A rewrite of the original story "The Switch," that corrects 
any mistakes made, tones down Tarot, and eliminates the 
Tarot/Ryoko romance (Washu is another matter).
Vault_Keeper_2000@yahoo.com

These characters are copyrighted and only two of them are my 
own.  The majority of the characters contained-just barely-
in this story are the property of Pioneer and I beg anyone 
who works for that company and is reading this to refrain 
from suing me as I have no steady income, being too young to 
work, and because it would just be a huge hassle for 
everyone involved.  Also, to any fellow fanfic authors out 
there, I have only read a tiny fraction of the stories in 
this archive, so if I use something that was in your story 
without making mention of it in the footnote, it is purely 
an accident and I offer my sincere apologies.  Also, to ALL 
Tenchi Muyo fans, although I am a fan in my own right, I 
have only seen the first episode of the OAV series and 
therefore am unfamiliar with the personalities of all the 
characters, so I have had to go on the combined information 
I have picked up from reading the stories and looking around 
on the Internet.  If you see anything that would go against 
a particular character's personality or goes against 
something that happened in the OAV series, e-mail me and I 
will be sure not to make the same mistake in my next story 
(the TV series has no bearing on my stories).  This story 
takes place sometime between `Tenchi the Movie' and the 
second OAV series.  There are going to be a few nude scenes 
in this story, just like in the original, but THIS IS STILL 
NOT A LEMON!  Also, I am correcting all of the mistakes I 
made in the previous version of the story, and I apologize 
to anyone who was offended by these mistakes.  I am also 
writing this under my own name, to end the confusion about 
whether or not it was self-insertion.  The Erik of the story 
only shares my pen name, and is not based in any way on me.  
I am also toning him down, making him less powerful, so he 
doesn't upstage the normal characters.  Also, my stories are 
going to be interconnected (events from one story are going 
to have an impact on what happens in other stories) unless 
it is stated clearly in the disclaimer that a particular 
story is not in the continuity, and I hope nobody minds 
this.  `Phantom of the Opera' lyrics are the property of 
Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Lyrics from "Out of the Frying Pan 
(And Into the Fire)" are the property of Meat Loaf.  I have 
completely cut anything other than characters that pertain 
to any other story out of my own.  Just so you know, dashes 
that make complete breaks in the sentence are there in the 
place of those three period symbols.  Now, without further 
ado, let us begin.


The Switch
By Greg Lively

	Tenchi sat down at the breakfast table and breathed a 
sigh of relief.  For once in his life, everything seemed to 
be going right.  His training was almost complete, Ryoko and 
Ayeka weren't attempting to tear the house down around their 
ears, and Ryoko was even helping hand out the dishes of 
delicious-smelling food that Sasami had cooked for them.  
Not for the first time, Tenchi spared himself a quick glance 
in Ryoko's direction as she walked past him, his eyes 
wandering up and down her body under the skimpy kimono she 
was wearing.  His eyes lingered on the smooth, natural sway 
of her hips and her practically endless legs a second too 
long and Washu elbowed him in the ribs.  "I think we're 
having pancakes and biscuits for breakfast," she whispered 
in his ear, "not my daughter.  So stop drooling and save 
your eyes for what she's going to be wearing tonight."
	Tenchi suppressed a laugh.  He knew Washu didn't really 
mind having him ogle her daughter, but she was worried that 
if Ayeka noticed, she and the demoness would start 
practicing for their boxing degrees over him again.  If his 
friends-correction, human friends-thought having a 
girlfriend was tough, they should trade lives with him for a 
day and have two incredibly powerful women, both of whom 
were from other planets and neither of whom was his 
girlfriend go head-to-head in a vain attempt to win his 
love.  If they found some way to survive what he endured 
daily, then they could complain.  Until then, Tenchi would 
just shrug off their complaints and change the subject.  
Both of Tenchi's would-be suitors were attractive, and 
Ayeka, while not as beautiful as Ryoko, did possess a sort 
of exoticness that Tenchi found appealing.  But, he was 
firmly set in his resolve that he was not ready to make that 
kind of decision.  So for now he was not going to let his 
relationship with either of them go beyond a hug, or maybe a 
quick peck on the cheek.  Well, he was having a date with 
Ryoko tonight.  "Well, people say it's harder to swallow if 
your mouth's dry," he whispered back.  Washu hid a smile.  
	Just then, Ayeka walked in.  As usual, her clothes were 
perfect, her hair was perfect, and her teeth were perfect.  
"Good morning Lord Tenchi," she said, giving him a 
dazzling smile with her perfect teeth.
	[Bet that doesn't last long] Tenchi thought.  [In fact, 
I'm surprised both she and Ryoko aren't missing a few 
teeth.]  "'Morning Ayeka," he replied.  Just then, he 
noticed Ryoko giving the Jurian princess the evil eye.
	Ayeka returned Ryoko's cold glare with one of her own 
then sat down.  Tenchi noticed that she didn't seem as ready 
to do battle as she normally was.  "Not sleeping well?" he 
asked.
	"No, I'm not," Ayeka said, rubbing her temples.  "It 
feels like my brain grew overnight."
	"Oh, yes," Ryoko said sarcastically.  "We simply 
have to stay home and take care of the little princess and 
ruin Tenchi's and my date tonight."
	"Shut up Ryoko," Ayeka said in a voice that was both 
angry and tired.  "I have a pounding headache, no aspirin, 
and a really short temper today.  I won't, repeat, will not 
put up with any crap.  How would you like to have Lord 
Tenchi kiss you on the teeth because I've ripped your lips 
off?"
	[Oh no,] Tenchi thought.  [Here we go again.]
	"Look Little Miss Royalty, just because I have a date 
with Tenchi tonight and you don't is no reason to get all 
worked up!"
	"No, but having to put up with your snide remarks 
is!"
	"All right everybody, duck and cover!" yelled Washu.  
	Everybody except for the two warring women quickly dove 
to the floor.  Ayeka and Ryoko were so surprised that 
instead of throwing energy blasts at each other, they stood 
silently for a moment, then burst out laughing.  "Good one 
Mom," Ryoko gasped, laughing so hard she could barely 
breathe.  "How long did it take you to get everyone to go 
along with you?"
	"Just a few minutes and the promise of a lot of extra 
favors," Washu replied, getting up and brushing herself 
off.  "I was hoping it would keep you two from going for 
each other's throats.  Evidently it worked."  At that 
moment, the women who had tried to kill each other over 
Tenchi so many times were leaning against each other two 
keep from falling over laughing.
	Tenchi looked around the table again and realized 
someone was missing.  Or rather, three someones were 
missing.  "Where're Dad, Kiyone, and Mihoshi?" he asked 
Washu.
	Washu shook her head in exasperation.  "In case you 
don't remember, your father had to go away on a business 
trip, on which he left this morning.  As for Kiyone and 
Mihoshi, they left on an assignment.   All three of them 
wanted to say goodbye, but you were still in bed, 
sleepyhead."
	Tenchi blushed.  "Okay, I remember Dad's business trip 
now.  But, sheesh, you can hardly expect me to know that 
Mihoshi and Kiyone had an assignment."

***

	Later that evening, Tenchi and Ryoko walked alongside 
each other by Loch Ness in Scotland, holding hands.  Tenchi 
was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and Ryoko had chosen a sexy 
miniskirt and halter top combo.  "It's been a wonderful 
evening, Tenchi," Ryoko said in a special tone of voice.  
"I just wish it could have lasted longer."
	"Well," said Tenchi, "as the frog prince said-`Time 
is fun when you're having flies.'"
	Ryoko laughed.  "Well, I hope we can do it again 
sometime soon."
	Tenchi's smile dimmed slightly.  "Don't count on it," 
he said.  "Remember, I promised Ayeka that I would have a 
date with her also."
	Smiling, Ryoko eyed the loch.  "Well, while we're 
here, we might as well go for a swim."
	Tenchi blushed and felt a strange stirring in his nose.  
"Um-Ryoko, neither of us brought swimsuits."
	"No problem," Ryoko said.  Slipping her hand out of 
Tenchi's, she glanced around quickly and then, seeing no 
one, began slipping out of her halter-top!
	Tenchi blushed even deeper and quickly grabbed Ryoko's 
hand before she had it pulled up above her rib cage, wiping 
some blood from his nose at the same time.  "Ryoko!  What 
are you doing?" he hissed.  "Have you gone completely 
insane?"
	"What's the matter?  Shy?" asked Ryoko, giving a 
light giggle.  She gently shook his hand off.  "I don't 
know about you, but I'm hot and sweaty from walking around 
all evening and I want to cool off."  With that, she 
finished undressing and dove into the cool water.
	Tenchi gazed after her, embarrassed, but fascinated at 
the same time.  And he had to admit, the water did look 
inviting.  "What the heck," he muttered, wiping some more 
blood off his face.  "It's not like there's really a 
monster in there."  He shucked out of his clothes and dove 
in after Ryoko.
	They swam around, splashed each other, and generally 
were having themselves a good old time (although Tenchi 
found Ryoko floating just a tad too close for comfort too 
often for it to be a coincidence), but dark clouds were 
beginning to gather over the loch.  "It looks like a 
storm's coming.  We better leave Ryoko."  The demoness 
agreed, but before they had a chance to get out of the 
water, a sudden bolt of lightning struck the surface.  Both 
warriors felt electricity surge through their bodies, 
seeming to tear them apart from the inside out.  Then, 
mercifully, they both lost consciousness.

***

	When Tenchi came to, he saw the loch far below.  Ryoko 
was floating on the surface.  Her head was above water and 
she didn't seem to be seriously injured, but Tenchi was 
wondering what had happened to himself.  [Am I having an 
out-of-body experience?] he thought.  [And if I am, where's 
my body?]  Suddenly, Tenchi realized that his body was right 
where it belonged-wrapped around his mind.  "Hey, I'm 
flying!" he cried.  "Even with the Light Hawk Wings I 
could never do this!"
	Suddenly, his excitement was overcome with concern.  
True, Ryoko didn't look injured, but Tenchi knew from 
experience that it took a lot to so much as mess up her 
hair.  And the jolt from the lightning had been enough to 
knock her unconcious.  Trying to remember how easily Ryoko 
flew, he tried the easiest thing he could think of.  
Positioning himself so that his feet were pointing toward 
the water, he though [Down, gently.]  He started floating 
down slowly and was hovering just over Ryoko a second later.  
This close up, he could see that she wasn't breathing.  
"No!"  he yelled, scooping her up in her arms.  All he 
could think about was how he wished he had Ryoko's 
teleporting power so they could get back to the shrine 
instantly.  Then, suddenly-

***

	They were back.  In fact, they had appeared directly in 
front of Yosho, who looked like he was about to have a heart 
attack.  Sasami also just happened to wander in at that 
moment.  She took one look at Tenchi and immediately started 
stifling her giggles.  "Boy, is Ayeka going to have a cow 
when she sees this!"  she said between mostly unsuccessful 
attempts not to laugh.
	Tenchi wasn't in the mood.  "Where's Washu?" he 
yelled.  "Ryoko's hurt!"
	That stopped the giggling.  "What?  How could-Ryoko-
what happened?"
	Tenchi quickly explained the situation and again 
demanded to know where Washu was.  "Here I am," he heard 
the familiar voice say from behind him.  Tenchi turned 
around and was about to blurt out what had happened all over 
again, but Washu held up her hand.  "I know.  My lab.  
Now."  She disappeared through the dimensional door and 
Tenchi leapt through after her.
	When he emerged, Washu was furiously punching buttons 
on her control pad.  A long metal table rose up out of the 
floor.  "Put her on it," Washu ordered, and as soon as 
Tenchi had obeyed she began checking Ryoko's pulse and other 
vital signs, muttering to herself.  After a minute she said, 
"Well, mostly she's okay, but she needs mouth-to-mouth 
resuscitation.  But-"
	Tenchi didn't wait for her to finish.  Swiftly, he bent 
down and pressed his mouth to Ryoko's, forcing air into her 
lungs.  After a few minutes of this, Ryoko began coughing 
and curled up into a fetal position.  The next thing she did 
was vomit lake water and most of her dinner.  She lay like 
this for a few minutes, hacking and vomiting until she 
regained control of her lungs and stomach.  She looked 
around with teary eyes.  "What happened?" she asked, her 
voice raspy and obviously hurting her throat.
	"When we were swimming, a lightning bolt struck the 
surface," Tenchi explained.  "When I woke up, you were 
unconscious.  I somehow managed to teleport you here in time 
for Washu to save you."
	Ryoko was obviously disturbed by these events.  "How-
how can you teleport?  I never knew it was part of your 
powers."
	"It's not," Tenchi replied.  "Ryoko-try to fly up to 
the ceiling."
	"O-okay," Ryoko said.  She closed her eyes and 
concentrated.  Nothing happened.  She opened her eyes and 
seemed to be in a panic.  "What's happened to me?  Why 
can't I fly?"
	Washu cut into the conversation.  "Let me do a quick 
scan," she said, passing one of her many instruments over 
Ryoko's body.  Her brow wrinkled, and she tapped it a few 
times to make sure it was working properly.  Finally, she 
shook her head.  "These energy readings are a lot lower 
than normal.  Tenchi, let me scan you."  She repeated the 
procedure, and then folded the instrument up, putting it 
back in its storage space.  "Tenchi, look at your left 
wrist."  
	Tenchi did as Washu said and was surprised to see a 
small, marblelike jewel glowing in the joint.  "That-that 
looks like Ryoko's last gem."
	"It is," Washu said.  "Your energy readings were 
higher than normal.  Although what I'm about to say is 
probably an impossibility-I think you two have traded 
powers."
	Ryoko was visibly stunned.  "You mean I can form the 
Light Hawk Wings?" she asked.
	"Only through extreme concentration, like I do," said 
Tenchi.  "I just pray this isn't permanent."

***

	On the opposite side of the world, in the USA, a young 
man went into convulsions and died.  The coroner examined 
him and ruled that, for no apparent reason, his nervous 
system had simply shut down.  But the coroner was wrong.  
Something had entered the man's system and taken control.  
And that night, at the time that the sun was beginning to 
rise on the West Coast, he awoke, and began boring his way 
to Japan by shooting a beam of green energy at the floor.  
Had anyone been watching, they might have noticed that the 
energy was coming from his hands.

***

	In the same state, a teenager was consulting a deck of 
tarot cards.  He was not wearing his customary mask, the 
mask that covered the burn scars on the right side of his 
face from years ago.  He was not wearing a shirt, and his 
chest and torso were covered with scars from cuts and 
scrapes that crisscrossed the two runes seemingly tattooed 
on his muscular chest.  Strangely, the scars on his face 
didn't take away from his overall looks.  They made one more 
likely to feel sorry for him than hate or fear him.  He had 
a calm expression, an expression of one that knows where his 
life is going in the river of time and has given up fighting 
the current.  He shuffled the deck for several minutes, 
muttering something in an ancient language, then selected 
thirteen cards at random.  He lay them out in an intricate 
pattern around a picture of himself, all face down, then 
began turning them over, one by one, reciting what the cards 
were saying to him as he went.  "The Devil is going to be 
attacking the King and Queen of Swords.  The King of Swords 
is caught between the Queen of Swords and Queen of Coins.  
The Page of Coins, the Page of Swords, the Fool, the High 
Priestess, and the Emperor are assisting him.  The Devil is 
going to come-" Just as he was turning the next card over, 
it caught on a splinter on his desk and ripped a tiny hole 
in it.  He looked at the card in alarm.  " through a tear 
in the World.  The Wheel of Fortune is rolling in the 
Devil's favor, but with help from-"  He stopped for a 
moment, and closed his eyes, holding his hand over the deck, 
certain that it would guide him to the right card.  When he 
felt his fingers strike paper, he lifted the card to his 
eyes and opened them.  He stared in shock.  "Me.  I am 
going to be the one to assist the KS and his friends in 
battle."  He threw the picture of himself up in the air.  
It struck the edge of the next two cards that were hanging 
over the edge of the table.  They both fell to the floor, 
the card landing on top of his picture.  The teenager stared 
in shock.  "Death.  The Lovers.  Someone I love is going to 
die in this fight, or another where I fight by the side of 
the King of Swords."  
	But then, his expression softened again.  He stood and 
picked up his mask, running his fingers over it, feeling it, 
his hand lingering over the strangely shaped bump that held 
its built-in thought sender.  He looked at it with an 
expression of sadness.  "For years, I've fought the good 
fight.  I've saved lives and ended the lives of those who 
threatened others. The cards are not all knowing.  They have 
always left a margin of error.  I always knew that the next 
battle might be the last for me or my loved ones.  So why do 
I hesitate now?"
	Slowly, he pulled the mask on, slipping the elastic 
band under one ear and over the side of his head.  He 
changed into his customary battle outfit, a martial arts gi, 
an outfit that would allow him to move freely.  He tied a 
black belt around his waist, and smiled, remembering the 
teacher who had pushed him toward it.  He picked up three 
throwing stars and slipped them into the hidden pockets of 
his suit.  A sword was the next thing he took, strapping the 
scabbard to his back in a position where he could reach it 
easily.  He put on a pair of boots that came up to midcalf, 
with weighted soles that would allow him to throw more 
powerful kicks.  He picked up several thought senders and 
put them in another pocket in case the people he was about 
to help didn't speak English.  Last, he gathered his deck of 
tarot cards and slipped them into another pocket.
	At last, he was ready.  He stood in the middle of his 
room, and was again overcome with a feeling of sadness.  He 
pushed the feeling away.  This was no time to start feeling 
sorry for himself.  He touched one of the runes on his 
chest.  His skin turned dark brown and took on a pebbly 
feel.  He felt the familiar falling away as parts of him 
fell off and began burrowing into the dirt floor.  Then, the 
man who called himself Tarot, vanished.

***

	Tenchi was awakened from a sound sleep by a strange 
rumbling from outside.  [Aw, no, not an earthquake!] he 
thought, jumping up from his bed and looking out the window.  
What he saw was worse than any earthquake.  A man, looking 
about twenty, was emerging from the ground surrounded by 
what seemed to be green flames.
	"Tenchi Masaki!" the man yelled.  "I, Kain have 
returned to take my revenge on you and claim my rightful 
place as ruler of the universe!  If you will not fight me, I 
will destroy you outright!"
	Tenchi was dumbfounded.  [Kain?  Alive?] he thought.  
[How is that possible?  We saw him blown apart by that 
cannon!]  
	It didn't help matters that he and Ryoko were almost 
alone.  The others, excepting Ryo-Oh-Ki and Sasami, had gone 
on a hike so they could recuperate in peace.  Already, he 
could hear the little cabbit screaming "Miya!  Miya!  
Miya!" in abject terror.
	Suddenly, a spinning blur of blue and gold flew out 
from under Tenchi's window.  It cut off one of Kain's arms, 
and then arched back toward its point of origin, almost like 
a boomerang.  Leaning out farther, Tenchi saw Ryoko standing 
in the back door wearing a familiar pink and green outfit.
	Ryoko caught the sword Tenchi-ken just before it would 
have decapitated her and sprinted toward the alien criminal.  
"You seem to have a lot of fun beating up on youngsters 
Kain.  Why not try a woman instead?"
	Kain apparently recognized her.  "You!  I remember 
you.  But you do not wield the same weapon as before.  No 
matter.  I will kill you first-as a warm-up!"  Regenerating 
his arm, he made a light sword appear in his hand and leapt 
toward Ryoko.
	"No!" Tenchi yelled.  He knew that in her weakened 
state she would be no match for Kain.  She hadn't even been 
a match for him when she was at full power!  Raw power began 
surging around him.  Suddenly, almost in a solid beam, it 
flung itself out toward Kain.  The energy struck him in the 
chest and flung him back nearly thirty feet.  Generating a 
light sword of his own, Tenchi teleported to Kain and raised 
the light sword over his head.  "It ends Kain.  Here and 
now."  He drove the sword down.
	Kain didn't let the blade pierce his skin.  He blasted 
Tenchi in the stomach, throwing him back.  "You're right, 
Masaki.  It does end.  Here and now."
	Tenchi was close to panic.  [Regenerate!] he screamed 
to his tortured body.  He saw what he thought was probably 
that last thing he was going to see.  He saw Kain's sword 
rushing down toward his head.
	Suddenly, he saw something appear between Kain's sword 
and himself.  It was tall, human-shaped, brown and pebbly.  
It apparently took Kain by surprise also.  The light sword 
disappeared.  The THING shoved Kain backward and took on a 
more solid appearance.  It was a man, about seventeen years 
old, wearing a white martial arts gi with a black belt, and 
a white mask that covered the right side of his face, a 
sword strapped to his back.  "Leave him alone," the man 
said.  Tenchi gave a slight start, surprised that, although 
the man was speaking a foreign language, he could understand 
him.  Tenchi's wound finally finished regenerating and he 
made his sword reappear.  
	"Thanks man," he said.  The stranger glanced at him 
with an expression of incomprehension, but didn't dwell on 
it.  
	Ryoko didn't waste any time with thanks.  "Look 
Tenchi, we need to keep Kain busy.  I alerted Mom 
telepathically and she'll warn the others, but it's going to 
take a few minutes for her to realign the dimensional door!  
We need backup NOW!"
	"It's here, Ryoko.  I don't know who this guy is or 
even what he is, but I say we take his help."
	Kain smiled nastily.  "Well, well, well.  Three for 
the price of one.  I love it!"  He shot a beam of power 
toward them.  The stranger brought his arms up in an X block 
position in front of himself, and suddenly, a wall of rocks 
appeared in front of him.  Kain's shot blasted it apart, but 
it was blocked just the same.  The man drew his sword and 
slashed at Kain's chest.  Only then, did he get a good look 
at his opponent's face.  
	Tarot gasped and took a step back, his guard down.  
"M-Mark?" he said.  "No!"
	Tenchi quickly threw up his sword, blocking the next 
blast from Kain.  "What's wrong?" he asked.  "I thought 
you were going to help us!"  The stranger looked at him 
dully and pulled something out of his pocket, handing it to 
Tenchi.  He motioned for Tenchi to press the object against 
his forehead.  Tenchi did so, just as he noticed that Ryoko 
was doing her best to hold Kain at bay.  He repeated his 
question.
	The man shook his head.  "I can't kill him.  I just 
can't."
	Tenchi shook his head in barely suppressed anger.  
"Why can't you kill him?  He's trying to kill both us and 
you!"
	"No!"  The man shook his head.  "My name is Tarot.  
That's my brother!"
	"What?" Tenchi yelled.  "Tarot, that is not your 
brother!  If that was your brother then I'm sorry, but he 
has been taken over by an alien's mind.  Your brother is 
dead!  You need to avenge him!"
	Tarot's eyes brightened slightly.  "Yes-you're right.  
My brother never had any powers."  The two warriors turned 
back to the battle just in time to see Kain throw Ryoko 
down, knocking the sword out of her reach, and crawl on top 
of her.
	Kain pressed his light sword against Ryoko's throat and 
whispered cruelly, "Now I have you!"
	One of Tarot's throwing stars struck Kain in the 
temple, lodging one of its sharp points in his brain.  Kain 
roared in pain and rolled off of Ryoko, clutching the side 
of his head.  "And now you don't," hissed Ryoko, quickly 
getting up, grabbing the sword, and running toward Kain with 
the sword poised be driven through his chest.
	Kain rolled away from the stab and pulled the throwing 
star out of his temple.  He rubbed the spot and smiled 
ruefully, smearing the blood.  "Human bodies have more 
weaknesses than I thought.  No matter, though.  I can still 
kill you all without taking a deep breath in between!"
	Suddenly, Kain was a bit more nervous, something that 
might be attributed to the fact that five swords were 
pointed at his throat and two robots' energy weapons were 
aimed at his head.  Yosho looked into Kain's eyes with no 
regret and less pity.  "This will be the last time you 
threaten my grandson, Kain," the old warrior said in a 
steely voice.
	"Or my daughter," said Washu in a voice even harder 
than Yosho's.  One by one, the members of the Masaki 
household named what person they were close to that Kain 
would never threaten again.
	At last, they came to Tarot.  He was the only one among 
the group who held any emotion at all in his voice.  He 
said, "You murdered my brother and took control of his 
body.  You are an abomination-something that passed beyond 
this world, then returned through a tear in it.  This is for 
every person whom you have ever killed to accomplish your 
own ends."  Then, he looked around at the other people who 
were threatening this thing with him.  "If you people don't 
mind, I'd like play the main part in killing him.  We'll 
slit his throat and then I'll burn him to death."  
	The Masaki household glanced at one another nodded.  
"Just make sure he's dead," Tenchi said to Tarot.
	Tarot nodded and leaned forward a little, putting the 
tip of his sword against Kain's throat.  "You commented on 
how the human body has many weaknesses, Devil.  Well, as it 
turns out, one of our weaknesses is fire.  Another is loss 
of blood."  He reversed his grip on his sword and stabbed 
Kain through the chest, pinning him to the ground like a 
butterfly in a collection. "That was for my brother."  The 
Masaki's slit his throat, then stood back.  Tarot touched 
the second rune on his chest, then held his hands out toward 
Kain with the fingers pointing toward him.  Tarot's hands 
glowed for a moment, then streams of fire shot from his 
fingertips and engulfed Kain.  Weakened by his multiple 
wounds and loss of blood, Kain couldn't regenerate fast 
enough to recover from the burns.  Tarot looked down at the 
burning alien and said in a voice that no longer held 
emotion of any kind, "And that was for me."
	He reached down and pulled his sword out of Kain's 
chest, seemingly impervious to the heat, which he was.  He 
looked at the fused and melted blade mournfully.  "Well, so 
much for that sword," he said, tossing it away. Suddenly, 
he felt another energy blade just barely touch his neck.  
"Hey!  What the-?" he yelled, instinctively touching the 
fire rune on his chest.  His hands became balls of fire.
	Washu didn't let him finish.  "I don't know who you 
are or where you came from, but you'd better explain 
yourself before you're the next to die."
	"Washu, NO!" Tenchi yelled, knocking her hand away.  
"Look, I'm as suspicious of him as you are, but I doubt 
he'll be saying much if you kill him!"
	"Tenchi's right, Mom," Ryoko said.  "I know I 
normally don't trust strangers either, but he helped us kill 
Kain, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  
For now anyway."
	Tarot seemed to calm down slightly, but the fire didn't 
disappear.  He glanced at Tenchi.  "What did she say?"
	Tenchi looked at him warily, glancing at his light 
sword to make sure it was still generated in case this 
person who had helped them kill their most powerful enemy 
wasn't entirely trustworthy.  "She wants you to explain 
yourself.  I think she mainly wants to know how you just 
happened to show up and why you're wearing that mask."
	Tarot nodded.  "I can understand that," he said.  "I 
guess I'll start from the beginning.  Would you mind 
translating what they say, preferably word for word?"  
After Tenchi consented to this, he began.
	"I prefer to be called Tarot.  It's not my real name, 
but then, you can't reveal everything about yourself to 
strangers.  I'm an American, and I'm wearing this mask 
mainly because of an accident a few years ago.  You see, I 
have partial control over two of the ancient Elements, Earth 
and Fire.  In an early experiment with them-I was about 
thirteen-I shot fire at a metal wall in an enclosed space.  
I hadn't yet developed my invulnerability to heat, so my 
face was burned and left ugly scars."  He paused for a 
moment and touched the bottom edge of his mask, smiling 
bitterly.  "I learned the hard way not to take unnecessary 
risks.  I nearly lost my right eye and right now I'm nearly 
blind in it.  But, I suppose one should be thankful for 
small favors.  The doctors told me that it was a miracle I 
hadn't burned my whole body to little more than ash, 
especially after messing with a blowtorch that powerful."  
His smile took on a genuinely amused look.  "That was the 
explanation I gave them.  Told them that I was messing with 
a blowtorch and I threw it into the trash-burning barrel as 
soon as I ran out.  Maybe that was just an early 
demonstration of that particular power."  His face grew 
serious again.  "But, heat is the only thing I'm 
invulnerable to.  Blades and bullets, those that I don't use 
my power over Earth to block, can hurt me.  If your 
friend," nodding to Washu, "had slit my throat, I would be 
as dead as him."  He motioned to Kain's body.  "I'm just 
glad you gave me this chance to explain."
	Tenchi shook his head.  "But how did you just happen 
to show up when we needed you?  You say you're an American, 
so I seriously doubt you just happened by."
	Tarot nodded.  "You're right.  I knew because of 
these."  He began to reach into his pocket for his tarot 
cards, but thought better of it when Washu put her light 
sword back to his throat.  "Look, I'm not about to try and 
kill people that I just helped.  Would you mind not putting 
that thing to my throat every time I move?"  Washu 
hesitated for a moment, then obeyed his request.  Tarot let 
his breath out.  "Thank you.  Now, I knew you were in 
trouble because of these."  He reached into the hidden 
pocket and pulled out his tarot cards.  "Tarot cards.  
They're what I take my name from, and I use them to see 
where I'm needed."
	Ayeka raised her hand.  "But what did you mean by `a 
tear in the world?'" she asked.
	"This life and the afterlife are in separate 
dimensions.  By a tear in the world, I meant that for 
whatever reason, the two dimensions had collided, allowing 
him to cross over to this dimension and take control of 
another body."
	Suddenly, the bisected triangle on Sasami's forehead 
disappeared, replaced by twin circles.  "I am Tsunami," 
she said, her voice strange and otherworldly.  "You and 
your opposite are the proverbial wild cards.  No pun 
intended.  Your powers-both of your powers-only occur every 
billion years.  They only occur in intelligent species-those 
with enough intelligence to evolve past what humans call 
`the Stone Age.'  Every time it is in a different species, 
always both in the same species, and always in a different 
combination of powers.  At this time, your opposite has the 
advantage over you.  He controls the elements of Air and 
Water, both of which can defeat your own elements."  Tenchi 
hastily translated all this before Tsunami continued.  "You 
are mostly trustworthy, but I give you this warning-if you 
ever betray us, you will be destroyed.  That is a promise."  
With that, the ancient god-tree finished speaking and 
allowed Sasami to return.
	Tarot was visibly shaken.  "Okay, I understand."
	Tenchi heard something rumble again and whirled around 
before realizing it was just his stomach.  He rubbed it and 
grinned sheepishly.  "Well, I guess fighting Kain before 
breakfast takes a lot out of you."  Then, turning to Tarot, 
he de-generated his light sword and offered his hand.  
"You're welcome to join us, if you want."
	Tarots hesitated for a moment, then made his hands go 
back to normal and took Tenchi's.  "Thank you," he said.  
"My internal clock is still on American time, but it's 
getting toward dinner time for me anyway."

***

	Tarot handed more thought senders out and sat down.  He 
ate carefully, making sure not to get any food or drink 
under his mask and into the scars.  He especially seemed to 
enjoy the green tea.  "This is delicious," he said to 
Sasami after taking a sip.
	Sasami blushed slightly and smiled.  "Thank you," she 
said.  "It's my own special blend."
	After the hearty meal, Tenchi said, "Well, I guess 
I'll go out and work in the carrot patch."
	Tarot offered to help, but Tenchi just shook his head.  
"No thanks.  I prefer to work alone.  Besides," he said, 
whispering now.  "I need someone to keep Ayeka and Ryoko 
busy.  They have a strange habit of showing up when least 
expected."
	Tarot nodded.  "I know the type," he whispered back.  
"Although the ones I know don't usually have blue or purple 
hair."
	Tenchi gave a quick grin at that.  "Yeah, well, the 
ones you know probably aren't from other planets either."
	That earned an astonished look from Tarot.  "WHAT?!" 
he whispered as loud as he could without the others hearing.  
"You mean your girlfriends are aliens?"
	Tenchi grimaced a little.  "Well, for one thing, they 
aren't officially my girlfriends, and for another, Ryoko's 
really the one I'm worried about showing up unexpectedly.  
But I swear, if they pick a fight today I'm gonna blow my 
top.  I HATE it when they fight over me."
	Now it was Tarot's turn to grin.  "I know that type 
too.  For whatever reason, girls in my school are unable to 
resist a man in a mask."
	Tenchi smiled.  "Well, see you later," he said and 
walked out to the garden.  
	Tarot went into the living room and found Ayeka 
watching some anime.  The TV screen showed what looked like 
a man in a white body suit and helmet with his fist sticking 
through an android's body and out the back.  The man pulled 
his fist out and the android collapsed against him.  Tarot 
turned to Ayeka  "Mind if I join you?" he asked.
	Ayeka glanced at him, as if she wasn't sure what he had 
just said, then motioned to one of the chairs.  "Sure," 
she said.  "It's almost over, but the best part is just 
about to start."
	Tarot sat down and turned back toward the TV.  On it, 
the white-suited man was fighting another robot.  He ripped 
of the robot's arm and threw it away.  Tarot winced.  "That 
had to hurt."
	The fight went on for a few more minutes and ended with 
the death of both the robot and the white-suited man.  But 
the strange thing about the end was that, although the 
white-suited man was dead, the last shot showed him standing 
on a cliff, looking down at the dozens of people working to 
build something.  The music was slow and melancholy, but 
uplifting at the same time.  "Music of the night," Tarot 
muttered to himself.
	"What?" Ayeka asked.  "What did you say?"
	"Something from a musical I like.  `The Phantom of the 
Opera' it's called.  It's about this guy who's a genius, but 
he was born with a deformed face.  Anyway, he has a crush on 
this opera singer named Christine that he gives singing 
lessons to.  One night he brings her down to his underground 
home and sings her a song called `Music of the Night.'"
	"Really," Ayeka said, looking genuinely interested 
now.  "How does it go?"
	Tarot cleared his throat and began to sing, his voice 
rising and falling with the notes, seeming almost hypnotic.

	"Nighttime sharpens,
	  Heightens each sensation.
	  Darkness stirs
	  And wakes imagination.
	  Silently the senses
	  Abandon their defenses.

	  Slowly, gently,
	  Night unfurls its splendor.
	  Grasp it, sense it.
	  Tremulous and tender.
	  Turn your face away
	  From the garish light of day.
	  Turn your thoughts away
	  From cold, unfeeling light,
	  And listen to
	  The music of the night.

	  Close your eyes and surrender
	  To your darkest dreams.
	  Purge your thoughts 
	  Of the life you knew before.
	  Close your eyes, let your spirit
	  Start to soar.
	  And you'll live 
	  As you've never lived before.
 
 	  Softly, deftly,
	  Music shall surround you.
	  Feel it, hear it,
	  Closing in around you.
	  Open up your mind,
	  Let your fantasies unwind,
	  In this darkness which you 
	  Know you cannot fight.
	  The darkness of
	  The music of the night.

	  Let your mind start a journey
	  Through a strange new world.
	  Leave all thoughts of
	  The life you knew before.
	  Let your soul take you 
	  Where you long to be.
	  Only then can you belong
	  To me.
 
 	  Floating, falling.
	  Sweet intoxication.
	  Touch me, trust me.
	  Savor each sensation.
	  Let the dream begin,
	  Let your darker side win in.
	  To the power of the music 
	  That I write.
	  The power of 
	  The music of the night.
  
          	  You alone can make my song
	  Take flight.
	  Help me make the music of the
	  Night."
	 
	Ayeka clapped a little after the song ended, but Tarot 
also heard the sound of some more clapping coming from 
behind him.  He turned around and saw Washu standing by the 
dimensional door, her hands moving at a blinding pace.  
"Bravo!  Encore!" she said, although it was mostly meant 
as a joke.  Tarot also noticed that Yosho had joined the 
party.
	"That was indeed beautiful, Tarot," he said, bowing 
with a measure of respect.  "In Japan we might have 
different music, but that would be called beautiful by any 
standards."
	Tarot blushed a bright red and rubbed the back of his 
neck nervously.  He wasn't used to being the focus of so 
much attention.  "All it takes is practice.  That's always 
been a dream of mine, to sing the title role in `Phantom of 
the Opera.'"  He touched his mask and smiled, just a tad 
ruefully.  "I wouldn't even need to use any makeup."
	Washu eyed his mask critically.  "You know," she 
said, "If you want me to, I can reconstitute those scars.  
You wouldn't need the mask any more."
	Tarot was a little taken aback by this offer from 
someone who had threatened to kill him bare hours ago.  "I-
I'll think about it."
	Washu seemed to understand.  "That's okay.  Tenchi 
doesn't really enjoy participating in my experiments 
either."  She smiled mischievously.  "I can't imagine 
why."
	Tarot was about to make a reply, but suddenly felt a 
yawn force its way out.  "Sheesh, I must be more tired than 
I thought," he said.  He shook his head.  "I think I'll go 
for a walk, clear my head," he said, turning and heading 
out the door.
	Tarot walked along for a few minutes before coming to 
one of the several trees the Masakis had on their property.  
He sat down and leaned against it, enjoying the coolness of 
the shade, the rough bark of the tree behind him.  Within 
minutes, he was asleep.

***

	In Tarot's dreams, he saw a man his age.  He was 
fighting him.  Fighting him and losing.  The man seemed 
unstoppable.  He had powers of control over the Elements of 
Air and Water.  He had used these powers to rid Tarot of his 
sword and block his throwing stars.  Tarot saw Washu lying 
on the ground, her stomach torn open.  Tenchi had lost both 
his eyes somehow.  He was screaming, unable to concentrate 
enough to regenerate.  Ryoko was lying on the ground, 
unconscious, her face turning an alarming shade of blue.  
Tarot saw the others, all unconscious, all out of the fight.  
Except for Tsunami.  He couldn't see her anywhere.  Where 
was she?  She should have been here by now, if she had 
followed the plan.  It was up to him now.  He threw a blast 
of Fire at the man.  The man obliterated it with Water.  
Tarot tried to force pieces of Earth into the man's eyes, 
only to have them blown away by Air.  Tarot realized that he 
couldn't beat this man in a battle of Elements.  He would 
have to use the signal.  He looked around wildly, trying to 
find something, anything that he could use as a weapon.  
Then, he felt the man's foot in his face, he was flying 
back, landing painfully on the ground.  His eyes saw what he 
was certain would be his last vision.  Leering down at him, 
he saw the face of-

***

	Tarot awoke with a start, screaming the name of his 
enemy.  He braced himself, ready for the next blow, then 
realized it wasn't going to land.  He slumped against the 
tree.  "Only a dream," he gasped.  "Only a dream."
	He felt a hand touch his shoulder.  Screaming, he 
jumped up, drawing one of his throwing stars and whirling 
around.  Washu raised her hands in surrender.  "Whoa, whoa, 
easy there Tarot.  It's only me."
	Tarot breathed a sigh of relief and pocketed his star.  
"I'm sorry, Washu," he said.  "I had a nightmare.  Pretty 
scary one."
	"I can imagine," Washu said, breathing a sigh of 
relief now that the star was away from her throat.  "It 
would have had to be in order to get you to react like 
that."
	Tarot looked at her small, childlike face, and felt his 
eyes being drawn to her lips.  He tore his gaze away, only 
to find it wandering back again, to her eyes-her large, 
beautiful eyes.  He looked at her hair and restrained 
himself, but he could not deny the fact that he wanted to 
touch it, feel it, kiss it.  He found himself tongue-tied.  
"I-I'll be in in a few minutes Washu," he said.  Once she 
was gone, he gave himself a mental shake.  [What are you 
thinking?!] half of him screamed.  [You barely know this 
girl!  You just met her a few hours ago!  You don't know a 
single thing about her!]  His other half, however, was 
saying, [That's true, you do barely know her.  And you did 
just meet her a few hours ago.  But haven't you ever heard 
of love at first sight?  Go ahead, reach into your pocket, 
take a card from the deck at random and see what it says 
about you and her!]
	Tarot hesitantly obeyed his second half.  He reached 
into his pocket, parted the deck a little, and drew a card 
from the deck.  He held it up and looked at it.  It was the 
card from the Major Arcana called The Lovers.  He was in 
love.
	[But what guarantee do you have that she feels the same 
way?] his first half screamed.  [She didn't give any 
indication-]
	[She offered to heal my scars, didn't she?!] his second 
half screamed back.  [That's more than anybody else has done 
for me since I got them!  She offered to heal my scars-oh, 
damn it!]  Tarot was firmly set in his resolve now.  He 
would accept her offer.  And then, he would ask her out.

***

	Tarot walked back into the house and found Washu 
holding Tenchi by his feet and trying to drag him through 
the dimensional door to her lab.  Ryoko and Ayeka were 
holding his arms and trying to pull him away from the 
dimensional door.  Tenchi was screaming at all three of them 
to just drop him and give him a ten-second head start.  
Tarot suppressed a laugh at this ridiculous scene, 
especially at the fact that Washu was starting to gain the 
upper hand.  Tarot decided to break it up.  "Washu?" he 
said.
	"Oh! Tarot," Washu said.  "How's it going?"
	"Well, I've decided to take you up on your offer."
	This surprised Washu enough that she dropped Tenchi's 
feet.  The girls, suddenly pulling against no resistance, 
went sprawling, still holding Tenchi's arms, which caused 
him to land most unceremoniously spread-eagled across both 
of them.  He immediately jumped up and ran.
	Washu, however, seemed pleased that someone finally 
wanted to participate in her experiments.  "All right 
Tarot!" she said.  "Right this way."  She motioned for 
him to follow her through the dimensional door.  Just as 
Tarot stepped through, he wondered if this was such a good 
idea.
	When he arrived in the lab, Washu had already called 
her experiment table up out of the floor.  "Lie down," she 
said.  "And take off your mask."
	Tarot obediently did as she said.  He hesitated a 
little before removing the mask, praying that the scars 
wouldn't repulse her.
	To his relief, all Washu did was wince in sympathetic 
pain and mutter a low "Ouch!  That had to hurt!"
	Tarot nodded slightly and stuck a thought sender on his 
forehead.  "That it did," he replied.  He simply lay there 
for a moment while Washu strapped down his head with a 
Velcro strap.  Then, she positioned a strange-looking 
instrument over his face.  "What's that for?" he asked.
	Washu smiled at him.  "This regenerator will strip the 
excess tissue from your face.  Your face will look as good 
as new."
	Tarot smiled.  "I hope so.  I'm sick of my scars."
	"Also, it would work best if you didn't move your face 
in any way while the machine was doing its work.  Otherwise 
it might take off your lips.  Or your eyelids."  She gave a 
devilish smile.  "Of course, then I would have to work on 
you a little more."
	Tarot resisted a smile.  [Okay, I'll just talk to you 
like this,] he said, not speaking, simply directing his 
thoughts toward Washu.
	Washu's smile took on a genuine look.  "Well, I'll 
tell you one thing, these things aren't just good for 
translators.  Now just relax."
	Tarot felt a strange tickling on his face as the 
machine started up.  He almost blurted out what he wanted to 
say, but restrained himself.  Finally, he worked up his 
nerve and thought to Washu, [Um, Washu-uh, I have a question 
for you.  It's-well, it's not exactly what I say to a girl 
every day.]
	"What is it?" asked Washu, her eyes never leaving the 
readout screen.
	[Um-well-when all this is over-uh, willyougooutwithme?]
	Washu gave a slight start and felt a light blush steal 
over her face.  "Could you repeat that, Tarot?  For a 
minute I thought you asked if I would go out with you."
	[I did.]
	Washu felt her blush deepen and quickly turned her back 
to him to hide it.  "Uh, well, Tarot, it's been a long time 
since anyone asked me that-"  She shook herself mentally, 
then turned back to her patient, her blush gone and a wide 
smile on her face.  "Oh, what the hell.  When and where?"
	Tarot mentally cheered wildly.  [I'll find something 
nice for us too go to,] he said.  [And by the way, my real 
name is Erik.]

***

	Erik and Washu stood outside a theater in New York 
City, patiently waiting to get inside and see `The Phantom 
of the Opera.'  They had used Erik's strange variant of a 
teleporting power to get there.  They weren't wearing their 
thought senders anymore, and they had made themselves up 
very formal looking, Erik in a tuxedo and wearing his mask 
(just as a slight homage to the hero/villain of the story).  
Washu was in a fairly tight evening dress of modest cut, not 
so much that it was uncomfortable or prudish, but enough so 
that any man looking at her knew he would have to work a lot 
to get her.
	Washu felt Erik's arm around her shoulders, a 
reassuring weight in this city that he had said was so 
dangerous.  He hadn't tried anything else yet, for which she 
was relieved.  It didn't help matters that she wasn't quite 
used to speaking English yet, having used one of her 
machines to download it into her brain only a few days ago, 
and she felt like everyone was staring at her, just waiting 
for her to screw up.  She was also uncomfortable that they 
were in a city with such a high crime rate.  She knew that 
she shouldn't be afraid, not after all of the battles she 
had been in, but she was sure that they would be mugged at 
any moment.
	She also learned at that moment to be careful what you 
think about in a city like New York.  She heard Erik suck in 
his breath slightly and felt his arm fall away.  She then 
felt something cold press against the back of her neck.  She 
heard a voice behind her whisper cruelly, "Give us your 
wallet, jewelry, and purse, and neither of you will get 
hurt."  She heard another voice, just as unsavory, agree 
with the first from behind Erik.
	Erik went to work.  Ducking down and pivoting around on 
one foot, he braced himself against the ground with his 
hands and threw his entire weight upward in a kick to his 
mugger's wrist, which sent the gun flying, then doing the 
same with the man's stomach and crotch.  The man went down 
with a "whoooof" as the air was forced out of his lungs 
and his testicles were driven up into his body.
	Erik then caught the second mugger's legs between his 
own above and below the knee and tripped him with a 
scissors-like movement.  The man's one shot went wild and 
his face rushed down toward the ground at high speed, 
meeting with Erik's foot, which was coming up from the 
ground at high speed.  The kick landed hard enough to make 
the man flip backwards and land on his back, unconscious.
	It was over in seconds.  Erik jumped up from the ground 
and brushed himself off.  Borrowing a cell phone from a 
bystander, he called the police and told them of the 
attempted crime, reporting their location, the muggers' 
descriptions, etc.  When the police dispatcher asked him his 
name, Erik just grinned and said, "Call me the Phantom."  
With that, he turned off the phone and handed it back to its 
owner.
	
***

	A few days after these events took place, Tenchi had 
his own problems at the shrine.  "ENOUGH!" he screamed, 
the rage in his voice enough to tell even the most 
unperceptive person that if they didn't obey, there was 
going to be trouble.  Ryoko was so startled that even 
without her flying power she jumped three feet straight up 
into the air.  Ayeka took a few steps back herself.  They 
had never seen Tenchi so mad.  
	Tenchi glared at them for a minute, then calmed down 
enough to speak in a normal voice, but somehow the quiet 
near-whisper was worse than the loudest yelling.  "I am SICK 
and TIRED of having you two fight over me day in and day out 
like two little kids fighting over a favorite toy.  Now, 
either get your heads screwed on straight and figure out 
that you CANNOT win me by fighting, or find someone else to 
fight over, because I am NOT going to put up with it 
anymore!"
	"But Tenchi, she-!" both girls started, pointing at 
each other.
	"I don't want to hear it!" said Tenchi, interrupting 
them in midsentence.  "Every time someone breaks up a fight 
between you two, you always try to push it on the other!  
Why not sit down and try looking at yourselves for a 
change?!"  He seemed about to yell again, but stopped and 
took a deep breath.  "Now, I'm going to go out and practice 
some of the sword moves Grandpa taught me.  In the meantime, 
TRY to talk CIVILLY to each other!"  With that, he turned 
and stormed out, leaving the two girls staring at each other 
in utter shock.
	"Sheesh," Ayeka finally said.  "I've never seen Lord 
Tenchi so angry.  When you two traded powers, you also must 
have traded tempers."  Realizing what she had just said, 
Ayeka put an embarrassed hand to her mouth.  "Sorry.  I 
didn't mean that the way it sounded."
	"It's okay," Ryoko replied.  "He's right, though.  
Whenever we fight, we both always blame the other for 
starting it.  And the situation isn't made any easier by the 
fact that I don't have my powers anymore."  She stopped, 
realizing that she and Ayeka were having a quiet 
conversation for once.  Maybe there was hope for them after 
all.  Then again, maybe Tenchi's outburst had just left them 
both stunned.  Either way, she figured she had better leave 
before the situation erupted again and she was left at 
Ayeka's mercy, powerless.  She stood up.  "I think I'll go 
take a bath," she said, heading for the door.

***

	Erik looked at the two doors in the bathhouse and was 
utterly confused.  He had managed to get Sasami to tell him 
where it was easily, and she had mentioned that there were 
separate sides for the guys and the girls, but she hadn't 
said which side was which.  He finally picked one of the 
doors at random and went inside.  He glanced around 
cautiously, looking for something, anything that would tell 
him whether or not he had picked the right side.  Seeing 
nothing to indicate whether or not he had, he decided to 
risk it.  He shucked out of his clothes and stepped into the 
water, relaxing as he felt the warm liquid touch his skin.  
He lay back and relaxed, letting the water carry him along.  
He was so relaxed that he almost dropped off to sleep when 
suddenly he heard someone's voice speaking to him.
	"Comfy?" Ryoko asked, looking down at Erik with some 
degree of amusement.  Erik sat up quickly, which caused him 
to submerge, which caused him to get water in his mouth and 
up his nose.
	He came back to the surface gasping and turned in the 
direction the voice had come from.  "Ryoko, don't ever do 
that to me again!" he almost yelled.  "You nearly gave me 
a heart attack!"
	"Well it's not my fault you came into the wrong side 
of the bathhouse, Mr. Exhibitionist," Ryoko replied, trying 
extremely hard not to laugh.  Erik covered himself with his 
hands.  "What's the matter? Shy?  You know, if you wanted 
to see a naked girl THAT bad, you could have looked on the 
Internet."
	"Look, why don't you just, uh, turn around or 
something while I get a towel on," Erik said.  Ryoko 
complied with his request to the letter, turning in a full 
circle that completed just as Erik stepped out of the water.  
"Ryoko!" he yelled, deliberately falling backwards into 
the water.
	"Well you told me to turn around," Ryoko said, nearly 
bursting out laughing.  "I just did what you said."
	"Well, turn around again.  And this time, one-hundred-
eighty degrees will do."
	Ryoko obeyed his request again and Erik quickly climbed 
out and wrapped a towel around his waist, effectively hiding 
everything he didn't want Ryoko to see.  He walked out the 
door and went into the boy's side.  [Girls!] he thought.  
[They have the weirdest sense of humor.]
	Just as the door to the girl's side closed, Ryoko 
unwrapped her own towel from around herself and stepped into 
the bath.  She leaned back against the side and grinned.  
She thought to herself, [Boys!  No sense of humor!]

***

	Erik walked into Washu's lab with hair that was still 
slightly damp and an expression that was more than a little 
nervous.  Washu glanced up at him as he closed the door and 
gave him a radiant smile.  "Hi Erik!" she said, going over 
and giving him a hug.  "Did you have a nice bath?"
	"Ahhhh-Washu?  I have something I need to tell you."
	"Don't bother," Washu said, her smile taking on a 
mischievous look.  "Let me guess.  You accidentally went 
into the wrong side of the bathhouse and wound up having 
Ryoko see you naked."
	Erik looked shocked.  "How did you know that?" he 
asked
	Washu's smile got just a little wider.  "She and I 
share a telepathic link.  In fact, I saw the whole thing 
through her eyes." 
	Erik started sweating slightly, suddenly acutely aware 
of her small body pressed against his own larger one, the 
strange otherworldly beauty of her face, and he got the 
distinct feeling that she was hugging him just a little 
tighter, pressing herself against him just a little harder.  
He was right.  "Um, Washu, I don't think we should go doing 
that after only one date."
	"And I agree," Washu replied.  "I was just trying to 
let you know that I liked what I saw."  She let go of him 
and walked back to the console she had been working at.  It 
looked nonchalant, but to Erik it seemed as if her hips were 
swaying just a little more, making her body seem more 
developed and mature.  Erik forced his eyes up, focusing 
stolidly on her face now that she had turned and was facing 
him.  "What are you working on?" he asked, walking over 
beside her and looking at the console.  It was in Japanese.
	"I'm analyzing a sample of your DNA from the scars I 
removed," she said.  "I'm trying to figure out how your 
powers work, what makes you tick.  It's more out of 
curiosity than anything else, but it could come in handy 
someday."
	"It might," Erik replied, giving her a quick kiss on 
the temple.  It took Washu by surprise, but she felt a 
pleasurable little shock go through her body.  This man was 
making her feel a way she hadn't felt in a long time.  He 
wasn't even legally a man, he was only seventeen, he was 
still a minor.  But she couldn't help the way she felt.  She 
was almost positive she was in love.  Then, Erik said 
something else.  "How about dinner tonight?  I know of a 
place in Philadelphia that makes great Italian food."

***

	Washu finished writing her findings from Erik's DNA in 
her scientific journal and stretched.  She had been working 
in her lab for almost twelve hours straight and even for 
her, it could get boring.  She had found almost nothing 
different between Erik's DNA and that of a normal human.  
The only differences she had seen were the normal 
differences between humans.  She glanced at her watch and 
jumped.  It was 6:45.  "Oh crap!  I have to be ready to go 
to dinner with Erik in fifteen minutes!"  She jumped out of 
her chair and ran from the lab.

***

	Twenty minutes later, Erik was standing on the front 
porch of the Masaki residence and looked at his watch.  He 
was willing to wait for Washu for a few minutes as long as 
she wasn't too late.  The reservations he had booked in the 
restaurant only lasted until 7:30.  After that, they would 
go to someone else.  He hoped Washu showed up.
	At that moment, Washu appeared out of the dimensional 
door directly in front of him.  She straightened her hair 
slightly and caught her breath.  "Sorry I'm late.  I was 
working in the lab and got busy."
	"It's okay," Erik replied.  "You just gave me a 
chance to spruce these up a little."  He reached behind his 
back and pulled out a bouquet of flowers.  "For you."
	Washu was, needless to say, surprised.  She had had 
boyfriends and lovers in the past, but for whatever reason, 
they had all gone sour in a very short time.  "Thank you," 
she said, unsure of what else to say.  Somehow, the others 
had never felt-right to her.  This boy did.  He was kind and 
thoughtful.  The day after seeing the musical, he had helped 
in one of her experiments with time travel.  The situation 
had turned so bad that superstitious English peasants had 
nearly burned Washu at the stake as a witch.  But Erik had 
stepped in and helped her, using his control over Fire to 
put out the flames and nearly being killed himself as a 
practitioner of black magic.  Yesterday, he had helped 
Tenchi practice his sword moves.  Erik didn't think about 
himself.  He seemed to think he had been born to help 
others.
	"Washu?" Erik said, jolting her out of her thoughts.  
"I said, shall we go?"
	"Oh!  Um-yes," Washu said, wondering how much else he 
had said to her that she had missed.  She closed her eyes 
and felt Erik's arms go around her in the close physical 
contact required for multiple person-whatever.  She felt the 
strange not-quite-pain as her body turned to soil and parts 
of her fell away.  Then, suddenly, they were standing in a 
grove of trees in a park near the restaurant.

***

	At the restaurant, they ordered their food and made 
conversation, the normal things when out on a date.  
Eventually, somehow, the conversation turned to 
predestination.  "I've always believed in soul mates," 
said Erik.  "It was mostly the feeling that there was 
someone out there that I was just meant to be with that kept 
me from `going steady' with any of the girls at my school."
	Washu considered his statement.  "I've never thought 
about it that way," she said.  "It used to take a lot to 
get me, but even if someone did, they never felt right, 
somehow.  But, for whatever reason," her voice slowing and 
starting to trail off slightly, "you do-"  Their lips met 
over the table and she didn't say any more.
	When they broke the kiss, Washu took in a deep breath 
and sighed.  "Wow," she said.  "I've never been kissed 
like that before."
	Erik looked slightly embarrassed.  "I've never been 
kissed at all," he said, turning a light shade of red.  
"You just gave me my first kiss."
	Washu laughed slightly.  "Well, that just made it all 
the more special."

***

	After they finished their meal at about 8:30, they went 
around and saw the town.  They found a club with karaoke and 
Erik sang a few songs to thunderous applause.  He was in the 
middle of his fourth when he seemed to hesitate a little.  
He picked up again, but within a few moments he was 
faltering.  Suddenly, he collapsed, falling to his knees, 
clutching his stomach.  He screamed in pain and vomited as 
Washu ran to his side.  Through his screams and vomiting, he 
whispered a single phrase over and over.  "He's here, he's 
here."
	Washu managed to get Erik on his feet and outside 
before a big crowd gathered.  She half-supported, half-
dragged him into an alley next to the club and took out her 
control for the dimensional door.  Just as she activated it, 
she noticed a man about Erik's age stumbling into the alley.  
The man looked at them through bleary eyes and suddenly, his 
expression turned from one of pain to one of hate.  Erik's 
eyes focused on the man and widened in surprise.  The man 
lurched toward them, one hand stretching toward them, curled 
into an almost clawlike gesture.
	Erik stared at the man.  "Elemental," he whispered.  
"No.  It can't be.  I killed you."
	Elemental looked at him in pure hatred.  "You did not 
kill me, Tarot.  I am here, and I am alive.  I will have my 
revenge."  He tore open his shirt, revealing two ancient 
runes on his chest.  "See this and know that Elemental 
still lives!"  He lunged toward them just as Washu began 
dragging Erik through the dimensional door.
	"No!" Erik cried, weakly reaching into his shirt and 
touching one rune on his own chest.  He held the hand out 
and a stream of fire shot toward Elemental, hitting him in 
the chest and throwing him back out of the alley.  "When 
next we meet," he gasped, "one of us shall die."  Just 
then, Washu finished dragging him through the door and 
deactivated it.

***

	"Who was that?" Washu asked several minutes later, 
after Erik had rinsed his mouth out and changed his clothes.
	"That was Elemental.  He has control over the Elements 
of Air and Water.  He can drown people in their own body 
fluids or suffocate them from twenty feet away.  He's also a 
black belt in several martial arts in the event that he 
can't use his powers, which can only happen under certain 
conditions, like a complete vacuum.  He's almost 
invincible."
	"But, why does he want you?  He seemed to want to kill 
you," Washu said, shaking her head.
	"I believe we should use our powers to help people.  
He thinks that his powers make him superior to the rest of 
the human race.  The last time we fought, I thought he was 
dead.  Apparently, I was wrong."
	"What about that seizure?" Washu asked, picking up 
one of her instruments and scanning him with it.
	"For whatever reason, being within a hundred feet of 
each other causes both of us to have those," Erik replied, 
gently pushing her hand away.  "It's some sort of negative 
reaction to our respective powers that can only be dispelled 
if we're fighting each other.  He also has a teleporting 
power similar to mine.  He can turn into Air and go 
anywhere, the way I turn into Earth.  But, after one of 
those seizures, neither of us is able to use his powers for 
about three hours.  We have that amount of time to prepare 
for his attack."
	"But how can he find you?" Washu asked.  "I mean, 
even if he is another super-being or whatever-"
	"The seizures also leave faint directional trails of 
our powers.  After he regains use of his powers, he'll be 
able to `home in' on mine for about two hours.  That leaves 
us a maximum of five hours to prepare."
	Washu looked frightened.  "I'll go get the others," 
she said.

***

	"People, this is Elemental," Erik said, using a 
thought sender to cast an image of his enemy into the minds 
of his friends.  "He controls the two ancient Elements of 
Air and Water.  Which is why I need your help."  He stopped 
for a moment and took a breath.  "He's a black belt in 
several martial arts, including Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu.  
This makes him even stronger and harder to stop."
	Tenchi interrupted.  "But Grandpa and I should be able 
to handle him if the martial arts are his only advantage.  I 
don't see why everyone needs to fight."
	Erik silenced him with a glance.  "His powers provide 
him with shielding from my own.  Also, with his powers he 
can drown people in a desert or force you to suffocate in a 
chamber of pure oxygen.  His powers require concentration, 
the same way mine do, but not as much.  We're going to have 
to keep up an almost constant attack in order to defeat him.  
He'll probably be able to block energy blasts with his 
powers and he's more than fast enough to dodge them, so that 
leaves light swords and the like."
	"But that leaves Sasami and I out of the fight," 
Ayeka objected.  "We won't be able to do anything."
	"Not so," Erik said reassuringly.  "Can those robots 
that follow you around project force fields?"
	"Yes," Ayeka replied, a little unsure.
	"We can use them.  One thing he probably can't do is 
break out of a force field.  We can use them to hold him, it 
might give us an advantage.  As for Sasami," he said, 
nodding toward the young princess, "I've always preferred 
to keep those who cannot defend themselves out of the 
fight."
	Sasami quickly made the changeover into Tsunami.  
"Sasami may be powerless," the goddess said, "but I am 
not.  I can project force fields and I might be able to 
disable his powers for short periods of time.  I am not yet 
used to projecting my powers so far across the galaxy, but I 
can be of help."
	Erik nodded.  "Fine.  We need all the help we can get.  
But, a warning," he said, holding up one finger.  "He's 
one of the few humans with powerful telepathic abilities.  
His telepathic powers deplete his mental energy, and they 
need to recharge after about half an hour, but that's only 
when he uses them nonstop.  When he's at his most powerful 
in that area," Erik shuddered, "he can control your body.  
I once saw him kill a man using the man's own hand.  And 
since it's been about a year since we last fought, I have no 
idea how powerful his telepathic abilities are."
	
***

	Tenchi spent the next three hours training Ryoko to use 
her new powers.  "Okay Ryoko," Tenchi said.  
"Concentrate.  In order to generate the Light Hawk Wings, 
you have to clear your mind.  Think about nothing but 
generating the Wings.  Any stray thoughts, any memories, any 
emotions, anything except for generating them will disrupt 
the process.  You have to forget that anything other than 
the Light Hawk Wings even exists until after you have 
them."
	"All right," Ryoko said, taking a deep breath.  She 
was sitting cross-legged, Native American style, in the 
middle of Tenchi's practice area, with her eyes closed.  She 
forced herself to be calm, forced herself to think of 
nothing.  She reached down inside, to the very core of her 
being, and felt something.  She opened her eyes and saw 
Tenchi through what seemed to be a film of light.  He was 
nodding in satisfaction.  
	"You have them, Ryoko.  You've formed the Light Hawk 
Wings," he said, nodding.  "Now, degenerate them and teach 
me how to use your powers.  We only have another two hours, 
max, before Elemental shows up."
	"It's not as hard as using the Light Hawk Wings," 
Ryoko said, letting the Wings collapse into her.  "All it 
takes is thought."  Seeing that Tenchi wasn't sure what she 
meant, Ryoko sighed and put it another way.  "All you need 
to do is imagine a ball of energy in your hand or a sword of 
light or flying through the air, or whatever.  Look, point 
your hand toward that rock, palm out."  Tenchi obeyed her 
directions.  "Now, imagine a blast of energy flying out of 
your hand and hitting the rock."  
	Tenchi closed his eyes and did as she said.  He heard a 
boom and was aware of large chunks of something flying past 
him.  He opened his eyes and saw a charred and smoking spot 
on the ground where the rock had been.  There was debris 
everywhere.  Ryoko nodded in satisfaction.  "See?  Easy."

***

	Half an hour later, in Washu's lab, they prepared their 
plan.  "All right, this is how it's going to go," Erik 
said, now dressed in his battle outfit again.  "We start 
with the typical `desperation' maneuver.  We all go into 
battle fighting him, doing whatever we can.  After about two 
minutes, Tsunami turns coward and drops out, runs off and 
hides.  At least, that's what he thinks.  In reality, 
Tsunami is going to run back to the house and use her powers 
to watch, waiting for my signal.  The rest of us keep on 
fighting him, cooperatively.  We DO NOT let ourselves be 
defeated.  If he beats us, I call in Tsunami, but if he 
doesn't, so much the better."
	"Is that it?" Ayeka asked, shocked at the plan's 
simplicity.
	"That's it," Erik replied.  "It's the best I can do 
without knowing the current extent of his telepathic powers.  
Now, we just need a battlefield, a place where we can fight 
and no one else will get hurt."
	"I know of one," Tenchi said.  "An abandoned 
construction site, about three kilometers south of Tokyo.  A 
private citizen funded it until his money ran out.  It's the 
perfect place."
	"There's never a `perfect place' to fight.  Still, 
it's as good as it's going to get," Erik said.  "Can your 
teleporting ability transport multiple people?"
	"Yes.  I don't know if I can take everyone at once, 
but I can try."
	"Do it," Tarot said.  "Take me there first, so we 
don't run the risk that he'll home in on me here.  Then 
bring everyone else."
	Tenchi and Tarot grabbed each other's wrists and 
disappeared.

***

	Five minutes later, the last of the group appeared 
behind a pile of girders.  Erik was on the ground, writhing 
in pain.  "He's almost here," he gasped, struggling to 
stand.  "He's going to be showing up right about-now."
	Just as Erik finished his sentence, the air around a 
certain area seemed to condense and become solid.  At first, 
the form was still clear and transparent, almost invisible, 
but then it filled in, revealing a man Tarot's age in a 
black martial arts gi.  He wore some light armor, nothing 
more than shields on his forearms, a protective full-head 
helmet that seemed designed to strike fear in those that 
looked at it, and shinguards.  His weapons were two ninja 
swords strapped to his back and what looked like a crossbow 
attached to his right sleeve.  The man looked at Tarot and 
grinned slightly, although it was obvious he was in pain.  
"So.  The `hero' is too cowardly to face me by himself.  
How amusing."
	Tarot gasped in pain.  "There's a difference between 
being brave and being stupid, Elemental.  My powers don't 
effect you, so I prefer attacking in a group."
	Elemental smiled and spread his hands, palms out.  
"This time, I'm willing to be civilized.  Therefore, I 
challenge you to a duel.  Only weapons and skill, no powers.  
Just you," he pointed to Erik, "and me," he pointed to 
himself.
	Tarot's eyes narrowed.  "How do I know this isn't some 
sort of trick?" he asked.  "I know you and you aren't 
above cheating."
	Elemental smiled some more.  "I am as eager to be done 
with this feud as you are, Tarot.  The rules of the duel 
will be as I stated, along with no attacking from behind.  
The person who wins will be the person who survives.  You 
said it yourself, Tarot.  You said that the next time we 
met, one of us would die."
	Washu whispered in Erik's ear.  "I don't trust him," 
he said.  "Call it a feeling, but I think he's lying.  He 
has no intention of following through with the terms he 
set."
	Elemental scowled and his face darkened with rage.  "I 
heard what you said, midget."  He looked back at Erik.  
"So Tarot, your girlfriend doubts my goodwill.  There is 
only one punishment for that!"  With that, he touched his 
right hand to his temple, then pointed it toward Washu.
	Washu seemed to go into convulsions for a moment, then 
stopped and slowly, deliberately, started moving her hand 
toward her stomach, curled into a claw.  She gritted her 
teeth and it was obviously a struggle to speak.  She looked 
at Erik with desperation in her eyes.  "I-can't-control 
it!" she cried, just as her nails sank into her soft flesh 
and pulled to one side.  Her hand peeled back the layers of 
skin and muscle, exposing her digestive tract for all to 
see.  With her other hand, she reached into the stomach 
cavity and grabbed her intestines, pulling them out and 
dropping them in a long, ropy pile on her feet. 
	
***

	Washu had never felt such pain in all her thousands of 
years of existence.  Her organs were burning in response to 
being exposed to the air.  She looked down at herself and 
saw her blood pouring from a huge hole in her middle.  Her 
intestines were hanging from one hand like thick spaghetti, 
and they were warm and wet on her feet where they had 
landed.  She collapsed, feeling Erik catch her just before 
she hit the ground, but not feeling any pain.  She was 
beyond pain.  She saw Erik's worried, upset face hovering 
over her own.  He was shaking her gently, yelling her name, 
asking her if she was still conscious.  She reached up 
weakly and stroked his face, smearing her blood on him, 
trying to tell him that she would be okay, that everything 
would be okay.  But she felt blood come up her esophagus, 
clog her throat, then well up and trickle from the corner of 
her mouth.  Her vision was going dim and fuzzy.  She had to 
squint in order to see clearly.  She saw the others as if 
the sun was going out, getting dimmer, going black-

***

	Erik gently set Washu's body down on the ground.  Her 
eyes were open, staring blankly, and he gently closed them, 
trying to give her some semblance of dignity.  Tears started 
to leak from his eyes as he held her hand, pressing it 
against his cheek, feeling the pain in his heart that was so 
much harder to bear than the pain in his body.  He threw 
back his head and screamed, "Noooooooo!" giving a voice to 
his anguish.  Forgetting his friends, he turned back to 
Elemental, seeing red, hate in his mind and murder in his 
eyes.  "Elemental!" he screamed.  "I'll see you burn in 
Hell for this!"  He touched the Fire rune on his chest and 
didn't even bother to aim properly, simply threw a blast at 
the man who had killed the woman he loved.  
	Elemental laughed and raised a shield of Water in front 
of himself.  "You fool!" he yelled in absolute triumph.  
"Look around you!  While you were wasting time mourning, 
look what happened to your friends!"
	"Your friends-"  The words managed to pierce Erik's 
anger-clogged brain.  He looked around.  His friends had 
apparently attacked Elemental and failed.  Ryoko was lying 
on the ground, her face turning an alarming shade of blue.  
Tenchi was screaming and had his hands over his eyes, or so 
it seemed until Erik noticed the blood leaking out from 
between his fingers.  His eyes were gone.  He was unable to 
concentrate enough to regenerate.  Ayeka's robots were lying 
scattered on the ground in bits and pieces.  All the others-
all unconscious or dead, he couldn't tell just by looking.  
Except for Tsunami.  Where was she?  She should have been 
here by now if she had followed the plan.  It was up to him 
now.  
	Tarot reached into the hidden pockets that held his 
throwing stars.  He yanked them out and hurled them at his 
enemy in a triangle.  Elemental simply laughed and whipped 
up a wind that blew them away.  With a cry of rage, Erik 
pulled out his new sword and leaped toward him with the 
sword in one hand and the other touching the Fire rune on 
his chest, slashing at his enemy's chest and throwing a 
blast of Fire at him both at the same time.
	Elemental touched the Water rune on his own chest and 
threw a stream of Water at Tarot, throwing him back nearly 
thirty feet and sending his sword flying from his hand.  
Tarot hit the ground hard, his breath rushing from his 
lungs.  He got up again and touched his Earth rune.  A cloud 
of dust rose from the dry ground around Elemental, then 
suddenly formed into two spear-like shapes, driving toward 
Elemental's eyes.  Elemental touched the Air rune on his 
chest and dispersed the spears into individual particles.
	Erik realized he couldn't beat this-MONSTER in a battle 
of Elements.  He looked around himself desperately, looking 
for something, anything that he could use as a weapon.  Too 
late, he looked up and saw the sole of Elemental's boot just 
before it impacted with his jaw.  He flew back again, this 
time landing beside a pile of five-foot-long steel pipes, 
about an inch around.  Erik heard Elemental's laughter and 
saw him standing over him, leering down at him, laughing out 
his triumph.  Erik finally noticed the pipes beside him and 
then looked back up at Elemental, a faint grin on his face.  
"You know, Elemental," he said, coughing up a little 
blood, "I used to use my powers in magic tricks.  And 
there's one thing you should always do when fighting a 
magician."
	"And what is that?" the evil man asked, still 
laughing.
	"Make sure he's got nothing up his sleeve."  With 
that, Erik rolled on his side, grabbed one of the pipes, and 
rolled in the opposite direction just before Elemental's 
foot came crashing down on the spot where his hand had been.  
Holding the pipe like a throwing spear, he jammed it up into 
Elemental's solar plexus hard enough to lift him up off the 
ground and send him flying several feet back.  Erik was on 
his feet in a flash, running after Elemental, the pipe held 
tightly in his hands like a bo staff.  
	Elemental arched his back and jumped to his feet like a 
gymnast, charging toward Erik and drawing his swords at the 
same time.  He slashed with both swords at once, and they 
were both blocked at once with Tarot's makeshift bo staff.  
Elemental hit the Water rune on his chest and suddenly, 
Tarot felt something start to fill his lungs.  [No!] he 
thought, just as he realized that he was drowning in his own 
bodily fluids.
	Suddenly, Tarot felt his lungs clear.  He gasped for 
breath and then felt one of Elemental's swords slash across 
his back.  He felt his uniform turn sticky with the blood 
that was gushing from the wound.  Then, just as suddenly, it 
was closed.  The wound was gone.  Tarot struggled unsteadily 
to his feet and faced Elemental defiantly.  His enemy was 
looking at him with something akin to awe.  "This can't 
be!" he yelled.  "By now you should be going into shock 
from lack of oxygen and loss of blood!"
	"But I'm not," Erik replied.  "I had help from a 
friend."  Just then, he noticed that his other friends were 
starting to revive.  Ryoko shook her head a little, then 
stood up, wobbling slightly, but in good condition.  Tenchi 
had managed to regenerate his eyes and the others were 
starting to stand, a little dazed, but none the worse for 
the wear.  Except for Washu.  Erik saw her laying on the 
ground, still wounded, still bleeding, still dead.  Erik 
almost cried at the sight, but then turned his mind back to 
business.
	The entire group attacked Elemental as one, 
systematically, coldly, only driven by raw instinct and 
rage.  Elemental tried to throw them off, but suddenly felt 
weak.  He seemed barely able to lift his swords.  He touched 
the Air rune on his chest weakly and tried to use wind to 
blow these annoyances away, but his powers were no longer 
working.  This was his last realization before Tenchi's 
light sword pierced his chest, puncturing one lung, and the 
heated tip of Tarot's bo staff was driven through his right 
eye socket, destroying his brain.  Then, everything went 
black.

***
	
	Tarot pulled the staff from Elemental's skull and 
watched the body fall to the ground.  He looked at his staff 
for a moment, then threw it away.  He looked at his friends 
dully, then noticed Tsunami kneeling by Washu's body, moving 
her hands over the wound, healing it.  He walked over to 
her.  "Can you save her?" he asked the goddess.
	Tsunami looked at him, her pink eyes holding just the 
slightest hint of tears.  "No," she said.  "I can 
reconstitute her body, but her life force is completely 
gone.  Even I am not able to bring someone back when there 
is nothing left."
	Erik buried his face in his hands and fell to his 
knees, not believing what she was saying, believing it all 
too much.  Tears leaked from between his fingers and fell 
upon his love's face, now calm and peaceful, at rest.  He 
felt a hand on his shoulder and threw it off, not wanting to 
be comforted.  He felt two young, yet strangely strong arms 
encircle him, and this time surrendered, burying his face in 
Tsunami's shoulder.  She stroked his head, making small, 
comforting sounds, telling him that although she couldn't 
bring Washu back by herself, she could do it with help from 
him.
	Erik pulled away, not sure if he had heard right.  "I-
I'm sorry Tsunami, could you repeat that?" he asked, his 
voice cracking, wiping some tears away with his hand.
	"I said that I can bring Washu back with your help," 
Tsunami said.  "Her life force is gone, but her soul is 
not.  She is clinging to this world, not wanting to leave 
it, not wanting to leave us, her adopted family.  But most 
of all, not wanting to leave YOU.  She loves you.  And if 
you consent, I can transfer part of your life force into 
her, make her live again, on your life force.  She will not 
be restored to complete health, but she will be alive."
	"Do it," Erik said.  "If it'll make her live again, 
then do it.  Transfer as much as you need to."
	Tsunami nodded.  "All right," she said.  "The 
transfer requires direct physical contact, though."
	"What kind of contact?" Erik asked, aware suddenly 
that the others were mourning Washu also.  Ryoko had her 
face buried in Tenchi's chest, sobbing for the loss of her 
mother, while Ayeka had turned to her brother, Yosho, for 
comfort.  None of them noticed the conversation they were 
having.
	"A simple kind, nothing difficult or strenuous about 
it," Tsunami answered.  "All that is required is for you 
to take her left hand and place it over your heart."  Erik 
did as she instructed before she continued.  "Now, place 
your left hand over her heart."
	Erik was visibly less comfortable with this.  "Is that 
last part really, ah, necessary?" he asked.
	"Yes," Tsunami replied, all business, no joking 
around.  "The reason it has to be your left hand is the 
fact that the left hand is closer to the heart.  When you 
place your left hand over her heart, the two hands will form 
a relay between your hearts that I can transfer your life 
force to her through."
	"Okay," Erik said, still nervous.  He timidly moved 
his hand forward and placed it over Washu's heart, still not 
entirely comfortable with this.
	Ryoko finally looked toward Washu's body and saw what 
Erik was doing.  "What are you doing?" she yelled, 
breaking free of Tenchi's arms and charging toward Erik 
angrily.  "Do you have no respect for the dead?"
	Suddenly, Erik felt something like a shock pass through 
him, and then he lost conscious.

***

	When Erik awoke, he was laying on the examination table 
in Washu's lab.  Washu was lying beside him, still 
unconscious.  He rolled toward her slightly and felt at her 
neck for a pulse.  It was steady and strong.  She was alive.
	Erik was too overjoyed too do anything except kiss her 
on the lips, feeling her breath on his cheek, the warmth 
that he had thought he would never feel again.  Then, he 
became aware that she was stirring, her arms moving, going 
around him.  He surrendered to her embrace and held her 
close, weeping with joy, feeling her body, her warmth, and 
her life.  She was alive.  And all was right with the world.

***

	Well, not quite all.  Tenchi and his two would-be 
suitors still had their own problems.  At this moment, Ryoko 
had decided it would be a good time to make a move on 
Tenchi.  Specifically by barging into his room, closing the 
door, and ripping her shirt off.
	"Ryoko, I've told you and Ayeka time and again, I'm 
not ready to decide between you two!" Tenchi yelled, blood 
streaming from his nose, not from any act of violence.  
"Now get your shirt back on!"
	"Ohhhh, but Tenchi, you know you love me and not 
her!" Ryoko said, a little-girl pout on her face.
	"Maybe I do and maybe I don't but that's not the point 
right now!  The point is that you are in my room, you are 
not dressed, and if Ayeka walks in she's going to start 
raising holy hell!"
	"But can't we manage just a quickie?" Ryoko asked, 
grabbing Tenchi's hand and trying to place it on her right 
breast.
	As if on cue, Ayeka opened the door and saw Ryoko 
trying to seduce the man she perceived to be her future 
husband.  "Ryoko!" she yelled, charging forward and 
planting herself between the two of them.  "That is the 
last time you try to corrupt Lord Tenchi!" the princess 
said, just before punching Ryoko square in the jaw.
	Tenchi decided it would be a good time to excuse 
himself from the room.  At least, it would have been if a 
rather more beaten-looking (he had been just recently 
repaired) Azaka hadn't decided to choose that moment to 
appear, completely blocking the door.  Tenchi then decided 
it was a good time to switch to Plan B: jump out the window 
and fly away.  Running quickly, lest Ayeka's other robot 
appear blocking the window, he dove through, his arms 
shielding his head and shards of glass flying all around 
him.  He concentrated his entire mind on simply staying 
above the ground so hard that he wasn't even aware until he 
hit the ground-thankfully the soft soil of the carrot patch-
that he realized he couldn't fly anymore.  Spitting dirt 
out, he looked down at the mess he had made, both of himself 
and of the carrot patch.  He was lucky not to have broken 
every bone in his body.  Then, he looked down at his left 
wrist, exposed to view by the fact that his sleeve had torn 
off in the landing.  
	Ryoko's gem was gone.
	Tenchi looked at his wrist a moment longer, feeling it 
to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks, then got down 
on his hands and knees, digging through the kicked-up dirt, 
trying to find it.  If he lost the gem before he and Ryoko 
could trade powers back, she would kill him!  Suddenly, he 
heard a ZAP from his window and looked up just in time to 
see an uninjured, but disheveled Ayeka flying out of his 
window toward him.  He scrambled to get out of the way, but 
he didn't move fast enough, which caused Ayeka to land on 
him.  Hard.  
	Tenchi felt the wind knocked out of him again as she 
hit, landing on his back and knocking him flat.  The next 
sound he heard once the ringing in his ears stopped was 
Ayeka saying, "Lord Tenchi!  Are you all right?"
	Tenchi gently pushed her off of him and rolled over, 
every movement excruciatingly painful.  "Fine, Ayeka," he 
gasped, wincing as his ribs moved.
	Ayeka looked a little less worried now.  "Well, thank 
you, Lord Tenchi.  You broke my fall perfectly."
	Tenchi groaned.  "Don't mention it and I won't mention 
you breaking my back."

***

	Ryoko came running into Washu's lab excitedly, carrying 
great news.  "Mom!  Tenchi and I have-Aw, no, that's not 
right!"  She had run right into the middle of a make out 
session between her mother and Erik.  And, as all children 
do when they walk in on their mothers having a private 
moment, she immediately had to suppress the regurgitation 
reflex.  
	After Ryoko had regained control of this reflex, she 
managed too say, "Um, Mom?  Can I talk to you for a 
moment?"  Receiving no answer, Washu being preoccupied at 
the moment, she gave a disgusted sigh.  "Sheesh, are you 
two in heat or what?  Fine, I'll come back when you're not 
busy."  With that, she turned and walked out the 
dimensional door.
	And just in time too.  The moment the door closed, Erik 
and Washu, who really hadn't noticed her, started removing 
their clothes.

***

	That night, Erik took the whole gang to New York City, 
to a trendy nightclub he knew of.  They all danced with each 
other, even Yosho danced, although his somewhat unique style 
earned more than a few stares.  Tenchi avoided dancing with 
Ryoko too much after a slow dance where she started trying 
to grab his butt, but other than that, they were all at 
ease, carefree, happy.  After a while, the DJ started 
playing classic rock, and during one song that Erik said was 
his favorite, Erik pulled Washu into a shadowy corner with 
few people.  He appeared nervous.  "Um, Washu, I have a 
question for you."
	"Ask away," the scientist replied, almost bouncing 
with excitement and worked-up energy.  "Any question at 
all."
	"Will you marry me?"
	Now THAT question Washu did not expect.  "Um-Erik, 
we've only known each other for a few days," she said, 
sounding unsure.  "I would love too, but I don't know-"  
Then, her face broke into a smile and she threw her arms 
around his neck and kissed him.  "Yes," she whispered once 
their lips separated, looking into his eyes.  "Yes, I will 
marry you."
	As she said those words, the song that was playing took 
on a new significance for her.  At first she couldn't 
understand the words because of the volume, but now they 
came through clear as day.

	"Come on!  Come on!
	  And there'll be no turning back,
	  You were only killing time and it'll kill you right 
back.
	  Come on!  Come on!
	  It's time to burn up the fuse,
	  You've got nothing to do and even less to lose!
	  You've got nothing to do and even less to lose!"

***

	One week later, Erik and Washu left for South America 
for their honeymoon.  On the way there, Erik told Washu that 
his main source of income was stocks his dead parents had 
left him.  Since the death of his brother at the hands of 
Kain, he was the only member of his family still living.  
"So I guess now it's up to me to keep the family name 
going."
	Washu smiled and kissed him on the lips.  "Well, we 
don't need to concern ourselves with that immediately.  The 
regenerator I used to heal your scars can also extend life.  
We have all the time in the universe."


THE END


Author's Note:
So, whaddya think?  This rewrite is my second attempt 
at writing fan fiction, and I know I probably made other 
mistakes, but I do my best.  And I know Washu's threat to 
kill Erik, her offer to heal his scars and her quick 
acceptance of his invite all in the space of a few hours 
probably seemed at least a little out-of-character.  But 
c'mon, cut me a break folks! I'm new at this!  I've only 
seen the first episode of the original OAV!  I'm going on 
info I gathered off the Internet!  I'm going to make 
mistakes!  So come off it already!  If you have any 
questions or comments, send them to 
Vault_Keeper_2000@yahoo.com.  I will NOT accept having my 
work insulted.  Constructive criticism and suggestions of 
how I can make it better are fine, but do NOT insult my 
work.  A lot of time and effort and love go into my stories.  
Speaking of feedback, I would GREATLY appreciate-in fact, 
I'm begging-having you write in and tell me what your 
impressions were of this story before you read it, what you 
thought it would be like, etc., and what you thought after 
you were done reading it.