Cheapest Vacation

Chapter one, Exile?

" Why do you always pick camping?" Tenchi asked his father. "It's cheap, and I'm not on paid leave." Nobuyuki answered. They were in the living room, and they, only they, knew about the trip. Everyone else was doing the usual. Except Ryoko. Instead of lounging, she was off in the fields wondering where Tenchi was. "Do we have enough? I know Grandpa will stay to watch the house, but seven people?" Tenchi complained. " I already got A larger tent, sleeping bags, food, and emergency things. There all ready to go. I have to ask Washu to find us a spot, though. All the camp sites in Japan are full." Nobuyuki stated.

Some time later

"...and I thought it would be perfect way to get out of the house!" Nobuyuki explained during dinner. " Um, I don't want be rude, Mr. Masaki, but...what's camping?" Mihoshi asked. Tenchi and Nobuyuki facevaulted. " It's a form of exile." Ryoko answered. "Actually, It's a vacation in the woods." Nobuyuki said. " Oh, you mean wilderness survival!" Ayeka said cheerfully. "Uh, not quite." Tenchi said.

somwhere halfway around the world.

"Were going camping on that island AGAIN!" Calvin yelled."Calvin, you didn't listen to me. I said YOU'RE going." his father replied. "Huh...I...you...mom...not going...myself?" Calvin was dumbfounded. " For a month. I got the camp ranger to check up on you every few days. My father did the same thing, and your mother and I think it will be a great way to build character." his father stated. The now ten year old Calvin bolted to his room. " Hobbes, dad went crazy! He's going to exile us on that island!" Calvin said. "Are you sure? Did he say that?" Hobbes, the tiger, asked. "Well, he didn't say he was going to exile us, but he said a month there! And he got some guy to make sure we don't escape!" Calvin said. "Did you say a month?" Hobbes asked. " Yeah, and mom and dad won't be there! Wait, camping by ourselves, mom and dad can't ground me, and I still have those leftover fireworks and that can of spray paint, Hobbes, I got an idea!" Calvin said, grinning. "Calvin, you leave tommorow, get packed." his mother yelled upstairs. Calvin dug out his duffel bag. He grabbed a small box labled "Vandal's Kit", put it in his duffel bag, and threw some clothes on top. He then put his CD player, batterys, CD's (Rush, Mettalica, Led Zepplin, Etc.), a 1998 laptop (his dad gave it to him when he got a new one.), and some candy. "This is going to be a good trip..."

Back on the other side of the world

Nobuyuki was standing next to Washu outside her labratory. "I found a spot. The weather is a little strange, but I can fix that." Washu said. " Where is it then?" Nobuyuki asked. " In America. Just say the word and I'll transport us there." Washu stated. "I wanted to leave in about a week." Nobuyuki said. "Then it's settled." Washu replied.

Ch. 2, "I shouldna' read that..."

"Calvin, the island does get a little boring after a while. I would bring some books with." Calvin's father said. Calvin shrugged and walked to his room. He grabbed a stack of books by his bed. He then shuffled down the stairs. His father took them and looked over them. "Survival Guide,you're thinking ahead. That builds character. Hmmm..." his father said. He pulled out four books with similar covers. "Bigfoot, true accounts. Chupacabra, true accounts. Jersey Devil, true accounts. UFOs and aliens, true accounts." his father stated, glancing at Calvin. "Dad, don't worry. I won't get scared shi..." Calvin started to say. "Calvin, what did I say about using language like that?" his father asked. " Don't use it till I inlist in a service or I get put in a nursing home." Calvin answerd. " Yes, but I meant till your out of the house." his dad said. Calvin's face brightend. " I meant when you move away. Don't twist things around." his father stated. Calvin narrowed his eyes. "Fine." he said quickly. He took his duffel bag to the car and dragged Hobbes. His mom was already in there. " We'll be stopping at a Mcdonalds later. And I don't want to hear you say you're just like your 'Squee' friend, either." she said.

Later...

Calvin was sitting with Hobbes in a Mcdonalds. His mom was ordering food and his dad went to the bathroom. He looked to the side and saw a suggestion box. He smirked. He grabbed a slip of paper that was next to it, grabbed the pen that was chained to the box.

'Calvin the truth teller was informing the restraunt of a dire emergency'

-------------------------------------
BEWARE! Ronald Mcdonald is
a 'padoofyle'! Arrest him!
Can the virus kill the Grimace?
Nothing can kill the Grimace!
-important customer
-------------------------------------
Calvin passed the note to Hobbes. Hobbes read it. " It's gold! Put it in!" Hobbes whispered. Calvin dropped the note in the box.

Later...

"We're here, Calvin! Get your stuff!" his father stated. Calvin took off his and Hobbes headphones (he bought one of those double jacks) while humming Tom Sawyer. He got out and looked around. "No one is here but us Hobbes, as usual." Calvin stated. His father was talking to some guy who looked like he was in his 20's. His father then walked over. "The ranger let us borrow the motor boat. I also got you something, Calvin." his father said, walking to the car. He opened the back and pulled out a two by three box. " I got this fishing kit a few day's ago. Look at this." His father opened the box and pulled out a rod that was about a foot long. He pushed a button and it expanded to five feet. He took out a three pronged tip and screwed it on. "Titanium. Spring-loaded. You can fish with this like the indians did!" his father exclaimed, "There is some bait in here to attract fish. It also has a pan, a pot, some cups, cocoa mix, and a book that tells you how to fry up fish! It's perfect!" His father then unscrewed the tip, put both hands on each side of the rod, and squeezed it back to it's normal size. He put it back in the box and gave it to calvin. "The ranger said that there is running water and electricity installed, so you don't have to use bottled water for cocoa." his father said,"I got some food from the store yesterday. It's all dry stuff, so don't worry about a cooler." They then walked to the boat, his mother stayed in the car ("I'm not stepping foot on that piece of floating dirt."). At the island, Calvin looked around. "Not much has changed. I see the water tap, and a first aid kit above it." Calvin said. "You know how to set up a tent, right?" His father asked. "Yeah, and I know it won't fall down, like the one you set up to showed me." Calvin answered. Calvin got out of the boat, and his father started to leave. "I'll see you in a month." his father yelled, waving. Calvin waved back. "Let's find a spot for the tent." Hobbes said. After much walking, Calvin found a spot. "There's one of those outdoor plug-in things!" Calvin exclaimed. It was black, had four outlets, and had a plastic disc on top to keep rain away. He set the tent up in front, but off to the left of it. "I want to try out that spear-thing." Calvin said to Hobbes.

On a dock...

Calvin was not having any luck. He used all his bait, but nothing swam up. "This bait sucks!" Calvin yelled. He stormed off. Hobbes stayed on the dock for a few seconds, then followed Calvin, grinning. A bunch of fish swam up and ate the bait.

That night...

"...Theodore Roosevelt wrote an account told to him by a hunter. He said him and a friend went beaver trapping. During the whole stay, they felt like they were being watched. On the last day, the hunter went to grab the horses they arrived on, but when he came back,the friend was killed. His neck was snapped and had a huge bite mark on it. Large foot prints walked away from the corpse. The hunter fled, leaving everythin but the horses." Calvin read. A bird flew over the tent and screeched. Calvin jumped. "What was that!" he whispered. "Maybe it's a bigfoot, looking for a kill!" Hobbes whispered back. They didn't sleep that night.

ch. 3 "Hi."-" AHHHHH!"

"God I'm starved. Do you you want anything, Hobbes?" Calvin asked as he got out of his sleeping bag. It was mid-morning, and it was Calvin's first good nights rest since hearing the owl, yet he was half asleep still. He grabbed the box of breakfast bars and started to eat. Hobbes was hardly awake and still in his sleeping bag. "Not now." he said tiredly. Calvin hardly noticed him. He finished the box and left the tent for some water. While filling up his cup by the tap, he heard a whirring sound and quick electrical snap. " What the hell was that!" He said, wide awake. He shut the water off, drank his water, and walked back to the tent. " Hobbes. Hobbes. HOBBES!" Calvin yelled, trying to wake him up. " What." Hobbes said. " I think that ranger's boat got wrecked. I thought I heard it, then I think I heard it short out." Calvin explained. " Tell me in the afternoon when you know for sure, Sherlock." Hobbes replied. Calvin shrugged and opened a box of Chewy bars.

Halfway around the world, sometime after noon.

Washu had just finished lunch and entered her lab. A nearby computer was beeping. She walked over and pressed a button. " Ah, my spybot is back." she said,"No intelligent life found on island. Well that's good news." She walked over to an experiment she was working on, unbeknowist that the spybot computer was set on sarcastic.

The next morning, a little bit before dawn

" So what's the plan, Dad?" Tenchi asked. They were all gathered outside with all of the camping gear. "We eat at the campsite, of course." Nobuyuki said. "Okay,are we all set now?" Washu asked. There was a collective murmur of yes. " Okay then." Wahsu typed on her holo-laptop.

Halfway around the world, mid-morning

The gang apeared somewhere on one side of the island (Calvin is on the other side). Washu also had the computer set up the camp site, fire included. " Why is it all bright out, not dark, like back home." Ryoko asked. " Were in another time zone, Ryoko." Washu answered. Sasami started making breakfast while everyone else looked around. Tenchi went in the tent to try to regain some lost hours of sleep. " Hmm. Washu made the tent larger." Tenchi observed. It now had seperate rooms marked off for everyone, a main room, and a bath/toilet room." Tenchi, don't sleep the day in. I got some coffe for you." Nobuyuki said, walking in the tent. He gave Tenchi a cup. " Like the tent? I had Washu work on it." " It's fine, Dad." Tenchi said.

On the other side of the island

Calvin woke up from the smell of cooking. He rubbed his eyes and sniffed the air. " Must be my imagination." he concluded. He looked around for some food. " Dang, I ate it all yesterday. Better check the smell out." he said. He then yawned. " Maybe later." he said, and went back to sleep.

A few hours later, on the other side of the island.

Breakfast was over, and Sasami stored all the left-overs of the miso soup (just a bowl). Nobuyuki had dragged Tenchi along for fishing, and Ryoko and Ayeka followed. Washu had set up some traps around the camp site (" I want to see what kind of animals inhabit this island.") and was now in the tent, examining some poison ivy. Mihoshi had asked Sasami earlier if she wanted to play a new board game she bought, and they were going to play it in the tent. After Sasami stored the food, she found Mihoshi setting it up in the tent. " It's called 'Pass the Pigs'. You're supposed to roll these little rubber pigs and get points on how they land." Mihoshi said, looking at the instruction booklet.

On the other side of said island

Calvin woke up again, and the smell was faint, but still there. " Hobbes, wake up." Calvin said, shaking Hobbes. " What?" he asked. He then sniffed the air. " What's that smell?" " I think someone is on the island. Were out of food, so I thought we could mosey on over to whoever's campsite and get some." Calvin said. He put some clothes on, got his shoes, and left the tent with Hobbes. " It should be in... that direction." Calvin said, pointing. After thirty minutes of walking, they found a tent, a fire, and a cooler. Calvin put his finger on his mouth and tip-toed to the cooler. Calvin lifted the top up and nearly yelled out. " Hobbes, look at this thing! You could put five cows in here!" Calvin whispered. He grabbed a nearby bowl covered in saran rap that was still warm. " Look, it's some kind of soup. Smells pretty good." Calvin whispered. He took the saran rap off and sipped some. " Try this, Hobbes! It's better than anything I have ever had before!" Calvin said quietly. Hobbes drank some. " This is good." he said. They both drank it until there was a little left. A racoon came nearby. " Hey, I bet he would like some." Calvin said. He set the bowl down and the racoon cautiously neared and lapped up a little. Suddenly, a twig snapped. "Quick, someone's coming! Let's go!" Calvin said. They ran off stealthly in the woods, oblivious to the large metal ball that was behind them. The racoon still drank the contents of the bowl, as the metal tentacles shot out from the ball.

About twenty minutes later

Calvin finally reached his tent, and sat down inside, out of breath. " That...was...a little...scary." he panted. He then thought of something. " Wasn't there a cave we passed on our way back here?" he asked. " Yeah, I think." Hobbes answered. " We should try to find it, in case we need a quick escape from whoever's camping here." Calvin said. Hobbes shrugged, then nodded in agreement. They left their tent, and started looking.
'Safari Joe, with his companion, Savanna John, are in search of the hidden cave, "Tooakanon". It is said that this cave held tribe members and treasure when the need arised. While searching for this elusive cave, Safari Joe decides to sing his favorite traveling ditty.'

On the other side of the island (this is getting old real fast)

Sasami had decided to explore the island with Ryo-ohki after beating Mihoshi five times. After wandering around for ten minutes she heard singing.

Ah-ah-ahh-ah, ah-ah-ahh-ah
We come from the land of the ice and snow
from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands
To fight the horde, and sing and cry " Valhalla, I am coming."
On we sweep with, with the threshing oar
Our only goal will be the western shore

Sasami followed the singing till it was on the other side of a bush. She then saw a hand push it aside followed by a blonde kid. "Hello." Sasami said. The kid stopped singing, and yelled out in surprise.

Ch. 4, Inexperienced Spelunking

"My name is Sasami, what's your's?" Sasami asked. Calvin was recovering from his shock. "Uh, uhhhh, Calvin..." he said. Hobbes had turned to stuffed animal form when he sensed danger, and Ryo-ohki was still (See TMiL 1, Train scenes.). "What was that song you..." Sasami started to say. "WOW! YOU GOT YOUR HAIR DYED! AND YOU GOT RED CONTACTS, TOO! COOL!" Calvin said, "My mom won't let me dye my hair, or get contacts." "What do you mean? I didn't die my hair, or have contacts." Sasami said. "Righhhhht." Calvin mocked. " I'm serious." Sasami said, getting a little annoyed. " No one in the exsistence of human beings has had blue hair. Red eyes, on the other hand, are commen with albino people. You're not an albino." Calvin explained. Sasami sighed. "But I am telling the truth." she said. "Whatever." Calvin replied, rolling his eyes. " By the way, what was that song you were singing?" Sasami asked. "The Immigrent song, by Led Zeppelin." Calvin answered. " I've never heard of them before." Sasami said. "WHAT! YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE GREATEST ROCK BAND EVER TO GRACE THE WORLD!?!" Calvin yelled. Sasami shook her head. "My god, is this the first time you've gone out into the world?" Calvin asked sarcastically. " What are you doing out here, though?" Sasami asked. " Lookin' for a cave I saw." Calvin said. " Don't you need a rope?" Sasami asked. "What for..." Calvin asked suspisiously. " Are you planning to go in?" Sasami asked. " Yeah, why?" Calvin asked. " You need a rope so you don't get lost. " Sasami answered. " I have one back at my camp." Calvin said. " I'll go with you, exploring a cave sounds fun!" Sasami said. "Fine." Calvin said.

A few minutes later...

" Here's my tent. You can read one of my books while I look for a rope. I'm sure my dad gave me one." Calvin said. As he shifted stuff around, Sasami looked at the stack of books. 'Hmm, a lot of stuff I have never heard of. The Hobbit, Akira, a survival book. What's this?' Sasami thought, and picked up a small book, ' Aliens and U.F.O.'s, true accounts.'. Sasami flipped through the book, and had suppress a few laughs. There were things about "Grays" who had large eyes and hardly any facial features. There were no such inhabatents of the universe, and closest thing to the descriptions were Bio-hazard suits used by scientists. The spacecrafts in the book would never be able to fly, and looked a little ridiculous. "Found it. Oh, you're looking at my U.F.O. book. I saw a U.F.O. once." Calvin said. Sasami paid little attention. " Strange thing about it though, was that parts of it looked like wood." Calvin said. 'Uh oh,' Sasami thought,' it was either Ayeka or Mom, Dad, and Funhao'. " I also saw one just a month ago. It was white and spiky lookin'." Calvin said. " Uh, why don't we look for that cave?" Sasami said quickley.

After some hiking...

"Here it is." Calvin said. He tied the rope to a rock. He then tied the rope around his waist and gave it to Sasami. She tied it around her waist. " I hope there are no bigfeet in there." Calvin said. " What are bigfeet?" Sasami asked. "Big hariy ape thingys that smell bad and may be dangerous." Calvin said. Calvin turned on a flashlight, and they entered the cave.

Ch. 5, Death of a tent

" Those are stalagtites, and these are stalagmites." Calvin explained. They were about five minutes in the cave. " How do you remember? I always have a hard time." Sasami asked. " Well, for stalagtites, I think of the T as one pointing down, and the M for stalagmites as two pointing up." Calvin said, "Hey, you know that show, Ripley's belive it or not? Some guy made an organ in a cave by carving the rock." "Wow." Suddenly, the rope became taught. "Aw crap, this as far as we go." Calvin said.

After a little bit of backtracking

"That cave didn't have a lot in there." Calvin said. "I thought it was fun. The cave by my house only goes to this pool of water, and it's a straight walk, no twists or turns like that one." Sasami said. "Say, have you ever seen The exorcist?" Calvin said with a grin.

About 35 minutes later

"This is all true?" Sasami asked. They were watching the movie on Calvin's laptop. "Well, kinda. It was a boy possesed, not a girl." Calvin said. Suddenly, there was a faint yell, and a few seconds later an explosion hit a tree next to the tent. It fell and destroyed part of the tent. By some miracle, nothing was damaged ('cept the tent) and no one was hurt. The tree hit the end of the tent, landing next to Calvin's sleeping bag. Calvin stared at the tree, and Sasami thanked Tsunami, and was mad at Ryoko (who else?). "What the hell happened?" Calvin asked. "Uhh, Umm, Ball Lightning! It must have hit the tree!" Sasami said nervously. 'Let him buy it, let him buy it.' Sasami thought. " I've heard of ball lightning doing stuff like this! Wow!" Calvin said, "But now I got no where to sleep." "Uhh, maybe you can stay at my tent." Sasami said. "Uh, okay." Calvin said. Sasami got up and grabbed ryo-ohki (still acting like a stuffed animal). "I'll just have to tell everyone back at camp." Sasami then walked off. When the coast was clear, Hobbes became alive again. "That thing that she had, It's alive! It started walking around and sniffing all over the place when you went to that cave." Hobbes said. "Right Hobbes, and my parents bought me at the flea market." Calvin said. "I'm serious." Hobbes said.

About three minutes away from the Masaki camp

"Something's funny about that stuffed animal?" "Miya!" "But I didn't notice a thing." "Miya meow!" "Oh well, I hope Mr. Masaki is alright with the idea." After some walking, Sasami entered the camp. Nobuyuki and Tenchi were sitting at a table (Washu set one up) and were covered in soot. " Did Ryoko and Ayeka get in another fight?" Sasami asked, already knowing the answer. " Yeah, but the stopped when one of the blasts hit in front of us. But they already did enough damage. One blast went into the woods, and another on destroyed some boats over on the shore by a small shack." Tenchi said. "Well, you know that blast that went in the woods?" Sasami asked. "Yeah?" Tenchi said, not liking where this was going. " Well, I met another camper, and it destroyed his tent." Sasami said. "Oh no." Tenchi said, and put his forehead on the table. "Well, now he does not have a place to sleep, and I thought, Why not here?" Sasami said. "Well, the more the merrier." Nobuyuki said. Sasami went back to Calvin's tent.

Ch. 6 Welcome to Paradise

Sasami had arrived at Calvin's tent (or the remains) as he finished repacking his stuff. "It's okay, they said it would be fine." Sasami said. Calvin jumped slightly, as he did not hear her when she walked up. " Cool. I still can't belive I saw ball lightning. That was awsome!" Calvin exclaimed. " Yeah, that was, uh, pretty incredible..." Sasami said nevously. "...lets go, there should be enough room in my tent."

Half hour later

They arrived at the edge of the camp, and no one was around. " Well, I guess my sister must be with Tenchi, and Ryoko wouldn't be far. Mr. Masaki might be with them, too. Mihoshi must still be asleep, and Washu's still doing who knows what." Sasami explained as they walked up to the tent. Calvin was amazed as he entered the tent. "WOW, THIS THING IS HUGE!!!" he exclaimed. "That's a, uh, optical illusion. It only looks big..." Sasami lied, hoping he would buy this one. They walked into one of the smaller rooms. "...This is where my sister and I sleep. You can set your stuff here." "Sure, I'm kinda tired, I think I'll take a nap." Calvin said. Sasami nodded and walked off. He opened his bag and pulled out his sleeping bag. "You can stop stowing away, where in here." Calvin said to Hobbes. Hobbes climbed out of the duffel bag and stretched. " I hate it in there..." Hobbes said. Calvin did not hear him, for he had already fallen asleep.

A few hours later

Calvin woke up and saw Hobbes had also napped. He got up and walked outside where he saw Sasami and a strange older woman with purple hair. He could'nt hear what they were saying, so he went around into the woods and hid behind a tree, directly behind the two. " I'm just worried sister, he said he saw a tree ship. It could have been yours, or Dad's." " Well, we haven't been as discreet as I had hoped, but we've made up for it. I just hope Mihoshi or that demon don't blunder and expose us, and I can see them doing so." "Please don't call Ryoko a demon, Ayeka. It makes her seem evil, and she's a nice person." " Around you, maybe. But we are getting off track. If he finds out, it could jeopardize how we live here, and you know Earth is not ready for its realization of Jurai. Once they find out the way it was planned, this planet opens up to many other planets, and vice versa. They still have years to go before Father makes contact." "I know, could you pass me some of that seasoning, this fish is just about ready." Calvin couldn't belive his ears. His new friend was an alien, and from the way it sounded, they were royalty. "Hmm, looks like we got an eavesdropper." Calvin heard someone say behind him. He spun around and came face to face, so to say, with another woman. Only she was upside down. Calvin looked and saw she was floating. " HOLY S..." he said as he jumped back, only to hit his head on a tree. He passed out cold.
---------
" What was that!?!" Ayeka yelled. Ryoko floated out of the woods with Calvin strewn over her shoulder. "Sasami's little friend here was listening in on your conversation. I think he heard everything." Ryoko said. " We should get him to Washu, that looks like a bad bump on his head." Sasami said as she pointed to the golf ball sized lump on the back of his head. So Ryoko floated over to the tent with Sasami behind her, and Ayeka worried. 'Did he hear everything?' she thought.

Ch. 7 Memories

Calvin woke up in a strange room, he couldn't see any walls and it was dark. He saw that he was lying on some strange sleeping bag, and a he wore a medical mask that was attached to a small machine above his head. He took it off and got up, feeling slightly woozy, but it wore off. Having no idea where he was, he started walking off in one direction. After what seemed like an hour, he saw a number of display cases seperated out into groups. He went to the nearest one and looked inside it. It contained a human skull with some front teeth missing, a small card was in front of it, containing some strange symbols. He decided it must be a label. Looking at the skull reminded him of something that happened a few years ago.

3 years earlier

"Listen shrimp, I want your money now" said a large kid who appeared to be a little old to be in the seconed grade. He had Calvin cornered in an empty area of school. "Moe, I'm not giving you my money today." Calvin said. "You asked for it..." Moe said.

One hour later

Calvin sat in the school office with a fat lip and a black eye. However, he held two teeth in his hand that did not belong to him. How he got the strength to punch them out of Moe's mouth he would never know. He looked and saw Moe walking out of the Principal's office with a red cloth in his mouth (it used to be white) and was accompanied by his father, a large man who looked very angry. Calvin later found out that Moe was moved to ALC for "unacceptable behavior" while he got off scott free due to self defense.

Present

Calvin smiled as he rubbed the scar on his right hand caused by Moe's teeth. Calvin moved on to another display case. It contained a small model of what appeared to be a ship made out of wood. Calvin thought back to when he saw something like this...

Two years earlier

Many reports of strange things happening in Japan were on global news. The first of these events was when a school blew up, followed by a strange object in the sky. Hours later, something hit a bridge, and the media said it was a meteor. Then, a large unidentified objet was seen around the world. A few weeks later, there were a series of mysterious lights in the sky, followed by, hours later, what appeared to be an explosion. Then every week or two afterward, something was seen leaving the planet, returning later at night. The world went into a UFO scare. Calvin, however, was excited. One night he decided to camp out in his treehouse, hoping to see something. He nearly gave up in the end, around midnight, when he saw a large object. What startled him most was that it looked like it was made of wood. It was moving to the west at a great speed, and Calvin cursed himself for forgetting a camera. Nobody belived him though...

Present

"...Guess I was right." Calvin said aloud with a grin. He moved on to the next case and saw a plastic model of a strange worm. It had many labels with the strange symbols attached to different parts of the worm...

4 years earlier

"...Mrs. Wormwood, could I please go to the bathroom?" Calvin said. He could almost see the scales in her eyes weighing the situation. "Fine, but hurry up." she said. He left the classroom and made a beeline to his locker. He opened it and pulled out a paper bag and a rock. He stealthly made his way to the cafeteria. In the kitchen in the back, he could see the lunch lady making a pasta dish. He looked around and tossed the rock at the door leading outside. The lunch lady walked away, muttering something about food delivery being late. He ran up to the pot and dumped his bag of worms into it, mixed it around for good measure, and snuck off. The lunch lady returned and did not notice any changes to the pot. " Little pests, this should show 'em." she muttered, and spit in the pot. Calvin then realized why his mother gave him a bag lunch every day. Needless to say, lunch was a catastrophe, and no one had a clue who did it, but he was a suspect, along with others.

Present

"That's a Jurian Tree Worm, it cultivates the soil for all of the Royal Trees. Their usual length is about half a meter." Calvin heard a nasaly voice say behind him. He turned around and saw a girl a little bit taller than him with wild red hair. " Who are you?" he asked. She grinned. " I am Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe!" she said in an arrogant tone. " I was the one who treated your concussion." she than said. Calvin was puzzeled, "Oooookay," he said, "um, what's going on?". "Well, you hit your head on a tree after my daughter starteled you. Apparently, you were lisitening in on Sasami and Ayeka's conversation." "Wait, what do you mean that woman was your daughter, she's older than you!" Washu hit Calvin on the head with a fan marked 'WRONG!!!' "Actually, I am older than her, I just made myself look younger." "Oooookay, so, are you..." "Not from Earth, Correct. Tenchi and his father are the only ones in our group who were raised on Earth, and only his father is a full-blooded Earther." "Okay, uh..." "A lot to take in, huh?" "Yeah..." "Give it a moment." "Were those symbols on the cards..." "An alien language, yes and no. It's Jurian standard, or Japanese, in your terms." "Why..." "Is it like that? Because myself and the others usually speak it." " Then why..." " Are we speaking English? Well, I learned it the hard way, as for the others, let's just say I slipt something in their food a while back. Looks like it worked." Washu then cackeled. Calvin was wondering if meeting her was good or bad. He hoped for the former.

Ch. 11: Critical Situations...

Washu decided to take a bath. She decided that a 1 out of 9,999 x 10^9,999 of the shampoo turning into pure sulphuric acid was too good of odds around Mihoshi. ' Besides, better make sure i'm all clean when I get Tenchi in the lab.' thought Washu. She then cackled loudly. " Might as well get some work done while i'm here." she said aloud. She tried to summon her Holo-top, but it wouldn't appear. "Hmm, that's odd..." she pondered as she pulled out a small device from her hair. It was a remote that would reboot her entire system. She had only use this once, when she was freed from her captivity aboard the Souja. Her Holo-top appeared, and the Hakubi-Ware screen appeared (along with a little dancing crab). Once her Desktop appeared, her screen started flashing, small warning klaxons whirred, and a window popped up. it took her only a second to read the text. " GOD DAMN IT!" she screamed. She was quickley typing away, hoping there was a chance to stop her biggest failure's largest secret. But it was no use. She teleported to where Mihoshi was bathing, only now, Washu was dry and fully clothed. " Mihoshi, get out and get dressed. Quick." said Washhu firmley. " Why? The bottle says Lather, Rinse, Repeat, but I just finished rinse!" whined Mihoshi. " I DON'T CARE! WE HAVE A SERIOUS SITUATON, AND I NEED TO SEE YOU ARMED AND READY! GET OUT AND GET TO THE TABLE OUTSIDE IMMEDIATELY! NOW, NOW, NOW!" yelled Washu at the top of her lungs. Now, Mihoshi's usual behavior would make you think she wasn't the brightest. Contrary to this belief, she was very smart ( having Washu as your Great-Great Grandmother has it's perks, as shown by Mihoshi's "Luck"), with high marks on her exams as proof. She knew that most people thought of her as ditzy, and she liked Tenchi because that wasn't what he saw her as (but that's for another time). Therefore, if Washu ACTUALLY wanted to see Mihoshi with her firearm, the situation must be bad. She wasted no time getting out, drying off, getting dressed, and bolting to her small room for her energy pistol. Meanwhile, Washu was trying to contact Ryoko. After promising an unmeasurable amount of sake, Ryoko finally responded. 'What is it?' 'Ryoko, I want you to make sure everyone meets up at the table, safely.' 'Why?' 'Remember the Mystery Zone incident? It's out.' 'WHAT!' 'Mihoshi must have let it out accidentaly.' 'I'll kill her...' 'You'll do no such thing, just make sure they are there. I don't want this to get bad. ' 'Say no more. What should I do if I see it? Any vitals?' 'You will NOT attack it, I am not losing my only daughter to this this thing. If you do see it, run. I think I might have an idea to trap it...'

A few minutes later...

Calvin and Sasami had walked off into the woods while still talking. Calvin wanted to experiment in making a mine, and Sasami was intrigued in seeing how it worked. " Most mines are set off by a small amount of weight or a jarring, but some can be set that only a large amount of weight, say, a tank, will set it off." said Calvin. He paused and looked around for a clear spot to set up his makeshift firework mine. " Do you hear that?" whispered Sasami. "Hear what?" "There's nothing. No birds, no wind. It's almost like everything is dead." "Huh, well i'm sure it's..." A low growl interupted Calvin. They stood still as they heard something large move up behind them. Ryoko suddenly appeared in front of them, let off an energy blast at the thing behind them, and grabbed both children. She teleported back to the campsite. A translucent field was around the campsite. Calvin grabbed his stomache. " I think i'm gonna be sick..." he said. His cheeks bulged out, his eyes went wide, and he ran to the firepit and emptied the contents of his stomache. He bent over the pit to make sure he was done, while he listene to the conversation behind him. " So what are we dealing with?" he heard who Sasami identified as Tenchi say. " Well, it's an old experiment of Kagato's..."