This fan fiction occurs after the events of Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness (aka "Manatsu no Eve" [Midsummer's Eve]). It is also based on the OAVs and other tidbits of the Tenchi Muyo! Universes. The Tenchi Muyo! Universes and characters are the creation and possession of AIC and Pioneer. I do not claim them. But I wrote the storyline to "The Dark Jurai". The Dark Jurai - Chapter 9 - "Deiscions...What to Do Next" by Timothy Turner email: juraijin@email.com http://www.angelfire.com/tx3/animekoku/index.html Ryoko had almost lost it. The inn keeper and his family had made a bed for Tenchi to lie on and she stayed by it all the time. Anyone who tried to do anything except Washu was chased away by Ryoko. Washu had recovered from her unconsciousness and was working on a subspace link to her lab so she could give Tenchi, Mihoshi, and Kiyone medical attention. She was upset at the loss of Mayuka and anyone could see the sadness in her eyes. She worked tirelessly (because she was upset) and finally got a link. Ryoko helped Washu carry everyone to the lab. Ryo-Ohki was right behind them. The cabbit had suffered little injury. Once the remaining group was in the lab Washu immediately began to administer aid to everyone. Mihoshi and Kiyone were still unconscious but Washu gave them a strong sedative that would keep them knocked out until the operations were complete. Their hands had been seriously damaged. If it would have been up to Earth doctors, the hands would have been amputated. But Washu had delicate machinery that could mend nerves, muscles, ligaments, bone, etc. The machines began work on the two officers hands (but all of this was not not before she turned her attention to Tenchi and put him in a life support chamber). After a while, Ryoko walked in. "Will he be alright?," Ryoko sniffled. "Of course he will be...," Washu nodded, concentrating on the screen and typing constantly on a keyboard. She was breathing shallow breaths and shaking. "What are we going to do?," Ryoko's eyes began to water. "I don't know! Leave me alone for now so I can help Tenchi!," Washu huffed in frustration. "NO! I WANT TO STAY AND BE BY TENCHI'S SIDE!," Ryoko snapped. Washu turned to Ryoko, "I know you're upset! I can feel your inner torment because Tenchi is injured badly!" "And I can feel your inner torment over Mayuka's loss!" "GET!!!!...OUT!!!!," Washu got out of her chair, "DON'T...YOU...EVER... MENTION...MAYUKA...IN MY PRESENCE!!!!," Washu threw a discarded computer part at Ryoko, "I recommend you sleep it off before I lose my temper even more! GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!!" Ryoko ran terrified. Mother never acted this enraged before. For once, she decided to take her mother's advice and went to sleep. Ayeka woke up in a dark room. Everyone else was still unconcsious. The shapeshifter walked in with Kiyone's face in place of the blankness. The voice still was distorted and the hair still black. "Princess Ayeka. My, my...you look pitiful. How it must have felt to be overtaken by us. How does it feel to be at the short end of the stick and defeated?," the pseudo-Kiyone laughed, "And I heard your little love mishap with Tenchi! Poor you! It must feel awful to be rejected by your own family member! PAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!" "STOP IT!," Ayeka cried. "The Light Jurai's era has ended! We have Tsunami in our power and your fleets are outnumbered! Very soon we'll take on Galaxy Police Headquarters and destroy the jewel of Jurai's territorial planets, Earth!" "NOOOO!!!!," Ayeka closed her tear-flooded eyes. "It's the truth! And if you ever managed to escape, Tenchi won't be there!" "What do you mean!?," Ayeka quivered. "Tenchi is DEAD! I killed him!," Kiyone's face did not suit the evil look on the mysterious captor's face. "YOU'RE LYING!!!!," Ayeka screamed on the top of her lungs. "Don't worry! You may be joining him once Jurau Ankoku-ou makes up his mind!" Ayeka sobbed beyond her control. She felt she had jinxed herself in her thoughts in the hangar. About a day had passed since Washu had began treatment on Tenchi and the others. The hand reconstruction operation was a complete success and the two Galaxy Police officers did nothing but wait on Tenchi to wake up as well the others. All of them knew that Tenchi was a vital part of the solution to this war. They held a meeting when Washu was rested up. "So," began Kiyone, "We have run into an enemy that can shapeshift at will. Is there any type of race in the known universe that can do that, Washu?" "I don't really think there is. The only being that I can think of that can shapeshift readily is the Mass. But the Mass shapeshifts only when threatened or when it gathers new data from a new leader, or both. The Mass has only one cell and is not capable of complex intellegent thought." "So, what do you think we are up against?," Kiyone scratched her head. "We're up against a being that can manipulate large amounts of energy at will. It is more than likely a Dark Jurai because I have a limited ability to sense ki like Tenchi and Ryoko. The aura felt like a Dark Jurai. It takes a lot of ability to make energy to change your form." "It did say it was of high rank," Mihoshi cut in. "What kind of weapon does it take to beat a Dark Jurai of such a high rank?," Kiyone asked. "A very powerful one. A weapon of Light Jurai make can beat a Dark Jurai. Any technological weapon such as a rail gun can not match a Dark Jurai." Kiyone remembered Ryoko's description of her dream. "So all we have to do is get a Light Jurai weapon like...I forget!," Mihoshi got lost in her thoughts. "The Tenchiken," Washu finished, "Only the Jurai Royal Family and high class Jurai warriors can wield a weapon like the Tenchiken. But only Jurai Royal Family members can touch the Tenchiken." "So, all we need are some Jurai warriors!," Mihoshi cheered, "You can think up the most brilliant things, Washu!" "It's not that simple!," Washu commented, "Jurai weapon smiths are rare and the sheer demand would be too much for them." "Can't you duplicate the weapons with your machines?," Kiyone came in with a possible solution. "No. My machines aren't magical things! They can't give Jurai weapons the energy from a Jurai tree like a Jurai weapon smith can. It requires a lot of time and considerable skill to craft a weapon like the Tenchiken." "Can we train Jurai warriors to use Light Hawk Wings like Tenchi can?," Kiyone was quick to think once again. "No. Only certain Juraian genes allow that to be possible. I tested Tenchi's DNA and compared it to his ancestors. I found that certain genes in Tenchi's blood allow his body to generate and withstand such power. Some of Tenchi's more distant ancestors have these genes as well." "How were you able to determine that?," Kiyone raised an eyebrow. "I snuck into Tenchi's ancestors' graves and took samples!," Washu smiled, "And here's another note. Juraian legend has it that they could generate Light Hawk Wings as well! And..." "Two questions," Kiyone cut Washu off, "How far back are we talking about and how did Tenchi's ancestors' genes stay preserved over such a long period of time in a grave?" "Answer to question one: 18,000 years, just 2,000 years behind Tsunami's merging with a tree on Jurai. Answer to question number two: The Jurai are nearly perfect with preservation techniques. The DNA of Tenchi's ancestors entrusted with political power from Tsunami is 99% intact." "Whoops, one more question. How come Azusa and other relatives of Tenchi can't generate Light Hawk Wings?" Washu's eyebrow twitched, "The gene has been dormant and dominated by other genes. When Yosho had Achika and she then married Nobuyuki, that gene was dominant over Nobuyuki's genes. Nobuyuki's genes are mostly human with little Jurai in them. And Yosho can't generate them because of a gene in Funaho that also dominated the Light Hawk gene. Yosho also coincidentally married women that had dominant genes over the Light Hawk gene." "I get it. But what happened in the lineage? Did Tenchi's ancestors part ways or do something?," Kiyone was a little confused. "There were two separate families on Jurai that were entrusted with political power on Jurai. Those two families had some marriages and the offspring of those marriages started the bloodline of the modern Jurai Royal Family. They were two different types of people. One branch could handle intense amounts of physical stress to the cellular level, which was the branch that could generate Light Hawk Wings and handle intense amounts of Jurai energy that was also entrusted to them by Tsunami. Jurai legend has it that Tsunami taught this branch the technique of generating Light Hawk Wings after they were given Jurai energy by Tsunami. The other branch was fit to rule the people with a natural governing ability. They grew jealous of the other branch that could handle intense amounts of power. This was the branch whose genes have dominated what I have dubbed 'the Light Hawk gene'. After a long argument, the Light Hawk gene branch left with their non energy using followers to a planet unkown to our universe. It is probably in a distant galaxy that would take weeks or even months to travel to; even with Ryo-Ohki's new drive upgrade. This legend is probably a good, likely theory why Lady Achika died after beating Kain. The Light Hawk gene was dominated in Achika's genes. And when she used her full power, the energy slowly ate her vital internal cells away and then accelerated after she had Tenchi. Does that answer your questions?," Washu exhaled. Everyone looked burned out after Washu's long-winded monologue. "What's the matter?," Washu widened her eyes. "NO MORE!," Ryoko begged, "And don't tell me you investigated Achika's corpse! Tenchi would be really upset if he were to hear that!" Washu got an insincere / nervous smile on her face, "No!" sweat poured from Washu's forehead. "And you've went through a lot of trouble to dig up Tenchi's ancestors!" Ryo-Ohki sniffed the air, "Mya!," she ran in the direction of Tenchi's life support chamber. Everyone followed. Tenchi had awakened and was walking around despite the blood loss, which Washu immediately attended to. Everyone was relieved to see that Tenchi was alive and well. "That took a lot of fight out of me!," Tenchi groaned as he sat down, "Any news on the Dark Jurai?" "Nothing yet," Kiyone shook her head, "You need to get something to eat to get your strength back. We're going to need all the power we can so we can get to our ships. That is, if there are any Dark Jurai or our ships haven't been destroyed...or both. After that, we'll head to Galaxy Police Headquarters and report." "Sounds like a plan," Tenchi nodded. Tenchi drooped his head at the thought of what he said to Ayeka. After eating, Tenchi put on his battle ring and got the Tenchiken ready. Ryoko, Ryo-Ohki, Kiyone, and Mihoshi followed suit and got ready. "Let's go!," Tenchi exclaimed. "Wait!," Washu stopped them, "Before you go, I can tell you of a way I can help you! If you can distract the Dark Jurai and get them to follow you, I can make a subspace link that will take them into the vaccum of space!," Washu explained everything to them. After that they went through a subspace link to the hangar on Sakou. Washu went to the location of where the subspace link to space would be opened "There!," Tenchi exclaimed, "I sense about four of them guarding the area. All we need to do is distract them and get them to follow us!" "Leave it to me," Ryoko became focused, "Stay here, Ryo-Ohki. Everyone else, follow me!" The four Dark Jurai were playing a traditional Jurai game when they saw Ryoko teleport in front of them. "I thought I sensed something!," one of them said as all of them gathered to attack. Ryoko stuck out her toungue and ran for it. She noticed that they were all of middle or high rank. The Dark Jurai decided to save their energy and chase Ryoko with normal speed. Besides, the inner hangar was congested and confining. As the Dark Jurai were catching up on Ryoko, Tenchi came in to the chase. "It's Tenchi!," exclaimed one of the guards. The entire group turned and began to pursue Tenchi. Tenchi ran like the time he got the Tenchiken from Ayeka on their first meeting. Mihoshi and Kiyone were ready to distract the Dark Jurai. They joined Tenchi and covered with fire from their pistols which was deflected by the pursuers. "Next corner!," Tenchi yelled. The group rounded the last corner and ran past a waiting Washu who turned on the subspace link and sent the four Dark Jurai into space. Though they generated a protective shield, their energy would run out eventually and their bodies would explode if a ship didn't find them soon. "Wasn't that better than getting beat up?," Washu smiled. "Thanks, Washu," Tenchi returned the smile. "Anyway, let's go!," Kiyone exclaimed and went on Yagami, Mihoshi went on her ship, and Tenchi and Washu went on Ryo-Ohki. They opened the hangar door and left Sakou's atmoshpere. As soon as they left Sakou's orbit, an emergency transmission came on. All ships intercepted it and turned on the communications screen. It was a Galaxy Police journalist. "The nightmarish onslaught of the Dark Jurai continues," the journalist looked frightened, "Our fleets have lost an additional 150,000 ships. The intent of the Dark Jurai is to lay waste to all resistance and then attack every civilized planet in our known universe! The situation looks desperate... Wait... I have news that we are about to witness a live battle over a planet called Earth!" Everyone gasped. The Earth was helpless against the Dark Jurai. The transmission came on.... "Oh, no...," Kiyone covered her mouth, "What will we do?" End of Chapter 9