Tenchi the Space Pirate
(A Tenchi Muyo Alt History)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://www.angelfire.com/anime/amma
Note: This is based on the OAV continuity, including elements
from the Mihoshi Special.
***
Aeka grinned to see her ship was all set to go after her half-
brother and fiance. It had already been a year since he had left in
pursuit of Ryoko, and the princess had suffered waiting for his
return. She could stand to wait no longer.
Aeka spun around in surprise when a heavy hand landed on
her shoulder. She looked up into the disapproving frown of her
father. Slowly, he shook his head.
Kiyone was just about to foil the mad scientist and save the
galaxy, when her luck turned against her. She stumbled on the
edge of a gangway and pitched forward, falling straight towards the
power source of the galaxy destroyer, the light nearly as bright as a
star. Nearly as hot as well, she could already feel it on her skin.
She idly wondered if she would burn up quickly, or would she
suffer in agony for days.
When suddenly someone grabbed her and pulled her away
from the edge. Kiyone looked up into the eyes of her savior and
blinked in surprise to realize it was her partner Mihoshi grinning
back at her.
Chapter 1: Is This a Rescue Mission or a Kidnapping?
Tenchi yawned and pulled himself out of bed, only to stare
at his own reflection. Gah, he looked terrible. What time was it
anyway? As his brain started to work, he realized what he was
staring into was one of the control crystals that ran the ship.
"Miya!" the crystal chirped at him a bit too cheerfully at
this time in the morning, whatever time it was. Hard to tell in
space.
"Let me guess," Tenchi said as he scratched his head and
dragged himself out of bed. "There's an important call, but you
couldn't wake Ryoko up no matter how much noise you made."
The crystal confirmed this with a nod.
"Figures. I'll take care of it. Again."
Tenchi did his best to make himself look presentable. The
call had to be important. It was two hours before he normally
woke up and Ryo-oki wouldn't disturb his sleep without good
reason. Ryoko on the other hand...
Plopping himself down in the command chair, Tenchi once
again felt that sense of wonder he had when he first looked out at
the stars after leaving Earth. Even there the night sky had always
been beautiful, especially when he was visiting his grandfather out
in the country, but this was something else. It made everything he
had gone through to get and to stay here worth it.
Taking a deep breath in an effort to drive the remaining
sleepiness from his body, Tenchi told Ryo-oki, "Open the channel."
A large viewscreen irised before him, displaying two
familiar faces. Tenchi started to smile, despite his rude awakening.
It had been over a week since he had seen Mihoshi and Kiyone last.
"Hi, Tenchi!" Mihoshi shouted with a big smile, waving her
hands in greeting.
"Mihoshi, stop that!" Kiyone shouted immediately. "Can't
you be serious for once?"
Mihoshi looked back at her partner in concern. "What did I
do wrong?"
Tenchi laughed and shook his head. Those two seemed like
they'd never change.
"Tenchi, I'm sorry to wake you at such an hour, but we have
a communication of the utmost importance," Kiyone told him,
suddenly all business.
Tenchi nodded, knowing why Ryo-oki had accepted the call
in the first place. When he had first met the two GP officers, they
were on his trail for a number of crimes, but somewhere along the
way they had decided to join up with his cause. Kiyone was sick
of the greed and corruption of the Galaxy Police and Mihoshi
simply went along with her. Since then, they had become some of
his most trusted friends and allies. When they said something was
important, he gave them his full attention.
"It seems that... What I mean is...," Kiyone started and then
shrugged. "I better let her explain it herself."
The screen went black for a moment as the other call was
routed to him. When the screen came back, Tenchi's eyes went a
little wide, though he did his best to control his reaction. He
already knew about this caller; there probably wasn't a space-
traveling person who didn't.
"You honor me with your presence, Princess Aeka," Tenchi
said slowly, trying to be careful not to give offense. While not
having taken any action against the Jurai house directly, he had
been the thorn in the side of some of its pettier nobles. He knew
that Kiyone would have never have made this connection if this
was about retribution, however.
"We don't have time for formalities now," Aeka told him,
her eyes hard and serious. "This is a secure line, but I don't know
for how long. I can let no one know about my making this call."
That certainly peaked Tenchi's interest. Why would the
heir apparent to the most powerful empire in the galaxy put herself
at risk to speak privately with him of all people, a wanted criminal?
"Get right to the point then, princess," Tenchi told her.
"The less time spent talking, the less we compromise your safety."
Aeka smirked, but with little humor. "My safety is entirely
the problem... How should I refer to you?"
"Tenchi is fine."
Aeka shook her head. Hundreds of years of training
rebelled against the idea of calling someone simply by their first
name. For her, it would be an insult of the highest order. "I will
call you Lord Tenchi."
"Lord?" Tenchi asked in some surprise.
Aeka smiled, though this time with real amusement. "Well,
you are lord of the pirates, aren't you? Don't they all tremble at the
very mention of you're name?"
"Not exactly," Tenchi admitted. He didn't feel like
mentioning that the person they all feared was Ryoko, himself
included sometimes. "But we're getting off the subject."
"Yes, we are," Aeka agreed, becoming serious once again.
"My safety is my problem. I'm guarded day and night. Wherever I
go, there are legions of guards sworn to die to protect me. I have a
schedule that maps out how I spend every moment, probably until
the day I die. For hundreds of years I've been a prisoner, not a
princess, and I am sick of it! I have had enough!"
Tenchi leaned forward seeing all the suppressed rage finally
boiling to the surface, slipping out of the person's probably iron
control. "What would you like me to do about it?"
Aeka seemed to recover in an instant; the cool mask was on
once again. "Well, when I heard about your exploits I got an
idea..."
Ryoko groaned as her alarm sounded, slapped it off, and
rolled over to go back to sleep. The next moment she had sprung
out of bed with sudden energy. She couldn't oversleep on this
morning of all mornings. The morning when she would finally
make Tenchi hers.
Ryoko chuckled to herself. The plan was so simple that it
couldn't fail. She knew that it was at least two hours before Tenchi
would wake up. All she had to do was carefully slip into his bed
and be there when he woke up in the morning. He might protest,
he might yell, but she bet she could get him to admit that he was
sleeping a whole lot better with her there. And if not, she'd just
have to try again and again until he got used to her. Because close
to him was where she wanted to be.
Ryoko frowned slightly as she made herself look
presentable. She couldn't have Tenchi waking up next to a hag.
She had already frightened him once like that in the cave when he
had released her. Their first meeting. Even she could admit that it
hadn't gone too well. Getting close to him had not only frightened
him, but provided a nasty shock caused by that sword of his. She
had planned to take it out on him by giving him a good scare. Not
actually hurt him, just to tease him a little.
Something had changed her mind, however. Taking a
closer look at him lying there asleep on the roof, she decided that
the last thing she wanted to do was scare him. Instead, she wanted
to make him smile. She wanted to see his eyes go wide beholding
the wonders of the universe, all because of her.
So Ryoko did what any space pirate would have done in the
same situation, she kidnapped him. She was disappointed when he
awoke less than pleased with the fact that his home planet was now
more than a spec in the distance. That had not set their relationship
on the note that she had wanted it to. And while Tenchi had
eventually gotten used to the idea of being a space pirate, and
forgiven her for the initial kidnapping, he was far more distant than
Ryoko had wanted.
Ryoko had done everything she could think of to bridge the
gap. She flirted with him outrageously, throwing herself at him
every chance that she got. The problem was Tenchi never took her
seriously. He thought it was all one big joke on her part.
Ryoko had to admit that that was partially her fault.
Because every time that Tenchi actually responded to her
flirtations, she'd pull away, embarrassed. Tenchi would laugh then
about calling her bluff and, nervously at first, Ryoko would laugh
with him. But it still wasn't a bluff to her. Despite the bold way
that she acted, Ryoko had never had an intimate relationship with
anyone like this before and the thought of it made her just a bit
scared inside. So she pulled away on instinct.
Not this time, though, Ryoko declared to herself as she
teleported into Tenchi's room. Once she got used to his body next
to hers, she wouldn't pull away ever again. With a grin, she slipped
into his bed.
The room was in complete darkness, so that even Ryoko's
cat-like eyes could only make out vague shapes. Tenchi's body
was much softer and smaller than she had expected. It felt that he
had no bones at all. That couldn't be right.
Ryoko created a small ball of energy in on hand, casting the
room in a dim glow. She was surprised to find the thing she was
clutching so tightly was a pillow. There was no sign of Tenchi
anywhere. Where could he be?
Tenchi immediately put Aeka on hold when he heard the
distinctive sound of Ryoko's teleport behind him. This had caused
enough embarrassing scenes in the past that Tenchi wanted to
avoid anyone else seeing it, especially a princess.
Ryoko wrapped her arms around Tenchi's neck and rested
her head on his shoulder. "Good morning, Tenchi," Ryoko
whispered in his ear. "What are doing up so early?"
"Answering an important call because Ryo-oki couldn't
wake you up for it," Tenchi told her and glanced down at her bare
arms. "Do you have any clothes on?"
Ryoko grinned, not answering right away. "Nope."
"Could you put some on then? Something not too
revealing? This is someone I shouldn't even have on hold in the
first place."
"But Tenchi..." Ryoko whined, rubbing her face against his
neck.
"This is serious, Ryoko. We don't have time for your
games now."
"Okay," Ryoko said a bit sadly, suddenly appearing next to
him in her usual clothes, complete with tail.
Seeing her frown, Tenchi looked up at her and said, "Why
don�t we raid a merchant ship together later today? Okay?"
Ryoko grinned in reply.
Tenchi took the call off hold, the black screen opening once
again.
"Long time no see, Princess," Ryoko told her with a smirk.
"You... you," Aeka stuttered in rage. "What are you doing
there?"
"Didn't you know? I'm Tenchi's partner."
Tenchi looked back and forth between the two women now
glaring at each other. "You two know each other?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Aeka said with a great deal of
bitterness in her voice. "My current problems stem from the
actions of that... monster woman. Seven hundred years ago she
attacked Jurai and my brother left in pursuit of her. Since he never
returned, all of his duties fell on my shoulders. Since he vanished,
my parents have me guarded day and night so the same will not
happen to me."
"Hey, it hasn't been all wine and roses for me either,
princess," Ryoko shot back. "That brother of yours imprisoned me
in a cave seven hundred years ago. If it hadn't been for Tenchi
here, I'd still be stuck there, powerless and alone."
"Perhaps it's wrong of me, but somehow hearing that makes
me feel a bit better. At least you didn't escape punishment for your
crimes," Aeka said, regaining her control once again. "And what
of my brother? What happened to Yosho?"
Ryoko shrugged. "Don't ask me, princess. He locked me
up in that cave and that was the last I ever saw of him. But if I do
happen to run across him again, I'll be sure to mail the pieces home
to Jurai."
Ryoko felt oddly disappointed when Aeka didn't so much
as flinch when she talked about cutting her brother up in little bits.
"Yosho?" Tenchi said, nearly to himself. "My grandfather
told me of a legendary warrior named Yosho that sealed the
demon, I mean Ryoko, in the cave. Supposedly, he was my
ancestor that died a long time ago."
"I see," Aeka accepted this with a nod. "Then you truly are
Lord Tenchi. You are the direct descendant of the prince of Jurai."
Aeka then turned to face Ryoko, looking her right in the
eye. "I know we have our differences, Ryoko, but I am willing to
forgive you for your past misdeeds if you help me now."
Ryoko smirked. "I'm not exactly interested in your eternal
friendship, princess."
"I am also willing to pay you and Lord Tenchi handsomely
for your assistance. I have been planning this for some time now
and have a accumulated a large private fund just for this purpose."
"How large?"
Aeka named a figure. Ryoko couldn't stop her eyes from
nearly bulging out of their sockets. The only way they could hope
to match that sum in a single job was to knock over the main
depository of the galactic bank. She didn't think all the jobs they
had done so far equaled it.
"What do you want us to do, princess? Kill everyone who
ever looked at you cross-eyed?"
Aeka shook her head. "No, I want you both to be my
kidnappers."
"Are you sure about this, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked her
partner. "This could be some kind of trap."
They were currently only hours away from Jurai. It was
three days since Aeka's initial call and now everything was in place
for the faux kidnapping. They were going to rush past Jurai's
defenses much like Ryo-oki had done seven hundred years ago,
teleport down to a pre-determined location, pick up Aeka, and rush
out of there again. Kiyone and Mihoshi would be running
interference on the Galaxy Police, so all they would have to
contend with would be the relatively unprepared forces of Jurai.
Aeka herself said she would be handling them, though she had not
gone into any details.
"I'm surprised you of all people would want to give up on
all that money," Tenchi told her.
Ryoko gulped. It was the thought of all that money that had
stopped her from saying something earlier. "I just don't trust that
princess, that's all. You saw that she had a grudge against me.
Probably set this whole thing up just to trap me, that little witch!"
Tenchi suddenly put his hand on her forehead, causing
Ryoko to blush. "Hmm, no fever," he said, taking his hand away.
"W..why did you do that?" Ryoko stuttered nervously,
completely forgetting what she'd been talking about.
"Oh, I thought you had gotten sick or something. You're
not acting like yourself today, Ryoko. I've never seen you worried
about being caught before. There were times when I wish you
had."
Tenchi had only been Ryoko's partner for a short time, but
they had already had enough close calls to last him a lifetime. No
matter what the situation, Ryoko was always confident that they'd
be able to escape scot-free before.
"I just know that princess is going to try something sneaky,"
Ryoko muttered mostly to herself. Though what she was really
concerned about was the way Aeka had been looking at her Tenchi,
calling him 'Lord' of all things. Ryoko didn't care if he was the
direct descendent of Yosho or not, there was no way she was going
to let them make him crown prince or anything like that. He was
hers.
Tenchi tried to give her a reassuring smile. He wasn't sure
how effective it was since it was usually Ryoko's job to reassure
him. "The job will be over in a few hours, so don't worry. Kiyone
and Mihoshi will be standing by just in case we need help.
Actually, it's time to check in with them now."
Kiyone and Mihoshi appeared on their normal patrol ship,
but in place of their uniforms were heavy overalls smudged with
soot and grime.
"Sorry, Tenchi," Kiyone apologized for their appearances.
"Altering the GP communications array took longer than I had
expected. We haven't had time to freshen up yet. It wouldn't have
taken nearly as long if someone hadn't smashed the main circuit
board so it had to be replaced completely."
"Wow, who did that?" Mihoshi asked as she smiled and
winked at Tenchi.
"You did, you bubblebrain!" Kiyone shouted.
"I did?" Mihoshi said, her eyes confused.
Seeing Kiyone about to explode again, Tenchi decided to
intercede. "That's fine, as long as everything is set to go."
Kiyone calmed down and turned to face him. "Once you
give the word, all calls to the GP offices from Jurai will be washed
out with interference similar to that of a solar storm. That should
give you more than enough time to escape with the princess."
"Thank you again for your efforts."
"No problem, Tenchi!" Mihoshi told him with a smile.
Ryo-oki floated in space, drifting closer and closer to the
giant blue and green ball known as the planet Jurai. Tenchi sat in
the command chair, wearing the grey and black form-fitting battle
armor Ryoko had insisted he don. Ryoko herself stood beside him,
ready in her own battle outfit of red and black. Their eyes were
locked on the planet before them, watching silently, the sound of
their breathing hardly audible.
A small beep suddenly sounded, announcing that they had
breached the first defense perimeter.
"Attack," Tenchi told Ryo-oki, his voice level, though his
hands were shaking slightly.
Ryo-oki was a blur as it tore through the defenses of Jurai,
its automatic weapons leaving a trail of multi-colored explosions
behind, none of them fast enough to keep up with the living ship.
Manned defenses were non-existent. Whatever the princess had
done seemed to be working. It was only the space of a few minutes
before they had arrived at the pre-chosen rendezvous point, though
for Tenchi and Ryoko it had felt like hours. Breaching the
defenses of Jurai was well beyond anything Tenchi had
experienced before, and was not something Ryoko had been
looking forward to a second time.
Tenchi looked over the park that Ryo-oki had beamed them
down in with wonder. Leaves slowly drifted down from row upon
row of trees, lined with carefully trimmed bushes. It was a place
much like Earth, but different at the same time. It felt almost like
home.
"Hey, snap out of it. We still have a job to do," Ryoko told
him pointedly with a small shove on his shoulder. "We don't
exactly have the time for sight-seeing."
Tenchi grinned in embarrassment. "Sorry, Ryoko. Let's
find the princess and get out of here."
They found princess Aeka by a statue of a young man with
a sword out-stretched. She was dressed in a elegant, long-flowing
kimono of purple and white with her hood pulled up. She was also
flanked by two large floating logs, each painted with a single
character and marked with a large gem that reminded Tenchi of a
cyclops.
"Shit, I knew the princess would double-cross us," Ryoko
said though clenched teeth as she dropped into a battle stance.
"What are you talking about, Ryoko?"
"Those floating logs are Jurai Guardians, Tenchi. Each one
is supposed to be the equal to a legion of guards. I shouldn't have
too much trouble with the both of them though."
"I believe there's been some misunderstanding," Aeka
finally spoke, her voice calm. "These are my personal servants and
bodyguards. I will need their protection once I have finally left
Jurai behind. Their loyalty is only to me and not my family, so I
can assure you they will do you no harm."
"Yeah, like we can trust a..." Ryoko started to say, but
trailed off when Tenchi put his hand on her shoulder.
"That's enough, Ryoko. The princess hasn't given us any
reason to distrust her. And we all have to be going now. Jurai's
defenses won't be fooled forever."
As if summoned by Tenchi's words, a small army of Jurai
guards suddenly surrounded them. "They're trying to kidnap the
princess!" their captain shouted. "Stop them at all costs!"
"And I suppose this isn't a trap either, princess?" Ryoko
said with venom as the three of them backed away from the guards
who closed the circle around them.
Aeka ignored her. "I swear to you Lord Tenchi that I had
nothing to do with this!"
Tenchi ignored the both of them. To him, it didn't matter
how the guards had found them, he had to fight them anyway.
Tenchi didn't like violence, especially against those who were just
doing their job, but he really had no choice. He tensed himself up,
waiting for the first attack.
Suddenly, Aeka's two guardians sprang into action, bowling
over, knocking down guards, or shooting them with beams from
their crystal eyes. After a few moments, all of the guards lay
unconscious at their feet.
"Err, thanks," Tenchi said uneasily to one of the large
floating pieces of wood.
"Your welcome," it replied in a formal tone.
"I would suggest that we make our escape now before any
more unwanted guests arrive," Aeka suggested in a voice that was
only barely holding onto its previous calm.
Ryoko nodded. That at least should could agree with.