Forces of Kagato

By Sean Thibaudeau

Chapter 1: A Time to Relax?

	" Tenchi, please get better soon." Whispers Ryoko as she soaks and gently 
lays another washcloth on his head. She stares into his sleeping face. " 
Tenchi... I love you more than anything..." she caresses his hair and 
burning forehead. " If you don't get better soon, I don't know what I'll 
do." She is almost in tears but then feels someone's presence in the 
doorway. There was only one person it could be, Washu. Everyone else in the 
house was sick with fever.
	" Hey, don't be so down," the little scientist began to walk in. " Think of 
it like this, at least right now you have Tenchi all to yourself cause 
Aeyeka is in the next room even sicker than Tenchi."
	" I guess you're right," Ryoko gets off her knees and touches his face 
again.
	" Then, again, I'm not sick either and I've noticed the way Tenchi's been 
looking at me lately... I can almost see his desire to say, 'gee Washu, I'd 
love to be one of your guinea pigs, after all, you are the greatest 
scientist in the universe.' "
	Ryoko can't get the stupefied expression off her face. "Yeah, OK Washu." 
She walks through the wall into the next room where Aeyeka and Sasami are 
sleeping. She thanks to herself how much she almost missed the fighting over 
Tenchi. "Half the fun is trying to piss Aeyeka off while winning over 
Tenchi. Nah, I love Tenchi...it's just fun to piss her off too."
	Ryoko floats down from the ceiling to see that Washu and Ryo Ohki are 
watching TV. "Hey, shouldn't you be workin' on an antibiotic or something?" 
Their eyes were glued to the TV and their ears could hear nothing else but 
the bad acting. Ryoko walks up behind the couch. 
"Washu!.......Washu!!.........WASHU!!!!!" The space pirate grabs her neck 
and begins to shake her.
	"Hey, this is my favorite show! Tenchi is asleep; trust me, he doesn't feel 
anything right now. Just wait 20 minutes and I promise I will work all night 
to make everyone better." Ryoko doesn't like the idea but really, there is 
no way to force Washu to do anything. She sits down and watches the show but 
is really only thinking of Tenchi the entire time.  Towards the end of the 
show, she starts thinking about how great it would be to just be with Tenchi 
alone somewhere, a WELL Tenchi. No sooner did that thought cross her mind 
than a commercial came on advertising a great vacation spot in the 
mountains.
	~That's right folks; you can spend four days and three nights at the 
fabulous FUN FUN Hotel for an unbelievable price! A great view of the 
mountains and springs! Fabulous dining establishments that are more romantic 
than anything you could possibly imagine! Call now and make arrangements!!~
	  Ryoko has a big grin on her face. Not only would she win Tenchi over with 
her performance as a nurse but she'd also surprise him with a trip and 
seduce him as soon as possible. What could go wrong, she thinks. The show 
ends and Washu and Ryo Ohki sigh as the two main characters kiss and the 
screen goes dark. "Well, time for bed," Washu quickly climbs off the back of 
the couch and tries to run to her lab.
"Not so fast!" Ryoko grabs her collar just before she got to the door. " You 
promised me you would fix up a little concoction to make Tenchi better!" 
Washu spins around and smiles a cheap plastic cheesy smile. " I guess I will 
then."
	The two of them enter the lab and Ryo-Ohki goes to sleep with a half eaten 
carrot in her mouth. Washu mixes samples and stirs things together for about 
20 minutes. She then pours the green fluid into 7 beakers, each with an 
equal amount. " Here. Give this to everyone. Pour it slowly into their 
mouths. They should be better by noon tomorrow, thanks to me!!" The smile is 
less cheesy and filled with exhaustion. As she took the chemical rack, Ryoko 
thanks her and leaves the lab with a mixed feeling.
	As she walks up the stairs, she becomes more and more frustrated. "Damnit! 
If Aeyeka gets better by the same time Tenchi does, there is no way Tenchi 
and I will go on that vacation with out that prune getting in the way...and 
I can't have that." Instinctively, she goes to Tenchi's room first. She 
thinks for a little and then pours the chemical from one beaker into 
another, the emptying one meant for Aeyeka. She pours almost half of it into 
the other beaker. Ryoko moves over to Tenchi, "Here, sweetie, I have 
something that is going to make you all better." She starts to pour the 
stuff into Tenchi's mouth. Half awake, Tenchi began to swallow it. Ryoko 
sighs, "Too bad I didn't ask Washu to make a love potion and throw it in 
there too. But by the end of the week, there won't be a need for that, now 
will there, Tenchi?" The boy half smiles in his sleep and Ryoko reluctantly 
leaves to distribute the antidote to everyone else.
	The next morning, Tenchi climbs down the stairs scratching the back of his 
head. " Boy, I am sure am tired. But it sure beats feeling like I did 
yesterday." He looks around downstairs, but no one is there except Ryoko, 
who had been waiting all night for Tenchi to see how well she had taken care 
of him.
	" Hey, Tenchi!!"
	" Oh, hey Ryoko." He starts to walk around downstairs, looking for food.
	" How do you feel??!" she find every conceivable way to get in the way.
	" I'm hungry and trying to find something to eat...." He walks towards the 
cabinet where Sasami keeps the rice but Ryoko teleports in the small space 
between Tenchi and the cabinet. "... if you get out of the way, I'll 
probably find some."
	Ryoko grabs his waist and pulls him tight up against her. " Oh Tenchi, you 
are looking at the best treat in the house. You should taste it." She leans 
to kiss him but he pushes her off gently.
	" Oh brother. I need a vacation."
	" Oh really?" wow, Ryoko thinks, this could NOT be any better. " Well, 
Tench, have I got something for you..."

	In deep space, a small but elongated craft flies at it's fullest velocity. 
There are many signs of battle damage but it operates perfectly. Within the 
ship are 5 warriors. 4 are stationed on the bridge. They include two young 
men, an old man, and a young woman. The 5th enters slowly, "Ibutsu... report 
tracking status."
	The old man up front hits a switch and a transparent screen appears in 
before him. " He has changed course again. It should come as no surprise. 
His zigzagging motions have been difficult to track, but now are just 
getting ridiculous. No patterns at all. Every time we stop at a planet to 
investigate, we get farther behind him.  I'd say we are at least 5 days 
behind him at best."
	The young commander's emerald eyes turn into an almost golden color. " 
Damnit, why is he running, he should know he cannot escape us! Grrr. Try 
this. Instead of following every energy signature from his ship, we should 
go down the middle of these zigzags. When we detect a sudden change, we'll 
follow that."
	" Sir, I feel that his changes are too frequent for that! He could lead us 
to nowhere!"
	" Ibutsu, you will do as I command! I command what Lord Kagato would want. 
Tabibito must be found and executed. I have a feeling I know where he is 
going." He strokes his chain for a moment. "Ah... very well, Ibutsu, you 
have been tracking longer than I." He pushes his black hair back behind his 
ears. "Tabibito," he whispers to himself, " you have THE most recognizable 
ship in the galaxy. Why do you insist on making this any harder?" He stares 
into space, " I will capture you."
	"Watsuremono," the female member stands up and salutes. "May I speak to you 
in private?" He nods and the two begin to leave into the corridor. " 
Keiryoku, take the helm," the door shuts behind them.
	" Yes, Akumu?"
	" Sir, I think we should just go with your initial feeling. I mean, if he 
is heading somewhere and you are sure of this through Kogato's vast 
knowledge, I think we should go with it. Kagato is... uh... was never 
wrong."
	Watsuremono pets her short hair in a patronizing manor. " No... no, that's 
not as good an idea as it seems, my dear Akumu." He pauses for several 
moments until she is about to interject. " Why? We need to keep in mind who 
we are dealing with. He knows we are on his trail, even a drunk cabbot could 
see that. If he's a smart as he's supposed to be, he might realize his life 
is more important than whatever he is heading for. Either way, we shall soon 
see."
	Akumu looks at him for a moment, "So, we should stay on this bread trail 
because he is unpredictable as is, let alone when he knows he is being 
pursued?"
	" My, you a quick one, aren't you? (sigh) If we don't find him, the Galaxy 
Police will. Keep in mind what ship he has. If we lose him, all we have to 
do is monitor transmissions."
" No Ryoko! It's crazy!" Tenchi throws his hands up in the air and paces a 
little. Ryoko has a disappointed look on her face. " I'm sorry, but we 
should be taking care of the girls, and my grandfather and father, not going 
on some pleasure cruise."
	" You said yourself that you needed a vacation from all of this. What could 
be better and more convenient?" Tenchi continues to pace while Ryoko floats 
around him, her arms all over him.
	" What I mean is EVERYTHING, and last time I checked, everything includes 
you too."
	Ryoko finds her footing, " You see, that's where you're wrong. Tenchi, if I 
bother or annoy you, it's only because that witch Aeyeka has the nerve to 
try and steal you away from me." She moves closer and closer to his face 
until her mouth is about half an inch from his neck and her breath warms his 
skin. " I promise you, Tenchi, if you and I go out for a few days, you'll 
have a good time, I'm sure of it."
	" What about the cost of that FUN FUN Hotel? It sounds like it costs a 
lotta lotta money! I know I DON'T have enough! And what about the girls? 
They are still sick"
	" Washu can ta-"
	" Stop thinking about yourself! You always shy away from responsibility!"
	Ryoko backs away and sits on the couch. She is almost in tears, but not 
angry like usual. " I took care of you Tenchi. Did I do a good job...who 
knows? But I tried. I tried so hard! I spent almost every single moment by 
your side, waiting for you to get better and tending to your every need. 
Sometimes when you weren't resting well, I thought I heard you whisper my 
name." Tenchi sits on the couch beside her and takes her in his arms. She 
smiled as her face runs across his chest. " Tenchi. All I want is for you to 
have a good time with me. Money is not an issue. The girls will be better 
soon. PLEASE." With the beautiful demon staring deeply into his eyes, he 
can't refuse. "Alright..."
	"REALLY? You mean it?" Tenchi nods and smiles. " YES!!" Ryoko flies into 
him and the couch falls over. " You won't be sorry, Tenchi, only sorry that 
you didn't want this earlier! Oh, we're going to have such a great time, you 
and me! We can do whatever we want without that stuck-up princess in our_"
	Tenchi covers her mouth and she melts at his touch. " We'll leave tomorrow, 
ok? In the mean while, I am going to take care of everyone." He lets go and 
begins to ascend up the stairs.
	" Well, while you're doing that, I'm going to get some sake to celebrate." 
She dashes out the window and flies in the direction of the nearest town, 
with her real intent, obviously, to get money. Tenchi asked himself what he 
got himself into. His trip upstairs ends abruptly when the door to Washu's 
lab slams open. He turns and sees Washu walk out wearing the most ridiculous 
pajamas ever.
	"Hey, Tenchi!" She starts to walk over to the kitchen.
	" Miss Washu, how have you been lately?" he starts to walk down, following 
her with his eyes.
	"I'm fine, fine. A little hungry. How are YOU feeling? I think that's a 
more important question. C'mon, have some cereal with me." She enters the 
kitchen with Tenchi a few steps behind her.
	He begins to stuff his face with dry cereal, " Yeah (CRUCH) 200% 
bet(cruch)ter. I am a little worried though. Ryoko wants me to go with her 
for a little vacation."
	"Oh really?" Washu thinks for a minute. " Well, you should go. Cause, ya 
know, Ryoko is completely responsible for your recovery. Without her, you'd 
probably as sick as everyone else."
	"Really?"
" Uh huh,"
" Wow... I thought you would have come up with some sort of formula for us 
to get better or something," another fistful of dried cereal goes into his 
mouth.
	"Nope. The fighting between Aeyeka and Ryoko may be funny sometimes, but 
when there is a rest, a great scientist like me takes advantage of the 
silence, ya know? I only would have done that if you were deathly ill."
	" Yeah, I suppose so, that all makes sense. I mean, I really care about 
Ryoko a lot, but sometimes she drives me nuts. And now she wants me to go on 
this vacation while all my friends and family are sick. I said yes, and 
yeah, I do want to go, I love spending time with her; it makes her happy. 
But I know that when Aeyeka finds out, she's going to kill both of us."
	" Ah, don't worry about that Tenchi. I'll be sure to leave Aeyeka in the 
dark... if I can borrow you for an experiment for a second....?" The little 
woman stared up at him.
	" Sure, things can't get any worse anyhow. Hey, is it safe to take samples 
from the recently sick?"
	Washu wasn't really paying attention but she nods anyway. Tenchi thinks 
'why me' and, with his head down, walks into the lab. " That's a good lab 
ra-, I mean, thanks a lot, Tenchi!" Washu shuts the door the second he is 
in.
	During all of this, Ryoko had flown to the next town over. By now, she sees 
the perfect place to get some money for her vacation idea. She lands and 
takes a good look at the place, a strip club. " These guys are bound to have 
plenty of money. All I need to do is relieve them of it before they waste it 
on some blond bimbo." She walks through the wall and, to her luck, there are 
guys everywhere. It is packed. They all look very rich and very willing to 
share some of their wealth.
	She walks around and notices that there are bills all over the floor. She 
picks them up for a few moments before realizing that it would just be 
easier to take it from everyone's wallets. " Tenchi won't mind, well, not 
like he'll ever know," she thought while she followed a routine of  
teleporting, then picking the pockets, and so on. As she makes her way 
closer to the main stages through the "mosh pit" like conditions, she sees 
the dancing girls. "  Uhhh," she thinks as she continues pick pocketing, 
"damn, they're hideous! How can they waste all this money on them! Oh well, 
it's going to a better use... and Tenchi will get a ten times better show 
than this!  I'll make that boy so excited, he'll apologize a hundred times 
for not wanting it sooner. He ha!"
	When she picks the wallet of a larger man, he feels her hand retract from 
his back pocket and turns around. Ryoko, of course, hides the wallet in a 
pocket. " Hey!" he says in a loud and grouchy voice. Ryoko thinks to herself 
'now you've done it' and nervously chuckles. "Did you grab my ass?!"
	" WHAT?!" Ryoko looks at the guy and falls on the floor laughing 
hysterically for a few minutes before getting the sense to stand up. But 
during all of this, the dense man continued to talk.
	"Hey, you're pretty sexy. How's about we leave together after the show is 
over, eh?"
	Ryoko starts to make her way to the back of the club. She had enough money. 
" How's about you stick your thumb up your ass!"
	The man walks up behind her and grabs her ass. Ryoko stops immediately, " 
Hey, what kind of dancer are you? You're no fun at all!"
	She slowly turns her head, " What do you think you're doing?"
	" What does it look like? I'm feelin' you up, ya know, getting my money's 
worth. Haha!"
	Ryoko picks him and up and throws him across the building, he crashes into 
the door of the men's room. " I belong to Master Tenchi! NO ONE touches me 
but him!" She notices that everyone is staring at her so she teleports 
outside. All of the men in the club look bewildered. One asks, " What does 
that mean, anyway?" 	Another replies, " I dunno, maybe it's some kind of new 
slave master bondage program they have!" The men simultaneously rush the 
stage, hoping to be able to purchase a girl. The man on top of the bathroom 
door rubs his head, " Hey, somebody stole my wallet!"
	" OOOOWWWWWW!!!" Tenchi screams across the vast lab. " That hurt! I thought 
you only needed me for one experiment, you've taken like 10 samples 
already!"
Washu walked away from the strapped down boy with a full syringe of blood. " 
Oh, did I say 1 experiment? I guess I must have meant enough samples for 1 
year's worth of experiments! You can't remember everything, I guess!"
She puts the samples into containers that preserve tissue. " Washu, please 
let me go." He wiggles under the straps that hold him. " No pain Aeyeka 
could EVER inflict on me or Ryoko is worth this!"
	The little scientist looked at him hesitantly, " Alright, Tenchi." She 
smiled and released him. " When Aeyeka wakes up, I'll make up some story 
about you going somewhere, and Ryoko running away because you rejected her. 
She'll buy it."
	" Thanks, I just hope you are convincing... you know Aeyeka when she's 
jealous."
	" Hey, look who you're talking to! If push comes to shove, I'll even make a 
clone of Ryo_"
Tenchi interrupts as he turns and walks to the door, " No, no, that won't be 
necessary! I'm sure she's buy it. Come on, let's take care of everyone." He 
looks behind him and sees that Washu was once again not paying attention and 
staring into nothingness. " Washu?" Tenchi kneels down in front of her and 
snaps his fingers in her face and calls her name until she finally snaps out 
of it. " Huh... what happened, you looked dead?"
	" I... I don't know. It doesn't feel like anything physically happened, but 
I have this weird feeling in my mind; like someone is trying to get into 
it."
" Who would want to get into your mind that can't already? Dr. Klay?"
	 I don't know what it is." She quickly goes from a troubled to a plastic 
carefree look. " Ah, it doesn't matter, no one can tap into my mind that I 
don't want there." They make their way to the door and agree to take care of 
everyone.
On her bed, Princess Aeyeka tosses and turns frantically; she is having a 
nightmare. She is alone and searching for Tenchi in a field at night. She 
calls out his name and scurries about the field like princesses do. Out of 
the horizon, she sees a ship. At first, it looks like Ryo-Oh, her ship that 
was destroyed. But she hears Tenchi screaming for help and realizes it is 
Ryo-Ohki. Tenchi yells for her to save him from Ryoko, who has kidnapped 
him. " I'll save you, Master Tenchi!!" she cries out. " Guardians..." she 
looks around and sees that neither appeared.  Ryo-Ohki fires on her and it 
impacts close to her. Aeyeka flies through the air and hits the ground hard. 
As she looks up, she sees everyone from the house laughing at her. They keep 
laughing no matter how many times she tells them to stop.
	In the real world, Washu is giving Mihoshi water when Aeyeka screams. She 
turns to her to help but Aeyeka falls back to sleep a second later. Tenchi 
enters after exiting his father's room. " Aeyeka!!!" he kneels down by her 
bed and puts water on her head. " Is she ok?"
	" She is better than she was before, if that makes you feel any better."
He begins to stroke the princess's hair. " I hope she gets better while I am 
gone. I feel so selfish for going, especially now." Washu playfully puts her 
arms around him and acts all cute.
	" Hey, cheer up! I'll be taking care of everyone! Besides, with all the 
blood I sucked out of you, you'll need a rest!" Tenchi thought to himself a 
little. It did make sense though. Washu goes to the other side of the room 
and tries to give Keyone water, who is half awake. Tenchi looks over at 
Sasami, who is sleeping peacefully. Tenchi had been sick so long, he'd 
almost forgotten what she looked like. Then, he starts to get dizzy and 
passes out on Aeyaka. Washu drags him over to his room, the whole time 
complaining how heavy he is.
	Tenchi finds himself in a strange place. " Great," he thinks, " I fell 
asleep. Damnit, Washu, why did you have to take so much blood out of me?" 
While walking around he sees a girl with an umbrella and flowers gently 
falling from the trees around her. " It looks like my mother," he thinks, " 
I should go over and see, I mean, it's only a dream...right?" He runs over 
to the girl and she turns around. Just as he is about to see her face, he 
feels a kiss on his lips. He opens his eyes and sees Ryoko's face kissing 
him. Disturbed, he lets out a yell.
	"AHHHHH! Ryoko what are you doing?" Ryoko backs off of him and wipes her 
mouth.
	" Don't complain now, they'll be a lot more where that came from in the 
next couple o' days, you can believe that. So, how do you feel baby?" She 
throws his blankets and sheets off him. " Come on, get up, we have to go! 
'Seize the day' they say! Haha!"
	" Oh, brother." Tenchi thinks to himself. " Well, it can't be all bad. I 
can deal with whatever comes my way, as long as Aeyeka doesn't find out. 
She'll kill us."
	" Oh Tenchi, we are going to have so much fun!!! Just you and me!" he tries 
to pack his bag as best as he can, but Ryoko is trying to cuddle with him 
all the while. " Hey, Tenchi, don't pack so many clothes, half the time you 
probably won't be wearing them." She mumbled.
	" What was that, Ryoko?" Tenchi asks innocently.
	" Oh, nothing, c'mon let's go!" Ryoko drags him out the door as soon as he 
gets his bags packed. She flies with a backpack on and Tenchi in her arms, 
holding his luggage. He's a little scared that she'll pull some air stunts, 
but he figures it can't get any worse.
	In a moon geo-stationary orbit, a Galaxy police shuttle patrols the area. 
Inside, a blond male officer wakes up to the sound of his alarm. " Huh?" On 
his tracking device, a blinking light passes the screen, approaching his 
location. " Computer, identify approaching vessel."
	" Approaches vessel is Ryo-Ohki. Space Pirate responsible for the 
destruction of colonies, planets and_"
	" Ryo-Ohki?" he puts on his uniform and tries to tidy himself up. " It's up 
to me then to turn in this criminal, I, the great Lieutenant Baku! Nothing 
will stand in my way. It's time for JUSTICE, hehehe, and my promotion! How 
long until he reaches us?"
	" You were talking so long, sir, that he has already passed us."
	"NOOOO!! Fire all weapons! Bring Ryo-Ohki down!"
	" Yes, sir."
The enemy ship flies closer and closer to earth. The light haired pilot 
tries his best to avoid the hails of blasts coming from Lt. Baka. " 
Mai-Ohki, go faster! We can't handle this barrage much longer!" The ship 
meows and tries it's best to speed up.
	Keyone and Mihoshi both come down the stairs of the house at the same time, 
feeling much better. They see that there seems to be no one there but 
Ryo-Ohki " Hey, where is everyone, Keyone?"
	" How would I know? I've both been sick for the past week, stuck sleeping 
next to you!"
	She searches around to make sure no one's there. " Well, it doesn't matter. 
I just want something to eat!"
	" Oh boy! FOOD!"
Mai-Ohki is soon hit, and the hits continue to increase until the ship hits 
the atmosphere. "Great... I can't even go without a light year without the 
galaxy police thinking this is Ryo-Ohki!" The ship rumbles as it gets drawn 
faster and faster into Earth's surface. Mai-Ohki continues meowing as they 
both reach terminal velocity.
	" Haha! Gotcha sucker!" the Lt. does not even watch the screen to see what 
happens to the other ship, he is too lost in his own moment of triumph.
Mihoshi looks at the window, " Hey Keyone! Look how bright the sun looks!"
Keyone looks over and sees what she is talking about. " That's not the sun! 
That's a crashing ship! It's heading this way!"
"OH NO!!!"
The ship hits the side of a mountain, which tears half of it apart. The 
other half loses bits and pieces and hits near a lake. The explosion is 
gigantic and the sound incredibly loud.
" Ahhhh!" Mihoshi screamed.
Sasami comes down the stairs in a hurry, " What's going on, Keyone!!?"
" A ship just crashed about a mile from here! As Galaxy Police officers, 
we've got to go check for survivors, Mihoshi! Sasami, STAY HERE!" Keyone and 
Mihoshi run out the door after grabbing their blasters leaving Sasami half 
awake on the stairs. Meanwhile, Washu is in her lab... staring into nothing 
once again.