Part 41

While You Were Out

By BobCat

Disclaimer: Only the ways that I use these characters are original (I hope I hope I hope). So, I'm not using this for taxable income (unless the IRS starts collecting for personal enjoyment). There, that ought to get the lawyers off of my back.

Above a rock quarry near the Masaki Shrine...

Omi felt the punch a moment before her eyes managed to track the source of the blow. The attack caught her in the gut, and her eyes bulged out slightly. Wreathed in golden energy, her assailant didn't let up, following the devastating punch with a spin-kick that hit her across the face. The green haired girl went flying into the bedrock at her feet, sending stone and wooden shrapnel flying.

The attacker smirked as Omi struggled to free herself from the hole in the ground. "Oh, come now. After all of the effort that the vaunted eugenics program put into your line I was expecting a little more effort than this."

"Kaio-Ken!" For a brief moment Omi was surrounded by an aura of red flame. Faster than most organisms could blink, Omi faded away and reappeared behind her attacker. Using all of the strength granted her by the proper combination of human, Saiyan and Juraian genes, she lashed out with a devastating double fisted blow. The blow was a bull's-eye, hitting her opponent in the back of her head. There was an audible crack as a punch that would have shattered mountains connected with the unyielding surface of the golden warrior's head.

Omi cursed under her breath. She berated her weakness. "She didn't even notice that attack!" She would have considered denigrating herself, except she became more concerned with dodging Chi bolts. Only a combination of instinct, luck and the Kaio-Ken allowed her to avoid being struck. The bolts of concentrated life energy flew down into a rocky outcropping below, consuming several tons of stone in a fraction of a second.

Omi placed her hands together. They glowed with a combination of red and yellow energy. "You won't win that easily! Ho-Oh Senko!" The fiery energy took on the shape of a flying bird as large as her and flew out towards her opponent.

It irked Omi that her foe didn't made no move to block her attack. In fact, she could feel her begin to power down slightly, as if to add insult to injury. The attack washed over the golden haired warrior with seemingly no effect. The smug Super Saiyan smirked again. "Phoenix Flash, eh? That's a new one. Not bad, but I expected more from you."

Omi summoned a black sphere of energy that crackled with red lightning. "Dragon Blast!" Winding up as one would to throw a baseball, she let fly with the attack.

Omi had planned a bit of deception with that last attack. The attack, invented by her father, was designed to look flashy, but didn't do much in the way of actual damage. Hoping to use the opening provided by ball, she zipped in behind her opponent, intent on letting her have it with a Kamehameha.

Omi was surprised when Chibi Ryoko spun about to face her. Before the green haired girl could respond, she found herself in a headlock. After a crack and a hum, a red blade of energy found its way just above her throat. The child prodigy said, "Do you concede?"

Omi glowered. "Fine." With that, Chibi Ryoko's hair went slightly limper, reverted to a cyan color just as her eyes went from turquoise to a catlike yellow. The energy blade dissipated, and Omi found herself free from her friend's grip. "How did you see that coming?"

Chibi Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! That kind of basic deception was the first thing that your dad taught us!"

Omi rubbed the back of her neck. "True. Ouch! Did you really have to hold on so hard?"

Chibi Ryoko shrugged. "I'm not used to fighting someone as weak as you." Omi glared. The other future girl put up her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Whoa! I'm not saying that you're weak. What basic Saiyan CAN take on someone who's gone Super? Besides, why haven't you been using the Mystical Talent lately? I mean, with that, you could take me on without even trying too hard."

Omi gave a frustrated growl. "Cell, that's why. The Mystical Powerup is a great strength, but it can only carry you so far. You saw what happened; he battered around Pop like he was nothing! I figure that I need to get in touch with my Saiyan side."

Chibi Ryoko suddenly got very nervous. "Um, I hate to point this out to you, but most people have to have somebody die to get to that level. I... I'm your friend, but I'm not QUITE ready to make that kind of sacrifice."

Omi shook her head. "Oh no, I wasn't expecting that. It's just that, well, when Pluto hit Dad with whatever she hit him with... well, I felt a great power within me, struggling to get out. Then, I used the Mystical Talent, and suddenly... it died. The rage that had brought it on didn't go away, but I couldn't touch it again. Only later did I realize what I was on the verge of realizing; the Super Saiyan state. I mean, Mystical Warriors can surpass Super Saiyan levels one and two, but as for levels three and four... well, they kind of blow it out of the water. And if Super Saiyan and Mystical powers can be combined, Dad and Gohan never found out how, so I figure I'm not the one to do it. So, I'm focusing on Super strength."

Chibi Ryoko nodded, understanding. "So, your letting GoChibi and myself beat you up in hopes of allowing you to access the power?"

"Bingo."

"Y'know, there have to be easier ways of doing this."

Omi shrugged. "If you know a better way of doing this, I'd love to hear it."

Suddenly, Chibi Ryoko's watch beeped. The little scientist tapped a few buttons on the wristwatch. "Hmmm. I'm picking up some kind of energy spike. She positioned her wrists in the correct manner, and a holographic laptop computer popped into existence. With a flurry of motion accompanied by various beeping noises, Chibi Ryoko typed a few commands into her computer. "Hmmm. Intriguing. We have an incoming temporal wave."

"A what?" GoChibi had been practicing some aerial maneuvers at higher altitudes while waiting for her friends to stop sparring. Sensing their battle auras fade, she had come down to fight the winner.

Chibi Ryoko tapped a few buttons. "A ripple in the space time continuum. Ah... hold onto your hats, girls! It hits in five, four, three, two..." There was a bright green flash of light, but none of the girls seemed to notice it. "One."

GoChibi glanced about. "What, was that it? I didn't see anything."

Omi looked nervous for a moment. She nervously twisted a lock of her long, purple hair. She'd always loved her hair. She had inherited it from her mother. "I'm still the Princess of the British Empire, right?"

Chibi Ryoko tapped. "Yes, 'Princess,' and your still third in line for the Juraian throne in the event that something should happen to my dad and me."

Omi breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't LIVE without her titles!

GoChibi was confused. "What was the big deal, anyway? I didn't notice anything."

Chibi Ryoko shrugged. "Well, hypothetically, since we're from the future and everything, we probably wouldn't notice any significant shift, since the past that defines us would have changed before we were even born. Also, nobody from the present would notice any change, since they wouldn't know what to look for. In fact, the only ones who could tell us what was going on would be Phil or Ralph."

The air around Omi shimmered. "Last one back is a bag of Hutt slime!" With an explosion of light, Omi was flying back towards the Masaki Household. She wasn't quite sure why she always did things like this; it was so beneath someone of her station. She supposed that her lowborn father's influence had something to do with it.

* * *

Ralph was currently leafing through his stack of manga. In one of his few moments of peace and quiet, he realized that a little review of the history and future of the universe he was currently occupying might be beneficial. At the moment, he was plagued by indecision. "Ah, what to read? On the one hand, most of the fights lately have been on a Dragon Ball scale, so leafing through a few of those might be useful. On the other, since I'm currently at ground zero for Tenchi's troubles, maybe I should crack out the "No Need for Tenchi" books. Then again, a little Sailor Moon might be a good idea... alas, I love them all, yet I can only read one! What to do?"

At that instant, there was a cracking sound. Ralph, looking for the source of the noise, saw the opening cone of spiraling red and white light. The Jedi sighed upon seeing a very familiar silhouette. With an arcane gesture, the manga were sent back to Ralph's room back at Physics Police HQ. He muttered, "Whenever I try to get some reading in..."

Phil stepped into universe FC-1. With a smile on his face, Phil exclaimed, "Lucy, I'm home!"

Ralph pulled a folder out from his desk and started leafing through it. "Well, "Ricky," you got some 'splainin to do. WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?"

Phil, reluctant to tell the sordid tale of his adventures in the past, so he shrugged. "I was in a tube in Washuu's lab."

Ralph gave Phil a half-lidded stare. "Phil, I AM a Jedi. I can always sense a lie. Now, care to try again?"

Phil stroked his chin in a contemplative manner. "OK, where do I start... Well, a long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away..."

* * *

Elsewhere:

Mr. Masaki was confused.

This happened on a regular basis. Living in a house with alien women who had an unexplainable fixation on his teenage son does that to you. To top it off, Phil and his menagerie of weirdoes had moved in nearly two months ago, bringing with them a host of new threats. Chief among them was Chibi Ryoko.

The middle aged man shuddered for a moment. That Ultron thing bugged him the most. Sure, his supposed granddaughter from the future (whose presence he still didn't completely accept or understand) said that she had removed all of the robot's violent tendencies. He had bought that, until he had seen her using him to test a few weapons systems.

On his Toyota Camry.

While he was in it.

When a pair of blue lightning bolts had vaporized the front of his car, he had barely managed to get away before the fuel tank exploded.

Questioning her about it, Chibi Ryoko said that she was toying with what she dubbed a "Particle Projector Cannon," or "PPC," and he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Based on a computer game that she had played once, it utilized a particle accelerator to do its damage, spitting out a stream of ionized particles. It had been a failure, though; "Had the weapons been functioning at peak efficiency," she said, "your car would have been vaporized."

All Mr. Masaki knew was that he wanted to stay the hell away from that Ultron and its mad owner. In fact, he was considering just getting an apartment in Tokyo. It would eliminate the long commute, he could get some sleep without the tranquilizers his doctor had prescribed and he would be able to start dating again without fearing having his date turned into a frog by Washuu. (It had happened twice.) He might miss his son, Tenchi was utterly "corrupted" by his grandfather's influence. After all, any real son of his would have already given in to the charms of any one of his houseguests. He knew that he would have! Even that Phil guy was kind of cute when he was wet...

(FOCUS, MASAKI! FOCUS!)

Mr. Masaki glanced around for several moments, attempting to find the source of the noise. "Er... uh... sorry about that."

But, getting back to the original statement, Mr. Masaki was used to weirdness. So, when he drove up to the house and saw massive amounts of construction going on in what was Shrine property, he almost blew it off. Almost, except that they were excavating a massive pit in his front yard.

He briefly wondered if Washuu was doing something, but he swiftly dismissed the idea. After all, the elder mad scientist of the household preferred to do her work with pocket dimensions and that laptop of hers. These appeared to be just ordinary, run of the mill robots.

Robots? That was unusual. Mr. Masaki was quick to note that they lacked the "cutesy" look and feel of Washuu's machines. The vaguely humanoid machines looked as if they were meant for actual work. Each stood slightly over two meters tall. A few of the robots seemed to have set up a vague perimeter, and they looked to be well armed. Coupled with thick metal plate, the security robots had their right hand replaced with some kind of heavy weapon. Mr. Masaki thought it might have been a laser, but he wasn't sure. Attached to the shoulders of the robot were what appeared to be a pair of missiles. The launchers gave the machines a boxy appearance. Each looked like it could hurt. The right arm ended in a three fingered claw. A menacing looking machine gun was mounted directly beneath the sharp extremity.

Within the pit were similar robots. These looked to lighter designs, as they were shorter and less bulky. However, these seemed to be more maneuverable and their hands bore a closer resemblance to those of humans. A few of the machines were outfitted with drills and shovels. These worked alongside more standard cranes and bulldozers, moving large amounts of soil and rock. The worker robots seemed to be more concerned with setting up supports and laying the occasional demolition charge.

Summoning his meager supply of courage, Mr. Masaki walked towards one of the machines. After all, if it was an alien invasion, he would probably die anyway. He had seen enough science fiction movies to know that the hero's father always died, and judging by how event seemed to revolve around Tenchi, he guessed that his son was the hero.

The idea that Phil might be the hero only occurred to him as a security robot noticed him. Mr. Masaki quickly prayed to whatever deities were listening that he hadn't made a mistake.

When the machine got closer, Mr. Masaki realized that he could see a human face through the faceplate. Through a speaker, he could hear a voice. It sounded like a man about his own age. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'll have to ask you to leave."

The elder Masaki stammered, "B-but this is my yard!"

The man in the armored suit seemed to consider this. "Do not worry, sir. You will have the use of your front yard soon enough."

"Oh." There was an uncomfortable pause. "Um, are you the vanguard for an alien invasion?"

The man sounded confused. "You didn't get the memo?"

Mr. Masaki matched the man's confusion. "What memo?"

"Your house has been declared an embassy for various alien diplomats, so we're here to protect the site."

"Um, are you with some kind of government agency or something?"

"Sorry, that's classified. Now, again, please leave, for your own safety. There are various explosives in use here, as well as heavy machinery that could crush you like an egg. Literally."

Mr. Masaki was slightly less worried. This guy seemed polite enough, which was more than he could say for his houseguests. "So, building something, are you?"

"No, we just like to dig holes." replied the man sarcastically. "In fact, as soon as this is done, we're going to fill it in again and leave like nothing happened. Use your head, man!"

Mr. Masaki realized that the guy wasn't as polite as he had thought. "Um, I'm an architect. Do you need any help designing whatever you're building?"

The trooper was beginning to sound annoyed. "Negative. We have our design. Now, please leave. Or else I will be forced to deal with you as a hostile intruder." An ominous click from the power armor's left arm machine gun gave credence to his threat.

"Um, OK. Just one last thing. Uh, what are you wearing?"

"This is a standard Elemental Class Heavy Battle Armor suit. Unless you would like a demonstration of the Elemental's anti-infantry abilities, I suggest that you leave!" Now the wicked talons of the Power Armor's left hand clenched maliciously.

"Um, yes sir!" As Mr. Masaki scurried back to the house, he decided not to mention this "Elemental" thingy to anyone. After all, if they were an enemy there were multiple heroes in the house to get killed dealing with that kind of thing.

* * *

As Mr. Masaki ran up the stairs to his room, Phil ended his monologue.

"So here I am, with three people struggling for dominance in my head. But I do get to be the King of England."

Ralph sighed. "Well, "Your Highness," do you have any idea just how much damage you've done?"

"Um... I plead the fifth?"

Ralph pulled out a map of the world from a drawer and tacked in onto the wall. "Notice anything different?"

Phil studied it for several moments. Then his eyes widened. "Cool! I'm the King of all of that!? Not just large swaths of African, South American and Asian territory, but all of non-Russian Europe? Woo-hoo!"

Ralph rapped him on the head with a ruler. "Now take another look, and DON'T study your imperial possessions."

Phil looked again. And was swiftly confounded. "What's the 'USNA?'"

"You mean the United States of North America? Well, that, along with the British Commonwealth and the USSR, are the three main superpowers on Earth. As you may notice, among the USNA's possessions include Japan, the Philippines, Cuba and most of South America. Also, Guam and Puerto Rico are full voting members in Congress."

Phil blinked. "Um, Ralph, what exactly happened while I was gone?"

Ralph pulled out a textbook. "Well, as near as I can tell, the divergence occurs in the waning days of World War II. Specifically, in the health and well being of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As you may know, the three major nations of the Allies came together in what became known as the Yalta conference to determine the fate of post-war Europe. In our "baseline" understanding of the event, Roosevelt was ill and would die shortly afterwards. Many historians say that at the time, he was too sick to negotiate effectively, and Stalin took advantage of that to gain more territories for the USSR, causing many of the Cold War's problems. Are you with me so far?" The King of England (AKA Phil) nodded.

"However, in FC-1, Roosevelt wasn't as sickly as he might have been. He still died, but he lived for several months longer than he did in my universe. That extra breathing room made him well enough to negotiate a more favorable agreement with Russia. Basically, the whole concept of East and West Germany never existed here, and a few minor nations remained neutral or democratic."

"Meanwhile, this ripple seems to have given a few British officials in areas such as India and South Africa a more lenient view on local politics. By giving the people equal rights as citizens of the Empire, much of the basis for the revolutionary movements faded away, so India remains the jewel of the British Empire."

"Now, for reasons that I don't feel like getting into, this universal freedom brought about a feeling of European brotherhood. In FC-1, the Euro is celebrating its fortieth birthday. Twenty years ago, the nations of Europe got together and decided to unite under one government. You, by whatever magic Loki employed, ended up being the head of that government. According to a few news reports, you have yet to be crowned King, which means that you haven't been ducking your responsibilities for any length of time. It's a Constitutional Monarchy, where you are restricted by laws set in the European Constitution and are held accountable by Parliament."

Phil's voice muttered angrily, "What trickery art this? Loki hath said that we would have complete power! Who art these peasants, that they would limit the God-Ordained powers of the King!?"

Ralph blinked. "I'm going to assume that that was Arthur. Anyway, from what you told me, Loki said that he would eliminate the Magna Charta. Well, now it's known as the "Declaration of the Enlargement of the Powers of the Nobility." It's the same thing, but with a new name. Loki stuck to the letter of the law, but not the spirit."

The dead British King began a stream of curses that shall not be reprinted here. Phil seized control of his mouth. "Well, that's all well and good. What about America?"

"Well, with the British in such a position of power, America opted not to give up a few parcels of territory. Following the British's lead, they granted full rights to all territories and colonies. As a result, the Japanese, pleased with this increased liberty, opted not to remain independent. We are currently in the "American Protectorate of Japan," under the rule of Governor-General McArthur the Second. America also annexed Canada and Mexico, with a surprisingly large amount of popular support in both nations. I guess Mexico was sick of being led by a bunch of dictators, and Canada didn't think that remaining even nominally loyal to the British Empire was doing them any good. The USSR is about the same, minus Eastern Germany and a few other parcels of land. Also, as the Soviets saw themselves outnumbered two to one by non-communist superpowers, they were involved in less political manipulation, so the Korean War never happened. The Vietnam War went differently, as British support allowed the French to remain in control there.

Phil blinked a few times. That was a lot to absorb all at once. He took some pleasure in the fact that as confused as he was, Arthur and Io had absolutely no idea what the hell they were talking about. Phil decided to fill the uncomfortable silence. "So, where is everyone?"

Ralph counted on his fingers. "Well, Ryoko's at her Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Washuu is in her lab, Kione and Mihoshi are out on patrol, Ayeka is off somewhere reading her romance Manga, Ecks is off doing God knows what in Tokyo, Mr. Masaki just got home from work, the future girls are out sparring and Tenchi is out sweeping the steps."

Phil made a time out gesture. "Whoa! Ryoko's in AA? But she loves her sake! What the hell happened?"

Ralph shuddered. "Well, last week, Ryoko got plastered. And I don't just mean a little drunk; she was bumping into walls and seemed to forget that she could become intangible. Considering how high of an alcohol tolerance she has, that takes a lot of sake. Well, in a drunken stupor, she grabbed ME, thinking I was Tenchi, flew off into the woods and tried to force herself upon me." He performed another full body shudder. "It was horrible! Only my Jedi mind tricks and an invisibility spell I picked up from the Grimorum Achrinorum let me escape in time! Well, when Tenchi found out, was HE mad!"

Phil yawned. "What, him, mad? So, what, he lightly scolded her?"

Ralph shook his head vigorously. "No! He actually slapped her! Then he just started yelling and screaming. I didn't get most of it, but it was something along the lines of, "It's bad enough when you try to do it to me without my consent, but poor, sweet, roguishly handsome, well chiseled, witty, innocent Ralph doesn't deserve your unwanted affection!" Ralph noticed Phil's incredulous look. "His words, not mine. Really." Phil just shrugged, not caring either way. The Jedi continued. "Then, he threw a bottle of sake at her. Tenchi said that destiny or not, true love or not, that he couldn't ever be with anyone who got drunk just for the hell of it. He gave he a month to sober up, or else he would kick her out of the house."

Phil was actually rather stunned. "The wienie finally grew a spine. Wow." Phil looked at his wristwatch. "Oh, by the by, did you ever remember to pick up the Sailor Senshi off of Dagobah?"

Ralph slapped his forehead. "Damn!"

Phil smirked. "Well, I suppose that means that you have a cabbit/spaceship to borrow, doesn't it? It was your job, after all."

As Ralph quickly dashed away, Phil caught something that sounded like, "Rei's gonna kill me!"

Phil exited the house. Had he left by the front door, he would have swiftly noticed the massive construction project. However, he went into the backyard instead. Once there, he began a complicated pattern of kicks and punches. He figured that he needed to get his potentially atrophied muscles back into fighting shape. He was too busy training to notice the return of his daughter and her friends.

End Part 41

Author's note: This version of the world is (I think) unique to my fic. I didn't want to insult any people actually living in Guam or Japan or Canada or Mexico or any one of the other countries I mentioned. I have no intention of taking over the world. Yet.

Also, the Elemental Battle Armor is seen in the PC game Mechwarrior 3, and the board game Battletech (a favorite of mine). PPCs were also used in these games. For more information on Battletech, visit

"http://www.sarna.net" www.sarna.net (if it's still up) or "http://www.kerensky.tierranet.com/btech/btech.shtml". The second site puts the weapons and equipment in terms that the uninitiated can understand.