Legal Crap : Is this really necessary?  Oh, well.  I do
not own any characters that AIC / PIONEER owns, and
they do not own what I own.  There. now EVERYBODIES
HAPPY!!!!

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

THE DARKEST HELL : CHAPTER 9 - EPITAPH

	"What can I say about Tenchi.?  He was the
greatest man I ever knew.  I knew him since, well, when
he was born.  He meant everything to me.  And now that
he's gone, I don't know what will happen. to me, or to
us.  He was the glue that held us all together.  If it
weren't for him, I would have spent the rest of
eternity inside that DAMN cave.  Ayeka would have never
found Yosho.  And. well, let's just say that life would
have been much worse without him.  I've always loved
Tenchi, and I always will." Ryoko said with teary eyes
as she gazed at the holopicture of Tenchi.  She began
to weep severely and took a seat next to Washu, who was
already crying.  'Oh, god.  Tenchi. why'd you have to
DIE!?'  Ryoko thought to herself as she began to wail
out loud.  

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

	Ryoko just stood and stared at the sight that had
unveiled right in front of her.  She had just got there
and saw Yosho arguing with one of those Dark Juraian
robed warriors.  The anger in Ryoko's heart increased
with every second she saw them.  She clenched her fists
in fury as she took a few steps forward.  At first she
couldn't hear the conversation, but as she crept ever
closer, she began to understand what they were saying.

	".for you cannot kill what does not die." the
warrior said.

	'The typical Dark Juraian garbage.' Ryoko thought
as she neared the raised stage that Yosho and the evil
being were standing on.

	".isn't that right."  the warrior continued.

	Ryoko's severely wasted patience was depleting. 
'If this moron says one more word.' Ryoko thought out
loud.

	".Grandfather!?"  the warrior yelled as he took
off his hood.  Ryoko then stopped in her tracks.  She
couldn't believe what she was seeing.  Half of her was
filled with joy, while the other was filled with an
indomitable hatred.  She stared at the two, still
shaking her head in denial, for she saw Tenchi, the one
love of her life, standing before his grandfather, his
eyes glowing bright red, a vile smirk flowed across his
formally handsome face.

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

	"My heart has been filled with sadness these past
few days as a major part of it has been ripped asunder. 
Tenchi was the first, and only, man I ever knew, who
treated me as a regular person, not as some princess or
bargaining chip.  I loved him for that, and always
will.  I'm not sure if he returned my unconditional
love, and now I'll never know.  I hoped and prayed that
he would come to me one day and tell me that he loves
me, but that was taken away from me.  It saddens me to
no end that he is gone.  It hurts me just as much, if
not more, than the death of my father, and the
destruction of Jurai.  He was all that existed in my
world, and I would have done everything and anything to
have his love returned to me.  But, now that he is.
gone. I don't know what I will do.  Goodbye Tenchi, may
we meet again. someday."  Ayeka said as she began to
cry, much like Ryoko was doing right now.  She slowly
walked over to her mother and Funaho.  She hugged her
mother as the tears began to flow.

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

	Ayeka so shocked from Yosho's recent announcement
of his ascendance to the throne that she didn't see the
figures dressed in black converge into the room.  She
was snapped back into reality when she heard Yosho
shouting at someone.  She turned her head and saw that
he was arguing with a Dark Juraian warrior.  The anger
grew within her as she turned her dark glare toward the
warrior.  She didn't know it, but she had grabbed a
large meat cleaver, embroidered in Juraian symbols. 
Her face reddened with anger as she grew near.  But she
stopped when she got close enough to hear the Dark
Juraian's voice.  It was so familiar that Ayeka nearly
hit herself when she couldn't place it.  She stopped
when she saw she had the cleaver in her hand.  She
lowered her raised weapon and gazed at the Dark Juraian
robed warrior and wondered why that voice was so
familiar.  She listened quietly to their conversation.  

	".for you cannot kill what does not die."  the
warrior declared proudly.

	She scoffed at the warriors brashness.  'One so
confident in his abilities most likely is NOT worthy of
his own bragging.' Ayeka reminded herself.  She took
several steps closer and noticed Ryoko standing near
her, although she guessed that Ryoko didn't notice her. 
Ayeka just simply turned her attention to the argument.  

	".isn't that right."  the warrior continued. 
Ayeka saw Ryoko prepare to leap at the robed creature,
and was prepared to stop her.  'I cannot allow Ryoko to
die too.' Ayeka thought, as if to give herself a reason
to intervene.

	".Grandfather?!."  The warrior spat as he removed
the long, black hood, revealing the face underneath. 
And at that moment in time, Ayeka remembered the voice. 
The voice that she had heard on her first night on
Earth.  The voice that had comforted and encouraged her
in her times of need.  All this came flooding back to
her when she gazed upon the face under the hood.  'Oh,
god no.  It can't be true.' she thought as she looked
into Tenchi's burning red eyes.

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

	"Ever since his mother died, Tenchi had tried to
be the big man, trying to grow up far too fast and
mature too soon.  And as mature as he was, he showed
extreme difficulty when talking to girls.  Honestly, it
had me worried for the longest time. until several
young women came and decided to live with us.  I saw
Tenchi grow up and finally mature into the man he
wanted to be soon after you girls entered our lives. 
He became a man, and he owes it all to you.  You girls
were the best thing that happened to Tenchi, and
although he never admitted it much, he didn't ever want
to picture life without you in it.  All of you girls
made him happier than he ever was before.  The only
time I ever saw him that happy was the Christmas before
his mother died.  I had taped it, and hoped that I
would have it forever, but it's gone now, along with
all the other films I shot.  Now all we can do is
remember Tenchi for the great young man he was.  As
long as he remains remembered, he shall always be.
alive. in our. hearts." Nobiyuki muttered as he watched
the large group of women cry harder now than they were
a while ago.  He looked behind him and saw Yosho, his
father in-law, standing behind him in support.  'He
never was much of a man for long speeches.' Nobiyuki
quipped with himself.  He watched as Yosho patted him
on the back, too sad to even talk, and continued to
watch as he slowly walked over to Keiko, giving her a
long, hard, melancholy embrace.  He then saw Takeshi
put his hand on Yosho's shoulder, trying to bolster his
father.  'So Achika had a half-brother.  I wonder what
she would have said when she found out.' Nobiyuki
wondered as he sat down, next to Washu, who was busy
crying and hugging her daughter Ryoko.  Nobiyuki simply
let out a very depressed sigh and slouched back in his
chair, trying to remember the good ol' times.  

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

	Nobiyuki rose up from his depression and looked
around, noticing that everyone had left the room. 
'They must have headed to the Emperor's funeral.'
Nobiyuki thought to himself.  Slowly, he stood up and
walked to the crowded room down the hall.  He
sluggishly walked down the hall and finally made it to
the open door.  Ever so quietly, Nobiyuki stuck his
head into the door and looked at was going on. 
Standing upon the raised platform that held the
Emperor's holopicture was Yosho.  Next to him stood one
of those monstrous Dark Juraians.  Nobiyuki's blood ran
cold as he stared at the imposing figure.  His long
black robes seemed to have a life of their own as they
flowed around behind the Dark Juraian.  At his slowest
pace, Nobiyuki walked in and focused all his senses
onto the two in front of him.  They apparently were
engaged in a heated argument.  Silently, Nobiyuki
listened in as he stopped behind Ryoko and Ayeka.

	".isn't that right."  the warrior had said in his
usual dark tone.  Nobiyuki felt a chill creep down his
spine after the warrior said that.  And, just as the
chill subsided, the heat of anger began to wash over
him.  This BASTARD had taken everything from him, his
mind reasoned.  He needs to DIE!  Nobiyuki began to
grit his teeth.  But then, something occurred to him. 
His voice, although warped and twisted, sounded very
familiar.  Then, all of Nobiyuki's questions were
answered.  

	".Grandfather?!"  the warrior said as he removed
his hood, revealing Tenchi.  Nobiyuki nearly shouted
out his name in joy, but then stopped himself when he
saw his eyes.  They glowed a bright red and glared at
Yosho with murderous intent.  'This isn't Tenchi.'
Nobiyuki thought to himself, 'it may look like him, but
the REAL Tenchi wouldn't disrespect his grandfather
like that.'  Nobiyuki clenched his soar fists in anger.

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

	"How DARE you come here wearing that face, you
vile thing!" Yosho yelled, his anger mounting.  Dark
Tenchi's eyes glowed a brighter red.  

	"Go ahead Yosho, strike me down.  But remember. if
I die, she dies."  Dark Tenchi growled.

	"What.?"  Ayeka whispered from the background. 
She nearly screamed as Dark Tenchi turned his head
toward her at a breakneck speed, his eyes flashed
bright for several seconds.  He smiled a smile that
would haunt you forever.

	"I think you know who I'm talking about, Ayeka. 
Oh, my dear sweet Ayeka, so gentile, so lovely, so.
condescending.  You think that I would have chosen a
self righteous BITCH like YOU!?"  Dark Tenchi mocked. 
He watched with apparent glee as he witnessed her heart
breaking.

	"Oh, and we cannot forget Ryoko.  The beautiful
Ryoko.  The sweet Ryoko.  The self absorbed Ryoko.  All
you EVER thought about was yourself.  You never CARED
about me. I was just another one of your possessions. 
You sought to own me like one of those cheep, whorish
dresses you always wear.  That is all you ever were and
all you ever will be Ryoko, a whore, flaunting yourself
at every man you see, thinking that it is love, when
all it really is. is just plain lust.  Cover your
breasts woman, you offend me."  he added, in an even
MORE mocking tone than Ayeka.  But the extra effort did
exactly as it was supposed to.  Tenchi reveled at the
sight of Ryoko drop to her knees, nearly catatonic from
the sadness, depression, grief and anger.  Then he
gazed at his father.  'This is going to be fun.' Dark
Tenchi thought to himself.  He looked over at Yosho,
who was frozen in place from the shock.  He could not
believe that his grandson had talked about the girls in
such a fashion.  Yosho tried to think of something to
do, but his mind refused to work.  Dark Tenchi just
smirked and then turned his attention to his father.

	"Ah. father.  You consoled me when dear sweet
mother died.  You were there to video tape my greatest
achievements.  And you video taped my most EMBARASSING
MOMENTS!!  Do you KNOW what it FELT LIKE to have a
father who video taped you EVER SINGLE FUCKING TIME you
did something?  I could NEVER be alone with a girl
without you trying to tape us together.  You were the
one worried about me being shy around the girls, when
it was YOUR FAULT that they never talked to me.  Your
little voyeurism hobby lost me more friends and
potential girlfriends than you could even COUNT!  YOU
RUINED MY LIFE!!!"  Dark Tenchi shouted, his face
turning red.  Inside, though, he was laughing
hideously.  The laughter turned from internal to
external when he saw the shockwaves of pain and sadness
cross his father's face.  At first it was a chuckle,
but then it escalated to a loud, high pitched, evil
wail.  People began to file out of the room at top
speed.  Dark Tenchi saw this and raised his right hand. 
Suddenly, the doors shut and wouldn't open.  Women and
children screamed as men tried to ram the door, but it
seemed like it was reinforced with metal.  Dark Tenchi
began to laugh some more.  He was interrupted by a
weak, yet angered voice.

	"You.you're not Tenchi.  Tenchi had nothing but
love in his heart.  You have nothing but hatred.  You
merely wear Tenchi's face, so that you may sway us from
our mission." Ayeka spoke at the Demon Warrior.  Dark
Tenchi just smiled.

	"If only that were true princess.  But, I'm sorry
to say that in my body, flows the blood of Tenchi
Masaki, son of Nobiyuki and Achika, Grandson of Yosho. 
But, I have a SPECIAL present for you, Ayeka."  Dark
Tenchi said in an evil voice.  Dark Tenchi closed his
red glowing eyes for a second.  When they reopened,
they weren't red anymore, but pink.  Tenchi's face
burned with pain and innocence.  

	"Ayeka!  Help!  Their hurting me!  It's so dark! 
SOMEBODY HELP ME!"  Tenchi yelled, but it wasn't HIS
voice.  It was Sasami's.  Her voice sort of echoed,
like in the movie POLTERGEIST.  Then, the little girl
began to scream.  Ayeka and Ryoko's heart exploded (
NOT LITERALLY!! ) when they heard this.  The loud,
painful scream soon evolved into a deep, guttural
laughter.  Suddenly, a light flooded Dark Tenchi's
eyes.  He turned to Yosho, who had summoned the Light
Hawk Sword.  The anger in his face spoke volumes.  

	"Oh, I think we already PLAYED that game Yosho,
but, if we must." Dark Tenchi sighed as he slowly faded
away.  Yosho swiped at the fading demon, surprised at
his apparent slowness.  He then heard a scream behind
him.  Yosho turned around to see his worst nightmare. 
Dark Tenchi had Keiko in his arms, one of his hands a
long, vile claw that was grasping her neck, the other
held her arms against her waist.  She struggled as she
screamed, but it was futile.  She couldn't shake out of
his grasp.  Dark Tenchi smirked an evil grin.  

	"Remember Yosho, I know all of your fears.  Your
dreams.  You have let me inside your head and now, I
twist it to conform to MY ideals.  You are surprised to
hear that, no doubt.  Remember our little tryst on
Jurai?  You let your anger unshield your mind, thus,
letting me in.  Does that explain WHY you haven't been
yourself the past few days?  No, Yosho, it wasn't from
the grief.  Slowly, your mind becomes more and more
mine as my subtle influence twists you into what you
see before you."  Dark Tenchi informed the very shocked
Yosho.  His anger caused his Light Hawk Sword to grow
brighter as he stepped forward a step.  Dark Tenchi
then jerked Keiko a foot off the ground, still holding
her in the same position.  

	"Stop right there, Yosho.  One more step will
result in a very PAINFUL death for this lovely woman. 
Now, now, now. Yosho!  Your taste in women surprises
me.  You could of had Ayeka, but you chose this Juraian
commoner whore!  But I can see WHY!  Her face is as
lovely as pure Earthen artwork."  Dark Tenchi said as
he caressed Keiko's face with his claw.  

	"And her neck. it's so soft and delicate, like it
would snap with the most softest coercion."  He
continued as he caressed her neck.  Keiko gulped as he
did this.  Dark Tenchi's eyes followed his hands down
to her chest.

	"And her breasts. oh, Yosho, I see why this is one
of the features you like about her.  They're so
malleable and tender."  Dark Tenchi said as his claws
ripped into Keiko's kimono, ripping it and her
undergarments off the top side of her body, exposing
her naked chest.  Keiko shrieked in fear as all this
happened.   From behind him, Dark Tenchi could hear the
sound of someone unsheathing a sword.  He turned his
head around unnaturally as he saw Takeshi run at him
with his mother's sword.  Yelling out a loud battle
cry, Takeshi pushed the sword into Dark Tenchi's back. 
But his demonic face just smiled.  From behind the
demon, Takeshi could hear the screams of a lot of
people, most of them telling him 'NO!"  Slowly, the
demon turned his head back around with a sickening
snap.  He then let go of Keiko and walked backward,
ramming Takeshi's blade deeper into his Dark Juraian
chest.  But the demon was unharmed.  Behind him,
Takeshi saw his mother's half naked back, the sword
plunged deep within it.  The Demon finally stopped at
the hilt of the sword.  He looked down at Takeshi's
trembling hands.  

	"A family heirloom, I presume.  Centuries old, by
the looks of it.  She made it herself, didn't she?  I
bet she didn't think that it would be the weapon that
kills her, and ESPECIALLY that the death stroke would
be delivered by her own son.  The irony is far too
sweet,
hehheheheheheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA!" 
Dark Tenchi mocked as Takeshi fell to his knees.  Like
a specter, Dark Tenchi just faded through the blade. 
He grasped the sharp sword and jerked it out of both
Takeshi's hands and Keiko's back.  He gazed at the
bloodied tip of the blade and smiled as he licked the
blood off of it.  After a brief smile, Dark Tenchi
snapped his fingers and Keiko began to fall, slightly
coughing up blood.  Yosho dove in and caught her before
she could hit the floor.  Dark Tenchi turned to
Takeshi.

	"Do you now see what your anger gets you?  You
too, now, are tainted, just like Yosho, and just like
me.  Accept it."  He spat as he turned toward the news
reporters.  He leaped off the stage and twiddled his
fingers, causing all of the cameras to turn on, and
point right on him.

	"Hello, mother realm.  I have christened the new
emperor of Jurai with a signature of blood.  Now, as we
speak, his love, his sole mate, lays dying in his arms. 
And his hell is just BEGINNING! The people of this
universe still are not convinced of our power.  So, I
will just have to destroy the solar system of Orion,
just to prove that our power goes unmatched."  Dark
Tenchi spoke, as he gazed evilly into the cameras.  He
then looked out the window.  Swiftly, he raised his
hand, a long line of spectral trails following it's
path.  Energy arced around his spread fingers as
suddenly, Orion went dark.  Dark Tenchi smiled and
turned back to the cameras.

	"Orion will exist no more within the hour,
regardless of the procedures used to stop the chain
reaction.  Know that all systems that do NOT surrender
will befall the same fate."  Dark Tenchi said as the
cameras then fell apart, smoking and melting.  Dark
Tenchi then turned toward the group.  But, Ryoko smelt
something in the air.  The scent of exhaustion.  She
looked at the evil Tenchi and saw the sweat forming. 
The Dark Tenchi, despite his tiredness, spoke.

	"Now, you have a choice.  Obviously I am weakened,
so I can be destroyed.  But, Orion will not last much
longer.  What do you do now, Yosho?  Fight me to the
death, or run like a coward?"  The Dark Tenchi asked,
looking very winded.  Then, the demon blinked.  But
when he reopened his eyes, the red, evil glare was
gone, and was replaced by tortured brown eyes.  

	".run."  The demon muttered, almost inaudibly.  

	"What?" Ryoko said.  She knew something was up and
walked to the demon.  She gazed into his eyes, and saw
that the demon was no longer there.  Before her stood
the man she loved, Tenchi.  She swiftly gave him the
biggest hug that she ever gave him.  Weakly, Tenchi
patted her on the back.  But, then, he pulled her off
of him.

	"I. know.  I. missed you. too.  But. you must run.
away."  Tenchi said, more tired than he had ever been
in all his existence.  

	"We're not leaving without you Tenchi." Ryoko
said, getting to the point.

	"I. don't know. how long I. can hold. him." Tenchi
continued.  

	"It doesn't matter.  Washu can do something for
you.  Come on, we gotta get the HELL out of here!" 
Ryoko said, lifting Tenchi up and giving him a piggy
back ride.

	"That's all well and good. Ryoko.but what.about.
them.?"  Tenchi asked, pointing at the three other
Robed warriors, approaching Ryoko with Dark Hawk Swords
drawn.  Ryoko gulped as she began to run, and she knew
that she was being followed.  Running to the buffet
table, Ryoko picked Ryo-oki up from off of the
mini-carrot bowl and tossed her into the air.  She
metamorphosed into her star ship form, pinning several
Dark Juraians with falling cross beams.  Ryoko almost
laughed at the irony as she felt Tenchi's weight on her
back.  Peeking up from the cold cuts, Leo-oki followed
suit, leaping into the air and transforming, nearly
causing the roof to cave in.  Ryoko, Yosho, Keiko,
Takeshi, Tenchi, Ayeka, and Washu were teleported onto
Ryo-oki, while the others were teleported onto Leo-oki.  

"WAIT!  WHAT ABOUT YAGAMI?!"  Shouted Kiyonne as she
faded into the air and reappeared on Leo-oki.  The two
ships crashed out of there as the rest of the captives
held in the room exited and rioted toward the nearest
transport ships.  Ryo-oki and Leo-oki saw millions of
ships rocket off of Orion 3 and out of the solar
system.  Minutes later, three giant supernova's rocked
the immediate area of space, destroying the Orion
system and those transports too slow to make it.  

	Inside Ryo-oki, Washu worked fast.  She typed on
her laptop and summoned a large, futuristic table out
of thin air.  She set Keiko upon in and enclosed her
inside the glass case.  A low hum began as Washu sighed
a sigh of relief.  

	"She'll be alright.  We just have to give her
enough time to recover."  She said, barely stifling her
joy at seeing Tenchi again.  Ryoko and Ayeka hugged and
kissed both sides of the seriously weakened Tenchi. 
Washu looked at him.  His breathing was labored and he
was sweating profusely.  Washu used her laptop and did
a scan on him.

	"Oh.my.GOD!"  she screamed.  Everyone looked at
her.

	Washu typed on her laptop even more and summoned
another table, only this one had super thick
restraining bolts.  

	"Quickly!  Get him on the table and strap him in!" 
Washu said with more worry.

	Worried, Ryoko and Ayeka complied with Washu's
orders.  Tenchi was put down on the table and the
restraining bolts did the rest.  The half foot thick
bars shut down over Tenchi's sweating body, making sure
that he could not move.  Washu had a look of extreme
worry on her face.  Ryoko looked at her with pleading
eyes.

	"Washu, what's wrong with Tenchi?"  She asked.

	"Well, aside from the fact that he's ALIVE, he has
a temperature of one hundred and thirteen degrees and
it's rising.  Now to us, that's nothing, but Tenchi is
mostly human.  The only reason he's alive now is that
he isn't entirely human.  I guess you can thank those
Juraians for something, Ryoko."  Washu informed.  Ryoko
almost let out a sigh of relief, but then Washu began
again.

	"He's also reverting back into the Demon Warrior. 
The only reason that he regressed back into the old
Tenchi is because the demon still doesn't have a
complete hold on him yet, so when it depleted its power
destroying Orion, it lost most of it's grasp.  But, the
more we wait, the stronger the demon gets.  But I think
I might just have an idea."  Washu said.  Once again,
she began to type on her laptop.  Her fingers blurred
and then, stopped dead in their tracks.  Washu smiled
and almost began to cackle.  The rest of the bunch
inside of Ryo-oki began to step back.  Washu saw this
and put on a fake sad face.  Then she began to type
again.  Suddenly, a big blue light appeared over the
table Tenchi was lying on.  The light soon encased the
table, and Tenchi.  Ryoko gazed at the blue light, and
then noticed Tenchi was not moving, and even the sweat
had stopped dripping.  Now Ryoko was confused.

	"What did you do.?"  She asked, in awe.

	"I isolated the temporal matrix around Tenchi,
causing the time axis around him to cease from
rotating.  Then I extrapolated the values of the data I
got and ensured that this field will remain stable,
unless a gravitational force that measured the exact
point of zero acted upon it, thus causing it to
relapse."  Washu said proudly.

	"What?"  Ryoko asked, now even more curious, and
confused.

	"I ceased the time axis from spinning around
Tenchi."  Washu continued, hopping that cleared it up.

	"In laymen's terms."  Ryoko suggested.  

	"I STOPPED TIME FROM MOVING AROUND TENCHI!  I PUT
HIM IN SUSPENDED ANIMATION!  SUS-SPEN-DED 
AN-NI-MA-TION!  GOT IT!!!"  Washu screamed, finally
having enough.

	"Oh. suspended animation. Why didn't you say that
before?"  Ryoko said, her eyes bright with
understanding.  

	"I thought I did."  Washu muttered.  It was more
of a statement then a question.  Ryoko scratched her
head and then shrugged it off.  Then she walked over to
Tenchi.  His face was racked with pain and his eyes
were wide with anger.  And, the fact that he didn't
move made him seem dead all over again.  Ryoko bent
over and went to kiss him on the forehead.  Then, she
felt someone pull on her hair, yanking her head back. 
With angry eyes, she turned around and saw the
diminutive Washu, still holding onto her cyan hair.  

	"Nuh-uh.  Don't touch him.  You'll cause the time
axis around you to stop too.  You'll freeze in time." 
Washu warned.

	"How is stopping time around him gonna help
Tenchi?  When you bring him out, he'll still be in
pain."  Ryoko asked.

	"I plan on keeping him 'on ice' until I can find a
way of slowing down the demon's influence.  Then, I'll
bring him out of Hypersleep and he'll be able to help
us defeat the Dark Juraians once and for all."  Washu
answered.  Ryoko was nodding her head as she turned
back around and looked at Tenchi.  She was soon joined
by, well, everybody else as they crowded around Tenchi. 
The only one not standing there was Yosho, who stood by
the healing Keiko, a look of utter dread on his face. 
Next to him was his illegitimate son, Takeshi, looking
even more decrepit than Yosho, his father.  Ryoko
breathed a sigh and said a small prayer of thanks, but
then, Ryo-oki began to shake and shutter under an
immense hail of laser fire.

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

	"Alright, Leo-oki, get us the HELL out of here!" 
Shouted Togusa as Leo-oki roared and lifted off,
rocketing past Ryo-oki like it was some sort of rock
floating out in space.  Togusa started to manipulate
the control orbs inside Leo-oki and a picture of Orion
came up.

	"Leo-oki, scan solar system for Matsui's power
signature!"  Togusa said, worried about the whereabouts
of his younger brother.  The scan was still happening
when Orion exploded in a massive triple supernova. 
Leo-oki roared a mighty roar as the three stars erupted
in a massive, violent light.  

	"SHIT!"  Screamed Togusa.  He was still staring at
the monitor when it disappeared.  Finally, the bright,
white light calmed down and everyone stopped screaming. 

	"Leo-oki!  Why the HELL did you stop the scan!?" 
Togusa screamed at the cabbit/star ship.  His reply was
a sort of defeated roar.

	"What do you MEAN the energy levels were too high
to sift through!?  I don't give a shit!  Find him.NOW!" 
He shouted.  Letting out a mumbled roar, Leo-oki began
to scan the now desolate and destroyed area of Orion.  

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

	Kiyonne was staring out into the vastness of
space, thinking out her old ship, Yagami, which was
parked in a geosynchronous orbit around Orion 3.  She
let out a sigh and then, she thought she heard
something.  She turned around to see Gillian, over at
the other side of Leo-oki, staring out into space and
weeping.  Saddened, Kiyonne walked over to the poor
thing.  She placed her hand on her shoulder.  

	"Tell me, what's wrong?"  Kiyonne asked
sympathetically.

	"He's still out there somewhere.  Now he thinks I
hate him, too."  Gillian said, lowering her head.
Kiyonne looked at her with empathetic curiosity.

	"Who hates you?"  Kiyonne asked in a soft,
reassuring tone.

	"Matsui.  I found out his secret and he ran off. 
Now, he might be dead.  He probably thinks that I see
him as a freak.  First papa, and now."  Gillian said,
the tears streaming down her soft, slightly tanned
cheeks.  Kiyonne pulled Gillian into her line of sight,
so that she was staring her right in the face.

	"Gillian, your father didn't think you hated him. 
He thought that you were just being rebellious, and he
hoped that you would grow out of it and come back home. 
He told me so.  He loved you with everything he had,
his very heart and soul, and his very last thoughts
were of you.  He was proud of you, Gillian, and I can't
even count the amount of times he started talking about
you and your accomplishments.  How, a year or two after
me you graduated from the Academy at the top of your
class, and how you even prevented a war between two
worlds.  The only thing that he didn't really
understand is why you ran off.  He knew that you were
old enough to stand on your own two feet, so he didn't
want you to hate him for having you brought back.  
Tell me, why DID you run off?"  Kiyonne asked, her
voice thick with concern. 

	"He wanted me to follow in his footsteps, get a
job at the GP, like him, and become big and successful,
but I didn't want to do that.  I wanted to be free, fly
around, have fun.  One night, I told him I wasn't going
to apply for a job at the GP, he asked why, I told him,
and we got into a big argument.  Now, I'm not sure if
your familiar with our species, Kiyonne, but when we
start to argue, shit starts levitating.  So, after
destroying the house, I left.  I was going to go out
and find Matsui and Togusa, then I was gonna start a
life of adventure, danger, and excitement.  And now,
here I am.  I'm so embarrassed at the way I treated
Matsui when I found out.  I just stared.  He tossed me
off and ran away, and I haven't seen him since.  I
tried to just relax and wait for him to come back, but
it didn't work.  Oh, god, Kiyonne, what have I done?!" 
Gillian sobbed as she gripped Kiyonne in a pained,
crushing hug.  After hugging her a while, Kiyonne
pushed her away just far enough so that they had eye to
eye contact.  

	"You didn't do anything wrong.  I'm pretty sure I
would have done the same thing, had I found out the way
you did."  Kiyonne told the weeping young looking girl.

	"You mean you KNEW?"  Gillian asked, shocked.

	"Hell yeah, those two looked a little TOO
suspicious, so I checked up on them using Yagami's
databanks.  It was a bitch finding them, but I did. 
And that's when I found out."  Kiyonne informed, a
little rueful remembering her old ship.  

	"My, those ships sure are useful, aren't they?" 
Gillian asked, smiling, and suppressing her tears.

	"I want to. thank you. Kiyonne.  For your
kindness.  Your a good friend."  Gillian finally
continued  after a brief moment of retrospect.  Kiyonne
was pleasantly taken back by this kind gesture. 

	"Your welcome.  Anytime you need to talk, I'm
here.  No matter what and where, I'm just a call away. 
Heh."  Kiyonne laughed to herself.

	"What?"  Gillian asked.

	"Your father said that to me once."  Kiyonne said,
wrapping herself in the memory.

	"By the way. how DID you get to be such good
friends with my father?"  Gillian inquired.

	"Well. that's a long story."  Kiyonne answered.

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

	"Come ON man, be there!"  Togusa muttered as the
scan for Matsui continued.

	"YES!"  he shouted as the scan ceased and zoomed
in on his location.  He was floating in space,
unconscious, yet, unharmed.  He was surrounded by his
little "Outer Space energy shell" and was floating
nearly a light year away from Orion.  Togusa looked at
his trajectory and velocity following the explosion and
whistled, impressed.  He had moved so fast that the
velocity didn't even register.  'It's almost as if he
was PUT there.'  Togusa thought.  

	"Okay, everyone.  We're gonna turn this big
bastard around and head back toward Orion.  I found
Matsui, and if we get there toot sweet, then he'll be
alright."  Togusa shouted to the group in his ship. 
Gillian looked up from a rather interesting
conversation with Kiyonne and stared at Togusa, a smile
crawling across her face.  

	"You see, babe?  He didn't go far, and he'll be
alright."  Togusa reassured the cutely feral young
woman.  'She looks like a damn elf.' Togusa thought to
himself as Leo-oki began to make a mighty U-turn. 
Togusa then snapped his fingers, summoning a plush
chair that floated in the center of the ship       (
Like Ryoko's in the TV series, only yellow. J )  and
sat back, relaxing.  After a while, he saw Mihoshi
walking towards the clear wall of Leo-oki.  'Damn she's
fine.' Togusa thought to himself as he stared at her
various. attributes.  

	"What's that?"  Mihoshi asked innocently as she
pointed off into space.  Kiyonne walked over and looked
herself.

	"I dunno. Hey, Togusa, zoom in on this for us!" 
Kiyonne asked politely.  

	"You got it my green haired Goddess."  Togusa said
in a very flattering voice.  Kiyonne blushed as a large
green square formed over the area of space that they
were pointing at.  Soon, the image grew and they saw
what it was.  

	"Oh my god."  Kiyonne whispered.  Ryo-oki was
locked in a mortal struggle with several other ships. 
A closer look showed that they were Galaxy Police
ships.  This caused Kiyonne's eyes to widen with
concern.  

	"We got to help them!"  Mihoshi cried out.

	"Togusa!"  Gillian shouted at the pilot.

	"What?  What do YOU want?!" He asked, in a funny
way.

	"You go help them.  I'll go get Matsui."  Gillian
told the comedic bounty hunter / space pirate.

	"Fine.  But get your cute little ass back here,
but quick!"  Togusa yelled as he made a quick turn
towards the battle.  But Gillian didn't go with them. 
She faded through the walls and soon found herself in
deep space.  Off in the distance, using her intensified
senses, she saw Matsui's floating, unconscious body
hovering out in the vast blackness of space.  'Gotcha." 
she thought as she flew to him at top speed.

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

	"WHAT THE HELL DO THEY WANT!?"  Washu screamed as
she rolled around the deck of Ryo-oki.  Then, as if
they had heard her, they answered.

	"To the pilot of this craft, you are under arrest
for aiding and abetting a notorious criminal.  Give
yourselves up and hand over the being known as Tenchi
to us.  Cooperation will result in a lenient
punishment."  The pilot shouted over the communication
line, but not revealing his face.

	"Up yours!  I'd rather DIE than give up Tenchi!  I
lost him once, I WON'T LOSE HIM AGAIN!"  Ryoko shouted
as she began to zoom around the small squadron of GP
ships.  They fired at her with all of there weapons,
following their initial warning shot, of course.  And
she fired back, but the shields held remarkably well. 
Soon, they found themselves in a predicament.

	"Space Pirate Ryoko, we have you surrounded.  Hand
over the criminal, or face the maximum penalty for
resisting arrest."  They called out.

	Then, before Ryoko could say "no", a large laser
blast came out and disabled the ship, but leaving the
crew unharmed.  The remaining GP ships began to turn
and fire upon the new target, Leo-oki.  The mighty
black ship let out a major ROAR and fired out circular
laser blast, just like Ryoko's energy bombs, only a LOT
larger.  The blast fired out behind a large portion of
the ships.  But, instead of a huge, murdering blast, a
huge EM pulse fired out.  The pulse was so strong that
it detonated all of the GP's electronics and disabled
them.  

	"Thank you."  Kiyonne said to Togusa, who winked
at her.  Kiyonne did a small double take before she
turned her eyes back onto the action.  The small fleet
was disabled, and the two fully organic ships were home
free.  Ryoko hailed Togusa and said "Thanks."

	"Hey babe, don't mention it.  We just got to make
a pick up first."  Togusa said as he looked out into
the area of space that Gillian had flown off to.

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

	Finally, Gillian reached Matsui.  She was shocked
to see that he was totally messed up.  His face was
bloody and beaten, his clothes tattered and he was
missing his right arm.  Juraian tree sap flowed slowly
out of the opening.  Taking special care, Gillian took
Matsui in her arms and flew back to the area where
Leo-oki was.  The one other strange thing she thought
as she faded through Leo-oki's outer hull was the odd
color of blue his lips were.

			( Ending Theme : By Starlight by
Smashing Pumpkins )

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

End Chapter Nine. Q / C / C? Email me at ruby@pa.net. HAVE A
NICE DAY!  J