Well I'm finally done with another chapter. As you can see I'm getting these things out a little quicker then last time, although I'm going to try to cut down the time inbetween chapters even more. No promises thought ^_^. *PLEASE* send me your comments on this fic. I consider all C&C helpful, both possitive and negative. I can't improve as an author if I don't get any feedback. Send all mail to cav@wpi.edu Special thanks go out to Thomas "Davner" Doscher, Brook and Owen Kuhn, Megami-Ryoko *huggles*, War-Ouki, Lita-Eagle, Bobert, and anyone else I forgot for their help during the process of creating this thing. Tenchi Muyo! is the property of AIC/Pioneer. I don't own it nor the characters from it. Please don't sue me, I'm flat out broke. The story itself is mine and I ask that you don't post it, alter it, or use it in any way without my permission or use it for any means of profit. All rights reserved. Tenchi Muyo! Heaven and Night Episode I : Happy Birthday Ryoko! Chapter 2 : And All My Dreams Were Torn Asunder by Cav Looking away from her computer, the woman looked over towards her young daughter. It felt like paradise being able to work with her. "Alright, we're all set mom," the girl spoke. "Ready to go?" the woman replied with a gleeful tone. "Always am," she said with a smile. "Initiating energy flow," the redhead announced. Every moment like this was a joyous one. She loved her daughter, and her daughter loved her back. To each the other was their only family, but it didn't matter. As long as they had each other, they would be happy. Looking down at the readings, she noticed a problem. "There's a slight energy fluctuation. Can you tell what's going on, Ryoko?" Ryoko offered no reply. "Ryoko?" Turning her head, she saw Ryoko facing away from her. "What's the matter, professor?" she replied. It wasn't Ryoko's voice though. As she turned around, Washu saw Ryoko's eyes glowing with hate. "Is there something wrong, *mom*?" the voice asked with a mocking tone. That same voice had haunted her for so long... "Leave my daughter alone, you monster!" Washu yelled as she ran towards Ryoko, trying to tackle her. As she did, her daughter teleported out of her reach. "Now, now professor. I have need of this one. I can't let you take her from me now." Turning around to face Ryoko again, those same eyes looked down at her. Looking into them, Washu saw more then just hatred. She saw the fear of her daughter who couldn't do anything to stop this. Getting ready to advance on her again, Washu watched as a pair of snakes materialized in front of her. "Oh don't worry, professor. You'll get to stay with your precious girl. I have need of you, after all." The snakes started to advance on her. "We'll be one, big, happy family," the voice spoke as Washu watched her paradise turn into her personal hell... Bolting up in her futon, Washu screamed as loud as she could. Breathing heavily, she tried to calm herself down. It wasn't easy considering the images she had just seen. Finally calming herself, she threw the covers off of her, stood up, and began to walk down the hallway towards the kitchen, realizing she wouldn't get back to sleep after that nightmare. Filling up a kettle with water, Washu placed it on the stove and set it to boil. she thought to herself. It wasn't the first one she had had recently. For the past three weeks, she seemed to be having a great deal of them. Even given the stress she had been under lately, the small scientist just couldn't pass this off as a random event. Sitting down at the table and summoning her holo-computer, she began entering the information on this latest one. Following that, she ran a medical scan on herself. This definitely was not helping her current state of mind. Hearing the sound of the kettle, Washu stopped typing and took it off the stove. Pouring the water into a cup and putting in a tea bag, she started to think about today. There wasn't going to be another chance for sleep later in the day. That's what worried her the most. Although at the rate things were going lately, she didn't want to deal with anymore of these blasted nightmares. They hit far too close to home for her personal tastes. Looking over at the clock as she took a sip of the tea, Washu calculated how long it would be before the start of the date. To avoid detection from Aeka, Tenchi had decided it was best to leave as early as possible. Otherwise, it might leave a small crater in the Masaki valley. It was rather risky, but she had planted a monitoring device in Tenchi's shirt. Hoping to get some clue as to the main source of her daughter's angst towards her, she was willing to take the risk. Now she just had to hope that it didn't come back to haunt her. Looking in the mirror, Tenchi finished brushing his hair. Putting down the brush, he took one last look to see how he appeared. Wearing a white button-down shirt and a pair of jeans, he hoped to help drive home the fact that this was just a casual day out and in no way a date. Heading down the stairs, Tenchi walked as softly as he could, not wanting to chance waking up anyone. If anyone caught them, even if it wasn't Aeka, it was only a matter of time before they woke the house. As he approached the bottom of the stairs, his eyes beheld quite the lovely vision. Ryoko was standing at the bottom of the stairs, all ready to go. She was wearing a red sleeveless dress, cut off just above the knees. Tenchi felt a nosebleed coming on. "Good morning," she greeted with a giant smile on her face. "Good morning," Tenchi replied, still startled by Ryoko's appearance. "Um... well..." Tenchi started to stutter. Recovering, he continued on what he had wanted to say. "Well we better head out while we still haven't alerted anyone." Hearing his stomach growl, he sighed to himself. To avoid detection, they'd be clearing out of the house as quickly as possible. That meant skipping breakfast until they hit the city. "I'm ready when you are," Ryoko replied as she flashed him a smile. Tenchi thought to himself. "Birthday party?" Aeka asked her younger sister as she took in another mouthful of rice. "That's right. The party's going to be tonight, so we need to go into the city and get presents." "That's rather short notice," Kiyone said with a hint of anger in her voice. "Couldn't she at least give us an earlier warning?" "Now, don't worry about it girls," Noboyuki said as he took a drink of his tea. "It's no big deal. I'll drive us all to the city later this afternoon and we can go shopping for presents." "But Popoco and Cherif are getting married today!" Mihoshi said, as she was upset at the notion of missing her soap. "Don't worry about it. You can just set a tape," Kiyone replied with a smirk on her face. "But it's not the same!" "Anyways," Aeka began trying to change the subject. "Where is Lord Tenchi?" Sasami quickly jumped in. "Oh, he went out shopping early today. He wanted to buy Ryoko something special." "Buy her something special? Hmmph, I have no idea why he'd want to waste that much time on a present for her." While the others continued to speak, an idea sprung to Sasami's head. A mischievous smile crept across her face. "Um... father, could we go to Tokyo instead?" Noboyuki looked at her perplexed. "Why do you want to go all the way there?" "Oh..." Sasami tried to quickly come think up something. I've always wanted to go there," she said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "And it has more stores to look through. I don't know if I can find what I'm looking for in Okayama..." "Hmm... I don't know... We'll have to leave very soon if we want to spend any decent amount of time in the city." "Oh please Mr. Masaki!" Sasami said as she gave him the cutest puppy-dog face that she could give. Smiling, Noboyuki looked down at her. "Unless any of you got an objection, we'll go there instead." "Yea! We get to see Tokyo, Kiyone!" Mihoshi cried out as she threw her arms up in the air. "This should be quite an experience," Aeka added in. "Well it's settled then," Noboyuki said. "Everyone get a move on, we're out of here in forty-five minutes. I'll have to talk to grandfather about taking care of Mayuka." "Oh no! Where will I get a tape in time!" Mihoshi wailed. Kiyone pointed towards a stack of videotapes in the living room. "You've got piles of those things! And you haven't watched any of them!" "Well... I... am planning... to get around to them..." Mihoshi stuttered as she started twiddling her fingers. Taking in a spoonful of miso soup, Tenchi glanced around the small restaurant. It wasn't much, but he had to admit these small places made much tastier food than any fast food joint. The restaurant was family owned, much like many of the small shops inside the city. There were less than a dozen tables available and four workers in the entire place that he could make out. Looking down at his watch, he noticed they still had a good thirty minutes before they had to catch their train and savored another spoonful of soup. "You look tired." Turning his gaze back to the woman seated across from him, Tenchi saw Ryoko taking a drink of her sake. "Sorry, I'm fine." "Well I don't want you asleep when we hit the city," Ryoko replied with a smile. "I'll be fine," Tenchi said with a grin. "Just don't get yourself drunk before the day starts," he said, pointing at her drink. "You're such a worrier. It'd take ten times this to get me even buzzed." "Well, we've got plenty of time to relax here, so don't rush through it all." Tenchi looked up as their waitress approached the table. "Is everything all right?" she asked. "Everything is fine, ma'am," Tenchi responded. The waitress appeared to be in her early fifties. She had a very beautiful tone of voice and spoke with a gentle tone. Smiling back at the two, she responded, "If you need anything else, just tell me." With that, she walked off towards another table. "So what're we going to do first?" Ryoko asked with a mischievous grin. Thinking back on his father's words, Tenchi relaxed himself. "Well I managed to get concert tickets for a performance by Megumi." "Oh, what time?" Ryoko asked as she took in another mouthful of rice." "Not until four. That gives us the whole morning to do whatever we want. I thought maybe we could go to the water slide park nearby where the train drops us off in Tokyo." "Water slide park?" Ryoko inquired. "Trust me, you'll love it," Tenchi responded. "After that, I thought we could take in a movie. By then it should be about time for lunch." "Sounds good," Ryoko said with a smile, as she gazed into Tenchi's eyes. Tenchi momentarily became distracted by the look she was giving him, but quickly recovered in fear of giving her any hints. "There you are!" came the cry of a woman from the front of the restaurant. The familiar sound of the regal princess echoed in his head. Tenchi nearly leaped fifty feet in the air. The image of Aeka transforming into a giant mecha and destroying the city started to come into his mind. "Good morning, Yumi," a man replied from another table. Turning his head, Tenchi watched as a young woman ran over to a man already at one of the tables. Breathing a sigh of relief, Tenchi turned back to Ryoko who was trying to maintain her composure, but found her laughing up a storm. Looking at the screen, Washu watched the small mishap in the restaurant and giggled to herself. Her spying device she had placed in Tenchi's shirt seemed to be working perfectly. Sasami had dropped off a tray of food before she left for the day. Apparently they were already heading out for the gifts. It looked like everything was going according to plan. Checking over the results of the medical scan, it appeared as if there was a definite pattern to the nightmares. There was a steady increase in them starting about a month and a half back. It looked like the stress of recent times was getting to her. That seemed to be the only way she could explain it. If things didn't improve, though, she was going to have to consider taking medication just to get a good night's sleep. "Well, let's see. I can have the computer start analyzing the nightmares for the meaning behind them, and maybe I can find the source of what's happening," Washu spoke out loud. After setting up the computer, Washu paused for a moment, collected herself, and pressed another button on the computer. A hologram appeared in the center of the room. Slowly getting up from the chair, Washu made her way over to it. "What the hell do you want?" the hologram barked. Taking a deep breath, Washu started to speak, "I want to apologize for what I did with Mayuka." "Save it for someone who cares," the hologram Ryoko said and turned away coldly from the scientist. "I... I guess I deserve that." "You deserve a lot worse!" Ryoko snapped back. Pausing, Washu thought out her strategy again. "You know, Ryoko, we don't have to keep fighting like this. Why don't we just talk?" "Talk!" The hologram turned around, grabbed Washu by the shirt, and picked her up. "Talk! Why would I ever waste my time talking with you?! Why would you even want to talk with me?!" "Ryoko, please!" Washu started to speak in panic. "I really do love you!" "Love?!" Ryoko threw Washu into the wall. "Love?! If this is your definition of love, you don't understand love at..." Washu quickly ordered, "Computer, freeze simulation." Picking herself up off the floor, Washu sighed to herself. Walking over to her computer, she stared at the simulation results. "That's a positive outcome?!" Washu screamed as she read the words on the screen. "How the hell am I supposed to ever patch up things if *those* are positive results?!" Washu slumped in her chair and sighed. She began to recompile the simulation and plan out some strategy for the next run of the program. "How about this one," Sasami asked her sister as she handed her another outfit to try on. Aeka stood there wearing a pair of bicycle shorts she had nearly ripped off when she had seen how ridiculous they looked on her. "This is pointless. All of these clothes are ridiculous!" Aeka barked at her sister as she went behind the small changing curtain to try on the next outfit. "Well you can't wear your kimono into the city," Sasami said with a stern look. "And why not?!" "Because you'll look funny and make all of us look funny for being with you." "Thank you for being such a wonderful and caring sister, Sasami," Aeka replied with a heavily sarcastic tone. Walking out from behind the curtain, Sasami looked at Aeka's latest outfit, a brown trench coat over a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. Sasami burst out laughing when she saw this. "I look like an old maid!" Aeka said as she looked in the mirror with a frown. Staring at her for a moment, Sasami commented, "It seems to make your breasts look bigger though." "Sasami!" Looking in the mirror again, Aeka winced. "You know... it somewhat does. It feels like I'm almost a different person." "Alright, we need to move onto the next outfit," Sasami said as she handed Aeka another set of clothes and pushed her back towards the curtain. A few moments later Aeka came out wearing a t-shirt and a pair of far too skimpy shorts. Seeing herself in the mirror, Aeka freaked. "If I wear this they're going to think I'm a panderer!" "Alright, alright!" Sasami said with a bit of a disgruntled tone. Tossing her another set of clothes, she plopped down on the bed and waited for her sister to get through the next set. Coming out from behind the curtain, Aeka was wearing a purple sundress with a long purple skirt. Sasami smiled at her sister and winked. Aeka looked in the mirror. "I guess it'll have to do," she said with a bit of a sigh. Tenchi screamed as he was thrown into the pool at the bottom of the giant slide, flung downward towards the bottom of the pool. When the force of his ejection let up, he swam back to the top and started to catch his breath. "YAHOOOO!!!!" he heard the cry of the woman exiting the slide after him, who was heading right towards him. "Ryoko, watch out!" Tenchi cried out, but ended up "catching" Ryoko and was flung back into the water. "Wow! That was fun! Let's go again... Tenchi?" Ryoko asked. Turning around, she noticed Tenchi floating face down in the water. Picking him up by the back of his head, she started to drag him out of the pool. "Come on! The lines will get too long if we don't hurry before the crowds come." "Ouch," Tenchi let out his pathetic cry as he was dragged back towards the line. Breathing in some fresh air as she got off the train, Aeka felt good to finally be out of the giant mass of humanity she had just been stuck in. The air was nowhere near as clean as it was back in the Masaki Valley, she noted. "Wow! This place is huge!" Sasami hollered as she was caught up in the sights of the giant city. "Indeed it is," Aeka replied to her rather zealous sister. "Oh boy this is going to be..." Mihoshi started as she exited the train, but tripped up and let out a cry as she tackled a half dozen businessmen, sending several briefcases flying, which happened to snap open to reveal a number of guns. "Stop them!" A police officer that witnessed the scene yelled as he ran after the criminals. Aeka started to sweat. "Thank you, ma'am," one of the officers said to Mihoshi as he ran after the fleeing criminals. Kiyone, watching the whole scene from the train, started to slowly exit it and help her partner. "Ow," Mihoshi yelped as her partner helped her off the ground. "Alright everyone, we're going to walk from here to this section of the city," Noboyuki said as he pointed towards a map. Aeka caught Sasami looking at the map rather intently and wondered why her sister was so interested in it. "Sa..." "Wow! Look at all the places to eat here!" came the cry of the bubbly-headed blonde from a number of feet away. Aeka turned to see Kiyone shaking her head with a half grin at her partner's predictable priorities. "Come on, Aeka," Aeka heard as she felt her sister tug against her dress. "I can't wait to get started!" "Calm down Sasami," Aeka replied. "We have plenty of time. There is no need to rush." Sasami pouted a bit, but fell in line with her sister as the group started to follow Noboyuki. Ryoko was becoming extremely agitated as she waited in line to enter the ballpark. she thought to herself. Looking towards Tenchi, who seemed to be perfectly fine with their situation, she wanted to ask him if they could just skip this and go somewhere else. Remembering the lessons Washu had taught her, she thought better of it and continued to wait. "How much longer?" she asked Tenchi. Staring at his watch, Tenchi replied, "Oh it should be any minute now." Turning his head away from Ryoko, Tenchi grinned at his "date's" predicament. Bringing Ryoko to a baseball game was the perfect way to avoid any awkward romantic situations, and it bought him a few more hours away from other activities. Between this, the park, and the concert, he had already managed to eat up a lot of the time. A bit of guilt surfaced in him. It was supposed to be a day for Ryoko, but he just had to avoid the chance of her getting any ideas. He decided he'd make it up to her later with something more fun. Just then, the line started to move. Turning towards Ryoko, he smiled at her. "Well, shall we?" As he turned away from her, he could hear a snarl exit her and grinned again. Walking down the street in the shopping district, Sasami managed to finally find her target. An evil grin came upon her face. Looking back at her sister who was guarding her, she got ready to put her plan into action. "Ooo let's go over here!" Sasami shouted as she started to run towards a shop near the gate to the park. "Slow down Sasami!" Aeka shouted at her. Sasami looked back to see her sister sigh and then start running towards her. She kept running until she was near the entrance to the park, stopping when she could see her two intended targets. "You have to learn to take your time!" Aeka cried as she finally caught up to her sister. Lowering her head and catching her breath, Aeka finally looked up again, eyeing her sister sternly. "It is not proper for a princess to run about like..." the violet haired princess started to say, but was interrupted by a sight. "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Sasami thought to herself as a mischievous smile crept onto her face. She looked at Aeka's face, which was white as a ghost practically, jaw looking as if it would fall off. "What's the matter?" Sasami asked, pretending to not know. "Lor... Lor... Lor..." Aeka started to stutter. "Hmmm?" Sasami said as she turned to face where Aeka was looking. Acting surprised, Sasami spoke pretending to be shocked, "Oh my! It's Tenchi and Ryoko!" Looking at Aeka again, she found that the surprise changed to anger as they witnessed Tenchi and Ryoko entering the stadium. "I'll kill her!" Aeka barked as she started to make her way to the stadium entrance. Sasami giggled as she saw her infuriated sister heading off to the gate. Aeka wasn't really paying attention to the thoughts going on in her head right now. While her mind started to ask the "why, how, and what," she was going to find out how Ryoko roped Tenchi into whatever she did and then she would see to it that Ryoko pay dearly for this recent indiscretion. As she approached the entrance, a surge of adrenaline built up in her. She felt like she had gone far past her boiling point. "I'LL KILL HER!" she screamed as she charged the stadium. "Box lunches! Box lunches for sale!" A raven-haired woman cried as she made her way through the crowd, selling off her wares. "Tenchi!" Ryoko cried. "Ask her where the beer is." "Come on Ryoko," Tenchi said, a bit aggravated with her. "Can't you wait for the game to at least start?" Ryoko thought to herself. "But I'm really thirsty." "Oh fine," her "date" replied with a bit of annoyance. "Excuse me ma'am," Tenchi said to the woman as she passed by. "Hello sir. Would you like to purchase box lunches? Only one thousand yen each!" The woman had a Chinese accent and was wearing a rather thick pair of glasses. Her nametag read "Ling Phau." *One thousand yen?!* "Um... actually what I really wanted to ask was..." Tenchi started. "Yes sir. I make them myself. Very yummy. And nutritious too." "No, what I really want..." "You have very beautiful date sir. Perhaps she would like..." Bolting up from her seat and grabbing the woman, Ryoko glared straight into the woman's face. "What I want to know is where the damn beer is!" she barked at her. As she said this, Tenchi started to sweat. "Um... yes ma'am. Go up stairs and enter building, then go right for three sections, and you can't miss it," the woman answered nervously. "Thank you," Ryoko said as she made her way out of the seat and headed off to get a beer. "Very angry woman," the vendor noted. "You... you noticed," Tenchi replied, still sweating. Walking slowly through her lab, Washu didn't know where she was going. It was her lab, yet she didn't seem to be heading anywhere in particular. Something was drawing her towards it. She couldn't describe it, but instead kept walking, compelled to keep going. "Who's there?" Washu said aloud to nobody in particular. She could feel it; she wasn't alone. "I know you're there, who are you?" "He... help... me," a voice replied weakly from the distance. "Who are you?" Washu said as she approached the voice. "Please... help me, mother," the near dead voice spoke again. "Ryoko?!" Washu yelped as she ran towards the spot where the voice came from. Ryoko lay on the ground, her hand clutching her chest where something had struck through her heart. "Ryoko!" Washu yelled. "What's the matter, mother?" another voice spoke, this one in a mocking tone. "Don't tell me you care about her." "Ry... Ryoko?" Washu asked as she looked up to see another Ryoko staring down at her. This one was different. Her eyes were glowing, full of hatred and angst. "Oh come on, mom. She's just a cheap copy of me." Washu looked down at the Ryoko on the ground, confused at the other's words. "Z... Zero?" She asked. "She deserved that. You and her both deserved that." "How could you do this?!" Washu shouted as she started to type on her holo-computer, analyzing Zero's weakened life signs. An energy blast struck the computer and sent parts flying in various directions. "You tried to change me, mother. You want to program your little girl. Can't allow me to have free will." "I did no such thing!" Washu shouted in panic as she tried to tend to Zero's wounds. "Don't... don't let her hurt me," Zero spoke softly. "You hate me! You hate what I've become!" "Please... stop her..." "You want me to be your good little girl! You want me to be your Little Ryoko!" "I... I don't want to die..." "I'm not her! And you won't make me her!" With those words, Ryoko fired a giant energy blast towards Zero... "Well, this isn't getting us anywhere," the frustrated scientist said as she finished reviewing another one of the nightmares. As Washu monitored Ryoko's progress on her date, she was also spending the day attempting to figure out the cause of the nightmares. "It should be fairly obvious. From a simple psychological standpoint, this is a result of stress and the guilt over Ryoko. Why can't I just accept this?" Something just wasn't sitting well with the redhead. Turning back to face the monitor displaying Tenchi and Ryoko, she shook her head again at what Tenchi was doing. They were on the date, but he was obviously weaseling out of chancing anything romantic. Sighing, she decided to move onto the next nightmare. "Welcome baseball fans to today's game between the Naroda Dolphins and the Osaka Tigers," the loudspeakers boomed. Ryoko finished off her third beer and noticed it just wasn't going to get her drunk fast enough, so she tried to make the best of the moment. Tenchi looked at her nervously. "These are really good seats. Your mother came..." "I don't want to talk about her," Ryoko interjected. "Alright. You can practically hear the players from here." "Akari, you idiot! Can't you catch the damn curve ball for once?!" Ryoko could vaguely hear the voice of the pitcher, trying to listen into the conversation. "I'm sorry, Itchan!" The catcher wailed. "I'm just not that good at this!" "Can we place a bet on the Dolphins?" Ryoko asked. "Why would you bet on the Dolphins?" Tenchi looked at her awkwardly. "The Tigers are going to win easily." Ryoko growled a bit. "They certainly don't look like winners. "What the hell is it to you!" The pitcher yelled towards Ryoko. "The fact your friend can't catch!" Ryoko yelled back. Tenchi ducked down into his seat, hoping that this was all a nightmare. "What right of yours is it to butt into our business, you bimbo?! Do you know how she feels when you say things like that! She feels useless and dumb! She feels like an idiot! And she doesn't need..." the pitcher paused as she turned her head to find the catcher hiding under a cardboard box with a drawing of a house on it. "Get the hell out from under that thing you idiot! We're about to start the damn game!" A muffled voice replied from under the box. "But they'll all laugh at me!" "What they'll do to you is nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you don't get out from under there!" The pitcher began to run around the field trying to catch up to the catcher, fleeing, still with the box on her. "They're a sure win, huh?" Ryoko asked as she looked down at Tenchi, still trying to hide. "Well... maybe I was wrong," he replied. "Are you sure they can do it, Miracle?" a man asked another man, who apparently was the Tiger's coach, as the pair observed the game. "It seems like there's no way they can possibly win." "Eric, my friend," the man began. "You will soon see a miracle unlike any you've seen before." "I believe in you, Miracle," Eric said as he handed the man a chocolate bar. Baseball was boring. That was the conclusion Ryoko had reached. Out of all the Earth sports she had seen, this had to be one of the most dry and uninteresting. She didn't know why Tenchi had brought her here or why he was so interested in watching the game, but she had decided that if she was going to be stuck here for a few hours that she had to do something, whether or not they were advised by Washu. As he stared at the game, Ryoko slowly moved her hand over towards his hand that was resting on the arm of his seat. The cyan-haired beauty began to lean towards him at the same time. She was a few inches away when Tenchi started to turn his head towards her. "Ayla's the best hitter they..." Tenchi started to say until he made contact with Ryoko's eyes, only a few inches away staring at him. His eyes wandered down to her hand, which was coming dangerously close to his. The two stared at each other for a moment, neither knowing what to say. Ryoko finally broke the silence. "Um... Tenchi..." "I... I have to go use the bathroom," Tenchi quickly said as he stood up and started to make his way towards the bathroom. Ryoko fell back in her seat and sighed. Sasami looked down in shame and guilt as they walked through the jail hallway. she thought to herself. "I really don't want to be in the car with her after this one," Kiyone muttered to herself. "Now, now girls. Let's just try to..." Noboyuki began to speak. "GET ME OUT OF THIS CESSPOOL!" came the cry of one extremely ticked off princess. The guard paused for a moment. "Your friend has been... rather hostile since we brought her in. We gave up the attempt on the body cavity search after awhile. None of the officers were suicidal enough to try it." The gang collectively gulped. Approaching the cell, the group's eyes looked upon Aeka, practically ready to pull the bars out of the floor, looking like a ferocious lion. "Please calm down, miss. Your friends have posted bail." "Finally," Aeka said as she started to calm down. "I didn't want to be stuck in here with *her* any longer." The group looked back towards a brown-haired woman who was knocked out cold. "That'll be the last time she ever asks me to "put myself in her hands."" The group collectively started to sweat. Exiting the cell, Aeka gave her cellmate a cold glance. "Roshtarian princess my royal ass..." she muttered under her breath. "Batting next, first baseman, Jessie Gurtland," the loudspeaker roared. The crowds began to cheer, including a pack of three girls in the front row who seemingly had a very close eye on the golden haired woman. "At first our relationship should be a platonic one..." one of the girls began to speak. Jessie saw the pack and quickly ran towards the plate, making sure not to make eye contact with any of the girls. The game was tied; four runs each, in the ninth inning with the bases loaded. Ryoko was just glad it was almost over. "She'll blow it," Ryoko said in disgust at the woman. "Why?" Tenchi asked. "You've been screaming at her all game!" "Because she's an uptight bitch, that's why," Ryoko said. The woman just had an atmosphere about her that gave the impression she was a bit too stuck up. "You suck, Gurtland!" Ryoko yelled at the woman. The woman turned her head to look at Ryoko. "Would you please quit..." Her retort was interrupted as the pitch struck her directly in the head, sending the woman flying to the ground. "Gurtland gets hit by the pitch, giving the Tigers the game, five to four!" Ryoko and Tenchi began to sweat. "Don't... don't let her hurt me," Zero spoke softly. "You hate me! You hate what I've become!" "Please... stop her..." "You want me to be your good little girl! You want me to be your Little Ryoko!" "I... I don't want to die..." "I'm not her! And you won't make me her!" With those words, Ryoko fired a giant energy blast towards Zero... "Stop," Washu ordered the computer. The playback of the dream paused at the image of the energy blast hurtling at Zero. "Analyze the sequence and add the information to the report," Washu said as she moved back towards her seat and sat down, the frustration clearly showing from her movements. Dream analysis was not her specialty. That much Washu had conceded. Nothing logical was ever associated with them, and logic was her specialty. Missing a good night's sleep, coupled with the already large amount of stress coming from the day at hand was not mixing together well. She was quite literally a mental wreck at the moment. "Analysis complete," the computer announced. Washu looked at the results and saw the same stats give her the same answers they had before. These results of course didn't help ounce one. "Well, let's keep going, shall we?" Washu announced to nobody in particular. "Why are you making me do this?!" Ryoko snapped at Tenchi as he dragged her towards the Tiger's dugout. "Because that woman got hurt because of you, and you're going to apologize!" Tenchi barked back. "It's not my fault she couldn't keep her eye on the ball," Ryoko said in an antagonized tone. Continuing to drag Ryoko towards the dugout, Tenchi spotted one of the players. "Excuse me, ma'am. Could you tell me where Miss Gurtland has been brought?" Tenchi inquired. The blue haired woman turned to face him. "She's been brought in for examination. Sorry, you'll have to get your autographs some other time." "Actually, we were here to apologize," Tenchi responded as Ryoko tried to look away. The woman looked behind Tenchi and spotted Ryoko. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her. "Oh, you're the ones who got her hit. Think nothing of it, we all think she's stuck up." "See!" Ryoko said in triumph as she pushed Tenchi aside. "I told..." Ryoko started, but was interrupted by the blue haired woman staring her directly in the face. "Hello, I'm Kris Kristopher," she said with a bright smile on her face. "You're a very beautiful woman, miss...?" "Ryoko," Ryoko finished with a rather silly look of astonishment. "Ryoko, that's a beautiful name." Ryoko had a sudden desire to get away from the woman as fast as she could. "Um... well... we must really be going, right Tenchi?" she said as she grabbed Tenchi by the waist and pulled him towards her. "We have a *date* to finish." "It's not a date!" Tenchi screamed at her. Before she could notice Tenchi's protest, Kris seemed to have freaked out. "A DATE?! No!" The woman jumped over the railing, back onto the field, where she ran back into the dugout. A few seconds later, the woman reappeared, riding a cow, running around the field hysterically. "RYOKO! RYOKO! RYOKO!" the woman continued to repeat as she cried hysterically. "Tenchi, thanks for the *lovely* game," Ryoko said as she started to walk towards the exit. Tenchi just stared at the sight, not sure how this day could get any stranger. The expression Ryoko had on her face seemed to be rather dismal. Tenchi realized he might have gone too far with the baseball game as he looked over his menu for what to order. He had decided to use the reservations Washu had placed at a rather expensive Italian restaurant instead of trying to find somewhere else. With the mood she was in anyways, Ryoko didn't look like she'd be trying anything. "Um... I'm sorry about the game," Tenchi spoke meekly to her. "I really thought it would've been more enjoyable than it was." "Don't mention it," Ryoko said, still staring into her menu, which was muffling her voice. Gulping, Tenchi returned to looking at his menu. Ryoko sighed from behind her menu. The restaurant just wasn't her style, the food was mostly stuff she had never heard of before, and the date was almost half over, and she wasn't getting anywhere with Tenchi. It just wasn't turning out to be her day. The restaurant had a wonderful air to it, though. Violins played sweet melodies in the background while many sat and ate fancy Italian dishes. Looking to a table on the left of her, she spotted a young couple sharing a drink together; two straws stuck into the same glass. The man was rather short and didn't seem that unusual. However, the woman was the very definition of beauty. "Keiichi, can we go to the movies next?" the woman asked. "I hear they're showing this wonderful new romance picture." "Sure, Bel!" the man replied enthusiastically. They appeared to be having a wonderful time. They seemed to be all over the restaurant: numerous couples enjoying the romantic atmosphere, sharing drinks and food and smiling into each other's faces. "Ryoko, I thought we'd go to the movies before the concert," Tenchi said from behind his menu. "Really?" Ryoko asked with a startled expression. "Yeah, they're showing this great action movie that I've heard great things about." Ryoko stared down at her menu, the excitement taken out of her. "Excuse me, Tenchi. I need to use the bathroom," she said as she stood up and headed towards the restroom. Opening the door, Ryoko looked around to see nobody else in there at the time. She made her way to the sink where she looked into the mirror. Her face looked so solemn. she asked herself. She began to cry. "I am going to kill you, Tenchi Masaki!" Washu screamed at the monitor in front of her. Her attempt to help Ryoko was turning into a major disaster, and her daughter was absolutely miserable on a day Washu wanted her to be happy. She knew that Tenchi would be trying to avoid enticing her daughter, but this was getting out of hand! Looking down to her computer screen, Washu read the same results that she had been getting for the last few hours. There was no sign of anything causing these nightmares other than stress. Sighing to herself and realizing that this was getting her nowhere, she decided to move to her next plan. Hopefully this would go better then her previous bout with the holographic Ryoko. Pressing a key, a hologram appeared next to her. "Have you analyzed the information?" she asked her holographic companion. "I have," the cyan-haired image answered. Washu looked away and assumed a more confident look. "I've analyzed the data, and have been unable to find the source of the problem." "Perhaps it's guilt," the computerized Ryoko presented. "I've thought of that myself," Washu responded. "It seems like the most logical response, but something doesn't seem right about it." "Why is that?" "I've felt guilt for a lot of things in my life, yet never had the intensity and frequency of such nightmares before. It seems unlikely something like this would be natural." "Or perhaps you don't want it to be the solution," the hologram interjected. Staring down at the ground sadly, the redheaded woman answered softly. "Yes, I suppose you're right. "I've looked over your current plans. Numerous aspects of their design are flawed. There is a high chance of failure." After a few moments of silence, Washu finally spoke, "I know." "What will you do if you fail?" the computerized image queried "The only thing I can do," Washu said as she turned her head towards the hologram and smiled. "Try again until I get it right." It wasn't the first time that Tenchi had felt guilt in his life, but for some reason this seemed to be one of the worst cases of it. Ryoko was still in the bathroom, leaving conspicuously when he brought up the movies. He sighed to himself. It wasn't that he was intentionally trying to make Ryoko's day miserable, but if he let on even a tiny bit, she'd be all over him. Thinking back to the entire day, Ryoko had only made one move on him all day. And even that was not her normal routine of tackling him. For some odd reason it seemed like she actually wasn't doing anything wrong. a part of his mind warned him. another part countered. He was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. A compromise was in order. "Sorry about the wait," Ryoko said as she sat back down in her seat. Her expression was trying to hide her current emotional state. "Um... Ryoko. I've been thinking that the movie would probably be rather boring." "Tenchi..." Ryoko started to respond. "How about we go ice skating instead?" Ryoko blinked. "Ice skating?" The van's occupants were very quiet on the way home. Nobody dared say anything with the mood a certain violet-tressed princess was in. Sasami sat in the back seat next to her sister, trying to figure out what to do about this. After bailing Aeka out, the group had quickly finished their shopping, and taken off. Nobody had found anything they really wanted to get Ryoko due to the rush. Sasami had never felt so much guilt in her life. she thought to herself. Now her sister had been humiliated and Ryoko's party was probably ruined. She doubted she'd ever play a prank again. Now all that was left was to decide if she should tell Aeka or not. Tenchi finished lacing up his skates and entered the rink. Skating around a bit to make sure he wasn't too out of practice, he returned to the small door onto the ice, waiting for Ryoko. "Come on. It isn't too hard to pick up," Tenchi said, smiling at Ryoko who was just finishing lacing up her skates. "All set," Ryoko smiled as she jumped to her feet and entered the ice, promptly slipping and falling flat on her rear end. "Ow..." she whimpered as she grabbed her head. "Well, it's not *that* simple," Tenchi said as he extended his arm to help her up. When she was back on her feet, Tenchi held onto her while she got used to just standing. "Let's just start with standing, shall we?" he asked her as he flashed Ryoko a smile. Ryoko stared at him and giggled. "Guess it isn't quite as simple as it looks." "Are you okay?" Tenchi asked as they stood there. "I've taken a lot worse than that," she answered him with a grin. "Alright then. Let's try moving a bit." Tenchi held onto Ryoko as he led her along the ice slowly. "Getting the hang of this?" he asked her. "I think so... whoa!" Ryoko yelped as she tripped and fell on top of Tenchi, who ended up landing on the ice himself. "Sorry," she said as she looked down at the dazed boy. "That's alright, I've taken worse myself," he said with a smile. Tenchi's eyes met Ryoko's as he lay on the ice. They both paused; caught in a moment where they both didn't know how to react. Tenchi finally shook it off. "Um... let's try this again," he said nervously. "S... sure," Ryoko answered as the smile came back onto her face and the pair began to stand up. Slowly approaching the door to her room, Sasami gulped as she tried to think of what she was going to say. Her conscience was getting the better of her, and if she didn't tell Aeka what happened she would probably be driven crazy by it. the princess tried to convince herself. Knocking on the door Sasami spoke softly, "Aeka, can I come in?" She was answered by a rather disgruntled "Sure," from her sister. Opening the door, Sasami's eyes fell upon her sister, who was lying face down in her futon, the covers pulled over her, apparently hiding from the general world at the moment. "Aeka... there's something... something I need to tell you." "What is it?" Aeka's muffled voice replied. "Well... um... you see..." Slowly crawling out of the futon, Aeka gradually stood up and approached her nervous sister. "Whatever it is you can tell me, Sasami." Sasami hung her head low and took a deep breath. "I... I was supposed to tell you where Ryoko and Tenchi were." Aeka's face changed to one of disbelief. "What do you mean?" Aeka said as she put her hands on Sasami's shoulders and knelt down to face her. "Tenchi asked me to tell you after they had left. I... I just wanted to have some fun... I knew they were going to be at the game 'cause Tenchi told me they would be going there. So... so I tricked you into going to the stadium..." Sasami tried to put on a smile in hope that her sister would see she didn't mean it. Aeka stood up and turned away. Sasami couldn't make out what her reaction was. "I'm sorry Aeka! I didn't mean for it to..." "Sasami, please leave," Aeka replied coldly. "I'm not in the mood to talk right now." "Aeka!" "Sasami, I have never been more embarrassed in my life than today. I..." Aeka continued to speak as Sasami could hear her sister choking back tears. "I trusted you more than any other person in this universe. And..." She paused for a moment. "I don't feel like talking to you right now." Tears ran down Sasami's cheeks. There was no feeling to describe what she felt. Her mind ran back to the trip to Tenchi's aunt's place. The fear she had felt telling Aeka she wasn't the real Sasami. The feeling that she would lose her sister's love and trust now felt realized; and she had caused it herself. She ran out of the room crying. The pair exiting the ice rink was absolutely miserable a few hours earlier. Now, you couldn't even tell that that was the mood they had been in. Ryoko had turned out to be a pretty good skater as soon as she practiced a bit. "That must've been a breeze for you," Tenchi commented. "Why?" Ryoko asked as she looked towards him. "I mean, you fly all the time. It has to give you an advantage doing stuff like that." Ryoko smiled. "I guess. But there's really nothing that's quite like flying. After awhile I almost forget how wonderful it is." "It must be wonderful," Tenchi responded. "I mean, I've flown once or twice, but I never get the chance to do it that often. And I'm still rather clumsy at it." "Then again you don't get to use the Light Hawk Wings that often," Ryoko said with a smile. Pausing in her step, she put on a mischievous grin. "You want to get a taste of real flight?" she asked. Tenchi looked at her both interested and worried. "How exactly?" Kagato, Clay, Yuzuha; Tenchi had faced and beaten every one of them. And yet he had found a new fright that seemingly topped all of them. His mind kept going back and forth between questioning his sanity and worrying about whether his father had paid the latest installment on his soon to be deceased son's life insurance. "Woohoo! This is going to be a blast!" Ryoko hollered, acting like a giddy third grader. "Blast?!" Tenchi questioned back at her. "Oh quit being so scared. There's nothing to worry about," Ryoko said with a smile across her face. Tenchi thought to himself as his nervousness continued to overwhelm him "Alright, everyone. We're going to go over this one more time." Tenchi stared at the man, showing as much movement as a statue, as he counted the last remaining moments left of his life. "Alright, everyone line up," the instructor finally said. "Come on! I want us to go first!" Ryoko squealed as she grabbed Tenchi by the arm and dragged him towards the doorway before he could even protest. When he stopped moving, Tenchi found himself looking out of the doorway at the vast skies of Japan. "Are you all set to go?" he heard the instructor yell over the roar of the plane's engine. "Of course he is!" Tenchi heard Ryoko answer the man for him. Turning her head towards him, she yelled, "See you on the ground!" "Wait, Ryoko!" he protested, but found himself pushed out the open hatch. All thought at this point in time was squelched by the screams. His mind and his body continued to scream as he plummeted towards the surface of the Earth. was the only thought he currently had. Amidst the panic he felt someone's hand grab his arm. He tried to collect himself and turned to see Ryoko, laughing up a storm, staring at him. "Having fun?" she asked, still giggling like a schoolgirl. "Of course I'm not!" Tenchi barked at her. "I'm free-falling towards the ground where I'm going to make a big splat very shortly!" Ryoko laughed to herself. "Would you quit panicking? Nothing is going to happen!" "What if the 'chute doesn't open?" Tenchi questioned in his frightened state. "Then I'll catch you, silly!" Ryoko said in amusement. "Quit worrying about it and just have fun!" With that, she began a quick dive towards the ground. Tenchi's stomach churned just looking at it. She fell started to do flips in the middle of the air, acting as if this was a normal as breathing to her. And through it all, she didn't seem to be worried one bit. Tenchi sighed to himself. Taking a deep breath, he gulped and proceeded to dive after Ryoko. A rush of adrenaline started to overtake him as he slowly started to let go of his fear. "That's it!" Ryoko screamed as she had actually turned over and was giving the appearance of lying down as she fell through the air. Tenchi laughed at her. "Hey no napping over there!" he yelled with amusement. Deciding to try something more advance, he attempted to do one of the midair flips that Ryoko had done earlier. It was rather ugly looking as he tried it, but he did manage to pull it off. Ryoko laughed as she appeared beside him. "Not bad for an amateur." Reaching out, Ryoko grabbed his hands with her. "Come on, let's have some real fun!" she yelped as she started to swing Tenchi around in midair. Tenchi started at her smiling face, joining in her laughter. The skies didn't seem so scary anymore. Staring around the carnival grounds, Tenchi waited patiently for the current ride to start up as he admired the scenery. It was a rather small place they had found while on their skydiving earlier. Tenchi thought back to the days when he used to come to carnivals with his father. Since the girls had shown up, he hadn't been able to get out to one, leading to the whole experience resurfacing memories of rides and games, laughter and fun. The day had certainly been more exciting since he had loosened up. Either Ryoko was too busy having fun to try anything or she was simply behaving. Either way, he didn't feel much like stopping now. A buzzer went off signaling the start of the ride. Tenchi looked over at his target, which had a very evil grin on her face as she directed her bumper boat towards his craft. Tenchi grinned back and started a path to hit her head on. The two collided and caused a giant splash in the water. A small amount of water splashed up and hit Tenchi as he turned to the side to swerve away from Ryoko. "You're not getting away that easily!" Ryoko cried out as she directed her boat to follow Tenchi. Tenchi started to panic. He started to try to go into a turn, but realized he was too close to the sides of the ride. The boat rocked as Ryoko collided with him and sent him flying into the side, more water splashing him as she did. "Cut it out!" Tenchi yelled at her, sounding like a helpless child getting bullied on. "Not a chance!" Ryoko responded as she bumped him again. Her boat started to relentlessly pound his into the side of the round. Clutching the wheel tightly, Tenchi tried to get out of the area, but found he couldn't. Another hit to the boat began to dizzy him. Shaking it off, he felt the attack from Ryoko's boat stop and figured she had finally given up. Taking a breath, he prepared to get out of his current predicament. "Tennnnnnnnn-chiiiiiiiiiii!" Ryoko yelled at the top of her lungs as she charged Tenchi's boat again. Tenchi let out a scream as he saw her coming for him again, appearing to have this time backed away and built up some steam before charging him. Frozen in terror, he didn't even try to avoid the coming blow. Ryoko's boat struck his, dizzying Tenchi and causing him to fall out of his boat and land in the water. Ryoko looked down at her soaked date. "Tenchi?" she asked with a worried look on her face. Tenchi stood up, absolutely soaked, and glared at her. She laughed pitifully. "Um... I guess I hit you too hard..." she said pathetically. Washu looked on as the couple walked along the various kiosks. Tenchi stared at the different games and prizes that they offered as Ryoko walked beside him; sticky, pink candy stuck to her mouth, as she tasted her own sticky treat. It seemed forever since she had seen such a sight. She remembered outings at the science academy; giant fairs that were celebrations of the greatest minds in the universe. Those fairs were nothing more then a distant memory now. Todain's beautiful atmosphere was a long forgotten experience and the only thing she could do to remember it was to recreate some of the ecosystem as part of her lab. Taking another bite of his cotton candy, Tenchi started to speak to the woman walking beside him. "These guys will rob you blind if you don't watch it." "Oh please, that's universal law! Everyone knows that!" Washu said with a giggle. Ryoko let out a laugh. "More like take advantage of those who can't win the games." "Score one for the birthday girl!" Washu celebrated. Tenchi frowned. "You don't think I could win one of these then?" Ryoko turned to face him. "Alright, pick any game of your choice and try to win me something," she said with a grin. "And if I win?" he asked. Ryoko thought for a moment. "I'll give you a kiss!" she said with a bright smile. Washu nearly fell off her chair laughing. "Smooth move!" Tenchi gulped. "Um... I don't really need anything," he said as he rushed towards a booth before Ryoko could insist otherwise. He found himself at a booth with an old-fashioned "knock down the bottles" game. Washu heard her computer beep. "Awe, but this was just getting good!" she whined. Still, so far, nothing had come out of the day that could be useful in trying to patch things up with Ryoko. She'd just have to hope something would come up shortly. "Time to get back to work," she said aloud. Standing up, she made her way towards the door to another section of the lab. Aiming at the stack of bottles, Tenchi took aim and threw yet another baseball towards them. He watched in disappointment as he only managed to knock down the top bottle. Sighing to himself, he looked into his wallet for another bill. "You can do it this time!" Ryoko cheered him on from where she stood beside him. "Yes, listen to the lady, my good sir," the booth keeper said, joining in Ryoko's effort to cheer him on. Picking up another baseball, he was determined to knock this one down or threaten the man with a sword to rig the game so he could win. Pulling his arm back, he let the ball fly towards the bottles. A triumphant cry escaped his lips as all three of the bottles got sent down. "We have a winner!" the vendor announced. "Which prize do you want?" the man asked him. Tenchi smiled and looked toward Ryoko. "It's your pick." Ryoko looked around at the various prizes that were hanging from the booth. She stopped when she eyed a small black pig with a yellow scarf with black dots. "I'll take that one," she said with a smile. "Well, this has certainly been an interesting day," Tenchi said as he walked with Ryoko towards the train station. Ryoko held the small black pig doll in her arms. "Thanks, Tenchi. I don't think I've had this much fun in my whole life." Ryoko's bright, beautiful smile was enough to make the whole day worth it to Tenchi. "You certainly do like to have fun, don't you?" he asked her with a playful tone. Letting out a small laugh, Ryoko answered him, "Well... you spend a few hundred years locked up in a cave, you tend to like to do things when you get out." Tenchi smiled at her response. "I guess I sometimes forget about that." His eyes caught Ryoko's arms hugging the pig tighter. "I'm sorry." Looking back up at him, she smiled again. "Don't worry about it. As the two reached the station, Tenchi saw Ryoko look back on the city. Standing there for a few moments, she just smiled. Tenchi didn't say a word. Finally, she turned around and they made their way towards their train. Lying back in his chair on the train, Tenchi felt the first bit of relaxation he had felt all day. Ryoko sat next to him, the smile she had on her face still present. Tenchi laughed a bit. "What's so funny," Ryoko asked, turning her head to look at him. "Well, I just realized that I really never knew much about you." "What do you mean?" Smiling at her, Tenchi responded, "I mean we've been living together so long, but it just seems as if I've never known anything about you." He paused for a moment. "I guess I just haven't really been able to just talk to you before." Ryoko looked a bit saddened by his comment. "Oh." "Hey, don't be like that. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I just wish I had known about this side of you awhile ago." Blushing a bit, Ryoko was in a bit of shock. "T... thanks Tenchi." After a few moments of silence, Tenchi began to speak again. "You know, Ryoko. I wanted to ask you something." "Oh?" "Well, I've noticed you and Washu haven't been speaking lately." "Tenchi, I'm not really in the mood to speak about her." Ryoko's expression now turned to one of anger and pain. "Ryoko, if there's something wrong, please..." Ryoko turned away from him. "I'm going to take a nap. I'm feeling a bit tired." "Ryoko I'm..." "Tenchi," she began to speak softly. "I've had a wonderful day. Please don't ruin it by bringing her up." Sighing, Tenchi nodded slowly. "Ryoko..." he started to speak again as Ryoko turned back to meet him, swinging quickly and dropping the plush pig in the process. "I'll get it," they both said simultaneously as they both reached down to pick it up, bumping heads in the process. "Ouch," they managed to also speak together. They both let out a laugh. "I'll get it this time," Ryoko said with a smile as she picked up the pig. As she did, she noticed something that had fallen on the ground next to it and picked it up. Analyzing it, she noticed it looked like a button and eyed Tenchi's shirt. "Looks like you lost one." Tenchi looked down at his shirt. "Oh, thanks." Reaching out to hand it back to Tenchi, Ryoko eyed something on the button: a small crab logo. Her heart froze. "Mommy!" the woman heard her daughter exclaim as she ran towards her. There was no voice that went with the thought though. The girl looked up at her mother, imprisoned inside the crystal structure. "Mommy, why won't you say anything?" Touching the crystal structure, she started to pound on it. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me with him!" "Your mother has failed you," came the horrible voice of the man who entered the room. The entrapped woman felt her mind scream, but the words could not form. "Help me, mommy! Don't let him hurt me!" Washu tried to warn her daughter. She couldn't hear her... she couldn't stop this from happening... Ryoko screamed out as Kagato grabbed her and threw her onto the floor. Her tiny body, still looking as if she was only eight or nine, hit the ground with a thud. "What's the matter, Washu? Why should you care what happens to her. She's just an experiment. She isn't even human!" Kagato taunted Washu as he pressed Ryoko against the floor. "She's nothing more then a weapon. And I will put that weapon to use." His horrible laughter was accompanied by Ryoko's screams for help. Washu watched the scene... helpless... unable to do anything. It seemed the nightmare wouldn't end. Finally standing up, Kagato looked at her with an evil grin. "Ryoko is my property now. And I will use her as I want to." His laughter filled the room as Washu stared down helpless at Ryoko's, now seventeen year old, naked and defiled body... Washu awoke from her trance and threw the headpiece of the device she was using off her head, sending it crashing into the wall, although not shattering. The lab's warning system was throwing a tantrum, sounding sirens and flashing lights. Washu barely had time to recover from the nightmare as she ran back towards the section of her lab she had been in all day prior to this. As she ran, Washu's mind tried to sort through what had just happened. Throwing open the last door in her path, Ryoko looked on the screen to see her daughter staring directly at her. "So, that's why you did all this, eh mom?" Tears nearly formed in Washu's eyes as she realized her daughter had discovered what she was up to. "You... you used Tenchi to get to me, didn't you?!" Small streams of water began to flow down her cheeks. Ryoko threw the device into the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces. "Ryoko..." "Tenchi, how did she put you up to this?" Ryoko obviously didn't care about any people who were eavesdropping on them. "Please try to..." Tenchi started to respond. "The whole date was her idea, wasn't it?!" Ryoko shouted at him as she turned around to stare at him. Ashamed, Tenchi looked down at the ground and nodded slowly. A laugh escaped her lips as Tenchi saw her stare down at the ground. "I guess I just expected too much when I thought you might actually want to spend time with someone like me." Tenchi could hear Ryoko's crying. "How could anyone actually want to be with someone like me?" Tenchi started to approach her, but was too late. Ryoko bolted out of her seat and ran down the hall of the train, crying as she left. he thought as he sat in his chair, both angry with himself and hateful that he had hurt her so badly. Standing slowly, Tenchi began to make his way out of the seat to follow after the distraught woman. As he left, his eyes caught the small black pig, lying on the floor, apparently dropped by Ryoko as she ran out. Bending down, he picked it up and stared at it, not moving. Finally, he started to make his way after the woman he had hurt. Static. That was all that remained on the screen. Static that spoke more then all the images that had been displayed during the entire day. It was over. Ryoko had found out; found out that she had been using the dearest thing to her heart as a way of getting to her. Washu stood there, unmoving: not through anything else but the shear feeling of not wanting to move. It was of grave misfortune that she was so distracted, as she didn't notice the warnings the lab continued to bark at her, despite the fact that this crisis seemed over. She neglected to notice the approaching robot. The robot was one of the numerous service droids that she had throughout the lab. What was different about this robot was that its mission was not to service anything. If Washu had been paying attention, she would've noticed the malfunctioning equipment in the lab she had been working on. Or she would've noticed the computer's AI changing around current tasks she had set for the lab. But Washu was still distracted, and failed to notice anything as the service droid hit her on the back of the head, knocking her into unconsciousness. The droid picked her up, and began to carry her into the depths of the laboratory. Ok, I didn't cover some of the copyrights earlier to avoid giving away some of the surprise cameos. EL Hazard and Battle Athletes Victory are the property of AIC/Pioneer. Oh My Goddess! is the property of Kodansha and Animeigo. Ranma 1/2 is the property of Viz Video.