Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Tenchi Muyo characters or anything of that nature. Tenchi Muyo, all characters and names are the sole property of AIC and Pioneer. AD&D and Phyrexia are properties of TSR and Wizards of the Coast, respectively. I only claim ownership of the characters Kalog Planesmaster, the Beastmaster and the Nameless one. Please don't sue. I have no money whatsoever to protect myself with or to pay out. Anyway, on with the story...... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No need for New Realms : Ch.8 Rise of the dark god.. Ryoko, Tenchi and Ayeka tumbled out of the black portal onto a field of grass. Grass made of green tinted steel that scraped their armor stretched from horizon to horizon in vast fields. Only great smoke-stacks, billowing forth great clouds of smoke into a maze of pipes that made up the sky, broke up the red horizon. And it was hot.beastly hot. "Where the hell is this place?" Ryoko asked in awe, getting to her feet. Ayeka, barley able to move at all now, smiled as she saw the landscape around her. "We..are.in..Phyyyrexxiaaaa.."she hissed, "and you..are.finissshhhed..." Then, as her words faded, she was seized with a fit of trembling. Her tortured muscles and strained body convulsed once..twice.and then lay still. Oil ceased to gush from her horrendous wound, and a thin trail of acid ran down her cheek, hissing on the dark soil. "She's gone..." Tenchi whispered, looking at the still form. "She's really gone.." "Ayeka.." Ryoko said, bowing her head. "Rest in peace." A screech boomed across the vast plains, echoing off the pipes in the sky/ceiling. A screech so strong and terrible that the ground shook. Startled, the two armored warriors looked around for its source. Nothing met their gaze that could have produced such a din. "We better leave Tenchi. That didn't sound good.." Ryoko said, taking his arm. "What about Ayeka? We shouldn't just leave her body here like..." he started to protest. "Dammit Tenchi, we don't have the time or capacity to carry her back!" She snapped, the weight of all the events that they had gone through coming down on her in a rush. "As she is, she'll probably spill out on the ground if we move her. Now lets get going before the portal.." Above them, the shimmering disk that had dumped them in this hellscape flickered like a broken tv and then blinked out, leaving empty air in it's place. ".collapses." Ryoko groaned. The screech thundered out across the plains again, this time closer. But they couldn't see anything that could be making it. Nothing was in sight, and that worried them greatly. "Let's get away from here." Tenchi said. " I don't think we should stay here." "Right." Putting her arm around him, Ryoko lifted them both into the air, away from the field and from the shattered body of what was once a cherished member of their family. The screech came once more, this time frighteningly close. Like it was below them... Ryoko looked down. They were nearly half a mile up, and the pipes of the ceiling were looming larger, but the ground was undulating in a sickening fashion, like something was beneath it, trying to get out. And out that something came, it's entrance as incredible as it's size. The metal ground exploded in a shower of metal plates and geysers of oil in an area they estimated to be nearly two miles square. A great, rounded bulk rose from the rent in Phyrexia and towered into the air. Its bronze faceplate, covered in a gigantic arcane symbol, was level with the two flying figures, now nearly a mile above the ground. It screeched from an unseen vocal organ, the shockwave from the titan knocking the flight balance of the pair horribly out of whack. It took all the strength Ryoko could muster to hold them up. The Phyrexian titan had spied its quarry, and unlimbered its weapons to attack. Hundreds of thin, black tentacles fell from its jagged flanks, each tipped with three massive scythe-like blades. Two great arms, each larger than airliners and tipped with claws longer than telephone poles, rose to swat the intruders down. Ryoko phased away from the first arm as it descended, it's great mass making it seem to come down with agonizing slowness. The wind from it's passage battered them as they phased in several hundred feet away. Seeing it's targets again, the beast struck, this time with it's myriad of tentacles. Whipping out with a speed and reach that was unnatural, as everything was in this plane of darkness, they sought to extinguish the life of Ryoko and Tenchi. But Ryoko teleported them away from the death trap once more. Claws snapped on empty air and fell away as their momentum was spent and their limits reached. Howling in rage, the beast twisted about, searching for it's prey. It could not find it anywhere. In frustration, it began to walk in large, ever increasing circles, rage boiling in it's flesh brain. "I don't think it will look up here for a while." Ryoko grunted, setting them down on the armored back of the titan. Their view shifted uneasily as the great war machine turned around, still looking. For something so big to move was a terrible marvel, and knowing it moved to kill them made the two very frightful. "What should we do?" Tenchi asked, his fear very apparent. "Well, we can't seem to get away from it without it noticing.." Ryoko reasoned, "so maybe we should attack it." "Attack it?" Tenchi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you nuts? This thing is huge!" "Souja was huge, and you attacked it." Ryoko pointed out. "No, I attacked Kagato, who was IN Souja, not Souja itself." He countered. "Well, I attacked Souja, and even though it was suicidal, I still did it, and it worked." She retorted, angry at his sudden loss of heart. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he said, suddenly ashamed of himself. "Well then, how are we going to go about attacking this thing?" "I figured on doing something like this.." Ryoko said, forming her energy sword, set it a stabbing grip. Drawing the weapon high over her head, she plunged it into the back of the monster with all the force she could. The metal plates gave readily to the weapon, and Ryoko forced it in down to the hilt. "Now, we go deeper.." She said, forcing more of her energy into it. The sword flared and plunged down into the beast, growing longer and longer with each second. The beast felt the hot blade penetrating it's hide, and it roared in irritation, for though the blade was very long, it was but a hot needle to the titan. "I don't think this is doing enough, Ryoko.." Tenchi said, worried at the way the beast was acting. It's circling had stopped, and now he could see the bladed tentacles rising all around the, snapping hungrily. "Damn, this thing is one tough son of a bitch.." Ryoko cursed, dissolving her blade. "Yeah, and I think it's found us." The mass of tentacles struck as one. With so many converging on one place so quickly, they had nowhere to go. The blades swept them from the back of the monster with such force as to send them flying away from it's great bulk, in separate directions. Looking down, Tenchi could see the ground rushing closer. He couldn't see Ryoko anywhere, and the Tenchi-ken was gone. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end. But it didn't come. As the dark ground rushed up to meet him, a barrier of energy threw itself between him and it, blasting the ground with such force as to cause an explosion. The beast watched the spectacle with macabre joy. A joy that lasted for about as long as the dark smoke hung around the impact site. When it cleared minutes later, Tenchi stood there unharmed, his armor a dazzling white, with two swirling white ribbons flowing from his shoulders. In his hand was a flaming white sword. The beast didn't know what had occurred that allowed Tenchi to survive, but it knew that suddenly a lot of energy was concentrated in one place, and that the energy had all the markings of hostile magic. Shouting a defiant warcry, Tenchi bounded across the field, his abilities augmented by the power of the Light Hawk. The behemoth's tentacles slashed out at him, attempting to stop his hopeless advance, but as they came near, he flung his blazing sword at them. The weapon instantly turned into a curved ray of blue light that sought out its targets with a vengeance. Black limbs were severed by the dozen and fell to the metal grass to writhe and spurt oil in great gouts. And Tenchi wouldn't stop there. The weapon back in his hand, he sprang towards the humungous legs of the monster, aiming for a backwards bending knee. The vast bulk of the beast was now an asset as Tenchi sped towards it. Unable to move fast enough, it took Tenchi's flaming blade full force. The cut was shallow, for how big the machine was, but the oil that gushed out instantly ignited under the influence of the Light Hawk, and within seconds, the whole knee joint was engulfed in flames. Screeching, the beast tried to put the blaze out, with little effect. Fire rushed down its leg, burning wherever oil had splattered. Even the ground was starting to burn, the vast quantities of oil spilled earlier becoming a great fuel source. Yet the monster still would not topple. Flailing around, it swiped at Tenchi with so many clawed tentacles that he wasn't sure he would be able to avoid them. He ducked his head behind his arms and braced for the bone shattering impact. The screech of metal tearing and the absence of the blow made him look up from his protective midair stance. The horde of tentacles that had been bearing down on him was now falling to earth, more oil gushing out, stoking the flames to greater heights. His benefactor hovered a few feet in front of him. Clad in dazzling white, the figure had wings of shimmering power that shone like a thousand stars. As the figure turned around, he recognized it instantly. "Ryoko!" "In the flesh, my love." "You.you.can make the Light Hawk Wings!" He said, amazed at the sight before him. "It seems that I can." she said with a detached amusement. "Now, lets waste this bastard." "You got it, Ryoko!" He replied, encouraged by the new turn of events. Both warriors turned to face the flaming monster before them. Grim, determined smiles played across their faces, and they began to gather their energies. The behemoth was utterly confounded. The power it was sensing was greater that anything it had felt in any one place before, and it was experiencing the closest emotion it had to worry. But it met worry with the only thing it knew how to meet things with: it's fury. Tenchi and Ryoko blazed like two white comets, cutting through the dark Phyrexian sky with awesome power and speed. They moved so fast that the behemoth could barely keep up with it's weapons. Great rents began to mark it's sides as the two Light Hawk warriors slashed into it's armored flanks. Flaming oil covered the dying monster now. It shrieked in an agony more terrible than it could possibly endure. It flailed wildly as it was engulfed, the pain suffusing it's every nerve. Tenchi and Ryoko met in front of the blazing titan. It was now a towering inferno in a sea of hell fire. But it wasn't dead yet. "Tenchi, lets show him one of the great powers of the Light Hawk!" With a grin, Tenchi remembered what she was referring to. Tenchi faced the beast at its eye level, Ryoko hovering behind him, with her hands on his shoulders. In front of them, six Light Hawk blades formed, making a hexagonal pattern in the air. With a flash of lightning, they doubled and rotated, forming a cone of pure white energy, with the tip hovering inches from Tenchi's chest. The white cone pulsed with energy, black lightning coursing along it's sharply defined edges. The bolts met at the middle of the wide part of the cone, throwing out red sparks as they met. The sparks swirled, rotating around the point where the lightning met. "Now!" Ryoko yelled, the thrill of victory on her lips. Holding his hands out, both pointed at the flaming beast before them, Tenchi yelled a single word, one remembered from his attack on Souja: GO! The ball of energy, black at it's core and ringed in blood red phosphorescence, blasted out with the eagerness of a wolfhound chasing a rabbit. The ball ate through the sky, flashing across nearly a mile in under three seconds. The beast had no idea what hit it. The ball of Light Hawk energy struck it in the center of the glyph that it used to see, burning straight through to the core. Seconds later, the titan engine exploded as the energy within the ball was released. Every part, every bolt, every gear separated and was blasted to powder in the Light Hawk's fury. The blast was easily equal a medium sized atomic explosion. A blinding red light washed over the two warriors, heat and debris carried along immediately after it. Their Wings protected them, forming a spherical barrier around, shielding them from the fury that now shook the Phyrexian locality. Yet as the blast began the process of dying down, both Tenchi and Ryoko could sense a change in the whole feel of things. Nothing they could put their finger on, but something was definitely amiss. Something very major, by the feel of it... Tenchi noticed the attack a few brief seconds before it struck. The brilliant light of the dying explosion was suddenly blotted out by an oily mass of darkness that slammed into and completely enveloped the sphere of Light Hawk energy. The awful blackness rushed around them with all the force of the explosion and howled with terrible wailing of tortured spirits. At the very instant the blackness touched the shield, a fierce duel of conflicting energy began. Bright red sparks jumped and sputtered as the energies of the Light Hawk reacted to the energy of pure darkness. The Light Hawk Wings were burning away a great deal of the onrushing darkness, but the darkness ate away at the Wings with equal power. "Ryoko, we've got to get out of here!" Tenchi yelled. The attack had barely lasted a minute, but already Tenchi could sense a massive drain of his power. And to make matters worse, the shield that held the darkness at bay was flickering dangerously. "I'm trying.." She growled through clenched teeth. "I can't sense anything through this junk!" With agonizing slowness, they began to move. The sphere was now only a thin mist between them and the black energies outside. The howling grew louder, threatening to bodily tear their sanity from their minds and hurl them into the depths of utter madness. "We're not gonna make it!" Ryoko shouted, turning to face him. "The Light Hawk Wings can't take any more!" "We have to make it! It can't be much further than.." He was interrupted by Ryoko putting her arms around him. In an embrace that was too loving, too gentle for the current situation, she whispered softly to him. "I always dreamed of raising a family with you, Tenchi." Ryoko said, holding him tight. The sphere began to shrink around them as more power was expended on holding back the darkness. "But it looks like we won't have the chance.." "Ryoko.." He put his arms around her, tears running down his cheeks. "I'm sorry." She shook her head. "Don't be." Tenchi suddenly felt a searing heat on his back, right where Ryoko's hands held him. The pain cut into him like a knife, but in all the madness that surrounded them, it was his link to sanity and it felt good compared to the alternative. "Ryoko, what are you.." "It won't get us Tenchi. I'll make sure of that." She said softly. "Good bye, my love." "Good bye, Ryoko.." He squeezed her tightly. At that moment, the shield collapsed utterly. Darkness and light exploded in Tenchi's mind, and searing heat washed over him. Time seemed to stretch forever as the heat blasted him, the howling drown out by an overpowering silence. Then, as suddenly as it had formed in his mind, the universe fell into a well of darkness with no bottom. Deep within the bowels of the Phyrexian fortress, a shadow fell across the shimmering surface of a massive formation of crystal. Within the crystal lay the lifeless forms of Washu and Mihoshi, encased by magic to protect them in their eternal rest. The shadow deepened, and with a tiny pop, a crack appeared in the crystal. A black claw extended from the darkness, touching the miniscule fracture. Blue energy danced at the touch and the crack began to expand, running rapidly through the intricate crystalwork. Then, with a silent explosion of light and the tinkle of falling crystal, the protective spell fell away, vanishing into the netherworld it had sprang from. As silently as a thought, the black shadow fell across the two dead figures, a set of black tentacles snaking out of it's darkness to seize them. The sky was so beautiful, it's glorious blue expanse broken only by the wisps of cloud that drifted lazily in the wind. Wind as light as breath drifted across meadows of soft pink flowers, brushing the delicate petals and leaves against his face. He couldn't remember where he had seen this place before, but it gave him peace of mind, and comfort of body. Nowhere else in all the world did he want to be than in this place right now. "Tennn-chi." The familiar, feminine voice carried gently on the back of the fragrant breeze. He sat up, for he felt a stirring deep inside him at the sound of the voice, yet he couldn't place who the voice belonged to. "You don't remember, do you?" Startled, he stood and turned. Before him stood a woman about as tall as he was, with long, black hair that hung down to the middle of her back and light red eyes. She wore only a simple robe of the purest white color, yet the very sight of her made his heart leap. "Who are you?" "A.guide, we shall say." the woman told him, smiling slightly. "Come, I have something to show you.." Taking his arm, the woman led him across the vast field of flowers. He felt that he should know her, that he should know where he was, yet the supposed memories swirled away like smoke in the wind. "Where are we going?" he asked, for his curiosity was becoming great. They had walked for a great while, and nothing that hinted at a destination was in sight. "A special place. One that is important for you to see.." The woman told him, not breaking stride or turning to face him. He walked on in silence, stealing glances at the woman every few minutes. She was so familiar, hauntingly so, yet he dared not ask who she was, for something in his mind told him that he should wait and see whatever it was this woman was to show him. He did not have to wait much longer. Cresting a hill of deep pink flowers, he saw what obviously must have been their destination. It was nestled in a large, circular depression formed by several gently rolling hills, but oddly enough, there were no flowers anywhere within the depression. However, that was not the most striking feature of the scene. At the very bottom of the grassy pit, a single column of black rock rose several meters into the air, dimly reflecting the warm sunlight from it's polished surface. "Is that.." "That is your destination." The woman told him, turning to face him. "Now, go. You must go the rest of the way on your own.." He nodded in acknowledgment, even though he did not wish to leave her side. Looking into her eyes for what he felt would be the last time, he turned away and began to walk towards the dark stone. Every step seemed like a mile, the stone a foreboding figure in the otherwise beautiful landscape, but he felt that what he was doing was necessary. The spire was larger than it appeared from the hilltop. The black stone was easily twenty or so feet in height, and made of the purest black rock. Not a chip or crack marred it's glass-smooth surface, and no shadow was cast from it's unadorned sides. Just the warm, soothing feeling of power and antiquity radiated from it's enshrouded core, beckoning him to come closer, to feel the power for his own. He turned to face the woman one last time before proceeding. But she no longer stood atop the flower crowned hilltop. She was gone, only the wind and the gentle swaying of flowers remaining. Nothing to stop hold him back now, he turned to face the column again. The black surface called more urgently to him now, screaming silently for his touch. He closed his eyes, reached out with his right hand, and obeyed. It was like the bursting of a dam. The memories and thoughts flooded into his mind in an awesome and unchecked tumult. He suddenly remembered, suddenly knew everything. He was Tenchi Masaki, a boy who lived in Japan, on earth. He remembered the fields from a picnic that he had gone on with his mother in his boyhood. His mother... The identity of the woman hit him with the force of a falling boulder. She was his mother, dead for many years now, yet she had strode next to him.spoken to him, not more than five minutes ago. The memories of his mother flashed past him, being replaced with other scenes from his life. He saw the shrine, the cave, and he saw his life as it ran alongside the ancient rock. Then came the memories of how he had met the girls. He watched through a dreamy mist the chase through his school, the fall through the atmosphere, and the beast at the onsen. Souja loomed large in his mind, and the fires of combat stung his brain. Gasping for lack of breath, he withdrew his hand from the black spire. His breathing and his heart raced alarmingly for several seconds, the sudden reacquisition of his past a jolting experience. But as his breathing and heart rate slowed to more comfortable levels, Tenchi became aware of a change in the landscape. The flowers no longer bloomed on the hills, the sky was no longer blue, the wind no longer gentle. Everything was dead and decaying, the wind howling it's lament. "You will be leaving now, won't you, Lord Tenchi?" the voice he had heard earlier asked him. Startled, he looked around. No living being was in sight. Yet the voice that had asked the question was immediately familiar to him, the fond, and not so find, memories of it's owner springing to his mind. "Ayeka. is that you?" he asked, the thought of meeting her here sending waves of dread through him. He had no weapon with which to protect himself from her horrid metal claws. Yet no metal monstrosity made itself seen. Instead, the lovely young woman stepped from behind the pillar of glass-like stone, clad in a shimmering silver robe. Not a single piece of Phyrexian artifice disrupted her fair features. "Tenchi.." She said softly, her eyes meeting his. Looking into them, he could see the sad emptiness of one who has seen too much, seen things not meant to be seen. "Ayeka. I thought I would never see you again." "And feared likewise, Lord Tenchi.." She said, walking slowly towards him. The distance between them was not great, and within a few strides, she was only a foot in front of him. However, instead of stopping, she held her arms out and hugged Tenchi, drawing the two of them into a tight embrace. Tenchi was taken off guard by the unexpected action of the Jurian princess and just stood there for several seconds as she held him, the slight trembling of sobs starting to run through her body. Pity overcoming his slight unease, he returned her embrace in an effort to comfort her. Despite the gesture, Ayeka began to cry almost uncontrollably. "Oh, Tenchi!" she wailed between sobs. "What have I done? I'm so sorry!" Again, he was in unfamiliar territory. All he could do was hold her and let herself cry. She needed it, he thought, given all that she had gone through. But her crying touched him deeply, and as he held the sobbing princess to him, he made a very solemn vow to himself, one that told him to make the beasts pay for what they had done. Presently, Ayeka began to regain control of herself. The sobs became more infrequent, and she started to reacquire the great self-control that he had known her for. Wiping her eyes with the end of her sleeve, she raised her head and looked at him, tears still wavering at the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Lord Tenchi. I've done.terrible things, and I know I cannot be forgiven for them." "Now, Miss Ayeka, I don't..." "No. Please hear me out, Lord Tenchi." Immediately, the excuse meant to throw blame from her to some other agency died on his lips. Very rarely did Ayeka speak with such an air of finality, and he felt that he had better listen. "What I have done cannot be forgiven, but I feel that I must try to help you in some way to avenge those of us who have fallen.." Reaching up to her forehead, Ayeka pulled off the elegant headpiece that gave her control of her royal space tree. It seemed to glow slightly, a pale white glow shedding from its beige surface. "You must go back, Lord Tenchi. Go back and stop those fiends. I have seen what they are planning, when my mind was part of theirs." She paled slightly as the memory came back to her. "They want to enslave our universe and make it in Phyrexia's image. Please, Lord Tenchi, prevent them from doing this.." For a few seconds, she seemed to be on the verge of another wave of sadness and horror, but this time she brought herself up short. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "I know what you are facing, Lord Tenchi, and I regret that I will not be at your side to see you defeat it, but please take this, so that I may rest in the knowledge that I helped to stop that plague from spreading." Gently, with both hands, she turned the glowing headpiece over and around, giving it one last look over before she continued. The glow seemed to spread to her hands as she set the item on Tenchi's brow, and Tenchi felt a sense of coolness spread through him as it settled. Yet what Ayeka had said, about not coming back, had disturbed him to the point that he didn't notice. The revelation was more than he needed right then. "What do you mean you're not coming back?" he asked incredulously. "Though it pains me to say and accept this, Death has claimed me for his own, Lord Tenchi. My presence here is only temporary, and once you return, I will exist no more. Now hush. I must finish the transfer.." "Why can't you come back? I will be, it seems, so why can't you?" he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I could give you a great many reasons, Lord Tenchi, but I am not here to tell you them. My time is limited, and I'm sure it will be made clear to you soon." The headpiece seemed to pulse with a life of it's own, and Tenchi could feel a change coming over it. The beige device felt like it was flowing onto the subtle curved of his brow, and it's spirit seemed to melt in with his own, bonding itself with him as completely as it had once done with Ayeka. The glowing ceased, and Ayeka smiled at her handiwork. The headpiece had reshaped itself to fit Tenchi, and was now in a slightly different design, a rougher, more masculine one. The elegant headpiece was now officially Tenchi's and with it, the space tree Ryu-oh. "It is done, Lord Tenchi. Use it well." "I promise you, Miss Ayeka, I pro." She knew that he would, deep down she knew, and she didn't need to hear him say so. But she despaired in knowing that this was the last time she would see him, and felt that it was time to show him that she trusted him, with no shadows of doubt to cloud her mind. Pulling his head to hers, she kissed him deeply, all the love she had known for him going into it. Once again, Ayeka had caught him off guard. But this time, he didn't feel as uneasy as before. This was the last time he would see her, he thought, and it was only fair to give her this much, at least. With the love he knew for her, he responded to her kiss with his own, and for what seemed like an eternity, they remained thusly locked. Ayeka, the one who had initiated the kiss, was also the one to break it. Despite the fact it was her first and only one with Tenchi, she knew that he had a job to do, and as hard as it was, she had to let him do it. "I detain you from your duty, Lord Tenchi." She said, backing up a step. "Go now, and avenge Washu and Mihoshi. Break the seal that holds you here, and save Ryoko from their fate." Though he longed to bring her back with him, or at least to stay for a little while longer, he knew what had to be done. Turning away from her, he walked towards the black spire. It no longer seemed to possess the energy that once flowed through it's dark surface, and not a bit of light shone from it's glassy surface. It too, was a dead object, like the remains of flowers that covered the barren fields. Ryoko needed him, and the thought of his beloved in the clutches of the Phyrexians sent the boiling heat of anger through him. Nothing would stand in his way of Ryoko. Not the spire, not Phyrexia, not even the might of every god in all of the multiverse. His fist became enshrouded in a fierce white fire, one that held all the power of his emotion. Holding his hand flat, he focused more on the flames, the anger. The wild, untamed blaze collapsed, forming a sphere of perfect whiteness inches above his hand. The ball of light lit up the pit, and even shone on the undersides of the distant clouds. "Be brave, Lord Tenchi!" Ayeka called to him, sadness creeping into her voice. " Have a long, happy life with Ryoko. I wish you both well!" He held his palm parallel to his chest, and pointed it at the now dead spire. He had seen Ryoko do things like this before, and now that he was actually doing it, the process seemed natural to him, almost like he had done it all his life. "And please, watch over Sasami for me!" The ball elongated into a single shaft of power, slamming into the stone. Rock shattered and melted, and with it, so did the wasteland, and all that was within it. SPLASH! He awoke with a start as a cold, wet fluid was thrown in his face. Sputtering and blinking, he sat up, brushing the icy liquid from his face. As he did, his body protested painfully, the injuries of combat screaming their presence to his strained nerves. "Sorry about that Tenchi." A small voice told him. He still couldn't see anything, since there was still some of the icy fluid, which he took to be water, in his eyes. He didn't dare rub his eyes, though, since he remembered the armored gauntlets that sheathed his hands. No need to claw his eyes out, he thought. "Can I have a towel or something?" he asked uncertainly. "I can't see anything." "Right. Just a moment." He waited for about half a minute, still blinking, and then someone began to wipe the water away from his face with a soft material. When it was gone, he opened his eyes, and saw Sasami kneeling next to him, holding a small, damp handkerchief. "Sasami!" he said in surprise. "Am I glad to see you." She smiled sweetly. "Thanks. Are you all right?" He groaned as his injuries dug needles of pain into him. "I hurt all over, but I think so." "Good. Ryoko's been worried sick." She said, standing up. "Think you can walk?" Slowly, he pulled himself into a standing position. His muscles screamed silently at him, but he figured that Tsunami's summons were more important than how he felt at that moment. As he stood up, he felt a strange grinding sensation at his joints and there were a few sharp clattering noises. Looking down, he saw why. His now-grey armor was shattered, a mass of metal shards held on by what remained of the straps. The grinding sensation was the broken pieces of his armor's joints gouging into each other, and as he flexed his right arm, several shards fell off, clattering to the floor. "Huh.I guess I'll need to see someone about this." he said to himself. "Not much good it does me all broken up like that." There was a tugging at his left arm. "Come on Tenchi." "Oh, right." Sasami led him through the dim twilight that they were in, stepping carefully over small streams of water and large cracks in the floor. Ahead of them, slowly becoming definite as they drew nearer, several small trees rose from a glassy pool, glowing in an eerie white light. In front of the pool stood two women, idly conversing. One was dressed in regal attire with long, blue hair, and one with cyan hair that hung about her shoulders, unhurriedly dripping water onto her disintegrating grey armor. At the sound of their footsteps, they both turned slightly to face them. "Tenchi!" He was knocked over by Ryoko's flying hug, the wind explosively forced out of him by his sudden impact on the deck. More bits of armor fell off with muted tinkling noises and his body still hurt, but somehow, it didn't matter to him just then. "It's good to see you again too, Ryoko." he said, hugging her back, their busted armor grating noisily. "Ahem." Tsunami coughed rather pointedly about then. "Not now, Tsunami, I'm busy." Ryoko said irritably. "Oh, Tenchi. I was so worried about you." "Ryoko, please. I need to speak with him." Tsunami said. "It's very important." "Can't it wait a minute?" "I'm afraid not." "Spoilsport.." Ryoko grumbled, pulling herself and Tenchi to their feet. More pieces fell off, clattering loudly in the silence of Tsunami's bridge. Suddenly, there was a terrible howling noise and the whole deck shook as if seized by an earthquake. The sickening sound of straining wood and the explosive pops of separating grains thundered mutedly through the floor and the glassy pool became turbulent. "What was that?" Tenchi asked, struggling to stay on his feet as the violent motions died down. "That." Tsunami said darkly, waving her arm to an empty patch of air. In the space she indicated, a viewing monitor sprang into existence. The sight of what was on the monitor made Tenchi's blood run cold in his veins. The great mass of darkness boiled malignantly in nearly all of the Phyrexian sky that was in veiw. It's topmost reaches flowed greasily through the maze of pipes of the ceiling/sky and it's misty bulk billowed like smoke over the dark planes. Thankfully, as fast as it seemed to move, it didn't seem to get closer. As he watched, a black mass swung towards his view, and he instinctively looked away, not wishing to see it or any of it's effects. The view darkened and for several seconds, the terrible wailing could be faintly heard through the hull, somewhere to the left. The hull shook slightly, but it soon died away, as did the wailing, and the dark appendage on the viewer. "We must find a way to leave this place, Lord Tenchi." Tsunami said, pulling Sasasmi, who had come over to stand by her, close to her. "That.thing. is a manifestation of the god of this realm, and my mind is cold in fear at the thought of what designs he may have in store for us." Fear gnawed at his insides as Tenchi grimly remembered what had happened to Ayeka. They had to get out of here, out of Phyrexia. Somehow.. The darkness lashed out again, the howling growing louder.