NOTE: All characters original to the "Tenchi-Muyo! TV1" series portrayed
in
this story are the sole property of AIC and Pioneer Animation. Any
appearance of them in actual life is purely coincidental. Tenchi-Muyo!
material and paraphernalia listed within is Copyright Pioneer Animation
1997 (c). Kyoto Minamoto, Muriyaki Kushiragi, Chisako, Chi-Ohki, and all

other related characters are the sole property of R&C Books and appear
through permission from R&C Books.





Questions? Comments? Even ideas for future episodes? Want to write the
authors? You can contact us at Muriyaki@hotmail.com, and at
lordyosho@hotmail.com. We look forward to receiving your responses!





                                 Episode #3

                        No Need For An Asteroid Belt









About two weeks have passed since our friends were thrown into an
alternate
universe and had to run for their lives from an alternate Jurai. In this

universe, Ryoko is the princess and Ayeka is the space pirate! Having
had
to break Ayeka and her "gang" (Nobuyuki, her "husband", and Sasami, her
"daughter") out of jail, they are currently hiding out in an asteroid
field
about twenty light-years from Jurai, waiting for Washu to finish repairs
on
their ship�s FTL (faster-than-light) drive. She�s not having an easy
time
of it. Let�s join her...

"...what the hell is this?!" Washu is inspecting a pretzel-shaped
plastic
tube, totally stymied by it. "I�ve seen some strange things, but
this..."
She is totally immersed in this new mystery, so much so that she doesn�t

hear Mihoshi say, "What�s this do?" until it�s too late. She spins
around
to see Mihoshi fondling a large red button that says "Do Not Press."
"No,
Mihoshi! Don�t--"

Too late.

          A dark cloud of smoke fills the compartment and rocks the
ship.

Since it�s about three A.M., ship time, everyone else is asleep--or at
least they were, before Mihoshi�s meddling jolted them awake. Tenchi is
almost thrown out of bed, but falls back in. He rubs his head. "Now
what?"

He looks up as his door slides open and Kiyone, in shorts and a
half-buttoned shirt of his, comes in, followed by Sasami, who is in a
nightgown. Sasami asks the obvious question. "Tenchi, can we sleep with
you
tonight?"

Tenchi rises from his bed and stretches. "Yeah, sure, just as soon as we

see what�s going on." He takes both their hands. "Come on..."

By the time they get to the engine room, everyone else has gathered
outside
the compartment, and are listening to Washu yelling at a bawling
Mihoshi.
Ayeka and Ryoko are holding Washu back--barely--from strangling Mihoshi;

they want a piece of her first.

They all wince as Kyoto�s voice cracks like a whip through the
screaming.
"What the hell did you do to my ship?!?!?!"

Washu, her excess frustration now vented, jerks a finger at Mihoshi.
"This
little genius just stranded us here for another four or five days!" The
entire group groans at this new piece of bad news, and if looks could
kill,
Mihoshi would be a corpse. They all stand back as Kiyone steps forward,
expecting her to initiate the stone-throwing.

No one (well, maybe Tenchi) expects her to help the still sobbing
Mihoshi
to her feet, hug her until her tears run dry and gently admonish her,
making her promise to stay out of Washu�s way. She then looks sweetly
down
at Washu. "Will that be sufficient?"

It takes Washu several moments to find her voice. Finally she croaks,
"Uh,
yeah, thank you, Kiyone." As everyone decides to call it a night, all of

them end up throwing surprised glances at Kiyone, now with Tenchi�s arm
around her and with her head on his shoulder. They still can�t quite
explain what just happened, but the word "Tenchi" says enough, and in
any
case Mihoshi is very grateful.



* * * * *



Because of the previous night�s events, no one gets up very early.
Fortunately, Kyoto had brought the Masaki house along, and hooked into
Chisako�s power and plumbing grid, so the net situation is like back on
Yagami, except with a lot more elbow room. Sasami, who had left Tenchi�s

room when he and Kiyone had started getting too lovey-dovey, is fixing
breakfast, and Ryoko literally floats down the stairs on the lovely
smells.
"Morning, Sasami."

Sasami looks up with her irresistible grin. "Oh, good morning, Ryoko.
Hungry?"

"Why yes, thank you." She accepts the proffered platter of food and
begins
to eat. About a third of the way through, she looks up. "Uh, Sasami, you

were in Tenchi�s room with him and Kiyone last night, right?"

"That�s right." Sasami grins broadly. "More pickles?"

"Yes, thank y--no, don�t change the subject!" She leans across the table

and looks the wise little girl in the eye. "Where are they now?"

Sasami shrugs nonchalantly. "Still up there. Tea?"

"Stop offering me food! You left them up there all alone?!"

"Ryoko, are you jealous?" giggles Sasami. "You want to know what they
were
doing when I left them alone?"

Ryoko glares at Sasami. "No, I don�t. But tell me anyway."

Sasami opens her mouth to answer when she suddenly yells, "Hi, Ayeka!"

Ryoko, fuming, is about to drag Sasami across the counter and threaten
her
when she hears Ayeka�s voice. "Good morning. That smells good, Sasami.
Can
I have some?"

"Sure." Grinning mischievously, Sasami pushes another plate across the
counter.

"Well?" presses Ryoko, disgruntled now that she�ll have to share the
news
with Ayeka.

"What are you talking about?" asks Ayeka.

"She�s jealous �cause Kiyone�s alone with Tenchi up in his room," chirps

Sasami. "You want some rice?"

"No thank you." Ayeka�s appetite is totally lost now. "Sasami, do you
know
what they�re doing up there?"

"Yup," answers Sasami, sipping her tea. "Fish?"

"Cut it out with the food! What are they doing up there?" screams Ryoko.

Ayeka nods breathlessly in agreement.

Sasami sighs. "Alright, you two. They were..." She pauses dramatically
until murder begin to surface in Ryoko and Ayeka�s eyes. "They were
cuddled
up on his bed, seeing who could come up with the mushier nickname for
the
other. When I left, he was calling her his �avenging angel of space.�
It�s
rather sweet."

Ryoko and Ayeka don�t move for a moment, and then slump in
disappointment.
"That�s it?" croaks Ayeka.

Sasami tips her head back and laughs. "What, you would have preferred
them
to try to be making a Tenchi, junior?" She shakes her head and smiles.
"Tenchi and Kiyone are in love. He adores her and she virtually worships

him. I give them two weeks before they start talking marriage."

"Oh my, are we talking about Tenchi and Kiyone?" Mihoshi joins them and
takes both Ayeka and Ryoko�s plates. Between bites she says, "I just
walked
past Tenchi�s room. They were giggling and making kissing noises
and--Oh,
yeah! I think they were talking about her and I moving back in when we
get
back to Earth! That means we won�t have to work part-time anymore!"

"Yay!" cheers Sasami. "Kiyone and Mihoshi are moving back in!"

Ryoko and Ayeka exchange glances and sigh.



* * * * *

Up in Tenchi�s room, the giggling and flirting has given way to serious
talk. Surprising, since both of them are still in their pajamas and
stretched out on the bed, cuddled up together....

"You�re sure your dad won�t mind if we move in?" asks Kiyone nervously.
"I
mean,..."

Tenchi chuckles. "Don�t worry, I�ll make sure that he doesn�t catch you
in
any intimate moments."

"I know. But do you guys have room?" She rests her head on his chest.

"This house has always had more rooms than residents," sighs Tenchi. "I
think my parents were planning to have a lot of children, but--" He
catches
himself. "Err, sorry. Like I was saying, there�s enough room for both of

you to have your own rooms, and--"

"Actually, I like the thought of sharing a room with you, Tenchi."
Kiyone
cranes her head up and smiles at him. "Don�t you like it?"

"Well..." He can�t hide the look of delight on his face. "You have
pretty
much lived the past coupla weeks in here. I like it. What worries me is
whether or not I have enough self-control for this."

She sighs dramatically. "Well, if I think you�re going too far, I�ll let

you know. That is, if I�m not too busy being kissed by you...." She
stretches up to kiss him, but finds him lost in thought. "What is it,
Tenchi?"

"Sorry, my avenging angel of space." They both giggle at that. "I�m just

thinking about things...like Jurai."

Kiyone looks confused. "What about Jurai?"

"Ayeka never rescinded her offer to me to become the Emperor. Did she
just
forget or was that deliberate?" He sighs again. "I�m thinking...that
maybe
it is my destiny to become the next Emperor. I�ll have to talk to her,
Sasami, and Grandpa about this, though..." Tenchi smiles. "But there�s
time
enough for that later." He pulls her on top of him, eliciting a squeal
of
delight. "Rest assured, my Kiyone, that I�m not going to let any of this

come between us. No matter what, I�m gonna take care of you. I--"

He opens his mouth to say more, but she covers it with her own. After a
long moment she pulls back, her cheeks flushed. "Wherever you go, you
know
I�ll follow, Tenchi," she says softly.

"No, you won�t. I want you at my side. Always."

She kisses him again. "Always. But, as you said, there�s time enough for

that later. Now, let�s get cleaned up and get to dinner before your
father
starts expecting a grandchi--" She yelps as Tenchi sits bolt upright. "I

didn�t mean so fast, Tenchi! What is it?"

Tenchi jerks his head at the window, and Kiyone can barely see the lens
of
a video camera pressed against a gap in the curtains. Tenchi puts a
finger
to her lips, walks up to the window, and pushes it open violently.

A moment later they hear Nobuyuki�s voice moan, "Ohhh, it hurts." Tenchi

offers his hand to Kiyone. "To dinner, my moonlight rose?" Her face
falls
into an "Oh, how sweet" expression. She gathers up a pile of clothing.
"First to the bath." She giggles. "Say, since everyone is already at
dinner, I think I�ll take you on a tour of the ladies� bath..."







For this meal, everyone is on the command deck, taking full advantage of

the food cyclers than can create just about any food item perfectly.
Ryo-ohki is happily chewing her way through a pile of carrots the size
of
Sasami, and Mihoshi has a similar-sized helping of food on her plate. No

one really pays attention as Tenchi and Kiyone come in--except, of
course,
for Ryoko and Ayeka. They glare as Tenchi, setting their food down,
pulls
out Kiyone�s chair and seats her. They glare as she brushes her lips
across
one cheek as he sits down. And they glare as they talk oh so easily, as
if
have been a happy husband and wife for many years.

They are so intent on staring at the happy two that they don�t notice
Kyoto
sitting down between them until they feel his arms snaking around them,
each hand cupping a breast. "How soft they are! Like marshmallows!"
Ayeka
inhales raggedly and Kyoto grins at this. "Responsive, aren�t we? Worthy
of
a princess of Jurai!" He gives Ryoko an additional squeeze. "Hmm. You�re

sagging a bit, Ryoko. Never mind, I love you just the same..." Without
looking at each other the girls take their revenge. Ryoko brings her
fist
slamming down and back into Kyoto�s crotch at the same that Ayeka�s
elbow
and fist smash into his gut and chin.

Kiyone, by now, has shifted from her chair into Tenchi's lap--a common
pose
for her these days--and they are taking turns feeding each other. As she

reaches up to stroke his face, she suddenly finds something in his hair.

"Tenchi, what is this?" She pulls a small palm leave out of his hair.
Suddenly, before she can hide it, she hears Mihoshi ask, "Where did this

come from?"

Sasami, having snatched the palm leave away from Mihoshi, who had
snatched
it away from Kiyone, examines it. "This looks like one of the leaves
from
the ladies bath--oh, my!" She grins at Tenchi. "Tenchi, why were you in
the
ladies bath?"

Tenchi has flushed red. "Ah, Sasami, what would I be doing in the ladies

bath?" he stammers.

Sasami is grinning up at Kiyone. "You must have taken him in there,
Kiyone,
huh?"

Kiyone is equally red. "Well, it seemed to us that--"

"--it would be faster if we took a bath together," completes Tenchi
desperately.

"Oh, my," responds Mihoshi, her eyes wide. "Tenchi, you were in the
ladies
bath all alone with Kiyone?" Tenchi nods tersely.

Sasami has shifted into mischievous mode now. She turns to Kiyone. "And
Kiyone, you two were being naughty, weren't you?"

Kiyone's face is the color of a plum. "N-no, Sasami, of course we
weren't..." She's almost telling the truth. While nothing really
happened
in the bath, there was a lot of kissing and a little bit of touching. Of

course, she's not about to tell Sasami that...

Sasami, however, can see something on Kiyone's face. "I knew it!" she
cries
out exultantly. "You're a naughty boy, Tenchi!" Tenchi, still holding
Kiyone in his lap, goes almost purple. "And you're a naughty girl,
Kiyone!"
Kiyone just sighs and nods. Tenchi slumps back in his chair.

Mihoshi is wide-eyed. "Oh, my, Kiyone!"

Sasami's mischievous look becomes almost sappy. "I'm sorry. That's so
sweet, you two, taking a bath together." Ryo-ohki jumps atop her head
and
meows in agreement.

Listening to the conversation, Kyoto quips to Ryoko, "Hey, how come you
never think it's sweet when I try to take a bath with you?"

At the other end of the table, Nobuyuki and Katsuhito are watching the
exchange. Katsuhito nods in satisfaction. "I think Tenchi's made a good
choice. Kiyone's nice, she's smart, and she's stable."

"And she's fun to look at, too," adds Nobuyuki.

Katsuhito groans at this. "Nobuyuki, remember that she's your probable
daughter in law."

* * * * * * * * * * *



Several days pass while Washu assesses the damage caused to the FTL
drive.
Finally she announced her findings to the group at large. "Three of the
seven transhift inducers, as well as the entire hyperluminal field
array,
have been completely cross-fried."

When none of them say anything, she just yells, "This thing needs new
parts!"

"Oh," choruses the group in understanding.

"So what are you gonna do now?" asks Kiyone, her arms around Tenchi's
waist.

Washu sighs. "I'm gonna hafta go parts-shopping, that's what. According
to
Kyoto--" She jerks a thumb in the pirate's direction. "--Anopon Prime is

the best bet to start looking, since that's where he found this thing in

our universe. Now, he's given me enough money to buy the necessary parts

an--wha!!"

Mihoshi has collapsed to her knees and thrown her arms around Washu's
legs.
"Please let me go with you, Washu!"

Washu looks down at her distastefully. "You've got to be kidding. After
all
the damage you've caused?"

Mihoshi is literally sobbing into Washu's stomach. "Please! I want to
make
up for all the damage I've caused! Oh, please, Washu, please..."

Washu finally sighs. "Oh, fine, get up. If worst comes to worst, maybe I

can swap you for parts."

As soon as Ryo-ohki and her two passengers depart, the other girls
decide
that it's bath time. Tenchi is rather iffy about letting Kiyone go,
afraid
that Ayeka and/or Ryoko

might try something, but she placates him with a kiss. "It'll be
alright,"
she reassures him.

Kyoto watches as the girls file out of the living room and towards the
bathroom. He smiles lustfully as he imagines the girls undressing,
slipping
their bodies into the warm water... He also watches, smirking, as
Nobuyuki
kneels next to the door, pressing his ear against it.

Nobuyuki is listening to the girls splashing and laughing inside when he

feels a hand on his shoulder. "Uhh-uh-uh..." He spins around to see
Kyoto
looking down at him. Kyoto smiles. "Would you like to go in there?"

Nobuyuki nods enthusiastically. "Uh-huh, uh-huh! But I can't get in!
They'll see me!"

Kyoto shakes his head. "No, they won't." He presses a small, silver ring

into Nobuyuki's hands. "If you wear this, you'll be invisible." Nobuyuki

starts to slip it on, then looks up again. "But the door is keyed only
to
women, I can't get in!"

Kyoto smiles and his form begins to shift. A moment later, his form is
replaced with that of Ryoko. Nobuyuki lights up and tries to grab
"Ryoko's"
breasts, but "Ryoko's" hands intercept his hands. "It's me!" s/he hisses
in
Kyoto's voice. "I'll open the door for you, put the ring on." Nobuyuki
nods, and puts the ring on. He immediately becomes invisible.

"Ryoko" slides the door open, and Nobuyuki crawls in. Converting back to

his normal form, he closes the door almost all the way, and peeks in. He
is
delighted by what he sees. Kiyone is deliciously athletic, with curves
in
all the right places; He can certainly understand why Tenchi is
attracted
to her. He thinks back to the conversation where Tenchi and Kiyone had
been
bathing together and he briefly wishes that he were Tenchi. Sasami's
body
is just beginning to bud, and she holds the promise of great beauty and
an
incredible body. Ayeka has all the regal beauty of a princess, even if
her
body doesn't compare with Kiyone's or Ryoko's. And, his "true love"
Ryoko... As always she is breathtaking.

He can also make out Nobuyuki's invisible form in the water, snaking
towards Ayeka. He is grinning as his right index finger traces around a
jewel-like button on his wristband. He's just waiting for Nobuyuki to
get
in the worst possible position...and he's there now.

Nobuyuki is about to nudge Ayeka's legs open to get a better view, when
he
feels himself shimmering. A moment later, the bathroom is erupting in
screams.

Ayeka is standing, her cheeks red and her arms covering all of her
private
parts. "Mr. Masaki, what are you doing in here?!"

Nobuyuki jumps up. "Wha-wha-what am I doing here?!"

Kiyone has wrapped a towel around herself, despite the fact that the wet

towel is molding quite nicely to her body's form. "Mr. Masaki, really!
Are
you aware that we could bring you up on charges of sexual harassment?"

Nobuyuki has a card to play in this instance. "You wouldn't arrest your
boyfriend's father, would you?"

Before she can respond, the door is pushed open and...Nobuyuki sticks
his
head through. "Hey, what's with all of the yelling?"

The girls look from the Nobuyuki in the pool...to the Nobuyuki in the
doorway...to the Nobuyuki in the pool...and come to the only logical
conclusion.

"It's Kyoto!" the girls shriek in a glass-cracking voice (that is, if
any
glass were present) and, grabbing robes and whatever weighted objects
they
can find, they chase "Kyoto", who has had the sense to get out of the
pool
and start running.

Once they have disappeared down the corridor, the real Kyoto reverts to
his
real form and sighs. "Well, that was fun." He walks into the bathroom.

The girls, having pelted "Kyoto" with heavy objects until they lost him
in
the arboretum, walk back into the bathroom...only to see him sitting in
the
bath! He is bare-chested, and they are willing to bet that the rest of
him
is unclothed, too.

"What are you doing in here?" demands Kiyone, an accusatory finger
pointed
at him.

"I need to take a bath, too," he responds, then stands up, unencumbered
by
any kind of covering. "Care to join me?"

Kiyone is the first to leave, spinning on her heel and storming out.
Sasami
quickly follows, a deep blush on her face...and comes back in a minute
later to drag Ayeka out of the room. Although she would later deny it,
the
"vulgar" sight intrigued her.

Ryoko is standing alone, one hand on a hip and the other behind her
neck.
She then smiles. "Not too bad, Kyoto." She lets her own towel fall.

Kyoto's grin grows very, very wide. "What's taking you so long, I'm
waiting..."

Ryoko sighs. "You are so vain." She stretches out her right arm and
opens
her palm, aiming it at Kyoto's crotch.

"If you want to get a hold of it, you've got to come in closer."

Ryoko rolls her eyes. "Now, get out of our bath, unless you don't want
to
have children... "

Kyoto shrugs and sighs, then shakes his head. "Your loss, baby. I could
have given you the time of your life." He then fades out of view.

Ryoko calls down the corridor, "It's okay girls, it's safe." The girls,
in
various states of dishevelment, file back in, followed at their heels by

what looks like a teal Ryo-Ohki.

"You mean he just came up to you?" asks Ayeka.

"That's right," says Kiyone, petting the cute little creature.

Sasami is, of course, enchanted by it. "Oh, wow! What are we going to
call
it?"

"Well," opines Ayeka, "since Kiyone found it, we should call it
Kiyo-ohki."

The name seems to satisfy the girls, so "Kiyo-Ohki" it is. Or more
accurately, "Kyoto-Ohki."

Meanwhile, Katsuhito and Tenchi are tending Nobuyuki's wounds.

"Nobuyuki, you really must stop doing stuff like this," intones
Katsuhito.

"Stuff like what? It wasn't my fault; they threw the stuff at me!"
whines
Nobuyuki.

"Yeah, but Dad, you went in their bathroom!" snaps Tenchi. "You really
ought to stop this! One of these days they're gonna do some really
serious
damage to you!"

"I thought I was invisible! Kyoto gave me this ring--"

"Wha- Kyoto gave you this ring?" groans Tenchi, slapping his forehead.
"And
you believed him?!"

"Nobuyuki, when are you going to learn?" asks Katsuhito, shaking his
head.

"Don't worry about it, gentlemen. I'm going to break out the special
sak�."
Kyoto holds up a large bottle, and Katsuhito brightens as he reads the
label. "Oh, it's that special brand."



* * *



About fifteen minutes later, the girls walk into the living room. Most
of
the men are totally blitzed, except Tenchi, who's only mildly buzzed.
The
new arrival, Kiyo-Ohki, is riding on his favorite individual's shoulder,

namely, Ryoko. Tenchi looks up, blinking. "Wha�?... I must have had more
to
drink than I thought, 'cause I could swear that Ryo-Ohki is looking
blue!"

Kiyone sits down next to him and feels his forehead. "My God, Tenchi,
you're burning up!" She gently lifts him to his feet and slings one of
his
arms over her shoulders. "I'd better get him to bed."

As the two of them slowly make their way up the stairs, Sasami yells,
"Don't you two be naughty! I'm not ready to be an aunt!"







About a week passes, and life aboard the Chisako falls into a routine.
Kiyone and Tenchi grow closer and closer each day, much to the chagrin
of
Ryoko and Ayeka. Nobuyuki steers very clear of the girls, still nursing
a
black eye. And Kiyo-Ohki, the "new arrival", becomes very popular. All
the
girls are taking turns holding him, but he seems to favor Ryoko the
most.

At this moment, he is cuddled up on Ryoko's shoulder, with his front
paws
resting on top of her left breast. Right now, they're viewing a
lightspeed
message from Washu and Mihoshi, who have just left Anopon. So far, they
haven't had much luck in finding the necessary parts, although they have

procured some promising leads. After this, Ryoko stretches. "I think I
need
a bath." She goes to the bathroom, walks in--and trips on a large pile
of
sak� bottles. Ayeka had been closeted in there for a couple of hours,
having one of her own private "sak�-fests", and she had thrown the empty

bottles on the floor and is now almost asleep.

Sasami, following Ryoko, wrinkles her nose at the smell. "It's stinky,
smells like sak�!" She then looks at Ryoko, who is pawing her way out of

the water. "Are you alright, Ryoko?"

Ryoko rises, shakily. "I think so... Where's Kiyo-Ohki?" Kiyo-Ohki, on
the
other hand, has been rocketed across the steamy room and pile-driven
into
the far wall. Somehow, by some luck-- or demonic skill-- "Kiyo-Ohki"
retains his form, but has forgotten to speak in the usual collection of
meows and is swearing at everything in sight.

"Son-of-a-- I mean, meow-meow-meow!"

"Wow!" gushes Sasami. "Kiyo-Ohki can talk!"

Awakened by the racket, Ayeka hears the Ohki cursing and lifts it by the

scruff of the neck. "What did you say?"

"I said, put me the hell down, you worthless piece of royal trash!"
snarls
Kiyo-Ohki.

Sasami's eyes go wide and tears start to trickle down. "Kiyo-Ohki's
mean!"

Ryoko tries to come to the Ohki's defense, but it waves it away with its

paws. "It's okay, Ryoko, you didn't know, the game is up." The voice is
every bit that of Kyoto's, and a moment later, the cuddly, fuzzy form of
a
cabbit is replaced with the loathsome shape of Kyoto.

Ryoko's mouth drops open. "You were Kyoto! You were with me when I was
naked all those times!"

Kyoto nods. "Yes, I was, wasn't it great?" The next thing he knows, he
is
on the floor with a split lip and an aching groin. "I take that as a
no."

Ryoko is standing over him, trembling with anger and-- could that be a
look
of betrayal? "I trusted you!"

Sasami, sobbing and kneeling on the floor suddenly, overshadows Ryoko's
anger. "You mean... Kiyo-Ohki wasn't real?"

Just then... "Meow, meow!" Heads turn to see... Kiyo-Ohki?! The
"non-existent" blue cabbit bounces up to Sasami, settling in her lap and

meowing up at her affectionately, as if saying, "Love me, love me!"
Sasami's tears immediately dry up and she cuddles the little darling in
her
lap. "Ohhh!..."

For the first time, the smile on Kyoto's face is untainted by lust or
greed. "You see, little Sasami, there are other Ohkis aboard."

Ayeka, now fully awake, is gaping at Kyoto. "You mean there are other
Ohkis
other than Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki?"

Kyoto smiles. "Why, certainly. If you'll just follow me..." He gestures
expansively at the door. After a moment of hesitation, the girls follow
him.

He leads them to one of Chisako's empty saucers, a large hold that must
be
the Secret Ohki Breeding Grounds! The entire saucer has been turned into
a
large forest with giant evergreens, and rows and rows of carrot plants.
And
as for the Ohkis...there are literally hundreds of them, in all sorts of

shapes, sizes, and colors. And all of them congregate around Sasami as
she
enters the hold. The little girl looks almost like she's in heaven.
"Here,
you little cuties, have some carrots!" Laughing blissfully, she tosses
some
carrots up in the air and watches them chase them. All of the Ohkis are
cuddling up to her and meowing affectionately, and she returns the love
in
full.

A short distance away, Ayeka is playing with a few of the stragglers,
Ryoko
is looking a little dazed, and Kyoto has a benign look on his face, not
unlike that of a father watching his children tear into their presents
on
Christmas Morning. Ryoko takes a moment to look at him, in perhaps a new

light. Right now he looks more attractive to her than she ever would
have
thought possible. Maybe...maybe he's not such a bad guy after all... Of
course, she's not about to tell him that and run the risk of feeding his

ego...or of falling in lov--

The peaceful stillness is shattered by the ear-splitting howl of an Ohki
in
pain. At first she looks around in horror, afraid that one of the Ohkis
has
been hurt, but quickly sees that it is, in fact, the emergency commo
system
screaming for attention.

Kyoto, his good manners now vanished without a trace, steps up to the
wall
and presses his palm against it. The wall suddenly becomes a large
viewscreen, and the image...is of hell.

Actually, it's not the image of hell, but rather Ryo-Ohki's bridge
filled
with smoke and off to one side Washu is unconscious in one of the
floating
easychairs. Mihoshi is broadcasting the emergency message and to
everyone's
great surprise, she's managing to stay calm.

"...I repeat, we are in desperate need of assistance! This is the
spaceship
Ryo-Ohki, we are under attack by the dread space pirate Ayeka, I repeat,
we
are under attack by the dread space pir-"

The signal is shortly replaced by static and finally the screen goes
blank.

Kyoto is about to try and pinpoint the location of the transmission when

the face of the dread space pirate appears. It is the same as our
Ayeka's,
but there is a scar running along one cheek and the tattoo of a Jolly
Roger
skull and cross bones on the other.

"If you wish to see your ship and its crew intact, you will give me--"
She
suddenly sees all the people in the room and realizes that she may have
gotten herself in way too deep. "Uh-uh, never mind! Never mind!"

Kyoto immediately spins on his heel. "Muriyaki, Satoko, Kyoko, I need
you!"



The phone beeps, and Tenchi groans. "Oh, Lord, now what?"

Beside him, Kiyone stirs. "Tenchi, what is it?"

Tenchi pats his wife's bare shoulder. "Just give me a second, honey,
I'll
find out..." Pulling on his long-discarded bathrobe, he stumbles over to

the desk-mounted holophone and snaps on the view key. "This better be
good..." he immediately straightens as Mihoshi's face appears on the
screen. "Err... Sorry Madame President..."

Mihoshi smiles. "Don't worry about it, Tenchi, I'm sorry to interrupt
you
two. Err, is Kiyone there?"

Kiyone, having wrapped one of the bed sheets around herself, steps into
view of the pickup. "I'm right here, ma'am."

"A patrol ship has finally located that strange-looking vessel that shot

its way out of Juraian orbit three weeks ago. According to them, the
ship
has been stationary for some time and shows no signs of moving anytime
soon. I would definitely recommend immediate apprehension."

Tenchi and Kiyone immediately straighten to attention. "We'll get right
on
it!" Kiyone smiles, slightly. "Say, Mihoshi, would you care to accompany
us
on Yagami?"

Mihoshi's smile breaks out into a wide grin. "Well, once a GP, always a
GP.
By the way, Princess Ryoko has requested permission to be along on this,

seeing that it is her planet that these people escaped from."

Kiyone inclines her head slightly. "We'd be honored. I'd also like to
bring
Professor Washu in on this, because I think she has the best chance of
analyzing this ship and determining the possibility of more like it
existing."

Mihoshi nods. "Of course." Her expression becomes somewhat apprehensive.

"Have you had... Any word from... Dark Sparrow?"

Both Kiyone and Tenchi suck in breath sharply. "Dark Sparrow" is the
code
name for the GP/F.I.I.A agent inside Ayeka's organization, and he is
their
most important covert operative at the moment. "Not yet, but we'll let
you
know one way or another."



Meanwhile, Muriyaki is at the beach--whose simulated sun is setting--and

she is talking with Katsuhito. She is quite literally crying on his
shoulders at this moment.

"I can't take it any more! Do you know what he's done to me? He's forced

himself on me, millions of times! And that's the least! Some of the more

perverse things... I-can-can't...." Katsuhito puts his arms around her.

"At first, I was kindly disposed to this Kyoto, because of the
assistance
her gave us. But now, it seems he is worse than we imagined, it appears
that Tenchi was right about him. However, this does not seem like an
especially good time for us to attempt something against him. Muriyaki,
I
must ask something of you. I must ask patience of you, for you to bide
your
time and I promise you, when we are finally able to return to whence we
came, we shall take you with us. It has been a long time since I have
had a
daughter of my own, and I think I'm about to again."

"Oh, Katsuhito!"

Just then she hears Kyoto's voice. "Muriyaki, damn you, where are you?!"

She gets up.

"Yes, my Lord?" "Ah, good there you are. Evidently, Mihoshi and Washu
have
run into trouble in sector 95 delta. I need you and four of your
daughters
to head up an investigation force. If you do this, I will leave you
alone
for an entire week." Kyoto draws in a sharp breath shortly afterward.

She bows her head. "As you will my Lord." She then touches a commlink on

her wrist. "Satoko, Kyoko, Hanae, assemble with me in the launch room.
We're traveling to sector 95 delta to rescue our friends."



"You're actually going along?!" Tenchi can't believe his ears. "Grandpa,

you can't be serious! You're actually trusting to travel along with that

guy?!"

Katsuhito has packed his small carry-on, and has changed into
Juraian-style
warrior raiment. He has his trusted wooden sword stuffed in through a
belt
loop of his jacket. "I have to go, Tenchi, to watch after Muriyaki and
her
daughters. She's told me some very disturbing things and I want to make
sure that he doesn't hurt them."

Tenchi grabs a hold of Katsuhito's duffel, and starts to wrestle it away

from him. "Grandpa, let me go!" However, he sees the determined set of
Katsuhito's expression and finally lets the bag go. "How did this become

personal, Grandpa?"

Katsuhito sighs. "It has been a long time since I've had a daughter,
Tenchi. When we get back to Earth, I'll be adopting Muriyaki as my own
and... " He smiles slightly. "Besides, Tenchi, this isn't your fight.
You
have the soul of a warrior, but you're not yet prepared to take on a foe

such as Kyoto. He has had 200 centuries of experience in fighting,
you're
not even twenty."

Before Tenchi can respond, Katsuhito continues. "Your destiny, Tenchi,
lies
elsewhere. I know the conversations you've been having with Kiyone about

the future, and I agree that your destiny, in all likelihood, will be on

the throne of Jurai--and to watch over your beloved. I'm little more
than
an old man, and I would be a fool to stake the life of the Emperor on a
squabble. Neither our father nor Kiyone would forgive me if I sent you
into
a fight that killed you, and I wouldn't want to in any case. I can
handle
this, and if not..." He shrugs and smiles slightly. "Think kindly of
this
old man from time to time, would you?"

"Wait, Grandpa." Tenchi reaches into his jacket and pulls out his sword,

the sword that Katsuhito had given to him. "Take this, you might need
it."

Katsuhito's wrinkled-but-steady hands reach out and grasp the hilt,
ignoring the gentle sparkle of colored lightning around it. After a
moment,
it settles in his hand, and the old man smiles at his grandson. "Thank
you,
Tenchi."



* * *



By now, Muriyaki and her daughters have assembled in the launch room.
All
of them are quite alike in body shape and youth and beauty, however,
they
are all quite different in facial features and hair pigmentation.
Muriyaki
discards her outfit, revealing her naked body and her daughters do
likewise. Shortly after, their physical humanoid forms are replaced with
a
non-corporeal silhouette of white light that quickly expands and begins
to
transmogrify into the shape of large spaceships. In fact, it was this
race
of women that taught the Ohkis how to transform into spaceships.

These ships have twin warp rocket engines on the bottom looking like
giant
pods and are attached to the main ship by twin pylons. In the back of
the
main ship is large, bulky sub-light thruster package and just forward of

that is a small complex of plasteel view ports, the observation area,
and
forward of that is a sharpened bow command section. The new ships are
connected to the underside of Chisako by flimsy looking beams of blue
energy.

Kyoto bows his head in concentration and he, along with the rest of his
companions by a ball of green energy. This ball of energy travels down
the
blue beam connected to Muriyaki, quickly depositing the group on her
bridge. Shortly there after, the ships break free from the station and
they
jet off into space accelerating to superluminal speeds.

Meanwhile, the dread space pirate, Ayeka, has captured Mihoshi, Washu
and
Ryo-Ohki. Ayeka looks much like the one in our universe, except she has
ragged cross-stitched scar across one cheek, making her look a little
like
Captain Harlock. She is also dressed in a tight-fitting, knee-length
sleeveless dress of purple and scarlet leather. Her tastes, however, are

quite unlike those of the Ayeka we all know and love (yeah, right).

Washu is slowly coming to consciousness. She is dreaming that she is
kissing her ex-husband. She feels his hands sliding down her back, down
her
thigh and squeezing her. She reaches up behind his neck and pulls her
down
on her... The kisses become deeper, stronger, she starts to moan his
name... "Oh, Cl--" and then as her eyes come open she realizes that it's

not her ex-husband, it's Ayeka! Ayeka draws back, a feigned hurt
expression
on her face.

"What, aren't I attractive enough?"

Washu recoils in horror. "Ayeka! You're- you're..." Ayeka smiles slowly,

lustfully, a smile that she's only seen her direct at Tenchi, but...

"Oh, my God! She's bisexual!" she thinks. And Ayeka smiles even wider.

"Yes, Professor Washu, I am as you crudely put it, bisexual."

Washu looks down at her outfit and finds it open. It's not off, but it's

open and then realizes that the caresses that she thought she was
getting
from her ex-husband came from--

"God, get me out of here!" she screams, struggling against her
restraints.
She glares at Ayeka. "You bitch! Let me out of here or my friends will
be
on your back so fast it'll make you head spin!"

Ayeka licks her lips. "Oooh, they'll be on my back, will they, I'm
looking
forward to it." And then she notes her prisoner's struggling. "Oooh, a
struggler. I like that."

"What have you done with my friend Mihoshi?!" Washu demands.

"Oh, don't worry. I haven't done anything to her, yet. Let me tell you a

secret, I've never done a head of state before. If she's as an
impassioned
lover as she is a speaker, I think I will enjoy this very much."

"And our Ohki?" Washu demands.

Ayeka shrugs. "Don't worry, I'm not into animals. Your Ohki is just
fine,
see." And she holds up a large, glass jar with Ryo-Ohki struggling
against
the inside and meowing.

"Meow, meow! Mi-ya! Mi-ya!" Washu tenses herself to rush at her, but
remembers that she's chained against a table, so she just slumps back.

Ayeka regards her with a look of disappointment. "What a pity...ah well,
it
seems you're too sensible for my own good. I hope you're comfortable
like
that, because you're going to be like that for some time. Unless, you
decide to give me what I want."

"What do you want?" This comes from Mihoshi, who has just regained
consciousness.

Ayeka's cruel smiles becomes even bigger and crueler. "Well, well, well.

Maybe you can help me get what I want."

Ever the bright, helpful one, Mihoshi spouts, "Oh, sure! I'd love to
help
you with whatever you need!"

"Mihoshi, no! Don't do it!" cries out Washu.

"Oh, Washu, don't worry! It's Ayeka!"

"That's exactly my point!" begins Washu, but Ayeka has already started
ushering Mihoshi aside.

"I tell you what, why don't we talk in my quarters?"

"Sure!" As they walk into her quarters, just before the door closes,
Washu
can hear Mihoshi say, "Wow, what a big bed you have!"

A minute later, the ship is rocked by explosions and suddenly appearing
in
the hallway is a beautiful, young lady with greenish, black hair who
bares
a striking resemblance to Muriyaki. The lady produces a cutting tool
that
frees Washu in seconds.

"You must be the famed Washu," she says. "I am Hanae, I am a daughter of

Muriyaki. We've come to rescue you."

"My friend, Mihoshi, she is still captured by the dread space pirate
Ayeka,
she's in there!" Strangely, Washu finds herself concerned over Mihoshi,
despite all the havoc she has caused.

"Don't worry." Hanae steps up to the door and knocks.

"Who is it?" asks Ayeka.

"Candygram!" Ayeka opens the door, she is wearing nothing. Hanae then
decks
her and pulls a still fully dressed Mihoshi out. Mihoshi is dazed.

"Come on, Mihoshi!" snaps Washu to cover her concern.

"What was Ayeka doing stripping in front of me?" she asks. "I don't
understand."

"We'll talk about it later, come on!"

They are about to make for the airlock when they suddenly hear a "Wait!"

And they see Nobuyuki, holding an unconscious Sasami in his arms. Sasami

has a black eye and a bruise across her cheek and Nobuyuki seems
strangely
more in command of things than anyone has ever known him to be.

"Why should we help you?" snaps Washu.

"Because, I'm not Ayeka's husband." he explains. "Because me and my
daughter are operatives for the Galaxy Police. I'm reporting directly to

Director General Kiyone."

"Kiyone's the Director General of police!?" asks Mihoshi. Washu
immediately
shushes her.

"Let me show you." Nobuyuki reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out
a
Galaxy Police I.D. pen and activates it. It shows him to be a Detective
Lieutenant.

"Wow, you're higher up than I am!" says Mihoshi.

Nobuyuki looks at her. "I appreciate your attempt to make light of
things,
Madame President, but we really need to be going, time is of the
essence! I
trust your Ohki is hungry, so..." he reaches into his pocket and pulls
out
a carrot. Ryo-Ohki gobbles it down.

Sasami stirs, then looks up at her father. "Daddy, where are we?"

He smiles, gently. "We're going home, dear, we're going home." Sasami
then
sees Ryo-Ohki, still entrapped in her glass bottle. She snatches the
bottle
from Washu and drops it on the floor. A second later the bottle shatters

and Ryo-Ohki bounds up into her arms.

"Oh, how cute, it's an Ohki!" She reaches up and pets Ryo-Ohki, who
responds positively. "Oh, it's a nice Ohki, not like this bad, bad Ohki
that Miss Ayeka has."

By now, Hanae has led them to the command deck and over to the suit
locker.

"But why do we need to put on pressure suits?" asks Nobuyuki, puzzled.

"Just watch." She takes off her suit and begins to transform. As they
see
her growing and changing they hurriedly draw on their space suits. As
Hanae
completes her transformation into starship mode, they scramble inside
her
hatch, secure it, and settle themselves into the nearest acceleration
couches. Hanae bursts out of the remains of the bridge and streaks for
open
space, as do the three other women ships.

Meanwhile aboard Muriyaki's bridge, Kyoto is fuming. "You fools! Destroy

them, destroy them while you have a chance! Don't leave them to our
backs!"

Immediately, their humanoid holoforms appear on Muriyaki's bridge. "We
will
not condone unnecessary taking of life. She has been crippled and it
will
take her a long time to build up more power. For all intents and
purposes,
she cannot harm us."

"Ah, let me out! I'll do it myself!" He grabs his sword and runs for the

airlock. Once outside, he races at Ken-Ohki as if a comet, raising his
sword and energizing it.

He is about to cleave the disabled Ohki in half when the combined
gunfire
of the four ship-mode women throws him back. Drained of energy, he is
forced to run back to Muriyaki.

Once having dragged himself through the airlock, he stalks back up to
the
command deck and glares at the assembled holograms. Touching a jewel on
his
wristband, he slowly squeezes his right hand into a fist, as the
holograms
slowly sink to the floor, clutching and scrabbling at their throats.
After
a few moments, which seem to pass like an eternity, he finally starts to

relaxes his grip, letting the holograms rise to their knees, sucking in
air
hungrily. He glares at them. "Never, ever, do something like that
again."

"If you want to fight, fight someone who can fight back."

Kyoto whips around to face Katsuhito, who is standing in a ken-do
fighting
stance and has Tenchi's sword, the turquoise-white energy blade engaged,
in
his right hand. The space pirate remembers being a swordfighting
sensei--in
a different form, of course--at the Royal Palace on Jurai when young
Lord
Yosho was coming of age, and the ferocious, no-holds-barred swordplay he

exhibited. He finds himself wondering if any of that remains--but, he
has
to admit, the old man still carries himself like a warrior. "If you
think
you're up to it, old man..." He hefts his sword and lunges at Katsuhito,

bringing his blade screaming around with an ear-splitting whistle. A
bone-splitting cut, for sure.

But not for Katsuhito. At the very last instant, he tosses his sword
into
the air, claps his hands on both sides of the advancing blade, flips
himself into the air, lands--and balances!--on the cutting edge of
Kyoto's
blade. He slips into a crouch and catches his still-lit sword, leveling
its
tip a scant centimeter from the center of Kyoto's forehead.

He is dropping to the ground a second later as Kyoto vanishes. He lands
on
his feet in another fighting crouch, his eyes tracing back and forth
across
the stillness of the room, looking for the slightest disturbance in the
serenity. A second later he is knocked to the ground by a shove from
Kyoto's shoulder. Undaunted, he rises to his feet, ducking a second
later
as Kyoto's blade arcs through the air where his head would have been.

"You fight quite well for some one so old!" quips Kyoto as he drops into
a
defensive stance. Sheathing his sword, he claps his hands together in a
prayer-like fashion and shuts his eyes. The air surrounding the dueling
pair begins to take on a eerie black-purple shade. A second later, two
crackling vortices of lightning begin to coalesce on both sides of him.
A
low-pitched revving begins to emanate as both of the portals of energy
start to pirouette on their axes. From the center of each portal an
opening
to a psychedelic wasteland appears. Emerging from these abysses are two
Samurai from Japan's Heian period. Their heads are facing down when they

first emerge; however, as they pause next to their summoner, their heads

snap up and their eyes open, emitting a furious red radiance.

"Coward!! Using dead warriors as your shield!" Katsuhito extinguishes
his
energy blade, slides it into the folds of his tunic and extracts a
small,
cylindrical device. He grips it in the center and at each end emerges a
brilliant lavender light rod. He then grasps the glowing blade, unsinged
by
the coruscating energy.

Kyoto bows to his adversary. He then says, in a voice that Katsuhito
finds
all too familiar, "Well done, Wildfire, you have proven your master
wrong.
Many years ago you said that you would never pick up a light bo again,
after what happened with Koei... " Katsuhito drops from his stance for a

moment in thought and painful recollection, but resumes his fighting
stance
with a burning intensity. "Master Chien-Tsung, I should have known... "
For
a second, the arrogant form of Kyoto is replaced with the short, stocky,

bald figure, a distinctly Chinese-looking one. His eyes are a frosty
sky-blue, indicating his blindness. The look on his face is a kind, yet
patient, one.

"Wildfire, why do you challenge your master in such dishonorable combat?
Do
you seek revenge for Koei? Do you think that I killed her? These are the

thoughts of a thousand fools. I mourn the passing of her soul as much as

the man who mourns the loss of a child. The ancient one once said that
death is merely a passing from this world to the realm of the great
temple.
He also said--" Kyoto cannot finish his sentence, for he is struck in
the
gut by a forceful blow from Katsuhito's bo.

"Silence! I will not listen to anymore of your meaningless words! Fight,

coward!" Kyoto wobbles to his feet, then bows to Katsuhito. "As you see
fit, young one." He then hops back and vanishes. A second later, the
seemingly inanimate warriors spring to life, swinging both their weapons
in
a bone crushing arc.

Still in a fighting pose, Katsuhito squat-hops over the lower slash, and

then, having the light bo into the air, uses the blade of the other
samurai
as a spring board to hurl himself into the air, catch the light bo, and
land on his feet several meters away. As the second of the two samurai
charges at him, Katsuhito tosses his bo at the first samurai and it
pierces
through his chest, rocketing out his back and embedding itself in the
far
bulkhead. The fatally-wounded samurai keels over and disappears in a
bright
flash of crimson light. The second one, however, uses his bo as a
vaulting
pole and springs over Katsuhito and slashes him across the back. He is
dispatched a second later as Katsuhito grabs up the fallen samurai's
light
bo and decapitates the other. He too keels over and vanishes. Kyoto
emerges
from the shadows a second later, clapping his hands in a mocking
fashion.

"Very good. I see that you have no trouble beating my shadow warriors,
but
now it's time for me to finish the job!" He then yanks his sword from
its
scabbard and launches himself at Katsuhito. Katsuhito remains in a
defensive pose; however, at the last second, he drops his light bo,
whips
out Tenchi's sword, lights it, and plunges the crackling blade into
Kyoto's
stomach. Kyoto sails over his head and crashes in a heap several meters
behind him.

"As the Americans say, 'That is that'," gloats Katsuhito as he turns to
face his defeated adversary. However, what he finds is anything but.
Kyoto,
on the other hand, is in a standing position, his hands both clenching
the
sword and slowly, ever so slowly, drawing it out of himself. When the
blood
stained hilt is finally extracted, the hole it had made disappears as if

never there.

"That, my dear Katsuhito, stings like hell!" He tosses the extinguished
hilt back at the old man. "Now, where were we?"

This duel continues in this unending fashion for what seems like an
eternity. Finally, after several grueling hours of combat, one of them
has
gained the upper hand. Katsuhito is kneeling on the floor, his left hand

clasping tight to his blood-soaked garments. He is heaving deeply,
either
from exhaustion or from the damage caused by his wounds.

"Ready to call it quits?" quips Kyoto, licking the blood from his
sword's
blade. He then stares maliciously at Katsuhito. "Wanna try some? It's
really good! But then, royal blood always is..."

"You haven't won yet, Kyoto." The space pirate's sword falls from his
hand
and his eyes grow wide as Katsuhito pushes himself to his feet. His
expression goes from amazement to amusement when he sees the bloodied
old
man pulling a worn, wooden sword from his belt. "You've got to be
kidding!?"

He laughs sarcastically. "Did that little peasant girl mean that much to

you, or was she just that good in bed?"

Kyoto's on a roll now; as he cackles, he doesn't notice Katsuhito
painfully
slipping into a fighting stance once more. "What would you say she was
worth? Five Jurai a night, or ten? In my personal opinion, I don't think

she was worth more than a Jurai and a half." Still unnoticed by the
mirthfully reminiscing pervert, Katsuhito starts to channel Jurai power
into his sword.

Kyoto still will not shut up. "Oh, I know, she was your beloved and
adored
fianc�e and all that crap. Did you just blind yourself to the fact that
you
weren't her first? I should know, I was her first! And her second, and
her
third... She was very good, you know. You want to know the truth behind
her
death, Wildfire? I killed her, because I couldn't have her! Oh, I could
look all I wanted, but as soon you walked into the picture... She really

loved you, you know. From the moment you walked into the class..." Kyoto

must be temporarily blind, because he has not even noticed the fact that

Katsuhito's wooden sword is now spinning freely in front of him, an aura
of
purple enveloping it. Katsuhito then reaches for the center of this
purple
disk and grabbing seemingly nothing, hoists the disk above his head and
lets fly with it.

"In fact, the day I killed her, I tried to take her in the locker room.
But
she fought me off. She kept saying that you were the only man she
wanted,
that-- Aagghh!!! My arm!" He looks down at the bloody stump on his left
should that used to be his left arm.

Katsuhito raises his right hand, splays out his fingers, and the sword
spins back to him, coming to rest in its original form. "Hurts, doesn't
it."

Using his still attached arm, Kyoto flips Katsuhito the bird. "Shove it,

old man! You'll pay for-- What! Where's my control bracelet?!" He finds
himself scrambling around on the floor searching for his control unit.
Even
though he will have a new left arm in just a few seconds, the control
wristband will not regenerate. If he loses it--

"Looking for this?" Katsuhito is bouncing the blood-soaked wristband up
and
down in his palm. He gives it a good, high toss--and it disappears.

"What?!?!?!" Kyoto can only stare up at the spot in the air where the
bracelet disappeared. "Bring it back, damn you!"

"As you wish." Katsuhito reaches down to Kyoto's left ear and pulls the
wristband out. Before Kyoto can reach up for it, Katsuhito tosses it up
high, pulls out Tenchi's sword, lights the blade, and cleaves the
bracelet
in half. It falls to the ground, shooting out sparks and making
mournful-sounding dying noises.

"NOOOOOO!!!!!" Kyoto somehow finds the power to surge off of the floor
at
Katsuhito. "I will kill you! I will--"

"Like you did to Koei?" Katsuhito shakes his head in almost-pity. "Not
today."

He holds out his open palms in front of him and glowing, sparkling
blue-white balls form in front of each. He narrows his eyes...and
releases.
The balls surge forward, slamming into Kyoto's chest and driving him
backward with the force of a high-yield antimatter device. He is sent
slamming back through several bulkheads, and finally comes to rest in
Muriyaki's aft-most compartment--that is, her engine room.

Katsuhito turns slowly to face Muriyaki's hologram. "Sorry about the
bulkheads. I...guess I don't...have quite as much...finesse as I--" He
slumps to the floor.

"Oh my lord, Yosho!" Muriyaki's hologram immediately kneels beside the
fallen Juraian. "Oh, my, he's all messed up inside." She strokes his
face
gently. "Don't worry, I'll make it all right...Daddy." She straightens
up
and lays down atop him. After a moment, her form fades inside of his.

"Koei... Koei... Help me, my darling... I'm lost... without you... "
Suddenly the picture of Koei changes and he's looking up at Eiko. His
darling Eiko, so much like Koei, almost as if the Gods had placed a
backup
of her in this far away place. "Oh, God, my darling how I've missed
you...
There's so much I have to tell you, so much I... " She opens her mouth
to
say something, but before she can, she fades away and is replaced by a
bright, pulsating light, drawing in closer, closer, closer, till he
can't
look away, even though his eyes are burning and... and... and ...

Katsuhito wakes up to find... Muriyaki smiling down at him with one of
her
cheerful, tender smiles.

"Are you feeling better, Daddy?" she says in a childish, yet concerned,
voice.

"Muriyaki... What happened? The last thing I remember is passing out on
the
floor. What-- where am I?"

She smiles again, even more tender. "We're home. Back aboard the
Chisako."

Katsuhito suddenly straightens, then winces in pain. "Aghh! And where...
is
that honorless swine, Kyoto?!"

Her smile fades as she turns her head to look off into the distance.
"He's
asleep right now, in his bed on the bridge. Washu says he'll wake up in
a
couple of hours." Katsuhito's smile turns to a frown. "Let me up! I must

kill him! I must--" He falls back onto his bedroll, wincing in pain.
"I-ah-
I-uhh-... It hurts! I can-can't quite move."

Muriyaki places a loving hand on top of his. "Just rest now, my father,
when you are well, I will take you to him, you may then kill him or
listen
to his pleas. After all, we do need him if we are ever to get home."
Katsuhito smiles up at his de facto daughter and then slides back into
unconsciousness.



* * *



Down at the edge of the lake, Tenchi is half asleep, his head nestled in

Kiyone's lap. She is tracing a soft, felt-like leaf across his forehead
as
his eyelids slowly droop. He is about to slip off into slumberland when
Muriyaki appears beside them in a stooping posture.

She is the first to speak. "I'm sorry to bother you two, but I thought
you
might like to know how Katsuhito is doing."

Tenchi perks up, but Kiyone has the first word in. "How is he?"

Muriyaki places a comforting hand on both of their shoulders. "He's
resting
now, but when he wakes up he should be fine." Both of them take silent
notice of the lack there of her bejeweled collar. Muriyaki catches their

eyes and places a hand on her neck where the collar once was.

"The collar. You see, in the end of Katsuhito's duel with Kyoto, he
managed
to slice off Kyoto's arm and destroy the control mechanism that powered
them. Once I returned, my daughters and I were free to remove the
accursed
things. We are finally free of Kyoto's power, and we all owe a great
debt
to your grandfather, Tenchi." She abruptly changes the subject. "How are

Mihoshi and Washu doing?"

Kiyone smiles, slightly. "They're both fine. Washu's still a little
shaken
up about what the dread space pirate Ayeka did to her, but she seems to
be
recovering from it. Mihoshi...she's okay, but she's not going anywhere
near
Ayeka! Every time Ayeka tries to talk to her, she screams and runs
away."
Kiyone and Tenchi exude a small chuckle at this thought. They suddenly
strangle off the chuckle as a they see a familiar figure approaching
them.
"Err...uh, Muriyaki, here comes... "

Muriyaki rises to her feet. "I know, I'll talk to him." She walks up to
him
and meets him half way. "Hello, Kyoto. It's nice to see that you can
move
around now."

"Hello, Muriyaki, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kiyone and Tenchi
start
to get up, but Kyoto waves them back down. "It's okay, you two, I want
you
to hear this." He looks Muriyaki straight in the eye. "Slap me."

Muriyaki's jaw drops open and she blinks. "Excuse me?!"

"I said slap me. I want to apologize for what I've done to you and
your--our-- daughters over the millennia. But I know that I... I can't
begin to...I can't begin to make up for what I've did, for what I've
done
to all of you, and I can't think of a way to say the words that won't
sound
trite or insincere. So slap me. As hard as you want, as many times as
you
want. Slap me!"

So she slaps him. Hard. With her nails. By the time she's finished, his
face is a bloody cross-stitching across both cheeks. She then turns
away,
sobbing. Sobbing so hard and so woefully that it brings tears to the
normally cheerful face of Kiyone. Tenchi wraps his arms around her
tightly,
wiping his own tears away. He then dabs away her tears with the sleeve
of
his shirt. He forms a small, gentle smile on his face, and between her
own
sobs, she smiles back, clinging to him like a sad song to the soul.
Kyoto,
by now, has taken Muriyaki into his own embrace and is whispering
comforting words into her ear. He is ignoring the small trickles of
tears
running down his own cheeks.

"Kyoto....Do you hate me? For turning against you?" He smiles a weak
smile
as he kisses the top of her head.

"No. I will forever love you, my darling Muriyaki." He looks at her
tenderly. "Can we start over?"

She nods her head, her face still pressed into his shoulder. "Yes. Let's

start over." Tenchi and Kiyone are holding each other tightly, smiling
as
they watch these two begin anew. Tenchi suddenly starts as he feels a
hand
on his shoulder and he half-turns to see Katsuhito behind him. "Grandpa,

you're up."

Katsuhito nods. "It seems that even the vilest of villains has a soft
spot." He sighs contentedly. "We'll put him on probation."

Before anyone can say anything else, alarms sirens start whooping. A
monitor screen pops into existence overhead and they find themselves
looking at a large GP/Juraian fleet. On a second, smaller screen, the
face
of GP Director General Kiyone appears.

"Attention unidentified ship, this is... oh my God!" She stares down at
Kiyone.

"It's you!" the two women say simultaneously. The one on the screen is
the
first to recover.

"Who are you, and why are you impersonating me?"

The Kiyone from our universe (we'll be referring to this Kiyone as
Kiyone(a) and the other one as Kiyone(b).) gapes at the screen. "I'm not

impersonating anybody!" She's about to say more, when Mihoshi, ever the
helpful one, shows up. "Oh, my! What's going on?!" Kiyone(b) is glaring
down at Mihoshi.

"Madame President? But, I thought you were... I mean I was... err...."
Kiyone(b) has a look of total confusion on her face, one that is only
compounded when Mihoshi(b) appears on the screen. Everyone aboard the
Chisako is awed by the intelligence and commanding delivery by her
voice.
"Excuse me, but I would really like an explanation as to why you people
have been impersonating the Director General of the Galaxy Police, who
is a
personal friend of mine, and... What am I doing down there?!"

"What am I doing up there?" chirps Mihoshi(a). "What's going on here?"
She
looks at Kiyone and Tenchi. "Have you two been naughty?" At this both
Tenchi and Kiyone blush furiously.

Tenchi steps forward. "Okay, we know this looks really strange, but I'm
sure that if we just sit down and talk, we can sort everything out..."

"I agree with you, young man." Tenchi(b) steps into the range of the
pickup. "I most certainly agree with you." He grins at his wife. "See,
darling, all you need to know is how to talk to people..."

All the other observers are amused as, at the very same time, both
Kiyones
throw their arms around both Tenchis, kiss them full on the lips, and
say,
"Honey, you're a genius!"



Soon all the players from both universes are gathered on the Chisako's
command deck. The two Kiyones are chattering happily away, comparing
notes
and experiences from each own universe, and both are intensely glad that

they have at least two common threads: the GP and Tenchi. The two
Tenchis
are talking quietly while sipping tea, and toasting the most important
thing in their lives: Kiyone. This gives Tenchi(a) a good chance to ask
for
some marriage advice...

"So how did I propose?" Tenchi(b) shivers as he remembers. "I'm really
not
the best person to ask that, Tenchi. We were skirting a black hole in an

old Yukinojo-class light patrol ship back when I was on the force. We'd
only been together a month, and every time we started to...well, you
know...we get called to duty." He chuckles at the memory. "Finally, just

when we were dodging the event horizon, I told her that if we made it
out
alive, I was gonna marry her just so we could actually...get some
sleep."

He smiles at the look on Tenchi(a)'s face. "I know how that sounds. But
you
don't always need to date someone for years to know that she's the right

one. I knew...from the moment I saw her..." He catches her gaze across
the
room, and the two of them share a long, loving smile. He reluctantly
tears
his eyes away at last and smiles at his counterpart. "And I think the
two
of you knew, too."



The Princess Ryoko is talking with the pirate Ryoko, and they are
discovering that they have far more in common than one would think. They

are laughing as Ryoko(a) recalls several of her more amusing adventures
(like the time Ryo-Ohki decided to go chasing after a carrot freighter
in
the middle of a bank robbery). For her part, the young pirate is sobered
to
find that the life of a princess is not nearly as easy as she had
thought...

"...it's not a good thing to be a princess," sighs Ryoko(b). "You have
to
be so polite and proper. You can never be free to speak your mind,
because
anything you say will offend somebody...and you have to let your
prince...have you any time he wants."

Shocked, Ryoko(a) pats her counterpart on the shoulder. "You mean you
don't
love your husband?"

Ryoko(b) laughs bitterly. "Love is rarely a factor when one is a
princess
of marriageable age. If you're really lucky, you'll find a nice guy that

you don't mind too much. I...was not lucky." She shivers involuntarily
as
she recalls painful memories. "My husband...is insatiable. I can't move
without him tackling me and...and..." She squeezes her eyes shut. "I
will
be very glad when he becomes Emperor and can legally have a harem,
although
I will feel sorry for those poor, poor girls..."

Her eyes dart across the room to Nobuyuki(b), who is swinging Sasami(b)
around in the air, listening to her giggle. She sighs wistfully.
"Lieutenant Nobuyuki's an old friend, you know. Always there to listen,
a
shoulder to cry on...I've loved him ever since I was a teenager, but he
never knew, and it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because he's not
royalty..." Tears start to trickle down her face. "After his wife died,
I
thought...but no. He loved her and she loved him and I was married
and--all
I can do is look out for him now. God, how I would have loved to be a
simple wife and mother, to not have to...to..." The tears are falling
freely now, and Ryoko(a) wraps her arms around her counterpart.

On the shore, Katsuhito watches Muriyaki and Kyoto talking. Even though
his
distaste for the man has yet to subside, he feels comforted that
Muriyaki
and her daughters are no longer his slaves. He turns to go, but he hears

Muriyaki calling out, "Katsuhito!", and he goes down to join them.

Kyoto, for once, has a remorseful look on his face. While the days of
holding a grudge are long since gone, Katsuhito feels a bit of guilty
satisfaction at this. "I want to apologize to you, Katsuhito. My conduct

towards Muriyaki was inexcusable in the first place, but what I did to
you
makes it doubly dishonorable. I wish to ask your forgiveness...that is,
if
you think you can..." He extends a hand, and after a long moment,
Katsuhito
grips it firmly. "I forgive you."

"I know that Muriyaki will be living with you once we return to our
dimension, and I approve. There's something I want you to have,
though...Wildfire."

A large chest appears on the ground in front of Katsuhito, who opens it
and
gasps. "These...these are..."

"That's right, Katsuhito. These are Koei's." Inside the chest are his
long-dead first love's fighting garments and weapons. He picks up her
favorite lavender kimono, neatly folded inside, and strokes the soft
silk
gently. "My lord...I..." He finds a small holo-player with a message
chip
inside. "What is it?"

"Play it," suggests Muriyaki. Dumbfounded, Katsuhito hits the PLAY key
and
steps back involuntarily as a life-sized holo of Koei appears before
him.
Her beautiful, gentle feature light up in a smile. "Hello, my darling
Yosho. I...I know this is a waste of money, but I just had to give you
this. Every day I spend with you is like a day in paradise, and the
happiest day of my life..." She giggles, the sound lifelike in every
nuance. "Oh, my Yosho, I can't believe it'll only be two weeks till I'm
your wife. Last night I dreamed that it was our wedding night, and I
just
know the real thing will surpass the shadow. This is getting expensive,
so
just let me say what I've been trying to: I adore you with all of my
being,
and I can't wait till I'm safe in your arms again. Until later, my
love..."
The hologram disappears, and Katsuhito is on his knees, tears streaming
down his face.

"I thought you might like to have that. I know that when you fled Jurai,

you didn't take much with you..." Kyoto is looking almost guilty.

Katsuhito nods, letting Muriyaki gently draw him to his feet. "Thank you

very much, Kyoto. I...I never thought I would..." He wipes the tears
from
his eyes. "Thank you very much."

"And there's something else." Kyoto reaches into his jacket and extracts
a
yellowed photograph. Katsuhito takes a look at it, and his eyes go wide
again. "Eiko? But... How did you... This looks just like the one taken
on
our... wedding day by her... father..." He looks at Kyoto again, shock
evident in his features. "You? You were her..."

Kyoto dubiously nods his head. "Yes... I was her father. After I killed
your bride-to-be, I had a rare attack of remorse. I knew where you were
going, somehow, and my space/time convergence drive needed a shakedown.
You
see... son, it's no coincidence that Koei and Eiko were almost
identical. I
implanted her mother-- God rest her soul -- with DNA I had extracted
from
Koei during our... relationship... and was able to manipulate my own to
produce an almost-exact duplicate as my daughter. This was my penance.
Even
their names were alike, all I did was reverse the order of characters to

remove any seed of suspicion. I then became who you knew as Ieyasu
Masaki,
the same man that gave you the name Katsuhito Masaki when you married my

daughter."

Katsuhito pulls away slightly, fearing the thought that any of this...
person's blood might be in his grandson's veins.

Kyoto reads the worry in Katsuhito's eyes and smiles, gingerly. "Don't
worry, there isn't a trace of my actual DNA in either Achika or Tenchi.
You
see, my ability to reprogram my DNA is the secret to my ability of
mimicking. So, when I assume someone or something's form, I technically
am
that thing. The DNA has no connection of the default mode I am in now.
Rest
assured, none of your great-grandchildren is going to get up one day,
generate a light sword and run off to become a space pirate!" He
chuckles
become more somber. "You know, Katsuhito, Eiko loved you. I think she
fell
in love with you that one time during services when she saw you looking
at
her. She loved you. And not merely because she was your first love
reborn."

Katsuhito is still looking at the yellowed photograph. Somehow, a sense
of
relief and satisfaction has come over him. If he concentrates, he can
almost hear Eiko's--or Koei's; they are one in the same--gentle laugh,
feel
her arms wrapping around his waist, and her soft lips pressing against
his
cheek and drawing back, a slight flush in her own cheeks... He smiles.
"So... Dad... What have you been up to these past years?"

Kyoto exudes a belly laugh and nearly sends himself barrel-rolling down
the
soft, flowing fields of green. "Nothing priestly, I'll tell you that
much!"
Both men and Muriyaki laugh.



* * *

Everyone is assembled in Chisako's mammoth mess deck. President Mihoshi
is
the first to speak, and everyone is treated to a demonstration of vastly

different the two dimensions are. Well, maybe not that different, seeing
as
both Kiyones are curled up contentedly in the laps of both Tenchis.

"...And I believe that this incident will lead to a greater sense of
understanding and cooperation between the inhabitants of our two
dimensions. Thank you." Mihoshi(b) sits down, and receives a standing
ovation. Now the two Washus take the podium and immediately begin
arguing.

"Now the problem lies in the quantum-shift-wave of the intersecting--"

"What are you taking about, the quantum-shift-wave of the intersecting
polarities? Hakubi disproved that theorem at least two centuries ago!
What,
you been locked up in some nowhere planet's shrine cave for seven
hundred
years?!"

"Well, you have to admit that the Heisenberg effect on differential
masses
holds true in this case! Only a first-year geology major would have
attempted to discount that!"

"Well, I will admit that. But you have to admit that the hyper-flux
archetype has been disproved in at least six places in this situation,
take
for instance--"

This Washu merely laughs. "I can only see two solid examples in this
experiment, the rest are all pure conjecture! Allow me to direct your
attention to--"

"Well, you can take your Heisenberg differential--" and she lapses into
what is apparently some curse from her world "--and shove it up your
nose!"

"Oh, yeah! Well, you can take your Hakubi--" and this Washu does
likewise
"--and shove it up your--"

"Get to the point you two!" screams Tenchi(a).

In his lap, Kiyone stirs somewhat. "Ten-chi, what's goin' onn-n?"

Tenchi strokes her left cheek with the back of his hand. "There, there,
my
Avenging Angel of Space, it's nothing you should wake up about."

In Tenchi(b)'s lap, Kiyone(b) takes notice of this and smiles an
intoxicated smile, a coy expression forming from her dimples to her
eyes.
"Ten-chi, he calls her the same thing you call me-e!" She begins to toy
with his necktie. "Ten-chi, is there some place we can go, you know...
to
be all alo-one? I feel like I could use some of your tender loving
care...
the special kind!"

Everyone seated next to them slide at least seven or eight seats away!
Still seated at the main table, President Mihoshi shakes her head and
chuckles.

"Oh, my. Here they go again! Do you people know how many times I've
walked
into one of their offices in the capitol and found them... you know?"

Tenchi(b) and Kiyone(b) are about to move on from mere kisses when a
graying, black man in a conductor's uniform leans over next to them and
hands Tenchi(b) two small, plastic-wrapped packets. "Keep the train in
the
station, son. The freight is already full." Both of their faces blush to
a
shade close to that of a fire truck.

Tenchi(a) and Kiyone(a) are about to laugh at their counterparts when
the
conductor turns to them and hands them seven or eight, including one
that
resembles a small rubber disk. "Same goes for the two of you. Wait until

the tender is coupled to the engine."

"AHEM!" Everyone's attention snaps back to the two Washus, fuming at the

podium. Washu(a) begins talking again. "Now, like I was saying before I
was
so rudely interrupted!!!, the factoring of the Heisenberg mass-to-atomic

acceleration theorem--"

She cuts herself off at the collective glares from the audience.

"In layman's terms, the fold drive is completely burnt out. The
transuranic
tachyon emitter array--the big, rippling thing that glows blue--is
repairable, but it requires replacement parts of design never before
seen.
Also--" She glares at the three or four Ohkis in the room. "--there are
a
staggering number of transcapacitors that have large, bite-sized holes
in
them."

"So what are we going to do?" asks Kyoto.

Washu(a) triumphantly holds up an AA-battery-sized and -shaped inforod.
"Before we left Ken-Ohki, I managed to swipe the space pirate Ayeka's
list
of parts and drive system suppliers. We have the designs of the needed
parts in the Chisako's data-base, all we have to do is find someone to
build them. And even if we can't, if we had the support of the Galaxy
Police and the Science Academy in trying to construct an alternative--"

"You have it. But hold on a second," interrupts Kiyone(b), her amorous
mood
gone for the moment. "You said you escaped from Ayeka?"

"That's right," says Washu(a). "And it was with his help." She points to

Nobuyuki(b) in the back of the room, watching over his sleeping
daughter.

"Dark Sparrow!" cry out Kiyone(b), Tenchi(b), and Mihoshi(b) at the same

time. The GP operative immediately snaps to attention. "Madame
President,
Director General, Lady Ryoko..." The cop and the princess share a tender

smile before he snaps back to business. He holds up a handful of poker
chip-sized data chips. "Here is all the evidence you will need to
convict
Ayeka--"

"Hey!" huffs Ayeka(a).

"Err, sorry, Lady Ayeka, I meant this universe's Ayeka. These are all
the
listings of her dealings with the Hazard Syndicate, her "deathmark"
contracts with the Iceman of Juno, her secret bases and hideouts, the
works."

Kiyone(b) walks up to Nobuyuki(b) and shakes his hand. "You've done the
force well, Detective Lieutenant. Or, perhaps I should say--" She
reaches
into her pocket, produces a pair of paired captain's bars, pins them to
his
jacket collar. "--Detective Captain. Also, you've got your choice of any

assignment you want."

Ryoko(b) hugs her friend. "You know, Captain, the Royal Family does need
a
new GP liaison..."

Nobuyuki(b) bows his head slightly. "I'm at your disposal, Lady Ryoko."

Sasami(b) is somewhat less restrained. "Yay! Now I get to see more of my

Auntie Ryoko!" She bounds up to the princess, who throws her arms around

the little girl and starts to tell her how much she's grown.

Soon after this, the two Washus set to repairing the conventional FTL
drive. With two "super-geniuses" working on it, it is fixed in short
order.
After that, the groups from the two universes part on good terms, with
promises of help from Kiyone(b) and Washu(b). Nobuyuki(b) is the last
one
out, his daughter cradling a "nice Ohki" of her very own, one the color
of
her hair and named Sami-Ohki. He smiles shyly up at his benefactors.
"Thank
you for everything."

Tenchi(a) smiles and shakes his hand. "You're quite welcome.
Congratulations on your promotion."

"Yeah...about your fold drive, I think I...I think I know where you can
find parts for it."

"Really?" Washu(a) leans forward, interested. "Where?"

"About five years ago, back when I was just a Detective Sergeant, I was
on
long-range duty in a real backwater system. The only thing of note was
an
old space station, and the more I think about it, the more similar it
seems
to this one." He passes an inforod over to Washu(a). "These are the
coordinates for the system. I don't know whether or not it's still
there,
but..."

Kyoto smiles and shakes Nobuyuki(b)'s hand. "It's all right. This is
more
than we could ever have hoped for. Good-bye, Captain Nobuyuki. I hope
your
life is a good one."

Soon afterwards, the Yagami (in this universe, a superdreadnought and
Kiyone(b)'s flagship) pulls away form the Chisako. Washu plugs the
inforod
into a terminal and scans the data. "This is it, Kyoto! The station is
identical!"

"All righty, then." Kyoto stretches. "Now we know where another station
is.
Chisako, set course, downloading coordinates from this console now--" He

hits the download key. "--set speed 45c." The station jolts slightly as
the
FTL drive kicks in and accelerates to forty-five times the speed of
light.

Tenchi sighs theatrically. "'Once more into the breach, dear
friends...'"

Kiyone snuggles up to him. "Oh, well, think of all the stories we'll be
able to tell our kids..."





The End