OK, fellow denizens!  Able is almost complete; here it is.  Let the commentary begin!

-

Janus
a Tenchi Muyo! fanfiction
courtesey FSP Special Development Triad

[insert disclaimers here]

---

Able

 Another Saturday morning was playing out at the Masaki residence.  Tenchi
and his grandfather were sparring near the shrine, had been for more than
two hours.  Indoors, Sasami busied herself with the preperation of lunch;
this would be ready just as Yosho and Tenchi returned.  Azaka and Kamidaze
maintained their vigil at the front gate.
 Tucked away from the major road as the home was, one would be justified in
thinking that the residents had chosen the ideal place to escape the bustle
and stress of Tokyo.
 Such speculation would be half correct.

 "Mihoshi!"
 "Surely we can reason this out..."
 Ryoko's answer came in the form of an energy bolt which sizzled scant
centimeters from the blonde's head before cratering a wall.  Mihoshi,
sensibly, immediately egressed the area, with the pirate in close pursuit.
She tore around a corner...
 ...and ran headlong into Aeka; the two women tumbled to the floor in a
mess of limbs.
 "Mihoshi!" the Jurian princess screamed as they disentangled themselves,
"what do you think you're doing?!"
 But Mihoshi was already on the run again, and anything else Aeka had to
say was uncerimoniously aborted by her having to dive out of Ryoko's path.
Furious at the affront to her dignity, she ran after the two of them.
 Sasami tensed momentarily, hearing them descend the stairs and approach
the kitchen.  Any dispute involving Aeka and Ryoko entailed, as a rule, no
small amount of collateral damage, and she doubted that their hosts would
appreciate the house being made to resemble Beriut in microcosm.  "Could
you please not fight in the house?" she called to them, but they had
already torn through the back door by the time she turned from her cooking.

 {This is serious; let me handle it.}
 {But they don't really mean it...!}
 {That energy bolt nearly exploded our head, girl.  I'd say they're pretty
serious.}
 {They'll calm down, they always do.}
 {Perhaps.  In the meantime, though, it's up to me.  We're headed for the
forest?  Good.}
 {What does th-}
 {You'll see.  I've about had it with those two, anyway.}
 {But... what are you going to do?}
 {We agreed on this, remember?  Leave them to me.}

 Had anyone familiar with Mihoshi been observing her actions after she ran
into the woods adjoining the Masaki residence they would have been very
surprised indeed.  Gone was the 'ditziness' that was the blonde's usual
hallmark; in its place was the sureness born of total confidence.

As she trudged through the forest, One thought was foremost in Aeka's mind: 
how dare she!

Wasn't it enough that she had to suffer the presence of that hussy and her
deranged mother?  What had she done to be afflicted with someone who made
even ordinary Terran bacteria look intelligent?
 "When I get my hands on her..."
 "What'll you do?"
 Aeka froze, and then turned around.  
 "Well Princess, I'm waiting."
 With a wide grin on her face, Ryoko looked down on her rival.  It was fun 
to see her highness act like a real person, it was one of the reasons why
they fought so much.  
 "What I am going to do with Detective First Class Mihoshi is none of your 
concern Ryoko."
 "Yeah? Well get in line sister.  You only get Mihoshi after I'm finished 
with her."  With that she blinked out.

 A short distance away Mihoshi smiled.  They were behaving exactly as long
experience told her they would.  Dealing with the two together would have
been difficult; however, they had once again demonstrated their inability
to cooperate for any real length of time.
 The smile became a grin as she tapped a sequence into the console on the
inside of her left forearm.

 "I don't know why Mihoshi thinks Lord Tenchi would be interested in her,
anyway," Aeka fumed as she made her way through the undergrowth.  "I'm
obviously the best choice: I have a sweet disposition, I can cook, and I'm
far more stable than than that demoness..."
 "For one thing, I'm not a conceited, overbearing shrew."
 For one instant Aeka thought Ryoko had returned to taunt her... only, she
realized when she turned her head, Ryoko wasn't a blonde.
 Neither did she wear camoflague or carry heavy weapons.
 Silence reigned for several seconds, and when Mihoshi did speak, her voice
had an icy calm to it.  "Now what were you planning to do with me?"
 That was when Aeka decided to generate one of her force fields.  She never
got past the thought as searing pain washed over her body.  Neither did she
register Mihoshi's approach, or the fact of the detective having traded the
pistol for something smaller.
 "What...?"
 Then she realized that Mihoshi had grabbed a handful of her blouse.
 "Sweet dreams, princess."
 There was a sharp hiss, a brief pressure on the side of her neck, then
Aeka's world faded to black.

 Satisfied that there was enough for everybody, Sasami stepped out of the
kitchen.  "Breakfast's ready!  I hope everyone's hungry!"
 Silence.
 "Hello?"
 More silence, which prompted the princess to look around.
 "Ryoko?"
 Again, silence.
 "Aeka?"
 No answer.
 "Mihoshi?"
 Nothing.
 "Is anybody home?"
 "Miya."
 Sasami looked down at Ryo-oh-ki.  "Do you know where Ryoko is?"
 "Miya."
 {I really wish I could understand her.}

 "Heeere, Mihoshi.  C'mon out and play!"
 Ryoko was _really_ determined to find Mihoshi.  Quite aside from giving
the ditz what was long overdue, she certainly didn't want Aeka to get first
dibs.
 {Where could she possibly be hiding?}
 With barely a conscious thought, Ryoko split.

 {Okay.  This will be a little more difficult than I'd thought.}
 Mihoshi quickly returned the sensor array to dimensional storage, then put
her cube back in her pocket.
 {But not by much.}

 "What's the matter, too scared to fight one-on-one?"
 Both Ryokos heard that, and both had the exact same thought as they
rejoined and descended through the leaf canopy: Mihoshi was in for a world
of pain.
 She'd expected Mihoshi to flee.  Or perhaps hide.  Mihoshi aiming a
bazookalike weapon at her, however, was not what she'd expected.
 As she pulled the trigger Mihoshi smiled.  {She fell for it.  Just like
they said she would...}  She could recall the briefing as if it were
yesterday...

-

 "Detective First Class Mihoshi!"
 "Reporting for du... owww"
 Lightyears away, the officer shook his head.  "Nevermind.  The infamous
pirate, Ryoko, has been sighted..." - a map appeared on another screen, with
a curve representing that portion of her itenary; one star close to it had
been highlighted - "...in this system..."
 "Yes, sir!"  Mihoshi threw her smartest salute.  "I understand completely!
I'll proceed to YQ2114 and take her into custody at once!"
 "But," the officer interjected, "you're supposed t-"
 "On my way!"  With that, Mihoshi closed the channel.

 "...to wait for backup... damn..."
 For several seconds Varth stared at his terminal.  Then he placed his head
in his hands and moaned.
 "What's the matter, old chap?" his coworker and best friend asked.  The
answer to that was another moan.  "Now now, it can't be that bad; keep a
stiff upper exoskeleton."  He patted Varth's chitin reassuringly.

 YQ2114, according to the charts, was some five days away at best speed.
Mihoshi had no intention of letting that time go to waste.  "I can do it!"
she told herself as she began to review the data she'd received.  

-

 Whatever it was that Mihoshi had in that thing, Ryoko was sure she could
handle it.  {Probably an energy weapon,} she thought as an ascending whine
became audible.  {No sweat.}
 Energy spheres at hand, she prepared to pounce upon the detective...
 ...only to slam facefirst into the ground.
 {What the hell was that?!}  Ryoko got to her feet, her glare promising a
horrible, painful demise.

-

-Arthur Edwards
 http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7210/index.html