Tenchi 2000 Created by Jacob McDonald Episode Four: No need for a fight! Disclaimer: Pioneer and AIC own all of Tenchidom forever more! May we Fanfiction Authors never say that we made up Tenchi or it’s cast! Sure we can say that we made up the stories we write, but we’re using someone else ideas to do so. That’s what this disclaimer is for. "Princess Ayeka?" Ayeka’s head snapped up from where she was staring blankly at the ground when the large floating log addressed her. "Yes, Azaka?" "Kagato’s ship has arrived. He has requested to dock with us at once." "Very well, he may." the Jurian Princess turned and addressed the young man standing behind her, "Tenchi, do you think you’re ready?" "No." he said flatly. "Well, at least try to fight him?" Hiro said as he walked up next to his friend, "I’d hate to go over there and rescue Washu and everything only to come back to a headless best buddy..." "I’ll do my best." Tenchi said, with a firm look of resolve on his face. "And then some." Katsuhito added. Tenchi gulped. "Alright Ryoko, are we ready?" Hiro asked. "Yeah, I can get us over to his ship any time." the space pirate said, looking rather unenthusiastic about rescuing her mother. "Good, then as soon as we see him, we go." Hiro nodded. They all turned and watched the docking portal, waiting for it to open. After several agonizingly slow moments passed by, Kamidake’s voice broke the silence and made everyone jump a foot in the air. "There is another ship coming up on us now... I’ve IDed it as Tsunami!" the guardian sounded rather surprised. "What in the name of all that is holy is Sasami doing here?" Ayeka yelled at the floating log. Just then, the portal to the docking bay started to slide open. Hiro suddenly found himself in a hallway that looked much like the ones on Ayeka’s ship, but with a deeper, older feel. Ryoko poked him in the side, and he jumped. "Don’t do that!" he hissed at her, "Do you think he has any guards?" "Knowing Kagato, he wouldn’t trust anyone to do anything for him." Ryoko said with a fair amount of malice in her voice, "Let’s just find my Mom and get the hell off this ship." "Right." Hiro started off down the hall and came to a large open area, like the central bridge on Ayeka’s ship. Across the clearing, tied to a tree by glowing vines, was a limp and beat up Washu. Hiro stepped forward one step and stopped. "What’s up?" Ryoko asked, flying up next to him. "Could Kagato have guardians like Ayeka’s?" he asked her. "Maybe... I don’t know of any others though... Azaka and Kamidake have always guarded the first princess... I don’t think there are any other logs floating around. "What about those?" Hiro pointed to two large logs with symbols on them. They were all black, with red detailing, and red glowing gems set in them. "You are trespassing on this ship!" one of them said in a dark and evil tone of Azaka’s voice. "You must be destroyed!" the other bellowed in the same tone of Kamidake’s voice. "Run!" Ryoko yelled as the two evil guardians opened fire. "Sister!" Kagato said as he stepped onto the bridge of Ryo-Oh, "How nice to see you in person for a change!" he stopped when he saw Tenchi and Katsuhito standing behind her, Tenchi tightly griping the Tenchi-Ken in his right hand. The Prince of Juri frowned. "Ayeka, what is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "I have been informed by Father of your evil plans Kagato! You will not gain control of the Tenchi-Ken!" Ayeka shouted at him, "Azaka! Kamidake! Capture him!" "Yes Princess!" the log guardians said in unison as they flew at Kagato with deadly speed. The dark Jurian simply extended one hand and a shock wave of energy blasted them back and into the ground. "Well that didn’t work too well..." Kagato said as he stalked forward. A red glowing sword appeared in his right hand and he raised in threateningly, "Now give me the Tenchi-Ken!" Tenchi concentrated hard for a moment and a blue white blade sprang from the hilt he held. He raised in up in front of himself and stood his ground. Ayeka and Katsuhito stepped back, giving Tenchi all the room he needed. "And are you going to stop me, boy?" Kagato didn’t slow down as he strode forward and slashed quickly with his energy sword. Tenchi expertly avoided the attack and slashed one of his own at the evil Juri Prince. Kagato stepped out of the way of the blow and spun quickly, bringing his sword around as he did. Tenchi brought his own blade up, catching Kagato’s and being sent flying back into the wall. He slumped to the ground in a heap. The blade of the Tenchi-Ken winked out. Kagato’s laughter rang throughout the large open bridge. Ayeka looked to be on the verge of tears brought by desperation and anger, and Katsuhito stood calmly by, a level gaze set on Kagato. "You are beaten, Sister! I’ll make your death quick and painless if you give up now!" "You are a monster! I thought Ryoko was bad, but you Brother..." Ayeka’s fists shook at her sides, "You are worse then she will ever be!" Kagato frowned again, then scowled, "Fine. If that’s the way you want it..." he raised his hand and power began to build around it. A groan and a buzz brought Kagato’s attention back to the young man he had just knocked across the room. Tenchi stood behind him, the Tenchi-Ken humming in front of him, with a look of determination of his face that was only slightly marred by the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. "You want more then boy?" Kagato turned back to him and raised his sword, "Then come and meet your do-" "Can it." Tenchi said in a no-nonsense tone. Kagato was startled by the boy suddenly cutting him off for a moment, but he quickly scowled, "You need to be taught a lesson in manners!" he said, pointing his sword at Tenchi. "I said CAN IT!" Tenchi shouted and charged in. The two energy blades crossed with a crackling of lightning. "Ryoko!" Hiro shouted as he ran up to a tree and jumped at it. He landed on the vertical trunk with his feet and pushed off, diving away just as the lasers ripped the bark apart. The guardian was right behind the blasts, and did a quick turn, barely avoiding the now smoking tree. "I’m kind of busy right now!" Ryoko shouted back as she swooped away from the large log that was trying for all it was worth to crush her. "We need to figure out how to get rid of these things!" Hiro jumped off of another tree and ran again as the evil guardian chased him. "Well, I’ve tried blasting ‘em, and that doesn’t work, and I’ve tried to cut ‘em open, and that doesn’t work, and I’ve tried beating them to a pulp, but that doesn’t work either! Any more suggestions?!?" Ryoko screamed as she shoved the log away from her. Hiro sprang into the tree that was holding Washu, and jumped off of it. The lasers from the guardian blasted apart the energy cords that had the diminutive scientist tied up, and she slumped forward and off of the tree, landing on the ground with a thump. "Yeah!" Hiro yelled as he ran from the guardian again, "Ryoko! Lead the other one down in front of me!" he shouted up at her. "Whatever you say!" Ryoko dived straight for the ground as the log flew at her, and it followed. The space pirate flew down in front of Hiro, and then phased out as the evil guardian smashed into the ground right where she had been a moment before. Hiro jumped and sprang off the log as he had been the trees, and as he had predicted, the guardian chasing him fired, blasting apart its counterpart as it did. It stopped over the smoldering remains for a moment, then turned to where Ryoko was hovering a few meters away. "You tricked us! Now you will die!" the log bellowed. "What? He tricked you! Kill him!" she shouted back at it, pointing at Hiro. "Die! Die! Die! Die!" the guardian yelled as it flew at Ryoko, opening fire as it did. The space pirate flew out of the way, but the blasts kept coming, forcing her to keep moving. She flew off and the log followed her. Hiro turned and sprinted to where Washu lay on the ground. He lifted her in his arms and gently slapped her face, "Come on Washu! We need your help! Wake up!" "Wha..." Washu started to come around and looked up at Hiro’s face, "Oh... Hiro! I didn’t know you cared so much about me... I’m sure our age difference can be worked out..." "Washu!" Hiro yelled at her. Her eyes popped open and she sat up quickly. Taking stock of the situation (her daughter screaming for help as a deranged looking black Juri guardian log chased her) Washu stood and walked to the middle of the room. "Mom!" Ryoko yelled as she swooped at her parent, "Help me!" Washu grinned and shook her head. She extended one finger as Ryoko flew past her and a wave of energy enveloped the guardian, making it vanish. Ryoko just floated behind her, mouth agape. "How’d you..." Ryoko was speechless. Washu cackled manically, then said, "I sent it into a subspace pocket! Hehe! Having a foolish daughter, is more work for Mom!" Hiro walked over shaking his head, "We need to get back to Ryo-Oh..." he said, "Tenchi is fighting Kagato." Washu stopped laughing, "Then yes, we must get back. Kagato will take him apart, even with the Tenchi-Ken..." Washu looked to her left at the wall suddenly, then her eyes went wide. She put her hands out in front of her and her computer popped up. She tapped at a few keys and grinned, "When did Sasami get here?" she asked. "Oh! I almost forgot about her!" Ryoko slapped her forehead, "She showed up just as we were leaving!" "Who’s Sasami?" Hiro asked. "It’s Ayeka’s younger sister." Washu said, "And that means we may have enough combined Juri energy to activate the true power of that sword..." a grin split her face, "I’ve always wanted to see what that thing could really do! Come on!" and she dashed off for the docking port. Tenchi hit the wall again. His back was starting to hurt from it. He could see several dents in the bulk heads that his body had made out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t dare let Kagato out of his sight even for a second. He pushed off the wall and charged back in. As he and Kagato engaged in another exchange of blows, Ayeka stood by watching with ever growing anxiety. She suddenly burst out, "Kick his ass, Tenchi!" "Yeah! Kick his ass Tenchi!" said the voice of a younger girl next to her, then it said, "Hey, who’s Tenchi?" Ayeka looked down to see a young girl with long blue pig tails and bright ruby red eyes. She wore a green and blue dress, and two small triangles adorned her forehead. "Sasami! Don’t use such fowl language! It’s not befitting the Second Princess of the House of Juri..." Ayeka said, then shook her head. Now was no time to be scolding her sister that she hadn’t seen in years. She knelt and wrapped the shorter girl in a hug, "Sister, how are you?" "I’m fine. I detected your ship and Kagato’s ship in the same area, so I thought I might stop by and see what was going on... who’s our brother fighting?" "Sasami listen to me," Ayeka said, "Kagato has turned away from the light and is going to try to take over the Empire from Father. We can’t let him do that, so Tenchi, that’s the boy who is fighting him right now, is trying to stop him. Do you understand me?" Ayeak shook her sister a little, "Kagato is evil!" "Okay, Ayeka! Stop shaking me!" Sasami replied. Ayeka stopped shaking her, "I already know what’s going on... Tsunami told me." "Good!" said a cheery voice from behind them. They turned to see a bruised and beaten Washu, with a rather harassed looking Ryoko, and Hiro, who was holding his side. "Ayeka," Washu ordered, "we need Tenchi over here so that I can explain how you three must use your Juri power to focus it through the Tenchi-Ken and into the ultimate weapon!" "Well let me just go tap him on the shoulder!" Ayeka shouted at Washu. The scientist frowned. "Don't be getting mad at me!" she replied. "You just wait a minute Miss Washu!" Ayeka said, and they began to exchange a few choice words. Sasami looked at the two of them then turned to Hiro, "Hi! My name's Sasami! What's yours?" "Hiro... I'm one of Tenchi's friends from Earth..." Hiro smiled down at the little girl. "Oh, is your side hurt?" Sasami asked him. "Only a little, I got hit by a laser back on Kagato's ship, and it just now started hurting." Hiro grimiced and looked down at his hand as he pulled it away from his side. It was covered in blood. "Let me see that..." Sasami said, walking forward. She put a hand out and a blue glow surrounded Hiro's side. The wound closed and healed instently. "Wow! Thanks Sasami!" he said, patting her on the head. "Your welcome!" she smiled and hopped back over to Ayeka, tugging on her sleave, "Ayeka, we need to make the ultimate weapon now!" she said. Ayeka looked down at her little sister as she was about to say something to Washu about being the mother of a monster, and smiled, "Yes of course! Washu, we need to get Tenchi over here right away!" The diminutive read head face faulted. Katsuhito pulled Azaka out of the ground after several minutes of trying. He stood back as Kamidake joined his counterpart in front of him. "We have sensed the power in you since the you first came on board..." Kamidake said. "Yes, are you....?" Azaka asked. "I am." he replied simply, "And I need you to protect my grandson and the others while Washu shows them how to use the Tenchi-Ken to take care of Kagato once and for all." "What will you do?" Kamidake floated a little closer. "I will hold off Kagato." he said, turning back to the fray. Tenchi was holding his own against the evil Jurian, but it was only a matter of time before he slipped up and Kagato had an opening to exploit, "Let us go then." he said, and walked forward. Tenchi crossed blades with Kagato again, and they pushed apart, Tenchi standing between his friends and the evil man before him. "Oh, just give up!" Kagato yelled, and lunged at him. And hit a force field. Bouncing back, the dark Jurian looked up to see Tenchi and the others surrounded by a globe of blue energy being generated by the guardians. "What kind of a trick is this?" Kagato scowled. "No trick, Kagato..." Katsuhito said, stepping from behind a tree to Kagato’s left, "No tricks... brother...." Ayeka’s eyes grew wide, and then she fell to her knees. Sasami whispered, "Yosho...?" and Washu arched an eyebrow. "I didn’t even see that one coming..." said the short red head. "Grandpa..." Tenchi breathed. An energy sword appeared in Yosho’s hand and he pointed it at Kagato, "You will not win this fight, Brother." "We’ll see if you can still beat me!" Kagato yelled with a wicked smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes. The swords crossed, and energy flew.