A Tenchi Muyo Fanfic:
"The Fusion"
By Chronos the Cat
Author's note: The following story takes place in a universe that combines elements of the Tenchi Muyo! OAV series and the Tenchi Muyo! TV series known as "Tenchi Universe". For those who want to know exactly what's happened so far, below you'll find a summary of this version of the Tenchi mythos. For the rest of you, just skip ahead to the next chapter.
How it all began: A summary
Tenchi Masaki lived an ordinary life, until the day a young woman by the name of Ryoko showed up at his door. She said she needed a place to stay for a little while, and Tenchi's house seemed like just what she was looking for. Tenchi was a bit suspicious of this tale, but his father could never resist a beautiful girl, and invited her to stay as long as she'd like.
A few days later things took a far stranger turn, when an alien princess, Ayeka, heir to the throne of the planet Jurai, arrived. She had chased the space pirate Ryoko across the galaxy to recover the "Lightstone," a family heirloom Ryoko had stolen.
Both women boarded their spaceships, and engaged in a high-speed battle in the sky over the Masaki home. In the end, their power proved roughly equal, and as neither would back down, they ended up destroying their ships in the battle. Despite heavy injuries, both women managed to survive, but they were now stranded on Earth…
Ayeka also moved in with Tenchi, and both she and Ryoko began competing for Tenchi's affections.
It wasn't long before Ayeka's younger sister, Sasami, showed up looking for Ayeka. Unfortunately, Ryoko's ship Ryo-Ohki regenerated right around this time, taking the form of a "cabbit" (a cross between a cat and a rabbit) while storing up energy. Although this cabbit was cute and innocent, even now it could change into a small crystalline starship for short lengths of time—enough time for Ryoko and Ayeka, the latter using Sasami's ship, to engage in another aerial battle, once more stranding themselves on Earth. This time, however, they didn't seem to mind their predicament, and luckily, neither did Sasami…
Ryo-Ohki soon regenerated again, and in cabbit form, became close friends with Sasami.
A few weeks later, another starship crash-landed near Tenchi's house. The pilot of this ship was Mihoshi, a bumbling Galaxy Police officer sent to track down Ryoko. However, as she now had no way of taking Ryoko into custody, she instead decided to move in with Tenchi as well.
The next addition to the growing "family" was Washu, a thousands-of-years old mad scientist with the body of a ten-year old girl. She had been imprisoned in a cave nearby, until Ryoko and Ayeka accidentally freed her in another one of their battles. Luckily for the gang, though she was eccentric and egocentric, she wasn't, strictly speaking, evil. She also happened to be Ryoko's mother…
Finally, Mihoshi's partner Kiyone arrived. She and Ayeka teamed up, along with a reluctant Mihoshi, in an attempt to capture Ryoko and bring her to justice. However, Ryoko would do just about anything to stay free. She took the "Lightstone" and absorbed its power, transforming into a supremely powerful "demonic" form.
In her demon form, Ryoko easily defeated her opponents. But the power of the stone was not meant to be used that way, and began to drive her insane. Luckily, Tenchi's grandfather stepped in at that point, using a magical energy sword to defeat Ryoko. The power of the gem broken, Ryoko reverted to her true form.
Much to Tenchi's relief, the gang all recovered, including Ryoko.
Kiyone attempted to convince Mihoshi and Ayeka to help her try to apprehend Ryoko again, but this time they refused. Mihoshi considered Ryoko her friend, and now knowing how much freedom meant to her, would not try to take it away. As for Ayeka, although she had her differences with Ryoko, she wanted to settle those differences herself. The only reason she had teamed up with Kiyone was in hopes of retrieving the Lightstone.
Realizing she couldn't take Ryoko on her own, Kiyone had no choice but to let her go free.
Kiyone contacted headquarters to report that she was unable to capture Ryoko, and that she had located the missing princesses of Jurai. Knowing how powerful Ryoko was, the chief was quite understanding. He told her not to worry about her failure to capture the pirate, and gave her and Mihoshi their next assignment.
Much to Mihoshi's delight, and Kiyone's horror, they had been re-assigned. Their new job was to police Earth's solar system, keeping an eye on Ryoko and the Princesses while they were at it!
…And so, time passed, and the gang had many fun adventures together.
But then, almost a year later, the Juraian military arrived, accusing Ayeka of high treason. It seemed Ayeka's father, the King, had been murdered—and all the evidence pointed to Ayeka! Nor were the others safe—they were assumed to be her accomplices.
The gang (including Tenchi's father and grandfather) managed to escape, and headed to Jurai to clear their names. Before they arrived, however, they were attacked by the Soja, flagship of the new Juraian emperor, Kagato. Kagato knew they weren't responsible for the King's death—he had killed the King himself! He had ordered Ayeka and Sasami arrested so he could eliminate the rest of the royal family and make his ascension to the throne legitimate. But now he saw that he would need to kill Tenchi and his grandfather as well…
Tenchi's grandfather revealed that Kagato spoke the truth. He was Yosho, a powerful warrior from Jurai, and also a member of the royal family. He had given up his claim to the throne and settled on earth several decades ago… but he still possessed the power to defeat a usurper to the throne such as Kagato.
However, Yosho underestimated his opponent. Kagato was the master of terrifying dark powers, and in the battle, Yosho was fatally wounded. With his dying breath, Yosho passed on his magical sword to Tenchi.
One member of the royal house had just fallen; now Kagato set his eyes on another—Tenchi himself. But Ryoko wouldn't stand for this. She attacked Kagato herself, unleashing the powers of the magical gems on her wrists, and achieving a level of power almost as great as when she had used the Lightstone.
It wasn't enough.
Between the attacks of both Yosho and Ryoko, Kagato had been badly injured, and was forced to retreat. However, before he did so, he wounded Ryoko severely, and took Ayeka hostage.
Tenchi vowed to rescue her, and, despite being badly injured and not particularly liking Ayeka, Ryoko vowed to help him.
And so, the gang headed to Jurai for the final confrontation. Kiyone, Mihoshi, Sasami, and Washu, in Kiyone's ship, held off the Juraian military while Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki brought Tenchi to the palace.
Her strength having reached its' limit, Ryoko feigned the loss of her altruism instead. She wished Tenchi luck, then took Ryo-Ohki back into space, presumably to join in the battle still raging up there.
Tenchi met no resistance inside the palace—why should Kagato use guards when Kagato himself was far more powerful than any guards he could ever find?
When Tenchi reached the throne room, he found Kagato waiting for him, Ayeka still imprisoned, but thankfully unharmed.
After exchanging pleasantries and threats, Tenchi and Kagato pulled out and activated their swords and prepared for battle.
As one, the two combatants hurled themselves at each other, slashing with their swords, their movements too fast for human eyes to follow.
And when it was done, it was Kagato who fell.
Tenchi freed Ayeka, and she contacted those members of the government and military still loyal to her. With the knowledge that Kagato was dead, the fight went out of his forces, and before long, order was restored to the planet.
Mere weeks later, the population celebrated the coronation of their new monarch, Queen Ayeka.
But the Queen herself could not enjoy the celebration—nor could Tenchi, or any of the others who had traveled with him. Too much had been lost to get this far. Ayeka and Sasami had lost their parents… Tenchi had lost his grandfather… and… Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki had not been seen since they departed the palace during the final battle…
Searches were made for the reformed space pirate, but no trace could be found…
Tenchi and his father stayed with Ayeka and Sasami at the palace for a few more weeks, but soon became homesick. When it became apparent Ryoko wasn't coming back, they decided to return to Earth. Kiyone and Mihoshi escorted them back, and resumed their duties at the Solar System's protectors.
Tired of imposing upon Tenchi, Kiyone moved to Tokyo, taking Mihoshi with her; and Tenchi's life settled back into its normal flow…
But… Tenchi knew life could never be the same after all this. His house, which had once seemed just the right size for a teenage boy and his widower father, now seemed large and empty. His grandfather was gone. And every part of the house, every rock and tree in the surrounding countryside, held memories of those crazy, endlessly frustrating, wonderful days when he'd been host to a mix-matched gang of women from the stars…
Little did he know, his wild adventures were far from over…
Whew! Well, now that we've got that over with, it's time for the main event!