Sword of Darkness 6-3: 
Reunion on Jurai 
by J. T. MacLeod

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Yeah, so I finally did it.  Between the things I was asked
to put in here, the things I was obliged to put in here,
and the things I couldn't resist putting in here, not that
much happens here.  At least this lays some ground story-line
wise.  And I hope that you don't expect a disclaimer here.
You can forget it, Sparky.  I wouldn't push the point, as
everyone knows that the world has just a few too many lawyers.
------------------------------------------------------------

Jurai is probably one of the most beautiful planets it has ever
been my pleasure to visit.  Lush trees that flaunt their youth
despite their large, knarled physique are everywhere, and the
architecture that is built on and around them echoes their beauty.
Bright and warm earth tones are the norm, complimented by deep
(but rarely dark) colors of the artificial products of the Juraians.
Dark colors are usually a rich contrast, the likes of which can even
be found in the most subtle gradients here.  It is rarely bright,
except on the rolling planes between cities (both of which abound),
and even in the darker areas of the populated areas, it is almost
always light in atmosphere.

It was one of those darker areas I was sitting in as I talked with
Ray.  Frag, despite both Ray and I having battled him in the past,
made it a happy reunion.  Ray and I, due to past arguments(most of
which also involved Shane) weren't going to admit to be happy to see
one another without a buffer zone, but Frag provided it.  We chatted
as merrily as can be when one is about to discuss impending doom, and
Frag took us to a royal bar.  The servants and customers had moved
to a far end from us when Frag came in, and we took the opportunity
to obtain a table where our conversation couldn't be heard.

Frag was explaining, from the less dangerous end of a gun, to a
bartender both not to address him as "Lord Fudo" and how to make some
of the drinks that he had come to know and love on his escapades.
Meanwhile, Ray and I sat at a table discussing some of the matters
that were heavier on our minds.

"Look," said Ray, "It's not our fault if you misinterpreted what
I said.  You know us well enough to know that we'd be here."

"Well,"  I replied, "When you said Tenchi OVA dimension alpha,
I naturally assumed that you wouldn't mean the alpha-point DUBBED
VERSION!!"

"Hey!"  Frag interrupted from the bar.  "What kind of drinks do
you guys want?"

"Root beer,"  I said.

"Dry martini.  Shaken, not stirred."  Ray followed up immediately.

Frag turned back to the bartender and fingered the trigger of his
gun gently as he explained what we wanted.

I turned back to Ray.

"Whatever, Mr. Bond."

Ray paused and looked at his hastily fixed drink in the bartender's
hand.  He pushed a button on his watch and a small claw on a wire
shot out, grabbed the drink, then delivered it without spilling
a drop.  Ray looked back up with a mischevious grin.

"I tell you I'm not trying to be James Bond!"

"Whatever.  Look, I've got a question for you.  I know that it was
probably all too easy for Mewtwo to get 'Lucifer's Key', but where
did he get the Destroyer Rings?"

"I don't know.  I've gone over it again and again, but I can't
come up with a good answer.  Cordran got the last ring, and it was
destroyed with him."

"Those rings were real, Ray.  So was the sword.  I could feel it."

"Hey, I know!  I fought him, too.  But I still don't know how he
got them."

Frag rejoined us at the table and handed me my drink.  For himself,
He set down a large bottle of what looked like a specialty whiskey.

"What bothers me just as much," Ray continued, "is how the
Ultimate Force is of this dimension.  All of the other pieces are
transdimensional."

"Don't know, don't care," said Frag as he chugged from his bottle.

"But Frag is a transdimensional being...  sort of.  Not that we can
trace all of his heritage, since Shane blew up all of the Star Trek
dimensions with the dimensional cannon.  That sort of means we're
screwed on that count."

"But that does lead us to wonder if the light hawk wings are just
a manifestation of the Ultimate Force," said Ray.

"Don't know, don't care," Frag said again.

"Right now I'm thinking that our best bet would be to sick Queen
Misaki on Mewtwo."  The color dropped right out of Frag's face.

"Man, we're supposed to be the GOOD GUYS!!"

Ray and I got a good chuckle out of this until we saw that the color
was not returning to his face.  Frag was staring straight up, where
there was a vortex portal opening.  Out of the portal and onto the
table dropped a small ball of fuzz.  A mini-lop rabbit.

"Bunbun!"  exclaimed all of us.

"Where the **** am I?" asked Bunbun.

"The planet Jurai," answered Ray.  "What do you have for us?"

"I called a loose cannon I know.  When it absolutely has to be
destroyed overnight.  Heh.  Not for you guys, though."

Bunbun paused long enough to pull out his swichblade with a
"KA-CLICK!".

"I'm taking over this operation..."  Bunbun paused again to look
at Frag.

"What's with pale-boy over here?"

Frag was still pale, but he wasn't looking at Bunbun.  He was looking
at the doorway, where a particular blue haired queen was standing.

"Fudo-chan!!" she said.

Frag began to squeak.

"Aunt...  Auntie Misaki??"

"Fudo-chan!  You've finally come back!  I've missed you so much
and you've taken to wearing those ugly sunglasses again and Azusa
has stopped talking about you and--"

Misaki looked up and, unfortunately, saw Ray and myself.

"Who are you're cute friends Fudo-chan?"

Ray and I made small smiles and nods while large sweat drops rolled
down our faces.  "Fudo-chan, you have to introduce us--OOOHHHH!!"

Ray and I were saved, as she saw Bunbun.

Bunbun dropped his switchblade and began to back away, the fear
clearly showing in his eyes.

"Who are you little one?  Come here!!"  Misaki said as she picked
up the mini-lop.  Bunbun gasped futilely for air as he was crushed
by a hug.

"Wait!  Fudo-chan, you must join Azusa and I for tea!  Bring your
friends if they can come!  I have to hurry there now..."

Misaki gave each of us a crushing hug before exiting in a rush.

She popped her head back in the door just long enough to speak
to Frag.

"Hurry, Fudo-chan!"

Bunbun snapped out of his quivering spell.

"I don't care how cute she is, that chick is dangerous.  I'm outta
here."

Another vortex portal opened up just long enough for Bunbun to
jump through.

"OK," I said, "Who let Bunbun dimension hop?"

Ray shrugged.

Frag regained his composure and spoke.

"I need to talk to Azusa anyway.  You guys had better not come."

Ray and I had no problem with that.

"I need to do some research into all of this anyway," said Ray.

"Whatever," said Frag.  "See you later."

Frag walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

Ray turned to me.

"Want to come with?"  he asked.

"Actually, I have something I need to do..."

"What?"

"I need to see Tsunami.  Want to come with me?"

"You also need to realize that you're nuts.  That place is guarded
to the brim."

"I've met Tsunami before, in the undubbed alpha dimension, anyway.
We can teleport there--her energy is easy enough to sense to pinpoint
her."  Teleporting was a technique we had both learned from Goku.

"Yeah, but can she help us?"

"If not she'll say so."

"Sounds like a plan.  We should still have time to do the research
we need."

"OK, I'll go straight there so you can follow my energy after
I leave."

I stood up and tried to find Tsunami's energy, which wasn't so hard,
considering how massive it was.  I found myself in the royal tree
room, and Ray immediately appeared right beside me.

The room was a cyllinder of intertwined trees, a good half kilometer
in diameter, and higher than we could see.  All throughout the room,
trees grew from platforms, some attached to the walls, some hanging
in midair.  All, however, were fed water from the same source,
and their roots did not actually touch soil of any sort.

We stood at the bottom of the room, which was also the source of
the water the trees above drank from.  In front of us, was the
largest and most powerful of the Juraian trees:  Tsunami.

"What now?" asked Ray.

"Now, we say 'Hello'."

I walked to the tree, and I'm sure that my scream echoed throughout
the entire room when human form of Tsunami appeared 3 centimeters
in front of me in a small shimmer of light.

"Hello," she said.

"Um, Hi," I replied.

"I thought that Juraian trees rarely took human form, but you and
Gomisaki come right out in it," said Ray.

"You are of the same blood Fudo is.  For some reason, it is easy for
us to appear like this to people of your blood.  You needed my help?"

"Yes," I replied.  "Are you familiar with our problem?"

"From what I see in your mind, yes."

"So, can you help us?" asked Ray.

"Frag, er, Fudo, wants to use the combined power of Jurai to fight 
Mewtwo," I said.   "Can you tell us something about it?"

"Fudo's request will be dealt with when he comes forward with it." 
Tsunami replied.  "But I can help you otherwise."  

"How?" asked Ray.

"I can offer you the tools of Jurai," said Tsunami.

"Um." said both Ray and me.

Tsunami gestured to our right.  Twelve feet up, there were four
platforms near each other (near being a relative term).  Each held
a tree.

"One of these trees is Gomisaki, who is connected to Fudo.
The others are Kyuusai, Kousei, and Hogo.  They, however, have no
one connected to them."

While I stood in awe of the trees, Ray spoke up.

"But only those of Jurai blood can use the power of the trees."

"They can use this power because they have my consent due to a
promise made long ago.  I can give others my consent, though this
will be the first time I have ever done so.  You, being of that
blood that makes Fudo so special, can be the first, due to your
responsibilities."

"Does this mean we can access the entire tree system?" I asked.

"Not yet.  The trees will need time to prepare.  Then that will
come to you.  They will serve you as ships, as well, but that will
take even more time.  I feel that they will finish soon enough to
help you, though."

"What about the light hawk wings?" asked Ray.

"Your ships will be able to form them later.  As for yourselves--we
shall see.  However, I believe that it would be dangerous to use
them, even for Fudo.  I recommend that you don't."

Tsunami gestured for us to follow her, and we all moved torward
the ancient tree.  She placed a hand of each of us on the tree,
and she disappeared.  The leaves of Tsunami glistened, and a wind
blew from the bottom of the chamber to upwards.  The leaves of two
of the trees glistened also, and the wind returned to the bottom of
the room.  Ray and I both looked at each other as we glowed a faint
blue, and felt the symbiotic relationship of the trees beginning.

Tsunami returned to the place where she had disappeared from,
and handed each of us a small piece of wood.

"These keys are from me.  Mac, your tree is Kyuusai.  Ray, yours
is Kousei.  You know that Juraian nobility carve their keys, but
you do not have that skill.  They will form themselves in time."

"What about Azusa?"  I asked.

"I will deal with Azusa.  I will also have Misaki and Funaho prepare
your ships."  Tsunami smiled and laughed a bit.  "I'm sure that
Misaki will send wardrobes for you, as well."

I looked at Ray's DGF uniform.

"Anything's got to be better than that uniform," I joked.

"Your lab coat and jeans ensamble isn't so hot either," he shot back.

"There is still one more tree.  I believe that you know who should
come for it." Tsunami continued.

Ray and I both knew who:  Shane.  We hadn't seen him yet in our
current escapade, but he was the one who would hold the Sword of
Light, could he form it, not to mention that he was the only person
we could think of.

"Hogo, the last tree can begin preparing, but cannot finish until
someone connects to it.  It will not require much time after that,
but I suggest that you bring your friend as soon as possible."

Tsunami handed a small piece of bark to Ray.

"Give this to Gomisaki.  She will then be able to show you the
history of Jurai through her ship form, though she will not be able to
assimilate the information for herself.  I hope that this helps you."

As rushed as our encounter was, Ray and I knew Tsunami meant that
it was time to go.  We bowed, profusely, despite our knowing that
Tsunami was probably amused by our inept bowing skills.

Tsunami spoke once more.

"When you have fewer pressures, do come back--to visit."

She disappeared with the same shimmer she had first come in with,
and Ray and I turned to each other.

I suddenly realized how good to be on pleasant terms with Ray again.  

"Time to get back to the ship." I said.

"Yeah," said Ray as he gestured to the bark in his hand.  "We need to
get started with this history lesson ASAP, among our other research."

We found Gomisaki's energy quickly, and disappeared from the room.

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Yeah, I know, it sucked.  It was really rushed, but I'm too
distracted and tired today to do it any other way.  Anyway,
I'm done for now, and the next story will come from Pik or Frag.
They'll have a few surprises for you, including the introduction
of the final member of our writing team!

Be prepared for big things.
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