Everyone ready for Chapter 3? Good, good. R/R pretty please! And if the Japanese bugs people, just tell me, and I'll try to stop. (Translations are at the bottom!)

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Chapter 3 - Cabbit Wars

"I really don't know what got into her," Sasami sighed to the rest of the Masaki household. The sun was beginning to sink behind the hills surrounding the shrine. Everyone was sitting in the front yard of the shrine, all but Oni and Ryoko, who had gone to find Ryo-ohki.

"I do," said Washu. "Jealousy, pure and simple."

"Jealousy?" everyone repeated.

"Isn't it obvious? Ryo-ohki's always the center of attention, not just with Ryoko, but with Sasami, too. Now, another cabbit comes, and Ryo-ohki feels she's being replaced."

Sasami sighed again. "Why would she think something like that?"

"Well..." Washu began. She didn't get to finish before the group spotted Oni and Ryoko heading over the hill.

"Did you find her?" Sasami said anxiously.

Ryoko shook her head. "She refuses to answer. I know she's out there, but she's being to much of a baby to come sort it out!"

"Don't be too hard on her, Ryoko," Washu said.

Ayeka got up from her seat on a rock. "I'm sorry, Sasami, but it's getting late," she said sincerely. "We should be getting in. Ryo-ohki will come back."

"If you say so, oneesan," Sasami said sadly. "But if she doesn't I don't know what I'd do!"

"It's okay, squirt!" Ryoko said. She ruffled Sasami's hair playfully. "She'll definitely come back soon! After all, we have all the carrots!"

Sasami smiled. "Arigato, Ryoko. Oh no!"

"Nani?" everyone asked.

"I haven't even started dinner yet! Gomen ne minna-san!" There was a mass face fault. "I'll get to it right away!" The young princess skipped off into the shrine.

"Wow, she cheered up fast," Ayeka said.

"Yeah!" Mihoshi agreed. "I just hope Ryo-ohki will cheer up quickly too."

"That's a nice thought, Mihoshi," said Tenchi.

"Hai! I couldn't stand another late dinner!"

Another mass face fault. Once they all recovered, everyone but Washu started to go inside. "Hey, Washu!" called Ryoko. "You coming?"

"Just a minute, Ryoko. I'll be right in."

Ryoko nodded and went through the door that someone had already closed, leaving Washu in the silence. She sighed. "Now, where is that Rai-ohki?" she asked herself, pulling another carrot out of her sleeve.

* * * *

"Miii," Rai-ohki sighed, walking around by the lake. She had been trying to blow off some steam from her encounter with Ryo-ohki. The least she could have done was give the visitor a chance, Rai-ohki thought. It was just rude to act so snobbish as to stick her nose up at an introduction. If she hadn't gone off with Ryoko, maybe Washu would've taught her some manners, Rai-ohki thought. But, no, Ryo-ohki had to be the bitchiest cabbit on the face of the planet as far as Rai-ohki was concerned. Rai-ohki curled up on the ground, scowling to herself at the mere thought of her counterpart.

"There you are, sweetie," a voice said above the cabbit. Rai-ohki looked up to see a familiar short redhead with emerald eyes. She miied at her creator. She wondered what Washu was holding behind her back. Finally, Washu pulled a carrot out from behind her, answering the cabbit's question. "Miiiya," Rai-ohki said, happily batting at the carrot with her paw.

"Well, did you find Ryo-ohki and make up with her yet?" Washu asked, a very motherly tone in her voice. Rai-ohki shook her head. "Well, then," Washu said, "you'll just have to fetch for it."

Rai-ohki looked confused while Washu threw the carrot as far as she could toward the bushes where Ryo-ohki had fallen asleep. She gave the scientist a slightly degraded look before going after it. "Sorry, Rai-ohki," Washu said, almost to herself, "but this may just get you two together."

* * * *

"Sasami, can I have some more, please?" Mihoshi said politely.

"Sure," Sasami said before passing the dish over to the Galaxy Police officer.

"Arigato gozaimasu!" Mihoshi dug into the rice, piling a heap of it on her plate.

"So," Nabayuki was saying to Oni, "you were in space all that time?"

"Yeah, a little over 20,000 years," answered Oni.

"Lucky," said Ryoko. "That's how long I was stuck in a cold, dark cave! Some people get all the luck. Then again, I never would've met Tenchi hadn't Yosho sealed me in there." She snuggled against Tenchi, who was sitting next to her. Ayeka loudly objected, but Ryoko ignored her. "And I would still be in there if my Tenchi hadn't come and released me!"

There was a pause while Ayeka fumed at Ryoko, who was cuddling even more with a very reluctant Tenchi. Sasami sighed and looked at her plate. "I just wish I knew if Ryo-ohki was alright."

Ayeka stopped glaring at Ryoko to turn to her sister. "I'm sure she's fine, Sasami."

"Yeah!" said Mihoshi. "And even if she is jealous, she'll only be angry at you and Ryoko, since...uh...I guess that's not as reassuring as it sounded in my head."

Before anyone could whack Mihoshi violently over the head, a crash sounded in the difference. "Oh no!" exclaimed Sasami, fearing the worst.

"Miyaaaaaaa!!!" came a familiar cry.

"That's Ryo-ohki all right!" said Ryoko, as if confirming a thought she had. Everyone rushed out of the shrine.

What they saw were two ships, hovering in the air, each a familiar structure, one red and bronze, one silver and blue, not quite as familiar to the majority of the group, but Oni recognized it immediately as Rai-ohki. The ships were glowing with anger, obviously at each other, and were prepared to attack. The power radiating off of the ships caused a wind that nearly blew the group back into the structure from whence they came.

Washu's eyes darted back and forth between the two cabbits, and her mind was racing. Suddenly, a thought came to her. "Oh, why didn't I hypothesize this?" she demanded of no one in particular.

"What's going on, Washu-chan?" Mihoshi asked.

"They're fighting over a carrot, I think."

"What?" Ayeka said. "What do you mean they're fighting over a carrot?"

"Well," said Washu, hand behind her head, an embarrassed smile on her face, "it's a long story, really."

"I'd say we've got time, but I don't think we do," said Ryoko. "Those guys are going to hurt somebody!"

"Oh, this is all my fault!" Sasami wailed.

Oni looked over to Sasami. "No, it's not. Don't worry, Sasami-chan. I think I can get Rai-ohki to stop, anyway. And, Ryoko?"

"On it."

The two went up the hill in front of the Masaki residence, Oni walking, Ryoko, as usual, floating. Ryoko cleared her throat. "Hey, Ryo-ohki!" she called. The red ship turned to her mistress. "Don't do anything you'll regret later, okay?"

"Rai-ohki! Just come down here and forget about the carrot!" said Oni. Neither of the cabbits listened. Oni tried again. "Look, Rai-ohki, Ryo-ohki just isn't used to having another cabbit around! If you just give her some time to adjust, I think you'll get along just fine."

"Mii..."

"Ryo-ohki!" Ryoko said. "There's no need to be jealous!"

"Miya?"

"Right! I mean look over there for example!" Ryoko gestured to Sasami, who was standing among the rest of the group. "She's not going to let any old loser cabbit that comes along replace you!"

At this comment, Oni elbowed Ryoko in the ribs and gave her a 'better-watch-it' kind of look. Ryoko looked back at her and muttered, "Hey, whatever works, right?"

Oni shrugged it off and turned back to her cabbit. "Just stop fighting, okay?"

"Mi."

"Oh, now you're adventurous! What do you mean you haven't started yet?"

"Miii!"

"Quit acting like such a child!"

Rai-ohki thought about this. Soon, she had shrunken back into the adorable little animal she usually was. Seeing as the other cabbit had backed down, Ryo-ohki also turned into her animal form. Oni and Ryoko sighed with relief. Washu walked over to them.

"Now, are you two going to be good little girls and get along?" she asked. The cabbits glared at each other, then promptly stuck their noses in the air.

"Please be nice, Ryo-ohki," Sasami said. "You two would make great friends."

"Miya." Ryo-ohki looked over at the other cabbit, who was looking intently at Ryo-ohki to see what she would do. The brown cabbit gave a cheerful "Miya!" and looked at her new friend forgivingly.

"There," Washu said suddenly. She produced two large carrots from behind her back. "Now that you're getting along, you deserve a reward, huh?" She then gave each carrot to each cabbit. "Enjoy, you two."

* * * *

A ship hovered above the surface of the planet Earth. The ship was a little small and red, with a little logo on the front. One that Tenchi & Co. knew well from their past experiences. But they didn't see it, sitting up there in space. Even if they had looked, they might have only seen a tiny, microscopic dot in the sky, way too small to be identified or noticed by anything short of the human (or non-human) subconscious. But this ship was there, wasting away the time. Who wasn't wasting away the time was the man inside the ship.

This man was an interesting person. His beard was much of the reason for this, curling up around his weary, chiseled face. To add to it, he wasn't of usual height. He was a little on the short side (and when I say 'a little' I mean 'a lot'). This man was Dr. Clay.

Dr. Clay glanced over his computer at the house in which Washu was staying. What he saw was the hustling of the group into the yard, and two ships, hovering, not unlike his own, over the landscape. Soon, for some reason, the ships disappeared. Naturally, Dr. Clay zoomed his camera in a little more to see what had happened. What he saw when he did this was a small group of people gathered around two unusual but familiar-looking creatures. Looking closely, he spotted Washu in the crowd.

"There you are, Washu," Dr. Clay said to himself. "If only I could get you to come with me to Tokimi-sama." He scrutinized the scene a little longer. "But, wait," he muttered. "I haven't seen this girl before."

Dr. Clay examined the new addition to the group. She looked somewhat like Ryoko. In fact, she could've been her sister. 'She probably is,' Dr. Clay reminded himself. 'No one said anything about how many daughters that Washu had.'

"This girl. She may be my way to getting Washu," Dr. Clay thought out loud. "She never suspected anything when we cloned Ryoko. Maybe I could get a clone for her, too, and..." Dr. Clay paused. "No. She'd be expecting that now. I have to try a slightly different approach. Zero II!" he called suddenly.

A shiny new robot rolled around the corner. "Hai." it said. It's voice was similar to the first model of Zero, feminine and of a neutral tone. This one had not seen so many things as the first one, so its voice was less weary, as 'less weary' as a neutral-toned voice could sound.

Dr. Clay rubbed his hands together sinisterly. If he messed up now, that would be it. He had to make this try count. He had to enjoy saying his next words. He gave an experimental evil chuckle.

"Bring me that girl."

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Well, that was Chapter Three. I hope you all enjoyed it. I think this one might have been shorter than the first two, but I'm not sure. Oh well! Anyway, please R/R! And since you've already R-ed, it's time to R! Come on, tell me what you thought of this one!

But first...

Japanese Translations:

Oneesan - Honorable big sister (pronounced "oh-neh-san")

Gomen ne, minna-san - Sorry everyone

Nani - What

Hai - Yes, yes sir, right, etc.

Arigato Gozaimasu - Thank you very much