Because Corina DEMANDED IT...

Disclaimer: This story features Superman, which is a trademark of DC Comics, and the cast of the Tenchi Muyo! OAV series, which is a trademark of AIC/Pioneer LDC, Inc. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made off this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don't archive it without my permission. Don't be shy.

Continuity Note: This story takes place between ACTION COMICS #773 and SUPERMAN v. 2 #165. And it also takes place some time after OAV Episode #13.


Original Tenchi Muyo! concept by Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster


The Inhuman Condition: 22
TALES OF TENCHI: SUPERMAN

by Mike Smith


His name was Tenchi Masaki, and in a few hours he would have to fight Earth's Greatest Hero in a duel for the right to marry of his great half-aunt from another planet.

Not for the first time, he paced his quarters and wondered how he got into messes like this.

He was a normal guy, right? Born the son of a loving mother and a successful architect for a father, he grew up in Okayama Prefect, living a simple life as a student, and visiting his grandfather's shrine every summer.

His opponent, however, was the son of a scientist and a librarian, rocketed as an infant from the doomed planet Krypton, where he grew to manhood somewhere in the United States. Canada possibly. No one was quite sure. Point was that it made PLENTY of sense for a guy like him to get tossed into nutty developments, each nuttier than the last. HE should be the one to find a demon buried in his backyard, and HE should be the one to have five aliens living in his home and never giving him a moment's peace.

Tenchi chuckled at the thought of that. For all he knew, Superman DID have five aliens waiting for him back on Earth. After the part about his rocket ship, he was pretty tight-lipped with the press about his personal life.

At any rate, Tenchi learned not long ago that he himself was indeed not normal. His grandfather was half-alien, a refugee from the planet Jurai, who came to Earth to seal a dangerous space pirate in a cave. Tenchi released her unthinkingly, and this soon attracted the attention of other Juraians. His grandfather's half-sisters came to live with them, followed by a Galaxy Police operative working that area of space, and then the pirate's mother, who, quite honestly, was the one who started the whole mess in the first place.

She was a scientist, the best in the field (just ask her), and she moved into his home to be with her daughter the pirate. And while that seemed to be the happy ending to the story, it just wasn't enough. She got curious, and decided to poke around a major Earth city to see what she could see, and would you know it, she wound up duking it out with Superman.

Somehow, this led to bounty hunters kidnapping the demon pirate, and Superman decided to mount a rescue attempt, recruiting Galaxy Police Officer Mihoshi to join him aboard the pirate's living spaceship. Things apparently didn't work out, and it soon fell to Tenchi to lead a search party out into space to find them. Along the way, they met Steel and Cogito, colleagues of Superman. And with their help Tenchi managed to get all his houseguests back together again.The living spaceship had fallen ill, but nothing fatal, and everything was fine. But no Superman.

Turned out that a shadowy figure named Legion had abducted Superman, and when Tenchi and his friends attempted to track him down, they ran straight into the presence of the High and Mighty Emperor of Jurai, Asuza. His great-grandfather.

Asuza was not Tenchi's biggest fan. Not that he minded this so much, since he didn't think it was personal or anything. Besides, how often could the ruler of an interstellar empire and a kid from Earth ever cross paths, right? But the fact was that Asuza didn't care for Earth, or Earthly things, and the idea that his daughters were living there bothered him a great deal. It probably didn't help matters much that his older daughter Ayeka had grown kind of fond of Tenchi in the time she'd spent living there.

And for anyone keeping score, Ayeka was Tenchi's great half-aunt. That would normally have seriously creeped Tenchi out, but Juraian physiology allowed for a longer lifespan than humans, and Juraian cultural codes were pretty lax about incest. At least that was what she told him. So he was only mildly creeped out by it. Besides, the other option was the space pirate, and he saw her eat an invoice once. Y'know, like a cartoon character would, except she didn't sprinkle salt on it first. It helped not to dwell on these things too much...

Anyway, Asuza agreed to let the sisters stay on Earth if Tenchi defeated a Juraian noble hand-picked by Asuza to marry Ayeka. He had been... theatric, but Tenchi was declared the victor when the spaceship crashed into the adjacent lake and nearly drowned him into submission. Asuza seemed to take it hard, but he was true to his word, and Tenchi never saw him again.

Until yesterday. When he and his friends finally found Superman, he was on Asuza's ship, and decked out in full Juraian costume. Somehow, the man who kidnapped him had manipulated his mind and made him believe he was a man named Komorebi, a Juraian nobleman lost in space for 700 years. Convinced that Komorebi was the genuine article, Asuza was immediately impressed by his great power and announced that he would be betrothed to Ayeka... just as soon as he defeated Tenchi in a duel.

And he accepted. And now that he considered it, Tenchi knew exactly how he got into messes like these. One foot in front of the other. Full speed, straight ahead.

"Are you CRAZY?!"

It was the same thing that made him invite Mihoshi into his guest quarters when he was supposed to be meditating. He was impulsive that way, really, but it wasn't as if an hour or two of quiet contemplation was going to affect the outcome either way at this point.

The tall blonde paced back and forth as fast as she could go and still be walking, and he sat on his bed following her with his eyes. "I mean, it's not my place to say so and I really don't wanna judge someone else's culture based on my own and you're the Crown Prince so you probably know what you're doing but someone's gonna get hurt and it's probably gonna be you and this is CRAZY!"

"Mihoshi, calm down," Tenchi pleaded. "It's not as bad as all that, right? Well... OK, it is, but what else was I supposed to do, huh? You heard the king. If I walked away he'd take Ayeka and Sasami away from us and we might never get a chance to prove that Superman isn't really Juraian. The way Legion's got this worked out, he'd have Ayeka strong-armed into marrying Superman as soon as they got back to Jurai and then he'd be running the whole empire through him! He's trying to break us all apart, Mihoshi. He's conspiring against Jurai and he's warped Superman's mind to do it. Any one of those things is more than enough to worry me. All three? He's gotta be stopped before this can go any further."

"Well, YEAH," Mihoshi agreed, "but like THIS?"

"It buys us time," Tenchi explained. "Look, I'm not kidding myself, Mihoshi. Our best chance right now is that Washuu can figure out a way to change Superman back to his old self, or maybe I can somehow jog his memory back when I face him. But this is our only opportunity. If I lose and we can't expose Legion's deception, then they all go back to Jurai and there's nothing to stop him from cementing 'Komorebi' into the royal family. Or I can beat him..."

"The Lighthawk Wings, right?" Mihoshi asked. "They'd be powerful enough to stop him, wouldn't they, Tenchi? I mean, you can't control them exactly, but you beat Kagato with them, and--"

"No," Tenchi muttered darkly. "I can't."

She stopped her pacing and stared at him for a moment. "Tenchi...?"

"I killed Kagato with the Lighthawk Wings, Mihoshi," Tenchi said. "And I cut his ship in half with the same blow without even realizing it. I used them again just recently when Cogito tried to stop us from rescuing you from his space station. I could have killed him if Steel hadn't told me who he was at the last second. And for that matter, the power disabled his armor temporarily just like it blew out his ship when that patrol vessel caught us crossing into Jurai territory. I don't dare use them on Superman now. Maybe they wouldn't even hurt him, or maybe I could kill him. That might not even be such a big deal... he's been dead before, right? Or I could destroy this whole ship trying to find out. Out here in the middle of nowhere, with Ryo-Oh-Ki too sick to change into a spaceship and fly us out of here... Well, it's too big a risk. I won't do it."

"That was his plan from the beginning," Mihoshi mused.

"What's that?" Tenchi asked.

"I can't remember what he looked like now, but I haven't forgotten what he said in that restaurant when he captured all of us," Mihoshi replied. "He said he used MY reports to headquarters to learn all about us. He KNEW that you could create Lighthawk Wings but couldn't control them just yet, so he picked someone he knew you wouldn't want to fight. Oh, Tenchi, this is all my fault! If I hadn't made such an extensive report, then maybe--"

"You were just doing your job," Tenchi said reassuringly. "Who knows how he got ahold of that report anyway? And if he hadn't, he would have just worked out some other plan by now, right? Look, Mihoshi..." He stood up and approached her. "I know you're worried about me--about all of us--but I need your help on this, OK? If this doesn't work, you'll be the only one who can stop Legion."

"M-me?" Mihoshi gulped. "What can I do?"

"However this ends up, you'll be sent back to your patrol on Earth," Tenchi explained. "That should go for the rest of us, too, but with Legion manipulating the king I don't want to take any chances. Jurai wouldn't strain relations with the GP just to hold you, though, so that makes you our best chance if things go badly for us. You can tell your superiors about what's happened to Superman, go to the Justice League, my grandpa, whatever. Just make sure you get the word out. One way or another, I won't let him get away with this. In fact, you might want to get in touch with the GP when we get to wherever it is we're going. That it's a secret makes me suspicious. Someone's gone through a lot of trouble to make sure we won't be disturbed."

"The king probably just doesn't want to take a chance on me crashing any spaceships onto this duel like the last time," Mihoshi pouted. "I'm really sorry about that, by the way..."

"If that's what he's worried about," Tenchi smiled as he clasped Mihoshi on the shoulder, "then he's underestimating both of us. As far as I'm concerned, you can drop in on us any time. On the FAR side of the lake, of course..."

She nodded curtly and offered him a brisk salute. "I won't let you down, Tenchi," she swore as the communicator bracelet shook loosely on her wrist as she brought it up to her head. "Legion's as good as beaten!"

"That's the spirit!" Tenchi cheered. "I knew I could count on you, Mihoshi." And with that, she headed for the door and left him to his preparation.

Yeah, he could depend on Mihoshi. All he had to do now was live up to a little of his own hype...


The true measure of a ruler was in his patience. The simple unyielding constant of the universe was that anything worth having took time to achieve.

For Asuza, Head of the Jurai Royal Family, and Supreme Emperor of the Planet Jurai And All Of Its Territories, nine hours was practically nothing. He'd spend six of them sleeping, and come the dawn he'd have what he wanted at long last. His daughters would come home with him and he'd have a worthy successor to the throne. The Earthling Tenchi would be of no further consequence, and all would be right and proper with the cosmos.

Of course, he reminded himself as he entered the imperial suite of his ship, none of that would happen for another nine hours. Until then, he'd still have to put up with the nonsense Tenchi seemed to leave in his wake wherever he went. Like the man drinking tea with his wife.

"So then we sent a guy up and he hit a golf ball there. And that's pretty much been it for the last twenty-odd years or so. Of course, there's the JLA Watchtower, but that's hardly connected to any Earth-based space program."

"Of course," Funaho said, pouring another cupful of hot liquid into her mug. "Motorized flags, toys... I'm sure it must be an awesome thing to be able to leave your mark on something so majestic. Better to keep it simple and leave the serenity undisturbed."

"What is he doing here?" Asuza demanded.

"This is Steel," Funaho explained, turning her attention to him for just the briefest of seconds to acknowledge his presence. "He was telling me about the Earth's moon. More tea, Dr. Irons?"

"Please," the man in the metallic costume replied, holding out his cup for a refill. "And just for recognizing my degree, I'll even go so far as to say this is the best Juraian tea I've ever had, ma'am."

She smiled at him and poured an additional volume for him. "Now Jurai has no moon. Well, no moon to speak of, at any rate. It's one of those little things I've grown to miss over the centuries. The nights are so dark on Jurai..."

"Hmmph. I almost know what you mean," Steel replied. "First few days in my workshop on the Watchtower, I finally saw my first lunar sunrise. Between the artificial gravity and the recirculated oxygen I don't think it ever really sank in just where I was until I saw that big blue thing hanging in the sky once the sun had come out to illuminate it."

Asuza furrowed his brow and felt his upper lip tremble. Bad enough he was being ignored, but by his own wife, and in his own quarters-- "Hey!" he finally blurted out.

"Yes, dear?" Funaho asked sweetly.

"I know WHO he is," Asuza grumbled. "WHY is he here? If he thinks he can convince me that Komorebi is part of that ludicrous story his friends tried to pass off earlier, then--"

"I asked to see him," Funaho answered. "It's not every day I meet a human who has his own starship. I was curious to see how far Earth technology has advanced since I last visited."

"Which brings me to the point I had hoped to make, actually," Steel added. "The truth is, Sire, I couldn't fight your logic. Komorebi must be a true Juraian. How else could he have gotten those genetic alterations to give him that kind of power? Obviously, yours is an advanced civilization. Who am I to question it?"

"But?" Asuza prompted him. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow as the human went on.

"But... it seems to me that the whole point behind this duel of yours is to prove that your champion can beat a guy from Earth. Oh, he's part Juraian, but it's his human side that's the problem, and then I realized that you're stacking the deck against him."

"You noticed?" Asuza harumphed.

"You see, I don't know how you do it on Jurai," Steel sighed, taking a leisurely sip from his tea, "but on Earth we have people called seconds who make all the arrangements for duels. One second for each man, they prepare the weapons, choose the location, and so on. Now since Komorebi's already possessed of the greatest power Juraian science has to offer, and since you've already picked out a time and place, I thought I would offer my services as Tenchi's second. That way he can come into this fight with the best Earth technology available to him. Naturally, I wanted to clear that with you beforehand."

"Unacceptable," Asuza grimaced. "This is an internal matter of the Jurai Royal Family."

"Now you can't have it both ways," Funaho chided. "If Tenchi is Juraian enough to exclude human participation, then we wouldn't be doing this in the first place, right? Besides, what are you worried about?"

Asuza rolled his eyes and an irritated gasp escaped from his lips. "Very well, Mr. Steel. Do whatever you like. It is no concern of mine if you wish to waste your time with such a thing."

"I appreciate it, Sire," Steel said with a grin.

"However!" Asuza continued, "I refuse to allow Ayeka and Sasami to take part in your little plot. I intend to see my daughter married to Komorebi, and I would prefer it if she weren't turned against him by your constant accusations. Is that understood?"

"I think I can deal with that," Steel mused. He stood up and set his cup on the table as he headed for the door. "Then if that's all settled, I'd better get started. Until tomorrow, ma'am."

"Good luck, Dr. Irons," Funaho said as he stepped past the threshold. The armored man waved his hand in response and the door slid shut behind him.

"Would have been so much simpler if that boy had just forfeited and left it at that," Asuza growled as he approached the table and took Steel's seat.

"He is rather hard-headed at that," Funaho agreed. "I wonder where he gets it from..."

Asuza made no reply to this, instead picking up Steel's half-empty cup and examining the white fragments bobbing in the liquid it held. "Ice?" he asked.

"He was quite insistent," Funaho shrugged. "I can only assume it gets unbearably hot inside that armor he wears."

He swirled the cup around in his hand and shook his head. "Eight hours, fifty-two minutes," he mumbled to himself. A veritable eternity.


"Garment cleaned. Please insert new garment."

"That will be all for tonight, thank you," Misaki informed the custodian robot as she pulled the cloth free of the slot in its wooden frame. She pinched an edge in each hand and unfurled the whole thing with a snap of her wrists.

"Really, mother, you didn't have to help me with this. I just needed to know where the laundry area was."

"It's no trouble at all, Sasami," Misaki purred. "Your father is so wrapped up in this little event he's planned that I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to see any of you until it was over. Besides, if you won't wear the clothes I make for you, then the least you could do is let me wash your friends'--"

"Muh-therrrr..." Sasami groaned.

Misaki giggled at this. She'd been a little girl once, and she knew what it was like to be Sasami's age, trying to act as grown up as possible, doing anything she could to keep up with her older friends. Doubtless they were all scurrying about the ship right now, doing whatever they could to either defeat Komorebi or track down their missing friend. All Sasami could do was clean his costume, and she had to get her mother to help with even that. But she persevered anyway, because no matter how small a thing it was, it was all she could do, and that would have to be enough.

And Misaki hovered over her in spite of knowing all this, because one day Sasami would know what it was like to be HER age, and she'd understand just how hard it could be watching one's children struggle with such things. "Such a vivid design," Misaki mused as she examined the bright primary colors of the fabric. "But from what you've told me about him, he probably uses it like the sirens on a Galaxy Police ship. He wants you to KNOW when he arrives on the scene."

"I guess," Sasami said glumly. She folded the red cape and set it in an open box she'd brought with her.

"I'll just bet his mother made this for him," Misaki smirked. "I know these things when I see them. It's in the craftsmanship. Now wouldn't that be something? A big strong grown-up wearing clothes his mommy made for him, hmm?"

"His mother died when he was just a baby," Sasami sniffled. "He told us all about it. His whole planet... it all just... died one day."

Misaki's eyes widened at this. It was a terrifying prospect to even think about--small wonder her husband didn't even want to hear about it before. Obviously there was more on her mind than anything a little teasing would alleviate. "Sasami, what's the matter?" she asked, lowering herself until she was sitting on her heels to look her in the eye. "I know you like living on the Earth, but it wouldn't be THAT bad to come back with us to Jurai, would it? Besides, you never know... Tenchi's one-for-one when it comes to this sort of thing. I wouldn't write him off just yet. And no matter what happens, I promise you that we'll do everything we can to find your friend when this is over."

"It's not that..." Sasami whimpered, her eyes beginning to moisten. "It's just... Mother, is Komorebi--? Is he happy?"

"I... well, yes," she answered. "There was a little difficulty adjusting to his new life, but he seems very pleased to be among his own kind at long last. And of course, your father's been rushing him through this whole duel business so quickly that he's probably nervous about everything, but I think deep down he's enjoying all this craziness. He's just glad to be home--"

Sasami nodded in anticipation of her answer and looked back down at the box where she'd laid the suit. "Mother... if you knew someone was in trouble, and you thought you might be able to do something to help him, but you knew it might hurt him to do it, should you still try to help him anyway?"

She was about to ask her to explain what she was asking, but it was right about then that it all fell together for her. The powers, the life story, the coincidence of one disappearing right around the same time as the other showed up. Sasami's friend really was Komorebi, only he'd been changed to believe he was a different man.

It wasn't that she didn't believe Tenchi and the girls when they tried to explain it before, but it just didn't make sense at the time. But to hear Sasami talk about this alien orphan was just enough to show that it explained a lot about who Komorebi was and how he came to have such great power.

But at the same time it raised more questions than answers. Was Fudou truly behind such a thing, as Ryoko had insisted? If so, why? And how could an alien be changed so thoroughly in body and mind that he could fool the finest intellects of Jurai into believing he was one of them? And to sum up Sasami's dilemma, assuming he COULD be changed back into his old self, SHOULD he be? After all, even without knowing about the kind of life he'd lived on the Earth, Misaki KNEW he was happy among Juraians. And she'd grown fond of him being among them in turn. Was it right for someone to try to take that away from him, even if it was supposed to be for his own good?

She looked at the blue uniform in her hands for a moment and looked over the fabric once more. And then she looked at Sasami and gently wiped a tear away with her thumb. "I still think his mother must have made this for him," she finally said. "Maybe not the one who gave birth to him, but someone must have raised him on the Earth, right?"

"Maybe..." Sasami said softly.

"As for his biological parents... I imagine it must have been hard for them to send him so far away... even if holding on to him would have meant certain doom. It wasn't the easy thing to do, Sasami. Letting go never is. But it was the right thing to do, and in the end it was the only real choice they had."

"Yeah..."

She took her in her arms and held her tight. "Your friend is very lucky to have so many people looking after him on the Earth, Sasami. And it's a very lovely outfit... I think he should have it back as soon as possible, don't you?"

"Mmm-hmm." Sasami took the rest of the clothing and folded it neatly before putting it into the box. Then she grabbed a pair of red boots laying on the floor and set them on top. "Thank you for helping me with these, Mother," she said as she picked it all up and made her way for the corridor.

"Anytime," Misaki smiled with a thumbs-up sign for emphasis. And as Sasami left, she began to wonder about all those questions she'd considered before, and who would best know how to answer them...


"Professor Washuu!"

Cogito wasn't used to raising his voice, but it was all he could do to be heard over the rhythmic creaking of the bedsprings. Fortunately, it was enough to get her attention. "I'm listening, Codge. Trust me--the last thing--I'd want you to do now--is stop. Your technique--yeah!--is most impressive, I must admit!"

"Really?" the little green man asked. "Do you think Miss Mihoshi would like it?"

"Huh? What--does she--have to do--with it?" Washuu gasped as she tried to keep up with the conversation in spite of the physical exertion. "It's unorthodox, and primitively executed, but it's a fine job nonetheless. Trust me, I've seen a lot... whooaaa! ...a lot worse in my time."

"It's just that she was the one who suggested I join you all on this endeavor," Cogito shrugged. "It's partly my fault for what's happened to Superman, and I want to do my part to make up for it--is it really necessary that you do that?"

Washuu made a few more leaps and then angled herself away from the mattress, doing a backflip as she descended to the floor. She made a perfect dismount, feet together, arms outstretched as if to welcome applause from an imaginary audience. "Lighten up, Codge," she said, turning to face him brooding at the small table across from the bed. "It's a great stress reliever. You should try it sometime. Besides, the Jurai Royal Family were very generous in giving us this furnished room for our stay, and it'd be rude of us not to make use of the accommodations."

"Astonishing," Cogito mused, watching the puerile scientist pull a chair from the table and swing it around so she could lean forward against the back of it. "It's taken me years of work to perfect the psychotechnical apparati I've invented, and even my peers have had difficulty understanding the principles behind the technology. You've not only followed my entire description, but you actually find it somewhat backward... and all while jumping up and down on your bed like my little niece on X'vyv'x."

"Ah-ah!" Washuu corrected. "That one's your bed. You don't think I'd lie down on that thing NOW, do you? Great way to unwind, lousy on the furniture. Not that we'll be getting much sleep tonight anyway."

"Yes... undoing my handiwork isn't going to be easy," Cogito sulked. "I find myself regretting that I ever created this--this..."

"Hey, it's not like it was your idea to permanently alter Kal's mind, y'know," Washuu pointed out. "And you didn't come up with whatever Legion's been using to disguise his DNA to look Juraian, now. Not to mention that his Majesty is so happy to have his precious Customized Superman that it wouldn't matter much even if we COULD prove our story. Trust me, this is a lot more my fault than it is yours. And believe me... I've had a lot of great inventions misapplied in my years. Just because some moron wants to wear hats on his feet doesn't make you a bad shoemaker. It just means you're a misunderstood hatter. Every invention is precious. Never lose sight of that."

"Once again, you amaze me, Professor. I appreciate your insight."

"Yeah," she mumbled, "well, I guess it figures I'd finally be able to say all of that to someone eventually..."

Before he could ask what she meant by that, the door of their quarters slid open and a large man marched inside, his massive boots clanking with each step. "Good news is he went for it," Steel announced as he grabbed a seat at the table.

"Perfect!" Washuu swooned. "I had a feeling Lady Funaho would be receptive to a fellow Earthling. And it only figures that the King wouldn't want to strain his relationship with her any further than this dumb duel already has. Come the dawn, Tenchi will walk into that fight with the very best the three of us have to offer him! Superman doesn't stand a CHANCE. Care for a celebratory bed-jump, Apprentice?"

"What's the bad news, Steel?" Cogito pressed on.

"The bad news is that I had to cannibalize half of what's left of my ship's computer systems for us to pull off this crazy stunt," he said, holding up a crate in his hands and emptying the contents onto the table. A vast assortment of multicolored components and devices spilled out all over like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. "Which means that we'd better hope His Majesty is a real good sport if we make this work, because there's gonna be zero chance of us getting home again on our own."

"Hats on your feet, Apprentice," Washuu scolded. "That little rustbucket of yours is hardly any great loss as a vehicle. Now if we can rip out the guts of it and use them to thwart a conspiracy against the most powerful empire in the galaxy... then we've more than exceeded the design specifications, now haven't we?"

"I guess you've got something there, mentor," Steel admitted after a slight hesitation. "In that case, we'd better get started."


He didn't much care for being all alone like this. Mihoshi had been gone for a short while, and all could think about was what everyone else must have been thinking of his crazy plan.

Well, to call it a plan was a rather bold statement. He'd been given two choices, and he took the one that bought him the most time to think of a way out of his problem.

The Lighthawk Wings were out of the question. That left him with his usual weapon of choice: Tenchiken, the sword his grandfather had given to him when he went to fight Kagato back when this craziness had all started. Presumably, he had been named after the sword, although he couldn't really imagine why. Quite honestly, he didn't really like to think about that sort of thing...

("Still, one of these days you'll find yourself in a situation where you'll need to know these things. Burying your head in the sand when the hard truths come along... well, that attitude was what destroyed my own people. I'd hate to see the same thing happen again, all right?")

Those were the words Superman said to him when they'd first met. At the time, Tenchi didn't give it much thought. He'd been grilling him for information and when Tenchi balked on a few questions, Superman had said that in reply. A fairly trite warning to get your act together and keep your eyes open... but here he was in the very situation Superman had described, and while nothing so dramatic as a planet was at stake, Tenchi's whole world--the life he'd been living since Ryoko and the others came to live with him--that world was on the brink. He didn't LIKE to think about that sort of thing...

"Well, maybe it's time I started," he said aloud. And he pulled the hilt of his sword from where it hung at his waist and he stared at it for a while. Whatever happened next, it would play a role, and he had to figure out exactly what that would be. And he contemplated it for what seemed like a long time when he heard a knock on the door.

His first thought was that it was Ayeka, or Ryoko, or both of them looking to speak with him about this just as Mihoshi had earlier on. And really, he would have welcomed it, although there wasn't much he could have said to either one of them that he hadn't already told Mihoshi. But as he rose from his chair and headed for the door to answer it occurred to him that Ryoko would have simply phased through without bothering to knock, and Ayeka... well, she wouldn't have used such a heavy staccato to announce her presence. It just wasn't her, and that made him wonder just who else would want to see him at this hour--

And he felt his heartbeat quicken as he opened the door to find the answer to his question. "Lord Fudou," he said dryly.

"Lord Tenchi," he replied, almost choking on the words as he spoke.

They stared at each other for about twenty seconds without a word. If Fudou felt any concern over the icy scowl on Tenchi's face, he didn't show it. In fact, a smile spread across his bearded face and he seemed to quiver a bit as if trying to hold in a contemptible laugh.

"What do you want?" Tenchi finally asked.

"I just thought I'd drop by to wish you luck," Fudou said pleasantly. "Just because Komorebi is my patient doesn't necessarily mean I want you to do poorly in the contest tomorrow morning."

"Do me a favor?" Tenchi asked him.

"Within reason," Fudou offered.

"Cut the crap. Ryoko pegged you as Legion the second we met, Fudou. You ambushed her and the others, and you brainwashed Superman into thinking he's a Juraian nobleman. You know it, and I know it, so let's just skip to the real reason you're here: You wanna gloat."

He snorted at this open confrontation and moved to enter the room. Tenchi stepped aside to let him in. Fudou then reached into his obsidian tunic and pulled out a small bracelet which he dangled from one of his green fingers for Tenchi to see.

"I also came by to inform you that there are to be no unauthorized communications on this vessel until the completion of this duel," he said casually. "I had to confiscate this from your Detective Mihoshi. Not that I expected her to contact her superiors in the Galaxy Police just yet, but it occurred to me that she might inadvertently violate the king's ruling. Better that I hold onto it for now. Besides, you didn't really think I was stupid enough to let her use this, did you?"

"You knew?" Tenchi stammered.

"I anticipated," he grunted in amusement. "After all, she's not affiliated with Jurai, so if you lost the contest she'd be in the best position to oppose me afterwards. I anticipated, just as I anticipated that allowing Ryoko alone to know who I was would only sow confusion and distrust among your number. After all, what Ryoko says amounts to so much fertilizer on a Jurai ship in Jurai space. One might think they were nursing a grudge, seeing as she razed the throneworld once upon a time. Of course, I can see why you'd be so eager to trust her. After all, if your dear grandfather hadn't chased her off, he never would have retired to Earth and you never would have been born. It must be nice having such close friends with such intertwined histories."

"And what about Mihoshi? Or Sasami?" Tenchi probed. "Their word might carry a little more weight--"

"I think we both know that if that were so, we wouldn't be having this charming conversation right now, Tenchi." Legion took a deep breath and walked over to a chair on the other side of the room. He rubbed his finger across one of the arms and held it up to his eye. "Not the best accommodations on the ship, I see. I imagine they only clean out this cabin once a month. Standard procedure on a Jurai vessel. Saves time for maintaining the rooms that get used more often... for the more important guests."

"No complaints," Tenchi said.

"Of course not," Fudou sighed. "Why would you complain? Your planet was named after dust. Dirt. Ash. Soil. Earth. That's their attitude towards you, you know. Why should he care one way or the other? Granted, he's a crown prince of the realm, but he's an Earthman just the same. They figure they're doing you a favor letting you fly around in their awe-filled starship of whimsy."

"Is that why you're doing this?" Tenchi asked. "Because you think Jurai rejects you for being half alien?"

"I do this," Fudou said, "because I want to prove a point. By all rights, you could be the next emperor of this nation of theirs. Not only are you a direct descendant of the king, but you're the firstborn son of the firstborn daughter of his firstborn son. And if that were not enough, circumstance and Jurai's loose moral code have made you the object of Princess Ayeka's affections, which would make you doubly qualified to succeed the throne. I pay attention, before you ask me how I would know any of that.

"And are you treated with the respect that Jurai custom demands? Of course not. Your own family insists you compete in duels just to prove your own worth. They quarter you in a stuffy room that smells slightly like rotting bark. And when you try to reason with the All-Wise and Venerable King, he refuses to listen. Of course, others among your family take your side. I know the Queens believe you, and the Princesses. But they aren't in control of this matter. He is, and he only listens to what he wants to hear. Which is precisely why he listens to me without question. It's also why I allowed Ayeka and Sasami to learn so much about my plans to this point. I knew even they wouldn't be able to persuade her father against his resentment of you.

"So do you rise up and take a stand against this flagrant indignity? Of course you don't. You sit here in this flophouse and prepare yourself for the battle he's set up for you--a battle we both know you can't win--and why? Because you're too complacent to take matters into your own hands. Anyone else in your situation would have married Ayeka on Earth a long time ago. Or used your relationship with that Changeling space pirate and her misbegotten mother and taken the whole empire by force. Either way you might have used your leverage to cement your already rightful claim to the throne. But no, you sit and do nothing, as is your wont. Happily tilling the ground and prevaricating whenever one of your 'harem' solicits your affections. Torn between the heavens and the Earth, without ever really committing to one or the other. Ambivalent, just as your mother named you. Small wonder I don't find you threatening in the least."

"Is that supposed to make me upset?" Tenchi asked as his eyes narrowed.

"Your reaction is unimportant," Fudou replied. "I'm just cutting the crap. We're not all that different, you and I. We're both lost sons of Jurai. Both descended from dual heritages. Both of us put on an air of humility around the true nobles, and they give us a small amount of respect for knowing our place as mongrels. The defining distinction is that you do this because you sincerely don't know any better. Every human that ever stood upright on Earth was raised to bow to his elders, or shake another man's hand, or get down on his knees when in the presence of his betters."

"And why do you do it?" Tenchi asked.

"My discipline is built around the principle of concealment," Fudou answered. "Exploiting an enemy's weakness without exposing your own. Just as Washuu used Kryptonite to bring Superman low, he used her arrogance to counter. Nagi used mindgames to distract Ryoko, and Mihoshi used a legal loophole to set her free. And I used your friendships to lure you out into space where I could manipulate you as pawns against King Asuza. I used Superman's own victims to give me an insight on how best to control him, and now I am poised to exploit the King's weakness: his hypocritical prejudice. All that I have to do now is play the humble half-breed a while longer and he'll not only hand over his own kingdom to an alien, but he'll tear his own family apart in the process. Pity, really."

"What's that?"

"I don't really have it in my heart to despise you personally, Lord Tenchi. It's Asuza I want. And my allies will be satisfied that I use Superman to defeat him. You were just a piece of the puzzle. A means to an end. Oh, I confess, I find your constant indecision and Earthling humility pathetic, but that's hardly enough to earn my hatred. I mean, anyone with Jurai blood in his veins has a reason to loathe Ryoko and Washuu, and the Princesses are just part of my plot against their father. And of course, Detective Mihoshi, Cogito and that human Steel have taken arms against me, but once this is all said and done they can return to their own worlds and go on with their insipid lives. But for you, Tenchi, I actually feel somewhat sorry. Because I've used you to undo everything you've ever held dear, and you haven't done a single thing to me to deserve it. Of course, your constant inaction was what allowed me to take this opportunity in the first place. Really, I should thank you."

A smile crossed Tenchi's lips. "Well, there's still a little time," he said grimly. "Maybe I can find a way to make us even."

"Ah, such valor for one so young," Fudou replied. "You remind me of your grandfather. I knew him back when we lived on Jurai, you know. Driven, idealistic to a fault, yet still willing to defy his father when the opportunity arose. I was always impressed how he dared to battle Ryoko by himself to save the rest of our people. Well, at least until I learned that she was a hapless victim of unethical science and that he was a weakling content to run away from Jurai and never return. That Mihoshi of yours does write some informative reports, I must say. Unbiased, thorough... downright iconoclastic. I'll have to thank her when this is over."

"Assuming that it works out the way you want it to," Tenchi smirked.

"The other facet of my discipline," Fudou remarked. "I plan for every conceivable outcome. It's far too late to stop me now, Lord Tenchi, or I wouldn't have revealed myself to you at this stage of the game. Just like I didn't reveal myself to Superman until it was too late for him to stop me. Just as I have no intention of revealing myself to Asuza until it's too late for HIM to stop me. But in the meantime you're more than welcome to put up a good, heroic struggle like the plucky little human you are. I meant it when I said I wanted to wish you luck. I just don't believe it will do you any good to have it."

"I think you've accomplished what you came here for," Tenchi said darkly. He picked up the hilt of his sword and motioned towards the door. "Until tomorrow, then."

"Until tomorrow," Fudou said with a smile. And with that, he opened the door and closed it shut behind him.


NEXT: This House Divided!

Continue To Chapter Twenty-Three