Previously on Supplement DB:
Sel was defeated, yet again, by Aki this time. Tenchi recovered from his fatal wounds, and was overjoyed to discover a solution to his problems: the DragonBalls. Having found and retrieved the first of seven Balls, the group returns home. Oh, by the way, I have here a signed promise saying Sel will never return yet again. Which is nice.
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Supplement DB, Part III – Return to Power
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The four-star DragonBall rested on the table. It had been cleaned, so it sparkled. Inside it were four dark orange stars. It was the Thunder Ball.
"But how do you know it's the Thunder Ball, Tenchi?" Sasami asked.
"Well, when you look at it from a certain angle, an image appears inside it," Tenchi said. "The image in this one is of thunder, so it's the Thunder Ball."
"Where is it?"
"Come here, and I'll show you."
Sasami shuffled over to Tenchi. Tenchi moved slightly to let Sasami have a better view.
"Now, if you put your head just about here," Tenchi said, guiding Sasami's head, "you'll see the image. If you can't, just move around slightly until you can."
"Oh wow!" Sasami exclaimed. "It looks like a thunder bolt! Look! The stars have some lines between them, so they look like a zigzag of thunder."
"See?" Tenchi said. "It's the Thunder DragonBall."
"So what are you going to do now, Tenchi?" Ayeka asked.
"I guess I'll just wait for all the DragonBalls to appear," Tenchi replied. "I don't know when the next one will show up. It could be in a few minutes, or I could have just missed it. Either way, I can't do much until I've collected them all."
Tenchi leaned back on the couch and stretched. He suddenly remembered something. "Oh, that's right. I forgot."
"Forgot what?" Mihoshi asked.
"The wizard has actually put two spells on me. One to stop me becoming God, and the other to stop all my other powers. The second one of those is going to end in a couple of weeks, apparently."
"So you'll get some of your powers back?"
"That's right. With those powers I can use instant translocation. I won't need to use one of Washu's portals then. I'll also be able to go Supreme Saiyan, and evolve to my third evolutionary form. It's just my God form and powers I won't be able to use then, such as time travel."
"Still, it's good that you're going to get some of your powers back soon, isn't it?" Mihoshi asked.
"Yes, it is," Tenchi replied, relaxing. It was good.
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Tenchi had a computer. It wasn't new, but it was relatively powerful. He was just messing around, reading some stories people had published on the Internet. His Dragon Radar was right next to him, so he would know as soon as another DragonBall appeared. He was basically just killing time.
Tenchi stretched and stood up. He decided he was thirsty, so he went out of his room and into the kitchen, where he poured himself a nice drink. On his way out he bumped into Washu. Not literally, though.
"Oh, hi, Tenchi," Washu greeted.
"Hello, Little Washu," Tenchi replied. "Doing anything interesting?"
"I'm talking to you at the moment, so no," Washu grinned. "Just kidding. I'm not up to much. Just designing an alkane super-catalyst. Any scientist on Earth would kill for it, but it's fairly simple to make."
"I see," Tenchi replied. He wasn't sure what she was going on about, so he did what any guy would do, and nodded. He had lost access to the infinite pool of knowledge with his powers, so the only things he knew were what he had looked up while he had had access. Unsurprisingly, alkane-related chemistry wasn't something he had researched.
Washu could tell he was bored. "So what are you up to, Tenchi?" she asked. "Finally made up your mind about the whole sample thing?"
That question understandably took Tenchi by surprise. Washu hadn't bothered him much about that for a couple of months now. "N, no," he replied. "I'm still not going to. I mean, yes, I love you, but I'm not going to do that. At least not yet."
"So there is hope," Washu said. "But what are you doing, anyway?"
"Oh, I'm just reading a few fanfics," Tenchi replied. "They're stories based on something else, written by fans of that thing, say, a television series or a film. I'm actually reading one based on Tenchi Muyo! at the moment."
"Seeing how other people would manipulate our lives, eh?" Washu asked.
"Kind of," Tenchi said. "They don't know just how similar our lives are to the show, but it is interesting to see what they write about."
"What do they write about?" Washu asked.
"Oh, just general situations. Some crossovers. And quite a bit of hentai."
"Hentai, eh?" Washu remarked. "That's interesting."
Tenchi started gazing hurriedly around the room, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, it's not all that bad. Yeah, some are just pathetic, but some are very well written."
"And how would you know, Tenchi? My little guinea pig doing a bit of learning on his own?"
"It's not like that," Tenchi said hurriedly.
"Well, it should be," Washu said. "Tenchi, you know it's perfectly natural. I don't think anyone can judge you for that."
"Maybe, but that's not the point," Tenchi replied. "Some writers really have deep insights into the characters' relationships. Some of it could even be applied to us."
"Are you going to let it?" Washu asked.
"I'm not sure," Tenchi replied. "I still don't know how similar the series and our lives are."
"That's true," Washu nodded. "Anyway, you enjoy yourself now."
Tenchi blushed himself all the way back to his room.
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Two weeks later, and no other DragonBalls had appeared. Tenchi was beginning to think that he had just missed the cycle, and was going to have to wait for another eight months.
He was musing as he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
Aki walked in. His hand was now back to normal, although it had been for almost two weeks. Washu had repaired the bones just after they got back from the trip to see the elephants, and Aki had healed the skin. It was fine.
"Hey, Ten, dinner's nearly ready," he said.
"Aki, what do you reckon the odds are that all the DragonBalls have gone already?" Tenchi asked. "There hasn't been a single beep for the past few weeks."
"Well, maybe they don't all appear at once," Aki replied. "Maybe you just have to be patient."
"I guess," Tenchi said absently. He got up.
Aki turned to go, but stopped abruptly.
"Hey, what's the hold-up?" Tenchi complained from behind.
"I've just sensed a disturbance in your energy level," Aki said.
"So what?" Tenchi asked. "Power levels wobble all the time."
"No, what I sensed was different," Aki said. "Tenchi, try becoming a Saiyan."
"Very funny, Aki," Tenchi said, looking sideways at his brother. "You got me before, but not now."
"I mean it, Tenchi."
"So do I."
Aki sighed restlessly and swung round to hit Tenchi. Tenchi caught the fist.
"My, that was quick," Aki said, not without sarcasm. "Are you sure you don't have your powers back?"
Tenchi thought for a second. He started powering up, and became a Saiyan. He jerked his head up towards Aki, his expression a mixture of surprise and joy.
"I told you I could feel something," Aki said. "The magic must have worn off. You've got your powers back."
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Tenchi flew down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the girls were. They were all preparing for dinner. Tenchi stopped in the doorway, hovering a few inches above the ground.
"Hey, guys," Tenchi said. "Check it out."
There was a collective gasp, and the sounds of hands loosening from dishes. The pots began to fall, but Tenchi stopped them in midair. The dishes then floated onto the table, guided by Tenchi.
"I have my powers back!" Tenchi said.
"Hey, wow, that's great!" Sasami and Mihoshi cheered.
The others gave similar words of congratulations.
"You know, I've never been so glad of becoming a Saiyan before," Tenchi remarked.
A beeping behind him made him turn around. Aki was holding the Radar.
"Hey, Ten, you might want to check this out," Aki said, holding it out. "It started beeping just after you flew out of your room."
Tenchi took the Radar. A DragonBall had appeared, some distance away. It was going to go again in a couple of hours.
"Hey, I'd better get this," Tenchi said. "I'll just be gone a second. Instant translocation really has its advantages."
He pointed two fingers towards his forehead and vanished.
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He reappeared in a desert. There was nothing but sand everywhere. According to the Radar the DragonBall was right next to him, but he couldn't see it anywhere. He had no idea where it could have gone, yet it was quite clearly there. The Radar said so.
He looked around for a minute, and then had the idea of looking down. The Ball must be buried below the sand.
"I guess it's time for some digging," Tenchi sighed. "Wait, what am I thinking? I can just blast all the sand away. Time for the Super Saiyan to make his appearance, then."
Tenchi lowered himself, and began to power up. He didn't just want to become a Super Saiyan. He wanted to create a strong force that blew the sand away. He started yelling, and the sand started billowing away from him. He raised himself to a Saiyan, and then to the level beyond that. He kept on blowing sand away until he spotted something about fifty metres below sand level. He flew down and looked at it closer. It was the six-star DragonBall. He picked it up, with nearly two hours to spare. He was about to go home, when beeping from the Radar stopped him. Apparently, another Ball had just appeared, this one with an existence of twelve minutes.
Tenchi used instant translocation to go there instead.
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He found himself above the sea. Not expecting to reappear above water, Tenchi fell a bit, before starting to fly. The DragonBall was somewhere in the depths of the ocean. Tenchi shrugged and lowered himself in, careful to keep hold of the other Ball.
The water parted for him as he lowered himself. Tenchi had created a bubble around himself, which would conveniently allow him to breathe underwater, as well as keeping him dry. He descended fairly quickly, as the new Ball would disappear in a little under ten minutes, and he didn't know how much further he had to go. It could be a few metres or a few miles. Even with all his powers he had his limitations.
The light from the surface dimmed. Tenchi powered up his aura, which cast a shining light all around. Now that he could see well again, he continued going down.
He reached the bottom a couple of minutes later. A few strange and puzzled fish swam around nearby, curious about this glowing object. Tenchi looked round for the DragonBall, hoping it wasn't buried like the other one was. He followed the Radar to a rock. The rock was actually hollow, probably carved out by oceanic currents and plants. Tenchi could see the Ball inside.
Instead of trying to reach it through the little gap he was peering through, Tenchi merely formed a small energy ball and destroyed the rock around the orange sphere. The DragonBall fell to the ground amidst the rubble left behind by the small explosion. Tenchi bent down and picked it up, as the time remaining counted down the last seconds.
He stood up and looked at the DragonBall he had just obtained. It was the three-star Ball, and it looked fine considering the rock around it had been partially obliterated. Of course, Tenchi wasn't worried. Despite their appearance, the DragonBalls were very sturdy, not likely to be destroyed by some energy blast.
Tenchi was starting to feel dizzy. The oxygen in his bubble was starting to run out. He instantly translocated back home, letting his bubble rise to the surface. The bubble surprised a few fish and a shark on its way up, before popping on the surface. This in turn led a nearby fishing boat to think a whale was nearby, and they packed up quickly and left. They didn't want to be fishing somewhere with a creature around that could produce an air bubble that big. As a result, not enough fish was brought home, and there were some hungry people in town that night.
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Tenchi reappeared on the kitchen table, his foot in a salad bowl. He quickly hopped off and turned round to face the people sat around the table, who had been eating before Tenchi appeared.
"Hey, you're back," Ryoko said. "I missed you."
"I see you have two more DragonBalls, Tenchi," Ayeka said.
"Yep," Tenchi replied. "Just four more to go."
"Tenchi, which ones are they?" Sasami asked.
Tenchi walked round the table to Sasami, and put the two Balls in front of her. He spun one then the other round.
"This one here is the Ice Ball," Tenchi said, pointing towards the six-star DragonBall. "You can see the symbol of ice if you look just here." Tenchi positioned Sasami's head in the right place. It was an elaboration of a simple stick icon of ice, each star inside the DragonBall at the end of each point. Opposite stars had a line drawn between them, so the three lines crossed in the middle. He then moved her head over to the three-star DragonBall. "This one is the Fire Ball," Tenchi said. "And there is the symbol for fire." Each of the three stars tipped the three flame ends of the picture.
"Oh, wow," Sasami gasped. "Isn't it amazing how the stars help to form the image?"
"Well, there wouldn't be one without them," Tenchi replied. "I'll just put these with the other one." He did so, and joined the others for dinner.
"Sorry about the salad, everyone," Tenchi apologised.
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Since Tenchi now had the majority of his powers back, he felt like using them. But he didn't go out flying, or becoming Supreme Saiyan, or sparring with Aki. He played music.
Playing music was a great skill, requiring concentration, coordination and commitment. However, Tenchi knew how to play a piano and a violin, amongst many other instruments. It came with the extra knowledge from the evolutions.
And so Tenchi sat in the spare room of the house, where he kept his few musical instruments. The grand piano sat in the middle of the room, positioned so that the player was just facing away from the door, and opposite the window. A set of drums sat near it, just apart from a wall. A trumpet and a saxophone rested on specially constructed shelves in the far corner of the room, while a guitar and case leaned against the wall, just next to the door. A smaller case rested on a small table next to it, containing a violin. A flute and shakuhachi rested on a similar table on the opposite side of the room. An electric guitar and an amplifier rested in a stand near the drums. It was a fair collection, and Tenchi could play them all.
Tenchi was sitting on the piano stool in front of the largest musical instrument in the house. His eyes were closed, as he thought of a piece to play. He raised his hands to the keys and began.
Ayeka was currently nearby. She had heard Tenchi playing before, as had everyone else, but not that often. In fact, she had only heard Tenchi playing once, with the violin. She walked up to the door and quietly slid it open.
Tenchi was playing the piano, his eyes still closed, his fingers darting about and pressing different keys. The song he was playing was amazing. Ayeka stood in the doorway, watching Tenchi and listening to the tune. She was so caught up by it that she hardly noticed when it ended, and Tenchi turned round to look at her.
"Tenchi, that was beautiful!" Ayeka said.
"Thanks," Tenchi replied.
"What was the theme?" Ayeka asked.
"No theme," Tenchi replied, getting up. "I was just thinking, and the song came into my head."
"What were you thinking about?"
"You," Tenchi replied. "Only you."
Ayeka tuned slightly, blushing. Tenchi smiled and walked up to the violin. "Want to listen?" he asked.
Ayeka didn't refuse, and sat down on the piano stool, while Tenchi started playing the violin. This tune was a well-known Earth one, being 'In the Hall of the Mountain King'. It didn't sound quite as good as it would have with the backing instruments, but it was a good rendition nonetheless. Ayeka listened as the song went on, enveloped in the music. Tenchi noticed this and smiled, as he continued to play.
Once the song had finished, Tenchi packed away the violin. Ayeka sat with her eyes closed, remembering the song. Tenchi went and picked up the flute, before sitting down in front of the princess on another chair.
Ayeka opened her eyes slowly, to see Tenchi looking at her, a smile of amusement on his face. "Wha, what it is?" she asked.
Tenchi shook his head. "Oh, nothing," he replied. He waved the flute at Ayeka. "Tell you what. Would you like to listen to a really good tune?"
"Of course," Ayeka replied.
"Right," Tenchi nodded. "Hold this please." He gave Ayeka the flute, and stood up. "Now, this is a little-known technique called Multiform. It allows me to create copies of myself, all identical to me in every way. I'm going to make four of me."
Ayeka gasped, as if to say something, but Tenchi had begun the technique. His body began to fade out, and split, as if four overlapping images of Tenchi were separating. Once they had completely split from each other, they all faded back in until they were normal.
Ayeka gasped again, shocked at what she had just witnessed. One of the Tenchi's went over to the drums and sat down on the stool, preparing to play. Another went over to the electric guitar and picked it up. The last two approached Ayeka.
"Excuse me, Ayeka," one of them said, "but I need to use the piano. Would you mind getting up?"
"Don't worry, Ayeka," the other Tenchi said. "We're all Tenchi, remember? There's no original. We're all a part of Tenchi, although we do each have separate minds. Now, may I have the flute?"
Ayeka handed it over silently.
"Thanks," the flute-playing Tenchi said.
"Now, this is a tune I really like," the Tenchi at the drums said.
"It's actually from an animé series called Neon Genesis Evangelion," the one with the guitar said. "It's the theme tune for one of the characters."
"I like it because it's so uplifting and cheery," the Tenchi at the piano said.
"Wha, what?" Ayeka stammered.
"Sorry," flute Tenchi said. "I think I'll do all the talking from now on. You see, we have a mental connection with each other, so we have a tendency to complete what the other is saying. Look, if it bothers you we can go back to being one."
Ayeka shook her head. "I want to hear this tune," she said. "But how will you become one again?"
"It's just a simple fusion, or polymerisation," Tenchi said. "None of us mind at all, but normally if you want to fuse with someone, both of you have to agree, or it won't work. Anyway, the tune."
The flute-bearing Tenchi raised the flute to his lips and began to play it, along with the piano Tenchi. The others joined in shortly afterwards, while Ayeka sat on a chair and watched them all play 'Misato'. It really was an uplifting tune.
Aki walked in while they were playing. He was surprised at first of the four Tenchi's, but he realised that he was using the Multiform technique he had heard about. He sat down and listened to them play.
The Tenchi's finished and put away their various instruments, before moving to the middle of the room.
"Fusion," the drums Tenchi said.
"Ha!" they all called. They all glowed a bright blue, before merging into one form. The glowing stopped, and one Tenchi remained. He walked towards an empty chair and sat down.
"I tell you," Tenchi said. "It may be good to be able to do that, but you can't have a half decent conversation with yourselves at all."
"That was good, Ten," Aki said.
"Thanks," Tenchi replied. "Although I didn't write it. I am merely the player, performing the work written before me by the composer."
"Very philosophical, Tenchi," Aki said.
"Isn't it, though?" Tenchi replied.
"I've heard that the Multiform technique is very difficult to master," Aki said. "But I guess that God can do it, no trouble."
"I'm not God any more," Tenchi replied. "Forgotten?"
"But you will be soon, right?" Ayeka asked. "The rest of the DragonBalls will appear within the next several months, right?"
"Course they will," Aki said. "Think about it. Tenchi created them, or will create them, or whatever. I've not known Tenchi to ever lie, so they're going to appear."
"I just hope I manage to get them when they do come," Tenchi replied.
"Hope nothing," Aki replied. "I'm sure you'll get them. I mean, what good's a Universe with no God?"
"It's a Multiverse, Aki," Tenchi said. "Several Universes, all a part of one big whole."
"Come on, with all this knowing more than everyone else," Aki said. "You're in danger of becoming one big hole yourself."
Tenchi narrowed his eyes at Aki. "Okay, Masaki," he said. "Everyone's got a special feature, something that singles them out from everyone else. Mine's being God, apparently. What's yours?"
"First undead guy?" Aki suggested. "First Super Saiyan? First Hyper Saiyan? Most powerful clone? Best God look-alike?"
"Alright then," Tenchi said. "What would you say was yours, Ayeka?"
"I have no idea," Ayeka replied. "I can't think of anything that's special to me. Well, I can, but it's you."
"Oh, I know," Tenchi said. "You are the first person to kiss God. That's right, as far as I can remember."
"Am I really?" Ayeka asked.
"But I thought you two met only a year ago?" Aki asked.
"So?" Tenchi said. "We've only known each other twelve months. What's your point?"
"You've never kissed anyone your entire life before Ayeka here?" Aki asked.
"Again, so? How many people have you kissed over your life so far?"
Aki paused to think. "Oh. Hadn't thought of that."
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In the next episode of Supplement DB:
There's a lot less talk about kissing and other related topics in "And Then You Get to Burning". Instead, the author thought it was about time for a heat wave. This can only mean one thing: less clothing. It's an exciting episode, coming soon to a computer screen in front of you.