DISCLAIMER: All of the characters, cabbits, beautiful space pirates, 
marooned princesses, and brilliant scientists in this story, excepting
any characters I made up, are property of AIC and Pioneer. Please 
don't sue me, I used up the last of my cash buying Tenchi movies. This
story is MY property however, and if you copy it without permission I 
will piss and moan like an impotent jerk and not do a damn thing about
it. But please, don't do it anyway, it's rude.

This story is set shortly after the Tenchi Muyo! OAV series, episode 
9. Nothing that happened in episodes 10-13 or the No Need For Tenchi 
comics (or any of the movies, TV series, Pretty Sami, etc.) has 
happened. Send any questions, comments, criticism to 
Palador98@yahoo.com. Special Thanks to Titus Lin and Kelly Loyd for 
proofreading. Enjoy the story!



No Need For Souls!
A TM! Fanfiction
By RP-Otaku

Chapter One: An Enemy Resurrected



It was a bright, sunny morning in the Masaki household as Tenchi 
slowly opened his eyes. To his surprise, Ryoko wasn't floating right 
above his bed, watching him sleep. He savored the peace and warmth of 
his bed for another moment, then reluctantly got up, scratched, and 
headed for the bathroom. After completing his morning ritual, and 
dressed in his work clothes, he headed downstairs. Aeka and Ryoko 
were nowhere to be found. Although he heard the sizzle of Sasami's 
cooking from the kitchen and the birds were chirping loudly, it 
seemed quiet as a tomb without Ryoko and Aeka screaming at each 
other. He luxuriously sighed with relief and sat down on the living 
room couch, just as he heard a soft voice murmur, "Tenchi..." two arms
circled around him from behind and Ryoko's chin settled on his 
shoulder.

"Tenchi..." she whispered again, "Ohayo, my love."

Startled, Tenchi jumped up with a shout, breaking free of her embrace 
and tumbling to the floor.

"Ryoko! Don't *do* that anymore!"

"Do what, Tenchi?" she whispered seductively as she floated towards 
him. Tenchi's nose began to bleed when he saw what Ryoko was wearing. 
A skintight, nearly see-through bodysuit, not leaving *anything* to 
the imagination.

"R-R-Ryoko! Stop it!" he cried as he scrambled back as quickly as he 
could. Where was Aeka when you needed her?

"You SLUT!!! LEAVE TENCHI-SAMA ALONE!!!"

As if summoned by his thoughts, there was Aeka, standing in the 
doorway of the Masaki home, sopping wet. Her shrill voice seemed to 
penetrate the entire countryside as she screamed at Ryoko.

"That was a clever trick you played on me, but you still couldn't 
stop me! I have returned to save Tenchi's honor from your vile plots!"

"What are you talking about, Princess?" Ryoko asked innocently, "I 
would never do anything like that to Tenchi. His honor is completely 
safe from me. Now his virginity...that's another story!"

"You vile wretch! How dare you!" Aeka clenched her fists and 
suddenly dozens of tiny logs appeared floating around her. "It is up 
to *me* to save Tenchi-sama!"

Ryoko smirked and conjured her energy sword. "Come on, Oujo-chan, 
let's play."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!" Aeka's face turned a bright red as more of 
her miniature logs materialized around Ryoko.

"I called you an *underdeveloped* little girl!" Ryoko laughed 
as Aeka became even more furious, "Come on, I think *you* need to be
*disciplined*!"

"PREPARE TO DIE!!" Tentacles sprang from the logs, encircling Ryoko, 
but the space pirate simply teleported away. Aeka spun around,
expecting her to appear behind her, but nothing happened. Aeka turned
around once again, "I guess the coward ran. It figures, that woman 
knows I can best her anytime in... Aaaugh!"

Ryoko chuckled; her foot planted on Aeka's back pinned the princess 
to the ground. Ryoko leveled her energy sword at the back of Aeka's 
head. 

"I could kill you right now, Princess, but I'm not going to. Do you 
know why?"

"Because you'd much rather gloat about how you beat me than actually 
kill me. You want to humiliate me for your own shallow pride."

"Of course not!" Ryoko seemed angry that Aeka would think such a 
thing. "I won't because Tenchi doesn't want it. I'm not going to kill 
you because you're Tenchi's guest. Unless, of course, Tenchi *does* 
want me to. Do you, Tenchi?" Ryoko looked up at Tenchi a little 
hopefully.

Tenchi, still crouched on the floor, shook his head vehemently.

"Ah, well. You survive another day, Princess, much to the 
detriment of the rest of the galaxy, I'm afraid." Ryoko stepped off 
of Aeka's back and her energy sword dissipated. Aeka stood up and 
started to brush her kimono off, only then realizing once again that 
she was soaked through.

"Hmph." Aeka muttered, then turned to Ryoko, "'Detriment of the 
galaxy'? Ryoko, I had no idea your uncivilized mind even knew what 
detriment means."

"You wanna go another round, Princess?" Menacingly, Ryoko's sword 
reappeared in her hand.

Tenchi moved between them, "Hey, hey! Break up the fighting you two! 
Aeka, you should go change your clothes. Ryoko, I think you should 
change into something a little more decent before breakfast is ready."

Aeka smiled at Tenchi, "Hai, Tenchi-sama. I shall do as you request." 
Ryoko frowned at her then said "Alright, Tenchi. But next time I'll 
make sure Aeka doesn't interfere with our lover's passion." She 
smiled and clasped her hands to her chest as she phased out of sight. 
Aeka turned angrily and walked upstairs.

Tenchi sighed in relief and collapsed on the couch. Washu walked out 
from her subspace lab under the stairs and looked quizzically at 
Tenchi. "Tenchi-dono? Did you by any chance happen to see a humanoid 
hologram walk by here?"

"No, Washu-chan. Why would I?"

"Because, I made one this morning and it's disappeared."

"Why?"

"Well... I don't know."

Alarmed, Tenchi looked at her. "You... don't know?"

"No. I can't believe it! The greatest scientific genius who ever 
lived, and I don't know where my stupid hologram went!"

"Why don't you just make another?"

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to create a functioning
hologram without a projector?! You have to form the energy particles
*perfectly*, make a functioning ethereal AI, which let me tell you,
is quite a feat in itself! *Then* there's the problem of keeping the
light condensed and not having it just fly around anywhere! And, of 
course, you have to make sure... Are you listening to me?"

Tenchi was lying on the couch, sound asleep. "Tenchi-niichan, 
breakfast is ready!" Sasami rushed out of the kitchen, looking 
around in the living room and spotting Washu. "Ohayo, Washu-oneechan, 
where is Tenchi-niichan? I thought he was out here just a minute ago."

Washu smiled at Aeka's sister and nudged Tenchi's shoulder. 
"Tenchi-dono, wake up! Breakfast is ready. Oh, Sasami-chan, have you 
seen a hologram around here? It wandered out of my lab before I was 
done with it."

Sasami shook her head, "Uh-uh. I haven't. Gomen, Washu-oneechan."

"It's alright, Sasami-chan. Tenchi! Wake up!" Washu shook his 
shoulder. Tenchi woke up suddenly. He yawned. "Oh, man. I need to get 
more rest."

Sasami leaned over the back of the couch and smiled at Tenchi, 
"Ohayo, Tenchi-niichan! Breakfast is ready. Where's Oneesama and 
Ryoko-neechan? I heard them fighting earlier in here earlier."

"I am right here, Sasami." Aeka regally descended the stairs, "As for
that monster woman, I hope she is gone for good."

"Oneesama! Don't say that! Ryoko-neechan is my friend."

"Yes, Aeka. You're the only one around here that *doesn't* like me. I 
guess I'm just naturally lovable, not an ugly hag like you." Ryoko 
materialized next to Sasami, wearing her blue and yellow dress.

"Ugly hag?! Why you... I'll rip you apart limb from limb!"

"Go ahead, try it!"

Once again Tenchi stepped in between them, "Break it up! You two 
already had your fight, now let's just eat!" Ryoko stuck her tongue 
out at Aeka, then took her seat at the table.

---

Eagerly, he watched Washu's automaton approach him. [Come To Me. Let 
Me Journey Into Your Mind. Let Me Give You A Soul. Come To Me.] He 
commanded its computer brain. Finally, he would have a corporeal body 
once more! He could finally take revenge on Tenchi Masaki. It was all 
the boy's fault, for being so...NO! The hologram stopped in front of 
him as he screamed out in despair. It was a hologram! A mere cheap 
imitation of a real body! After all this time, and it wasn't even 
real! He would have to wait longer, for a real form to show up, made 
of matter. Then he would exact his revenge. He sent the hologram home, 
knowing that with Tenchi's life span, he had all the time in the 
galaxy.

---

Aeka soaked in the onsen, reclining in the warm sun. It's so peaceful 
here, she thought. The only thing that would make this better would 
be if Tenchi were here with me. As if summoned by her thoughts, she 
heard the door open and someone step out. She turned to look, just as 
she heard a familiar voice shout "Waahooo!" and a huge splash doused 
her in water. "What is going *on*, Ryoko-san!"

Ryoko now floated serenely in the pool, feeling quite satisfied with 
drenching Aeka for the second time that day. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at 
all. In fact, I'm rather bored. Let's go do something."

"Why?" Aeka eyed her suspiciously, "What do you plan on doing to me 
now?"

"Nothing! I was just thinking, it's getting close to Ulgolos, isn't 
it?"

"Ulgolos? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You don't? It's the festival of spring turning into summer on 
Jurai. I would think that you would remember your own planet's 
holidays."

"Spring into summer...You mean Yugeris?"

"Whatever. I knew it ended with an 's' though."

"So what? Why should I care about Yugeris?"

"Why Aeka! You don't remember? Yugeris is traditionally the holiday 
where you give the one you plan to spend the rest of your life with 
a present! It's supposed to symbolize the blooming of new love or 
some such."

Aeka giggled, "You baka! That's Iredana, the celebration of the 
coming of spring!"

"So? I just see it as an excuse to buy a present for Tenchi! To 
finally win his heart!"

Aeka started laughing out loud, "That's hilarious, Ryoko! You 
actually think that he'll care about some stinking present from you? 
He'll be offended that you even disgraced this house with your 
venomous presence on this joyous occasion!"

"Shut up, Aeka! We'll see just how hard you're laughing when Tenchi 
thanks me for his present with a nice big kiss!"

"What?! Tenchi-sama would not kiss the likes of you!"

"Oh yeah? Why don't we just find out? Tomorrow's Yugu-whatever, and 
I'm getting Tenchi a present!"

"Well, we'll see! My present's going to be so much better than 
anything a monster like you could pick out!"

"In your dreams, Princess!"

Exasperated, Aeka got out of the bath and stomped back towards the 
house. Ryoko chuckled to herself. My present's gonna be so much 
better than anything she could pick out! Tenchi's going to be so 
grateful and he'll just be overcome with love, and...

---

Ryoko wandered the pathways of the large shopping mall. Now, where 
could I get the perfect gift for Tenchi? Clothes? Nah, too boring. 
No one wants clothes as a present. Jewelry? No, too flashy. Food? 
Naw, that'll probably send the wrong message. Me? No, I try to give 
him myself at every opportunity, probably not going to be special at 
all. That kinda sucks. I'm not special... What does he always seem 
to want? Aeka and I to stop fighting, and for me not to try to 
seduce him in public. I dunno whether even I can pull that off! What 
if Aeka tries to do something dastardly, or even unprincessly?! But 
Tenchi will be so thankful, he'll come up to me, take me in his arms 
and say, "Thank you so much, Ryoko-chan. This was the best day of my 
life, I love you, Ryoko." Ryoko sighed in content as someone bumped 
her while walking by.

"Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going...Aeka!"

Aeka looked startled at Ryoko's presence. "Ryoko-san, what are you 
doing here?"

"Whaddaya think I'm doing here? Sometimes you're so dense, Princess!" 
Ryoko said, irritated with the princess's bad timing.

"So what are you going to give him? A contagious disease? A heart 
attack from your constant disrespect?"

Ryoko was trembling with anger. She grabbed Aeka by the front of her 
kimono. "What are you talking about! I think I'll end your pitiful 
life right now!"

At this point, several shoppers were stopping to stare at the two 
women. Uncaring, Ryoko went on, "You challenge my love for Tenchi, you 
insult me, and you interfere with my life whenever you get the 
chance! I think you *deserve* to die!"

Aeka shoved Ryoko away from her. "Oh yeah? Try it! Your power could 
not possibly compete with mine!"

As Aeka's floating logs gathered around her, Ryoko created a ball of 
electricity in her hands. The crowd gasped at the sight. Ryoko 
teleported above Aeka, but the princess expected it. Suddenly logs 
appeared around Ryoko and lightning flared out. Ryoko screamed in 
pain, convulsing in the air. One of the spectators cried out, "Should 
we call the police?"

Ryoko fell to the ground, but swiftly sprang to her feet. She threw 
an energy blast at Aeka, which the princess easily avoided. The logs 
appeared around Ryoko again, but this time she teleported away. She 
reappeared in front of a McDonald's and ripped the front counter out 
of the ground. She heaved it at Aeka, but missed again and it 
crashed through the window of a cosmetics shop. The two stopped for a 
moment, panting, then they heard a loud whining noise coming from 
above them. A sound like a coughing giant accompanied it, then the 
ceiling of the mall collapsed. With a loud crash the ceiling caved 
in, bringing with it a large object that looked exactly like... 
"Yukinojo?" Ryoko said in disbelief, "Why the hell is *Mihoshi* here?"

"Isn't she supposed to be off on some mission?" Aeka asked.

Mihoshi climbed out of the rubble of her space ship, dusted herself 
off, then called for someone named Kolmak. A large orange droid 
followed her. It was twelve feet tall, humanoid, with pincers for 
hands and two deadly looking laser cannons on its shoulders. Its 
bright red eyes focused on Ryoko and Aeka. "Unidentified humanoids. 
Must destroy." It had a monotone, metallic voice, and it focused its 
pair of laser cannons on the unfortunate women.

Aeka screamed and ran, Ryoko sank through the floor, and Mihoshi 
pulled out her Galaxy Police control cube. With a couple of turns, 
the droid ceased functioning.

"There!" She declared, satisfied. "Aeka-san, please stop screaming. 
It won't hurt you."

By now the crowd of people had run off in fright. Ryoko appeared in 
front of Mihoshi. "Mihoshi, what *is* this thing?"

"It's the droid of the wanted criminal Vorall. He just shot my ship 
down. I tried to aim for Tenchi's house, but I missed." Mihoshi 
replied to her cheerily.

"You *aimed* for Tenchi's house! Why would you want to do that?" 
Ryoko queried.

"Because I don't want to alert the locals to my presence! It could 
cause an interstellar incident!"

"Oh well. Mihoshi, you'd better get this ship running again. Aeka, 
help her or something, I don't care. Maybe you should talk to the 
people here. I'll get this droid to Washu."

Aeka came up to her angrily, "Oh? And who gave *you* the right to 
give orders? Last time I checked, I outranked you! I think *you* 
ought to help Mihoshi-san with her ship, and *I'll* tell Tenchi-sama 
about it."

Ryoko snorted. "Do whatever you want, Princess. I'll see you in a 
while." Saying that she flew over the robot, lifted it up, and 
teleported away.

"That *woman*! How dare she! Come, Mihoshi-san, let us hurry."

---

Tenchi flipped through TV channels, looking for something good on. 
He passed a quick flash of a close-up of Ryoko's face. "What the..." 
He went back to the channel to watch a replay of one of Ryoko and 
Aeka's fights...in a mall? Tenchi couldn't believe it! He thought 
even *they* would avoid battling in such a public place! The news 
anchor appeared on the air, "These two women were seen fighting with 
some sort of strange weapons. Their identities are unknown, and have 
thus far not shown up on any official records. During the battle an 
unidentified aircraft crashed into..."

"Tenchi..." Ryoko murmured into his ear as her arms encircled his 
torso, rubbing his chest all over. "Did you miss me? I missed you..." 
Tenchi yelped and jumped away from her. He turned around and pointed 
an accusing finger at her.

"Ryoko! What were you doing today at the mall?! Are you *crazy* 
fighting with Aeka like that where everyone can see you?!"

"What're they gonna do about it?" Ryoko asked, pouting. She took a 
seat on the arm of the couch. "What's wrong if they see me? They can't 
do anything about it."

"What if the government figures out you're an alien and tries to kill 
you and do an autopsy? Or if they tried to capture you?"

"Oh come on, Tenchi. You know they only do that in the movies. 
Besides, how would they be able to stop me from escaping?"

"They could use me as a hostage. Plus we'd both be criminals, you and 
Aeka already are for property damage. And I'd be viewed as an 
accomplice if they figured out you lived here! What about Mihoshi's 
ship? They could impound that and take her prisoner. There are all 
kinds of things they could do!"

Ryoko sighed and floated over to Tenchi. She laid her head on his 
chest and rubbed his back. "Gomen, Tenchi. I didn't realize it. In 
the future I'll try to be more careful, my love."

"Arigato, Ryoko." He said as he wriggled out of her grasp. 
"Where's Aeka-san?"

"She's helping Mihoshi get Yukinojo up in the air again. They oughta 
be back anytime now."

"What if they can't fix it?"

"Good point. I'll ask Washu about it."

Ryoko teleported into Washu's subspace lab. "Washu!" she called.

"I *told* you, Ryoko-chan. Call me Mom!" Washu said imperiously.

"Why should I? You weren't exactly acting like my mom for the first 
5,000 years of my life!"

"I had no control over that! I was as much Kagato's prisoner as you 
were."

"So much for 'The Greatest Scientific Mind in the Universe'! Maybe 
Mihoshi should have let you rot in that prison on the Soja!"

"But if she'd done that, Ryoko-chan, you, Tenchi, Aeka, and everyone 
would be dead."

Ryoko sighed, "I suppose you're right. But I won't call you mom! By 
the way, what if Mihoshi and Aeka can't repair Yukinojo and get it 
back over here?"

Washu punched a few buttons on a console. A viewscreen appeared in 
the air. On it Ryoko could see Yukinojo flying toward the Masaki 
residence. "Oh. Okay. What'd you do with that robot I brought by here 
earlier, anyway?"

Washu looked depressed. "I don't know. It's gone. My hologram came 
back, but I don't know where that big droid went."

Ryoko was shocked. "*You* don't *know*!?! Incredible!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Ryoko feigned a hurt look. "Is that any way to speak to your only 
daughter?"

Washu glared at her, "Maybe if my *daughter* was a little more 
respectful, I could be nicer to her."

"I hope you burn in hell, Washu." Ryoko vanished from the lab.

---

Tenchi stood in front of the Masaki home, watching Yukinojo arrive. 
It looked like it was crippled, clouds of black smoke poured from its 
engines, and it flew like a drunken sailor. Just then, a laser shot 
from over head blasted into it. Yukinojo spun out of control and 
crashed into the ground. As Aeka and Mihoshi picked themselves out 
of the rubble, Mihoshi sobbing because of what happened to her ship,  
another ship touched down just a dozen yards away. This ship was 
fairly small, the shape of an upside-down top. It was bright yellow, 
and a hatch opened on the bottom of the disk. A short figure jumped 
out; it rushed toward Mihoshi.

It screamed, "Galaxy Police Mihoshi! Where is Kolmak?!! What have you 
done with my beautiful droid?!!" It was about four feet tall and 
covered with yellow fur. It seemed to have no apparent ears, but it 
had muzzle like a dog's and two bright red eyes. It brandished a 
yellow energy sword.

A blast of red energy smashed into it. The little alien flew 
backwards, crashing into its ship. Ryoko floated over to Aeka and 
Mihoshi.

"Hey, Mihoshi. Is that Vorall?"

Mihoshi nodded. "Uh-huh. He is wanted for piracy, grand theft, murder, 
and shoplifting."

"*Shoplifting*? Where?"
	
"The Ojoran Sector."
	
Ryoko looked impressed. "And *you* brought him down? Nice going."
	
Tenchi was extremely perplexed. "What's so special about shoplifting?"
	
Aeka approached him. "Tenchi-sama, in the Ojoran Sector, shoplifting 
is punishable by torturing-to-death."
	
"What?! That's insane!"
	
"Not really," Ryoko cut in, "The Ojoran Sector's goods are worth 
trillions of credits. They have the best security anywhere in the 
universe, including Jurai. They also have the strongest military, so 
no one dares to put an end to some of their punishments, such as 
castration, torturing, execution on the first offense, that kind of 
thing."
	
"That's horrible!" Tenchi gasped.
	
Aeka shrugged, "They're pretty handy to have in a war, though. The 
past three wars Jurai got into were only won with the help of the 
Ojorans. The one before that the entire Federation of planets lost to 
the Ojorans. Basically, they're the best warriors in the universe."
	
Tenchi whistled appreciatively. "Incredible. I'm never gonna go 
there, who knows what laws I might break!"
	
Vorall groaned and twitched.
	
Ryoko flew over and stood on his head. "Hey Mihoshi, whaddaya wanna 
do with him?"
	
Mihoshi ran over, read him his rights, and arrested him. "Okay, 
that's all taken care of! Now, where's that droid?"
	
A sweatdrop appeared on Ryoko's forehead. "Well, y'see... Washu lost 
him!"
	
Washu, just walking out of the house, cried out, "Hey! No fair! A 
daughter's supposed to cover for her mother!"
	
Ryoko turned away from her, "Maybe I would, if I *had* a mother."
	
Washu was stung by her daughter's remark. She sighed. "Ryoko-chan... 
I... I want to... to apologize for what happened during... during 
your childhood."
	
Ryoko turned and looked at her coldly. "Is that all you can say? 'I'm 
sorry'?! Well, *excuse* me if I don't think that a simple apology 
will make up for *five thousand* years of *slavery*!! You say you want 
to be a family again! You lost that right when you let Kagato take me 
away! Too bad, *Washu*, it's not gonna happen!"
	
Washu yelled back, "You think I had a *choice*?!! I was imprisoned in 
the Soja as well! I saw what he did to you, what he made you do! You 
think I enjoyed that?! After my son was taken away, I needed someone 
to console me, to help me through the grief! I made you, to be my 
daughter, so I could have a *family*!! Then Kagato betrayed me, took 
you! There was nothing I could do! For once the greatest mind in the 
Universe was helpless! You say I betrayed you, let you be taken by 
Kagato! It wasn't like that! I loved... *love* you more than anything 
else in the Universe, and I could do nothing as you were enslaved and 
tortured by that madman! I'm *sorry*, Ryoko, more about what happened 
to you than anything else in my twenty thousand years of life! If I 
could, I would go back and give you the childhood you deserved, but I 
*can't*! You're just going to have to live with me the way I am..."
	
Mihoshi started bawling, tears pouring out of her eyes. She cried, 
"I'm so moved! I'm so moved!"
	
Ryoko, startled and touched by her mother's confession, moved a 
little closer, "Mom..."

---

Finally! It was time! His spirit entered the huge robot. 
Tenchi Masaki! You shall die! I shall feast 
upon your suffering! My soul will drink your pain and I shall destroy 
you utterly!! The end of your life has arrived!

---

Ryoko couldn't believe it! Washu had apologized! It was something she 
never would have believed would happen! She turned toward Washu, 
ready to finally forgive her mom. "Mom..." she said. She saw hope 
grow in her mother's eyes, hope that her daughter would finally 
acknowledge her, and they could be a family again. And then they 
heard it. The laugh that they thought they would never hear again. 
Kagato's laugh.
	
Everyone gasped. Washu, for once, was caught off guard. Tenchi 
whispered, "No..." Ryoko screamed, "How can it be?! Kagato!" Vorall's 
huge droid walked toward them. Its metallic features slowly twisted 
and rearranged themselves into a perfect replica of Kagato's. A 
twelve-foot tall orange Kagato with glowing red eyes walked towards 
them.
	
Ryoko yelled a battle cry and her red-and-black combat suit appeared 
on her. She conjured her energy sword and flew towards the 
droid Kagato. Tenchi and Washu cried out, "Ryoko, no!" A bright green 
energy blade appeared in Kagato's hand, and he easily parried Ryoko's 
wild attack. He brought the other hand around and smacked her across 
the face. She fell to the ground. Kagato tried to stomp on her, but 
she teleported away just in time. Kagato lifted his foot, leaving a 
deep imprint in the ground.

Tenchi cried out and rushed toward them, drawing Tenchi-ken as he 
did so. Aeka followed, calling up her tiny logs. She 
yelled out, "Azaka, Kamidake!" the two log guardians of Jurai 
flew to her side. Her Juraian battle suit appeared on her, and she 
rushed forward to aid Tenchi and Ryoko.
	
Kagato laughed, and energy blasts flew from his hands, knocking Aeka 
to the ground. Ryoko appeared right above him and swung downwards, 
slicing his head through the middle. Ryoko chuckled and her energy 
sword dissipated. Kagato's head merged back together. His 
energy sword swung and cut through Ryoko's arm, deep into her chest. 
She cried out in pain and collapsed, her arm lying on the ground next 
to her. Azaka and Kamidake got on either side of Kagato, entrapping 
him in a force field.
	
Kagato laughed. His energy saber cut through Azaka, sending the 
guardian tumbling to the ground in two pieces. The other guardian 
detonated when Kagato sent a fireball into it at point-blank range. 
Tenchi leaped and slashed through Kagato's arm holding the energy 
saber. Kagato screamed in pain. An energy saber appeared in his other 
hand. "Heh, heh. Tenchi Masaki. You will die today, and no one can 
help you."
	
Kagato slashed, and Tenchi parried. Kagato lunged forward, forcing 
Tenchi back, but Tenchi tripped on Ryoko's fallen form. Kagato 
stood over Tenchi triumphantly, his energy saber raised for the final
blow. He swung downward at Tenchi's head. Suddenly Ryoko shoved Tenchi
out of the blade's path, but she was unable to save herself, and 
Kagato's energy blade cut Ryoko's head off.
	
"RYOKO!!!" Tenchi cried out in sorrow. Kagato grinned and turned 
toward Tenchi. "Now, boy, it is your turn." Tenchi concentrated his 
will on only one thing: revenge. The Wings of the Light Hawk appeared 
before him, and he was suddenly clad in his Jurai battle suit. In 
each hand a Light Hawk Sword appeared, and he leapt forward to the 
attack with unbridled ferocity.
	
Kagato parried one sword, but Tenchi twisted in mid-air and cut his 
remaining hand off with the other. Kagato screamed in pain. Tenchi 
rushed forward once again, he summoned the Wings of the Light Hawk and 
slammed into Kagato with their full force. With his twin blades of the
Light Hawk, he sliced through Kagato's neck, his head falling to the 
ground. Kagato's head croaked out "If you kill me, I'm taking you with 
me into the Abyss!!"
	
The droid's metallic voice stated, "Self-Destruct Sequence Activated. 
Self-Destruct in five, four, three..."
	
Tenchi felt a hand grab his arm, and heard Ryoko's voice saying, 
"Tenchi, let's go!" He felt a sensation of leaving the ground, then 
of being in two places at once. Suddenly, he was in Washu's lab. He 
looked up into Ryoko's grim face. She broke into a grin, "Oh Tenchi! 
I'm so glad you're all right!" She hugged him tight and showered him
with kisses.
	
"Ryoko! How dare you!" Aeka yelled at her, hating her that she got 
to be so close with Tenchi. Ryoko glowered at her. "Oh, shut up 
Princess, I saved you too, didn't I?"
	
Then Tenchi noticed something odd about her hug. "Um, Ryoko... 
Where's your other arm?" Ryoko looked cross. "It was tough enough 
just reattaching my *head* in time to help you two. Don't be picky. 
In a little bit I'd better go out and get my arm back."
	
"No need to." Washu said from behind them. "It was vaporized in the 
explosion. I got everyone in here safely, but Tenchi, I'm afraid your 
house is going to need *major* repairs."
	
Tenchi stood up and asked her, "Washu-chan, how did Kagato get 
resurrected in the droid?"
	
Washu sighed, "Well, once again my incredible genius failed me. I 
never thought that Kagato would have figured out the technique for 
soul seperation in only 5,000 years. It's a technique used at the 
point of death where you can voluntarily separate your soul from your 
body. Your spirit then wanders wherever you want until you once again 
can take over a body made up of matter. It is extremely difficult to 
shove out a soul that is inhabiting a body, so most who can even 
learn the technique rely on taking over bodies that have no souls, 
namely, robots. Evidently he was trying to take over my hologram 
earlier today, but when he figured out that it wasn't real, he just 
sent it home. Mihoshi's captive droid, however, provided him with the 
perfect form. He simply molded it to the appearance he wanted and he 
could project any of his powers through it."
	
"Wow... that's amazing..." Mihoshi was awed. "I didn't understand a 
word of that..." Everyone but Mihoshi face-faulted.
	
Ryoko spoke up, "Mom, if my arm was vaporized, what happened to my 
gem?" she asked as she regenerated her arm.
	
Washu smiled at her, "You don't really think that I, the Greatest and
Most Kawaii Scientific Genius in the Universe would let my only 
daughter's gems be destroyed, do you? Those gems are impervious to 
anything short of your death! And that, my daughter, is not likely to 
happen for several thousand years."
	
Ryoko smiled, "Thanks, Mom." Ryo-Ohki jumped up on her shoulder and 
nuzzled Ryoko's cheek. "Miya!" Ryoko laughed and petted Ryo-Ohki, 
"Haven't seen you around most of the day. Where've you been?"
	
Sasami came over and sat next to Ryoko, "Ryo-chan has been with 
me all day, Ryoko-neechan."
	
"Thanks, Sasami, for looking after her."
	
Tenchi scratched his head and walked up to Washu, "Um, Washu-chan, 
could you do me a *little* favor?"
	
"Hai, Tenchi-dono, I'll repair the house for you."
	
"Arigato gozaimasu, Washu-chan. You really are the Greatest 
Scientific Genius in the Universe."
	
"I know!"
	
With a few button presses, Washu crowed with triumph, "I am *such a 
genius*! Tenchi-dono, the house is repaired!"
	
Ryoko grabbed Tenchi around the waist, "Come on, Tenchi," she 
whispered in his ear, "Let's go see how your bedroom turned out." 
With that, she teleported them away.
	
"RYOKO!!! That, that, that *monster woman*!" Aeka screamed and ran 
out the door of Washu's lab. "Bye, Washu-neechan, I have to cook 
dinner." Sasami followed her sister out the door, Ryo-Ohki perched on 
her head. "Bye, Washu!" Mihoshi left as well. All alone, Washu sighed.
"This lab is so lonely sometimes. Oh well, I'd better make sure 
Kagato's dead for sure this time." So saying, she summoned her 
spectral laptop and began to punch in commands.



That's the end of Chapter One! In the next chapter you can expect Ryoko
and Aeka's little stunt in the mall to have repercussions, and 
anticipate the plot thickening a bit. E-Mail palador98@yahoo.com with 
Questions, Comments, Criticism. You can flame me, but if I cry 
it's *your* fault!