Quote:Bob Schroeck wrote:
So far more great stuff. A couple little nits to pick, though...Quote:I've always had suspicions about my marshal aptitude.That's your ability to be a sheriff in the Old West. You mean "martial aptitude".Quote:Just give Tenchi and I a few minutes to pack everything in"Tenchi
and me". Rule of thumb -- if you've got a pronoun in a compound
subject or object you're not sure of, take it apart into two sentences:
"Just give Tenchi a few minutes" + "Just give I a few minutes". If the
pronoun sounds wrong there, it's wrong in the compound, too.Quote:They grow in alkali, nutrient-poor soil"Alkaline" - you want the adjective here, and a few sentences later.
Quote:robkelk wrote:All noted in the fix-list. Thanks much, guys.
And one more ...Quote:“Right. It also helps that she knew how to lay down the diplomacy when she needed to reign one of their children in.”While she's royalty, she doesn't reign yet; her father's still in charge. I believe you want "rein in" here.
Quote:ClassicDrogn wrote:Sorry CD. Would love to, but there are no alien princesses in San Antonio that I know of... especially ones that need saving. I just have to suffice with writing about saving alien space princesses.
Protagonist.
Type. Bastard. Go rescue an alien girlfriend or something, so you're
too busy to keep making the rest of us look bad.
Quote:ClassicDrogn wrote:Yeah, Blue Bonnets take a bit of effort to get going, and even then they'll only thrive in harsh conditions like you find here in Texas. I doubt they would have those conditions on Jyurai - the abundance of water in the soil would actually stymie their growth and make their proliferation in doubt (you never see Blue Bonnets at the bottom of a hill - only at the top and the slopes). Though there have been success stories of growing Blue Bonnets in places other than Texas, there's been no word of them growing out of control or turning invasive.
Sort of a transition chapter feel to this one, though meeting Funaho is
of course an important milestone. I did notice one technical problem -
"marshal ability" should be "martial." I'd worry about introducing
foreign species to Jurai, but all things considered their trees can
probably take care of themselves against mundane Earth plants,
particularly one that's not all that prolific in spreading itself.
Quote:ClassicDrogn wrote:I originally had it that way, actually, and then I found that that bit fit very well into the time skip. That, and it felt redundant to rehash the fact that Garrick has a thing for swordsmanship. Oh well, I'll see what I can do to fix that...
It might do to turn the narration about your SI's talent at swords into
an actual scene, to break up the slower paced slice of life stuff, but
not strictly necessary at this stage. Putting in some kind of action
soon is probably a good idea, though.
And so, here we are! Garrick's feeling better now, and it's about time for everyone to experience Hyper-Garrick!
IT'S FUN TIME!
It was a day like
any other.
Springtime.
Crisp.
Cool.
Green.
New.
The chill of winter
still held the land in a stranglehold, but the light of the sun and
the will of the plants would not be thwarted. The seasons would
turn, as inevitable as time itself.
In short, it was
Sunday and Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi all had to wear their winter-weight
clothing.
It was a rare thing
for the Princesses. Jyurai enjoyed a perpetual temperate climate not
broken by seasonal shifts... or rather, they had seasonal shifts,
just nothing as drastic as Earth's. Fortunately, Ayeka and Sasami
were no strangers to travel, and when they had left Jyurai they
packed an assortment of clothing for different climates.
Still, it was a
novelty for them to be able to enjoy the full range of their
wardrobes over the course of the year. Therefore, when they showed
up at the shrine they were decked out in the nicest winter clothing I
have ever seen.
Of course, I didn't
get to notice right away. I had my hands full in dealing with Yosho.
“C'mon old
timer,” I jeered cheerfully amid a flurry of thrusts and parries.
“Don't tell me that's all you go-YIPE!”
“Watch yourself,
boy,” said Yosho with a grin.
“Only a boy to
you!” I fired back. “And don't encourage my Peter Pan complex.”
“I don't need to.
You encourage it yourself.”
“Oh my, so
energetic!” came Ayeka's voice.
“Gar-nii-san
looks good,” added Sasami.
“Go for it,
Onii-chan!” called out Mihoshi.
“I hope they stop
soon,” said Tenchi a little worriedly. “I think Grandpa's having
a little too much fun.”
“DON'T TEMPT ME!”
I yelled. “I SWEAR I'LL TAKE THIS INTO THE TREETOPS!” Free
running meets swordplay. Where are your ninja now?
That actually made
Yosho pause. “We'll stop here for now. I was getting hungry
anyhow.”
“Darn,” I
cursed half-heartedly with a smile. If I didn't know any better I'd
swear there were times that I made Yosho, for all his centuries, feel
at least a little out of his depth.
“Oh don't be so
put out, Brother,” said Ayeka with a grin. “We brought food.”
“Ah, thanks! I
could definitely do food right now. By the way, where's Ryoko?
She's not one to miss out on something like this.”
“She mentioned
something about extra time needed to prepare,” Sasami put in. “But
I can't imagine what she might be up to.”
Tenchi smiled. “I
wouldn't worry about it. Ryoko is Ryoko. She'll be fine.” We all
set out the food and began our impromptu picnic.
“I hope that you
all enjoy this,” said Ayeka with uncharacteristic shyness. “I...
did make this all myself.”
Tenchi and Yosho
both went white as sheets. I looked a question at Sasami, though,
and she nodded smiling.
“She's right,”
Sasami confirmed for us. “I just supervised her.”
“Ah. In that
case, I say we all dig in. It's got Sasami-chan's stamp of
approval.” With that, everyone loaded up so quickly that I had to
keep myself from laughing. Shaking my head, and went in to get my
own before it all disappeared.
I sat next to
Sasami and whispered, “Did Ayeka-imouto really make all this?”
Sasami nodded
vigorously. “Nee-san really did work very hard today. But then, I
had to work really hard to to make sure she didn't mess up. Still, I
think we can count this as a victory.” And with that, she happily
stuffed a piece of Sashimi in her mouth and chewed happily.
I smiled. “Wonder
of all wonders.”
“Hey! Is this a
private party, or can anyone just crash it?”
“Oooh that
voice!” said Ayeka angrily as she whipped around, glowering at
Ryoko. “Boors are strictly prohibited at Royal Family functions.”
She then smiled. “However, if one can show themselves to be a
person of sophistication and class, that may be another matter. It
also doesn't hurt if you bring something for the buffet.”
“Is that so?”
said Ryoko with a grin. “Then allow me to make up for my entrance
with a grand presentation!” She then closed her eyes and spread
her arms wide, intoning, “Oh great one of the depths, come forth!”
And just like that,
a massive tuna appeared from Ryoko's subspace pocket.
“WHOAH!” I
found myself saying – even though I had a feeling this event was
coming anyhow, it still didn't prepare me for how big that fish was.
“That's gonna be a lot of leftovers.”
Ayeka, however,
simply smiled and said, “We have yet to be impressed yet, Miss
Ryoko.”
Ryoko grinned back.
“Alright then. Let the barbeque begin!” Electricity crackled
and arced through the air as Ryoko bent the atmospheric ionization to
her will, generating a wicked static electrical imbalance that could
only resolve itself one way... and Ryoko had the tuna interposed in
the space that energy wanted to go through.
It was a light and
sound show I would not soon forget. However, I didn't let it
distract me from the more important thing.
“Ryoko!” I
called out loud. “Incoming attack! Put the fish away!”
At first she was
confused, but then Ryo-Ohki snarled angrily, startling Sasami into
worry, and Mihoshi's own early-warning system went off, much to her
confusion. Ryoko's eyes went wide in shock as she put two-and-two
together, and she hurriedly slipped the massive electro-roasted tuna
back into her subspace pocket. And not a moment too soon when the
massive beam of energy blasted through right where the fish had been
and impacted not too far away.
“Garrick!”
snapped out Ryoko. “What in the hell is going on!?”
Tenchi shushed her
before I could answer. “Someone's coming!”
Lo and behold, she
came, not striding, but floating over the crater she'd made and over
towards us, accompanied by her own amused laughter. And while
everyone stopped dead in their tracks, shocked at what they were
seeing and hearing, I stepped up to the front.
“I've been
looking for you,” she said in Ryoko's voice, but a different
inflection. In fact, she looked just like Ryoko, except for the odd
markings on her cheeks. She also wore some weird one-piece suit with
the shoulder-pads from hell. “So, you're the one! You did in
Kagato, didn't you?”
Before anyone could
say something, I put my hand to my heart and went on dramatically,
“I'm flattered, cutey, really I am. But that's just not me.
However, if you're willing to play the question-for-answer game, I'm
perfectly willing to tell you everything.”
“HEEEEHHHH!?”
yelled everyone behind me.
“Are you
insane!?” cried out Ryoko.
I cast a
devil-may-care look back at our Ryoko over my shoulder. I then
called out in my best TV-Man voice, “Popular opinion on that matter
still needs to be tabulated. Current polling points to 'Yes',” and
there I snapped my fingers smartly and continued, “however, we'll
need to get back to you when the final tally is in. Back to you,
Gar-kun.”
Let me tell you,
getting that sort level of shock and confusion out of Ryoko is so.
Fucking. Satisfying. I swear I was wearing a shit-eating grin for
weeks after that.
Turning back to
Ryoko 2.0, I went on, “So, anyhow, shall I start or do you want the
honors?”
“What the hell
was that!?” snapped Other Ryoko.
Oh man, this was so
epic. I won't quit smiling for weeks.
“That was me
fucking with everybody's heads. C'mon! Give me a tough one next
time. My turn anyhow! You're name is Minagi, right?”
“How the hell did
you know that!?” Damn, she was playing along and not even
realizing it!
“I'll take that
as a 'yes'!” I beamed. “As for your answer...” I then adopted
a posture of mock solemnity with my hand placed reverently over my
chest. “I bear the terrible burdens of being an interdimensional
traveler. Such is my knowledge that if I am not careful I can
DESTROY THE UNIVERSE!” It's no wonder my eyes are brown. Whenever
the mood strikes my fancy, I'm always just so full of it. “MY
TURN! Does your mother know you go around wearing such scandalous
things?”
“THIS IS MY
BATTLE ARMOR! And I don't have a mother!”
“The hell you
don't! Ryoko over there's got a mother, much to her chagrin, and you
two look exactly alike! Even with the universe being as big as it
is, that's a pretty damn small coincidence. But just to be safe!”
I slapped my C-pod and brought up the communication app with a few
flamboyant taps. “Washu-chan! Get your cute little 20,000 year
old tush over here! Got something only you can settle and it needs
to be settled ASAP. Code Pond Strider.”
“WOO-HOO! Why
didn't you say so sooner!”
came Washu's voice tinnily over the C-Pod. My grin began to take on
dangerous proportions. I could tell by the frightened looks people
were giving me. Except for Sasami. She looked like she wanted to
laugh so badly but didn't want to break the effect I was having.
Code Pond Strider, by the way, was something Washu and I had come up
with. If I ever remembered something IMPORTANT and it was happening
RIGHT NOW, then I'd call in a Code Pond Strider and shit would get
real.
As for Washu, she quit faffing around with whatever she was doing and
opened a gateway to get directly here.
“Heya
Gar-kun, what's goi-” and then she caught sight of Minagi and
completely spazzed out. “GYAUGH! The hell!? I think I should
have recalled that!” Everyone behind us facevaulted, Sasami
included. The little imp did
know where babies came from, after all.
I leaned down and stage whispered to Washu in a conspiratorial
fashion. “Why, Washu-chan... You did say you used one of your ovum
to create Ryoko. You now make me wonder how you went about it.”
“That's not
important right now Garrick!!!” Washu yelled in by ear, giving it a
good tug for emphasis. That in exchange for trolling Washu-chan?
So. Fucking. Worth it. Lady Seto will be so pleased to hear it.
She then huffed and composed herself, saying, “Alright, missy.
Tell me right now who created you.”
“I think I've
answered enough questions!” said Minagi irately.
“Not by a
longshot, Minagi,” I said, now taking a gentler, but still
delightedly chiding tone with her. “You see, there's so much we'd
like to know about you. Granted, I can understand the interest in
Tenchi-kun. He's a swell guy and all despite having the balls to
take on Kagato and win.”
Minagi blinked,
then looked to Tenchi. “It was you?”
Tenchi just
chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head while everyone
else began to edge away from him.
Minagi then turned
back to me. “You're lying,” she accused. “I bet it was you
instead!”
I laughed.
“Flattery will get you everywhere with me, but unfortunately,
Minagi, that just ain't the truth. Check your scans of me! I'm just
a human with no special powers aside from a fuckton of health points
and a very odd collection of skills. I don't have anything that
would let me take on Kagato head on and win like Tenchi-kun did.”
“Oh no! I'm not
gonna let your slippery tongue make a fool out of me! I'm taking you
with me back to my master and none of you had better stop me!”
“Over my dead
body!” snarled Ryoko as she suddenly interposed herself between us.
Minagi smiled. “I
can make that a reality if you want me to.”
“THAT'S ENOUGH!”
I snapped, my voice cracking like a gunshot. Ryoko and Minagi both
looked at me, surprise written on both their faces in differing
shades – bewilderment on Ryoko's and annoyance with Minagi.
It's amazing how
quickly the situation can change, as well as how quickly we can shift
gears to cope.
I leveled a sober
glare at Minagi. “Minagi, would you assure my safety and
well-being while in your care?”
She smiled. “Oh!
So you're willing to come peacefully, eh? Well, what if I were to
test you right here and right now?”
I shrugged. “You'd
probably kill me because I'm not your man. Tenchi is the only one
that can activate the true Lightning Eagle Blade that was used to
kill Kagato.”
“And how do I
know you're telling the truth?” said Minagi darkly as she activated
an energy blade. It was very much like Ryoko's, except Minagi's had
a hilt.
“Tenchi,” I
called out without turning. “Do it.”
“What!?” cried
out the teen-age boy. “What are you talking about?”
“Teeennnchhiii,”
I called out again, this time stressing my voice. “She is not
fucking around anymore. And neither should you, because if you
don't, I'm dead, and the girls are all gonna be extremely unhappy
about that.” I could almost see the expectant looks everyone was
giving Tenchi right at that moment.
“God Dammit!”
snarled Tenchi suddenly. “Why did you have to put me on the spot
like that, Garrick!?”
“Tenchi, knock it
off and man-up!” I snapped, this time turning to glare at the young
man – I didn't care if Minagi was still their with her blade at the
ready. I knew that she wouldn't attack an unarmed opponent, let
alone one with their back turned. “Don't you dare tell me you
expect me to wave a magic wand and make all this unpleasantness
disappear, because for all my foreknowledge, I can't do that. And I
would if I could, Tenchi, but unfortunately life just isn't fair.
But you should know that already... No one your age... should have
to kill a another man... no matter how evil he's become...
“But life's just
not fair.”
The look on
Tenchi's face was almost indescribable. There was terror there, and
confusion, revulsion, and trepidation. There was the dawning
realization that no matter how much Tenchi wanted it to be otherwise,
he could no longer afford to be just a normal Japanese boy. I then
turned and glared at Minagi, saying, as though challenging her
personally,
“And I know that
better than anyone else here.”
Minagi's resolve
faltered. “Who are you?” she asked slowly. I held my glare for
a moment, giving the answer some thought.
“You want to know
who I am? I'll tell you. I'm the poor piece of shit that someone
didn't want in their Universe enough to complain when I got yanked
out by someone else. Hell, for all I know the landlord himself
probably threw me out and I just got picked out of the garbage by
some other random omnipotent being.
“I had a family
that fell apart, an education that went no where, and a job that
couldn't be bothered to give a shit because the economy was fucked to
hell.
“But now I'm
here. I got a new name, a new family, and a whole new education. I
dunno about the job yet, but Bad-Ass Motherfucker of the Universe In
Training has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
“The name's
Garrick Grimm, and if you think that killing me is gonna be easy...
well, you might be right, but my new family won't make it easy for
you.
“Killing Kagato
was just the tip of the iceberg. Don't push these people too far,
Minagi.”
We all fell silent
at that as we stared each other down. Suddenly, Yosho went to Tenchi
and handed over the Tenchi-ken.
“Garrick has done
what he can,” said the old man. “Now it is your turn.”
The young man
looked to Yosho and finally his expression softened, then shifted
into one of resolution as he nodded, accepting the Master Key.
“Let's give these
two some room to work with here,” I said as I backed away. The
others followed my lead, but as we did so, Ayeka whispered to me.
“Brother, are you
certain that Lord Tenchi will prevail?”
“As long as he
quits screwing around and takes this seriously, then he'll be fine.
But believe me, I understand why you're worried.”
“Ah, yes,”
sighed Ayeka. “He is so...”
“Boneheaded,” I
finished for her.
Ayeka gave me a
dirty look. “I wouldn't have quite put it that way, but yes.”
I smiled at her
warmly. “We'll talk about it later, Ayeka-imouto. These two are
about to start.”
And start they did,
with Minagi charging at Tenchi, her movements were swift, graceful,
and economical with god only knows how many centuries of training and
experience.
Tenchi, being
taught by a man that had centuries of experience himself, reacted and
interposed his blade cleanly against Minagi's.
Minagi then smiled
as she all but leered at Tenchi. “And yet... the power of the
Lightning Eagle Sword that my Master seeks should be much more
powerful than this!”
“What the!?”
cried Tenchi, nearly flinching.
I had to stop Ryoko
and Ayeka with my hands on their shoulders.
“Don't! He's
gotta figure this out on his own or else he'll never be able to
summon it when he needs it.”
“But Brother!”
cried out Ayeka. “Tenchi is going to-”
“Be just fine,”
said Yosho, steadying his sister.
“Big Brother?”
whispered Ayeka.
“Garrick is
right,” Yosho intoned as he watched the fight intently. “Tenchi
needs to learn how to fight for himself.... but he'd better learn
quick!”
I watched as well
and I was quick to notice something. Minagi wasn't really fighting
Tenchi with everything she had. It was all too pat, too easy for
her... In fact, it seemed like she was fighting Tenchi much how
Yosho would when he wanted to assess Tenchi's skills!
It happened so
quickly that I barely caught it – a sudden shift in Minagi's face
from determined to displeased – and then a brutal and harsh blow
that sent Tenchi flying until he hit the trunk of a nearby tree.
“BROTHER!” I
cried out as I sprinted to his prone form. Being so quick on my
feet, I got to him before anyone else. But I barely had time to even
see if he was breathing still.
“I've had enough
of this farce,” snarled Minagi. “Now I fight you, Garrick
Grimm.”
“GARRICK!
CATCH!” shouted Yosho. I looked just in time to snatch something
long, slender and brown out of the air, and then use it to parry
Minagi's strike against me.
As Minagi contnued
to batter me, I dimly recognized that I had a bokuto – a Japanese
wooden sword – in my hands. While made of mere wood, they were
still quite dangerous – Miyamoto Musashi killed many men using the
wooden weapons.
What was more,
there was something familiar about the weapon – a strange sense
that there was someone standing over my shoulder, protectively
watching over me.
I didn't really
have time to think about it, though, because Minagi was wailing away
at me – fully intent on smearing me worse than what she did with
Tenchi.
“Why are you
holding back!?” she screamed. “Fight me!”
“CRAZY WOMAN!”
I snapped back between blows, being driven back with each strike. “I
CAN'T!” I suddenly lost my footing and spilled over onto my back.
“Then you'll
die,” Minagi intoned as she then began to wind up for one massive
strike – I could actually feel the hairs on my neck standing on
end!
Oh man, this is
going to HURT.
“Leave my Brother
ALONE!” came a voice...
And suddenly Tenchi
– in his Lighthawk Armor plowed through Minagi, smashing her into
the earth with his Lighthawk Shield.
“Are you
alright!?” asked Tenchi frantically, the immediate threat handled.
“Yeah, just a bit
shaken,” I replied as I got back up again. “Fortunately,
Washu-chan's upgrades work, otherwise I would have folded like a wet
cardboard box with the first blow.”
I went over and
inspected the Minagi-shaped hole in the ground, then looked back over
to everyone else.
“I think we're
good here,” I called back to them.
With that, Yosho,
followed by the others began to approach. As they did, I finally
took a moment to look at the bokuto in detail. It resembled the
Tenchi-ken, but not as elaborate, and there was still that odd sense
I was getting from the wooden weapon – a strange feeling of warmth
and comfort.
“Yosho, what is
this?” I asked my adoptive older brother.
Yosho smiled.
“Every now and then a branch will fall from Funaho. When it does,
I usually set it aside to make use of it later – they are her gifts
to me, after all. This bokuto I carved from one of her branches. I
was originally going to give it to Tenchi-kun once he was ready for
it... but instead he wound up finding the Master Key. So, I suppose
that you can use it instead.”
“Thank you, elder
brother. It really saved my ass.”
Yosho nodded, then
went on, “Of course, you do know that this means I'll be stepping
up your and Tenchi's training.”
I scoffed softly
and gave Yosho a sidelong look. “I would have never have guess,”
I said lightly. Yosho chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. In
the meantime, Ryoko had begun an effort to try and extract Minagi
from her hole while everyone else stood by watching.
I sidled up next to
Washu. “Take a note, Washu-chan. Temporal momentum is definitely
in effect here.”
“Oh? How so?”
“In the time-line
from the mangas I read? Ryoko was the one to originally do that to
Minagi... and afterwards she had amnesia. I'd bet all my booze that
she's not gonna remember anything but her name for a while after
this.”
“I see. So there
are limits to exactly how much you can change.”
I shrugged. “We've
already seen that I can make changes. I mean, look at the girls.
They don't really fight anymore, and when they do it's all just for
laughs.”
“I'm still amazed
at how well you handled that,” said Washu with genuine
appreciation.
I scoffed at that.
“You try being the oldest out of seven Type-A personalities.”
Washu snorted
bemusedly. “I don't know why I keep forgetting about that.”
Washu got the hairy
eyeball from me in return. “Probably the same reason you keep
forgetting about taking Mihoshi into account.”
And with that,
Washu face-vaulted. I just laughed softly and went to help Ryoko
pull out Minagi.
“Need a hand?”
I asked as I approached.
“Sure,” replied
Ryoko. “Get her other arm. She's stuck pretty good.”
Ryoko is a few
inches taller than Tenchi – which puts her at about my height. And
Minagi was, more or less, Ryoko's twin. So, when Ryoko and I tugged
the unconscious woman loose from the Earth and Ryoko let her go,
Minagi sagged against me just so that it felt like a lovers embrace.
I shot a querying
look at Ryoko. She just smiled smugly... as did Ayeka as she came
over and exchanged a fist-bump with Ryoko – something they had
picked up from me my first month here – and Sasami suddenly popped
up between them with a camera.
CLICK!
I barely contained
an explosion of laughter as I figured out that I had just been had by
The Pirate and The Princess!
Those adorable little imps! I loved them like the meddling little
sisters they were.
Minagi picked that moment to start coming around as she stirred in my
arms.
“Ah... huh?” she said as she blinked blearily. “Where am I?”
“You're on the Masaki Estate in Japan on the planet Earth – third
planet from a main-sequence yellow star in the Sagittarius arm. Easy
there. You took quite a knock back there. My little brother doesn't
know his strength all that well.”
Ryoko, I should note, has very pretty eyes when she permits herself
to be seen that way. Minagi, of course, had the same eyes... but
hers had a certain quality that Ryoko lacked... or rather, that Ryoko
didn't permit to show through very often.
As she locked her eyes on me I could not help but notice that fact...
and she in turn slowly turned bright red.
Ayeka and Ryoko were positively dying from asphyxiation and Sasami
looked absolutely pleased.
I shook my head at the two and then looked to Minagi. “Can you
stand?”
She nodded her head, her eyes still locked on me. I carefully
steadied Minagi and she stood without any problems.
“There! You don't seem to be any worse for wear. So, now that
you've tested your blade against Tenchi's maybe you can tell us what
this is all about, eh?”
“Uhm,” said Minagi nervously.
“Well, go on,” I encouraged her. “We're all reasonably nice
people... though I might have to beat back Ryoko with a stick.”
“Hey!” Ryoko replied sharply from the sidelines.
“Uhm... well...” Minagi started, pushing her index finger-tips
together nervously. “I... was hoping you could tell me what I'm
doing here.”
Ryoko blasted off into LEO in sheer shock, knocking Tenchi flat on
his ass while doing so, and Ayeka face vaulted. Sasami and Ryo-Ohki
smiled nervously, a little unsure of how to handle this revelation
and Mihoshi was her usual clueless self.
Washu simply raised an eyebrow. “Innnteerrrressstinnngg.”
I just smiled and shook my head.
Good times. Good times indeed.
“Her name is
Minagi,” I began, now seated at the table with everyone else
staring at me intently. Minagi herself was confined to Ayeka and
Sasami's room. “I don't know about her last name, but I do know
that her creator, who she thinks of as a father, is a Jyuraian named
Yakage.”
“Ah,” said
Washu brightly. “I thought I recognized his handiwork.”
“You know him?”
asked Tenchi.
Washu nodded. “He
was an assistant of mine back when I worked with Kagato. He's a
master swordsmith – that was his research topic: creating the
greatest sword in the universe. In fact, information in his thesis
went into making Ryoko's sword.”
“So does he know
me as well?” asked Ryoko.
“Yup!” answered
Washu. “He was actually involved with your creation, Ryoko.”
“Does that mean
you created Minagi too, Washu?” asked Sasami – the only person
present allowed to not add the chan suffix.
“I didn't know
about Minagi,” replied Washu thoughtfully as she bit into a
manju-bun. “But I do have a theory! I suspect that he stole a bit
of Ryoko's DNA when we were in the early stages. A bright lad,
though a bit too bright perhaps.”
“OH!” cried out
Mihoshi as she put two-and-two together. “I get it! That means
Ryoko and Minagi are sisters!”
“Half-sisters,”
I put in.
“Eh?” everyone
said as they looked to me.
“It's a little
more like the relationship between Yosho and Ayeka and Sasami. They
share the same father, but have different mothers. But usually such
families don't really recognize the distinction... though I think
Ryoko might.”
“Whatever!”
grumbled Ryoko. “It still doesn't explain anything.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Ryoko, haven't you been paying attention? Yakagi makes swords and
wants to make the greatest one in the universe. Supposedly the one
at the top spot now is Tenchi's.”
“That's not what
I meant!” snapped Ryoko. “I mean, why would he create a clone of
me anyhow?”
“Ah,” I sighed.
“That. Well, Ryoko, thing is that Yakage used his own DNA as well
when he created Minagi. You see, she is not only Washu-chan's
daughter, but his as well.”
Ryoko was aghast.
“But... why would he do that!?”
“Ryoko... if you
want the answer to that question, then you need to go look at
yourself in the mirror, long and hard, and ask yourself this
question: Why do I want to bear Tenchi's children?”
To everyone's
astonishment, Ryoko turned bright red, and then disappeared as she
teleported.
Washu cackled
wickedly. “DAYUM Gar-kun! That was good!”
“Thank you, thank
you!” I said as I performed the entertainer's bow to all sides of
the table. “I'll be here all week! Try the Miso – it's divine!
But at any rate, Yakage isn't going to be content in waiting for
Minagi to report back. He doesn't have much time left.”
“Why's that?”
asked Washu.
“He's been
cloning himself to extend his life-span. Unfortunately, he seems to
have lost his original DNA pattern somewhere along the way because
now his successive cloning is degrading at an increasingly rapid
rate. Even with advance care, I'd say he's got a month or two.
Tops.”
Washu sighed. “And
of course, knowing him he's pushing himself to the limit. So you can
take those two months and make it a week instead. This isn't good.”
“Nope,” I
chirped. “Somehow we gotta figure out a way to get him to cool his
jets a bit. Maybe a few choice words about how you've been trying to
work out where Tenchi's power comes from?”
Washu sighed.
“That might get him to slow
down and rethink his approach to the situation. Unfortunately, if
he's still the man I knew back then – and he most likely is judging
from what I've seen and heard so far – then he's gonna want to rush
out and put his hypothesis to the test right away.”
“And that being can his latest creation beat out Tenchi's
Light-Hawk Sword.”
“Indeed,” sighed Washu.
“Well, forewarned is forearmed,” said Tenchi. “We'll just deal
with it as it comes.”
Yosho nodded. “Indeed. I don't think we'll get any further just
talking about it. Dinner will be ready soon regardless.”
...Aaaaaaand CUT!
That's it for now. My buffer is all used up and updates will be longer in coming.
And coming up next, Yakage gets a nasty surprise in the form of someone who's more than happy to throw the ROE out the window.