Disclaimer : I do not in any way own the characters whom I
am now putting through sheer hell and utter torment.  I do
own the characters that are putting them through that hell,
even though they are cheesy rip off’s of god knows how many
other fan fics.  Please don’t sue me, cause I have no money
to give you, and I shit you not.  Arigato.

************************************************************

TENCHI MUYO : DARKEST HELL - Chapter II : THE DARK EMPIRE

Tenchi groaned, and rubbed his weak eyes.  Before him stood
his grandfather and Sasami and his mind was flooded with
images of a surreal experience, one that he was convinced of
it’s unreality.

	“Oh, man… what happened?” Tenchi asked.  His
grandfather stepped up to him…

	Meanwhile, in the vastness of space, there was a flurry
of activity.  Just beyond the moons orbit, the blackness
became distorted, and soon the area was completely full of
black, ugly ships.  Their color matched evenly with the dark
surroundings, making them nearly invisible to the naked eye…

	“What?” Tenchi asked his grandfather, utterly confused. 
A demon?  Then, Tenchi realized something and smiled.  “Hah…
you’re funny Grandpa.  Man… I had the strangest dream
though…”

	As the sun’s soft kiss descended over the cloud covered
surface of the Earth, a fleet of massive warships began to
breach the outer lithosphere, plunging to Earth like fallen
angels…

	“Tenchi, I don’t think it was a dream…” Sasami
returned.  As the pieces of Tenchi’s tattered memory began
to reattach themselves, Tenchi began to suspect so too. 
Tenchi heard his grandfather sigh as he began to talk.

	“Well, whatever it was, I’m sure it’s not over yet…”
Katsuhito added grimly as he heard Nobuyuki and Ayeka groan. 
He turned and saw them stir.  

	Above the Masaki house, the black, evil clouds slowly
began to part, letting in only the faintest amount of
sunlight.  But, even that small amount was soon drowned out
by the huge ships plunging through the hole in the sky…

	“I think everything’s going to be okay…” Tenchi said
hopefully as he watched Sasami tightly hug his father and
Ayeka.  Next to him, Ryoko’s slumped form began to twitch as
consciousness slowly washed over her.  Tenchi’ s hopes for
“everything being okay” were stripped away when the house
suddenly shook violently, knocking over various items and
breaking the weaker ones.  The fright building up in him,
Tenchi tossed the covers off of him and ran to the window. 
Fearfully, Tenchi flung the curtains wide open and gazed out
into the sky.  He saw the evil looking ships hovering almost
silently above his house, and how the clouds twisted and
conformed to them, as if they were under their control.  The
sky was absolutely full of these ominous black ships, and
they all surrounded his house.  The largest one loomed
closer still, until it was only twenty or so feet from the
surface.  From the dark, convoluted nose of the ship, a
bright light flashed ever so slightly as a green beam of
energy slammed into the ground.  The soft dirt became hot,
brittle rock as a form slowly emerged from the green energy. 
Tenchi gazed upon the intruder, his mind and body knowing
only one emotion, fear.  

	“Oh god…” Tenchi muttered as he took a step backward. 
He still stared at the figure, who was clothed in black.  He
wore a thick, biomechanical armor and a long flowing cape
that seemed to have a life of it’s own.  Tenchi noticed that
as he walked, he left all sorts of spectral trails behind
him, almost as if he was some sort of effect in some movie. 
He watched as the dark figure slowly looked up at him, their
eyes meeting.  Tenchi saw the blackness in the eyes of his
skull-like face mask, and deep down, he noticed a small red
light.  Tenchi blinked and shook his head, as if he just
broke himself away from some trance.  The monstrosity rose
it’s vile, spiked hand and pointed at Tenchi as the light in
his black eyes grew even brighter.  Suddenly, the house
seemed to convulse violently.  The walls began to crack and
Tenchi’s mirror shattered into a million little pieces. 
Sasami screamed loudly as she hung onto Ayeka, who was
screaming too.  Ryoko looked all around her at the shaking
house, her body trembling.  Tenchi fought the urge to scream
and he took a final look at the evil one.  The glowing in
his eyes was now blinding as the red light poured from them
like blood.  Tenchi saw them flare immensely a mere second
before he was tossed across the room by some invisible
force, much stronger than he.  He smacked against the wall
with a thud, and groaned as he slowly sunk to the floor.  

	“TENCHI!” Ryoko screamed as she teleported to his side,
helping him back to his feet.  Tenchi was still groaning and
wobbled slightly when Ryoko heard Sasami scream.  She turned
around and saw that the drapes had caught on fire.  Soon,
other places began to instantaneously combust and soon the
whole house as ablaze.  Tenchi regained a small amount of
the senses knocked out of him and forced himself to stand
straight.

	“EVERYONE… RUN!” Tenchi shouted as loud as his winded
voice could carry.  And his obvious advice was well heeded,
for everyone headed for the door.  Tenchi saw his father
pick up the still unconscious Washu and run out of the room. 
Ayeka and Sasami followed Katsuhito as he led them down the
stairs to the burning living room.  Still having trouble
standing, Tenchi began to hobble out, with help from Ryoko. 
His hallway was illuminated with dancing blades of fire that
seemed to reach for the two with unbridled ferocity. 
Finally, they made it to the stairs.  

	‘This is taking too long!’ Ryoko thought to herself,
and attempted to teleport.  But, to her surprise, she
couldn’t.  Her attempts to fly were also met with failure.  

	“Come on Ryoko!” Tenchi said as he limped down the
stairs.  Gritting her teeth and cussing under her breath,
she ran down the stairs after Tenchi.  The two dodged the
fire at every turn, their clothes being singed viciously. 
Ryoko heard Tenchi cough profusely and doubled her efforts
to hurry out of the fiery house.  Soon, Tenchi collapsed,
unable to breath in the heavy smoke.  

	“TENCHI!” Ryoko screamed over the loud sound of the
fire destroying their once beautiful home.  She bent down to
help him up and lifted his convulsing, limp body.  Overhead,
she heard a creaking noise, as did Tenchi.  Still hacking up
a lung, Tenchi looked upward and saw Ryoko’s napping beam
shatter, splinter and fall.  Not thinking about himself, or
much of anything for that matter, Tenchi summoned as much
strength as he could and tossed Ryoko out of the path of
danger.  She flew across the room and slammed against the
wall, knocking her partially unconscious.  Tenchi tried
summoning the Light Hawk Wings, but much to his surprise,
they wouldn’t appear.  Tenchi looked up at the beam with a
whimper as it fell on him with a loud CRASH, and a smaller,
sickening “Crunch”.  Everything around Tenchi then faded
into a deep darkness…

************************************************************

	Ayeka managed to make it outside with Sasami unharmed,
but then she heard a dull thump and a loud crash.  She
turned around and ran back toward the burning inferno that
used to be their home, praying for everyone’s safety.  She
coughed and squinted through the smoke and bright fire, and
saw Ryoko sprawled across the floor.  Before she was burned
alive, Ayeka pulled the only barely conscious Ryoko through
the burning threshold.  She turned around when she heard
Sasami screaming again.  Before her stood several figures,
clothed in similar, albeit less elaborate, armor and capes
as the creature that set the house on fire.  In their hands
were objects resembling the Master Key, but longer and more
red.  From the top protruded a blood red blade.  It hummed
with energy and seemed surrounded with a menacing glow. 
When one of them took a step forward, he found himself
fighting for his life, for Katsuhito was slamming into him
with his blue energy blade.  When the soldier finally
managed to regain his posture, he returned a volley of well
placed hits, but nothing Katsuhito couldn’t easily parry. 
Everyone was sure Katsuhito would win, but their hope faded
when he barely ducked under the blade of a second attacker. 
Katsuhito leapt up into the air and landed a few feet away
readying himself for the next attack.  The two soldiers
walked up to him, their stances identical.  Suddenly, the
two villains put their swords down, plunging them into the
ground.  Determined to take the opportunity, but remaining
cautious, Katsuhito carefully, and quickly, slashed at the
two, but his blade never hit.  The Blue Blade seemed to
phase through them like Ryoko phases through walls. 
Katsuhito gasped as he leapt over the two, dodging their
return strikes.  Still, he remained and fought the two
creatures, determined not to let them touch the others. 
During the battle, he looked around and saw that they were
surrounded by hundreds of them, all standing and staring at
the battle, their capes swaying in the wind.  

************************************************************

	Washu finally regained consciousness, and was startled
by the loud battlecries Katsuhito let loose and saw the
strange figures gathering around them.  But something about
them didn’t seem right.  They didn’t seem to be there, but
they were.  It was almost as if they were trapped between
two dimensions…

	Washu then focused on Katsuhito, and saw his losing
battle.  With a thought, he sent a message to Ryo-oki, who
ran out into the carrot patch, but had not yet seen the
soldiers.

	‘RYO-OKI!’ Washu’s voice echoed in the cabbit’s head.

	“Meow?” Ryo-oki answered.

	‘GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!’ Washu shouted
desperately.  Ryo-oki nodded her cabbit head and leapt into
the air, transforming into her crystalline ship form.  But,
just when she was about to go to the rescue, Ryo-oki found
herself under a massive barrage of laser fire.  Light blue
lasers flooded all over her, slamming into her hull. 
Meowing in pain, Ryo-oki made her way to the group,  who
were under attack by the strange intruders.  Knowing she is
outnumbered and outclassed, Ryo-oki promptly snatched up the
distressed group with her teleportation beam and pushed past
the large hail of weapons fire and finally made it out of
Earth’s orbit.  Ayeka looked out at the Earth, and saw that
it was surrounded by thousands of those evil ships.

	“Oh my god…” Ayeka muttered as she placed a trembling
hand over her mouth.  

	However, back on Earth, all the soldiers began to fade
away until only one was left.  The last remaining figure
walked back to the burning house.  His eyes flashed briefly,
and the fire mysteriously stopped.  He walked up to the
charred threshold and passed through it.  The wood began to
crack and part, as if it was being pushed away by the mere
presence of the figure.  Finally, the figure stopped in 
front of a large, scorched beam.  With a wave of his hand,
the beam shattered into thousands of small pieces, revealing
the burnt, broken body of Tenchi.  The side of his face that
the beam connected with was torn and smashed, with the bone
showing.  He was also missing an eyeball.  The vile figure’s
eyes flashed slightly as he bent down and grasped the dead
boy’s limp neck…

************************************************************

	“Who… were those… things…” Ayeka muttered in between
sobs.  She was still in shock over the events of the last
few hours.  

	“My guess is that they were the Dark Juraians…”
Katsuhito added from the background.  Ayeka and Washu gasped
at the revelation.   Sasami and Nobuyuki blinked, confused.  

	“Who are the Dark Juraians?”  Nobuyuki asked.

	“On Jurai, there are legends of a great war between the
gods.  The Dark Juraians were creations of the God of
Darkness, as we, the Juraians were created by the Goddess of
light.  But, the legends say that they were defeated and
cast into another realm!  How can they be here?”

	“Yuzuha…” Washu added, her eyes widening at the
revelation.

	“WHAT?” Ayeka screamed.  Washu looked over at her.

	“Yuzuha was the spirit of the Tree of Darkness.  When
she died, so did the tree.  They must have come back for
revenge.”  Katsuhito grumbled before Washu could talk.  

	“So you’re saying that these guys are like the opposite
of you Juraians?” Nobuyuki asked innocently.

	“If it’s one thing you should have learned, Nobuyuki,
is that the Juraians aren’t that lovable to be these guy’s
opposites…” Washu chided.  Ayeka turned a deep shade of red.  

	“So… what are they?” Sasami asked.

	“I don’t know.   Their leader, from what I could sense,
had all the energy signatures of a Higher Dimensional Life
form, but he can manipulate the physical world around him
too easily.  That thing’s very existence is a paradox…”
Washu mumbled, “ but, if want my best guess, they somehow
managed to break through to our universe.  Someone let them
in, and there is only one being that I can guess must have
let them in…”

	“Tokimi…” Sasami added.  The rest of the group looked
on at them, totally perplexed.  

	“Now, if you would please make some SENSE of all this!”
Ayeka demanded.

	“Fine.  These things are some sort of alternate
dimensional life form.  They were created in the legendary
war between the gods, and were used as some sort of
soldiers.  That’s all they are.  They don’t feel, they don’t
love, they just follow orders.  Their war machines, and
whoever’s running them has a grudge against us because we
destroyed their precious tree.  Apparently, for some unknown
reason, Tokimi, someone who you shouldn’t concern yourself
with, granted them access into our world.  I don’t know,
maybe she thought she could control them.  This is the
explanation I’m willing to bet my money on.” Washu argued.

	“How do you know so much?” Nobuyuki asked her.

	“This is all merely a hypothesis, an educated guess,
but I think this one might be right.”  Washu answered
grimly.  

	“TENCHI!” Someone screamed from behind.  The group
turned around and saw that Ryoko had finally regained
consciousness.  Everyone ran over to her.  Ryoko wobbled
onto her feet and ran to the center of Ryo-oki.  

	“Ryo-oki!  Where’s Tenchi!?” Ryoko screamed.  Ayeka had
an incredulous look on her face.

	“What do you mean Ryoko, Tenchi’s right here…” Ayeka
began to say, but stopped herself when she looked around and
didn’t see Tenchi.  No one did, but they all assumed he was
there.

	“Where IS Tenchi?” Sasami asked.  The look on Ryoko’s
face went from worried to totally distressed…

	“Ryo-oki, locate Tenchi!  PLEASE!”  Ryoko pleaded. 
Ryo-oki meowed in compliance.  Suddenly, a monitor appeared
with a picture of Earth.  A small green square flowed onto
the area of the Earth where Japan resided.  The image
blurred as it zoomed in, and refocused a few meters above
the scorched Masaki house.  Ryoko stared at the monitor,
waiting to see Tenchi, but the picture never came.

	“Well?  Where is he!?” Ayeka yelled at the cabbit /
space ship.  Ryo-oki meowed solemnly.

	“What do you MEAN you can’t show me?  Why?” Ryoko
asked, angered to the point of tears.

	“Meow…” Ryo-oki eventually said in a barely audible
tone.

	“Wha… what!?  No… don’t say that, please don’t say
that….” Ryoko muttered as she began to sob.  Ayeka and
Nobuyuki were surprised, and wondering what the two were
chatting about.  Washu fell to her knees, crying, bringing
Ayeka and Nobuyuki out of their small trance.  Ayeka looked
over at Sasami, and saw the look of sheer terror in her
face, and how vacant her eyes had become.  A chill began
running up Ayeka’s spine, and, after some internal debate,
finally understood what was going on.  Nobuyuki saw Ayeka’s
face turn white and her whole body begin to tremble, and
wondered what the hell is going on.

	“Washu… What’s happening?  What’s going on?  Where’s
Tenchi…” Nobuyuki said, but as he heard himself talk, it
clicked…

	“No… please Washu, don’t tell me that Tenchi’s…”
Nobuyuki began to say, but before he could finish, a
consoling hand dropped onto his shoulder.  He turned around
to see a distraught Katsuhito.  He also noticed that he
wouldn’t look him in the face.  A wave of nausea washed over
Nobuyuki as reality suddenly smacked him in the head. 
Katsuhito watched as Nobuyuki joined Washu on the floor,
crying his eyes out.  Out of the corner of his tear streaked
eye, he saw Ryoko stand up straight.  He turned and saw the
angered look in her eyes and how she grit her teeth.  

	“I’ll _*KILL*_ you bastards!” Ryoko shouted as she
glared at the large black ships on the monitor.  She
clenched her fists tight, her knuckles whitening.  Before
she could do anything, she felt a strong hand grasp her
wrist.  She turned her head and saw Katsuhito, his face
stern,  yet completely devoid of happiness or hope.  Behind
him stood Washu, her face eerily matching his…

	“We have to get out of here, Ryoko.  Come on, before
they decide to come after us.”  Washu told her daughter. 
The anger in Ryoko’s face drained away, and was replaced by
insurmountable grief.  Ryoko literally flew into Washu’s
waiting arms, crying harder than she ever had before.  The
atmosphere of the room was dismal and depressing, as
everyone mourned the loss of the one person who held them
together, the one person whom they all loved.  Ryo-oki, too,
mourned the loss of Tenchi, but knew better than to attack
his murderers head on.  Somberly, Ryo-oki decided to head to
the only other place they could go.

	“Ryo… Ryo-oki, where are we going?” Sasami asked the
living space ship when she saw the stars streak by.  A
monitor came up, showing the planet of Jurai. 

************************************************************

	Out in space, in an insignificant solar system, a tiny
blue planet orbited around it’ s medium sized star.  Around
this planet orbited a small moon and hundreds of tiny
satellites.  But also orbiting this planet were hundreds of
huge warships, armed to the teeth and black as pitch.  In
the center of all these ships was a larger, more corrupt
ship.  Inside this vile ship are hundreds upon thousands of
glowing red vats, full of a thick, viscous liquid which gave
them their color.  Inside one of these cylindrical vats
floats a person.  His body is scarred and he doesn’t move. 
But suddenly, his limp hand twitches ever so slightly…

	“Did you find the girl?” a voice called from the
darkness.  

	“Yes.  She’s being prepared for the vats as we speak.” 
Answered a vile winged individual, clad in a large flowing
death robe.

	“Was there trouble?” The voice asked.

	“We met some resistance from the human who shares the
avatar’s bloodline.  Dispatching her was no trouble.”

	“Good.  You know of my plans for this child.  See to it
that they come to pass.”

	“It will be done.  What about your plan to awaken the
Demon of Darkness?  What shall you have me do?”

	“I leave the finer details to your very capable hands. 
We must dispatch of our enemies in this realm first, then we
shall see of his resurrection.”

	“What about the Earth?” the winged creature asked in
his deep, dark, unnatural voice.  

	“Destroy it.  They are nothing.  As for the Avatar, he
is now mine.  We will become one and those who contravene me
will die a slow painful death.  His hell begins… NOW!”  The
darkness spoke as two bright red lights shown from the
darkness.  

	Suddenly, the man in the vat lurched forward, his fists
and feet slamming into the clear walls of the vat.  He
convulsed violently, slamming harder into the vat, cracking
it.  Soon, the thrashing calmed, and the man was still. 
Inside the vat, two bright red lights poured through the
thick liquid, glowing menacingly into the darkness…

************************************************************

	“Ayeka… Sasami… you’ve returned.” Emperor Azusa
muttered, pleasantly surprised.  He watched his children
walk in, surrounded by their friends.  They bowed before
him.  Azusa gazed at the group, and noticed the absence of
that Tenchi kid.  His attention focused onto his daughters
and son, and saw their immensely saddened faces.  

	“Things didn’t quite work out on Earth, eh?” Azusa said
with a smirk.  Now finally things were going to be back to
normal.  Even his son returned, which is a feet in itself. 
He stopped smiling to himself when he saw Sasami’s face, and
how it seemed to shatter like broken china.  The tears
streamed from her face.  

	“Azusa… is someone here?  Oh… SASAMI!” A voice came
from behind Azusa.  It was Misaki.  At first she was
irritably overjoyed, but then she saw how much her daughters
were crying.  

	“Oh, my… what happened?” Misaki asked as she ran up to
Sasami and Ayeka.

	“M… mommy…” Sasami sobbed as she hugged her mother. 
Ayeka joined her as they cried, sobbing their royal eyes
out, almost driving Misaki to the point of tears.  Azusa
wasn’t sure how to handle this.  What in the hell could have
happened  to them to induce such a reaction?

	“Does someone mind filling me in on what has happened?”
Azusa asked gruffly.  

	“He’s dead…” Ayeka cried as she grasped onto her
mother.  

	“Who is?” Asked another voice from behind.  Funaho
entered the room through the same door Misaki used.  Her
face was completely concerned after hearing of someone’s
death.  She took one look at the crowd and made a guess of
who it was.

	“Tenchi… he’s dead…” Ryoko said from the background. 
Funaho’s suspicions were confirmed as a tear fell down her
cheek.  

	“Oh no…” Misaki mumbled as she clutched onto her
daughters even tighter.  Funaho walked over to Yosho and
Nobuyuki, and gave them a gentle hug.  Nobuyuki grasped onto
her and let loose any grief he still had.  Yosho remained
tight lipped and tried to suppress his sadness, as always. 
Funaho began to weep to, and Yosho hugged onto his mother
tighter, trying unsuccessfully to make her feel better. 
Azusa looked deep within himself to find the urge to mourn
that little whelp, but he couldn’t find enough reason to.  

	‘So?  Good, now the little brat’s out of my hair.’
Azusa thought as he lightly touched his beard.  But then he
saw how sad his daughters were, how much they missed that
Earthling.  If Azusa had one weak spot, it was his family. 
He wanted so much for them to be happy, and now, because of
that little jerk’s death, they are far too sad for his
tastes.  Azusa took a deep breath and walked over to his
daughters.  Ayeka promptly broke her hug with her mother and
embraced her father, still sobbing deeply.  

	“Who did this?” Azusa asked Yosho sternly. 

	“The Dark Juraians.” He answered.

	“Bah!  You’re kidding!  The Dark Juraians are just a
fairy tale told to little children when they disobeyed their
parents!”

	“But Father!  The stories are true!  Everything!  If it
weren’t for Ryo-oki, Yosho, and Ryoko, we’d ALL be dead by
now…”  Ayeka argued.  Then the full content of her words hit
her and she wept even deeper, seizing her father even
tighter. 

	Azusa sighed.  His daughters weren’t prone to lying,
and their current emotional state confirmed his belief. 
Even though the merest thought of the so called “Dark
Juraians”  causes him to scoff, Azusa believed everything
his children told him.  

	“Whoever they are, they will pay for this intrusion. 
Ayeka… you have full control of the fleet.  If they are
strong enough to kill the boy who can produce the Wings of
the Light Hawk, then we must hunt them down and destroy
them.  But first, I suggest that you, all of you, get some
sleep.  You look like you need it.” Azusa said, somewhat
reluctantly.  He was happy his children have finally
returned, but the somber atmosphere tugged at his carefully
concealed heart strings.  

	“Thank you, father.  I think we should rest for a
while.  It has been a long… long… trip.”  Muttered Ayeka as
she forced a smile.  

	“What!?  Whatta ya MEAN rest!?  You want to catch some
Z’s while those bastards that killed Tenchi are still
roaming around out there!?” Ryoko shouted from behind.  

	“Ryoko…” Ayeka began to say.

	“No!  I don’t wanna HEAR it!  Fine, stay here!  But I’m
not going to sit around here and let those monsters run
free!  You disgust me…” Ryoko shouted as she grimaced and
stomped off, slamming the massive oaken doors.  Ayeka sighed
as her posture became hunched over, her body reacting to the
lack of rest.  She attempted to regain her sovereignty as a
short, beady eyed servant boy led her to her quarters.  She
gazed around her old room, soaking in the memories and
reliving her youth.  She sat down in her old chair and
stared out her old window at the eternally colossal
universe.  She watched as Ryo-oki soared into the great
unknown at a mind-boggling pace.  Then, soon after, she fell
asleep.

************************************************************

	The warm sun shone brightly as the large waves crashed
to shore, throwing up massive amounts of mist into the fresh
coastal air.  On the sandy seashore lies Ryoko on a beach
towel, sunning herself and purring contentedly.  With her
eyes closed behind her, Ryoko flipped onto her stomach,
sighing comfortably.  Suddenly, a shadow cast down over her,
blocking out the pleasantly warm sunlight.  The figure
lurched closer and closer, looming near the oblivious Ryoko. 
The figure stopped a few inches away from Ryoko, and bent
ever nearer.  The figure then grasped her shoulder, breaking
Ryoko out of her semi-conscious state of relaxation.  Ryoko
turned herself over and gazed up and the figure, the
sunlight blocking her view.  As the light calmed, and the
figure’s facial became more noticeable, Ryoko recognized who
the figure was.

	“Hello Tenchi!  Having fun?” Ryoko asked sweetly, a
smile crossing her face.

	“Yeah.  Man, I really needed this, to get away from it
all.  I don’t know how to thank you, Ryoko.” Tenchi said, a
similar smile crossing his face.  For a few seconds, the two
just stared at each other, love burning in their eyes. 
Suddenly, Ryoko moved to her side, facing Tenchi, the
burning love in her eyes turning into fiery lust.  

	“I know one way…” Ryoko winked as she move in close to
Tenchi, their lips meeting in a wild, passionate kiss. 
Tenchi’s arms went around Ryoko, embracing her lovingly. 
Ryoko resumed her contented purring when she felt Tenchi
undoing her top.  

	“Oh, Tenchi… you animal…” Ryoko said as she opened her
eyes, but, Tenchi was no longer there.  Confused, Ryoko
looked around excitedly.  Out of the corner of her eye, she
spotted Tenchi, several hundred yards away, waving to her.  

	“Tenchi!” Ryoko shouted.  Suddenly, Tenchi began to
walk away.  

	“TENCHI!  Wait up!”  Ryoko screamed as she reattached
her top and ran after the retreating Tenchi, the soft sand
flying into the air.  She watched as Tenchi passed over a
sand dune and disappeared, and soon ascended the dune
herself, only to see a strangely familiar, old, haunted
looking house.  She looked around her and the land was flat
and barren, and all traces of the beach were gone, having
vanished into thin air.  Ryoko looked down and noticed that
she was in her regular red top and denim shorts, instead of
her kinky bathing suit.  Ryoko’s thoughts were interrupted
when she watched Tenchi walk into the house, casually
looking up at her as he did so.  

	“Tenchi!” Ryoko uttered, her hand outstretched.  Ryoko
took a second to notice how eerily still the air is, almost
like the calm before the storm.  She looked up and confirmed
her suspicions.  The sky was crisscrossed with huge, black
storm clouds, flashes of lightning illuminating their
interior.  Ryoko ran toward the house, preparing for the
worst.  As she reached the door, Ryoko paused and took a
deep breath, preparing her for the worst.  Slowly, she
reached for the knob and turned it, opening the door ever so
slightly.  When the door was opened just enough, a force,
almost like a fierce wind, pushed Ryoko into the creepy,
creaking house.  

	“Oh god…” Ryoko muttered when, all of a sudden, she was
surrounded by massive towers of flame.  All around, she saw
her old home burning.  Trying to avoid the fire, Ryoko ran
into the living room, and was confronted by a ghastly sight. 
In front of her was her napping beam, plus a large section
of the ceiling and parts of the other beams, all of it
blazing.  Under her beam lies a familiar form.  She ran up
to the beam, only to see Tenchi, broken, battered, and
bruised.  Suddenly, the prone form of Tenchi stared up at
her with dead eyes.

	“Ryoko!  I thought you loved me!  You promised me that
we would die together, didn’t you?” Tenchi asked, his bloody
face oddly melancholy for a dead man.  Tenchi grasped
Ryoko’s wrist before she had a chance to run away.  She
screamed as the fire grew higher and higher, it’s roar
nearly deafening.  Ryoko’s eyes suddenly shot open when she
felt something light an fluffy fall upon her shoulder.  She
opened her eyes and was blinded by the whiteness.  She
blinked her eyes several times and looked up, seeing small
white flakes falling from the cloudy sky.  One landed on her
nose, tickling it slightly before it melted from her body
heat.  

	“Snow?” Ryoko asked herself, not expecting an answer. 
From a short distance away, she heard the laugh of a small
child.  She turned around to see Tenchi, maybe seven or
eight years old, leaping into the air, trying to catch the
snowflakes as they fell.  Ryoko was awestruck, seeing the
young boy she loved like her own once again.  Slowly, she
approached him, expecting only to watch.  She saw Tenchi
turn around, his playful face replaced by a confused one.

	“Who are you?  Are you here to see Grandpa?” Tenchi
asked Ryoko.  Ryoko almost jumped back several feet, not
expecting to be seen at all.  

	“You… you can see me?” Ryoko asked, still astonished. 
Tenchi smiled and giggled slightly.

	“Of course, silly!  Who could miss a pretty girl like
you?”  Tenchi answered, his innocence beaming off of him
like light.  Ryoko smiled at the complement and neared the
boy.  Ryoko looked at the snowman Tenchi had just built, and
pointed to it.

	“Who’s this?”

	“That’s my daddy.  He should be home any minute…”
Tenchi said as he looked over at the shrine steps.  Ryoko
turned and looked too, and saw Nobuyuki somberly walking up
the steps.  

	“Daddy!” Tenchi shouted happily.  Seeing Nobuyuki
jogged Ryoko’s memory, and then she knew what will happen. 
This was to be the most tragic day in Tenchi’s life, the day
his mother died.  

	“Oh, no…” Ryoko said.  

	“Hey!  Where… where’d you go?” Tenchi asked with a
perplexed look on his face.

	“I’m right here…” Ryoko returned, waving her hand.  But
she received no response.  Tenchi couldn’t see her, no
matter how much she waved or shouted.  

	“Oh god…” Ryoko said as Nobuyuki climbed the last step. 
She could only watch and listen as Nobuyuki told his son
about the tragic death of his mother.  She saw the shocked
and dismayed expression on Tenchi’s face and watched as he
started to cry.  Ryoko felt like she had just been crushed
by a two ton beam, as she too began to cry.  She hated that
she couldn’t be there to comfort Tenchi in his time of need. 
But, then, the scene changed.  Instead of Nobuyuki falling
to his knees to consul Tenchi, he merely took a step back. 
Ryoko saw Nobuyuki’s eyes glow red and his lips turn a pale
blue.  Nanoseconds before she could react, several long,
strong, decaying arms flew forth from the snow, grasping
Ryoko’s arms and legs, and wouldn’t let go, no matter how
much she kicked and screamed.  She watched as Nobuyuki
gradually turned into an evil demon, a demon that seemed to
only be made from darkness, like a living shadow.  The
stench of death hung heavily over the horrid creature as it
stared vilely at the young boy.  Before Tenchi could run,
the demon charged, grasping the child by the neck.  Ryoko
felt like retching as she watched the demon tear apart and
viciously murder the little boy, his blood staining the
perfect white snow below him.  Ryoko screamed in rage as she
struggled even harder to free herself, only drawing the
demon’s attention toward her.  The demon surrounded the
pinned and confined Ryoko, until the only thing she could
see was the demon’s blood red eyes.

	“Death is the only way out…” The demon said as the eyes
lurched ever closer.

************************************************************

	Suddenly, Ryoko shot up, her eyes wide in terror.  She
gleamed with sweat and her chest heaved, as if her lungs
wanted to escape from her chest.  Ryoko took a moment to
observe her surroundings.  She saw the easily recognizable
bridge of Ryo-oki, her crystals shining in the light shining
from Sol.  Ryoko shook her head and rose out of her chair,
her body trembling.  She stumbled her way across the deck
and looked out at the Asteroid belt.  The position of the
Star and of all the asteroids produced an eerie light
effect, both welcoming, and disheartening, to Ryoko, the
shaken space pirate.  She took several deep,  calming
breaths as she watched Mars fly by in mere seconds, and
Earth not far in the distance.  The planet that had been her
home for hundreds of years now seemed alien to her for some
unknown reason.  And, as she neared closer and closer, she
swore to herself that something was missing from the small,
blue planet.  Then it hit her…

	“Crap!  Their GONE!” Ryoko shouted, not seeing the
ships she had come to seek revenge on.  The anger in her
welled, until Ryo-oki “Meowed” worriedly.

	“What?  Show me.” Ryoko commanded.  Then, suddenly,
several monitors appeared, showing various energy charts,
all of them rising above the DANGER zone.  One the other
monitor, Ryoko saw numerous images of people, young and old,
screaming in pain and agony.  She saw a shot of Tokyo, and
saw the whole city was on fire, the ground rising into the
air, as if the planet lost it’s gravity.  Ryoko’s teary eyes
widened in shock and horror.

	“No!  NO!” Ryoko shouted, slamming her fists on
Ryo-oki’s transparent hull.  

	“MEOW!” Ryo-oki screamed as she began to back away from
Earth at a rapid pace.

	“RYO-OKI!  WHAT’RE YOU DOING!  WE HAVE TO HELP THEM!”
Ryoko shouted, but then, Earth was encased in a blinding
white light.  By the time the light faded enough for her to
see, Ryoko knew that Earth was gone.  The planet was
replaced by a massive quantity of asteroids and debris.  It
was almost like the Earth was torn apart, rather than
exploded.  Ryoko fell to her knees, crying wildly. 
Suddenly, behind Ryoko, a monitor popped on, showing a
Galaxy Police officer, wearing the typical blue uniform.

	“My GOD!  What HAPPENED!?  We registered a major energy
discharge in this vicinity!” He shouted.

	“The Earth… they destroyed it…” Ryoko cried.

	“WHAT!?” The GP officer shouted, almost leaping out of
the monitor.

	“It’s gone… it’s all gone…” Ryoko mumbled before
breaking out into a loud fit of sobbing.

************************************************************

	“Ayeka…” said a small voice, awakening Ayeka.  She
blinked and saw Sasami, her eyes red from crying.  

	“Y…yes Sasami?” Ayeka asked.

	“I had a bad dream.” Sasami sniffled.  She walked up
and hugged Ayeka, barely suppressing her tears.  Ayeka, too,
was having trouble keeping her sadness in check.  She hugged
onto her distressed little sister for a while, only looking
up when a soft knock came from the door.

	“Who is it?” Ayeka said grimly, almost sounding
disgusted at the intrusion.  The door opened flooding the
room with light.  The blaring light made Ayeka’s head pound
as she considered beating the infidel who opened the door. 
In stepped the beady eyed little servant boy from earlier,
his head hung low in respect.  There almost seemed to be a
mocking quality about it, noticed Ayeka.  She shrugged it
off and decided to find out why this intrusion occurred.

	“Well… what is it?  What do you want?” Ayeka asked, her
voice somewhat annoyed.

	“I bring… bad tidings… my lady.  A report from the
Galaxy Police just came in.  The Earth is no more.” The
servant sullenly informed.  Both Ayeka and Sasami gasped in
horror.  The Earth?  Destroyed?  It wasn’t possible!


	“Are you SURE it was the Earth?” Sasami asked, more
tears falling from her eyes.  The servant boy merely nodded,
still not allowing his eyes to meet theirs.  He heard Sasami
break down again, as she clutched onto Ayeka even tighter. 
Ayeka was eerily silent, shock and consternation flooding
her regal face.  The servant boy merely bowed and turned
around to walk away.

	“Wait…” He heard Princess Ayeka say.

	“Yes, my lady?” The servant boy asked.

	“Summon everyone into the servant room.  Have my father
prepare the fleet.” Ayeka added.

	“Yes, my lady.” The servant boy said yet again as he
vanished into the hallway.  Sasami looked up at her sister
through tear stained eyes.

	“What’s going on?” She asked, still sobbing.

	“You’ll find out in a little while.” Ayeka said as she
stood up and began putting on her fighting outfit.  Sasami’s
confusion grew every second that she watched.

************************************************************

	“So… what’s up?  Why’re we all here?” Washu yawned. 
The bags under her eyes were huge.  She eyed Nobuyuki and
Katsuhito while waiting for an answer, and saw that they
were not much better off.

	“Who knows.  I just hope Ayeka’s quick, ‘cause I’m
still tired.” Nobuyuki quipped as he began to nod off. 
Katsuhito said nothing, but just seemed to stare out into
nothingness, meditating on something or other.  Finally,
after a long time, Ayeka, Sasami, along with the Emperor and
Empresses, and several guards, walked into the large meeting
room.  Washu’s attention was sparked when she saw what the
princess was clothed in, her battlesuit.

	“Washu, Lord Katsuhito, I have come to formally request
your assistance.”  Ayeka said diplomatically.  Washu was
confused.

	“For what?” She asked.

	“We have just declared war on the Dark Juraians.  They
have not only killed one of the Juraian Royal Family, but
they also destroyed one of the planets under Jurai’s special
protection…” Ayeka began.

	“Oh god, you don’t mean…” Washu gasped.  

	“Yes, I have just been told that the planet Earth has
been destroyed.  I wish to ask your assistance, Professor
Washu, in determining a battle plan for engaging our enemy.”

	“S…sure…” Washu muttered, totally stunned.  Ayeka
looked up at Lord Katsuhito, or actually, her brother Yosho.  

	“I shall remain here.  I have a feeling that I will be
needed on this planet.” Lord Katsuhito grumbled, not in the
best of moods.  

	“What about me?” Nobuyuki asked, almost forgotten.

	“You shall remain here with Sasami and Grandfather.”
Ayeka told him.  

	“No!  They took away EVERYTHING from me!  You HAVE to
let me go!  I refuse to just stay here!” Nobuyuki yelled,
his eyes glaring at the princess. 

	“Then you give me no choice.  Guards!” Ayeka commanded. 
The two guards ran in and grabbed Nobuyuki, dragging him,
kicking and screaming, out of the room and down the hall. 
Lord Katsuhito then stood up and promptly followed, not
arguing with, or even speaking to, anyone.  He walked down
the hall, toward his room, and turned around just in time to
see Ayeka and Washu walk out of the room, being escorted by
several guards, toward the docking bay.  Katsuhito sighed,
wishing them luck.  He looked up into the dark, early
morning sky, and saw that it was filled with hundreds of
millions of ships, and that more were joining them by the
minute.  There were even several thousand Galaxy Police
battlecruisers present.  The fleet was nothing short of
awesome.  Katsuhito’s attention was diverted when he nearly
was bumped into by a beady eyed little servant boy, who
seemed to by in a big hurry.  The boy nodded his apologies
and continued on down the hall. 

	The serving boy turned the corner, and made sure no one
could see him.  The serving boy then walked into a deep,
dark shadow, which seemed to fluctuate with his very touch. 
Soon, the only thing that could be seen of the servant boy
was his beady, red eyes…

************************************************************

SUGGESTED ENDING MUSIC : ALIEN BY BUSH

Authors notes : Well, I’m done with chapter two.  I’ve
lengthened both the shorter chapters, adding more detail and
making things fit a little more.  I’m only going to change
certain things in the other chapters.  Right now I don’t
have the time, or the energy, to rewrite every Chapter. 
But, as soon as I fix up all of the discrepancies in the
series, I will write the final chapter, which will be a
major undertaking for me, and the best chapter by far… I
hope…  ^_^  

I hope these two chapters are better than their originals,
cause I added more structure to them, and more skill.  Well,
until next time, Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel…