Tenchi Muyo:
"Making a Name for Herself"
A Fanfic by Chronos
"Maybe this door…" Noboyuki speculated, opening yet another door in Washu's lab.
A green monster that seemed to consist of nothing but a huge razor-toothed mouth and a horde of tentacles with mouths on their ends was waiting on the other side. With a hungry screech, the tentacles shot forward at Noboyuki. Luckily, Noboyuki's reflexes were just as fast, and he slammed the door on them. (Literally—one or two tentacles were caught in the door, and now hung lifelessly from the crack of the doorway.)
"No, not that one… Maybe this one?"
…
"Dad? Dad, where are you?!" Tenchi called into another room of the house. Could we have left him on Jurai? he wondered. I'd hate to think we were all that forgetful—but stranger things have happened!
Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by an alarm sounding. "What the…?"
He followed the sound of the alarm out of the house and into the Yagami's cargo hold, where the lights were flashing red. That can't be good! …What do I do?! The girls are all still in the hot-tub bathroom!
He ran back into the house, and up to the door to the girls' bathroom. He rapped on the door, then when that got no response, knocked harder. "Kiyone! Mihoshi! Anyone!" Still no answer. Now what?
"It's no use, they can't hear you," Azaka said, coming up behind him.
"Azaka! That alarm—what does it mean? And what are we going to do about it?"
"I don't know what it's for—but Kamidake is heading to the bridge to find out. However, perhaps you should go up there too, to assist him."
"What good will I be? I don't know a thing about space-ships!"
"True, but you do have hands, something Kamidake and I lack."
"Oh, right."
…
"So, what's the problem?" Tenchi asked Kamidake when he reached the bridge.
"Long range sensors detect a vessel approaching at a rapid rate."
"What kind of ship?"
"A Galzorg-300."
"I mean, where's it from? Who's piloting it? You know, that sort of thing?"
"Ah. Unknown: the ship carries no identification markings, and the Galzorg-300 is commercially available in most galactic markets."
"So, what do we do?"
"I am not certain—usually that would be a decision for the ship's captain—Kiyone, in this instance."
"Oh, great."
…
Tenchi knocked on the door of the bathroom again. When there was still no response, he took a deep breath. I guess there's no other option… He grasped the handle, turned it, and opened the door a crack. "Kiyone!" Tenchi called in.
"Tenchi?!" she responded in surprise.
Just then, the door was jerked open a few more inches, and Tenchi found himself staring through the doorway at Ayeka—who was wearing a vacant, wide-eyed smile, and nothing else. "Hello, Lord Tenchi. Come to join us?" The last was said in a seductive voice.
Tenchi's face got red, and a drop of blood escaped his nose.
"What is it, Tenchi?" Kiyone said in a concerned tone, pulling a towel tight around her as she came up behind Ayeka.
"What do you want?!" Ayeka said, turning to look at Kiyone.
Tenchi shook his head to clear it, then looked over Ayeka's shoulder at Kiyone. "There was an alarm… Kamidake says a ship's coming, but he can't identify it. We thought we should tell you."
"Right. Thanks." Kiyone grabbed her clothes, pushed Ayeka out of the way, stepped by Tenchi, and ran out of the house.
"How rude! Now wear were we?" Ayeka grabbed Tenchi by the shirt, and began pulling him into the room.
They were both knocked down when Mihoshi barged by, calling, "Wait for me, Kiyone!"
Sasami commented, "She forgot her clothes!"
Meanwhile, Tenchi had quickly removed himself from Ayeka (upon whom he had fallen), and was backing away from her, his face so deep a red, you could barely see the blood flowing out of his nose.
"What's the matter, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka asked, puzzled, as she got up.
"Well, what do you expect?" Washu commented. "He doesn't get to see naked women all that often, after all."
"Naked…?" Ayeka looked down at herself, and began to blush deeply, herself. "Oh, my…!" She stepped back, trying to cover herself, then teleported out of there.
For a moment, all was silent. Then Tenchi gave a nervous laugh, and told Sasami, Washu, and Ryo-Ohki, "I-I'll just let you finish your bath…" He quickly darted through the door, closing it behind him.
…
Kiyone was just buttoning up her vest when Mihoshi came in.
"So, what's the matter?" Mihoshi asked, looking over Kiyone's shoulder at the console.
Not bothering to look up, Kiyone responded, "Got a custom job here—looks like a Galzorg, but she's fast… and powerful, too, if the readings I'm getting on their weapons are any indication. I sure hope we don't have to tangle with them…"
Kiyone flipped a switch on the console. "This is the Galaxy Police Ship Yagami. Please identify yourself."
A voice came over the speaker, slightly fuzzy. "Well, hello there, Police Ship Yagami," a man's voice said. "And might I enquire as to your name, Lady? You got a mighty fine voice there, if yer don't mind me sayin'."
"Look, are you going to identify yourself, or not? I don't like having an unidentified ship on an intercept course with my ship."
"Sorry, sorry. Entirely understandable. Don't know what I was thinkin'." Suddenly, a picture showed up on the communication screen. The man had long blonde hair and a thin, rugged face and body. He wore a yellow overcoat and matching cowboy hat, and had a winning smile. "My name's Captain Sean Jonesworthy, but you can just call me 'Captain Killer'."
"Oh no…" Kiyone whispered.
"What?" Mihoshi asked.
Meanwhile, the "Captain" continued, "And as for my ship, why…" There were a series of small explosions on the ship's hull, and the nondescript gray plating blew off to reveal a tan hull with ragged red stripes across it. "Why, this here's the Galaxy famous Pirate Ship, Blood Nova!"
Kiyone swore.
"What is it, Kiyone? What's wrong?" Mihoshi asked, leaning over the chair farther to get a better look.
"Woo-ee," Captain Killer said, "That's a mighty fine gal y'all got there! Does she always dress up so fancy, or did she do it just for me?"
Kiyone blinked. "What?" She looked up at Mihoshi. "Eeyaah! Mihoshi, what are you doing?! Why didn't you put your clothes on before you came up here?!"
"My… clothes…? …--Oops! I forgot!"
Kiyone shook her head and moaned.
Still maintaining his smile, Captain Killer said, "Now, ladies, I'll have to ask you to power down your weapons and shields and prepare to be boarded. Don't give us any trouble, and we won't do you any harm. …Otherwise… We'll have to get nasty…"
Kiyone countered fiercely, "You're telling us to surrender?! In case you've forgotten, we're the Police! Captain Killer, you're under arrest for interstellar piracy and mass murder!"
"Well, you see, that's where I'd have to disagree. See, the only law I follow says, 'the strong make the rules'—and I'm figurin' that my ships the stronger one, here. Care to try and prove me wrong?"
Kiyone gulped. Hitting the mute button, she turned to Mihoshi, and said, "Go get Ryo-Ohki! We're going to need her firepower for this one."
"You think so? I mean, they're just pirates…"
"Yeah, they're pirates—just like Ryoko used to be a pirate! And from what I've heard from headquarters, they're almost as nasty as Ryoko was. We can't afford to underestimate them!"
"If you say so, Kiyone…"
"And while you're at it, put on some clothes!"
…
In her room, Ayeka fumed. How could you, Ryoko?!
What are you talking about? I didn't do anything.
Oh yes you did! You—You spurred me on when I thought about going to greet Tenchi…
Yeah, so?
And… And, you—You forgot to put our towel back on.
I? I forgot? Ayeka, you were in control of our body when we ran over to greet him.
Y-yes, but… You should have reminded me! And furthermore, it's not our body, it's my body!
Ours, yours, whatever. It all amounts to the same thing right now. And I don't see why you're upset. It's not like you'll get blamed for being 'improper'—everyone'll assume I made you do it.
Oh… Oh, yes… I hadn't thought of that…
And really, what the big deal about Tenchi seeing your body? Unless you're ashamed of it…
Ashamed?! Ashamed?! I'll show you ashamed, Miss Ryoko!
…
Sasami, Washu, and Ryo-Ohki had just gotten out of the bathroom when Mihoshi showed up and grabbed Ryo-Ohki, and her own clothes.
"Myow!!!"
"We need you, Ryo-Ohki, to save us all!"
"Myow?"
"Yes, you can have as many carrots as you want when you're done."
"Myow!"
…
The first exchange of fire proved little—the shields of the two ships blocked anything their opponent fired. The ships began maneuvering for position, and firing some of their more powerful weapons at each other.
…
The ash-covered Ayeka stumbled to the washing area of the bathroom. "We have got to stop fighting each other while in the same body!" she commented wearily.
After she'd washed up, she made her way to the pool, and eased herself into the hot water.
As she laid her head back and relaxed, she thought-spoke, Ryoko, I've been thinking…
There's a change!
Ha ha. Very funny. I could say the same thing for you, you know.
…Yeah, I suppose you could, at that. So what were you thinking?
Ayeka had to pause to take in the fact that Ryoko had been (relatively) polite. Then she continued on, a little less nervous. Well… You see… It's becoming quite obvious I can't act my normal self, so long as I must share my body with you…
Yeah, we discussed this on Jurai! Unless you're still upset about earlier, which, I've already said, I had nothing to do with!
You did so! You distinctly said, 'Go for it, Ayeka'. And--
--Wait a second! You heard that?! But I only thought that! I barely even put it into words in my mind—I certainly didn't 'send' those words to you!
That is not all. In addition, I could feel your eagerness to be with Lord Tenchi. It was so strong… and I felt quite similarly…
You… felt my emotions?
…Yes… This is not the first time. Even as early as the first day we were together—I mean, the first day in which… that is, the day Washu bonded your gems to me… I started to feel unfamiliar emotions—emotions that could only be yours.
…Now that you mention it, I think I might have caught some of your thoughts and emotions every once in a while, too… Any way, you were saying?
Er… yes… Oh! About earlier—it was because we both wanted to see Tenchi—Lord Tenchi—I… I acted without thinking. That is why I did not think to cover myself, until Washu reminded me…
Wow… So, you weren't just shifting the blame when you said I made you do it—it really was because of me…
Partially… And yet, it is unfair of me to blame you. She put her hand to her head. I see now that you did not mean to affect me so—It must be the bonding. It's far more complete than I ever imagined it would be...
I guess Washu didn't know we had so much in common, Ryoko thought-spoke with a smile.
Indeed. I doubt any of us knew… But this brings us to my point. We are quite similar, and we are in the same body. We also are starting to act in a manner different from what either of us would act alone—different even from how we would act if we were simply taking turns.
You think? 'Cause what we did earlier—what you did—I did something similar, before.
I remember, Ayeka thought-spoke dryly. But that was in your own body. Would you really have been so eager to show off my body to him, when yours isn't around for him to compare it to?
…You… have a point. …So, I'm starting to rub off on you. So what?
I suspect it's a little more than that. In any case, my point is, with so much in common, and so many connections between us, it seems futile to try and maintain the illusion that we are completely separate individuals.
I'm not sure I get what you're saying… I mean, it's obvious we only have one body right now… And you stopped trying to pretend I wasn't in here… What more do you have in mind? –I'm definitely not interested in merging completely with you, if that's what you're saying!
Merge?! Of course not. I'm simply saying, we've been trying to keep everyone else informed as to which of us is in control at which moment. However, if we are going to continue to act in ways neither of us would do on her own… Well, it was getting to be quite a chore as it was. Perhaps we should just accept that the others shall see us as one, for now…
Oh, is that all you meant? Sure, why not? Be a lot easier than trying to get everyone to see the great space pirate Ryoko in the Queen of Jurai's face.
And also easier than trying to convince the others I'm still Queen Ayeka, when I'm not acting that way…
So, now, I guess we only need one thing.
And what would that be, Miss Ryoko?
Simple, Your Majesty—a new name!
…
"Myow!"
In ship form, Ryo-Ohki launched into space and joined the battle. In response, the Blood Nova launched several small fighter-craft. They were no match for Ryo-Ohki in firepower, but they were enough to keep her busy while the Blood Nova continued to bombard the Yagami.
"Damn it!" Kiyone swore, her fingers flying across the control panel as she tried to keep the shields from failing. She risked glancing up, to check on Ryo-Ohki's situation. "Why can't she beat them?! Those ships should be easy for her!"
Mihoshi speculated, "I guess she can't fight as well without Ryoko to guide her…"
Kiyone scowled. "Unfortunately, we don't have Ryoko. The closest we have to her is Ayeka…" She flipped a switch. "Ayeka! Ryoko! We need you to pilot Ryo-Ohki, so she can stop these space pirates!"
Just then, the ship shook violently, knocking Mihoshi and Kiyone out of their seats, and a large explosion was heard. As Kiyone pulled herself up, she scanned the controls. "…That's it. Our shields are dead. Unless we can turn this situation around in the next minute or two, we're at their mercy…"
Kiyone strapped herself in, as the ship began being rocked violently by the Blood Nova's blasts. "Mihoshi! Return fire!"
"I will as soon as I can get to the controls!" Mihoshi said, as she stumbled around, trying to make it to her seat. Meanwhile, Kiyone tried to steer the ship clear of the worst of the blasts.
…
With Ryoko's abilities of phasing and teleportation, it only took Ayeka a couple of seconds to put on Ryoko's normal Space Pirate outfit (white tunic and skirt over red spandex), and a couple more to teleport to Ryo-Ohki's bridge.
"Ryo-Ohki! Status report!" Ayeka and Ryoko said in a commanding voice.
"Meow? …Meow!"
"What?!"
"Yow…"
Ayeka and Ryoko scowled. "Damn."
…
One last explosion rocked the Yagami, then the lights, guns, and engines all died.
Kiyone announced gloomily. "We're dead in the water."
…
The telepathic link between Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki completely open, Ryoko, Ryo-Ohki, and Ayeka were one. The crystalline vessel zoomed through space, performing amazing daredevil maneuvers, and tearing the enemy fighters to pieces.
But, it was too late. Not only was the Yagami out of the fight, but Ryo-Ohki had sustained too much damage before Ayeka had arrived.
All but three of the enemy fighters had been destroyed, but now the Blood Nova began firing. Ryo-Ohki dodged several of the blasts, but one hit Ryo-Ohki head on, stunning her, and a second one shot through one of her crystal blades, breaking it off near the base.
Inside, Ayeka and Ryoko sighed, and broke the link with Ryo-Ohki. "That's all you can do, old friend. Play dead for now—we don't want to see you hurt any worse."
"Meow!" Ryo-Ohki protested.
"Don't worry. This isn't over yet. …We'll be back, we promise." And with that, Ryoko and Ayeka teleported away.
"Me-oww…" Ryo-Ohki mewed mournfully.
…
"Sure is hot and humid in here," Noboyuki commented to himself, as he walked through a sweltering jungle. "Funny, normally, I'd expect a place that Washu's lab is connected to to be really dangerous. But I haven't run into any trouble yet—there aren't even any bugs here!" He began looking around fearfully. "—Which means the worst danger is probably right around the corner!"
…
Kiyone, Mihoshi, Tenchi, Azaka, Kamidake, Sasami, and Washu had all gathered at the Yagami's main entrance hatch.
Just then, the sound of a connection-tube latching onto the ship told them they were about to have… company…
"Alright, Mihoshi, Tenchi, weapons at the ready," Kiyone announced, pulling out her gun, and assuming a battle stance.
"We shall be ready to attack, too!" Azaka and Kamidake chimed in.
"And so will we!" Sasami added.
"No we won't," Washu said, grabbing her. "We should go wait in my lab, until it's safe."
"But…"
Tenchi told her, "Washu's right. I know you want to help, but we don't want to see you get hurt. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
"Oh… alright…"
Washu led Sasami away.
The two seemingly young girls had just gotten out of sight, when the door to the Yagami was forced open.
Mist from the connection-tube, seen in the dim emergency lighting of the ship, made the anonymous pirate soldiers who now stepped in, guns in hand, and blast-shielded helmets hiding their faces, seem all the more imposing…
"Halt!" Azaka announced. "Do not come any further, or we will fire."
The pirates laughed mockingly. "A pair of logs is telling us to halt…! --Get 'em!"
The pirates began firing, but their blasts did little harm to the Guardians, unlike the Guardians' fire, which quickly felled five pirates.
The battle now joined, an endless stream of pirates began pouring out of the tube. A couple had energy-rifles, which were much more effective against the Juraian automatons than their counterparts' guns had been. However, now Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Tenchi joined in the fight, littering the floor with pirate bodies.
One pirate retreated back into the tube, and contacted the Captain.
…
On the Blood Nova's bridge, Captain Killer was furious at his lieutenant's report. "What?! How could they possibly be beating my men so easily?! It's downright humiliatin'! …Well, can't let that stand—no siree! Gotta show 'em why nobody messes with the great Captain Killer! Lieutenant—tell the men to fall back! We'll send in… the Gladiators!"
"Y—Yes, sir!"
…
"Well, that wasn't so hard," Kamidake commented.
"Yeah…" Kiyone agreed between heavy breaths. "I was expecting far worse…"
Tenchi glanced into the tube, then said, in a worried tone, "Uh, well, I think it's coming, right now!"
Kiyone glanced up, and her eyes boggled. "W-What--? N-no! I-it can't be!"
"Oh, nice costumes," Mihoshi commented.
…
Pushing through a wall of vegetation, Noboyuki found himself in a large clearing. Though the area was filled with a steam-like fog, he could make out ancient stone ruins.
"Where am I now?!"
Soon, he was walking on paved stone, broken yet still elegant columns scattered about, as if at random. There were also areas of dirt, where ferns and palm-trees grew.
Then, ahead of him, he began to make out a large shape through the mist. Before long, he could see that it was a floating island, hovering a few feet off the ground. Water poured off the islands at several points, landing in pools of water that emptied into small channels, a few feet across, which in turn flowed into what seemed to be a natural stream, though the ground was paved to either side of it's erratic, rock-strewn course.
Realizing that he was incredibly thirsty, Noboyuki bent down and stuck his hand in the water. To his surprise, it was even warmer than the air—rather hot, in fact, though not enough to be painful. He cupped his hands and brought some of the water to his mouth. It was sweet and refreshing, like nothing he'd ever tasted before.
"Wow, it's like Washu found some kind of paradise, or something…!"
…
Six warriors stepped out, into the Yagami. They wore golden-bronze armor, with horned helmets, and round metal shields two feet across.
Each warrior had a different weapon. One carried a battle-axe. One carried a bronze sword. One had a mace. Yet another carried a spear with a jagged blade, and the fifth one carried a plasma rifle. As for the sixth, he carried no weapon, but upon his right hand was metal gauntlet.
"Uh, aren't those weapons a little… low tech?" Tenchi wondered. Just then, the shields all began glowing blue, and the weapons various shades of green. The sword even burst into flame. "Oh, never mind."
"ATTACK!" the gauntleted warrior commanded.
The axe-bearer charged at Tenchi, swinging his axe wildly. Tenchi defended himself with his namesake sword, then began searching for an opening to counterattack.
Meanwhile, Azaka and Kamidake were firing at the sword-bearer and the mace-bearer. The warriors simply blocked the Guardians' blasts with their shields, and charged in for their own attack.
Mihoshi and Kiyone took cover behind a shielded metal crate, and started exchanging fire with the rifle-warrior. However, unnoticed, the spear warrior began sneaking around, to attack the police officers from close range.
As for the gauntleted gladiator, he just watched everything in amusement.
Tenchi swung his sword hard at the axe warrior, but the warrior blocked it with his shield. However, Tenchi noticed that the shield was not holding up to the attack very well. Pushing with all his strength, and fortifying the blade with some of his spiritual energy, he began to cut through the shield. So unprepared for this was the warrior, that he just stood there and stared as the shield began to spark. Finally, the blade burst through, just below the warrior's arm, and the light of the shield went out.
The axe warrior backed away from Tenchi in terror. Not wanting to take any chances, Tenchi rushed in and swung at the axe, knocking it out of the warrior's hands. Tenchi then rapped the pommel of Sword Tenchi on the guy's helmet, knocking the guy out.
At just that moment, there was a loud smash, as the sword-bearer slashed through Kamidake's wooden exterior, damaging the Guardian's internal mechanisms.
Azaka cried out, "No! Kamidake!"
The mace-bearer swung his mace at Azaka, but Azaka just barely dodged it. The guardian then flashed his eye in anger, and opened up, revealing his internal arsenal. The mace warrior's eyebrow twitched, then Azaka fired a barrage of a dozen missiles at once.
The room was engulfed in flame and smoke, and when it cleared, the mace warrior was lying by the wall underneath a dent in his shape, charred and missing a few teeth.
Azaka now turned to the sword-bearer, but this warrior was too fast, plunging his sword into Azaka before the Guardian had a chance to react. The Guardian sunk to the floor, inactive, like his counterpart.
"Stop that! How dare you?!" Tenchi snarled, approaching the sword bearer. The warrior sneered at Tenchi, and lunged.
Meanwhile, the spear warrior was standing behind Mihoshi and Kiyone, prepared to strike. Kiyone was too busy shooting at the rifle warrior to notice, while Mihoshi was busy trying to figure out what was wrong with her own weapon.
"Come on! You can't be out of juice—I just put in a new battery a few months ago!"
Hearing this, Kiyone said, "Mihoshi! Standard procedure is to change the batteries once a month!"
"But… we hardly ever use our weapons…!"
"Well, what else could be wrong with it?!" Kiyone replied through clenched teeth.
Ignoring her, Mihoshi went back to fiddling with the gun. "Come on, come on! Why won't you work?!" In frustration, she threw the gun down.
By some random chance, the impact caused the gun to fire one last time, sending out a blast that shot behind Mihoshi, taking out the spear warrior. As he fell to the ground, his spear flew out of his hand, landing in front of Mihoshi.
"Huh? Where did this come from?" Mihoshi wondered, picking the spear up.
Back on the other side of the room, Tenchi was being pushed back against the wall by his opponent. "He's just too good! I'll never win this way. Only one chance…" Tenchi concentrated, and wind began to swirl around him. This caused the sword warrior to raise an eyebrow, but not to let up on his attack. But then, Tenchi glowed, and his clothes changed into the traditional Juraian battle uniform. Tiger stripes appeared on Tenchi's face, and Sword Tenchi grew longer and brighter.
Tenchi smiled and renewed his attack.
Back on the Mihoshi and Kiyone's side of the room, the rifle warrior got lucky.
"Kiyone!!!" Mihoshi cried, as her partner fell to the floor, a blank look on Kiyone' face. "No!!! Speak to me, Kiyone!"
…
Noboyuki walked up the stone steps onto the floating island.
"Oh my, what have we here?"
…
"Mihoshi…" Kiyone murmured, as her partner held her in her arms.
Mihoshi gently put her down, her own face contorting in fury as she did so. She stood up, grasping the glowing spear, and glared at the rifle warrior. "YOU HURT KIYONE!!!"
A sweat drop appeared on the rifle warrior's head.
Mihoshi charged at the rifle warrior, screaming. The warrior tried to take her out, firing directly into her path, but Mihoshi simply knocked the blasts aside with the spear.
And then, she was right in front of him. One swing of the spear cut his rifle in two, and a second cracked his armor and sent him flying into the wall, where he fell, unconscious, by the mace warrior.
Several sweat drops appeared on the gauntlet warrior's head.
…
"No! This can't be! A couple of lady cops and some kid with an energy sword are defeatin' my Gladiators?!"
"Tough break, huh?"
Captain Killer spun around, to see Ayeka standing there, still in Ryoko's outfit.
"Who the hell are you, and how in tarnation did you get in here?!"
"Hmm? Who are we?" Ryoko and Ayeka repeated the question. Taking on an airy voice, they answered, "Oh, just a rival space pirate. We teleported in here, not too long ago. Why, did you think you had a defense against that?"
"Wha—but…" he sputtered.
Ryoko/Ayeka smiled in amusement. "Oh, look, he's speechless. How quaint."
Growing angry, Killer pulled out an energy rifle, and pointed it at Ayeka. It began to glow yellow. "Alright, whoever y'all are! I want ya off my bridge, now! Either do it yourself, or I'll do it for you!"
Ayeka/Ryoko's eyes narrowed, but she continued to smile. "Try it," she whispered.
Killer pulled the trigger, and a blast of energy shot from the gun towards her. But, simultaneously, Ayeka's sticks materialized, and formed a force field, which blocked the blast.
Ayeka laughed her trademark hysterical, pseudo-maniacal laugh.
Killer smiled. "Oh, I get it. Yer like them. --More powerful than you look. …That's okay, so am I!"
He tossed his gun aside, and his entire body began glowing yellow. Moments later, two revolvers materialized in his hands. "Alright, lady, round two!" He smiled. "This ought to be fun."
"Wait!"
"Eh? What do you mean, 'wait'?! You givin' up, or somethin'?"
"No, no, nothing like that. We just thought we should change into our battle outfit."
A sweat-drop appeared on Killer's head.
"Don't worry, this won't take long." Ayeka/Ryoko pulled off her white tunic and skirt (assisted by her phasing ability), and her spandex changed from red to red and black, with a tunic akin to that of the traditional Juraian battle suit. The sides of her face turned black, and tiger stripes extended across the remainder of her cheeks and forehead.
She held out her right hand, and a ball of pale purple energy appeared in it. She closed her fist, and the energy transformed into a sword.
…
Tenchi swung his sword with all his might, and this time, the blade passed right through the sword warrior's weapon. The top of the mettle sword fell off, even as Tenchi's blade rose, and halted next to the warrior's neck. The man put his hands up in surrender.
Tenchi lowered his sword, and began to walk past the man, towards Mihoshi, who was currently fighting the guantleted warrior. But then, the sword warrior pulled out a knife and lunged at Tenchi.
Without even needing to turn and look, Tenchi held out his sword hand and rapped the man on the head with Sword Tenchi's pommel. The man fell to the floor, unconscious.
On the other side of the room, the gauntleted warrior grabbed the spear from Mihoshi, and, holding it in both hands, snapped it in two. Mihoshi gulped.
The warrior raised his glowing fist, preparing to pulverize her. Almost faster than the eye could follow, the fist plummeted… only to be stopped in place by a glowing blade.
Mihoshi and the warrior looked, in surprise, to see Tenchi standing there, holding Sword Tenchi between the warrior and Mihoshi.
The warrior swung his fist, backhanded, at Tenchi, but Tenchi leapt out of the way. The warrior charged at Tenchi, and Tenchi assumed a fighting pose. As the warrior neared him, Tenchi leapt forward, sword swinging. Tenchi landed behind the warrior, in perfect form; while the warrior landed face-first and didn't get up.
…
"Ah, this is great!" Noboyuki said, as he relaxed in the hot water of the large, luxurious pool that took up most of the floating island.
…
Captain Killer fired a series of red plasma blasts from his revolvers. Ryoko/Ayeka blocked some with her force field, others with blasts of her own. However, when she fired off blasts directly at Killer, she found that he had his own force field, and even her combined powers weren't enough to break through.
Trying a different strategy, she rushed in at him, swinging her sword. But Killer just held up his hand, temporarily increasing the strength of the shield, right where the blade came in contact with it.
"Ya foolish girl! Now that Ryoko's dead, I'm the number one space pirate in the galaxy. Ain't no-one who can stand in my way!"
Ayeka/Ryoko blinked, and backed off a few feet. "You're the fool, Jonesworthy! Did you really think Kagato's pitiful forces could do me in?""
"What the hell you talkin' 'bout?! An' don't call me Jonesworthy. I like to be called Captain Killer."
Ayeka/Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Pathetic. It doesn't matter what you call yourself, Jonesy-boy, you're still a looser."
"How dare you?!" Killer started firing madly with both guns. "Nobody calls me that these days and lives!"
Ryoko/Ayeka dodged half-heartedly, escaping some of the blasts and blocking others. As the barrage died down, she yawned dramatically. "Is this the best you can do, Jonesy? We thought you might have at least improved a little since the last time we fought… We're starting to think it was a waste of energy to even switch to our battle outfit."
"What are you blaberin' 'bout, lady? I ain't never fought you before!"
"Haven't you? Let us refresh your memory." She vanished, and re-appeared behind him. She put her left hand on his shoulder (making him jump), and her sword to his neck. "Remember this?" she asked. "I believe this is where we were last time, before Nagi interrupted us."
"Wha—b-but… impossible…! You… can't be!"
"Oh, but we are. Do you see now? My old body may have been destroyed, but my spirit lives on. Ryoko the Space Pirate cannot be killed!"
Killer's eyes widened, and he began trembling. "You… you're…"
"Yes?"
Killer elbowed her in the gut, and used the momentary distraction that caused Ayeka/Ryoko to get away from her. He turned to face her, and aimed his guns at her. "Yer crazy, that's what, girl! An' now, I'm gonna put y'all out of yer misery." He pushed his revolvers together, and in a flash of yellow light, they merged into a double-barreled rifle.
He aimed the rifle at her one handed, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Nice meetin' ya, little lady! I look forward ta seein' you again someday—in hell!"
But then, his eyes widened. Ayeka's tiara, and Ryoko's gems, were glowing a bright purple, which shifted to white. "Yes, let us finish this," she said coldly. Her entire body glowed white for a second, and when it faded, she had gained two wings, and one white blade.
"What--?" Killer trembled for a moment, then regained his composure, and fired.
Ayeka spread her wings, and flew forward, her blade held in front of her. She cut through the blast as if it weren't even there, and struck Captain Killer once with the blade. She then flared her wings to break, and landed. A pale blue glow surrounded her, and the wings and blade faded. Then a red glow flickered, and she was back in her red jumpsuit.
Captain Killer fell to the floor, a huge gash running across his chest. Sparks coursed over his body, which jerked and trembled uncontrollably.
As she went over to her white tunic and put it back on, he managed to croak out, "Who—who are you?!"
"We told you, we are Ryoko. Or at least, we posses her soul." She put her hand on her hip, and cocked her head. "But, if you must know, these days, we call ourself… 'Ryeka'…"
Seconds later, black smoke rose from him, only to fade away, letting off an unearthly screech as it went.
Ryeka scowled. "Good riddance."
…
"There you go, Kiyone," Tenchi said, as he finished patching Kiyone up.
"Thanks," Kiyone responded.
Washu, Mihoshi, Kiyone, Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki were all in Washu's lab, gathering themselves after the events of the past hour or so. Tenchi was seeing to those who had been injured, while Washu was busy repairing Azaka and Kamidake.
Kiyone began to head for the door, but she was intercepted by Mihoshi. "Oh, I'm so glad you're all right! I was so worried!"
"Yes, yes, I know. Now would you mind not hugging so hard? I still hurt there a little bit."
"Oh. Sorry."
"…Anyway, I have to go supervise the repairs on the Yagami. (I can't believe Ayeka managed to convince those pirates to fix our ship!)"
"Ryeka, Kiyone. She wants to be called Ryeka now."
"Oh, yeah, right…" Kiyone said, as if it mattered to her.
Sasami chimed in, "Isn't it great that Ayeka and Ryoko finally decided on a new name for themselves?"
"Yeah, it's great, Sasami," Tenchi said with an exaggerated smile, his hand behind his head. (To tell the truth, he didn't really care about Ayeka/Ryoko/Ryeka's name all that much more than Kiyone did. After all, it was the spirit that mattered, not the name or body…)
…
Several hours later, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Ryeka headed into the girls' bathroom.
"We never imagined simply supervising the repairs would be that much work," Ryeka complained.
"Supervising idiots is always work—trust me, I know," Kiyone replied.
They were so preoccupied with their conversation, that they didn't notice until they had almost stepped into the water, that they weren't alone.
"Er… Hello, girls…"
"Noboyuki?!"
…
In the house, Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki winced at the sound of an explosion from the bathroom.
A day or so later, the Yagami was completely repaired. Since Kiyone hadn't been planning on stopping by Galaxy Police Headquarters, it was decided that the pirates would be left on the Blood Nova (which, having been used for spare parts for the Yagami, was now capable of little more than life-support), for the police to pick up later. Kiyone contacted HQ, to let them know. (She made sure the involvement of the Yagami's passengers was kept out of the official record though, as it would be too hard to explain.)
And then, the Yagami continued on, towards Earth.
…
Several days later, a Galaxy Police ship stopped at the wreak of the Blood Nova to pick up its' crew.
"Hard to believe Mihoshi and Kiyone defeated the legendary Captain Killer, and his crew," one of the cops said, as they rounded up the pirates.
"Yeah. To think those two used to be the laughing stock of the Galaxy Police!"
A third officer whispered, "You know what the pirates are saying? That it wasn't Mihoshi and Kiyone who beat Killer. They say it was this new pirate. This monster who styles herself after the Pirate Ryoko. They call her… Ryeka…"
"So, we have everyone?"
"Yes sir. However…"
"What is it, lieutenant?"
"Well… er… we could find no trace of any of the pirate's plunder…"
"Eh?"
In a secret cargo storage area within the ship form of Ryo-Ohki, Ryeka gazed at piles of gold and jewels, and laughed somewhat maniacally…
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Author's note: Sorry for the delay, everybody! For the past few months, I was taking a work-heavy college course… and at the same time was struck by a severe case of laziness… thus leading to my having little time for writing…
I'm done with the course, now, and the laziness has passed, so maybe I can get some good writing in this summer…
By the way, in case anyone is wondering, no, Ryeka isn't evil… at least, no more than Ayeka and Ryoko are on their own!
And, as always, please review!