Crossover Muyo! Part One
by Setcheti

Crossover Muyo! is a Tenchi Muyo!\Ranma ½\Magic:The Gathering\Men In Black\Dr Who/El Hazard fanfic which begins at the end of Tenchi Muyo! in Love.

"I know; Kiyone told me, and I was monitoring you as you came through the portal." The scientist didn't even look up from her console; her face was white, her hands a blur on the controls. A flat plane of bluish-green light suddenly appeared near the center of the floor. "Put him over there and get back!"

Ryoko did as she was told. The moment she was out of the way, the flat plane curved up into a tube and solidified, then filled with a viscous transparent liquid. Ayeka, wringing her hands in the background, gasped as the liquid covered Tenchi's face. "Miss Washu, what are you doing?!"

"I'm putting him in stasis," the little scientist replied shortly, her eyes still glued to her console. "Almost there…" The tube upended itself, coming to rest on a base that shimmered into being to receive it. Lights on the base began to wink almost immediately, and small sensors began to snake up through the liquid and attach themselves to various points on the young man's body.

And that was when the Ayeka realized that his clothes had disappeared. The princess knew she was staring, but she didn't care; she was sure Ryoko's eyes were probably popping out of their sockets, and why shouldn't she look too…

The glassy surface in front of her eyes suddenly frosted over, forming an opaque band almost a foot wide around the body of the tube. Startled, Ayeka looked to Washu and saw the little scientist regarding her with a disgusted expression. She looked at Ryoko, expecting to see the same embarrassment…and was doubly shamed; her rival's tear-filled eyes were fixed on Tenchi's face, which they had apparently never left.

Her eyes met Washu's again and found not one shred of sympathy. "Go get Lord Katsuhito," the scientist ordered coldly. The Princess fled the lab, her face burning.

Ryoko stirred. "I'll get Nobouke," she said slowly, wiping at her eyes, oblivious to the exchange that had just taken place. "He should still be at work."

Washu's manner regained it's warmth. "Be careful, Ryoko," she cautioned. "That's a long jump, especially carrying someone."

"I'll be careful." And she pelted out of the lab in Ayeka's wake.

Washu's eyes took over where Ryoko's had left off. "Hurry," she whispered.

Ten minutes later Nobouke came bursting into the lab and skidded to a stop in front of the suspension chamber, a look of horror on his face. "What…what happened? He was fine this morning…"

Ryoko was right behind him, her face gray and strained; Sasami caught her arm to keep her from stumbling. "I didn't know how to explain, Washu," she apologized breathlessly. "I thought…"

"It's all right." The scientist had something in her hand. She approached Tenchi's distraught father with obvious sympathy. "Nobouke, I owe you an apology," she told him. "Twenty-two years ago I took something from you without your consent, although I did have the Lady Achika's. At the time, your memories of what had happened might have changed history; that danger is past now. Here." She held out a small, glowing shape. "Put this on your forehead and your memories will be returned."

Nobouke took the disk from her hand. He looked questioningly at his father-in-law. "Yes," Katsuhito nodded. "She is telling the truth. I had often wondered why my daughter had no memory of our two strange houseguests after that trip to Tokyo Tower, but I did not begin to guess at the truth until the day that Tenchi brought Ryoko home."

Ryoko had gotten her breath and some of her equilibrium back. "You knew?" she gasped. "You remembered Ayeka and I after all that time? Was that why you let us stay?"

The old man nodded. "And apparently I was right to do so." He bowed to the startled girl. "You have well repaid my trust, Ryoko-several times over. Our family remains in your debt."

The girl blushed. "Thank you, Lord Katsuhito; your trust means a lot to me. But I was not the only one…"

"Oh!" Nobouke had used Washu's chip. It glowed for a moment on his forehead and then vanished. He looked up at his son in new understanding. "Tenchi, you were…" He shook his head, clearly shaken. "But Washu, I still don't remember…"

Ryoko jumped in, glad of the distraction. "You were unconscious," she explained. "When we got there, Kain was trying to suck you in to trap Achika. He would have succeeded, but Ayeka grabbed you just in time." She paused, expecting a comment from the princess, then continued when none was forthcoming. "I caught Achika. She was exhausted and confused from using her Jurai powers for the first time, so Tenchi took on Kain himself. "Her eyes started to tear up again from the memory. "The last thing he said was, 'Get her out of here'."

"Kain attacked Tenchi with his own twisted energy," Washu explained. "He was dying when they came back through the portal, and I had no choice but to put him in stasis until we could find a way to repair the damage." Her eyes flicked toward Tenchi's grandfather, briefly full of meaning, and then looked away. "It is…extensive."

"Then you don't know…"

Washu shook her head. "No," she said. She, too, looked like she was about to cry. "I can't make you any promises, except that I won't stop trying. But we can't keep him in stasis forever. It wouldn't be…right."

There was a long, painful silence as everyone looked at the stasis chamber. Then Katsuhito took Nobouke's arm, startling him. "Let's all go back to the house," he suggested. "We can talk about all of this over some of Sasami's special tea-that is, if Sasami feels up to making it after such a rough trip." He smiled at the little girl, who straightened under his gaze and nodded firmly. "That's settled, then. Should we bring you some, Washu?"

His eyes asked a different question, and she nodded slowly in acknowledgment. "That would be nice, thank you, Lord Katsuhito."

He came back about ninety minutes later, grim-faced, bearing his excuse on a small tray with some cookies. Washu didn't waste any time; the touch of a single button sealed her lab from the inside and hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the sole external entrance. "They're taking it badly." It wasn't a question.

"How else? Tenchi is the heart of our household, whether he knows it or not." Katsuhito settled into the chair she pulled out for him, putting the tea to one side. "Kiyone came back; she said to tell you her report was 'well received'." He cocked a questioning eyebrow, but Washu just smiled. "Ayeka is hiding in her room, Ryoko…" his eyes momentarily took on a faraway look, "…is crying on the roof, and Nobouke is 'mothering' Sasami…"

"Best thing for both of them right now." She sat down across from him and picked up her tea. "How are you holding up?"

He didn't answer immediately. "I knew of Kain," he said finally. "His power was particularly devastating to that of Jurai, which is how my grandfather died. But you knew that…so tell me how you think we can save my grandson."

"The Emperor died almost instantly, and far from Jurai," Washu responded slowly. "If there had been someone there who could help him…who knows? But Tenchi is not the Emperor…"

Hope dawned in the old priest's eyes. "You think there is a way?"

Washu held up a cautioning hand. "I didn't say that," she warned. "I have an idea, a theory at best-but I need you to tell me if it's even possible." She sighed. "Tenchi survived his fight with Kain mostly because the Lady Achika interrupted his attack, but also because Tenchi is not entirely Juraian. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

Katsuhito nodded. "I think so. You're saying that Kain's power was not as destructive to humans as to Juraians, and because of that…"

"…we have a chance to save him," Washu finished. "Maybe. If Tenchi had never used his Jurai powers, he might have simply gone on without them like Achika did. But since his powers had been 'awakened', so to speak, they have become integrated with his life-force. If we can't replace the depleted Jurai power, he will die."

"You're talking about a transfusion, then. I don't think it's ever been done."

"I know, but the Jurai energy generator I had to build to contain Kain gave me a place to start. I think that, with a few modifications, I could use the same principle to transfer Jurai power from one person to another."

She fell silent as the old man looked at her piercingly. At last he said, "And you would not bring this up before the others because…"

"She would not be a…suitable…donor," Washu said flatly.

"Hmmm…" The light glinted off the old man's glasses, hiding his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. "So you would not have my grandson indebted to Ayeka, eh?" He smiled, surprising her. "I appreciate your forethought," he said softly. "And so will Tenchi, in the future; I would have liked to see them together when the princess first arrived, but since then…"

"…We've gotten to know her," Washu finished wryly. "And she isn't good enough for Tenchi, not by a long shot."

"I would have to agree," Katsuhito replied. "And Sasami is too young."

The little scientist shook her head. "Yes, but that brings up another problem," she told him. "With all due respect…you're an old man. And you can only give so much without endangering yourself." Her eyes met his. "Tenchi would never forgive me anything happened to you."

"Nothing will." But as he reassured her, Katsuhito felt a strange sense of foreboding, almost like a premonition of disaster. He shook it off. "And we will take precautions."

"That goes without saying." She nodded, thinking. "If we did it in small sessions," she continued slowly. "Stretched out over a longer period of time…it might work. But I can't be sure." She reached for one of the cookies and munched on it thoughtfully. "And if it doesn't..."

Katsuhito reached for a cookie of his own. "It will. It has to."

It did. But not well.

After the first session, Washu sent for Azaka and Kamidake-someone was going to have to take over the shrine, and Tenchi's grandfather insisted on the two knights. He was insisting from his new bed in the main house, a bed he was temporarily too weak to leave. It would be a week at least before Washu could let him try the transfer again, and it would have to be a shorter attempt-which meant that the entire process was going to take much longer than originally anticipated.

The knights arrived the day before the next scheduled session, having studied Shinto nonstop all the way to Earth. Katsuhito, feeling almost back to normal, swore them in as priests on the spot and led them all over the shrine. If they both looked rather serious on returning to the house, no one thought anything about it.

The next session went better than the first, to everyone's relief, and soon they had settled into a pattern of one fifteen-minute session every other day. The two knights discovered that they liked being priests; especially Azaka, who said he enjoyed knowing that he wouldn't be called on to kill anyone visiting the shrine. Katsuhito wryly informed him that the American tourist season had not started yet and he shouldn't get his hopes up. Washu reassured everyone that Lord Katsuhito was fine, that she wouldn't let him do too much, and that it was working as well as could be expected-that is, she reassured anyone who was able to catch her outside the lab, an occurrence that happened less and less frequently as the weeks went by. And the lab, much to everyone's dismay, stayed sealed. Ayeka pouted and muttered under her breath, Ryoko haunted the house like a ghost, and Sasami threw her small self into the care and feeding of Nobouke and 'Grandpa' in order to forget what lay behind that locked door.

Kiyone, who had made it a point to drop in frequently just to check on things, found Sasami sobbing inconsolably in the kitchen one afternoon about five weeks into the ordeal and had a long talk with Nobouke, who had a long talk with his father-in-law and the two knights, who in turn had a long talk with Washu. Ayeka had also been in the kitchen at the time but no one had a talk with her-although several of them talked about her, in less-than-flattering terms. And the next morning Washu gave a special credit card to a very casually dressed Kamidake, Kiyone dropped Mihoshi off with instructions to be Sasami's best babysitter ever, and Nobouke drove the three of them to the city and left them there for the day. Sasami fell asleep in Kamidake's lap on the way home and woke up the next morning her usual happy self. Washu put the stuffed crab they brought her on her main control panel and started coming out for dinner in the evenings, and everyone started trying to act a little bit more normally…

…Including the four people who knew that the energy transfer wasn't working.

Katsuhito let himself into the lab and walked slowly to the stasis chamber. He was remembering that evening, so long ago, when he had witnessed a meeting of some very odd people on the steps of the shrine. His two new houseguests, his daughter's teacher, a custodial worker from the school, a little girl playing with some sort of furry animal, and a young man with a pale, worried face that the priest found hauntingly familiar. Their conversation was too vague to make much sense to him, but then the little girl had announced that she had a message from…no, I couldn't have heard that right…and a high-pitched voice said it was glad they had all made it back in time safely. He noticed that the young man grew silent and troubled as the conversation went on, and that his face grew paler when the voice informed him…Lord Tenchi!?… that shield energy would only last for seven more days-the pitying looks the girls were giving him went unnoticed. 'Washu' then ordered them to cheer up, that she had narrowed down the time of the attack on Lady Achika…his Achika?…to within the next seven days as well. There was a round of groans, which cut off like a switch had been thrown when the young man spoke. "I'm sorry I've dragged all of you into my family's problems," he'd said softly. "But we've just got to save my mother."

And that was when Katsuhito had realized he was looking at his grandson…the same brave young man he was looking at now. It had been almost eight weeks since that fateful trip into the past, and Washu had told him this morning that it was time to stop trying. "It's just not going to work," she'd said despondently. "The small amounts of healthy energy we're able transfer are being soaked up by the damage, not repairing it. Save your strength today; tomorrow we might be able to buy him enough time…to say goodbye." She had started to cry then, and he had comforted her as he would have Sasami. The fact that she had accepted the hug told him just how bad the situation was.

The little scientist was asleep now, sound asleep; he had made sure of that by adding a little something extra to her tea. He looked up into his grandson's still face for a long, thoughtful moment before extending his hands over the control spheres. "Tenchi," he said quietly. "I feared my destiny and ran away to escape from it-you have already faced yours twice, and will again if I am not mistaken. You have made me very proud. This is my gift to you…and to Destiny." The spheres began to glow and, slowly, an answering glow began to emanate from the stasis chamber. "

And it was still glowing the next morning when Washu woke up.

"Tenchi? Tenchi, can you hear me?"

Tenchi groaned-not very loudly-and tried unsuccessfully to roll away from the voice that was waking him up. "Washu…"

"Tenchi!"

"Oh, Tenchi, I'm so glad you're alright!"

The new voice, the worry in it, startled him awake. "Sasami?" Why was his voice so weak? His body felt like lead, and his eyes didn't seem to want to open. "Wha…what's going on?!"

Small strong hands closed on his shoulders. Washu's voice was reassuring. "It's all right, Tenchi, calm down; you're home."

"Home…" Memory flooded back, and a wave of panic opened his eyes and sat him up against the restraining hands. "DAD!!" Washu yelled for Ryoko, and stronger hands pushed him back against a pile of pillows on…his bed? In his room? "Dad! Grandpa!"

"Tenchi!" Nobouke skidded in through the bedroom door breathing hard, having obviously run all the way upstairs. "You're awake!"

"Dad…" Tenchi went limp with relief, the burst of strength deserting him as suddenly as it had come. "You're okay…"

Tears poured down Nobouke's face, and he enveloped his son in a cautious bear hug. "Thanks to you," he said. "I am so proud of you, Tenchi."

"As am I," said his grandfather from the doorway. He moved slowly into the room and took the chair that Sasami vacated. "You did very well, Tenchi."

Relief brought tears to Tenchi's eyes. "I'm so glad you're both okay," he whispered. "I can't remember anything after…after."

"After Kain attacked you," Washu finished gently. She exchanged a worried look with Nobouke; they could both feel the young man shaking. "Lady Achika defeated Kain, Tenchi, and we sealed that space for good. Your family is safe."

"So…my mother was alright?" Washu nodded, and he sighed. "What about everyone else?"

"Everybody is fine, Tenchi," Ryoko reassured him. "It was you we were worried about!"

"And you'll be back on your feet in no time," Washu added quickly. "All you need now is rest."

"But school will be starting…."

"I called the school," Nobouke reassured him. "The time you've missed will be excused, just like before…" Tenchi's brown eyes widened, and his father realized his mistake. "Um, I mean…"

"Before…" Tenchi stared, horrified, at nothing. "School starts next week…" His gaze froze back onto Washu and his father, desperate. "Next week…right?"

Washu sighed, her expression bleak as she slowly shook her head; she could not meet his eyes. "You were…very badly hurt, Tenchi. It took time…"

"Time?" His shaking had become visible, uncontrollable. "How much time? Washu, tell me what happened!"

She looked at Katsuhito, whose hand was on his grandson's shoulder; the old man nodded gravely. "All right," the scientist capitulated. Her eyes met Tenchi's. "Kain's power and the Jurai power are very destructive to each other-that is what killed your great great grandfather, Tenchi. Your mother survived because her power was not integrated with her human life-force, like yours is. She just went on without her Jurai powers…but you couldn't. We had to replace the damaged Jurai power-sort of like a blood transfusion-in order to keep you alive."

Tenchi swallowed hard. "I…I was…"

Washu nodded. "You were dying when Ryoko brought you through the portal, and I had to put you in stasis so we would have time to save you. Your grandfather is not a young man anymore, Tenchi; we had to go very slowly so as not to endanger his life."

"V…very…?"

His grandfather's hand squeezed his shoulder. "You are alive, Tenchi," he rumbled. "It is a small loss, for such a valuable gain."

But it wasn't working; Washu could see that. "You weren't in stasis very long at all, Tenchi," she told him gently. "Not quite two months…"

Tenchi fainted dead away.

"If only I hadn't mentioned calling the school…" Nobouke lamented moments later in the hall outside Tenchi's bedroom. "Washu, is he…"

"He'll be all right," Washu reassured him. "His nerves are more overtaxed than I'd anticipated, though, so for the next few days we'll need to keep Tenchi's environment very quiet." Her eyes narrowed. "Ryoko and Ayeka, I don't even want you two to look at each other, understand?" Two nods, one from a very red-faced princess; the scientist was satisfied. "Good. Now, let's all get out of the hall so we don't disturb him."

After a few days in bed Tenchi hesitantly came downstairs on his own, shadowed by Ryoko and Sasami. He was unusually quiet-even for him-but came out of his shell enough to protest his father's use of the new camcorder to record his every move. Nobouke compromised by chasing everyone outside for a family picture and promising to stop after he got it.

They pulled out a bench for Tenchi and he sank onto it gratefully; no one noticed him wince when Ryoko and Ayeka slid in on either side of him and linked their arms through his. The tug-of-war that commenced almost immediately was noticeable, but so typical that no one paid much attention. Nobouke got his picture and then two more that were better, but abruptly lowered his camera in the middle of the fourth; his son's eyes were glassy, his skin pale. "Tenchi, are you…?" Tenchi's hand suddenly shot up to his mouth. He wrenched free of the two girls and stumbled into the house. The bathroom door slammed shut behind him.

Everyone had followed him inside, but when Washu heard the very unmistakable sounds coming from the bathroom she shooed them all back out. "Oh, for a genius I can be so stupid!" she groaned. "All of you get back outside-except you, Lord Katsuhito, I might need your help. Don't worry, he's all right; you can come back inside as soon as we go into my lab."

Nobouke hesitated. "But Miss Washu, I don't understand…"

"I do," his father-in-law said firmly. "Nobouke, please keep everyone outside while we help Tenchi. I will explain it to you later." As soon as they were all gone, he turned back to Washu with a sigh. "I am at fault as well."

"We both are," the scientist said glumly. "I can't really blame Ayeka and Ryoko; the game is a habit now, and one of us should have stopped them before they got started. But it wasn't just them…"

"I know." The two of them stood there, listening as the other sounds petered out and the water came on in the bathroom sink. "Tenchi?"

Silence. The water stopped. "Please…just leave me alone." His voice was so faint they could just barely hear it. "Too many people…I'm alright, I just want to be left alone."

"We know, Tenchi," Washu said gently. "We sent everyone else away, it's just your grandfather and I. You need help…"

"I'll be okay." But he sounded uncertain, and his voice was closer to the door. They heard him lean against it. "I don't know what happened…I just got dizzy and then I started to feel sick." Another pause. "I just want to be left alone," he whispered.

"You are not well, Tenchi," his grandfather said. "You must come out and let us help you. Open the door."

The door rattled in response to the voice of authority, then stopped. "I don't want to go back in stasis," he said in a very small voice. "You won't…"

"No, I promise." The door opened. He was pale and shaking. "Oh, Tenchi…"

"I…I don't understand what's happening. I felt fine…" They were leading him down the hall and he froze at the closet door, casting a frightened look at Washu. "You promised."

"I promised; no stasis." They still almost had to push him through the door, and the scientist's heart sank. Stasis phobia, she thought miserably, on top of everything else, he had to develop stasis phobia too. Out loud she said, "Come sit in this chair, Tenchi, and let's have a look at you."

He sat down nervously in the chair she indicated; his grandfather sat down next to him. "What's wrong with me?"

"You're Juraian," Katsuhito said wryly. "More so now than before, I think."

"It was the transfusion," Washu explained, aiming a small blue light into his eyes. "No, look into the light, not away from it. We were transferring Lord Katsuhito's energy into you, remember? But there's no way to tell how much…I mean, we couldn't tell when to stop." She began to adjust a series of levers on her control panel, and a small screen lit up with a pattern of oscillating lines. "Okay, there it is. So anyway, it looks like you now have quite a bit more Jurai power than you had before."

The blue light made him feel funny; relaxed and unworried-but funny. "Is that what made me sick?"

"No." She moved around behind him with a small instrument in her hand and lightly touched it to each of his temples in turn; he didn't seem to notice. "No, Ryoko and Ayeka made you sick; you were picking up some pretty unpleasant vibrations from them and you couldn't block them out. Of course you were picking up on the rest of us, too, but theirs were stronger because they were touching you."

"I don't understand. I was…picking up on their emotions?"

" Yes," his grandfather said. "And you were not prepared for it. I can help you with that, but it will take time. We may need to send some of our houseguests away for a while, eh Washu?"

"A good idea," she agreed. She made an adjustment, and the blue light became more intense. The young man's eyes went wide and blank. "Tenchi, are you still listening to me?" A barely noticeable nod. "Good. Now take off your jacket." He did, moving like a sleepwalker, and Katsuhito looked at Washu in surprise. She shrugged. "The ray paralyzes the frontal lobe of the brain. It will be easier this way, and he won't remember any of it so we'll be free to talk. Thank you, Tenchi; just sit still now." She touched the instrument to several places on his chest and abdomen and went back to her control panel. "Hmmm, I was right," she said unhappily. Her smile had been replaced by a thoughtful frown. "You'd better come look at this."

Katsuhito looked over her shoulder at the small screen. And frowned himself. "There appear to be two images. An echo?"

"I wish ," Washu snorted. "No, I think we know exactly what-or rather, who-that is. But see there?" She pointed to an area where the two images were no longer distinct. "That's where they're merging, at a rate of point oh-seven percent." She hit a switch and the image changed slightly; her frown deepened. "Make that point one-five. Full integration in…" she pushed some buttons and the screen flickered until the two images had melded into one. "…about six hours. And after that…"

Tenchi's grandfather sighed. "He won't be needing my help, will he?"

"No, I don't expect so. But if that's the worst of it I'll be happy; he's been through enough. I don't think he'll abuse his new abilities, if that's what you're afraid of."

"No, I was actually rather looking forward to training him-it's been a long time."

"Mmm, I see. Well, he may still ask you." Her hands stayed busy on the controls; screens flickered in and out of existence. "Let's see, brain waves okay, vital functions normal, hormone levels…hmm, we'd better get rid of Ryoko in a hurry-the next time she jumps him she might get a surprise."

"Our late bloomer has blossomed, eh?" Katsuhito smiled. "His father will be pleased."

"I won't tell him if you won't," Washu snorted. "Okay, it looks like everything is normal. Tenchi, put your jacket back on." She rummaged around the lab while he got dressed and came back with a glass of water and some pills. "Now I want you to forget everything that just happened and go to sleep; I'll tell you when to wake up. Go to sleep, Tenchi." His eyes closed obediently and his head fell back. Washu turned off the blue light, checked her sensors and smiled. "I do love that ray. Okay, Tenchi, wake up now."

His eyes opened. "Uh…what…"

"You fell asleep," Washu told him. "I turned away for a minute and you were out like a light. How do you feel?"

He yawned. "Okay, I guess. But what about…"

Washu stopped him with a finger on his lips. "Later," she said firmly. "I think you got up about half a day too soon and you probably just need more rest. A few hours should do it." She produced a pill and the glass of water and held them out to him. "Take this, and we'll get you up to your room. You should be awake again in time for dinner."

Tenchi hesitated, looking at his grandfather for confirmation; the old man nodded. Tenchi shrugged and swallowed the pill, then stood up, leaning against his grandfather for support. His head was already spinning. "Whoa, that worked fast."

"Yep, that's the idea," Washu said solemnly. She pulled open a sliding door and they went through it into Tenchi's room. He was asleep almost before he hit the bed. "See you in a few hours, Tenchi," she said softly. "You'll feel much better then."

Katsuhito followed her back through the subspace door with a backward glance at his sleeping grandson. "Will he?"

"Yes." Washu shook her head, clearing it of thoughts she didn't want. "But we still have some evicting to do. I'll call Nagi and give her an excuse to come get Ryoko, but Ayeka…"

"Call Kamidake on Jurai," the old man suggested. "I'll have him summon her back home immediately, and the council should take care of keeping her there. Unfortunately, Sasami will have to go with her."

"Unfortunately," the scientist agreed. "For Sasami, that is."

End of Part One On to Part Two!

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setcheti@setchetiscampfire.net