Mr.Santos (latinvenom2k1@aol.com)
Regular
Shogun Muyo- Chapter 1: "Seeds of Destiny"
The beginning of an adventure that will leave our heroes as legends.

Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo is the property of AIC and distributed by Pioneer. I 
make no profit in writing this and only hope to contribute to the world of 
anime.

Shogun Muyo-Chapter 1:Seeds of Destiny

The sun shone through several small gatherings of clouds, shooting down bright 
streaks of light that warmed the ground. The breeze convinced the grass to sway 
in an earthly rhythm, all part of natures orchestra. A little girl gazed into 
the beauty that lay in front of her. Momentarily losing her focus, she pondered 
how this planet could match the beauty of her home world. 

She often dreamt of how things could be, if she wasn't royalty. Surely, her 
parents would laugh at her for even suggesting frolicking among "common people." 
But, here she was, preparing breakfast for her friends, on a distant planet 
called Earth.

She was brought back to reality by the gnaws of her pet cabbit.

"Hey Ryo-Ohki. Breakfast is over there." She said pointing her index finger 
towards a corner of the kitchen.  

"Meow-meow" chirped the young cabbit/spaceship before she skipped, albeit slower 
than usual, to the direction pointed by her friend. Sasami smiled and thanked 
the kami's above for giving her this life, filled with people that she loved and 
knew who loved her back. Not just for her crown, like Ayeka had warned her about 
in the past, but for herself. She freed herself form her distractions and 
resumed her daily task.

"Now lets see...Tenchi's vegetables are just about ready...the rice needs a 
little time though....I don't think I need to worry about Washu, she's always in 
that lab...Noboyuki should be on his business trip by now...and grandpa already 
had his share..so now that just leaves Ryoko..."

Such was the routine of Jurai's second crown princess. Carefully preparing her 
families breakfast. And that's what they considered each other. One big and 
sometimes troublesome family.
            
If only her blood relatives saw her now. Slaving over a hot stove, cooking for a 
bunch of primitives. They would immediately send for her and her sister. They 
would then proceed to destroy this backwater planet. Such an insult couldn't and 
wouldn't be tolerated. 

But she didn't see through those eyes.

 Feeling pride well up inside her gut, she finished the final preparations. 
"Well, everything seems ready. All I have to do now is make Ryoko's..." her 
attention was diverted back to her small friend. The cabbits ears hung low, her 
movement somehow unnatural, as if she had just sampled Ryoko's personal favorite 
sake. 

"Are you ok Ryo-Ohki?", with a slow stagger the cabbit replied, "Mi..ya"

"What's wrong?", said a concerned Sasami. "Did you have a bad carrot? I know 
Tenchi picked those yesterday...."

*Maybe I should ask Washu?*, she thought, *Nah, she's been in her room all week, 
working on something big, and I know she'd hate to be interrupted.....*

"Come on, let's go find Tenchi."

Carefully lifting the cabbit and placing it on her head, Sasami headed out the 
door and through the fields, in search for the reliable Tenchi Masaki. She had 
paid so much attention to her friend, however, that she forgot to cover a plate 
that belonged to a certain other Jurai princess. The smell carried itself around 
the room. Whenever her sister gave her a request for this particular Earth dish, 
Sasami always seemed to reply with "Huh? You want me to make you pancakes??" 

The smell coming from the syrup soaked dish was rich enough to wake the dead. 
She knew exactly how her sister liked it, made with blueberries, topped with 
whipped cream, strawberries on the side, and lots of syrup. A plate fit for the 
empress of Jurai herself.

Only in this case, it wasn't the dead that awoke, but something far worse. It 
effortlessly phased through the wall.

"Well now, what's this? Good ol' Sasami. Gotta hand it to her this time. Well, I 
don't think Ayeka would mind if I had a bite or two."

 Ryoko. The devil caller. The demon of destruction. Over the centuries of her 
existence, she has acquired many names. Most of the given to her by the handful 
of survivors of the civilizations she so easily destroyed. Of course, these acts 
were not done willingly, but that didn't soothe the families of her victims. 
Still, that was the past, or so she told herself many many times.
 
Those were memories of times she wished she could forget. On more than one 
occasion she had found herself in Washu's lab, practically pleading to have 
those memories erased, only to be turned down while her mother blabbered 
something about how memories, whether pleasant or not, helped define character.

Regardless of what others thought of her, she was more than fully capable of 
showing emotions and sensations felt by normal people. It just so happens that 
one of her strongest surges that morning seemed to be a little too playful.

*********************************************************************

Inside of her lab, Washu was busy researching and analyzing yet another 
exhaustive string of data. To even the best scientists on Earth this data might 
as well have been written in an ancient alien language. Codes and inscriptions 
danced across the screen, lighting up the lab. To the greatest mind in the 
universe, it was another day at the office.

*Almost finished...c'mon baby, with you, my name will ring throughout the entire 
universe as Washu the super genius!* she thought to herself.

"But wait, why just this universe?? With this creation I'll be known in ALL 
universes!!" A powerful laugh echoed throughout her lab. She submerged herself 
in absolute victory, nothing could stop her now. 

That is, until the screen she was working with suddenly appeared to have huge 
letters, flashing on and off and conveniently coming together to spell, "ERROR."

"What? What? No....Dammit all. There goes another weeks worth of 
effort...sigh...oh well...back to the drawing board."

******************************************************************

The student and teacher stood facing each other. Poised for battle. It soon 
became a competition of patience as each stood their ground, seemingly 
attempting to will their opponents to make the first move. Experience won over 
youth, as Tenchi ran towards his grandfather with a battle cry. 

Tenchi uncharacteristically pressed his attacks, swinging his bokken left, then 
into an overhead right, followed by a thrusting blow aimed toward his 
grandfather's stomach. His opponent, however, was one with years of experience 
and discipline, avoiding every blow with a swift ease that defied his age. 

"Come on Tenchi, you can do better.", he said ducking one strike and blocking 
another.
        
Tenchi jumped straight up and brought his bokken down with ferocity, only to 
have it blocked.

It was true that Tenchi could do better, but a leering felling at the pit of his 
stomach took away most of his concentration. He couldn't pinpoint it, but he 
definitely knew something was amiss at the house. Momentarily shrugging it off, 
he swung upward, hoping to land a blow that would disarm his grandfather. 

"You're placing too much emphasis on power and not enough on technique. You have 
to balance the two forces in order to fully take advantage of them. Here, I'll 
demonstrate."

It was Tenchi's turn to feel an upfront assault. He tried his best to parry the 
upcoming blows, but was caught off balance by his grandfather's deceptive 
agility. He regained his composure, and with precise timing, seemed to be 
gaining the upper hand.  The small sound of a window shattering made it's way to 
his ears.  It was due to this small distraction that Katsuhito was able to trip 
Tenchi, simultaneously pointing his weapon directly at Tenchi's neck. Before 
Tenchi could retaliate, he realized his bokken was out of his hand and laid a 
few inches from him. 

 "Tsk, tsk. You must learn to be like water Tenchi, not a fish. Water changes 
form according to its current situation, and fish merely follow wherever the 
water leads."

 While on the floor, Tenchi gave his own sweep that was avoided by a backflip. 
This momentary distraction was all Tenchi needed to roll over a deftly regain 
possession of his weapon. He stood up and regained his battle stance. "You mean 
like that grandpa?"

 Katsuhito bore a sly smile before acknowledging his pupils skills. 
"Well, well, it looks as if my lessons aren't completely useless after all."

"Tenchi! There you are Tenchi!", interrupted the voice of Sasami, running 
towards the duo. She carried Ryo-Ohkie in her hands. Tenchi was surprised that 
she was up so early. "I thought you'd be in the carrot fields, but when you 
weren't there I didn't know where to look."

 "Oh, sorry Sasami. Grandpa wanted to get some good training today, although I 
really can't figure out why he'd want to this early." He looked over to his 
grandfather.  

 "I wanted to see you because I think Ryo-Ohki's sick, and I'm not sure what to 
do."

"Well, let's take a look at her." He picked up the cabbit and examined her 
features to find that Sasami had not over exaggerated. The cabbit's ears still 
hung low, and her eys were closed. She felt almost limp in his hands, but she 
looked more fatigued than sickly.

Katsuhito's  generally didn't like Tenchi's training to be interrupted, but gave 
his grandson a few moments reprieve.

"Tenchi, we haven't finished yet.", came his hardened voice.

 "Oh, right. Hey wait for me at the house, I'll be right over ok Sasami?"

Sasami gently cuddled Ryo-Ohkie in her arms. She looked genuinely worried, but 
figured that it wasn't polite to interrupt Tenchi grandfather while they were 
sparring. "Well, ok but try to hurry." She said, dejectedly. She hesitantly 
headed back to the house.

He watched her go and made sure he hadn't dissapointed her too much. After all, 
she was one of the girls that didn't actually make him feel like a worm on a 
hook, waiting to be swallowed. He didn't like saying no to those big, pink eyes, 
but he had to respect his grandfather's wishes to continue. He laughed at 
himself for what might happen if he didn't. *Oh hey you know what grampa? I'm 
tired, forget training today, I'm staying in bed.*

"All right, I'm ready when you are."

He assumed the stance that became almost instinctual in the time spent training. 
He remembered how his teacher had told him that the correct posture had to 
become almost a reflex itself. When he looked over at said teacher though, 
standing unguarded, head low, a wave of uneasiness, flowed through his body. At 
first he thought that this might just be a new trick to test his awareness, but 
further inspection indicated otherwise.

"Is everything all right?"

A long pause.

"That was a good session Tenchi. Your skills have improved very much."

Silence.

"Uh, grandpa? You didn't bring me out here so early to find that out, did you?"

"Heh heh. Very perceptive. Well, the reason I wanted to spend this time with 
you, is to see how well you would fare without me around. You see Tenchi, I'm 
leaving."

"What!?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm going to America for a little while. I have to take care 
of some personal business with an old friend."

"America? Well, how long will you stay? And when are you leaving?"

"Well, my plane leaves early tomorrow morning, around 3."

"What? So soon?"
 
"My bags have already been packed. And as for how long I'm going to stay, well 
I'm not sure. It may take a day, or it may take a few weeks. In any case, I'm 
sure I can leave the duties of the shrine to be taken care of by you, right?"

"Yeah of course. Well then...I hope you have a safe trip grandpa."

"Thank you Tenchi. Now, let's go over your basic form, shall we?"

***************************************************

"What's come over you so suddenly Ryo-Ohkie? Well, I think all you need is some 
rest." Sasami walked, holding her friend close, towards the house. She passed by 
the blooming flower fields that she liked to sit and smell every now and then. 
She made her way past a small hilltop that covered her view of the house. It 
wasn't until she heard the first explosion that she looked up and saw there 
barely was a house to come home to.

*What's going on?!* She thought. Her question seemingly heard as another 
explosion rocked the ground where she stood. She saw Ryoko fly high into the 
air, followed by Ayeka on foot. "What?! Ayeka? Ryoko? Are they fighting again?" 
A third and even louder explosion seemed only a few feet away from her, when it 
was clearly a field's length away. "I think it's serious this time Ryo-Ohki."

It wasn't a rare occurrence to see the princess of Jurai go toe to toe with the 
most feared name in the galaxy. Their rivalry went back to the days even before 
they knew Tenchi. After all, it was by Ryoko's hand that hundreds of years ago 
Ayeka was separated from her then beloved Yosho. She'd die before she let 
something like that happen again. Combined with their obvious feelings towards 
Tenchi, they added up to an atomic bomb of hatred towards one another. 

Perhaps it was fate that determined that their feud continued. Somehow, they'd 
managed to share the same roof without killing each other though. Not that they 
haven't tried numerous times. But today seemed that they were more determined 
than usual to see their rivalry end.

"How dare you say such a thing you demon-whore!"
     
"You're the whore you stuck up priss!!"

Ryoko flew high above Ayeka  and charged a ball of energy in her hand. She flung 
it towards Ayeka at a speed that broke the sound barrier. She managed to easily 
block it with her shields. This angered Ryoko to the point that she sent a 
barrage of death balls into Ayeka's path, which were again blocked, but not 
without depleting her own energy.

The cluster of energy bounced off her shield and was sent scattered, destroying 
parts of Ryo-Ohki's prized carrot fields. One whizzed past Sasami's head. 
"Azaka!! Kamidake!!" yelled out the princess. "Yes ma'am", they said, appearing 
in unison.

"Destroy that woman!!"
 
"Yes ma'am."

The two guardians flew towards Ryoko, blasting away at her with powerful beams 
of energy from their lenses. She zig-zagged her way in between them, and avoided 
the shots. "So you think you can take me huh? Bring it on!" boasted Ryoko.
                          
She sidestepped, or sideflew, most of their attacks, leading them into a chase 
through the air. All the while, Ayeka looked on, yelling encouragement to her 
logs. "Get her!! Faster, fly faster!!" Ryoko gracefully navigated her way in the 
air, dodging the attacks directed her way. The missed energy waves sliced their 
way through the air and anything else the came into contact with. The chase 
exhilarated Ryoko, tt all seemed like a game to her. The blasts that were 
launched at her however, were meant to be anything but playful. She finally grew 
bored of this game, turned in mid air, and launched a huge sphere of energy from 
her palms that caught both of the guardians head on, hurling them into the 
ground with a massive thud. 

Sasami just stood there, to shocked to form words. Here, right in front of her 
eyes, her two best friends were at war. The two were so intent on killing each 
other that they hardly noticed her presence.

 Angrily, Ayeka thought of her next tactic. Like a light-bulb going off in her 
head, it came to her. "Azaka, Kamidake, form the Jurai Super Supreme Total 
Annihilation Beam!" With a "Yes ma'am.", they opened up to reveal dozens upon 
dozens of laser lenses pointed directly at Ryoko.

*The Jurai WHAT?!*

She hesitated in the air for the briefest of seconds, considering her options. 
Maybe she can dodge it, but if she didn't she knew she'd be in a whole new world 
of hurt. *So, she's pulling out her trump card already huh? I know this trick. I 
wont give them the time they need to charge up for it.*

Sasami finally managed to find the nerve to speak, realizing Ayeka's next move. 
"Stop it you two!", she cried out, "Why are you fighting in the first place?!"

Ryoko charged toward Ayeka at an amazing speed, energy blade in hand. Ayeka, 
fully aware of the situation, waited carefully for just the right moment. A 
snake's venom, though powerful, was also limited. It was imperative that its 
strike be precise. She waited.

*Almost... a little more...*

"FIRE!", she commanded, her scream masked by the sounds of hundreds of 
independent blasts covering the morning sky. Ryoko, underestimating the speed of 
the attack, was quickly engulfed. She's felt the princesses' attacks on plenty 
of occasions, and had written them off as hurtful as bee stings. Today though, 
she felt as if she had been stung by the biggest bee this side of the galaxy. 

She was sent backwards, crashing through trees and numerous boulders before 
finally indenting her back on the pavement. Scorched ground covered the path in 
which she was sent back. Her fall was broken only by sharp rocks and tree bark. 
Ayeka, fully enjoying her victory, smiled a deep smile. She had finally put that 
woman in her place. "It is done."

 She turned and was slightly startled as she looked down at her younger sister. 
The tears that trickled down Sasami's cheeks almost brought her to do the same. 

"Why Ayeka?..."

"Sasami..." she tried to think of a comforting word to say, but feared that 
anything that left her mouth at this point would only serve to make her little 
sister hate her. She decided to try to embrace her instead, hoping this would 
comfort her at least a little.

There was a massive release of energy roughly three football fields length from 
where they stood. Inside of the crater it created, a ball of yellow light 
illuminated the surroundings. Had a miniature version of the sun crashed to 
Earth? Standing inside this small star was Ryoko. She stood with clenched 
fist's, grinding her teeth. A vein screamed to jump out of her forehead. To 
think that she had been damaged by a princess that probably never had a real 
fight in her life sent her mind into limbo. "Oh, no princess...this isn't over 
yet!!"

She bolted towards the direction of her enemy, there would be no stopping her 
now. Ayeka diverted her attention away from her sister and back to the fight at 
hand. True, her only real opponent had been Ryoko, while Ryoko has had 
experience battling bounty hunters, galaxy police, and the occasional universal 
threat along with herself and Tenchi. But in her veins coursed the heritage of 
possibly the strongest force in the universe, the colossal Jurai Power. Guided 
by her guardians, she flew off into Ryoko's direction as well.

"Please stop it!!"

They either didn't hear her cries in all the confusion, or chose to merely 
ignore her. When the two forces met, the impact sent shockwaves over the land. 
For a while, the two stood with fists clenched against each other. Both 
struggled to establish dominance over the other. Energy cackled and danced 
around their heads, searing some of their clothes. They stared into each other's 
eyes, baring teeth as wolves did to establish the dominant male. 

"You'll...never have him...Ayeka!"

"I'd die before I let you taint his soul!!"

"That can be arranged!!

The two opposing forces were too much as they neutralized each other, but not 
without a final burst of power. The two were flung backwards, and landed several 
yards away from each other. Like boxers during the final round, they'd exhausted 
all their resources. Slowly standing after several minutes, they prepared for 
another go at it. 

In the rubble of the aftermath, the beaten down warriors stood weary, giving 
each other glances that could melt steel. Out of the corner of their eyes, their 
peripheral vision allowed them to see an unconscious body laying face first on 
the ground, her light blue pigtails laying lifeless.

"S...S-sasami..."

 "Oh, no...kid....."

********************************************************************************
*

"Something isn't right.", Tenchi kept repeating to himself, running home. Ayeka 
and Ryoko were usually the ones to blame for unexpected light shows, but today 
seemed not like the familiar fisticuffs these two usually partook in.

Ryo-Ohki pointed Tenchi in the right direction as he ran inside towards Washu's 
lab. He didn't have the time to be amazed at Washu's many inventions, nor did he 
feel any of the hesitation he usually felt. He associated Washu's lab with her 
never-ending quest for his sperm. Right now, he knew one of his family members 
were hurt, and finding out how to help was worth the risk that a certain 
scientist might once again try to get his own personal "sample."

 Inside, he saw his two would be brides standing over an unconscious Sasami 
while Washu scanned her for injuries.

 "I have good news people. According to the data, she's relatively fine. Just 
got a little shook up and fainted." said Washu. The relief that shone through 
the faces of Ryoko and Ayeka was much like the relief Tenchi gets when he finds 
out he passed his hardest test. 

"What happened exactly?" inquired Tenchi. 

"Ask these two.", said Washu in a level tone. In a way, he knew he had the 
answer already.

"Lord Tenchi, Sasami was nearly caught in the crossfire while I was defending 
myself against this scoundrel Ryoko." she said in her highpitched voice.

"Give me a beak!" retaliated Ryoko. "You attacked me!"

"Only after your devilish tongue said one word too many!"

"Stop it."

"Screw you Ayeka, it's your fault this happened, not mine."  

"It's your fault that my sister is laying unconscious!"                  

"I said stop it."

Ryoko pushed Ayeka in frustration, forcing her to regain her balance on one of 
Washu's machines. Ayeka's miniature logs appeared out of thin air.

"STOP IT NOW!" roared Tenchi".

"Don't you see that your fighting only hurts others! It solves nothing!" 

The two warriors looked down, letting the truth of his words sink in. "I wish 
you two would grow up. Act more like descent houseguests, instead of fighting 
all the time!" He calmed himself slightly, and continued with a sigh. "I'm going 
for a walk, I wont be back until later." He headed for the doorway.

 "Lord Tenchi, wait....", said Ayeka. She was off after him within minutes, 
leaving Ryoko alone with Washu. 

"Ryoko?"

"Yeah?...." she faced her creator. 

"Why exactly were you two fighting in the first place?" 

Ryoko took her time to find the right answer. In retrospect, the reason was 
indeed silly, and now she felt childish for letting it escalate as high as it 
did. 

"Do you really need to ask?"

"I see." Washu replied. Ryoko only phased out of the room.

Unknown to any of them, during the final exchange of words between Ryoko and 
Ayeka, an activation switch for a device earlier labeled as a failure was turned 
on, it's engine hummed slightly....

***********************************************************


Outside, Tenchi had already made it down the stairs and towards the hills. 
Seeking escape from his reality, he lost himself in thought.

* I don't believe those two. They fight every single day...and for what?...Me?*

*And you love them for that.* Said a voice in his head.

*I.....guess I do.*

*So? What's the problem?*

*That they almost killed Sasami today! That's the problem!*

*But they didn't. You know that was an accident.*

*Oh really? So what's going to happen the next time they have an accident?*

Ayeka caught up to him in mid-thought. "Please wait Lord Tenchi." 

*Look at her man! Don't just stand there!"

"I apologize for my childish actions Lord Tenchi. It has been a long morning, 
filled with stress. I didn't mean for all this to happen." Tenchi considered his 
own advice, and thought maybe it would be best to hear her side. 

"Sigh. Join me in my walk Ayeka." 

A bit surprised, she hesitated briefly before accepting.

It was a beautiful day despite all the events. Today marked the end of the 
Japanese school year, and Tenchi vowed to make the best of his vacation. Too 
many have gone by while all he did was stay at home and maintain the family 
shrine. He thought he should pay just a little more attention to the girls. 
Maybe then they wouldn't have to fight so much. 

"Lady Ayeka", he started after walking in silence, " this really bothers me, why 
must you two constantly go after each others throats like that?"

"Well...." she thought for a second, much like Ryoko, she couldn't really find 
an answer herself. "Is it not obvious Tenchi? To prove which one of us is truly 
suited for...."

" For what? A coliseum? Is that how you think you can win my heart? With your 
fists?"

"No lord Tenchi.that's not what I meant..."

"Listen Ayeka.I feel the same for both of you. I feel the same for all the 
girls." 

*Liar.* 

"Just being a part of your lives is enough for me." 

"Your very sweet Lord Tenchi... I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality 
and graciousness..." 

Inside her own mind, Ayeka was also struggling to either listen to her heart or 
her mind. 

*Just tell him already!!*

*No...its not...proper.*

*Don't give me that! Are you really going to let him slip away because it's not 
proper!!"

*But....I shouldn't force him....*

*You're not forcing anything on anyone! Don't you see, he's the only one that 
cares about you for YOU, and not because of the crown you wear or the power you 
possess.*

*......*

*Fine...it's your own fault that you'll never really be happy. Ryoko would say 
it in a heartbeat if she had this opportunity...*

"Tenchi?"

"Yes?"

She struggled to get the words out. All this time of keeping her true feelings 
in check were finally catching up to her. Now was the perfect time. Walking 
together. Alone, with him. This sort of chance doesn't present itself everyday, 
Ayeka realized. To finally be alone with Tenchi, to have a mere moment with him 
without having to worry about Ryoko, she knew this could have been her last 
chance. If only the words would come out.     

"Tenchi....I...."

"Yes? What is it?"

I love you, Tenchi."

"Is that it? Well I love you two Ayeka."

"No, no, Lord Tenchi. Not that way...I mean I truly and deeply lov..."

Before her sentence completed it's journey out of her mouth, a huge blue sphere 
of intense energy instantly circled itself around them. Nearly blinded by the 
light, they hardly had any chance to react. By reflex alone, Ayeka pushed Tenchi 
out of harms way.

"Tenchi look out!!"

"Ayeka nooooo!!!!"

 Tenchi reached out and grabbed a hold of Ayeka's hand. The pulling sensation 
was remarkable, and he thought his shoulder would rip itself from its socket at 
any time. Then, just as fast as it came, it disappeared. Tenchi was left 
adjusting his vision. Being partially blind didn't help the situation any.

When he recovered from his dazed state, he looked desperately for his friend, 
but she was gone. He looked down and in her place lay a battered figure. He 
realized that this figure belonged to a young man, maybe a year or two older 
than himself. With a groan, the figure looked up at Tenchi and spoke before 
completely passing out.

"I'll...kill.....you." 


Next: Royal Tears and a Strange One Appears