Supercharged Tenchi Muyo! Part 4 Disclaimer: All characters from Tenchi Muyo are copyright of AIC and Pioneer. Charger and the Mystics are copyright of me because I created them. If you use this story on your webpage, please give me the proper credit. Warning: There are religious references in this series. If such offends you, read no further. However, these references are important for the background of this story. And I'm not trying to shove any beliefs down anyone's throat. Also, I'm not very familiar with every aspect of Japanese culture so don't diss me if I misinterpret certain things. "Tenchi! Have you seen Charger around recently?" Nobiyuki asked his son. "Um, nope. Last time I saw him, he was out in the woods somewhere. Said he had some 'special training' to do." He replied. "Well, guess I have to track him down. Get your gear together, we're going to the beach!" Tenchi scratched his head. That probably meant the girls were going as well. Going to the beach with them was both a blessing and a curse. They ALWAYS doted on him and *competed* against each other in various ways. It was funny how one would think that this was the greatest thing to ever happen to a guy. Tenchi thought it was a double-edged sword. Nobiyuki wandered around in the woods for a while looking for the young Mystic. He never really liked going deep into the woods. Creatures could jump out at any minute... He found a shirtless Charger doing pull-ups on a tree branch. The sweat drenched his muscles and made them stand out even more. His face wore a look of almost obsessive determination. Before Nobiyuki could say anything, Charger explained. "My body is caged in this dimension, but my mind is free. Both must remain in peak condition if I am worthy to be a Light Warrior and emerge victorious in the final battle..." "And to get babes! Don't forget babes!" Nobiyuki added. The mage of lightning laughed. "Ah yes, how could I forget the most important part? Thanks for reminding me, Mr. Masaki. Babes are more important than any old Holy War." He dropped down from the branch, still giggling at his own peerless ego "So what brings you out here?" "We're taking a trip to the beach!! Come on and get ready!" he cheerfully declared. "YEAH! ALRIGHT!" Charger exclaimed. "Better hurry and get ready, or I might have to keep the girls company all by myself." "Okay Mr. Masaki. I'll be ready in a minute." Charger said as he blasted off into the sky...showing off as usual. Later, the Mystic headed towards the van. He carried a beach chair, a towel, and a crimson surfboard with the words 'SURF ANIME' painted in big black letters. The light of the blazing sun reflected off of his dark shades. He loaded his supplies, as did everyone else. "I GET FRONT SEAT!" he called. They piled in. Ryoko and Ayeka struggled to somehow sit as close to Tenchi as they possibly could. Washu summoned her dimensional laptop computer and typed away. Sasami grabbed a CD player and put the headphones on. They were about to leave when Sasami asked "Hey? Who's been messing with my CD player?" Charger winced and said, "What's wrong? You don't like Sevendust?" "Is that what this group is called?" she asked. "Yeah. Here lemme see that," he said. Sasami handed them to him and he took the CD out. "I'm sorry about that, I'll ask you if I can use 'em next time," he said as he handed her back the headphones with another CD. "Listen to THIS one...It's even BETTER!" Charger declared as he put the Street Fighter: The Movie soundtrack in the CD player. The van pulled out of the driveway and headed down the mountain road. Ryoko shot Tenchi a sly look and said "I bought a new swimsuit the other day. I think you'll enjoy seeing me in it." Tenchi tried to keep a neutral expression. Ryoko may be a space-pirate but she DID look good in those. "Are you trying to do that AGAIN?" Ayeka spoke up. "Do what?" Ryoko asked innocently. "Trying to make him...well...like his father!" Ayeka answered. "Oh no. Tenchi doesn't have to be a peeping tom to see me completely..." Ayeka cleared her throat loudly. "Not in front of my little sister." She growled. "Oh it's just natural, Princess. I don't know why you're so uppity about it." Ryoko wondered. "Don't you want to please Tenchi?" she asked. "Hmph! Just because I do it a little more tastefully than you dosen't mean I don't care about him." Ayeka retorted. "Just wait," she whispered to Tenchi. "I'll look better than she will at the beach." Tenchi couldn't argue that she looked just as enchanting as Ryoko did. That was what made this situation so confusing for him. He simply couldn't choose. And if he did, he would probably never forgive himself on how he would destroy the one he didn't choose. Washu entered the conversation. "Hey! Did you know that this is the 1,000th argument you've gotten into ever since we've arrived on Earth? Congratulations!" Charger clapped and whistled just to add dramatic effect. "Let's celebrate by letting ME take you two out for a drink later tonight!" "I'm going to have to decline." Ayeka replied. "Yeah, me too." Ryoko concurred. "Maybe some other time." Charger bowed his head in disappointment and turned around in his seat. "Is it me?" he mumbled to himself. "I for one think that I would make a GREAT date..." "Now, now Charger. You can't win 'em all." Nobiyuki said. "Yeah I suppose you're right." A few minutes passed without much conversation. Then Charger jumped. He looked startled. "Did anyone feel that?" "Feel what?" Tenchi asked. "It's very faint. Feels like something is coming at us from behind real fast." "I feel it too" Ryoko stated. "This can't be good." Washu checked a different display on her dimensional laptop. "Yep. There are 20 lifeforms approaching us at high speed. They're on hovercraft of some sort. Sensory detects particle weapons charging." Nobiyuki gulped. "You mean they have GUNS???" "Definetly. Either that or some other long-range weapon." Washu answered. "I can sense them coming closer!" Charger said as he looked out the rear view mirror. Sure enough, hoverbikes were approaching. Piloting the hoverbikes were what looked like humanoid robots clad in large armor plating. Ayeka looked distressed, as if she recognized the beings. "Better put a forcefeild around the van, Ayeka." Sasami suggested. "Yes, of course." She replied as an energy field surrounded the vehicle. "Washu." Charger said. "You can summon stuff from your lab, right? Do you have anything that I could use with pinpoint targeting? These suckers are moving FAST!" "I'm way ahead of you, Charger. Hold out your hands." She replied as a strange-looking gun appeared in his hands. It was very large with rotating barrels and a scouter/targeting system interface built in. "You sure this will get the job done?" The Mystic asked. "That, Charger, is a DR-X Alpha Special Assault Rifle. It's barrels rotate at 50 revolutions per second. Each laser blast delivered from a barrel is capable of punching through steel. Not only that, it's illegal to own or possess one in 15 galaxies. It will do just fine." Washu said. Charger laughed evily. "Kick ASS! I'm going to pick off those robots before they get us. Hold onto something, guys!" "Anything I can do?" Nobiyuki asked. "Um, yes I think so." "What's that?" "GO FASTER!!!!!!" Charger exploded. A shrieking Nobiyuki floored the gas and sent the van forward at an insane speed. Thankfully, they hadn't arrived at any major road yet. Charger rolled down the window and partially emerged. He put the scouter on and aimed the DR-X Alpha Special at the nearest robot. Laser fire erupted from its ten barrels at a marvelously fast speed, making Charger shake. He hit one. It flew off the bike and smashed into the road where it smoldered. The remaining units dodged and weaved. Charger shot another one, and it died just as violently. The unit in front pulled out something that looked like a 12-gauge pump shotgun and blasted the van. Ironically enough, it was laser. Ayeka's Juraian forcefeild simply absorbed the hit. "Mr. Masaki! Do something evasive!" Charger shouted as he continued to fire at the robots. Nobiyuki continued to blaze along, moving in a zigzag pattern. Charger kept firing. The robots on the hoverbikes continued to pelt the forcefeild. "Charger, I may not be able to hold the shield up much longer!" Ayeka informed. Washu had a design spec of the DR-X Alpha Special. She noticed a switch near the trigger. "Charger! There's a small switch near the trigger. Flip it, the switch will convert the gun to deluxe mode!" "Are you sure? It looks like a safety to me!" Charger replied. "No, the safety is next to the laser generator. Just flip the switch and fire already!" Washu insisted. Shrugging his shoulders, Charger flipped the switch. The barrels of the gun opened up and converted to a giant single barrel that was about the diameter of a soccer ball. The targeting in his scouter locked on to the nearest robot... Charger braced himself and yelled "HOPE EVERYONE'S WEARING THEIR SEAT BELTS!!!" He pulled the trigger. Himself as well as the entire van rocked forward suddenly as a giant beam of energy blasted forth from the gun. All the remaining robots exploded in a massive column of pure hell. Nobiyuki stopped the van to survey the damage. Those robots and half the road were gone. Only a crater remained. The silence was broken when Charger muttered "CRIPES! No wonder this thing is illegal in 15 galaxies!!!" Ayeka also looked interested in the robots. "Mr. Masaki, please wait here. I'm going to look over the robots. I have a hunch that I want confirmed." Washu leaped up. "I'm going too! It will be a perfect time to analyze new cybertechnology. Maybe get a few blueprints into my laptop." "Let's all go have a look." Tenchi said. "If there are any more, we'll stand a better chance in a group." Ryoko giggled and repeated "Yeah, a GROUP..." It took a few minutes for anyone to understand what she meant. Tenchi finally caught on and said, "Get your mind out of the gutter!" Charger summoned his "Chaos Blade" out of nowhere. He was uncertain of what he would find. His fear and doubt were tinged with edges of curiosity. When they reached the wreckage of the robot hoverbikes, Ayeka muttered, "I really don't like this. They look like Cybot-Galactic series Mobile Marauders. This is unsettling." "How do you know about them?" Washu asked. "The Jurai Kingdom has a military alliance with the Cybot-Galactic Empire. They are a powerful race of robots, but they are also civil to other planets. The Cybot-Galactic Empire possesses weaponry like we have never seen before. On top of that, their Space Navy and Mobile Infantry are unmatched in force and cunning. I have studied design specifications of their warrior-class units. Mobile Marauders are a particularly lethal version, designed for high speed attacks and programmed to operate almost any vehicle." Charger was opening up one that was more intact than the others. "Um, Princess." he said, "There's something weird about these. Their internal generators don't look like typical Cybot-Galactican designs." Ayeka and Washu looked at the remains of the robot. "You're right. These internal generators look like they were modified from the original CG-01 model. Could it be the work of a rebel faction, perhaps?" Washu hypothesized. "Impossible." Ayeka stated. "Cybot-Galacticans are very loyal to the Robot Master. The are no such things as rebel factions." "I guess we'll never know. Their CPUs can't be hacked into." Charger said. "Oh yes they can!" Washu declared. "I AM the greatest scientific genius in the universe after all." "Do you think you can do it, Washu?" Tenchi spoke up. "Yeah, I don't see why not." She replied as she summoned her dimensional laptop. "Wow, I wish I had one of those!" Charger declared. "Can you play X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter over the modem on that thing?" Washu smiled "You're looking at the Universal Champion." "There should be an opening in the back. We can access the CPU and look at the instructions this unit was given." Ayeka said. Washu needed no further instructions. She easily accessed the robot's central processor and had the information appear on her own laptop. It looked like an arcane combination of symbols and combinations that was somehow incomplete. The mad scientist's eyes widened slightly. "Mmm...this may take some time to decode." "Well, there's not much we can do now. Why don't we just keep going, we shouldn't let this ruin our day." Nobiyuki suggested. "Wow, look at that! I agree with him for once." Ryoko declared. Everyone piled back into the van and they headed for the beach. ~LATER~ "Ick! What is this stuff? War paint?" Charger asked as Ayeka tried to hold his chin still. "No of course not, it's sunblock. It will protect you from getting sunburned, and you especially need it because of that pale complexion of yours." She replied as she rubbed the last bit onto his nose. Charger sighed impatiently, as soon as Ayeka finished the mage of lightning hurried to his bag looking for a volleyball. Instead he found something furry. As soon as he grabbed it, the furry thing meowed angrily at him. It took Charger a few seconds to discover that it was only Ryo-ohki. "Hey!" he called out. "Who brought the bunny-cat- jumping-furry-thing???" "Her name's Ryo-ohki, silly." Sasami corrected as she put her beach chair out. "So THAT'S where she's been all this trip. Probably stuck in there, poor thing." "Oh, was it supposed to come with us?" "Yeah, of course!" Sasami answered. "Um, okay. I hope she dosen't get wet. Nothing worse than the smell of wet fur." Charger said as he dug a volleyball out of his bag. He looked around until he saw Ryoko, lounging in her own beach chair. "Hey! You said you wanted to play a game or two, right?" he asked. "Yep." She answered. "Are you ready?" "Yes I am. Prepare to be obliterated!" The two headed toward the volleyball net they had set up. Already a small crowd had gathered to watch the volleyball match between the cute blue-haired lady and the pale-looking short kid. They had seen Ryoko play before and assumed that she would quickly decimate her opponent. "You can serve," Ryoko said with a hint of arrogance and confidence. "No, I insist. You do it." Charger shot back as he threw her the ball, matching her tone evenly. "My, my. Aren't we cocky." She observed. They took their places on the court. Ryoko said, "Okay, you asked for it!" before she slammed it over the net. Charger returned it easily as it shot back up into the air... Ryoko saw her opportunity and spiked the ball with incredible force, only for Charger to slam it back to her with equal power. They zipped back and forth across their areas of the court trying to get the best of each other. Never has a volleyball match been played so feircly that the two contenders were little more than blurs jumping back and forth knocking the ball all over the place. The Mystic knew that there was no way he could beat her in sheer strength. Every time he intercepted the ball, his arms were slammed down because of the sheer force Ryoko hit the ball with. It was soon game point and Ryoko was serving again. "Get ready to lose, Charger!" she shouted. "Bring it on!!!!!" the Mystic retorted. She smashed it into the air again. Charger returned and hit the volleyball to what he thought was an impossible corner of the court to intercept, and yet Ryoko not only managed to intercept, she spiked the ball back at him with incredible power. The ball flew at him before he had a chance to dodge. It connected with his head with an awful SMACK and Charger fell to the ground. "YEEEOWCH!" He bellowed as he staggered back up. "Uh-oh." Ryoko muttered. "You okay?" "Yeah, I'll live." Charger replied. "Uh, you won I guess, good game!" he said as he rubbed his bruise. "We should play again sometime. Next time you can pick the game." "Really? Any game?" "Sure, why not?" "Hmm...How about mud wrestling?" Charger suggested. Ryoko blinked a few times and laughed. The Mystic rubbed his head and said, "Oh come on. I'd be a lot of fun! You have no idea what you're missing." He left to grab his surfboard without saying anything else. The waves weren't as large as he had hoped, but they were enough to propel Charger at a marvelously fast speed. The wind and water in his face felt spectacular. Something strange happened in front of him. The wave seemed to take on a shape, a humanoid shape. It eventually revealed Alice: the ice mage. Charger hadn't seen her in a while, and it was nice to see a familiar face. But the surprise of her simply appearing before him almost knocked him off his board. "Alice? What are you doing here?" he asked. "There is a danger that threatens the Earth. Hurry back to shore, we're all about to head out." She replied in her soft, echoing voice. She quickly floated back to the shore. The other Mystics must have returned. Something big must be going on! At the shore, the Seven Mystics stood looking at the sky. Tenchi and his friends really had no idea what to make of it. They noticed that Syris was there as well. He and Ryoko never made eye contact. His expression seemed neutral. Charger came back to shore and asked, "What's going on? I thought I was banished." "A crisis for the planet has emerged." Cosmo explained. "Right now, a small strike force of unknown ships is heading for Earth. Nebulon, Syris and myself had expected this for some time...an alien race is going on a rampage throughout the universe. Earth is one of their targets." "So when were you planning to tell us this???" Tempest spat. "It was more important that you all trained as much as possible." Syris answered. "We were going to tell you when the time to take action had arisen. That time is now. Our mission is fairly simple. Drive off the invading fleet. If they don't leave or if they respond with hostility, we must destroy them." "Accomplishing this task will be more difficult. There are 40 warships attacking. Each has enough firepower to wipe a large country off the map. They also have heavy starfighter support." Cosmo added. "Everyone get prepared. We're going to meet them head on about 2,000 miles above the Earth's atmosphere." Nameria: the earth mage stepped into the conversation. "We might as well do our best. This is what we were created to do, right?" "Yeah, she's right. Let's get ready." Charger added. As they started to prepare, Charger approached Siela. "It's great to see you again." He said. "You too, Charger." she said as they embraced. "You've been through a lot, I'm so proud." "Ah, nothing I couldn't handle." He declared. "Remember when you said that you would be waiting for me? I never forgot that. It gave me the strength to continue." Siela blinked away tears of joy. He really did care about her. Perhaps more than she first thought. She hoped that Charger could somehow understand how she felt about him... Meanwhile, Tenchi asked Syris "Is there anything we can do to help?" "You?" Syris asked. As if surprised that this whiny boy could do anything at all. "Yeah. This is our planet, after all." The mage of light paused for a few seconds. "Well I suppose so. But I would suggest that you use that spaceship that Ryoko can summon, unless you can survive in the vacuum of space." "In front of all these people??" Tenchi demanded. They were at the beach, after all. And while it wasn't particularly crowded today, he didn't want to be responsible for any heart attacks. Syris chuckled "Why not? They'll just say it's a weather balloon." Tenchi shrugged. "It's the only way." "That's the way to think, Tenchi!" Ryoko said cheerfully. "Okay Ryo-ohki, you heard them! Let's go!" The little cabbit yowled a battle cry and transformed into a dangerous-looking fighter craft. The beach was quickly deserted. "Now wait! What about Sasami?" Ayeka protested. "If we take her up there she might get hurt!" "It's no less dangerous than staying here." Syris said. "Their advance fighter squadrons will be swarming this place in minutes. Bring the old man with you as well." "Now WAIT a second! I'm not an old man!" Nobiyuki shouted. Syris was exasperated. "My apologies, sir. But we're short on time. Please get into the craft and don't ask questions." When everyone was aboard, Syris said, "We're about to save the Earth again. No screw-ups! Follow me!" He blasted into the sky, as the other Mystics and Ryo-ohki followed suit. ~ABOARD RYO-OHKI~ "Miyaaaaa?" The spaceship yelped in confusion. "Yes, Ryo-ohki, we're going to follow Syris." "Miya? Meow!" It persisted. "I have no reason to trust him either but I doubt they would all gather in one place just to perform an elaborate setup. They have to protect the universe, you know." Ryo-ohki growled something under her breath. Something equivalent to "I find that hard to believe. They all look psycho to me..." Washu was working on a holographic display that was connected directly to Ryo-ohki's core weapon/shield systems. "Ryo-ohki, I'm adding an upgrade to you for the battle ahead. Don't worry, it's 99% safe." Ryo-ohki meowed her acknowledgement. Several laser generators appeared on the outer hull. They could operate independently as separate, powerful energy batteries or combine to fire a Death Beam of sorts. Azaka and Kamidake suddenly appeared on the bridge. "We have detected your presence outside of Earth's atmosphere, so we are required to accompany you." Azaka informed the Princess. "Hope you don't mind." Kamidake added. "No, not at all. In fact, we might need your help." Ayeka replied. The Guardians looked at the viewscreen. "Is that one clad in white the impolite fellow that we confronted a few days ago?" Azaka asked. "Indeed. This mission will be interesting." Kamidake said. "Get ready, everyone!" Ryoko said, "Our target's coming up ETA one minute!"