Tenchi Muyo: No Need for the Past (part 4 of 4) 'Rye-Ohki! What's going on? Are you OK?' He got no response. 'Rye- Ohki!' Hakubi jumped out of his bed and ran out the door, changing into his battle armor on the way. He ran to Ayeka and Sasami's room and didn't bother to knock. He blew the door open and jumped through, energy sword ready. What he saw made his blood run cold. The room was a disaster. Futons and mats where strewn about. Ayeka was under a futon, lying in a pool of her own blood. "Sasami, where are you?" yelled Hakubi. He rushed over to Ayeka to see her condition. She was still alive, barely. He looked around the room to find Sasami, but found nothing. "Rye-Ohki, Ryo-Ohki, where are you guys?" He still got no response from Rye-Ohki and he could not feel his mental presence. Tenchi then burst through the door with his Tenchi-ken blazing. Ryoko and Washu followed behind him. "What happened?" Tenchi asked looking around. He saw Ayeka and quickly ran over to her. "My lab, now!" Washu ordered as Tenchi picked up Ayeka carefully and followed Washu out the broken door. "Where are Sasami and Ryo-Ohki?" asked Ryoko to Hakubi, who stood in the center of the room staring at the floor. Ryoko was in Washu's lab discussing Car when she heard a cry for help from Ryo-Ohki. "I said where are they!" Ryoko yelled to Hakubi who did not reply. "God damn you! Answer me!" Ryoko flew towards Hakubi and punched him. He did not try to defend himself and was sent sailing out the window. Ryoko teleported next to him outside and asked again, "What happened to Sasami and Ryo-Ohki?" Hakubi stood up and did not say a thing. This just made Ryoko even more furious and she punched him again. She hit him in the face, and Hakubi took it. "Tell me or else I'll..." She raised her energy sword and looked into Hakubi's yellow eyes. She saw something very familiar in them. She saw utter despair, complete and total desolation. He looked as if the most important thing in his universe had been taken away, helpless to do anything about it. The exact same feeling she had when she believed that Kagato had killed Tenchi. "Go ahead. I deserve it," said Hakubi, looking directly into Ryoko's eyes. This stunned the hardened space pirate. Ryoko did not move, continuing to stare into his sad eyes. "I failed them, all of them. I don't deserve to live. Hell, I'm dead anyways." "You're not getting off that easily. Kain is still out there," said Ryoko, distinguishing her sword. With the mention of Kain, Hakubi snapped. Ryoko saw the desolation fade from his eyes, to be replaced with absolute anger. "Kain. You aren't getting away this time! When I find you, I'm going to tear you apart!" yelled Hakubi with tears streaming down his cheeks. "You are going to die! You hear me Kain? I'm going to kill you for what you've done!" Hakubi yelled to the sky and teleported away. "Come back here!" Ryoko yelled at the vanishing Hakubi. She floated up into the air to chase him. "No. Let him go. He will be back," came the voice of Yosho from the door of the house. "He just needs some time alone." Ryoko looked at the old man, her once mortal enemy, now trusted ally. She sighed and floated to the door. "He's a lot like you, in a way," said Yosho as he closed the door behind her. "I know," came a reply. The group was huddled around Ayeka in Washu's lab. Ayeka was lying in a bed with monitors around her. Washu looked at one monitor and pushed a button. "There we go. Ayeka should be fine in a day or so. My medical bed is getting quite a work out these past few days." "But we still don't know what happened. With Car missing and Ayeka out of it, there is nothing we can do," said Kiyone sitting down on a cushion. Tenchi had called Kiyone and Mihoshi as soon as Ayeka was no longer in danger. "Damn it! Where's Car?" asked a frustrated Tenchi. "Isn't he supposed to protect Ayeka and Sasami?" "I'm right here," said Hakubi from behind the group. They all spun around and saw him standing at the door with his head hung low. "I'm sorry. I sorry that I couldn't protect Ayeka and Sasami," said Hakubi, trying to hold back his tears. "I should have been there sooner, now all is lost." Hakubi could not hold back anymore and openly wept. "Now, now, stop crying. We don't know if Sasami is dead or not. We were hoping that you could tell us what happened," said Washu trying to comfort Hakubi, for some reason she wanted to mother him. "I don't know what happened. I just got there a few moments before you guys did. Kain has no reason not to kill Sasami. He has nothing to gain with her alive," said Hakubi between sobs. Washu went over to him, transformed into her adult form and hugged him. He hugged back, crying into her shoulder. "Don't cry, there's still a chance that she is still alive." Washu had no idea that Sasami meant so much to Hakubi; the puzzle pieces were starting to come together. "Sasami?" Ayeka weakly called out. The group turned around to Ayeka. She was awake and looking around. "Where am I? You!" Ayeka exclaimed as she saw Hakubi. "Where were you? Some guard you are. When this is over I'm going to have you guarding the trash dump if not executed for your gross negligence!" Ayeka yelled at Hakubi. Hakubi said nothing back. He looked at the floor trying not to cry again. "Back off Ayeka. Can't you see he is hurt as badly as you are about this? He's only one man, he can't be everywhere," Ryoko said in the defense of Hakubi. "Back off? Why should I? It was his job to protect us and he failed miserably. If he was doing what he was supposed to, that monster wouldn't have Sasami and I wouldn't be here." "What do you mean he has Sasami?" Hakubi asked quietly. "What should you care? You already ignored your duty. I want you out of my sight," Ayeka yelled back. "What do you mean he has her? Tell me!" Hakubi said louder, not moving an inch. "How dare you talk to me in that tone," said Ayeka, shocked at his candor. "I'm not one of your stupid guards. Tell me what happened to Sasami now! Is she still alive or not? I must know!" Hakubi yelled back. "Yes, she is alive," came a calm voice from the shadows of the lab. A figure appeared and approached the group. "Tsunami!" everyone but Hakubi gasped. "Mother! I thought you where dead!" cried Hakubi at the same time. He ran towards her to embrace her, but instead, he fell right through his mother and landed on the floor. He turned over and said, "Tsunami?" "You haven't seen my astral form before have you?" Tsunami asked, and Hakubi shook his head. "Sasami is alive and unharmed. Kain has captured her." "Thank god she is alive," Tenchi said, very relieved. "When you called Tsunami 'Mother,' you meant it in a religious way, right?" Ayeka asked Hakubi in a shaky voice. "Of course! It all makes sense now," exclaimed Washu. Everyone looked at her and she proceeded to explain. "Tsunami is your mother, or rather Sasami is. That explains the anomalies in your Juraian DNA. And somehow, Tenchi and Ryoko are also related to you. By looking at the quantity of their genes compared to Sasami, I bet their son was your father, right?" "I, I, I'm screwed," Hakubi said quietly. "Don't worry about it, I will erase their memories when this is all over," Tsunami said, calming Hakubi down. "Why don't you tell them the whole story, I cannot stay here much longer." The image of Tsunami faded away, her last words echoing through the lab. Hakubi sighed. "What I told you about Kain was true. He is a very powerful criminal bent on destroying anything Juraian. What I did not tell you is that he also has the power to travel through time. Kain attacked the Royal Family of Jurai in your future and decided that it would be easier to defeat them in the past, right now. I followed Kain from the future and am here to stop him. My name is not Car Rote. It is Prince Tenchi Hakubi-Jurai Masaki II, but I like to be called Hakubi so there is no confusion with my Grandfather." "Tenchi Masaki II?" gasped Tenchi. "Prince? Jurai?" gasped Ayeka. "That's right. I am the crown prince of Jurai. Tenchi married both Ryoko and Ayeka when he became the Emperor of Jurai. He had a daughter with Ayeka named Achika and a son with Ryoko named Devon. Devon later married Sasami and they had me," said Hakubi. Hakubi paused, expecting some type of response. There was only silence, so Hakubi continued. "It all started at lunch time..." A few minutes later, "So that's about it. Washu sent me back here to stop Kain and the rest you know." "So that's why you didn't want us to go on patrol," said Kiyone. "Me and Tenchi, forever," said both Ryoko and Ayeka. "Oh brother," commented Tenchi. "So it was you I saw with the light hawk sword, and you're the boy in the picture," said Ryoko. "Yes that was me. Now that you know who I am, we must find Mother. Ayeka, what did Kain say when he took her?" "He was muttering something about you stopping him and that Sasami was his key for him to get out of here. The last thing I remember was Rye-Ohki and Ryo- Ohki jumping in front of Sasami to protect her and they all disappeared. Do you know what he is talking about?" asked Ayeka, sitting up in the medical bed. "I have no idea. Kain said something about me stopping him from doing something when he attacked Ryoko, but I have no idea what he is referring to" answered Hakubi. "I think I know what he was talking about," announced Washu. "When you first showed up I detected a strange energy field emanating from you and Rye- Ohki. It looked like some type of shield that affects the time-space continuum somehow. I have never seen anything like it." "Of course! That's it! You're a genius Washu," said Hakubi, his face lighting up. "You gave me this new armor that would keep me here despite the changes in the timeline. That is what you are detecting. It must be keeping Kain here too. I was wondering why he didn't just go back farther in time and attack you guys when you were babies or something." "That's right. The field is very strong and effectively dampens all time travel. The field from your armor is not that large, but the one I detected from Rye-Ohki was huge. I guess I made him better than I thought," said Washu triumphantly striking a pose. "And Kain took Rye-Ohki with Sasami. Washu, can you find Rye-Ohki by locating the source of the field?" "Looks like you got your brains from my side of the family," said Washu with a smile. "Let me see here." Washu typed on her computer and a map of the Earth projected from it. It zoomed out and focused on the moon. It panned around the moon and a light blinked on one crater. "There they are. Rye-Ohki is on the dark side of the moon." "Where Rye-Ohki is, Sasami will be near by. I'm sure of it. He won't leave her side unless forced to," said Hakubi, getting up. "Then lets get aboard the Yagami and go rescue her," said Mihoshi seriously. She had not said anything the whole time and her voice startled them. "Mihoshi's right, let's go," said Kiyone not believing that Mihoshi wasn't bawling right now. "I want to come too," said Ayeka trying to get out of bed. "No, you are not going. You are too injured to fight and will only get in the way," said Mihoshi, shocking the others with her suddenly found common sense. "I think I will stay here too. There isn't enough room on Yagami for all of us, and Kiyone is a better fighter than me anyways." "Um, OK Mihoshi. That sound like a good idea," said Kiyone, wondering if this was her partner. "I will stay behind as well. I do not think I am needed in this battle. You five should be able to handle it," said Yosho. "Then let's go," said Kiyone as she twisted a side on her control cube and transported them to the Galaxy Police Starship. "I hope they will be all right," wondered Ayeka as she watched them teleport away. "They will be. From my sparring with Hakubi, I know he is an excellent fighter, and he should also have incredible power, being the son of Tsunami and the grandson of Tenchi and Ryoko," replied Yosho. The gang materialized in the cockpit of the Yagami. "This is going to be a fast trip, so everyone get ready," said Kiyone as she powered up the ships engines. The Yagami was orbiting the Earth at a safe distance so that no Earth satellites would be able to detect it. They were not far from the moon, and the trip would only take a few minutes. "When we get there, I want you guys to find Sasami and get out of there. I will deal with Kain alone," Hakubi said to the others. They started to protest and Hakubi cut them off, "I went back in time to prevent Kain from killing anyone. I don't want you guys in any more danger than you have to be. If I know everyone is safe, I can concentrate on fighting Kain. All right?" Everyone nodded their heads. "We're almost there," Kiyone told the group. "When we get there, we should split up. Kiyone should stay here to take care of the ship. I will go after Kain alone, while the rest of you get Sasami. Kain is not getting away this time. I'm going to end this here and now," Hakubi told the others. No one wanted to argue with him. Even Ryoko was humbled by the determination Hakubi had. Ryoko thought to herself. She looked at Hakubi and studied his face, trying to etch every curve into her memory, even though she knew that Tsunami would erase it. "Ryoko," said Tenchi, interrupting her thoughts, "I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but I just haven't found the right time." "What is it Tenchi?" asked Ryoko, hoping that he is talking about expressing his love for her. "This." Tenchi raised the Tenchi-ken and pointed the hilt towards Ryoko. He closed his eyes and the sword started to glow. The remaining two gems disappeared from the hilt and reappeared on Ryoko's wrist and neck. Ryoko felt a sudden surge of power, power that she hadn't felt since she was under Kagato's control. "Thank you Tenchi," said Ryoko, and she gave him a hug. It was not what she expected, but she was happy nonetheless. "Ahem, we have arrived," Kiyone said, breaking the moment. "Washu, do you know where Rye-Ohki is?" "Not the exact location. Once we get on the surface, I can find him," Washu replied, not looking up from her computer. "The surface? Don't we need space suits or something?" Tenchi asked confused. "No we don't. Look ahead." The Yagami traveled over the surface of the moon and over the horizon came into sight a large castle. "Kain has built us a battle ground," said Washu. She brought up a map of the castle on her computer. "It is a simple design, only one story. There is an atmosphere and the same gravity as Earth in there. It's surrounded by a shield, so don't worry about destroying the walls. I guess Kain expected a major battle here, let's not disappoint him." "Alright. You know the plan. When we reach the surface, you three will track down Rye-Ohki. When you get Sasami out of here to safety, Rye-Ohki will contact me," Hakubi said to Tenchi, Ryoko, and Washu. "Let's go." Washu pressed a button on her computer and they were teleported into the castle. They materialized in a large antechamber. The walls where made of stone and decorated with tapestries of alien origin. Washu summoned her computer and started to type. A small box fell out of a subspace pocket and into Washu's waiting hands. "OK. This will lead us to Rye-Ohki. Hopefully, he will be able to tell us where Sasami is," said Washu and she turned on the box. She waved it around and it started to beep. "Rye-Ohki is this way," Washu announced, pointing down a hallway. "Let's go," said Tenchi as he started down the hall. Before he could walk a few feet, Kain appeared in his humanoid form. "Here so soon? Well, it saves me the trouble of getting you," Kain sneered in an arrogant voice. "I want you to turn off whatever is keeping me from traveling though time," said Kain, looking at Hakubi. "If you don't I will kill the little princess." "How do we even know she is alive?" Hakubi shouted back. "See for yourself." Kain waved a hand and a screen appeared. It showed Sasami, Ryo-Ohki, and Rye-Ohki trapped in a large crystal, they where all pounding on the walls trying to break free. "Now turn it off, or I will kill them all." "I can't. In order to turn it off, you will have to destroy me," said Hakubi, stepping forward. "Go get Sasami," he said quietly to Tenchi as he passed him. "Is that so?" Kain replied, not amused at all. "I am blocking your power. You will have to kill me to stop it," Hakubi replied and he powered up his energy sword. "So be it." Kain raised his hands and bolts of black energy shot at Hakubi. Hakubi easily blocked the energy with his force field and charged Kain. In the confusion of the battle, Tenchi and the others slipped away, heading to Sasami. "Is that all you got?" Hakubi mocked Kain. Hakubi jumped into the air and swung his sword at Kain on his way down. The sword hit Kain's own force field and let off a large spark of electricity. Hakubi flew back, and decided that his energy sword would not be enough to stop Kain. Kain countered with a bolt of energy aimed for Hakubi's chest. At the same time, Hakubi threw his sword at Kain, intercepting the bolt, causing a large explosion. He flew through the explosion, summoning his light hawk wings in-flight. Kain jumped to the side and threw another energy attack. It hit Hakubi in the side, but the light hawk wings protected him. Hakubi grabbed a wing in front of him, and it formed a sword. Now in his light hawk armor, Hakubi faced Kain. Kain only smiled. "So you use the Light Hawk Wings at last," said Kain. Hakubi ignored him and attacked. He teleported behind Kain and swung his sword. Kain teleported away just before he would have been cut in two. He materialized a few feet away and threw an energy ball at Hakubi. The light hawk wings blocked the attack. Hakubi grabbed another one of his wings, forming it into a ball, and threw it at Kain. Kain raised his force field and tried to block the attack. He had a hard time deflecting all the energy and was pushed back. "Don't expect this fight to be easy," said Kain panting, having used a lot of energy blocking the attack. "It's over, Kain," said Hakubi as he advanced towards him. "Not yet!" Kain turned around, looking down a hallway. He took a step forward and teleported away. "Come back here you coward," Hakubi yelled at the vanishing Kain. "Damn it!" Hakubi muttered under his breath as he also teleported down the hall. Further down the hall, and a few rooms away, Tenchi, Ryoko, and Washu stopped running. "Where to now Washu?" asked Tenchi. "This way," Washu replied, pointing at a wall. "There's no door here," said Tenchi as he pushed against the wall. "Then we'll make one," Ryoko said flatly. She gathered some energy and blasted the wall, creating a hole large enough for them to pass through. Inside was a large room. The only thing in it was a large crystal, floating in the center. "Sasami!" cried Tenchi and he ran through the hole and to the crystal. Sasami saw Tenchi and started to yell and bang on the walls some more, but making no sound. "Washu, can you get them out of this thing?" "I'm working on it," answered Washu. She was typing away furiously on her computer, images flashing on the screen in a blur of colored light. Sasami stopped hitting the wall, and waited for Washu to break her out. Rye-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki stood beside her, waiting as well. "Almost got it. Don't want to rush this, or I will destroy Sasami in the process." Kain appeared in a large room, completely empty. Hakubi appeared after him. "I'm not letting you get away this time," said Hakubi and he charged again. "Who said I was running?" asked Kain as dodged Hakubi's attacks. "Like a fly coming to the spider." Hakubi ignored the comment and attacked again. Kain jumped out of the way and shot a large blast of energy at Hakubi, who was still in midair from his last attack. The blast hit him and sent him flying to a wall. Even though Hakubi's light hawk wings protected him from the attack, it was too powerful for him to fly against. The wall did not stop Hakubi and he flew right through it, leaving a large, crumbling hole. "Perfect," said Kain and he teleported through the hole. Tenchi and Ryoko tried to break the crystal with their energy swords, to no avail. "Impatient aren't we?" said Washu from behind her computer. "If you two would just wait a sec-" Washu was cut off by a large explosion. They all turned towards the sound and saw Hakubi fly through the opposite wall and land next to the crystal. "Hakubi!" cried Tenchi and Ryoko at the same time. Kain soon appeared and said, "Now that we are all here. You are to give up now, or I will kill the girl." To emphasize his point, Kain raised his arm and the crystal also rose. He squeezed his hand and the crystal started to get smaller. He stopped closing his hand when the crystal had shrunk to where there was hardly enough room for the prisoners to breathe. "Now give up, or they will be crushed." Hakubi looked at the crystal and then to Kain. "All right. You win." Hakubi let his light hawk wings disappear, but he kept his light hawk armor. "Tenchi, Ryoko, do as he says," Hakubi told the others. "No way am I giving up without a fight," growled Ryoko and she leapt towards Kain. Kain closed his hand some more and Sasami let out a scream of pain, which they all could hear. Ryoko stopped in mid air and floated to the ground. "You bastard!" Ryoko let go of her energy sword and it disappeared. Tenchi also distinguished the Tenchi-ken. Washu ignored the whole scene and continued to work on her computer. "That's much better," gloated Kain. He raised his other hand towards Hakubi and bands of energy wrapped around him, securely binding Hakubi. "Now, which one should I kill first?" Kain asked Hakubi, laughing. "How about her?" Kain pointed at Ryoko. He gathered a large ball of energy and launched it at Ryoko. "No!" screamed Tenchi and he leapt in front of Ryoko. The ball hit them both and exploded in a fiery blast. "Excellent. Two for the price of one," said Kain, as he laughed some more. His laughter was cut short when three bands of light emerged from the explosion. "How could he do that?" This was the distraction that Hakubi needed. He teleported out of his binds and left a doll of himself in his place. Washu also took advantage of this distraction. She pressed a button on her computer and a small gun with a radar dish at the end of the barrel fell into her hands out of subspace. She pointed it at the crystal and fired. It made no sound, but the walls of the crystal started to crack. "How did you do that?" asked Kain in disbelief, looking at his crystal prison and at the doll of Hakubi in his energy binds. He did not have time to hear the long explanation from Washu as Tenchi and Hakubi attacked. Tenchi had summoned his light hawk wings in time to shield both himself and Ryoko from Kain's attack. Ryoko was sitting on the ground dazed, but unhurt. Together, Tenchi and Hakubi took swings at Kain, keeping up a constant hail of swords and energy. Kain was hard pressed to defend himself against the two warriors. He teleported away before we would have been cut into three pieces. "That's it! She dies!" Kain screamed from the far side of the room where he had materialized. He looked at his prison just in time to see it completely shatter. The second they were free, Rye-Ohki transformed into his ship form and teleported everyone but Hakubi into itself. "No!" Kain yelled at the cabbit-ship as it broke through the ceiling and flew into space. Kain shot a large blast after him, but Rye-Ohki's easily dodged it. 'Good job Rye-Ohki, I'll handle it from here,' Hakubi thought to his cabbit as he too watched it fly away. He turned to Kain and attacked. "No! Bring me back now!" Tenchi yelled at the image of Rye-Ohki inside the ship. "He needs our help. We have to go back." They had been teleported onto the bridge of Rye-Ohki. Unlike Ryo-Ohki, the bridge had a friendlier, more Juraian look and you could not see through the all the walls. Rye-Ohki only meowed back, in a very stubborn tone. "He won't take us back, Tenchi," said Ryoko behind Tenchi. "Ryo-Ohki tells me that Hakubi told him to make sure everyone, especially Sasami, was safe when he fought Kain. He was ordered to protect her, no matter what." Ryoko put her hand on Tenchi shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Ryo-Ohki won't disobey a direct order from me, and I bet Rye-Ohki is the same way. Nothing you say will change his mind." Rye-Ohki meowed an affirmative and flew towards the Yagami, which was orbiting near by. Tenchi said nothing and just stared at the castle in the distance. He could see flashes of light and walls crumbling as Hakubi and Kain fought to the death. Rye-Ohki neared the Yagami and came to a sudden halt. In a fury of meows, Rye-Ohki transported every to the Yagami and sped off, back to the castle. "Where's Hakubi?" Kiyone asked the group who suddenly appeared before her. "He's still fighting Kain in the castle," Tenchi answered with a sigh. "Then what are you doing here? We have to help him!" Kiyone reached for the controls but Ryo-Ohki caught her wrist. She was in her humanoid form and mewed a few times, shaking her head. "Not you too Ryo-Ohki?" asked Ryoko exasperated. "We don't have time for this." Ryoko moved to grab Ryo-Ohki, but Ryo-Ohki evaded her by jumped backwards, onto the console in front of Kiyone. Ryoko went for her again, and Ryo-Ohki bared her fangs and hissed at her, shocking Ryoko; Ryo-Ohki had never hissed at her. "You better have a damn good reason for disobeying me like this," Ryoko told Ryo-Ohki as she stopped and crossed her arms. Ryo-Ohki meowed back a response, and Ryoko translated for the others. "She says that Rye-Ohki told her before he teleported us here, to stop us from going back to the castle." Ryoko looked at the cabbit and stared into her eyes. "You are my cabbit, not Hakubi's. I order you to stand aside." Ryo-Ohki shook her head again and mewed apologetically. "She says that she also wants to go help Hakubi, but the risk is too great," Ryoko translated, shaking with anger. "Rye-Ohki had told her what had happened in the future and she believes that we may still get killed if we go back. She also says that she is sorry for disobeying me." "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Sasami asked Ryo-Ohki. Ryo-Ohki looked at her and nodded her head with an affirmative meow. Ryoko only glared at Ryo-Ohki saying nothing, but thinking quite a lot. Ryo- Ohki cringed slightly at the mental tongue lashing, but held her ground. "You can't blame her Ryoko," Washu spoke up. "She is saving our lives whether you know it or not." Everyone looked at her and waited for the explanation. "Kain came back to this time because he knew he could easily kill each and everyone one of us. The only thing that stopped him form doing so was Hakubi. If we go back now, Hakubi will have to protect us, and try to defeat Kain at the same time. I know it is hard for you to sit here and do nothing, but it is what we must do. So settle down and relax." Washu summoned her computer and pressed a few buttons. A table appeared in the center of the bridge and crackers with a steaming pot of tea appeared on top of it. "Now, who wants some tea?" With everyone else safe, Hakubi concentrated solely on Kain. He used his full power and every trick he had learned to try to defeat Kain. But Kain would not go down easily. He too used his full power and every trick he had learned throughout his vast lifetime. Energy was flying everywhere, and the room they were in was slowly being destroyed. Kain gathered the most energy he could summon and threw it at Hakubi. The ball hit him square and exploded. The top half of the room disintegrated in the blast, leaving only the force field to keep the vacuum of space from entering the castle. Hakubi brought up all five of his light hawk wings to block the blast successfully. When the smoke cleared, Hakubi was ready to counter attack. Kain saw this and decided to use another tactic. He formed a special energy sword of his own. It had a large, wide blade, completely black. So dark, that it was like looking into a black hole. Both blades met and gave off a large spark of electricity. "I haven't needed to use this sword in a few millennia," Kain snarled at Hakubi as they pushed against each other. "You are quite the worthy opponent." "I'm more than that Kain," Hakubi snarled back. "I'm going to be your last opponent." Hakubi drew his other wings in front of him and pushed Kain away. He immediately launched a series of energy attacks, sending each of his wings at Kain. Kain dodged a few of the wings and batted the others away. "You can't use tricks that I have seen before and hope to defeat me!" Kain lunged at Hakubi, almost splitting open Hakubi's stomach. Hakubi called back his wings and jumped backwards. Kain followed him, drawing back his sword. Their swords locked again with a loud crack. "I will deafeat you!" yelled Hakubi behind his light hawk wings. "Not likely, Boy!" Kain yelled back. Kain stepped back and threw a ball of energy at Hakubi. Hakubi was ready for him and blocked it easily with his light hawk wings. Catching Kain off guard, Hakubi jumped through the resulting explosion and rammed Kain with his shield that the light hawk wings had formed. There was a loud sizzle of burning flesh as the shield touched Kain, and he was thrown back. "Damn you," Kain muttered. His shoulder had been badly burned by Hakubi's shield and was smoking. Ignoring the comment, Hakubi teleported behind Kain and struck. Kain ducked to the side and teleported away. Hakubi spotted where Kain reappeared and shot a beam of energy at him. 'Everyone's safe. I'm coming to help,' a voice floated through Hakubi's mind. 'As soon as you are in range, hit Kain with everything you got,' Hakubi thought back. 'What about you?' 'Don't worry about me, just do it!' Hakubi ordered back. Kain had blocked the energy blast with his force field and Hakubi teleported to him, not giving Kain any time to attack. 'Got it. I'll be in range in a few seconds,' Rye-Ohki thought back. Up in space, a black crystalline ship zoomed towards the moon. As it neared, two light hawk wings flared into existence around it. The wings merged to create a large ball of white energy. 'Get ready!' Hakbui teleported to Kain's side and swung his sword for Kain's head. Kain ducked under the blow and teleported away to the far side of the room. Hakbui threw his light hawk sword at Kain the second he materialized. Kain let his sword disappear and put up both his hands to form a shield to protect himself from Hakubi's attack. At that instant, a large beam of white energy came screaming down from space, hitting Kain and everything within 3 yards of him. The force of the blast was tremendous, causing what was left of the castle to come crumbling down. The beam lasted a few seconds and started to weaken. 'That's all I got,' Rye-Ohki thought back, mentally and physically panting. 'Good job,' Hakubi thought back. Everything was going according to his plan. He summoned all his light hawk wings in front of him and grabbed them. They formed a single light hawk sword that gave off a white glow. The beam completely dissipated, leaving a large hole in the ground with Kain standing at the bottom. He had gotten his shield up in time, but blocking the attack had taken most of his energy. It took him a few seconds to recover, and that was all the time Hakubi needed. Hakbui jumped down the crater to Kain with his sword held high. When he got within striking distance, Hakubi let out a war cry and swung downwards. Kain reacted instantly, and brought up his sword to block Hakubi. With all five light hawk wings merged into one sword, Hakubi's sword easily cut through Kain's and continued its path into Kain. Hakubi landed behind Kain, kneeling. Neither of them moved. Kain's broken sword fell out his hand and clattered on the floor. Hakubi turned around, ready to deliver another blow if necessary. Kain fell to his knees, a white, glowing line streaked diagonally down his body. "Now it's over, Kain," said Hakubi. He walked closer to Kain, preparing to give the final blow. "It's not over till I say so," Kain replied in a whisper. He fell forwards onto his face and exploded. The crater was instantly filled with black energy, blasting Hakubi up and out of it. With all his wings formed into a sword, Hakubi could not create a shield strong enough to protect himself. He felt thousands of white hot needles sting him and then the hard floor as he landed. "Damnit," was all Hakubi could mutter before he lost consciousness. Hakubi laid on his side, a few feet from the hole, his whole body smoldering. With Kain destroyed, the shield around he castle started to fade away, letting the hard vacuum of space to enter. Before the vacuum could reach Hakubi, Rye- Ohki teleported him into himself and flew off towards Earth. "What was that?" Tenchi asked as he noticed a bright flash off in the distance. A second later the shockwave from the blast hit the Yagami and everyone was thrown out of their seats. "That came from the castle!" Kiyone exclaimed as she read a report on a monitor. "It's the same energy as Kain," Washu said calmly, reading her computer. "Either he exploded or hit someone with a lot of power." A small flash of light caught Ryoko's attention. "Something's coming this way," she said. The light grew bigger and the outline of a spiky object could be seen. She immediately recognized the crystal shape of a cabbit-ship. "It's Rye-Ohki!" "Kiyone, contact him and ask what's going on," Tenchi ordered. Kiyone went for the communication controls but it was not necessary. The view screen of the Yagami came to life and an image of Rye-Ohki appeared as he zoomed past them, heading for Earth. Rye-Ohki mewed and sent a message to the Yagami's computer simultaneously. "Hakubi is badly hurt," Ryoko translated. "He's heading for Washu's lab now." "That's right," Kiyone confirmed, reading the same message off the computer monitors. She pushed the throttle to maximum and flew after Rye-Ohki. "Do you think he is hurt really bad?" Sasami asked the group. No one replied and they all stared at Rye-Ohki as they approached home. 'What do you think?' Sasami asked Tsunami. 'I don't know Sasami. I really don't know,' Tsunami could only reply. Multiple sonic booms echoed through the valley as two alien craft entered the atmosphere. "Rye-Ohki, teleport Hakubi to these coordinates," Washu said, pressing a few buttons on her computer. Rye-Ohki meowed an affirmative and continued his descent. He neared the house and teleported Hakubi. A second later, he transformed back into his cabbit form and phased through the roof, not slowing his freefall. The Yagami made a hard landing on the lake and Washu teleported them all to her lab. The only sound that could be heard in the lab was of a television. Mihoshi and Ayeka were watching a soap opera to keep their minds off the battle. "It's so sad," said Mihoshi wiping a tear from her eye. Ayeka did not have time to comment, as Hakubi teleported into the room and onto a medical bed with a crash. A few seconds later, Rye-Ohki scrambled through the lab door and raced to Hakubi, meowing the whole way. "What the devil is going on?" Ayeka asked to no one, startled at the sudden appearance of Hakubi. "Oh my God!" exclaimed Mihoshi as she neared Hakubi. "He's hurt very bad. Where are the others?" To answer her question, the rest of the gang materialized next to her. Washu immediately ran to the bed and started to punch things into the monitors. "What happened?" asked Ayeka. "We really don't know," Replied Kiyone. "There was a powerful explosion and Rye-Ohki flew by saying Hakubi was hurt." Rye-Ohki was frantically running back and forth meowing wildly. Ryo-Ohki, who had stayed in her humanoid form, grabbed him as he went by and held him tight. Rye-Ohki meowed pathetically and cried in her arms. "Don't worry. Mommy's the best! She fixed up sister many times. Just you watch," Ryo-Ohki mewed to Rye-Ohki. Rye-Ohki's crying lessened and he buried himself in her arms. "Rye-Ohki, can you tall us what happened?" Tenchi asked in a calm voice. Rye-Ohki looked up at Tenchi with teary eyes and meowed. "Kain is dead," Ryoko translated. "Hakubi cut him in half, but he exploded and Hakubi was caught in the blast." Rye-Ohki meowed a question to Ryo-Ohki, who in turn, asked Ryoko mentally. 'Is he going to live?' 'It doesn't look good,' Ryoko thought back, her face dropping. "I don't know, but Mommy can help, I'm sure," Ryo-Ohki mewed to Rye-Ohki. Rye-Ohki knew what she really meant and started to cry again. Ryo-Ohki did the best she could to comfort him. She knew how it felt to have her other half at the edge of death. The only thing she could do was keep telling Rye-Ohki that Washu was a genius and that there was still hope. The minutes went by with no one saying a word. Then an hour. "It looks like no one is going anywhere. I guess I should make us something to eat," said Sasami. "That sound like a wonderful idea. I'll go help," Kiyone replied. "I'll go with you," piped in Mihoshi. The three girls left he lab and headed to the kitchen. Ten minutes later they returned with a tray of tea and snacks. Everyone took a cup, saying thanks robotically. A few more minutes went by uneventfully. "That's about all I can do," Washu suddenly said. Her voice started everyone and Tenchi almost dropped his cup. "Is he all right Little Washu?" Tenchi asked. "No he is not," she replied. Washu looked at Sasami and debated whether she should hear the rest. She decided that it might be for the best, if she was indeed his future mother. "I want you all to understand that I am not giving up on Hakubi." Everyone nodded their heads. "We know you are doing the best you can. Just tell us what is happening." Said Tenchi. "When Kain exploded, he let out a lot of anti-Juraian energy. It is this energy that sustains him and it is because of it that he wants to eliminate all Juraian power. Hakubi absorbed a large amount of it and it is literally sapping him of his power," said Washu, tears coming to her eyes. "I have healed all his cuts and burns, but I cannot stop Hakubi's power from draining away. I have only slowed it down, but I do not have enough time to come up with a complete cure. I am sure I can do it eventually, but he doesn't have that much time. At the rate he's losing power, he may die within the next few hours," Washu said sadly. "You did your best Washu," said Tenchi, getting up to comfort her. "Die... I don't believe it," Ryoko mumbled. "He can't die. He just can't," Ayeka said in a small voice. Sasami, Kiyone, and Mihoshi did not say a word, they were too shocked over the news. Rye-Ohki was not taking the news well. At first he started to cry loudly, soaking Ryo-Ohki's blouse with tears. Then he suddenly stopped. He perked up his ears and looked at Little Washu. "Let me go! I have to see him!" Rye-Ohki screamed at Ryo-Ohki. She let him go and watched him scamper to Hakubi's bed. He jumped onto his chest and meowed very loudly at him. Getting no response, he jumped up and down on Hakubi chest, meowing louder. "Hey! Cut that out!" Ryoko yelled at Rye-Ohki. She teleported to him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. 'Wake up! Wake up!' a voice screamed over and over in Hakubi's mind. Hakubi eyes opened with a snap, shocking Ryoko, who was leaning over him. "Washu! Come here now!" Ryoko yelled behind her. "Rye-Ohki! Where is Kain?" Hakubi asked weakly. "He is dead," replied Washu. She looked at a monitor and stopped him from getting up. "Great! Mission accomplished," sighed Hakubi and he let his head fall back onto the pillow. "Why does everyone look so sad? What's wrong?" "Hakubi, I have some bad news." Hakubi looked at Washu and braced himself. "When Kain exploded, you absorbed too much of his energy and it is slowly poisoning you." "What!?" Hakubi gasped. "How? Why...?" "You are slowing being drained of your energy. I cannot make a cure in time. I can only try to slow it down for now, but not slow enough," replied Washu. Rye-Ohki struggled in Ryoko's grasp and meowed to Hakubi. Hakubi understood what he was trying to get at. "If time is what you need, then time is what you shall have." He weakly reached to his chest and pulled a singed puffball off his armor. "What do you mean I will have time?" asked a shock Washu. "This." Hakubi pressed the ball between his hands and formed the remote control. He pointed it at an open area and pressed the button. A black portal slid open without a sound. "Rye-Ohki, go get Ms. Washu." Ryoko let go of Rye-Ohki and watched him jump through the portal. "What is going on?" asked Tenchi. "You are a genius Hakubi!" Washu cried out. "You really are my great- grandson." Washu leaned over to Hakubi and kissed him on his cheek. "What is going on?" asked Tenchi again. He was getting more frustrated every second. "Watch and find out," Washu told him. The portal shimmered and a leg stepped out of it. Then, the whole body emerged, stunning everyone. It was Tenchi! He was dressed in his light hawk armor and had his light hawk sword in his hand. He looked around and saw himself. He let his sword disappear and approached Tenchi. "I see that we are still alive," Emperor Tenchi said to his younger self. "Um, yeah," Tenchi stuttered. Emperor Tenchi looked behind his younger self and saw Hakubi. He walked to the bed and said, "How's it going Junior?" "Don't call me Junior," Hakubi said with a weak smile. "Where's Ms. Washu?" "I'm right here," a familiar voice called from the portal. Everyone turned their heads to see an adult Washu stepping out of the portal with Rye- Ohki on her shoulder. "This is strange," commented Mihoshi, shaking her head. "Tenchi, you need to have more patience," Ms. Washu scolded the Emperor. "You can't always run into battle without knowing what to expect." "Kain could have been on the other side," pleaded the Emperor. "But he wasn't, and if you waited for Rye-Ohki to finish explaining, you would have known." "Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, but why are you guys here?" Mihoshi asked. "To help Ten-chan of course," Tenchi said quickly. "How?" "Because as I said before, I needed time to complete the cure that will stop Kain's energy from draining all of Hakubi's. And he gave me that time by waiting till I figured it out in the future," Washu explained for the benefit of everyone. "Now I need to get him to my lab in the future." Tenchi carefully picked up Hakubi and walked back to the portal. He turned toward his younger self and said, "You are a very lucky boy, you know." Emperor Tenchi motioned towards Ryoko and Ayeka to drive home is point. "You mean everything to them. Never forget that." "I won't forget," Tenchi replied solemnly. "Thank you for everything Hakubi, I don't know how to repay you." "Just forget I was every here and live," Hakubi told Tenchi weakly. "Don't worry about that. I'll see to it," Ms. Washu spoke up. Tenchi nodded to her and walked through the portal. "I am trusting this to you Washu." Ms. Washu handed her younger self a small device. "I cannot erase every memory of these past events, but I can erase the ones about your relation to Hakubi." "I understand," Little Washu replied and accepted the machine. "So when did we decide to grow up?" "Oh, about the time Ryoko married. It seemed appropriate then," Ms. Washu told herself, smiling as she remembered her daughter's wedding. "So long everyone, too bad I can't catch up on old times." Everyone said good-bye as Washu stepped through the portal. It closed behind her without a sound. "OK, Who wants to be first?" Washu asked everyone as she turned on the device. Emperor Tenchi laid his grandson on a medical bed in Ms. Washu's lab. A minute later, Washu appeared carrying a hypo spray. "It took me only a few days to come up with the cure," said Washu as she injected Hakubi with the medicine. Hakubi could immediately feel the effects of it and let out a sigh of relief. "How did you manage to come get me, I thought you all disappeared?" Hakubi asked his grandfather. "Washu tells me that when you left a few hours ago, we all rematerialized," answered Tenchi. "We were worried when you did not come back right away. So I went through to get you when you opened the portal." "I see," was the only thing Hakubi could think of saying. "You did a good job, but carrot is such a silly name. Couldn't you think of something better?" asked Tenchi with a smile. "Wait a minute! You're not supposed to remember that!" exclaimed Hakubi in alarm. "Calm down. Washu did erase our memories, but they came back when you were born." It all made sense to Hakubi now. How everyone had expected Kain to show up and how they knew that he could not harm them. It explained all their actions and why they made him train extra hard when he was a child. "So is everything back to normal?" "As normal as it can be," Tenchi replied. "Hakubi needs his rest. You can talk to him later," said Washu. "The others are waiting outside, they'll be happy to hear you're back. You did real well Ten-chan, real well." Washu ushered Tenchi out of her lab and locked the door. She walked back to Hakubi's bed and checked the monitors one more time. She looked at Hakubi and smiled, not quite holding back a tear. "Is there something wrong Washu? I'm going to live, right?" "Everything is fine. Better than it should be," Washu replied as she wiped away a tear. "What is that supposed to mean?" asked Hakubi suspiciously. "Everything is not back to normal as Tenchi said." "What? What happened?" Hakubi asked, becoming alarmed once again. "Tenchi does not remember, but Tsunami and I do," answered Washu. "I never erase my memory and Tsunami took care of Sasami. This was not meant to happen." Hakubi was utterly confused. "Please explain," Hakubi said between clenched teeth. "You are supposed to be dead. You did kill Kain, but I could not come up with the cure for you in time. You never called me from the future, and you were never saved," Washu explained slowly. "That is why you mother was not here for lunch. The meeting was just an excuse for her to be away. She could not bear to see you go to your death." "Then what happened? What changed the future?" asked Hakubi. The thought of cheating death sent a chill down his spine. "I happened. I couldn't stand by and let you die. I tried everything to help you. I taught you all those tricks and to top it all off, I gave you Rye- Ohki." Washu petted the cabbit who had fallen asleep on Hakubi's bed, exhausted after the day's events. "You did not have him when you went back in my version of the past. I promised myself long ago that I would never make another cabbit, but I couldn't afford not to. I made him to watch over you, and it looks like my plan worked." Hakubi remembered all the times that Rye-Ohki had helped him. It was Rye- Ohki that had first spotted Kain, and without him, they would not have been able to find Sasami so fast. Rye-Ohki had helped him defeat Kain and it was Rye-Ohki that had brought him back to consciousness and gave him the idea to call for Ms. Washu. "I guess I couldn't have done it without him," said Hakubi as he petted the sleeping Rye-Ohki. Rye-Ohki rolled over and purred, dreaming of something nice. "But that's all in the past now. You have a bright, new future to look forward to. Now get some rest. I'll check on you later." Washu leaned over and gave Hakubi a kiss on his forehead. She straitened his sheets and walked out of the lab, turning off the lights as she went. "It's all over," Hakubi said out loud to himself, "Time to enjoy the rest of my vacation." He looked down at the sleeping Rye-Ohki and made a quick mental check on him. He was greeted by images of floating and dancing carrots. With a chuckle, Hakubi closed his eyes and started his own dream. The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you don't like the story split up like this tell me, cause I don't like to do it but I got some complaints about length when it was first posted as one file. All other comments or criticisms are welcome. Send them to tm_fan1023@hotmail.com