The Steel Rose
By: SinCrusader

Prerequisitory (I made that word up) Crap

Disclaimer: I don’t own Tenchi Muyo! or anything therein. I don’t claim to own it, either. However, I do own Hitasa, Narika and Samantha, and any other characters I made up. And have I mentioned this storyline is mine? Well, now I have.

Miscellaneous Warnings: This is lesbian-based fanfiction. That means that the two main characters, who are both girls, get a little frisky on occasion. There will be roiling emotions, teenage confusion, and glaring innuendo. Though I can usually keep it to just little things, like kissing and hugging, I’m a paintballer and I’m prone to get bored easily, so it could get a little graphic every now and then. Hey, I’m in High School. What’d you expect?

There’s also gonna be a lot of butt-kicking by Hitasa. Some of the fight scenes could make my gerbil sick to his stomach. Actually, I don’t have a gerbil. But anyway, if you’re an anti-violence sorta person then this is probably not the fic for you.

I was not in my right mind for most of this fic. You can tell when I’ve come back to Earth; it gets a little boring in those parts. Otherwise, I was temporarily out of order.

This fic was greatly influenced by the Sting CD, “Brand New Day.” That means it’s going to get dark, sultry, saucy, jazzy, and downright interesting.

Pairings: DON’T READ THIS SECTION IF YOU WANNA BE SURPRISED. Anyway, this fic’ll pair up Hitasa and Narika (original characters), Ryoko and Ayeka, and possibly Washu and some other random chica. Straight couples: Sasami and Azaka, references to Ayeka and Kamadake, other references to Ryoko and Tenchi, and maybe Tenchi and Sakuya. I dunno. I hate that girl... Hell, I hate that whole series, Tenchi in Tokyo. It irks me. And an irked SinCrusader is not a good SinCrusader.

Author’s Notes: This is my first Tenchi fic. It may or may not be my best work. Tell me about it anyway. I already posted another one, but I wrote that one a long time after I started on this one. E-mail me at ZEKKR@aol.com. Review if you want. Etc. etc.

Anyone who can guess what songs the lyrics in the titles of the chapters are from gets my eternal respect.

One more thing! The word “warrioress” isn’t in any of my dictionaries, so I think I might’ve made it up. Alright, I’ll shut up now...

Continuity: *Laughs insanely for several long minutes* Continuity! HA! That’s a good one! I wouldn’t know continuity if it bit me in the ass! Seriously though, I discovered about halfway through the third chapter that this particular storyline looks like someone took a shotgun to it. It’s got enough plot holes that you could set it on its side and a rat could use it as a maze. So yeah, here’s my lame attempt at explaining my new Tenchi “world” thing.

Basically this is a combination of the OAV series and the TV series, in which I took my favorite parts of each and threw them in a blender. It has nothing WHATSOEVER to do with Tenchi in Tokyo (Sakuya must DIE!!) or Pretty Sammy (that one’s okay, from what I’ve heard, because it has Little Washu and her Happy Crab), or any of that. It may or may not have anything to do with any of the movies. I wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen any of them. I haven’t even seen an episode of any Tenchi series in about a year. The last time I tried to watch it, Tenchi in Tokyo was on and I ran away screaming. It was a pretty traumatic experience. So I’ve pretty much given up on the whole thing.

Anyway, this story takes place about thirty years after the Tenchi Universe series and assumes that the whole Tsunami/Sasami thing from the OAVs happened, and that Washu is Ryoko’s mother. The whole Kagato thing is kinda blurry. I’ll explain it later, when I can get it straight in my own head.

As for Ryoko, she was Kagato’s pawn for a time, up until she got trapped in the crystal. I’ve decided I want Nagi in here at some point, so Nagi is after her for her bounty and other reasons that may or may not be explained at a later point. Mihoshi and Kiyone are also GP partners in this fic.

You know what? I’m just gonna go write a timeline of events. I’ll be back in a while...

*Sometime later...* Alright, I’m done. I’ll include it at the bottom of this page.

Okay, so continuity is largely nonexistent, since I just realized that I made Sasami an adult, and I doubt that would happen in 30 years, considering she’s, what, 400+ years old in the show and she looks like she’s 12. So yeah, I had to make Tenchi older, but I also needed Sasami to be an adult. How those two things would happen simultaneously, I don’t know. Use your imagination. Here, I’ve got it, Juraian’s age like humans in the early part of their lives, but they gradually age slower and slower as the years go by. Like, a 2-year-old Juraian would look like a 2-year-old human, but a 20-year old Juraian would look like a 5 or 6-year-old human. And a 200-year-old would only look 10 or so. Sasami get’s to be special and totally skip the acne-ridden teenage years and go right into looking 20-ish. There. Don’t even ask about Hitasa, Samantha, and Narika -- that’s a question I don’t even wanna think about.

And last but not least, I missed most of the episodes involving the two ressurected Juraian knights, Azaka and Kamadake, so I don’t know what happened to them after everything was said and done. It’s fanfiction, you know? Almost everything in this fic is a product of my deranged mind. Don’t read too much of it, though; I think insanity might be contagious.

Oh, and one more thing! This fic also assumes that Ryoko’s tail is real and ignores any controversy concerning said detail.

Aforementioned Timeline: Okay, here it is, for your mind-boggling pleasure, my timeline. Knock yourself out. I would, if I had to read it. It’s all listed in the order it happened, by the way.

B.A.T. = Before Asridian Takeover
A.A.T. = After Asridian Takeover
Years are measured according to Earth Standard Time, not Galactic Standard Time (not that I really understand either of them)
Note: This is not an actual continuity displayed in any Tenchi timeline. This is my own deranged mind merging the many universes together. I made this world up. It’s not real. Oh, and there are some spoilers for my story in this thing, so read at your own risk.

circa 20,000 B.A.T.
-- Washu forsakes her Goddess-hood and becomes mortal

circa 5,000 B.A.T.
-- Washu and Kagato create the Souja
-- Washu and Kagato create Ryo-Ohki using the Masu
-- Washu creates Ryoko (using the Masu and her own egg cells) with help from Kagato
-- Kagato betrays Washu and seals her in the Souja, claiming Ryoko as his own creation

circa 5,000 B.A.T.
-- Ryoko wreaks havoc on the galaxy in Kagato’s name

circa 1,000 B.A.T.
-- Yosho dissappears from Jurai, never to be heard from again (well, not really, but you know what I mean)
-- Yosho captures Ryoko and seals her in the cave
-- Yosho seals Ryoko’s gems in his sword, Tenchi

30 B.A.T.
-- Tenchi is born

A short time afterwards
-- Achika is mysteriously killed

14 B.A.T.
-- Tenchi releases Ryoko from the cave
-- Ayeka and Sasami crash on Earth thanks to Ryoko
-- Mihoshi crash-lands
-- Kagato takes over Ryoko’s mind
-- Tenchi is killed and ressurected (via Tsunami)
-- Ryoko and company go to kill Kagato
-- Washu is released from the Souja

13 B.A.T.
-- Kagato is mysteriously ressurected and takes over Jurai
-- Kiyone shows up looking for Mihoshi
-- Ayeka and company ressurect the legendary knights Azaka and Kamadake
-- Tenchi and company head for Jurai to kill Kagato
-- Nagi shows up for Ryoko’s head and is deterred
-- Tenchi and company invade Jurai and take out Kagato
------ Nagi single-handedly destroys the entire Juraian fleet (How does she do that?)

12 B.A.T.
-- Mihoshi and Kiyone return to GP for good and are (finally) promoted

8 B.A.T.
-- Ryoko and Tenchi marry
-- Ayeka returns to Jurai with Sasami, Azaka, and Kamadake
------ Ayeka marries Kamadake

6 B.A.T.
-- Sasami and Azaka marry
------ Note: Azaka’s exposure to the Juraian trees has restored his youthfulness. He looks 34
now.
-- Kamadake turns abusive but Ayeka keeps it secret

5 B.A.T.
-- Ryoko learns of Kamadake’s abusive tendencies

2 B.A.T.
-- Kamadake assasinates Asuza and crowns himself Emperor

1 B.A.T.
-- Ryoko is finally able to become pregnant by Tenchi
-- Tenchi, who has become a cruel husband, kicks Ryoko out
------ Ryoko steals back all three of her jewels
------ Washu leaves with Ryoko
-- Ryoko restablishes herself as a space pirate
------ Note: She’s not under Kagato’s control so she doesn’t go homicidal maniac on the universe.

0 B.A.T.
-- Ryoko births Hitasa and leaves her in Sasami and Azaka’s care
-- Ryoko “kidnaps” Ayeka and defeats Kamadake in a duel
-- Kamadake hands Jurai over to the Asridians without a fight

2 A.A.T.
-- Sasami and Azaka have a child (Samantha)
-- Kiyone and Mihoshi are thrown in prison for treason against the Asridian government
------ Note: None of their friends are notified

10 A.A.T.
-- Nagi hangs up her coat as a freelance bounty hunter to focus her attention solely on finding and
killing Ryoko

17 A.A.T.
--Couldn’t tell ya. That’s what this story’s for.

Final Stuff: If, after all of this, you still have a question you can just e-mail me personally at my e-mail address. I’ll do my best to answer it, and if I can’t answer it then maybe I can find someone who can, ne?

That said, everyone hit the ground! Fire in the hole!!