Disclaimer:
These characters are copyrighted and only a few of them are 
truly my own.  The characters of "Tenchi Muyo!" are the 
property of Pioneer.  All locations and godforms are the 
property of White Wolf Gaming.  The characters Opal and 
Luna are the property of fellow White Wolf gamers and are 
used with the permission of their owners.  All other 
characters are my own.  
There, I've given credit where it's due, let's get on with 
the story.

Tenchi Meets the White Wolf Part 5-
The Return
By
Greg Lively

	Several months after their first adventure in 
Necropolis, Tenchi Ayeka and Ryoko decided to see how 
Tregol and the other friends they had made during their 
stay were doing.  "I don't see why you can't," Washu said 
when Tenchi asked her about it.  She eyed him slyly.  "But 
isn't it kind of an unusual location for a romantic 
getaway?"
	"It isn't like that, Little Washu.  We're just 
visiting our friends," Tenchi replied with an exasperated 
sigh.  Ever since he and Ayeka had gotten married, Washu 
and Noboyuki had been teasing them endlessly about 
"romantic getaways" and other such things that his father 
and Washu termed "mushy stuff."
	A few days later, Tenchi armed with the Tenchi-ken and 
the Master Key, Ayeka with her force field generators, and 
Ryoko with her powers, they stepped through the subspace 
door and into the middle of a war zone.
	All around them, burned and gutted shells of buildings 
were slowly falling into ruin.  When Ryoko emerged, she 
immediately felt something soft and wet around her foot.  
Looking down, she saw that she had appeared with her foot 
in a hole through the recently dead body of a young girl.  
The girl was no more than fifteen, with blue eyes and brown 
hair, wearing a black cloak.
	"By all the gods," Ayeka gasped, sounding sick.  
"That's Luna, Tregol's girlfriend."
	Suddenly, Tenchi felt something sharp bit into the 
skin of his back and he cried out.  He fell to his knees, 
feeling some sort of drug working inside him, making him 
sluggish and weak.  He reached behind his back, trying to 
pull out the object, apparently a dart.  Ayeka whirled 
around, trying to see what was wrong with him and another 
dart embedded itself in the soft skin of her right breast.  
Ryoko spun around, trying to figure out where the attack 
was coming from when she was engulfed by a sudden surge of 
magic lightning.  Unprepared, she collapsed into 
unconsciousness, followed swiftly by Tenchi and Ayeka.
----
	When Ayeka came to, her first concern was for Tenchi.  
Was he all right?  Where was he?  She realized that she was 
in a dark, damp, smelly room that could almost be someone's 
basement.  As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she saw the 
answer to her second question lying only a few feet away.  
She tried to stand up, but was brought to her knees by a 
raging headache.  She painfully crawled over to Tenchi's 
side and shook him gently.  "Tenchi, wake up," she 
whispered, noticing for the first time Ryoko, lying in the 
corner bound by glowing chains that she was struggling to 
get out of.
	Tenchi groaned and his eyes fluttered open.  "Ayeka?" 
he said, then put his hands to his temples.  "Oh, my head."
	"Yes, love, it's me," Ayeka whispered, kissing him on 
the cheek.  "Do you have any idea where we are?"
	Tenchi took a breath and wrinkled his nose.  
"Someplace that stinks."
	That was when Tregol showed up.  A door opened, 
letting in a long rectangle of light.  There, silhouetted 
in the doorway, was their friend.  "Tregol!" Ryoko cried.  
"Get me out of these chains, will ya?  They're magic or 
something because I can't break them or use my powers!"
	Tregol looked at the Ryoko, then at Tenchi and Ayeka.  
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ryoko," he said after a long 
pause.  With that, he stepped into the room and flicked the 
light switch.  Even Ryoko gasped at what they saw.
	Tregol was a mess.  His mask seemed to have been 
melted into his skin, leaving ugly scars around the edge.  
There was also a large hole in it, revealing raw muscle 
underneath.  The lower half of his left forearm was gone, 
replaced by what looked like some kind of gun.  Part of his 
upper lip was missing, along with his left ear, which had 
been replaced by what looked like a metal prosthetic.  He 
attached a bullet magazine to the gun on his arm and 
pointed it at Ryoko, then at Tenchi and Ayeka.  "One of my 
mages claims that he saw you three kill Luna.  Now, I know 
how unlikely that is, but I need an answer.  I had him use 
a lie-detector spell on me, so you won't be able to lie to 
me.  Now, tell me the truth: Did you three kill Luna?"
	"No!" Ryoko yelled.  "We would never harm her, Tregol!  
She was our friend!"
	Tregol's eyes widened as the spell took effect and his 
face twisted into a snarl of rage.  "You lying BITCH!" he 
yelled.  "I'll kill you first!"  He leveled the gun at her 
and looked like he was preparing to fire.
	Almost not believing what she was doing, that she was 
defending Ryoko, Ayeka launched herself at their former 
friend, tackling him and causing his shot to go wild.  They 
landed hard, with him on top, and she felt the air forced 
from her lungs.  Tregol tried to aim the gun at her head, 
but she managed to keep it pointed away.  Thinking quickly, 
she reached a finger through the hole in Tregol's mask and 
dug a nail into the exposed muscle.  Tregol roared in pain 
and rage, but did not relent in trying to kill her.  
Finally, tiring of wrestling with her, Tregol yanked the 
gun out of her hand and hit her on the forehead with it, 
knocking her unconscious.  Climbing up off of her, Tregol 
took aim at Ryoko again.
	Tenchi tackled Tregol this time, landing on top and 
wrapping his hands around the masked man's throat.  "If you 
ever do anything like that to Ayeka again, I'll kill you," 
he snarled, and tightened his grip until Tregol struggles 
ceased and he lapsed into unconsciousness.  It was then 
that Tenchi realized that he still had the Master Key.  
Twisting the ring, he generated the light sword and slashed 
through Ryoko's chains.  Then, picking Ayeka up and 
cradling her in his arms, Tenchi ran from the building with 
Ryoko just behind, and ran right into the middle of a mob.
	Werewolves and mortals and vampires and mages were all 
gathered around a small group, trying to kill them.  Tenchi 
saw T'Nalda, two vampires he didn't know, a werewolf, and a 
female magic-user all fighting in the group, and amazingly, 
holding off the thirty or so people trying to kill them.  
Then, T'Nalda saw the three friends and yelled something to 
the mage.  She chanted the words to spell and suddenly, the 
small group was suddenly standing in front of Tenchi and 
Ryoko, even while someone or something that looked exactly 
like them continued fighting.  "Tenchi!  Ryoko!" T'Nalda 
cried.  "Come with us!"  With that, he and the others 
started running, leaving Tenchi and Ryoko with little 
choice but to follow them, just as the five decoys 
disappeared.
----
	Later, at the base T'Nalda had set up for himself and 
the two others who had rescued them, T'Nalda explained the 
situation.  "It all started when another mage joined 
Tregol's organization.  From day one there was something 
wrong with him.  Tregol started going to him for advice 
more and more and spending less and less time with Luna, 
Alan, and me.  We became concerned, but when Alan voiced 
his concerns the mage poisoned him.  It was then that I 
realized that all of Tregol's close friends were in danger 
of this kind of assassination.    So, I took everyone who 
knew the truth about the mage and we left for safety.  The 
only one I couldn't convince to leave was Luna.  That, of 
course, ended with the mage killing her when she threatened 
to reveal what she knew.  The rest, you know."
	Then, T'Nalda introduced the four people he had been 
fighting with.  "People, these are Russel," pointing to the 
tall male vampire, "Jewl," pointing to the female vampire, 
"Lukal," pointing to the werewolf, "and Opal," pointing to 
the lady mage.
	Tenchi gently set Ayeka down on an overstuffed couch 
in the corner and turned back to T'Nalda.  "Thanks for 
coming after us, T'Nalda.  Without the help of you and your 
friends, we probably wouldn't have made it past Tregol's 
organization."  He extended his hand and T'Nalda took it.  
"We owe you, all of you."
	"There's no need for payback, friend," T'Nalda 
replied.  "All we ask is that you help us kill the mage and 
restore Tregol."
	"What would the mage gain from destroying Tregol like 
that?  It doesn't make any sense," Ryoko said.
	T'Nalda looked at her thoughtfully.  "That's a good 
question, Ryoko.  From what I scanned in his mind one time, 
he plans to open a tear in the fabric of this universe and 
allow Caine, one of our evil godforms, access to this 
world.  In return, he would be given this planet to rule."
	"What does that have to do with Tregol?" Tenchi asked.
	Opal broke in.  "We believe that, as Tregol's mind 
deteriorates, it gives off more and more mental energy.  If 
the mage has found a way to collect and store the excess 
mental energy, it could assist him in his attempt to allow 
Caine access to our world."
	"If he succeeds in his attempt, all people except 
those who worship Caine could be in danger," Russell said, 
his strange vampire eyes intense.
	Ayeka sat up slowly on the couch and gingerly touched 
the lump that was growing on her forehead.  She winced and 
looked around.  "Tenchi?" she said in a half-whisper.  
"Where are we?  And who are these people?"
	"We're someplace safe, Ayeka.  These are the people 
who saved us from being recaptured by Tregol's 
organization," Tenchi said.  "Do you feel all right?"
	Ayeka gently rubbed the bump and winced.  "Yes, except 
that I have a pounding headache."
	Tenchi grinned slightly in spite of himself.  "That's 
to be expected after being hit on the head hard enough to 
lose consciousness."  He turned beck to T'Nalda.  "You 
wouldn't happen to have any aspirin, would you?"
	T'Nalda shook his head.  "No, sorry."
	"But I know a spell to alleviate pain," Opal 
interjected.
	Ayeka considered for a moment, then nodded.  "All 
right," she said.
	Opal quickly performed the spell, which was followed 
by an introduction of Ayeka to their rescuers and an 
explanation to her of the situation.  Then, Lukal's stomach 
rumbled and he smiled sheepishly and checked his watch.  
"This is about the time we normally eat dinner.  You're all 
welcome to stay with us if you like."
	"Yes, please do," Jewl said, snuggled up against 
Russel.  
	Ryoko saw Jewl and Russel and felt a momentary flash 
of jealousy.  [Why can't I have that with Tenchi?] she 
thought.  Then, answering herself, she thought, [Because he 
chose Ayeka and married her, that's why.]  Answering 
herself again, she thought, [You're talking to yourself, 
you know that?  Oh, shut up.]
	Dinner was some lasagna with garlic bread that Lukal 
fixed.  "This is delicious, Lukal," Ayeka complimented 
after her first helping.
	"Thanks," Lukal replied, sitting down next to Opal and 
putting his arm around her.  
Ryoko noticed how Opal leaned into him and felt 
another flash of jealousy.  [Jeez, I've got to find myself 
a man,] she thought.  She glanced at T'Nalda, then thought, 
[Nah, to pale.  Maybe I'll find myself one when we get back 
home.]
----
That night, Tenchi and Ayeka slept in the same bed, 
nestled close in each other's arms.  They did not make 
love, but simply lay there in the dark, talking.  "I'm 
worried about Ryoko, Tenchi," Ayeka said softly, not 
wanting to wake the Opal and Lukal in the next room over.  
"I think she still loves you, despite everything.  I've 
seen the way she looks at you sometimes, and I'm worried 
that she might be jealous."
"I've seen it too," Tenchi replied.  "But what can I 
do?  I'm taken and she knows it.  I can't help the way she 
feels.  But, hopefully she'll find someone for her.  I 
noticed her giving T'Nalda the eye for a few minutes during 
dinner."
Ayeka giggled.  "Well, they do seem to have the same 
kind of spirit, but he seems a bit calmer than her."
Tenchi laughed softly.  "Well, it's not very hard to 
be calmer than Ryoko."
"I heard that!" came a woman's voice from inside the 
wall.  
Tenchi and Ayeka jumped.  "Ryoko!" Tenchi almost 
yelled.  "What are you doing here?"
"I was just on my way to say good-night," Ryoko 
replied, emerging from the wall.  "What, I'm not allowed to 
see how my friends are doing?"
"You could see how we're doing anytime during the day, 
Ryoko," Ayeka said.  "We don't appreciate being spied on."
Ryoko threw her hands up in the air.  "Fine!  Fine!  I 
was spying on you!  Yes, I'm jealous!  But can you really 
blame me!?"
"Yes," Tenchi said, his voice steely.  "Like I said, 
I'm taken now and you know it.  Or were you not here for 
that part of the conversation?"
"Just because you're taken doesn't mean I have to like 
it," Ryoko yelled, making the walls shake.  "I mean, aren't 
crushes still legal?"
They were all angry now.  "Ryoko, none of us are being 
reasonable at the moment," Ayeka said.  "Why don't you 
leave this room, get some sleep, and we will continue this 
discussion in the morning."
"Fine!" Ryoko yelled, and phased back through the wall 
to her room.
----
	Lukal and Opal lay in their bed, listening.  "Do you 
think they're done?" Opal asked.
	"I think so," Lukal replied.  "I don't hear anything."
	"Well, okay then," Opal said and they went back to 
their game of "Crease the Sheets."
----
	The next day, Tenchi Ryoko and Ayeka ate their 
breakfast in stony silence.  Russel apparently noticed, 
even from his shadowy corner.  "Something on your minds?" 
he asked

Author's Note:
So, whaddya think?  I know it got a bit confrontational at 
the end, but I promise that they'll work through this.  Any 
comments can be sent to Vault_Keeper_2000@yahoo.com.  
Criticism will be taken into consideration but insults and 
flames are not acceptable.