Well, here we are again as another page turns and a new short story is about to begin. Short Story? maybe not! The O.V.A. Tenchi cast which belongs to Pioneer, not me, is about to find themselves in yet another tangled web of intrigue. This part will force the cast once again to overcome both turmoil and chaos. Enough said, so fasten your seatbelts because the ride is about to begin. Anguish By JL The sky is black beyond darkness, lit up as chance lightning strikes slash through the air, at the other end of the shocking strike we find Lord Yosho picking himself up off the ground in a state of disarray. "I warned you Katsuhito, but you just wouldn't listen would you?" "What am I supposed to do Washu, let them kill each other?" "Big brother! Please don't be hurt, I don't know what is wrong with Ryo-Ohki. Washu, why would she do that to my brother?" "Do not be concerned for me Sasami, I'm a little ruffled but not hurt." "Thank goodness, Washu?" "Well, you see, Ryo-Ohki is under Ryoko's total control, and it appears to me that her orders are to stop any intruders from interfering with the battle at hand." "Um, Washu, do you know why my son and your daughter are fighting, they appear to be in great pain yet they do not yield." "I'm sorry Noboyuki, but I don't have the faintest idea, YET." She summons her halopad and starts tapping away on the keys at an indescribable rate. "Oh No!, here they go again!" Mihoshi screams as she observes the combatants next movements. Every one looks up at the two forms to see what will transpire. It is so eery to look at the two familiar friends. Ryoko dressed in her red and black pirate outfit, sporting more red then black from the multitude of wounds crisscrossing her body. Her eyes are glowing the color of dragon fire and gold as she studies her opponent. Tenchi stares right into those glowing eyes, his own are glowing a bright crimson which match the blood soaking his lighthawk armor. He summons the sword of the lighthawk as Ryoko's gems intensify in power, they attack head on, the power of the swords connecting knocks the onlookers to the ground as each once again score minor hits. A slight line of crimson starts dripping from Tenchi's left cheek as Ryoko wipes the blood trickling over her right eye. They both turn and start pacing each other again. On the sidelines everyone groans from the shockwave of power. Everyone meaning Yosho, Noboyuki, and Sasami. The latter starts crying because she just doesn't understand why this is happening. Yosho and Noboyuki both rush over to Sasami and try to comfort her. Washu, who is sitting in her force field, is typing feverishly at her halopad trying to discover some reason for this insanity. Mihoshi peeks around the sphere engulfing the genius and starts observing the battle once again. Ayeka is watching the battle unfold from under her guardians protective fields, her eyes look devoid of understanding. "Damn it all! screams a flustered Washu, there just isn't enough available data." Sasami wipes the tears from her eyes and looks at the red head. "What do you mean?" "I mean that this fight doesn't appear to be influenced by outside forces." "WHAT!?" Nobo, Yosho, and Sasami say in unison. "From the readings I have gathered from those two up there, I do not see any outside influence. In other words, it would seem that, this is a real fight that they wanted." "You can't believe that, Tenchi and Ryoko don't hate each other, in fact Ryoko loves Tenchi." "I don't believe it Sasami, those were just the readings that I gathered." "Oh my... Oh my goodness... Oh no!" "What is it now Mihoshi?" "Look, everyone look at what they are doing." Everyone looks up at the fight in progress, in the air Ryoko's gems have become almost unbearable to look at without eye protection, and Tenchi's ligthawk blade looks like a mini sun burst. "Oh my." Washu stammers as she surrounds herself Yosho, Nobo, and Sasami in a force field. "This doesn't look good." Yosho states. "What do you mean, dad?" "He means that if they attack at this point it may kill them both." Washu answers. "No! screams Sasami, Big sister Ayeka please help." She shouts as she runs to Ayeka. Ayeka is still staring blankly at the spectacle in the sky when she feels someone tugging on her arm. (Startled) "Sasami!? What is the matter, why are you crying?" Ayeka asks her younger sister as her eyes finally seem to focus. "You have to stop them, Washu says that they are going to kill each other if they attack again." "What are you talking about, who is going to kill who Sasami?" (Flustered) "Ayeka, Tenchi and Ryoko, what is wrong with you?" Ayeka looks up at the battle and her eyes once again take on a distant look, she mumbles "We mustn't interfere in Lord Tenchi's affairs..." Sasami is stunned to say the least, she never expected Ayeka to abandon either Tenchi or Ryoko when their lives were in danger. She almost starts crying again, but out of the corner of her eye she sees something that gives her a slight gleam of hope. "Azaka, Kamidake, please stop them from killing each other." Note, Azaka then Kamidake in dialogue. "Sorry ma'am we can not." "We really would like to help, but.." "But we must protect princess Ayeka." "We are really very sorry." Mihoshi scrambles into the protective shell surrounding the two princesses with a look of sheer horror in her eyes. "Oh no, Mihoshi, they haven't started, please tell me they haven't started." Mihoshi crumbles to her knees, hugs the little princess and starts crying in response to her question. Sasami finally reaches her limit and hugs Mihoshi back as tears streak her face as well. In the sky Tenchi and Ryoko square off, an aura of red is radiating from Ryoko while a blue aura surrounds Tenchi. With out so much as a cry they charge each other as their blades collide the onlookers are blinded by the brilliance and the shields almost collapse. Washu, though completely shaken from holding the shield in place is the first to recover. She immediately looks back at the battle field and sees Ryoko at upward angle to Tenchi, who for some reason is now holding a hatchet. Ryoko throws her beam sword at Tenchi in a downward angle bringing her left arm high and undefensible, at the same time Tenchi throws the hatchet and twists his body in an attempt to dodge the beam blade. They strike simultaneously the beam blade slashing across Tenchi's abdomen from his right rib cage to his left pelvis. The hatchet making a sickening noise as it thuds under Ryoko's left arm and disappears. For the first time in the battle Washu can feel the excruciating pain of her daughter through their connection, she knows that the battle is coming to an end. She watches as Ryoko's eyes return to normal coloring and her gems start to fade back to dormancy, she looks at Tenchi and can see his eyes are back to gentle brown and the lighthawk markings and wings are blinking in and out. Ryoko and Tenchi lose conscious control of their powers as their armor fades replaced by their torn and bloody everyday clothes. Tenchi drops the remaining two feet to the ground locking his knees and covering his torn stomach as he somehow remains on his feet, waves of agony ripple through his battered body. Ryoko, who is less fortunate, plummets from seven feet off the ground a single scream of agony escapes her lips as she slams the ground. Tenchi blinks his eyes open at the scream and staggers towards Ryoko with concern in his eyes. His arms are tightly held against his stomach as he reaches Ryoko, he drops to his knees and shakily puts one of his hands on her shoulder. At his touch, Ryoko opens her tear filled eyes to stare into Tenchi's caring and apologetic eyes. Neither one of them able to breath all that well collapse in an embrace as they lose conscienceness. Ryo-Ohki no longer under Ryoko's influence shifts back to cabbit form and hops towards her mistress as fast as she can. Washu, however, is the quicker as she pulls out her medical bag from a subspace hole that appears in front of the genius. "Help! someone Help!" she screams as she starts dressing the wounds as fast as she can... End! part #1 What? Did you think I named this part Anguish for nothing? If your interested in this little ditty then I urge you to watch for the second part of Azusa's Scheme, that is the name of this series by the way. As always ideas are welcome. So I guess I will see you next time! JL.