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Tenchi Muyo: Ricochet
by
W*ING Higley
Chapter 1: Out of Bullets
Okayama Prefecture, Japan: Present Day
�I CAN�T STAND IT!!!!�
It occurred to Kiyone that if she had a nickel for every time she heard Princess Ayeka of
Jurai scream that particular phrase, she would, by now, be a millionaire many times over.
As it was, Kiyone could barely afford the one-room apartment she shared with her
partner, Mihoshi.
�This wasn�t how it was supposed to be,� she thought to herself. �I should be regional
director of the Alpha Quadrant by this point, not stuck on some backwater planet, a lowly
1st Class Detective.�
Currently, both she and Ayeka were stationed in Noboyuki�s work room in the Misaki
house. Outside, Ryoko and Tenchi could be seen sitting by the lake and talking to one
another. In the three months since Tenchi had been rescued from Haruna, he and the
space pirate had gotten much closer. They had not done anything physical, they hadn�t
even kissed, but it was now obvious to everyone in the Misaki household that very soon,
Tenchi would finally choose. And it was becoming apparent that Tenchi would not
choose Ayeka.
�Look princess, if the only reason you called me here is to complain about Tenchi and
Ryoko, than save it. I�ve got patrol in two hours.�
Ayeka�s head sank. �It�s not. I know full well it�s my fault they�re getting closer. I was
the one who sent her after Tenchi into that other dimension. I didn�t want to, but her
flying powers were the only way to save Tenchi. I�ve regretted that decision ever since.�
She turned to Kiyone. �And you, no doubt you regret it too.� Kiyone was taken aback by
this comment. �Don�t deny it. I know full well that you�ve requested transfer from Earth
well over a dozen times. And yet, each time the transfer is denied because of your
refusal to arrest the dreaded space pirate Ryoko.�
�How did you....?�
�I am the Princess of Jurai, no information is out of my reach.� Ayeka�s tone of voice
sent a chill through Kiyone. She hardly ever used this tone, and yet it served as a
reminder to Kiyone that Ayeka was far more cunning than she usually let on. And yet, it
was true. HQ had consistently denied her requests for transfer due to her �inability� to
arrest Ryoko. But Kiyone knew she could never arrest Ryoko. Tenchi�s friendship
meant far too much to her. Arresting Ryoko would destroy the special bond she had with
Tenchi.
�I admit, Ryoko is the source of much of my troubles, though Mihoshi is as equally to
blame.�
�But Mihoshi isn�t the reason you�re stuck here?�
�No, in fact it was through her former position as Director of Crime Prevention that we
were even able to get re-assigned back here. But I never intended to stay THIS long. I
thought it would be fun to visit for awhile, and then go back to HQ. But now HQ says I
can�t comeback until Ryoko is in custody.�
Ayeka nodded, �And yet, neither of us can move against her. To do so would cause
Tenchi to turn against us forever. But still, the answer to both our problems is so simple:
Ryoko must be arrested and returned to the Galaxy Police to stand trial for her crimes.�
�But you just said....�
�I said WE cannot move against her. I said nothing about a third party capturing her.�
With that, Ayeka flipped on Noboyuki�s computer and logged onto the Internet.
Switching over to Yahoo! Japan, she typed in the keyword bounty hunters.
�The information super-highway is such a marvelous thing,� Ayeka said.
*****
Chicago, Illinois: Present Day
�Oh yes Ken, again.�
The thumping of the headboard against the wall, coupled by the moans of the two people
making torrid love, made it impossible for Rally Vincent to get any sleep. Rally sighed
and got up.
�Might as well head to the office, try and get some work done.�
She slipped into a blouse and mini-skirt and slung her gun holster around her shoulders.
She ignored the plaintive cries of pleasure coming from May�s room as she went down
the stairs.
In the six weeks since the firefight with Radinov, business had been scarce. Bill Collins
had come through with his promise of a Class-3 license for the gun shop, but her usual
clientele of local bail bondsmen had stayed away. For the time being, Rally had become
too high profile for their use, her tendency to cause massive amounts of property damage
made it unsafe for them to employ her without the fear of lawsuits. Most had assured
Rally that once the press frenzy surrounding Sen. Haints arrest died down, she would be
hired, but until then she had had to resort to having Becky set up a page on the World
Wide Web to advertise and try to drum up business.
Locking her Cobra as she arrived at the shop, she quickly scanned for any signs that she
had been followed. Seeing none, she entered and switched on her computer. �Now to
see if I can�t get these books balanced.�
Some three hours later, and the news was not good. �Great, we�re $10,000 in the red. If
we don�t come up with at least half that by the end of the week, the bank will call in the
mortgage.�
Rally sighed and rubber her temples. �Might as well check the e-mail, nothing else could
possibly go wrong.� Clicking on the AOL symbol, she punched in her password and
logged on. �Junk, junk, junk, what a bunch of liars. AOL 5.0 STILL can�t block SPAM!
Hey, what�s this...�
Rally�s eyes lit up as she clicked on an e-mail from a server in Japan. The message read
Thought this might interest you, if you�re willing to
come to Japan.
�Must have used a machine translator to convert it to English, odd that there�s no
indication of who sent it. They used a temporary account,� Rally thought. She noticed
that there was a file attached. After waiting 30 minutes for the file to download, she
discovered that it was a bitmap of a wanted poster that contained a picture of a woman
with spiky, cyan-colored hair. It read:
Wanted For Robbery, Grand Larceny And Assorted Acts Of
Piracy: Ryoko
Reward 10,000,000 Yen!
Rally�s eyes lit up at the last part. �Ten million Yen!!!! Even with an overvalued dollar,
that would be more than enough to pay our bills, and then some.�
Rally dialed the house. �Hello,� Mini-May answered, sounding thoroughly exhausted.
�May, it�s Rally. Look, I hate to do this to you and Ken, but pack your bags and get your
passport, we�re going to Japan!�
To be continued.....
*****
Author�s Comments: Everyone keeps complaining how all the Tenchi crossovers deal
either with Sailor Moon or Ranma, so here you go, a Gunsmith Cats crossover. Some
may argue that Ayeka is out of character here, but given her behavior in some of the
drama CDs, and her eagerness to assist Kiyone capture Ryoko in �No Need For Partners,�
I really don�t think so. And those who argue about Kiyone�s friendship with Tenchi
being too deep in this fic, keep in mind she risked her career to save him in Tenchi
Forever. This is going to be fun to write.
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