DISCLAIMER:  The Tenchi Muyo character are the property of AIC and
Pioneer respectively.  I receive no monatary compensation for the
production of this work of fiction.
__________
DETAILS:   This is the start of a three episode epic saga set in
a bybtid mix of OAV, Tenchi Universe, and the Shin Tenchi.  A few
chatacters and creations used in this fan fic are my own design
that took me years to develop.  This epic will start a whole series
of other stories that plan to maintain well into the future.
__________

THE DARK LORD OF JURAI SAGA

Episode One:  No Need for Shattered Realities

Written by Michael "The-Zorch" Haney
__________
Previously in our story...

	Things got very complicated at the Masaki household.  Another 
Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko appear and sparks literally fly.  An evil 
Mihoshi who acts like Nagi, and a Nagi that acts like Khyone also arrive 
with a friendly version of Ken-Ohki.  Worst of all, the alternate eality
Aeka and Ryoko reveal that their Tenchi beats them when he gets drunk, 
to try and forget Sakuya, and Nagi tells them that Ryoko in her universe 
murdered Tenchi at his and Aeka's wedding.  Orrin becomes frustrated 
that he cannot help close the rift to save Earth, and a romance between 
him and Washu blossoms.  Later, a force of Darklings attacked Washu's 
lab and the gang with the aid of their alternate reality counterparts 
barely win the battle.  With this first round won the family tries to 
catch their breath....but not for very long.
__________
Chapter 8 - A Short Holiday (Extended Edition)

	The sun shined through the windows into Tenchi's bedroom and 
reflected off of Aeka's beautiful lavender eyes.  Tenchi could drift in 
that gaze all day, but there were thing to be done.  The two lovers 
shared a final kiss before dressing themselves and meetng the rest of
the family and visitors downstairs for breakfast.  They were met by 
Ryoko at the bottom of the stairs who just smiled at them.  Before the 
three of them married in the ancient Juraian ritual called the Great 
Bond she would have had a problem with Tenchi and Aeka having a little
fun in the morning.  Now it was different becasue he belonged to both of 
them, and their bond allowed them to share thoughts, dreams, feelings, 
and memories.  Emperor Azusa of Jurai married Misaki and Fonaho in the 
same manner.
	Noboyuki was beaming at his son, knowing full well the reason why 
they were both late for breakfast this morning.  Tenchi took his seat 
next to Ryoko and Aeka sat next to him.  In front of them were the Ryoko 
and Aeka from an alternate universe, followed by Sakuya and an alternate 
reality Tenchi.  Noboyuki and Yosho sat on the other side facing Prince 
Orrin and Washu who sat together very close.  Sasami, Ryu-Ohki in 
toddler form, and Sakuya sat at one corner of the table cloest to Washu.  
Khyone and Mihoshi sat with Galaxy Police Detective Nagi and dreaded 
bounty hunter Mihoshi at the other corner close to Yosho.
	"Good of you two to join us." Yosho said with a smile.
	"Oh, leave the young...man...alone." Noboyuki said putting some force on the word
"man". Visions of grandchildren were dancing around in his head.
	"Dad." Tenchi said and Aeka blushed furiously.  She knew how Tenchi's father was and knew why he said what he said.  Tenchi put his 
arm around her and she sighed.
	Ryoko nudged Tenchi in the ribs with her elbow and he put her arms around her also.
	"Its so nice to see a young...man...and his two young brides in love." Noboyuki said.
	"Uh, hello, little girl at the table." Tenchi said.
	They all looked at Sasami who was hiding her face which was red as 
a beet.
	-- Its hard for an innocent little girl to stay innocent in this 
place. -- Ryoko thought.
	-- Don't you dare go teaching her anything too early. -- Aeka 
thought a warning.
	-- I won't.  She just needs to hang out more with Tenchi's Dad. -- 
Ryoko thought back.
	-- I heard that. -- Tenchi thought.
	In her thoughts Ryoko giggled and Aeka sighed in a very frustrated 
tone.
	
	Breakfast was very good as usual since Sasami was the master chief 
of the house.  She was proud of the fact that her cooking made everyone 
happy.  The alternate reality Tenchi, Aeka, Ryoko, and Nagi all gave her 
compliments.  The alternate reality Mihoshi just kept quiet, but she did 
eat.  To herself the bounty hunter thought this was the best meal she 
has eaten in a long time.
	"We might have a solution to the rift." Washu spoke up.
	"That's great." Mihoshi said, the original one that is.
	"Its not going to be easy either.  In fact, it could be very, very 
dangerous." Orrin said.
	"Danger seems to be in great supply nowadays." Tenchi observed.
	"There are two things that could occur when we try to close the 
rift.  One, it will explode creating a massive gravity wave that will 
force the moon to crash into the Earth in less than one day, or the rift 
could close and the moon will resume its normal orbit." Washu said.
	"Nothing is ever easy is it?" Khyone asked.
	"Except for one thing that is." Noboyuki said smiling at Tenchi 
and his two brides.
	"This is serious Dad." Tenchi said blushing.
	"How are you going to close the rift?" Yosho asked.
	"By injecting what is called Dark Matter into the rift." Washu 
said.
	"What's Dark Matter?" Mihoshi asked.
	Washu summoned her holopad in front of her and punched in a few 
commands.  A holoscreen appeared above the breaktable.  The image was of 
deep space and a field of stars.
	"Out in space there are innert pockets of material left over from 
the creation of the universe.  These pockets of matter are literally 
invisible, they give off no visible light, and they do not reflect 
light, but they are there.  Its invisible because its slightly out of
phase with the rest of the universe and partially exists in subspace.  I 
guess you could call them icebergs in the sea of space, haha." Washu 
said.
	"How will that close the rift?" Ryoko asked.
	"Dark matter has certain unique properties.  Those properties 
react to neutralize anything that is a quantum anomily." Orrin said.
	"We are hoping that the right amount will force the rift to close, 
but if we calculate the wrong amount.  BOOM!" Washu said.
	"So, we need to be precise.  Thus, it will take us four days to 
calculate the correct mix, and a fifth day to collect the right amount 
of dark matter." Orrin said.
	"So, during those four days the lab will be off limits, and this 
means you Mihoshi.  "Washu said pointing to the blonde Galaxy 
Policewoamn.
	"Ok." Mihoshi says smiling and blushing a bit.
	"In the meantime, to take their minds off all of this why not 
think of something you can have everyone do for the next four days." 
Washu says to Tenchi.
	"I think I can think of something.  Where will you get the Dark 
Matter?" Tenchi asked.
	"We'll need to go into space for it.  We can take Kryton since his 
ystems are all regenerated now." Orrin said.
	"What could we do for four days?" Ryoko asked Tenchi winking at 
him.
	Tenchi blushed furiously at the thought, even though he and Ryoko 
had already had their own little encounter.
	"Say, wasn't today originally supposed to be the day you were 
taking Ryoko to that dance?" Khyone asked Tenchi.
	"Yes, it was.  I almost forgot about that with everything that was 
going on." he said.
	"I forgive you." Ryoko said squeezing his arm.
	"It was a dance for the Winter Festival in town.  We could all 
go." Tenchi said.
	"I don't dance." said the other Mihoshi.
	"I'm sure Tenchi would like to dance with us." the other Ryoko 
said looking at the other Tenchi who suddenly turned red.
	"I heard they will have ice skating." Sasami said.
	"That sounds very romantic." Aeka said nuzzling into Tenchi's 
shoulder.
	Ryoko put her head on Tenchi's other shoulder.  "I get the first 
dance, don't I Tenchi." she said softly.
	"Well, this was supposed to be the night of our date." he said.
	"Doesn't our situation change all of that?" Aeka asked.
	"Well, yes, it does in a way." he said and he 
could..feel...tension growing between Aeka and Ryoko through their link.  
They were going to fight again if he didn't step in.
	"Girls, your my wives now and I don't want to you two fighting 
over me anymore.  I belong to both of you now.  You both won." he said.
	"Tenchi, I could have stopped you and Ryoko yesterday, but I 
didn't." Aeka said.
	"And, I could have stopped you and Aeka this morning, but I 
didn't." Ryoko said.
	"If you're not going to fight over that, then why over a first 
dance?" he asked.
	"Old habits die hard." Aeka said reciting Ryoko's own words she 
had spoken after she and Tenchi made love for the first time.
	Tenchi sighed.  "Well I want them dead.  You two have nothing to 
fight over anymore." he said.
	"Yes, Tenchi, dear." the two women said in unison.
	
	Khyone leaned in towards Yosho and whispered, "I am so glad he's 
finally standing up to them like this."
	"I knew that he would." he whispered back.

	"What if those things come back?" Sakuya asked in a frightened 
voice.
	"They will more likely sit back and observe us.  They know we cna 
defend outselves now.  They will not be so eager for another encounter." 
Orrin said.
	"Is there a chance they will attack?" Tenchi asked.
	"Anything is possible, but if they do you will have the advantage 
because you know their weakness now." Orrin said.  "But, do not 
underestimate them either.  These Darkling were young and not in full 
control of their powers yet."
	After a few minutes of silence Tenchi speaks up, "Then we goto the 
festival tonight."
		
	Breakfast was over and Tenchi headed off for school.  His wives 
met him at the door and he kissed them both goodbye.  They watched him 
vanish into the woods that lead to the bus stop.  In his bookbag carried 
with him a hand written letter from his grandfather explaining why he 
missed school yesterday.  Tenchi was walking up the sidewalk to the 
school when he read the letter and froze.
	"Grandpa!" he shouted.
	The letter was an explanation that Tenchi got engaged and that he 
pent the whole day with his bride to be.  The letter also explained that 
most of that day was spent at the shrine in prayer with his fiance.  
-Great, now the whole school was going to find out.   It was bad enough 
that they know about the girls, but now this.  Why me? -  Tenchi 
wondered if his grandfather got a little bit of a morbid humor out of 
seeing him skwurm when he did things like this.  A stange thought 
through his link with the girls suddenly made him realize that this was 
all their idea.  He heard two girlish giggles in the back of mind and 
the words of Recardo Montoban echoed in his head from far away.....
"Revenge is a dish best served cold..."  
	-- I said it before, and I'll say it again.  I created a pair of 
monsters. -- he thought to them both.  There were more giggles.

	Orrin sat with Washu on is lap looking over the equations needed 
to calculate the correct amount of dark matter they would need.  The 
computations were the most complex that Washu had ever seen, and she had 
seen some complex mathmatical strings before.  It took five minutes for 
the screen to scroll though the entire string of computations.
	"This will take four days." he said.
	"Its very complex." Washu commented.
	"It has to be." Orrin said.
	Washu kissed him softly.
	"It will be much better with you here." she said.
	"Likewise." he said returning her kiss.
	When they parted Orrin looked into her eyes and decided now was 
the time to discuss a very difficult subject...his eventual departure.
	"Washu, you realize that once the rift is repaired, I..." he tried 
to say, but Washu put a finger over his mouth.
	"I know you will be leaving.  Lets deal with it when that time comes." she said.
	"Its going to be hard leaving you." Orrin admitted touching her 
face.
	"Oiur destinies travel in different directions.  We are just at a 
crossroads right now." Washu said with a small tear in her eye.
	Orrin held her close and they kissed again, long and passionately.  
"Lets just enjoy the time we have left, and save the world at the same 
time." said Washu when they parted lips.

	Tenchi's day in school was not what he thought it would be, it was 
much worse.  The teacher in his first class thought it appropriate to 
announce his "engagment" to the class.  This immediately prompted all 
the girls to start asking him questions.  They knew about the women who 
lived with him too, just as well as the boys.  By midday he was tired, 
and headed for the roof to collect his thoughts.  He was not surprised 
to find Ryoko sitting waiting for him, and was a little relieved to have 
her around to talk with in the cold air of the day.
	"Hey.  Hope we didn't cause you too much grief." she said with a 
smile.
	"I had it coming." he said.
	"Don't pull rank like that again, sweetheart." she said and kissed 
him.
	Tenchi could hear some muffled voices and was suddenly in a panic.  
If they saw him with her on the roof who knows what rumors might race 
through the school.  Two figured climbed up onto the roof, and Tenchi 
froze.  It was a young man and a girl.  The man was one of Tenchi's 
classmates, and the girl was a cute thing he saw from time to time in 
the hallway.  They were walking hand in hand.  They saw Tenchi and Ryoko 
and walked over.
	"Hey, Tenchi.  Is that her?  She sure is a hottie." the teen said.
	"Yea, this is her.  Makoto, meet Ryoko, my, uh, fiance." Tenchi 
said.
	"Hi, I'm Aeiko, Makoto's girlfriend." the young girl said.
	"How long have you know each other?" Makoto asked.
	"Years." Tenchi and Ryoko said in unison.  They looked at each 
other and laughed.
	"Say, I heard you have a bunch of girls living in your house.  
What's up with that?" Aeiko asked.
	"Uh, well, you see..." Tenchi was about to say, but Ryoko suddenly 
put her two cents in.
	"They're all Tenchi's cousins.  They are a very close family." she 
said.
	"Wow!  All the guys think they're there because they've got the 
hots for you." Makoto laughed.
	"Ya.  Funny its it." Tenchi laughed.
	-- Good save.  Maybe that will take the heat off. -- he thought to 
Ryoko.
	-- I think you squirmed enough for one day. -- Ryoko thought.
	They sat there the rest of the break period talking, and then the 
two couples parted with a kiss.  Tenchi didn't feel awkward kissing 
Ryoko in public anymore after what she said to Makoto.  Now word will 
travel around school that the girls were a part of his family.  That 
should get them all off his back for a while.  In some ways, he thought, 
Ryoko had told the truth...they were his family.

	That afternoon Tenchi came home to the loving embrace of his two 
brides at the front door.  A happy Sasami came racing out of the kitchen 
with flour on her face.  Tenchi thought it made her look cuter than 
usual.  She ran up to him, hugged him, and ran back yelling. "Dinner 
will be ready in one minute, Tenchi!"
	"She's been busy in the kitchen all day.  She will only let Kryton 
and Ryu-Ohki in there with her." Aeka said.
	They were gathered with the visitors in the living room when Ryu-
Ohki emerged from the kitchen carrying a pot to the dinning room table.  
She had assumed her rarely seen adult cabbit-girl form that she assumed 
after assimilating the Masses that one day.  Any other time she assumed 
a smaller Toddler cabbit-girl form.  She was wearing a pretty blue dress 
with a carrot on the front.
	"Who is that girl?" the other Tenchi asked in surprise.
	"That's Ryu-Ohki." Ryoko said.
	"I didn't know she looked like that?" he said.
	"She's is a bit modest about that specific form.  So you don't see 
it too often." the original Tenchi said.
	"She should stay in that form.  I think she's very beautiful." 
Sakuya said.
	Ryu-Ohki turned around, her mane of light brown and white hair 
swaying, and blushed quite furiously.
	"Th-ank Y-ou." she said slowly;.
	"She can talk?" asked Sakuya, a bit surprised.
	"She's learning." Ryoko said.
	Sasami came out of the kitchen next with a bunch of plates with 
Kryton following close behind with a large platter in his hands.  The 
platter was covered.
	"Something sure smells good." Tenchi said.
	Sasami stopped and waved a finger at him.  "No peeking, or its 
broth soup for a week." she warned.
	"I won't, I won't!" he said putting up his hands.
	"Good boy.  That goes for the rest of you, too." she said.
	The trio went back into the kitchen, the sound of clatering pans 
could be heard inside.
	"She gets that way when she's working on a special dinner." Aeka 
said.
	"Our Sasami was the same way.  She left for Jurai after 
Tenchi...changed." the other Aeka said.
	"Why?" Tenchi asked.
	"He was really really drunk one night.  She tried to stop him from 
hitting Aeka, and he hit her, hard." the other Ryoko said.
	"Oh, my!" Aeka said in shock.
	"I still can't imagine myself doing that." Tenchi said.
	"We know you'd never do that." Aeka said before kissing him.

	Sasami called everyone to the dinner table a few minute later and 
they all gathered around.  The dinner she prepared was a feast of dishes 
inspired by Juraian recipes and Earth recipes.  They all sat down, Yosho 
said a short Shinto prayer, and they began to eat.
	Tenchi tried one of the Juraian recipes and his eyes brightened.  
It was unlike anything he had ever tasted before.  The spices were 
recently recovered from the wreckage of Ryouhl in the lake by
Sasami and Ryu-Ohki that summer.  She had been saving them for a special 
occasion just like this one.
	"Sasami, this is simply incredible." he said.
	Sasami blushed.  "I knew you'd like it!" she cheered.
	"Many of these special recipes from Jurai have special 
significance.  The chicken recipe that Tenchi just tried, which is 
originally made with a bird local to Jurai, is a meal servered at
weddings." Yosho said.
	"That's right, and that cheese dish with the green vegetables is 
served at a Birth Party." Sasami said.
	"A Birth Party?" Tenchi inquired.
	"A party held to celebrate a new birth.  It is usually held three 
days after the child is born, and its on that night that the child is 
given a name." Aeka said.
	"The salad with the fish is a traditional dish served at ngagement 
parties, and the roast in the pot is very special." Sasami said.
	"Is that Yoshiwara?" Aeka asked with a strange smile.
	"Yes it is." Sasami smiled, and blushed.
	"I'm missing something here." Tenchi said with a worried 
expression.
	"Yoshiwara is a dish that young wives make for their husbands 
before they tell him they are expecting." Yosho said.
	Tenchi suddenly blushed and looked at Aeka and Ryoko.  Ryoko was 
the one who suddenly blushed and averted her eyes from his.
	"Ryoko?" he said.
	"Washu, I mean, mom, gave me one of her examinations today." she 
said.
	"Does this mean?" he asked and she nodded.
	He hugged her and tears fell down Ryoko's eyes.
	Aeka tapped Tenchi on the shoulder.  He turned around to her and 
she smiled at him in a very strange way, a light blush on her face also.
	"Aeka?" he said.
	"Not yet, but its only a matter of time." she said beaming with a 
huge smile.
	After a long exchange of embraces and kisses between the three 
Tenchi could think of only one thing to ask.  "I know humans are born in 
nine months.  But, how long for Ryoko?" he asked.
	"Washu told me I'd probably carry for seven months or so." Ryoko 
said.
	"Juraian have a similar gestation period to humans." Aeka said.
	"Now my son is a real man.  Oh, Achika, if you could just see your 
little boy now." Noboyuki said with tears in his eyes.
	"Your not upset that Ryoko was first, are you?" Tenchi asked Aeka.
	"No, Lord Tenchi, in a way I think she deserves it.  If you 
noticed I have been a bit nicer to her these past few days." she said.
	"You two haven't been fighting like cats and dogs if that is what 
you mean." Tenchi observed.
	"After reliving some of Ryoko's memories, her life under Kagato, 
her imprisonment, watching you grow up, and being freed by you made me 
realize that she really does love you.  Maybe more deeply than I ever 
thought." she explained looking away.
	Tenchi turned her face around and saw she was crying.  He could 
feel something through their bond, love, sadness, but most of all love.
	"Aeka, you know that I will always love you no matter what." he 
said.
	"What if I can't give you a child?" she cried.
	"I'll still have you, and that is good enough for me.  You don't 
have to have my baby to show me you love me, I already know you love me 
when you chose to bond with me." he said.
	"Oh, Tenchi." she cried and embraced him.
	Mihoshi was crying and whiping her eyes.  "Oh, that's so 
beautiful."
	"Shut up, or you'll start to make me cry." the other Mihoshi said 
to her.
	Ryoko came around to Aeka's side and looked her in the eyes.  She 
had tears streaming down them. The two women who had been rivals for 
Tenchi's love so long looked at each other.  A new relationship
betsween the two was formed when they bonded with Tenchi and became his 
wives, but there were still many issues that had never been resolved.
	"Aeka, I'm sorry for all the bad things I said to you, for 
fighting with you, and for making your life miserable." she said with 
tears streaming down her face.
	"And, I am sorry for calling you a monster, for butting in between 
you and Tenchi, and for causing you so much grief." Aeka replied with 
tears running down her face.
	"I love you!" they cried and embraced each other.  The feeling of 
mutual respect that Tenchi felt between them was replaced by a powerful 
love...a sisterly love.  Things have finally come full circle.
	"They've needed this for a long time." Yosho said whiping a single 
tear from his face.
	"Its great.  This day has been so great!" Sasami cheered.
	"Its going to be an even better night." Tenchi commented.
	"Yes, the festival and the dance." Aeka said when she cna Ryoko 
parted.
	Ryoko handed Aeka a napkin for her eyes.  "We need some time out 
of the house, after all we've been through."
	"Thank you, dear.  Yes, I agree." Aeka said when she accepted the 
napkin.
	Tenchi looked at his watch and saw it was 5 pm.  "Its five o'clock 
now, and the festival starts at 9 o'clock.  So, lets eat and get ready."
	"Agreed." everyone else said in unison.  Even the Nagiesque 
Mihoshi who looked at her finger after whiping a single tear from her 
eyes.  She felt emotion only rarely in her life, but this place and 
these people were having an effect on her.  It was an effect that she 
was starting to like.

	Tenchi had his driver's license for some time now but there wasn't 
enough room in Noboyuki's car to take everybody to the festival in town.  
So they all teleported onto Ryu-Ohki in her ship form and traveled the 
short distance into town.  The cabbit-ship stayed above the cover of the 
clouds so as not to be seen and teleported everyone down into a secluded 
backstreet.  She transformed back into her cabbit-girl form and landed 
next to them.  Ken-Ohki assumed a cabbit-boy form and was dressed in
some of Tenchi's old cloths.  He and Ryu-Ohki walked arm in arm down the 
street with the rest of the family.
	The scene on the street before them gave Tenchi flashbacks of the 
first festival they went to. The girls had put together their own 
booths, Kyone and Mihoshi made noodle dishes until Ryu-Ohki ate all 
their carrots, Aeka had a shooting gallery with tiny Ryoko dolls as the 
targets, and Ryoko tried to sell a potion made from an alien frog.  Of 
course, there was also Washu's unforgettable haunted house.  The memory 
of it still gave Tenchi goosebumps, and a vision of that memory touched 
Aeka and Ryoko's minds.  The two shuttered also after seeing the vision.  
There had also been the incident with Washu's cotton candy machine.  It 
had been a harmless invention until Mihoshi got her hands on it.  Tenchi 
remembered it took weeks for the town to clean up all the cotton candy 
off the fair grounds.  Of course, the town did make a lot of money 
selling it off later at streetside booths for nearly a month afterward.  
It was for this reason nobody tried to inquire as to whose fault it
all was, to his relief.
	Tenchi checked his watch to make sure it was still working right.  
The digital timepiece said Sony on it, but it was a fake made my Washu 
some time ago.  When he tapped the watch a certain way it would open a 
small portal next to him that contained the Tenchi-Ken, and another 
sequence would open a large portal that was large enough for people to 
enter.  This portal would spill out into the living room back at the 
house.  It was a handy thing to have since at any minute a horde of
hideous monsters could suddenly dropped down on their heads.
	Ryoko was looking at the different booths on the street.  There 
were not nearly as many at the summer festival from two year ago, but 
that was due to the cold night air.  The rest of the festival
was held indoors throughout several building in the middle of town.  One 
small building had a large sign out front and was decorated with 
hundreds of inflatable hearts and stars.  The sign read "The House of 
True Love".
	"Hey, Tenchi.  Lets check that place out." Ryoko said pointing.
	"House of True Love.  Interesting." Aeka said.
	"Don't you want to go straight to the dance." Tenchi asked.
	However, the two women grabbed Tenchi by both arms and started 
dragging him towards the building.  Everyone else suddenly face 
faultered, recovered, and went their way to the rest of the festival.
Sasami walked up to the other Tenchi and took his arm.  He blushed for a 
moment, but decided it wouldn't hurt to go with the little girl for a 
while.  The rest of the group with Noboyuki, Kyone, Mihoshi, the other 
Mihoshi, and the other Aeka and Ryoko went on to the dance hall.  Ryu-
Ohki and Ken-Ohki went straight to the dance hall to enjoy each other's 
company.  Yosho walked with Sakuya on his arm since she was not in any 
condition to walk very fast and was happy to have his company around.  
In her universe she and Tenchi's grandfather had become very close 
friends.
	
	The House of True Love turned out to be a very pleasent experience 
for the trio.  The man at the door was surprised to see a young man and 
two ladies on each arm walked up to the house.  He smiled at them.
	"He must be some guy to get two girls at once." he said.
	"You have no idea." Ryoko smiled.
	"He certainly is very special." Aeka said.
	The man opened the door for them.  "Well, enjoy yourselves.  And, 
no hanky panky, if you three know what I mean."

	Inside they were met by several different couples enjoying a 
party.  The House of True Love was a place for young couples to meet, 
talk, and socialize.  There were rooms set aside for the couples to
be alone during those times they wanted to just enjoy each other's 
company.  Tenchi saw Makoto and Aeiko in one part of the room.  He saw 
Tenchi and Ryoko and gave him a thumbs up sign which Tenchi
returned.  Then, the young man saw Aeka on Tenchi's other arm.  Tenchi 
started feeling very hot under the collar.
	Ryoko and Aeka looked at each other and then at Makoto and Aeiko.  
They suddenly got this strange feeling form them.
	-- Tenchi, dear.  Lets tell him.  I sense he can be trusted. -- 
Ryoko thought.
	-- I think so too. -- Aeka thought.
	-- Tell him what? -- Tenchi thought the question.
	-- Everything, us, Jurai...I get this feeling from him he might be 
of help to us someday. -- Ryoko thought.	
	-- Ok, but I don't know how he's going to take this. -- Tenchi 
thought back.

	They all sat in one of those private rooms away from the rest of 
the partiers and talked.  The young man from Tenchi's school just looked 
at Tenchi in bewilderment when he told him he was already married, and 
it was to two women instead of just one.  He didn't get to the rest of 
the story, that part about them being aliens.
	"Why marry two girls?" Makoto asked.
	"I loved them both, and I just couldn't bring myself to choose." 
Tenchi said.
	"I for one think its romantic and very sweet of you not to hurt 
the other's feelings." Aeiko said.
	"Lord Tenchi was always a very nice person." Aeka said.
	"I notice you call him...Lord Tenchi.  Why is that?" Makoto asked.
	Tenchi braced himself and choose his words carefully.  "Have you 
ever seen that movie import from America called E.T.?" he asked.
	"Sure.  Its a real classic." Makoto said.
	Makoto looked at him for a minute, then looked at Aeka and then 
Ryoko.  He noticed for first time that Aeka's hair was a rk shade of 
purple and that her eyes were lavender.  That was a very strange
hair color and eye color for an ordinary person.  Ryoko, he noticed had 
yellow eyes and they were catlike.  He had been too busy lost in Aeiko's 
eyes to have noticed it before.
	"You don't mean?" Aeiko asked in surprise.
	"How?  Where did you meet?  Why did you come here?" Makoto started 
asking excitedly.
	Tenchi went through the whole story of how he freed Ryoko from the 
cave, the fight at the school, and Aeka's arrival on Earth in search of 
her long lost half-brother who happened to be his grandfather.  Makoto 
was surprised to learn that the destruction of the school three years 
ago had been because of Tenchi, and was even more surprised to learn 
that his respected Shinto priest grandfather was an alien.  Aeiko didn't 
seem to surprised by all of this.  She looked very hard at Ryoko for a
minute or two.
	"I thought you looked familar." she said.
	"Do we know each other?" Ryoko asked.
	"No.  You see, I am an alien too." she said.
	"What?" exclaimed Aeka, Ryoko, and Tenchi.
	"She crashed on Earth five years ago." Makoto admitted.
	"Makoto was the first human I met on Earth, and he took me in." 
Aeiko said.
	"Where are you from originally?" Aeka asked.
	"A planet called Toradon." she said.
	"I remember Toradon.  Kagato used to hide out there from time to 
time." Ryoko said flatly.
	"That's where I saw you.  You were with that guy all the time." 
Aeiko said.
	"I didn't have much of a choice, he had me under mind control." 
Ryoko said.
	"I take it this Kagato wasn't a very nice guy." Makoto said.
	"He forced Ryoko to attack my homeworld, which resulted in Prince 
Yosho chasing her across the galaxy here to Earth 700 years ago." Aeka 
said.
	"Kagato came here about two years ago, and I killed him on his 
ship using my grandfather's swrod." Tenchi said.
	Makoto shook his head.  "And I thought I had a really strange 
life.  Since Aeiko showed up I've had run-ins with all sorts of strange 
alien monsters."
	"When did you realize you loved her?" Tenchi asked.
	"About three years ago.  We lived together at my grandparent's 
house for two years and one day we were attacked.  I freaked out when I 
thought she was dead, and I told her I loved her.  Its been romance ever 
since." he said hugging Aeiko.
	"We always though we were the only aliens on Earth, besides my 
half-brother." Aeka said.
	"Your with the Jurai royal family, right?" Aeiko asked.
	"Yes.  Prince Yosho is my half-brother, and Tenchi's grandfather.  
This means that Tenchi is the first prince of Jurai, and I am the first 
princess of Jurai." Aeka said.
	"That would mean that Ryoko is the second princess of Jurai." Aeiko said.
	"No, that would be my sister Sasami.  But, you are right.  Ryoko 
is now a member of the royal family by way of marriage to Lord Tenchi." 
Aeka commented.
	"I am?" Ryoko asked surprised.
	"You are the third princess of Jurai now." Aeka said.
	"I never gave it any thought." Ryoko said.
	"You never asked." Aeka replied.
	"Those girls at your house.  Who are they really?" Makoto asked 
Tenchi with a wide grin.
	"They aren't my cousins.  They are Detectives Mihoshi and Khyone 
of the Galaxy Police, and of course Princess Sasami of Jurai.  Oh, and 
there is Little Washu." Tenchi said.
	"Do you mean Washu the famous mad scientist?" Aeiko asked 
surprised.
	"The one and only.  She is also my mother." Ryoko said.
	"Gee, small universe." Aeiko said.
	"Compared to yours, good buddy, my life doesn't seem all that 
messed up after all." Makoto laughed.
	"Thank a lot." Tenchi said in a mock sarcastic tone.
	They all laughed together and continued their conversation.

	The five of them later left the House of True Love and sent to the 
dance hall.  They arrive to see Mihoshi dancing, or trying to, with a 
man in an American Navy outfit.  Khyone was sitting and chatting
with Noboyuki.  Yosho was dancing with Sakuya very slowly.  The song 
being played was a slow one from an American singer named Whitney 
Houston.  The two cabbits were over by the snack table getting some 
carrot sticks, of course.  The Navy man and Mihoshi can over to the 
table were they all met and they laughed.
	"Finally, somebody who dances just a bad as I do." the man said.
	Mihoshi blushed furiously and smiled.
	"Your not too bad." she said.
	"Who's your friend?" Tenchi asked.
	"Oh, hi Tenchi, guys.  This is Marc.  We actually met a few days 
ago." she said.
	"Hi, so your Tenchi." the man said.
	"Met is not the word for it.  She spilled hot coffee down his 
shirt at the Mos Burger." Khyone said.
	"I was born with two left feet.  That incident was as much my 
fault too." Marc said.  He seemed to have a western America draw to this 
voice, sort of like a Texan, Tenchi thought.  His Japanese was also
quite fluent.
	"Well, after she helps him up he asked her for a date, a date of 
all things." Khyone said exasperated.
	"Interesting way to pick up women, getting fried by hot coffee." Tenchi laughed.
	"I think it was worth it." Marc said smiling at Mihoshi who turned 
blood red again.
	"If you keep making her blush she's going to explode." Sasami said 
with a laugh.
	To everyone's surprise Yosho started to chuckled slightly.

	A fast song from Tokyo Pop roared through the dance hall and the 
dance floor started to fill with young teens.  Marc took Mihoshi's hand 
and they raced to the dance floor, but along the way she triped and 
pulled him down with her.  They fell on top of each other in a rather 
compromising position, and after looking at each other for a few minutes 
they both picked each other up with red glowing furiously on both their 
faces.  Soon, they disappeared to the throng of dancers.
	"They look good together." Tenchi said.
	"I like him, he said I was cute." Sasami said.
	"That's because you are." Tenchi said and this made the little 
girl blush.
	-- Tenchi, you do that on purpose. -- Aeka thought to him.
	-- Well, it makes her look so cute when she does that.  -- he 
thought back.
	-- Shame on you, Tenchi.  Heartbreaker. -- Ryoko thought with a 
laugh.
	-- What?  Ok, maybe I do that a little too much.  I can't help 
it. -- he thought back.
	
	The lioghts in the dance hall started to go down low.  A song 
began to fill the hall that Tenchi knew all too well.  It was from a 
movie that he and Ryoko had seen on one of their dates.  The song was
slow, sad, and romantic all at the same time.  They lyrics were in 
English, but Tenchi understood every word since English was his second 
language.  Few songs moved him emotionally as this one, and sometimes
one of the Juraian love ballads that Aeka would sing from time to time 
in her rose garden.  He felt the tears trying to boil to the surface as 
the song told a story of love lost but remembered always.
	"My hear will go on!  Oh, I love this song." Ryoko said.  "Let 
dance, Tenchi."
	"Alright." he said smiling to her.
	Aeka stayed behind to let the two goto the dance floor.  She 
watched them and could not help but thing that she just could not 
measure up to Ryoko in their relationship.  She had seen first hand now
deeply Ryoko loved Tenchi.  I had been bothering her, but a soft 
caressing thought from Tenchi's mind throught their bond put all of 
those feelings aside.
	Tenchi looked at his wife and felt so lucky to have her.  She was 
wearing the red dress that she intended to wear to their date.  She 
looked fabulous in it, but then again he thought she looked great
in whatever she wore. Tenchi and Ryoko danced slowly to the song with 
their arms around each other.  Different couples looked at them as they 
danced by.  The soaring words of the song rang loud in their hearts as 
they danced with each other.  When the song reached it highest peak they 
embraced while they danced and  their lips met in an emotional kiss.  
All of the pain, sadness, regret, and haunted memories of Ryoko's
past were shattered by that one kiss.  It was as if she were reborn.  
She was in a new life as Tenchi's wife, she was pregnant with his child, 
and nothing was going to every change that.  Kagato was dead so the 
would never come back to hurt her or the ones she loves ever again.  
Aeka could feel the emotions coming from Ryoko and she could not help it 
but cry herself.  Ryoko was finally free of the demons that plaqued her 
life for so long.

	...your're here there's nothing to fear...

	...and I feel that my heart will go on....

	...we'll stay forever this way...

	...and I feel that my heart will go on and on....

	When the song ended they opened their eyes and found they were 
standing in the center of the dancebfloor surrounded by a throng of 
couples that just watched them.  Feelig a little embarassed at that
moment the two bowed and received a roarig applause from their audience.  
They soon ran back to their table hand in hand.  Aeka was waiting for 
them with tears in her eyes.  Not from the emotional words in the song, 
but from the feeling she was getting from Ryoko and Tenchi.
	"Wow!  You two were incredible up there!" Sasami cheered.
	"Ya.  I never knew you could dance like that, Ryoko." Khyone 
commented.
	The normally unmodest space pirate suddenly blushed.
	The lights on the dance floor flared bright, laser beanms started 
cutting streaks along the ceiling, and color lights started whirling 
around the dance hall.  The deep bass sounds of "You Dropped the Bomb on 
Me" started pounding out on the speakers.  A throng of dancers ran up to 
dance floor, lined up, and started doing the Hustle.
	"I love the Hustle, come on!" Sasami said and she grabbed the 
other Tenchi's hand.  The alternate reality version of Tenchi Masaki 
could not resist the little girl and decided to go and join her.  They
did not notice the venmous glances from the alternate reality versions 
of Aeka and Ryoko they left behind.
	"I see few things change, even in an alternate universe." the real 
Tenchi chuckled.
	"What's that supposed to mean?" both girls asked from across the 
table.
	"Well, my girls here alwasy got upset with Sasami when ever she 
was around me too." he said.
	"Yes, it was a time when we both saw any girl around Tenchi as 
possible competition.  Even poor little Sasami." Ryoko said.
	"Being jealous of a little girl was very petty of us." Aeka 
commented.
	"It got worse after we found out she and Tsunami were the same 
person." Tenchi said.
	
	The lights on the dance hall went down low again and Tenchi lead 
Aeka out onto the dance floor with her on his arm.  She had discarded 
her usual kimono for a beautiful blue and white evening gown.  She
look so wonderful in it, Tenchi thought.  Aeka winked at him since 
through their bond she could tell he like the way she looked.  The music 
was silent for a few minutes, then the soft lights of the disco ball
overhead filled the hall.  The music rose up and Tenchi too his second 
wife in his arms.  This song was not as heavily emotional as the Saline 
Dion number had been, but its meaning was just the same for the two of 
them.  Aeka lay her head on his shoulder as they danced their way 
through the throng of couples. This was a new song she had not heard 
before, it too was in English, but she understood it via her bond 
with Tenchi.  The words rang true to the feelings in her heart.

	...don't want to close my eyes...
	
	...dont' want to fall asleep...
	
	....because I miss you, babby...

	...and I don't want to miss a thing...

	They held each other close as they danced to the rousing beat of 
he slow song.  Aeka looked up into Tenchi's eyes and saw only love 
there, and through her bond she felt his love wash over her like 
protective blanket.  It was then that something suddenly snapped inside 
her, her fear, apprehension, and sad feelings were washed away in a wave 
of pure joy.  Ryoko loved Tenchi deeply, but that did not mean that she 
could not have the same feeliings.  She no longer felt inadaquete for 
him, and knew that her position in his heart was as secure as it had 
ever been.  There was room enough for both of them in his heart.  Tenchi 
could feel this solution spring up in her.
	-- How could you have doubted us? -- he thought the question.
	-- I'm so sorry. -- she thoght back.
	-- Don't be.  We are together forever.  Nothing will ever change 
that. -- he said.
	Aeka chocked back a sob and kissed him just as the music raised to 
its highest peak.  Soon the song was slowly fading and they returned to 
the table.  Ryoko was looking at her with an expression that was very 
strange.  It was not jealousy, envy, or anger.  It was affection, 
geniune affection.  All strife was gone in the bond, the darkness that 
loomed in both their minds were gone.  Tenchi felt thiis and was very
happy that the two would now fianlly be friends and would not just be 
tolerating each other for his sake.
	
	Later that night they all returned to the Masaki house.  Ryu-Ohki 
teleported them all into the living room and they were all talking.  
Even the bounty hunter Mihoshi was smiling.  The real Mihoshi
was talking about how nice Marc had been at the dance, Khyone talked 
about how nice Noboyuki really was when he wasn't acting like a pervert, 
and the other Tenchi was talking to the other Ryoko and Aeka. Sakuya as 
very tired so Yosho took her to a room where she could sleep, and Nagi 
decided to go and have a dreamy bath in the onsen.
	Tenchi and his two brides becided to go an have a dip in the warm 
waters of the onsen too.  They met, undressed, and climbed into the warm 
waters.
	"I think its so special that three people can be so much in love 
with each other." Nagi commented.
	"I think this whole Great Bond thing is going to work out just 
fine." Ryoko replied.  She was lounging back in the warm water.
	"I agree.  There is one thing that ties Ryoko and myself together 
and that our love for Tenchi." Aeka said.	
	"All we have left to do now is tell your parents, Aeka." Tenchi 
said.
	Aeka sat up in the water and a wave of dread came over her.  "That 
in itself will be a great challenge.  My father is not very fond of you, 
Lord Tenchi."
	"After my finals this spring, lets all goto Jurai." Tenchi said 
with a smile.
	Aeka almost jumped out of the water at him.  "Tenchi, there is a 
fine line between bravery and suicide!"
	"Asuza isn't too fond of me either.  He's still sore about that 
incident 700 years ago." Ryoko commented.
	"Still, we do have to tell father what we did or he will 
eventually learn on his own." Aeka said finally after calming down.
	"Then its decided then.  This spring after I graduate from high 
school we'll all goto Jurai and break the news to the royal family." 
Tenchi said.
	"The Great Bond is sacred to the people of Jurai.  My father would 
never dare try to force us to part." Aeka observed.
	Ryoko suddenly laughed.  "Poor Sasami will be the one getting hit 
will all the lame suitors your father digs up."
	"When I refused to come home with father that day, it was the 
first time I ever defied him." Aeka confessed.  "Sasami was always able 
to get her way because she just has this way of making his defenses
wither and fall."
	"She gets away with murder around here, I noticed." Nagi said.
	"Its because she's so darn cute and we fall for it every time." 
Ryoko said.
	"I don't think we'd want her any other way." Tenchi said.
	All of them nodded in agreement.

	The next day Tenchi woke up to his two brides sleeping on either 
side of him in the bed.  It was the second time they did this, and it 
had been totally innocent.  They agreed back when they first bonded two 
days ago they would not be intimate together all at once, but 
individually.  He could not help what it would be like to have both at 
the same time, but he realized just as they did that the experience 
would cheapen the love they have for each other.  He sat up in bed 
slowly so as not to wake them and made his way downstairs.  Sasami was 
cooking breakfast in the kitchen with Ryu-Ohki and Ken-Ohki, Kryton was 
looking out the window watching for anything that could possibly be of 
Darkling origin, and the others were still sleeping in their sleeping 
bags on the floor.  Both cabbits were still in their adult humanoid 
forms.
	"Sasami, where is Mihoshi and Khyone?" he asked when he noticed 
they were gone.
	"Oh, they got a call last night.  They're up in the Yugami." she 
said.
	"They'd better stay clear of that rift." he said.
	"Oh, I think they will." she said.
	"Kh-yone sm-art." Ryu-Ohki said.
	"Yes she is." Tenchi commented.
	Everyone else was starting to wake up to the smell of frying bacon 
and eggs.  Nagi stretched out yawned very loud.  She put her hand over 
her mouth and blushed.  "Opps, I sound like Mihoshi." she said.
The other just laughed at her, even the bounty hunter version of 
Mihoshi.
	The bounty hunter came up to Tenchi and smiled at him.  It was the 
first time he saw the woman smile since the party last night.  "Tenchi, 
since I came her I have felt free.  I experienced a great deal of pain 
in my life and you have shown me great kindness." she said.
	"Its the least I could do, Mihoshi." he said.
	"I want to appologize for attacking your house when Z first came 
here." she said.
	"Already forgotten." he said.
	"Thank you, Tenchi." she smiled.
	Tenchi was aleted to the sound of someone on the steps and he saw 
a drowsy Ryoko looking at him.
	-- I only wish the real Nagi would be like that. -- she thought to 
him.
	-- Who knows, maybe one day we will get the chance. -- he thought 
in reply.
	-- Anyway, I think I'm getting that morning sickness thing. -- she 
thought.
	-- Its all a part of being pregnant, I guess? -- Tenchi thought 
back.
	Ryoko's face suddenly turned green and she clamped a hand over her 
mouth.  She turned and ran for the bathroom upstairs.  -- Excuse me! -- 
she thought to him.  From somewhere upstairs he could hear loud wreching 
sounds.  Tenchi went upstairs and found her kneeling in front of the 
toilet.  She was breathing hard and held her long hair back with one 
hand.  He kneeled down next to her and rubbed her back.
	-- Thanks.  That feels good. -- she thought to him.
	"Morning sickness?" Aeka asked as she came to the door.  She was 
still wearing her night gown and hadn't changed into her usual Juraian 
kimono yet.
	"Very much so." Tenchi said.
	"I remember mother going through it when she was pregnant with 
Sasami.  I fear I will be the one to experience it next." she said.
	Ryoko stood up, washed her face, and gargled with some of Tenchi's 
mouth wash which he offered her.  "Seven months of this.  How do human 
women handle it?" she asked him.
	"Ask Sakuya, she could explain it to you." Tenchi offered.
	They all heard Sasami announce that breakfast was ready 
downstairs.
	"Oh good.  I'm starved!" Ryoko said.  She grabbed Tenchi and 
Aeka's hands and teleported them instantly to the dinning room.
	
	Breakfast was very good as usual since Sasami was the cook, and 
Ryoko had double helpings of everthing.  They immediately assumed it was 
due to the fact that she was with child and that her genstation period 
was much shorter than a huamn's.  Only Washu and Orrin were missing from 
the table that morning.  Temchi asked Sasami if she had seen them at all 
this morning.
	"She popped out of a portal just before I called everybody to 
breakfast and took their plates. I haven't seen them since." she said.
	"They are both very hard at work." Aeka said.
	"Either that or they are having some fun." Ryoko said.
	"What do you mean?" Aeka asked her.
	"You didn't notice.  Mother and that alien prince were making eyes 
at each other all morning yesterday." Ryoko said.
	"You don't think?  Well?  That would explain why she was acting so 
strange." Aeka said.
	"Orrin and Washu are lovers?" Sasami asked in surprise.
	Kryton stepped up and sighed.  "I am not surprised.  Little Washu 
is very attractive for a humanoid female, and his highness is....how 
shall I say this....an incouragable romantic."
	"One of those types, huh?" Khyone said with a sly smile.
	"Oh, no.  He truely cares for the women he has, been with.  Its 
just he seems to attract them to him.  He is not a playboy." Kryton 
said.
	"Reminds me of someone we know." Ryoko said patting Tenchi's 
shoulder.
	"What?!" he said and they all just smiled sheepishly at him.

	For the rest of the day, after Tenchi climbed into the attic and 
pulled out the boxes of Christmas decorations, they all decorated the 
house for the holidays coming up in the next month.  It was all a nice 
distraction from the threat that looming above them.  Kryton kept his 
watch for anything unexpected while they hung Christmas lights around 
the house.  Sasami, Ryu-Ohki, and Ken-Ohki strung popcorn onto thread 
for garland, Ryoko kept eating the popcorn, Aeka tested the lights, and 
Noboyuki and Yosho went out to get the tree.  Later, the he rest of them 
helped put up lights around the house.  The bouty hunter Mihoshi had 
gotten rid of her dark cloak and bodysuit and now wore on of Aeka's 
dresses.  The other Tenchi told her she looked beautiful, and she 
blushed furiously.  The other Aeka and Ryoko sorted out the ornaments 
and almost got into a fight over who was going to stand under the 
miseltoe with the Tenchi from the alternate universe.  Tenchi pulled 
Ryoko away from Sasami's popcorn, and they phased up through the roof to 
setup the light fixtures of Santa and his reindeer on the roof.
	"I always get teary eyed during Startica." Ryoko said.
	"We call it Christmas, here." Tenchi told her.
	"The first of many, together." she said as she put her head on his 
shoulder.
	"I pray for a long, long time." Tenchi said and kissed her.

	The next day they spent playing in the newly fallen blanket of 
snow that fell at the Masaki home. Aeka and Ryoko had a snow ball fight, 
Ryu-Ohki and Ken-Ohki wandered through the forest together, and
Sasami and the alternate reality Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko built a 
snowman.  The two Mihoshi's went sleding later with Sasami and the 
cabbits.  Nagi backed some Startica cookies in the kitchen, and every-
one discovered she was a very good cook.  Tenchi shoveled the snow, but 
soon found himself the target in a friendly snowball fight between Aeka, 
Ryoko, and Noboyuki.  Sakuya just watched it all from the porch and 
laughed with Khyone at her side.  Day three ended with a great dinner 
that Nagi prepared herself and Sasami was very impressed.  They were 
enjoying dinner and each other's company when Kryton marched through the 
room with a worried expression on his metallic face.
	"This is not good.  I am detecting a change in the rift." he said 
out loud.
	"What sort of change?" Tenchi asked.
	"I is getting bigger." the avitar replied.

	Washu keyed in a sequence on her holocomputer and swore under her 
breath.  Orrin was next to her at a similar console going over the 
computations for the dark matter they needed.  The image of the rift
showed it was getting larger, data streaming in shows the quantum forces 
in the rift were growing, and its graviational effects were getting 
stronger.  She still could not tell how the Darklings were doing it 
since her instruments were being jammed beyond lunar orbit.
	"These computations are useless now.  They are based on the rift's 
original size." Orrin spat.
	"The timetable for the moon has changed too." Washu said darkly.
	"How long?" he asked.
	"72 hours before its orbit is effected enough to send it flying 
into the Earth." she replied.
	Orrin stood up and took her hand.  "We can't use these omputations 
anymore, we need to go collect dark matter right now and just make our 
best guess."
	"We'd better tell the others.  The changing positon of the moon 
will start causing strange weather and earthquakes." Washu said.
	They both emerged from the lab to find everyone in the dining room 
with Kryton.  The avitar rushed over to them and explained his readings, 
but Washu interrupted him by telling them that she waw aware of what was 
happening.
	"We have 72 hours to seal the rift or we can kiss this planet 
goodbye." she said.
	"That was quick and too the point." the other Mihoshi commented.
	"So much for our holiday." Aeka said.
	"I am prepareing for launch now, sire.  I expect you and Little 
Washu will be leaving for your dark matter collection?" Kryton asked.
	"Yes, and as soon as possible." Orrin said.
	Outside they could hear the sound of rushing wind and a low 
humming noise.  They looked out of the windows and saw the ship that was 
Kryton hovering above the house.  Instant Orrin and Washu vanished from 
the room without any light or sound heralding their departure, and then 
the ship streaked off into the sky making a sonic boom over the lake 
that shook the house.
	Kryton's avitar remained on Earth to everyone's surprise.  He 
looked at them questioningly.
	"I have sensors in this avitar which will help in detecting 
Darklings if they decide to approach us again." he said.
	"That is good to hear." Tenchi said.
	
	Somewhere off in deep space a dark cloaked figure stands on the 
bridge of a massive starship and watches the display of the rift in 
Earth's lunar orbit.  In his midst stand dozens of the creatures, some 
were like the Darklings that attacked Washu's lab, and other were too 
horrible to describe.  A small child walked up to the cloaked figure, 
she stood no taller than Sasami, had white hear, and wore only a simple 
white dress.  She was also barefoot, and she had eyes that were bright 
blue.  Her manner was not of a child and the cloaked figure could feel a 
powerful presence of evil when she was near.
	"Why did you send such weak soldiers to attack them?" the figure 
asked the child.  "I told you they were powerful."
	"We had to test them, and I needed to confirm the presence of the 
Star Gem Sword." the child said.
	"Does that mean you have finally found your Elo'Quin?" the figure 
asked.
	"No, but I suspect that they left their legacy behind here.  All 
evidence of their presence points to this planet." she said and an image 
of an Earth-like world appeared on a holodisplay.
	The cloaked figure recognized the planet immediately.  "Planet 
Jurai."
	"Why then attack such a worthless world as Earth?" he then asked.
	"It is not the planet, but the life force that will be released 
when its destroyed.  When our forces arrive they will need energy." the 
child said.
	"So, the rift serves to send the moon into the planet and as a way 
to get your forces here." the dark figure said.
	"Yes, and our forces are almost ready to come through." the child 
said.
	A alarm signal sounds from one of the consoles of the bridge and a 
Darkling officer responds to it.  The creature looks at the data on its 
screen and then looks to the child in urgency.
	"Mistress, the Setari ship is leaving the planet." it said.
	"On screen." she ordered.
	The image of the Kryton flying away from the planet appeared in a 
holoscreen.  The dark figure put a hand to his face.  "What does this 
mean?" he asked.
	"The champion of the Elo'Quin is planning something." she said.  
She turned towards the Darkling officer that alerted her to the ship.  
"Monitor them and keep me informed off all he does."
	"Yes Mistress.  The one known as Washu is with the Setari." the 
Darkling replied.
	"Washu, this is not a good sign.  She may have found a way to 
close the rift." the dark figure said.
	"Is this Washu capable of such a thing?" she asked.
	"Yes, I can tell you from first hand experience that she can.  In 
fact, the attempts to close the rift before were her's." the dark figure 
said.
	"What of this Tenchi Masaki, Aeka, and Ryoko you mentioned.  Are 
they as great a threat as you claim?  They did defeat my soldiers." the 
child said.
	"They are, but you remember our aggreement that I want Aeka, 
Ryoko, and Washu alive.  When we advance on Jurai I want the Tsunami 
unit." the dark figure growled.
	"Shall we retrieve those you wish now, or wait until just before 
the planet is destroyed?" asked the child.
	"Get them now.  Send your best for them or you will have a replay 
of what happened in Washu's lab." the dark figure said.
	"Very well then.  You are much more intellegent that the emperor 
of that Imperium back in our universe." the child said.  "What shall we 
do with the one named Tenchi?"
	"Kill him." the dark figure said in an evil tone.
	"It will be done.  Remember your side of the bargin when we place 
you on the throne of Jurai." the child said warningly.
	"I pay my debts." the dark figure said suddenly.
	"You'd better hope so, that foolish ruler of the Imperium thought 
he could control us because we needed him.  Now he is just our mindless 
slave, and none of his people are aware that he is really just a shell 
of his former self." the child laughed evily.
	With that the child walked away to make all the preparation.
_______
Chapter 9 - Dark Matter 

	Washu admired the view from the bridge of the Kryton and how it 
resembled Ryu-Ohki in almost every detail.  Orrin sat on a levatating 
seat and was working the controls.  The ground receeded away quickly and 
soon the haze of the atmosphere was gone and replaced by stars.  She 
remarked that she felt no motion as the ship moved.  She was so busy 
studying the rift that she did not take the time to study Kryton's 
avitar and his ship form.
	"This is impressive.  You built this?" she asked Orrin.
	"I designed it, and the Elo'Quin energy-to-matter conversion 
factory on my homeworld did all the work." he said.
	"I existsed sometime before he built this new form for me.  I was 
the main computer for his personal shuttle at one time." Kryton said.
	"Once he was placed in his new form he started to develop new 
subroutines to adjust to his new body, and now he is like he is today.  
Also I think the magic in his new form had something to do with him 
developing a personality." Orrin said.
	"Sire, I have pinpointed a strong source of dark matter.  I am 
setting course right now." Kryton said.
	"Good.  Once the course is set get up clear of the quantum 
distortions of the rift and initialate space fold." Orrin ordered.
	"Of course, sire." Kryton replied.

	Kryton raced through space at a great speed leaving the Earth 
behind.  Soon the planet was a small speck of light on the backdrop of 
stars.  Instruments showed that the quantum distortions of the rift
did not reach very far from the planet.  Kryton initialized the fold 
drive, the ship was encircled in a sphere of energy which pulsed for a 
brief moment and suddenly imploded on itself.  Seconds later, many
many lightyears away from Earth, the Kryton burst into existance with a 
momentary flash of light.
	"That was incredible.  Most of the races in the galaxy would kill 
for a technology like this." Washu said.
	"Kryton is the only ship right now with space fold capabilities.  
Most of the rest have sub-space drives." Orrin said.
	"A large pocket of dark matter is just ahead of us.  We must be 
careful not to make physical contact with it." Kryton said.
	"Yes, or it will cause damage to the hull." Washu commented.
	"I am adjusting our shields to begin collecting dark matter now.  
For the original size of the rift we calculated at least 50 kilograms, 
but now the rift is twice its original size." Orrin said.
	"We'll have to guess or at least come up with a good quick value." 
Washu said as she summoned her holopad.  She keyed in some commands and 
data began streaming across her screen.
	"This is not 100% accurate without factoring in everything about 
the rift, but I'd guess we would need 750 kilograms of dark matter." she 
continued.
	"That is alot of dark matter.  Kryton, start making a magnetic 
bottle to contain the dark matter in your replicator." Orrin said.
	"Already working on it.  I'll have it done in half an hour." the 
ship replied.
	"That's perfect." Orrin said.
	Alarms suddenly started going off in the bridge and a large 
holodisplay snapped into existance before them on the bridge.  The 
display was a three-dimensional sensor view of the area around the
ship that reached a distance of 1 million kilometers.  There was a large 
object in the area and several smaller ones.  Each object was labeled 
with red rune like text from Orrin's native language of Setarese.
	"Blast!" Orrin cursed.
	"What is it?" Washu asked but she already figured what it could 
be.
	"Darkling signatures, and they appear to be on a course for Earth, 
and us." Orrin said.
	"Two Darkling ships have broken form the group and are converging 
on us.  ETA is estimated at fifteen minutes." Kryton said.
	"That isn't enough time to collect all the dark matter." Washu 
said.
	"Then we'll have to fight them off and continue after we take them 
out." Orrin said.
	"Sire, I am unable to reach my avitar on Earth.  The quantum 
distortions from the rift are jamming all subspace frequencies." Kryon 
said with concern in his voice.
	"They are on their own then, your avitar can warn them of any 
approach." Orrin said.
	"I am eccelerating my the manufacture of that containment unit for 
the dark matter." Kryton said.
	"How much dark matter do we have so far?" Washu asked Orrin.
	The prince checked the readings on his holodisplay.  "About 100 
kilograms." he said.
	Outside the ship the shield had been adjusted to act as a scoop to 
gather the dark matter.  It could not be allowed to touch the hull of 
the ship or it would phase into it and cause the molecules of it to 
distort.  The substance was invisible, but its frequency was visible to 
sensors and the pits of matter looked like dark grey cotton balls on the 
display.
	"At this rate we will have 750 kilograms in three hours." Washu 
said.
	"We have to be careful, dark matter is unstable if handled too 
roughly." Orrin said.
	"Can we get a visual of that larger Darkling ship?" Washu asked.
	"Certainly Little Washu." Kryton said and an image of the ship 
appeared on the main holo-display before her.
	Washu studied the design of the ship and then gasped in shock.  
She was familiar with this design.  She immediately called up an image 
of a ship just like it with her holopad.  The two ships were nearly 
indentical except for the dark organic additions made by the Darklings.  
Essentially the two ship were practically the same.
	"It can't be the same ship." she said.
	"Do you recognize that vessel?" Orrin asked.
	"Yes, I do.  Its the Soja, and I designed it." she said.
	"Looks like the Darklings have it now." Orrin said.
	"But that's impossible.  The Soja was destroyed." Washu said.
	"When did this happen?" Orrin asked.
	"Tenchi cut it in half with the Light Hawk Sword when he fought 
Kagato in Earthspace." she replied.
	"Kagato, isn't he supposed to be dead?" Orrin asked.
	"I pray he is." Washu said.

	Tenchi dove like a quarterback to grab a vase that had been his 
mother's favorite a long time ago.  The ground was beginning to shake as 
the gravitational effects of the moon's shifting orbit began to effect 
the Earth.  Similar saves of pictures, statuary, and other items were 
being done all around the house by the rest of the family and the 
visitors.
	"I'm scared Tenchi." Sasami cried as she wrapper her arms around 
him.
	"It'll be alright, Sasami, you'll see." he said trying to calm her 
down.
	"If this shaking gets worse we might not have a house soon." 
Noboyuki said as he hold a picture of his wife that almost fell to the 
floor.
	Ryoko phased throught he wall and flew over to them.  "All the 
windows in the greenhouse are getting cracks in them." she said.
	"Ok, lets get everything off the shelves and onto the floor.  
Ryoko, there is duct tape in the tool shed outside, go get it and put 
some on the windows in the greenhouse." Tenchi said.
	"You got it, Tenchi dear." she replied and teleported away.
	"Aeka, Sasami, go into the kitchen and gather all the food you 
can, then take it to Washu's lab." he continued.
	"Yes, Lord Tenchi." Aeka said.
	"The rest of you, after we everthing loose on the wall and shelves 
onto the floor, I want you all in Washu's lab." he finished.
	Everybody else nodded and ran off to work.  Tenchi went up to his 
bedroom, grabbed the Juraian ring that allowed him to transform into his 
battlegear, and came back downstairs.  He put the ring on and headed for 
the green house.  Every windows was now covered by a large X made form 
two strips of grey duct tape.  This was to prevent the windows from 
severely cracking for breaking all together.  The blast of cold would 
kill the flowers and Ryu-Ohki's carrot crop.
	"I'm done here." Ryoko smiled.
	Tenchi kissed her.  "Great, now go and tape up all the cabnets in 
the kitchen with that tape also." he said.
	Ryoko kissed him back.  "On my way." she said.

	Several minutes later they all gathered inside Washu's lab, after 
Mihoshi got them past her electronic locks that is, and they sat in the 
garden she build there.  The place made Sakuya uneasy since it was where 
she and the other Tenchi were sitting when the Darklings attacked.
	"Mom installed some new defenses in here in case those Darklings 
decided to try that kind of thing again." Ryoko said to Sakuya to put 
her at ease.
	Just outside the lab entrance they could hear the sound of the 
house shuttering again, but more violently this time.
	"The quakes are getting worse, and I have lost contact with my 
ship body." Kryton said.
	"That could be due to the rift." Tenchi said.
	"Most likely, and this avitar has limited communications range." 
Kryton replied.
	"If your seperated from your main body, how can you function." the 
other Mihoshi asked.
	"I have a complete downloaded copy of my persona stored in this 
avitar for such cases.  That way I do not need a contact link with my 
ship body to function." Kryton said.
	"Taking about being in two places at once." Ryoko said to her 
other self.
	
	The cloaked figure on the bridge of the great ship watched as a 
flight of oranic looking ships streaked off into space.  The vessels 
looked like large crabs with its legs and pinsors held close to their 
bodies.  They disappeared in a flash of light as they went into warp.  
He turned around to look at the innner part of the bridge and watched 
the crew of Darklings, some in their hideous Darkling forms, and others 
in the form of their hosts.  The little girl who was the leader of these 
creatures walked up to him again.
	"The Setari ship had detected us." he told her.
	"It is no matter, I have sent two gunships to deal with it." the 
child said.
	"What if this champion defeats them?" the cloaked man asked.
	"You have little confidence in us." the child said curtly.
	"I like to keep all possiblities open." he replied.
	"Good.  Are you prepared to fulfill your part of our bargin?" the 
child asked.
	The cloaked man nodded.
	"You will suffer immense pain at first." the child said as she 
advanced on him.  "But that pain will turn to ecstacy as you begin to 
change after the simbient has settled."
	"If it will give me the power to take my revenge, I am ready." the 
man said.
	Tbe child smiled at him.  It was almost a seductive smile that was 
out of place on the face of a child.
	"I like you.  You have such a great darkness in your heart.  Its 
not like the envy and greed in the Imperium emperor." she said.
	"When do we begin?" the man asked.
	"Right now.  Sit on the floor." she said.
	The man did as she asked and he sat on the floor where he had been 
standing.  She walked up to him and pulled back his hood.  Only she 
could see his face.  The little girl touched his cheeks with her hands 
and started to kiss him on the libs.  The man's eyes went wide with 
surprise at this, but he found that he could not move.  A powerful force 
held him in place.
	"What are you doing?" he demanded.
	"I decided to have a little fun first." the child said, but as she 
spoke her voice grew deeper and richer into a adult woman's voice.
	Her physical form began to change as well into that of a full 
adult humanoid women, but her dress did not change and it ripped off of 
her now naked body.  She began to undress the man.
	"This wasn't a part of the bargin." the man said as she kissed him 
down his neck.
	"I decided to adjust the bargin a bit.  Don't worry, when I am 
done you will be a changed man." she said.  The creatures and Darklings 
in humanoid form watched the display with gruesome interest as their 
queen mother fulfilled her dark desires of the flesh with the man whom 
they made their bargin with.  When she was done she collapsed to the 
floor out of breath and the man was left naked and writhing on he floor 
in immmense agony.  During their intercourse she had planted her seed 
within him, and now the tiny Darkling simbient was making its way 
through his body to his brain.  The movement of the tiny creature set 
off pain receptors all through his body.  The screaming went on for 
several minutes, and then abruptly ended.  The man stood up as if 
nothing happened and he looked at himself, and then back up to the 
woman.
	"Now do you understand?" she asked.
	"Yes, I can feel the power." he said.
	"That is a special seed.  Its a regent seed.  You will not need to 
mature like the others do." the woman said.
	The man walked up to her and put his arms around her.  "My turn." 
he said an he lift her up off the floor and carried her away to his 
quarters.

	The gem on the Star Gem Sword flared bright for a few seconds and 
then the light died away.  Orrin looked at it with concern and Washu 
noticed it too.
	"What was that?" she asked.
	"Something happened, and the Star Gem doesn't like it." Orrin 
said.
	Orrin pulled out the sword hilt and held it in his hands.  He 
closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the stone.  The world around 
him dropped away and he was in another place.  He could just barely make 
out the forms of Darkling in the distance, but he could clearly see a 
cloaked man and small girl.  The man was on his knees and the little 
girl was kissing him, the vision blurred and then the man was naked and 
the little girl was now a beautiful women.  The two were locked in the 
middle of an erotic encounter, and he could feel an intense evil 
growning.  The vision blured again and the man, naked, stood up and 
Orrin could feel immense power radiating from him, and he would feel 
immense evil as well.
	When he came out of the vision Washu was at his side with her arms 
around his shoulders.  She was looking at him with intense worry on her 
face, and a few tears in her eyes.
	"It frightens me when you fade out like that." she said.
	"A Regent has been born." Orrin said.
	"What is a Regent?" she asked.
	"Among the Darklings, there are Regises, which are the queen 
mothers of a hive.  The Regent is a fertile male of the Darkling race, 
and is able to assist the Regis in breeding pure Darklings that do not 
need to mature as much as the ones she can create by seeding others with 
bits of herself." Orrin explained.
	"How powerful are Regents?" Washu asked.
	"A thousand times more powerful than the Darklings we faced in 
your lab." he said.
	"Oh God!" she said.
	"Its worse, with the aid of a Regent the Regis can now breed more 
Regises to build more hive colonies." he continued.
	"This is extremely bad, isn't it." she said.
	"Its is a nightmare come true." he said as he put her arms around 
her.

	Back at the Masaki house, everyone in Washu's lab could hear the 
sound of snapping two-by-fours and cracking plaster as the ground 
rumbled again.  Inside the subspace lab they were not effected by the 
violent earthquake going on in realspace just beyond the lab door.  
Tenchi and Sakuya from the alternate dimensions were sitting together 
under a tree in the lab garden.  Tenchi noticed how the two were drawn 
to each other, and smiled.  He felt a little envious of his alternate 
self as he sat there talking to her.  He remembered all the time he had 
with Sakuya, and although it was only a short time he relished all the 
good memories he had of her.  Aeka and Ryoko were the here and now, and
he could feel their love form him flowing through him like a cool stream 
on a hot day.  He turned to look at them were they sat together talking, 
getting to know each other better, and putting all of their differences 
away forever.  It was good to see them becoming friends since they will 
be living the rest of their lives together with him as his wives.  
Sasami and Mihoshi from the alternate diemnsions were sitting playing a 
game of Soul Edge on her Playstation, and she was kicking the bounty 
hunter's butt on the game as usual.  Nagi from the alternate dimensions 
sat with the real Mihoshi and Khyone talking about differences in the 
Galaxy Police in their two universes.  Yosho and his father, Noboyuki, 
were just wandering the lab looking things over.  Kryton stood by the 
door to the lab so he could reach outside with his sensors.  Aeka and 
Ryoko from the alternate dimensions sat together near Tenchi discussing 
what they should do when she return to their Tenchi.  He listened to 
their plan to to help him, and themselves.  He realized just how much 
they loved him, and that made him think of his own Aeka and Ryoko.  That 
thought caught their attention and they looked at him and smiled at him
lovingly.  Tenchi walked over to the alternates of his two wives and sat 
down with them.
	"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." he said.
	"We decided to set out differences aside and do something to help 
our Tenchi." the other Ryoko said.
	"We love you, uh, him very much and we can't bare to see him like 
this anymore." the other Aeka said.
	"I wish you two luck.  Do you want some advice?" he asked.
	"Of course." Aeka said.
	"Both of you marry him.  If he is like me he wants both of you, so 
why not settle your differences like that." he said.
	The alternate of Ryoko and Aeka looked at each other and back at 
Tenchi for a second.  At first he thought they were going to laugh at 
him, but to his surprise they smiled.  "We will do that." they both said 
in unison.
	"Good girls." he said with a smile.
	Tenchi go up and walked over to his Aeka and Ryoko and sat with 
them.  They looked at him questioningly.  They were unable to understand 
the mix of thoughts and emotions in him at that moment.
	"They are going to marry their Tenchi, and try to help him get 
over this problem he had." he told them.
	"Good for them." Aeka smiled.
	"It would be nice, if we survive all this to send them back home." 
Ryoko said.
	Tenchi took both women in his arms and kissed them.  "We will 
survive this, I promise." he said.

	The first of three Darkling gunships dropped out of warp right 
next to the Kryton and started opening fire.  The green energy blasts 
impacted the shields sending a ripple through it like water. Inside 
Washu held onto Orrin to keep her balance until Orrin punched up a seat 
for her right next to his.
	"Kryton how is that magnetic bottle coming!" Orrin shouted.
	"Almost finished, sire." the ship replied.
	"The shields are holding up, but that might be for long because 
two more of those ships just dropped out of warpspace." Washu said as 
she watched the holoscreens on the bridge.
	"Damn!" Orrin cursed.
	"I am deploying a portable shield generator to contain the dark 
matter we've collected." Kryton said.
	"Good." Orrin said 
	"Done, dark matter is now contained in a seperate shield." Kryton 
announced.
	Orrin's hands flew across his holopad console and the ship raced 
away from the Darkling gunship at a great speed.  He turned the Kryton 
around, targeted the attacker and opened up with all four of the ship's 
forward cannons.  Two of the cannons were pulse weapons that fired white 
bursts of energy, and the other two were burst weapons that fired 
straight beams.  They impacted the shields on the Darkling gunship, 
pierced through, and tore massive holes in its side.  A second volley 
from the Kryton as it passed over the gunship blew the Darkling ship in 
half.  The two pieces of the gunship drifted for a short distance in 
space before both exploded violently.  The two other gunships dropped
out of warpspace and opened fire on the Kryton.  These were a different 
configuration with stronger shields and weapons.  Orrin dodge their fire 
and targetted them.  The two Darkling ships easily dodged the shots from 
the Kryton, and one scored a hit to the shields on the rear section.  This almost sent Washu flying out of her seat but Orrin's quick arm 
caught her in time.
	"You'd better hold on, this is going to get rough." he told her.
	"Maybe I can help." she said as she summoned her holopad.
	Washu keyed in a few commands into her holopad and she snickered 
to herself at her brilliance.  On her shoulders Washu-bots A and B 
popped up cheering, "You can do it Washu!  Your the greatest Washu!
You Go Washu!"  Orrin just laughed, because he saw this display a few 
times in the lab, and while they were making love too.  He though it was 
funny, and realized that after 20,000 years you do become a little 
eccentric.
	Orrin set course for a nearby nebula in the hopes of loosing the 
two Darkling gunships in the dust and gas.  The electromagnetic 
interferance of the cloud might be enough to scramble their sensors,
he thought, but it would also render the autotargeting system on the 
Kryton useless.  That would mean that he would have target the weapons 
manually.  Suddenly, two black portals opened up behind the Kryton and 
two massive asteroids came floating out at a fast speed.  The first of 
the two Darkling gunships dodge around the asteroids, but the second one 
was not so lucky.  It collided with the first asteroid, spun around like 
a top, and smashed into the second one and exploded.
	"I'm so good sometimes I scare myself." Washu smiled.

	On the bridge of the great ship, the girl-child, now dressed in a 
new white dress stomped her foot in anger.  The man, in his cloak again, 
laughed inperiously.  The holodisplay was showing the fight between the 
Kryton and the Darkling gunships.  They witness the demise of the first 
gunship as it was blasted to pieces, but whst try enraged the child was 
the way the second vessel was taken out.  She stomped up to the cloaked 
man and looked up at him.
	"I told you.  Washu is very resourceful." the man said.
	"It is of no matter.  At least they are distracted from returning 
to Earth, and they are kept from closing the rift." the child snorted.
	"Your miffed because your best soldiers cannot kill the champion 
of the Elo'Quin." the man said with a laugh.
	"Beware, you may be the Regent now, but you can be replaced." the 
child said darkly.
	"Any status from the forces you sent to Earth?" the man asked 
without concern.
	"They are due to arrive soon.  You will have that which you most 
desire soon." the child said.
	"Excellent." he said.

	Kryton dove into the clouds of the nebula and the ship shuttered 
as it broke through the surface tension of the cloud.  Static filled the 
screens as the eletromagnetic interferance started to effect the 
sensors.  Orrin concentrated on the screens and what little view they 
gave of the outside.  The whole scene reminded Washu of this one Star 
Trek movie she watched with Tenchi and the others one day where the 
Enterprise went into a nebula to avoid a deadly enemy.  She tapped on 
her holopad for a few seconds and the interferance started to subside a 
bit.  It was not gone but it was enough for Orrin to see clearly now.
	"Thank you." he said and she kissed his cheek.
	"Consider it a present from me to you, sweetheart." she said.
	"If we live through this, I am going to make love to you again." 
Orrin said.
	Washu swooned.  "I know you will.  I need more samples." she 
smiled.
	Orrin blushed furiously and Washu cackled like a schoolgirl.

	Kryton stood by the entrance to Washu's lab and heard the sound of 
heavy beams falling and walls crashing in as Tenchi's house fell apart.  
Another very violent earthquake was striking again.  It was then that he 
detected the signature of several dozen Darklings.  They were traveling 
though subspace towards the lab.  He turned, ran to where and his wives 
were sitting.
	"Lord Tenchi, I have three dozen Darkling signatures approaching, 
sire." he reported.
	"Shit!" Ryoko cursed as she stood up.
	"Company is coming!" Tenchi shouted.
	Everyoe was on their feet, Aeka and Ryoko changed to their 
battlegear in a flash of light, and Noboyuki and the alternate Tenchi 
took Sakuya to a safe hiding place behind a few large boulders.  Tenchi
called up a single Light Hawk Wing, grasped it, and changed it to the 
Light Hawk Sword.  He tossed the Tenchi-Ken to Yosho who had been 
sitting, he stood up, caught the sword, and ignited it all in one
motion.  Nagi, Mihoshi, and Khyone pulled out modified versions of their 
blasters equipment with special stones that added a bit of ethereal 
energy to their shots.  It had been Kryton who modified their weapons so 
they could help fight the Darklings since their ordinary weapons would 
have no effect without magic.  The alternate Mihoshi powered up her 
modified weapons and took a battle stance next to Yosho. This time they 
were ready for them.

	Kryton shuddered as several powerful energy blasts narrowly
missed his hull.  Orrin's hands raced across the holopad controls as
he tried to evade the shots.  The automatic targeting system on the 
Kryton was not working in the interferance caused by the dust and
electromagnetic forces in the nebula, so he had to target the
weapons manually.  This would mean turning the ship in just the right
direction to target the Darkling gunship.  What was making things even
worse we the arrive of two more gunships from warpspace.  Now
instead of just one target to deal with, he now had three.
	Washu's hands raced over her own holopad as she looked for a way
to help the young prince in his effort to take out the gunships.  She
tried the trick, with asteroids again, but the gunships seemed prepared
for it this time.  A thought came to her mind and she tried to hack
into the main computer of one of the gunships.  She broke through the
security system with ease and accessed the main control program.  What
sbe saw there was impressive and frightening.  She had access to the
entire Darkling data network.  She had her computer record what it 
coiuld and then started her real work.  She called up a nasty little
computer virus she developed some time ago and recompiled it so it
would run on the Darkling computer sysems.  She inserted it into the
gunship computer and sent it to work.
	Washu smiled and laughed.  "This is almost better than sex, well
almost." she said.
	The virus took control of the ship and locked out all the control
consoles on the bridge.  Control of all ship systems was transfered to
Washu's holopad.  From her seat next to Orrin she directed the gunship
to change course and open fire on the other two with its weapons.
	Orrin looked at her after seeing one of the gunships turn around
and fire on one of its onw.
	"Did you do that?" he asked with amazement.
	"I am not the greatest scientific genius in the universe for
nothing." she said.  Washu-bots A and B popped up again cheering her on.

	Orrin took advantage of the confusion caused by the roque gunship
that Washu controlled and dove the Kryton into the middle of the 
firefight.  He opened up with all forward weapons, blowing one of the
gunships to bits.  The ship raced through the expanding ball of gas
that had once been the gunship, and released a volley of anti-matter
torpedoes from a rear launcher.  The torgedoes were manually targeted by
Kryton himself and they hit the two remaining gunships.  The explosions
tore both ships to pieces.
	"That seemed a little too easy." Washu said.
	"Actually no, if the Kryton was not made using Etherealology we
would be dead right now." Orrin told her.
	"You mean that those ships were magic too?" she asked.
	"Yes, and muntain technology would have had no effect on them." he
replied.
	"That's what gives them their edge.  Not every race knows that
magic really exists." she surmised.
	"Correct." Orrin said.
	
	The cloaked man laughed out loud as the three gunships dropped off
sensor screen on the bridge of the great ship.  The little girl-child 
humpfed angrily and glowered at him.
	"The Setari is a greater threat then we previous thought." she
said.
	"And, you see how clever Washu is." the man said.
	"Yes, her scientific prowess is impressive.  If she could be 
seeded she would make an excellent addition." the child said.
	"You'd never be able to get her.  She is far too clever for you
to ever catch her." the man said.
	"You once captured her and imprisoned her." the child commented.
	"I got lucky.  She never suspected I would turn on her." the man
replied.
	"Why are they collecting dark matter?" the child asked suddenly.
	"Its has unique properties, and one of those is the ability to
stabalize and close quantum rifts." the man answered.
	"We cannot let them live to reach Earth.  We will deal with this
Setari and Washu ourselves." the child said.  She turned towards the
creatures and humanoids on the bridge.  "Set course for the Setari's
ship, flank speed." she ordered.

	The second the attack came Tenchi realized that they were out-
classed.  These new Darklings must be 2nd stage, he thought, as he
summoned more Light Hawk Wings around himself.  These creatures were
taller than the first, they were not humanoid but had six tenticles,
and had an elongated head that remembered the face of the creatres form the movie Aliens.  They had no wings or spikes on their bodies, and
they were all black from front to back, but on the tops of their heads
they still had those strange crystaline horns.
	What also made these Darkling so different was the speed that
they moved.  The teleported from place to place faster than Ryoko could
move, and they unleached powerful blasts of green energy from their
fanged mouths.  The beats were able to fly for limited distances using
flaps of flesh that expanded out between their tenticles, and the ends
of two of their tenticles ending in sharp sword-like blades.  It took
all the skill he could muster to deflect their attacks and he could
see that everyone else with exception of his grandfather was having a
hard time dealing them the creatures.  Tenchi was thrown serveral times
by powerful unseen forces across the lab, and then blasted by one of
creature's breath weapons.
	Ryoko had summoned up her own Light Hawk Wings and was fighting
for her life.  She was doing her best to keep the attacking Darklings
at bay but it was almost no use.  These monsters were immensely
powerful.  Using the limited flight power of the wings, Ryoko rushed
to where Aeka was struggling to maintain her force field to protect
Noboyuki, Sakuya and the alternate Tenchi.  Three Darklings hit her
light hawk wings at the same time with their breath weapons and she
felt as if she might loose on control over them.  She was enraged at
this point and dove in at them.  This took the creatures by surprise at
first, but then they counterattacked.  It was too late for one of the
monsters, however, as Ryoko's light hawk sword beheaded one of them.
	Tenchi saw the flash of green light and knew it was a Darkling
biting at the dust at his wife's hands.  He sent her a reasurring
thought and went on the offensive himself.  It was time they started
upping the antti a bit.  He leaped up, summoned the limited flight
power of the wings, and sailed over the creatures attacking him.  He
landed behind them and slashed them from behind.  They squealed in
pain and spun around to strike with their their sword tenticles.  They
turned around only to find him gone.  Tenchi phased up out of the floor
behind the creatures again and advanced on one before it knew he was
there and lobbed off its head.  The green blast alerted the others
and they turned and fired off their breath weapons sending Tenchi
flying into a nearby wall.
	Mihoshi and Khyone were running around through the lab firing
their weapons at anything that looked like a Darkling.  The beams were
having an effect, but they were not every powerful.  Two Darklings
pounced on them and forced the two GP officers to the floor.  They
picked them up in their tenticles and held them up to their hideous
faces.  The crystal horns on top of their heads started to glow and
the two women started to stuggle.  Suddenly, a blue misty aura formed
around the two women and it started to drift up towards the crystaline
horns on the Darkling's heads.  The women screemed as if in the throws
of an incrediably powerful organsm, since to females the feeling of
being drained of your lifeforce by a Darkling produced just such a
sensation.  Only in this case it was amplified a hundred times.  
	Tenchi heard the scremas and looked up from where he fell
and saw the whole scene.  The two women were screaming, their bodies
were twitching violently, and he could see the blue energy rising up
from them.  He suddenly relazed what he was seeing was two Darklings
feeding!
	"NO!" he cried as he charged the two Darklings.
	The two creatues looked at him in time to see his light hawk
sword come down on their necks killing them instantly.  The two women
fell to the floor after the bodies that held them disolved and lay on
the floor in fetal positions twitching with small sobbs.
	He kneeled down next to them and they leaped up and hugged him
letting out great cries.  "Its going to be alright, they're gone." he
tried to tell them, but there were more Darklings in the lab fighting
with the others.
	"I dont't want to feel like that ever again." Khyone cried.  "It
was like pain and pleasure all at the same time."
	Tenchi held them both close to him and let their sobs slowly
subside.  "Will you be alright, the others need my help." he said.
	Khyone looked into his eyes and wipped away the tears.  "Kick
their asses into the next universe for us, Tenchi." she said in a very
vemonous voice.
	"Anything you say, pretty lady." he said as he stood up.

	The heavily modified version of the Soja dropped out of warpspace
and started firing on the Kryton with its powerful weapons.  Orrin 
dodged around the first few shots, but one hit and it sent Washu flying
across the bridge.  She landed hard on her rump, groaned in indigantion,
and crawled back into her seat next to Orrin.  She scanned the ship
with her holopad and made a discovery that shocked her.  The eneergy
signatures of the weapons matched the original Soja, but how?
	The Kryton was now out of the nebula and flying towards the 
collection of dark matter they left behind.  Kryton caught the shield
generator with a tractor beam and they towed it along after them.  The
beams of the Soja traced around them as the ship weaved through them.
	"That thing is power." Orrin said.
	"It should be, I built it...its the same ship." Washu said.
	"Someone salvaged it?" Orrin said.
	"That's the only explanation I have right now." Washu replied.
	Suddenly the stone on the Star Gem Sword flared again, and then
dimmed slowly.
	"Oh, God!  What now?" Washu asked.Washu and	"Kryton, take control for a few minutes." Orrin said as he took sword hilt in his 
hands again and concentrated.
	Orrin found himself in Washu's lab, but it was different place.
The chamber was a mess with shattered walls, the tanks holding her
exotic sea creatures smashed, and all sorts of different pieces of 
equipment destroyed.  He heard the sound of battle behind him and he
looked to Tenchi and the others fighting a despirate battle to survive
against 2nd stage Darklings.  There were perhaps three dozen of the
creatures attacking them.  He witnessed Mihoshi and Khyone's attack and
their rescue by Tenchi.  He felt helpless since he was unable to help
them.  He wished them good luck, then heard a gasp.  He looked and saw
little Sasami looking straight as him.  Standing beside her was a women
who looked like an older version of her.  Tsunami realized.
	"Help them." Tsnuami pleaded.
	"I can't, I'm not really here." he replied.
	"They can't hold out much longer." Sasami cried.
	"Washu and I are on our way back." he said.
	"It will be too late by then." Tsunami said.
	Orrin was suddenly back on the bridge of the Kryton.  He was on 
the floor and Washu was crying over him.  He sat up and held her close
to him.  The ship was struck by a powerful energy blast that shook the
deck violently.
	"You completely collapsed.  I thought you died." she cried.  Her
shoulders were shacking.
	"Our friends are fighting a terrible battle back at your lab.
They are up against 2nd stage Darklings." he said.
	"How are they doing?" she asked wiping away the tears.
	"Not too good." he admitted.  "Sasami could see me, and I saw a
women, Tsunami I think."
	"They could see you?" Washu asked.
	"Yes." he said.
	"That means you astro projected there!" she exclaimed, and she
leaped up to her holopad.  She started tapping at it furiously and then
smiled back at him.  Washu-bots A and B popped up and cheered her on
again.  "Your the greatest, Washu!  You can do it Washu!  Go get'um
Washu!"
	"You have an idea?" he asked as he sat back down beside her.
	"Its a hunch, but if you can astro project yourself that far
across space, then maybe you can use that line-of-sight teleportation
power you said you have." she said.
	"I never tried it like that before." he said.
	Washu smiled lovingly at him.  "There is a first time for every-
thing, my dear."
	She finished her typing and some data came across her screen.  She
frwoned at it and then looked at him.  "You have a one in ten thousand
chance of being killed instantly if you try it." she said with a frown.
	Orrin grabs her hand and holds up the sword hilt.  "What's wrong,
do you really want to live forever." he said.  Before she could say
anything he concentrated on the gem again and astro projected back to
the lab.  They were both there together witnessing their friends loosing
the battle.  Suddenly, Orrin's body started to glow as she summoned his
power of teleportation.  On the bridge of the Kryton the two suddenly
vansihed with a flash of light.  In the lab, Orrin and Washu appeared
after a violent blast of light and sound.  The Darklings looked towards
the disturbance and suddenly felt the presence of the Star Gem Sword
and its power.  Orrin summoned the blade of the weapon and threw him-
self into the battle.
	Tenchi witnessed Washu and Orrins's appearance and blinked in
surprise, but then smiled with glee as Orrin launched into the fight
with his sword charged up.  Washu summoned her holopad and started to
call up the automated defenses of the lab.  Dozens of small blasters,
each modified using a magical gem to strenghten them, started firing on
the Darklings.  Orrin teleported around the chamber at lightning speed
almost as fast as the Darklings themselves, and beheaded three of them
before they even knew he was there.  Seeing their alien friend now
joined in the fight gave the others new strength and determination, 
and they ran into the frey.
	Ryoko's withering light hawk wings were renewed with a new
power and she charged issuing a loud battlecry like Tarzan's call of
the wild.  She sung her sword, deflecting several tenticle sword
strikes, and beheading two other Darklings.  The tide of the battle
suddenly turned against the Darklings as everyone charged in and
join Orrin.

	The last Darkling was killed by Orrin and the alternate
Ryoko fighting together, and they landed on the floor of the lab
out of breath and exhausted.  Tenchi and the others ran up to them,
and Washu threw her arms around Orrin.  He collapsed to the
floor and she helped him sit up.  Kryton ran up to them and
announced that his ship body was in orbit now, and that the
Soja was following not far behind.  This caught the attention of
both Ryokos.
	"What do you mean the Soja?" they asked in unison.
	"We fight a ship exactly like the Soja, but this one was 
altered by the Darklings." Washu said.
	"But I destroyed the Soja when we fought Kagato." Tenchi said.
	"It looks like they put it back together." Orrin said.
	"At least that bastard Kagato is dead." Ryoko said.

	On the bridge of the Soja the cloaked man watched the child 
scream in indignation at the holoscreen as her Darkling forces began to 
wink out of existsnace one after another.  He just laughed and then 
turned to her and looked her in the eyes.
	"Tenchi Masaki must be behind this." he said.
	"That and the champion of the Elo'Quin.  He is no longer on the
Setari ship." the child spat.
	"How is that possible?  Even Ryoko cannot teleport that far."
the man said.
	"Don't underestimate Elo'Quin magic." the child warned.
	"Don't underestimate the power of the Light Hawk Wings." the man
said.
	"Perhaps its time we dealt with this situation ourselves." the 
child said.
	The man looked at her for a second, and then smiled an evil grin
from under his cloak.
	"I knew you'd like that idea." the child smiled seductively back
at him and transformed into an adult form wearing a tight black battle
suite.
	"Let us go then." the man said.

	Back in the subspace lab everyone was recovering from the fight
with the Darklings.  The lab itself was trashed with almost everything
destroyed, and this really annoyed Washu.  She sat with Orrin who was
feeling drained from the fight and from teleporting both of them over
such a vast distance of several lightyears.  She rubbed his back with
her hand and squeezed his hand which she held in her hand.  She knew he
would be leaving once the rift was closed, but she would give him all
the love she had while he was here.
	"We collected a great deal of dark matter, so I hope is will he
enough." Washu explained to the others.
	"The Soja is five minutes from Earth orbit, sire." Kryton warned.
	"I can't believe they found the wreckage of the Soja." Ryoko
said.  "Of all the ships in the universe, why that one?"
	"Kryton, start moving the dark matter into the containment unit
so we can get it into the rift." Orrin ordered.
	"Doing that now.  How are we going to insert the dark matter into
the rift, sire?" Kryton asked.
	"We need to shoot the containment unit into the rift and blow it
open at thr right moment or the dark matter will not have an effect."
Washu said.
	Orrin stood up and he looked into her eyes.  He saw her love for
him there and he wished he could stay here with her forever, but he
knew his destiny was elsewhere.  He longed to be in her arms again, but
knew it would be possible.  He held her and kissed her passionately
feeling as if he could never let her go, but he parted from her and 
walked backwards away from her.
	"This part is way to dangerous to risk any of you." he said.
	"What are you saying, I am coming with you to help." Washu said.
	"No, if I don't make it back from this, remember me." he said and
suddenly he held up his sword, the Star Gem flared for a second, and
then he and the avitar Kryton vanished.
	"I love you, Washu." came his voice as if from a far away place.
	"NO!  Come back to me!" Washu cried as she tried to reach him, but
it was too late.  She collapsed to the floor and revereted to her 
younger self and cried into her hands.  Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko kneeled
down beside her and patted her shoulder reassuringly, but nothing would
consul her.  Tenchi put her head to his chest and let the scientist cry
her eyes out.  All they do now was wait to be saved, or wait for the
world to end.
_____________
End of Chapter Nine...

The conclusion of Episode One:  Chapter Ten - The Final Encounter is 
coming soon...stay tuned for Episode Two.

If you enjoyed this fan fic series let me know at zorch@the-zorch.com.