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

And Ryoko as the Monster-woman

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 Thirteen: The Taming of the Shrew

"I don't believe this!" Ryoko growled as she put her hands on her hips. "I thought you were different, but you're just like Washu!"

"You're the one who's like Washu!" Ayeka corrected. "What do you think you are playing at? You come in here and announce that you're going to steal my fiancé. How did you expect me to react? What are you, crazy or something?"

"I'm crazy because I'm in love!" Ryoko struck a darling pose and batted her eyes innocently. "I'm in love, and I'm in love with Tenchi!" She put her arms around the flabbergasted med student.

"Now wait a minute!" Tenchi protested. "You hardly know me!"

"I know that I want to be with you," she insisted as she pressed her cheek against his. "You want to be with me, don't you? Come on, admit it. You like me right?"

"Yes but that doesn't mean I want to marry you!" Tenchi cried. The Italian medical student squirmed in Ryoko's grip as if a colony of ants had made a home in his trousers.

"You just need time to think about it, sweetie pie," Ryoko assured him. "I know you've met lots of other women, but I'm new and improved! I'm cutting edge!"

"If you don't take your hands off Tenchi I'll give you a cutting edge!" Ayeka threatened as she pulled Ryoko off her flustered fiancé. "I tried to be nice but there's no point being nice to a monster," the aristocrat sneered. "Get out of my house! Get out right now!"

"Make me!" Ryoko put her hands on her hips.

Ayeka's eye twitched as her face contorted into a dark scowl.

The sound of shattering glass sounded like a thousand tinkling bells as Ryoko was hurled through the window. "Ow!" the cyan haired siren cried as she hit the ground. "Dammit!" She looked around. She was outside!

"Go away and don't come back!" Ayeka shouted out the now shattered window. "Move to another country or something, but don't darken our door ever again!" With that, the purple-haired bride-to-be drew the curtains.

Tears welled up in Ryoko's eyes as her lower lip trembled. "Waaah!" she howled, big drops of water falling from her topaz yellow eyes. "Mommy! Ah-hanh-hanh-hanh haaaah!"

Inside, Ryoko's weeping could be heard even with the curtains drawn. Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-ohki gave Ayeka disappointed looks.

"Fine," Ayeka huffed. "I'll apologize. But first let me change into something decent." She shuffled out the door in her tattered wedding gown attempting to salvage her tattered dignity.

"Poor Ryoko," Sasami sighed.

"Mew," Ryo-ohki agreed.

"We better go out there and see if she's hurt," Tenchi suggested.

"Mommy!" Ryoko sobbed when Tenchi, Sasami and Ryo-ohki went outside to fetch her. "Tenchi! Waaaaah!"

Tenchi sighed as he picked her up and turned to walk back into Ayeka's house. Sasami and Ryo-ohki followed them back inside.

Soon Tenchi was applying little bandages to the back of Ryoko's head. It was unprotected when Ayeka had sent her flying through the window.

"She… she was so mean," Ryoko sniffled. "Just like Washu! She called me a monster! Go beat her up!"

"Now-now, Ayeka's normally not like that," Tenchi told her. "If you want to know, it's my fault actually."

"Your fault?" Ryoko asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's my fault for choosing Washu before I chose her," Tenchi explained. "You can't blame her for feeling threatened. It's not like I gave her a lot of confidence."

"What do you see in them anyhow?" Ryoko huffed.

"I don't know," he smiled ruefully. "I guess I've always been attracted to strong and dominant women. You want to know the name of the most romantic play ever written? Romeo and Juliet. For some reason that one never did anything for me."

"Romeo and Juliet, huh?" Ryoko asked. "What's it about?"

"It's about two star-crossed lovers who can't be together," he told her. "Their families are feuding, so they get married in secret. At the end they commit suicide when they think the other one is dead."

"Yuck," Ryoko shuddered. "Sounds like a real downer."

"It is," Tenchi nodded. "I always liked The Taming of the Shrew," he blushed. "Call me weird, but I always thought that Katherine was dead sexy! I couldn't help but be disappointed at the end when she obeys Petruchio and helps him win his silly wager at the end. I can't blame Katherine for being unhappy with the role thrust upon her. She was intelligent enough to see the inequality of a woman's place in society and strong willed enough to resent it. Honestly that woman was fascinating! I guess that deep down I've always been looking for my Katherine."

"Did you find her?" Ryoko asked him.

"I found two of them," Tenchi laughed. "Two strong willed women that would make a marriage a partnership instead of monarchy. Washu is brilliant, determined, and unrestrained by any convention, and Ayeka is athletic, spirited, and can be just as violent as Katherine ever was."

"Boy you are a glutton for punishment," Ryoko gently scolded. "You got to be out of your mind to want a woman like that. Personally I'd rather have somebody that would take care of me and do whatever I say."

"Well, I guess I kind of like being dominated," Tenchi admitted as his face became red. "Washu used to tie me up and… er… uh… never mind," he backed away sweating. "You don't want to hear about this…"

"Sure I do," Ryoko insisted. "So you like being tied up. I can do that. What else did you do?"

"You're a lady," Tenchi stammered. "And you're way too young for any of this stuff..."

"So what do you like about Ayeka?" Ryoko asked him. "Does she tie you up too? What else does she do?"

"Never mind," Tenchi murmured as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Fine you don't want to talk about yourself, we can talk about me," Ryoko shrugged. "You're studying medicine right?"

"Yes," Tenchi said warily.

"How come my nipples are firming up while we're talking about tying you up?" Ryoko asked pointblank as she pawed at her chest. "They're usually pretty soft, but now they're like two little spikes. Is that normal? Here, I'll get undressed and you can take a look."

Tenchi responded by making a hasty exit.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ryoko called.

Later, Ryoko and Sasami were outside playing. Tenchi and Ayeka watched them through the window. "I guess it really isn't Ryoko's fault she's like that," Ayeka admitted. "With a mother like Washu, the poor thing really doesn't stand a chance."

"I know," Tenchi said sadly.

"I sent for 'Doctor Faustus' to come over here and collect her wayward offspring," Ayeka said through clenched teeth. "You just know she's going to try to slip something into the food to turn me into an aardvark or something. We have to keep an eye on her at all times."

"Will do," Tenchi nodded. "Let's hope that Ryoko will give her something else to do instead of plotting against us."

In the pavilion near the front of the house Sasami and Ryoko were playing with dishes and empty teacups. "More tea, lady Ryoko?" Sasami said after she pretended to pour tea for a stuffed animal.

"Why yes, lady Sauce-a-me," Ryoko replied with an affected upper-class accent as she held her teacup with her pinkie extended. "I would love some. No one makes tea like you m'dear."

"Sasami," the little girl giggled. "My name isn't Sauce-a-me, it's Saw-saw-me! That's the way you say it!"

"Oh," Ryoko's shoulders slumped sheepishly. "Okay." She cleared her throat and got back into character. "Lady Saw-saw-me," she said emphasizing the proper pronunciation. "Do pour me another cup of tea, won't you? It's good to the last drop, pip-pip and all that."

"There you are!" Washu called in an accusing voice. "Just where do you think you've been young lady? We've been worried sick about you!"

"Aaah!" Ryoko's face lost all color as she say Washu and Mihoshi walking up the drive. "She's found me! She's found me!"

"Come on young lady!" Washu commanded. "You're coming home and learning to obey your mother!"

"Go away you red-haired goblin!" Ryoko sneered. "I'm with my mother. She's right here!"

"Sasami isn't your mother," Washu corrected. "I am!"

"She's right Ryoko," Mihoshi scolded cheerfully. "You better obey your mother, or you're going to be in trouble now!"

"Go away!" Ryoko snapped. She turned to Sasami and pointed at Washu. "Mommy! Beat her up! Make sure she goes away and never comes back!"

"I can't do that, I'm not your mother," Sasami said sadly.

"What?" Ryoko's face again became pale. "Of course you are!"

"No I'm not." Sasami shook her head. "Washu is your real mother. She created you."

"What?" Ryoko clutched the sides of her head as if she was afraid her large flappy ears would fly away. "But this is impossible! Washu is so mean! If she really is my mother… that means… that means… I really am a monster!"

"Quit being so melodramatic," Washu scolded. "I'm not that bad, sheesh."

"Goodbye Ryoko," Sasami waved sadly.

"WAAAAH!" Ryoko cried as she slapped ineffectively at her creator.

"Knock it off!" Washu grumbled. "If I would have known you'd be this much trouble, I never would have created you in the first place."

Back at Castle Washustein, the skies began to grow dark. The angry clouds made night come early.

In an upstairs chamber, Washu was attempting to speed Ryoko's mental development. "Quit moping," the little scientist ordered. "Now concentrate and put the pegs in the right holes. You know how to do this."

"I don't wanna," Ryoko pouted.

"You can't be that stupid, you've got my brainwaves," Washu scolded. "We are the same. You know how to do this and you don't give up. I never gave up. I would stop at nothing to achieve my goals. That's how I became the first female professor in modern history. It's a man's world out there. The only way to make your mark in it is to never say die and be totally ruthless."

"You're totally ruthless all right," Ryoko grumbled. "Maybe if I let my hair grow I could use it as a rope and get out of here."

"Will you cut it out?" Washu grumbled. "Man! I've created a total loser! If only I had listened to my parents when I was young!"

"Why?" Ryoko asked. "What did they tell you?"

"I don't know, I didn't listen," Washu said testily. "I buried them alive to get the inheritance. Now I've got lots of money and this big ol' castle and not a clue on how to raise a daughter. Way to go, Mom and Dad! You didn't have to be so gullible! Sheesh!"

"Wait a minute," Ryoko said. "How come you got everything after you got rid of your crummy parents? I don't follow."

"The child always inherits everything when the parent dies," Washu explained condescendingly. "If the parent wants to change that she better write a legal document before she kicks the bucket. Now shut up and let me think."

Ryoko rose from the table and walked to an open window, her yellow eyes wide from a sudden realization. "So after the parent is gone, the child is in charge and gets all their stuff, right?"

"Yeah-yeah," Washu grumbled. "Will you just shut up for a second? I've never done this before. I need to think!"

"Hey Washu? What's that outside?" Ryoko pointed out the window. "I've never seen that before."

"Well duh…!" Washu sneered as she walked over to the window. "You're only a week old. There are lots of things you've never seen before."

"Yeah but this is really weird," Ryoko said as she leaned forward and squinted at something in the distance. "You really ought to take a look at this. It's just bizarre."

"Get out of the way and let me see, Eve," Washu said as she pushed Ryoko away from the window.

"Ryoko," her creation corrected.

"Whatever," Washu huffed.

"Now look out there, do you see that?" Ryoko asked as she grasped Washu's shoulder and pointed out the window. "What is that?"

"What? I don't see anything," her creator growled.

"No look…" Ryoko insisted leaning forward and pointing into the distance. "Look there? See it?"

"See what?" Washu squinted as she leaned out the window. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Come on, you can't miss it!" Ryoko exclaimed.

"I don't see squat!" Washu sneered as she leaned even further out the window. "Yaaah!" she cried as Ryoko pushed her out the window.

"Wow!" Ryoko smiled. "That was easy! Who would have thought it would be so easy?" She closed the shutters and shut the window. "Good thing my creator is a total moron! I'll get Mihoshi to bake us a cake to celebrate!"

Next: I've Created a Monster!