By David R. Nolen Heaven and Eternity (OAV III) By K'thardin I was working on another story when this one finally overpowered my consciousness and DEMANDED that I write it first. Oh well I work on many at a time anyway so it's no big deal. Anyway this one is for my all time favorite anime series Tenchi Muyo! This one came about in a discussion a friend and I once had about whether or anymore of these older beings aquantences would come looking for them (if I gave you specifics it would ruin the story). Soon we came up with this really big plot line that just WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE! So now I have to write it down. This is also where I got my pen name (you'll see in a future episode). Well, I think I've rambled enough. Enjoy this one. I know I did. Standard Disclaimer: Shockwave was a pansy. Anyway I don't own Tenchi, and don't sue because I have no money. I do own a few of these characters, if you can't guess which ones go watch the OVA's (I'll give you a hint, it's the one's not in the OVA's) nonbeliever. That's all. The musical score is standard Tenchi background music unless otherwise specified. The Gathering of the Children "C'mon Megatron. I dare you." -Optimus Prime The man had come to this galaxy while following the forces of the Yoma Empire. It was strange enough that they had gone on the move, as they were staunch isolationists. Stranger still that they had armed themselves to the teeth before going. Wondering if this would interfere with his business any the man had seriptiously tagged along. It was quite amazing seeing a galaxy where there shouldn't be one (there was no gravitational distortion or any distortions for that matter). Even more amazing was the fact there seemed to be a field of some sort surrounding this galaxy. Probably explained the lack of effect it had on any other galaxy, he thought. He considered this very odd as he followed them into said galaxy. He followed them until they finally came to the center where a structure that defied all laws of existence stood. It was vast; as large as some small moons. It had running water, vegetation and wild life. Keep in mind the water had no apparent source and was running in a vacuum (there was definitely no atmosphere, he made certain), tumbling off the edge of the structure into the vastness of space, and from there who knows. The trees and other vegetation didn't really cross him as being too out there (he had seen quite a few plants in space in his lifetime thankyouverymuch) however coma the dolphin, squirrel, and deer like things that bounded around the area without the benefit of gravity (though the water should have tipped him off) really baffled him. It was quite obvious to him something powerful lived here and was taking great pains to show just how powerful. So he watched while the Yoma armada closed in on said structure and proceeded to open fire. As he expected the armada didn't even phase the structure. Hell, it didn't even look to him like they were even hitting it. Actually when he thought about it some more it was more like their weapons just weren't being acknowledged by the reality of the structure. Eventually they got something's attention as an amorphous creature that was composed of some red and white colored energy appeared before them. Seeing a new target the armada poured firepower into it that would have destroyed a medium sized class M world. It was very bright in that spot for a moment and when they finally ceased fire; they saw that their efforts were utterly futile. It seemed as if a hand appeared in the amorphous energy, and pointed at them; sending out a force wave of immense power. So much for the Yoma armada, thought the man. Curious about what had transpired he tracked the being as it disappeared inside of the structure. Shifting his substance into something less noticeable he passed through the walls of the structure and began tracking the being. Interesting! The inside of this place is larger than the outside. He took the most direct route, passing through walls and such on his way to where he felt the being go. Strange, he thought, there seems to be very little in the way of surveillance around here. Then again I doubt most beings could even think about getting in here, so it's probably not considered necessary. Though I am not seen unless I want to be seen. God it's scary how good I am sometimes. He continued for awhile always keeping a part of himself focused on what he was doing, but for the most part letting his mind wander. I wonder if they have some good drugs here, he wondered idly. Probably not. Eventually he came to the area he had sensed the being go. It was a giant amphitheater. He saw the being on a dais of sorts in the center; probably for receiving people, but if he is being received who is receiving him? He received his answer momentarily as a giant head appeared before the amorphous mass of energy. A giant head; where have I seen that before, he wondered? "How did it go, Abel?" the head asked telepathically. A head and arms seemed to morph out of the mass. "It was no problem." The mass named Abel replied. "And the survey of their technologies?" "Already in progress D3." A shimmering distortion appeared behind the floating head and resolved itself into an image of a rather large woman. Cool, a higher level dimensional lifeform. Don't see too many of those around anymore. <> she asked. The man shook his head and tried not to become too overwhelmed as he heard the voice on every conceivable plain of existence. "Yes, like the others, there were legends in their history of a cosmic upheaval about thirty-thousand years ago." Legends? This needs looking into. The geeze never told me about an upheaval around that time. "It went on to say that it was caused by a war started by sisters of an old race, and though the dark sister was banished for a time; she would come again. Apparently they correctly assumed you to be that sister, and came to take care of the problem themselves." A cosmic menace? This really does bear further investigation. After all, it's our association's job to take care of these threats to the relm. Still, I am rather impressed at how fast they got this info. Perhaps I shall look into Yoma records myself. <> Her? "No, milady." <> Who are those shadows behind her? They seem familiar somehow. "Yes, milady Tokimi." the two intoned as the being vanished. Seeing no further reason they should be there the two beings on the dais vanished as well. Tokimi, huh? Well, might as well see what information I can dig out of the geeze (I really don't want to see him) and the archives. With that in mind he vanished as well. * He reappeared in his ship that he had parked outside of this strange galaxy, (though he really didn't need one, but he always thought it was cool to have) and immediately went to his ship's interface console. "Ranger scan Yoma legends concerning a cosmic upheaval around thirty- thousand years ago. Scan other races legends about that subject as well." he said while he sat down. * Can you be any less specific * the ship printed out. "Just do it. I'll see what has any relevance to me or not." * You're the boss * "And don't you forget it." Goddamn smartass ship. Almost immediately he saw a listing of various upheavals in that time frame from the histories of the many races on file. He began scanning through them, finding the ones he wanted he began reading them, absently noting a familiar weight settle on his shoulder. A small red and gold head with a serpentine neck craned around into his field of vision looking at him with what could only be described as a quizzical expression. "Yes I found what I was looking for. And more besides." The small head continued looking at him. "I'll tell you in a minute. Gotta do some research first." he said and quickly (about .0005 seconds) read the contents of the files he wanted. He sat back and thought for a moment after he was done. "O.K. Drakhenn get this." he said, addressing the small dragonic being on his shoulder, "Around thirty-thousand years ago, from what I can piece together, an entire galaxy exploded (a galaxy that matches the exact perameters of this one I might add) due to the war that had started between a few sisters that I guess some would call goddesses. Maybe even higher level dimensional lifeforms, I don't know. It seems that the sisters on the side of light won, but either died or were banished as they had banished their sister of darkness. Apparently this dark being was to return sometime in the future to try to take dominion over all things like she did before. Seems the Yoma and a few others have been keeping tabs on this lady and decided that when she did return they would destroy her." The little dragon opened his mouth and let his tongue roll out. "No Shit, they got their butts creamed. So I guess this means it's up to us to take care of this little problem." The dragon asked him another question. "No, a direct confrontation wouldn't be beneficial to either side. I can't directly affect things in her plain of existence, and she would instantly sense anyone trying to cross over there. In any event such a crossing would greatly weaken me for a time. Time enough for her to take me out in any case." he paused for a moment and considered other options, "I suppose I could try to get her to come here or even lure her to some other dimension where I would have the advantage. Hmm...how to do that?" Drakhenn suggested something. "Yes, that would probably be my best bet. Just keep an eye on her, and thwart her where I can. Eventually she will have to personally investigate. Then I got her." A thought occurred to Drakhenn, which he voiced as a question to his humanoid companion. He reached up, scratched his white beard and frowned a little at the question. "No, I don't think it would be a good idea to involve the others. I get a really bad feeling about that when I consider it." he said finally answering the question, "Still, as much as I don't want to, I'm going to get a hold of the old man, and get some information out of him. He really should have told me something like this. Ranger..." he called turning his attention back to the monitor. * You rang? * "Can it. See if you can get a hold of the...DEAR GOD, WHAT WAS THAT!" he yelled, very surprised. Holy Shit! That was...one of us. Or to be more accurate, one of us just using his power for the first time. It was too brief to get a precise lock. I wonder if anyone else got it. He typed a few keys on his console and brought up a wizened old face on the view screen. "Yes, I know! I felt it too!" exclaimed the figure on the screen. "Did you or anyone else get a lock on it?" "No. Only a general one." he sighed regretfully, "We really could use another." "Where was it generally?" he asked. "It's in that area of space you normally hang around." the figure on the screen looked at him from above his sunglasses, "I guess this means you are going to be wanting to take care of it." The man gave the figure on the screen a what the hell do you think? look. "Right, keep in touch." "Yeah sure. Hey wait a minute!" the man said suddenly. "Uh..yeah?" "You were around about thirty-thousand years ago weren't you?" "Yes." the man replied a little puzzled. "You know anything about a galaxy exploding about that time?" Please say you know something. I really don't want to talk to the geeze if I can help it. "The Vorden galaxy self-destructed about that time. Why do you ask?" "Oh nothing." he said quickly, "I was just scanning through our records and wondering why little was mentioned about it." "Well when it happened we investigated and determined that it was caused by a freak transwarp anomaly that reacted with the black holes in the center of that galaxy. Big Boom to say the least. That's about all that we really could find there." Uh huh, thought the man. "You found nothing else that might have caused it?" the figure on the screen was obviously growing suspicious. "Why? Is something going on?" "It's probably nothing but my own paranoia." he replied calmly. The figure shrugged slightly. "Well let us know if you need help. Keep us informed on the new guy, huh?" "You worry too much. Out." the screen went blank. Well that was thoughrouly uninformative. Now I have this problem, and a new guy to worry about. Oh well, no one ever said that life was easy, he thought as he eased back in his chair. "Ranger plot a course to the Milky Way and get us there ASAP." * If you want there ASAP, why don't you teleport us? * "'Cause I'm lazy. Now do it." I have really got to get a new ship. Drakhenn was trying and failing miserably to keep from laughing. Unbeknownst to any of the occupents of the ship an old man was standing out in the vaccuum of space watching the ship. So now it begins, he thought. I hope that the lady is right about this. If she's not this universe can bend over and kiss it's ass goodbye. With that the old man vanished. * O.K. I've got nearly unlimited patience, but this is screwed up! Why can't something happen, he asked himself. The man had been quite literally floating around in space in the Milky Way galaxy for three months. In that time the power he had sensed being used before had only been once more; which only allowed him to home in on a more specific area of the galaxy: somewhere in the Juraian protectorate. This was strange, because normally the beings that display their type of power did so on a frequent basis once first used. Not in this case. Watching Tokimi was just as boring, they never did anything really. Occasionally some screwed up scientist would arrive and give progress reports on some kind of power converter that he was building for her. He had followed this...what was his name? Oh yeah, Clay. Dr. Clay. Anyway he had followed this guy and found that he was building a converter that turned bio energies into a kind of cosmic power. Only problem is this converter was so large and powerful it could probably suck the life out of a world. Seeing this to be a potential problem in the future, he had thrown a few spanners into the works greatly decreasing Dr. Clay's progress, frustrating him to no end. It was a mild entertainment, but even that quickly became boring while he was waiting for something momentous to happen. It was at this time that he decided to pay a visit to Tokimi; hoping she was doing something; anything would be nice, he thought. Teleporting in he settled himself on a ledge, not letting the gaze of either D3 or Tokimi reach him. At least they're doing something different, he thought as he watched them watch some strange looking ship in space. God, I hope these guys don't think this is entertainment, he thought shuddering a little. He continued watching the globe they were viewing (pun intended) for a little while until he finally got his wish: something started happening. First there was this galaxy police shuttle that tried to take on the larger ship. Even though it's pilot was quite skilled, it still fell before the massive laser fire the larger ship possessed. Second another ship of even stranger configuration entered the battle and projected some strange crystalline structure into the hull of the ship near where the Galaxy police shuttle had crashed. At near the same time it seemed something teleported into the larger ship itself. Third the larger ship divided into two parts while a massive surge of energy started converging on one point; ripping a hole in the fabric of space itself. Cool, a black hole, he thought. Then he felt it. The two other beings felt it as well though were not as dramatically affected by it as their unknown watcher was. In his case he was clutching the sides of his head as it seemed that a couple of adamantium spikes were being driven into his head, repeatedly. "What is this energy?" D3 suddenly asked. "Is this Washuu's or Tsunami's doing?" Tokimi wondered. "That sword is capable of material conversion, yet it only has three blades?" D3 couldn't believe what he was seeing. The man wasn't even listening to their conversation as he put in place certain mental shields he had taken down for some reason or another and never put back up. I have got to teach that kid the meaning of the word SUBTLETY. Still, I've got you now. I must admit, that is one impressive display of power for a beginner. Yet it appears you have attracted the attention of the evil Brady bunch here. Looks like you're going to be helping me on this one. Though why is it that that feels right, when asking those of us more experienced seemed wrong? Can't worry about that now. I better track him down and begin his training before these guys decide to deal with him. This is getting fun again. Smiling slightly he disappeared. * Three weeks later. O.K. I tracked the kid's energy signature to this star system. Might as well find out if anyone has anything on him. "Ranger, see if anyone has any information concerning the kid we're tracking." * I did that awhile ago. It seems the galaxy police and Juraian computers have some extensive info on him. * "Well let's hear it. Summarized of course." he said as he pulled out a cigarette from nowhere and flicked it with his fingers lighting it. * Why don't you just speed read it? * I am going kill this thing, he thought taking a drag off of it. "'Cause I'm smoking. Now start talking." "Very well." the ship said and a familiar (to all of us out there in OAV land) image appeared on the screen, "It seems the guy you are after is named Tenchi Masaki. He is about 17 years old, black hai..." "Skip the stats. Just give me the basic gist of it." he said taking another drag. "Fine." Ranger replied a little miffed, "Seems this guy is some sort of Juraian prince. You'll like this one, you remember Yoshou?" How could I forget, the man thought. "Yeah, what about him. He disappeared around seven-hundred years ago." The ship chuckled a little. "Well he recently resurfaced on this world, and it appears this Tenchi guy is his grandson." The man barely restrained himself from choking right then and there. Goddamit! That kid was always giving me trouble. Oh well, figures something like this would happen. "Anything else?" "Yes, it appears he recently released a couple of space pirates by the names of Ryouko and Ryo-Ohki, which is actually some sort of sentient biological war-ship." "O.K. enough about him give me the descriptions on these two." two images appeared on the screen, one an image of Ryouko in her battle dress and another of Ryo-Ohki in battle ship mode. "Ryouko, recently reformed space pirate, was imprisoned seven-hundred years ago after Yoshou tracked her down and defeated her for destroying the imperial...uh do you really want to know this part?" Ranger asked a little afraid. "Is it something bad?" "It's something that concerns an...erm...friend of yours." "Well," he continued a little perturbed "Get on with it." "Uh...yeah. Well, it seems this Ryouko destroyed the...imperial palace on the planet...Jurai." And a chill filled the room. A small red glow appeared behind the man's sunglasses as he absorbed this. "It goes on to say that she was under the control of a Megalomaniac Scientist known as Kagato." The room took on the temperature of space then. "Oh, this is good. Seems Tenchi wasted him." the ship sighed in relief. He was not going to be slagged today. "Oh, O.K. Keep going." the man said; the red glow disappearing. "Yes, well since gaining her freedom she has mellowed out a lot. She has stayed with Tenchi for...how should I put this...personal reasons." "Oh she likes him a lot then." he said, correctly deducing his ship's insinuation. "To put it mildly. It appears she has also paid her monetary debt to Jurai for the damage she caused their world." That was rather honorable of her, he thought, "Seems she also has a massive power source in the form of some kind of gems..." infinity gems? "...of indeterminate composition. Apparently she was originally created by a Professor Washuu..." "Washuu! As in Professor Washuu of the Todain Science academy? As in quite possibly the most brilliant red headed mind in the universe; that Washuu?" he shouted interrupting his computer. "Yes, that would be the Washuu I'm talking about." Ranger replied in a very sarcastic voice, "Would you like the information on her?" "No, I know about Washuu." Oh do I know about her, "Continue with Ryouko and Ryo-ohki." "Not much else to note on Ryouko. As for Ryo-ohki..." the image of Ryouko was replaced with images of the various forms of Ryo-ohki, "...she is also a creation of Washuu's, though not genetically related to Washuu, like Ryouko." Genetically related? I'll look into that one later, "Anyway, she has various forms as you can see from the pictures displayed. Has at least equal power to Ryouko. Interesting to note: is also addicted to a form of vegetation called carrots." "Hey you getting all this?" the man said suddenly to Drakhenn who was perched on a chair next to him. Drakhenn turned from his contemplation of the screen and looked at the man with his black eyes. "Just checking. Ranger, anyone else we need to know about down there?" "Well let's see. Washuu is with him." Maybe I'll just hack him up and sell him for scrap. "I gathered that. Anyone else?" "There is a galaxy police officer Mihoshi that patrols this sector of space that lives with them. You want the info on her?" "No, I know who she is as well. How did she get involved with Tenchi?" "Well it seems..." the ship suddenly stopped, then started laughing uncontrollably "...it seems...seems she...she...forgot what speed...was a good speed...for...for entering...a planetary system and lost her ship in a...a...warp gate...after she managed to eject." Ranger calmed down momentarily. The man's mouth was twitching. Yeah, she's been like that ever since she lost it. Drakhenn was rolling on the ground. "Tenchi was the one who kept her from falling to her death. Nothing else really note worthy on that subject. Now on to the princesses." Princesses? "Yes, princesses." The ship said noting the man's questioning expression. That's it, thought the man. This ship is toast. It should probably be noted he threatens it about fifty times a day. However, this ship is light years ahead of everything else (except for perhaps Washuu's technology), and is very good at it's job; which is probably the only thing that keeps such a smart ass ship, like himself, functional. "The Royal Juraian Princesses Ayeka and Sasami."(insert your own favorite pictures here folks) "Both are heirs to the power of Jurai. They came into contact with Tenchi shortly after Ryouko was freed from her prison on the Third planet. Ayeka captured Ryouko and Tenchi trying to locate her half-brother Yoshou. Somehow they managed to escape, but during the escape managed to crash Ayeka's ship, Rhyu-oh, thereby marooning Ayeka and Sasami on the third planet. Also interesting to note: They have recently been contacted by their parents, but decide to stay on that world of their own free will." Interesting. Guess I'll find out later. "Anyone else?" he asked as he finished one cigarette. "Yoshou and Tenchi's father; a man by the name of Nobiyuki." "I know about Yoshou. What about this Nobiyuki?" "Humanoid male. No special powers, or any other noteworthy characteristics." I envy those kind of people sometimes. "O.K what can you tell me about this incident involving Kagato?" the man asked lighting up another smoke. "Well..." (Watch OAV's 1-6 to get an idea of what he is listening to now). Sometime later when he had finished listening to the report, he found himself brooding. Brooding is something he didn't do often, unless it involved something very personal to him. What he was getting into could become very personal indeed. He shrugged inwardly and made his decision. Hmm...It'll probably come out sooner or later, he thought. Hell with it, if it does it does. It probably needs to come out anyway. Reaching out with his mind he looked at the third planet getting a feel for what was there. Touching the planet he found the person he was looking for immediately; Tenchi was currently deeply asleep. He also found someone else, someone he hadn't thought he would find there, but was really not surprised at this fact. You're good, almost didn't see you, he thought. But I'm the one who taught you how to be invisible to all scans, and I know how to see through it. Only problem is you've always been able to see me too. Well I might as well give you some forewarning of what is to come. Just so you don't go hysterical that is; seeing as how one of us coming is not usually a good thing. With no little amount of amusement he reached out with his mind and slowly caressed the awareness he had touched a moment ago. He almost burst out laughing when he felt the being in question do the equivalent of jumping twenty feet in the air. After the being calmed down it recognized who had touched it, and it's manner while somewhat guarded was also a trifle annoyed. "I wondered where you went," he laughed, "now I know. I'll be over tomorrow personally. Right now I've got to talk to the one called Tenchi." The awareness made a statement. "Hey, now. Who are you talking to?" The awareness conceded the point, and asked him a question in a very concerned tone. "No, nothing bad." He felt waves of relief emanate from the awareness, and it asked him another question. "No don't tell anyone. That's the last thing I need." he said taking a pull from his smoke. The awareness acknowledged his request; it also pointed out to him what a disgusting habit he had in an amused tone. "It's my business alright." he said a trifle annoyed, "Let's talk later, huh? We have...much...to discuss." The awareness smiled at the softer tone in his voice. It gave him the equivalent of a short hug before it departed. I don't believe that! Oh yeah, going to get real fun here real soon. He closed his eyes then and willed himself asleep. Tenchi...he called psychically. * Tenchi at this point was involved in a very erotic dream concerning the various women in this household, and a few he knew at school (no this is not a lemon so I will not describe it). For some reason though it was interrupted as the tangle of flesh he was currently in disappeared (in fact the entire bedroom scene disappeared), to be replaced by a shifting hazy environment. It dawned on him that this was not something that happened in a normal dream and was probably not good. Best case it was a fluke and he could get back to what he was doing a minute ago. Worst case was Washuu-Chan was experimenting again, and he was somehow caught up in it. He prayed to whatever gods he knew that the latter was not so. He looked down at himself; at least I have clothes on now, he thought. "Tenchi Misaki, I presume." he heard a voice beside him. He turned to look and found the speaker to be short man about a meter and a half tall. White hair and full white beard, a green jump suit, leather looking boots, and very dark sunglasses that hid his eyes. Being in this house meant that a lot of strange things happened, still having someone talk to you in your dreams (he was pretty sure that was what was happening, as he didn't think his subconscious would conjure something like this up) was still cause for some concern. The man didn't seem to be hostile though, so he wasn't overly worried. Still kept his guard up though. "Yes, I'm Tenchi. Who are you?" he asked still very guarded. "Oh sorry about that, I'm Cyrix ip'Tetran." he said as he extended his hand, which Tenchi slowly took, "Sorry about wrecking your really cool dream back there, but I needed to talk to you." Tenchi colored a bit at hearing this, but was becoming curious about this person. "Uh...yeah. What about?" "You and your future. We've got a lot of things to do Tenchi, and a fun time will be had by all." Cyrix smiled slightly, something Tenchi thought was the scariest thing he had ever seen. End Episode 1 (Ending Theme: Dreams - Van Halen) Questions, Comments, Suggestions? I'm at nolendr@boxer.navy.mil. Flames are Welcome as long as you tell me why it sucked.