This fic takes place Post Manatsu no Eve/Daughter of Darkness.  In other
words, Mayuka and Kiyone are in the gang.  This fic is geared towards more
mature audiences, as it will have some lime/lemon content, as well as
some violence and swearing.  Be warned.


	***********

MEMORIES OF LIFE
Prologue: "Obsolete"

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(( Play: "Challenge", from 'Final Fantasy X' ))


The mans sword thumped with energy as if it was the beating of his heart.
He stood there, with a smug look plastered on his face, staring back at
Tenchi.  His black robes fluttered in the small amount of stratosphere
that they floated in.  His crimson light hawk sword was held in front of
himself in an offensive posture.
	The mans long green hair rippled behind him, and his eyes that
were windows into destruction were a deep forest green.
	The two of them floated in a pocket of atmosphere that was created
by this man for the purpose of fighting Tenchi.  The earth was shining
brilliantly behind the man.
	Tenchi felt blood drip over his eye, but he didn't care.  The look
of animosity and hunger for this mans death spoke for what he cared about.
	Behind Tenchi, floated a very small asteroid.  On it, lay the
bodies of Ryoko and Aeka.  Both were adorned in their battle gear, and
both had massive wounds inflicted on their bodies.  Ryoko shuddered as
she tried to get up, only to no avail.  The mans sword seemed to put a
serious dampner on her inner healing abilities.
	Sasami knelt with Aeka's head in her lap, crying as she stroked
her sisters face.  Her face was ashen, and blood oozed from a massive
wound that had been inflicted in the Princess' stomach.
	The Yagami, with both Mihoshi and Kiyone on board, floated off to
the side, unable to enter the atmosphere that this man had created.
He also seemed to put up some sort of shield to prevent them access.
	The man smirked.  "You and me now, Masaki."
	Tenchi growled.  He brought his Light Hawk Sword up a little
higher.
	The man floated a little closer.  "Come now.  While you are angry.
Strike at me.  Bring your destiny against mine... we will then truly
see who's will is stronger.  Bring your worthless fears to me, and I
will KILL YOU!"
	Tenchi screamed, and with a blast of Light Hawk energy, propelled
himself towards this man at a blinding speed.  His sword cut through the
thin atmosphere surgically, creating a wake of blue shimmering destruction.
	The man smirked, and brought his red sword up to block Tenchi's.
As they pressed their weapons together, the man laughed.  "If you had
only achieved your true power earlier... your friends wouldn't of had to
suffer."
	"Shut up!  *You* attacked them!  So don't tell me how *I* let
them down!"
	"Stupid boy!" he screamed, pushing against Tenchi's sword.  "You
have no right to those powers!"
	Tenchi said nothing, he simply concentrated on administering as
much effort as was necessary to killing this man.  He pressed his attack
with as much might as he could muster.
	Finally, Tenchi screamed as his attack reached the peak of its
ferocity.  "I'll never forgive you!!!"


___________
***********


(( Play: "Dawn", from 'Einhander' ))


"Shit... shit... I can't... too fast... it's too fast..."
	Washu's fingers scrambled across her holotop inside of her dark
laboratory.  Her eyes and her digits were nothing more than a blur as
information was accessed and scanned at a seemingly inhuman rate.
	The small scientist continued to absorb and administer information
on who the man was who suddenly came and attacked her friends.
	"No... too fast... too... too..."
	Bio readouts, temperature schematics, carbon trails, anatomical
disconfigurations... everything that might have absolutely any pertinent
information on who this man was, and what he was doing, she accessed.
	And she came up with nothing.
	She knew that there was no time.  She knew that every second
that ticked by was costing her friends... her family... precious time.
Time which they didn't have.  Time to remain alive.  She could feel
Ryoko's very essence beginning to weaken across her mind link.
	"Dammit!  Dammit!  DAAAMMMMIIIITT!"  Washu screamed as she
simply couldn't find anything, and her own will and resolve was
beginning to become nothing more than a fray of apoplexy.
	"Welcome to the dawn of the obsolete.  Where time is no longer
necessary."
	Washu stopped.  Everything seemed to come to a complete halt.
Her fingers, her eyes, her inner admonitions and fears.  It all stopped
as she heard the voice.
	"Ts- Tsunami?" she asked.
	Washu turned in her chair, and stared in bewilderment.  Standing
before her was Tsunami.  Her glowing white astral projection looked
down at the scientist with an expressionless face.  What surprised
Washu even *more*, however...
	...was who stood next to Tsunami.
	Beside Tsunami, standing in her own astral projection, was a
woman who Washu had never seen before.  She was of the same size and
beauty of Tsunami, only her beauty was more bent in the direction of
darkness than light.  She seemed to permeate death, just as Tsunami
permeated life.
	"Who...?" Washu asked, finding that her voice had escaped her.
	The two entities simply stared down at Washu, the light from
their own existences the only means of which that lit the dark lab.
	The other being spoke.  "Mankind... mortals... have come to
the time that they have ceased to evolve.  The game is about to begin."
	Washu frowned.  "What the hell is going on?  Who is that man?
What is he doing?  Who are you?!"
	Tsunami answered.  "That man is merely the projection of our
goals and ambitions.  As he came with a flash, so will he leave.  Fear
not, Washu.  For all that will transpire has been foreseen... and
planned."
	Washu was shaking her head.  "You... you planned this Tsunami?"
Washu whispered in a haunted voice.
	"Not alone," the other woman said, "I assisted her.  Our gardens...
rather, our very beings themselves... seek atonement.  They seek to
become what they once were.  To achieve this... this game must be
played."
	Washu shook her head.  "Who... who are you?"
	The woman smiled.  "I am Lady Tokimi.  And you... will join
with us."
	With that, the two goddess' vanished.  Washu didn't even have
more than a nanosecond to ponder what everything meant, as she felt it.
	The omnipresence.  The desire within her soul.
	The channeling of her own psyche to expel itself from its
own cage of flesh.
	As this happened, the reality that Washu knew shattered away...
	...and everything ceased to be.


__________
**********


(( Play: "Sorashike Nagare", from 'The End of Evangelion' ))


The quiet autumn sky of the Shinto Shrine seemed peaceful in nature,
yet it seemed to emanate a feel of foreboding.
	The wind slowly blew through the valley, as if it was a messenger
of warning.  The trees rustled as the wind caressed them, almost
as if they were carrying on the message of the wind.
	In front of the Shrine, stood Katsuhito and Nobuyuki.  Little
Mayuka was nestled sleeping in Nobuyuki's arms, and both men stood
silently looking up at the sky.  The wind, although calm, had what
seemed to be a razor's bite to it.  It was cool, unnaturally so.
	The two Masaki's simply stood there, unwilling to say anything.
	Unable to say anything.
	Every second that ticked by seemed to increase the intense
pressure of the grip of ice that had found its way into both of their
hearts.
	After a long time, Nobuyuki spoke without looking away from
the sky.  "Why... why didn't you go with them?"
	Katsuhito sighed.  "I... would have, Nobuyuki.  I would have.
But... he came too quickly."
	"I don't understand this, Father.  Everything was... normal.
The day was as it should be.  Then... he just... appeared.  Out of
nowhere."
	Katsuhito nodded.  "He stepped out of the woods, and in an
instant, he, and everyone else... was gone."
	"Where have they gone?"
	"To do battle.  They will fight."
	Nobuyuki sighed, feeling the weight of tears press against his
eyes.  "Tenchi... son... come back alive."
	Katsuhito nodded.  "You must have faith, Nobuyuki.  Tenchi is
a good boy.  I trained him myself, remember?  He will do well.  I know
it."
	Silently, Katsuhito spoke to himself.
	<Come back alive, Tenchi.>


__________
**********


(( Play: "Otherworld", from 'Final Fantasy X' ))


The man pushed Tenchi away, and floated back a little.  He growled, and
pointed his red sword at Tenchi.  "Boy!  It ends!"
	Tenchi quickly rolled in the vacuum, and threw a blast of energy
with his momentum.  The man blocked it... with tremendous difficulty.
The shining blast of Light Hawk energy tore through his defense, causing
almost catastrophic damage to the man himself.
	Breathing heavily in the wake of the destruction, he growled.
"The game begins now, Masaki.  Everything that you have dreamed of and
desired will now be erased."
	Tenchi frowned, not listening, and prepared to strike.
	The man lowered his sword, and laughed.  "Become obsolete, Masaki.
Bring forth your own destiny... give it to me... let... the game begin!
Let everything, everywhere, cease to be!"
	Tenchi lunged, cleaving the space all around him in an all
consuming arc of blue iridescent light.
	The man disengaged his sword, and widened his arms.  "Take me,
goddess!  Take me to the next plane of existence, where I can become
*everything* alongside you!"
	As he shouted this, Tenchi sword burned through the skin of the
mans neck, and then, like a knife through butter, severed his head
from his body.  The mans head floated above his neck for a moment.
	Tenchi felt a tremendous amount of relief begin to fill his being,
but he had no more than a moment to feel that emotion.
	Almost immediately after the mans head had left its body, a
blinding light began to advent from his neck.  Tenchi's eyes were forced
shut as the light seared into his vision, almost blinding him.
	The light began to pour in all directions, saturating everything
within the sphere of stratosphere.  Sasami, Ryoko, and Aeka were all
soaked in this light.
	As the light reached it paramount, its most blinding array of
color... it exploded.
	Everything.  Everything within the circle of destruction that was
their battlefield...
	...was gone.



__________
end prologue



(( Play Opening Theme: "Eden", by 'Sarah Brightman' ))


***


Thanks for Reading.
Email: lateralus_metatron@hotmail.com
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