Washu sat in the relative (quiet, comfort) recesses of her 
laboratory pocket dimension, on a throw pillow which you wouldn't be able 
to throw if you didn't hold it properly (otherwise, it'd just float 
around).
	Instead of being busy at work, punching in commands, protocol and 
data to her shadow laptop, she was reclining.  In fact, she was actually 
perusing one of the most famous works of one of her old students.  Two of 
them.  Erg, it's so hard to keep track of changes for twenty-thousand 
years.  Especially if you're old enough to be two people, literally.  Her 
only irk was that, in reverence to her, they had actually named the book 
after her.  With one of their less flattering names for her, nonetheless.
	What surprised her was that, after all these millennia, they'd 
still be here.  The last communiqué they had had said that he... err, 
they... had come to Earth, a backwater, Jurai-colonized world for 
research studies, because they wanted to analyze some of the weird 
temporal phenomena which surrounded the area.  Despite one of their 
colleagues saying that it was "mostly harmless", they (he, at the time) 
decided that it was a reverse ripple effect.  Probably it hadn't come to 
the point of nexus, even now.  Maybe she should call them and ask.  She 
checked her telephone book (an unnecessary motion) under N, and tried to 
figure out the international code for Australia.

Recursion
a Tenchi Muyo! (OAV series) story in three chapters
by Nikholas "Switch" F. Toledo

The Tenchi Muyo! OAVs were done by those guys at Pioneer
Grant Naylor is Tom Grant and Doug Naylor, we suppose
This story might be done by Scriviner, so I'm heading him off.

	"You don't say?  Sometime about now?  Thanks, Grant... oh, yeah, 
Doug.  The upload just came in."
	Washu was fully alert now.  According to twenty-thousand years of 
research, the temporal anomaly was going to manifest in Japan in the next 
six hours.  The "cone" of effect was keeping her from detecting it;  she 
was still somewhere inside it.
	Then again, there was her connection to the Earth satellite net, as 
well as an ear into Galaxy Police broadcast systems.  She grinned evilly, 
and started live-feed.

Chapter 1

	Tenchi whistled an awkward tune.
	Sometimes, he'd wish that his house hadn't moved right next to his 
grandfather's shrine.  It sure gave him hell walking to and from school.  
He was only too glad that it was already Saturday evening.
	The problem with going home, however, was all the aggravation that 
greeted him.  His temper had going from deep and still to shallow and 
erratic in only months.  Much as he would want to avoid thinking so, most 
of it was his fault.  It did start with him going against his 
grandfather's strident wishes.  It hadn't been much his fault afterward, 
and he had tried to make up for it.
	That wasn't too good, either.  He almost got killed once already.
	Now, a prince of Jurai, and the object of affection of a demon and 
most-wanted criminal, his half-grandaunt (or is it half-grandaunts?), a 
nervous (bumbling?) Galaxy Police officer, and a mad scientist.  Not only 
that, most of them were leagues older than he was.
	But that wasn't his problem, really.  So he promised not to 
interfere.  That, it was currently proving itself, difficult, if not 
impossible.
	Would it be so hard if he didn't really want to even think about 
it?  Would it be so hard if he didn't want to decide?
	So far, the only problem was that Ryoko and Ayeka constantly and 
violently bumped heads (and furniture, and foliage, and architecture...) 
over it.
	It got his goat the most.  How could they, who worked best together 
when they chose to, be so at odds with each other?
	He really didn't want to decide.  He stopped whistling.
	He continued to walk, trying to clear his mind of images of that 
time at the pool...
	He almost bumped into the cloaked figure in the center of his path.
	The figure turned, and grabbed him by the shoulders.  Before he 
could shout a "What the- ?", he felt the breath rush out of him as he hit 
a tree.  The moonlight illuminated the face of his captor.
	He drew a breath, then spat a belated "what the- ?"
	A mustached Tenchi slapped him to coherence.  "Stop gaping and 
listen up.  Because if you don't, sometime in the next six hours, your 
Ryoko, my wife, is going to be murdered."

Chapter 1

	Tenchi whistled an awkward tune.
	Sasami told him, just before he left, "take care."  He hadn't been 
able to see her that often, and at such an importunate moment.  He kissed 
her on the forehead, covering both circles of red, and then he fled.
	It had been a while since he last whistled the tune he was 
whistling, right in this forest.  He sped through the branches, taking 
due note that they were aiding him, propelling him to his goal.
	At the edge of a clearing, he caught himself.  From two stories up, 
he saw himself treading evenly towards the lakeside house he called home.
Slowly, so that he would not be noticed, he floated to the ground.
	Before the student came into the path down into the valley of the 
lake of Funaho, the newcomer tapped him on the shoulder.  The student 
shuddered at the touch, and stopped.
	"Excuse me," Tenchi said.
	"Excuse me," Tenchi said.
	The student Tenchi turned, and felt his jaw go numb.
	Tenchi, in flowing Juraian royal garb, stopped the billowing wind 
effects and concentrated on his younger self.  "A moment of your time, 
please."

	"Not good," Washu muttered.  A head peeked into the room.
	"Washu!"  Sasami called.  "It's time for dinner!"
	"Coming," the redhead said.  She limboed her laptop, and hoped that 
her estimate had been only too correct, and that she would find the nexus 
before it could come to pass.  She ambled to the door, running a hand 
unconsciously through the young princess's hair.

	This is not my day, Tenchi thought, as he felt sanity starting to 
take leave.
	The elder Tenchi felt his younger self start to faint, and grabbed 
both his shoulders to bring him up.  "Grab a hold of yourself, man."
	"This is not happening," Tenchi murmured, already lost.
	"No," the elder Tenchi said, letting the younger slide down onto 
the base of a nearby tree, "but it's going to."

Chapter 2

	"Great!  What's for dinner?"  Ryoko phased into her usual place in 
the dinner arrangement.
	"Is that all you ever think of, Ryoko?  What comes into your 
mouth?"  Ayeka took hers, thus properly forming the initial battle 
scenario.  "You never do take time to consider what comes OUT of it."
	"Stop it, the both of you!  Not in front of Sasami's delicious 
dinner!"  Mihoshi was oblivious to everything (least of all, her 
dinnermates' increasing agitation) except the food laid out.  She sat on 
the side furthest from the big-screen TV.  "Let's eat!  I'm starving!"  
The descent of her chopsticks upon the unsuspecting vegetables was 
stopped by the cover of the rice cooker.
	"Mihoshi!"  Sasami's annoyed look froze the (older?) girl.  "We 
can't start eating until Tenchi arrives."
	Washu sat down on the unoccupied side and berated the policewoman.  
"And we all know how much Ryoko eats... it'll be a miracle if Tenchi gets 
any!"
	Ryoko took the hit.  "Hey!"
	Ayeka, as usual, was there for the salt.  She made a discreet 
little laugh, then added, "I always knew that Ryoko was such a pig!"
	Ryoko would have backed down now, if Tenchi was around, just to ply 
for sympathy.  No such luck.  Turning to her tormentor, she grated, "what 
did you say?"
	"I believe I called you a pig," Ayeka primly said.
	"Oh, yeah?"
	The sparks set off by their perennial combatants singed Mihoshi, 
who tried to "Um... excuse me?" and lean in close to the path of most 
resistance.  Tenchi's father came down the stairs in the meantime.
	"Oh, Tenchi's still not back?"  Nobuyuki scratched his receding 
hairline.  "Where could he be?  He's usually back by now."
	This drove Ryoko's sensors to half-full-sensitivity.  This drove 
Ayeka's sensors to half-full-paranoia.  The latter gave a gasp.  "Could 
there be something wrong with Lord Tenchi?"
	The outside door slid open.
	Tenchi stumbled in, gasping, amidst gasps of several "Tenchi!"s and 
a "Lord Tenchi!"
	The latter one was the one that had caught Tenchi's attention.  A 
look of gratitude passed his features.  He stood, dusting himself off 
and, ignoring the others, took Ayeka's hand.  "Lady Ayeka..."
	This drew a low growl from Ryoko, which was similarly ignored.
	"What happened, Tenchi?"  Sasami sidled close to the youngish man, 
noticing the absence of his school bag.  As she did, though, she wrinkled 
her nose.  "Are you wearing perfume?"
	He was about to explain when the comment derailed his train of 
thought.  Ayeka went to Tenchi's other side and sniffed.  A familiar 
scent, but... what?  A woman?  "Is that... a woman's perfume?"
	Tenchi started to sweat, and Ryoko started to step towards him.  
Tenchi gave her an assessing glance... and quickly went ashen.  
"Ryoko..." he murmured weakly in recognition.
	"Is something wrong, Tenchi?"  Sasami noticed the loss of color in 
his face, as well.
	Washu was able to get a first whiff of Tenchi's alleged perfume, 
and thought she knew what it was.  It would require an analysis, and 
probably having to pull Tenchi into the lab for some... ahem... samples.  
She smiled slightly in anticipation.
	"Hiya, Tenchi!  Can we all sit down so that we can eat, PLEASE?"  
Mihoshi was close to tears, and had nibble marks on the wide ends of her 
chopsticks.
	Ryo-oh-ki, who had been ignored on the whole by everyone except 
Sasami, who gave her the carrot she had just finished nibbling on, 
noticed Tenchi and started screeching and hissing.
	Washu shook to attention, asking, "what is it, Ryo-oh-ki?" just as 
Ryoko started putting two and two together.  She rushed Tenchi, hoping to 
push him away from both Ayeka and Sasami, shouting "WHO ARE YOU?!"  She 
got as far as about six inches from him and "WHO A-" when something 
happened to her hand... glowing... and breaking off into little pieces... 
and it wasn't painful, just kind of a breeze picking up pieces of her...  
she screamed, because it only made sense:  "-AAAAAHHHHHH!!!"  Ryoko fell 
back on the ground.
	"RYOKO!"  The skylight shattered, spraying Nobuyuki, who stood 
transfixed during all this and had to avoid the hail of slivers, and the 
newcomer fell, rolling into a ball.
	Mihoshi, whose Galaxy Police honed reflexes, put a hand to her 
holster... and realized that she had left it in the bath.  As recourse, 
she took several trays and hid in the kitchen.
	Ayeka pulled herself and Sasami from the Tenchi in school clothes, 
recoiling from this stranger before them.  "What have you done to Lord 
Tenchi?  Tell me!"
	Tenchi, for all the chaos blew hell around him, seemed to envelop 
himself with a cloak of calm.  "Lady Ayeka..."  His eyes pleaded 
understanding.
	"TELL ME!"  Her eyes were mad with panic.
	Whatever answer he might have had was cut short by a guttural 
scream, a rush and a tackle, which brought the newcomer to the alleged 
Tenchi and took them clean through the front door.
	Washu stood there, barely noticing the shouts from Sasami and 
Ayeka, who followed the scuffle, or from Mihoshi and Ryoko, over the 
latter's near-loss, and finally answered her own question:
	The "perfume" was the ceremonial scents of the baths of the Emperor 
of Jurai.

	A cold breeze blew.  Tenchi sneezed himself awake.
	"Wh-what the- ?!"
	Despite being uncomfortable in his boxers, Tenchi had enough 
presence of mind to keep track of what was important.  "The sword...!"
	Luckily, he had kept it in his school bag.  Luckily, his school 
bag, unlike his school clothes, was just lying a few feet away.  He 
didn't have time to consider his good fortune, as he saw the front door 
blow outward.  Grabbing the hilt of the Master Key, he ran as soon as he 
heard the screams.

	Emperor Tenchi of the Juraian Empire fell into an unceremonious 
lump at the bottom of the porch.  He spat out half a mouthful of dirt as 
his aggressor ended a roll in a crouch ten feet away.  "The gall!  The 
unmitigated GALL!"  He coughed.
	The mustached Tenchi whipped his unruly mane of hair behind him and 
fixed his counterpart with a feral growl and a bloodshot gaze.  Every 
word he spoke was punctuated with a dagger-sharp edge.
	"Don't."

	With a flick of a ring, the school uniform disrupted as the robes 
of the battlesuit came into being on him.  The wind formed a pillar 
around him.

	Beads of free-floating energy glowed bright green as second Tenchi 
extended his hands, focussing on the Earth spirits around him.
	"Touch."

	Ayeka rushed through the door, only to stop on the porch, making 
sure that Sasami did not leave the house.  Noticing the other Tenchi, who 
looked nothing like the Tenchi he knew.  The imposter, however...
	"... robes... of the Emperor..."
	The transfigured Tenchi turned to fix her with a beatific glance.
	"Lady... Ayeka..."

	A ball of green started to grow in both of Tenchi's fists.
	"MY..."

	It was his look.
	It held a world of pain, of longing.  Compassion, and will.
	Everything that was Tenchi shone with the light of Jurai, in him.
	He called to her.
	"Lord... Tenchi..."  She held a hand to him.

	Ryoko struggled through the haze in her brain.
	Mihoshi was crying torrentially, and Ryoko sat to a kneeling 
position.  "Damn!"  She rushed to the door.

	Putting his fists one atop the other, Tenchi-2 screamed "WIFE!" as 
a curved sword flashed to life in his hands, complementing the hellish 
glow in his eyes.  Putting his left foot forward and leaning in with his 
right shoulder, he rushed in to swipe at his alter-ego.

	Tenchi reached out to Ayeka...

	Tenchi rushed down the side of the valley.  He wasn't going to 
reach:  he was too late, too late...

	Ayeka found herself flying.
	Ryoko had managed to snag her before the Tenchi-impostor was able 
to touch her.  She sighed in relief.
	Ayeka beat against Ryoko's back.  "What are you doing?  Put me back 
down this instant, I demand you!"

	Tenchi turned, just in time to see Tenchi almost ram into him.
	Ryoko's husband had turned his head, looking at the receding forms 
of his wife and Ayeka, and so did not swing.
	Emperor Tenchi formed a gust of wind, blowing directly into his 
counterpart's line of motion, catching the latter off-guard, and sending 
him back to a ten-foot distance.
	While the mustached Tenchi regained his stance, the Juraian Emperor 
built a barrier-net around himself.

	"Shut up!"
	Ayeka almost came up with a similarly sharp exclamation when she 
noticed Ryoko's hand, or what was left of it.  Ryoko reformed it, but the 
pain was obvious on her face.
	The pirate took the princess's silence for understanding.  "At 
least he didn't take the one with the jewel."  She spied a figure near 
the plain of the valley.  "Tenchi!"  She leveled to swoop.

	Tenchi noticed a swooping demoness, and felt his throat constrict.  
"Lady Ayeka!"  Raising an arm to a point in Ryoko's trajectory, a spiral 
of air in his palm started to gain size.
	With a surge of feline-powered rage, Ryo-oh-ki swooped over the 
edge of the wooden barrier around the robed Tenchi.

	Tenchi held the jade-blaze sword straight in front of him with both 
hands.  In a glance and breath, he noted that the Emperor refocused his 
whirlwind attack, he was aiming for Ryoko, and that Ryo-oh-ki was coming 
into the line of fire.  "NO!"

	Ryo-oh-ki took the brunt of the attack.  For a fleeting moment, it 
seemed that the force of the blast would expend itself into breaking the 
cabbit's spine.  Instead, it wavered slightly, then lifted the pet in its 
deflected path, which went on, nearly unabated.

	Tenchi noticed a swooping demoness, the princess in her care and 
the cone of air with the cabbit.  "NO!"

	Ryoko turned back too late.  Her "sister" slammed right into her 
face.  "Ryo-!"  She almost flailed.
	Ayeka, however, took the air-blast in the chest.  She flew limply 
from Ryoko's blind grasp as she hovered over the lake.

	Sasami couldn't bear it.  "SISTER!"  She rushed out.

	"LADY AYEKA!"
	Both Tenchis watched the rapidly descending female dip closer and 
closer to center of the lake.  It was the older one, though, that was 
able to literally walk on water for her safety.  The younger Tenchi stood 
agape as the Emperor made fabulous headway without breaking the water's 
surface.

	Ryoko grabbed the unconscious cabbit/dehydrated-spaceship by the 
scruff of the neck.  It'd probably take minutes to revive her.  She hoped 
there wouldn't be a big space battle, or else she'd have to take her 
chances with Mihoshi.  She noticed him only when he was right behind her.  
She moved to whirl, anticipating his attack, but she was too late.
	He kissed the base of her neck, tickling her with the unruly hairs 
of his mustache.  The shock traveled in figures-eight along her nervous 
system, taking particular note of some vital organs and erogenous zones.
	"Tenchi," she moaned involuntarily.
	"Hit the right spots?"  Tenchi took Ryo-oh-ki from Ryoko's 
softening grip, keeping his voice to a tingly whisper in her right ear.
	"Mm-hmm" was all she said as she melted in Tenchi's arms.  He 
drifted them closer to ground level.

	Princess Ayeka was caught on an air cushion several feet above the 
lake.  Tenchi gingerly took her in his arms, and made his way back to the 
pier.

	As soon as he touched earth, he settled Ryoko and Ryo-oh-ki 
comfortably on the ground.  Facing the lake, he drew out the sword and 
waited.

	Sasami would have jumped off the porch if the hand didn't hold her 
fast on the shoulder.
	"This is it," Washu whispered.
	Sasami still looked worried as she wondered, "what is it, Washu?"
	"The nexus," she replied, without elaboration.  She stood there, 
stern yet helpless, a fidgeting observer.

	Placing Ayeka safely on the planks, Emperor Tenchi stepped forward, 
a safe distance from his opponent.
	"You!"  he bellowed.  "What do you say we square off, one on one?  
Far from," he stopped, giving Ayeka, then Ryoko, Ryo-oh-ki and the house 
significant glances, "bystanders."
	"Bastard," Tenchi spat.  "You'll probably have someone take her 
away while were pussyfooting somewhere else!  No game!"  His eyes flashed 
deep red.
	"Nonsense," the royal shrugged off.  "If I had planned that all 
along, would I have come here?  I, too, have my stakes in this."  With 
that, a gust of wind brought him twenty feet higher.  "Let us take it 
where nothing can impede us!"  His ascent continued after.
	Tenchi took a last look at Ryoko, then zoomed upward after his foe.

	"Tenchi!"  Sasami ran to the (nearly naked) Tenchi, and Washu 
didn't stop her.  They met at the clump of the sister demons.
	Tenchi figured that the ragged-looking man (he now refused to 
believe that he was his future incarnation, judging from his demeanor and 
actions) had done something to cause Ryoko a paralysis of some sort, and 
was in deeper trouble than Ayeka was.  He tried to look for a pulse, and 
felt a heat from Ryoko's neck.  She came to soon enough.
	"What happened, Ryoko?  You were out for a few moments."
	Ryoko touched the spot where the other Tenchi kissed her, and gave 
the ghost of a smile.  "One of these days," she mumbled, "I've got to ask 
Washu about that."
	Ayeka hobbled to them at that point, and gave an audible "hmph!"  
"How about that, Ryoko?  You have an 'off' switch."  By the way she was 
breathing, it was obvious that the hit to her chest would take time to 
recover from.  She leaned on her sister, who was instantly beside her.
	"More like an 'on' switch, really."  Ryoko was in battle mode;  she 
didn't have time for shouting matches.  Turning to Tenchi, she spoke, 
"we've got to stop them."
	"Who are they?"  Sasami asked.
	Ayeka looked disbelieving as she said, "they appear to be future 
incarnations of you, Lord Tenchi."
	Ryoko remarked, "no kidding."  But she didn't buy it.  "But what 
were they doing?  Better yet, why are they here?"
	Tenchi shrugged.  "The one with long hair said that you were going 
to be murdered tonight, Ryoko.  I guess he thinks the other... me... did 
it."
	"This is nuts."  Ryoko donned her red and black combat ensemble.  
"Someone's got to stop them."
	Tenchi stopped her with a hand.  He, too, was in battle gear.  "No, 
Ryoko.  I've got to go and talk to sense into my selves."

	At two hundred feet, the future Emperor of the Juraian Empire 
stopped.  The energy expended to keep his altitude prevented him from 
employing a full barrier, but he knew that relying completely on passive 
defense was not a good strategy in any case.  His opponent seemed 
ruthless, and trapped in a corner:  a wounded predator.
	From within the folds of his robes, he pulled out a weathered and 
beaten bokken.  In fact, it was the same one that he had had in the days 
when his grandfather, the noble warrior Yosho, had trained him in the 
ways of sword-fighting.  In the hands of a true Juraian warrior, it is 
the most powerful weapon.  He closed his eyes;  the length of the dark 
wood glowed with an aura of power of its own.
	"Fancy blade," his opponent snidely said, his own sword at ready.  
The blade was tilted forward, insolently opening the fight.
	Emperor Tenchi closed his eyes again.  A smile cracked his 
features.

	"Ready?"  Azaka signaled.
	"Ready," Kamidake intoned.
	"Let's go," Tenchi said.  On top of the two guardians, he stood, 
holding the Master Key in his right hand.  They tilted forward slightly, 
then took the path to the match that was about to start.

	Ayeka was now also in combat non-uniform.  The dark "war paint" on 
her face blended well with her darkening mood.  "When do we follow, 
Ryoko?  Lord Tenchi is taking a big risk, you know."
	"When he can't shout at us to go back," Ryoko retorted, as she 
waited.

	Washu sat on the roof, paying attention to the readings that were 
showing up on her display.  She gazed heavenward.

	The robed Tenchi touched the tip of the emerald blade with his own 
brown-tinged stick, causing sparks to fly.  Before his opponent could 
react, he rushed forward to the left of the other Tenchi with the bokken 
pointing inward, but with the right hand to the side, with the intention 
to block his foe.  As he came to the rear, Emperor Tenchi turned in a 
half-moon, bringing his blade to waist in a large and deadly arc, 
directed to the midsection.
	At least, that was the intention.  He heard a chuckling above him.  
"This is rich.  And I thought you could think in three dimensions."  He 
opened his left palm and shot out small green packets of violence.
	Emperor Tenchi barely had time to react;  bringing up the bokken 
with both hands, he caught the blasts.  Smoke broke out from the clashing 
energies, but left them both unscathed.  "And you easily underestimate 
me."  Pushing himself obliquely towards Tenchi-2, he started a slash from 
his back.
	With an effort, the bokken extended itself into a quarterstaff.  
Not anticipating the change of size, Ryoko's Tenchi took the hit on his 
left shoulder.
	Tenchi-2 grimaced, and he started to bleed:  a red vapor began to 
effervesce from the deep wound.  "That's it!"  Disintegrating the sword, 
the energy shot out in a hailstorm against the Emperor.  Tenchi-2 watched 
as each of the packets of ki found wood.  The robed one gave him a 
disingenuous smile.  "Lost focus?"
	His answer was a near-hit from a reformed energy blade.

	"Can't we go any faster?"
	"We cannot go any faster, Tenchi."
	He waited and hoped that he wasn't too late.

	About fifty feet trailing, Ryoko and Ayeka wisely kept quiet.

	With one eye, Washu followed the match as best she could.  With the 
other, though, she kept an eye on the dynamics of the quickly shrinking 
temporal anomaly.
	What caught her eye was that the anomaly was changing shape.  
Whereas the shape had been spherical, three pips, evenly spaced in a 
circle, had appeared, and were growing as the nexus shrank.
	What didn't catch her eye, though, was the fact that Tenchi was 
rapidly approaching the point of nexus.

	The mustached Tenchi followed up quickly, with a barrage of ki-
pellets.  The robed Tenchi barely managed to deflect them, and was only 
able to make out his opponent's descending silhouette in the cloud that 
formed.  He countered with a two-handed staff block.
	However, the longhaired Tenchi made sure to hit the exact point 
which he had hit earlier.  The staff broke into two uneven pieces.  
Tenchi-2 continued on, and burst through the billowing robes.
	The robes stained red.  Emperor Tenchi staggered to a knee, but 
stood on the other leg.
	"Not... bad..."  He limped to an arnis stance, both halves 
perpendicular to him, one to his left and back, the other to his front 
right.  "Ready for round 2?"
	Tenchi-2 nodded imperceptibly, then ascended again.

	"Dammit!"
	Tenchi was barely able to avoid the strays from the last barrage.  
>From his vantagepoint, the stained robes were not obvious.

	"T minus sixty," Washu counted down.  The pips were now oddly 
stubby fingers on a shrinking hand.

	With the both of them on their guards, it was that much harder to 
get in any good hits, what with three dimensions to maneuver in.
	While the robed Tenchi was not using projectile attacks, he had 
found a way to ricochet the mustached Tenchi's pellets.  The fight, 
though, was almost even, as their injuries were beginning to take their 
toll as they focused on hand-to-hand.
	Tenchi-2 deflected a downward-diagonal slash with his sword, but 
had to deflect a midsection sweep with his left forearm.  The contact 
made his skin boil, but he would not scream.  He pushed out of melee 
range.
	Tenchi had finally gotten within range.  He motioned for Azaka and 
Kamidake to slow down.  That was when the overcoated Tenchi fell on him.
	"Damn!"  Ryoko pushed herself when she saw the tumble that came out 
of the last push-off.  Ayeka merely nodded grimly, and formed a barrier 
around the two of them.
	Emperor Tenchi saw the opportunity present itself.

	"T minus forty."  The nexus graphic started to look like a 
propeller.

	Tenchi-2 ended up on top of the sprawled Tenchi.  After a bit of a 
struggle, he felt something hand on his throat.
	The robed Tenchi held the longer piece of his staff in a clearly 
imposing manner.  "Surrender."
	Tenchi crawled from under the longhaired Tenchi, who had suddenly 
stopped squirming.  Standing, he said, "don't do it."
	With quicksilver speed, the prostrate Tenchi brought his sword to 
parry the half-quarterstaff, strong enough to make Emperor Tenchi lose 
his grip on it.  Only leaning forward slightly, he replaced the sword on 
the latter's neck.
	"No quarter."
	He drew back to slice when another blade met his.

	"T minus twenty."  Washu noted that the sphere had shrunken, but 
the three extensions had remained.  The figure now looked to be a flower 
with three petals...
	"Oh, no."

	"Don't do it."  Tenchi did not want to back down, but he did not 
want to draw blood on this one.
	Emperor Tenchi closed his eyes.  The billowing was worsening, but 
the air started to blow inwards.  Around him, the Wings of the Light Hawk 
were coalescing into being.
	"NO!"  Tenchi-2 threw Tenchi back with his good arm, and stood.  He 
closed his eyes, and started to form the Wings around him as well.
	Tenchi started to back away when the Master Key started to glow in 
his grip.  The power surged within him, building itself up.  Around him, 
three more Wings started to form.
	Both future Tenchis were now glowing, but the Light Hawk Wings were 
not retracting.  Tenchi sensed, rather than saw, the Master Key glow with 
the same light.

	Ryoko and Ayeka watched with terror as the nine Wings of the Light 
Hawk started sucking them in.  They fell unconscious before they had the 
chance to pull away.

	"T minus ten."

	All nine Wings started glowing.  The luminosity was nearly 
blinding, but Tenchi kept his eyes open.
	The Master Key shook violently in Tenchi's hands as he fought to 
control the Wings he had summoned.  He let go of it, and concentrated on 
retracting the Wings.
	The Key did not fall, however.  Neither did it stop shaking.
	Both alternate Tenchis were beginning to discorporate:  they were 
starting to become light, then started to dissociate into little packets.
	Ryoko and Ayeka suddenly came to center and started to gravitate to 
separate sides.

	"T minus three."

	The Power Gems dislodged from the Master Key, both flying into 
different sides and different Wings.

	Tenchi shouted.

	Tenchi shouted.

	Tenchi shouted.

	"Zero."

	A flash of light engulfed the night sky.

Chapter 3

	"Lord Tenchi?"
	Tenchi woke up groggily.
	Sasami quickly came up to his futon and hugged him.  She buried her 
face in his chest and cried.  He patted her softly.
	He closed his eyes, as they still carried flash blindness.  "What 
happened?"
	When he blinked, Washu came into view.  "They disappeared."
	"Who did?"
	"Your two future incarnations.  After the Light Hawk Wings 
disappeared, they did, too."
	He looked around, and the grim faces confirmed his fears.  "Where's 
Ryoko?"
	Ayeka was the one to speak.  "She... she disappeared as well."
	He turned to Washu, but she cut him off.  "We couldn't find a trace 
of her.  Even if she was anywhere within the galaxy..."  She shook her 
head, then bowed it, ashamed of her own uselessness.  "She's gone.  
Without even a trace."

	Tenchi, Emperor of Jurai, bowed his head as he relived the most 
dreadful day of his life.  He pulled away and contacted Washu.
	"Is she safe now, Washu?  Has the danger passed?"
	Washu confirmed it.  "Yes, Tenchi.  The temporal anomaly has 
passed.  The Lady Ayeka will exist when you return to present time."
	Tenchi nodded, but still looked morose.  "Why?"  He felt repressed 
rage wash over him.  "Why couldn't I have saved her, too?"
	The greater loss was Washu's, though.  "I don't know.  I'll never 
know."

Chapter 3

	"Tenchi?"
	Tenchi woke up groggily.
	Sasami quickly came up to his futon and hugged him.  She buried her 
face in his chest and cried.  He patted her softly.
	He closed his eyes, as they still carried flash blindness.  "What 
happened?"
	When he blinked, Washu came into view.  "They disappeared."
	"Who did?"
	"Your two future incarnations.  After the Light Hawk Wings 
disappeared, they did, too."
	He looked around, and the grim faces confirmed his fears.  "Where's 
Ayeka?"
	Ryoko seemed all the more morose.  "She... she's gone, too."
	He turned to Washu, but she cut him off.  "We couldn't find a trace 
of her.  Even if she was anywhere within the galaxy..."  She shook her 
head, then bowed it, ashamed of her own uselessness.  "She's gone.  
Without even a trace."
	Tenchi hugged Sasami a little more tight.  "Don't... don't cry, 
Sasami.  We'll find her.  We'll..."
	But he didn't believe it himself.

	Tenchi, most wanted criminal (wanted for the murder of Princess 
Ayeka of the Planet Jurai), husband and partner of Ryoko, flew from the 
window where he was floating near.  He didn't want to remember.  He 
contacted Washu.
	"Good news, Tenchi!"  she said brightly.  "Ryoko's not 
disappearing!  I guess you did it."
	"Yeah," he replied flatly.  A pause.  "I couldn't save her, Washu.  
I was more powerful than I ever was, and I still couldn't save her."
	Washu's cheery disposition dampened.  "The Universe," she 
confirmed, "is a dark and cold place, Tenchi.  Some more than others."

Chapter 3

	"Tenchi?"
	Tenchi woke up groggily.
	Sasami quickly came up to his futon and hugged him.  She buried her 
face in his chest and cried.  He patted her softly.
	He closed his eyes, as they still carried flash blindness.  "What 
happened?"
	When he blinked, Washu came into view.  "They disappeared."
	"Who did?"
	"Your two future incarnations.  After the Light Hawk Wings 
disappeared, they did, too."
	He looked around, and the grim faces confirmed his fears.  "Where's 
Ryoko?  And Ayeka?"
	Washu paused before speaking.  "They... they disappeared with the 
other two.  And so is the Master Key."
	She chose her next words carefully.  "The Wings... produced two new 
timelines... and two new Tenchis."
	Tenchi patted Sasami softly, listened to Washu's theories and 
explanations, but understood more deeply than she could explain, far more 
distant than he had ever felt.  "And," he intoned, "in each of them, Fate 
had dealt him a decision."

Fin.

Author's Lamentations:

	Done.  I know that I will never be completely satisfied with this 
one, but my tired soul has opted for rest.
	I honestly had just envisioned a fight between a "Jurai" Tenchi and 
a "Power Gem" Tenchi, with the two married off to Ayeka and Ryoko, 
respectively.  The fight was not up to the epic proportions that I had 
planned, and the angst seemed to overpower the endings.
	No, I don't know why the other two Washus didn't know.  Drama 
doesn't always go hand in hand with Science.  Gawd, that last line was 
awful.
	I sincerely hope that someone who had liked this idea could put it 
to better use than I have.

13 November 1997
0141H

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