This is a new Tenchi Muyo! fic.  It is in no way related to Bushido Muyo!, my 
other fic.  As you already know, it is on a western theme.  Even so, I have not 
changed any of the names involved in the storyline.  The locations, although 
they are described in a purely fictional way, have the same names as their real 
life counterparts.  Have fun reading!

  By the way, Tenchi Muyo! and all the characters contained therin are the 
property of Pioneer and AIC.  So, I give up all claims that this is all my idea.
The theme and story are mine, but the characters and their personalities are 
not.  So, should Pioneer or AIC get their hands on this, I ask them not to sue 
me into oblivion.  All right?  Let's get going!

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				  Saddle Up, Tenchi!
					   by
				Jeremy "Kraken" Acord
				azhrei701@hotmail.com

		Episode 3

Tenchi awoke in response to a loud sound, but coming out of a dream, he had no 
idea what it was.  The sound of frightened horses and people, however, was not 
so unidentifiable to him.  He had spent the night at the inn, and had slept 
late.  He guessed that it was coming into the afternoon, but the commotion 
outside was the object of his attention.

Looking out the window, he saw a gradually growing ring of people around three 
figures.  Two, dressed in trenchcoats and wide brimmed hats, stood side by side 
in one half of the circle.  Tenchi was surprised to note that they looked like 
women, but he dismissed this thought when he saw the badges on their chests.  He
knew for sure that, while there may be women outlaws, there were definitely no 
women lawmen.

The third person in the ring was half standing with feet apart, Hat tilted at a 
strange angle from some sudden movement.  Tenchi saw a bag slung over the 
figure's shoulder, and tufts of light blue hair peeking from under the brim of 
the hat.

Tenchi rushed down the hallway, pulling on his shoes as he went.  He passed his 
grandfather in the bar, and Katsuhito seemed to watch Tenchi as if he were 
watching a play unfold, that the events were arbitrary and inevitable and that 
his place was not to interfere.  "Tenchi." he called as the boy reached the 
swinging doors of the bar.  

Tenchi stopped in mid stride, and turned to face his grandfather.  Katsuhito 
nodded to Tenchi.  "Remember what I taught you, Tenchi."

Katsuhito watched as the gates swung in the empty air on the walkway outside, 
the words "Yes, grandpa," Still echoing in his ears.  He turned and walked into 
the supply room of the bar.

Tenchi once again halted in mid stride.  The two lawmen WERE women.  Down the 
street, a sign tilted and spun crazily as it swung on it's one remaining chain 
in the gentle but potent breeze.  Looking at the two lawwomen, he saw that one, 
with dark hair framing her face in the shadow of her hat, had a gun drawn.  Not 
far behind her, another lawwoman, a blonde, stood watching.  She seemed scared, 
perhaps nervous, as she watched the drama unfold.  

He stepped out of the way as the bar doors swung outward.  A girl stepped out, 
and it took a moment for Tenchi to realize it was Aeka.  Long amethyst ponytails
draped down her back from beneath a curtain of hair that swung around to her 
cheeks.  Short bangs draped down over her forehead slightly parted, just above a
pair of stunningly purple eyes.

Aeka's hand flew to her mouth, too late to stifle a loud gasp.  Her eyes fixed 
on Ryoko, and she took a half step back.

Her gasp drew the attention of the three participants in the standoff.  Ryoko 
seemed only slightly less surprised to see Aeka.  After a breif pause, the gun 
holding lawwoman shouted across the street.

"Aeka!  We are GP detectives Kiyone and Mihoshi!  I am asking your assistance in
bringing the criminal Ryoko to justice!"

"A criminal..."  Tenchi said, still trying to somehow absorb the events that led
to the current situation.

Aeka straightened.  Her eyebrows raised, she took on an air that Tenchi could 
only describe as regal.  "Very well." she said loudly.  She stepped forward into
the street herself.

"Tenchi!" Katsuhito yelled.  When Tenchi looked over, his grandfather tossed 
something to him, which he instinctively caught.  He was about to examine it, 
but a flash and a loud, undulating hum from the street drew his attention.

When Tenchi looked back to the street, he saw an unbeleivable sight.  Ryoko, 
feet spread wide now, had clasped her hands together, index fingers pointing at
the two lawwomen.  At the tip of her fingers, a ball of orange light hovered, 
gradually swelling.  Tenchi didn't think it's intention was benign.

His grandfather's words now came to mind, and he remembered the things that 
Katsuhito had taught him out behind the bar.

His grandfather had been teaching him the ways of a gunfighter, making him fast,
agile, and sharp eyed.  He had practiced untill he had the quickest hands in 
town, and then continued to improve.  But he had never before fired a real gun.

But the most important thing his grandfather had ever taught him out in their 
training area was that combat, though sometimes necessary, was to be avoided at 
all costs.  Tenchi now looked down.

In his hand he saw the wooden gun that Katsuhito had trained him with.

It was a wooden gun, but that fails to describe it accurately.  It seemed woven 
of wood, strands of it forming a pattern not unlike a celtic knot.  The butt was
a flat knob, in line with the wooden "barrel", which terminated in a hollow 
framed by a blue metal band.  Unlike a real gun, it had no trigger gaurd, and 
only a slot where a dowel could be inserted to simulate a trigger.  Tenchi 
wondered momentarily how he would stop these four from blowing each other to 
bits with a mere toy.

Suddenly, Tenchi realized that he was wearing the same pants as he had worn the 
night before.  This realization came coupled with the one that Joeseph Hammerman
had not picked up his gun when he left.

Tenchi ripped the Patterson from his left pocket, cocked it, and fired a shot in
the air.  The mighty pistol's crack reverberated in the street, and all eyes 
turned to him.  He cocked the pistol again.

"My grandfather taught me that combat was a thing always to be avoided.  I don't
know what you're all about to kill each other for, and I really don't care.  But
I am here now to make sure that none of you die.  Not now."  He stepped into the
blazing sunlight.  "Not today."

The dark haired lawwoman, be it Mihoshi or Kiyone, gasped in unison with Aeka.  
from the purple haired girl he heard a faint whisper.  "He has... Tenchi-ken?"

Ryoko glared at Tenchi, then noticed that everyone was looking at the wooden 
thing in his right hand.  When she realized what it was, she oriented the now 
raging ball of energy, larger than her head, on Tenchi.  "You're one of them!"

"What?  One of who?"  Tenchi asked, bewildered.

"You BASTARD!  DIE!"

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Ohhhh, the suspense!  Are you chomping at the bit to read the next episode yet? 
No need to wait!  Go ahead!  Why are you still reading this?!  Well?  Oh, if you
want to send me feedback, send it to Azhrei701@hotmail.com

-Kraken