Tenchi in Darkness
Episode 1:  Meeting a Hurt Soul
By:  Akira



	A battered being limped down a long corridor, holding a pistol in one 
hand.  His other hand was supporting him along the wall of the long spaceship.  
His heart raced as he scanned the endless hallway, looking for anyway to escape 
the inevitable.  The lights suddenly went red.  Sirens wailed, making the young 
man pick up his pace.  His already long, rasping breaths grew longer with every 
stride.
	"You cannot escape me."  a voice echoed down the hall.  "Even with this 
ship's death, I cannot die.  You had wasted your life coming aboard here."
	The young man felt a presence behind him.  He quickly turned around and 
fired seven rounds down the abysmal corridor.  He knew he didn't hit anything, 
but if he did he wasn't sticking around long enough to see what he had hit.
	"Countdown.  1 minute."  a computer roared over the intercom.
	"Shit."  the young man said to himself as he tried to pick up his pace.  
Suddenly, his heart stopped.  He stopped with a sigh of relief.  He had found 
the door he was looking for.  Without hesitation, he limped through.  Thinking 
he made it, he slowed his pace.  It was just enough for something to push him 
down.  The young man hit the cold steel floor with a "thud".  His gun slid 
across the surface and hit the far wall of this wide hallway.  The man tried 
getting up on his knees when a force picked him up easily by the neck.
	"Countdown.  30 seconds."
	The force merely smiled at the young man.  He raised his other hand with 
laughter, producing a light sword.  The young man stared at the sword with a 
warm embrace.  The light of the hot sword warmed his face.
	"You are so pathetic.  To think you can come onto my ship and stop me!  
What were you thinking, Akira?"  the force's thunderous voice echoed through the 
halls.
	Akira looked straight into the monster's eyes.
	"I was thinking about my mother the day that you took her life"  Akira 
said to it calmly.
	"Well boy."  the monster said, setting Akira up for the final blow.  "You 
are going to join her soon.  Say hi to her for me."
	The monster brought his sword down on Akira, but never hit him.  Instead 
his sword, along with his hand, went flying off.  The monster screamed as 
another young man put his sword away.  He quickly grabbed Akira, who was 
sprawled on the floor, and teleported away.
	"You can't escape me boys!  I will find you and -"

	A silent explosion filled the space just above earth.  The detonation sent 
out a shockwave that softly rattled Yagumi.
	"What was that?!"  Kiyone yelled as she tried balancing the coffee she had 
been holding.  "Of all the times to have an explosion!  It had to be during my 
break!"  She slowly made her way to the bridge, where Mihoshi frantically tapped 
at the control panel.
	"Did you feel that, Mihoshi?!"  Kiyone yelled, running up to her seat.
	"It came in as a Class-A explosion!"  Mihoshi replied.  "A capital 
spaceship explosion.!"
	Yaguma raced to the sight to see a stream of fire falling towards the 
earth.  It almost looked serene.  Peaceful.
	"Look at that, Kiyone...."  Mihoshi said in awe.
	"Well."  Kiyone replied.  "That was definitely a Class-A explosion.  I 
wonder what caused it."  She looked down at Mihoshi.  "Well, let's report this 
and check out the wreckage on earth.  The debris landing spot is near the Masaki 
Shrine."
	Just as she finished her last statement, the internal alarm on Yagumi went 
off.  Someone was inside the spaceship. 
	"What the hell?!"  Kiyone yelled out frantically.  She quickly grabbed her 
gun and raced out the door, Mihoshi following in close suit.

	"Stay still."  Tetsuo said calmly as he rested Akira against the bulkhead.  
"Akagi drained a lot of your life-force."
	Akira grabbed his throat and collapsed to the ground.  Tetsuo reached for 
him, but them found a GP-issued semi-automatic pistol aimed right between his 
eyes.  Tetsuo slowly stood up with his arms slightly raised to the air.
	"What the hell are you doing on my ship?"  Kiyone asked calmly.
	"It was the closest one to teleport to.  I couldn't just teleport into 
space, you know."  Tetsuo replied softly.  "It's okay.  We're federation bounty 
hunters."
	"You can teleport?  WOW!"  Mihoshi said, smiling.
	"Mihoshi!"  Kiyone yelled back at her partner, startling Mihoshi.  She 
slowly turning back to Tetsuo. "So.  You two are bounty hunters.  Mihoshi.  Keep 
them covered."  Kiyone went over to a terminal.  "Number, please?"
	"I am Tetsuo Ikari.  My number is G980-87-7397.  My partner is Akira Hiryu 
Ozuka.  Number I929-34-9374."
	The terminal clicked and lit up, displaying the two men.  Their 
classification came in as federal bounty hunters of the FBUG (Federal Bureau of 
the United Galaxies.)  Kiyone just looked up and stared at Tetsuo.
	"Do we have somewhere to go?  I need to get my partner to rest, then I'll 
explain everything."

	"We're home!"  Mihoshi said, cracking the door open.
	"Welcome back!"  Sasami said running towards the door.  "You're just in 
time for din......"  Her voice trailed off as she stared at Tetsuo and Kiyone 
carry in Akira's unconscious body.  Kiyone and Tetsuo carried him up the stairs 
and into a spare bedroom, where Ryoko was napping.
	"Get up Ryoko!"  Kiyone yelled at her.  Ryoko, waking up very startled, 
fell out of the bed.  Akira was laid down in her place.  Ryoko got up rubbing 
her head.
	"What the hell?!"  Ryoko yelled with a heavy rasp in her voice.  "I was 
having a dream about me and Tenchi......"  She looked towards the bed at the 
lifeless-looking body.  "Who's that?"
	"He is a friend of mine who will die soon if you don't move out of the 
way!"  Tetsuo yelled, bumping Ryoko into a dresser.  He pulled a capsule out of 
his pocket just as Akira started to shake convulsively.  Everyone stared in 
shock.
	"What's happening to him?!"  Sasami asked in a panicked concern.
	"He's losing the remaining bits of his life."  He turned to Sasami with a 
quick glance.  "He's dying."
	"Isn't there anything we can do?"
	"Not unless this works."
	Tetsuo sat on the bed and shoved a pill down Akira's throat.  Akira 
buckled and rolled around frantically on the bed.  His movement came to a slow 
stop as all of his muscles relaxed.  Everyone moved closer to the bed.
	"Is.....he...."  Sasami tried asking.
	"No.  I gave him a Life-Force Antidote.  He was being drained of his power 
by a poison.  If I was in time, the pill should have killed the poison and 
restored some of his health."
	Everyone stared at the body laying in the bed.  He wasn't moving.  
Finally, Akira flinched his left index finger.  Tetsuo breathed a heavy sigh.
	"He's alright."  Tetsuo said, getting off the bed.  He put away the 
container that had more of the Life-Force Antidotes when Tenchi, Ayeka, and 
Washu walked in.
	"What's going on here?"  Tenchi asked, looking at the person laying in his 
guest bed.  His eyes made their way up to a stranger standing beside him.  He 
jumped in surprise.
	"Are you the master of the household?"  Tetsuo asked in a stern, serious 
voice.
	"Well, uh, I, um."  Tenchi babbled, rubbing the back of his head.  "I-I 
think it's my dad who you are going to need to talk to."
	"Could you summon him?"
	"O-Of course."  Tenchi said, walking out of the room.  "Be right back."
	A moment later, Tenchi returned with his father.
	"Yes?"  Nobiyuki asked the stranger.  "What is this all about?"
	"Sir."  Tetsuo said, bowing to him.  "Me and my partner are on a mission 
right now.  We request your sympathy in allowing us to reside in your domicile 
for  a short stay."
	Nobiyuki rubbed his glasses on his shirt.
	"Well.  What kind of mission are you on?"
	Tetsuo looked briefly at Akira and the rest.  He took Nobiyuki by the arm 
and lead him out to the hallway.  The rest stood in place, trying to listen in.
	"Really...............uh-
huh........................REALLY?...............No, that's fine........Okay!"
	Nobiyuki walked in, followed by Tetsuo.
	"Well.  We are going to have some visitors for a short while."  Nobiyuki 
said, smiling.
	"Why don't you just tell them who you boys are."  Kiyone said, crossing 
her arms.
	"It's a matter of national security.  You should know that more than 
anyone, Detective First-Class, Kiyone."
	Kiyone frowned and turned away.
	"Okay everyone.  I suggest we all leave and give Akira some rest."  Tetsuo 
implied as they all left the room.

Fire.
A little kid running, crying for his mother.
A ring falling out of a woman's hand.
Blood.
A tear-streaked face picking up the bloodied ring.
A cynical laugh.
Darkness with the echoing laugh.

	Akira sat up in his bed, holding out his hand.  A drop of sweat dripped 
down his face.  He quickly collapsed on the bed again, still out of energy.
	"Mother."  Akira said under the pain of his body trying to recuperate.  A 
tear streaked down his face as he fell into another heavy sleep. 






Preview to the next episode:
----------------------------
In the next episode, we spend a day with the two new guests in the Masaki House 
as Tenchi and the rest try and see what the two are really about.  They try to 
discover why the strangers are so far away from home.

Don't miss the next exciting episode of:
Tenchi in Darkness
Episode 2: Learning to Trust


(Word to the reader.  My characters are based on the time period after the movie 
Tenchi Forever.)

e-mail me:  y2k_cork12@yahoo.com