd Tenchi-kills-Azusa-in-a-fit-of-rage thing I had going didn't fit. So, I had to scrap that idea. The new idea revolves around the meaning of Tenchi's name and how the Light Hawk Wings (or Wings of the Light Hawk) play into it. Take it easy people... that is, if you're still out there.