---- Copyrights, etc: Tenchi Muyo! and all corresponding characters are the properties of AIC and Pioneer. Joseph, Koros, and Loknar belong to me, as they are my intellectual property. No, I'm not being conceded or greedy. :P Anyway, if people ask me, they can use them, as long as they describe the basic story. Oki, back to whatever the heck I was saying. Notes, etc: This fanfic should be much lighter than the previous one. It takes place directly after The Blizzard of Ghosts, (OAV 19, OC Chapter 6), then a few weeks later. Also, I now have more time to work on this..... Here goes some caffeine-saturated soda..... Loknar of Orion, 7/27/01 Fanfic Began: 7/27/01. Fanfic Finished: 8/6/01 ---- Tenchi Muyo! OAV 20: Recovery (Orion Chronicles, Chapter 7) Sasami waited on the front porch, silently, Noboyuki and Kasuhito at her side. She sat with her head in her hands, crying softly. She did not know whether anyone had been killed, or if anyone had been injured severely. From what she had seen on GHK news, Koros and his forces were very strong, even defying the forces of the Galactic Union, one of the most powerful in the universe. Tsunami had promised her that no one would be permanently damaged or killed, but still..... Out of the dark sky, there came two small lights. "Here they come!" Noboyuki called, pointing. The lights looked like the flicker of a candle flame, brightening and darkening, but soon brightening to their fullest extent as they came closer to Earth. A distant hum could be heard in the air; Ryo-Ohki and Ken- Ohki's engines were exhausted after the huge battle, nearly the day before. The metallic tips of the ships could soon be seen, the starlight gently reflecting off of them. Sasami looks up, her face stained with tears, and her dress wrinkled. For the past hours, she had sat in her room, crying her eyes out, the sensitive young princess being worried to the core, Noboyuki and Kasuhito ineffective in comforting her. Only Tsunami was able to get her to sleep for an hour or so, and she was only visible to her. The ships are soon visible, a little dusty and pockmarked, but intact otherwise, with no major structural damage on either of them. Beams of light shot out from the two ships, figures appearing where they touched the ground. The ships themselves untransformed, two cabbits landing nearby the figures. Sasami ran up to them, tears still in her eyes. In the darkness, she couldn't really see them that well, so she just hugged the closest one, who ended up being Ayeka. "Sasami!" She said, hugging her, very tightly. ".....Ayeka..." Sasami replied, crying once more, hanging onto her as if the fate of the world depended on it. Ryoko formed an orb, providing light for everyone to see. Sasami gasped when she saw Joseph and Tenchi, breaking down in tears. "...Sasami, I'm allright. I just won't be able to walk for a couple of weeks." Tenchi whispered, wheeling over to her in his chair, and holding her. "...Wha...What about Joseph?" She asked between sobs. "He spent a large amount of energy in the battle. He will be allright in about a month or so, but for the time being, he will drift in and out of counciousness." Washuu told her, quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. Joseph could faintly hear Sasami's voice. Like all the others, hers seemed to be echoing, everything in his vision a blur, the result of extreme energy loss. He was barely able to keep his eyes open, blinking every once and awhile to attempt it. "I'll be fine.....Sasami....." Joseph said, barely able to talk. After he said this, he fell asleep again, his head falling against the back of the wheelchair. It was made of metal. "We really have to fix these chairs....Too much metal, not enough seating." Loknar said, examining it, and putting a pillow under his son's head. "Are you okay, Joseph?" Mihoshi asked, quietly. Joseph didn't answer, the only response being a slight mumble. "Mihoshi, he will be like this for a few weeks." Kiyone told her. "I know, but I still want to know if he is allright..." "He will be....." Kiyone sighed, and looked at Tenchi and Joseph. Tenchi was holding Sasami, trying to comfort her, telling her that everything would be allright. There were tears in his eyes as well. Joseph was in his chair, asleep from pure exhaustion. His clothes were dirty, and damp with blood, from injuries that were now healed. Ken-Ohki jumped onto Joseph. "Cao?" He asked, quietly. There was no response. ".....Cao?" He asked again. Still nothing. He looked at Loknar, and whimpered, a sad look on the face of the cabbit, little tears forming around his eyelids. "I know, he's not asleep. You are able to sense his mental signals, but they are not directed at you or anyone else. He'll be in and out of this state for awhile, Ken-Ohki." Loknar responded, picking up the cabbit, and hugging him. While this went on, Ryo-Ohki feverously licked Tenchi's face. "H-Hey! Cut it out!" He said, laughing a little. Ryo-Ohki stopped when she saw Ken-Ohki. Loknar set him down. "Cao.....Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaao." Ken-Ohki said to her, sadly. Ryo-Ohki nodded, sadly, and licked his face. "Let's go inside." Ryoko spoke, trying not to look at Joseph or Tenchi for the moment. She began to walk, her steps quiet, not disturbing the cool night air. Everyone followed, wheeling the two injured warriors in with them. As they got inside, Sasami tried to wake Joseph up. "Joseph......Joseph?" "Sasami, he needs to regain his energy." Loknar said. "He may be awake for parts of tomorrow. We don't know." Kasuhito walked over to Tenchi. "Are you feeling allright, Tenchi?" He asked. "I'm okay, grandpa. Just....a little pain in the legs, that's all." "Good. We can still continue training tomorrow?" Tenchi facevaulted. "WHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT?" "You can still use your arms. We will practice immobile combat." "But..." "Allright, allright. I will give you a few days of rest." Tenchi sighed with relief. "However, the training will be harder after the rest." Tenchi tried to bonk his head against the back of the chair, but it didn't work, ending up straining his legs. "Tenchi, please. Get some rest." Kasuhito said, smiling slightly. "Feel better. I know you did a good job out there." "Miss Washuu, how will we bring Lord Joseph and Lord Tenchi up to their rooms?" Ayeka asked. "Teleportation." Washuu replied, snapping her fingers, Joseph appearing in his room, and Tenchi in his. "Now that was interesting!" Tenchi called, from his room. "We need someone to help put Joseph onto his bed, too." Washuu continued, scratching her head. "Kiyone and I will do it!" Mihoshi called. Kiyone frowned. Mihoshi always got her into assignments without asking, whether it was in the academy, home, or the galaxy police. Speaking of that, Kiyone didn't have a room yet. "Uh.....Where do I sleep?" She wondered out loud. Noboyuki was grinning, and about to answer, but Ryoko luckily interrupted him before he said something that would get his head punched in. "There's a room across the hall from Joseph. Washuu and Loknar..." "That's MOM and future step-dad, Ryoko." The red-haired genius cut in. "I don't care, MOM. Anyway, they added an addition onto the house, so there is a ton of empty rooms. Most of them have either beds or futons....." Ryoko continued, growling at Washuu. Washuu simply smiled. Kiyone was about to speak, but Mihoshi was already going upstairs, so she had to follow her. "Mihoshi, why did you volunteer me for this?" She asked, angrily. "What do you mean, Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked, innocently. "Err....Nevermind. Let's just get him onto the bed." Kiyone walked into his room, and looked around. It was essentially clean, except for a few scifi mangas on the floor. The room was lined wall to wall with bookcases, filled with old Orion texts, Galaxian History, Juraian History, Science Fiction, Mangas, Poetry....Anything. His bed was very neat, the sheets tucked in gently; he had probably done it. On the ceiling over part of his bed, there was the Galaxian banner, and a picture of Miranda next to it. "Who is that?" She asked. "I don't know, Kiyone." Mihoshi replied, lifting Joseph out of the wheelchair. "Was she a past love of his? Or a friend?" She thought to herself, as she helped Mihoshi set Joseph onto the bed. "I'll be fine...." He mumbled, trying to lift himself onto the bed. "Joseph, please. Let us do it." Mihoshi whispered, Joseph falling asleep right afterwards. Mihoshi watched him sleep, as they put the covers up to his chin. "He is an angel. He was one in battle, he sleeps like one, he sounds like one, he looks like one, he must be one." Mihoshi said quietly, then kissing his cheek. "Mihoshi....Do you....?" Kiyone asked, startled. She knew that Mihoshi would understand this question. "Yes, I do like him, Kiyone. Do you?" "Yes." Mihoshi smiled, hugging her. "We won't let this get in the way of our friendship, right?" Kiyone smiled, and hugged back. "We won't." Kiyone looked at the picture on Joseph's ceiling. She gently reached, and took it down. "What are you going to do with it, Kiyone?" "I'm going to ask his father who she was, and what she meant to him." "Now?" "No, not now Mihoshi. It's too late at night. In the morning, or maybe in a few days, I will. Goodnight, Mihoshi." Kiyone told her, as she went into her room. Just as Ryoko had said, there was a futon there, as well as a few bookshelves, a dressing table, and a nightstand. Remembering that she had left her bag downstairs when she first entered the house more than twelve hours ago, she went out of her room, and down the stairs. Sasami was asleep on the couch, having calmed down. She sat in Washuu's lap, Loknar and Ayeka on either side. Washuu held her tightly, hugging her, gently rocking back and forth. "She kept her promise, Sasami. No permanent harm came to any of us." She whispered, referring to Tsunami's promise. Ayeka smiled as Kiyone entered the room. "How is Lord Joseph doing, Kiyone?" "He's fine. He tried to get himself into bed, without our help. He fell asleep before he could move onto the bed." She sat down by Ayeka. "He sleeps like an angel..." She whispered to Ayeka, thinking only she could hear. "He inherits it from his father." Washuu spoke, grinning. Loknar blushed. "Well, Ryoko inherits her beauty from her mother." He replied. Washuu blushed as well, and they would have kissed, if Sasami wasn't in her arms. "Do they always do stuff like this?" Kiyone asked Ayeka. "All the time. Don't worry, you'll get used to it, Miss Kiyone. I've seen them do worse." She replied. Just then, Ken-Ohki hopped onto Kiyone's lab. "Ca caao?" He asked, happily greeting her. She smiled, and petted him. "What did he say?" She asked Loknar. "How are you." She looked back at the cabbit. "Good. And you, Ken-Ohki?" "Cao.....Caaaaao." He replied. "And that means....?" "Good, except Joseph is injured, and you should get some sleep. You look tired to him." "How are you translating that?" "I've learned the cabbit language over time. I also have a link with him, so that helps. And I do agree with him, you should get some sleep, Miss Kiyone. I need some too." Loknar said, smiling, and getting up. "Miss Washuu, I'll help you put Sasami to bed." Ayeka offered. "Allright." Washuu replied, carrying her upstairs. Meanwhile, Tenchi, still in his chair, decided to go to bed. He put down the Aya Hotaru manga, which he had borrowed from Sasami awhile ago. He wheeled over to the bed. "Come on, Tenchi. You've defeated Kagato, Dr. Clay, Seriyo, and now Koros. You can do this!" He thought, reassuring himself. Sitting up, he swung his arms back in forth, in preparation to hurl himself onto the bed. "One......two......three..........Ouch." He landed on the floor. "I've fallen and I can't get up...." Tenchi muttered, trying to get on his belly. Ryo-Ohki walked in. "Miya?" "Yes, Ryo-Ohki, please help me." He said. Ryo-Ohki thinks for a moment, and leaves. "Hopefully, she will bring Ryoko or someone strong...." She returns momentarily with a carrot, which she drops on Tenchi's stomach. "Ryo-Ohki, quit kidding around...." She nods, and eats the carrot. "Can you please....Thank you." Tenchi spoke, Ryo-Ohki moving him like she did the huge carrot basket, a year or so ago. He landed on the bed. "Thank you." Tenchi said, smiling. "Goodnight." "Miya!" Ryo-Ohki responded, smiling, then changing into her child form, jumping up, and hitting the light switch, then gently closing the door. Tenchi fell asleep with this happy thought, finally receiving some long-needed rest. For the first time in a few weeks, Tenchi was not plagued by his night terrors, or negative dream of any sort. He slept with a smile on his face. ---- After Ayeka had helped Washuu put Sasami on her futon, she returned downstairs, and turned on the TV, quickly changing it to the GHK News Network. She had turned it on right as a report about Tsaniko began. "Topping today's news is the quiet after the liberation of Tsaniko." The reporter began, pictures appearing behind him. "Thousands left royal teardrops at the Governer's Palace, where he was brutally killed by an entity known only as 'Koros'. Around a thousand royal guardsmen were killed protecting their country from the hostile invaders. Five hundred GP officers were also killed in the line of duty, as a large weapon known as a 'Meddigo Demon' sliced their ships to pieces. It is rumored that the colony was saved by a group of royalty and their allies, using their Juraian power to cut through the invaders, and slay Koros himself....." Ayeka turned off the television, sighing, and went upstairs to bed. ---- Joseph lay in his bed, the sounds of everyone going to bed echoing through his ears, as if the house was in a huge cave. The little light that leaked through the doorframe seemed distorted, and discolored. He was determined to try to get up, and talk to his friends, to thank them. However, his body would not let him. He could barely move a muscle, let alone walk. He sighed, praying quietly. Even that was hard to do, his lips rarely moving. Mr. Anonymous soon drifted off to sleep, his mind full of questions. He felt individual parts of him entering the state of sleep, a very comforting, yet perturbing feeling. When he felt his head enter sleep, he suddenly opened his eyes. He was no longer in his room. He was standing up in a dark chamber reminiscent of where the final battle at Tsaniko took place, just hours before. Juraian workers were assessing the damage, looking at the remnants of the colony. They were working in one spot, yet they seemed to be moving. So was the landscape. Something was wrong. He wasn't walking, yet he was moving, floating, even through objects. He watched in both wonder and slight horror, without the slightest idea of what was going on. Was this an astral projection? Was he teleported here due to a malfunction in Loknar and Washuu's lab? Was this all part of a dream........Or did someone want him to see this. He drifted by, through the rooms, seeing the citizens of Tsaniko trying to pick up the pieces of a shattered colony, the mourners burying their dead, and wreaths placed at the Governor's Palace. Just as suddenly, the scenery changed again. He was standing, this time in some kind of throne room. This wasn't an ordinary throne room, though. The floor was made of glass, and innumerable objects could be seen floating in space outside the window. "Greetings, Mr. Anonymous." A feminine voice spoke. She smiled at him. "Who are you? Why the hell am I here?" He asked. "I am Lady Tokimi, arch-Goddess of the shadow." She replied, about his size, and corporeal, "You are here because I wanted you to be here." "Bring me back home then, Tokimi!" "Correction: Lady Tokimi." "I have no reason to give you that title! Return me to my home." Joseph responded, angrily. "When I am done speaking to you, Joseph Xavier Anonymous, born January First, 2000 AD, Terran reckoning, Universe 58353XPA2842, approximately twenty-two Terran years in the future from now.." She whispered, seemingly knowing too much information about him, and a mirthless smile on her face. "How the hell do you know that?" He rasped. "I am a goddess. I know all that I want. I can become incorporeal. I can go anywhere I want." "Well.....What the heck do you want me for?" "You are an Oanai, and a prince of the kingdom of Jurai. You will be very influential in the future, you know." The faint outline of five Lighthawk wings could be seen on Joseph, as a special light was shined on him. --- Author's note: That image would be reminiscent of the figure that Tokimi looked over, in OAV 13B, btw. --- "I am neither!" Joseph cried, a tear rolling down his cheek. Joseph refused to even consider that she was what he said he was. Other people had told him the same things, but he still denied them. "You are. Your blood, your heritage, your powers, your personality, and your wings prove it." "I don't care! Return me!" She smiles again, the expression nothing more to her than the movement of muscle. "Koros was just a puppet for me in this battle. He thought he was leading himself to victory, yet he was actually fulfilling part of my plan. It didn't matter if he died or not." Tokimi spoke, getting up from her throne, and going over to Joseph. "And it didn't matter to you that the entire population of Tsaniko could have been killed by that madman?" Joseph yelled, glaring at her. She doesn't respond. "You don't give a damn, do you?" "No." "And why not?" "It is not how I am." Joseph responds to this by doing something very unexpected to Tokimi: He slaps her. He slapped her hard, his hand aching after he did. It left a mark on her face, the redness staying for a few moments before she self-healed. For uncountable millennia, no one had attempted to defy Tokimi in that way. This young prince did. He was quite different. "You are an Oanai. I can feel it." She mumbled. "Oh, go to hell!" Joseph rasped, suddenly back in his room after he finished speaking. "Damned weird dreams....." He thought to himself, before drifting off to sleep a moment later, the energy deficiency returning. Every now and then, he would wake up, and look outside. Miri-Oh had seemingly grown a foot or so since he last saw it, yesterday. However, he attributed this change to the effects of his exhaustion, and therefore ignored it. Ryoko sat in her room, her knees against her chest. The aftermath of the battle was finally catching up with her. Tenchi was going to be in a wheelchair for awhile, and there wasn't much that she could do about it. Washuu had said that his legs would take a few weeks to regain their strength, but she didn't always trust the opinions of her mother. She remembered his painful scream when Koros attacked him, nearly cutting into the bone of his legs. It was blood-curdling, making her whole body shiver, like it was out of some American horror movie. "Tenchi...." She whimpered, knowing how he felt, the feeling of extreme pain well documented in her memories; Kagato inflicting most of the damage. She wanted to go up to him, to hug him, to make him feel better. She sighed, as she knew he would just send her off. She loved him more than anything, but he didn't understand that. Would he ever? Ayeka sat in her room, in the same situation. Tenchi had left the Tenchiken downstairs, so she took the bokken with her. Caked blood was on its' sides, a mix of Tenchi's and Koros's blood. The two types were easily discernible; Koros's being a sickly green, while Tenchi's the red color of the early rising sun. She saw what he had went through in the battle; the injuries, the pain, the emotional damage. She also now knew about his dreams, of Koros continuously haunting him, intimidating him. They reminded her of the dreams she had when she first got to the Masaki residence, of Yosho dying, Tenchi handing her the sword.....Then of the dream that Kagato sent her, posing as her beloved Yosho, trying to force information out of her, as if she was some child that could be comforted by lies. Ayeka got up, and tip-toed over to Tenchi's room, quietly opening the door. He was sound asleep, his head on the pillow, with a kind smile on his face. "Ayeka....Ryoko.....I'm allright." He mumbled. She smiled, knowing that he did dream about her, in at least some form, even though Ryoko was in it too. To her, he was the man on which the world turned, that without him, nothing could exist. He was attractive to her, he was charming, kind, warm, and protective, all that she wanted. She loved him more than the stars in the sky, but her shyness and formality prevented her from ever telling him that. He knew that she liked him in a sexual way, but he never asked her about it... She gently closed the door, and went back to bed. ---- Mihoshi awoke to the sounds of birds chirping, their quiet song gently breathing life to day, and hiding the night in the shadows. She yawned, and stretched, quickly heading downstairs. She was quite hungry; the battle had taken a considerable amount of energy from her. To add to that, she hadn't had dinner last night. She climbed down the stairs, very quietly, in case anyone was still sleeping. Ayeka and Ryoko sat on the couch, watching a soap opera. They looked tired, like they had been up all night, their hair messy, and their clothing wrinkled. "Hi Ayeka! Hi Ryoko! What's new?" She asked in her normal cheerful voice, and sat down by them, smiling. Ryoko turned to her. "We couldn't sleep, and ended up watching a soap marathon for seven hours straight." She mumbled, her voice barely audible. "You were watching soap?" "Yeah." "That must be pretty boring. I mean, just staring for a piece of soap for seven hours must get tired on the eyes." Mihoshi replied. Ayeka and Ryoko sweatdropped. "She meant a soap opera, Mihoshi." Ayeka told her, in the same mumbling voice. "Oh! A soap opera! Now I feel silly." Mihoshi spoke, giggling. A faint whistling sound could be heard outside, as well as that of the carrot fields being plowed. "Who would be planting carrots this early in the morning? Certainly not Lord Tenchi, as he is incapacitated. Lord Kasuhito is too elderly, and Lord Noboyuki is.......well, Noboyuki." Ayeka thought out loud. Washuu was on the porch, watching something, and smiling. "Keep it comin'." She said to whatever she was watching. Being curious, Mihoshi went up to her. "Miss Washuu....What are you looking at over there?" Washuu simply points. Loknar is in the field, with his shirt off. He plows the fields with a hoe that was in the toolshed, very quickly, and efficiently. He seems to be sweating very much, evidenced by the amount of moisture on his brow. He whistles quietly as he works, with a smile on his face. To the women nearby, he would be quite attractive, his muscular body structure, and the appearance of a man in the early twenties year-old being two of the reasons. "Oh." Mihoshi says, going up to her and watching, her smile growing as well. "What the heck are you two......Oh." Ryoko asked, stopping when Washuu pointed. Ayeka followed behind her. Soon, the four of them were watching from the porch swing, all smiling. Loknar wiped the sweat from his face. "How in God's name can it be one hundred degrees when it is the middle of the spring, and eight in the morning?" Loknar asked, with a wry smile. "Crazy weather these days, Tassi." Washuu replied, putting her right hand on a dial on control panel on the side of the house. The dial read 'temperature', and was currently at 'slightly steamy'. "You know, if it gets any hotter out, I'd have to take my pants off!" Loknar called. "Can I do the honors?" Ryoko asked, grinning. "You may." Washuu replied, grinning as well, as the dial went up to 'hot as heck'. "Did I mention that I see why you picked him?" Ryoko added. "Now I know how Tenchi feels....Having his body watched like a hawk." Loknar said to himself, grumbling. Just then, Kiyone came down the stairs, a little drowsy. "What is......Ah, I see." She said, smiling, and looking at Loknar too. He turned to the women, grinning. "How about some equal treatment here?" He asked, hopefully. "Get back to work, Tassi!" Was their reply. "Yes, ma'ams...." He responded, doing just that. ---- "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey Tenchi!" A voice yelled, Tenchi automatically waking up, almost screaming. "Dad! What the heck are you doing?" Tenchi yelled, startled out of his wits. "If you can't exactly see the women because of your injuries, I thought you might want to join the little 'book club' that me and my friends have. ^_^" Noboyuki replied, handing Tenchi a stack of manga. "What the heck are..........Oh dear." Tenchi replied, his nose beginning to bleed as he looked at them. One of them was of shojo manga, filled with drawings of fantastically gorgeous women, most of them somewhat dressed, others not. Another was of mangas that Misaki had posed for, once. The drawings were incredibly detailed, and quite.....revealing, her amazing figure easily seen by any young male. There was page after page of it, and the cover bore the warning 'Not authorized by the King of Jurai! Exclusive!' Tenchi's face was nearly covered by blood leaking from his nose. "That's my boy!" Noboyuki exclaimed, grinning. "Dad, I am not into hentai......And how the hell did you get ahold of these? They aren't from earth!" Tenchi asked. "Hehe....I snuck into Loknar and Washuu's lab one day, and searched their databases, and got these! Devious, aren't I?" "Dad! Return them!" "Tenchi, are you a man or a woman?" Noboyuki asked, mystified that his only son would not except the 'books'. ".............I'm a..........I'm a man." Tenchi replied. "Then why don't you read the 'books' ?" "Because.......I just don't want to." Tenchi spoke, then checking the clock. He had less than half an hour to get to school. "I have to get to school, quick! Wait.....How the heck will I get downstairs? I've already missed the bus.....Can you drive me?" Tenchi asked, his thoughts racing out of his mouth. "Can't drive you, son." "And why not?" "Two reasons. One, you don't want to read the 'literature'. Two, Stygian dinged it when he attacked." "What do you mean by 'dinged it'?" Tenchi asked. "He.....uh........How shall I say this.......um......He tore the hood off the car, cut the engine in two, shredded the tires, put a dead squirrel in the exhaust tube, and sliced off that little bobbing head thingie on the antenna, and replaced it with a broken egg. Then he pushed it into the pond, and it sunk within seconds." Tenchi blinked, sweatdropping. "I see....Who else could drive me -?" Tenchi asked, before being interrupted by two voices, one male, one female. "We can!" Washuu and Loknar cut in, grinning deviously. "But...." "Don't worry, Tenchi. We won't do anything embarrassing." Loknar cut in again. "What about kissing each other in the car?" "We'll try not to do that......Too much, anyway." Tenchi sweatdropped. "Well...Okay." He said, as he was suddenly teleported, in his school uniform and bookbag, into the back seat of a sleek black convertible, the emblem of a swallow holding a crab on the side. The seat he was in seemed to change into a wheelchair as he appeared in it. It was very comfortable, had a small engine and a few levers, so Tenchi could control it without expending energy, if needed. Loknar and Washuu quickly walked down the stairs of the porch, and got in. "Lemme see.....What is your school's name again?" Washuu asked. "Kurashiki General....What the?" Tenchi tried to reply, as the car automatically sped off towards the school. "We've programmed it to take us anywhere without instruction. You can control it manually, but it is much less strenuous to let it go by itself." Washuu continued. Very soon, they were there, the car gently stopping. It only took them a few minutes to get there, the whole time other drivers staring at the self-steering car. "What will people think about that? Plus, I'm now in this wheelchair, so how the heck will I explain this to people? 'Oh, it's just a scratch. Almost got my legs chopped off by the brother of the Ruins Buster, not much else.' Yeah, right." He grumbled. "There we are." Loknar spoke, as the wheelchair and Tenchi were suddenly teleported onto the sidewalk, making the students who were already startled by the car even more worried for the health of their eyes. "I'll.......Go inside now. Thank you!" Tenchi said, apprehensively waving. This was the first time he was driven to school by his family, so he was a little nervous. Loknar and Washuu waved back as they sped off, then kissing each other, just as they said they would. "I told them not to do that..." Tenchi thought to himself, wheeling by a plaque on the side of the school that read 'Kurashiki General High School - Rebuilt after the mysterious explosion in the summer of 1999.' He looked at the plaque, and laughed quietly to himself. It always cracked him up a little. "What the hell is so damned funny?" A voice asked. Tenchi gulped, and turned around. In front of him was a boy of about his age, with pale blonde hair, and brown eyes, glaring at him. He hadn't seen this person before in his life. "N-Nothing. Who are you?" Tenchi asked. "Yuri Tajishima. It doesn't matter. What the hell was so funny?" Yuri asked. "The.....the.....plaque. I know what happened." "What then, kid?" "This beautiful demoness came and she.....well......" "Are you high or something? Isn't your name Tenchi?" "Yes, it is...No, I am not on anything." "You sound like it; Either that or you got a good kick somewhere. Whatever." Yuri said, walking past, and peeling the tire off of one of the wheels, with amazing strength, and hurling it in Tenchi's face, laughing as he did. Tenchi was quite confused after this. Why was this Yuri being so hostile towards him? He hadn't done anything, had he? Tenchi mumbled to himself about it, and re-attached the tire, then heading off towards class. ---- Sasami opened her eyes just as Tenchi was dropped off at school. Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki were snuggled up on her bed, next to her. They still purred in their sleep. Very gently, she pet them, the two cabbits quietly waking up. "Cao!" Ken-Ohki said happily, translating to 'Good morning!' "Miyaa!" Said Ryo-Ohki, the translating meaning being the same. She hugged them, lovingly. "Good morning to you too." She spoke, smiling. "C'mon, let's go make some breakfast." The cabbits nodded in agreement, and raced downstairs, Sasami following them. Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Noboyuki sat at the table, looking quite hungry. "Sorry I slept late......Just tired after last night." Sasami spoke, looking at them. "It's fine. Now please: Fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood." Ryoko spoke, emphasizing the last word. "Miss Ryoko, it is not to polite to say that, especially to a princess." Ayeka told Ryoko, angrily. "Here we go again..." Kiyone mumbled, putting her hand on the table as the two fought. "Let me guess, it's like this every day?" "You'll get used to it, Kiyone." Mihoshi told her, patting her on the back. Sasami went over to the stove, and began to prepare breakfast, the two cabbits eagerly watching her. While they waited, Ayeka and Ryoko continued arguing, Kiyone kept her head down, Mihoshi just sat and tried to talk to Kiyone, while Noboyuki was examining some of his 'literature'. "We're back!" Loknar said, putting the car keys down on the counter. "Where the hell were you two?" Asked Ryoko. "Bringing Tenchi to school." "What? It's too..." "We all slept late, Ryoko." Washuu replied. "Isn't he still injured?" "He won't be able to walk for awhile, but no pain other than that. Speaking of injuries, I need to go see how Joseph is doing." Washuu then went upstairs, and opened Joseph's door, quietly. He was still asleep, but it was evident that he really did not want to. His glasses were on the floor, the sheets messed up, and sweat-stains on his forehead. "Are you allright, Joseph?" Washuu asked quietly. "Damned Tokimi and her freakin' maniacal plans...." Joseph mumbled, talking in his sleep. Washuu gently poked him, and he opened his eyes. "Hi Washuu....What's up?" He mumbled, still barely able to stay awake. "Sasami is almost done with breakfast, but I don't think you can eat it at this energy level." "I can eat....Just...." He fell asleep again. "You might choke. You are essentially in a half-coma. You wake up periodically, but you can't stay awake for long. I'll get you something through an IV." Joseph tried to nod a no, but couldn't. Loknar walked in with an IV, and placed it by Joseph's bed. "How's he doing?" Loknar asked. "He's allright. He's as mentally strong as ever, but too tired to move." "How are you feeling, Joseph?" "I'm fine, just get me out of this damn....damn bed. Put the needle thing away, too...." Once more, he slipped out of counciousness, and back into his sleep-state. Loknar gently put the needle connected to the IV fluid into him. Joseph didn't even flinch, the result of years in active service in the Galaxian Marines, de-sensitizing him to most minor pains. "Everything required in there? Proteins, carbohydrates, iron, lipid fats, polysaccharides, monosaccharides, carboxyls, ATP, ADP, phosphate, electrolytes, extra cell membranes and endoplasmic reticullums?" Loknar asked. "Yup. All of them. I also added some NADPH+, just in case." Washuu replied. "I never would have thought of that. As I said before, you're the genius in this house." He spoke, smiling. "You are." "You are." "Well, we both are." They kissed, quietly, and went downstairs for breakfast, which they could easily smell from here. Joseph could smell it too, and he longed to get up and eat breakfast with everyone else. He wanted it to be just another normal day, with no one injured, nothing off balance, no one in pain....He hated being stuck in his bed. His mind worked, while his body lay dormant. He wanted to scream at himself, to jump out of his body, and move even without energy, to be incorporeal. He was bored stiff, and was going to be until he recovered; even if entertainment was brought, he would still fall asleep before it began, and periodically wake up and fall asleep. For Joseph, this was hell. This was the last laugh of Koros, one last torturous incident before the demon was fully dead. At the moment, there was only one thing Joseph could do: Sleep. He did just that in a few minutes after they left. ---- Tokimi thought to herself, not uttering a word as she watched the infinite number of worlds go through their routine for the day, doing this and that, building something, destroying something, someone dying, someone being born. She didn't care. She didn't feel. The Oanai, Joseph, expected her to 'feel'. What exactly was 'feeling'? She wanted to find out more about it, but for the moment, she was busy. Earlier, she had detected an entry into the universe in which Tenchi's world existed. It was an Antaran ship, and not of anyone she knew. She placed her hand over a small pond, and an image began to form, with associated data at the side. The fish that were in the pond flew into smaller caverns in the pond, scared of both Tokimi's hand, and the images that the pond created. "Name: Ransuto Othuti. Affiliation: Antaran-Human Deserters. Leader: Koros (deceased). Mission: Eliminate those who caused said leader to be deceased." She frowns at the picture of the man, and his relevant data. "Damned lackeys.....Always sticking by their dead." She murmured, taking her hand away, the image disappearing, and the pond returning to normal. ---- Everyone ate brunch quietly, an odd sensation in the air. Everything was off balance; they would usually be preparing lunch right now, and Tenchi and Joseph would be there, trying not to get in the middle of Ayeka and Ryoko's fights, Joseph turning green when his father kissed Washuu, Tenchi blushing deeply as Ryoko and Ayeka tried to flirt with him. They weren't, and thus affected the overall atmosphere, silence pervading the very air which they all breathed. On some plates, the food was barely touched, Sasami understanding the reasons why. She wasn't eating that much herself. "Tassi, are you sure there is no way to fully wake up Joseph?" Mihoshi asked, trying to break the silence. "What he lost is mental energy. Neither the lovely Washuu or myself can get that back for him. He has to regain that on his own. We've already healed all of his injuries. For now, we must wait." He replies, quietly. "But you're the greatest geniuses in...whatever; Can't you do something?" Mihoshi wondered. "We can wait, and let him heal himself." Washuu responded, sitting on one side of Loknar, Kiyone on the other. Kiyone looked at them for a moment, and handed the two geniuses the picture of Miranda. "Can you tell me who this is?" She whispered. "After brunch, come to the lab." Washuu replied, whispering as well. "Where is it?" "You know...Wait, you've only been here a day. It's the small closet under the stairs. Don't worry, it is exponentially larger than it looks." After the meal ended, Kiyone did just that, skeptical that a huge lab would be under the normal-looking stairs. Thinking they were bluffing, she gently pushed open the door, hearing the door crab and swallow jingle. She looked inside, and nearly fainted; inside were huge terrariums, an uncountable amount of ongoing experiments, lab equipment, robotic entities milling about, humongous bookshelves, computer networks, small forests, skylights, and a large desk in the middle, where Loknar and Washuu sat, on an elevated platform. "Hello!" Washuu called out, smiling and waving. "....Th-......These people are the opposites of Mihoshi." She mumbled to herself, walking over. "By the way, Mihoshi does wreck some of the experiments sometimes, so we know how you must have felt." Loknar spoke, smiling. A more detailed picture of Miranda appeared on a large projection screen, and Loknar's expression changed. "Miranda Kerrigan. Born April 5, 2000, died December 18, 2018." Loknar read aloud, from the inscription on the bottom. Kiyone watched it. "Who was she to Joseph?" "To him, she was the sun and the stars, she was what caused him to breathe, she was all that he lived for, and his only true love." Washuu explained. "We may need to dig a little into his past for you to understand. Ready?" Kiyone responded with an affirmative. "The universe that Tassi and Joseph came from is approximately 20-25 years in the future from ours, the events having occurred there in the past almost identical to those of our own." Washuu said, beginning the explanation, "Biologically, Joseph is Tenchi's brother. They share almost exactly the same DNA, the only differences being slight physical ones. Emotionally, they have essentially bonded to the state of brothers as well, and refer to each other by that title, thus backing up the previous statement. The only difference from normal brothers is that they are from different universes, while even sharing the exact same soul. To put it simply, Joseph is how Tenchi would have been if he had had a tougher time growing up. Joseph was born, and somewhat raised by his Terran parents, Alexander and Jessica Anonymous, in the area surrounding Tucson, Arizona. Alexander was the owner of a successful Russian car company, and spoke with a thick accent, having been born in the US, but primarily raised in Russia. Jessica was a British MI6 agent, having met Alexander after examining his company during an assignment. Both of them worked nearly all the time, leaving Joseph to raise himself. All of Joseph's siblings were much older than him, and were never home either. For most of his childhood, Joseph was a lonely little boy, often finding solace in his studies and literature. He strayed away from social contact, as he was often bullied and attacked by other students, for no reason other than that he was different. When he asked for help from his schoolteachers, they ignored his complaints. These early traumatic moments would make Joseph even more untrustworthy of the inhabitants of Earth. Even so, he was still a very sensitive and caring boy, helping anyone he saw in need. When he was barely a pre-teen, one of the first tragedies of his life occurred; a single disgruntled student opened fire on his classmates, injuring Joseph and many others, while leaving twenty dead. This student was later revealed to be Christopher Stygian, whom we fought and defeated recently. He and his family disappeared before he could be detained, thus leaving the families of the victims with incurable grief. Some of the few friends that Joseph previously had perished in the tragedy, leaving Joseph alone once more. As he grew older, he went on a few dates, but never got into a serious relationship. Around Joseph's sixteenth birthday, the AGN decided to recruit citizens from the unicorporated planet of Earth, selecting a few million that had the traits required to serve in the Galaxian military. Joseph was one of those selected, and was soon assigned a squadron, Psi Zeta." "Around then, he met me," Loknar spoke, continuing where Washuu left off, "From his basic instruction in the Galaxian Academy, he learned about the Orions, their history, and their effects. However, he laughed when I suggested that he was truly an Orion. In his DNA, there was a recessive pack of genes which I call the 'Genesis Beacon', filled with Orion genetic information. After a certain amount of generations, and coming in contact with a specific entity, such as myself, this beacon activates, transforming the being fully into an Orion. At about this time, Joseph was one eighth Orion, but this sealed the deal, making him 99.9% Orion. After I showed him the results, he was very thankful, explaining to me his past, and what he had seen of humanity. Very soon, we bonded, and I was soon being called 'dad', as his Orion ancestor was me, and because of me being the catalyst that brought about his 'new' body. In Joseph's squadron, there was a pretty young woman by the name of Miranda Kerrigan, having grown up in New Jersey, and being just one of the millions of applicants taken by the AGN. At first, like myself and my lovely Washuu, they were at odds with each other, always trying to outdo one another at something. Very soon, however, they fell quite deeply into love. With Joseph's consent, I was able to pick this memory of his from the many of himself and Miranda, combined with Psionic readings from the area in which it took place." -- The viewscreen suddenly shifted to a couch in a Galaxian barracks. It wasn't very clean, with books, clothing, technical manuals, and old rations scattered across the room. This main room was connected to another with seven to ten sets of bunkbeds. The doorknob suddenly turned, and Joseph and Miranda entered. Joseph was much different, only a little older than Tenchi at this time. His hair was a little longer, and the brown much lighter, unlike the near-black that he had today. Miranda was very much like she had been in the previous photograph, but with a big exception; her hair was not arranged as similarly to Ryoko's. At this time, she looked almost identical to the Goddess Tsunami, which Kiyone had seen drawings of in the past. It was evident that Miranda had changed her hairstyle a year or so later. "We're home." Joseph said, smiling, kissing Miranda. "I'm glad we are....That commander gets on my nerves." She replied, in a voice that would sound eerily similar to a mix of Ryoko and Tsunami's. She kissed him back, deeply. He playfully jumped onto the couch, and she followed, giggling. "Did I mention that you are the cutest person that I have ever met?" She asked, kissing him again. "You're the cutest." Joseph spoke, kissing her again. "You are." "You are." They both grinned, and suddenly kissed each other, deeply, his tongue sliding onto hers as if it were instinctive. He looked into her eyes, peering into her soul, already knowing that her beauty extended far beyond the exterior. She looked back, a wry, mirthful, yet incredibly gentle smile on her face. She touched his cheek, then kissing it, with the greatest care. In her beautiful pink eyes, it seemed to be an eternal sunset, the light oranges coalescing with the early morning purples, merging to form a gentle ocean of light. For anyone who could see this going on, there was only love for Joseph in the eyes of Miranda, and only love for Miranda in Joseph's. "My Miri....." Joseph murmured, kissing her chin. Miri was Joseph's nickname for her, and one that he used quite frequently, which Miranda found cute. "Joseph..." She replied, kissing his neck. "I love you." He whispered, kissing her forehead. "I love you too." "I love you more than the galaxy." "I love you more than 35-cent pound cake." She spoke, referring to one of their in-jokes. She giggled, and he smiled, kissing her once more. He sat up, a mischievous look on his face. "What are you doing?" She asked, grinning, and already knowing that. Very gently, and quietly, he playfully tackled her, Miranda giggling the whole time, and tackling him back, the two of them ending up on the floor, still very happy. "I have something for ya..." Joseph spoke, his hair now a little messy. He reached under the couch, and pulled out a tiny box. Miranda laughed, a little suprised. He pulled out a beautiful ring, made of one of Grandiate, one of the rarest, but most beautiful metals in the galaxy. It had one large piece of diamond, carefully cut, the edges surrounded by gold, two smaller gems on either side of it. "So, how 'bout it?" He asked. She replied by pulling an engagement ring out of a small blue box, and placed it on his finger. They smiled at each other, and kissed, deeply. -- The viewscreen turned off, Kiyone still watching it. She turned back to them, blushing. It was quite obvious by just glancing that Joseph and Miranda were inseparably in love, and would be forever. An undeniable truth then struck Kiyone; Miranda died before Joseph and her were married. Part of Kiyone wanted to know what happened to her, while another part was the opposite of that. "What happened to her?" Kiyone whispered. Loknar and Washuu were silent for a moment, Washuu soon speaking up. "Koros happened." She whispered, the whole lab seemingly shaking in fear after those two words were uttered. "Wha.....What did he do to her?" "In early December of the year that they proposed to each other, some member nations of the AGN broke off, allying themselves with the Melkarian Empire. They did at sneak attack on Beta Pictoris IV, then a prominent AGN colony. Unfortunately, Joseph, Miranda, and their squadron was stationed there. Melkarian battleships bombarded the planet with bombs, destroying most of the major cities in an instant. Then, they sent in their ground troops, scorching most of the remaining parts of the planet. During this time, Koros was in a Melkar form - He had a Melkarian body, made of steel, but not a Melkarian soul. Koros and his forces stormed the barracks in which Joseph and Miranda were in. Koros knocked all of the other squadron members besides Joseph and Miranda out. Joseph was tied to the wall, while Koros raped, tortured, mutilated, and murdered Miranda in front of him. He forced Joseph to listen to every scream, every cry of pain, every moan, and see every atrocity committed. Joseph cried throughout the entire horrible day. After Koros left, the rest of the squadron woke up, and brought the uncontrollably crying Joseph onto their ship, and took off, right before the Melkars obliterated the planet. The Melkars had drilled a massive hole in the planet's north pole, and drove a nuclear warhead through it, exploding near the core, thus destroying the planet from inside out, resulting in the deaths of the billions still alive. They were the lucky ones; the others were killed while the Melkars and their allies raped and pillaged their cities. Joseph witnessed the planet dying as the ship flew off, causing him to go even deeper into depression. He locked himself in his room for days, crying his eyes out, as quietly as possible." Washuu said quietly to Kiyone. Kiyone was stunned by this. "No wonder he kept so quiet about his past....." Kiyone thought. "There's more." Loknar said, continuing for Washuu, "I stayed with him for a few days. He hated himself, feeling that it was his fault that she died. He tried to calm the pain by drinking, but even that was ineffective; the Melkars had previously captured him, performing an odd experiment that now made him essentially immune to alcohol. The poor man couldn't even drown his sorrows in a glass of gin, like the rest of humanity did. He even tried suicide once, but he survived without major harm. It took him months of counciling to even get him back to normal. Joseph loved Miranda more than any man ever could have....Eventually, his friends got him to go on a few dates, but Joseph never went very far with those girls. Very soon, the next major tragedy in Joseph's life occurred. His squadron was on a simple mission, when they were gunned down by Melkarian-Human deserters. During the Galaxian Civil War, a fraction of the human forces serving in the AGN defected to the Melkarian side, doing much of the pillaging and destruction of Beta Pictoris IV. Their leader was Christopher Stygian, and he personally murdered the rest of Joseph's squadron, in front of his eyes, while leaving Joseph alive. However, Joseph severely injured most of the Deserter group that attacked, and did permanent damage to Stygian, even though a man called Ransuto Othuti left unscathed. Still, Joseph was once more in an uncontrollable depressive state. He paused for a moment. "Then comes the odd part. When Joseph and his squadron were about to leave Beta Pictoris IV, Miranda's body just vanished, as if she had simply walked off. Ever since, Joseph has been haunted by visions of her, watching him, following him, yet not making contact. I have seen the ghosts myself, and I know why they occur, but I cannot say until a few years from now, due to the direct orders of my superiors at the Council of the Tree of Life." "What is the council?" "Essentially, the Council of the Heavens. We'll explain that to you some other time. Another thing you might find interesting is that we ran simulations on our computers, where Joseph and Tenchi switched places of birth, and parents. They all ended up exactly, the same as the normal universe, except for the fact that Tenchi acted like Joseph, and Joseph acted like Tenchi. During all of their lives so far, Joseph and Tenchi would have acted the exact same way, in either their own or the other's life. Joseph and Tenchi are truly brothers, more than just genetically or spiritually; They share the same soul. That is what we have proven....Something that has theorized by philosophers of both Jurai and Orion, but rarely evidenced. We now have that evidence." Kiyone nodded, even more interested in ever. "But for now.....Tassi and I have some things to discuss." Washuu said quietly. Kiyone understood, and left the lab, hearing Washuu say this: "I have some interesting data. We both know that Joseph has two more Lighthawk wings than Tenchi - But the total power for each is exactly the same. Each of Tenchi's wings is a little less powerful than two of Joseph's wings. Therefore, the power of each of them is completely balanced...." ---- Around lunchtime, Tenchi went out the door of the school, and headed outside for a quick 'walk', wheeling around the school grounds in his wheelchair. Everyone he saw asked him how he broke both legs. He simply responded to all of them by saying he slipped on the steps of the shrine, which seemed to satisfy the queries. The day was quite beautiful, the pine trees outside teeming with life; a songbird in every branch, and a squirrel in every other one. The sky was a pale azure, the few planes flying above receiving a distinct shine by the sun, which was in its' full glory, being noon and all. "Hey, Tenchi." A voice called, right before someone took hold of Tenchi's wheelchair. "What the......Hey! What are you doing with my chair - yaaaah!" Tenchi cried frantically, as his chair was suddenly slammed into the wall of the school, knocking his head a little, and a bruise forming. "Just thought you needed that." Said Yuri, surrounded by a few other students. "Why the hell are you doing this?" Tenchi yelled, obviously enraged. Tenchi wheeled over, preparing for a fight. Yuri responded by cutting the tires on Tenchi's wheelchair with a knife, and pushing him into a small pond, formed by the melted snow of the past few days. Tenchi fell with a splash, the wheels still spinning as he lay in the muck, only his head unscathed. "Because I want to. It's not like anyone cares about you." "People do?" "Yeah, like your mom." "My mom was killed, you idiot." Tenchi rasped. "She deserved it." Replied Yuri, without the expected response apologizing for insulting one's deceased family members. Tenchi was stunned. This Yuri was obviously angry about something, but what? Why did he show no remorse in his attacks and threats? Mr. Yamatogi, the Literature teacher, walked by, but didn't seem to care. Over the past year, students had noted that the man had become more distant to his students, and much less uncaring, assigning hours of homework each night, even on holidays. "Mr. Yamatogi!" Tenchi yelled. "What? Get yourself out of your own damned mess." He replied, not even looking at Tenchi. Tenchi cursed silently. That man had always been a bear to students; he knew that. However, he had not expected him to refuse a student that was literally stuck in the mud. Yuri kicked the back of Tenchi's chair, pushing him in the mud further. "Go and rot." Yuri mumbled, the other students following him, as the next class began. Tenchi just lay there, and cried. He was eventually able to drag himself out of the mud, and changed in his gym locker. He was very late for class, but he hadn't missed much. The wheelchair still worked without the tires, but it made an unnerving screeching sound that seemed to scratch people's ear-drums. During classes, he could not concentrate. He pondered what he should do about Yuri; If he told the principal of the school, Yuri would probably receive a light punishment, due to the fact that it was the school's policy to be lax on bullying. He would then proceed to harass Tenchi further, the cycle only increasing. If he told Ryoko and the others, the heads of Yuri and the other students would be on pikes in a matter of minutes, but he did not want them to die. On the other hand, if he just tried to ignore it, and keep it to himself, the problems could possibly go away. Still, there were physical signs of his abuse, so those would have to be dealt with.... Out of his backpack, he took out a small canister of cream, which could hide any physical imperfection from the eyes. Washuu and Loknar had given Tenchi this a few months back, when he had a pimple outbreak. The canister was still quite filled, due to the auto-regeneration of the canister reacting with the cream. He applied a small amount to his head, and rubbing it in a little, hoping to erase any sign of the large bruise. It worked, but the only problem was that it appeared to have given him gelled hair, a common look for the rebels or social outcasts of the day. Tenchi ignored the comments of others as he waited to be picked up by Loknar and Washuu. He stayed close to the entrance, in the hope that Yuri and his cronies would be smart enough to avoid being seen. As soon as he came out of the entrance, Loknar and Washuu pulled up in their car. "Hi Tenchi! What happened to your tires?" Washuu asked. "Accidentally cut them over a few broken bottles." He replied. "I see. How was your day then?" Loknar asked. ".....Good." Tenchi replied, then being teleported into the car. Loknar grinned as a few male students looked at Washuu, who looked dazzlingly beautiful in her adult form, while female students looked at him. "She's mine, so don't even try." Loknar told them, smiling, and kissing Washuu. "He's mine too, ladies." Washuu said, kissing him back. "...You said you wouldn't embarrass me." Tenchi mumbled. "Allright, sorry." Washuu replied, as they drove off. ---- Like before, the car quickly zipped down the long road, through the city of Kurashiki, before getting on the road that led to the countryside, where the Masaki shrine and house was. They soon passed by a small store on the side of the road. It was obviously very old, with the architectural style being common around fifty years ago, right after the second world war. The windows were a little dirty, but it looked very similar to a small country shop. The walls inside were lined with goods, ranging from rice balls, to candies, to flashlights, and even some camping equipment. Outside of the shop, a certain woman with pointy cyan hair guzzled expensive sake out of a large bottle. The shop manager yelled at her, but she seemed to be either too drunk to listen, or she didn't care. Washuu groaned. "Let's pull over, Tassi. I have to go see what my little girl has done this time." She said, as the car pulled up to the shop. "And another thing! When you buy sake, do not slam the cash on the table, and refer to me as 'bartender'. I am a shop owner, young lady! Are you even listening?" The shop owner blared at Ryoko, who responded by taking another long gulp. "Excuse me sir." Washuu interrupted, as she went in front of Ryoko. "Washuu! Just the person I wanted to see! Can I borrow some money, Mom? I accidentally caused a little bit of damage." Ryoko told her, half-drunk. "So you're her mother, eh?" The owner asked, his face red. "Your daughter is the rudest little -" Washuu glared at the man. "What did you say about my daughter, sir?" "I said she was the -" The man was suddenly held up against the wall. Washuu grinned. "Don't insult my daughter. I will pay for the damage, but not for the insults. Got it?" The man nodded, now worried if he would be harmed. Loknar looked at Washuu, and smiled. "That's my little Washuu, just as feisty and lovely as ever...." He thought out loud, Tenchi replying by sinking into his seat. She handed the man the requested money, and put Ryoko in the car. "Hey, Tenchi. Didn't know you shopped for *hic* sake here too, *hic*." Ryoko burbled, some sake still in her mouth. "Oh, God." Tenchi mumbled, moving into the back seat. "You know, women really like *hic* kissing after a good drink." Ryoko breathed right on him, the foul sake-smell, compounded with the scent of today's lunch, causing Tenchi to instinctively back away. "No." Tenchi said, loudly. "But Tenchi...." Washuu giggled as she got back in the car. "You're quite sexy when you do that, you know." Loknar told her, grinning. She replied by kissing him deeply, causing Ryoko to use this time to empty her stomach on the side of the road. "Can we please go home?" Tenchi asked, frantically. "In a sec." Loknar said, in between kissing Washuu. Eventually, they did get home, Tenchi wheeling out of the car, rather than teleporting. "We were wondering where Ryoko went..." Sasami said, after greeting them. "I knew that she would be making a fool of herself at that store, guzzling sake like it was water." Ayeka replied, glaring at Ryoko. "Shuddap *hic*." Ryoko responded, drunkenly trying to hit Ayeka, but only hitting thin air and falling to the ground. Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki meowed happily, and jumped on Tenchi's lap, licking him. He smiled and petted them. Inside the house, Joseph opened his eyes. He still could barely move, gently reaching his hand out to touch the IV machine. "I'm no freakin' vegetable." He thought, trying to get his hands on the plug that connected it to his body, but always missing, his vision still very blurred, and sounds still echoing. His window suddenly shattered, the broken panes falling to the floor and cracking further. He tried to ignore it, believing that it was only the continued effects of the energy diffency, that it was just a hallucination. Kiyone rushed into Joseph's room, in response to the glass shattering, just as a figure jumped through the broken window. He stood at seven feet tall, his head almost hitting the ceiling. He had auburn hair extending from his forehead to his shoulders, similar to the color of a dying fire, the embers a mixture of red and black, refusing to die. His eyes were a deep black that could only be described as the color of darkness itself, the pupil barely distinguishable from the rest of the eye. There were scars all over his grinning face, as if he enjoyed doing what he was about to do. He wore a simple black cloak, with a red Omega over his heart. There was a long katana in his hands, the blade stained with the mixed blood of thousands. Kiyone pulled out her gun, and pointed it at the man. "Stop right there, whoever you are!" She barked, glaring at him. "Tell me why the hell you are here!" "The name is Ransuto Othuti, and I seek revenge for death of Master Koros." The man replied. "Damned hallucinations." Joseph mumbled, looking at him. "So, the little fool is injured?" Ransuto said, picking Joseph up by the collar, demonstrating his strength. "Put him down!" Kiyone screamed. Ransuto responded by jumping out the window, still holding Joseph, and landed on his feet, just as Kiyone was firing at him. Joseph felt the rush of air as Ransuto jumped, and realized that it was not a dream. "Put Lord Joseph down!" Ayeka shouted at him, having watched as he had landed on the ground. Kiyone ran down the stairs, Mihoshi and everyone else already outside. Joseph, concentrating whatever power he had, tried to generate the Lighthawk wings. They appeared for only a second, and flickered, then dissipating, not even harming Ransuto. "Ingrate." Ransuto muttered, hurling Joseph against the wall, "He isn't even a worthy adversary." Washuu and Mihoshi rushed to Joseph's side, and began to heal him. "Who is the other b@stard that murdered my master?" Ransuto called. "I did." Tenchi replied, wheeling forward. Ransuto could only laugh at the sight of him. "A puny child in a wheelchair defied the will of Lord Koros? Hah." Ransuto ran at Tenchi, and slashed the chair with the Katana, the wheels themselves splitting in half. "Leave Tenchi alone!" Ryoko yelled, now fully sober. Her energy sword appeared in hand, and she ran at him, just as he was about to attack Tenchi again. The swords hit silently, blocking each other from further movement. She then suddenly pushed her sword back, the recoil hurling Ransuto to the ground, on his stomach. Ryoko put her left foot on his back, and her sword nearby his neck. "One move, and you di-" She was interrupted as he grabbed her leg, and hurled her to the ground, jumping up and slashing at her arm. Mihoshi and Kiyone then repeatedly blasted him, scarring his cloak, and causing minor injury. "Damn you!" Ransuto barked, concentrated energy, in the shape of a boomerang, generating in his hands. He hurled it at them while they were firing, but Washuu luckily knocked them out of the way. "No one harms the son of my Tassi!" She yells, giving him a sharp punch in the jaw, knocking a few teeth out. He was about to slash at her stomach when Azaka and Kamidake appeared, catching him in a temporary forcefield. He struggled, and somehow managed to break free, his Katana nearly splitting Azaka in half, taking the guardians by complete surprise by his resilience. Using this to stun his foes, Ransuto attacked Tenchi at his temporary weak spot - his legs. Tenchi screamed in pain as he felt the cold metal tear into his already re-healed legs. "Tenchi!" Ayeka screamed, rage filling her. She glared at Ransuto as she held out her hand, a branch of Ryu-Oh suddenly appearing in it. The branch quickly transformed itself into a very sharp bokken, the sword very sleek, yet encrusted with Juraian gems, and the royal seal. With previously unseen speed, she jabbed it into Ransuto's side, catching him off guard. He screamed, and hit her with his Katana, her arm now bleeding. "Princess Ayeka!" Azaka and Kamidake screamed, now hurling themselves at Ransuto. Without even looking, Ransuto jammed his bokken into Kamidake's gem, harming his internal systems. Azaka, already injured, slammed into the wall, unable to control his speed. The wall for the kitchen was destroyed, as Azaka landed on the kitchen table, breaking it in two. Tenchi, now ignoring his own pain, tried to stand up, his three Lighthawk wings appearing very quickly, and his battle costume materializing. With an angry look on his face, Tenchi took hold of one of the wings, the powerful Lighthawk Sword forming from it. Even though he could not walk, Tenchi could now float off his chair. Ransuto did not seem to be impressed by this. "The master could do much better than your smoke and mirrors." He spoke, trying to slash at Tenchi with the Katana. The forcefield simply blocked it. Once more, he tried slashing, but it failed. "Impossible!" Ransuto yelped, backing away. Tenchi slashed at Ransuto's back, the Human Deserter not screaming as it hit him. Ransuto tried to crawl, but the pain was too much. Tenchi de-transformed right as Mihoshi and Kiyone put handcuffs on Ransuto. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you try to do on our ship will get you a hard kick in the groin, ya hear?" Kiyone barked, lifting him up. Mihoshi took out her cube, and had her ship come out of subspace, gently landing nearby. Kiyone kicked the door open, and hurled Ransuto inside, then cuffing his ankles, just in case. Joseph watched what happened, and smiled, then turning towards Tenchi, as if to ask him something important. "What the damn.....Tenchi, I need to talk to you about...." He mumbled, as the pain from hitting the wall finally set in, feeling like his body was melting, and his voice trailed off and faded. Loknar and Washuu rushed over, and did some quick surgery, repairing Joseph's half-broken back. Because of the anesthetic that was given to him, Joseph fell asleep once more. "Will he be allright?" Tenchi asked, his own pain still present. "The expenditure of energy by trying to create the Lighthawk wings will have him require another week of rest...." Loknar replied, then rushing over to Tenchi, and treating his wounds. "Thank you, Tassixar." Tenchi said, smiling as the wound began to heal, right after a nanobot-laden gel was applied to the deep cuts. "No problem, Tenchi." Loknar replied, putting a light bandage over it. "It should be healed within the hour. Now, about your wheelchair..." Loknar saw that Washuu was still tending to Joseph, and smiled at her. She smiled back. Loknar turned on his computer, and typed in commands at a rapid pace, a new, very tough-looking wheelchair appearing. Whistling, he lifted Tenchi into the new chair, ignoring the fact that Tenchi was a teenager. Tenchi himself was suprised at the man's strength. Washuu took out another wheelchair, and put Joseph in it, Ryoko then teleporting him upstairs, and placing him back on his bed, very gently. "Hi Ryoko..." Joseph mumbled, sensing she was there. Ryoko smiled. "How're you doing, Joseph?" She asked. "Fine. Hope you're allright..." He mumbled, drifting back off to sleep. She watched him for a little bit, taking a closer look at his features. "Damn, he is as cute as Tenchi." She thought, then going outside. "If Tenchi goes with the prissy mistress, Joseph will be next in line for me." Around this time, Kiyone and Mihoshi got in their ship, and took off, heading towards the nearest GP station. Washuu took one look at the destroyed kitchen, and spoke two words: "Redecorating time!" The two geniuses were quickly beginning to reconstruct the destroyed kitchen, first getting Azaka off the table, and putting him near Kamidake; they would be repaired later. Sasami, Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ayeka watched as the two geniuses meticulously re-constructed the Masaki kitchen. They first began by rebuilding the table; they poured a nanobot solution onto it, with the specific instructions of joining the two cracked halves. The solution did just that, the halves coming together, and the table upright once more. They poured a section solution on, and any sign of the table ever being broken was nonexistent. They then clapped their hands, as small construction robots appeared, reforming the insides of the destroyed wall, then adding on the raw materials to construct it. Very soon, the kitchen was back to normal. Ayeka rushed over to them as they came back outside. "Will Kamidake and Azaka be operational soon?" She asked. "Very soon. They'll need half an hour in the lab to be fully repaired, though. Juraian biotechnology is simple, but repairing it takes awhile." Loknar replied, some of the construction robots helping to lift the disabled guardians, and bringing them into the lab. ---- As soon as they were halfway between Earth and the GP station, Kiyone put the ship on auto-control. She got up, and walked over to Ransuto, glaring at him. "What the hell do you want?" He mumbled. She responded by giving him a sharp kick. "Geez! Be careful with that! What was that for?" "Just for being who you are. I know what you did to Joseph's squadron." "Heh. You like that wimp? He was crying his eyes out when his damn squadron got killed - Ow!" She had kicked him again, harder. "They were the only family he had up till then." "I don't care - God! Stop with the kicking!" She had kicked him when he was in mid-sentence. "Kiyone, let him be. He's going to get at least life." Mihoshi said, quietly. "He attacked two Juraian Princesses and two Juraian Princes." Kiyone nodded, and sat down by her. "You've actually seemed to get more logical since the last time we were on a mission together." She said, smiling. "Yeah." Mihoshi replied, hugging her, Kiyone then hugging back. "Who-hoo! Lesbian make-out time!" Ransuto hooted. Kiyone gave him a very very sharp kick, and a slap in the face. "I am not a lesbian. If someone else that you knew was a lesbian, I seriously doubt they would let you see their naked body, or their sexual partner. I highly doubt that you will ever love a woman anyhow, you sick SOB!" Kiyone whispered. Soon, they reached the GP station. Kiyone walked in, hurled Ransuto against the wall, and filed her report. Mihoshi and Kiyone got back on their ship, and soon returned home. By then, everyone went back inside. After landing their ship, and returning it to pseduospace, they sat down on the couch, exhausted. "Did he do anything to you on the way there?" Ryoko asked. "No. He was just being a sick pervert. I see that Koros recruited the scum of the Earth for his human deserters." Kiyone replied, sitting down on the couch. "How?" Sasami asked, curious. "You will understand when you are older, Sasami." Ayeka said quickly, trying to change the topic of conversation. "C'mon Ayeka. It's not like it's gonna hurt her." Ryoko replied, mostly watching TV. "Miss Ryoko, it is inappropriate for someone of Sasami's age to know about such things." "Great. You're becoming princess of the censors, too, huh?" Ayeka growled, and the two began to fight, as usual. "Like clockwork." Washuu mumbled, looking at both her watch and the fight of the princess and the space pirate. -- Things went as normal for the next three weeks. Kiyone quickly adapted to the Masaki house, its' people, and schedule. She continually watched over Joseph and Tenchi, helping them recuperate. She helped Sasami cook, rivaling the princess's skill. Tenchi continued to train, even though his walking was impaired, soon excelling at immobile combat and using his senses to detect if an enemy was close by. Everyone helped him learn how to walk again, and by the end of the third week, he rarely needed the wheelchair. His school life was not as nice, as Yuri and his allies continually harassed Tenchi, both physically and mentally. At one point, they were threatening him, tearing up his homework, and slashing open his book bag. Tenchi felt that he could not do much to defeat them; trying to punch them back resulted in misses, and even more punches against him. He became very depressed, sometimes coming home without saying a word. He wished that someone or something could resolve this. Yuri never explained his motives for continually harassing him, other than the usual reasons used, such as 'you are annoying', 'no one cares about you', 'you suck', and the like. Joseph was still in his unconscious state, but still spoke every once in awhile. Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Sasami visited him whenever they could. They also became very interested when Joseph composed beautiful poetry in this state, one of them scrambling to write it down when he spoke. There were soon twenty pages of poetry composed by Joseph, while he was unconscious. Loknar continued to work in the fields, Tenchi helping when he could, and giving Loknar some strategies so he could continue to work while ignoring the eyes of the women. With Kiyone helping out with the food so much, Sasami soon wondered if she could go to an earthly school, so she could understand the kind of things Tenchi had to go through. Washuu, Loknar, and Noboyuki helped her sign up for classes, and was soon given confirmation that she could join Tenchi's high school. On her registration information, it had said that she was about 12-13, as that is how she looked. The school admitted her only after she took some high- school aged tests, proving that she could be in advanced placement, and therefore in high school, or for at least most of the time. They all intended to tell this to Tenchi as a suprise, right when the third week was about to end. On the Monday of the fourth week since the Koros-Tsaniko incident, Tenchi stood by the entrance of the school. He sighed sadly, applying more of the special cream to his bruises and scrapes, caused by Yuri and his gang. Today, they had broken into his locker, and spilled paint all over his homework. Tenchi had given in somewhat, and told some teachers of what was going on, but they only talked to Yuri and his friends, as Tenchi had no proof. Tenchi had desperately tried to get some people who witnessed attacks on him to speak up, but they were too afraid. Telling his teachers had resulted in more attacks against him, just as Tenchi had predicted. After he had put the cream on, he just stared at the asphalt for awhile, wondering why this curse of being unable to tell of his horrors was placed upon him. "Tenchi! Hello, Tenchi!" Washuu called, waving from the car. His concentration was broken by this. He instinctively walked into the car, as he was now mainly able to walk on his own two feet. Loknar and Washuu looked at Tenchi's face. For the past few weeks, they had noticed a change in him; he usually seemed very depressed after school, exhausted, somewhat irritable, and with the occasional scratch or bruise. He seemed unwilling to talk about it, just saying that he was having some homework trouble. This excuse worked for awhile, until they actually looked at his homework, and saw that he was having no problem at all. The problem had to be social. "Tenchi, please, tell us what is wrong." Loknar said quietly, putting the convertible's top down, so the three could talk privately. "N-Nothing is wrong, Mister Tassixar, Miss Washuu." He replied, trying to get a happy look on his face. "Why would you think anything was wrong?" "You come home depressed every day, you are exhausted much more than you usually are, and you seem to stop talking about your day as much as you used to." Washuu spoke, as they sped down the old road, then turning the corner. "Seriously, nothing is wrong, okay?" Tenchi replied. They soon passed the small store, Ryoko thankfully being at home. "Well, we have some interesting news for you." Loknar spoke, as the car came onto the Masaki property, after a few minutes. "What would that be?" Tenchi asked, as they soon pulled up to the house. "Sasami passed some tests. On Earth, she is eligible for Advanced Placement, and has registered to go to your school. She starts tomorrow." Washuu responded, smiling, and opening the door. Tenchi had never thought that this could happen. Sasami going to school with him? Impossible! He didn't even know that Juraian princesses went to earthly schools. "Thankfully, we were able to stop Ayeka and Ryoko from registering, as we know they would both bother you until God knows when, and destroy the school daily, because of their fights. They also obliged once we offered them some sake, and had them sign papers saying that they did not want to register." She continued. Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief. At least those two weren't going to be with him at school. But Sasami was different; she was very neat, bright, kind, courteous, and talented, unlike most of the people Tenchi knew at school. He was unsure if she would be able to fit in there, the rigid teenage social structure maybe being unacceptable to her. Then another fear came to mind; What if Yuri and his cronies met up with Sasami? Tenchi dared not think of the horrible events that could possibly occur. If Sasami witnessed what Yuri and his allies were doing, she would tell Ayeka and everyone else, thus probably resulting in the death of Yuri. Tenchi decided then and there that this problem had to be solved, and fast. Tenchi walked out of the door, and went into the house. Washuu and Loknar were confronted with an angry and hung-over Ryoko when they entered. "Mom! Tassi! You got me drunk so I would sign papers! Why the hell would you do that? This would have been the perfect opportunity to be with Tenchi!" She exclaimed, obviously angry. "You and Ayeka would make Tenchi unable to complete his work." Loknar replied, following Washuu to the lab. "How?" "You're always fighting over him." "So?" "In your fights, you destroy things." "Your point?" "You would vaporize his homework while you both scrambled to do it for him. You would knock the teeth out of any girl that had a crush on him. You would probably kill anyone that took a look at you." Washuu replied, grinning, and closing the door of the lab. "Well, you do have a point......Waitasecond!" Too late. They locked the lab door. "Damn you." Ryoko mumbled, stomping off to the floating onsen. Tenchi went up to his room, and sat on his bed, his head in his hands. For an hour or two, he tried to think of possible solutions, each one failing in his mind. Yuri was seemingly invulnerable to anything tried against him. "Tenchi, I think I can help you with your problem." A voice said. "How do you know about this.............Joseph?!?!?!?" Tenchi asked, hearing the man's voice, yet he was sleeping in his room. "How the heck are you able to talk to me while you're still bedridden?" Joseph laughed, quietly. "I'm a Psionic Mage, remember? Telepathy is one of my skills. Even though my body may have been stuck rotting in a bed for a month, my mind was still able to partially scan the house to see how everyone was doing emotionally. Weeks ago, I was able to sense that something very wrong was happening to you at school. Believe me, that cream does not work on telepaths or Psionic Mages. I saw right through it, and I instantly knew. I suffered similar attacks against me by my peers at school. Physical, mental, psychological, social, and even some things I dare not get into." He continued. "Why do they do that to us?" "Why? They do not have the capacity to know why. Their subconscious mind is usually the cause. From what I can suspect in your case, whoever is attacking you has deep-rooted jealousy." Tenchi laughed, doubting that it could even possibly be true. "Yuri is jealous of me? How would anyone be jealous of me?" "Think about it, Tenchi. You have spectacular grades in all courses, you are attractive to women, you know how to settle most arguments. To add to that, there are plenty of rumors of the beautiful women living with you. That would make any sane man jealous." He replied. "....Well......If he is jealous, how do I stop him? I have asked him peacefully, several times. He always responds with more violence. The only person that I have seen with as much pointless hate was Koros, and possibly Kagato and Dr. Clay." Joseph seemed silent for a moment, as if his mind was looking up to the sky, as he usually did when he was awake. "He is the type of person that the Deserters were made of. Egotistical, cruel, hypocritical, greedy control- freaks that had a lust for power. They didn't care about the effects of their actions on others; all they knew was themselves, and that everyone else was second to them. The one thing that screwballs like them hate more than their victims would be standing up for yourself. They don't count on it, thinking that they have broken your spirit. That suprises them. They hate suprises. It leaves them unprepared, with no plan in mind. Then you can take the advantage, and take 'em down." "How would I stand up for myself? I'm not strong or anything, and Yuri could knock me down with his thumb." Tenchi's ring glowed. "Oh, no. God, no. Hell, no! I will not use the Lighthawk wings! That's what I was trying to avoid! If I got Ryoko or Ayeka involved, they'd murder Yuri before he knew what hit him! I can trust that you wouldn't kill him." "I am not saying using the full power of the Lighthawk against him. Maybe you might not even need that. Maybe the Master Key could suffice." "That's still a weapon that could kill him!" "There is much more to that sword than you think. You can direct the flow of its' power into anything, even yourself. I need to preserve more energy right now, so I will be able to awaken soon. Good night, Tenchi." Joseph finished, his voice disappearing. "....Joseph! Wait!" Tenchi called. "Tenchi, who were you talking to?" Kiyone asked, peeking through the door. "N-No one, Kiyone." He replied. "Allright." She shut the door. "I think he's beginning to lose it." She thought. Tenchi sat back down on his bed, thinking about what Joseph had said. He could stand up for himself, but he didn't know how. The rare times that he had in the past were when his friends were in danger; but wasn't this one of those times? Sasami was enrolling in school. If Yuri found out about her, that could mean real trouble. Tenchi was not about to risk Sasami's safety. He quietly opened his nightstand drawer, and began to rummage through it. Old school assignments, half- eaten riceballs, the occasional sake bottle, loose change, and other little trinkets filled it. The only thing that seemed out of place was a wooden sword box. Juraian writing was inscribed on it, the box itself seemingly giving off heat, as if it still part of a living tree. Tenchi gently opened the box, the Tenchiken, the Master Key, inside of it. He picked up the wooden sword, holding it in his hands. The last time he had used it was a month ago, when Koros had attacked. He turned it over, inspecting it, to be sure that it was in pristine condition. It was, so he was about to put it back to the box, and onto the nightstand, when suddenly there was the sound of a car honking. "Hey Tenchi! I got our car!" Noboyuki called, waving outside. The car was still quite gutted. "How the hell did you get that thing here?" Tenchi replied. "Azaka and Kamidake helped lift it." "You mean we did all the lifting." Azaka added, hovering nearby. "Well, I did move the antenna...." Noboyuki said, thinking out loud. "Anyway, want to come help me repair it? It may have been stuck in the pond for a month or two, but it will work again!" "No thanks, Dad. I have some homework to do." "Allright. Tell me when you're done, okay?" In actuality, Tenchi had finished his homework in school, in the hopes that Yuri would not find it, and therefore dispose of it. Dinner passed uneventfully, everyone eating as normal, with the exception of Joseph, who was still in his bed. Throughout the night, Tenchi tried to plan how he was going to use the Master Key to stop Yuri, all the while making sure that only he saw it. He hoped that he could confront Yuri after school, and hopefully survive without permanent injury or death. He hadn't bothered to change into his night clothes. He lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, hoping for something to happen. "Tenchi!" A voice whispered. He jerked his head around, and was surprised by what he saw. "Joseph!" He exclaimed softly, getting up and walking towards him. "I think you should go downstairs and look outside." Joseph said quietly. "I know you will be able to handle it. I need to get myself down to the onsen and take a bath. I smell worse than Ryoko's sake." Joseph did just that, walking quietly down the stairs. He was greeted by two jubilant cabbits, but told them to be quiet. He then headed straight to the onsen, and taking a long bath. Outside the house, about seventy yards away from the front door, Yuri trudged, a can of spray paint in his left hand, a box of eggs in his right, and a knife on his belt. Tenchi watched from the first floor, and gulped, sparingly taking looks, as he was afraid of being seen. Even with the Master Key on his hands, he was still afraid that it somehow might fail. Yuri glared at the house as he came close, quietly shaking the can of paint. As he was about to approach the front door, Tenchi came out of it. "What are you doing here?" Tenchi asked quietly. "What do you think I'm doing?" Yuri replied, trying to push him out of the way. Tenchi caught his arm before he could be elbowed in the chest. He then threw Yuri back. "So, the little freak finally shows some strength." Yuri spoke, his voice changing a little. It may have been suprise, or maybe even fear that contributed to that. "I'm tired of what you are doing to me." Tenchi said, trying to sound as possible. "Sure. What are you going to do about it?" Somewhere within himself, Tenchi pulled out his courage. He punched Yuri square in the jaw, knocking him back a few feet. "You little b|tch!" Yuri cried, pulling out his knife, and preparing to strike Tenchi. His blade was stopped by the blue beam of the Tenchiken. Yuri was startled beyond belief, a little stain forming on him, and he began to sweat profusely. "Wha....What the hell is that?" Yuri whispered. "The sword called Tenchi." He replied. At the exact moment that Tenchi said that, the three Juraian trees shot small beams of light out of their leaves and branches, illuminating the entire landscape. Like the three wings of the Lighthawk, a central beam from each tree converged on the center of Tenchi, each beam becoming wing-like. His Juraian glyph appeared on his forehead, and he glared at Yuri, as he walked forward. In response, Yuri simply fainted, the knife dropping from his hand. The light dissipated, and Tenchi smiled. He had finally won against Yuri. It was then that Ryoko suddenly burst out the door, and picked up Yuri by the scruff of his neck. "Ryoko, please -" "No, Tenchi. This SOB pulled a knife on you. Let me -" "Let me, Miss Ryoko." Ayeka spoke, her two guardians following behind her. Yuri woke up, and tried to speak, instead simply stuttering. "Who the hell are you?" He asked. "I'm Tenchi's girlfriend, you little b@stard." "I actually am his girlfriend, young ruffian. Ignore the devil woman." Yuri gulped, and somehow managed to break free, running off into the distance. In front of the house, Joseph grinned, clapping a little. "Joseph!" Ayeka and Ryoko said, running over to him. "When did you wake up, Lord Joseph?" Ayeka asked, happy to see him. "Just in time to see the fireworks." He replied, then going up to Tenchi, and shaking his hand. "I knew you could do it." He grinned. "Thank you." Tenchi said, smiling. Joseph then saw Yuri's knife on the ground, and inspected it. On both sides of the blade handle was Ransuto's name, a blade still bloodstained, but was not used in years. "The blade was cursed. I remember you all battled him here. The kid must have swiped it from the ground as he came here. Idiots begot idiots." Joseph spoke, then digging a small hole, and burying it. "You need to go get some sleep. I've had a month's worth of sleep, so I don't really need any more. I'm going to do some thinking." They all then went inside, Joseph spreading out on the couch, and resting. Loknar and Washuu quietly walked by, startled by Joseph being there. "You're allright!" They both said, hugging him a little too tightly. "Yes, I am. What is this about Sasami going to school?" Joseph asked. "She could if she wanted to. The newest results said she could easily finish earthly college. She may go sometimes, but as she has all the nessicary criteria, it is mainly optional." Joseph looked at them for a moment. "Now that that is all over, we need a vacation." Joseph said, having a perfect place in mind, "We need to go to Orion."