Just rounding out an unusually productive night (for everything but
school work) with this submission. Sleep tight, heh, heh, heh.


"Great Minds" Part 3 Comedies and Errors 

	The smell of smoke greeted Tenchi Masaki as he entered his home.
Shrugging his schoolbag off his shoulders he walked across the living
room as the smoke gained density. It was definitely coming from the
kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye, Tenchi noticed Sassami and
Ryo-Ohki sitting at the couch with Ryoko and Ayeka.
	"Hi Tenchi," the whole crowd said.
	"If you're all in here," Tenchi asked, obviously puzzled, "who is
cooking?"
	"Washuu and Brain," Sassami said. "They're making lasagna," she said in
an awed tone. Of course, none of them knew what lasagna was in the first
place, but it sounded so, so, Italian.
	"Chased us out of the kitchen too," Ryoko said, hungrily staring in
towards the kitchen.
	"I think that's because Mihoshi followed us in," Ayeka pointed out.
"And because you tried to eat all the sausage."
	"What can I say," Ryoko began, eyeing Tenchi. "I love-" she was cut off
by a loud crashing noise from the kitchen.
	"NARF!" 
	"One more mistake Pinky, and you'll be in the sauce," came Brain's
voice. In the living room, everyone but Ryoko looked unhappy at the
prospect of mouse sauce.
	"Brain, I'm beginning to think this is a bad idea," responded Washuu's
voice. Everyone in the living room was visibly started, and Ryoko began
moving closer to the door. When Washuu thought it was a bad idea...
	"Nonsense. Everything will be just fine. Watch the sauce, it need to
come to a rolling boil for a second. I'll check on the pasta."
	"Do I want to go in there?" Tenchi asked the room at large. Everyone
shook their heads. 
	"Where'd Mihoshi go, anyway?"
	
	It wasn't fair, Mihoshi thought as she wandered around the forests
surrounding the Masaki shrine. Washuu kicked me out of the kitchen for
no reason, she whined mentally. And Pinky had to stay and help Brain
cook. 
	"And now I'm lost!" she moaned, realizing she was hopelessly lost in
the forest. And the sun was going down. And she could smell the lasagna
from across the forest. "Wahhh!" Mihoshi cried, as tears literally
exploded from her eyes. 
	Watching from behind a rock, a man with curly pink hair and a gerbil
looked on. One's brow was furrowed in thought, the other blankly gazing
at the vision of distressed maidenhood before him. 
	"Don't," the gerbil said as the prince made to go help for the sixth
time in the last ten minutes. Snowball realized he was going to need
some more help. At least the monitors he had secreted inside the house
were giving him an idea of what to expect when the showdown between
mouse and gerbil finally arrived.
	"I'm having an idea," the prince told him suddenly. "Why don't I prove
my supreme manliness in front of this poor damsel by challenging the
Masaki boy," he spat the name out of his mouth, incidentally spraying
Snowball with enough saliva to drown a lesser gerbil. "This will draw
out the Brain who you seek to confront. And, after I have easily
defeated the silly boy, the princesses would be free to leave."
	Silencing the groan that built in his mind, Snowball reviewed the
reasoning against the fop's plan for the sixth time in the last ten
minutes.
"Remember your last duel? Where this very damsel blatantly interrupted
what would have been your great victory? The same thing would happen, or
something worse. No we must bide our time until we have sufficient
allies to make this battle go in our favor."
	"Of course," the prince lisped. In front of them, Mihoshi had begun
running circles, still crying at the top of her lungs. In her haste, she
tripped, fell into a bush and knocked herself against a tree. After
yelling 'ow' she noticed a peculiar thing.
	The tree she had knocked into shook slightly, brushing into another
tree which was old and nearly ready to fall over on its own. This tree
fell on a random spot in the forest, apparently doing nothing. However,
the view opened up by the tree's falling revealed the Masaki residence.
Her tears forgotten, she raced back to the house, impatient to tell
Washuu she had figured out one of the questions the girl genius had
asked her to find out. The one about the tree in the forest with no one
around. It hadn't been that difficult.
	Underneath the tree, the gerbil and the prince groaned in unison.
Looking across at the prince, Snowball managed a few words:
	"See what I mean," the rodent rasped. "I think I know someone who can
fight that sort of power."

	Acme University stood before them, in the simple sunny valley of the
American hills. Snowball turned to his companion, a serious expression
on his face.
	"I realize you are a prince on a distant planet with all sorts of
things no mere Earthling could possibly imagine, but I'm afraid I'll
have to warn you about what you'll see here. The creatures of this
valley, while not intentionally dangerous, have brought ended the sanity
of many men. Don't touch anything made by a coyote, don't chase anything
small and Mexican and please, please run if you see three black
creatures of undetermined origin. Trust me on that last one."
	The prince raised himself to his full stature, his broad shoulders and
confident poise making the man appear almost regal. Almost regal, since
his pink hair was constantly being blowing into his face and shook away
by a not so refined huff.
	"I have stood face to face with the meanest criminals in all the
galaxy," He began, taking the tone Snowball knew meant it would be some
time before the speech would end. "I have valiantly slain monsters that
would make your fuzzy hair fall out. Which I might add, could use a good
rinse and conditioning. But I digress! For-"
	"Shut up and help me get the rabbit and the girl."

	The entire Masaki household slept. Not a creature was stirring, except
for a mouse. And a 20,000 year old genius. The two of them were sitting
on the back porch, the last of the lasagna before them, a bottle of sake
on the table.
	"For such a small guy you can sure hold your liquor," Washuu told the
mouse as he poured himself another saucer. 
	"What did you think I did during my college days, study?" The two of
them shared a laugh. "So you've seen some things I've only dreamt of,
have you?"
	"And probably a couple you haven't. Tell me Brain, why do you want to
learn from little old me?"
	"Well, for one you have more scientific knowledge in your little pinky
than most of this planet combined. Second, you aren't that tall and so I
don't feel quite as intimidated working with you," Brain told her,
blushing slightly. Must be the sake talking, he thought.
	"Oh, Brain."
	"Plus, you managed to derive the theory of quantum gravity for me on a
napkin using nothing but your head and some sauce."
	"You say the sweetest things. I do like the way you do your Fourier
transforms, especially how you don't ignore the sixth through thirteenth
orders of magnitude," she responded. I haven't felt like this for almost
ten thousand years! She mentally giggled. 
	The two spent a second looking in each other eyes.
	"Would you like to go try to take over the world?" Brain asked her,
almost tentatively.
	"Why so small. Lets work on another galaxy first."
	"YES!!"
	Inside, a two of the Masaki household listened as the two scientists
walked to the lab, evil grins and chuckles marking their pass. The two
glanced at each other, drying the tears from their eyes.
	"That was the most romantic thing I've ever heard," Mihoshi said
softly.
	"Narf!" Pinky agreed contentedly.

Author's Notes:
	For some reason the image of Brain and Washuu staring longingly into
each others eyes haunts my dreams to this very day. I just felt I'd
share.

Thanks for reading!

Jerico Mele is the one hundred and fifty first Pokemon, and should be
caught immediately (anyone see that Norm skit with Pokemon? The world
has gone crazy).

www.brandeis.edu/~jmele
jmele@brandeis.edu

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