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[Author�s Note: This story takes place roughly two years after the events portrayed in
episode #13 of the Tenchi Muyo! OVA series. This story also assumes that Tenchi the
Movie 2: Daughter of Darkness, was a seperate continuity altogether.]
Tenchi Muyo!: Road Trip
by
W*ING Higley
Prologue: Cleveland, Ohio
It was completely dark inside the room, save the for the incessant flashing of the Super
Motel 6 sign outside. It was a small, simple room, about what you�d expect for a cheap
roadside motel. It had a TV, nightstand, two chairs, a dresser and an alcove with a sink,
toilet and shower. Oh yes, and it also had a bed. But the bed isn�t what we�re interested
in. We�re interested in who�s lying in the bed.
Tenchi Misaki, age 19, stirred lightly. For not the first time since this insanity had begun,
a voice spoke to him inside his head.
�You do realize that you�ve hurt alot of people by doing this?�
�Yes,� Tenchi replied. He looked down at the blue-haired girl who lay peacefully atop
him and smiled. �But it was worth it.�
�What will everyone back in Okayama say? More importantly, what will they say?�
�They�ll understand, I hope. Dad and Grandpa will, at least. So will Washu and Sasami.
I�m not so sure Ayeka and Ryoko will, though.�
Huh? The blue-haired girl isn�t Ryoko? Just what the hell is going on around here?
The girl atop Tenchi stirred as he softly storked her hair.
�I�m sorry, I didn�t mean to wake you.� The girl smiled at Tenchi�s apology.
�It�s alright. I wasn�t really sleeping anyway. Is anything wrong?�
�No....yes. I�m glad this happened, but I�m not sure how my family will take this.� The
blue-haired girl squeezed his hand in reassurance.
�Don�t worry. I�ll be here, no matter what.�
�Thanks.�
She kissed him on the cheek. �You better get some sleep, we�ve got a long drive
tomorrow.�
�Okay�
The girl snuggled back up against Tenchi. �Goodnight, Tenchi.�
�Goodnight, Rei.� Slowly, Rei Ayanami drifted off to sleep.
*****
�Greetings. I am Uatu, The Watcher. It is my mission, and the mission of my people, to
observe and record the history and events of other races. In the past when I have
communicated with you, the reader, I have shown you events that have transpired on
alternate realities pertaining to super heroes. Today, however, I have a differt reality to
show you. In the reality you are familiar with, Rei Ayanami was a clone of the mother of
Shinji Ikari and lived in the year 2015. In the reality we observe now, Rei is a normal
19-year old girl born to normal parents.�
�Actually, I should use the term �normal� sparingly when dealing with Rei. As in your
world, she is still an aloof girl who rarely shows her feelings. And, as in your world, she
is viewed as an outcast by her peers.�
�Into this world comes Tenchi Misaki. In the two years since the battle with Dr. Clay,
Tenchi�s life has been fairly routine. Daily fights between Ryoko and Ayeka, and Tenchi
still hasn�t chosen either girl. Tenchi now finds himself a sophmore at Okayama Junior
College, where Tenchi will spend three years studying to enter into a four-year school.
As we rejoin our story, some six days prior to the events just depicted, Tenchi�s life is
about to be irrevocably changed....�
*****
Chapter 1:
Late. Tenchi was very late.
�Damn it, now I�m gonna be late for home room,� Tenchi thought to himself.
As he skidded down the hallway to classroom 2A, Tenchi couldn�t help but think that he
was forgetting something important today. Tenchi usually wasn�t late for his classes, but
Ryoko and Ayeka�s latest battle had completely demolished the house......again. Washu
had sworn she�d have everything back to normal by nightfall, but it still took awhile for
Tenchi to dig his text books out of the rubble. By then, he had missed his bus and had
had to wait for the second one. Ryoko had offered to give him a life in Ryo-oh-ki, but
Ayeka had accused Ryoko of trying to seduce Tenchi again, and another fight had
erupted.
�Just what the heck am I forgetting today? Oh well, whatever it is, I�m sure it isn�t that
important.�
Tenchi opened the door and walked into his homeroom class. �Ah, Mr. Misaki, do be so
kind as to join us. We were just selecting partners for our class trip.�
�Huh?�
�You do remember the class trip, Mr. Misaki. The whole class is going to America for a
week.�
�Of course I remember that.� Usually, most schools went into the mountains for their
annual spring trip, but with the recent earthquakes, the faculty had voted to send the
students to America instead. �But what�s this �partner� thing you�re talking about?�
�I�m referring to the partner you�re going to be with for the duration of the trip. There
aren�t enough teachers to keep an eye on all of you, so you�ll be paired with a fellow
student of your choice to be with and make sure you each stay out of trouble.
Unfortuately, Mr. Misaki, due to your tardiness all the other students have already chosen
their partners. So, I�m afraid you don�t get to choose.� There was an almost malicious
grin on the teacher�s face. �Instead, you get to pair up with the only other odd person
out, Rei.�
Tenchi turned to look at Rei. She wore her usual blank look on her face, not showing
one way or another how she felt about this latest twist. She turned and nodded at Tenchi.
�Sir,� she said, before returning to her blank stare.
�Oh great, first my house gets demolished, then I�m late for homeroom, and now I find
out I�m stuck with Rei for a week. And it�s only Monday. How much worse could this
week get?�
Tenchi had no idea how bad things were about to get.
To be continued.....
*****
Author�s Notes: After watching Dogma the other day, I thought it would be interesting to
graft the standard �road trip movie� formula and the �odd couple goes on road trip and
falls in love� formula onto characters from Tenchi and Evangelion.
Rei Ayamani is such a fascinating character to work with in fanfics. The problem
is when fanfic authors try to write a story where she falls in love with Shinji and they try
to make it convincing, while ignoring the fact that she is a clone and only 14. I simply
removed her horrific backstory, aged her by 5 years, and moved her to the Tenchiverse.
If you don�t know who Uatu, The Watcher is, he�s this bald alien who used to
appear in the �What If� comics for Marvel. Every issue he�d take an existing storyline
and spin a new slant on it, like �What If The Punisher Had Killed Spider-Man� or �What
If The X-Men Had Killed Magneto.� I thought he would be an interesting plot device to
move the story forward, and explain the whole concept of alternate realities.
C&C can be sent to skywarp@cephiro.com.
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