Episode 7:  The Gem Factor

    I then saw a large number of orbs, each its own world, numbering too
many to count. In the middle of the group, they were packed close together.
These "close ones" shined brightly with a power that I did not know. Then,
there were those on the outside of the group. They were far apart from each
other, and did not shine at all. They were lifeless.
    It occurred to me that this must be the universe, and I was suddenly
alarmed. The shining worlds began fading and disappearing; they were being
destroyed. The world at the center of the "close ones" shot off many motes
of light into the growing darkness. Each time a light ball hit the darkness,
it would recede, but only a little. In this strangest of battles, it seemed
as if the darkness were going to win.
    Then, a dull world began to move towards the group and grew steadily
brighter. As it grew closer, I saw a strange sword that was moving in front
of it. The actual blade was twisted yet sharp, and light energy filled the
rest of it so that it appeared to be a whole blade.
    The formerly dull orb was now brighter than all of them, blindingly
bright. It now stood beside the center world, and the darkness was
retracting. Worlds were beginning to shine again.
    I then woke up, not knowing what to make of my dream. However, I felt
relief, for when the universe would be in danger, not all would be lost.

                                                - Excerpt from "Dream
Chronicle", a collection of Juraian prophecies.

<<>>

    "What's that noise?"
    "Sounded like an explosion!"
    "From where?"
    "The bridge! Look at that!"
    "Who are they?"
    "Never mind them! What are those things chasing them?!"
    The buildings on the Tokyo side of the bridge were wrapped in confusion.

<<>>

    "To your left!" Kiyone shouted.
    The Bioroid crawled with unbelievable speed from under the bridge,
chasing after the motorcycle. Tenchi aimed his pistol from the back of the
bike and fired off two shots. The lasers tore into the pavement as more
Bioroids bulled their way through cars, shooting lasers all over the place.
    The Tokyo inbound bridge was aglow with flaming cars and laser
ricochets. Kiyone was doing her best to dodge traffic at 70 mph while Tenchi
provided rear guard on the back seat of the motorcycle. So far, they'd only
managed to eliminate two careless robots. The other 14 were matching the
motorcycle's speed, oblivious to incoming traffic. A laser zipped right by
Tenchi, cutting his loose orange jacket sleeve.
    "Dammit!" Kiyone growled. "This isn't working!"
    Tenchi growled as more of his shots missed. "No kidding!"
    Kiyone glared into oncoming traffic and frowned. "Tenchi?"
    Tenchi returned to facing forward. "What?"
    "I'm going to try something totally insane."
    "What's that?!"
    "I don't have time to tell you. When I say 'go', grab the throttle and
swing into the driver's seat."
    Tenchi gave her a crazy look as more lasers whooshed by. "Won't that tip
the bike over?!"
    Kiyone smiled. "Trust me."
    Tenchi groaned and put his hand in a ready position.
    Kiyone finally reached a clear spot and yelled: "Go!"
    People in their cars couldn't believe their eyes. In the strangest form
of midair ballet yet, Tenchi leapt from his seat and clutched the throttle,
swinging himself counter-clockwise on the right side of the bike so that his
face was two inches from the ground, screaming the entire time.
    Kiyone had left her seat as well, swinging over and above the left side
with her legs folded under her, holding the bike in balance with Tenchi's
weight. She turned just as Tenchi had slung his leg over the side by
hoisting himself up on the throttle, and grabbed his belt buckle.
    "What?!" Tenchi exclaimed.
    With a flick of her wrist while still in midair, the belt came undone
and off of Tenchi's waist. She landed back to back with Tenchi and quickly
looped the belt around herself and the startled boy, securing herself to the
bike.
    "What are you doing?!" Tenchi shouted as he tried to avoid traffic at a
greater pace.
    Kiyone smiled. "Seat belt; it's the law."
    She was readying the Eliminator given to her by Mihoshi when Tenchi
cranked the throttle and said, "Uh-oh."
    Kiyone turned her head as another volley of lasers barely missed. "What'
s 'uh-oh'?"
    Tenchi almost panicked. "I think I broke the throttle with my swing! It'
s stuck on 90 mph!"
    Kiyone cocked the gun. "Hope you're a good biker, kid."
    Tenchi gulped.
    Kiyone leveled the blaster at the oncoming horde. "Eat this, bastards!"
    The gun glowed with power and flared with energy, then groaned and began
to tick.
    Kiyone gave it a weird look. "What the hell?!"
    The control panel on the gun's barrel read: "Overload."
    Kiyone hurled the gun at the mass of Bioroids. It instantly exploded in
a massive shower of pavement and Bioroid parts. When the dust cleared, there
appeared to be ten Bioroids left.
    Kiyone had that same strange look on her face as she growled. "Mihoshi .
. ."

<<>>

    Back at the Masaki shrine, a harsh wind had begun to blow, spreading the
fallen leaves of autumn everywhere. Yosho's hair blew wildly in the gust as
he hurried his family to the Yagami.
    "Hurry, everyone!" he instructed.
    Ayeka and Sasami rushed into the ship, followed closely by Ryo-Ohki.
    Yosho looked up into the night sky, which had become tumultuous and
warped. Storm clouds blotted out the stars with unnatural speed, and an evil
omen spread across the land with the wind. 'This storm isn't natural.' Yosho
thought.
Suddenly, a short, naked woman with wild magenta hair that spiked out all
over the place fell out of the bushes. Yosho looked strangely at her for a
moment. She looked sort of familiar. He had seen her somewhere, though she
had been clothed at the time. At the moment, she was out cold face down in
front of him.
    Yosho clicked on the GP communicator given to him and shouted above the
wind. "Mihoshi! Leave without me!"
    Mihoshi's voice was mixed with static in her reply. "But what if the
Bioroids come back again?"
    Yosho smiled and waved at what he assumed to be the cockpit. "I'll be
fine. Just make sure to activate the subspace net as soon as you re-enter
Earth's radar range."
    In the cockpit of the Yagami, Mihoshi looked worried, but still smiled
her usual "I don't understand a word you just said but I'll give it my best
shot" smile. "Sure thing!"
    The landing thrusters of the Yagami fired and created an instant
clearing in the woods where it had been hidden. Sasami pressed her face to a
window and mouthed "Be safe." before the breaking thrusters blasted forth a
huge jet of flame and the Yagami was instantly lost from view.
    Yosho took off his jacket and wrapped it around the unconscious woman.
He then proceeded to pick her up and head back towards the shrine. He smiled
and looked down at the nearly frozen girl in his arms. 'Welcome, Professor
Washu.'

<<>>

    Tenchi's scream could be heard for miles as the speeding motorbike
leapfrogged car after car in the Tokyo traffic jam. It was too dangerous to
utilize the plastic explosives, so Kiyone was using her twin GP laser
pistols to deal well-aimed blasts to the Bioroid horde. The offending robots
weaved their way in-between, under, and through cars in their attempt to get
a good shot at the surprisingly nimble targets that Tenchi and Kiyone turned
out to be. The robots continued to leap off buildings and hurl themselves at
the biker pair as people in their cars were faced with the difficult choice
of running for cover, or staying in their cars for fear of the Bioroid
masses.
    Tenchi checked his watch at a glance and quickly realized that he was
running out of time. It was only a quarter of an hour till midnight. If he
didn't reach the Jyuben Dream Mall in time, the Prototype Bioroid would
destroy Tokyo! Tenchi had a weird thought. How come every superhuman monster
seemed to gravitate towards Tokyo? He dismissed it.
    Kiyone's hair, aim, and stability, among other things, shook wildly with
the bike. "Tenchi?! Are you sure you know the way to the Dream Mall?!" she
shouted over the din.
    "Pretty much!" Tenchi replied.
    Kiyone fired off the two GP pistols and caught a Bioroid in the
head-mounted visual camera. The lens shattered and the Bioroid tumbled into
traffic and exploded. "What?! Pretty much?!"
    Tenchi was trying to concentrate on whatever steering was possible. "I'
ve only been there a few times before, but I think I remember the way. Don't
worry!"
    Kiyone pressed a blaster to her forehead on its side. "Somebody kill
 me."
    Tenchi smiled. "Be careful what you wish for."
    The raging battle across the streets continued.
    At exactly 11:59 p.m., the Prototype Bioroid observed the intrepid pair
park their badly torn motorcycle outside of the deserted mall in an equally
deserted parking lot. Tenchi and Kiyone grabbed their weapons, Tenchi
retrieved his belt, and they rushed inside. The nine remaining Bioroids
broke off their attack and scampered up the side of the building. They
landed in front of the glowing mechanical monster that was the prototype.
    It spoke in its dark, seething voice. "Station yourselves at
advantageous sniper positions and await my command." It swung its view to
the rooftop door and whirled the two gigantic laser pulse rifles from its
back. It swung its elbows in, cocked the guns, and aimed at the door, its
red cloak billowing in the breeze. "I'm ready."

<<>>

    "Lord Yosho, I'd just like to thank you again for taking me in like
this."
    Yosho handed Washu another cup of hot tea and smiled. "No thanks needed,
Washu. No person in their right mind would leave a pretty young lady like
yourself out in the woods."
    The magenta-haired Washu blushed. "Flatterer."
    Yosho looked at the ceiling. "How long has it been since we last met?
Two-hundred? Three-hundred years?"
    Washu laid the cup down on the table and frowned thoughtfully while
swathed in blankets. "I'm sure it was at the Juraian science festival."
    Yosho laughed. "Whatever year it was, I can still remember how we met."
    Washu put her face in her hands. "Yeah, I accidentally blew up your
limo. You were the one who pardoned me."
    Yosho smiled his "perverted Noboyuki" smile. "Only because I thought you
were cute."
    They both laughed.
    "More seriously though, Washu." Yosho resumed. "We have a problem."
    Washu sipped her tea. "Let me guess. Bioroids?"
    "How did you know, Washu?"
    "I saw them on entry orbit. The part about their association with you I
derived from my reason for being here."
    Yosho gazed at the lake. "Funaho?"
    Washu stared also. "You guessed it."
    "Yes, she has been acting strange lately. She teleported the Tenchi-ken
from my room, has caused strange visions, and now you . . . Washu?"
    Washu snapped out of an alternative train of thought. That word: Tenchi.
It was the name of a sword of course, but it reminded her of something else.
No, someone.
    'Good morning, Little Washu!'
    'A boy who can make the wings of the Lighthawk, huh? I want to make him
mine!'
    'Would you like to be my guinea pig, guinea pig, guinea pig . . .-'
    "Washu, are you all right?" Yosho inquired.
    Washu turned to attention. "Ryoko?"
    Yosho sat back up. "What about her?"
    "Didn't you just say 'Ryoko'?"
    Yosho gave Washu a weird look. "Not that I can recall. But she is here."
    "Where?!" Washu demanded.

<<>>

    Kiyone clenched her two pistols and leaned against the rooftop door.
"Ready?"
    Tenchi pulled out the Master Key. "Sure thing."
    Kiyone went into a ready position and undid the clasp on her backpack.
"On the count of three."
    She blew the lock off the door with her pistols. "Three!" The backpack
filled with explosives flew through the air and landed in two startled
Bioroids arms, putting them out of commission. Kiyone's blue hair whirled
about her head as she rolled out of the door and fired the pistols. The
blasts caught another Bioroid and hurled him from the building.
    Tenchi activated the light blade and jumped from the doorway, blocking a
laser meant for Kiyone's backside. He then focused his energy into the
Master Key just like his grandfather had taught him. Slowly, the Jurai armor
surrounded him. First, the steel headband with the two orange plates. Battle
stripes appeared on his face and his T-shirt and jeans changed into a black,
brown, and white war suit with black boots and gloves. The Tenchi-ken
elongated before his eyes into that same scythe-like weapon that his
grandfather had shown him.
    Two more Bioroids leapt at him and extended blades from their arms.
Tenchi whirled the laser scythe above is head in a mighty glittering battle
arc. "Come and get me!"
    The scythe whipped through the robot's bodies like magic, almost as if
it were the most natural, easy action in the world.
    Kiyone watched awestruck. What power.
    The last four Bioroids soared through the night sky and fired off shot
after shot. The Blue Shield Wings sprang forth and obliterated their
attempts. Tenchi focused the wings at the end of the scythe and swung at the
airborne Bioroids. The four wings caught the machines and ripped them to
shreds, then disappeared.
    "That was great!" Kiyone shouted. "But where's the prototype?"
    It was behind her. Two sickle claws sprang forth and impaled the Galaxy
Police officer. Kiyone was dead before she hit the ground.
    Tenchi turned to see Kiyone's fallen, bleeding corpse and the evil
shadow that had accomplished the dire deed. Bolts of pure lightning surged
through the Master Key as Tenchi howled, "You'll pay, bastard!"
    The Prototype smiled. "Bring it on."

<<>>

    "Oh my." Washu whispered as she circled Ryoko's healing tank.
    Yosho shook his head. "As you can see, Washu, we haven't been able to
heal her. Is there anything you can do?"
    Washu turned. "Where are the gems?"
    Yosho looked confused. "Gems?"
    Washu sighed. "The ones that were on her wrists. Where'd they go?"
    Yosho hit his palm with his fist. "Oh, that's right! I stole them and
put them in the Master Key."
    Washu gave him a dubious look. "Where's the Master Key?"
    Yosho sighed. "In Tokyo."
    Washu opened up a computer terminal out of nowhere and began crunching
numbers. "I was told that you had a talent for making things difficult, now
I know it's true."

<<>>

    Tenchi leaped high in the air, swinging the scythe high in the air and
yelling the Masaki battle cry. The Prototype swung his cannons to bear and
fired. Tenchi took a direct hit from two huge laser pulses, which exploded,
on impact. It could be seen for miles. Tenchi hit the pavement and just
barely dodged another two shots.
    Tenchi went into a circling run, ducking and blocking the laser shots
with the scythe.
    The Prototype spoke. "Just what seems to be the problem, Tenchi Masaki?"
    Tenchi dove to the ground and hurled the laser scythe. It sliced one of
the Prototype's hands off which promptly exploded on the ground, along with
one of the pulse rifles. The scythe whirled back around like a boomerang,
stopping in Tenchi's gloved hand. "Nothing at all."
    The Prototype laughed. "Clever."
    From the remains of the hand sprouted a chain gun.
    Tenchi's face fell. "Oh, shit."
    The Prototype laughed maniacally as he bulldozed the buildings that
rested on the rooftop of the mall in an angled attempt to eliminate the
fast-paced prince. "You can run!"
    Tenchi soared into the air and looked down to take aim at the Prototype.
It wasn't there.
"But you can't hide!"
    The double-fist/clawed blow slammed Tenchi in the backside, ripping
leather, cloth, and skin, sending Tenchi plummeting to the building below.
He smashed through two layers of concrete and skidded along the linoleum
floor of the mall's upper story, coming to a jolting stop when he smacked
into a large wooden shelf. The shelf capsized and fell on Tenchi, knocking
him out cold.
    The Prototype landed slowly in the mall, clouds of steam coming from his
foot thrusters. "Where are you?" it chanted in a singsong voice.
    Tenchi gradually came to his senses and heard the heavy, grinding
footsteps of the Prototype.
    "Where are you, little prince?"
    It suddenly fired the chain gun at a large lighting apparatus which
partially shattered and landed two inches from Tenchi's face. Only the boy's
strong self-control let him avoid notice. The Prototype shrugged and went on
searching.
Tenchi crawled slowly away from the mess and tried to sneak back to the
rooftop. However, Tenchi's sneaking skills had never been the greatest. He
accidentally hit his head on a metal coat rack.
    The Prototype whirled and fired 500 rounds in a wide arc around the coat
rack and formed a 50-foot hole in the floor where the coat rack would have
been the center if it still existed.
    Out of the corner of its visual sensor, the Prototype saw Tenchi leap to
the roof. Tenchi attempted to get into a ready position, but the Prototype
was too fast.
    "Somebody'd better call '911'!" it growled as it grabbed Tenchi by the
head, spun in the air on a break-neck ascent, and performed a crushing
backwards slam-dunk on the mall's rooftop water tower using Tenchi as the
basketball. The steel tower concaved and collapsed, spilling a mighty rush
of water. A badly bruised Tenchi floated to a rest at the feet of the
Prototype, once again in his T-shirt and jeans. The Master Key lay in its
normal state several feet away. In the commotion, no one had noticed that
two of Ryoko's gems were missing.
    The Prototype raised the barely conscious Tenchi off the ground by his
shirt collar with one of its sickle claws, still stained with Kiyone's
blood, which ran down the white shirt. "Isn't it funny?" the machine mused
while Tenchi stared at him with total hate. "If you'd left this dead girl
and run from me, you might have lived to see the dawn."
    Tenchi spat in the Prototype's face. "I would rather die than forsake
any one of my friends, even in death."
    The Bioroid laughed and flung Tenchi against a wall. "That's alright
with me!" It brought the laser rifle to bear. "Mission complete."
    Tenchi closed his eyes and prepared for intense, searing death, but
there was nothing. He slowly opened his eyes.
In front of him he saw what could only be a goddess of war. The beam saber
that extended through the Prototype's torso protruded from her fist to as
far as the eye could see. This female warrior was clad in a black body suit
with red, curving stripes and a navy blue cloak, and had hair that looked
just like . . .
    "Ryoko?"
    Ryoko pulled her upgraded beam saber out of the Bioroid. "Not so tough
now, eh?"
    The Prototype turned very slowly. "What--what are you?!"
    "Your worst nightmare." Ryoko sneered. "How dare you hurt my Tenchi! I'm
not just going to kill you, no. I'm going to disintegrate you and GP
Headquarters as well!"
    The Bioroid jetted off into the sky. "You're crazy!" He met with the
spaceship form of Ryo-Ohki. The cabbit fired off the mother of all laser
blasts, vaporizing the surprised Prototype with one hit.
    Ryoko smiled. "You haven't seen 'crazy' yet."
    She slowly descended to Tenchi as the sun rose in the east, casting
beautiful rays over her elegant body. She notice that he was crying. "What's
wrong, Tenchi?"
    Tenchi shook his head and sat up. "Nothing. It's just that you're always
saving me instead of the other way around."
    Ryoko held him close and smiled. "Don't sweat it. It's better than
dying."
    Tenchi suddenly remembered. "Oh my, god! Kiyone!"
    Ryoko looked at the fallen GP officer and smiled. "Don't worry; just
hand me one of the crystals."
    Tenchi looked confused. "Crystals?"
    Ryoko pointed to his chest. "The ones on your necklace; give me one."
    Tenchi looked dubious. "Okay."
    Ryoko took the white jewel and placed it on Kiyone's chest. She then
focused the power of her two gems into the crystal. It slowly sank into
Kiyone's body, and the wounds near her shoulders closed up.
    Kiyone slowly sat up, dazed. "What happened to me? Did we win?"
    She was shocked to see Ryoko answering her. "Yeah, we won."

    As they made their way to enter Ryo-Ohki, Ryoko blocked Tenchi.
    Tenchi was confused once again. "What's going on, Ryoko?"
    Ryoko smiled. "What, I don't even get a kiss for saving your life?"
    Tenchi blushed. "Come on, Ryoko."
    Ryoko blocked him further. "No way around it, Tenchi. You're going to
have to kiss me."
    Tenchi surprised her by putting one arm around her waist and another
around her neck, giving her a kiss that could have made the record books.
The surprised Ryoko slowly wrapped her arms around Tenchi and held the kiss
as long as she could. That is, until Kiyone interrupted them with a loud
clearing of her throat.
    "Come on, you two. I don't want half of Tokyo waking up to see a
spaceship on top of the mall. Things are already crazy enough without that
happening."
    Both Ryoko and Tenchi pulled away, smiling and blushing. "Yeah," Tenchi
said. "We'd better go home."
    The rising sun in the east and the landing Yagami at the Masaki shrine
joined with the scene of Ryo-Ohki flying through the clouds to show one
thing. Those chosen by destiny had come together at last. They wouldn't
always get along, that was for sure, and they wouldn't always be without
mortal danger either. But one thing was for sure; this adventure wasn't over
yet. In fact, it was only the beginning.

Disclaimer:
 This is a work of fan fiction and uses characters and situations from the
Tenchi Muyo TV series, copyrighted under Pioneer.  Also, some characters may
come from the No Need For Tenchi graphic novel series, copyright Viz Comics.
I take no credit for the base characters and plot, but all developments as
of the time frame of my story are of my own design.  If by some strange
chance my plot is parallel to another author's fan fiction, I wish to be
notified.  For comments and information, E-mail me at bkvhw@earthlink.net

Coming Soon:  Tenchi Muyo!: Lighthawk Legend, Episode 8:  A Slight Touch of
Chaos