Eleven
Tenchi, Ayeka, Sasami and Ryoko all stroll out of the house to get ready to get into the springs. They are actually being rather civil towards one another and not bickering. Of course the main focus on this was Ayeka and Ryoko. They all walk to the edge of the pools to find Mihoshi just barely dipping her foot in. She hears them approach and cheers to them.
"Hi, everyone. Are you all getting in too?"
"Yeah, isn't Kiyone already out here?" Tenchi inquires and looks around for her.
"Well yeah. I saw her earlier but she was acting strange." Mihoshi quips and holds a single finger to her chin in thought. Tenchi is about to speak when some voices come from the fog. They all look to find Kiyone wade through the water to her followed closely by Jaaku. She is holding her towel loosely over her chest and has a little bit of a red face.
"I am right here, Mihoshi."
"Kiyone! And Jaaku too!" Mihoshi says happily and the gets a look of confusion. "But I thought you two hated each other." Kiyone goes a bit more red and looks at Jaaku sheepishly.
"Officer Kiyone and I......settled our differences." Jaaku says calmly and glances at her. She smiles in relief but only further confuses the others. Except for Ryoko, who suddenly grins and disappears. She reappears in the water between them with a wicked smile.
"Oh, I get it. So you 'settled' things, did you?" She starts to laugh softly and makes Kiyone go beet red. Jaaku looks smugly at her and she just leans in close to him. "Come on. You can't hide it from me. Did you kiss her, my dear brother?" Kiyone now goes pale and Ryoko continues to giggle wickedly. Suddenly Jaaku reaches around to her and grabs her towel around her chest. He yanks down and sends her into the water with a splash. She kicks and struggles until he lets her up. She stands, dripping wet and glares at him.
"That, my sister, is my little secret." He grins at her and pats her cheek playfully. Ryoko gets steamed at him and opens her mouth to yell.
"Is everyone here?" They all look at Washu as she slides the door to the house shut. She walks along slowly to the edge of the spring and sees the two. "Are you two at it again?" Jaaku and Ryoko smile innocently and lock their arms around each other.
"Who us?" Ryoko asks.
"We are never at it." Jaaku adds and gives Washu a big grin. Unknowingly, Kiyone looks at Ryoko with jealousy, knowing Jaaku's feelings towards her also.
"What is it, little Washu? Why do you need us all?" Tenchi asks.
"First I would like you all to get comfortable."
Heeding Washu's request, they all gather into the spring on some sitting rocks. Ryoko and Jaaku sit still locked in arms, which makes Kiyone even more jealous. Tenchi sits down warily, looking between all the girls and feeling a bit relieved there is at least one more guy. Ayeka sits a little bit away from him, too shy to sit any closer. Jaaku grins and leans over, whispering into Ryoko's ear. She looks at Tenchi, then grins widely. She whispers something back into Jaaku's ear, then lightly kisses him on the cheek. As her lips touch his cheek, she disappears only to reappear back between Tenchi and Ayeka. She throws her arms around Tenchi and smiles seductively. Tenchi groans and tries to pull her off but she won't let go. Ayeka looks over and gets really mad but Jaaku gets her attention. She looks over at him and he winks at her with a seductive smile of his own. Her eyes go blank and she can't help but stare at him. Mihoshi breaks it up by plopping down right next to him with a smile. Jaaku looks at her, then to Kiyone. Kiyone huffs and crosses her arms, looking away. Jaaku's sighs in defeat and looks back to Washu. "Well, are you all finished now? Ryoko! I need your attention for five minutes so go sit by your brother. You don't mind, do you Mihoshi?"
"Uhm, I guess not." Mihoshi says and slides a bit away from Jaaku. Ryoko just sticks her tongue out at Washu and snuggles up to Tenchi again.
"Ryoko." Jaaku's voice catches her attention and he just looks at Washu blankly. Ryoko looks at her also and sees the serious look on her face. Ryoko sighs a bit and fades away. She reappears next to Jaaku with her arms crossed.
"Well, since everyone is here, I am going to finally tell you something." Washu says and steps down into the water also. Ryoko mumbles a bit and feels a nudge from Jaaku. She looks over at him and he grins, looking back. She grins back and nudges him back with her elbow.
"Jaaku, Ryoko, listen to your mother for once." Washu says sternly. Ryoko takes the opportunity to stick her tongue out at Washu once again.
"I'm with her." Jaaku quips and smiles.
"If you keep doing that, it make stay out, Ryoko. Anyway, this is about you Jaaku so I would listen." Washu says with a small grin. Jaaku loses his smile and his seriousness makes Ryoko pay attention also. As Washu prepares to speak, Kiyone feels something touch her hand under the water and blinks. She feels Jaaku's finger's interlock between hers and looks at him. He doesn't look back but just smiles lightly. She does the same and tightens her grip around his hand. "What I wanted to tell you all is......that I did not create Jaaku in the way that you see before you."
Everyone freezes at her shocking news and slowly look at Jaaku. He just stares blankly at Washu and knows she isn't lying. Washu just stares back with eyes filling with memories of the past.
"We are almost there. You can see Earth now."
The dark room aboard the Hexum is filled with images of the planet Earth. His huge figure sent a shadow over the other figure sitting in the chair behind him.
"I remember it well." The dark figures voice still ran chills up Dargon's back. Suddenly red lights start to blink in the room and some of the images change to another ship coming up from behind. A large Galaxy Police symbol is engraved on the front with the words, 'Special Ops' on it. This ship is much large and more advanced than the other battleships the Hexum destroyed before.
"It is a Special Ops Cruiser, brother." Dargon points out and turns to the other figure. A soft laugh comes from the dark and then a voice.
"Move the Hexum into the shadow of Earth's moon. I want them to reach Earth so when I destroy that ship, all will be able to see."
Dargon waits a moment, then nods. "All right." He turns back to the images and they start to shift as the huge, black ship moves into the shadow of the moon.
"You mean, you didn't create me like this?" Jaaku asks and raises his hands out of the water, staring at them.
"Not in the form you see in a mirror. I did indeed create a Jaaku but he was drastically different from you." She says and sits down into the water fully.
"You mean, there is another Jaaku out there somewhere?" Tenchi asks and slides a bit away from the girls warily.
"No no, my dear boy. This is the Jaaku I created, but something happened long ago. You see, the Jaaku I created was only a mere boy. Feeling alone when my own child was taken from me, I decided to create a little boy." Washu says and closes her eyes. Jaaku stares at her and lowers his hand down into the water. All the others watch Washu intently except for Ryoko, who has her eyes locked on her brother. "It was five thousand years ago, and I was busy as always in my lab....."
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"Now, if the variable of the mass were to be multiplied by the....huh?" Washu says and looks down. She reaches behind a table and lifts up a small child about the age of four. The child has short, green hair that is just barely long enough to spike slightly. His young orange eyes stare happily at her and he giggles. "Oh, my little Jaaku. What are you up to? Come to see mommy while she works?" she says. She smiles and puts her forehead to the child's, "You are so adorable."
"Professor Washu? I have the results of the test you wanted." An oddly familiar student says and approaches her.
"Thank you, Kagato. I will look them over in a moment." She says and turns to him.
"Yes, Professor" he says and sets a computer pad on her table. The child suddenly starts crying and pulls on Washu's lab coat.
"Oh, what's wrong, Jaaku? It's only Kagato." she says.
"I am afraid he doesn't like me too well, Professor." Kagato says.
"Don't worry about it, Kagato. He is just cranky because I caught him at the Nataki orbs again." She says.
"He does have a fascination with them, doesn't he?" Kagato asks.
"Yes, I don't know why. It must be because they sparkle brightly." She says and looks at Jaaku. By now he had leaned his head on her chest and fallen asleep. She smiles brightly and hugs him tightly.
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"Nataki orbs?"
Mihoshi's question makes Washu blink interrupted from her story and look at her.
"Oh, yes. The Nataki orbs. Jaaku, raise your hands up." She says. Jaaku blinks and holds his hands up. Washu points to the elliptical orbs in his hands. "What you are looking at are two of the Nataki orbs. The other two are embedded in the hilt of Jaaku's sword. The Academy had acquired them in an excavation and were letting me examine them. Nobody knows where they came from and nobody could learn anything about them because all scans would be reflected. That's why you can't be scanned either, Jaaku." She explains and runs some water over her bare shoulder.
They all peer at the orbs and Jaaku blinks, "Okay, so how did they get in me?"
"Well, that's where the story all begins." Washu says. "Like I said before, Jaaku was a child. I had actually created him to stay a child all the time. Like Ryoko, I used my egg cells and the MASS to create him. I just manipulated his genes to make him a boy and to keep his form of a child. I also made him very cute and very nice." She says and grins at Jaaku. Jaaku sweatdrops and she smiles widely, "Well anyway, we were so happy. He made me so happy and he seemed like such a happy child. But one thing always got his attention, the Nataki orbs." She says.
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The young Jaaku staggers awkwardly through the lab with a smile. He looks at all the blinking machines and whirling gizmos. Washu's voice floats through the lab softly, "Jaaku...where are you? Don't wander off too far, my little one." Jaaku looks towards her voice and then smacks into a large tank. He falls back onto his butt and gets teary eyed, then four blue lights sparkle in the tank. Jaaku forgets about crying and leans towards the tank, seeing four elliptical orbs floating in the air. The sparkles reflect in his orange eyes and he smiles widely. He babbles and touches the tank but just as he does, Washu runs in and grabs him. "No Jaaku! Don't go near those. How many times have I told you?" She scolds him and he cries loudly reaching for the tank as she walks away with him.
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"Yep, you always would go to that tank and look at those orbs. Even after I told you not to time after time. Some kids just never listen to their mothers." Washu says and looks at Ryoko.
"Oh, gimme a break." Ryoko says and nudges Jaaku again.
"So baby Jaaku liked those orbs but how do they get into his hands?" Ayeka asks and tries to keep her eyes to herself.
"Well, it was about a year after I had created Jaaku." Washu says. "I was walking through the lab, checking on my many experiments. I had left Jaaku in the nursery but somehow he managed to get out."
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"Jaaku!" Washu yells and runs through the shattered glass. Jaaku cries loudly and sits among the broken tank. Washu picks up the crying Jaaku and hugs him tightly, "Oh my little Jaaku. Are you all right?" she asks. She holds him a while as he calms down and slowly stops crying. She opens her eyes and looks into the black tank. She gasps and looks around on the ground, "The orbs, what happened to the orbs?" she says panicked.
Then Jaaku spurts out a a babbled word, "Ma ba." He says.
Washu looks at him and blinks, "You said mama!" she cheers. Then Jaaku holds his hand out and opens it slowly. She looks down and shrieks as the one of the orbs is sparkling in his hand. She panics and opens his other hand. Just like the other, an orb sparkles in his hand. She gasps and looks at him and two more sparkles shines from under his ruffled shirt. She lifts up the shirt and the other two orbs are attached in his collar.
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"The orbs had merged with his body in his hands and his collar. I couldn't explain it and neither could anybody at the Academy." Washu says with a sigh.
"That is horrible." Sasami says and holds a wet Ryo-oki tightly.
"Yes, and that was the last time baby Jaaku would ever smile or say mama." Washu says.
They all look at Jaaku and he rubs his head, "Um, okay. So that explains why I have the orbs but if I wasn't supposed to grow up, why did I?" he asks.
"Well, the orbs had an unusual affect on you. From that day on, you started to grow up. In a matter of days you aged the equivalent of years." She explains.
"How come I don't remember any of this? The first thing I recall is Dargon waking me up after the explosion." Jaaku says.
"Well, as you started to grow, I became concerned. I placed you in a stasis tank and tried everything I could think of to stop the aging. I watched with tears as my little boy grew up to a young man within a week. Then as you became older, the orbs started to destabilize. One day, the orbs just overloaded. The ensuing explosion took the whole west wing of the Science academy along with my lab.....and Jaaku." She says solemnly.
"Dargon told me he found me in space after you tried to destroy me. He said because the orbs I had in my body, you wanted to take them back from me. He said I was a lost experiment of yours and you only cared about my orbs." Jaaku says and looks at the orbs in his hands.
"Oh, he lied to you. You were my beloved child that I thought I lost when the orb exploded. I have mourned over you for thousands of years and have never tried to create another male child." She says and looks at him. All the girls get teary eyed and Tenchi smiles.
"This is all just.....so crazy." Ryoko says and takes Jaaku's hand. She looks at the orb in his palm intently and Jaaku smiles a bit watching her. Kiyone gets another look of jealousy and glares at Ryoko.
"So I am who I am because of the Nataki orbs?" Washu nods at his question and closes her eyes.
"I did not tell you before because I didn't want you to think yourself any less my child, Jaaku. Especially with the unpleasantness we have between us." Jaaku looks at her for a while, then suddenly snaps his head to the side. He stares off into the dark with a serious look on his face.
"Jaaku, what is it?" Tenchi asks.
"They.....have come."
Everyone blinks for a moment then something starts beeping from where Kiyone's things are. She reaches over and picks up a watch-like device and activates it, sending a cracking voice into the air.
"Officer Kiyone, do you read me? This is High Captain Landross. Do you copy? We have confirmation that Jaaku is on Earth. I repeat, the criminal Jaaku is on Earth. We are sending down more officers at this time to assist in his capture. Are you there, Detective Kiyone?"
Kiyone's face goes pale and she slowly looks at Jaaku. He just keeps looking out in the direction of Tokyo. Before anybody can speak, he raises to his feet and starts moving through the water.
"Jaaku! What are you doing?" Ryoko demands.
"They know I am here. I have to go meet them."
Kiyone goes even more pale and Ryoko stands up, shaking his fist at him. "Dammit! Why do you? Just leave, Jaaku! You can just hide until they leave."
"I am through running from them. I will tell them to let me catch Dargon. Then they can do as they wish." Jaaku says and steps up the stairs. As he does, his bodysuit starts to appear around his body. As he steps out on the dry ground, his suit completes and he picks Shibo-Ken-bo up from it's resting place. He puts it along his back and turns to them slowly. "It has to be this way. I will return after I deal with the GP." He slowly looks at Kiyone and his eyes go empty. "And I will deal with them one way or the other." Before any of them can speak, he disappears in a flash of blue light.
"Dammit, Jaaku!" Ryoko yells and punches her hand into the water.
"He wouldn't....." Kiyone says and sinks into the water.
"He wouldn't what? If you are worried he is going to hurt your buddies in the GP, well you should! And if he doesn't, then I will!" Ryoko threatens and Kiyone closes her eyes.
"He won't hurt any of them"
"What? What makes you think that, you lame brain!?" Ryoko roars.
Kiyone slowly opens her eyes and looks blankly at Washu, "Because I made him promise that he would never harm another Galaxy Police officer again."