Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ The Senior Year ❯ Arrive Reiko-chan ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year: "Arrive Reiko-chan"
by Fred Herriot
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edited by E.B. Kushnir
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Seventh of a series based on "Urusei Yatsura," created by Rumiko Takahashi
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WRITER'S NOTES:

1) So...you've come this far, eh? Hope you're ready for more, because
it's not over yet...heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!

2) The United Tribes is Uru's central governing body, similar to the
concept of Earth's United Nations. It is ruled by the Tribal Council,
composed of a President and the leaders of all the tribes of Uru, one being
Lum's father.

3) "Qu'f-piaqu'r" is a Yehisrite term meaning "fire stick."

4) Every Zephyrite traditionally states her church affiliation on
introducing themselves, using short-hand abbreviations as follows:

PCZ - Protestant Church of Zephyrus
PRCZ - Protestant Reformist Church of Zephyrus
OCZ - Orthodox Church of Zephyrus
ORCZ - Orthodox Reformist Church of Zephyrus
ZSO - Zephyrite Scripturalist Order
ZASR - Zephyrite Alliance of Social Reformation

5) "Ehn" is the Aimaiyite term for the universal power, similar in
concept to the Force. The *Dowe'on* on Ipraedos, who adopted Aimaiyite
philosophy when the Ipraedies conquered Aimaiyu, always refer to it. (Note:
the Aimaiyites won't appear until "The Ishinomaki Years.")

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In Earth's orbit.

Shanka gasps, blood oozing from her mouth and a hastily-bandaged
wound in her left side as she drags the cryostasis chamber to the teleporter
room. The pain lancing through her chest was horrible. She had to perform
this one final act before allowing her spirit to fly to the *ehn's* embrace.
The Ipraedies agent couldn't allow her own death to stop her now, not when
she was so close to fulfilling her mission for the *Dowe'on* Tribunal. Now,
if only the Masters would be party to that agreement. She had no knowledge
if they'd traced her from Noukiios via the agent she killed just before
de-warping near Neptune. Better to be safe than sorry. She panicked when
she saw the Urusian scout departing Earth, but then remembered that a
daughter of a member of Uru's Tribal Council was resident on Earth.

She sobs, struggling to open the door to the teleporter room, then
drags the cryostasis chamber inside. Blood loss was inducing shock, but she
couldn't allow that to stop her. The *ehn* had been with her since she had
taken Subject 494 from Noukiios. It would stay with her in her last moments
in this life. She pauses, staring at the face inside the chamber. "Sleep,
little one," she intones. "You won't know what has happened to you."

With that, she shifts the chamber onto the teleporter pad. The plan,
forged a year ago when the Tribunal learned of the Masters' actions, was to
send one of the Lost Stars to Earth, where it was rumoured that a cabal of
monks from the Protestant Reformist Church of Zephyrus were living.
Communications between the Tribunal and Zephyrus was minimal; the *Asan'on*
feared a *Dowe'on*-Zephyrite alliance would destroy their control of the
Empire and force some drastic, unwanted social change. However, the Tribunal
had no other place to turn to bring justice to the Lost Stars of Noukiios.
Vos was consumed by its civil war, Yehisril was no option and the other
Federation worlds would be torn between helping the hundreds of slave
children the Masters were transforming into esper warriors and exploiting
them for their own purposes. Zephyrus, the most powerful galactic state in
the local cluster, was the only answer.

Securing Subject 494 in place, Shanka staggers to the teleporter
controls. Staring once more at the chamber, she smiles, then programs the
destination: Tomobiki. With the amount of aliens which passed through the
area, she was sure the monks would notice, then take the necessary action. If
not...? She sighs. It was in the *ehn's* hands now. The *ehn* would do what
It decided; against Its judgements, there was no appeal. "Peace be with you,
little one," she sighs as she activates the teleporter.

The cryostasis chamber disappears in a shower of light...just as the
scout rocks from incoming fire. Shanka screams, collapsing to the deck as she
realizes what was happening. "No...can't let them stop me...!" she grits her
teeth as the grating sound of some other ship locking alongside hers echoes
through the hull. Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out a remote.

Her hand thumbs a large red button...

* * *

Many kilometres below, Cherry enjoys an evening meal with a familiar
companion, an orange tabby cat. He stops, staring into the sky as a bright
point of radiance appears for a minute, then vanishes. Blinking, he leans
back, drawing on his vast reservoir of knowledge to evaluate what happened.
"An evening star," he looks to his pot, then sees the signs. "And with it
comes light and darkness. What could it mean...?"

The cat meows inquisitively, echoing the monk's statement...

* * *

Subject 494's eyes open.

Yawning, the seven-year old sits up, stretching herself. Confusion
then crosses her face on realizing she is now clothed in a frilly ultramarine
dress, a rough brown shawl drawn over her shoulders. A *Dowe'on* raven
bracelet was wrapped around one arm. Around the other was the broken phoenix
of Zephyrus. What did this mean? Why wasn't she programmed to understand
what had happened? The Masters would never allow her to go unless she was
properly prepared. Standing, she steps out of the cryostasis chamber, then
looks around.

Where was she?!

Her eyes focus on several people passing by. One look at the ears,
pink-gold skin and dark hair, plus absence of facial contours, told her. She
was on Earth, the other inhabited world in the solar system which was home to
the Neptunians now forced to live on Triton. Why was she here? Were the
Masters seeking to exploit this world as a potential marketplace, perhaps to
cast out the hated Urusians who had recently shown interest in Earth? The
Lost Star frowns as she considers the possibility. It was maddening to be
denied such critical information! How could she serve as an esper warrior if
she had no idea who she was supposed to serve?!

Subject 494 sighs as she walks from the chamber. She had to go back
to basics. She was a slave. Go find a master. With that, she drew the hood
over her ultramarine hair, covering her forehead ridge, then proceeds onto the
street. She examines the teenagers ahead: female, dressed in dark blue
jerseys trimmed in red over blue skirts. High school students, she realizes,
also realizing she was in the part of Earth called "Nihon" by its natives and
"Japan" in English, the commonly accepted language of Terran communication.
She decides to remain with them. Perhaps they could give her some inspiration
as to what to do with herself.

The students proceed into a rundown cafe. Subject 494 pauses as she
stares inside, her powers trying to sense what was there. There seemed to be
a convention inside the cafe. What was going on? Secretly, the Noukiite
slips into the cafe, drawing the shawl over herself so she could eavesdrop.

Inside the cafe, Shinobu is surrounded by the Rosebuds, the all-woman
organization founded nearly two years ago. The members wanted Ataru and Lum
to remain together so that everyone else stood a chance of gaining Mendou's
attention. It felt strange that she would have to call on Ogin and her
friends now that she was eyeing Nassur, but with what transpired in Tomobiki
High that morning, their help was better than nothing at all. "So, Shinobu,"
Ogin, a Sanrinbou student who serves as the group's leader, tosses back her
light brown bangs. "What's the matter?"

"Ataru-kun and Lum just broke up," Shinobu declares.

Gasps of shock respond. Subject 494 blinks as she remembers one
name: Lum. The current Urusian tag champion, having chosen to live on Earth
because, it was rumoured, she had fallen in love with a native boy. She cants
her head to concentrate on the discussion.

"Lum and Ataru've broken up?!!" Ogin stammers. "Why wasn't this
reported to us sooner?!"

"Because we nearly wound up ashes in our family plots thanks to a new
student in my class," Shinobu winces, remembering what Mie had done to them
after Lum had fled for Uru.

"Is she...Mie Seikou?" Chiyoko, a Taian Rosebud, scratches her chin.
"The one that was on the news with Ataru and Lum because of what happened at
North Tokyo High?"

"That's her," Shinobu nods. "Try as we might, we can't dissuade Mie
to break away from Ataru-kun. She's attracted to him, although I don't
understand how. Further, she's...quite an intimidating person to confront.
She even stared *Lum* down in class one day."

"That's bad news," Yumi, Shinobu's friend from Syakkou, muses.
"We'll have to deal with her when the time comes. But Ataru's break-up with
Lum spells only one thing."

The others grimly nod. "Lum will turn to Mendou-san!" Reika, a
Butsumetsu Girl's student, declares.

"Agreed," Ogin nods. "Ataru has to be stopped at all costs!"

"Then you better also know this," Shinobu adds. "It turns out Ataru-
kun isn't as weak as we've long believed. He has a grandmother who hates Lum
with a passion, plus an uncle who has a tight financial stranglehold on
Mendou- san. In fact, Mendou-san is crippled right now because Ataru-kun
instigated a Conglomerate-wide review of its finances, which means that he
can't call on his army or the Kuromegane to keep an eye on Ataru-kun."

Gasps of disbelief respond. Subject 494's eyes widen. Ataru's
grandmother hated Lum?! If that was so, and if Ataru was tiring of the Oni's
presence, a possibility loomed before the slave girl. She cants her head to
continue listening.

"It doesn't matter," Ogin stands. "If Mendou-san is to be spared
from Lum's grasp, we must intercede! Thank you for telling us this, Shinobu.
We can take over from here."

"I appreciate it, Ogin," Shinobu nods.

The Rosebuds quickly exit. Ataru's ex-girlfriend turns to look
outside, watching night fall. She had no care whatsoever toward Mendou these
days. She knew something Ogin didn't: if Ataru and Lum broke up, the Oni
wouldn't shift to Mendou as many feared, but return to Uru. If that happened,
Shinobu's hopes for winning Nassur would be dashed. That had to be stopped,
even if Ataru had to suffer because of it. And now she had a personal reason
for standing against Ataru. Ryuunosuke told her that he was going to kill her
anyway after she passed out during the confrontation in class before Ataru and
Lum had their big blow-up. Shinobu had tolerated Ataru to a certain extent,
but THAT was going way too far! There was going to be a reckoning, no matter
what.

Smiling, she walks out, not realizing Subject 494 had psionically
eavesdropped on her thoughts. It was handy being able to read minds as well
as being psychokinetic. She was also capable of blocking other people's
thoughts from influencing her. The young slave girl considers what she had
overheard. By the thoughts and attitudes the Rosebuds demonstrated toward
Ataru Moroboshi, scant few in this place liked him. And all that had
happened because of Lum. And now, these people were determined to force Ataru
to tolerate an Oni yet again! The Noukiite hisses as she runs out of the
cafe. That would happen over her dead body!

Unseen, the cafe owner reaches for his telephone and dials. As soon
as the other end responds, he states, "Send to the Moroboshi COC that Shinobu
Miyaki has obtained the Rosebuds' support in an attempt to force Ataru
Moroboshi back together with Lum." He nods as the other end acknowledges,
then hangs up. Personally, he had no care about Ataru...but since the Lady
Nagaiwakai Moroboshi paid a cool 100,000 yen for any titbits about her
grandson, what was the harm in earning a little extra cash?

* * *

"Have you seen him?!" a Butsumetsu student demands of a band of Taian
students.

"No!!" comes the response. "Have you?!"

A negative response echoes as the search parties go their separate
ways. Mie sighs disgustedly as she proceeds home. As soon as the news of
Ataru's and Lum's fight had broke out, everyone had gone ballistic. It
baffled the Kyushu native that ONE girl had so many people adoring her. Lum
was worse than an idol singer! It was just as bad as all the girls fawning
over Mendou, whom she recalled was supposedly engaged. Did ANY of these
idiots have a life?!

She then tenses as an ill-feeling crosses her heart. She only got
that when...oh, no! Her pace increasing, she speeds down the street toward
Tomobiki High School. Something was wrong, very wrong. Spinning onto the
front lawn, she breaks for the front door, bolting inside and racing up the
stairs to the clock tower. Slamming the door open, she screams, "WHAT'S GOING
ON HERE?!?!?!"

Inside, her freshman brother Suzume is chained to the guard rail
beside the bell, shoes off and his feet suffering from Sedoyama's patented
Number One tickle-torture. Behind the torture specialist, the bodyguards
spin around in shock. Megane quickly recovers. "Ah, the lady of the hour
has come!" he fixes the Kyushu native with an even stare, then barks,
"CONTINUE THE TORTURE!!!!"

A peal of giggles bursts from Suzume as Sedoyama tickles away. "What
are you doing?!!" Mie snarls, making a threatening step. "What the hell did
my brother do to get you upset?!!"

"It is not what your brother has done, it is what YOU have done!"
Megane stops Sedoyama with a wave of his hand, then looks out a window. "Mie-
san, you're new here, so we understand that you don't as yet comprehend what
type of monster Ataru Moroboshi really is, or how much Lum-san loves him."

"The only monsters I see are the five in front of me," Mie growls.

"Perhaps," Megane fixes her with a fanatic sneer. "You do not
understand us. You see, Daremo-kun, Shitto-kun, Urayamu-kun and I have
dedicated our lives to serve Lum-san, to protect her happiness and ensure
that Ataru remains loyal to her. That oath rules our lives, guides our
actions! It has preserved and protected us..."

"I was right; you idiots DON'T have a life!" Mie cuts in.

Megane jerks as Mie glares at Sedoyama. The icy stare on her face
causes the giant to tremble fearfully. "You know the drill!"

Suzume is freed. He grabs his shoes, then moves to his sister's side
as Mie faces Megane. "So I'm here. What do you want?"

"Simple enough," Megane chuckles. "We want you to tell us where
Ataru is hiding. Then, we want you to back off."

"So you jackals can get at him, I take it?" Mie snorts. "Sorry,
creep. No deals. Besides, I don't know where Ataru-chan is anyway. I'm not
his keeper."

"Well, isn't that too bad?" Megane snickers. "I hear your sister
Tamiko might be targeted by the Rosebuds for some...interrogation, if you know
what I mean!"

Mie jerks. These morons were totally unreal! One spat between Ataru
and Lum and they treated it as if the world was coming to an end. "Well, if I
catch the jerks trying to hurt my sister, then they're going to get what I'm
about to give you right now!" she growls, cracking her knuckles.

They pale...then blink confusedly as the thunder of something BIG
running toward the school is heard. "What's that?!" Chibi blinks.

The whole side of the clock tower explodes, showering the guards and
Sedoyama with debris!! Mie and Suzume leap out of the way as something comes
out of the smoke...something dark and foreboding. "Wh-what's th-that...?"
Suzume stammers, pointing.

Mie mentally echoes his question as she tries to visualize what had
just inserted itself in her confrontation with the guards. It was humanoid,
Ataru's height with his hair style...but half of him was cybernetic, an
ascending phoenix insignia emblazoned on his chest and his face in dark
shadow. "Ataru-chan...?"

Megane throws off debris, then bolts to his feet. "Who DARES
interfere...eep!" his voice drops to a squeak.

The creature's left eye glows, then it methodically advances on its
targets. They try to scramble to safety, but an armoured hand snares Chibi by
the neck, lifting him like a rag doll into the air. "A-aisuru-kun...!"

He is silenced when the hand collapses on his neck, then lets go,
allowing the smallest of the guards to fall, his head now twisted in a very
unnatural direction! "Urayamu-kun!!!" Kakugari screams as he charges at the
creature.

Several shattered bones later, the largest of the guards falls. In
quick order, Paama, Megane and Sedoyama are also eliminated. Then, before Mie
could say a word, the creature leaps into the night. Silence falls as Mie and
Suzume look quizzically at each other. "What was that?!" the freshman asks.

"I'm not sure," his sister shakes her head. "But if that was who I
think it was, then these lifeless jerks are in for more trouble than they know
what to deal with!"

* * *

Subject 494 had come to Tomobiki High School when she sensed Mie
Seikou, the only one in this place who had any truly positive thoughts about
Ataru, heading this way. She hid herself in the shadows to better observe
whatever it was that had smashed into the clock tower to take care of those
torturing Mie's brother. She now runs down the street to keep up with the
creature, who leaps from building to building in the general direction of
Butsumetsu Girl's High School. "Boy, wish I could fly!" the young Noukiite
gasps, but keeps up none the less. It was hard to ignore a cyborg, especially
one as well armoured as this one.

The creature lands in the front lawn of the all-girls school. Rising
up, he scans the area with his sensor-eye, quickly detecting a small group
confronting a female student from Tomobiki High. The creature darts into
shadow as he moves in. Some faces are recognizable. "Okay, sister, talk!!"
Reika shakes the girl. "Where's Ataru Moroboshi?!"

"Why're you looking for him?!" the junior student, a younger Mie with
long hair, snaps, shaking the hands off. "And why're you coming after me?! I
don't deal with Ataru-chan!"

"Liar!!" another cracks her knuckles. "We know your sister Mie's got
a thing for him! We don't like that, so either cough him up or else spend the
next few weeks in intensive care!!"

Ataru emerges from the shadows. "Looking for me?!"

The girls shriek disbelievingly as they spin around. "Ataru?!!"
Reika gasps, then smiles. "Good!! We've been looking for you!"

"I didn't realize I'd become so popular," Ataru mirthlessly smiles.
"I wish I had this luck back when I was chasing you fools! Then again, I
wonder what I'd've learned about you self-centred bitches if I did interest
any of you."

The girls blink. They had only got minimal details from people in
Tomobiki High about Ataru's present attitude. "We don't care what you think,"
Reika moves toward him. "All we care about is that you reverse a decision you
made this morning and take Lum back in!"

Ataru suppresses a scream. Mie was right; this broken record had
been playing in Tomobiki for too long! "And if I don't?!"

"We can make you!" another girl snarls.

Ataru freezes them with an icy glare as his *qu'f-piaqu'r* comes
out. "You can try. C'mon over here, Tamiko."

The girls gasp, finding themselves facing the business end of his
musket. Tamiko doubles over to his side. "We better find Mie-chan and
Suzume- chan. Chances are good more of these lifeless jerks are going after
them."

"They're safe," Ataru smirks. "I helped Mie pull Suzume out of the
clock tower at Tomobiki. Megane's nerd patrol and Sedoyama are going to be
spending the next while in intensive care. Now, as for you bitches," he
looks at the Butsumetsu students, raising his musket to the firing position,
"...care to answer me a question?"

They stammer, realizing Ataru is no longer playing games. "Wh-what d-
do y-you w-want...?" Reika gasps.

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist to surmise that the boys in
this sewer pit were told by Mendou about the fight I had with Lum," Ataru
cocks the hammer to firing position, finger on the trigger. "Care to tell me
who told the Rosebuds?"

"Why should you care?!" another snarls.

Ataru smiles, a Dirty Harry-esque motion so alien to him. "My
finger's on the trigger and I've got scatter-shot in the barrel! And I
haven't heard my little baby speak all day!"

The girls panic. "It was Shinobu!!" Reika screams. "She told us!!!"

Ataru looks surprised, then lowers his weapon. "Her?!! What made
her want to come to you?!! She doesn't give a damn about Mendou!!"

"WHAT?!?!?!" the girls scream.

"It's true," Ataru smiles, then realizes something. "Ah!! I get it
now! You never knew she dropped Mendou after he got engaged!"

"We never even knew Mendou-san **was** engaged!!" one gasps.

"He is," Ataru slides the hammer back to ready position. "These
days, Miyaki's got her eyes locked on Lum's old teacher Nassur."

The Butsumetsu students exchange looks, then face Ataru. "It doesn't
matter!" Reika shakes her head. "If you drop Lum, Lum goes after Mendou-san!"

"If I drop Lum, she goes home!" Ataru counters. "I don't think you
girls've got the idea. You may've not heard that I'm now planning to leave
Tomobiki."

"You are?!!" three ask at once.

"That's right," Ataru nods. "And when *I* leave, *Lum* leaves too!"
he winks. "I'm surprised that you didn't hear that!"

"We didn't!!" Reika shakes her head.

"What did you expect, Ataru-chan?!" Tamiko stares at him. "That
these idiots would be a bunch of Einsteins?! Get real!"

"I've just come to realize that myself," Ataru sighs, then faces
Reika's friends. "I don't give a damn about what you want to do with
yourselves! All I care about is getting out of this place and living my own
life! Once Lum realizes that, she'll come up to join me! You'll have no
worries anymore! All you girls really are doing is allowing clods like
Mendou, Megane and Miyaki to run your lives! I don't allow that, so why
should you?!"

The girls find themselves slowly nodding. A strange realization has
dawned. Not once has Ataru asked for dates or tried to steal kisses. He
stated his case clearly, logically. He seemed not willing to use his weapon
save if Tamiko was hurt. Was this the same sex-crazed moron everyone loathed?
"I'll let you think about that," Ataru turns to escort Tamiko home, then looks
over his shoulder, his eyes cold. "And take this as a warning: I *won't*
tolerate anyone hurting my friends again, or else..." he drops the musket to
waist, cocks the hammer, then fires!

An explosion knocks them over!! "THAT happens!!" Ataru ejects the
old round, loads a new one, then turns to Tamiko. "Let's go."

"Thanks, Ataru-chan!" Tamiko smiles as she follows him.

Watching him go, Subject 494 blinks, smiling. So this was Ataru
Moroboshi. The beliefs everyone else held about him were totally unjustified.
He was no sex-crazed animal, no idiot of idiots, no cancer to be eliminated.
He was a strong, determined young man now extracting himself from an awful
position. Perfect! Sneaking out of the shadows, she discreetly follows Ataru
and Tamiko.

Leaving behind a pile of burnt girls. "Did someone...catch the
number...of that freight train...that hit us...?" Reika groans.

* * *

By the next morning, a sense of foreboding has fallen. No one had
ever experienced this, not even during the dark days of the Second Tag Race.
By now, Ataru's intention to leave Tomobiki has flashed like wildfire through
the female high school population. The Rosebuds withdraw from the search.
Without any support from Mendou or their female classmates, the men searching
for Ataru are forced to call a halt. That, tagged with no sign that Lum is
returning to Tomobiki, adds to the gloom.

However, one ray of sunshine basks a rustic home in the south-east
end of the district, the residence of Mie Seikou and her family. The lady
herself now walks out onto the porch, brushing her teeth. She suppresses a
laugh as parties of downcast male students shuffle past. However, while she
and Ataru were in the mood for a brawl, she doubted her parents would
tolerate it. Shrugging, she walks back to the guest room. "Hey,
sleepy-head, up and at 'em!" she knocks on the door, then slides it open.
"You up...eh?!"

Ataru is still asleep...but he is not alone: Subject 494 is asleep
beside him. Blinking, Mie walks in, kneeling beside Ataru. "Hey, get up,
Ataru-chan!!"

"Huh...whazzat?!" Ataru snorts. "What's wrong, Mie-chan?"

Mie points. Ataru looks, then bolts out of his futon. "***WHO ARE
YOU?!?!?!***"

Subject 494's eyes flutter, then she sits up. "Oh, it's morning,"
she hums, her voice a beautiful lilt. She then notes the others, then bows
low. "Good morning, Moroboshi-sama, Seikou-sama."

Ataru and Mie exchange looks, then face the Noukiite. "Who are you?"
the former inquires.

The girl smiles. "I have no name. The people who created me
addressed me as 'Subject Four-ninety-four.' I'm from Noukiios."

"Created you?" Ataru confusedly blinks.

"You're a bioroid?" Mie gasps.

"That's right," Subject 494 nods, then bows respectfully. "Will you
be my master?"

Hearing that, Ataru does the most natural thing; he faints!

* * *

Shortly after, Ataru puts in a call to his grandmother. As they wait
in the kitchen, they watch Subject 494 gobble down the meal Mie's mother
Manori cooked. "My, what a healthy child she is," the woman, a silver-haired
Mie, muses from across the table. "When was the last time you had something
to eat, child?"

"I haven't had something to eat for as long as I can remember," the
Noukiite comments. "I've been in genetic stasis since the Masters found me."

"What Masters?" Mie's father Jufumi quizzically inquires.

"The Masters of Noukiios," the girl explains matter-of-factly. "My
creators. They're slave-dealers."

Ataru and the Seikous faint! "SLAVE-DEALERS?!?!?!"

"Hey, if you think I'm going to be your master, you're mistaken!"
Ataru snaps. "I don't own slaves!"

"But slave-children like me are traded to over a dozen worlds," the
girl informs him.

"This isn't one of them!" Ataru sighs, realizing Subject 494 knows of
nothing else but to be a slave. "Look," he kneels before her, placing his
hands on her shoulders. "Until we figure out how you got here and who brought
you here, let's stay off this, okay?"

"Sure," the girl nods.

"Maybe you should give her a name," Tamiko advises. "It's better
than calling her by her number or 'hey, you!'"

"Good point," Ataru hums, then smiles. "I know! I'll call you
'Reiko.' How does that sound?"

"Sounds okay by me, Master," the newly-named Reiko beams.

"And don't call me 'Master!'"

"Yes, Master."

Ataru sighs. "I see Ataru-chan's life is about to get even more
interesting," Mie muses.

The doorbell peals. "I'll get it," Suzume runs to the door, opens
it...then screams!

"Is Ataru Moroboshi here?"

The Seikous gape disbelievingly as the largest man they've ever seen
walks in. Able to tower over Captain Invader, he is a gentle fellow in his
mid- twenties, with weather-worn features, slate black hair, piercing brown
eyes and a broken phoenix tattoo etched on his left cheek. Dressed in brown
monk's robes with alien religious icons hanging from a simple cloth string
serving as a belt, he possesses the demeanour of a pious and serious student
of theology. Ataru walks over to kneel before the giant, kissing the offered
ring. "Bless me, Your Grace, for I am an Agent of Creation lost in a sea of
Entropy," he bows his head.

The monk blesses him, intoning a psalm in a curious alien language,
then smiles as Ataru stands. "It's good to see you again, Young Master," he
sighs. "How have you been?"

"I've been much better, I admit," Ataru chuckles, then notices the
Seikous still staring at him. "Ah! I'm sorry. This is Brother Darklight
Sunfire, a monk of the Abbey of the Holy Gatherer, PRCZ."

"He's an alien priest?!!" Tamiko blinks.

"From the planet Zephyrus," Ataru nods. "He's the leader of a cabal
of monks who live with my grandmother in Hokkaido." He then introduces the
members of the Seikou family.

After a round of greetings, Brother Sunfire is directed to Reiko.
"Ah, so this is the child you wish investigated...eh?!" he blinks on seeing
her bracelets. "Where did you get those pendants?!"

"I don't know," Reiko shakes her head. "When I woke up on Earth last
night, I had them with me."

"I see," the monk hums.

"Any idea what this is about?" Mie inquires.

"A rumour, I believe," he stares at the small star tattoos on her
cheek. "A rumour substantiated by her caste tattoos. She's a Lost Star of
Noukiios."

"What exactly is that?" Ataru blinks confusedly. "I've never even
heard of her planet until now."

"Understandable," Brother Sunfire hums. "Lum would not speak of her
world for the simple reason that Urusians and Noukiites are enemies. They've
had a quite sordid history, similar to the way the Japanese treated the
Koreans a half-century ago."

"I get it," Ataru sighs, crossing his arms. "So what's the deal
about her?"

"Undoubtedly abandoned when she was a baby," the monk muses.
"Noukiios is suffering from a combination of growing population and bad crops.
The Federation worlds have tried to offer assistance, but remembering their
experience with the Urusians, the Noukiites keep them at arm's length. I
digress. This child, not to mention hundreds of others, are rumoured to be
under the control of the Masters of Noukiios, which is now dedicated to
creating a breed of esper warrior which can be marketed to the Federation
worlds bordering Ipraedies, Vosian or Yehisrite space."

Ataru hums, remembering Project: Superwarrior. "So Reiko-chan's
like Yukio-chan and the other hybrids Nassur found."

"Exactly. If you wish, I could have the Inquisition launch an
investigation..."

"No, don't bother," Ataru sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"But I do have a question. How'd she get here?"

"Most likely, an agent of the *Dowe'on* Tribunal...that's the more
open sect of Ipraedies society...sought to bring young Reiko here so that we
would take notice of her presence," the monk indicates the pendants the slave
child bears. "As for what, I cannot say."

"Couldn't you just ask this Tribunal?" Mie crosses her arms.

"We could, but thanks to the *Asan'on*, the *Dowe'on's* rivals,
communications between Zephyrus and Ipraedos are intermittent."

"Couldn't you get Lum's friend Nassur to probe into this?" Tamiko
looks at Ataru.

Ataru winces. "The less I have to do with her friends, the better.
Nassur may be worlds better than Lan, Benten and Oyuki, but he's still a
source of trouble." He sighs. "Well, she's here, so we might as well
concentrate on what we're going to do. Any ideas?"

"Adoption," Brother Sunfire shrugs.

Reiko blinks. "Can he do that?!"

"Easily," the monk smiles. "In fact, the Mistress would be delighted
to become a great-grandmother, even if you are not genetically related to the
Young Master. If you wish, Ataru, I could make the arrangements."

Ataru stares at Reiko as he contemplates the offer. The Noukiite had
no idea what being a normal child was like. Nor did Yukio for that matter,
who was raised from birth to be a soldier for people who slaughtered her
mother. In his mind's eye, visions flash past of Reiko growing up under his
guidance, getting married, giving him grandchildren to call his own. "Why
not?!" he smiles.

Reiko blinks, then finds herself swept into Ataru's embrace. Her own
powers sense his acceptance of her not just as a servant, but as a part of
his family. Considering that he had next to no family now, his willingness
to open his home to her was understandable. While this was something the
Masters hadn't intended for her, did that really matter now? She was still
accepted, she still had a home coming to her. "Yeah," she smiles, hugging
him.

* * *

Sometime later, when all students are in class, Ataru takes Reiko out
of the Seikou house so he could purchase the items he would need to help her
adjust to life on Earth. "So if we're not going to live with the jerks you
were born from, where will we be living?" Reiko stares at her would-be father.

"How'd you know I disowned my parents? Are you telepathic?"

"Somewhat. I can read minds but I can't affect them. I'm also
psychokinetic."

"Wow! You'll be a handful!"

"I shouldn't be," Reiko muses. "After all, the Masters programmed
the skills I need to control my powers when they genetically modified me to
make use of them. Brother Sunfire didn't tell you that our DNA is quite
adaptable to genetic modifications."

"Gods, that sickens me. You should be upset that they treated you
like some sort of programmable robot, not a person."

"It's the only life I ever known."

He rubs his cheek against hers. "Not anymore."

Reiko giggles. As they enter downtown, Ataru notices people staring
at him and his companion. Most he realizes are mothers of Tomobiki High
students. They instantly start to whisper as Ataru and Reiko pass by. "You
got any idea what they're saying?"

The young girl is confused. "They think that I'm your sex-slave."

Ataru stops, casually picks up a garbage dumpster single-handedly,
then tosses it with the speed of a fastball! "NEXT TIME, KEEP YOUR INSULTS TO
YOURSELF!!!!!!"

Gasps of shock echo from passers-by, paling fearfully at the sight of
Ataru being so abusive. That elicits a new series of comments, which makes
Ataru all the more angrier. He turns around, picks up a limousine and twirls
it on one finger, glaring at another group. "Got something to say?" he asks,
his voice unnervingly calm.

Seeing what he is doing, the mothers pale, then quickly retreat. "I
didn't think so," Ataru places the limousine down, then turns to Reiko. "The
sooner we get out of this dump, the better."

"Yeah," Reiko snorts.

The two proceed into a boutique named "Esmerelda's." Inside, the
middle-aged English owner, Esmerelda Stevens, blinks in surprise on seeing the
girl walk in beside Ataru. "Good morning," she walks up to them. "May I help
you?"

"She needs a new wardrobe from top to bottom," Ataru waves to Reiko.

"No problem," Esmerelda notions Reiko with her to the children's
section, Ataru in their wake.

Over an hour, Ataru and Esmerelda haggle over what would look best on
the Noukiite. Reiko gets a week's change of underwear, some jumpers,
coveralls, shirts, skirts, dresses, blouses and a sailor fuku. While the
clothier is busy, Ataru draws up a list of things he'd have to buy at a
department store: futons, blankets, toiletries and other essentials. "I
better call Reigi to get the apartment set up so we can use it instead of
sleeping at Mie-chan's place," he muses, jots that down, then tenses as an
unwanted presence comes into his range. "What do you want, Jariten?!"

"How'd ya know I was here?!" the young Oni, who was trying to sneak
up so he can douse Ataru with flame, jerks back when he finds himself again
facing the business end of Ataru's *qu'f-piaqu'r.*

"I can hear you fifteen metres away," Ataru cocks the hammer. "You
move like a drunken baboon, you know that?!"

"So what does that make you?!" Ten-chan snarls. "After what you did
to Lum-chan, if you think I'm gonna be nice, think again!!"

"Since when does my argument with her concern you?!" Ataru muses,
chuckling. "Besides, when I move out, I'll make damn sure you won't be able
to move up with us! My life has no room for you anymore! Get used to it!!"

"I wouldn't bet on that!"

"Bet on what?"

"You leaving Tomobiki," Ten-chan faces him. "Lum-chan doesn't want
to go! She's probably telling her dad! I heard he's going to come down here
and give you what's coming to you!! Whatcha gonna do?!"

"Is that a fact?" Ataru hums as he pulls out his cellular telephone
and dials. "Hello, Grandma?" he grins when the other end answers. "It's me!
Listen, I need a favour. Lum's fat dork of an old man's on his way here.
He's probably going to try to convince me to reconsider leaving Tomobiki.
Now, I don't want to waste all that good ammunition turning the pig into
Swiss cheese, so could you ask our mutual friends to send a delegation down
here to make the jerk mind his own business?" He pauses to hear the
response, then nods. "Oh, six *battlecruisers* sounds just right!"

Ten-chan jerks. "Six battlecruisers?!!"

Ataru looks at the young Oni, then sighs. "Oh, Grandma, would you
mind if you jam ALL electronic transmissions from Earth for the next while?
I've got a bratty kid and a stupid airhead who like to blab too much." He
hears the response, then nods. "Ah, thanks, Grandma! You'r the greatest!
Bye!!" He hangs up. "What was that you were saying about Lum's dad trying to
give me what he thinks should come to me?" he smiles at Ten-chan.

The Oni shudders, unused to Ataru turning everything upside down so
easily. Reiko sees him, then reaches out telekinetically to send Ten-chan on
an impromptu flying lesson into the path of an oncoming car! Ten-chan
helplessly flies into orbit! "Did someone get...the number of...that
torpedo...that hit me...?!" he moans...

* * *

"Gee, you look SO good this morning," Mie barbs. "Guess you don't
have much in the way of friends after last night, eh?"

Shinobu growls as Mie laughs all the way to her seat. Walking up to
her friend, Ryuunosuke looks curious. "What's that all about?"

"I told the Rosebuds that Ataru-kun and Lum broke up," Shinobu sighs.
"They were ready to help, but Ataru-kun did something to make them back
off!"

"I heard he told them he was planning to leave Tomobiki," Momoe
muses. "I guess that seemed attractive to them. After all, if he leaves, Lum
goes too."

Gasps escape the boys. "Don't remind me!!!" Shinobu snaps.

Everyone quizzically stares at her. "Shinobu-san, if you don't mind
our asking, what's with you?" Mendou hums. "People have long known you and
Lum- san feel at odds whenever you are together, but recently, you've gone
out of your way to be friendly."

Shinobu flushes with embarrassment. "Well, I'm just being friends
with her, silly!" she girlishly giggles.

"Yuck!!" Mie winces. "Why don't you admit the truth for once,
Miyaki?! You're using Lum and Ataru-chan to get at Nassur!"

Shinobu jerks. Disbelief responds from everyone else as they stare
at Ataru's ex-girlfriend. "You got a crush on Nassur-san?!" Mendou blinks,
disappointment in his voice.

"You mean it's true?!!" Momoe gapes.

"The lady does have taste," Kumiko hums.

"Yeah, but in what?" Mie muses.

"I...I...!" Shinobu laughs, finding herself the centre of attention
from a chattering crowd of girls pestering her about Nassur. "Oh, stop it,
please!!" she waves them down. "It's nothing much!"

"It's got to be something," Mie cuts in. "After all, your interest
in Nassur made you do something which Ataru-chan did not like one bit! Why do
you think he moved to cut the Rosebuds at the pass when he got the chance?!"

Shinobu jerks. "In fact, I think the real reason you're upset at him
is because when he and Lum leave this dump, you'll loose ALL chances at
winning Nassur...right?" Mie then barbs.

Shinobu trembles as Mie heads back. "And since Ataru-chan doesn't
want the jerks here using him for their own pathetic dreams, then I think he's
going to *increase* his efforts to get Lum away from this town as fast as he
can!"

Snarling, Shinobu grabs the teacher's desk, then throws it. "We'll
see about that!!!"

Mie ducks the furniture, allowing it to smash Lan down! Incensed,
the Seishin teen whips out her bazooka. "You bitch!!!"

Explosions rock room 337!! The door slides open and Mitsu Hanawa
steps in, quizzically staring at the brawl, then smiles. "My, what an
energetic group we have today!"

* * *

After emergency repairs were made, everyone relaxes to have lunch.
Frustration haunts on the faces of many boys. Confusion is rampant among the
girls. Shinobu and Lan icily stare the other down. Some of the girls sit
around Mie. "You know, now that I think about it, Lum's presence was the
cause of a lot of the problems we've faced," Momoe muses. "I mean, Ataru
instigated everything that did happen, but Lum made it worse with the way she
carried on around him...!" She pales on seeing an icy glare coming her way
from Mie. "Wh- why are you looking at me like that for?!" she fearfully
squeaks.

Mie rolls her eyes, then returns to her lunch. "Brother, you dorks
really make me sick, you know that?!"

"What's your problem?!" Ryuunosuke demands.

"My problem is that all of you can't get it into your thick skulls
that Ataru-chan isn't the only cause of the shit plaguing this place!" Mie
holds up a finger. "I mean, look at the time Ataru and Lum got kidnapped by
Elle. You blamed him for it when it was that twit queen who sent her lap-dog
Seven Bake Rose down to get them! Don't you think Elle deserves the blame for
that?!"

"Well...!" Momoe hums.

"What about the Second Tag Race?" Mie hums. "That was Lan's fault
because she exposed Yaminokuni mushrooms to Earth's environment, *then* it
got exacerbated by Lum, who took a whole planet hostage to force Ataru-chan
to say 'I love you' when it's been as clear as crystal all this time that he
*doesn't* love her!!"

"But...?!" Kumiko tries to interject.

"But nothing!" Mie snaps. "If you don't like Ataru-chan, that's your
choice. But give the guy a break, huh?! He just finally came to realize how
fragile his life with Lum is, so he's moving to take control of it! And if
you keep trying to impose yourselves on him, he's going to bite back hard!!
You should've seen what he did to the Four Tweedledees last night!"

The girls blink, looking around. "Hey, I didn't even notice they
were gone!" Natsuko muses.

"What did Ataru do to the four nerds, anyway?!" Ryuunosuke wonders.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Mie chuckles, returning
to her lunch.

The other girls shudder, then quickly decide to drop the subject.
The door slides open and a badly bruised Ten-chan floats in. "Ten-chan!!"
Shinobu gasps, bolting to her feet as the young Oni drifts into her arms.
"What happened to you?!!"

"I dunno," he moans, trying to shake himself to his senses. "I found
Ataru in some ladies boutique, then before I knew it, I got tossed in front of
a car!"

"Ataru was in a ladies boutique?" Momoe stands. "Which one?"

Ten-chan blinks as he tries to remember the name. "E-su-mu-re..."

"Esmerelda's," Kumiko concludes. "It's the big shop in the Ginza!
Real nice place!"

"What would he be doing there?" Shinobu blinks. She'd felt lost
before when it came to him. Now she was totally at sea.

"Probably getting clothes for Reiko-chan," Mie hums.

Everyone turns to her. "Who's Reiko?!" Ryuunosuke demands.

"His daughter," Mie smiles.

Silence falls like a guillotine as the characters for DAUGHTER
appear. "H-he...h-has...a...d-daughter...?" Shinobu stammers.

A banzai cheer from the boys. "MOROBOSHI HAS A BABY FROM ANOTHER
WOMAN!!!! LUM'S FREE OF HIM FOREVER!!!!!!"

Mie snorts as she returns to her lunch. The girls gather around
her. "Since when did Ataru get a daughter?" Kumiko demands. "Has he always
had a secret lover on the side?!"

"No, stupid!" Mie groans, stunned that someone'd suggest something
THAT moronic. "Besides, Reiko-chan isn't his daughter yet!!"

Confused looks respond. "I don't get it!" Ryuunosuke shrugs.

"Not surprising," Mie mutters.

"I do!!" Ten-chan holds up his hand. "He's gonna adopt her, right?!!"

"Bingo," Mie smiles. *At least there's one intelligent person in
this town!*

Silence falls as everyone considers that. "Ataru-kun's going to
adopt a child?!" Shinobu blinks. "Where did she come from?!"

"A planet named Noukiios," Mie explains.

"She's an alien?!!" the girls exclaim.

Lan and Ten-chan jerk. "A Noukiite?!!"

"That's right," Mie smiles. "I hear Urusians and Noukiites don't get
along. My, I wonder what that'll do when Lum tries to come back to worm her
way into Ataru-chan's good graces, hmm...?"

Lan and Ten-chan look at each other. Three centuries ago, the old
Urusian Empire conquered Noukiios, subjugating its population to horrible
social and living conditions years worse than anything the Japanese ever did
to their neighbours across the Korea Strait. Noukiios liberated itself a
century later when the Union Revolution toppled the Imperium, but since that
time, relations between the two worlds have been at best frosty. If a
Noukiite child was about to become a part of Ataru's family, then another
obstacle just presented itself to Lum's hopes of marrying her Darling.

Before anyone could make further comment, the rumble of starship
engines quakes the school walls. Everyone runs to the window, looking up to
see the battlewagon "Kashin" floating over the district. "Lum's dad's here!!"
Momoe gasps.

"Looks like he didn't take Lum's break up with Ataru too well,"
Ryuunosuke muses.

Sure enough, Invader's voice thunders over the ship's loudspeakers.
"***MR. GROOM!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU TWO-TIMING BASTARD?!?!?! SHOW
YOURSELF IF YOU'VE GOT THE COURAGE!!!!!!***"

"Yep," Lan hums. "He's upset."

In Tomobiki town park, Ataru and Reiko sigh. Standing, he picks up a
megaphone, then screams, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT, YOU FAT JERK?!?!?!"

An indignant stammer. "***YOU DISRESPECTFUL SLIME!!!! HOW DARE YOU
TALK BACK TO ME AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO MY DAUGHTER?!?!?!***"

"WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN LUM AND I IS **NONE** OF YOUR BUSINESS, PIG
BOY!!!!" Ataru thunders. "WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO WHATEVER SEWER PIT YOU
CRAWLED OUT OF?!?! YOU'RE DRAGGING FLIES WITH YOU!!!!!!"

At Tomobiki High, everyone fearfully trembles. "He's crazy!!!"
Shinobu gasps. "He's not backing down!!"

"He's got friends," Ten-chan muses.

"***YOU BASTARD!!!!***" Invader screams. "***IF YOU DON'T APOLOGIZE
FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY POOR DAUGHTER, I'LL...!!!!***"

"YOU'LL WHAT?!?!?!" Ataru sneers, then turns to face a patch of clear
sky. "WOULD YOU MIND JOINING US, GENTLEMEN?!?!?!"

As everyone in the district watches, space all around the Urusian
ship melts into six larger, more intimidating vessels, trapping the "Kashin"
from all sides!! The newcomers, each over a kilometre long, shaped loosely
like a stork with a long bow and large wings aft, are painted a beige-pink
and bear Zephyrus' broken phoenix insignia. Their nearly uncountable weapons
ports are open, guns aimed at the hapless "Kashin." Smiling, Ataru turns to
scream at the Urusian ship. "YOU WERE SAYING, JERK?!?!?!"

On the bridge, the crew fearfully hide behind Invader, himself
intimidated by the Zephyrites' surprise appearance. "Wh-where d-did th-they
c- come f-from...?!" the captain fearfully stammers.

The front viewscreen dissolves into the image of a raven-haired
Zephyrite woman dressed in a dark blue robe trimmed in red with icons marking
force admiral's rank. "Invader!!!" she fixes the Urusian with an icy stare.
"Withdraw at once or face the righteous wrath of a Holy Crusade!!!"

Invader sweats. A Holy Crusade is total warfare at its worst, a
divine ordination from Zephyrus' leadership to destroy whatever target is
mandated for extermination. Whole planets are rendered lifeless when Crusades
are called. Any race which deal with the Zephyrites do so with trepidation,
knowing that one serious fault could spell genocide. "B-by wh-what r-right d-
does the H-holy R-republic seek t-to interfere in our a-affairs...?!"

The woman crosses her arms. "Since the grandmother of the one you
call 'Mr. Groom,' the Lady Nagaiwakai Moroboshi, is a Righteous Gentile of the
Protestant Reformist Church!"

Invader's jaw hits the deck! "We've tolerated your overt interest in
Earth because it serves our interest to keep the Ipraedies and the Seifukusu
at bay," the admiral continues. "But the Lady Nagaiwakai's dislike of you
and your bratty daughter was solidified by her inexcusable actions during
that fiasco you call the Second Tag Race!! Be warned: from this point on,
**we** will be watching you!!!" she points threateningly at him. "Is it
understood?!"

"P-perfectly...!" the Urusian stammers.

"Good!! Now, go home!!!"

Everyone watches as the "Kashin" lifts away from Tomobiki, two of the
battlecruisers trailing it to ensure that Invader doesn't get any other
foolish ideas. The other battlecruisers quickly depart, heading back to
their base on the planet of Jiyuu. "I...I don't believe it!" Mendou
stammers. "Moroboshi was actually able to force Lum-san's father to back
down?!"

"This is not good," Ryuunosuke warns.

"How is it Ataru's grandma got the Zephyrites to come here in the
first place?!" Ten-chan stares quizzically at Lan.

The Seishin teen shakes her head...

* * *

Invader returns to his family home. Waiting in the living room along
with his wife are Nassur, Benten and Oyuki. Seeing the look on his face, the
Vosian hunter stands. "What happened?!"

"Mr. Groom's grandmother, that's what!" Invader moans as he slumps
into his chair.

"What did that old bat do?!" Benten asks.

"She nearly started a war between us the Zephyrites!" Invader moans.
"Did any of you know she's a Righteous Gentile?!"

"Moroboshi's old lady's a Righteous Gentile?!!" Benten exclaims. "No
shit!!!"

"Could you imagine what she could have done to us had she wanted to?"
Oyuki wonders.

Benten gulps. 'Righteous Gentile' is the title bestowed on one not
affiliated with Zephyrus' main churches who acts in a manner which brings
spiritual or temporal enhancement to the faithful. An honourary church
leader, it came with quite a potent privilege. A Righteous Gentile had the
right to call on the Zephyrite government to unleash its power on anyone, for
any logical reason. But until now, no one suspected non-Zephyrites could be
bestowed that power. "If she is a Righteous Gentile, that explains a lot
about her," Nassur scratches his beard in thoughtful contemplation. "Looks
like Lum really *has* bitten off more than she can chew!"

"Damn straight," his partner shudders. "Shit, and this added onto
Moroboshi getting sour with everyone!"

"Expected given Ataru's exposure to the Box," the Vosian hums.

Everyone jerks. "The Box?!!" Invader gasps. "Are you saying Mr.
Groom was tortured on Icarus?!!"

"That's right," Nassur nods. "I was the one who found him, remember."

"B-but...he seemed normal when we got them off Icarus," Oyuki objects.

"Oyuki, *you* above all people should know what the Box can do to
someone."

The Tritonian princess blinks, then nods. "Yes," she looks down,
sympathy in her eyes.

Everyone blinks on hearing a door open. They turn to see a wet-
cheeked Lum staring at Nassur. "Darling...was tortured...?" she gasps, her
voice hollow, hoarse from her weeping.

"Afraid so," Nassur nods.

Lum blinks, shaking her head. "I never knew. Darling never told me
a thing...!"

"Understandable," he sighs. "Ataru's probably trying to understand
what happened to him, himself. I'm afraid you didn't help matters by your
insistence that he remain in Tomobiki."

"But...!"

"No buts, Lum!" Nassur sternly shakes his head. "We all know what
Koosei went through when he was tortured. It completely changed his outlook
on everything. It's done the same thing to Ataru. Like it or not, nothing's
going to ever be the same with him."

The Oni tries to object, but no sound utters from her as she realizes
Nassur has struck on an important point. He then moves to punctuate it. "And
you better understand this too, Lum. With the way you balked at his idea of
moving out of Tomobiki, he probably now believes you *don't* care for him. If
you want to get back into his good graces, you've got a lot of work ahead of
you."

Hearing that, Lum wails as she leans into Nassur's chest...

* * *

Sometime later, back on Earth, Lan gets off her space-telephone after
talking with Oyuki. Taking a deep breath, she turns to face her classmates.
"Well?" Mendou inquires.

"Lum-chan's coming back," Lan states.

A cheer from the boys. The girls look unsure. "So what's Lum going
to do?" Shinobu stares at the Seishin teen.

"Who knows, now with the way Darling is," Lan shrugs. "Oyuki-chan
just told me that Darling was tortured in the Box when you guys were on
Icarus."

Shinobu blinks, remembering what had happened while they were the
Ipraedies' prisoners. "That's right! Ataru-kun was dragged away by that
creepy clown into some place...all because he was seen to be Lum's fiance!"
realization dawns on her.

"That's what Oyuki-chan told me," Lan sighs. "Her boyfriend went
through the Box when he was the Ipraedies' prisoner. It's said to be able to
make one's darkest nightmares come real, make one experience one's deepest
fears. It's also said the effects are permanent."

"Which means?" Ryuunosuke gulps.

"That whatever's happening to Darling's not going to stop...until he
gets what he wants," Lan suppresses a fearful gulp.

Silence falls as people dwell upon the uncountable times they went
after Ataru for his many faults: his girl-chasing, his near-total ignorance
of Lum, the trouble he instigated or was involved in by proxy because of Lum.
The punches, slaps, burnings, beatings, the numerous tortures in the school
clock tower, the many trips into space, the kidnappings. They had assumed
that Ataru hadn't minded it, had accepted it with a certain measure of grace.
However, there had to be some sort of anger and frustration Ataru felt
towards everyone because of that, not to mention everyone's blatant
assumption that he loved Lum. Everyone assumed he had just let all that
happened to him pass by. Lan's revelation had put a whole new twist, a nasty
twist, into their lives. There was no room to assume anything about Ataru
now.

"We're in for a rough time," Ryuunosuke hums as the scene behind
everyone transforms into a painting of a fragile boat caught in a typhoon. A
sign marked WE'RE NOW ENTERING A STORMY SEA! hangs from the boat's side.

"What should we do?!" Natsuko inquires.

"Well, whatever you do, you better remember this," Lan cuts in.
"Darling's grandmother is a Righteous Gentile."

Ten-chan jerks. "You're kidding?!!"

"What exactly is that?" Shinobu inquires.

Lan and Ten-chan quickly explain about the Zephyrites and the power a
Righteous Gentile has. Hearing this causes everyone, even the boys, to pale
fearfully. "Y-you m-mean...that woman could...order ALL our deaths...destroy
Uru even...?!" Mendou gapes at her.

"Yep," the Seishin teen nods.

"I think we'd better think about packing our bags and going home,"
Ten-chan muses.

"That's not such a bad idea," Lan nods.

* * *

The next day, the gloom hanging over Tomobiki is worse than ever.
Students lethargically shuffle to school as they look to the skies for any
sign of Lum. At the tower containing Toranoseishin Fiances' Tokyo offices,
sunshine brightly basks the workers inside. In the private cafeteria at a
window table, Ataru stares at the movement of humanity he no longer felt a
part of. "Look at them," he muses. "Lum vanishes for three days and they
think the sky's fallen on their heads."

"Must be interesting to look at these people in such a new light,"
Ashin muses.

Ataru considers the point. "You're right about that, Ashin-kun.
Strange, isn't it? Until a week ago, I never gave a damn about how other
people looked up to Lum, how they seemed invigorated because she lived here.
I was too busy living my life to care," his lips twist, "...not to mention
ignoring all the dangers around me."

"It's hard, isn't it?"

"Damn right it is," Ataru sighs. "It's as if...blindfolds I didn't
know I was wearing were ripped off my eyes. I just can't believe that I was
that same person a week ago. I look at my photo albums, my yearbooks...and I
ask myself 'Was that really me?'"

"You're growing up, Ataru-kun," Ashin smiles. "It's never an easy
process. Wasn't easy for me or Dad when Mom died, or anyone else. Think of
it as a wall. Some people see the wall in time, then hurdle over it into
adulthood. Others...too many others, I should note...run into it at full
speed, then spend a year wondering what happened, then waste time in getting
over it. That's what happened to you, but with a difference. When you hit
the wall, you were resilient enough to bound over it. To you, it's literally
a new world. Look at you. Back when Hazel was visiting, you loathed the
concept of adopting a child. Now here you are doing just that."

"True," Ataru sighs.

A waiter comes up, lightly bowing. "Forgive me, Young Master, Budou-
sama, but there is a visitor here to see you."

He moves right to allow Lum to come into view. Ataru and Ashin blink
on seeing the hollow-cheeked Oni. "Lum," Ataru hums.

Lum sniffs, a new bout of tears in her eyes. "D-darling..."

"I think I'd better go," Ashin leaves.

Ataru and Lum stare at each other, a mass of uncertainties on his
face and shame on hers. He tries to give her a smile. "You okay?" he quietly
inquires.

Hearing that, Lum wails as she flies into his arms. "I'm sorry!!!"

Ataru stares at her for a moment, then he gently embraces her...

* * *

"*Tcha!* This is your room?!"

They are in a spacious apartment below the cafeteria. Decorated in
traditional style, it comes complete with portable walls, a small fountain, a
rock garden and spacious quarters. "Well, it normally serves as a guest room
when we're entertaining visitors," Ataru waves her in. "Here, c'mon in."

Lum nods as they proceed into a large space fitted with a beautiful
Western-style bed, several shelves and a study area. Once they are alone, she
runs once more into his embrace. "Oh, Darling, forgive me!!"

"Hey!! What's all this?!"

She looks down, trying not to stare him in the eye. "I...I never
suspected you were hurt when we were on Icarus," she sniffs. "You...you
seemed alright when we came back to Earth...it never dawned on me..." She
then looks at him. "Darling, why didn't you tell me what they did to you?!"

"Would you have cared?" he looks at her.

"Of course I would!!"

"Then why don't I believe that?"

Lum stops, staring wide-eyed at Ataru. He sighs, turning to sit by
his study table. "Darling, don't you trust me anymore?"

He blinks, then sighs. "No."

The Oni feels another frustrated scream about to burst. "It's not
because I don't like you, Lum," he looks at her, his own eyes moistening.
"But don't you understand what happened to me? I was put inside that damn
thing all because I was seen as your husband! How the hell am I supposed to
live with myself if people are willing to do *that* to me?!"

"Darling, I never wanted that to happen to you!!" Lum cries.

"I know you didn't," Ataru nods. "But, you've gotta understand that
my being thrown into that thing has made me realize I have to seriously call
into question everything I'm involved with, judge everyone who surrounds me!
And like it or not, I don't like what **is** surrounding me. *That's* why
I've got to leave Tomobiki."

"Darling, you just can't drop everything like that! Where do I fit
into this?!"

"You'll always be a part of it, Lum!" he cries. "Don't you see I'm
doing this for *both* of us?! You were so hot on the idea of our living by
ourselves not more than three days ago! Why do you have cold feet now?!"

"Darling, I didn't expect you'd decide to leave Tomobiki!" Lum sobs.
"I understand that you may not want to have much to do with everyone, but
they're still my friends!!"

"I can understand that, I think," Ataru sighs, then looks away. "But
you have to understand that I no longer want anything to do with them...and I
resent anything you do to try to force me back together with them. I said it
sometime ago; if what's between us is going to survive, we'll have to learn to
agree to disagree on some things. If you can't accept that, then I'm afraid
that we're not going to survive as a couple."

Silence falls. Lum tries to muster a counter-argument, but no words
escape her lips. Seeing the iron determination in his eyes, she realizes any
attempt to make him change his mind is going to fail. The revelation that he
no longer trusted her had hit hard. How could everything had come apart so
fast after it seemed to be going so good?

Ataru stands. "I'm going to be meeting with some real estate agents
downstairs. I've got a line on some property in Miyagi. I'll come up later
to see how you're doing, okay?"

"O-o-okay," she weakly replies.

Ataru steps out. Lum sits on the bed. Tears freely flow down her
cheeks as she considers what he said. That he'd suffered thanks to the Box
was all too apparent. That he was determined to get his life under
control...under *his* control...was also very apparent. But did his gaining
control over his life meant she had no sense of control, no influence, over
it? Why was this happening? It was as if the Ataru she knew and doted over
had died on Icarus, replaced by this stranger which bore his face and voice,
but little else!

Before she could contemplate anything, a voice calls out, "So, you're
Lum."

Lum spins around, stunned to see Reiko standing not three feet away.
"Wh-who are you?!" the Oni stammers, rising to her feet.

"I'm Reiko," the Noukiite warily eyes her, three centuries of
mistrust forcing a wall between them. "So, you're the stupid Oni who thinks
she's gonna marry Daddy, huh? I wouldn't bet on that!"

Lum's jaw drops. "'D-d-d-daddy?!' Y-you...m-mean...D-DARLING?!?!"

"Du-uh!" Reiko's eyes roll contemptfully. "Is there someone else who
lives in this apartment other than me?!"

Silence falls as they stare at each other. "B-but...how could
Darling adopt you?!" Lum wonders. "He's not married!"

"Under Zephyrite law, he can," Reiko shrugs. "A delegation's gonna
come down from Great-grandma's farm to do my christening and adoption
ceremonies at noon today."

Lum winces as another revelation about Nagaiwakai Moroboshi returns
to her. "I see."

Reiko mirthlessly giggles. "Boy, you look like you just ate some
poison...not that I'd really care if you did!" a sneer enters her voice.
"You can't take the fact that Daddy's now got full control of his life and
that you can't dominate him like you've done in the past! Personally, seeing
you kicked back to Uru in humiliation'd be the perfect justice after all the
hell you've put him through! And if you think I'm going to let you worm your
way back to making Daddy's life hell again, you've got another thing
coming!!"

With that, she walks out of the bedroom. Lum remains in place as she
takes in what Reiko told her. Under normal circumstances, she would be
utterly ecstatic over Ataru wanting to adopt a child. But with the changes
now happening inside Ataru added to the age-old antagonism between her people
and Reiko's, there was no reason for her to be joyous about this development.

* * *

"Shit, it looks like you four went through the meat-grinder!!!"
Ryuunosuke gasps on seeing the guards walk into their class.

Megane has a broken arm and a patch over one eye, Paama is on
crutches thanks to a shattered leg, Chibi has a neck brace and Kakugari is in
a chest cast. "If you confronted what we faced, you'd be the same way,"
Megane grits his teeth painfully as he lowers himself into a chair.

Everyone blinks fearfully at the level of injuries they sustained.
"What did that to you?!" Shinobu gasps. "It couldn't've been Ataru-kun! He
would've just used that howitzer of his on you!!"

"I don't know," Megane groans. "That thing hit us so fast and so
hard, we didn't get the chance to get a clear look at it!"

Suddenly, fingers start to jab into his bruised arm. Megane howls as
Mie continues her own torture. "So...gonna think twice before you try to hurt
my brother again?"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!!!" Megane wails. "Cut it out, Seikou!!
Ouch!!!"

"You didn't answer me!" Mie sing-songs.

Everyone suppresses a tremble. "Boy, Mie's more spiteful than Lan at
her worst!" Momoe comments.

"Who says *I'm* spiteful?!!" Lan growls.

The other girls thoughtfully whistle in response. The door opens and
Lum flies in. "Hi, everyone," she calls out.

Seeing her, the guards literally burst out of their bandages to crowd
around their favourite classmate. "LUM-SAN!!!!" Megane cries joyfully. "It's
so good to see you back!!!"

Lum floats past them without responding. The guards wince as if
their injuries just came back to haunt them. "Boy, those four can sure
recover quickly, can't they?!" Mie muses.

"Frightening," Ryuunosuke muses.

Lum sits in her chair, instantly drawing the others to her like a
lodestone. "Have you seen Ataru-kun?" Shinobu inquires.

"Un," Lum nods.

"Where is that bastard?!" Megane snarls.

"He's staying with his uncle's people...temporarily, that is," the
Oni reports. "He's got real estate agents out there looking for a place where
he can build his house."

Mendou blinks. "His uncle's people!! Why, Toranoseishin Finances
have their Tokyo offices right here in Tomobiki!!!" Cackling, he reaches into
his pocket to pull out his cell phone. "Good!!! Once he tries to emerge from
there, we'll have him!!!"

"That'll be impossible if all your troops are on leave because Yumoa-
san is conducting his inspection," Mie cuts in.

Mendou stops, face turning a sickly purple. "Curse that bastard!" he
moans, dropping to his knees in helpless frustration.

"Poor Mendou-san," Kumiko swoons.

Everyone turns to Lum. "Did you see this Noukiite girl he's going to
adopt?" Lan asks.

"I did," Lum nods.

"You don't seem pleased about that," Shinobu muses. "I personally
think that adopting a child might do Ataru-kun some good. It might get him to
calm down a bit."

"That's a good point," Momoe nods.

"True," Mie cuts in. "And it'll give him another excuse to move out
of this place."

"What makes you say that?!!" Kakugari demands, spinning on her.

"Oh, get real!!" Mie snorts. "If you think he's going to raise a
sweet girl like Reiko-chan around YOU dorks, think again!!!"

The guards angrily growl. "It may give him a chance to calm down,
but I'm afraid that I won't be able to enjoy it much, Shinobu," Lum sighs,
ignoring the exchange between Mie and the guards.

"Why?!" Shinobu blinks curiously.

"Shinobu, you don't understand the bad blood that exists between my
people and Reiko-chan's," Lum sighs. "Three centuries ago, my people, when
we were in our aggressive expansionist stage, conquered Noukiios. We ended
up doing things on that planet which makes your treatment of the Koreans from
1910 to 1945 look tame. Reiko-chan looks at me...all Noukiites look at
Urusians...like we were cold-blooded murderers, rapists, looters! It'll be a
long time before they'll ever consider forgiving us!!"

"Whoo-boy," Ryuunosuke whistles. "Looks like your life with Ataru
just became worlds more complicated."

"I know," Lum sniffs. "And what's worse, Darling...Darling no longer
trusts me," she moans, then cries into her hands.

Mendou attempts yet again to convince her to abandon Ataru. The
guards leap on Mendou. Everyone else ignores the fight as they exchange
looks. "If Ataru no longer trusts Lum, it's over between them," Momoe
concludes. "And that tacked onto what his grandmother thinks about Lum, not
to mention his daughter..."

"No matter what, this ain't over yet, not by a long shot," Ryuunosuke
concludes.

Suddenly, Tomobiki trembles as a behemoth of a starship appears.
Shaped like the Cross of Lorraine, it is emblazoned with the Zephyrite
national insignia augmented with various religious icons. "What's that?!!"
Shinobu gapes as everyone gathers at the window.

"The 'Crusader,'" Lum gulps. "Flagship of the Protestant Reformist
Church...the church Grandma's affiliated with."

Everyone trembles as they absorb that information, then blink when
someone coughs. "Excuse me," a voice calls out.

They spin to face the door, where Brother Darklight Sunfire is now
standing, having slipped in. "Who are you?!!" Lum gapes.

"I'm Brother Darklight Sunfire PRCZ," he walks up, inclining his
head. "I'm the leader of the cabal of monks now living with Mistress
Nagaiwakai in Hokkaido. I was sent here to ask you and Miss Seikou to
accompany me aboard the 'Crusader' for young Reiko's baptism and adoption
ceremony."

Lum blinks, then looks down. "I don't think Reiko-chan wants me to
be there..."

"The Young Master insisted on it."

Lum's gloomy demeanour clears up. "If Darling insists, sure!!"

Brother Sunfire ushers Lum and Mie out. "Hey!!!" Megane demands.
"What about us?!!"

"Oh, don't worry, heretic," the monk solemnly stares at the other
students. "You'll get yours soon enough."

The door slides closed behind him...just as a flock of missiles slam
into room 337! After the smoke clears, a badly burned Ryuunosuke crawls out
from a heap of shattered desks. "Boy, he's not going to let it go, is he?!"
the tomboy moans as she stares at the Zephyrite dreadnought over their
heads...

* * *

"This is Reiko?!" Shinobu blinks.

After the baptism and adoption, Lum barely managed to persuade Ataru
to bring Reiko to the school to show the Noukiite to their classmates. Right
now, Reiko is staring confusedly at the people with whom her father's life had
been dominated by for the past two years. "You mean *these* are the brainless
jerks you went to school with?!" she stares horrorstruck at Ataru.

That comment causes everyone to faint! "Unfortunately," Ataru rolls
his eyes. "Now, remember what I told you!"

"I remember, Daddy!!" she nods readily.

"What did you tell her?!" Mie asks knowingly.

"Don't trust anything anyone from Tomobiki says," Reiko announces,
then beams, "...except Mie-oba-chan, of course!"

"She remembered that!" Mie beams.

Everyone else glares at Ataru, including Lum. "Darling, how could
you make your own daughter believe something awful like that?!"

"It's the truth," he shrugs. "I don't trust them, so why should my
daughter?!"

Everyone shudders. "And we thought Mie was spiteful?!" Ryuunosuke
growls. "Ataru makes her and Lan look like rank amateurs!!"

"Who says *I'm* spiteful?!" Lan demands.

The other students ignore her. Lum sighs forlornly. Trying to get
Ataru to stop treating everyone like dirt was going to be difficult enough
without Reiko following his lead. "I'm going to call my grandma and ask her
if she knows some nice schools I can send Reiko-chan to," he then adds.
"Preferably private all-girls schools, of course. She'll need the best
influence she can get to better adjust to life here on Earth."

"There's Butsumetsu Girl's Elementary in town," Lum hums...then finds
herself receiving a withering stare. "N-n-never mind!"

Mendou and the guards surround Ataru. "Moroboshi, how dare you
disapprove of Lum-san's suggestion?!" the scion of Japan's richest family
draws his katana...

...but before they could close Ataru, the five are telekinetically
lifted into the air by Reiko, whose blue eyes now glow. "Round and round you
go," she chants, making a circle motion with her hands, "...where you idiots
stop, nobody cares!"

"That's 'nobody knows,' Reiko-chan," Mie corrects her.

Everyone watches in disbelief as the five are spun around faster and
faster, as if caught in a giant centrifuge. After a minute of this, Reiko
directs them through the window (it is not open) to crash below on most
unforgiving ground! "There!!" the young girl wipes her hands. "That should
take care of those creeps!"

"N-neat tr-trick!" Ryuunosuke stammers.

"Darling, I didn't know Reiko-chan's a telekinetic," Lum stares at
Ataru.

"She's telepathic, too," Ataru smiles. "It's nice to have someone
around who can tell me the truth about how people feel about me."

The other students back away...

* * *

After classes, Ataru and Lum proceed to Toranoseishin Finances, Reiko
between them. The Oni looks uncomfortable. "Don't you want to go home?" she
gently prods.

"What home?" he looks curiously at her.

"With your parents, of course!"

Ataru sighs. "Lum, hasn't that got through your head yet?! I don't
live with those twits anymore!"

"What twits?!!" a snarling voice demands.

Ataru spins around, snap-drawing the *qu'f-piaqu'r* to point at his
mother's heart. She jolts back in shock, then icily stares at her son. "What
do you want?!" Ataru snarls.

Kinshou trembles. "Point that thing somewhere else!" she snarls.
"I've got some words with you, young man!"

"Daddy, who's this old windbag?" Reiko stares at her father.

"She *used* to be my mother," he sneers.

"I *am* your mother!" Kinshou counters.

Ataru cocks his hammer, fingering the trigger. "Keep bothering me
about that and you won't be **alive!!**"

Lum sighs. "Darling, Mrs. Moroboshi, will you please stop?!"

Kinshou stares confusedly at her. "L-lum-chan, you used to call m-me
'M-mother!'"

"As I recall, Lum's mother lives on Uru," Ataru barbs.

Kinshou icily glares at her son. "Boy, Daddy, you were smart to
disown the old creep!" Reiko shakes her head disapprovingly.

Ataru's mother stops, then stares confusedly at the Noukiite. "Who
are you?!"

"That's Darling's daughter, Reiko," Lum supplies, smiling.

Kinshou blinks, then cries, "I'VE GOT A GRANDDAUGHTER?!?!?!"

"Hard to have a granddaughter when you don't have a **son!!**" Ataru
cuts in, then takes Reiko's hand. "C'mon. Let's leave the old windbag to
*grow old and die alone!*"

"No problem!" Reiko snorts.

As they walk away, Kinshou emits a blood-curling scream. "WHO'LL
TAKE CARE OF ME WHEN I'M OLD AND GREY?!?!?!"

Lum sighs, then flies off after Ataru and Reiko. "Darling, that was
horrible!" she states on rejoining them.

"After all the times she wished I was never born, did you expect
anything less?!" Ataru asks.

* * *

Sometime later, as Ataru and Lum enjoy a peaceful dinner in the
cafeteria, the telephone rings. Reiko walks over to pick it up. "Hello,
Moroboshi residence."

"Ah, Reiko-chan," Mendou chimes over the line. "Is Lum-san there?"

The Noukiite reaches out psionically to learn what the scion of
Japan's richest family has in mind. "She's having dinner right now."

"Ah! Could you tell her that I'm having a party by the Tarouzakura
later this evening? She's invited, of course."

Reiko notes something else Mendou would wish. "Sorry, but I asked
for a twelve-slice pizza with the works, not a pepperoni special," she sighs.
"I'll just have to order someplace else. 'Bye!"

She hangs up before he could reply, then walks to the elevator. "I
always try to make life a little more surreal...especially for jerks like
that!"

* * *

"Lum didn't even show up?!" Ryuunosuke gasps.

"No!!" Mendou snarls after revealing the previous night's events.
"Moroboshi daughter's babbled something about pizzas, then hung up on me! She
probably didn't tell Lum-san I was having a party!"

"She did!!" a voice snarls from behind, the smell of ozone filling
the air.

The boys spin around to see a displeased Lum behind them, lightning
dancing over her. "L-l-lum-san...!" Mendou stammers.

"Yes, Reiko-chan told me," Lum points at him. "She also told me you
made no mention whatsoever about Darling or her being invited! So since you
didn't invite them, I didn't want to come. So there!" she punctuates her
brush off with a blast of lightning.

Mendou drops as Ataru walks in, having overheard Lum's words. "You
should know better than to try to deceive someone who can sense what's really
going through your head," he muses, then laughing, heads to his seat.

"Curse that bastard...!" Mendou hisses.

"Ataru's not pulling his punches anymore, isn't he?" Momoe muses.

"He knows no one can stop him from leaving, much less persuading Lum
to leave with him," Kumiko notes. "Boy, it was bad enough when we had to
deal with a sex-crazed lunatic! Now we have to deal with a vindictive,
spiteful sex- crazed lunatic! It's bad enough since we have Lan with us!"

"Who says I'M vindictive and spiteful?!!" Lan demands.

Again, her words fall on deaf ears. "I'd hardly call him sex-crazed
these days," Natsuko objects. "He hasn't been nice to a girl outside Mie
since he came back from Icarus."

"That's true," Kumiko nods agreeingly.

"'Morning, Ataru-chan!" Mie saunters in. "How was your first night
being a father?!"

"It was much better than I expected," Ataru yawns. "It'll get much
better when I build a house that I can call my own."

"Any ideas about where you'll be living?"

"I've whittled it down to a couple of places," Ataru glances over his
shoulder. "But I won't say them in public in case I give Supersnob there any
stupid ideas."

"Moroboshi, how dare you...?!!"

Mendou rams into Mie's fist! "Good point," she heads to her seat.

Mendou sinks to the floor. "You wanna know something," Megane muses
from nearby. "Maybe Mie's not so bad after all."

"What makes you say that?" Paama asks.

"The way she doesn't give Mendou a break every time he bugs Ataru."

"That's true," Paama then winces. "I just wish she'd do the same
thing to us!"

The other guards moan...as the door flies open, a crying Reiko
running in. "Daddy!! Daddy!!!"

"Reiko-chan, what's wrong?!" Ataru leaps to his daughter's side.

Reiko points outside. "Get that stupid Oni kid away from me! He
keeps bugging me!!"

"Ten-chan?!" Lum flies up. "Why is Ten-chan bothering you?!"

"He wants to play with me!"

Everyone else falls over! "What's wrong with that?!" Lum looks
confused. "Ten-chan doesn't have many kids his age to play with outside of
Kentaro!"

"And he's bad enough as is," Ataru adds.

The Noukiite looks indignant. "I don't play with Onis! Period!!"

Ataru sighs, then stares at Lum. "Lum, from now on, Jariten is to
stay away from Reiko-chan!"

"But...why?!!" Lum looks surprised.

"Because she doesn't like him!!" he snaps. "If Jariten can't learn
to mind his own business, I'm going to give Grandma a call and get his visa
revoked!! MY daughter's happiness is far more important than anything YOUR
cousin would want! If he can't understand it, then I want to have nothing to
do with him anymore, nor will I have him impose himself on my daughter!!
Understand?!"

She blinks, then nods. "Of course."

"Thank you," Ataru sighs, then turns to Reiko. "C'mon, Reiko-chan.
You can stay here for the next while."

"Thanks, Daddy!" Reiko looks relieved.

Lum watches as he takes his daughter to his seat. While she would
have hoped Reiko would be more forgiving if meeting someone her age, Ataru
had every right to demand Ten-chan stay clear of the young Noukiite. She
then looks down as Ataru's words to her about his calling into question
everything around him come back. It was obvious that his priorities were
altering as fast as his attitudes. Being friendly with her cousin, not to
mention his classmates, was now at the bottom of Ataru's list of things to
do. Suddenly, having a child around seemed far more complicated than when
she first heard of his plans to adopt the former Lost Star.

* * *

At lunchtime, Ataru obtains the Principal's permission to allow Reiko
to stay until he can secure daycare facilities for her until their final
departure from Tomobiki. Lum walks to the cafeteria, her usual entourage at
her sides. "Lum-san, you seem upset about something," Mendou hums. "Is it
Moroboshi's sudden decision to adopt that child?"

"It is," Lum sighs. "I used to think having a child'd be simply
wonderful. It meant that Darling and I had finally solidified our
relationship. But...with who and what Reiko-chan is, all that's going to
arise from this are a bunch of headaches. She doesn't trust me, she doesn't
like any of you...it's like she's trying to put a wall between Darling and
I!"

"I hope you don't mind my saying this, Lum-san, but I think that's
probably the reason Ataru adopted her," Megane comments.

"What do you mean?!" Lum stares at him.

He stops. "Think of it as a wall he's placing between you and him.
Ever since he came back from Icarus, he's been moving to isolate himself from
everyone. Understandable after what he went through. At the same time, he's
trying to isolate himself from you. Look at his decision to leave Tomobiki.
You don't want to go, so when he leaves, he'll be as far away from you as
possible. Adopting that girl does the same thing. He doesn't trust us, so he
wouldn't think of raising his child around us. She's just another excuse he's
using to get out of Tomobiki."

The Oni stops, blinking. "I never thought of it in those terms," she
hums.

"In fact, if you'll permit me, I think he's been doing that to you
since you met," Megane continues. "Why do you think he chased girls so much?
He was trying to keep you at a distance! Why do you think he balked every
time you raised the subject of marriage? Keeping you away! He's doing the
same thing right now, but he's taking a different approach, one you're not
used to or can't counter easily! If that doesn't prove that he doesn't love
you, I sincerely don't know what will!!"

"If I may add, Lum-san," Mendou cuts in, "...you may be forced to
demand that he choose between his daughter and you...and I fear he will
happily choose her. Reiko has no reason to like you, much less care for you.
What's worse, I believe she'll influence his attitudes against you. In the
end run, you will lose, Lum-san."

Lum blinks, wondering if they might be right. The five boys head
into the cafeteria as she considers their words, then she proceeds in after
them. She stops on seeing Reiko glaring at her. "What's with that look?"

"I overheard everything," the Noukiite hums.

"Oh," she hums, sitting down beside her.

Reiko snorts. "And you even believe every word they say!"

"That's not true...!!" Lum cries.

"Oh, sure! You've been listening to those dorks for so long, you
accept everything they tell you as the truth! Why don't you open your eyes
for once?! Why do you think Daddy doesn't trust you?!! You never gave him a
break whatsoever for two years...and you STILL expect him to fawn over you
like he was your slave?!"

"How would you know about that?!"

"I was born a slave, remember?!" Reiko points to her cheek tattoos.

Lum jolts. "So here you are trying to worm your way back into
Daddy's life after he tried to give you the heave-ho, believing that once
you're back in control, things'll go back to the way they were! Got news for
you, Lum: they won't, not if I can help it and not if Daddy can help it! And
if you think you can force Daddy to choose you over me, think again!! If you
try, I hope Great-Grandma **does** sic the Inquisition on you! You'll deserve
it!!"

With that, she storms away. Lum watches her go, then sadly looks
down. "But I want to be happy, too..."

* * *

"You okay?" Ataru quietly muses.

He and Lum are in the former's bed in his apartment. Lum chose to
spend the night with him in hopes of trying to recapture the magic they
discovered before their awful fight. The Oni blinks, then stares at him.
"I...Darling," she sighs. "I think you may've jumped a little too soon when
it came to Reiko-chan."

Ataru sits up, staring quizzically at her. "So, what should have I
done when she appeared on my doorstep?! Just say 'Sorry, I can't adopt you,'
then send her back to wherever she came?! What type of person do you think I
am, anyway?!"

"I'm not saying never adopt her," Lum shakes her head. "I'm just
saying that maybe we should've waited until we were both ready to take on the
task of raising a child."

"What would she've done while we were waiting?!" he asks. "Where
would she have lived?! Some pathetic orphanage somewhere?! Forget it, Lum!
That poor girl has never enjoyed a single day as a normal child! I never had
much in the way of a normal childhood, but at least I care enough to ensure
she gets a chance to enjoy hers!"

"I understand that, Darling. I really do. But I don't think she's
ready to accept me. And I don't think," she pauses, then sighs, realizing
that this had to come out, "...I can't accept her."

Silence falls as he considers her point. "Okay, I can try to
understand that," he nods. "But I couldn't let the chance escape when it
presented itself to me, Lum. Fate chose to bring Reiko-chan into my life at
that time. I couldn't ignore that."

"No, I guess you couldn't," she sighs. "But...I'm sorry, Darling,
but I feel as if you adopted Reiko-chan to place between us, to keep me away
from you!!"

Lum claps her mouth as she realizes she may have said too much.
Ataru blinks as he interprets what she said, then shakes her head. "I don't
think so."

"Oh, Darling, that was callous of me! I'm sorry!"

"N-no, it's okay," he shakes his head. "Lum. I'm just starting out
as a father. This is a heck of an experience for me, too. But...I don't
think having Reiko-chan in my life's gonna affect what happens between us."

The Oni blinks. "I know you two find it hard to like each other,
trust each other," he continues. "But I believe once you get to know each
other, respect each other, then you'll like each other, learn to love each
other. You just can't leap into this blind, you know. Maybe you think I
jumped in when I adopted Reiko-chan, but I don't believe that. As far as I'm
concerned, I did the only thing I could've done."

Lum blinks, then smiles. "Maybe you're right," she kisses him. "I'm
going to look in on Reiko-chan, then I'll be right back."

"Bring protection," he whispers.

She blushes as she flies out of the room to look in on Reiko's room.
Inside, the Noukiite is blissfully asleep. Sensing all her doubts wash away
on beholding that quaint scene, Lum walks in to slip the covers over her
shoulder. Leaning down to kiss her cheek, she moves to leave when Reiko
calls out, "Who do you believe now?"

The Oni stops, then looks at Reiko. The Noukiite is awake, but
staring away from Lum. Kneeling again, Lum gently places a hand on Reiko's
shoulder. "I don't know what to believe now."

Reiko blinks, then reaches over to gently touch her would-be mother's
hand. "If you don't know what to believe, how do you expect Daddy to learn to
love you?"

Lum looks down. "I don't know..."

* * *

Next morning, Ataru and Lum proceed to school. The Oni has that
noticeable afterglow after their night of passion. "Strange, isn't it?" she
hums musically as she slips her arm around his. "I can't believe the
problems which've come since we got back from Icarus, but after making love
to you, it's like I've no care in the world."

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," he pats her hand. "Strange as
this sounds, I feel the same. Yet...I can't make myself want to hide from the
problems we're facing."

"Darling...do you think that you're seeing problems that really
aren't there?"

He stares at her. "What does that mean?"

She considers her words. "I can't ignore what happened on Icarus,
much that I'd wish it never happened. But maybe you're blowing things out of
proportion. You're seeing enemies that really aren't there, or making enemies
that were once your friends."

"You're thinking about Cherry's idiot prediction before all this
started, right?"

Cherry's words come back to haunt them: "This power will make you
become friends with those you despise and enemies of those who are your
friends." "Well, you have to admit that's what you've been doing," Lum muses.

Ataru sighs. "Lum, first of all, I find it hard to consider anything
Cherry said without remembering that he will only give good advice when he's
mooched food off me! Secondly, he said I'd make friends from those I despise
and enemies of those who are my friends. That's nothing but a lie! All that
has happened is that I've come to realize who are my friends and who are the
ones I have to keep at arm's length."

"And you believe that everyone from school are those you have to
shove away?"

"Yes."

"Darling, they've always been there...!"

"No, no, you're wrong," he shakes his head. "Lum, the only reason
they come out is because *you* ask them to come out and they'll do anything
to make you happy. They're deceiving you into believing they like me so that
they can stay in your good graces. Look at what happened when Mendou asked
you to come to the party and never thought to invite Reiko-chan or me? If
that doesn't prove my point, I don't know what will. And I think the sooner
you come to realize that, the better we'll all be."

Lum sighs. "Hey!!!" Ten-chan's voice calls out from nearby.

"What is it, Ten-chan?!" Lum inquires as the young Oni drives up.
"You look upset!"

"Na, not upset!" Ten-chan parks his vehicle, then floats up to Lum's
eye level. "You should've seen what Reiko-chan did!"

"Ten-chan, I told you to stop pestering her!" Lum warns.

"I wasn't, I wasn't!!" Ten-chan waves his hands. "But she was having
breakfast over at a ramen kiosk when Rei shows up!"

"Rei?!!" Ataru looks horrified, imagining what the brainless Oni
pilot could have possibly done to his child. He leaps up to grab Ten-chan by
his jumper. "What did that bastard do to my poor daughter?!! What?!!
WHAT?!?! ***WHAT?!?!?!***"

"Hey, hey, don't worry!!" the young Oni is intimidated by his fanatic
sneer. "She's okay! It's Rei that got hurt!!"

Ataru relaxes. "How?!" Lum inquires.

"Well, he shows up to get something to eat like he always does," Ten-
chan explains. "Then, when the ramen shop owner couldn't make enough, Rei
chomps down everyone's meals. He makes a grab for Reiko-chan's ramen and she
sends him flying!!"

Ataru and Lum gape. "I never suspected Reiko-chan'd be powerful
enough to manipulate someone the size of Rei," the latter hums.

"She is!!" Ten-chan nods. "Well, he gets mad and comes charging
back! Reiko-chan's meal got wrecked, so she began to beat him with everything
she can get her hands on, including a few parked cars, a couple of telephone
poles, even a truck!!"

Ataru and Lum whistle, imagining what Rei endured confronting Reiko.
Before they could make comment, they hear the strained voice of the Noukiite
in question. "Hey, who owns this pig?!!"

A badly burned, scarred and bruised hulk which might be Rei in his
tiger-bull form crashes to the ground in front of Ataru and Lum. Reiko,
exhausted from telekinetically carrying the transformed Oni, drops to her
knees. "Reiko-chan, are you okay?!!" Ataru cries as he and Lum leap to the
girl's side.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Reiko takes in a couple of deep breaths to regain
oxygen, then stands, pointing at Rei. "Who is that?!"

"Lan's boyfriend, Rei," Ataru sighs. "You sure you're okay,
sweetie?!"

"I'm fine!" Reiko snarls, glaring at the unconscious Oni. "But the
next time he tries to steal **my** breakfast, he's hamburger!!"

"Won't be much of a loss," Lum muses.

"No, it won't!" Ataru draws his musket, loads case shot into it, aims
and fires!

Rei is sent on an impromptu flying lesson...which ends up in room 337
at Tomobiki High School! Everyone is quietly relaxing, waiting for homeroom
class to begin when a half-ton of tiger-bull smashes through a window to bury
Mendou!! "It's Rei!!!" Shinobu yelps.

"Rei-sama!!!" Lan screams, then passes out on seeing the severity of
his injuries.

"Holy shit, what happened to him?!!" Kakugari stammers on seeing the
burns and bruises. "It looks like he went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali...as a
*punching bag!!*"

Mie walks up to take a closer look. "Hmm...let's see here. This
looks like a telephone pole strike...this is another telephone pole...a
couple of cars...even a truck...plus exploding gasoline!" she indicates the
individual blows.

"What did he do?!" Momoe shudders. "Run berserk in the middle of
rush hour?!"

"No," Mie shakes her head. "Ran into Reiko-chan. She's the only one
who has the power necessary to give him this type of pounding." She blinks
on seeing another wound. "Ah! Looks like Ataru-chan used the big jerk for
target practice, too!!"

Suddenly, everyone feels volumes of intense heat arise from behind
them. Spinning around, they see Lan now burning with unholy rage.
"**She...DARES...hurt...MY Rei-sama?!?!**" the Seishin teen snarls.

Lan then tenses on hearing sparks behind her, plus the sound of a
breech bolt locked shut. "You have a problem, airhead?!!" two incensed voices
snarl from behind her.

Lan turns around...to get a double whammy of Lum's lightning and a
scatter-shot round from Ataru's musket!! "That should keep any stupid
thoughts out of her head," Mie picks up the insensate Rei, then walking over
the flattened Mendou, dumps him out the hole he made in the wall.

"Seikou-san, you walked all over Mendou-san!!!" some girls scream.

"I did?!" Mie stares at Mendou, then shrugs. "Didn't even notice the
snob there!"

* * *

Later that evening, in a private cafe in the Ginza, four figures
dressed in trench coats walk in. As if they were in a detective movie from
the nineteen-thirties, they have fedora hats and their collars are pulled up
to hide their faces. However, no matter how they disguise themselves, they
cannot hide the fact that one has glasses, another is short, a third is
stocky and the fourth is tall and slim. Once inside, they sneak their way to
a corner booth.

A minute later, another figure dressed in a trench coat and fedora
walks in. It is quite obvious she is a woman, with white jackboots over bare
legs and wavy red hair flowing from under her hat. She even took the
precaution of obtaining glasses to try to disguise her facial features. She
quickly makes her way to the same booth where the four men are now seated.

A minute after that, Mendou walks in, dressed in his usual silver
school uniform, katana in hand. He proceeds quickly to the table occupied by
the five people in trench coats. "You idiot!" Megane hisses. "Why aren't you
in disguise?!"

"There is no need to disguise myself since I am the one who selected
this place for our meeting," the scion of Japan's richest family muses. "We
are over the Mendou Clan Special Emergency Shelter and the employees here are
paid by the Conglomerate."

"Then, why did you insist that *we* wear disguises?!" Lan snarls.

"Because, it is rumoured, Moroboshi's uncle and grandmother have a
legion's worth of spies here," Mendou reports. "They normally are tasked to
spy on Moroboshi's parents...not to mention each other, or so I hear."

"Darling's family spies on *itself?!!*" Lan gasps.

"Ataru's family's more screwed up than I thought!!" Megane moans.

"It is," Mendou sighs. "However, that is beside the point. I've
called you here because we are now facing an impending crisis which requires
our immediate attention."

"Ataru's behaviour," Megane nods.

"Agreed," Mendou sighs. "His plot is now clearly obvious. He has
every intention of removing Lum-san from Tomobiki, thus placing her totally
under his power in a location where we can't protect her as we've done. The
chance is there that once she's out of Tomobiki, Moroboshi can join forces
with his grandmother to work unspeakable evils on Lum-san, perhaps either see
to her death or permanent removal from Earth. We must move to stop that
immediately."

"Only way to do that is to keep Ataru in Tomobiki," Chibi notes.

"Exactly," Mendou nods. "Here, we can move against him and can
hinder whatever fiendish plots he may conceive towards Lum-san or any of us.
We've all understood that. However, we now have a new obstacle in our path:
Moroboshi's brat daughter."

Lan snarls icily on hearing mention of Reiko. "We will have to get
rid of her, too," Megane nods.

"Agreed," Mendou mirthlessly smiles. "As long as she is around,
Moroboshi will have added impetus to leave Tomobiki, not to mention give Lum-
san added impetus to leave with him. We must remove Reiko at once...and that,
my dear, is where you come in."

"Me?!" Lan points to herself.

"You don't want what just happened to Rei to happen again, don't
you?" Megane muses.

"Of course not!!" she snarls.

"Then, you'll be the perfect sort of help," Mendou notes. "Do you
know of any organization on Noukiios which deals with people like Reiko? I
noticed she bears what I suspect are caste tattoos on her cheeks."

Lan hums. "I saw those. They indicate that she's Naihu, a slave
girl. Given her powers, I think she's a Lost Star of Noukiios."

"Then if she's a slave, shouldn't she have a master back on
Noukiios?" Megane muses.

"She would," Lan dryly chuckles. "In fact, I know *exactly* who to
call to get someone down here to retrieve the poor girl and take her back
home...where she belongs!"

"Then do so," Mendou sighs. "While this act may initially hurt Lum-
san, in the end run it will considerably benefit her, restore her to her
proper place in domination over Moroboshi's life."

The others nod, then rise one at a time to depart. Unbeknownst to
them, a listening device and miniaturized tape recorder has been placed under
the seats. Watching them go, the cashier nonchalantly walks over to the table
and, acting as if she is cleaning it, retrieves the tape. Later that evening,
she will hand it to a courier who will in turn transport it to Toranoseishin
Finances for interpretation by Reigi Yumoa's staff...

* * *

The next day at lunchtime, Ataru relaxes by himself under a cherry
tree. After some wrangling on Lum's part, he reluctantly agreed to allow
Ten- chan the chance to play with Reiko. Whether or not the Noukiite would
play with the Oni remained to be seen of course, but Lum had argued that
since Ten- chan is her cousin and that he has seldom played with anyone his
own age since coming to Earth, not to mention giving Reiko some additional
exposure to "normal" Urusians (eliciting this comment from Ataru: "Is there
such a thing as a NORMAL Urusian?!"), they should get as many chances to be
together as possible. Reiko, unfortunately, preferred to be anywhere else
but with an Oni, which could only leave Ataru guessing as to what transpired
between them while he and Lum are in classes. Now, he is looking through
several brochures on all- girl's schools located in the districts he is now
scouting to be the site of his home.

Suddenly, a voice calls, "Ataru!! Ataru!! Where are you?!"

Ataru sees Ten-chan fly down on his scooter. "What?!!" he looks
anxious, bolting to his feet. "Where's Reiko-chan?!!"

"She's been kidnapped!!!" Ten-chan cries.

An H-bomb blast!!!! "***KIDNAPPED?!?!?!***" he screams loud enough
to shatter all the windows. He grabs Ten-chan by the jumper and shakes him.
"Who took her?!! Who?!! WHO?!?! ***WHO?!?!?!***"

"Some guys from Noukiios, I think!!" Ten-chan stammers after his eyes
finish gyrating. "There was a woman and a guy who said they were Reiko-chan's
parents! There's no way Reiko-chan's parents'd want anything ta do with her
because she's a slave child!"

Ataru blinks. "Then, that could only mean those people were from the
organization which gave Reiko-chan her powers...the Masters of Noukiios."

"The Masters of Noukiios?!!" Ten-chan gasps. "Oh, no!!! What do we
do?!!"

Ataru pulls out his cellular and dials. "Hello, Grandma?!!" he calls
into it, "It's me!!! Reiko-chan's been kidnapped!! Can you get someone to
come help me rescue her...eh?!" he stops, blinking for a moment. "You hired a
bodyguard for me?!" He nods as the other end responds. "She's there now?!!
She'll help?!! Great!! Send her down!!!"

Just as he puts the cell phone away, a teleport beam is heard behind
them. "Ataru Moroboshi?"

Ataru and Ten-chan turn to gaze on the most beautiful alien woman
either have ever seen. "Who are you?!" the former demands.

"I know you!!" the latter points. "You're Nassur-chan's friend...!!!"

"Dakejinzou Shogai," she walks up, hand out. "I'm pleased to meet
you, Ataru. Your grandmother gave me quite a decent character reference, one
much better than the rumours and innuendo others frequently produce."

"Th-thanks!" he blushes, shaking her hand. Dressed in a Fukunokami
battle bikini with black chains to identify her clan, Dakejinzou is obviously
no Fukunokami by birth, as witnessed by her cat-slitted blue eyes, her very
pronounced elfin ears framing shoulder-length red hair, hair tufts at the
elbows and a spinal ridge of hair leading to a bushy, prehensile tail. "I've
never met a tailed Fukunokami before."

"I've no memory of how I came into being. But that's beside the
point. Your daughter's been kidnapped by the worst bunch of child-slavers
known. Shall we go retrieve her?!"

"I need ammunition for this," he notions to his photon musket.

"I carry some aboard my ship," she nods.

"Great!!" he turns to Ten-chan. "You tell Lum what's happened!"

"Right!" Ten-chan salutes.

Dakejinzou touches one of her earrings. "Ship, two to beam up! Set
course for Noukiios as soon as we're aboard."

"*Energizing,*" her ship's computer responds.

Ten-chan watches them go. "Be careful, Ataru," he gulps, then
remembers what Ataru wanted him to do. "Gotta find Lum-chan!"

"Master Jariten!" a voice calls out.

A black blur races past Ten-chan, leaving a small tape recorder in
his hands. "Huh?!" the Oni blinks. "What's this?!"

"Pass that to Miss Lum!" the voice instructs, then the blur
disappears.

Ten-chan blinks, then shrugs. "Boy, Ataru's family's even weirder
than I thought!"

Shrugging, he flies off to find Lum...

* * *

"***REIKO-CHAN WAS KIDNAPPED?!?!?!***"

Ten-chan nods. Horror crosses Lum's face as she takes in the other
details. "She was taken by the Masters of Noukiios...?! *Tcha!* If someone
doesn't go rescue her, who knows what could happen!"

"Especially to us!!" Ryuunosuke trembles. "If Ataru doesn't get her
back, he just might turn around and take it out on us!!!"

The other students fearfully shudder, imagining what sort of
enormities Ataru could unleash on them. "Where is Ataru-kun, anyway?!"
Shinobu looks around.

"Oh, he's already gone after them with Dakejinzou Shogai!" Ten-chan
beams.

Hearing that name, Lan turns a sickly green. The Terrans blink.
"Dakejinzou?!" Lum blinks. "What was she doing on Earth?!"

"Ataru's grandma just hired her as his bodyguard," Ten-chan reports.

Lan drops to her knees, eyes wide. Lum shudders. "Grandma hired
Shogai-san to be Darling's bodyguard?!" she gulps. "Wh-why w-would s-she do
that...?!"

"Probably to make sure you behave yourself," Ten-chan meekly proposes.

"Ten-chan, that's not funny!!"

The Terrans crowd around Lum. "You make it sound as if this Shogai
person is someone to be...respected," Momoe comments.

"She is!" Lum gulps. "If you think Nassur-chan's good, she's..."

"Yes?" everyone urges her.

Lum dramatically pauses, then sighs. "Ten times better."

The other students gasp. As Lum, Ten-chan and Lan know well,
Dakejinzou has worked as a bounty hunter for five decades, first out of her
adopted homeworld, then as an independent after years of tutelage under the
legendary Yehisrite executioner Varanko, who also tutored Nassur and Cinba.
Possessing a reputation which overshadowed Nassur's, the alien hunter was
respected for coolness under fire, a steel determination to see a case
through, a healthy dose of cold-bloodedness when it came to dealing with the
scum of society, not to mention a healing factor which put Nassur's and
Ataru's to shame. It was considered local legend that Dakejinzou once took a
magazine full of rifle shells, then calmly walked away from it moments later.

"Well, if she is going to be Darling's bodyguard, that should keep
anyone thinking of doing anything awful to him to think again," Lum muses,
smiling. "Reiko-chan's as good as rescued."

"Maybe you should call Nassur-kun and ask him to go help," Shinobu
proposes.

Mendou and the guards tremble. "That's a good idea!" Lum nods.

"I'll call him," Ten-chan hops on his scooter and jets off.

Hearing this, Lan jerks. Mie glances at her. "My, Lan, you don't
look well," she hums. "Had something bad to eat?"

"S-somewhat," the Seishin teen stammers.

Mie glares at her, then glances suspiciously at Mendou and the
guards, who now have worried looks on their faces. "Right," she drawls.

* * *

Noukiios is a blue-green-brown hued planet with a climate matching
Earth's temperate zones in spring, summer and fall. With little axis tilt,
there is no real change of seasons. That, plus the presence of a half-dozen
Jupiter-sized gas giant planets in the outer part of its home system, makes it
more than contusive to intelligent life. With a rustic culture millennia old
moulded in the same manner as India's and Korea's, Noukiios has weathered many
social upheavals, the latest being the Urusian occupation of three centuries
before. Believers in predestination and reincarnation, Noukiites accept the
current social plights plaguing their world as just another of life's many
tests to cleanse their soul and prepare them for the eternal rewards of the
afterlife.

Such is not the case for Reiko, who lies unconscious in a holding
cell inside a very large castle which once served as the keep for the Urusian
governor-general. It is now the home base for the Masters of Noukiios. While
their profession may cause outlanders to wince with disgust, most Noukiites,
including many in government, accept the Masters' presence as yet another test
for the children regularly passing through their gates. The Masters' trade
brought much needed hard currency to Noukiios from a dozen worlds who were not
so scrupulous when it came to how they obtained cheap labour.

At that moment, the door flings open and a beautiful Noukiite woman
with different caste tattoos walks in, shaking the young girl awake. "Get
up!!!"

"Huh?!" Reiko groggily demands as she opens her eyes, staring
confusedly at her. "Who are you?" she growls. "Where am I?!"

The woman slaps the Lost Star across the face. "Show respect to your
betters, slave!! You're back where you belong!"

Reiko glares at her. "How'd I get back here?! And why did you try
to get me back?! Do you know who my daddy's grandmother is?!!"

"We wouldn't care!" the woman snarls, her fist rising threateningly
to strike. "It was sheer luck someone on Earth called us to tell us you were
there! Do you have any idea how much you're worth?!"

"That's enough," a voice calls out.

The woman looks back as a handsome man walks in, dressed in a
spotless white uniform reminiscent of a Yakuza obayun. "Welcome back, Four-
ninety-four," he dryly smiles, sitting beside Reiko. "You had us worried
there for a while. Hope your stay on Earth wasn't too rough. I hear those
Terrans can be pretty harsh when it strikes them."

"It's okay," Reiko sighs, realizing that any sign of resistance would
invite more blows against her. "So, what happens to me?"

"After you're checked out, we'll put you into stasis to continue your
development," the man reports. "After all, you're worth six figures right
now, but it can become seven or eight after a few years."

"What about the man who adopted me?" Reiko inquires. "He's got
friends."

"If he comes, he dies," the man stands. "Remember that."

Reiko remains silent as the two step out of the cell, closing the
door behind them. Once she is alone, she brings her hands together in prayer.
*Daddy, please come soon!* she mentally intones...

* * *

Within several hours, the "Renegade" has been diverted to Earth. In
addition, Oyuki comes from Triton to join Lum. Once Nassur and Benten are
appraised of the situation, a strategy meeting is held in room 337. "With
Dake- chan tagging along for the ride, then this should be a piece of cake,"
Nassur muses. "Lord knows, I've been hoping for a chance to shut those
monsters down, but the Noukiite government has stymied every attempt to block
their slave trade."

"Well, now they're about to run into the Zephyrites," Lum notes.
"Not even the Masters are crazy enough to challenge them."

"Perhaps," the Vosian muses. "Dake-chan should be able to pull off a
rescue even without our help."

"Still, I want to go there to make sure that Darling's alright," the
Oni notes.

"Fair enough," Nassur notions to the "Renegade." "Let's go!"

"Wait, Lum-san!" Mendou cuts in. "Is there really a need for you to
risk yourself? If Nassur-san states Shogai-san can rescue Reiko, why is there
any need for you to go?!"

The guards nod. "Because Darling's about to get into a firefight and
with his mood-shifts, who knows what could happen!!" Lum snaps. "You've never
made comment about my going out to rescue Darling before!"

"Maybe because they don't *want* you to go rescue Ataru-chan!" Mie
barbs.

The five suddenly pale. Noting this, Nassur hums, then looks at
Lum. "Well, if you want, bring some of your friends with you. This might be
educational."

"I'll go!!" Shinobu volunteers.

"You would," Benten icily snarls.

They launch into a staring contest. "I'll come!" Oyuki beams. "To
actually watch Shogai-sama in action is a rare treat indeed."

"I'm in," Mie calls out. "I can use the flying practice!"

"You can pilot a starship?!" Lum gasps.

"Heh, piloting 'Renegade's' a piece of cake," Mie smiles. "Sure
beats some of the other stuff I've been exposed to."

The Oni blinks, then drops the subject. "And I think Mendou, Megane
and his friends and Lan should round it off," Nassur muses.

The six so mentioned look very nervous. "Um...well, really...!"
Mendou stammers.

"You wouldn't want to abandon Lum in her time of need, would you?!"
the Vosian muses.

"Of course not!!!" the five automatically snap before realizing what
they just said.

"Forget it!" Lan snarls. "I'm staying!!"

A sledgehammer smashes her! "Guess again!" Mie drags her off.

Lum, Mendou, the guards and Shinobu follow Mie to the waiting
"Renegade." "What's going on?!" Benten stares at her partner. "Why do those
idiots look so guilty?!"

"I'm wondering that myself," Nassur hums.

"Oh, I forgot!" Ten-chan pulls out the tape recorder handed him
earlier. "Give this to Lum-chan! It's important!"

"No problem, Ten-chan," Nassur takes the recorder, then sees the
title: LISTENING DEVICE RECORDING - MENDOU CLAN EMERGENCY SHELTER/TOMOBIKI
GINZA with the previous day's date. "Wonder what's inside it," he muses...

* * *

While "Renegade" is lifting off from Earth, Dakejinzou's frigate, the
"Goddess of Luck," is landing some distance from the Masters' castle. Right
now, Ataru and the alien hunter are slipping through the forest surrounding
the enemy camp with the stealth of expert ninjas. In minutes, both arrive at
a clearing by the back door of the castle. A flashing neon sign marked
MASTERS OF NOUKIIOS - SLAVE TRADERS AND DEALERS hangs from one of the towers.
Over the back door, another sign is posted: INVADERS PLEASE USE THIS DOOR.

"They go out to advertise themselves, don't they," Ataru hums.

"They've got no worries," Dakejinzou comments. "After all, the
people here are pretty fatalistic. They believe if you're born a slave,
that's your lot in life and there's nothing you can do about it until you're
reincarnated."

"That's bad," Ataru muses, realizing from where his daughter's
attitudes arise. "So, how do we get in? There're two guards."

"Wait right here," Dakejinzou stands. She nonchalantly walks over to
one of the guards. "Excuse me, sir, but there's a multi-legged creature now
on your shoulder."

"There is?" he turns to look. "Where?"

"Here!!" she snaps, cold-cocking him.

The other guard panics, then gets his face caved in by the buttstock
of Ataru's musket! "Uh-uh!!" he wags his fingers. "No jumping pretty girls
from behind! I'm the one who does that in this series!"

"Thanks," Dakejinzou opens the door. "Let's go get Reiko-chan."

The two slip inside...

* * *

Reiko looks up. "Daddy's here!!" she stands up. "Goody! He's come
to rescue me!"

The guard outside doesn't look impressed. "There's no talk of
escaping from this place, slave!" he snarls...

...then is immediately flattened when Reiko punches the door open
with her powers. "Who cares what you think, jerk!" she snaps, then runs off
to find her father...

* * *

Alarms sound off inside the control centre. An evil scientist
watches Reiko walk down a hallway. Pressing an alarm, he reaches for a mike.
"Attention!!!" he barks into the intercom. "Subject 494 has escaped!!!
Restrain her at once!!!"

Another image quickly reveals Dakejinzou and Ataru making their way
down another hallway. Seeing the legendary hunter, the scientist has a
stroke. "***SHOGAI?!?!?!***" he screams, then hits a button marked MASS PANIC
ALARM - DON'T PRESS UNLESS YOU REALLY MEAN IT! "Attention!!!! Dakejinzou
Shogai's here!!! Evacuate women and children first!!! Every man for
himself!!!"

* * *

"Looks like they just found out we're here!!" Ataru looks up as the
klaxons sound off, lights flashing up and down the hallway.

"Let's go!!" Dakejinzou urges.

The two take off...and just barely miss getting hit with a storm of
blaster fire. "SHIT!!!!" both scream, leaping for cover.

Dakejinzou returns fire. Ataru remains huddled behind the stone
guardrail. "Don't just sit there!!" the hunter urges. "You've got that
thing!! Use it!!"

Ataru blinks, as if wondering for the first time where he was. He
looks at the *qu'f-piaqu'r* in his hands. How did he get a hold of a gun like
this?! And why were people shooting at him? He leaps up, hands up. "Hey!!
Don't shoot! I'm a father!!"

That statement elicits another cacophony of gunfire! Ataru ducks
before any of those shots could do damage! "I don't think they care that
you're a father, Ataru-chan!!" Dakejinzou notes, realizing and understanding
the poor Terran's dilemma.

Ataru sits there, eyes wide as a brutal realization hits home. This
was not like the crazy games he played with Mendou or the guards. This was
not even like the time Lum and Elle almost went to war over who was going to
marry him. This was dead serious! Those people firing on him were hell bent
on killing him. The one unmistakable truth of war: the enemy always tried
to kill you. Often, they succeeded! "I...I can't do this...what am I doing
here...?" he mutters incoherently as his senses are overwhelmed by the
barrage of gunfire and Dakejinzou's pleas for assistance.

**Let me out...!**

"Ataru, help me!!" Dakejinzou cries.

**Let me out...!!**

"Daddy, where are you?!!" Reiko cries as she looks down an empty
hallway.

**Let me out...!!!**

"Darling, I'm coming!!" Lum intones on the "Renegade," now breaking
to land.

**LET ME OUT...!!!!**

Ataru screams as he remembers flames consuming him in a tunnel not so
long ago.

***LET ME OUT!!!!!!***

And the flames consume him!

* * *

Silence descends over the scene as the defending Noukiite troops
slacken their fire. Nothing is coming back at them. "I think we've got
them!" one muses.

The stone guardrail explodes as a hulking humanoid form rises.
"**Guess again!**"

A photon musket fires! Scatter-shot rips through the Noukiites as it
is quickly followed by case shot which tears through flesh like a knife
through hot butter!! The soldiers panic as they realize that there is much
more coming after them than just one hunter and a civilian. However, before
they can flee, more scatter-shot blows them down as if they were blasted down
by a strong wind.

This time, they would never get up.

Dakejinzou stays in place, stammering at what is now in front of
her. "Wh-what a-are y-you?!" she demands. "A guyver?!"

"**Close,**" the Cyborg glances at her, then helps her back to her
feet. "**You were saying something about rescuing my child?**"

The hunter blinks on seeing the phoenix on his chest. She remains in
place as the machine-man runs down a hallway. Questions would have to wait;
she had a job to do. "Wait for me!" she calls out...

* * *

"What's happened?!" the godfather demands as he walks into the
control centre.

A small group stand around the monitor station. Presently, an image
of another fight between the slave dealers and Dakejinzou and the transformed
Ataru is being shown in graphic detail on one screen. Another screen shows
Reiko wandering the castle depths calling for her father. A third shows the
party from "Renegade" now making their way into the castle. "Look for
yourself, sir," the chief scientist points. "Shogai's got backup coming in
now!!"

"Nassur...and Invader's brat?!" the godfather sneers on seeing two
recognizable faces. He then looks at the image of the Cyborg. "What's
that?!! What happened to the Terran that came in with Shogai?!"

"That **is** the Terran that came in with Shogai!" the scientist
gulps.

"A marked improvement, I must say."

"Sir, what do we do?!" a woman demands.

"Call the Interior Ministry!" he snaps. "I don't know what the hell
brought Shogai and Nassur here, but if they think they can cut into out
operations, they're sorely mistaken!! Rest of you get out there to stop these
bastards! Maybe the Ipraedies Circus can make use of some! And get Subject
494 back in a cell!! She's worth nine million right now!! We can't afford to
lose anything!"

The others snap to attention, then run out of the control room...

* * *

"Whoa, what happened here?!" Mie whistles as the group from
"Renegade" come upon the scene of the first battle between the Masters and
Reiko's would-be rescuers.

Nassur whistles in awe, then hears a collection of horrified gasps as
the people from Earth get a good look at the mangled bodies. Mendou looks
violently ill. The guards and Shinobu instantly turn away to vomit. Lan is
now a very sickly green, but is keeping her stomach. Lum, Benten and Oyuki
are handling the matter better, but they too wince on seeing the blood and
torn flesh.

Seeing the calm look on the Vosian's face, Lan faces him. "How can
you look at that and **not** react?!"

"If I **didn't** react to it, I wouldn't be fit to be a hunter,"
Nassur explains.

She hiccups, then races off to throw up her breakfast. Mie is
examining the wounds. "Looks like particle blaster fire to me...not to
mention case shot and scatter-shot from Ataru-chan's musket. Looks like he
and his friend were pretty busy here."

Nassur comes up to take a closer look. "Seems that way. Since when
did Ataru get a hold of a *qu'f-piaqu'r?*"

"From his grandmother," Lum reports.

"Handy present," Nassur hums, then walks over to where some expended
casings lay on the floor by the guardrail. Leaning down, he concentrates, his
eyes glowing.

"What are you doing?" Oyuki walks up.

"I'm trying to trace Dake-chan and Ataru through their psychic
trails. Tracing Dake-chan's hard enough; she's as alien as one can get and
still be considered humanoid. But, Ataru...huh?!" he stops, blinking.

"What is it?!" Lum flies over.

Confusion crosses Nassur's face. "Something's wrong here! Ataru's
brainwave pattern...just vanishes at this point!!"

Horror crosses the others' faces. "But the only way for that to
happen is if...!" Lum gasps, frightful tears welling in her eyes as the worst
possible scenario comes to her.

The roar of Ataru's musket then echoes through the walls. "You can
relax," Nassur sighs. "Seems he's still in the fight."

With that, everyone takes off toward the battle. "But how can he
mask his psychic signature like that?!" Benten demands. "Is he part-
Yehisrite?!!"

"I don't think so!" Lum shakes her head.

"Wait for us!!" Lan cries as she, Mendou, Shinobu and the guards race
after them.

After turning several corners, the group waltz into the crossfire
between Dakejinzou and another team of slavers. Everyone leaps for cover
save Nassur and Mie, who turn their weapons on target to augment Dakejinzou's
fire. In a minute, the last of the slavers collapse as Dakejinzou comes out
from behind her cover. "Well, it's about time you got here, Natsu-chan!" she
sighs, wrapping an arm around him to kiss his cheek.

"Nice to see you, Dake-chan!" Nassur returns her greeting. "Where's
Ataru?!"

"He's gone off to find Reiko-chan," Dakejinzou nods down a hallway, a
touch of hesitation in her voice.

Nassur blinks, immediately realizing something was bothering his old
partner. Before he can voice anything however, Lum flies down the hallway
indicated. "I'm going after him!!" she announces.

"Hey, wait for me!!" Mie pursues.

"Lum-san, wait for us!!!" Megane and the guards move to pursue.

Mie spins and shoots at a chandelier, causing it to crash atop the
five boys! "Sorry!! This party's private!" the Kyushu native smirks as she
runs off after Lum.

The others watch them go. "You know something," Benten hums.
"There's the first person from Tomobiki I've ever seen who's willing to stomp
over those five jerks!"

"She's been doing it for the past week, even more," Shinobu comments.

Benten beams. "I like her already!!"

"Never mind," Dakejinzou looks over her shoulder as the thunder of
Ataru's musket echoes through the walls. "Let's get moving. There'll be more
of them!"

The group takes off, leaving Mendou and the guards behind! "Hey,
isn't someone gonna help us...?" Megane moans...

* * *

"Daddy?!! Where are you?!!" Reiko calls as she looks around the
hallway she presently is in, now hopelessly lost. "Daddy!!!"

Turning a corner, Reiko is surprised to see the woman who woke her
earlier awaiting her. She moves to leap clear when the woman grabs her.
"You're coming with me!!"

"Let that girl go!!!" a voice snarls.

The woman spins around to see Lum and Mie standing five metres away,
the latter's gun aimed at the Noukiite's forehead. Drawing her own weapon,
she aims at Reiko. "Back off or she gets it!!"

Lum tenses. "Reiko-chan, are you okay?!"

"Just a sec'!" Reiko sighs, then bites the woman's hand.

She screams, throwing the young girl off. "You little witch!!!"

Mie's gun barks four times, two head shots and two chest shots!! What
is left is sent flying against a wall, collapsing in a bloody heap on the
floor. Lum leaps forward to grab Reiko, protectively turning her away from
the gory scene. "Don't look!!"

"What happened?!" Reiko looks up.

Lum looks back, an ill feeling crossing her heart as she stares at
the corpse. "It's okay, Reiko-chan," she sighs, gently embracing the
Noukiite. "She won't hurt you anymore."

Reiko manages to look anyway. "Yuck!!" she winces, looking away.
"Back to the reincarnation pool for that one!"

Mie walks up, a neutral stare on her face. Staring gratefully at her
classmate, Lum smiles. "Thanks, Mie."

"Weird, isn't it?" Mie hums.

"What is?"

"I killed someone," she stares at the gun. "The first time I ever
killed someone. Yet...it's not hitting me like it should."

"Give it time," Lum stands. "C'mon! Let's find Darling and get out
of here!!"

"Right!" Mie nods as the three take off down a hallway...

* * *

A door explodes, allowing Nassur, Benten and Dakejinzou to leap
through, guns at the ready, the others behind them. "There's no one here!"
the Fukunokami reports.

"What is this place?!" the adopted Fukunokami demands.

Before them are row upon row of gestation chambers. Inside each is a
slim humanoid form, none past the point of puberty. The rescue party gapes at
the sheer number of children present. "Lecasur's Soul," Nassur nearly drops
his weapon in disbelief. "Are all these the Lost Stars?!"

"There must be hundreds!!" Oyuki gasps.

"I can't count that high!!!" Lan cries.

Dakejinzou proceeds to a terminal. She quickly breaks into the
system, scanning through the logs. "A lot of these kids were left abandoned
by local families due to the crop failures; the others were kidnapped from
higher caste families," she hums. "And most of them are already being
prepared to be sold off."

"Where?!" Nassur walks up beside her.

Dakejinzou calls up a holoscreen listing numerous names. "Chronos;
Elle; Uru; Shingetsu; Gomiana; Zeiwan Colonies Six, Eight and Nine; Phentax
Two; Phentax Five; Tofunokoibito Colony Eight; Yaminokuni Colony Sixteen..."
she reads, then blinks. "Natsu-chan, these places border either the Ipraedies
Empire or the Royal Kingdoms of Yehisril!"

"Except Chronos and Elle, which border the Vosian Confederation,"
Nassur notes.

"What does this mean?!" Shinobu demands.

"Didn't you realize?" Nassur looks at her. "Reiko-chan and her
friends aren't just slave children, they're esper warriors."

"Esper warriors?!" Oyuki gapes.

"You mean like Project: Superwarrior?!" Lan gasps in horror.

"Worse," Nassur nods. "Noukiites are contusive to special DNA
modifications which allow them to manipulate all sorts of power. There's
already one planet stacked full of paranormals in this galaxy: Yiziba, in
the Dead Zone near Tengu. NO ONE deals with the Yizibajohei for obvious
reasons. Now, imagine what would happen to a planet's defence policy if they
had a cadre of trained warriors which could make hash of any normal weapon
system?!"

"Intergalactic war," Oyuki shudders. "The Mikado would never permit
such things so close to the Confederation. The Ipraedies would attack any
planet that uses them just for the chance to obtain some. And the Yehisrites
would go insane since they believe the use of paranormals in battle is beyond
dishonourable."

"That's right," Dakejinzou breathes out. "We're sitting on the
galaxy's biggest powderkeg right now."

"So what do we do?!" Benten hums.

"We let them out," Dakejinzou smiles.

Everyone looks quizzically at her...

* * *

Deep in the castle, the Cyborg smashes through a wall, then cuts down
another cadre with scatter-shot from his musket. Pausing, the machine-man
looks up as he tries to sense what is happening. Reiko was safely under
Lum's and Mie's protection, proceeding to one of the exits. Dakejinzou has
located the other Lost Stars and is now freeing them with Nassur's help.
Once they are out, they would be removed from the castle and set on the road
to liberty. Sighing, he slings his musket, then feels along the wall in front
of him. Sensing something, he cocks back his right arm, then smashes into the
wall. The castle shakes violently from the punch as the Cyborg begins to
heave at the main structural beams holding it together...

* * *

Nassur, Shinobu, Benten, Oyuki and Lan are now in a sea of confused
young Noukiite girls, ranging from five to thirteen. They all bear various
forehead ridge patterns and a spectrum of hair colours, but each have the
Naihu caste tattoos. They all watch the group of outlanders now moving to
free them. "There!" Dakejinzou stands. "The last one's out. Let's get them
out of here!!"

"Where are you going to take us?!" one Lost Star demands.

"To a place where you'll never have to worry about being slaves ever
again," the alien hunter smiles at them.

Her statement is punctuated by the castle shaking. "And by the
sounds of it, Ataru-chan's already working to bring the house down!" she hums.
"Everyone out!!"

Instantly, a stampede of children race down a hallway to the main
castle gate as the walls and ceilings heave and buckle from the monster
tearing at their foundations. Nassur and Dakejinzou carry as many as they
can while Oyuki forms an ice slide to allow the Lost Stars to skate their way
out. At the door, Shinobu holds the collapsing wall in place as the children
scramble clear. "Is that it?!" she gasps as Nassur catches up to her.

The Vosian's eyes flash. "That's it! Lum, Mie and the guys are
outside!!"

"Good!!" Shinobu power-lifts the ceiling clear as she and Nassur leap
to safety.

Everyone scrambles to a nearby rise as the castle folds in on itself
like a collapsing house of cards. Waiting for the crowd from the gestation
chambers are Lum, Mie, Reiko, Mendou and the guards. "Nassur-chan,
Shogai-san, over here!!" Lum waves.

As they gather to watch, the Masters' castle disintegrates as
internal reactors detonate, sending shrapnel and burned bodies flying in every
direction! Finally, an eerie peace falls over the scene as everyone begins to
absorb what happened. "Man, that was too much!" Paama shudders.

Lum blinks. "Where's Darling?!"

Reiko gapes. "Daddy?! Where's Daddy?!!"

"You don't think...?" Megane hums, pointing to the ruins of the
castle.

"That he's...?!" Kakugari gulps.

The guards and Mendou cry out. "***HURRAY!!!!!! MOROBOSHI'S
DEAD!!!! LET'S CELEBRATE!!!!!!***"

Lum and Reiko look at each other. "D-darling's...d-dead...?!" the
Oni gasps, then lets out a mournful wail. "Oh, no!!! Darling!!!"

Blinking, the Noukiite sighs, bopping Lum on the head. "Will you
quit that?! You're giving me an earache! Daddy's okay!! See!"

She points. Everyone stops, staring at one point in the morass of
wreckage. A piece of shattered masonry is flung aside as someone emerges from
under the rock. Since fires still burn, smoke obscures any details from
observers. "Darling!!!" Lum leaps up and down in joy.

Mendou and the guards look understandably disappointed. "Can't
ANYTHING kill that bastard?!!" Megane demands, leaping from one foot to
another in frustration.

"Nothing you could do would EVER hurt my daddy!!!" Reiko red-eyes
Megane. "Nyaa!!! What'cha going to do now, jerks?!!"

The five boys growl. "Well, now that we've got all these kids free,
what the heck do we do with them all?!" Benten wonders.

"Oh, don't worry," Dakejinzou smiles. "Ataru-chan called the Court
of Star Chamber on Jiyuu while we were on our way here. They're sending a
ship to pick up the other Lost Stars so they can be resettled."

"Why'd he decide that?!" Nassur asks.

Dakejinzou's tail bushes out, her way of showing embarrassment.
"Well, I just happen to know that the person who brought Reiko-chan to Earth
was an agent of the *Dowe'on* Tribunal. Obviously, they wanted to get the
attention of the Zephyrite Inquisition so that they could get the Lost Stars
before someone else could make use of them or the Masters sold them." She
points to Reiko's bracelets. "It's as obvious as what Reiko-chan's wearing
right now."

"Good point," Nassur nods.

An ominous sound, like a labor walking, becomes audible. Hearing
that, the guards tremble. "Th-that n-noise...!" Megane pales.

"What is it, Megane?" Shinobu wonders.

"Th-that's the n-noise th-that m-monster m-made!" he stammers. "Th-
the one wh-who attacked u-us in th-the c-clock t-tower!!"

"Relax!" Reiko sighs. "It's Daddy!!"

"Ataru?!!" everyone else exclaims.

"Sure!!" the Noukiite points. "See!"

Everyone turns to the approaching figure as he walks out of the wall
of smoke. Seeing the cybernetic apparition, jaws hit the ground as eyes bulge
out. "THAT'S Moroboshi?!!" Benten screams.

"H-how d-did h-he d-do th-that t-to h-himself?!" Oyuki fearfully
stammers.

"How DID he do that?!" Nassur parrots.

"Actually, it's an improvement over what he once was," Mendou
comments.

Lum's eyes widen as a nightmare comes back: a cybernetic version of
Ataru casting her out of his life. That image readily matches the reality of
the Cyborg now approaching her. "No...!" she stammers, shaking her head in
denial. "No!! You're a nightmare! You're not real!!! WHY IS THIS
HAPPENING TO ME?!?!" she screams, fearfully backing away from the approaching
machine-man.

The Cyborg sighs, then reaches over to grab Lum's hand. "**Does this
feel like some sort of nightmare?!**" he inquires, placing her hand on his
chest plate.

Lum fearfully gulps as she feels the metal, then everything else.
"No...no...!" she shakes her head. "Why?! Why?!"

"**Why not?! I needed an advantage when I deal with those twits
behind you, so I got one! Hope you don't mind the changes!!**"

"You're not Darling!!!" she shakes her head.

"**Oh?!**" a mischievous twinkle appears in his good eye as psychic
fire consumes him, replacing the Cyborg with the normal Ataru.

Before Lum could react, she is swept into his arms and swamped with a
kiss! "You were saying?" he hums.

"Thank you, sir," Lum deliriously gags. "May I have another?"

"MOROBOSHI, YOU SWINE, HOW DARE YOU KISS OUR LUM-SAN...?!?!"

An explosion sends Mendou and the guards into orbit!! "**EITHER MIND
YOUR OWN BUSINESS OR GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU!!!!!!**" the Cyborg snaps,
pulling back his musket.

"He's your father?!" a Lost Star asks.

"Yep!" Reiko beams proudly. "Isn't he the greatest?!"

"You're lucky!" the other nods.

Ataru transforms back, walks through the crowd to pick up Reiko, then
offers his arm to Lum. "Eh...going my way, gorgeous?"

"S-sure!" the twitterpated Oni slips her arm around his.

They head off toward "Renegade." "You know something," Nassur muses
to Dakejinzou. "Even with that thing inside him, I think things're going to
be alright between them."

"Mmm...maybe!" the alien hunter muses...

* * *

A ship from Zephyrus arrives to take the other Lost Stars to their
new home, a convent run by a friend of Ataru's grandmother. While Dakejinzou
heads off on another mission, "Renegade" heads back to Earth. Inside the
observation lounge, Lum and Reiko relax with the others. "Well, that's a
relief!" the Oni yawns. "Reiko-chan's safe, Darling's calmed down and we can
all go home and relax."

"Now all we have to do is wait for Daddy to build a home for us," the
Noukiite chimes in. "Then it'll be perfect!"

Mendou, the guards and Lan resentfully glare at the young Noukiite.
Mie quizzically stares at them. "My! What's with all the dirty looks?! I'd
swear that you didn't like the idea of Ataru-chan adopting a daughter...say to
the point where you'd try to do something to get her away from him?!" she
smiles.

The six pale at the Kyushu native's accusation. "What does that
mean, Mie?!" Lum looks curious. "You make it sound as if they arranged Reiko-
chan's kidnapping!"

"They did!" Nassur announces.

"How would you guess that?!" Lan snarls, leaping to her feet as the
Vosian walks in.

"I don't need to guess, Lan," he raises the incriminating evidence
Ten-chan passed to him. "I heard it right here."

He presses the PLAY button. Everyone falls silent as the words
Mendou, the guards and Lan exchanged the previous night about what they wanted
to do with Reiko play out. Lum flushes in murderous rage as she icily glares
at the guilty party. Once the recording ends, Nassur stops the player. "Care
to make a statement before sentence?"

"They won't get the chance!!" Lum snarls, lightning dancing over her.

The six panic as they fearfully back away from the Oni. "Now, now,
Lum-chan," Nassur calms her down. "There's no need to do that!"

"Why not?" the Oni blinks.

"Don't you think Ataru should dictate the sentence?" Nassur shrugs.

Lum blinks, then nods. "*Tcha!*"

"A-a-ataru...?!" Megane stammers.

"**Right here!**"

The six scream as they see the Cyborg, *qu'f-piaqu'r* in hand as he
loads case shot into the firing bed. "**I suggest you all better get away
from there!**" the machine-man intones as he snaps the musket to firing
position.

"Ataru, not here...!!" Nassur panics.

The weapon fires! An explosion then rocks "Renegade" from stem to
stern as the computer alarm sounds off. "*Alert! Alert! Hull breech in
section oh-one-Delta, observation lounge! Hull breech in section
oh-one-Delta, observation lounge...!*"

"Darling, you blew out the observation lounge!!!" Lum screams.

"Don't worry about it, Lum!!" Mie calls out. "Those jerks'll just
have to learn how to breathe vacuum!!"

"Nice to see some things going right for a change!" Nassur chuckles...

*** To Be Continued ***