Disclaimer:  Pioneer owns these characters.  I do not.

However, Riko is mine.

==-==-==

Tenchi Muyo!:  Myth

Brian Burke

Tenchii@hotmail.com

==-==-==

        They say that this form of darkness is a myth.  A made up species
originating in fiction.  It is a darkness that is far too easily
recognized.  Then again, the Masaki family has been fighting this myth
for well over an hour on the front lawn.  Darkness set upon the land
just shortly before the fight.  Ryoko, Tsunami, Tenchi, Misa, and Riko
are fighting back to back to back against the monstrosities.

        Tossing another sword, Misa impales her twentieth monster in the
heart
with her glowing sword, illuminating the battlefield further.  However,
it doesn't do much, for a new one steps in its place.  "What are these
things?" Misa asks.

        "They're supposed to be a myth," Tenchi explains, lopping off the
head
of another one.

        "Myth?  Really?" Riko comments, stabbing the heart of another.
"Then
what in the world are we fighting?" the 17 year old asks.

        "Vampires," Tsunami comments, frying one with her power.  "I read up
on
them from Tenchi's father's books."

        "When?" Ryoko asks.

        "Years ago," she comments.

        "You were told not to go into his library," Tenchi says to her.
"You
never know what my hentai father might have left out."

        "It doesn't matter now," Riko shouts, cutting off the head of
another,
her sword glowing red with power.  "How do we stop them?"

        "Well, for starters, the five of us aren't as vulnerable," Tsunami
states.  "Since three of us have Light Hawk Wings, they can easily
purify the body.  Ryoko's gems do the same.  And Misa-"

        "-can kick ass all by myself!" she finishes, demonstrating her point
on
another blood-sucker.  It was she who first discovered this menace
approaching the house.  "It was only an hour ago that they appeared,"
she starts.

==-==-==

        While walking through the woods on a cool spring night, Misa is
walking
to Funaho with her Tenchi-ken in hand.  Nothing much, but she wanted to
contact her mother, and this was the easiest way.  Feeling a cold night
breeze, she adjusts her turtle-neck sweater accordingly.

        As she reaches the tree, she feels an odd presence nearby.
Deviating
from her current course of action, she walks a bit away from the tree.
"Ayeka?  Is that you?" she calls into the darkness.

        Her answer is a dark form cruising toward her, and effectively
knocking
the Juraian princess to the ground.  Crouched over her, it drives its
claws downward.  She turns her body to the right to avoid it.  Turning
to the left, she dodges a similar strike from the other hand.  Noticing
that both hands are momentarily stuck, she flips up, and kicks him
en-route.
        As she sees her opponent get back up, she doesn't notice the other
four.  As she turns at the sound of their drop, they hogpile her,
keeping her glued to the grass.  "Persistent, aren't you?"

        The creatures just hiss and cackle in response.  One grabs her
turtleneck and rips off the red article of clothing like paper.  Another
turns her head forcefully and descends its mouth.

        "Oh, no you don't!" she screams, creating a beam sword.  When it
flashes into existence, it kills the monster holding that hand.  With a
swift motion, she eliminates two more.  Raising her legs, she uses her
ankles to grab the would-be neck-biter's neck and tosses it into the
water around Funaho.  The said liquid, having come from a royal tree,
fries it almost instantly.

        Seeing dozens more in the pale moon light, she considers her
options.
Only one comes to mind.  Turning, she takes that option at full
throttle.

==-==-==

        Tenchi decapitates another vampire, while listening to Misa's
flashback.  "Yeah, I remember.  I was getting ready to tend the fields
when I saw you running to the house."

==-==-==

        As Tenchi exits the kitchen, he sees Misa running full bore towards
the
house.  The other unusual item is that she is returning topless.  Now,
Misa is normally not an exhibitionist, so Tenchi knew something was up.
Of course, this was only one of two thoughts on his mind.  The other
included hentai observastions.  Obviously, his father rubbed off on him
a bit too much.

        As she enters the house, with an acrobatic stunt to make Olympic
gymnasts green with envy, she removes her shoes in a mid-air flip.
Barely knowledgeable of her current state of partial undress, she stops
next to Tenchi to catch her breath.

        "Misa," Tenchi asks, "what is going on?  What happened?  What
happened
to your sweater?"

        At the thought of that last question, she runs upstairs, red with
embarrassment.  A minute later, she returns in a topped state.  "I was
at Funaho," she explains, "when I was attacked."

        "By who?  Or what?"

        "I don't know what they are!" she explains.  "But, my guess is,
they're
on their way here."

==-==-==

        "Yeah, they were," Riko adds, stabbing another vampire.  "Man,
they're
everywhere!" she complains.  She remembers clearly when she first saw
them.  It was not the best of sights.  "But, it got worse after that,"
she continues for her father.

==-==-==

        Walking through the house, Riko starts to gather everyone for
dinner.
Tonight, she has made one of Tenchi's favorites for dinner.  Knocking on
one of the doors, "Mihoshi?  Kiyone?  Dinnertime!"

        "Come in, Riko," Mihoshi says.  "I have something to show you."

        Curious, Riko walks into her friends' room.  "What is it?" she asks.
"Is something wrong?"  Closing the door, she approaches her friends.

        The pair of GP's look at the entrancing girl with interest.  "No,"
Kiyone answers.  "Nothing you can't help us with," she says, starting to
laugh under her breath.

        Nervously, "Uh, what do you mean?" Riko asks, stopping her approach.

        Mihoshi and Kiyone lunge at her, hissing like snakes.  "We just want
you, Riko," Kiyone says, in a dark voice.

        Unprepared for the strike, Riko is pushed against the floor.  Unable
to
move, she feels a tingle at her neck, and then a horrible pain.  "OW!
What are you doing, Mihoshi?" she yells.  "OUCH!  THAT HURTS!"

        "We need you Riko," Kiyone states in a dark tone.  "You are the one
we
want."

        The addressed girl goes into a trance as a fight rages in her body.
"No..." she mutters.  "I can't..."

        "You'll be an excellent addition, Riko," Kiyone hisses, letting the
girl stand.

        "NOO!" the red head shouts.  With a flash of ruby red energy, the
invasive substances are destroyed, and Riko is 'cleansed' of the evil.
"You won't take me that easily!" she swears.

        In response, the pair jump at her once again.

        Riko jumps back, avoiding the pair, "I'm not into that stuff," she
states.  As she watches them, she sees the pair bearing long fangs in
front of their teeth.

        "Help..." she murmurs.  Scared out of her mind, she blasts the door
to
the GP officers' room and runs like a bat out of heck down the hallway.
"HELP!" she screams, chased by the red eyed GPs.

        Dropping to the floor next to the staircase, she meets her parents
who
are already discussing the problem.  "They're after me!" she cries.

        As Misa sees her daughter drop to the ground, she sees the pair of
officers quickly follow, calmly.  "Mihoshi?  Kiyone?  Are you alright?"

        "Yes, we are," Kiyone states.  "Why?"

        "Why were you chasing Riko?"

        "They're monsters!" Riko screams.  "They've got fangs and bloodshot
eyes!"

        Tenchi considers what she is talking about, but dismisses it being
the
subject is the stuff of myths.  "What's going on?" he asks profoundly.
"Why does Riko say you're chasing her?"

        "She's lying," Mihoshi states.

        As soon as she finishes the comment, Misa puts a beam sword to the
blonde's nose.  "Nobody calls my daughter a LIAR!"

        Tenchi and Riko both summon their Light Hawk Swords, as they watch
the
duo transform in front of their eyes.  "What in the world?" Tenchi
wonders.

        Misa joins her daughter and Tenchi as they prepare for the worst.
"We've been invaded," she comments.

        "Tenchi, Riko, Misa," Ayeka calls, "in here, quickly!" she commands.
The group enters the dark room and sees four pairs of red eyes, and one
set of pink ones.  As the room brightens a bit, the trio see Tsunami
struggling against the combined grips of Yosho, Washu, and Noboyuki.
All three of them are able to hold her quite well with their vampire
strength.

        "Tsunami!" Tenchi shouts.  "Let her go!" he commands.

        Smiling, Yosho looks to his grandson with an evil smile.  "Your
first
wife ran away, but we got your second one right here."

        "Tenchi!" she shouts.  "They're too strong!  I can't break free!"

        Noboyuki puts up a clawed hand, "now, maybe I can see what you've
been
hiding from me," he says, laughing evilly.  But, just as he starts to
pull on her shirt, a red blade cuts off the invasive appendage.

        "Touch her again," Riko states, "and I'll cut off your manhood!"

        Noboyuki steps back, holding his bloody stump that once helped hold
the
blue haired woman.  "How dare you!" he yells, jumping at the group.  As
he flies, his other hand stands ready to strike.

        Closing his eyes, Tenchi stabs his father in the heart, mercifully
ending it for him.  "Rest in peace, Dad," he says silently.

==-==-==

        "I really didn't want to do that," Tenchi says, mournfully, "but, I
had
no choice."

        "Yeah," Tsunami states, "but that was when it really hit the fan!"

==-==-==

        Mihoshi and Kiyone lunge at the trio again, as Ayeka does the same.
Regretfully, Tenchi stabs Kiyone, Misa does Mihoshi, and Riko finishes
her aunt.  A bloody, unfair way to go, but such is life.

        As Tsunami struggles against the enhanced grips of Washu and
Katsuhito,
she can see several new forms enter the kitchen.  One, she recognizes,
is one of Tenchi's friends, Sakuya.  "How dare they?" she shouts.  "How
could they be so cruel?  Pitting Tenchi's friend against him?"

        "Shut up!" the old man commands, yanking on her extremely long blue
hair.

        "OW!" she whines.  Elbowing them both in the gut, she uses the
momentary distraction to break free.  Running to her friends, "What do
we do?  We can't kill all these people!"

==-==-==

        "Sure you could've," Ryoko explains.  "How do you think I did it?"
she
asks, roasting another would be threat.

==-==-==

        As the foursome looks to the group, they find themselves completely
surrounded.  "We're trapped!" Riko complains.

        "There's gotta be at least 50 of them," Misa says.

        "And that's just in here," Tenchi adds.

        Blasting through the roof, Ryoko fries about twenty of the
neck-nippers
with her shot of energy.  As she drops down, Tenchi sees she's already
in battle gear.  As three beasties fly at her, she cuts them in half at
the waists.  "We gotta get outta here!"

        Looking down at the carnage, Ryoko sees her intitial blast took out
Yosho and Washu.  Sad, but determined, she flies over to the rest.

        As Tsunami summons her Light Hawk Sword, she joins the ranks of the
armed.  "Let's do it," she says darkly.

        At the statement, the five run for the door, and make their stand
out
on the lawn.  Immediately afterward, the menaces swarm out of the house.

==-==-==

        "And that brought us to this point," Tsunami adds.  "I didn't want
to
see Ayeka go like that, but it had to be done, I guess."

        "We gave her rest," Riko says.  "Let's leave it at that," she
comments,
slicing another downwards.

        Finally, the last few monstrosities are dealt with, and the five
look
at each other, confirming each other's positive status.  Finally, they
look to the hundreds of dissolving bodies adorning the lawn.

        "It's over," Tenchi says solemnly, just as the new day approaches.
Looking to the rising sun, he looks to his family, "well, there's one
last thing we can do."

==-==-==

        A week later, a memorial is set up at the shrine, with the following
inscribed:

        "Ayeka Jurai:  Sister, aunt  Always cherished."

        "Washu Habuki:  Mother, crazy  We liked her that way."

        "Noboyuki Masaki:  Father, grandfather  Hid his pain with hentai
attitude."

        "Katsuhito 'Yosho Jurai' Masaki:  Grandfather, great grandfather
Old
and wise."

        "Mihoshi Kuramitsu:  Friend, partner  Bubblehead.  Wouldn't change a
thing."

        "Kiyone Makibi:  Friend, partner  The one who understood."

        "Rest In Peace, good friends.  You were taken far too early."

==-==-==

        As the group walks mournfully away from the stone that accompanies
Achika's, the group of five walk towards the ship on the lake.  As they
approach the shore, Tsunami, the ship, opens the hatch and prepares to
receive the four Juraian nobles and Ryoko, the Crown Princess of Jurai.

        As soon as they are boarded, the ship takes off and heads for the
crew's new home of Jurai.

--end--