*Batman and any associated characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics, part of 
Warner Bros., part of Time Warner (sigh).  **Tenchi Universe and all associated 
characters are trademark and copyright AIC * Pioneer LDC.  I know I did not create 
these characters, I am simply not that brilliant.  This work was not done for profit, but for 
a cheap thrill, fun, and to see whether or not I possess any writing talent at all.

Note:  Two slashes will surround a character's thoughts, and a solid line indicates a scene 
or setting change.

Yet Another Note: If you didn't read part one or two, then please do so, it'll make me feel 
better.  Doing so would also help in understanding what is going on (maybe, heh).

		Light Hawk, Dark Knight
 		       Part 3 - "Trust"

As the Batman stepped through the door between Washu's laboratory and the Masaki 
household, his thoughts were somewhat more relieved than they had been when he had 
first arrived in this dimension.  After all, the scientist, Washu, had assured him that in just 
an hour or two he would be on his way back to his own world.  Once there he would have 
some catching up to do with the individual responsible for his being in this world.  At the 
same time, he doubted his nemesis would be expecting him to get back as soon as he 
would be, if at all.  No, he knew better than to assume when dealing with this particular 
enemy.  However, he could not have predicted that the Batman would have run into the 
self-proclaimed "greatest scientist in the universe" just a few hours after his arrival here, 
either.

After stepping through into the house, Batman looked back and noticed that the door he 
had just come through looked like it should, under normal circumstances, lead into a 
closet.  The door then closed seemingly on it's own.  He was tempted to try and open it 
again, his suspicious nature thinking that perhaps Washu had lied, but decided better of it.  
For now, at least.  \\Clark would say I'm being paranoid, no doubt,// he thought to 
himself, \\but then, he'd fall for these people's charm much too quickly.//   

Batman turned towards what seemed to be the living-room area of the house, and came 
face to face with the girl he had fought with earlier.  The same one that had fixed a scowl 
on him the entire time they had been in the laboratory while the young man, Tenchi, had 
introduced everyone to him.  Ryoko, her name had been.  She was hovering nearly a foot 
off of the floor, so she could look him directly in the face.

"Can I help you?" said the Batman, in a slightly threatening tone.  He decided to try to 
avoid any more conflict, if possible.  On top of that, he surmised that the reason for her 
being angry was due to her having been so confident in defeating him earlier, only to 
have him outsmart and surprise her.  

"You must think you're pretty smart, but I'd say you cheated," she said in a voice that 
was both angry and amused.  "I'm afraid I don't follow you," said Batman, realizing he 
may well be antagonizing her a little.  "You know damn well what I'm talking about," 
she said, slightly irritated now, "using that gas to knock me out, and attacking from 
hiding like you did.  If I didn't know it would be against Tenchi's wishes, I'd vaporize 
you right here and right now."  He did not yet respond, only narrowed his eyes. 

Tenchi saw what had been transpiring from across the room.  He sighed and started over 
towards Ryoko, hoping he could convince her to settle down.  The others were also 
standing around in the room, but none were yet ready to get in Ryoko's way.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," said Batman, "and I don't have time for this."  
Ryoko's eyes blazed.  "Oh, don't worry about that, it'll only take me a split second to-."  
Before she could continue, Tenchi interrupted her.  "Hey, Ryoko, we all apologized 
remember.  No more hard feelings," he said, while silently praying his words would be 
effective.

"I don't remember apologizing," retorted Ryoko.  Tenchi was quick to respond, "but he 
apologized to all of us, including you."  Ryoko's resolve was beginning to waver, but not 
enough yet.  "But... how do you know he was being... I mean, how can you just trust this 
weirdo?" she said, frustrated.  "Washu vouched for him, remember?" he replied.  

Ryoko was about to comment on how well they should be trusting Washu, when the 
Batman did something that he was even a little surprised at.  He extended his hand out 
towards Ryoko, as if expecting her to shake it.  "Why don't we bury that hatchet," said 
Batman, "I'll admit you were a formidable opponent.  I'm not sure I would have been 
able to stop you without using the gas."  Words such as these were unusual coming from 
him, but he did not have to worry about a reputation in this world.  Added to that was the 
fact that he wanted to be able to concentrate on what he would do upon his return to his 
own dimension.  In addition to that was the fact that he would not have been successful 
without using the gas. (heh)

Ryoko stared at his hand for a few long moments, then her eyes narrowed and she 
crossed her arms.  "Fine, I'll let you off for now, but I'm not shaking hands," she said.  
Batman retracted his hand and stood with his cape covering him again.  Tenchi breathed a 
sigh of relief, as did everyone else in the room, with the exception of Batman.

Ryoko teleported up to her favorite spot on top of one of the beams that ran along the 
ceiling, and continued to eye Batman a bit suspiciously.  Batman glanced around at the 
others in the room.  

The two "Galaxy Police" detectives stood off to his left.  The darker-haired one, Kiyone, 
was regarding him with interest, but perhaps even more so with suspicion.  Her partner, 
Mihoshi, had a large smile on her face.  For what reason, Batman had no idea.  Near them 
was the older man that he had fought with before the others, Katsuhito.  He appeared 
perfectly calm.  In the middle of the room stood the middle-aged man that Tenchi had 
identified as his father, Noboyuki, looking slightly confused.  Off to the right were the 
two sisters, Ayeka and Sasami, who also appeared calm now that Ryoko had backed off.  
The younger one, Sasami was even smiling at him a little bit.  The small cat-like creature, 
Ryo-Ohki, was still perched on her head.

An awkward silence passed.  Finally Ayeka spoke, turning to her younger sister.  "I think 
you should be getting to bed now, Sasami, it's way past your bedtime."  A disappointed 
look came over Sasami's face.  "But." she began, but Ayeka interrupted her.  "Now, 
now, I don't want to hear any buts."

Wile they were talking, Noboyuki said to Tenchi, "I'm probably going to hit the hay soon 
too, son.  You should think about doing so yourself."  "Okay Dad," responded Tenchi.  
Noboyuki walked off towards the kitchen, where he had left his newspaper.

Meanwhile, Mihoshi yawned and said, "I think I'm going to go to sleep now too, I'm 
awfully tired.  What about you Kiyone?"  Kiyone replied, "I think I'll stay up a while 
longer," she glanced over towards Batman, "just in case."  Mihoshi did not follow her.  
"Huh?" she said.

While all this was going on, Katsuhito moved towards Batman and spoke to him.  "I was 
still curious as to your fighting style, it seemed like there were times that I could almost 
place it, but others when I could not."  Batman thought for a second before answering.  
"Well, I guess there's no harm in telling you.  The fighting style I use is a result of my 
learning every martial art form on Earth, taking what I wanted from each, and blending 
those elements together to create some thing new."  Katsuhito raised an eyebrow and 
said, "I see."  Behind Batman, Kiyone was listening and taking mental notes.

Ryoko continued to sulk up on her crossbeam.

Tenchi turned to Batman and said, "I'm sorry, but most of us are pretty tired right now.  I 
guess you'll be gone before we wake up."  Batman nodded, "Yes."  Tenchi sighed.  
"Well it was an honor meeting you anyway, I, for one, believe what Washu said about 
you."  "Thank you.  By the way, would you mind if I used an upstairs window to get to 
the roof?  I need to do some planning, and I think most clearly on rooftops, where I know 
nobody is watching me."  He glanced briefly in Kiyone's direction.  She saw him do so, 
and quickly looked away.  

Meanwhile, Ayeka had convinced Sasami to go to bed, and said that she herself would 
soon be following.  Sasami had started up the first step, when she stopped and called over 
towards Batman, "goodnight, mister Batman, it was nice meeting you."  Batman turned 
briefly towards her and said, "goodnight, nice meeting you also, princess."  He smiled 
slightly then, but it quickly disappeared.  Ryo-Ohki meowed.           

Mihoshi stopped looking confusedly at her partner, and started towards the stairs herself.  
Tenchi proceeded to answer Batman's question, "well there's actually a trap door in the 
upstairs hallway that leads up to the roof."

Ryo-Ohki then perked up suddenly, and hopped off Sasami's head, as she was on the 
fourth step.  The cabbit raced down the steps and proceeded right out the front door.  
"Ryo-Ohki!  Where are you going?" called Sasami before starting after her.  Before 
Ayeka could stop her, Sasami was out the front door as well, going after Ryo-Ohki.  The 
guardians called after Sasami as well as she passed them, but she did not stop.  Everyone 
in the room was now looking towards the front door.  Sasami began to disappear from 
view, as Ryo-Ohki had headed towards the left after hopping out the door, and Sasami 
was following course.

"Don't worry, I'll go after her!" said Tenchi, and he jogged over towards the door, 
spotted Sasami heading off to the woods after Ryo-Ohki, and ran in their direction.  
Noboyuki came out of the kitchen, newspaper in hand, and looked confused (again) since 
he had missed what had happened.  Ayeka looked worried and decided to stay near the 
front door until Tenchi and Sasami returned.  "Don't worry, Lady Ayeka," said 
Katsuhito, "Tenchi knows these woods well, they won't get lost."

Batman turned to Noboyuki.  "Before he ran out, your son mentioned a roof access on the 
second floor."  Noboyuki blinked, and said, "sure, there is one.  Why, did you want to go 
up there?"  Batman nodded, "Yes, if you don't mind."  Mihoshi suddenly chimed in, "oh!  
You want to go to the roof?  I'll show you, I got up there sometimes too."  She started 
towards the steps.  "Alright," said Batman, a bit reluctantly.  He started towards the stairs 
after her.  He stopped by Ayeka and said, "don't worry, miss, I'm sure Tenchi will bring 
your sister back safely."  She brightened a bit and said, "oh, thank you."

Kiyone decided to follow after her partner and this "Batman" as they headed up the steps.  
She tried to do so subtly after what had happened before, when he had noticed she had 
been listening in on him even though his back was to her.  She still did not completely 
trust Batman, and did not want to risk Mihoshi possibly getting hurt by him.  

_______________________________________________________________________

Seconds later, Mihoshi stopped at a point in the hallway on the second floor of the 
Masaki house and pointed up towards the ceiling.  "See, there's the-," but she stopped 
when Batman continued down the hall.  "That's okay, I see a better way," he said.  He 
climbed into the windowsill at the far end of the hall.  "And tell your partner over there 
that she doesn't have to worry about me."  Mihoshi looked around, not seeing Kiyone.  
At the top of the stairwell, behind the wall where she thought she could not be seen, 
Kiyone muttered, "D'Oh!" with a look of surprise on her face.  

Mihoshi shrugged.  "But how are you going to reach-," she said, following down the hall 
after him.  Then he disappeared from view.  Mihoshi reached the window and looked up 
just in time to see the end of his cape disappearing from view at the roof's edge.

_______________________________________________________________________

Back downstairs, Ayeka still stood by the front door, looking anxiously out into the 
darkness.  The guardians turned towards her.  "Do you wish us to follow after them, 
Princess?" asked Kamidake.  "No," she said, "at least not just yet.  If they are not back 
within the next few minutes, though, then certainly do so."  She suddenly had an idea.  
"Oh, Miss Ryoko, do you think you could maybe fly out to look for them?" she asked, 
turning around and looking up towards the ceiling where Ryoko had gone.  In response, 
all she got was a loud snoring.  "Humph!" Ayeka grunted.  "How can she fall asleep at a 
time like this?"

"Don't worry, Ayeka," said Noboyuki, "I'm sure they'll be fine."  Suddenly his eyes 
widened.  "Hey what's that?" he said, pointing towards the sky out front of the house.  
The others all followed the direction he was pointing in.  "Oh dear," said Katsuhito.  
They could all see a spacecraft approaching the house.  Kiyone and Mihoshi now joined 
the group clustered near the front door, looking up.  

"Is that Ryo-Ohki?" said Noboyuki, confused, "she looks different."  They all looked at 
him for a second, then back towards the sky.  "What?" said Noboyuki, confused (yet 
again).  "This isn't good," said Kiyone.

_______________________________________________________________________

Up on the roof of the Masaki household, Batman paced over towards a spot facing off to 
the rear of the house and crouched down near the edge of the roof.  \\Not the height or 
environment I'm used to//, he thought, \\but it'll do.//  For a moment or two, his thoughts 
were distracted as they drifted back to the people he had met since arriving in this world.  
He sensed that they had some sort of collective "power" to them, one that he could not 
quite explain.  

He quickly brought himself back to the more important situation at hand, though, and 
began working out what he would do when he got back to his own world.  He hoped that 
Washu would be able to send him back so that at least only the equivalent time that had 
passed since he left would have actually passed.  He had only been thinking for a couple 
of minutes when something off to the right caught his attention.

There was some sort of aircraft approaching the front of the house.  It looked like nothing 
he had ever seen before.  "What in." he said, then started moving.  He did not want the 
craft to spot him, so he flipped over the roof's edge.  Holding the edge with his hands, he 
pulled himself around to the side of the house where the window in the second floor 
hallway had been, and swung down through it.

He quietly made his way down the hallway, now hearing several voices coming from 
downstairs, near or just outside of the front door. As he reached the top of the steps, he 
could hear a booming voice, as if it was coming over a loudspeaker, which was both deep 
and yet feminine at the same time.

_______________________________________________________________________
            
"I HAVE TENCHI, SASAMI, AND RYO-OHKI!" boomed the voice of Nagi from her 
ship, the Ken-Ohki, down to those gathered now just out front of the house.  "HAND 
OVER RYOKO AND THEY WILL NOT BE HARMED!" she demanded.  
"OTHERWISE I WILL BE FORCED TO FIRE ON YOU!"

The group gathered in front of the house looked at each other nervously.  "She must have 
drawn Ryo-Ohki out so Ken-Ohki wouldn't have any compunction about attacking us.  
Damn!" said Kiyone.  "We don't have any choice, we must surrender Ryoko," said 
Ayeka.  "Perhaps we should ask Ryoko first," said Katsuhito, "we can't make this 
decision for her."  Kiyone nodded, "I'll go get her."  She looked up towards  Nagi's ship.  
"I'm going to get Ryoko right now!" she yelled up towards Nagi.  "VERY WELL," came 
the reply.

Kiyone walked into the house and over to a spot below where Ryoko was sleeping up by 
the ceiling.  "Hey!" she yelled up at her.  Ryoko did not stir, so Kiyone threw a pillow up 
at her.  Ryoko came to, finally.  "What was that for?" she said angrily.  "Your `pal' Nagi 
is outside," responded Kiyone, "she has Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki captive, and 
won't return them unless you surrender yourself."  Ryoko looked stunned.  "Wha?" was 
all she could manage.  

"WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?" came Nagi's voice from outside.  "Geez, how did I 
sleep through that?" said Ryoko.  "What is your decision?" said Kiyone, "you need to 
make it quick or she might fire at us."  Ryoko looked downcast, and did not reply at first.  
"Well.?" asked Kiyone.  Ryoko floated down from the beam.  "I'll go," she said 
weakly.  "I'm proud of you, Ryoko," said Kiyone, smiling.  "Yeah, whatever," said 
Ryoko, "looks like I'm going to be spending some time in the slammer."  They started 
towards the door.

Batman suddenly spoke up from where he had been standing near the front of the room.  
"I think I can be of help."  Both Kiyone and Ryoko started.  \\I didn't see him standing 
there when I came in//, thought Kiyone.  "If you can trust me, I have a plan.  Because I'm 
not sure we can trust the individual in that spaceship."  Ryoko and Kiyone looked at each 
other, then back at Batman.  "Okay, what is it?" asked Kiyone.  "Well..." began the 
Batman.

_______________________________________________________________________

Outside, the others were wondering what was taking so long also.  They became even 
more concerned when Nagi announced, "IF I DON'T SEE RYOKO OUT HERE IN 
THIRTY SECONDS I WILL OPEN FIRE!"  Mihoshi spoke up, "maybe I should go 
check on them."  No one spoke for a while.  Nagi announced that there were ten seconds 
remaining.  "Miss Ryoko, where are you?" said Ayeka in an agonized voice.  

Just then, they saw Ryoko come out of the house, with Kiyone and the Batman following, 
with a set of GP handcuffs on his wrists and on his lower legs.  "Why is he coming out 
here?  And why does he handcuffs on?" said Ayeka.  Katsuhito suspected why, and 
smiled briefly.  "FINALLY," said Nagi, a bit anxiously, "DO YOU SURRENDER TO 
ME RYOKO?"  Ryoko hung her head low, "Yes," she said with a heavy heart.  Ayeka 
wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or saddened.  "GOOD. NOW STAND STILL AND 
KEN-OHKI WILL BEAM YOU ABOARD.  ONCE I HAVE YOU SAFELY 
RESTRAINED, I WILL RETURN TENCHI, SASAMI, AND RYO-OHKI."

Batman glanced over to Kiyone.  She nodded and spoke towards the ship, "wait, you can 
take this one too!" she called, motioning towards Batman and pulling him up to the front 
of the group.  "WHAT?" responded Nagi.  "This man is a criminal as well, we recently 
caught him but haven't yet transported him back to HQ."  Mihoshi was about to say 
something potentially disastrous, when Katsuhito clamped a hand over her mouth and put 
a finger to his lips.  Mihoshi nodded.  After a pause, Nagi responded, "I DON'T 
RECOGNIZE HIM FROM ANY CRIMINAL DATABASES.  IS THIS SOME SORT 
OF TRICK?"  Kiyone shook her head, "No, no trick.  His name is Chamalkhan, it's on 
the databases, but there was never a clear description.  He's not a very major criminal, he 
ran drugs for big smugglers in the Lupa system, which is near here.  We caught him 
venturing into the Sol system."  Batman did not feel comfortable playing the role of a 
criminal, especially not a drug-dealer, but he knew it was their best hope to get him 
aboard since Nagi did not know him.

Nagi paused again.  Kiyone swallowed nervously.  The others did their best to look calm.  
"YES, THAT STORY CHECKS OUT.  BUT WHY ARE YOU BEING SO 
CHARITABLE, DETECTIVE?"  Kiyone thought quickly and responded, "because I 
detest this scum so much that I can't stand to have him near me any longer.  In fact, feel 
free to torture him if you wish."  Batman glanced at her briefly.  "HEH," laughed Nagi, 
"VERY WELL, DETECTIVE, I ACCEPT." 

"I already cuffed him and took away all of his weapons, unless you count the ridiculous 
outfit," said Kiyone, "now will you agree to return Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki?"  "OF 
COURSE," replied Nagi, "BUT ONLY AFTER I HAVE RYOKO SECURED."  With 
that, Ryoko and Batman were beamed onto the Ken-Ohki.  

_______________________________________________________________________

Ryoko and the Batman materialized on the bridge of the Ken-Ohki.  Ryoko looked over 
towards Nagi, who was clad in her usual bodysuit and blue robe and holding a small 
controller, and scowled.  "I'm here," she said, "now let them go."  She pointed over 
towards a cage that was formed from red energy bars.  Inside were Tenchi, Sasami, and 
Ryo-Ohki, looking worried and somewhat confused.  

Nagi grinned.  "Not until you're safe and secured.  This little device I have controls the 
size of the cage they are in, if I made it smaller."  She pointed towards a device which 
had four parts.  Two were attached to the floor, but the other two appeared to hang in the 
air.  "Put your hands in the top two and your feet in the bottom two," said Nagi.  "And 
you, don't move or I will have no problem finishing you off," she added, looking at 
Batman.  He did not respond.

Ryoko walked over to the device.  Tenchi called out to her, "Ryoko." was all he could 
think to say.  She looked over to him.  "Don't worry, Tenchi.  I'll miss you."  She even 
managed to conjure up a tear.  Tenchi looked about ready to cry himself, and Sasami had 
already started.  Ryoko looked at her and said, "don't do that, kid," filling her voice with 
a mix of sorrow and firmness.  She then placed herself in the device as Nagi had 
instructed.  Her arms went in just past her wrists, and her legs up to a couple of inches 
beyond her ankles.  Cautiously, Nagi pressed a button on each part that activated the 
device.  

"That little beauty will make sure you can't go anywhere, and take away your powers," 
said Nagi.  She looked at Batman.  "I scanned you and found no evidence of 
extraordinary abilities, so I'll just be keeping an eye on you.  I'm almost hoping you will 
try something just so I can kill you.  I detest drug-dealers."  Batman's eyes narrowed 
slightly.  Tenchi and Sasami looked curiously at him, but knew better than to say 
anything.

"Okay, now will you let them go?" said Ryoko.  "I did promise to do so, didn't I?" said 
Nagi, "but. I think I'll keep them for now.  As insurance that none of your friends try to 
follow me."  Ryoko growled at her.  Batman's eyes narrowed further.  Nagi turned back 
to the console she had been using to communicate with those on the ground and told them 
what she had just decided.  She said that she would return them once she had collected 
her bounty on Ryoko and "Chamalkhan".  She turned back to them, and said, "let's go, 
Ken-Ohki."  With that, the ship began to rise into the atmosphere.

_______________________________________________________________________

Back on the ground, the others could only watch helplessly as the ship pulled away.  
Mihoshi sniffled, "poor Ryoko," she said, "I'm really going to miss her."  Katsuhito 
grinned slightly.  "I don't think she's lost to us just yet.  Right, Kiyone."  Kiyone smiled 
and nodded.  "Right.  I wish she would have sent the others back right away, though.  I 
don't know if we can trust her.  Now it's all up to him."  Mihoshi, Ayeka, and Noboyuki 
looked confused.  "What do you mean?" asked Noboyuki.

"Did I miss something?" came a voice from over by the door.  Washu stood in the 
doorway, with a proud smile an her face.  "Yes!  Where were you, Miss Washu?  We 
could have used your help!" snapped Ayeka.  Washu retained her grin.  "Oh, how do you 
know I haven't helped already?"  Kiyone spoke up, "it's true, she was instrumental in 
pulling this off."  

"Does this have anything to do with that Bat-fellow going with them?" asked Noboyuki.  
Kiyone nodded again.  "Washu hacked into Nagi's database and added a file on 
`Chamalkhan'.  It's an Earth-word for `bat'.  He suggested it."  The others began to 
understand.  Kiyone continued, "unfortunately, all we could have him take on board 
without the possibility of Nagi seeing was a lockpick, in his mouth of all places, and a 
few of his boomerang-type weapons."  

They all looked skyward.  "May the spirit of Jurai be with him," said Katsuhito.  

"But that's not all," said Washu suddenly.  "He's also going to need a distraction to pick 
the locks on those cuffs."  The others, except Kiyone, looked confused again.  Washu just 
continued grinning. 

_______________________________________________________________________

The Ken-Ohki was just reaching the upper edge of Earth's atmosphere.  "We'll be 
speeding up soon," said Nagi.  She smiled wickedly at Ryoko.  "I can't believe it's finally 
almost over.  All this time I've tracked you."  Ryoko sneered back at her.  "I can't believe 
you would stoop so low, Nagi.  Kidnapping a child."  Nagi merely shook her head.  "I 
recently decided, Ryoko, that I was going to catch you no matter what the cost.  I would 
have killed them, and your friends, without a second thought if that's what it would have 
taken to finally get you."

Batman's eyes narrowed even further than they had been before as he heard this.  A 
warning light went off on the spherical console in the center.  She turned towards it, 
placing the remote controller of the energy cage atop another of the globe-shaped 
consoles.  "What?" she said, surprised.  "An asteroid belt?  And a big one from the looks 
of it.  I don't remember seeing any readings on nearby asteroids."  She sounded 
somewhat frustrated.  "Ken-Ohki!" she called out to the ship, "can you handle this?"  The 
ship responded with a meow sound.  "Don't worry, I'll help you if I have to."

She turned back to her captives, and was shocked.  There stood the Batman, only a few 
feet behind her and no longer handcuffed or leg-cuffed.  She hadn't even heard him 
move.  "You!" she exclaimed.  She grabbed for the controller for the energy-cage, only to 
find it missing.  "Looking for this?" he said, bringing one of his arms out from his cape to 
show her that he held the controller.  She gritted her teeth.  "By the way, I don't think you 
have to worry about the asteroid belt anymore."  Nagi nodded, and actually smiled.  
"Washu's work, I presume.  I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing, 
but you just made a big mistake," she said, drawing out her primary weapon, the energy-
whip, and throwing off her robe.

They both dropped into a fighting stance and slowly circled each other.  Nagi's energy-
whip flared to life.  \\Won't be able to block that//, thought the Batman.  He was already 
at a disadvantage.  The others hadn't had time to brief him on the extent of Nagi's 
weaponry.  He knew that she would be able to keep him at a distance now.  Plus, he had 
to hang on to the controller.  Ryoko, Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki looked on anxiously.  
He would have freed Ryoko, but the priority was to get the cage controller and make sure 
the other three would be safe.    

Nagi went on the offensive, then, slashing at him with energy-whip in such a skillful 
manner that the Dark Knight was barely able to avoid the weapon.  She would send it at 
him one way, then pull it towards him again in a follow-up attempt as he was trying to 
dodge the first one.  "You're pretty good," she commented, "I'm guessing the record I 
read about you was false as well."  Batman used this brief pause to grab the four 
Batarangs he had been able to hide within hidden pockets in his cape.  Nagi was 
temporarily surprised by the appearance of his weaponry.  He flung all of them in her 
direction, but she dodged them with only moderate effort.

"I think you need to work on your aim," she said, and lunged in at him.  He dodged 
again, and was able to grab hold of the whip-handle that she was holding.  Before he 
could tear it from her grasp, she thrust a knee into his chest.  He was able to move back 
and avoid some of the impact, but not all of it.  He did not let go of the handle, however, 
and kicked his leg up into the shoulder joint of the arm that was holding the weapon.  He 
was then able to pull it from her grasp, and he threw it several feet away.

Nagi growled and pressed a button on her belt, then, and Batman was struck by a 
seemingly invisible force, which threw him a full forty feet and into the wall.  He struck 
it hard, taking the impact mostly on the back of his head and shoulders, and slid down.  
He managed to hold onto the controller, however.  "Something new I picked up," said 
Nagi, who then leaped almost the entire distance over to where Batman was.  In mid-air 
she drew out and activated her energy-sword.  She landed in front of him and walked 
forward, holding it out.  "I still don't know who you are, but since you're no longer worth 
anything to me," she said, "goodbye."  

Just before she could make the fatal swing, Ryoko materialized next to the Batman.  Nagi 
was so surprised that she paused briefly enough for Ryoko to smile and teleport herself 
and Batman away.  Nagi turned in time to see them appear about fifty feet away, between 
the device that had held Ryoko and the energy-cage that still held her other three 
captives.  She looked towards the restraint device, and a Batarang was embedded in the 
directly in the control button on each part.  Nagi cursed to herself.

"Thanks," said Batman to Ryoko.  She shrugged.  "Well, you did risk your own butt to 
help me out," she said.  Batman handed her the controller, noticing that Nagi was now 
charging them.  "I hope you can understand this thing.  I'll keep her occupied."  Ryoko 
nodded, took the controller, started off towards the cage.  Her power was not back to full 
yet.  Seeing this, Nagi decided to pursue her.  Batman quickly grabbed one of his 
Batarangs from where it was embedded in the restraint device and intercepted Nagi.  She 
swung the energy-sword at him, but he ducked and hooked the Batarang in her belt, 
quickly using the sharp edge to tear the belt and rip it away from her as he dodged 
another sword slash.  Nagi cursed again.

Meanwhile, Ryoko stood in front of the energy-cage.  Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki 
looked hopefully at her.  She looked at the controller for a moment, then said, "hmmm. 
I think it's this one."  She pushed one of the buttons.  They cringed, hoping she hadn't 
pressed the wrong one.  The red energy bars dissipated, however, much to their relief.

About twenty feet away, Batman and Nagi continued their battle.  Nagi ducked a Batman 
roundhouse kick and took another slash with her sword.  He managed to leap back in 
time, and coming out of his backflip launched the Batarang he was still holding at her.  
She sliced it in two with the sword, and lunged towards him again.  He sidestepped, and 
brought his elbow up to strike her in the head, but she blocked with her free arm.  As she 
made a wide swing with the sword, Batman gripped the arm she had used to block him 
and used it to spring up and over her head.  When she whirled around to face him, he 
caught her with a backhand punch, stepping inside her sword arm.  She staggered back a 
bit, but continued coming at him.

Nagi barely dodged the incoming energy blast.  She had just seen it coming from the 
corner of her eye, but the concussive force it created as it struck the floor near knocked 
her for a loop and she landed badly.  Apparently, Ryoko's powers had recovered more 
significantly.  As she got back to her feet, her sword was abruptly kicked out of her hand 
by Batman.  It slid across the floor.  Before Nagi could go for it, Ryoko teleported to it 
and grabbed it, then teleported to her energy-whip and retrieved that as well.  Nagi cursed 
for the third time.

Batman suddenly spoke to her, "I take it you believe yourself to be on the side of the law.  
So do I.  I know that I am technically breaking the law through my actions, but I would 
never endanger innocent lives to catch a criminal."  Nagi stared at him angrily.  "If you're 
on the side of the law," she said, "then how can you help someone like her?" 

"This is not my world.  I cannot claim to pass judgement on anyone here.  I do know, 
however, that even if Ryoko is a criminal, she did a noble thing.  Although I have only 
known her and her friends a very short time, I have already seen her display a willingness 
to give of her own freedom, perhaps her life, for the lives of people she obviously cares 
about.  You, on the other hand, seem to have little regard for life."              

Nagi lowered her head, realizing she was defeated.  "Fine," she said, "I will allow you to 
go."  She looked over towards Ryoko, where she and the others had been looking on.  
"But Ryoko. this is not over."  Ryoko nodded.  "Anytime you want to settle this, just 
don't drag my friends into our rivalry anymore."  Nagi did not respond.  Instead, she 
began walking back towards the control consoles. 

"Ryo-Ohki?" said Ryoko.  The cabbit meowed and disappeared in a streak of light.  
Outside the ship, Ryo-Ohki's ship-form appeared.  Nagi picked up her robe and put it 
back on.  She looked back over her shoulder at Batman just before he and the others 
disappeared from the bridge of the Ken-Ohki.

_______________________________________________________________________

The four of them reappeared on Ryo-Ohki's bridge.  Ryoko moved to the controls.  
"Interesting," remarked Batman.  "I assume, from it's similar appearance, that Nagi's 
ship can also take the form of one of those small creatures."   Sasami looked up at him, 
"yep," she said, "and we don't have to worry about Nagi making Ken-Ohki, which is her 
ship's name, shoot at us as long as we're on board Ryo-Ohki."  Batman raised an 
eyebrow.  "And why is that?" he asked.  "Because Ken-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki like each 
other," answered Sasami.  "I see," said Batman.

Ryoko walked back over to them and gripped Tenchi in a fierce hug.  "Oh Tenchi I'm so 
glad you're safe darling," she said, oozing affection.  "Urk," was all he could manage as 
she nearly crushed the life out of him.  She released him and said to them, "Ryo-Ohki's 
taking us back home.  We didn't get very far anyway, so we should be back home in less 
than an hour."

Ryoko was then surprise-hugged by Sasami.  "Ryoko I'm so glad you're not going to be 
taken away from us," she said.  "Hey, now," said Ryoko, "I could've gotten away from 
that dumb bounty hunter anyway eventually."  Sasami looked at her doubtfully.  "Well, 
maybe not," Ryoko admitted.  Sasami then looked over to Batman.  "Thank you too," she 
said.  Batman nodded to her.

Tenchi then spoke to him.  "I'd like to say thank you, too.  You hardly know us and yet 
you were willing to get yourself mixed up in this whole thing when you might have lost 
your own life."  Batman merely half-smiled and said, "it's what I do."  The others smiled.

Ryo-Ohki sped on towards Earth.

_______________________________________________________________________

On board the Ken-Ohki, which was speeding in the opposite direction, Nagi was deep in 
thought, staring out into space.  \\Perhaps he was right//, she thought, \\maybe I have let 
my obsession with capturing Ryoko cause me to stray too far from my mission?//  It was 
a question she would ponder for a long time, for she was not used to questioning herself 
in such a manner.  But it would not be the last time that she would pursue Ryoko, her 
long-time rival, that much was for sure.  

_______________________________________________________________________

Not far away from this whole scene, another, much larger, spacecraft hovered.  It was 
cloaked from virtually all forms of detection.  The second greatest scientist in the 
universe had built it, meaning there was only one other who might have been able to 
detect it when it was cloaked, and even then she would first have to be looking.

The ship had no crew, for it's creator, Dr. Clay, who now stood on it's bridge, had 
designed it not to have need of any.  He was not alone on the bridge, however.

"For a moment I thought we were going to have to make our move ahead of schedule," 
said Clay to the other man on the bridge, whose face was hidden in shadow.  Clay 
continued, "that bounty hunter almost ruined everything." 

"True," said the other man, "but their encounter with her will leave them even less 
prepared for our attack."  Dr. Clay nodded.  "Very true," he said, and grinned.

"I knew all along," said the man, stepping forward from the shadows, "that the Detective 
would be able to handle the situation."  It was Ra's al Ghul.  "I did once choose him to be 
my successor, after all." 

He continued, "once they are on the ground, we will begin our attack."

End Part Three


Author's notes/ramblings:  

After looking back at Part Two of this crazy story, I was a bit disappointed with myself.  I 
did not, in my own opinion, spend enough time on it.  The story was a bit too rushed, and 
I hope it did not cause any readers who have chosen to follow this little story to lose 
interest.  It's not all that bad, of course, and in terms of plot development and probably 
even quality as well I'd bet it beats out the first part.  Anyway, I had decided not to hurry 
this latest installment too much, and to go over it diligently until I am thoroughly satisfied 
with it.  It feels good, though, to finally have it done with.  For a while I was not sure 
exactly how to proceed with this part of the story, though I had a general idea of what I 
wanted to include.  Finally I just sat down and started typing away.     

I made a considerable effort to give all the characters some attention in this one, and I 
think that added to its length significantly.  I apologize if your favorite character was not 
involved as much as you would have liked.  I know Washu was hardly involved in this 
part at all, but she was in on most of Part Two.  One thing I am going to work on is taking 
the majority of the focus away from Batman.  Of course, he will play a dominant role in a 
significant portion of the final part of the story, but I'll try to give everybody else a turn 
too.  Believe me, although I am a greater fan of Batman than I am of Tenchi 
Universe/Muyo/In Tokyo, these are all great characters and I want to make sure they all 
get good treatment in the story.

For those that are not familiar with Ra's al Ghul, let me simply say that any experienced 
and intelligent fan of the Batman mythos knows that this man is without a doubt the most 
dangerous enemy Batman has yet faced.  He controls an international terrorist 
organization called the Society of Shadows.  As Batman explained near the end of Part 
Two, his goal has become that of wiping out the majority of the human race in order to 
save the Earth from the destructive effects of human presence.  On top of that, he has 
lived for approximately 700 to 800 years (maybe even longer); using a pool of chemicals 
called the Lazarus Pit to keep himself alive.  There are two other important individuals 
from the DC Universe with him in this story, but I don't want to give them away just yet.  
One of them only allied himself with Ra's for a time in the comic books.  Even though I 
wanted to have the animated version of Batman present here, the comic book world 
managed to seep in, if just in that minor detail.

I also acknowledge that with Dr, Clay's (who I assume most Tenchi fans are familiar 
with) inclusion, I am venturing out of just the Tenchi Universe continuity, but if he could 
be in one version then why not another.  Actually, the fact that he never appeared in 
Tenchi Universe is key to his assistant's appearance in the coming battle as well. 


What's coming:

Well, we know now whom the major villain players are, and they're about to make their 
move.  Why have these two villains joined forces?  Their attack upon our heroic 
characters will consume most of Part Four of this tale.  Will they be able to survive the 
villains' onslaught?  The odds are definitely against them in the penultimate chapter of 
Light Hawk, Dark Knight, which I hope to have completed and submitted just before 
summer officially arrives (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), meaning around mid- to 
late-May.

Update - well, I wanted to get it submitted before summer (and if I had it would probably 
already be posted by now), but it didn't work out that way.  I apologize profusely.  Now 
that I'm back at school and using my own computer again I read over the story again, 
adding things here, subtracting things there, and making other adjustments.  I hope the 
(finally) finished project was worth the wait.  

Once again, send comments, criticisms to mcw2879@students.ssu.edu