Reminders of the Past
A Tenchi Muyo and Invinsible Crossover
Chapter 2 - No Need for Thoughts and Worries…
Mark believed that the moment he learned what his dad was actually doing on Earth he'd used up all of the surprise he had. After all, it only made sense that there wouldn't be much more out there that would surprise him as much as learning that his dad had actually come to enslave all of humanity. And then he got flung into the multiverse. He'd met some incredible heroes, heroes that reminded him why he wanted to be a hero to begin with. And again, he had assumed, after all of his multiversal traveling, that he again had used up all of the surprise that he had.
Learning that the redheaded girl was well over twenty thousand years old, that the teal headed girl was a few millennia old herself, and that her husband was actually a crown prince for an entire planet called Jurai. He then learned that apparently the young man was in a polyamorous relationship with more than a few women. So, he found himself, the following morning, sitting at a table, sans his super suit, and looking at the most appetizing breakfast he'd seen in a while.
"Hmm," an older man said as he sat there, "So, from what I've been told you've been flung into our dimension, and without a way of finding your own way back."
He nodded, unsure if he should assume that almost everyone in this reality knew of multiversal travel, or if it was just the people in this house, "That's more or less the gist of it," he said while waiting for someone to eat first, "So, you're Tenchi's grandfather?"
The older man nodded, "I am," he replied before he took a bite of the omlet before him, "and I would assume that either Washu or Ryoko filled you in about me?"
He shook his head, "Tenchi said that you came to eat breakfast, and that you trained him in swordsmanship, but that's really been about it."
He grinned, "Ah, then I won't spoil any surprises," he said as he finished breakfast, "Tenchi, remember, after your meeting we have training."
"Okay grandpa!" came Tenchi's voice from upstairs, "I'm afraid that I do have to leave. I have duties to attend to at the shrine."
He stood and Mark took in his full look for a moment. His clothing looked similar to what someone might consider a Shinto Priest's garment. The white top, red pants, and simple wooden shoes spoke of the traditional garb. Of course he owed knowing that more to watching anime and reading manga than he did from actual culture. The older man had long hair, pulled into a ponytail, and the hair itself looked mostly gray, with the occasional few strands of brown mixed in. Like Tenchi he had brown eyes, but they seemed to be far more lively than he would expect from someone older.
Of course he'd stopped assuming ages when he learned that what looked like a thirteen, maybe petite fourteen year old girl was actually a woman well over twenty thousand years old. Sure, she looked young, but she had more than enough experience that she was able to get a blood sample, skin sample, muscle sample, and God knew what else from him before he could blink. There was also the fact that she was far more powerful than she appeared.
At least her daughter, Ryoko, actually didn't hide her power. He wasn't able to sense power levels, which he did wish was a thing, but he could tell how powerful she actually was when she took his hand. He wasn't planning on giving any real pressure in the handshake. Ever since getting his powers he'd learned that he had to treat the world with kid gloves. Basically everything he touched had to be treated like it was made of cardboard, or at least it did when it came to normal humans.
She'd gripped his hand hard enough when she shook his hand that it almost felt like she was going to break it. It was a greeting, and a threat, all at the same time. He'd figured out at that moment that she was easily far stronger than she appeared, and it was likely that she was stronger than he was. Of course, if that was the case then it meant that she was stronger than most species that the Viltrumites had faced. He wasn't like most of the other Viltrumites, or he wasn't when it came to the idea of subjugating other species under the banner of a united Vultrumite Empire.
He took a bite of his omelet, finally allowing himself to enjoy it, and he tasted the wonderful flavor of fresh cheese, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and some bell peppers. The omelet tasted like a comforting memory, and it certainly did bring a comforting memory to his mind. It was the memory of having breakfast with Samantha. Each bite reminded him of that awkward breakfast. He looked up to see another girl, who looked young, maybe about sixteen or seventeen, sitting across from him. She had two long ponytails, or he supposed they could be called pigtails, that seemed to be just at the crown of her head. Her large pink eyes studied him, and she smiled gently at him.
"Enjoying breakfast?"
He nodded, "Yes, ma'am," he said, before he stopped and thought about the fact that he had a translator in his ear. Of course Tenchi's grandfather had understood him, but did that mean that his grandfather simply understood English or was it something else? He was about to speak Japanese when she shook her head.
"There's no need," she said simply before she turned her head, and pointed to what looked like a tiny freckle, "What Washu made for everyone outside was amazing, but we have something like that already. It's a small biochip that is implanted on all royals at birth. It allows us to understand, and speak, any language that is spoken around us. It's how we understood Tenchi so well when we first met him."
He nodded, "Ummm, does that mean that his grandfather is also royalty?"
She smiled, "He's my older brother, Yosho, and yes, he is royalty," she replied as she took a fork and cut into her own omelet without breaking eye contact with him, "He's been here, only on Earth, for about seven hundred years," she considered it for a moment, "Well, we'll just say seven hundred."
He studied her, "Wait, he's over seven hundred… Why not, I met someone who was over twenty thousand years old last night."
She smiled, "Ah, Ms. Washu," she said right before she took a bite, she chewed, dabbed her mouth with a napkin, and then smiled, "I know that she looks like a child, but she's actually fully grown. I won't say why. It's not my place to talk about it, but yes, she's at least twenty thousand years old. In truth, she may be far older."
He sat there, "Ummm, so are you?"
She grinned, "In truth I'm seventeen," she said simply, "Although I suppose that I'm actually seven hundred and seventeen years old, but that's because I spent seven hundred years in suspended animation."
Mark swallowed his bite, looked at her, and tried to process what he was hearing. The kind of thing they were flippantly talking about was the stuff of science fiction. He assumed that the Global Defense Agency maybe had something like it. Actually, he was fairly certain they had their hand in cryostasis. He considered asking if suspended animation was similar to that. It was the closest thing that he could think of at the moment. Then again he wondered if it was even important. He looked down to see that the younger girl had finished her breakfast. "Please," she said politely as she stood with her own plate, "Finish eating. You're certainly our guest while you are here. However, I believe that my brother would be interested in training you in fighting techniques. Well, only if you're interested."
He nodded, began eating again, savoring every bite, and swearing to himself that the moment he made it back home that he was going to take Samantha out again. He heard footsteps, and looked up to see a little girl with silvery blue hair walking with his host. Tenchi walked toward the table with the girl who sat across from him.
"Hi!" the girl excitedly said as she waved her hand at him, "I'm Mayuka!"
He grinned at the energy she obviously had, "Hello Mayuka, I'm Mark Grayson," he replied as he stopped eating for a moment, "It's nice to meet you."
She nodded, "Uh huh! Didja hear the big boom last night?!" she exclaimed, her ability to switch gears from introducing herself to bringing up a new subject was something that was only found in small children, "It was super loud! Mama 'Oko went to go see what it was, and I got to stay up with Mama 'yeka and color in my book! Oh, I've got a Princess Coloring book, wanna see? I'll go get it!"
Tenchi smiled at her, "Mayuka, wait, we need to eat first, Sasami went through a lot of trouble to make us breakfast."
She stopped, "Oh, sorry Daddy," she said before she sat back down, she leaned forward, whispering in a voice that was too loud to be hidden, "I'll go get it after breakfast."
He smiled at her. He noticed, perhaps for the first time, that both she and Tenchi had plates in front of themselves. He saw Sasami in the kitchen, washing dishes, and he looked at his own plate. With only a couple of bites left he went ahead and finished it up. He left the two to finish their own breakfast and took the plate he had toward the kitchen itself. He neared the sink and Sasami took it from him.
He tried not to stare at her, and instead he offered to dry. She smiled, handing him the plates, and each time he took one he took a chance to look at her. Her sundress was something that would be fairly common back home. It was a light green one, the way it was designed meant that she likely wasn't wearing a bra. He shook his head as he chastised himself for that. Sure, it was hero training, taking notice of the situation, taking in every detail, and seeing what was vulnerable and what was able to support itself.
Still, she was seventeen, and he was nineteen. Plus there was the fact that he was dating Samantha. He felt a tightening in his chest as he thought about her. Was she okay? Was everyone okay? He had to hope that they were. He knew that Cecil likely had contingencies in place for when this kind of thing happened, but he couldn't help but wonder if she was actually okay. It was stupid, and he knew that it was. Samantha was one of the strongest heroes he'd ever known. She was exceptionally powerful, and he knew that.
It didn't stop the worry, but it did help ease it. He felt a hand and looked at Sasami who gave him a gentle smile again, "Something on your mind?"
He nodded, figuring that she must be good at reading people, or maybe it was more likely that he didn't have a decent poker face, "Yeah," he admitted, "I can't help but worry about someone special to me. I mean, I know that she can take care of herself, but I still worry."
There was a sound behind him, and he turned to see Tenchi standing there. His host brought the plate in, and sat it down, "I believe that we all know a lot about that," he replied as he helped with the dishes as well. Sasami washed, Mark dried, and Tenchi put the dishes away. The three worked well together, and Tenchi decided to share while they were finishing, "You met Ryoko last night, and it's not wrong to say that she's one of the strongest beings there is," he said as he worked, his hands never faltering, "It doesn't stop me from worrying. She suffered some bad things in her past, things that still haunt her, and I do what I can to be there for her. I worry for her because the one that did it to her is still hurting her, or at least he is in a way."
Mark dried the last dish and then looked at him, "What do you mean?"
Tenchi put it away, closed his eyes, and sighed, "I mean that she sometimes wakes up screaming," he said, his voice had a slight tremble to it, his fists clenched, and Mark could see the steely gaze he had, "She wakes up from deep seeded memories that she has of her time with him, of what he forced her to do, and she'll scream out in terror."
He looked ahead, "I killed him," he replied, his voice even, his eyes staring at the wall so hard that if he had heat vision it would have holes burned through it, "I killed him, but he still tortures her. The only thing that I can do is be there for her, let her know that she's loved, and fight him in the only way that I can now."
Mark shook his head, "Man, that's… I bet that you'd give anything to have a go at him again."
Tenchi looked toward him, "If it meant that it would remove his influences on her, yes, I'd give almost anything. Well, anything that wouldn't hurt anyone, but anything that I could afford to give."
It took Mark a second to really understand what he was saying, but then it began to dawn on him. In Mark's own life there were times that he had felt that he would do damn near anything to save someone close to him. That he would give anything to ensure their safety, and he realized that some of the things that he might have traded would have hurt others. If he were to trade his own life, to die to save those close to him, it would hurt those closest to him. He could understand where Tenchi was coming from then.
"I get it," he said, his voice full of respect for the crown prince, "It's still tempting though, isn't it?"
Tenchi nodded, "More than you know."
Sasami remained quiet, her own thoughts considered the talk, and she knew much of what Tenchi was talking about. As she grew older she grew closer to Tsunami, and the two of them were practically one being now. The tree of light, the goddess to the Jurian Empire, had saved her, and in return had assimilated with her. As she grew older the two minds grew into one, but there was still enough of a disconnect that she felt as if she were told things by Tsunami.
She felt that the goddess of Jurai had informed her of what happened to Ryoko, and she felt that the goddess explained that Ryoko's being with Tenchi was exactly the very thing that was saving her. In her mind an image of a frightened figure clinging to a single beam of light represented Ryoko. That beam had grown over time, no longer a stray beam, but instead an entire ship. It gave Ryoko the room she needed to grow, to find herself, and while the outside of that ship contained dangers, the ship itself was more than powerful enough to protect her.
The love that Tenchi shared with her was the ship, and it was that love that gave Ryoko the ability to withstand the aftermath of the torment and torture that she had been put through. All of this was shown to her by Tsunami, and while she could explain it to Tenchi, she held off. She had become enough like Tsunami to know that he needed to discover for himself how much he had helped his beloved Ryoko.
Her informing him of it would do little good. Oh, it might ease his mind, but she instinctively knew that he needed to understand it the hard way. He had to discover it for himself. It was the human part of him that demanded that. She walked out with them, and she considered that for a moment. Humans, Earthlings, they were curious by all regards. Their lifespans were so incredibly short, yet they strove to do incredible things.
They worked together, to support each other in tragedy, to bring each other up, and she could not help but feel some pride in that. They were ages away from being inducted into the greater galaxy, or they would have been if not for Yosho landing here. Of course the truth of the matter was that his father was the main cause. The Emperor of Jurai had begun the inclusion of the Earthlings into the dealings of the greater Universe the moment he took a Human bride. Her inclusion into the Juraian Empire was the very stepping stone that was going to force the knowledge that humanity was not alone upon all of its citizens.
Sasami considered it for a moment. She dearly loved mother Funaho, she was a wonderful woman, one who was well versed in swordsmanship, but at the same time she did not envy her father's role. Azusa Masaki Jurai would be forced to recognize the Earth as an independent colony.
She walked toward the entertaining room, and she began to sit down while she considered her thoughts. She understood that the moment her father did recognize the Earth, the very resources the planet had would attract every single vile criminal in a heartbeat. With their current technology it would be difficult, at best, for them to withstand any small scale invasion.
If a major criminal organization came there would be no repelling them. That meant that the Juraian representative on Earth would be dealing with it. She looked toward Tenchi, and a soft gentle smile crossed her face, he would be forced, again and again, to stand against those that would take advantage of his homeworld. There was little doubt in her mind that what came of her father's visit was well worth it, or it was in her mind, but it didn't stop her from feeling bad for Tenchi.
Earth's atmosphere, abundance of water, exotic plants, animals, and even humans themselves would be considered valuable to hundreds of species. The only way that it would be taken out of his hands was if the Galaxy Police were to assign a patrol through here other than Mihoshi. It was possible, but she had doubts that they would.