Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of any of the characters in this story, 
even the ones I invented, since I'm not making any money for writing this. 
No need for Royalty.
The sunlight slowly filtered in through the window blinds. The warming 
rays crept across the floor and climbed up the bedside before sliding over the 
two sleeping figures it held. Tenchi stirred slightly as the light forced it's 
way into his eyes. He tried to roll away but something was holding him down. 
He looked over at the still sleeping form of his wife. He ran his hand through 
her spiky, cyan hair. Ryoko's arm was draped across his chest, holding him. He 
gently swept her hair away from her face and kissed her softly on her mouth. 
He pulled back slowly and found her eyes partly opened, watching him. 
" Ohayo", he said.
" Ohayo", she responded. She pulled him back in for another kiss. Tenchi 
caressed the side of her face as they kissed. Ryoko's hands slid down his arms 
as she savored the feeling and taste of him. She inhaled deeply, taking in the 
strong, pleasant aroma of his being. She moaned slightly as his hand made it's 
way slowly down her body, moving down her neck, over her right breast, across 
her stomach, and came to rest on her leg. " It's time to get up, isn't it", 
she asked.
" It sure is", he answered. Neither of them moved. 
" I don't think we're getting anywhere", Ryoko observed. Tenchi kissed 
her again, but this time it was a bit more forceful and filled with passion.
" Sure we are, just not how you meant it", he told her. Ryoko laughed 
slightly.
" Oh really. You want some of what you got last night?", she asked. 
Tenchi smiled and started trailing small kisses down her neck.
" Don't you?", he asked back between kisses. 
" You want to know what I want?", she asked.
" What?", he questioned.
" Breakfast", she answered. He stopped and looked at her with a slightly 
puzzled expression.
" Breakfast?", he asked. Ryoko nodded her head.
" Yes, breakfast would be so nice right about now.", she told him. He 
looked at her for a few more seconds, then a smile made it's way across his 
face. It quickly turned into a grin.
" So you want breakfast, do you?", he said as his hand made it's way to 
her stomach. 
" Tenchi, what are...oh no, ah, aha ha ha ha, no tickling, ha ha ha, 
stop it", she cried out as his fingers darted across her stomach. " Ha ha ha, 
stop, ha ha, I....can't....take....much....more"
Her protests just encouraged Tenchi and he redoubled his efforts. " If 
you....don't...stop I'll....make....you", she warned. Tenchi just ignored her. 
Suddenly Ryoko vanished from his grasp. She reappeared behind him and grabbed 
him in a crushing hug that pinned his arms against his body. He could feel her 
still shaking with laughter. " How dare you do that to the most vicious space 
pirate in the galaxy", she said, her voice still filled with slight giggles. " 
Now you must be punished " 
" Punished huh?", he asked. " I take it that's there's no hope in 
changing your mind?"
" Did you have something in mind?", she asked him.
" Well, you said you wanted breakfast", he said. " Is there anything 
special you wanted?"
" Are you trying to bribe me?", she questioned.
" Would you accept?", he asked.


" Well....maybe, but only if it's the best breakfast I've ever had.", 
she told him.
" Hey that's not fair. How am I suppose to compete with Sasami's 
cooking?", he asked.
" Oh alright, just as long as it's good.", she offered. " Your lucky 
I've gotten soft. The old me would never have relented like that." Ryoko let 
him go and floated around in front of him. " I'm going to take a bath, you 
better be done when I get out." She kissed him and then vanished. Tenchi 
smiled as he got dressed and headed downstairs. 



As Tenchi prepared breakfast his mind wandered, thinking back to how 
things used to be before he got married. Even though five years had passed, it 
still seemed strange that he and Ryoko were the only people still living in 
the Masaki house. After the wedding everyone had started to leave, except 
Ayeka since she had left before. He didn't blame her for not being there. He 
couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for her. When Tenchi had first 
told her of his love for Ryoko he had thought she was going to die. She'd ran 
off crying to her room and refused to come out for two weeks. Even after 
Sasami had managed to convince her to come out she had seemed little more than 
a shell of her former self. Tenchi had tried desperately to mend the damage 
his love had caused in their friendship, but Ayeka had simply ignored him. It 
was to everyone's shock and amazement when Ryoko began to try and help her. 
Even more amazing was that she actually got through to Ayeka. Tenchi still 
didn't know what she'd done, but somehow Ryoko managed to help Ayeka get over 
it. They would probably never be friends, but they shared a mutual respect for 
each other now, and that was enough to put Tenchi at ease. Kiyone and Mihoshi 
were the first to leave after the wedding. Due to budget cutbacks at the 
Galaxy Police Headquarters the Sol system had been declared too unimportant to 
warrant having resident officers. It had been hell trying to get Mihoshi to 
leave. She nearly drove the Chief crazy trying to convince him to let her and 
Kiyone stay. After that she went through a faze of trying to pretend it wasn't 
really happening. When the day came for her and Kiyone to leave, she'd cried 
and pitched a huge fit. She'd even threatened to quit just so she could stay. 
This time it was Washu who came to the rescue, but not through consoling. She 
had solved the problem in her normal method, a new invention, or in this case, 
an improved one. She had informed everyone that she'd enhanced her dimensional 
portal so that it would work over any distance. When Mihoshi learned she'd be 
able to come back anytime she wanted she immediately cheered up and had given 
Washu a hug that nearly choked the life out of the little scientist. Washu had 
left a few weeks later. Before she'd left however she turned the closet that 
had held her lab into the gateway for her warping device. She had set up four 
gateways, one on Earth, one on Juri, one that led to her lab, and the final 
one to Kiyone's and Mihoshi's home. Thanks to the gateways anyone could visit 
anyone else when ever they wanted. This had turned out to be a big problem 
until Washu had installed locks and doorbells on the gateways to insure 
everyone's privacy, not to mention keep Mihoshi out of her lab.  A year ago 
she had to add a fifth gateway when Mihoshi had gotten married and moved into 
her own house. After the gateways were put up Sasami had gone back to living 
on Juri, but she still had come back everyday to fix breakfast. However, 
Tenchi knew she couldn't keep cooking for them forever. So he'd done the only 
thing he could, he got her to teach him how to cook. As he had figured, 
Sasami's duties on Juri grew more numerous, and she had had less and less free 
time. Now he handled the cooking in the house. Ryoko had tried to learn as 
well, but she just didn't get it. She could boil water, but anything more 
complicated was beyond her abilities. Tenchi didn't care though, he rather 
enjoyed cooking for her. After Sasami had left it had been just him, Ryoko, 
and Noboyuki. A few months later Tenchi discovered that his father had been 
secretly building an addition to the shrine. Noboyuki then gave the house to 
Tenchi and Ryoko and moved in with Katsuhito at the shrine. Tenchi smiled at 
the memory. It was the nicest, most unselfish thing his father had ever done. 

After breakfast was served and consumed and Ryoko decided that the meal 
was sufficiently delicious, Tenchi headed out to the shrine for his daily 
training. Ryoko accompanied him as she usually did. She liked watching him. It 
thrilled her on some primitive, instinctual level. Tenchi was very powerful, 
and his skill with Juri's power was becoming quite impressive. Ryoko was a bit 
disappointed by the fact that she was no longer stronger than he was, but for 
the most part she didn't care. Katsuhito was already waiting for them. He was 
standing in the middle of the training field, his back facing them. Ryoko 
floated over to her usual spot to watch. Tenchi walked up behind his 
grandfather.
" Ohayo Jiichan, how are you..." Tenchi's greeting was cut short as 
Katsuhito suddenly spun around, swinging a bokken in a wide arc. Tenchi ducked 
under the wooden sword and stepped backward as Katsuhito slid toward him with 
a thrusting movement. Ryoko leaned forward to watch as Katsuhito basically 
chased Tenchi around the field. 


Tenchi was having trouble avoiding his grandfather's attacks. There was 
something in the attacks that felt different. It took Tenchi a few minutes to 
realize what it was. Katsuhito was actually trying to hit him. He was 
attacking full on, with no restraints or hesitation. "Well, if he's not going 
to hold back, then I won't either.", Tenchi decided. He began to summon upon 
Juri's power. He felt the mystical energy swell within him for a brief moment 
before it flowed throughout his body. The power spread through his being, 
increasing his every ability and granting him ones he never would had 
possessed otherwise. His strength quadrupled, his senses became three times 
more sensitive, and his reaction time increased until it seemed the rest of 
the world was moving in slow motion. The energy field of Juri's power spread 
out from his body, allowing him to feel everything that surrounded him. Fully 
empowered he turned his complete attention back to the fight. Katsuhito was 
lunging forward, the bokken raised overhead to come crashing down on Tenchi's 
skull. His heightened reflexes gave Tenchi plenty of time to plan his next 
move. He could easily grab the bokken as it was brought down, but he decided 
against that. His grandfather had told him to treat the bokken as if it was a 
real blade. For that reason he also decided against using his power to simply 
smash the wood sword apart. As Katsuhito swung, Tenchi sidestepped the blow. 
The sword passed inches from his arm. Before his grandfather could recover 
from the lunge Tenchi spun and in the same motion grabbed his outstretched 
arms at the wrist. Tenchi stepped forward, using Katsuhito's own momentum to 
move him forward and pull him off balance. To keep from falling on his face 
Katsuhito had to throw his weight backward, a move Tenchi had anticipated. He 
brought his grandfather's arms up and stepped back. The motion pulled 
Katsuhito's arms over his head. Tenchi then pulled down. His grandfather's 
feet left the ground and he fell flat on his back. The impact stunned him just 
long enough for Tenchi to pry the bokken out of his hands. Before he could 
make his next move though, Katsuhito's hand shot out. His palm pressed against 
Tenchi's chest and a blast of energy shot forth. The blast lifted Tenchi off 
his feet and launched him twenty feet across the field. He recovered in mid-
flight and managed to land on his feet. However he had barely touched down 
when his grandfather reached him. Katsuhito was now using his own powers, and 
though they weren't as powerful as Tenchi's, they easily evened up the fight. 
Tenchi took a rather painful knee to the stomach that doubled him over, 
followed by an elbow to the back of his head that knocked him into the dirt. 
He landed hard and the bokken went spinning out of his grasp. Laying face down 
didn't offer much in ways of counterattacking, but it wasn't a hopeless 
situation. Tenchi knew of a few techniques that could be used, but he also 
knew that he wasn't skilled enough in any of them to beat his grandfather 
with. Instead, he chose to use brute force. He concentrated all his power into 
a tiny ball of energy, then released it. The energy flew from his body in a 
wave that picked up Katsuhito and tossed him in the air. Tenchi sprung to his 
feet as his grandfather landed. Tenchi unleashed a blast of energy, but 
Katsuhito easily sidestepped it. His return shot found it's target, but Tenchi 
absorbed the blast with little effort. Tenchi stood stone still, watching. 
Katsuhito waited as well. For several minutes they stood and stared, neither 
one moving. As Tenchi waited he saw Katsuhito's eyes shift, as if noticing 
something behind his opponent. Tenchi almost smiled. It was an old trick, one 
that his grandfather had used many times to get him to look behind him. Tenchi 
wasn't going to be fooled this time. He looked behind him. As soon as his head 
moved, Katsuhito rushed forward. This time however, Tenchi didn't snap his 
head back around to try and get his sights back on his opponent. He knew where 
he was. Tenchi's hand shot out and a monestrous energy wave blasted forth. It 
caught Katsuhito in mid-leap and blew him clear across the field. Tenchi 
finally looked back at his grandfather. Slowly he got back to his feet, 
swaying a bit. He stared at Tenchi for a long while before he spoke.
" Very good Tenchi, your finally learning." He turned toward the shire. 
" Your training is over." He started to leave but stopped when Tenchi spoke 
up.
" Wait! What do mean over?", Tenchi asked, his confusion clear upon his 
face.
" There is nothing I have left to teach you.", he replied without 
turning around. " All that is left for you to do is perfect your movements, 
which is an impossible feat, but that is what you will strive for anyway, just 
as I have." He finally looked back at Tenchi and for the first time, Tenchi 
saw him for what he was. He might be the most skilled warrior in the galaxy, 
but he was also an old man who's glory was behind him. Tenchi realized that 
this was the first time he'd ever truly beaten him. He had bested his 
grandfather on a few occasions, but he had never beaten him to the point were 
he couldn't go on. Tenchi had always felt very proud of the few victories he 
held other his grandfather, but for some reason this one left him with an 
uneasy feeling. The idea that he was stronger was unsettling because it 
shattered his view of the world as it related to Katsuhito. His grandfather 
had always been better, that was how it was. This change didn't sit well with 
Tenchi. He barely reacted as Ryoko floated behind him and wrapped her arms 
around his waist.
" What's wrong Tenchi?", she asked. " You seem upset."
" I don't know. I guess it's just hard to believe. I've been training 
for seventeen years. Now all of a sudden, bam!, it's over. No warning, no 
preparation", he replied. Ryoko laid her head on his shoulder and gave him a 
reassuring squeeze. 



Several weeks later Tenchi was outside preparing his fields for 
planting. As a member of Juri's royal family, along with the fact that he had 
saved all of Juri from Kagato, Tenchi was set for life. However his sense of 
honor made him work. He simply couldn't sit back all his life and live without 
responsibility. Farming was the answer. The money he made was meager, but it 
satisfied his honor. It was also starting to, if you can ignore the bad pun, 
grow on him. When he was younger it had simply been a chore, and with the 
arrival of Ryo-ohki, a necessity. However now that the cute, furry space ship 
was living on Juri with Sasami, he didn't have to work as hard and he was free 
to plant whatever he wanted. As he paused to wipe the sweat from his face he 
glanced at the half finished form of the greenhouse he was building. Once 
completed, it would allow him to grow whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. 
When Washu had found out about it she had offered to build him one herself. 
However Tenchi had politely turned down her offer, explaining that he wanted 
to build it himself. Washu had understood completely, and instead offered to 
merely design it for him. After an exhausting period of trying to explain that 
he didn't want hyper stimulants, self nurturing soil, corrective nano probes 
and about three dozen other devices that would have done all the work for him 
and created the biggest vegetables on earth, Washu finally designed him a 
nice, efficient, and most importantly, normal greenhouse. 
Ryoko sat on the edge of the fields watching him. She didn't understand 
what it was that drove him to do so much unnecessary work, but she knew it 
made him happy. Besides, she loved watching him work. Especially on the hot 
days when he would take off his shirt and she could see his muscles straining 
as he tore up the hard soil. On those days she would watch him for a while 
before going inside and getting him a nice, cold drink. She would take it to 
him and he would take a break with her under the shade of a tree. 
Around noon Ryoko decided that Tenchi could use his break. After taking 
one last look at him, she vanished, reappearing inside the kitchen. She opened 
the refrigerator and after a moment of consideration, selected the pitcher of 
lemonade. Gathering a tray and two glasses, she phased back to the field. " 
Tenchi!", she called out. He stopped working to turn and look at her. Seeing 
the pitcher he smiled brightly and left his field to be with her. They both 
walked over to a large tree that stood by the edge of the field. Ryoko poured 
the lemonade into the glasses and handed one to him.
" Thank you", he told her. She smiled as she watched him drink. They 
both leaned back against the tree. Tenchi had his eyes shut as he relaxed, but 
Ryoko's were wide open. She stared at him, at the field, and at the house. 
When they had first got married, times like this seemed like a dream. It was 
hard to believe it was real. She had always been afraid that one day she would 
wake up and find everything back the way it used to be. Now when she looked 
around, Ryoko knew with certainty that it was real. That she didn't have to be 
alone, that she had a home, that she didn't have to worry. Now it seemed that 
her life before had been a dream. She had been a pirate all her life, and yet, 
the idea of piracy held no appeal to her anymore. She used to live for the 
thrill of stealing, of making narrow escapes, of staying ahead of the law. 
However, that life had also been a lonely one. She had only had Ryo-ohki. At 
the time she had been content with that. Love and romance had been something 
she'd never thought about. Now though, she saw what she had been missing all 
those years. Life on Earth was quiet and undemanding. It was perfect. She 
wouldn't trade it for anything in the universe.


Ryoko's gaze returned to Tenchi, who was now looking at her. He reached 
out and took her hand in his. Ryoko let him pull her closer and their lips 
met. As they kissed, Ryoko could detect a change in the air. She inhaled 
deeply, getting a good whiff. The air was full of pheromones, sexual 
pheromones. Even as she identified the airborne chemicals, she could feel 
Tenchi's kisses becoming more urgent, more passionate. The natural stimulants 
were starting to have their effect on her, increasing her desire. She leaned 
into him, pressing their bodies together. Tenchi wrapped his arms around her 
as she gently pushed him down. Ryoko sat on top of him as she leaned over to 
kiss him. She began to grind her hips into him, causing Tenchi to release 
small grunts of pleasure. The air was so full of pheromones she could taste 
them. Sexual desire exploded in Ryoko and she gave herself totally to it. She 
kissed him, ran her hands over his body, ground into him, moaned loudly, doing 
everything she could to push Tenchi into the same frenzy she felt herself in. 
It didn't take long at all. Tenchi was grabbing her all over, his tongue 
working the inside of her mouth, and although he didn't know it, his body 
chemistry was helping just as much. Ryoko was hit with an urgent need for 
release, but at the same time she knew the ground would be a poor place for 
it. However she certainly didn't feel like stopping and walking back to the 
house. She glanced over at her home, looking at the window of the bedroom she 
shared with Tenchi. She quickly judged the distance to the window, then the 
distance from the window to the bed. Once she was sure of the range she willed 
herself and Tenchi to their destination. They vanished from under the tree and 
reappeared right above the bed. As soon as they landed she phased them both 
out of their clothing. Tenchi looked slightly annoyed, Ryoko knew he loved to 
undress her, but she just couldn't wait. Ryoko reached down and grabbed his 
hard shaft and ran her hand down it's length, giving him something else to 
think about. Tenchi gasped as she stroked him, her hand softly but firmly 
wrapped around his manhood. He suddenly rolled them over so he was on top, but 
Ryoko never let go. Even as she continued to pump him Tenchi bent over and his 
mouth found it's way to her breast. He ran his tongue over her nipple as he 
sucked on her. Ryoko struggled to keep her grip light on him as he sent 
pleasure through her body. Ryoko moaned loudly and continuously. She could 
feel Tenchi's rapid breath on her breast. Finally they both hit their limits 
and Ryoko guided Tenchi as he drove into her. He pulled back and drove in even 
deeper. Ryoko thrust her hips up to meet his coming down. Ryoko's moans turned 
to screams as pure orgasmic pleasure surged through her. She was struck by 
four rapid fire orgasms. Tenchi felt her vaginal muscles clamp down on his 
member as her body shook with pleasure. He yelled out as he was hammered by 
his own orgasm and he shot into her. Ryoko's scream went an octave higher as a 
fifth orgasm was brought on by his pulsing shaft and the spreading warmth that 
filled her. Exhausted, Tenchi rolled off of her and laid on the bed to catch 
his breath. Ryoko snuggled up against him and closed her eyes as she laid her 
head on his shoulder. Tenchi began to gently stroke her hair and Ryoko sighed 
happily. She didn't even notice when she fell asleep.   

A few hours later Ryoko and Tenchi were jarred from sleep by a 
tremendous explosion that shook the entire house. Tenchi jumped out of the bed 
and got to the window before Ryoko even sat up. She quickly joined him. 
" What the hell was that?", Ryoko asked. She searched the landscape for 
some sign of the blast. Suddenly Tenchi pointed skyward.


" Up there", He exclaimed. Ryoko followed his finger up and let out a 
small gasp. A ship was streaking earthward as columns of smoke poured forth 
from it. However, they didn't pay much attention to the smoke. It was the 
ship's design that held their attention. While neither one of them had ever 
seen this particular ship before, they had seen the design. Four wing-like 
structures surrounding a cone shaped center with a domed middle. They only 
knew of two ships that shared that design, Ryo-ohki and Ken-ohki. This ship 
was clearly neither of the two. It was bright red with a sky blue dome. It's 
wings were crescent shaped and split at the tip into three spines. As Tenchi 
and Ryoko watched the ship fired at something that was still hidden by the 
clouds. A ball of electric energy formed behind it before a bolt of lightning 
flashed into the clouds. From the clouds four other ships appeared. Ryoko 
gasped in surprise when she saw they too were cabbit ships. The lead ship was 
orange with black stripes and spike like wings that were folded back at a 
steep angle. To it's left was a green ship with fore facing wings that curved 
in like the mandibles of some carnivorous insect. The ship to the right was 
yellow with red, wavy stripes and spiked wings that bent half way down away 
from the center and then back. The last ship was silver with razor like wings 
that split a third of the way from the end at a forty-five degree angle. 
A ball of greenish energy formed in front of the lead ship before 
splitting into five separate burst that arced out before zeroing in on the 
smoking ship. It dodged to the right but the blasts followed it. Another 
monestrous explosion resulted and Tenchi and Ryoko were forced to close their 
eyes to protect them form the brightness of the blast. When they looked again 
the ship was smoking even worse than before. It went into a nose dive that 
landed it in the forest about seven miles from the house. The formation then 
broke up. The three rearward ships flew over the wreak and sent their own 
blasts down upon it. The lead ship turned and headed straight for the house.
" Ryoko, our clothes", Tenchi ordered. Ryoko quickly obeyed and in a 
second they were both dressed again. " Take us across the field" Ryoko grabbed 
hold of Tenchi and teleported them both to the far end of the field. Once 
there Tenchi pulled her into the forest. They watched as the ship came to a 
stop near the house. For a moment Ryoko was worried that it was going to blast 
the house to ashes. Instead though it floated out over the field. A beam of 
light shot from the bottom and deposited a man on the field. He wore a black 
suit that had a red stripe on the right shoulder and four red dots on his 
left. He was a small man, only a little over five feet tall. His hair was 
bright yellow. However what caught Tenchi's attention was his eyes. Except for 
being red, they looked exactly like Ryoko's. He glanced down and was equally 
shocked to find that the man had a short tail. As soon as he landed his ship 
transformed into a cabbit that quickly took it's place on his shoulder. Soon 
after the other three ships returned and their pilots joined him. The green 
ship deposited a huge giant of an individual who had on an identical suit with 
the exception of only having three dots on the shoulder. He had brown hair and 
eyes, but his eyes were also very cat like and he had a tail as well. The 
pilot of the yellow ship was a young man with black hair and blue eyes. He 
also had only three shoulder dots on his outfit. The final individual was a 
tall, thin man with a black beard and hair. He only sported two dots on his 
outfit. 
The short man took a step toward the forest. " Ryoko, I know your in 
there. Show yourself or we'll be forced to blast you out!", he bellowed in a 
surprising loud voice. Ryoko glanced over at Tenchi.
" What should we do?", she asked him. Tenchi kept his gaze straight 
ahead.
" Let me handle this", he told her. With that he stepped forward out of 
the trees. Ryoko followed behind him. " What do you want?", he yelled to the 
man. The man didn't even look at Tenchi. His gaze was solely upon Ryoko.
" Ryoko, you are coming with us. If you resist than we will take you by 
force.", he stated.
" Now just a damn minute!", Tenchi yelled. " I don't know who the hell 
you think you are but no one talks to my wife like that!" The man finally 
turned his head to acknowledge Tenchi's presence.
" I am Hushira, third captain of the fifth fleet of the xon alliance. I 
am under orders to capture Ryoko and Ryo-ohki and bring them back alive. Do 
not interfere or you will die." His eyes narrowed "You got that?" 


" Yeah, I got it", Tenchi replied calmly. He reached into his shirt and 
pulled out the Jurian sword that shared his name. In a flash the blue-white 
blade sprung to life as Tenchi let his energy flow into the handle. " Now get 
this. No one takes my wife anywhere against her will."
" Fool", Hushira spat. He turned to face his companions. " Kill him, 
I'll get Ryoko" The three men nodded and stepped forward. Suddenly there came 
three quick flashes and each one held forth a glowing blade of energy in their 
hand. Tenchi watched with no noticeable reaction. He slowly dropped down into 
a fighting stance.
" Come get me", he challenged. With a thunderous yell the giant launched 
himself at Tenchi. At the same instant the other vanished and reappeared on 
either side of him. Tenchi ducked as they swung their swords in an effort to 
remove his head from his neck. Before they could recover from their swing, 
Tenchi released a wave of energy that threw them backwards. He then brought 
his sword up to block as the giant swung his blade in a downward arc that 
would have split Tenchi's left side from his right. Tenchi knocked the giant's 
blade to his left and buried his knee in the big man's gut. The man doubled 
over form the blow and Tenchi smashed him on the back of his head. He then 
pushed off the man's back as the other two flew at him. He blocked one sword 
with his own and the other with a small energy shield. As soon as he touched 
the ground Tenchi threw himself forward and between the two. He swung upward 
and the man to his right lost his arm at the wrist. Spinning, Tenchi brought 
the blade down at his other opponent who barely managed to block it. A flash 
of light from his left warned Tenchi of the energy blast the giant had sent 
toward him. Tenchi leapt backward and the beam scorch the air he had 
previously occupied. The giant teleported next to his partner. The third man 
joined them, his arm newly regenerated. Tenchi stared down the trio as he 
waited for them to make their next move.
It only took three moves for Ryoko to realize that she didn't have a 
chance at beating Hushira. Ryoko had blocked his overhead swing easily enough, 
but then he had pulled back and swung at her in a horizontal arc with such 
speed that she had barely had time to react. She hadn't even recovered from 
the shock of the blow when Hushira swung completely around and bashed her in 
the side of the head with the bottom of his fist. If he had been trying to 
kill her Ryoko knew she would be dead now. However he was trying to take her 
alive, and she intended to take full advantage of that fact. While the blow 
had staggered her, it hadn't done much damage. However Ryoko let herself fall 
to the ground, acting like she was hurt much more than she really was. Hushira 
fell for it and moved in with his guard down. Ryoko spun onto her back and let 
loose as powerful a blast as she could. However it missed as Hushira twisted 
sideways with incredible speed. Ryoko was stunned. He had dodged her blast 
even though he was a mere three feet away form her. He lashed out with a 
savage kick that caught her under the chin and sent her skidding across the 
ground. Ryoko dug her fingers into the soil to stop herself. She looked up 
just in time to see Hushira flying toward her. She rolled to her right as his 
foot crashed through the ground where her head had been. Before she could get 
up though he drove his knee into her stomach, pinning her to ground. Hushira 
pulled his fist back and took aim at Ryoko's face. She knew she couldn't beat 
his speed, and with him on top of her she couldn't dodge the blow. However she 
was far from ready to give up. As he drove his fist down Ryoko chose to head 
in the same direction, down. Hushira's punch connected with the ground as 
Ryoko phased down into the soil. A second later he followed her.   


As the fight increased in intensity, Tenchi began to worry that he might 
not be able to win. Individually he could have beaten each one of them 
barehanded. However they fought as a team and clearly had fought together for 
a long time. Each one used his own strengths to compensate for any weakness of 
his teammates. Tenchi realized he would have to split them up if he hoped to 
beat them. " But how do you scatter a group of opponents who can teleport back 
together in an instant.", Tenchi asked himself. The trio had him entirely on 
the defensive, their attacks coming too fast for him to make his own. They 
were slowly pushing him back toward the lake. Tenchi saw this for the bad 
situation that it was. He couldn't fight them and swim at the same time. He 
also couldn't outrun them. Tenchi's energy field told him he was only a dozen 
or so steps from the water's edge. If he didn't think of something fast, he 
was dead. Unfortunately being in the middle of a three on one sword fight 
didn't leave him much time to think. Tenchi took a step back and instead of 
landing on solid ground, his foot sunk up to the ankle in wet mud. Unbalanced, 
Tenchi was forced to take some of his attention off the fight to keep himself 
from falling over. This left a huge opening in his defenses that his opponents 
were quick to take advantage of. The giant man's foot contacted squarely with 
his ribs and Tenchi felt and heard several crack. He landed face up in the 
mud, his sword fell from his grasp. Cut off from it's power supply the blade 
vanished. 
" Gotcha", the giant grunted as he raised his blade, aiming it straight 
down at Tenchi's heart. Tenchi felt his body tense up and he fought the urge 
to close his eyes. 
" Excuse me", spoke a calm, quite voice from behind the trio. 
" Who the...", the giant's words were cut off by a loud crack. The big 
man teetered for a second, then fell flat on his face. His view now 
unobstructed, Tenchi could now see his grandfather, bokken in hand, facing 
down the remaining two fighters.
" It would be wise if you two left and took your friend with you", 
Katsuhito calmly informed the remaining fighters. He stood straight up, his 
bokken casually draped across his shoulder. The men looked down at the 
unconscious form of the giant, then at Katsuhito. Their gaze then slowly 
turned to one another. Their eyes locked for a second, and then they attacked. 
 
Ryoko quickly phased down through the surface soil and into the 
underlying bedrock. She headed straight down, moving as fast as she could 
through the dense rock. Half a mile down she made a ninety degree turn and 
moved a few hundred feet off her original path before continuing back down. 
After three more coarse changes and five more miles she stopped to try and 
locate Hushira. Being underground and out of phase with reality however only 
left her with one sense she could still use, her hearing. She strained her 
ears as she listened for the distinct sound made by phased matter passing 
through unphased matter. As she waited, Ryoko could feel a pressure building 
up inside her. She had never been out of phase with reality for this long 
before, she wasn't sure how long she could hold out. " At least I don't have 
to breath when I'm phased, I doubt I could hold my breath very long.", she 
thought. She still couldn't hear Hushira and she began to worry. She didn't 
want to move because it would give away her position, but the pressure was 
starting to become difficult to hold back. She was about to head back up when 
something slammed into her from behind. From the feel of it, Ryoko guessed it 
to be Hushira's boot. His kick nailed her in the shoulder and sent her flying 
through the rocks. She flew into a layer of denser stone and it hit her like a 
human belly-flopping into a pool. She recovered just in time to dodge the next 
attack. Ryoko heard the blow phase past her ear. She moved back quickly but 
still got brushed in the arm by another attack. Ryoko allowed it to spin her 
around and she headed down again. This time she didn't bother trying to throw 
him off, she dove straight down, aiming for the planet's core. 


Both men brought their swords around in an overhead arc as they rushed 
Katsuhito. To Tenchi's amazement he didn't try to dodge, but instead brought 
his bokken up to block the twin strikes. Even more amazing was the fact that 
the wooden sword wasn't cut in half, but actually stopped the energy blades. 
The beam swords struck the wood and released a storm of electric energy. 
Tenchi suddenly realized what his grandfather had done. He had surrounded the 
bokken with his energy, forming a force field that protected the wood. 
Katsuhito's opponents were completely caught off guard when their swords did 
not slice through the wood as they had expected. Katsuhito took full advantage 
and swept both their blades to the side before striking the man on his left in 
the temple. He collapsed bonelessly to the ground. The other man fired a blast 
of energy, but Katsuhito easily sidestepped it. 
" You should have left", Katsuhito said. At that the man lost it. He let 
out a earthshaking yell and flew up into the sky. He thrust his hands out 
toward Katsuhito as he gathered up all the power he could, forming it into a 
massive ball of energy. Unfortunately he was so focused on Katsuhito, he 
forgot all about Tenchi. He never saw the blast coming. Tenchi's shot struck 
the energy sphere, causing it to exploded right in the man's face. He fell to 
ground with wisps of smoke trailing off his body. Tenchi didn't even bother to 
watch him land. He was already running back toward the fields. "Tenchi, where 
are you going!?", his grandfather shouted.
" There's one more, and he's after Ryoko!", Tenchi called back as he 
ran. Katsuhito watched his grandson run until he vanished over a hill. He then 
turned his attention back the three mysterious warriors just as the big one 
sat up. He walked up to the man and calmly knocked him out again.
The temperature was becoming considerately uncomfortable, even for 
Ryoko. Being out of phase helped a lot, but Ryoko could feel sweat forming all 
over her body. Unfortunately without any air to evaporate it away, her 
perspiration could do little to cool her.  Even so she continued down. She 
could hear Hushira right behind her, and she could hear him getting closer. 
Ryoko knew she couldn't change direction without him catching up with her. She 
had a plan, but she didn't know if it would work, or if she could even survive 
doing it, but it required her to keep heading down anyway. Ryoko tried to move 
faster, but it was getting hard to focus on her powers. The pressure in her 
body was becoming painful. Ryoko wasn't about to give in to a little pain 
though. She gritted her teeth and pushed on. The heat was unbearable, but she 
forced herself to take it. 


" Almost there, just a little more." Suddenly Ryoko was jerked to a 
stop. She felt a powerful hand wrapped around her ankle. Hushira pulled her 
toward him. " Let go!", Ryoko screamed as she kicked out. Her foot hit him, 
though she wasn't sure were. She kicked again and felt his grip weaken. A 
third kick broke his grip and she flew away from him, still heading down. A 
few minutes later, Ryoko found what she was looking for, the point were the 
heat was so great that the rock turned from solid to liquid. Ryoko knew she 
wouldn't be able to take the heat for very long, but she only need a few 
seconds. The melting line gave her what she needed, cover. As the rocks melted 
they cracked, split, and broke apart, causing endless creaking, groaning, and 
cracking. The noise would make it impossible for Hushira to follow her. Ryoko 
flew along the line, throwing in several random turns to make sure she'd lost 
him. By now the heat was beginning to burn her skin, and Ryoko was forced to 
head up. As she moved back toward the surface she struggled to keep focused 
over the pain that flowed through her. The pressure was now excruciating; it 
felt like her body was about to burst. Ryoko tried not to panic, she couldn't 
afford to lose it now. She didn't know what would happen if she unphased while 
in solid rock, and she certainly didn't feel like finding out. However she was 
running out of time, and of control. It was taking all she had to keep her 
powers working. At one point she lost focus for a second a she felt a painful 
scraping run along her hand. That quickly brought her attention back. Ryoko 
drew more power into her phasing ability. This slowed down her rate of travel. 
She found herself trapped in a circular power struggle. She had to keep 
herself phased, no matter what. However it was becoming harder and harder to 
stay phased. Because of this she had to feed more power to that ability, but 
that in turn took energy from her flight, slowing her down. That in turn 
increased the amount of time she would have to stay phased. The effects were 
taking their toll on her. Ryoko was starting to feel light headed and weak. 
The pain was still there, but it had become almost a background feeling. " 
Must...keep...focused...just a...little...further" Ryoko crossed the last few 
hundred feet only half conscious. She phased out of the ground and into the 
lake. Though she was still underwater, Ryoko couldn't hold out any more. Her 
powers failed her and she found herself submerged. She swallowed a mouthful of 
water before remembering that she had to hold her breath now. Ryoko half swam, 
half flew to the surface. She barely managed to crawl out of the water before 
collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. 
" Have a good swim?" Ryoko looked up to find Hushira standing over her, 
his arm stretched out with his palm an inch from her face. There was a flash 
of light, and darkness overcame her. 
" Ryoko! Ryoko where are you!?", Tenchi called out as he ran. He did his 
best to ignore the sharp pains in his side as he ran. The fields were empty 
save for the four cabbits sitting near the edge. " Ryoko!" Tenchi stopped as 
he heard the familiar sound of teleportation come from behind him. " Ryoko?" 
Tenchi turned around and found Ryoko, but not how he wanted to. Ryoko was out 
cold, draped across Hushira's shoulder. At the sight Tenchi felt something 
inside snap. Incredible anger and hatred filled him. The last time he had felt 
this way was when Kagato was about to kill Ayeka. However that was nothing 
compared to the feeling that surged through him at the sight of his wife, 
battered and beaten, being carried around like luggage. The blade of sword 
Tenchi erupted from the handle. Waves of energy radiated of the blade as his 
rage fueled his powers. Hushira had to form a shield to keep the waves from 
knocking him over. 
" Sui-noki, it's time to go!", Hushira called out. Immediately the 
orange and black striped cabbit jumped into the air, transforming into it's 
spaceship form. The other three cabbits quickly joined the first.
" YOUR NOT GOING ANYWHERE BUT TO HELL!", Tenchi yelled. He leapt at 
Hushira, thrusting his blade toward the man heart. However his strike missed 
as Hushira was teleported onto his ship. " COME BACK HERE!" Tenchi swung the 
sword around, sending an arc of energy at the ship. The blast was easily 
deflected by the ship's shielding. The three other ships flew off to collect 
their pilots, while Hushira's remained floating above the field. Suddenly a 
crystal flew down and stopped in front of Tenchi. On it Hushira's smiling face 
appeared. 
" You know, I could kill you quite easily, but I don't think that's good 
enough for me now. Instead, I'm going to let you live for a while. I'll be 
back someday to finish you off. That way you can suffer knowing you'll never 
see your wife again, and that you couldn't do anything to save her." 
" This isn't over. I swear I'll get you for this" Upon hearing this, 
Hushira laughed. 
" And how do you plan to do that. Your people don't even have 
interplanetary ships yet, let alone interstellar ones. You have no way to 
follow us. Your stuck on..." The rest of Hushira's words were cut off as 
Tenchi sliced the crystal in half. The three other ships rejoined Hushira's, 
forming a floating diamond. Then all four ships streaked off, disappearing in 
seconds. 


" Where do you suppose their taking her?" Tenchi looked over his 
shoulder to see his grandfather standing behind him.
" I know where their going", Tenchi said. Katsuhito's eyebrows shifted 
up slightly at Tenchi's words. " Hushira said he was to capture Ryoko and Ryo-
ohki." Tenchi turned his gaze out over the forest, to the column of smoke that 
marked the crash site of the fifth ship. " Their going to Juri", Tenchi said 
as he started out toward the crashed ship. " And when they get there, I'll be 
waiting for them."
To be continued...