Well, here's the last one for now.  Got a lot of
episodes to go, but this should get ya started.  The first 4 eps in
the story are basically intro episodes, allowing the reader to get a
feel for the destinct ways and means of each character.  As the
episodes continue, the main story line will unfold.  Much as Tenchi
Muyo TV1 did, where the first 13 episodes were mothing but short
filler and character introduction.

-------

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







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