Disclaimer
Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all. I don't own any rights to either of them. Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.
*****
The Game
Chapter 1
It Begins
*****
Washu held the remote control of her Reality Hopper Mk. III and chuckled. With the new modifications she just finished it should be possible to create a portal just about anywhere within 500 miles. Of course it wouldn't be a very big one, but big enough for her purposes. And it was portable! And didn't need vacuum at the other end any more! What a wonderful machine, she really was the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe. She could use her big machine and the little one together to grab things from any Reality now. Too bad she hadn't had the small model on the last adventure, it would have solved a few problems. Oh well, couldn't be helped, but the little one was ready a last. Now if Urd would just come through with her part of the bargain…
*****
Xellos was calmly standing in the woods, minding his own business (at least as far as he was concerned). And today his business concerned Lina Inverse and her group of misfits (as it usually had lately). There was something about the red headed sorceress that intrigued him. It wasn't the fact that she was now bonded with the Lord of Nightmares; no, his interest in her had started long before that. Maybe because he was lonely. There weren't many in this reality that could match him for power. Those that were more powerful always wanted to control him, and those that were less were afraid of him. He didn't know why, all that business with the dragons had happened thousands of years ago… But Lina and her crew were different. They weren't awed by his power, even after they realized who he was; and they weren't always trying to make him do things he didn't want to either. In fact, they were the closest he'd ever come to having real friends. Ah, perhaps that was why he stayed with them then. He'd have to give it some thought someday.
Gourry Gabriev was leading the small group through the forest when he rounded a turn in the path and almost bumped into the Mazoku. Lina, who had been arguing with Amelia and Zelgadis about lunch, did run into Gourry. All four of them ended up in a tumbled heap with Xellos standing over them chuckling.
"Ah, Lina. How nice to see you all again so soon," said the demon. "Would you mind if I joined you for a while?"
Lina, Zel and Amelia stood up and dusted themselves off. Gourry continued to lie on the ground, his eyes spinning in circles.
"Yes, we d… Ow!" began Zelgadis. Lina kicked him before he could finish.
"Of course not. Just stay out of trouble," said Lina, giving Zelgadis a dirty look.
"Always," said Xellos, with a smile.
Zel muttered something under his breath that no one but Amelia heard. She blushed furiously and looked at her feet.
*****
Urd walked out of the house in a good mood. Today was the day she'd help Washu get back at Xellos for that trick he'd pulled a while back. It also gave her the chance to get one up on Mara. She felt Mara's presence in the tree outside the temple. Laughing to herself she opened the gate and stepped outside. She walked over to the tree and looked up. Mara's form was barely visible through the branches, near the top of the tree. She chuckled again as she remembered the day Ryoko found Mara in the same place and the havoc the two had caused with their "battle" above the city. Even after all these months people were still talking about the fight between the two "UFO's". And the sight of two beautiful, nearly naked women floating to earth hadn't gone as unnoticed as they originally thought either. Someone had actually taken long-range photos of the two scorched girls and they'd been published in a local paper, much to Mara's annoyance.
Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Urd dropped a small electronic device at the base of the tree. Another quick check and…
"Hey Mara! Come down here a minute, I want to talk to you," the goddess called to the demon.
Mara gently floated down from the tree. Landing a few feet from Urd, the beautiful demoness glared at her sometimes friend. "Yeah, wadda you want? I've got important things to do you know," she sneered.
"Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to see if you needed anything while you were perched up there all day," Urd snickered. Behind her back she pushed the button on another of Washu's devices.
Back in Washu's lab a small red light began blinking. With a smile the little red head turned a dial and flipped a switch. Let the fun begin, she thought.
Meanwhile under the tree, Mara was still arguing with Urd when a portal suddenly opened beneath her. With a startled look on her face the demon suddenly disappeared. Urd started laughing, but stopped when she noticed that the portal was still growing. She suddenly remembered that Washu had warned her not to be standing too close to the target when the portal formed. She began to levitate; too late, she was caught as well. The portal closed with a sudden snap and there was no one left under the tree.
Washu noticed a power surge as the portal formed, then dissipated. Her instruments showed that two beings had been transferred. "Dammit!" she said to the empty lab, "I warned her not to get too close. I knew I should've asked Bell or Skuld to do the dirty work. Oh well, this may work out after all, that idiot Xellos will definitely have his hands full with those two."
*****
Xellos and Lina were now leading the group toward the next town. The demon and sorceress were idly chatting about their last adventure together and what Filia was up to. Neither had heard from the dragon priestess in a while. Lina suspected Xellos had a crush on the dragoness, and that the feeling might be mutual. She was urging him to try to get in contact with her.
Cresting a small hill they came upon the form of a young woman lying on her back in the path. The group gathered around her. She was blonde and seemed to be well formed, but not over large; Lina looked down at her own chest, she could empathize with her. She was dressed in some sort of leather outfit that barely covered her assets. Xellos though she looked familiar somehow. His smile widened as he remembered whom this was.
Well, well. Long time, no see, he thought. I wonder how she got here?
Mara slowly regained her senses. She remembered falling into a black opening then crashing through some trees and hitting the ground headfirst. She became aware of shadows around her. She sat up, rubbing the top of her head. "Ooh, my head." Her eyes focused on the person standing in front of her. "Master Xellos! How did you…" She looked around. "How did I get here? Wait, I remember! Urd!"
"Hey!" came a weak shout from over their heads. "I'm here too so don't go blaming it on me!"
Xellos and the rest looked up into a tree to see Urd hanging upside down, entangled in the massed branches.
"Xellos, who are these people? They seem to know you…" said Lina out of the side of her mouth.
The demon gave her one of his trademark smiles. "Ah. That woman up the tree is Urd, a pain in the behind if you know what I mean. And this one is the demoness Mara…"
"Demon!" Lina interrupted, giving Mara a closer look, noticing Mara's fangs for the first time. "We know how to handle demons around here, right Amelia?"
"Right!" responded the princess, assuming one of her poses. "In the name of Justice I command you to surrender yourself. Evil shall not triumph!"
"What's she talking about?" Mara asked Xellos. Xellos just smiled and stepped back.
"Flare Arrow!" cried Amelia as she sent one flying toward Mara.
"Hey! Wait a minute," said Mara, batting the spell aside with her palm.
"Fireball!" yelled Lina, launching one of her devastating attacks.
Mara waved her hand, dismissing the flame. "Really. Even Belldandy can do better than that. Try again."
Lina motioned everyone back, "Explosion Array!" The ground beneath Mara exploded into the air sending the demoness several hundred feet high. She gently floated back down to earth.
"Better, but not good enough. It's my turn," Mara declared.
Xellos stepped between the two. "I think not. If you make her mad she really can hurt you Mara. I let her try some of her weaker magic to prove that you weren't an ordinary, everyday monster like they normally encounter. But I will not allow you to harm Lina or any of this group. Understood former apprentice?"
"Yes master. I don't really understand, but I'll obey. For now." The demon gave Lina a look that would have killed any lesser being.
The Mazoku turned to Lina, "And you my dear, Mara's magic is very powerful and different from what you're used to. A Dragon Slave would just make her upset and she may even be able to nullify your Ragna Blade."
Lina nodded to the demoness. "A truce then. I don't trust Xellos completely, but he's never been wrong before. I don't have to like you though."
Her stomach rumbled at the same time as Gourry's. "Lunchtime!" they said in unison. Mara looked at them in wonder.
Xellos saw the look and laughed, "And another thing Mara, don't ever come between those two and food if you value your existence. Now, I believe there's a town with an excellent inn about half an hour down this road. I'll treat this time. Sort of a 'let's all get acquainted' lunch, ok?"
Gourry's eyes lit up and Lina licked her lips. Both nodded eagerly, even Amelia bobbed her head a few times; Zel just shook his head in wonder.
A loud rustling was heard from high in the tree. "Hey you stupid demon! What about me? Get me down from here!"
Xellos opened his eyes fully, showing their malevolent gleam. He looked up at the dusky goddess. "Why Urd, as a goddess you should be able to get yourself down from a little tree. Whatever do you need our help for?"
"She's a goddess?" quipped Amelia.
"Yes indeed," the Mazoku replied, squinting his eyes again. "A Goddess Second Class. Limited. But I believe her license was suspended a while back. Has it been reinstated yet Urd dear?" he called up to the struggling goddess.
Urd growled at Xellos as Amelia deftly climbed the tree to untangle her from the branches.
"Master Xellos," Mara purred. "Instead of lunch, could you send us back please? Or at least me; you can keep her here for a while." She indicated Urd, still struggling against the branches as Amelia tried to help.
"Can't you do it yourself Mara? You're a Demon First Class, it should be child's play."
"It would be, if I knew where I was. But because I didn't cast the spell to send us here, my return spells won't work."
Xellos smiled benignly. "In that case, I think you two should remain until I find out how you got here."
Urd, now free of the branches due to some effort by the princess, floated gently down to land next to Mara. "It's that damn Washu. She was only supposed to send Mara, but I got sucked up too. Now you know, so send us home."
"Washu? Washu's behind this? Heh. I know just how to handle her…" Xellos turned to Amelia with a smile, "My dear princess, I need a big favor from you…" He waved his hand and Amelia faded from view with a dark flicker.
"Where did you send her? Tell me now!" yelled Zel as he pulled his sword from its sheath.
"Oh, don't worry Zelgadis, she'll be fine. Washu won't hurt her; it's not in her nature to injure an innocent. Now Ryoko or Ayeka on the other hand… But I'm sure that won't be a problem."
Mara fell to the ground laughing. "Oh that's great! You sent her to Washu? You're good; you're real good! That's just plain evil!"
Even Urd was grinning now. "I just wish I could be there to see it. Hint, hint…" she nudged the Mazoku with her elbow.
"Now, now Urd. I think we'll just see how this plays out before I do anything else," Xellos responded. Oh Lady Washu. You don't know what you've gotten yourself into this time. Heh, heh.
Gourry, Lina and Zelgadis looked at each other with the same thought running through their heads: "Who's Washu?" Well maybe not Gourry…
*****
Author's Notes
Er… What can I say? This story's probably going to be about Washu and Xellos tossing characters around to make each other's lives miserable as they have to deal with them. Should I go on or not? Your opinions mean a lot to me so please let me know what you think. Oh, and this is just the opening chapter. The rest of the Tenchi crew will become much more involved as it progresses, along with a few surprise guest appearances.
BobR
1/11/2002