Galaxy 1001D presents:
Washustein; or the Modern Mad Scientist
Starring Washu Hakubi as Doctor Washu Fitzgerald von Washustein
Tenchi Masaki as Tenchi Mancini
Mihoshi Kuramitsu as Mihoshi Gerstell
Aeka Masaki Jurai as Ayeka Jurai
Sasami Masaki Jurai as Sasami Jurai
Tenchi Muyo and all related characters are © AIC/Pioneer/Genon/Funimation. This story is written solely for entertainment and is not intended to make a profit in any way.
Based on "Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus" created by Mary Shelly
And "Tenchi Muyo" created by Masaki Kajishima
Chapter Five: God's Domain
It was a dark and stormy night. No really this time! It really was! The angry storm clouds hid the moon from view and only flashes of lightning illuminated the darkness. In her underground laboratory, the insane genius Doctor Washu von Washustein cackled like the crackpot she was. "Ha-ha-ha!" she gloated next to a large tank of murky water. "Soon my creation will be finished! They said I was mad! They said I was crazy! They said it couldn't be done! But soon! Soon my creation will be finished!"
In a burst of frantic energy, Washu turned and left her lab in order to sprint up the stairs. She passed the ground floor and continued upwards until she came to a window at the top of a tower. "Ha-ha-ha! Give me your fury, you jealous gods! There is no point having a tizzy-fit; soon there shall be another among you! The name of Washu von Washustein shall live forever!"
As the wind blew in through the window, Washu frowned and looked at her pocket watch. "It's been over an hour. How long does it take for that idiot to come back with a brain anyhow?"
At that moment, the door from the stairs opened and standing in the doorway was a disheveled Mihoshi Gerstell. In her hands she was carrying a large jar containing a human brain floating in an amber fluid. "I have returned with what you asked for master!" she said with a fanaticism nearly matching that of Washu herself. "I have brought you a living brain!"
"Excellent, Mihoshi," Washu smiled. "Now I'm ready for my next experiment after I finish this one."
"Your next experiment?" asked a puzzled Mihoshi. "Don't you need a human brain to finish this one? I mean, don't you need a brain to complete your homemade human being or something?"
"Oh no," Washu shook her head. "That brain is for you. You seem real stupid so I want to see if putting new brain in your head would make you any smarter. It couldn't hurt."
"What?" gasped the horrified blonde.
"See?" Washu shrugged as she walked past her quivering servant. "You're so dumb you don't even understand the words I'm saying right now. Having a new brain in your skull will be a welcome change."
"Uh…" Mihoshi stared helplessly at the brain she was carrying as Washu left the room. "Oops!" she said as she threw the jar of brain out the window. "I dropped it! Clumsy me! I really gotta be more careful!" she said with exaggerated innocence. She trotted over to the window and closed and shuttered it against the storm. Then she turned and ran out the door.
Mihoshi was descending the stairs to follow her mistress down to the lab in the cellar, when she heard the chime of a bell. "Oh my! I better go see who's at the door!"
Down in her underground lab Washu was positioning lamps around a large tank of murky fluid in order to illuminate the human form submerged within. "Soon… Soon my darling you shall know life…" the obsessed redhead cooed.
It was then the door burst open to reveal Mihoshi trying to hold back a number of struggling figures. "I'm sorry, master, but they forced themselves in! I tried to… yah! Get back here!"
The first figure to get past Mihoshi was Tenchi Mancini. "Washu!" he shouted. "So there you are!"
"Tenchi!" Washu cried as she spread her arms and ran over to embrace him. "You naughty boy! I knew you'd come back to me! I just knew it!"
"Washu," Tenchi grunted as he pried Washu off him. "I haven't come back to you. I came here because of what you did to Ayeka and Sasami. What did you do to them?"
"What?" Washu looked at the door to see Sasami and Ryo-ohki slip past the struggling Ayeka and Mihoshi. Sasami's eyes were an unnatural pink.
Ayeka's eyes were as red as rubies and were flashing in anger. "Get… off of me!" she ordered as she struggled with the taller Mihoshi. "Let go of me this instant! I command you!"
"Give it up Mihoshi," Washu ordered. "As long as they're here they can witness my greatest triumph."
"Doctor Washustein!" Ayeka roared. "Look at my eyes! They're the color of merlot! What have you done to me?"
"Why Lady Ayeka, I don't know what you are talking about," Washu smiled coyly.
"You fiend!" Ayeka cried as she lunged towards the little scientist. "You'll pay for this!"
Mihoshi grabbed the frothing Ayeka from behind and slowly pulled her back. "Now Miss Ayeka, you have to calm down!"
"Don't try to lie to us Washu; we all know it was you," Tenchi said testily. "You're the only one who could have done it. I understand doing things to Ayeka, but why did you have to include Sasami too? Her eyes are as pink as an albino rabbit's!"
"It's true," Sasami nodded. "Today my governess called me her blue bunny!"
"Well, after the hair incident, Sasami should know better than to share meals with her sister," Washu huffed.
"Washu!" Tenchi gasped. "You're not even sorry!"
"Of course I'm not sorry!" declared a teary-eyed Washu. "I had Mihoshi put the formula into their food as soon as I heard about your engagement to Ayeka! Do you think I like having you break my heart this way?"
"Leave Ayeka and Sasami out of this!" Tenchi ordered. "If you have a problem with my decisions, come at me! Don't get them involved!"
"You scoundrel! I'm going to kill you!" Ayeka screeched as she struggled with Mihoshi. "I'm going to tear you apart with my bare hands!"
"I've had enough of this!" Washu turned and walked to a nearby desk. She opened a drawer and pulled out a pistol. She cocked the hammer back and fired a shot at the ceiling. "Calm down and keep still all of you!" she ordered. "I can't hear myself think here!"
The shot rendered everyone speechless. Even Ayeka kept still.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the .28 caliber 1836 Colt Paterson revolving pistol, the first handgun to feature multiple chambers aligned with a single stationary barrel." Washu said while thumbing the hammer back, causing the cylinder to rotate enough to align a fresh chamber. "It can hold a maximum of five shots and thanks to its rifled barrel it is very accurate. Although considered too fragile for the military I find it perfect for use in a secure and sterile lab."
"W-Washu," Tenchi stammered in fear. "Why do you even keep that thing around for?"
"I like to keep a gun handy in case any of my creations get out of control," Washu replied breezily. "It is also equally useful in case any of my houseguests get out of control. You going to calm down, Ayeka?"
"Y-yes," the purple-haired aristocrat nodded.
"Good, now allow me to show you my latest invention…" Washu stopped when she noticed the little brown rabbit-thing perched on top of Sasami's head. "Hey is that my Ryo-ohki?"
"What?" Sasami looked behind her. "What are you talking about?"
"Ryo-ohki!" Washu pointed at the cabbit on top of her head. "The little cat-rabbit I created almost a month ago! It's been missing all week! So that's were it's been! You stole her!"
"I'm sorry," Sasami took Ryo-ohki off her head and gazed at the little furball fondly. "We didn't know it was yours. We thought that we had discovered a new type of animal. She sure is cute isn't she?"
"Yeah-yeah," Washu said as she gestured with her gun. "The point is that's my creation. Hand it over."
Sasami leaned over and opened her hands to let Ryo-ohki down, but the little cabbit refused to hop out of the child's hands. It hugged Sasami sadly. "Meow! Meow!" it whined pitifully.
"Don't give me that!" Washu sneered. "I created you! Get over here!"
"Mew," it whined, but it didn't move.
"Fine," Washu grunted as she put her revolver in her belt. "I was finished with you anyway. Sasami, Ryo-ohki's yours if you want her."
"Oh!" Sasami brightened up. "Thank you!"
So cheerful was Sasami's innocent face that Washu was unnerved for an instant. "Uh… yeah. As I was saying, you have arrived in time to witness my greatest creation! My earlier experiments were with animals but now I am ready to unveil my latest triumph! A human being!"
"What?" Tenchi gasped. "You've done it? You've finally done it?"
"Yes my darling," Washu smirked. "You left me because you thought I was crazy, but now I shall prove to you I know what I'm doing. It is time to bring my creation to life!"
"No wait!" Tenchi said. "I left you because you dared to play in God's domain!"
"Don't be such a killjoy," Washu said as she approached a large tank of murky water. "God created his domain for us to play in; otherwise, why would he create the universe in a way that conforms to natural laws?" She turned to her blonde assistant. "Mihoshi!" she ordered. "Power up the generator! Time to get this baby cookin'!"
"Ryo-ohki," Mihoshi said to the smiling Sasami. "That's a funny name. He looks more like a 'Whiskers' to me."
"I think so too," Sasami nodded.
"Hey Mihoshi!" Washu bellowed. "Front and center!"
"Whoa!" Mihoshi jumped and turned to face her employer.
"Two things: One, Ryo-ohki's a girl and two: Power up the generator you idiot! It's time to awaken my creation!"
"Yes master!" Mihoshi saluted before she dashed off to climb a short flight of steps that led to a mechanical apparatus of the like Tenchi and the others had never seen before. She used both hands to turn a large hand crank.
"Mistress, you idiot!" Washu called up after her.
"What does the crank do?" Tenchi asked.
"Wait for it," Washu retorted.
Outside, a large metal rod extended out of one of the towers of Castle Washustein up into the angry heavens. By this time the sky had burst open with a downpour that had enough force to knock the leaves off trees.
Back inside the lab, Mihoshi moved over to a second hand crank on a catwalk over the water tank. Turning the crank caused gears and pulleys to move and lower two metal prongs into the water.
"Now as the storm reaches its peak, all we have to do is wait!" Washu announced.
"Doctor," asked a fearful Ayeka, "is that a human body in that tank of water?"
"Yes it is, Ayeka!" Washu replied. "And soon I shall bring it to life! Above our heads, on the highest tower of Castle Washustein I have placed a lightning rod. When a bolt of lightning strikes, it will funnel the energy down into the tank of water in this very room, allowing the energy to course through my homemade human being and bring it to life! Just as Prometheus made his man out of clay I have made my person out of flesh!"
"Ew!" Sasami shuddered.
"Whose flesh?" Ayeka asked, afraid that Washu had murdered someone in her crazed plans to create life.
"Why my flesh of course," Washu replied. "I want my creation to be perfect. And that of Hercules. On an archeological dig in Greece I found a sealed jar that contained the blood of Hercules, the legendary hero who was elevated after his death to become the Greek god of strength. My creation shall be a titan amongst mortal men! And all will look upon my creation and marvel!"
"Tenchi is right!" Ayeka exclaimed. "You are stark raving mad! Mihoshi, why do you work for this lunatic?"
"You fired me for dropping the urn with your father's ashes!" Mihoshi sobbed.
"But our father isn't dead," Sasami said. "He's on a sailing trip. Ayeka fired you after the time Tenchi saw you in your underwear!"
"Certainly not!" A blushing Ayeka denied. "That is not what happened! I discharged her because she is incompetent!"
"I think that you fired her because Tenchi said she was pretty," said an indignant Sasami as she cuddled Ryo-ohki. "You felt threatened and the time Tenchi saw her in her underwear was the last straw."
"He had his arms around her!" Ayeka shrieked.
"That's right," Mihoshi nodded. "I never did thank you for catching me after I fell out of that three-story window, Tenchi." The blonde blushed and looked away. "Is it true? Did you really say I was pretty?"
"Erg," Now it was Tenchi's turn to blush.
"Ahem," Washu cleared her throat obnoxiously. "Do you mind? We were talking about my creation. Not my fiancé's roving eyes."
"My fiancé!" Ayeka protested. "Your ex-fiancé!
"Puh-tate-oh, Puh-tot-oh," Washu shrugged.
"Washu, you can't play God!" Tenchi scolded.
"Not this again," Washu groaned. "How many times to I have to tell you? Playing God is the reason we were put on this Earth! Would the compass have been invented if we didn't play God? Would the wheel? As a species, we create and destroy. We play God. That's what we do!" When she noticed the grim looks Tenchi, Ayeka and Sasami were giving her, she added, "Quite a good scene, isn't it? One woman crazy… and three very sane spectators!"
"What about me?" Mihoshi asked. "Where do I fit in?"
"You don't count!" Washu shouted irritably.
Suddenly a flash of light illuminated the tank of water as visible streams of electricity funneled down the two metal prongs that were lowered into the tank. The interior of the murky tank glowed revealing a nude human form within that twitched and shuddered under the onslaught of electricity.
After the glow faded, the group was nearly blinded as their eyes tried to adjust to the dim light of the lab. Spots danced before Tenchi's vision as movement was heard from the tank of water. Illumination from the lamps that Washu had placed around the tank exposed a human hand that emerged from the water to grip the side of the tank. The creature within pulled itself up to a sitting position that was enough to bring its head out of the water and gaze about the room.
When its head turned in the direction of Tenchi and the others Washu exclaimed. "It's moving! It's alive! It's alive! It's alive! Alive! By God! Now I know what it is like to be God! Aha-ha-ha!"
Next: It's Alive