All characters relating to Tenchi Muyo! and its multiverses, if not stated before, are (c) AIC/Pioneer. All other characters not relating to it (Minaka, Tetsuri, etc.) are strictly of my creation.
Minaka Muyo! (No Need For Minaka!)
By Sue "Speck" Quigley
Chapter 4: Arrival of Evil
*****
"Ummf... boy, what a dream..."
Washuu stretched, yawning, and looked about. Minaka! Where was she? And the little baby? Hastily, Washuu scrambled on all fours to the doorway, and peeked out. The typical scents of the usual Masaki breakfast hung in the air, and she could hear the clang of frying pans still being used. Leaping two steps by two, Washuu hurtled downstairs and into the kitchen...
Minaka hovered near the stove, humming happily as she scraped eggs into a plate. She turned, and hopped back a step in surprise at the sight of the tussled Washuu.
"Oh, my, Miss Washuu, what are you doing up? I was going to bring you something to eat, you must be starving..."
Washuu blinked. "But... what are you doing up? The baby-..."
Minaka smiled warmly, and invited Washuu to sit at the table, placing the plate in front of her. "Oh, don't worry about him, Sasami's watching over him. Ooh, but I'm still so sore... after two days, you'd think I'd be okay..."
Washuu gagged on her food. "Two days? You mean to tell me I've been sleeping for two days?!"
"Oh yes... it was impossible to get you up, too... I gave up after a while, you were out like a light... I suppose your story took it all
out of you, huh?"
Washuu simply sat, perplexed. How on earth could she have been out for two days? She'd heard of "unexplained phenomena", but this was ridiculous!
Minaka grinned, and walked out into the living room, waving over her shoulder. "I've got to go out and check up on Sasami and my son... we still haven't named him yet, either... Sasami wants to pick the name, I ought to go see if she's gotten anything together yet."
Washuu, uninterested in the rest of her food, hurried after Minaka, out onto the porch. Sasami sat in the sun, Ryo-Ohki peering nervously at the baby she held in her arms.
"Aw, don't worry, Ryo-Ohki! He's too little yet... he won't bother you like Taro does..."
Ryo-Ohki kept her distance, regardless of how "safe" it was, and mewled cautiously.
Minaka sat next to Sasami, and peered over. "How is he?"
"He's fine... but he sleeps so much, I hope he's okay!"
Minaka laughed. "I wouldn't worry. He gets it from his mom." She smiled. "So, have you picked a name for him yet, Sasami?"
"Oh! Well... I should really let you name him... I mean, he is your baby..."
"Aw, it's okay! Besides, I like the names you pick, anyway... I'm terrible at picking names."
"Well," Sasami began...
"How about Mikumo?"
Sasami and Minaka looked up, startled, to see Washuu standing quietly in the doorway, her face hidden from view.
Minaka looked guilty. "But... Miss Washuu, I-..."
"No, I agree... it's a nice name, and it fits him perfectly. Besides, its just a name! You can call him whatever you want. I just... like the sound of Mikumo."
Minaka paused. "...Well then... I guess we could call him Mikumo."
The baby awoke, giggling and smiling, his bright eyes flashing.
"Wow, it's almost like he knows his name already!" Sasami laughed.
Washuu turned stiffly from the doorway, and retreated into the house. Minaka, concerned, followed after her. "Miss Washuu, wait, please!"
Washuu ran, a sob catching in her throat, right into her lab. She slammed the door shut, and slumped down on the other side, crying miserably. It hadn't anything to do with Minaka naming the baby after Mikumo, no... but something else was tearing at her heart... the sight of the baby's bright blue eyes, his skin...
A dark shadow, darker than the darkest corner of Washuu's lab, loomed over her prostrate form. She looked up, and gave a faint scream. "Who... who are you?..."
"Miss Washuu, please! You don't have to do this! We can name him something else, please, just don't hurt yourself like this!...
Please..."
Minaka wrenched at the doorknob, trying to open the door, which had been locked. She pleaded quietly, tugging at the door... when it gave way.
"Oh, thank goodness... Miss Washuu, please-..."
Minaka paused, as she found herself staring into the dusty contents of an ordinary broom closet.
*****
"WHAT?! What do you mean she's gone?"
A council had been brought together in the Masaki living room, headed by Minaka. She sat in the center, holding Mikumo, as the others stared at her.
"I mean she's gone. She just... I don't know... something must have snapped when she told me her full story, enough for her to pull
completely into her shell, enough so to make her want to vanish. I've tried accessing her lab, but she's closed off the portal to hyperspace, so I can't reach her. Or anybody else, for that matter..."
"And I can't read her, either... most of the time I keep the astral link between us closed because the incessant science mumbo-jumbo drives me nuts... but sometimes, if she's having a quiet moment, I'll open it up again, just to see what she's thinking... I can't even detect her presence anywhere... meaning she's either killed herself, which is HIGHLY unlikely, or she's stuck in some weird impenetrable subspace thingy that she's always muttering about... if I could find even a faint trace of her thoughts, I could pinpoint her location in subspace and teleport there to get her back, but I can't read anything..."
An uncomfortable silence reigned, when a stifled sob from Minaka brought the gang to attention.
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't... hadn't made her tell me her entire story..."
Ryoko grimaced. "No, it isn't your fault, Minaka. There's something else going on here. Washuu, even at her most depressed, probably wouldn't simply pull up her tent and hoof it outta here. It's too suspicious... I have a feeling something else is at hand here,
something much more dangerous."
As if on cue, a bright light suddenly exploded in the center of the room, sending the others tumbling backwards. A small, round object hovered in the air for a moment, then dropped to the ground, four foot-like projections setting it upright. A tiny lens opened at its top, and displayed a holographic window. A shadow appeared at its center, and the figure stepped into a spotlight. He smiled.
Minaka gasped. "You... Tetsuri! What are you doing here?"
The image of Tetsuri laughed, and grinned mischievously. "Ah, Minaka, so you do remember me, how sweet. And after all this time, I'd thought you were dead... a shame, really..."
Ryoko could feel her blood boiling. "Hey, just who the hell are you, and what are you doing here, huh?"
Tetsuri's dark eyes glanced at Ryoko momentarily. "Ah, the infamous space pirate, Ryoko. Odd... seeing you in such domestic settings... I'd have expected you to be out, well, destroying planets with that furball of yours, Ryo-Ohki. I see you've settled down a bit, eh?"
Snarling, Ryoko powered up an energy blast, ready to destroy the holographic transmitter. Tetsuri clucked his tongue.
"Ah ah ah, Ryoko... if you destroy this transmitter, how will you ever be able to find your mother?"
Tetsuri stepped aside in the window and, with a wave of his hand, revealed his hostage. Washuu, bound by her legs and arms, hung, almost lifeless, from a crucifix-like contraption. She was clothed only with a thin, black thong, that crossed over her body and ended with a shiny silver clasp around her neck. She gave a loud groan, and lifted her head, only to have two armed pirate guards shove at her with prods. One of the guards flicked a switch on his prod, and electrocuted Washuu into silence.
"Oh God no..." Minaka felt her heart pounding furiously inside her chest. Angrily, she glanced from the sight of her friend to the
sneering space pirate Tetsuri.
"Let her go this instant! She hasn't done a thing to you..."
"Ah, but you see, my sweet... she has. When we tortured you in front of the thousands of Jurai, we meant business, so much so that we believed you to be dead. But I knew better. I placed a small tracking device inside your body to make sure you were dead... it was found that you managed to survive the electroshock burns, but we still had used the macrovirus to ensure that you would eventually die. However, you didn't! It seems that, through some act of omniscience, your friend here was able to save your pathetic life, and that of your mewling brat. So, because you remain alive, and because of Professor Washuu's actions, mortal or immortal, we must dispose of her... unless..."
"Unless what?"
Tetsuri put a finger to his lips, in thought. He smiled cruelly. "We could let her go... IF, you come in her place, in order for us to get
the job done right. You know too much, Minaka, and I'm sure you've told your friend everything..."
"NO! No... look... I swear, Washuu will never tell a soul... I'll make sure she won't... but please, don't hurt her! I'll.."
She looked uneasily at the gang... at her little son, Mikumo...
"I'll go in her place. Just please... please don't hurt her."
Tetsuri snapped his fingers, and an image of a vast spaceship appeared, on the outskirts of the Earth's atmosphere.
"You have thirty minutes to make it here... if you do not arrive within that time, Washuu will be executed. That is all... oh, and bring the brat with you. I may as well raise him myself after you have been disposed of. Until then..."
The image of Tetsuri disappeared. Minaka hunched over and sobbed.
"No... not this... no..."
Swiftly, Ryoko swept her arm out, and slapped Minaka across the face, hard. She glared at her.
"Get up..."
Tenchi looked up in anger. "Ryoko, don't-..."
Minaka tugged at his shirt sleeve. "No... no, she's right. I'm not going to sit here and cry, while they do all those terrible things to Washuu. I won't let her die... she gave her all to save my life. It's about time I did the same..."
Minaka turned her amber-hued eyes to Ryoko, who now wore a smirk on her face.
"Shall we give 'em hell, Minaka?"
Minaka smirked back. "But of course.."
*****
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I AM INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR HAVING NOT UPDATED THIS IN... uhmm... a very long time. -_- Just pointing this out now, but the fic in its entirety can be found on my homepage at http://www27.brinkster.com/speckzone/fanficwrite.htm
I will, however, be uploading the rest of the chapters one at a time when I have the time. College is killing me, and now I'm finding I have to take driving lessons. So MEGA-STRESS time. But I will finish this, I promise you all.
Minaka Muyo! (No Need For Minaka!)
By Sue "Speck" Quigley
Chapter 4: Arrival of Evil
*****
"Ummf... boy, what a dream..."
Washuu stretched, yawning, and looked about. Minaka! Where was she? And the little baby? Hastily, Washuu scrambled on all fours to the doorway, and peeked out. The typical scents of the usual Masaki breakfast hung in the air, and she could hear the clang of frying pans still being used. Leaping two steps by two, Washuu hurtled downstairs and into the kitchen...
Minaka hovered near the stove, humming happily as she scraped eggs into a plate. She turned, and hopped back a step in surprise at the sight of the tussled Washuu.
"Oh, my, Miss Washuu, what are you doing up? I was going to bring you something to eat, you must be starving..."
Washuu blinked. "But... what are you doing up? The baby-..."
Minaka smiled warmly, and invited Washuu to sit at the table, placing the plate in front of her. "Oh, don't worry about him, Sasami's watching over him. Ooh, but I'm still so sore... after two days, you'd think I'd be okay..."
Washuu gagged on her food. "Two days? You mean to tell me I've been sleeping for two days?!"
"Oh yes... it was impossible to get you up, too... I gave up after a while, you were out like a light... I suppose your story took it all
out of you, huh?"
Washuu simply sat, perplexed. How on earth could she have been out for two days? She'd heard of "unexplained phenomena", but this was ridiculous!
Minaka grinned, and walked out into the living room, waving over her shoulder. "I've got to go out and check up on Sasami and my son... we still haven't named him yet, either... Sasami wants to pick the name, I ought to go see if she's gotten anything together yet."
Washuu, uninterested in the rest of her food, hurried after Minaka, out onto the porch. Sasami sat in the sun, Ryo-Ohki peering nervously at the baby she held in her arms.
"Aw, don't worry, Ryo-Ohki! He's too little yet... he won't bother you like Taro does..."
Ryo-Ohki kept her distance, regardless of how "safe" it was, and mewled cautiously.
Minaka sat next to Sasami, and peered over. "How is he?"
"He's fine... but he sleeps so much, I hope he's okay!"
Minaka laughed. "I wouldn't worry. He gets it from his mom." She smiled. "So, have you picked a name for him yet, Sasami?"
"Oh! Well... I should really let you name him... I mean, he is your baby..."
"Aw, it's okay! Besides, I like the names you pick, anyway... I'm terrible at picking names."
"Well," Sasami began...
"How about Mikumo?"
Sasami and Minaka looked up, startled, to see Washuu standing quietly in the doorway, her face hidden from view.
Minaka looked guilty. "But... Miss Washuu, I-..."
"No, I agree... it's a nice name, and it fits him perfectly. Besides, its just a name! You can call him whatever you want. I just... like the sound of Mikumo."
Minaka paused. "...Well then... I guess we could call him Mikumo."
The baby awoke, giggling and smiling, his bright eyes flashing.
"Wow, it's almost like he knows his name already!" Sasami laughed.
Washuu turned stiffly from the doorway, and retreated into the house. Minaka, concerned, followed after her. "Miss Washuu, wait, please!"
Washuu ran, a sob catching in her throat, right into her lab. She slammed the door shut, and slumped down on the other side, crying miserably. It hadn't anything to do with Minaka naming the baby after Mikumo, no... but something else was tearing at her heart... the sight of the baby's bright blue eyes, his skin...
A dark shadow, darker than the darkest corner of Washuu's lab, loomed over her prostrate form. She looked up, and gave a faint scream. "Who... who are you?..."
"Miss Washuu, please! You don't have to do this! We can name him something else, please, just don't hurt yourself like this!...
Please..."
Minaka wrenched at the doorknob, trying to open the door, which had been locked. She pleaded quietly, tugging at the door... when it gave way.
"Oh, thank goodness... Miss Washuu, please-..."
Minaka paused, as she found herself staring into the dusty contents of an ordinary broom closet.
*****
"WHAT?! What do you mean she's gone?"
A council had been brought together in the Masaki living room, headed by Minaka. She sat in the center, holding Mikumo, as the others stared at her.
"I mean she's gone. She just... I don't know... something must have snapped when she told me her full story, enough for her to pull
completely into her shell, enough so to make her want to vanish. I've tried accessing her lab, but she's closed off the portal to hyperspace, so I can't reach her. Or anybody else, for that matter..."
"And I can't read her, either... most of the time I keep the astral link between us closed because the incessant science mumbo-jumbo drives me nuts... but sometimes, if she's having a quiet moment, I'll open it up again, just to see what she's thinking... I can't even detect her presence anywhere... meaning she's either killed herself, which is HIGHLY unlikely, or she's stuck in some weird impenetrable subspace thingy that she's always muttering about... if I could find even a faint trace of her thoughts, I could pinpoint her location in subspace and teleport there to get her back, but I can't read anything..."
An uncomfortable silence reigned, when a stifled sob from Minaka brought the gang to attention.
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't... hadn't made her tell me her entire story..."
Ryoko grimaced. "No, it isn't your fault, Minaka. There's something else going on here. Washuu, even at her most depressed, probably wouldn't simply pull up her tent and hoof it outta here. It's too suspicious... I have a feeling something else is at hand here,
something much more dangerous."
As if on cue, a bright light suddenly exploded in the center of the room, sending the others tumbling backwards. A small, round object hovered in the air for a moment, then dropped to the ground, four foot-like projections setting it upright. A tiny lens opened at its top, and displayed a holographic window. A shadow appeared at its center, and the figure stepped into a spotlight. He smiled.
Minaka gasped. "You... Tetsuri! What are you doing here?"
The image of Tetsuri laughed, and grinned mischievously. "Ah, Minaka, so you do remember me, how sweet. And after all this time, I'd thought you were dead... a shame, really..."
Ryoko could feel her blood boiling. "Hey, just who the hell are you, and what are you doing here, huh?"
Tetsuri's dark eyes glanced at Ryoko momentarily. "Ah, the infamous space pirate, Ryoko. Odd... seeing you in such domestic settings... I'd have expected you to be out, well, destroying planets with that furball of yours, Ryo-Ohki. I see you've settled down a bit, eh?"
Snarling, Ryoko powered up an energy blast, ready to destroy the holographic transmitter. Tetsuri clucked his tongue.
"Ah ah ah, Ryoko... if you destroy this transmitter, how will you ever be able to find your mother?"
Tetsuri stepped aside in the window and, with a wave of his hand, revealed his hostage. Washuu, bound by her legs and arms, hung, almost lifeless, from a crucifix-like contraption. She was clothed only with a thin, black thong, that crossed over her body and ended with a shiny silver clasp around her neck. She gave a loud groan, and lifted her head, only to have two armed pirate guards shove at her with prods. One of the guards flicked a switch on his prod, and electrocuted Washuu into silence.
"Oh God no..." Minaka felt her heart pounding furiously inside her chest. Angrily, she glanced from the sight of her friend to the
sneering space pirate Tetsuri.
"Let her go this instant! She hasn't done a thing to you..."
"Ah, but you see, my sweet... she has. When we tortured you in front of the thousands of Jurai, we meant business, so much so that we believed you to be dead. But I knew better. I placed a small tracking device inside your body to make sure you were dead... it was found that you managed to survive the electroshock burns, but we still had used the macrovirus to ensure that you would eventually die. However, you didn't! It seems that, through some act of omniscience, your friend here was able to save your pathetic life, and that of your mewling brat. So, because you remain alive, and because of Professor Washuu's actions, mortal or immortal, we must dispose of her... unless..."
"Unless what?"
Tetsuri put a finger to his lips, in thought. He smiled cruelly. "We could let her go... IF, you come in her place, in order for us to get
the job done right. You know too much, Minaka, and I'm sure you've told your friend everything..."
"NO! No... look... I swear, Washuu will never tell a soul... I'll make sure she won't... but please, don't hurt her! I'll.."
She looked uneasily at the gang... at her little son, Mikumo...
"I'll go in her place. Just please... please don't hurt her."
Tetsuri snapped his fingers, and an image of a vast spaceship appeared, on the outskirts of the Earth's atmosphere.
"You have thirty minutes to make it here... if you do not arrive within that time, Washuu will be executed. That is all... oh, and bring the brat with you. I may as well raise him myself after you have been disposed of. Until then..."
The image of Tetsuri disappeared. Minaka hunched over and sobbed.
"No... not this... no..."
Swiftly, Ryoko swept her arm out, and slapped Minaka across the face, hard. She glared at her.
"Get up..."
Tenchi looked up in anger. "Ryoko, don't-..."
Minaka tugged at his shirt sleeve. "No... no, she's right. I'm not going to sit here and cry, while they do all those terrible things to Washuu. I won't let her die... she gave her all to save my life. It's about time I did the same..."
Minaka turned her amber-hued eyes to Ryoko, who now wore a smirk on her face.
"Shall we give 'em hell, Minaka?"
Minaka smirked back. "But of course.."
*****
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I AM INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR HAVING NOT UPDATED THIS IN... uhmm... a very long time. -_- Just pointing this out now, but the fic in its entirety can be found on my homepage at http://www27.brinkster.com/speckzone/fanficwrite.htm
I will, however, be uploading the rest of the chapters one at a time when I have the time. College is killing me, and now I'm finding I have to take driving lessons. So MEGA-STRESS time. But I will finish this, I promise you all.