NOTE: All characters original to the "Tenchi-Muyo!
TV1" series portrayed in this story are the sole property
of AIC and Pioneer Animation. Any appearance of them in 
actual life is purely coincidental. Tenchi-Muyo!
material and paraphernalia listed within is Copyright
Pioneer Animation 1997 (c). Kyoto Minamoto, Muriyaki
Kushiragi, Chisako, Chi-Ohki, and all other related 
characters are the sole property of R&C Books and appear
through permission from R&C Books.







Questions? Comments? Ideas? If you have any questions
about where the series is going or who is who and where
they came from or what they can do, contact the writers
of this series at: Muriyaki@hotmail.com & 
keiichi_dono@hotmail.com .



They both would like to here from the reader.







                                 Episode #4

                            No Need For a Movie!







When we had last left our heroes, they had set off on an 
expedition towards an old, abandoned space station in hopes
that it might have the parts needed to repair their drive
system in order to return to their own universe.

Now, as the Chisako nears her destination Kyoto stands
on the bridge, sipping a cup of hot, herbal tea. Standing
at the view ports, oohing and ahhing at the cascades
of stars hurtling past the station are Mihoshi and Sasami.
As always, Ryo-Ohki is perched on top of Sasami's head.
Katsuhito is also standing by the view port, with his ever
calm expression on his face. Nobuyuki is standing by the 
food processor, getting himself some hot coffee.

Suddenly, a light on the console starts blinking off and 
on, and Kyoto moves over to it, checking his displays
as he goes. "Um... I think something's different here."

"Whatcha mean?" says Mihoshi.

"Well... the other Nobuyuki told us that it was an 
abandoned space station."

"Yeah, so?"

"So-o... it seems that it's not so abandoned anymore.
I'm putting a long range sensor view on screen." He touches
a key and hanging in the air is an image of the space 
station, not abandoned, but surrounded by all sorts of 
space ships and is lit up like downtown Manhattan Island
at night.

"Wow!" says Sasami. "For an abandoned station, it sure has
got a lot of traffic!"

"That's my point, Sasami," says Kyoto, patiently. "I don't
think it is abandoned." Kyoto sighs. "Of course, this will
not be as easy as we hoped... Chisako, slow to ten times
light speed and cut all thrust when you are about ten 
million kilometers out. We'll travel the rest of the way in
a smaller craft."

Sasami looks up at Ryo-Ohki. "You'll get us there, won't
you Ryo-Ohki?"

Ryo-Ohki turns her nose up until Sasami offers her a 
carrot. "Meow! Meow!"

Tenchi turns to Azaka and Kamidake, who are standing
and staring out the viewport. "You guys want to come 
along?"

Azaka shakes his head. "No thank you, Lord Tenchi, but 
could you bring us back something?" Tenchi nods. "Sure.
What do you guys want?"

Azaka takes on a thoughtful pose. "It's called a.... 
Kamidake, what was it called again?"

"A pepperoni pizza," answers Kamidake. Azaka nods 
enthusiastically. "Yes. That's exactly what we want." 
Tenchi nods. "You got it." He turns around to look at 
everyone. "What are we waiting for?"

As they draw in closer to the space station, they see that
it is not a mere way station in space, no....

"Wow! Look at the pretty signs!" says Mihoshi.

Everyone follows her gaze to a giant neo-neon sign that 
says, "Quad Systems Super Multiplex: Now playing: Revenge
of the Asteroids Part 4: The Comets Turn; Moldiver the 
Movie!; The Bridges of Madison County; Nymphomaniac
Warrior Princesses from Jurai...." Ayeka's jaw drops open
at the sight of this one. Her drops even lower when she 
sees that it is the Un-rated version. And the last movie
is Home Alone 12.

"Hey, Ayeka! Wanna go see number four?" quips Kyoto.

"No, thank you!" she hisses.

However, there are more than merely signs for movie 
theaters. Kiyone, clinging to Tenchi's arm, points out one
of these. "Look, Tenchi! A plush hotel!" She looks up at 
him with a dazzling smile. "Do you think we could...."

Tenchi smiles right back. "Well... Maybe, if we have enough
time and money left over... "

"Look Kiyone! It's Moldiver The Movie! I'm going to go see
it. Come on Sasami!"

Sasami and Mihoshi start for the door and are barely 
stopped by Tenchi. "Uh, girls, we're not even docked yet!"

Kyoto smiles. "Well, girls, I think we can let you two go 
to see it, if you promise us to meet us back at a specific
place and time." Ryo-Ohki shudders a little as hard dock
is achieved. "But the rest of us are going to have to get
on station somehow, and, um, even if we buy tickets I don't
think they'll just let us wander around... However, if we 
could maybe, disguise ourselves as employees..."
He turns to Kiyone, "Kiyone, you wouldn't happen to have
a picture of yourself in your fast food uniform, would 
you?"

"I think so." She pulls open her purse, rummages in it for
a little bit, and finally comes out with her employee
of the year picture. After staring at the picture for a few
moments, suddenly the picture is no longer in Kyoto's
hands. Instead, it's Kiyone holding the picture and Kiyone
finds herself staring at herself.

"Wouldn't you say it's a perfect match?" says Kyoto, in 
every way a perfect replica of Kiyone.

"Hey, stop that!" says Tenchi.

Then adopting Mihoshi's voice, Kyoto says, "But Kiyone!
I'm your twin sister!" Mihoshi suddenly stands up. "Hey!
Impersonating an officer of the Galaxy Police is a 
serious--"

"I've heard that one too many times to count, thank you!"
Kyoto finally returns to his normal form. "Okay, I think
I can replicate a uniform, since I'm sure you didn't bring
yours."

"What about the rest of us?" asks Tenchi.

Kyoto smiles, slightly. "Of course, Tenchi, you're not 
going to let her out of your sight, are you? I think I can
replicate a uniform for you and maybe one other. Who 
volunteers?" Kyoto glares at Ryoko. "Ryoko dear? I'd love
to see what you'd look like in a fast food uniform."

"Dream on!" she snaps.

"As a princess of Jurai, I would never dress in such a foul
uniform!" she snaps.

"You're right," agrees Kyoto. "I'd much rather have you in
what the Juraian nymphomaniac warrior princesses are 
wearing in theater four!"

Ayeka's face goes incredibly red and she begins to lunge
at him, but is held back by Kiyone and Tenchi. "Ayeka,
stop it!" snaps Tenchi. "I guess this only leaves one 
person... Its got to be Washu! She's the only one who could
possibly identify the parts we need!"

Kyoto nods. "Good thinking, Tenchi! Washu, stand by to join
the ranks of the fast food industry. Ayeka and Ryoko, I 
would suggest that you two try to infiltrate under the 
cover of movie-goers."

"But what will we see?" asks Ryoko.

Kyoto shrugs. "Well, speaking for myself, I plan to view
the one in theater number four." He taps a flurry of 
commands into his keypad, and Tenchi, Kiyone, and Washu
watch their clothing be replaced by outfits similar to the
one Kiyone is wearing in her picture.

"You would!" snaps Ayeka, yet again.

"Honestly, why would you want to see one of those scrawny
little Juraian girls all dolled down?" asks Ryoko.

"Because you won't show me anything, Ryoko dear!" retorts
Kyoto. "Seriously though, I don't think I'm going to see 
the movie. I'm going to infiltrate on my own with the 
restaurant crew. Mihoshi, would you please stand up?"

A bit confused, Mihoshi stands up. "But why? The lines are
getting longer!"

"This won't take but a minute, dear.... Now, turn around
for me." She does. "Mmm, very nice. Thank you, Mihoshi."
A split second later there are two Mihoshis.

"Hey, how did you do that?!" Both of them say. "Hey, stop
that! Impersonating an officer of the Galaxy Police is a 
serious offense!"

Kyoto smiles. "See, this will work out just fine!" He does
a little turn, is enveloped by a brief beam of energy,
and soon appears in an outfit similar to the ones that 
Kiyone and Washu are wearing.

Tenchi is still settling his tunic into place, and her 
smiles appreciatively as Kiyone smoothes down her short
skirt. "You look cute in that."

\Kiyone snaps her head up and blushes furiously at the same
instant. "Wh-wh-why th-thank y-you, Tenchi..."

At this Tenchi snaps a break-neck 180 and blushes as he 
faces the opposite direction.

They are both facing away from each other and flushing
in various shades of red when Sasami catches sight of this.
"Ooooh... Tenchi and Kiyone sittin' in a tree, 
k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, then comes marriage,
next comes-- "

She cannot finish her little melody, for Ayeka clamps a 
firm hand over her mouth. "That'll be quite enough, 
Sasami."

Kyoto surveys the goings-on with a bored expression,
then nods. "Okay, we're about ready to leave... Oh, yeah..
Katsuhito, Nobuyuki, you don't have to do anything,
but if you really want to I think that a good place for you
guys to infiltrate would be as janitors.

They leave Ryo-Ohki's airlock, which slides open with a 
"Mi-ya!" and enter a totally different world.

"Wow... This totally looks like a chaotic version of Galaxy
Police Headquarters," breaths Kiyone. Washu and Tenchi
nod.

There are ten levels on the inside of this space station,
all of them are split or interconnected so that it gives
the impression of there being many more, connected by 
escalators and hyperlifts. All around are restaurants
and shops, neon signs for arcades or whatever you want.

"Wow!" says Tenchi. "This isn't just a movie theater,
this is like a whole little world!"

"Damn! I wish I had the property rights to this!" whispers
Kyoto in his Mihoshi voice. "Hey, Tenchi, Kiyone, look!
There's a little twenty four hour a day marriage chapel!"

Tenchi and Kiyone exchange a brief glance, but nothing
is said.

Washu, ever on duty says, "Come on! Let's go!"

"But wait! I have to go back and get Ryoko! This gives me a
great idea!" insists Mihoshi/Kyoto, now under the pseudonym
of Kyo-shi.

"Shut up, Kyo-shi!" snaps Washu. "We can worry about your
sad little love life later, besides, wouldn't it look a 
little strange with two girls walking in there?"

"Well, actually, that depends on the establishment,
but I suppose you're right."

"Well, where do we start looking?" asks Tenchi.

"That, I couldn't tell you. The layout looks nothing like
the Chisako. It was either built differently, or it was 
remodeled later on. Whoever bought and remodeled this place
rearranged the structure seriously. But, I suggest that the
first place we start is the bar."

"The bar? Why the bar?" asks Kiyone.

"Maybe we'll find some off duty engineers or power-quarter
workers who can tell us where it is. You know, give them
a few drinks, offer them a few special services, you get my
drift?"

"You know, it sounds very strange hearing Mihoshi's
voice suggesting the things that it is right now," snaps
Kiyone.

"Well, anything to get back to our universe. And I think
I see the right bar to try..." Before anyone can stop him,
he heads off for a brightly lit bar with in neon pink 
hanging over the door, the words "The Pink Pineapple."

"The Pink Pineapple?" says Kiyone her voice filled with 
dread.

"He can't be that stupid!" says Washu.

"You wanna bet?" Tenchi starts in after him, but Kiyone
holds him back.

"Don't, Tenchi, that's a lesbian bar!"

Tenchi looks back at them, shock etched into his face. 
"It's a what?!"

"Lesbian bar, Tenchi. You know, a place where two girls
go to--"

Kiyone slaps a hand over Washu's mouth. "I think Tenchi
knows what a lesbian bar is, Washu. I think he just can't
believe that he's standing right in front of the door to 
one." She smiles apologetically at Tenchi. "Tenchi, Washu
and I better go in there and get him-- no, her-- I mean--
IT!"

Tenchi nods his head weakly in approval. "Well, you two be
careful in there. I don't want anything happening to you."

Kiyone blushes slightly, then leans up and kisses him on 
the lips. "Don't worry, Tenchi, you're not going to lose
me." She kisses him again, and whispers in his ear, "I like
Earth boys, not girls." She grabs Washu's hand and drags
the protesting scientist into the bar.

When the two girls enter the bar, they immediately
become the center of attention. The bar is packed full of 
beautiful young ladies, none of them dressed very modestly.
A more pronounced member of this society-- namely a tall,
black-haired woman clad in a vinyl bodysuit and wearing
the black lipstick and nail polish common to her preferred
mode of dress-- approaches the new arrivals. "Velcome,
dahlings! My name is Tifa. This is my bahhr, feel free to 
express yourselves in whatever manner you enjoy most."

Expressions of sheer horror are etched into both Kiyone
and Washu's faces. They begin to slowly inch away from 
"Tifa," when they bump into a young, long-haired brunette
dressed in a school-girl's outfit--that is, short plaid
skirt, tight-fitting white blouse, and a blue blazer--and
her hair pulled up in a pair of pigtails. Judging from her
appearance, she can't be older than 17.

The schoolgirl looks up at Kiyone with anticipation
on her face, and Kiyone notices that her blouse is half 
unbuttoned and she is getting way too good a view of the 
girl's cleavage. "Wait your turn! I haven't given any milk
to the others yet!" She finishes unbuttoning her blouse
and offers an unencumbered breast to the two girls in front
of her.

Both Kiyone and Washu leap back at least ten meters from
this!

The two of them end up tripping over a trysting couple
on the floor and go crashing into a red-lit room in the 
back of the bar. They are somewhat relieved that the room
is a video game room, and that none of the games are as 
explicit as they had feared. Their eyes immediately
fall on the dozen or so girls clustered around the Dragon
Knight game at the very back of the room.

As already surmised, Kyo-shi is the one playing the video
game--s/he is on his/her way to breaking the all-time
record!--and s/he is quite happy to have the nubile video
game fans clustering around him. All of them are rather
excited and are rubbing themselves up against him/her.
A pair of tanned, amethyst-haired stewardesses even have
their hands trying to push up his/her skirt. Somehow,
however, s/he manages to maintain concentration
(barely). 
"Now....girls....I....really....appreciate....this....but--ahh!"
The second stewardess has finally started probing up 
his/her skirt, into her panties, and his/her character
is almost killed by a twelve-headed dragon. "Girls...I...."

S/he feels a hand on his/her shoulder, but ignores it. That
is, until s/he hears a familiar voice say, "It's time to 
go, Kyo-shi."

S/he reluctantly turns around, a quizzical expression
on his/her face, and screams when she sees Kiyone and Washu
glaring at him/her. She looks down, pushing her fingertips
together in a steepling fashion. "But, Ki-yo-ne! I like it
here! All the girls are so nice and friendly..."

And so they are. Two of them, with tanned skin, 
amethyst-colored hair and in the tight-fitting,
navy-blue microskirts and halter tops of starline 
stewardesses, are clinging to Kyo-shi almost protectively.
Their hands have not moved from under Kyo-shi’s skirt,
or from inside his/her panties.

Kiyone and Washu gently pry the stewardesses off their 
companion and drag him/her out of the bar. "You can go back
and visit your little friends later," comments Kiyone 
dryly.

Tenchi has been standing outside the door patiently,
ignoring the dirty looks from passers-by and customers.
He is visibly relieved to see his three 
comrades--particularly Kiyone--emerge. Kiyone smiles 
brightly at him and rushes up to him, locking her arms 
around his neck and letting him swing her around. This 
happens just as a leather-clad regular walks up to the 
door, and she wrinkles her nose distastefully at the two.
"Honestly, honey, you gave up girls for that?!" Shaking
her head, she goes through the door.

Tenchi looks somewhat miffed, but Kiyone laughs and kisses
him. "Don't worry, Tenchi, I have no complaints."

Washu, smirking at the young lovers, turns back to Kyo-shi,
who is shivering and sweating. "You okay, Kyo-shi, or do 
you need a cold shower?"

"I wi-wi-wish y-y-you guys had-dn't co-co-come in," s/he
manages to stammer. "I w-was ju-ju-ju-just ab-about t-to--"

His/her exact words are forever lost for the two 
stewardesses come out of the bar and light up when they see
him/her. "Kyo-shi!" They immediately rush up to him/her
and throw their arms around him/her. The taller of the two
whispers in his/her ear, "We were just about to head to 
that place we were telling you about earlier. Wanna join
us?"

Kyo-shi nods excitedly. "Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!"
S/he turns back to his/her companions. 
"I'll-see-you-guys-around-bye!"
S/he immediately rushes off with his/her two new friends.

Washu groans. "I don’t believe this. We're stuck here, and
he-- I mean she-- whatever is going off on a little 
wham-bam-thank-ya'-ma'am! spree!"

Tenchi sighs. "Well, I suppose we better go after...
it." The three of them start to follow Kyo-shi, but are 
suddenly jerked up by the collar. They find themselves
being swung around to face a hulking, scowling man. He is 
wearing a slightly more ornate version of the uniform
the three of them are in. "What the hell are you three 
doing here!!! Lunch break ended an hour ago!!"

Tenchi tries to stammer a reply. "Listen, Chief, w-we can
explain! Y-y-ya see, t-th-the-those three girls 
s-s-s-swiped my, um, Wendy here's, uh, errr,...."

"Purse!" cries out Kiyone triumphantly. "Those three girls
stole Wendy's purse. Isn't that right, Wendy?" Both she and
Tenchi look at Washu meaningfully, and the diminutive
scientist nods quickly.

All of this effort is lost on the manager, who is as dense
as a gas giant. "I don't give a damn who stole what or who
raped who!! Get back to work or I'll send you three back
to that rehab program!!" He glares particularly at Kiyone.
"You remember what they do to ex-cons that fail the work
program? They put them in the hole! Not just normal 
solitary, but the real hole!! That pit in the very center
of the complex that they use for dumping garbage, the one
filled with a thousand different types of insects!"

Kiyone has gone distinctively green at this and in a very
weak voice she begs, "P-please, put me down... I'm going
to be sick."

Grunting, the manager drops the three of them, giving 
Kiyone a chance to dash over to a nearby garbage can and 
empty her breakfast into it. After a few moments, the 
manager rumbles in a slightly less frightening tone, "Ready
to go back to work?" The three of them nod quickly and dash
off in the direction that he indicates with an outstretched
finger.



* * *



Time passes. By now, Moldiver the Movie! has ended, and 
Sasami and Mihoshi are exiting the theater, ready to get 
something more to eat. Mihoshi has already spent over three
hundred Jurai on theater food-- as we all know, the snacks
at a theater are as expensive as they come-- and neither
she nor Sasami was satisfied by the quantity or the 
quality.

"How much money do we have left?" asks Sasami.

Mihoshi checks her pocket book. "Oh, no! I've over spent
Kiyone and I's budget for this month again!"

Sasami has a thoughtful expression on her face. "Aren't
you two moving back in with us anyway? Does it really 
matter how much of the budget you've spent?"

Mihoshi just stands there, blinking. "Huh? What are you 
talking about, Sasami? I don't understand?"

"Hey, would you two quit yappin' and hurry along! We've
only got a short time before we're supposed to meet up with
Kyoto!" Both girls look down at the fat, dark gray Ohki 
wearing a tattered, wide-brimmed black hat and an eye 
patch. His other eye is almost the same color as Ayeka's,
and is looking at both girls with a glare of both annoyance
and a tiny bit of lust. "Come on girls, move your cute 
little rear ends and let's get moving!"

Between the two of them, Mihoshi and Sasami both agree on 
the fact that Chi-Ohki is totally disgusting. The fact that
he is an old friend and partner of Kyoto's does little
to soften their feelings towards him. Neither does the fact
that her tries to look up their skirts at every 
opportunity. In fact, he's looking up Mihoshi's now.

"Very nice and soft! I always did like what pink ruffles
did for you, Mihoshi."

Sasami picks up the Ohki by its ears, eliciting a "mi-ya!"
of pain. She glares at it. "You're not a nice Ohki! I ought
to spank you!"

Chi-Ohki looks up, his single eye sparkling with 
anticipation. "Would you please, Sasami?"

Before she can answer, he leaps over to Mihoshi, landing
between her breasts. He starts to paw at her half-unzipped
"bomber-style" leather jacket. "Come on, baby, give Daddy
some sugar...." He manages to get his front paws inside….

....and is flying through the air a moment later, helped
aloft by a healthy throw, courtesy of Mihoshi. He slams
into one of the giant fish tanks in the center of the 
platform at about half the speed of sound (did I mention
that Mihoshi has a mean throwing arm? She was the star 
pitcher for the Galaxy Police Academy baseball team three
years running! Almost had a career in the majors--but
she wanted to be a cop so....) and cracks a hole in it the
size of a toy station wagon (yes, he's that heavy).

Fortunately for him, the tank is holding harmless goldfish,
and he manages to drag himself out of the water, coughing
and hacking up water. He stumbles off in the direction
of a public bath.

Sasami looks up at Mihoshi, impressed. "Good throw, 
Mihoshi! Are you alright?"

The blonde detective is inspecting herself. "I think 
so....ah! Here we are!" She extracts from her inside pocket
a large wad of bills. "Here! I forgot about the money Kyoto
had given us before we left Chisako! Now we can eat!"

"Yay!" cheers Sasami. The two of them head off towards
the nearest snack bar.



* * * * * *



In theater number three (that's right, The Bridges of 
Madison County) Ayeka and Ryoko are sobbing into each 
other's arms. On the screen, Clint Eastwood and Meryl 
Streep are slow-dancing on the restaurant's dance floor.
Ayeka is too busy crying to speak. Ryoko is sniffling
as she reaches into the peanuts-- and she yanks her hand
out quickly as she finds it soaked with moisture.

"Ayeka, you soaked the peanuts!" she tries to yell, but it
ends up coming out a forced sob. She and Ayeka clutch each
other as the flood gates fly wide open.

Mihoshi and Sasami finish off their extra large beef bowls
and bottles of juice. Sasami is giddily full and rushes
over to look at the pets in the pet store. "Come on over
here, Mihoshi! Look at all the cute little kitties and 
bunnies! Don't they look so much like Ryo-Ohki?"

Mihoshi doesn't seem to hear her. She is still hungry and
wanders over to a nearby bar and grill and sits down at the
counter. Flagging down one of the counter girls, she orders
a large bowl of miso soup and side of beef and noodles.
At the last minute, she tacks on a large pot of steaming
hot ocha (Japanese green tea).

Sipping her ocha, she looks around the room, and almost
spits out her ocha as she sees Chi-Ohki at the far end of 
the counter.

However, it is not just his being there that disturbs
her.

It is the fact that Chi-Ohki is clad in a dark-navy
vest, with the loop of a gold chain hanging out of one 
pocket, a brand new black derby clamped on top of his head
and a pair of royal blue-tinted spectacles perched on the
end of his nose. He has a steaming cup of liquid clenched
in his front paws. He is calling over waitresses,
then as they take his orders he gingerly lifts up the 
ruffles of their short skirts and peeks underneath.
If he likes what he sees, he tends to put a large piece
of currency under their panty's elastic and a card with his
name and number on it.

Mihoshi watches this with wide eyes. "Oh, my, Chi-Ohki!
Where did you get all that money?!"

"I.. um... cashed in some stock I had in the Japanese
market. Pulled down some big bucks."

Mihoshi nods in understanding. "Oh, I see. Now, where did
you get the money again?"

At this Chi-Ohki groans and tips off his stool.

Mihoshi's meal quickly arrives and she gulps it down. 
Feeling satisfied now, she looks around expecting to find
Sasami next to her-- but she's not. "Sasami?" She places
some bills on the counter and walks out the door, ignoring
Chi-Ohki's gaze up her skirt from the floor. "Sasami,
where are you! Did you fall asleep?!" Sasami, having 
already noticed that Mihoshi was missing, had gone walking
off in the opposite direction, looking in the food shops
on the other side of the deck.

The noon-eight p.m. at Happy Burger is anything but happy.
However, they are making the best of their situation.
Kiyone is behind the counter, taking orders. Tenchi is 
behind the grill, flying burgers and frying noodles.
Washu is washing dishes.

Kiyone and Tenchi are flirting back and forth, giving both
sappy compliments and not-so-veiled propositions.
Fortunately for them, it's a slow spell, so there's not 
much to do. Tenchi--whose years of sharing cooking duties
with his father are paying off--calls out to his lady love,
"Hey, Kiyone, you want anything for lunch?"

Kiyone turns to look at him with a hungry expression,
one that has little to do with a need for food. She looks
him up and down and smiles. "You look pretty good."

Tenchi blushes slightly. "Thanks, but I don't feel like 
throwing myself onto the grill."

She giggles. "Silly." A moment later, she has stepped
back into the kitchen and is kissing Tenchi hungrily,
pushing him back against the large industrial fridge.
"Mmm....you taste good just the way you are...."

Tenchi wraps his arms around Kiyone's waist and pulls her
close against him. They shift positions, and now she is the
one being pressed against the wall, her long legs wrapped
around Tenchi's waist as he starts to kiss down her cheeks,
down her neck, onto her collarbone....

"Hey, lovebirds, we got customers!" They look up to see a 
slender redhead glaring at them. They reluctantly
disentangle themselves from each other and straighten
their uniforms.

Kiyone's manner abruptly shifts to businesslike.
"How many, Mitsuki?"

Mitsuki glares at the counter girl and de facto shift 
chief. She's not sure which makes her more angry, the fact
that it's not her that's running the crew, or that this 
Kiyone is already involved with the cute new grill chef.
She pushes the thought aside. "About three."

She shifts her glare to Tenchi. "You might wanna pull out
the steak sandwiches, Romeo. These guys look hungry. Oh 
yeah, and you might wanna zip up, too." She heads back out
to the dining room.

Tenchi looks down at his fly and quickly back up, relieved
that it is not unzipped. "Well, back to the salt mines...."
He and Kiyone kiss briefly, and then head back to their
posts.

In the back, at the dishwasher, Washu finds herself swamped
by dishes. She looks up as Tenchi comes back bearing 
another trayful. "No! Take them back! I'm a genius, I don't
wash dishes!"

Tenchi is wearing an irritated expression. "Washu, wash!"

"Ooh, Tenchi!" chirps Kiyone teasingly from the front 
counter. "You're so decisive!"

Washu grimaces. "I don't want to even think what you two 
will be like after you...." She cuts off the rest of the 
sentence. "Well, alright...." She looks up to see Tenchi
turning to leave. "Tenchi, could you hand me that 
screwdriver?"

Mystified, Tenchi passes the tool back to her. As he 
returns to his grill, he hears loud clanking, a small 
explosion, and the hiss of escaping atmosphere coming from
the dish room. Finally, he hears Washu cry out 
triumphantly, "All done!"

Tenchi rushes back, afraid to see just what in hell she's
done to the machine. He is surprised and relieved to see 
the 'washer still intact. "Um, Washu, what did you do....?"

"Simple," chortles the pink-haired scientist. "I tripled
the active speed, lowered the cycle duration, and increased
the sterilization intensity by a factor of five!"

"That sounds good....I guess...." Tenchi is slowly backing
away from the machine, as if afraid that it will blow up in
his face. Suddenly he hears screaming from the counter,
and he rushes out to check on Kiyone. He is afraid that his
adored girlfriend is having to fend off a pack of lustful
young punks. However, he's not quite surprised to see that
she has instead subdued a would-be thief and has him out 
cold behind the counter. She is bouncing his pistol up and
down in her hand, and she smiles as Tenchi comes rushing
out, his light sword out. "Took you long enough, Tenchi."

Tenchi slumps against the wall and sighs in relief. "Oh,
thank God!" He rushes up to her and embraces her tenderly.
"You're not hurt, are you?"

Blushing slightly, Kiyone whispers in his ear, "No... 
thanks to you." She then pecks him on the cheek.

Tenchi blushes slightly, and looks down at the guy on the
floor and whistles. "Very slick, my avenging angel of 
space. I take it that he was the one screaming?"

Kiyone smiles and kicks the unconscious thug on the floor.
"You'd be surprised how high a guy can scream when you hit
him in the crotch with a mop." She shivers slightly and 
presses herself closer up against Tenchi. "But I'm feeling
a little scared now, Tenchi. Can I go back into the kitchen
with you for a while?"

All Tenchi can do is smile. After a second's hesitation,
he scoops her up in his arms and carries her back behind
the swinging doors leading to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Mitsuki is carrying in another tray
load of dishes back to the kitchen for the whining shrimp
to clean.

On her way, she passes Kiyone and Tenchi making out in the
back of the kitchen.

Tenchi has Kiyone sitting on the counter with her legs 
slightly spread open and is standing between them. He has
her skirt hiked up, and Mitsuki can clearly see that 
Kiyone's choice in undergarments is not very modest. 
Kiyone's blouse is half unbuttoned, exposing appreciable
cleavage and the tiny pink bra underneath. Tenchi is 
massaging his head between her breasts and she has her head
thrown back and her eyes closed. She keeps whispering
his name loudly.

Mitsuki hangs her head in disgust before interrupting
the semi-trysting couple. "Hey, lovebirds! Keep it in your
pants until your shift is over! Customers can see you, ya'
know!" She is satisfied to see that she's spoiled their
mood for the moment, and continues back to the dish room,
not noticing that they pick right where they left off as 
soon as she disappears. She slams the tray full of dishes
in front of the whining, pink-haired shrimp in front of the
sink. "Here! Wash! Now!"

Washu looks overjoyed. "Okay! This is a perfect chance
to test out my modifications. Thank you, Mitsuki!" She 
immediately goes looking for the dish soap. "Now, I need
some soap....where is that soap....where are you, soap?"

Mitsuki sighs in disgust. She reaches into the cabinet
right above Washu's head and pulls out the first container
she can find. "Is this what you're looking for?"

"Oh, thank you, Mitsuki!" Washu promptly empties the entire
box of floor-washing soap into the dish washer. She then
slams the door shut and sets it to its highest cycle. 
"There! The dishes will be done in a matter of 
nanoseconds!" Mitsuki doesn't see this, and she leaves
the room.

Tenchi is licking around the lacy ruffles of Kiyone's
bra when he hears the dish washer sputter and clank to 
life. "Wh-wh-what's that?"

Kiyone utters a small sigh of disappointment as Tenchi
reluctantly pulls away from her chest. "Ten-chi! Why are 
you--" She starts to hear the clanking and grinding too.
"What is going on?!"

Tenchi groans. "I think that would be Washu's modifications
on the dishwasher, I th--" He doesn't finish his sentence.
A second later, the dish washer begins to violently
bounce off the floor, rocking and rolling in each and every
direction. Tenchi doesn't say anything, instead, he backs
up several steps, turns around, grabs Kiyone by the wrist
and begins to dash for the front counter.

Washu is seated atop this bucking dish washer, waving a 
cowboy hat she procured from who knows where above her 
head. "Yeee-hah! Ride 'em little Washu!" Her ride ends a 
second later when the door springs open and a tsunami
of soapy water goes rushing out.

Tenchi and Kiyone are swept up in the wave and slammed
into the tiny space beneath the front counter, clinging
to each other screaming and yelling. The wave of suds 
overcomes Mitsuki a second later. She is slammed into a 
corner of the restaurant.

Within ten minutes, the restaurant is at least half a meter
deep in soapy, sticky water. By now, Tenchi and Kiyone
have climbed onto the counter to avoid drowning. Mitsuki
is clinging to one of the bar stools, crying. Washu is 
floating around in this sea of suds atop the dish washer,
now with a pirate's hat on, an eye patch over one eye and
a stuffed parrot pinned to her right shoulder. She 
repeatedly says, "Arrrr!" at anyone who she happens to 
float by. Unfortunately, this all ends when an unwitting
customer opens the glass door leading into the restaurant.
The poor soul is plastered to the floor as the wave of 
water washes over him, filling the surrounding area with
suds.

Washu is pouting atop her now-stationary dishwasher.
"Ah, nuts! Why did he have to ruin my fun!" She then hops
off the dishwasher and gives it a fearsome kick.

The washer spins like a top for a second, then proceeds
to fire all the dishes and cutlery out like bullets.
A particularly large knife embeds in the wall, three inches
from Tenchi's head. The dishwasher continues to rotate,
firing dishes off like a machine gun.

At this moment, the manager enters the now destroyed
restaurant-- only to be struck in the head by a series
of large pots and pans. By the time he slumps to the 
ground, unconscious, his face is covered with black and red
bruises.

Tenchi looks down at him for a moment, and then rips off 
his apron and chucks it at the unconscious man. "We quit!"

"Oh, no! There goes a big one!" Tenchi whips his head 
around just in time to see a giant cast-iron skillet sail
out of the dishwasher, through the swinging glass doors
of the restaurant, sail across the promenade and collide
with the weak glass of a monstrous shark tank. The glass
cracks a little.. then a little more... a lot more!..
and finally explodes, emptying several hundred thousand
liters of water into the promenade, as well as the great
white sharks.

Tenchi immediately lifts Kiyone off the counter, sits her
on her feet and turns to Washu. "Let's get out of here!"
Washu nods, then reaches up and unplugs the dishwasher.
"Arr, maties! All aboard Little Washu's pirate dishwasher!"
They are about halfway out the door when they hear a small
voice beg, "Please take me with you...."

Tenchi turns to see Mitsuki, tears streaming down her face,
the tough-girl image now forever banished. He smiles and 
offers a hand to her. "Well, come on!"

Sniffling, Mitsuki grasps his hand and slowly pulls herself
to her feet. As she comes to a full standing position,
she promptly tips over and falls into his arms. Kiyone
tries hard not to feel jealous. "Thank you for saving me,
Tenchi." She leans up and kisses him on the cheek and 
Kiyone tries even harder not to feel jealous.

Mitsuki lets go of Tenchi and is about to follow them out
the door when she suddenly remembers something. "Wait a 
second! I'll be right back!" She rushes back into the 
kitchen and reappears a moment later, holding an old, worn
cigar box in her hands.

"What is that?" asks Tenchi.

"My life savings," says Mitsuki almost reverently.
"I've been saving up my whole life to buy a ticket off this
station, and I only have a few hundred more Jurai to go..."
She has a dreamy expression on her face.

"Don't worry, we'll take you with us," offers Kiyone,
in a much better mood now that she has Tenchi's arm 
securely wrapped around her, where they belong.

"I can't just leave it behind! I've put every Jurai I ever
earned in this box! I never once bought anything nice for
myself. Even if you guys do take me with you, I'll need 
something to start over with on the outside." She presses
the worn box tightly against her chest. "It's all I ever
had."

Kiyone places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't
worry, we won't take it away from you."

Mitsuki smiles at her, tears still streaming down her face,
and she lurches forward and hugs Kiyone. Tenchi gently
kisses both of them on the cheek and leads the three girls
out of the restaurant, soaking wet, but gloriously
free.



In a bar and grill that caters specifically to blue-collar
workers, Katsuhito and Nobuyuki, in janitorial wear, are 
eating beef bowls and sipping saké when they suddenly
hear a familiar voice calling out, "Sasami! Where are you,
Sasami?"

The two men turn to see a frantic-looking Mihoshi rushing
through the restaurant, upsetting patrons and upending
tables and chairs, calling out for the obviously lost 
Sasami. Her path leads the still-crying GP detective
out the door, still running and crashing into things.

Katsuhito sighs. "I should have known something like this
would happen.... Nobuyuki, I'm going to look for the parts.
Meet me in four hours at this bar, and, in the meantime,
look after Mihoshi. Find Sasami if you can."

Nobuyuki throws his father-in-law a mock salute. "You got
it." Laying a bill on the counter, he sets off after 
Mihoshi. He manages to follow her for about ten 
minutes--which is not very hard, considering the kind of a 
trail a frantic Mihoshi would leave--when he is suddenly
picked up by the collar and finds himself staring into the
face of a hulking, brooding man whose face is covered
with bruises. He doesn't look very happy. "What the hell
are you doing? Your break is over! Come on, I need you to 
clean up a shattered shark tank on platform six-G!"

Nobuyuki tries to struggle free, but it's no use. As the 
large man carries him off, he mutters, "Damn 
slackers....finding more and more of them each day..."



Meanwhile, "Kyo-shi" is having the time of his/her life.
The two stewardesses--who s/he has learned are named Kimi
and Miki--had led him/her to a combination public 
bath/restaurant. Right now, s/he is sitting naked in the 
chest-deep warm water between the stewardesses,
who are nibbling more on him/her than the food. Miki is 
nuzzling his/her neck and rubbing her breasts against
Kyo-shi's own, while Kimi is giving him/her long, deep 
kisses that leave both of them gasping for air.

Miki, more than a little drunk on the premium saké, is 
slowly kissing down Kyo-shi's body, and it's quite obvious
where she's going. She looks up at Kyo-shi, her eyes 
sparkling. "You want me to, Kyo-shi?"

Damn right Kyo-shi wants her to, but s/he is a little 
concerned about the lack of privacy. "Mi-mi-miki,
we-we're in up-public...."

Miki looks up pleadingly. "Please, Kyo-shi? No one's gonna
notice...." She's probably right. The lights are very 
dim--barely bright enough to see your own food--and
there are more than likely a number of other couples doing
the same thing. Throwing caution to the wind, Kyo-shi
nods and spreads his/her legs. Miki sinks down, 
disappearing beneath the floating table, at the same time
that Kimi straddles Kyo-shi. S/he leans back, starting
to feel very, very good....

....A feeling that is quickly shattered as s/he hears an 
all-too-familiar voice screaming "Sasami! Sasami!"

The tryst is broken off as the three of them, as well as 
the rest of the diners, look up to see Kyo-shi's twin burst
through the door running. Mihoshi has enough momentum
to carry her running about three meters over the water 
before gravity finally wins and pulls her down.

Now completely soaked, she suddenly catches sight of 
Kyo-shi and the stewardesses. "Kyoto!" She quickly makes
her way over to the three of them and grabs Kyoto, shaking
him. "Kyoto! Kyoto! Help me, Kyoto! I've lost Sasami!
I can't find Sasami! Please please please please Kyoto...."
She grabs Kyo-shi and starts to sob again.

Kyoto finds himself in the awkward position of having to 
comfort Mihoshi. "It's okay, Mihoshi, it's okay, we'll find
her...." S/he looks up regretfully at the stewardesses.
"I'm really sorry. Could we get together later?"

Kimi nods enthusiastically. "That sounds great! We're at 
the Hilton, and we'll leave our room number and key-code
in your locker. Please don't take too long...." Both she 
and Miki kiss Kyo-shi hungrily and move towards the locker
room.

After a few minutes of watching their moving bodies, 
Kyo-shi sighs. "Come on, Mihoshi, I have to get dressed.
I'll get you some dry clothes too...."

The two of them are quickly pushed out the door after 
having to pay nearly two hundred Jurai in damages. However,
Kyo-shi is in a good mood, having the twins' room number
and key-code tucked in his/her blouse pocket. They have 
just started to walk when they hear a gruff voice ask, 
"Would one of you be Mihoshi?"

They both turn to see an older, stern-looking man glaring
at them. Standing next to him is...."Sasami!"

"Hi, you two!" giggles Sasami. Both Mihoshi and Kyo-shi
hug the little girl to them. Kyo-shi looks up to the older
man. "Thank you very much, sir." S/he pulls out his/her
money pouch. "Do we owe you anything?"

"For finding the girl, no. Your....twin....was
easy enough to track when the young lady said she was 
looking for a crazy blond woman. For the damages your twin
has incurred...." He produces a calculator and holds up the
figure on the display. Kyo-shi winces at the figure, then
slaps a wad of money into the storekeeper's hand. "Here."



Tenchi and his group are walking around, still soaked to 
the skin but feel giddily free.

Kiyone is clinging to one arm, and Mitsuki has taken the 
other.

Washu is walking in front of the three, saying that she 
doesn't want to be forced to watch anything.

Mitsuki is feeling very grateful for her freedom, something
she has expressed in no uncertain terms to Tenchi, and it 
takes all of his strength to keep Kiyone from tearing
off the other girl's head.

At the moment, however, all is at peace, and they round
the corner of theater number three, hoping that they can 
talk Ryoko or Ayeka into loaning them some money. They stop
in their tracks, shocked, as they see the princess and the
pirate stumble out of the theater, clutching each other
tightly and sobbing.

"It....was so....sad!" bawls Ayeka. Ryoko is too far gone
at the moment to form any coherent sentences, so she merely
sniffles. Tenchi and Washu gently guide the two sobbing
girls over to a nearby snack bar, where they finish crying
while supplying snack money for everyone. To everyone's
surprise, the two mortal enemies are not bickering;
instead, they are actually talking amiably about the movie,
sniffles only surfacing occasionally. Mitsuki is introduced
around, and Ryoko and Ayeka smile and say hi.

"By the way," asks Ayeka, still dabbing at her eyes with
a napkin, "Have any of you seen Sasami and Mihoshi? I've
heard that there was a crazy blond woman running around
on this platform, calling out Sasami's name."

Tenchi groans. "Great. That's just what we needed...
"

"What do you need, Tenchi?" asks Mitsuki, sappily.

Kiyone is gritting her teeth and turning a violent shade
of red. Tenchi pats her arm and smiles at Mitsuki. "Uh, 
nothing, Mitsuki." He passes her a ten Jurai bill. "Get 
yourself some more rice cakes." He waits till she is headed
for the counter, then slumps in relief.

"You're all mine, Tenchi," coos Kiyone, tracing her finger
along his chest. He wraps an arm around her. "You're right.
But, we really should take her with us. This is no place
for her to spend the rest of her life."

"Who is she?" asks Ayeka, taking small sips from a can of 
hot tea. "And why is she so clingy to you, Lord Tenchi?"

"We rescued her from the fast food place where we were 
forced to work." Washu breaks open a fortune cookie. "'Your
life will be full of misery.' Boy, what a lousy fortune.
I have to agree with Ayeka, though, Tenchi. After saving
her life, she seems ready to bear your child, Tenchi."

"I'm the only one who's going to bear Tenchi's child!"
protests Kiyone.

She is met with a collective look of shock from the 
surrounding group.

Tenchi is wide-eyed and smiling sillily. "Well, not for a 
while... I mean, I haven't even proposed yet!"

Washu sighs. "I fear for your children." She cracks open
another fortune cookie. "'You will die a violent death in a
week.' Who writes these things?!"

Tenchi takes one of Washu's fortune cookies. "'You will 
live a happy life and have many children.' They don't all
seem to be bad, Washu."

"It's not fair! I get all the lousy fortunes, while Tenchi
gets the perfect one! Life is just not fair!" protests
the diminutive scientist. She opens another one. "'You will
be struck by lightning on Friday the 13th of next month.'
I give up! All my karma is bad! No matter what I do, they
all come out bad!"

Kiyone takes one of the cookies from Washu and cracks it 
open. "'You will find the man of your dreams and marry 
him.' Sorry, Washu. It seems that I got a good one too."
She snuggles in closer to Tenchi. "And it's true, too."

"You two make me sick." Washu turns her back and sticks
out her tongue. It is at this moment that Mitsuki comes
back, piled down with packages of rice cakes.

"Hey, you know what! I put in my change and all these just
came tumbling out! That fortune cookie I took from Washu
was right, I did have good luck!"

Washu slumps and bangs her head on the table. "I give up!"

Mitsuki drops the pile of cakes on a nearby table. She is 
about to turn to rejoin Tenchi and Kiyone when she hears
a voice say, "Oh, wow, Sasami! Look at all the food!" 
Everyone spins around to see the missing Mihoshi, Sasami,
and Kyo-shi walk up, each eating a large cone of ice cream.
Mihoshi's clothes are soaked.

Tenchi blinks. "What happened to you, Mihoshi? You look 
like you went swimming with your clothes on!"

Kyo-shi smiles. "She fell in the water while she was 
looking for Sasami. And anyway, Tenchi, you guys don't look
much dryer." S/he reaches into his/her purse and pulls out
a faded wallet. S/he thumbs through for a second, sighing,
then hands Tenchi the entire thing. "Here, that's the last
of my money. Get yourselves some dry clothes."

S/he starts to walk away, and then catches sight of 
Mitsuki. His/her concentration immediately fails at the 
sight of her soaked outfit clinging to her, emphasizing
each and every tantalizing curve. A moment later, "Kyo-shi"
is replaced by Kyoto's male form. He steps up to Mitsuki
and kisses her hand. "Bonjour, ma petite cheri. Je'mappelle
Kyoto."

Mitsuki's eyes go wide and her cheeks go slightly red. 
"H-h-h-hi. I'm Mitsuki. I've always found foreign men 
attractive, especially ones that could speak French."

(Unnoticed by her, Tenchi and Kiyone breath audible sighs
of relief.)

Kyoto abruptly draws her into an embrace. "I was just going
to join some friends, care to join me, mon cher?"

Mitsuki nods enthusiastically. "I'd love to." She rushes
back to Tenchi, drops into his lap, and gives him a long,
almost suffocating kiss. She pulls back, blushing. "Sorry,
Tenchi. Call me sometime if you learn to speak French."
She then rushes off with Kyoto. As they walk out of sight,
they can hear him explaining that he can change his form
and asks her which form she preferred.

Tenchi slumps into his chair and violently shakes himself.
"I'm actually a little disappointed. I didn't think she was
that fickle!"

Kiyone nuzzles his neck. "Well, now I have you all to 
myself! I promise you, Tenchi, soon you won't even remember
her name...." Tenchi wraps his arms around her neck and 
presses his lips to hers. They might still be sitting
there like this if Washu hadn't reminded them that they 
needed dry clothing. They set off for the nearest 
boutiques.



After sending Sasami off with Ryoko and Ayeka to go 
window-shopping, Tenchi and company make their way towards
one of the more upscale clothing stores. The girls walk in,
and Tenchi starts to follow them when a large, barely 
feminine woman pushes him out the door and glares at him.
"No men allowed, pervert!"

Tenchi's cheeks immediately go red and he starts to 
stutter, pointing at Kiyone, "B-b-but that's my 
g-g-g-girl--"

"I don't care who she is! No men allowed! This is a women's
store!"

Kiyone falls back some, and pecks Tenchi on the cheek.
"I'd like you in there too, Tenchi, but don't worry...
just watch through the window... " Blowing him a kiss, she
walks back through the door.

Soon enough, Tenchi finds out just what Kiyone meant. There
is a big window right in front of the store, allowing
passers-by a perfect view into it. And right now Kiyone
is performing her own little show for him. She is holding
up various pieces of clothing -- and underwear-- for his 
approval. None of them are very modest, and the way she 
moves her body when posing with them.... Tenchi doesn't
know how he feels. He's enjoying it, but he's a little
embarrassed, and--

"Oh, my! Does Kiyone know that everyone in the mall can see
what she's doing?" Tenchi, red-faced, whips around to see
Mihoshi, now dressed in a dark navy skirt, light blue 
blouse, white pumps, and a white sweater tied around her 
neck. She's starring, opened mouthed, at Kiyone, who's 
holding up a skimpy pair of carnation pink panties and 
matching bra.

Tenchi gulps, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from her.
"Yes, Mihoshi, I think she knows what she's doing. Why 
don't you... go buy yourself some soup or something."

"Oh, wow, really?!" Mihoshi rushes off to buy her soup.

Tenchi motions to Kiyone to move to the doorway. She's 
holding the panties up at him, grinning mischievously.
"You like, Tenchi?"

Tenchi nods, quickly. His face is very red. "Y-y-y-yeah,
but I need some money so I can buy some clean clothes."

Kiyone's smile grows only wider and she starts to trace
a circle around the buttons on his shirt. "Ten-chi,
personally I don't think you have to wear anything at 
all...."

Tenchi's eyes go wide as saucers and his face turns the 
color of Ayeka's hair. "Kiyone!"

"Would you like me to walk around naked, Tenchi?" Kiyone
has a coy expression lining the features of her face as she
says this. "I could.. take my clothes off right here for 
you, Tenchi."

"Kiyone!"

Kiyone's expression changes to a pout. "Oh, alright."
She pushes a wad of bills into his hands. "Don't take too
long..."



Tenchi returns about an hour later, dressed in a tux -- a 
white jacket with black lapels, black slacks, collarless
white buttondown shirt, paisley vest, and black shoes with
a white pair of spats-- just in time to meet Kiyone. She is
dressed in a schoolgirl-style outfit, a knee-length
plaid skirt, white blouse, blue blazer, a plaid tie, and a 
pair of sandals. They look at each other, and after a long,
tender moment, embrace and lock into a passionate kiss.

"You look.... incredible.... " murmurs Tenchi between
kisses.

Kiyone sighs in contentment and snuggles in closer to him.
"You taste incredible, Tenchi."

"Kiyone! Not in public! People might.... " She presses
her lips up to his, forestalling any further conversation.
When she finally breaks away, he's gasping for air. "Well,
alright.... " He gathers her in as close as he can and 
begins to kiss her again.

"Ahem!"

The two lovers turn to see.... Washu! The scientist
is wearing black lipstick, white makeup that makes her face
look pale, black spiked-heeled boots, a black leather
one-piece dress reaching the middle of her thighs and 
clinging way too close to her body, and a spiked black 
collar around her neck. Her hair is dyed black as night.
"Can't you two keep your hands off each other for more than
one minute? I'm surprised that you two don't have a kid on
the way!"

Tenchi and Kiyone look at Washu in horror, all lustful
thoughts banished for the moment.

Before they can say anything else, Mihoshi comes rushing
up, dressed like a pretty young school teacher on holiday.
She is holding a large cup of soup in her hands. "Oh, my,
I see everyone is about ready to go!" She looks at Washu.
"I didn't think it was Halloween yet, Washu? Are you 
supposed to be a witch or something?"

"No I am not! Have you ever seen a witch as cute as me?"
she retorts.

Kiyone looks at Washu, still horrified. "Washu, I saw you
talking with the piercing specialist. What did you... "

"I got my nipples pierced! Wanna see?" Everyone quickly
shakes their heads. Washu starts pouting. "I can't 
understand why no one wants to see my pierced nipples!"
She cries this just as Ryoko, Ayeka and Sasami come walking
up, nibbling on sweet bean paste rolls. They hear what 
Washu says, and go pale in terror.

Sasami moans as she wraps up the remainder of her roll.
"Ayeka, I don't feel so good."

Washu turns to the three new arrivals. "Would you like to 
see my pierced nipples?"

Poor Sasami cannot hold it in any longer. She quickly
sprints over to a nearby trash can and loses her roll into
it. When she is done, Ayeka guides her over to a nearby
water fountain.

Ryoko is staring at Washu, dumbfounded. "Wh-wh-what
brought this on?"

"Oooh, you do want to see my nipples!"

Ryoko immediately vanishes.

Tenchi looks down at the several bags of clothing that each
girl is carrying. "Uh, Kiyone, what's in the bag?"

"Oh, this and that. The stuff I was holding up for you in 
the window." At this, Tenchi goes blood red.

Sasami rushes up to Kiyone and places her ear to her 
stomach. "I don't hear anything...."

Tenchi checks his leftover money. "...Not much left...
I hope it will last..." He stuffs it back into his inside
pocket and sighs. "I was going to take us all out to 
dinner, but...."

Kiyone produces a Juraian Express Card. "Not to worry,
Tenchi. Where are we going?"

"Isn't that, Kyoto's charge card?" Tenchi asks, hesitantly.

"Yeah, what's your point, Tenchi? He did give us his entire
wallet, let's go use it, " says Washu.

Mihoshi has finished off her soup. "Yay! We're going out 
for dinner!"



* * *



Inside room 523, Kimi, clad in only the bed sheets, jumps
up when she hears the door click open. She rushes up to it
and pushes the panel aside. Kyo-shi and another girl--
a cute, slim redhead-- are standing in front of it, and 
Kimi suddenly feels a tremendous rush of heat through
her body, followed by a wave of pleasure. "K-k-k-k-Kyo-shi.
Come in. Who's your friend?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, but first I've got a little
surprise for you." Kyo-shi's form shimmers and vanishes
in a burst of light. The tall, broad-shouldered
form of Kyoto replaces it. "I'm afraid I'm not really a 
girl, and my name is Kyoto. I hope this doesn't disappoint
you too much."

Kimi presses herself against Kyoto, letting the sheet she
had wrapped around her body drop to the floor. "That's
alright, I like both." She looks up at Mitsuki and smiles.
"Hi, I'm Kimi. What's your name?"

Mitsuki extends a slightly moist hand. "Hi, I'm Mitsuki."
Mitsuki feels both turned on and a little miffed at the 
fact that she isn't the only one who will have Kyoto. But,
she thinks, I've never had a threesome before....

Miki suddenly emerges from the bathroom. She is dripping
wet and naked. Mitsuki suddenly feels light-headed
as the wet, naked girl catches sight of her and guides
her into the room, toward the bed. "I'm Miki. Come on, 
let's get you out of these wet clothes...."

Smiling, Kyoto reaches out and flips off the light and 
heads toward the bed carrying Kimi and an unopened bottle
of saké with him.



* * * *



"There, that should do it... " The wrinkled, old hand turns
the wrench once more and the smooth, silver bulkhead
falls to the floor. He winces slightly at the loud thunk.
"...And Nobuyuki said I was too old to work on machines,
shows him."

He climbs slowly through the now open bulkhead, activates
a small flashlight, and shines it on the conglomerate
of devices inside, glowing a faintly iridescent purple.
He pulls out a crumpled piece of paper and unfolds it. 
Comparing the device on the paper to the ones sitting
before him, he nods in satisfaction. "Now, the unlock code
was what? Oh, here it is." He types in a sequence of 
numbers and characters. Each key glowing a faint blue color
after his touch.

Finally, after the last character has been pressed, the 
illuminated keys change from their dim, blue glow to a 
brilliant green, followed by a loud clank and a brief hiss
of escaping gas. Reaching behind him, he draws up a 
worn-looking metallic suitcase, the kind that maintenance
techs used to carry the more delicate components in. He 
clicks off the two latches and opens the case. He then 
reaches up to the still glowing machine and tips open a 
large hatch. Inside are several glowing devices, each 
glowing its own distinct color. He reaches in, ignoring
the brief shock he receives as he clasps each one, and 
jerks them out, then placing them into the cushioned
foam inside the suitcase.

After having settled the half-dozen components in as 
securely as he can, he closes the lid and backs out of the
compartment. He seals the bulkhead back into place quickly,
and then opens a small canvas tool bag. Within five 
minutes, the grizzled old maintenance tech is wearing
the brown and gray garb of a station security captain.
Satisfied with his appearance, he makes his way back to the
main part of the station, stopping only to deposit the 
canvas bag into a laundry chute along the way.



Tenchi and the girls are sitting at a large, circular
booth in the most expensive restaurant in the station.
Washu, having appropriated the Jurai Express card--which
has a half-million Jurai limit--is quickly ordering up the
most expensive items on the menu. Tenchi watches with 
growing dismay as dishes costing more than people 
on-station make in a year begin to pile up at their table.
"Washu, are you sure you shouldn't slow down a bit? You'll
max the card out before we get to the main course!"

Mihoshi looks up from her plate piled high with appetizers.
"You mean there's a main course?" Tenchi groans, trying
not to think about just how much has been spent since they
sat down.

Washu shrugs indifferently. "It's his card, let him worry
about it!" She raises her hand, signaling the waiter.
"Prime roast ko'rra, all around! And while you're at it, 
hot lips--" She grins meaningfully at the waiter, who just
looks scared. "--five bottles of your best wine, Chateau
Nebula '567 if you got it--"

"But I don't drink," reminds Sasami.

"--and a giant chocoberry ice cream milkshake for the 
little girl!" finishes Washu. "And give her unlimited
refills!" Sasami looks up, beaming. "Thank you, Washu."

Several minutes later, the prime roast ko'rra--which
looks like a moose-sized combination of turkey and pot 
roast--arrives, with the five bottles of wine and Sasami's
milkshake.

Sasami squeals with delight as she takes a large sip of her
milkshake. "That's delicious!!" She rolls her eyes back in
ecstasy.

Mihoshi is staring wide eyed at the ring of giant baked
potatoes around the ko'rra, each swimming in its own pool
of melted butter and gravy. "Oh, my, that looks great!"
She immediately gobbles one down.

Kiyone, unlike her partner, takes one of the potatoes
and cuts off a piece and takes a dainty bite. After closing
her eyes in ecstasy, she spears another forkful and 
proffers it to Tenchi. "Now, just let Auntie Kiyone take
care of you...."

Tenchi closes his mouth around her bite of potato and 
smiles as he tastes it. "It tastes good... " He then leans
over and kisses her on the lips for a long moment. "But not
as good as you... " This scene goes unseen, for everyone
else is too busy being boisterous as they quickly fill up 
on the rich food and drink.

The eating and drinking goes on for several hours as Washu
continues to order platter after platter of food. Tenchi
and Kiyone, having long since had their fill of food, are
now sitting cuddled close together, their arms around each
other and their lips meeting very often. Sasami, not being
drunk, is frequently teasing them. "Don't be naughty in 
public! What would people think?!" Tenchi and Kiyone are 
paying this little attention, just ordering her another
giant milkshake to quiet her insinuations.

Finally, after seven hours of carousing, Washu hits the 
limit on the card. A second later, streamers and ticker
tape stream down from the ceiling above them as a waiter,
carrying a gold trophy on his tray, approaches them. 
"Congratulations! You're our biggest spender! You have 
spent over half a million Jurai! We are proud to present
you with this trophy of our esteem."

Washu accepts the small trophy of a sumo wrestler 
swallowing a pig with enthusiasm. "Thank you! Thank you!"
She suddenly jumps up on the seat of the booth. "You like
me! You really like me!"

The waiter chimes in once again, "And now, the owner of 
this establishment would like to say a few words."

Tenchi bites back a curse. "I've got a bad feeling about
this.... " Kiyone doesn't say anything. Instead, she 
presses her lips to his again.

Tenchi's bad feeling is justified a moment later when the
restaurant owner comes out. He and Kiyone immediately
recognize him as the owner of the Happy Burger they had 
wrecked earlier that morning. At first he doesn't recognize
them.

"On behalf of Caesar's Garden, Incorporated, I would like
to thank you for--" He suddenly recognizes the group seated
at the table. "What the hell are you doing here?! You're
supposed to be working there, now get back to work!!"

Tenchi glares up at him. "We quit. Didn't you get our 
resignations? They were on those pots and pans that knocked
you out."

The tight collared, vein-necked manager glares at them with
fire in his eyes, then reaches into his pocket and pulls
out a small whistle. Two security guards, carrying long,
wooden staves, appear from behind the curtains. The manager
points at Tenchi's table. "Arrest those people!"

The guards step menacingly towards the table. They are 
about to grab Washu and Sasami, the two girls sitting
on the outside, when Tenchi suddenly yells, "Duck!" He 
flips the table forward into the guards, letting the girls
run past them. Tenchi is standing on top of the table,
trying to pry the staff out of one of the guard's hands.
Finally giving up on doing it gently, he slams the heel of
his shoe into the guard's wrist. The guard's hand goes limp
and Tenchi snatches up the long fighting staff. He rushes
off to join the girls.

The girls have already run out the door and only Kiyone
has waited behind for him. As Tenchi charges towards her,
she yells, "Tenchi, duck!" Not to question her, Tenchi
drops to the floor, a moment before her combat yo-yo sails
through the air and strikes two guards in the forehead.
They drop to the floor, unconscious. Tenchi pushes himself
off the floor, rushes to her and takes her in his arms.
He then presses his lips to hers for a brief second before
pulling them away again. "Come on! Let's join the others."

By the time they catch up with them, Ryoko is at a docking
access terminal, trying to open the hatch leading to the 
saucer where Ryo-Ohki is docked.

"Damn! He's locked down all outside access! We can't get to
Ryo-Ohki!"

"What are we going to do now!" moans Tenchi.

"Lemme take a look at that!" Washu steps up to the console
and begins tapping away at it. After a few minutes, she 
pulls away, dejected. "I can't break it! We've got to find
Kyoto, he's the only hacker I know who can crack this type
of security code."

Tenchi nods briskly. "Alright then. Does anyone know where
he is?"

"No, but I think they know where we are!" shrieks Ryoko
as she points a finger at the battalion of guards coming
towards them, these carrying guns.

"Let's get out of here!" screams Mihoshi as she bolts off
down the corridor with Ayeka and Sasami hot on her heels.
Ryoko follows suit after a moment, followed by Washu, and
finally Kiyone and Tenchi. At the last second Ryoko drops
back and pulls a small, grenade-like object from the folds
of her outfit.

"Move it Tenchi! I'll hold them back!" She then pulls the
pin and chucks it.

Washu recognizes it, but way too late to do anything.
"Ryoko! What the hell are you doing with a cold fusion
bomb!"

Kiyone's eyes go wide. "A cold fusion bomb?! Those were 
outlawed twenty years ago, after a terrorist used one on 
the GF regional capitol building!"

Tenchi slings Kiyone and Ryoko over his shoulders and 
starts running. The bomb goes off a second later. The group
is running less than a meter ahead of the shockwave.

"This feels too familiar," comments Sasami.

Mihoshi picks her up and runs with her slung over her left
shoulder.

Watching this, Washu cautions Ayeka, "Don't get any ideas!
I can't carry you!" Ayeka starts to drop back, to try to 
get Tenchi to carry her too, but she sees the impending
shockwave, and decides to run herself, hiking up her kimono
around her knees. Presently she's running neck and neck 
with Washu, and she picks her up too. Washu is yelling
and screaming and beating Ayeka's shoulders as the three
runners dash down the corridor towards the maglev car to 
the saucer where Ryo-Ohki is docked.

Finally, they reach the terminal, and everyone falls into
the car, setting it in motion a scant second before the 
shockwave erases the terminal.

Tenchi has made sure that all the other girls have been 
strapped in before he settles himself next to Kiyone.
She leans over and pecks him on the cheek. "That was for 
saving my life." She kisses him again, longer and on the 
lips. "That was for saving Ryoko." She kisses him again,
even longer, opening her mouth slightly to let their 
tongues meet! "That was for saving everyone else and being
my hero." And on it goes.

Sasami and Mihoshi ooh and ahh sentimentally at this, while
Ayeka and Ryoko sniff and turn away, and Washu moans, 
feeling slightly nauseated. "Oooh....don't carry me 
anymore, Ayeka....I don't feel so good....aaacckhh!!!"
She throws up in Ayeka's lap, something the princess
doesn't notice till later.

Tenchi is stroking the back of his beloved's neck when the
car starts to shake. "Wh-wh-what the heck?"

The maglev car is bouncing like a belly dancer on a 
trampoline. The onboard computer is no help. "Please fasten
your seatbelts. Please fasten your seatbelts. Please 
fast--" The display's faintly female voice cuts off 
violently with a bloodcurdling scream of tortured 
electronics, and suddenly the entire front half of the car
is torn open by the shockwave.

The girls are screaming and clinging as close to Tenchi
as the restraints will allow them to, and he's doing his 
best to comfort them. "Come on, girls, it's all right,
it's gonna be all right....." The car slams violently
to a stop, and after a moment is still.

After taking a few minutes to recover his equilibrium,
Tenchi quickly unbuckles his restraints and starts 
unbuckling the girls out of theirs. As he moves, he can 
feel the brakes on the car starting to give. Even if he 
just sits and does nothing, he knows that sooner or later
the car will fall back and he doesn't know what will happen
to them if it does.

"What's going on, Tenchi?" moans Kiyone as she rubs her 
forehead with a shaky hand. Tenchi smiles and helps her to
her feet. "We're going home, darling." Once on her feet,
Kiyone throws her arms around Tenchi and pulls as close
to him as she can. "I'm scared, Tenchi," she whimpers
in his ear.

"I'm scared too, Tenchi," murmurs Sasami, who is already
clinging to Tenchi.

"Protect me, Lord Tenchi!" sobs Ayeka, fountains of tears
streaming from her eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey! Tenchi's mine!" snaps Ryoko as she pushes
Kiyone and Ayeka out of the way and wraps her arms around
Tenchi's neck. "Tenchi, you're going to save me, aren't
you? I know you.... " she stops talking as she sees him 
glaring at her.

"Yes, Ryoko, I am going to save you, but I'm afraid I'm not
yours." He pulls Kiyone back to him, and she wraps herself
around him protectively. "I'm Kiyone's."

Ryoko pulls back, tears starting to form in her eyes. 
"Tenchi..." She then turns away and disappears.

"Where-where did she go?" asks Tenchi, now worried for her.
Washu clasps his hand. "Don't worry, she'll be alright.
But we've got to worry about us right now. Remember,
Ryoko can live in hard vacuum, we cannot."

"Can you create us a portal to the other side?" asks 
Kiyone.

"What'dya think this is? A cartoon?! I can't just go 
creating portals like some cartoon character, y'know.
It takes time and precise calculation and we have neither!"

"Then what can you for us?" asks Tenchi.

"What I can do... is this." Washu produces her holographic
laptop and feeds in a sequence. A pile of climbing gear 
appears on the floor. Tenchi picks up a large gun loaded
with a grappling hook and about a hundred meters of rope
and fingers it delicately.

"Why do we need climbing gear, Washu?"

"If my estimates are correct, the damage caused by the 
shockwave has totally screwed up this connecting tube's
structural integrity. If I'm right, this horizontal
tube is becoming a vertical tube as we speak. We may well
need this gear. In addition, the packs have dehydrated
foods, water bottles, and warm clothing should we need 
them, as well as first aid gear."

She climbs onto the outside of the car, balancing herself
precariously, and produces a large pair of binoculars
with electronic magnifiers on the lenses. She aims at the
far end of the tunnel and punches up the magnifiers
up to maximum intensity. She can just barely make out a 
sealed blast door. She checks the distance estimator:
820 meters. She reports this to the group down below, who
is by now piling on the gear.

"Okay," says Tenchi. "The first person we need to get out
is Sasami, are we agreed on that?" Everyone nods in 
agreement. "Good. Now, Ayeka, stick close to Sasami, make
sure nothing happens to her while we're climbing out of the
car. Things should be relatively straight forward once we 
get ourselves on the track." He takes a look around the 
group. "Next out is Kiyo--"

"Tenchi, no! I'm staying with you! You're waiting until
everyone else has left, aren't you?"

Tenchi nods mutely.

"Yeah, then I'm staying with you."

Tenchi starts to protest, but she stops him with a finger
to his lips. "You said you wanted me always by your side,
Tenchi. Well, I'm staying by your side. Always."

After a moment, Tenchi reluctantly nods. "Next out is 
Mihoshi. Washu is already out so we'll have her scout 
ahead. After that--" He looks firmly at Kiyone. "--is you.
I'm bringing up the rear." He looks around one last time.
"Well? Get moving."

Washu helps Ayeka boost Sasami out of the car, then helps
Ayeka, herself, out of the car. Washu and Sasami slid down
the side of the car and land on the track. Ayeka then helps
Mihoshi through. Tenchi has boosted Kiyone up on his 
shoulders, and she's reaching for Mihoshi's hands when the
car shifts violently. Kiyone falls off Tenchi's shoulders,
and he hears her scream of pain before she even hits 
ground. In a flash he's kneeling by her side, trying to 
help her up.

"Oh, no, Kiyone!" The connecting tunnel has dim lighting,
but that's more than enough for him to see the damage 
caused to his Kiyone. She has a nasty-looking gash across
her forehead and blood is running freely from it. "Oh my 
lord, Kiyone? Kiyone, are you alright?"

She stirs and looks up at him, dazed and numb for the 
moment. "Ten...chi...you're all right...still my...knight
in...shining...armor...my...ankle...I
can't...feel it...oh, my Ten...chi...I...love..."
Her eyes flutter shut.

Still somewhat in shock, Tenchi gently gathers up Kiyone
in his arms. He looks up at Mihoshi, who is staring down
in horror. He's about to call up to her--what he's gonna
say, he has no clue--when he hears a familiar voice behind
him say, "Is she alright, Tenchi?"

Tenchi turns to see--"Ryoko! Are you a sight for sore eyes!
No, she's not. I know that after today--"

He stops as Ryoko holds up a hand. "It's alright, Tenchi.
Save it for later. Hold on." Before Tenchi knows what is 
happening, Ryoko has lifted him and Kiyone up, and a moment
later, he and Ryoko are standing on the outside of the car.
She is breathing heavily, as if in physical exhaustion.
Tenchi looks at her.

"Ryoko, what's wrong?"

"Got hit by a high-voltage conduit when that last shift
occurred. Don't have much strength left." She smiles at 
Tenchi, then looks down at Kiyone. "She's very lucky, 
Tenchi, to have a man like you."

Tenchi smiles, sadly. "I'm lucky to have her. Ryoko, I'm 
sorry about earlier, it's just--"

Ryoko places a finger over his lips. "No need for 
discussion." She then presses her lips to his for one long,
passionate moment and then pulls away. "Take care of her,
Tenchi. She'll need all the love you can give her, and I 
have the feeling that she'll return it in full."

Mihoshi slides down the side of the car and runs to her 
fallen partner. "Oh, my God! Kiyone, are you hurt?"

Tenchi nods briskly. "She's very badly hurt. Have the 
others left already?"

Mihoshi nods vigorously. "Uh-huh. Sasami, Ayeka and Washu
are way ahead. I hope we can catch up with them."

It takes Tenchi, Mihoshi, and Ryoko a few minutes to catch
up with the other girls, and they quickly make their way 
along the track, which is tilted something like a 
roller-coaster track.

Sasami, Mihoshi, and Ayeka have shifted into the lead spot,
with Washu right behind them. The scientist has called
them off at about 180 meters to the blast door.

Sasami is stepping up her pace, hoping that they'll all be
able to make it in time, when she hears a loud metallic
scraping, and she hears Washu screaming, "Look out, 
Sasami!"

The little girl is paralyzed with terror, watching the long
I-beam swinging down towards her like a park swing. A wild
thought crosses her mind a second before the beam slams
into her head. Well, maybe I'll get to see Mirei again...
Good bye, Tenchi... I love y---

Sasami is sent flying through the air and lands on the 
ground about a hundred meters behind Tenchi and Kiyone.
The girls behind Sasami do not escape injury either. 
Mihoshi receives a nasty gash on her right cheek, almost
as deep as the one that sent Kiyone into a concussion.
Ayeka's arm receives a long-jagged cut that almost slices
through to the bone. The top three spikes of Washu's hair
are sheared off. Washu is the only one of the three to 
start crying out in any real pain. "My hair! My hair!"

Tenchi gently hands Kiyone over to Ryoko and rushes back
to Sasami. "Oh, my God, Sasami!" He gently picks her up and
cradles her in his arms. He rises to his feet and wraps
her arms around his neck. He heads back to join the group.
"Are you guys okay?"

"We're alright, Lord Tenchi," responds Ayeka. "But could
you please get Washu to stop crying about her ruined 
hair?!"

Tenchi is about to say something when the tunnel violently
jerks downward. The maglev car they had been riding in 
jerks and then falls away into the empty vacuum of space.
All of them find themselves grabbing whatever handhold
they can and grabbing to it as tightly as possible.

On Ryoko's back, Kiyone is murmuring softly, "Tenchi....
Where are you, Tenchi?.... I'm scared, Tenchi.... I'm all
alone and I need your help... Tenchi...."

"Tenchi, help us!" Ryoko cries out.

"What can I do?! I'm in the same position that everyone
else is!" he responds, pressing Sasami tightly between
his body and the track. He finds himself thinking sourly
that at least he'll be able to introduce Kiyone to his 
mother in a few minutes. I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry
I failed you. I'm sorry, Kiyone....

And suddenly bright lights snap on in the tunnel. The roar
of the escaping atmosphere begins to cut off. Washu cranes
her head around to see what's going on and gasps. "They've
set up a force field curtain at the other end! We're 
saved!" Her words are made prophetic a moment later when
the blast doors rumble open and a hover platform floats
down, with a pair of medical technicians and a pair of 
hover gurneys on it.



Kiyone slowly feels consciousness returning to her. The 
last thing she remembered was being cradled in Tenchi's
arms... But she's not laying in Tenchi's arms now, and it's
not Tenchi's face she's seeing over hers. It's the kind 
face of an older-looking female nurse looking at her. 
"Well, I see our patient is awake," she says cheerily.

"W-w-w-wha-where's Tenchi? I need to see Tenchi!" are the
first words that come out of Kiyone's mouth. She 
immediately feels embarrassed, but the nurse smiles down
at her. "Your boyfriend is right here, Miss Kiyone."
A moment later, the nurse's face is replaced with that of 
Tenchi. He's looking down at her with a look of worry and
relief. He immediately smiles, broadly.

"Tenchi, you're alright!" She sits up in bed and throws
her arms around his neck. She sighs as she feels him gently
draw her close to him. "Thank goodness you're safe. I don't
know what I would have done if you had... " He can't finish
the sentence. She wraps her arms tighter around his neck.
"It's alright, I'm here now. You don't need to think about
such things..."

It quickly becomes evident that all their wonderful
new clothes are completely trashed. Ayeka, being the only
unrecognizable one who would be smart enough not to get the
wrong thing, is sent out with the last of their money and
charge cards. This also give Sasami a chance to finish
recovering. They had given her specific instructions
on their sizes and on what to bring back. Well, she got the
sizes right,...

"Oh, my! It's so pretty!" Mihoshi is holding up the 
light-blue kimono. Ayeka had thought that traditional
Japanese garb would make for better disguises. Kiyone is 
modeling her dark-green kimono for Tenchi. Privately,
it's not her favorite outfit--she likes less modest 
outfits, the more to show Tenchi--but if her Tenchi likes
it, it can't be all bad. "What do you think, Tenchi?"

Tenchi swallows hard. "It's, uh....great!" Privately,
he thinks it's a little too modest for her, but she does
look very good in it. He himself is in a white kimono 
(male-type--don't remember exact word; I think it's called
yukata) and while it's comfortable, he finds himself 
longing for jeans, a T-shirt, and a open button-down
shirt.

Washu is picking at her blood-red kimono, which is half a 
size too large for her. "I don't like this. It's too big!"

"Shut up, Washu!" snaps Ryoko, who is fiddling with the 
sash for her heather-gray kimono. "I think they're 
okay...."

Ayeka is helping Sasami into her blue and green kimono.
"Well, the least you all could do is say thank you!"

"Thank you, Ayeka," they all chorus in a not-quite-sincere
tone. They notice that Ayeka's kimono is almost identical
to her everyday one. Come to think of it, they all have a 
rather Juraish feel....But it's not worth pursuing at the
moment.

They step out of the sick bay--and run right into the 
manager! "Hey, where do you think you're going?! Come back
here!!"

"Is he for real?" ask Ryoko as they start running.

Tenchi nods in chagrin. "You saw what he did in the 
restaurant; you tell me."

The manager and his retinue of guards chase them throughout
ten of the eighteen levels on that saucer. Every time they
think they've lost him, he finds them, although they manage
to lose them for about forty-five minutes in theater number
four. (That's right, people, Nymphomaniac Warrior 
Princesses from Jurai! If you don't know what the first
word means, look it up!)

Tenchi and Kiyone don't see much of this movie, taking
this time in the dark to get a better feel for each other,
not unlike a majority of the other couples in the theater.

Ayeka, however, is turning the color of her hair. 
"I-I-I-I.... How did they know?!"

Sasami looks up at her sister in the dark. "Ayeka, what are
that man and woman doing?" Ayeka and Mihoshi quickly cover
Sasami's eyes.

Finally the lights come back on, and the people file out.
Ayeka looks around, looking for the rest of her group--
and finds Kiyone in Tenchi's lap, the two of them in an 
unoccupied seat and munching on popcorn. Tenchi fixes Ayeka
with a sideways look. "Exactly how accurate is that movie,
Ayeka?"

Before the princess can answer, the manager, still yelling,
bursts through the door. The seven of them get up and run.
Their chase takes them takes them to the Hilton on this 
saucer. They run up to the fifth floor, a scant two minutes
ahead of their pursuers.

Tenchi throws his hands up in despair. "These doors all 
need key codes! What are we going to do now?!"

"Allow me." Ryoko reaches through the door panel of room
523 and undoes the lock. She slides it open and pushes
everyone in, closing it just before the manager rushes
by.

Tenchi sighs in relief as he hears the foot steps pass by.
"That was close. Man, I'm exhausted...." He sits down on 
the bed and then falls backwards, rolling over. He reaches
out for a pillow, gets a handful of one, squeezes....

….and jerks his hand back in horror as he hears a female
voice moaning. He's even more scared when he hears the 
female voice say, "Kyo-shi, I'm trying to sleep..."

Horrified, Tenchi snaps on the light... and finds 
Kyo-shi....and Mitsuki....in bed with the two 
stewardesses.... and a bellboy!

Kyo-shi looks at Tenchi coyly. "Tenchi...I didn't know you
cared... "

"Kyoto, it's time for us to leave," Tenchi says firmly.
"You too, Mitsuki."

"But I'm still tired! Besides, it's nice and warm in here
with Miki and Kimi." She looks up at Tenchi hungrily.
"I could always make room for you, Tenchi...."

Tenchi steps back, gulping. "Uh, no thank you, Mitsuki."
He is immediately pulled back down to the floor by Kiyone.
"I think we’re gonna hafta lay low for a while, Tenchi."
She is smiling mischievously at him.

Sasami sticks her tongue out at them. "Remember, there’s
a little girl in here!"

Miki--who owns the breast that Tenchi had accidentally
grabbed--is trying to get back on top of Kyo-shi. "Come
on, Kyo-shi, let’s play some more....you said we could play
lonely cheerleader, remember?"

Kyo-shi sighs, and gently pushes Miki off of him/her.
"I’m sorry, darling, but Tenchi’s right. I--we--Mitsuki
and I--we have to go."

Tenchi is about to agree when they hear the angry shouting
of the manager just outside the door. The language he’s 
using would shock a sailor. He sighs. "Looks like we have
a little while to wait." He shakes his head. "I wonder
what Dad and Grandpa are up to...."

"Hey, what’s goin’ on?" demands the bellboy, miffed that
Kimi’s luscious body is rolling off of him. He looks at the
new arrivals in the room suspiciously. "Hey, I bet you guys
are in a lotta trouble!"

He starts to reach for the phone on the nightstand--and
is stopped by a surprisingly powerful punch from Miki, who
grimaces down at him. "He wasn’t that good anyway...."
She motions to Kimi, and they head into the bathroom
to clean off and dress.

Kyo-shi pulls a giggling Mitsuki back underneath the 
covers--with their clothing, of course. After about ten 
minutes of giggling and sighing, a fully-dressed
Mitsuki--in her now-dry Happy Burger uniform--crawls
out, and Kyoto in his male form is laying on the bed, 
looking satisfied. "Aaah....you’re very refreshing,
Mitsuki...." He pulls her on top of him again, and they 
start to kiss. Mihoshi and Ayeka cover Sasami’s eyes again.
Kiyone curls up against Tenchi. "Well, Tenchi, we finally
made it to that plush hotel...."

He sighs and nods. "Yeah, but the bed is taken."

"Tenchi!" she responds, feigning innocence.

"N-n-no, that’s not what I meant. All this being chased
throughout the station is making me tired. I want to go to
sleep."

Kiyone laughs and wraps her arms around him. "Let Auntie
Kiyone see if she remember any lullabies...."

"Where do you want to go, Mitsuki?" asks Kyoto, holding
Mitsuki close to him.

"Well, I...." She blushes. "It’s silly."

"No, no, I’m sure it’s not. Where would you like to go?"

"Well....I’d like to go to the Galaxy Police Academy and 
become a Galaxy Police officer. I grew up watching Hill 
Sector Blues, and reading the Detective Sergeant Friday
comics and novels and...." She stops, aware of everyone
else in the room looking at her. "I’m sorry. Like I said,
it’s silly...."

Kyoto gently turns her face up to look at his and he 
smiles. "No, of course it’s not. The Academy’s a little
out of our way, but a short detour shouldn’t be a 
problem...."

"Really?" She throws her arms back around him and starts
kissing him again. "Oh, Kyoto, you’re so wonderful,
all of you are so wonderful, thank you oh thank you...."

Tenchi gets up and wanders over to the desk in the room.
He finds a pad of hotel stationary and a pen, and then 
waves Kiyone over. He whispers something in her ear, and 
she nods enthusiastically, and the two of them set to 
writing a letter on the paper. When finished, they walk 
over to the bed and tap the large pile of sheets. Mitsuki
sticks her head out. "Huh?"

Tenchi offers her the folded note. "We have friends high
up in the Galaxy Police. Just give this to the Director
General at the Regional HQ at Jurai, and you’ll be in the
Academy."

"Thank you, Tenchi! Just stick it in the pocket of my 
blouse over there!" She disappears back under the covers.

Soon the stewardesses have emerged from the bathroom,
clothed (if you can call their skimpy outfits "clothes"),
and the now-naked-again Kyoto and Mitsuki rush into the 
bathroom to shower together. Washu has her laptop out, and
she’s figuring the distance from this station to Jurai.
"Hmmm....’bout forty parsecs, that’ll take us ‘bout ten 
hours...."

"From here to Jurai?" asks Kimi.

"That’s right," replies Tenchi. Now that the bed is empty,
he and Kiyone are stretched out on it. "When we leave,
we’re taking Mitsuki with us, and she asked us to drop her
off at Jurai."

Miki looks at her twin/lover. "Kimi, our ship’s next stop
is Jurai, right?"

Kimi nods. "We could take her there. True, we’re a cruise
ship, so we won’t get there for a few days, but...."

"You should ask her," insists Kiyone. "When she comes out,
of course...." As if to punctuate this, loud giggling
and cries of "Oh, Kyoto, yes!" come from the bathroom.

"If she comes out," quips Tenchi. "Now, Kiyone, don’t move.
You’re my pillow, right?"

She nods and presses his head against her breasts, sighing
as he makes himself comfortable.

Finally, Mitsuki and Kyoto step out of the bathroom,
dried off and dressed. Miki and Kimi propose their plan to
Mitsuki, and she agrees happily. "This will give me a good
chance to see the galaxy before going to the Academy."

Their original plight now forgotten, the entire group 
decides to head down to the hotel restaurant for a 
celebration. They step out of the elevator, into the 
lobby....and walk right into the manager and his goons.
"There they are! Get them!"

Kyoto turns to both stewardesses and gives each a quick
but deep kiss. "We gotta run. Meet us at docking lock 
Omega-145 in an hour." The two young ladies nod and 
disappear. Kyoto turns back to his friends--to see that 
they’ve already taken off without him. He starts running.
"Hey, wait for me!"

Tenchi groans as he runs, carrying Sasami on his back and
holding Kiyone’s hand in his. "I wish I hadn’t gotten up 
this morning...."

Ryoko floats up next to him and picks Sasami off his back.
"I’ll get Sasami. You concentrate on getting us out of 
here."

"I’ll handle that," pipes up Kyoto. Before anyone can stop
him he ducks into a dreary-looking shop and quickly 
reappears with two armfuls of monkish-looking
robes. He drags the group into a deserted alleyway and 
hands a robe to each one. "Here. They’ll think we’re monks
or something."

Ten minutes later, nine acolytes of the Order of St. Masaki
walk slowly but purposefully towards the Omega-loop
docking bays. They bump into the irate manager and his 
cronies, whose bellicose expressions are immediately
replaced by more reverent ones. The manager gets down on 
one knee and bows his head. "F-F-Father, m-m-m-my apologies
for--"

The lead monk places a gentle hand on the manager’s
head. "It is nothing, my son. Merely watch your step from
now on, for you never know when you may bump into one less
patient than I. Now, if you would be so kind as to allow
my brethren past...."

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, Father!" He shoots a meaningful glance at his
goons, and they quickly fall out of their way. The other
priests walk solemnly by as their leader invokes a blessing
upon the manager. "You are most penitent, my son, and the
Great One will forever smile upon you for your--"

The voice is suddenly cut off by a feminine voice calling
out, "Hurry up, Mitsuki!"

"'Mitsuki'?" The manager looks confused for a brief moment,
then abruptly stands and rips back the hood of the last 
priest behind the leader. "Mitsuki! What the hell are you
doing here?! Get back to work!"

"Run!" screams Kyoto, decking the manager. The rest of the
group starts running, and he picks up Mitsuki in his arms
and sprints after them. She is clutching him tightly.
"Thank you for saving me, Kyoto...." She leans over and 
kisses him on the cheek.

He smiles. "Anytime, sweetie. Hold on!" He puts on an 
incredible burst of speed, and the guards fall far behind.

In spite of the daring escape, however, the group is soon
cornered again in a dark alleyway. Tenchi still has the 
fighting staff he’d swiped from a guard so many hours ago,
and Kyoto has a light blade clutched in both hands. The 
guards are closing in on them, eager to spill blood--there
is one word to describe these guards: sadistic--when
the lead guard, a sergeant, feels a tap on his shoulder.

He quickly spins around to find himself face to face with
an older gentleman in the brown and gray suit of a Security
Police captain. "S-S-Sir!" He and the rest of the guards
snap to attention.

The captain nods curtly. "You have done well, Sergeant.
Go back to your duties. I’ll escort the prisoners to the 
station."

The sergeant and his colleagues are not the smartest
of fellows, so they quickly accept the illogical order.
"Yessir, Captain." The guards disappear, and the captain
steps closer to Tenchi and Kyoto. He is immediately
recognizable as Katsuhito.

Tenchi releases a ragged breath. "Grandpa! Are we glad to 
see you!" He suddenly remembers--"Dad! Grandpa, we’ve 
gotta--"

"It’s alright, Tenchi. I already got your father. He’s 
locked aboard Ryo-Ohki, safe and sound." He holds up a 
large silver briefcase. "I also found the parts."

"Let me see that!" Washu rushes forward and cracks open the
suitcase. "Yes...yes...yes...yes! These are the parts we 
need!"

"Does this mean we can go home now?" asks Mihoshi 
hopefully.

"Yes!" cries out Washu. "We can go home now!"

"We should probably get back to Chisako first...."
suggests Kyoto.

"How far away from the airlock are we?" asks Ryoko.

Tenchi checks the displays on the wall as they step back
out into the main corridor. "About two hundred meters that
way." He points down the left, and the group starts 
running.

As they near the airlock where Ryo-Ohki is docked--and
where Kimi and Miki are waiting patiently--they
suddenly see something else approaching them from the 
opposite direction: a golf cart, loaded down with bags of 
what can only be money, being driven by--

"Chi-Ohki!" they all cry out in terror.

Kyoto steps in front of the golf cart and stretches
out his hands, effectively braking the golf cart while 
Tenchi dashes forward to look in the front seat. "What the
heck is a money bag doing on the accelerator?" He lifts
it off, and the engine immediately dies.

Kyoto lifts Chi-Ohki up by the lapels of his vest. "What
the hell do you think you’re doing?!" he bellows at the fat
Ohki.

"Smelling your bad breath, right now," retorts the Ohki in
perfectly clear language. "C’mon, help me get all the money
out!"

Kyoto glares at his old friend and partner. "Not now! We 
need to get out of here, and you know what I mean."

Chi-Ohki sighs. "I hate doing this....oh well, hang onto
your asses!"

Kyoto turns to the rest of the group. "Get as close 
together as you all can." He then chucks Chi-Ohki into the
air. The giant Ohki starts to change and grow and 
transform....and presently they find themselves standing
on his bridge. Kyoto is sitting in the floating easy chair
in the center of the bridge. A holoscreen pops up, and they
find themselves staring at a giant hole where their docking
airlock used to be. Ryo-Ohki is floating alongside 
Chi-Ohki, meowing in confusion.

Kyoto winces as he looks at the damage. "I hope they don't
notice that.... " He turns to Miki and Kimi. "Now, which
ship is your ship?"

Miki points at a large, sliver, bird-like ship. "That one.
The one that says Funaho Starlines on both sides of the 
hull."

Kyoto nods. "Hold on, girls. You're going over now, and 
Mitsuki will be along in just a sec." He snaps his fingers,
and the two stewardesses disappear in a flash of jade 
light.

Mitsuki looks up at Kyoto. "Kyoto, I've been thinking.
I'm not sure I want to go. I think I want to stay with 
you."

Kyoto looks down at her tenderly and holds her close as he
dares. "I appreciate that, Mitsuki, and that sounds really
nice, but I think it's better for the both of us if you 
go." He puts up a finger to stop her protesting. "If you 
don't go with Kimi and Miki, you'll regret it. Maybe not 
today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, and you'll resent
me for taking you away from your chance." He sighs. "My 
lifestyle.... It's not stable. If you stay with me, I'll
fall in love with you, we'll marry, and one day I'll 
disappear like a summer's wind and both of us will hate me
for doing it. But I won't be able to stop myself. Mitsuki,
I care for you way too much to put you through something
like that. I don't want to have you hate me, and I don't
want you to become a widow left to raise a child alone."
He presses a small brown paper wrapped package into her 
hands. "Here, open this."

Mitsuki unties the ribbon and unfolds the paper, and finds
inside two small objects. "Kyoto, it's beautiful!"
She's holding up a tiny diamond stick pin that looks like
it cost at least ten-thousand Jurai.

Kyoto smiles. "When I bought that it cost me about 20,000
Jurai. But, that was a long time ago. I don't know what 
it's worth today. Hopefully, it'll be enough for you to 
find your dreams."

The other item is a small photograph of the two of them.
She is sitting perched in his lap with her arms around
his neck, and she's giggling while he's kissing her on the
cheek. "I had that made while you were asleep last night.
Keep it to remember me by."

"Can I please see the note I gave you, Mitsuki?" Tenchi
takes the note, adds a P.S. and hands it back to her. "Show
this to the Director General at Jurai, and you’ll be in the
Academy so fast you’ll think it’s a dream. Good luck."
He gives Mitsuki a quick hug, and she kisses him on the 
cheek. "Thank you, Tenchi."

She then turns back to Kyoto, tears streaming down her 
face. "Thank you, Kyoto. I'll never forget you." She leans
up and kisses him on the cheek. Then, she steps back and 
raises a hand in a farewell. She is still holding up her 
pose when the green light envelops her and she fades from
Chi-Ohki's bridge.

Kyoto fails to stifle a small sniffle, and then wipes the
tears from his eyes. He then says in a perfect 
impersonation of Humphrey Bogart, "Here's lookin' at you,
kid." After a moment, he is as composed as ever. "Chi-ohki,
bring Ryo-ohki and Nobuyuki aboard. It's time to go home."
A moment later, Ryo-ohki and Nobuyuki are sitting, looking
somewhat dazed, on the floor of Chi-ohki's bridge.

"Oh my God!" Tenchi suddenly cries out. When everyone
turns back to him, he blurts out, "We forgot Azaka and 
Kamidake's pizza!"

Everyone moans.

Sasami is the first to speak. "You mean we have to go back
there?!"

Tears are running down Kiyone's cheeks. "Oh no.... We're
going to have to go back to work!"

It's at this that Kyoto winks and spins on his heel. A 
second later, Kyoto is in the form of an attractive
brunette in a red, clingy microdress that says Pizza Heaven
on it. The "girl" has three red boxes perched atop her left
hand. "Did someone order three large pepperoni pizzas with
extra cheese?" She then winks at Tenchi and blows him a 
kiss. "They're free for you, big boy."

Tenchi is slowly inching behind Kiyone. "Uh-h-h-h,
thanks...."

The "pizza girl" suddenly straightens up and looks down at
a pair of hands being clamped on her breasts. Her face goes
slightly red and she exhales raggedly. "Oh, my, who's hands
are on my breasts?" She looks at Tenchi. "They can't be 
yours, Tenchi, although I wish they were.... "

Kiyone has literally wrapped herself around Tenchi, to keep
him from going anywhere. Now she's staring at the "pizza
girl" in horror. "Kyoto, what are you doing?"

The "pizza girl" grunts in pain as the fingers start to 
pinch her bosom. "That's starting to hurt now!" She tosses
the pizzas up in the air, spins around, slaps Nobuyuki
hard, and spins back around just in time to catch the 
pizzas. "Only Tenchi can touch me there." "Kyoto, could
you please stop! This is getting a little out of hand."
Tenchi is almost frantic by this point.

The "pizza girl" sighs. "If you're sure that's what you 
want, Tenchi..." There's a sudden flash of light, and the
pizza girl is replaced by Kyoto, although the pizzas are 
still there.

Nobuyuki is embedded into one of Chi-ohki's walls, sizzling
from the energy expelled when Kyoto changed forms. "Ohhh...
It hurts..."

"Well, you always get what you deserved in the end... And
judging by the amount smoke coming off of yours, I'd say 
that it's going to ignite in the next few seconds..."
Before Nobuyuki can say anything else, Kyoto yells, 
"Chi-ohki, full speed back to Chisako. We've got some parts
to install."



* * *



In her office aboard the Regional Headquarters station
in Jurai orbit, Director General Kiyone of the Galaxy 
Police is reading a confidential letter from her old 
friend, Crown Princess Ryoko of the Jurai Royal Family.
Unlike normal mail, it is not electronic, but on actual
paper. For the tree-loving Jurai Royal Family to use paper
signals the very importance of its contents. And, Kiyone
thinks, this is quite important:



Dear Kiyone,



I cannot thank you enough for approving my darling 
Nobuyuki's appointment to the Palace as the GP/Jurai
Royal Family liaison. However, there is something more I 
must ask of you. Kyoto hates him. The fact that Nobuyuki
and I were only lovers for a short time, and that before
he married me, makes no difference. He knows--as do you,
Tenchi, and Mihoshi--that my heart never belonged to him,
but to the man sitting in the Palace's liaison office.

We've talked, you know. And--he still loves me. That makes
me so very happy--but I fear for him more each day. And 
there are only two steps I can take towards defusing
Kyoto as a threat. The first is what I do now--namely,
asking you and Tenchi to assign a half-dozen of your best
undercover operatives to the Palace, to make sure that 
nothing happens to him until I can put the other step in 
motion. Yes, I know you know what it is. And I know that
it has been a thousand years since a princess of Jurai has
successfully divorced her prince. But I have no 
alternative. Mother grows weaker and weaker each day, and
the doctors are still unable to pinpoint the cause. I 
believe Kyoto has something to do with it, but I can't 
prove it. And I fear for the Galaxy if he should take the
throne. He is so power-hungry, and he's not too fond of the
three of you, either. If it were up to him, there would
be no GP or GF, and Jurai would run the entire universe.
Please do what you can to keep my Nobuyuki safe--and
if you can talk Tenchi into it, please "liquidate"
my husband. Not just for my sake, but for that of the 
cosmos.

And please, above all else, take care of little Sasami.
I watch her grow up each day, longing to take her in my 
arms and hear her call me "mommy" instead of "Auntie 
Ryoko." Oh, how I long for the chance to tell her that her
mommy really is still alive. My thanks to you, and my love
to you, Tenchi and your children.



In friendship,

Ryoko.





Tenchi comes up behind her and starts rubbing her 
shoulders. Kiyone sighs in pleasure, then swivels her chair
to face her husband. "You’ve also read the letter?"

The chief of the F.I.I.A. nods. "Yes, I have. I’m already
assembling a team of agents to infiltrate the Palace and 
watch over Nobuyuki."

Kiyone nods in approval. "Who’s in charge?"

"Takeshi and Kumi." Those two were a husband-and-wife
pair of agents who bore an incredible resemblance
to Tenchi and Kiyone, and were two of Tenchi’s most skilled
agents.

"What about....the other item?" his wife asks tentatively.

Tenchi shakes his head. "Only as a last resort. I agree
that he is a potential threat--probably the worst potential
threat we face at the moment--but there’s not much I can do
legally until he starts acting up. If he does ascend to the
throne, I may sanction him, but not before."

Kiyone nods and is about to speak when the pager light on 
her comm terminal starts blinking. She hits the answer
key. "Yes?"

Her secretary, a young detective first class, answers.
"DirGen--I mean, Director General Kiyone, you have a 
visitor. A young lady."

"Well, send her in." Kiyone has a look of confusion
on her face, then smiles mischievously up at Tenchi. 
"Tenchi, did you send this girl up? You know I haven’t
done anything like that in almost six weeks...."

Tenchi shakes his head. "Not that I can recall...."
He stops speaking as the young lady, a fetching young 
redhead in the skimpy clothing of a starline stewardess
under a slightly oversized cloak, enters the room. Her face
lights up as she sees the other two people in the room.
"Tenchi! Kiyone!" She rushes up and hugs Tenchi, rubbing
his face against her breasts, then hugs Kiyone. "This is so
cool! Why didn’t you just tell me who you were?"

Before the two law enforcement executives can respond,
Mitsuki suddenly remembers something. "Oh, yeah, Tenchi,
you told me to give this to Kiyone, and here it is!" She 
places the letter Tenchi and Kiyone had given her on 
Kiyone’s desk. Kiyone picks it up gently and slowly opens
it.



Dear Tenchi and Kiyone,



We know you’ll be somewhat surprised by this girl’s 
appearance, and we’re sorry, but we need just one last 
favor. Her name is Mitsuki, and she’s a friend of ours.
When we went to visit the space station Akiko to look for
parts, she helped us escape from the tyrant running that
station. She wants to be an officer in the Galaxy Police,
and we think she has the aptitude for it. Please look after
her for us. Thank you, and Mihoshi and Ryoko and Washu,
for everything.

In thanks and friendship,



Tenchi and Kiyone



P.S. Oh, and by the way, tell Captain Nobuyuki his tip paid
off. We found the parts we were looking for, and we’re on 
our way home now. All of you--with the exception of Prince
Kyoto--have been so nice to us, and we won’t forget.



Kiyone reads the note twice, then hands it to Tenchi,
who reads it and nods. Kiyone then smiles at Mitsuki.
"All right, Mitsuki, you’ve convinced us. How would you 
like to go to the Galaxy Police Academy and become a 
detective?"



The End





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