“What the hell is going on?” Tenchi demanded angrily. They were in the Yugami following Dr. Clay and Matthius. “Eric is not really Eric,” Kiyone said, “He was sent by the same person who sent Clay to get Washu, but he succeeded where Clay failed. His real name is Matthius, that’s all we know.” “Well where the hell is he taking Ryoko?” Tenchi slammed a fist on the control panel. They all looked at Tenchi, he was making them all a little nervous, none of them had ever seen him this angry about something. “We don’t know, that’s why we’re following them.” Kiyone said slowly. Tenchi bit his lip and said nothing, he was angry, very angry, he felt betrayed, angry, and sad all at the same time. He had trusted Eric. He had confided in him, he thought he had a friend now. Someone that he could talk to about his problems, now though, he saw that he was wrong. It had all been a masquerade, a shame to get close and betray them. That had been Eric’s intention all along. “We are following rather closely.” Aieka said quietly, “They have to know that we’re following them.” “I’m sure they do.” Kiyone said leaning back in her chair, “But we have to follow them otherwise we’ll lose them.” I’m not going to let them get away. Kiyone thought to herself, re-capturing Clay would be great for my career, maybe even get me off of this pathetic planet. Kiyone started to laugh and they all stared at her until she realized what she was doing, she hastily covered her mouth. Aieka looked down at the floor, Kiyone and Mihoshi were both in their GP uniforms and Tenchi was wearing his black shirt and brown pants, he looked deep in thought and although Aieka wanted to talk to him she didn’t want to disturb him. Sasami had insisted on going with them and was in one of the living quarters. Aieka stood up and left to go join her. She didn’t know what was going to happen, but she had a bad feeling. Whoever had sent Clay and Matthius must be very powerful if they could control people like them. And where had Matthius gotten that sort of power? Ryoko knocked him around quit a bit and it didn’t seem to hurt him much at all. The only people with that kind of power were Jurain nobility and Washu and Ryoko, where had that power come from. She was worried, where were they going? Would Tenchi be able to defeat him? And why was he so concerned with Ryoko? It had seemed that Tenchi had liked her and not Ryoko, but now he didn’t seem to notice she was with him. All he cared about was getting Ryoko back. She sighed, she wouldn’t figure out the answer to any of this just by thinking about it. She found the room that she was looking for and walked in to find Sasami asleep. She smiled and decided to join her. The Yugami had been following Clay’s ship for five days. Tenchi had calmed a little, but still was angry and wanted desperately to get aboard the other ship. He wondered how Ryoko and Washu were, but more than anything, he wondered who was behind everything that was going on. Eric had not willingly done any of this. He had said he had no choice. Tenchi wasn’t sure if he should believe that, but he wanted to. He still thought that Eric was a good person, that is something you can’t fake no matter how good of an actor you were. Sasami and the others had tried to throw him a small birthday party and he had humored then the best he could, but his heart wasn’t in it. He sighed and looked at the Tenchi-ken. I hope you’re okay Ryoko. He thought to himself, I’m sorry I ignored you the last few days before this happened. God I hope you’re okay. Ryoko’s eyes slowly opened. The room she was in was filled with dim light so her eyes didn’t hurt. She remembered the fight with Eric and shoot up and looked around. She was on a bed, a comfortable too. The room was gray, but nicely furnished with dressers and purple drapes hanging on the walls. There was a large window off to the right and she could see the stars shoot by as they flew through space. She was wearing a light blue slip; she absently wondered what had happened to her other clothes. She threw the covers off and phased into her battle outfit and slowly crept towards the door. “You would lose were you to fight.” She spun around and formed her energy sword. “You lying, treacherous, conniving, son of a…” She started. “That’s enough.” Eric calmly stood up. “Lose the sword, you don’t have the power to defeat me without all of your gems.” “How do you know about those?” She was slightly taken aback, the only people who knew about those were, her, Washu, Tenchi, and, “Clay.” She said quietly. He had discovered them when Zero had emulated her. Eric chuckled, no not Eric, she reminded herself, Matthius. “I knew about them long before Clay ever knew who you were.” He smiled and walked slowly towards her. She got in a defensive position and held her sword in front of her. Eric frowned, “Do you think that I’m going to hurt you?” He look sincerely hurt, “I told you I didn’t want to fight you, you were the one who attacked me. And if I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be here right now.” He gestured to the room around them, “And if you were a prisoner, why would I put you in such a nice room?” Ryoko did not lose the sword or her stance, “What are you planning?” She demanded. “I’m going to do what I have to. Nothing more.” He looked out the window at the stars, “I brought you with me so you wouldn’t have to get hurt anymore.” He looked at her, “Believe it or not, that’s the last thing that I want.” He sighed and sat on the bed, “You have nothing to do with this. The lady only wants Washu; Tenchi is simply following his fate by coming after me. Or maybe I should say sealing.” “If you lay a finger on Tenchi!” Ryoko angrily began. Matthius laughed, “You’ll do what?” He taunted, “You can’t defeat me, Tenchi had more power than you. And even he is no match for me.” “You’re underestimating him.” Ryoko said flatly, “He’s never lost a fight as long as I’ve known him.” Eric sighed again, “Would you please put that sword away? I’m not going t fight you.” Ryoko stood up straight and let the sword dissipate. “Where’s Washu?” She looked around, “Where are we? How long was I out?” “Washu is in a cell. Sadly she kept causing trouble and left me with no other choice. Of course Clay didn’t help the whole situation. We are en route to a planet with no name, a planet that isn’t on any map. And you were out for five days.” “When are we going to get to this planet?” “In a day or so.” He patted the bed, “Come on, Ryoko sit down.” “I’m not sitting anywhere near you.” She growled. “C’mon Ryoko.” He stood up and smiled, “We had fun didn’t we?” He started walking towards her, “You liked me back on Earth, and I’m still the same guy, just a lot more powerful and a lot more knowledgeable.” He put his hand on her shoulder but she brushed it off, “Don’t start.” She said angrily, “I can’t believe I trusted you.” She refused to look him in the eye, “I don’t want to think about that. You lied to me, to Tenchi, to everyone. You betrayed me!” Tears formed in her eyes as she talked. “How?” She finally looked at him, “Why?” He sighed, “I’m sorry, I truly am. I didn’t want to do it. But I had no choice.” “There’s always a choice!” She cried angrily pushing him back. “Not always.” He said sadly, “I do feel I owe you an explanation, you and everyone else. Come with me.” He walked out of the room and after a moment, Ryoko followed. “Tenchi! Come to the bridge quick!” Kiyone’s voice came over the intercom system. Tenchi stood up and ran toward the bridge. When he entered, everyone was already gathered, “What’s going on?” He looked around and then stopped. A com screen was open and Eric stood there with a slight smile. “Happy belated birthday, Tenchi.” He said. “You!” Tenchi clenched his fists, “You bastard! Give me back Ryoko!” Eric’s face grew serious, “Sorry, no can do. Washu and Ryoko are okay though. Neither of them are hurt and I have no intention of hurting either of them.” “Why did you take Washu?” Aieka demanded. “Why did you lie to us?” Kiyone yelled. “How could you deceive us like this? Who are you?” Tenchi cried. “I’m sorry about everything. I truly am.” He took a deep breath, “I did what I had to, I had no choice in the matter. If I did I would’ve stayed on Earth with you guys.” “I do feel that I owe you all an explanation though. Besides, Tokimi wants you to know what awaits you. So I will enlighten you all.” “Tokimi?” Tenchi said confused, “Who is that?” “If you’ll listen for a few minutes I will tell you.” Eric took a deep breath and began. “Back when the universe was young, newly formed and under-developed, there were three goddesses that ruled. They were not the ones that created the universe, but it was decreed by others that they would rule it.” “Decreed by who?” Aieka asked. “By the other gods.” Matthius stated simply. “Now, they divided the universe into three equal sections and each goddess ruled their own section.” “Other gods?” Tenchi was shocked. “How many gods are there?” “Only three in this dimension.” Matthius explained, “If you count every dimension and every universe there are thousands of gods. Only three in this dimension though, some have five or six, others only have one.” “Who are these goddesses?” Kiyone asked. Matthius sighed, “If you’ll just let me explain everything I’m sure all you’re questions will be answered.” “Now.” He started again, “The three goddesses each ruled their own section of the universe to their discretion, but over time they began to get jealous of each others dominion. And it wasn’t long before all three wanted to rule the universe themselves. And thus, an epic war began between the three. At first they tried to settle the war without having to fight each other. They pit their followers against one another deciding that whichever side won, that goddess would rule all. Billions of people died in the war and in the end no clear winner emerged. All that was accomplished was many dying and their civilizations being destroyed. And finally the goddesses had to confront one another. They chose an abandoned planet on which to duel and began their fight.” “That’s just horrible.” Sasami whispered. “Didn’t they care that all those people died?” “Yes, they cared. But they were all more concerned with themselves and increasing their power. Even goddesses have human emotions.” Matthius took another deep breath and continued. Washu listened to everything Matthius was saying from inside her cell. Memories came flooding back to her and she began to cry. “They fought on the planet for days. Their powers were all radically different but none was more powerful than the other and none of them could get the advantage. In the end none of them won. The planet was destroyed and two of the goddesses lost their physical body. They managed to stay in our dimension though, by anchoring their astral selves onto a physical object. The other goddesses floated in space for thousands of years. When the surviving goddess finally regained consciousness she had lost all memory of her previous life and who she really was. So she started a new life. “But their fight was not over yet. And all of them knew this. Since they couldn’t fight each other anymore they decided that they would simply create a champion to fight for them. And the winner of that battle would decide the outcome of their fight. It took them a long time to gather their strength and create what would be their champion. But they finally did and now the time is coming for the champions to fight and decide the outcome of the battle started so long ago.” “What are saying?” Tenchi demanded, “Who are these champions? Who are the goddesses?” “Can’t you guess?” Matthius chuckled, “Very well I’ll spell it out for you, the goddess of mind was Tokimi. She had the ability to control minds and make fantasies or nightmares a reality. She could read a persons mind; control them, and many other things. The goddess of life was Tsunami; she could steal a beings life, or create life where there was none before. And the goddess of energy, the one who survived, was Washu. They all had some control over the natural energy of the universe, but Washu had more control than the other two, and she could do more with it than they could ever dream.” The whole crew stared in silence. Ryoko stood off to the side of Matthius with an open mouth. “Washu is a god?” Aieka said quietly. “My mom is a god?” Ryoko said in disbelief. Matthius laughed, “Is it really that surprising? How else do you think she could live for over 20,000 years? And how else could Ryoko survive over 5,000? Jurai stemmed from Tsunami, as you already know. Tsunami anchored her astral self to a tree, and that tree sprouted the other tree’s. That’s what started the Juraian royal family. People that lived on that planet learned how to tap into the tree’s power. That is why Juraian’s live as long as they do. It can’t be that surprising. Didn’t any of you find it odd that Washu had no memory of her past before 20,000 years? She didn’t know who her parents were.” Matthius laughed, “Why do you think that Juraian nobles took away Washu’s child? Tsunami ordered them to because she didn’t want Washu’s champion to have both Washu’s and her own power. It would have been unfair.” “But if Washu lost her memory, how could she know to make a champion for the fight?” Tenchi challenged the incredible story Matthius was laying out for them. Matthius smiled, “Now that’s a good question. All the goddesses share a mental link together, so even though she couldn’t remember exactly what her past was, she subconsciously knew that she needed to make a warrior. So she made Ryoko. Those gems that Ryoko has are pure energy in solid form. They can be used to empower almost anything; they are the only thing that makes the Tenchi-ken different from any other sword. But without the gems Ryoko can’t summon her full power.” “So I’m Tsunami’s champion then.” Tenchi said quietly. “Yes.” Matthius nodded. “And then you’re this Tokimi’s champion.” Tenchi said. Matthius nodded again, “Correct.” “But why does Tokimi want Washu?” Tenchi asked. “Simple,” Matthius grinned, “Tokimi has no physical body, and she wants one. Washu is still the greatest scientist in the universe. And if anyone could come up with a way to create her a body she could attach herself to, it would be Washu. Tsunami already has her way back into this dimension. Why do you think she saved and assimilated with Sasami? When Sasami becomes old enough, Tsunami will get full control over her body. The added Jurai power to Tsunami’s own will make her more powerful than before. That is the only reason Tsunami saved Sasami.” “No!” Sasami cried, “That can’t be true!” Sasami began to cry. “Yes,” Aieka said, “Tsunami said that they would become one. Not that she would take over Sasami’s body!” “You probably wouldn’t be too happy with the idea of Tsunami taking over your little sister now would you?” Matthius grinned evilly, “It is not too late to stop her and separate them, that is why she didn’t tell you the truth.” “Shut up!” Tenchi screamed. “Stop upsetting them!” “Come on Tenchi, do you really think a god is going to be nice and helpful? They have the power to do anything they want and that is exactly what they do. Tsunami wants back into this dimension. Sasami is her gateway, she doesn’t want anyone to interfere.” “Shut up!” Tenchi screamed again. “What about Washu? She doesn’t toy with people!” “Really?” Matthius smirked, “What about you? Doesn’t she experiment and toy with you, and everyone else in the house in the name of science for that matter? She just doesn’t remember her full power so she’s not as bad as the other two.” “Just because your Tokimi’s champion doesn’t mean you had to do what you did!” Tenchi yelled at Matthius. The smile vanished off his face, “That’s where you’re wrong Tenchi. Tokimi has a link to me just link Tsunami and Washu have links to you and Ryoko, if I disobey Tokimi, she can kill me with a thought.” Tenchi was shocked. It was probably true, especially since she was the goddess of mind. “So what is going to happen?” Tenchi asked somberly. Matthius smiled sadly, “We’ll reach Tokimi’s fortress tomorrow. Washu will help her get a body, and you and I will fight to see who will rule.” “We don’t have to fight.” Tenchi said. “I’m sure there’s another way.” “If you want to save Washu and defeat Tokimi once and for all, then you’ll have to fight me. That’s all there is to it.” Matthius smiled sadly, “Well, I think I have explained things well enough. I will see you in a day Tenchi.” The com screen blinked out and there was silence except for Sasami crying and Aieka trying to comfort her. “What are we going to do?” Kiyone asked Tenchi. “I don’t know yet. But I’ll think of something.” “I’m scared Kiyone!” Mihoshi started crying. “So am I, Mihoshi, so am I.” Kiyone said quietly. -Well, i'm sure some people are gonna wonder where i came up with all of that. so ill tell you. i made it all up. i dont think there's any evidence of it in the series, but i just think its a possibility so i used it. Any q's or comments email me.