Well, well well. Despite the oncoming threat of finals, I have managed to
maintain a decent production rate. Here is what I have. Enjoy, read it,
comment as always. I really need comments on this post, as I feel Chapter
5 is stepping a bit too much out of bounds. But then again. It's only my
opinion.
Chapter 4
Tenchi sighed as he watched the ship disappear into the
subspace fold. It certainly seemed strange that the Emperor would
suddenly call for the Royal family without summoning him. But
Tenchi didn't mind, for he knew that the Emperor sort of disliked
him. But also, in another way, Tenchi was sort of glad. It meant
that he didn't have to leave Earth at all. In a way, Tenchi had
grown up on Earth, and he felt that there was no way he could ever
leave his home.
"Tenchi! Now that Ayeka is gone, how about having some fun
with me?" Ryoko ran up and gave Tenchi a hard hug. Tenchi had to
admire Ryoko's persistence, but sometimes he felt that Ryoko was a
little to fervent in her attempts to win his love. Tenchi somehow
felt that he was not ready to commit at all, and he in a way loved
all of the girls.
"Um, well, Ryoko. I have to do some chores, so maybe later."
Ryoko reluctantly released Tenchi, and he walked off to the fields.
As Tenchi walked up the hill to the clearing that contained the
acres and acres of carrots, all for Ryo-Ohki, he suddenly realized
that he had done all of his chores for the entire day. With a sigh,
he leaned against a tree, when he realized that he still needed to
practice, even though his grandfather was not present.
Mihoshi sighed as she finished dinner, albeit with minor
difficulty. Of course, Sasami was the best cook in the house, and
Washu a decent cook. But Sasami was away, and Washu was working on
a project in the lab. And everyone knew Ryoko just couldn't cook
normally. "Um Kiyone, I think dinner's ready. What do you think?"
Kiyone had been cleaning some things in the house, and she
walked into the kitchen. She looked at the dishes, and she nodded.
"I think it's perfectly fine Mihoshi."
Mihoshi beamed quite unnecessarily at Kiyone's comment. "You
think so!" She laughed. "Well, you'd better get Tenchi."
* * *
Tenchi sighed as he felt the numerous bruises over his body.
His grandfather, perhaps in hopes of forcing Tenchi to gain better
sense of balance and what not. Tenchi sighed as he grabbed his
wooden sword, and prepared for yet another round of being battered
around. Taking a deep breath, he launched himself at the obstacles.
From left to right back to left, Tenchi struck out with his
sword at the various targets. As soon as Tenchi struck the target,
he instinctively ducked, as the target spun around, bringing a
heavy bag flying in Tenchi's direction. But that was not all.
After striking various targets, the incoming objects would come
flying from a random direction, so Tenchi had to react quickly, or
get pasted. 'Damn it! I know that grandfather has too much free
time.'
With determination, Tenchi plowed through, and as soon as there
were no more targets, he leaned on his sword in amazement. For the
first time, he had actually made it through one of his
grandfather's exercises without getting hit at all.
'Maybe I'm really getting better.' Before, his grandfather
noted that he was getting better, but Tenchi immediately doubted
him completely, as he never thought that he could ever improve.
'Maybe I can try something else.'
* * *
Kiyone looked at the empty carrot field. There was absolutely
no sign of Tenchi, anywhere. 'Oh great, so where did he go?'
"If I were Tenchi, where else would I be?" Kiyone looked
around somewhat lost. It didn't help that it was in the dark.
"Miya!!!!" Kiyone was startled by the noise, but in the fading
sunlight, she could easily see Ryo-Ohki prancing about in front of
her.
"Ryo-Ohki. Do you know where is Tenchi?" Kiyone kneeled down
so she could speak with the little cabbit.
"Miya!!!!" Ryo-Ohki's ears perked up, and she took off into
the forest. Kiyone followed close behind.
* * *
With a grunt, Tenchi leaped from a tiny wooden platform, no
larger than a branch, struck a target, and landed somewhat wobbly
on the other side. As soon as he landed, he forced himself to make
another pass at the suspended target, and he continued to do so.
'Ok, so I'm still a little unstable, but I'm getting better.'
Tenchi thought happily to himself. Perhaps all of his training was
paying off.
Tenchi made another pass at the target, and as he continued, he
felt confidence returning to him. Leaping high, he noted with some
satisfaction that he smashed his bokken through the target,
completely smashing it to bits. Breathing heavily, Tenchi rested
his sword on the ground and leaned on the hilt. "Yup, I'm finally
getting the hang of this!"
Then Tenchi muttered. "But why did it have to take 6 years for
me to master this?"
"Miyaaa!" Tenchi heard the sounds of a small furry creature
trying to break through the foliage.
"Ryo-Ohki!" Tenchi looked around, in the fading light for the
little cabbit, and sure enough, a small bundle of brown fur burst
through the bushes, scampered towards Tenchi, ran quickly up his
leg and arm, and came to a rest on his head. Tenchi smiled at
Ryo-Ohki, and petted her. "Ryo-Ohki, what are you doing here?"
"Miyaaa! Miyaa! Miya! Miya!" Tenchi looked befuddled for a
moment, because Ryoko was the only person, besides Washu, who could
understand Ryo-Ohki.
"Ryo-Ohki!" Tenchi heard another voice coming from the woods.
Seconds later, Kiyone made her way into the clearing. "Oh there
you are. I was having enough trouble trying to follow you." And
boy did it look that way. There were leaves all over Kiyone's
clothes, her hair wasn't in the neat ponytail, and she had some
patches of dirt over her pants. "Well, Tenchi, Mihoshi sent me to
get you for dinner."
"Really, I'm just about starving right now." Tenchi shouldered
his wooden sword, and made his way back to his home.
* * *
"Tenchi! Try this!" Tenchi almost sighed, when Ryoko sat next
to him, and began dumping food into his rice bowl for him. Sure,
one of the ways to a man's love is through his stomach, but Tenchi
thought this was a little too much. "Try this and this and this...
" Tenchi sighed as the amount of food in his ricebowl grew beyond
normal bounds.
"Um, Ryoko, it might be a good time to stop," Washu said while
shoveling rice into her mouth. Washu paused in her chewing to look
up at the mound of food in the bowl, which amazingly hadn't fallen
down, yet.
"Washu! Just bug off! You're jealous that Tenchi loves me!"
Ryoko grabbed Tenchi, which caused his hand to shake, causing the
pile of food in the bowl, which was in his hand, to shake
precariously.
"Well, it hurts a mother's heart when her daughter is an
ungentle and unkind person. Stop bothering the poor man." Washu
grabbed onto Tenchi and gave him a yank in the opposite direction.
Kiyone and Mihoshi watched the giant pile of food start oscillating
wildly.
Washu stopped tugging Tenchi, and released him, causing him to
fly into Ryoko's arms. Oh yeah, the food all tumbled down all over
Ryoko, covering her from head to foot in rice and other stuff.
Washu stood up. "I can detect a high energy reaction!"
* * *
"Welcome Lord Yosho, Lady Ayeka, Lady Sasami. Welcome back to
Jurai." A royal escort bowed before the threesome, before backing
off so the three members of the royal family could walk off the
platform. However, something felt different. No longer did Jurai
feel like home to Ayeka, Sasami and Yosho. It just felt like
another place that the three were familiar with, there was nothing
special about the place.
Yosho took a deep breath as he looked at the sky, at the
beautiful iridescent purple hued clouds. "Well, Ayeka, you're home
now." He stared at the horizon, and sighed quietly, as he knew
that this wasn't his home. He wanted to be on Earth, his true home,
the home of his deceased wife. But, he knew, he couldn't disobey
his father's orders.
One of the palace guards gave Yosho a quick look over. "Lord
Azusa would like to see you right now." Yosho nodded gravely, and
he followed. Yosho slowly followed, as if in a dream. He could
faintly remember a time, long ago, when he was still a young child,
how'd he would play in these halls with his nurses, with his mother,
but never his father. His father was always busy trying to keep
the entire Empire together.
The guard interrupted Yosho's thoughts. "Sir, you may enter
now."
With a held breath, Yosho walked into his father's study.
* * *
"Sasami!"
"Mommie!" Ayeka shuddered slightly as she watched Sasami run
into their mother's arms and gave her a hug. "Mommie! I missed
you so much!" cried Sasami as she held on tightly. Of course, it
was ok for Sasami to say "Mommie." Ayeka, being a woman, shuddered
at the thought.
"Hello Mother, it was so nice to be back home so soon." Ayeka
immediately recoiled as she looked at Lady Misaki's stern face.
Sasami shook her head. 'Damn it. At least Ryoko isn't here to
mock me.'
"Mommie!" cried out Ayeka as she ran towards Lady Misaki with
her arms spread out.
"Little Ayeka!"
Family bonding can be such a moving experience, but let's stick
to the action.
* * *
"So Father, what did you have on mind, summoning Ayeka, Sasami
and me back to Jurai?" Yosho stood warily as he looked at his
father, who was pacing back and forth.
"Well Yosho, it would do me some service if you were to shed
your disguise." Yosho listened to his father's voice, and he knew
that it was best if he listened. Focusing hard, the illusion
around him slowly faded away, leaving a young man behind. "Ah much
better," said Azusa.
"The reason I called you to Jurai, is that I thought it was
about time that I name the successor to my throne..."
Yosho seemed hopeful. "So are you going to consider Tenchi."
Almost immediately, Yosho felt a shadow surface onto his father's
face. Yosho already knew what was on his father's mind.
"No. Tenchi simply does not have the training required to be a
good Emperor to the people. No, I name you to be my successor."
Yosho looked extremely surprised.
"But Father, I can't. I want to go back to Earth..." Yosho
stopped as soon as he heard his father's harsh words.
"I simply will not take 'No' for an answer. You have delayed
your duties for too long. If you refuse the Crown, then may our
glorious empire crumble to dust and allow chaos to rule the
universe again." Yosho realized that his father was very serious.
"Yosho, I will give you a day to deliberate on my offer. Refuse it,
and you will finally know what it is like to have millions upon
millions of lives under your influence."
Yosho stammered out. "But father, that isn't being reasonable..
."
"Please leave..."
"Are you doing this to avoid Tenchi?" Yosho stood looking at
his father with a certain amount of amazement.
"Yosho, listen to your father. When I ask you to leave, please
leave."
Yosho left the room with a sigh. His father added something as
he left. "And Yosho, while you're on Jurai, you may not keep up
your disguise." Yosho stopped for a moment. "And now go!"
* * *
Tenchi stood up. "Washu, what do you mean by a high energy
reaction?" Suddenly, there was an ominous laughing all around them.
"Well, well." Everyone froze as soon as they heard that voice.
Ryoko drew her sword, disregarding the mess all over her, and
looked wildly all over the place. "Kagato! You bastard! I
thought you died!"
There was a flash of green that blinded everyone temporarily.
As soon as the flash faded away, there was Kagato, standing in
front of the Tenchi. Kagato looked down at Tenchi. "I believe
three very important people have gone to Jurai. Tenchi, be there
in three days or face the consequences."
With an evil laugh, Kagato faded into thin air.
* * *
Ayeka slowly walked up the stairs, silently glad that she had
been able to ditch her mother. Not that she hated her mother. It
just was that she didn't like it when her mother expected her to
act like a seven year old girl. Looking out of the wall of solid
glass, Ayeka focused her attention at the mountains in the distance.
She was lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice a young man
descending the stairs, also lost in thought. Both crashed into
each other.
Ayeka looked up at the person, and she almost fell backwards.
"Y-y-yosho. Is that you?" The person in front of her was none
other than her older brother, except that he didn't look like an
old man anymore. Ayeka felt shock, as she didn't expect this to
happen.
"Ayeka!" Yosho grabbed onto Ayeka as she fainted. At that
instant, a giant greenish globe of pure energy raced from the sky
and crashed in through the palace defenses.
Chapter 5
There was a silence after Kagato appeared and disappeared. No
one eated. Not a person moved. Visibly, Tenchi was agitated.
Deep within his mind he didn't want to Jurai. He instead wanted to
go to his room, and lie under the covers and pray that this was all
a bad dream.
But at the same time, another part of his mind was telling him
that this was no dream. This was serious, and he knew that he
needed to act responsibly. Tenchi thought for a few more moments,
when he decided that it was better to act without thinking in this
situation. If he were to think anymore, he'd probably convince
himself to hide from this problem.
"I must go." Tenchi spoke, his voice even, serious. His voice
suddenly cast away the silence.
"No Tenchi!" exclaimed Ryoko. Washu was silent as she knew
that she could not attempt to change what Fate had in store. She
had a feeling that Tenchi must meet Kagato. But deep within her
heart, she didn't want him anywhere near Kagato.
Tenchi was adamant. "I'm going right now." He stood up,
determined to make sure no harm came to his grandfather, Ayeka,
Sasami, and certainly not to any innocent bystanders. Tenchi knew
that this was an issue between him and Kagato only, but Kagato had
the audacity to include a lot of innocent people into the mess.
"But Tenchi! There is no need for you to throw away your
life!" Ryoko grabbed onto Tenchi's arm in an effort to keep him
still. "Your Grandfather can handle the problem. Don't go! I
don't want to see you get killed!" Somehow, Tenchi managed to
resist Ryoko's tempting and convincing arguments.
Tenchi sighed. "I wish I didn't have to go. But, I must. You
expect my unarmed grandfather to do battle with Kagato." Ryoko
fell silent as she noticed that Tenchi had a point there. "Besides,
as a member of the Royal family, it is my duty to fight."
Ryoko them made her mind as soon as she saw the determination
in Tenchi's face. "Then I'm coming along. I want to help you."
She seemed reluctant for awhile
Mihoshi leaped up. "And I'm coming to Tenchi!" Mihoshi turned
to Kiyone. "Kiyone are you coming at all? Oh this is going to be
so exciting!" Mihoshi prattled on and on about how she loved space
travel.
Kiyone muttered as she swallowed some rice. "Sure I'm coming,
I have to keep you alive, Mihoshi."
Washu sighed. "Well someone has to come along and make sure
you kids don't get killed. Count me in!" Washu immediately
bunched up next to Tenchi. "And don't worry Tenchi, I'll be ready
to take care of all of your needs." Tenchi looked at Washu
strangely for a moment as the tone of her voice didn't seem quite
innocent at all.
* * *
"We're under attack!" screamed a palace guard as another
supercharged energy blast blew a hole through the palace force
field. The guard ran to Yosho, who was carrying Ayeka. "My Lord,
you must escape. Quick go to the platform! Immediately!" However,
Yosho wasn't one to run away from a fight.
Yosho handed Ayeka over to the guard. "Take her to safety, and
give me your sword. I will have to handle this menace." Before
the guard could react he found himself disarmed, and Yosho running
in the direction of the breach.
Kagato materialized among the ruins of the eastern wall of the
palace. "The Might of the Jurai Royal Family?" Kagato let out an
evil laugh as he walked among the crumbled marble and moaning
guards.
"Kagato! I believe we never had the opportunity to finish our
game." Kagato slowly turned around, and found himself staring at a
rejuvenated Yosho. Kagato's eyes opened slightly in surprise. But
he then noticed that Yosho was carrying a standard sword, and not
Tenchi-ken.
"Yosho, you certainly mock my patience. I am not here to do
battle with you. No, you've proven yourself to be a meddlesome
person who does not deserve my attention. No. I seek Tenchi. I
seek the ultimate revenge against him!" Kagato let out a
magnificent cackle that reverberated among the high walls.
"But that doesn't mean I can't fight you!" Yosho drew his
sword, which burned with his internal energy and he charged Kagato.
Kagato laughed as he called forth his sword and parried Yosho
easily. For a long time, both warriors struck back and forth, with
none getting an advantage over the other. Yosho leaped back, and
wiped some sweat from his face. 'He's gotten better!' Yosho's
mind screamed as he breathed heavily. He stared at his sword and
to his dismay found that the blade was seriously nicked and chipped.
Kagato stared at Yosho. "Well, at least you can still fight.
But don't bother me!" Kagato unleashed a powerful beam of focused
energy which Yosho easily dodged. Behind him, a perfect hole was
bored in the solid marble wall. Yosho brought his sword to bear on
Kagato.
"But then again, I like challenges."
* * *
Tenchi sighed as he stood apprehensive in the bridge of
Ryo-Ohki. In the center of the room, Ryoko was silently piloting
the spaceship, but periodically she glanced over at Tenchi. Tenchi
clutched his sword in his hand tightly, as he constantly went over
in his mind that he needed to be confident. 'I must focus on the
task at hand!'
To make a long story short, the space ride was extremely
uneventful.
"Tenchi, we're coming up on planet Jurai." Ryoko spoke softly.
As soon as Ryoko spoke, he stopped his meditation, one of the few
focusing exercises his grandfather taught him, and stood up to get
a clear view of the planet. Normally, the plant would appear to be
as beautiful as the earth, with white whispy clouds and brilliant
blue oceans. But this planet was now surrounded by a sickly green
field from the enormous space ship in orbit.
Around the gargantuan barrier was the entire Jurai Naval Fleet,
all of it's glory reduced to nothing as it was futile to attempt to
land on Jurai. The field was too powerful.
Washu shook her head. "That's Kagato. He always believed in
the 'bigger is better' theory. Of course I believe in the 'more
powerful is better theory.'" Mihoshi and Kiyone stared at the
giant mass of steel with awe.
Kiyone exclaimed. "That's bigger than Galaxy Police
Headquarters!"
As they approached, the green field surrounding the planet
flickered for a moment to let Ryo-Ohki slip in. As soon as the
spaceship entered the atmosphere, the barrier rematerialized before
the Jurai Space Fleet could interfere.
* * *
Yosho stood panting, as he noticed the sky suddenly flicker for
a moment. Kagato let out a sigh. "Ah, Tenchi is here. I think I
shall arrange a welcoming for him."
Tenchi landed on the ground, with his sword hilt in hand. He
spoke, "Ryoko, Mihoshi, Kiyone, you'd better stay behind. I'm
going to go in." Tenchi fingered the tiny ring on his finger, and
with a flash of energy that rode from the ring, up his arm and
across his body, Tenchi's clothes were instantly replaced with the
Jurai Battle Dress.
In the dark mist around the castle, something shifted. For a
moment, the rescuers stood, unsure of what to expect. Immediately
a palace guard leaped at Tenchi with his sword drawn. Tenchi
gasped, and in seconds, he had his sword drawn and brought down the
guard. Tenchi nearly screamed in horror as he realized that the
guard was human, like him.
"Well, well, Tenchi. You've really improved." An image of
Kagato materialized in front of them all. "Don't worry, Tenchi.
The next time you will need to fight in with me. I won't have to
use any more pawns. I'll be waiting for you in the main hall."
Kagato disappeared, and his disappearance brought forth a wind that
blew away the mist obscuring the entrance to the grand Jurai Royal
Palace.
Closing his eyes to expunge the horror, Tenchi focused on what
was important, the defeat of Kagato.
Tenchi looked back. "Well, I'm still going." His voice was
still shaky.
"I'm coming too." Ryoko said forcefully. "And there is no way
you're going to tell me to stay behind."
"Me too!" exclaimed Mihoshi.
"Well, I think I'll stay out here. I think I'm needed
elsewhere." Tenchi was speechless as Washu ran into the mist.
* * *
The four-some slowly walked within the giant halls of the
palace. Under normal circumstances the halls would have been
considered a beautiful sight to behold, but now. Now, in the
darkness and the mood, the halls screamed ominous warnings.
Mihoshi shivered. "This place gives me the chills."
Kiyone had to agree with her partner. Her normally cool
complexion was strained as she felt some external oppressing force
squashing away all positive thoughts of hope.
Tenchi was strangely silent as he walked. No longer was there
any boyish enthusiasm on his face. He knew of the possibilities,
and he clearly doubted that he could win against Kagato. But he
knew that he had to try. He had to win!
It wasn't hard to get to the Great Hall. The giant gold doors
automatically opened to let Tenchi and his companions into the room.
Standing in the middle of the glimmering room, was Kagato, and
suspended in the air, in a giant green globe was the entire royal
family. Kagato laughed.
"Well Tenchi, it took you long enough to find this place.
Shall we begin?" A green energy blade materialized in Kagato's
hand. Tenchi, his face determined, grabbed his sword hilt and
summoned the blue shimmering blade.
"I've had it with your evil!" shouted Tenchi as he charged.
Kagato smiled narrowly as Tenchi approached. Both blades crashed
together, in an endless rhythm as both combatants attacked each
other. Tenchi ducked the green sword and thrusted forwards, Kagato
was forced to fly backwards.
Kagato looked at Tenchi with a shred of respect. "You're
swordplay had gotten better from the last time." Tenchi didn't
relax his guard. "But you're still not good enough!" Kagato dived
at Tenchi using his sword as a spear. Tenchi leaped out of the way,
and brought his sword down on the black blur that passed in front
of him. Kagato yelled in pain, and tumbled on the ground. He got
to his feet, the sleeve of his cloak torn from the vicious cut.
Yosho watched helplessly locked behind the barrier at the duel
before him. He was amazed at the amount that Tenchi had improved.
But then again, his mind reminded him. 'Tenchi always had the
ability. He just was never confident enough. But will his
confidence be enough?' He stared at the even match before him.
Tenchi was getting tired, and Kagato seemed to know. Everyone
watched helplessly as Tenchi started getting slower and slipped
into the defensive. "Boy, you have gotten better, but I will
always win!" Kagato unleashed a mighty swing of his sword which
caused Tenchi's numb hands to drop his sword. The sword blinked
out and skidded far away.
Kagato unleashed an energy blast at Tenchi, but a small energy
shield much like that of his grandfather's materialized in front of
him. However, the blast was still powerful enough, that Tenchi was
picked up by the energy and thrown backwards. "But, Tenchi like
all things, one day, you must die."
Kagato focused intensely causing a giant green globe of energy
to materialize in front of him. Tenchi watched somewhat dazed as
he somehow knew that the inevitable was going to happen. He had
given his best. He put all of his effort. And strangely enough,
he wasn't sad. Tenchi closed his eyes and waited.
Kagato had to admire Tenchi for his bravery. He unleashed his
blast. At the same time, there was a someone screamed "No!"
Something crashed into Tenchi and knocked him backwards.
Tenchi's eyes snapped open as he realized that he wasn't hit. His
vision was obscured as someone else was on top of him. Struggling
to his feet, he realized that Ryoko had taken the blast for him.
But something was wrong, as she felt deathly cold. Tenchi shook
her. "Ryoko!"
There was no response. Tenchi felt Ryoko go limp in his arms,
her clothing charred, parts of her torso charred. Her eyes were
open, the golden gleam of her irises dimmed. Tenchi hugged Ryoko
tightly.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi cried.
*********
Notes: I've decided to forget a Tenchi - Kiyone combination in this
fanfic, or at least until later. Kiyone will instead become a very
good friend of Tenchi's, perhaps a relationship can develop in a
later fanfic.
Ok, so I had to get tragic. But remember, like in the Tenchi Muyo
OVA episode 5, Tenchi was blown to smithereens. Anything can
happen...
Well here's my questions to the FFML:
Shall I keep Ryoko alive?
Shall I have her resurrected by Tsunami?
Shall I have Tenchi resurrect her?
Shall I just keep her dead, and have Tenchi realize that he had
always loved Ryoko?
Shall I keep Ryoko dead, and have Kiyone the only person who can
comfort Tenchi?